Latest news with #Koumjian
The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Junta accused of routine torture
In ruins: A building destroyed in a bombardment carried out by the military on April 19 in Thabeikkyin township, Mandalay region. Koumjian says that the IIMM had observed 'a continued rise in the frequency and brutality of atrocities' while making 'progress in identifying the perpetrators.' — AFP UN investigators say they have recorded 'systematic' torture in Myanmar's military-run detention facilities including beatings, electric shocks and gang rape. Myanmar has been in a civil war since the military deposed the civilian government in a 2021 coup, with troops fighting an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic armed groups. The fighting has been accompanied by a crackdown which has seen nearly 30,000 people arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitor group. A report by the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said it had identified 'serious abuses during interrogations and in detention facilities'. A junta spokesman could not be reached for comment on the allegations laid out in an IIMM annual report released on Tuesday, drawing on testimony from nearly 600 eyewitnesses. It said there had been 'systematic commission' of torture including 'sexual slavery', the 'burning of sexual body parts with cigarettes or burned objects' and fingernails being pulled out with pliers. It also found evidence 'indicating that children – ranging from two to 17 years of age – have been detained, often as proxies for their parents'. 'Some of the detained children have been subjected to torture, ill-treatment or sexual and gender-based crimes,' it added. IIMM chief Nicholas Koumjian said the organisation had seen 'a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities' but had made 'headway in identifying the perpetrators'. 'We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law,' he added. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has already requested an arrest warrant for junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted and jailed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. That warrant request relates to alleged atrocities committed by the military on Myanmar's Rohingya minority in 2017. All sides in Myanmar's civil war have been accused of committing war crimes, and the IIMM report said it had also identified cases where opposition groups had committed summary executions of captives. — AFP
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, UN report says
United Nations 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,' Nicholas Koumjian, head of the IIMM, said in a statement accompanying the 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. In an email to Reuters, Myanmar's military government said it was conducting 'security measures' lawfully and did not illegally arrest, torture or execute innocent civilians. It said 'terrorists' were responsible for torture and killings. The military-backed government has not responded to over two dozen requests by the U.N. team for information about the alleged crimes and requests to access the country, the U.N. report said. The military's response to Reuters did not address the U.N. allegation. The findings in the report covering a one-year period through to June 30 were based on information from more than 1,300 sources, including hundreds of eyewitness testimonies as well as forensic evidence, documents and photographs. Perpetrators identified so far include high-level commanders, the report said, although names were withheld due to ongoing investigations and concerns about alerting the individuals. Investigators focused on torture partly because many victims were able to identify perpetrators individually which Koumjian, a former prosecutor, said could help with future convictions. 'People often know the names or they certainly know the faces of those who torture them or who torture their friends,' Koumjian told reporters in Geneva. Myanmar has been in chaos since a 2021 military coup against an elected civilian government plunged the country into civil war. Tens of thousands of people have been detained since then, the United Nations says. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ended a four-year state of emergency last month and announced the formation of a new government, with himself as acting president, ahead of a planned election. The IIMM is investigating abuses in Myanmar since 2011, including crimes committed against the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017 when hundreds of thousands were forced to flee a military crackdown, and those affecting all groups since the coup. The IIMM is supporting jurisdictions investigating the alleged crimes, such as Britain and the International Criminal Court. However, Koumjian said U.N. budget cuts threaten its work. Donations for its research on sexual violence and crimes against children as well as funding for witness security are set to run out at year-end, he said. 'All of this would have a very substantial effect on our ability to continue to document the crimes and provide evidence that will be useful to jurisdictions prosecuting these cases,' he said.
Nikkei Asia
2 days ago
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, UN report says
GENEVA (Reuters) -- United Nations 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 analyze 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," Nicholas Koumjian, head of the IIMM, said in a statement accompanying the 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. In an email to Reuters, Myanmar's military government said it was conducting "security measures" lawfully and did not illegally arrest, torture or execute innocent civilians. It said "terrorists" were responsible for torture and killings. The military-backed government has not responded to over two dozen requests by the U.N. team for information about the alleged crimes and requests to access the country, the U.N. report says. The military's response to Reuters did not address the U.N. allegation. The findings in the report cover one year through to June 30 and are based on information from more than 1,300 sources, including hundreds of eyewitnesses. Forensic evidence, documents and photographs were also used. Perpetrators identified so far include high-level commanders, the report says, although names were withheld due to ongoing investigations and concerns about alerting the individuals. Investigators focused on torture partly because many victims were able to identify perpetrators individually, which Koumjian, a former prosecutor, said could help with future convictions. "People often know the names or they certainly know the faces of those who torture them or who torture their friends," Koumjian told reporters in Geneva. Myanmar has been in chaos since a 2021 military coup against an elected civilian government plunged the country into civil war. Tens of thousands of people have been detained since then, the United Nations says. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ended a four-year state of emergency last month and announced the formation of a new government, with himself as acting president, ahead of a planned election. The IIMM is investigating abuses in Myanmar since 2011, including crimes committed against the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017, when hundreds of thousands were forced to flee a military crackdown, and those affecting all groups since the coup. The IIMM is supporting jurisdictions investigating the alleged crimes, such as Britain and the International Criminal Court. However, Koumjian said U.N. budget cuts threaten the IIMM's work. Donations for its research on sexual violence and crimes against children as well as funding for witness security are set to run out at year-end, he said. "All of this," he said, "would have a very substantial effect on our ability to continue to document the crimes and provide evidence that will be useful to jurisdictions prosecuting these cases."
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Myanmar junta is detaining and torturing children as young as 2, U.N. report says
U.N.-backed investigators say they have found significant evidence of 'systematic torture' at Myanmar detention centers, where the military government is holding children as young as 2 years old as proxies for their parents. The Southeast Asian nation of about 54 million people has been mired in turmoil since 2021, when democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military. The coup set off mass protests across the country that were violently suppressed, followed by a nationwide armed resistance movement that has displaced millions of people. Investigators said Tuesday there was evidence of 'a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities' across Myanmar, with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by government security forces and affiliated militias as well as armed opposition groups. That includes an increase in crimes committed against those in detention, many of whom are being held without due process, said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. 'We've documented torture against those in detention, including beatings and electric shocks, strangulations, pulling out fingernails, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence,' he told reporters in Geneva as his team released its annual report. Koumjian said investigators had seen evidence that children as young as 2 years old were being detained, often in place of their parents if they are accused of being associated with the opposition and cannot be found. 'Some of the detained children have been subjected to torture, ill-treatment or sexual and gender-based crimes,' the report says. Myanmar's military government has detained about 30,000 people in the past four years, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that tracks arrests in the country. The Myanmar military could not be reached for comment. It has denied any atrocities are taking place and blamed 'terrorists' for unrest. The 16-page report, which covers a one-year period up to June 30, draws on more than 1,300 sources, including nearly 600 eyewitness testimonies, photographs, videos, documents, maps and forensic evidence. Koumjian said the Myanmar military appeared to be increasing its use of airstrikes as it loses control of more territory. They continued even after a devastating earthquake in March, he said, often against 'blatantly civilian targets' such as schools, hospitals and places of worship. 'Often there's no military target that we can identify anywhere in the area that could have been the intent of the airstrike,' he said. Koumjian said investigators were working to determine how the airstrikes were ordered, who was in the chain of command and who flew the planes. In addition, he said, there is growing evidence of crimes committed by opposition forces, including summary executions of captured fighters from other armed groups. The team is also still investigating the 2017 Rohingya refugee crisis, during which more than 700,000 people from the mostly Muslim ethnic minority fled a military crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh. Along with other ethnic groups, the remaining Rohingya population is again in danger as they are persecuted by the Arakan Army rebel group that now has effective control of Rakhine state, their ancestral home. Koumjian said investigators had made progress in identifying some of the people responsible for crimes in Myanmar, including commanders overseeing detention facilities, and that 'we stand ready to support any jurisdictions willing and able to prosecute these crimes.' 'We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law,' he said in a news release. The work of Myanmar investigators is already being used in cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice and in Argentina. In November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar's military government, for crimes committed against the Rohingya. Min Aung Hlaing tightened his grip on power last month in an administrative restructuring as the junta said it was ending the state of emergency it declared in 2021. A general election is planned for December but faces a widespread boycott by critics who say it will be neither free nor fair.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Myanmar: Children among those tortured by security forces, says UN report
Children were among those tortured, often detained as stand-ins for missing parents. Some torture resulted in death, according to the 16-page report released Tuesday read more Myanmar's junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. (Photo: Reuters) United Nations investigators say they have uncovered extensive evidence of systematic torture in Myanmar's detention facilities, including against children, and have identified senior military figures as perpetrators. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), set up in 2018 to collect and analyse evidence of serious international crimes, said victims were subjected to beatings, electric shocks, gang rape, strangulation and other abuse such as the removal of fingernails with pliers. Some torture resulted in death, according to the 16-page report released Tuesday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Children were among those tortured, often detained as stand-ins for missing parents. 'We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,' IIMM head Nicholas Koumjian said in a statement. Perpetrators include senior commanders Based on more than 1,300 sources, including hundreds of eyewitness accounts, forensic evidence, documents and photographs, investigators identified high-ranking commanders among the alleged perpetrators. Names have been withheld while inquiries continue to avoid alerting suspects. Koumjian said torture was a focus because victims often recognised their abusers, potentially aiding future prosecutions. 'People often know the names or they certainly know the faces of those who torture them or who torture their friends,' he told reporters in Geneva. Myanmar's military-backed authorities have not responded to more than two dozen UN requests for information or for access to the country. The junta has denied committing atrocities, blaming unrest on what it calls 'terrorists.' Wider context of abuses Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February 2021 coup against an elected civilian government triggered a nationwide uprising and civil war. Tens of thousands have been detained, the UN says. Last month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ended a four-year state of emergency, installed himself as acting president and announced plans for an election. The IIMM is investigating abuses dating back to 2011, including crimes against the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017, and post-coup violations affecting all ethnic groups. The body supports proceedings in jurisdictions such as Britain and the International Criminal Court. Funding at risk Koumjian warned that UN budget cuts threaten the mechanism's work. Funding for research on sexual violence, crimes against children and witness protection could run out by year's end without fresh donations, he said. With inputs from Reuters
