UN Human Rights briefing with Liz Throssell and James Rodehaver on Myanmar

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday published its latest report on the human rights situation in Myanmar, detailing a range of serious violations that continue to underscore the deepening crisis and lack of rule of law throughout the country.

“Since the coup on 1 February 2021, at least 5,350 civilians have been killed, more than 3.3 million displaced, and over half the population are living below the poverty line, primarily due to military violence, according to the report,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Liz Throssell said.

“The report looks at the devastating impact of the violence, destruction and deprivation on people’s mental health, as well as the regression in economic and social rights, which is precipitating further economic decline. At the same time young people, who provide the key to Myanmar’s future, are fleeing abroad to escape being forced to serve in or fight for the military,” Throssell said.

“The report also documents shocking details about detentions by the military. Nearly 27,400 individuals have been arrested since the coup, with arrests on the rise since the military’s implementation of mandatory conscription in February 2024. Credible sources say at least 1,853 have died in custody, including 88 children and 125 women,” she said.

“In the light of the above findings, High Commissioner Volker Türk calls on the UN Security Council refer the full scope of the current situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. He reiterates his calls for an end to the violence and for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained,” she stated.

James Rodehaver, the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team, made the following comments on the findings of the report:

“There is a real deterioration due to violence and armed conflict in the country. The other side of that coin, however, is that there are massive regressions in human rights that have been provoked by a vacuum of rule of law. And that is something that the report tries to highlight, in great detail. It is how the Myanmar military has created the crisis by instrumentalizing the legal system criminalizing nearly all forms of dissent against its attempts to rule the country,” he said.

“But then, of course, you have what happens to those people once they are arrested? It is lengthy periods of pretrial detention in detention facilities that have horrific conditions. And then, of course, you have the pervasive use of torture and ill treatment. 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,” Rodehaver stated.

“The introduction of animals such as snakes or insects or other. Wild animals in order to provoke fear and terror in individuals. Beating people with iron poles, bamboo sticks, batons, rifle butts, leather strips, electric wires, motorcycle chains, asphyxiation, mock executions, electrocution and burning with tasers, lighters, cigarettes and boiling water. Truly, some of the most depraved behavior utilized as methods of torture in these detention centres,” he said.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or

Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or

Seif Magango: +41 79 752 0488 / seif.magango@un.org

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