A United Nations-backed investigator has revealed disturbing evidence of “systemic torture” inside Myanmar’s detention centres, describing electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape and the burning of sexual body parts among the abuses that were documented over the past year.
Nicholas Koumjian, head of the international independent team investigating atrocities in the country, spoke as the group released its latest annual report on Tuesday, covering the 12 months to 30 June.
The country has been in turmoil since February 2021, ever since the army overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, sparking a civil war. As peaceful protests were crushed with lethal force, those opposing military rule took up arms.
Since then, conflict has engulfed large parts of Myanmar.
The investigative team, as quoted by AP, said that it had made progress in identifying security personnel involved in detention operations, as well as “perpetrators who have summarily executed captured combatants or civilians accused of being informers.”
These perpetrators included members of the security forces, affiliated militias and opposition armed groups.
The report details the "documented torture in Myanmar’s detention facilities which includes beatings, electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence," according to a summary of the findings.
“Our report highlights a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities committed in Myanmar,” Koumjian said. “We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law.”
“We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” he further added.
The team also launched new investigations into atrocities committed in Rakhine state, where the military and the Arakan Army, an opposition force, are battling for control.
Rakhine has long been the scene of grave abuses. More than 700,000 people from the Rohingya minority fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017 to escape persecution. About 70,000 more crossed the border last year after the Arakan Army effectively seized control of the territory.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar has been operating since 2018 under a mandate from the UN-backed Human Rights Council to document human rights abuses and violations in the country.
It has already shared evidence with authorities pursuing cases involving the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court and the UN’s International Court of Justice.
Nicholas Koumjian, head of the international independent team investigating atrocities in the country, spoke as the group released its latest annual report on Tuesday, covering the 12 months to 30 June.
The country has been in turmoil since February 2021, ever since the army overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, sparking a civil war. As peaceful protests were crushed with lethal force, those opposing military rule took up arms.
Since then, conflict has engulfed large parts of Myanmar.
The investigative team, as quoted by AP, said that it had made progress in identifying security personnel involved in detention operations, as well as “perpetrators who have summarily executed captured combatants or civilians accused of being informers.”
These perpetrators included members of the security forces, affiliated militias and opposition armed groups.
The report details the "documented torture in Myanmar’s detention facilities which includes beatings, electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence," according to a summary of the findings.
“Our report highlights a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities committed in Myanmar,” Koumjian said. “We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law.”
“We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” he further added.
The team also launched new investigations into atrocities committed in Rakhine state, where the military and the Arakan Army, an opposition force, are battling for control.
Rakhine has long been the scene of grave abuses. More than 700,000 people from the Rohingya minority fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017 to escape persecution. About 70,000 more crossed the border last year after the Arakan Army effectively seized control of the territory.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar has been operating since 2018 under a mandate from the UN-backed Human Rights Council to document human rights abuses and violations in the country.
It has already shared evidence with authorities pursuing cases involving the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court and the UN’s International Court of Justice.
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