Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, UN report says

U.N. investigators said on Tuesday they have found evidence of systematic torture by Myanmar security forces and identified some of the most senior perpetrators.

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), formed in 2018 to analyse evidence of serious violations of international law, said victims were subject to beatings, electric shocks, gang rape, strangulation and other forms of torture like the removal of fingernails with pliers.

“We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” said Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the IIMM, in a statement accompanying a 16-page report.

The torture sometimes resulted in death, the report said. Children, who are often unlawfully detained as proxies for their missing parents, were among those tortured, it said.