War Crimes by Myanmar military Escalating in Myanmar, UN warns
The Myanmar military is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity at an increasingly alarming rate, according to a report by United Nations investigators. The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) detailed a sharp rise in systematic torture, gang rape, and abuses against children under the military government that seized power in a coup in 2021.
The IIMM's report highlighted that more than three million people have been displaced in the last six months alone as the conflict escalates. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the IIMM, stated that substantial evidence has been collected showing "horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity" across Myanmar.
The annual report from the IIMM noted a significant escalation in the conflict over the past year, with an increase in the frequency and severity of crimes committed across the country. UN monitors have uncovered numerous war crimes, including aerial attacks on civilian targets like schools, religious buildings, and hospitals. Other atrocities documented include beheadings and the public display of disfigured and sexually mutilated bodies.
The report also detailed the unlawful imprisonment of perceived opponents of the military government, with thousands of people arrested, many of whom were tortured or killed in detention. The methods of torture described in the report are particularly gruesome, involving electric shocks, the removal of fingernails with pliers, and setting detainees alight after dousing them in petrol. The IIMM found that these crimes, including rape, were perpetrated against all genders and even children.
The military junta, which took power by overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, has been accused of violently suppressing resistance from ethnic rebel groups and pro-democracy forces. While the report primarily focuses on the military's crimes, it also acknowledges that armed groups fighting against the military have committed crimes as well.
The findings of the IIMM are based on a vast collection of 28 million pieces of information from 900 sources, further underscoring the severity and widespread nature of the atrocities being committed in Myanmar.
