UN rights monitors warn of Myanmar atrocities

The ongoing war in Myanmar between the ruling junta and armed ethnic groups has led to widespread abuses and systematic atrocities, including torture, sexual violence, and attacks where civilians were “the target”, according to a UN rights probe.

In an address to the Human Rights Council, Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), said the situation is particularly bad in Rakhine State, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are caught in the crossfire between the military rulers and the Arakan Army, the largest and most well-known armed ethnic group in the country.

“They have been directly targeted and thousands forcibly displaced from their homes,” Koumjian said.

Rakhine was the site of a brutal military crackdown by the former government in 2017 that led more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, and now activists and residents warn of a similar situation, with both sides now being accused of abuses against the long-persecuted Rohingya minority.

Adding to the troubles for the Rohingya is the fact that Bangladesh, which is facing its own crisis after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled last month, has increased border security in an effort to keep out Rohingya refugees.

Koumjian also warned of airstrikes, almost entirely carried out by the junta, on everywhere from IDP camps to weddings, schools, and monasteries. Though Western countries have imposed jet fuel sanctions against the military, activists say those sanctions are not being properly implemented, despite the clear evidence of their toll on civilians.

“Just last week, airstrikes near a night market in northern Shan state reportedly killed about a dozen people, including a pregnant woman and two children,” Koumjian said.

He said his group had also received reports of abuses carried out while people have been detained: “Victims and witnesses have recounted beatings, electric shocks, strangulations and torture by pulling out fingernails with pliers. There is evidence that minors and other victims of all genders have been subjected to gang rape, burns on sexual body parts and other violent sexual and gender-based crimes.”

For more context and background, read our coverage on Myanmar here.