UN report describes torture and death of hundreds in custody since Myanmar coup
Metadata
- UN report describes torture and death of hundreds in custody since Myanmar coup
- September 18, 2024
- Article Body Text <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At least 1,853 people have died in military custody, including 88 children and 125 women, since Myanmar’s military coup – many after being tortured – according to a new U.N. report on the situation of human rights in the country.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Released detainees described a litany of abuses, from being beaten with iron poles and motorcycle chains and being forced to kneel on sharp objects to being raped or getting their fingernails ripped out.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The violence is yet another example of </span><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/profiles-in-tragedy-03042023102206.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">atrocities committed by the junta</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> since taking over the country in a February 2021 coup d’etat, in addition to those perpetrated on civilians across the country.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The number of deaths in custody amounts to an average of four people dying every day for over three years, representing 35% of 5,350 total verified civilian deaths since the coup, said the </span><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5756-situation-human-rights-myanmar-report-united-nations-high"><span style="font-weight: 400;">report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, published Tuesday by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.</span></p> <p></p> <figure><img alt="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-002.JPG" class="image-richtext image-inline" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/20240917-myanmar-un-human-rights-002.jpg/@@images/c8180358-964a-4930-b8d3-c78b31beecce.jpeg" title="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-002.JPG"/> <figcaption>Elizabeth Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (Daniel Johnson/UN News)</figcaption> </figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report found that, within the context of raids or ground operations, killings generally occurred within the initial 48 hours of detention, listing “point-blank headshots, executions of handcuffed individuals, and burning of people” as the most common causes of deaths.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A lack of access, communications restrictions and possible military attempts at concealing deaths mean that the number could be higher, it added.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In formal places of detention, most deaths resulted from ill-treatment or lack of adequate healthcare, it said, adding that numerous interviews confirmed deaths of detainees during interrogation, and noted that officials had cremated bodies, “which could conceal the fact of death and destroy other evidence.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><b>Gruesome list</b></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The U.N. Human Rights Office found that torture and ill-treatment in military custody “has continued to be pervasive,” including both physical and psychological abuse, by officials attempting to obtain information or as punishment.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Detainees interviewed by our Office described methods, such as being suspended from the ceiling without food or water; being forced to kneel or crawl on hard or sharp objects; use of snakes and insects to instill fear; beatings with iron poles, bamboo sticks, batons, rifle butts, leather strips, electric wires and motorcycle chains; asphyxiation, mock executions; electrocution and burning with tasers, lighters, cigarettes, and boiling water; spraying of methylated substances on open wounds; cutting of body parts and pulling of fingernails,” the report said.</span></p> <hr/> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">RELATED STORIES</span></p> <p><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/profiles-in-tragedy-03042023102206.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">PROFILES IN TRAGEDY: Lives snuffed out by Myanmar’s junta</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/myanmar-junta-civil-war-gen-z-rebel-09172024133528.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/yangon-guerilla-min-aung-hlaing-plot-07182024065200.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Myanmar anti-junta activists accused of assassination plot die in custody, group says</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/myanmar-female-prisoners-06182024065146.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guards beat dozens of female political prisoners in Myanmar</span></a></p> <hr/> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">RFA Burmese spoke with Ah Hla Lay Thuzar, a freelance journalist who was arrested and imprisoned for two years after the coup, who detailed his own torture in detention at the hands of his junta captors.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I was beaten five times on both thighs with bamboo sticks,” he said. “The pain from the beatings was so intense that I can’t even recall their threats. The strikes with the bamboo sticks still hurt, as my thighs have become too swollen and stiff to touch."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sexual violence is also common in detention, the U.N. report said, “including rape, and sexualized torture or ill-treatment, including forced nudity in front of others.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Vaginal and anal rape, whether committed by an individual or multiple perpetrators, penetration with foreign objects, invasive vaginal searches of women detainees, threats of sexual violence, and sexual humiliation were commonly reported,” it said.</span></p> <p></p> <p><b>Brutal conditions</b></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to the daily threat of abuse, released prisoners regularly reported “deteriorating conditions and deplorable treatment” in detention centers.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Interviewees released from 12 prisons across nine states and regions described poorly ventilated cells, often at double capacity with no space to lie down or move around.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Detainees were denied the ability to maintain personal hygiene, physical exercise or religious observance.</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Numerous interviewees described having to eat rotten or half-cooked food, and drink contaminated water, including from toilets containing feces and insects,” the report said.</span></p> <p></p> <figure><img alt="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-003.JPG" class="image-richtext image-inline" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/20240917-myanmar-un-human-rights-003-1.jpg/@@images/f5923ec0-338c-44b1-aed2-4f9bfe92950d.jpeg" title="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-003.JPG"/> <figcaption>Debris and soot cover the floor of a middle school in Let Yet Kone village in Tabayin township in the Sagaing region of Myanmar on Sept. 17, 2022, the day after an airstrike hit the school. (AP)</figcaption> </figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Additionally, prisons lacked medical supplies, qualified medical staff, and only stocked basic medicines, “which often could only be obtained through payments or bribes to guards.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zu Zu May Yoon, the founder of the Women's Organization of Political Prisoners, told RFA that during the COVID-19 pandemic her elderly aunt died in a prison hospital from a heart attack “because she did not receive the timely and effective treatment she urgently needed, especially oxygen.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another woman, suffering from kidney disease, died in the hospital ward of the same prison “because she was denied proper treatment, even though she showed symptoms requiring an urgent CT scan.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And in another case, she said, a pregnant political prisoner “lost her baby in the womb due to delayed care after her water broke during labor."</span></p> <p></p> <p><b>Call for accountability</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a statement accompanying its report, the U.N. Human Rights Office called for those responsible for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law to be held accountable.</span></p> <p></p> <figure><img alt="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-004.JPG" class="image-richtext image-inline" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/myanmar-torture-death-custody-09182024160806.html/20240917-myanmar-un-human-rights-004.jpg/@@images/a917bdea-f1a8-4913-87b4-9e74ebb925ca.jpeg" title="20240917-MYANMAR-UN-HUMAN-RIGHTS-004.JPG"/> <figcaption>United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk looks on as he delivers a speech at the opening of the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, on September 9, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)</figcaption> </figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The lack of any form of accountability for perpetrators is an enabler for the repetition of violations, abuses and crimes,” the statement said. “It is essential that such behavior be clearly identified and deterred. Accountability for such violations must apply to all perpetrators.”</span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Based on the findings in the report, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk renewed his recommendation to the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained.</span></p> <p></p> <p><b><i>Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.</i></b></p>
- Content Type Text
- Language English
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
- Rights AP
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date September 18, 2024 16:37 EDT
- Byline By RFA Burmese
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English