UN-backed investigators allege torture and sex crimes in Myanmar detention facilities
An investigator supported by the UN said that his team had presented significant evidence of “systemic torture” in myanmar detention centers, including electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape and combustion of parts of the sex body
Geneva – An investigator supported by the United Nations said that his team had revealed significant evidence of “systemic torture” in myanmar detention centers, including electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape and burn of the sex body in the past year.
Nicholas Koumjian spoke as an independent international team that he Heads published his latest annual report on Tuesday, focusing over a period of one year taking place until June 30.
Myanmar has been in disorder since the army took the power of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war. After peaceful demonstrations were put in force, many opponents of the military regime took up arms and large parts of the country are now involved in conflict.
The team said they had made progress in identifying security personnel involved in operations in detention facilities and “the authors who summarily executed captured combatants or civilians accused of being informants”. The authors understood security forces, affiliated militias and armed opposition groups, he said.
The report “details the documented torture in Myanmar detention installations which include boosts, electric shocks, strangulation, gang rape, a burn of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence,” said a summary of its conclusions.
“Our report highlights a continuous increase in the frequency and brutality of the atrocities committed in Myanmar,” said Koumjian. “We work towards the day the authors must respond to their actions in court.”
“We have discovered significant evidence, including testimonials from eye witnesses, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” he said.
His team has opened up new surveys on the atrocities committed against the communities of the State of Rakhine as soldiers and the opposition force known as the Arakane army battle for the control of the territory.
More than 700,000 people from the Rohingya minority fled to neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 to escape the Persecution in Myanmar. About 70,000 others crossed the border last year when the Arakan army actually resumed Rakhine.
The independent investigation mechanism of Myanmar has been working since 2018 since 2018 under a mandate from the UN Council supported by the UN to help to document rights violations and violations in the country since 2018.
He shared evidence with the authorities who plan to affect the Rohingyas at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.
