UN Report Reveals Systematic Torture by Myanmar Security Forces

A United Nations-backed investigative team led by Nicholas Koumjian has revealed substantial evidence of systematic torture in Myanmar's detention centers over the past year, including beatings, electric shocks, strangulation, gang rape, and burning of sexual body parts. The report implicates senior military commanders and militia groups as perpetrators and documents abuses against children, some detained unlawfully as proxies for their parents. Despite more than two dozen requests for information and access, Myanmar's military-backed government has not responded, continuing to deny atrocities and blaming unrest on "terrorists." The findings are based on over 1,300 sources, including eyewitness testimonies, forensic analysis, photographs, and documents, detailing a grim escalation of violence since the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected civilian government. The report also highlights summary executions committed by both government forces and armed opposition groups amid ongoing ethnic and territorial conflicts, particularly in Rakhine state where the military and the Arakan Army vie for control. The UN investigative team continues its probe with the goal of holding perpetrators accountable in a court of law.