"The UN Security Council must take concrete action to address the junta’s widespread and systematic, and increasingly frequent and severe, attacks on civilians in Burma. The Security Council called for accountability in its 29 December 2021 press statement. 1 Accountability is precisely what is needed: the Security Council must adopt a resolution referring the junta’s crimes to the International Criminal Court; and the Security Council and other UN bodies must act to achieve accountability and urge ASEAN to work with the UN.  During the first 11 months of the junta’s attempted coup (1 February–31 December), there were 7,686 armed clashes and attacks on civilians (in every administrative area of Burma), a 715% increase from the same period in 2020 (943). The violence was comparable to Syria (7,742), and greater than in Afghanistan (6,481), Yemen (6,270), or Iraq (3,732). In the last four months of 2021, Burma outpaced the other four countries. 2  The widespread and systematic nature of junta troops’ massacres and other atrocity crimes suggest that they are not isolated incidents, but rather reflect orders from the junta’s highest levels.  In ethnic States, the junta increased conflict with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), and it relied on its Border Guard Forces (BGFs) and other aligned ethnic militias to fight EAOs. In urban and non-EAO-controlled areas, the junta engaged in asymmetrical warfare with civilian resistance groups, applying traditional battlefield tactics to urban environments.  Junta security forces (military and police) have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and violated international humanitarian law and numerous Security Council resolutions (e.g., 2601, 2573, 2535, 2475, and 2467). 3 They have shelled and torched villages; targeted civilian objects such as churches, schools, and hospitals; attacked health and humanitarian aid workers; used civilians as porters and human shields; tortured and killed detainees; raped women; and committed perfidy. They have killed at least 2,164 civilians, 4 and arrested over 11.000.5 Junta troops have destroyed food stores and blocked humanitarian aid:  On 10 June, in Moe Bye, Pekon Township (Shan), junta forces burned 80 sacks of rice and medical supplies meant for IDPs.6 In July, it was reported that the junta was only allowing around 450kg of rice—not enough to feed residents—to enter Mindat (Chin State) each day, despite the existence of a ceasefire and an agreement allowing vehicles to bring food into Mindat.7 In December, Human Rights Watch condemned the junta’s recent travel restrictions for humanitarian workers, blocks on access roads and aid convoys, and destruction of non-military supplies.8 The junta intentionally deprived people of oxygen, and targeted doctors and health workers:  At the height of the third wave of COVID-19 in Burma, the junta ordered that oxygen be denied to clinics and ordinary citizens; doctors accused the junta of funneling supplies to military hospitals; and several incidents were reported of soldiers forcibly confiscating oxygen from charities.9 By November, junta forces had arrested at least 284 healthcare workers and killed 31; WHO figures show that in 2021 Burma was one of the most dangerous countries in the world for health workers.10 The junta committed massacres and atrocities, including the following incidents:  In July, junta troops killed at least 40 people in Kani Township (Sagaing Region), with many of the bodies showing clear signs of torture. Earlier in the month, over 10,000 people had fled Kani because of junta raids in which soldiers robbed villagers, laid landmines, stole and destroyed property, and dumped insecticides into water reservoirs, poisoning water supplies.11  In early September, the junta terrorized civilians in Thantlang Township (Chin State) by firing guns and heavy artillery, both indiscriminately and aimed at Thantlang town,12 before stationing 200 soldiers in the town and commencing daily fly-overs.13 On 17 September, junta forces killed a Baptist pastor and cut off his finger to take his wedding ring.14 On 19 September, junta forces opened fire on the town with heavy weapons and artillery, burning down 19 houses and causing 8,000 residents to flee. 15 Thantlang was still a ghost town on 29 October, when junta forces destroyed more than 160 of its 2,000 homes. Two churches and a building attached to a third caught fire, as did several local civil society organization offices and a Save the Children office.16  On 7 December, in Salingyi Township (Sagaing Region), junta troops bound 11 civilians, including five children aged 14–17, and tortured them before burning them alive.17 The body of a twelfth victim was found the following day, with a gaping knife wound in her neck, just 50 feet (15 meters) from the ashes of those the junta burned.18  On 12 December, in Gaung Kwe, Myaung Township (Sagaing Region), junta troops killed and burned five people, including one reported as having a cognitive disability.19  On 24 December, junta forces captured at least 37 men, women, and children fleeing conflict in Moso village, Hpruso Township (Karenni State), tied the victims’ hands behind their backs, placed them in cars, and then torched the vehicles, burning them to death. The troops also killed four Karenni BGF members who attempted to stop them.20 Save the Children confirmed that two of its staff, traveling home from a humanitarian mission, were among those killed.21  On 7–9 January, a local resistance group found the dead bodies of 10 male civilians, including a 13-year-old child, in Matupi Township (Chin State). The victims were among 11 villagers abducted by junta troops while traveling between villages on 6–7 January, and were used as human shields before the troops killed them. The 13-year-old boy was found with his throat slit; others showed injuries from being hit with rifle butts, slashed, cut, and shot. Several bodies had been stripped naked and had their mouths covered. The 11th villager had not been found at the time of reporting.22 The junta unleashed air strikes on civilian communities across the country:  In the second half of December, junta forces conducted repeated air strikes around Lay Kay Kaw (Karen State), displacing around 10,000 civilians, around half into Thailand.23 Air strikes in Karen State on 27 March 2021, coinciding with Burma’s Armed Forces Day, marked the military’s first air assaults in Karen State in 25 years; 24 that offensive in Hpapun left 83,000 people displaced.25  On 8 January 2022, junta forces began air strikes in Loikaw, the capital of Karenni State, displacing around 40,000 civilians.26 Even before the air strikes began, over half of Karenni State’s 300,000 residents were displaced. 27 On 16–17 January, junta jets bombed an IDP camp in nearby Hpruso Township, killing a child, three medical workers, and two other civilians.28 Heightened risk of atrocity crimes:  The junta has armed and relied upon paramilitary Pyu Saw Htee groups, which have terrorized and killed civilians, actively distributed misinformation, raided villages, and torched properties.  Unprecedented casualty rates (over 2,000 just in September–October 2021),29 defections (at least 8,000 as of 1 December),30 and growing internal discontent31 have hit the junta hard. In a desperate attempt to maintain troop numbers, the junta has recalled veterans and subjected troops' wives and children to military trainings.32 These moves violate international law, Burma’s human rights commitments, and Security Council resolutions..."