UN investigators reveal systematic torture in Myanmar detention centres

A United Nations-backed investigative team has uncovered significant evidence of systemic torture and sexual violence in Myanmar's detention facilities over the past year, including electric shocks, strangulation, gang rape, and burning of sexual body parts.

Nicholas Koumjian, head of the international independent investigative team, made the disclosure as his team released its latest annual report on Tuesday, covering the period up to June 30.

Myanmar has been engulfed in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, sparking a civil war. Following the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country remain embroiled in conflict.

The investigation has made progress in identifying security personnel involved in operations at detention centres, as well as perpetrators who have summarily executed captured combatants and civilians accused of collaboration. The perpetrators include members of security forces, affiliated militias, and opposition armed groups.

The report details documented abuses such as beatings, electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts, and other forms of sexual violence in Myanmar's detention facilities.

"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."

He added, "We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities."

The team has also launched new investigations into atrocities against communities in Rakhine state, where Myanmar's military and the opposition Arakan Army are battling for control.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017 to escape persecution, with around 70,000 more crossing the border last year amid intensified conflict in Rakhine.

The Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar, established in 2018 under the UN Human Rights Council, collects and preserves evidence of human rights abuses and violations in Myanmar. It has shared evidence with authorities at the International Criminal Court and the UN's International Court of Justice concerning the Rohingya cases.