(Corrects acronym of U.N. team to IIMM from IIIM in paragraphs 2 and throughout)
By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -United Nations investigators said on Tuesday they have found evidence of systematic torture by Myanmar security forces and identified some of the 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, strangulations 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 Mechanism 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.
A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-backed government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 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 says it has a duty to ensure peace and security. It has denied atrocities have taken place and has blamed “terrorists” for causing unrest.
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.
The list of perpetrators identified so far includes high-level commanders, the report said. An IIMM spokesperson declined to name them, saying investigations are ongoing and it wanted to avoid alerting the individuals.
The report also said that both Myanmar security forces and opposition armed groups had carried out summary executions in the conflict, and it had identified those responsible.
A government spokesperson and an opposition spokesperson were not immediately available for comment.
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 in an attempt to silence opponents and recruit soldiers, 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 both crimes committed against the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017 when hundreds of thousands were forced to flee a military crackdown and violations affecting all groups since the coup.
The IIMM said that it is supporting several jurisdictions investigating the alleged crimes, such as Britain. However, the IIMM said in its report that U.N. budget cuts are threatening its work. “These financial pressures threaten the Mechanism’s ability to sustain its critical work and to continue supporting international and national justice efforts,” it said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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