Thread by @matthewfsmith

THREAD: The significance of the UN Special Rapporteur report on arms transfers to the #Myanmar junta can't be overstated. It exposes who supplied weapons to the military since the Feb 1 coup & since the #Rohingya #genocide. Link to the full report via: ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/…

The report includes types & in some cases specific amounts of weapons certain states have transferred to the #Myanmar military. Since the coup, when the junta began attacking & murdering civilians nationwide, #China, #Russia, #India, and #Serbia all supplied weapons to the junta.

The report provides legal analysis: States that authorized arms transfers "knew, or should have known, that their arms would be used to target civilians. As such, these arms transfers to the Myanmar military are not only reprehensible, they also likely violate international law."

The two largest suppliers of arms to the #Myanmar junta are, unsurprisingly, #China and #Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, which is tasked w/ maintaining intl peace & security. The new details are especially sickening given #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

In the report, @RapporteurUn demands the UN Security Council convene an emergency session "to debate and vote on a resolution to, at minimum, ban those arms transfers that the Myanmar military are known to use to attack and kill Myanmar civilians." ALL UNSC states must act now.

“It should be incontrovertible that weapons used to kill civilians should no longer be transferred to Myanmar. These transfers truly shock the conscience,” @RapporteurUn said. “Stopping the junta’s atrocity crimes begins with blocking their access to weapons." #Myanmar #genocide

For more on how the #Myanmar junta is using its weapons now, see the recent @FortifyRights flash report on war crimes in #Karenni (#Kayah) St, calling for a U.N. Security Council-mandated global arms embargo. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar fortifyrights.org/mya-inv-rep-20…