Vibhu Mishra
Warfare in Myanmar has escalated into systematic atrocities, including attacks targeting civilians, torture and sexual violence, the UN independent rights probe into the country said on Monday.
Addressing the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), said that in many instances, civilians were “not just collateral damage but rather the target of attacks”.
“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,” he said, noting also aerial bombings that struck a wedding party, IDP camps, schools and monasteries.
He added that the Mechanism received many reports and testimonies regarding crimes against the thousands in detention, including torture and sexual assault.
“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.”
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