GENEVA – A UN-mandated investigation has revealed a disturbing pattern of “systematic torture” in Myanmar’s detention facilities, with investigators documenting a wide range of human rights abuses, including beatings, sexual violence, and the deaths of detainees.
The report, based on hundreds of eyewitness testimonies and other evidence, paints a grim picture of life for those held in these facilities.
Brutal Tactics and Vulnerable Victims
The IIMM’s findings highlight a variety of brutal torture methods, including:
- Physical Violence: Beatings, electric shocks, and strangulation.
- Sexual Violence: Gang rape and the burning of sexual body parts.
- Other Abuses: Some of the torture has been so severe that it has resulted in death.
The victims are not limited to political opponents. The report specifies that activists and journalists are also being targeted. In a particularly alarming finding, the IIMM found that children as young as two years old were detained as proxies for their missing parents, a tactic used to pressure and intimidate families.
While the report doesn’t publicly name the individuals responsible, it states that investigators have made significant progress in identifying both the direct perpetrators and the high-ranking commanders who oversee these facilities. This shows that the work of the IIMM is directly contributing to a path toward accountability for the atrocities committed since the 2021 military coup.
The report underscores a troubling increase in the “frequency and brutality of atrocities” in Myanmar, a crisis that has also led to a severe humanitarian situation with millions displaced and in desperate need of aid.