A United Nations-backed investigative team has uncovered substantial evidence of systematic torture in Myanmar’s detention centers. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) released a report on Tuesday highlighting brutal acts, including electric shocks, gang rape, and burning of sexual body parts.
According to Nicholas Koumjian, head of the mechanism, “We have collected substantial evidence showing horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar. Many crimes have been committed with an intent to punish and induce terror in the civilian population.”
The report draws on information from over 1,300 sources, including hundreds of witness accounts, forensic analysis, photographs, and documents. It identifies senior figures among those responsible for the alleged abuses, including high-ranking commanders. However, the IIMM declined to name them to avoid alerting those under investigation. The torture is part of the wider turmoil following the military coup of February 2021, which sparked a nationwide conflict and pushed many civilians and combatants into arms, increasing violence across Myanmar.
The UN team documented the abuse of children, often detained unlawfully as proxies for their missing parents. Some prisoners died as a result of the torture. The report also found that both government forces and armed opposition groups had committed summary executions. Officials from neither side of Myanmar’s conflict were available to comment. Koumjian emphasized that “no one has been held accountable for any crimes, which emboldens perpetrators and deepens the culture of impunity in the country.”
The IIMM’s mandate covers abuses in Myanmar dating back to 2011, including the military’s 2017 campaign against the mostly Muslim Rohingya, which forced hundreds of thousands of members of the ethnic minority to flee to Bangladesh. The mechanism is assisting international legal proceedings, including cases in Britain. However, the report warned that budget cuts at the UN could undermine its work, stating that “these financial pressures threaten the Mechanism’s ability to sustain its critical work and to continue supporting international and national justice efforts.”
The international community has expressed concern over the situation in Myanmar, with the UN estimating tens of thousands of people have been detained in efforts to crush dissent and bolster the military’s ranks. Last month, the leader of the military government, Min Aung Hlaing, ended a four-year state of emergency and appointed himself acting president before planned elections.