There is a growing body of evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed in Burma since the February 2021 coup, UN investigators said on Tuesday (August 9th). In its annual report, the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Burma emphasizes that women and children are particularly targeted.
“There is ample evidence that since the military takeover in February 2021, crimes have been committed in Burma on a scale and in a manner that constitutes a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population”, the organization said in a statement. Created by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018, this investigative mechanism aims to gather evidence on the most serious crimes for possible criminal proceedings.
“The perpetrators of these crimes must know that they cannot continue to act with impunity. We are collecting and preserving the evidence so that they will one day be held to account”highlighted Nicholas Koumjian, head of the organization. According to information available to UN investigators, “Sexual and gender-based crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as crimes against children have been perpetrated by members of the security forces and armed groups”. The report states that children were tortured, recruited and arbitrarily detained.