Myanmar military committing war crimes at ‘alarming’ rate, UN warns

UN investigators say more than three million people have been displaced in Myanmar’s escalating conflict in the last six months.

Crimes against humanity and war crimes by Myanmar’s military have escalated at an “alarming” rate, United Nations investigators have warned.

Systematic torture, gang rape and abuses against children have increased under the military government, the UN body investigating human rights violations in the country said in a report on Tuesday.

Investigators said that more than three million people have been forced to flee their homes in the last six months, as the continuing conflict intensifies since the 2021 coup.

“We have collected substantial evidence showing horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar,” said Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM).

In its annual report, the IIMM said the conflict in Myanmar had “escalated substantially” in the past year, “with reports of more frequent and brutal crimes committed across the country”.

More violent war crimes have been uncovered by the UN monitors, ranging from aerial attacks on schools, religious buildings and hospitals that are not military targets, to beheadings and public displays of disfigured and sexually mutilated bodies.

The investigators are also examining the unlawful imprisonment of perceived opponents of the military government.