ミャンマー国軍の地雷設置は戦争犯罪 アムネスティ

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】国際人権団体アムネスティ・インターナショナルは２０日、ミャンマー国軍が反政府武装勢力との戦闘が続く村々に地雷を大量に設置しており、戦争犯罪に当たると非難した。（写真はミャンマー国軍が地雷を設置し、焼いたとされるカヤ州の教会。アムネスティ・インターナショナル提供）
　ミャンマーでは昨年の軍事クーデター以降、少数民族武装勢力と国軍との間で新たな戦闘が発生。軍政に対抗して数十の「国民防衛隊（ＰＤＦ）」が市民により創設された。
　アムネスティの調査員が、タイと国境を接するカヤ州を訪れ、地雷被害の生存者や被害者を治療した医療従事者、地雷除去に取り組む人らにインタビューした。
　アムネスティによると、国軍が少なくとも２０の村で地雷を使用しているとの「信用できる情報」がある。田に続く道や民家の庭・玄関口、屋外トイレなどにも埋められており、市民の死傷が相次いでいる。
　アムネスティは、国軍が教会敷地内やその周辺に地雷を設置した事例もあったと指摘している。
　反軍政勢力により一部の地域では地雷除去が試みられているが、「専門的な訓練を受けないまま、原始的な道具を使って手作業で」行われているという。
　アムネスティの危機対応上級アドバイザー、ラーヤ・ラゲ氏は「過去の苦い経験から、民間人の死傷者は時間を追うごとに増えることが分かっている。広範囲が地雷に『汚染』されているため、家や農地に戻れない人が既にいる」と述べた。
　ミャンマーは、対人地雷の使用、貯蔵、開発を禁じる国連（ＵＮ）の対人地雷禁止条約に加盟していない。
　国軍は昨年、クーデターにより国家顧問だったアウンサンスーチー氏を拘束し、実権を掌握。現地の監視団体によると、軍による市民弾圧でこれまでに２０００人以上が殺害され、約１万５０００人が逮捕された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/07/22-13:13）

Myanmar junta troops are committing war crimes by laying landmines on a massive scale around villages where they are battling anti-coup fighters, rights campaign group Amnesty International said Wednesday.
Fighting has ravaged swathes of the country since last year's putsch, which sparked renewed clashes with ethnic rebel groups and the formation of dozens of People's Defence Forces now battling the junta.
During a visit to Kayah state near the Thai border, Amnesty researchers interviewed landmine survivors, medical workers who had treated them and others involved in clearing operations, the organisation said.
It said it had credible information that the military had used mines in at least 20 villages, including on paths to rice fields, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.
Amnesty also said it had documented several instances where the military had laid mines around a church and on its grounds.
Soldiers have placed landmines in people's yards, at the entrance of homes, and outside toilets, Amnesty said.
In at least one documented case, soldiers booby-trapped a house stairwell with a trip-wire improvised explosive device.
Anti-junta group members were attempting to de-mine some areas, but the work was done by hand with only rudimentary equipment and without any professional training, it added.
We know from bitter experience that civilian deaths and injuries will mount over time, and the widespread contamination is already blocking people from returning to their homes and farmland, said Rawya Rageh, the group's senior crisis adviser.
Myanmar is not a signatory to the United Nations convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling or development of anti-personnel mines.
Its military has been repeatedly accused of atrocities and war crimes during decades of internal conflict.
Military violence against the Rohingya minority in 2017 sent an estimated 750,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh, bringing with them accounts of rape, murder and arson.
In March, the United States declared that the violence against the Rohingya amounted to genocide, saying there was clear evidence of an attempt to destroy them.
The Gambia dragged Myanmar before the International Court of Justice in 2019, accusing the predominantly Buddhist country of genocide against the Muslim minority.
The Hague-based court is due to give its judgment on Myanmar's preliminary objections to the case later this week.
Following the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government, the military has waged a bloody crackdown on dissent that a local monitoring group says has killed more than 2,000 people and seen almost 15,000 arrested.