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The latest report from UN investigators on Myanmar is one of the most harrowing yet. It documents the systematic use of torture by the junta’s security forces in prisons and interrogation centers across the country. What is especially horrifying is that children are among the victims. Some are targeted with electric shocks and sexual violence. Others are arrested as proxies for their parents, brutalized to extract information or as a warning to entire communities.
This is not just another story of a repressive regime. These are gross violations of international law and, in some cases, they amount to crimes against humanity. Torture of detainees has long been a feature of authoritarian rule, but what is happening in Myanmar is now widespread, coordinated and openly documented. It is meant to terrorize the population into submission at a time when the junta is losing control of much of the country to armed resistance.
The first key questions that arise from this report are simple: what exactly does it reveal and why does it matter?
Investigators gathered testimonies from survivors and defectors, detailing practices including electric shocks to the genitals, burning with heated metal rods, the pulling out of fingernails and prolonged beatings. Victims described being forced to kneel for hours on sharp objects or having plastic bags tied over their heads until they nearly suffocated. The accounts also show that women and girls are subjected to sexual assault in detention as a method of humiliation and coercion.
Children are perhaps the most shocking victims. Some were detained in place of missing parents who were wanted for their political activity. Others were swept up in mass arrests after protests. The psychological scars inflicted on these young people will endure long after Myanmar’s conflict ends.
The UN investigators concluded that this torture is not the result of rogue soldiers acting on their own initiative. Rather, it is a deliberate policy, orchestrated at the highest levels of the junta’s security apparatus. It is systematic, organized and designed to suppress dissent through fear. That makes it more than just a human rights violation. It is a crime under international law.
It is meant to terrorize the population into submission at a time when the junta is losing control of much of the country.
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
The next, more difficult, question is: what can be done about it?
Myanmar’s generals have faced international condemnation before, most notably after the campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017. That episode drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh, where they remain in refugee camps today. And yet, despite widespread recognition of the atrocity, not a single senior general has been held accountable. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have ongoing cases, but justice moves slowly while the victims continue to suffer.
This impunity has emboldened the junta. They know the global community has limited tools and even less political will to enforce accountability. Statements of concern are issued and sanctions are applied piecemeal, but no concerted international strategy has ever emerged to hold Myanmar’s military leaders to account.
What should happen now is clear. First, governments must use the UN report as a basis for renewed action at the Security Council and the Human Rights Council. Even if China or Russia block binding resolutions, the evidence should be referred directly to international courts and prosecutors. There is already a case at The Hague brought by Gambia on behalf of the Rohingya. This new evidence should be added to strengthen charges of crimes against humanity.
Second, sanctions must be targeted not only at senior military figures but also at the networks of companies and cronies who fund the junta’s repression. Arms sales, aviation fuel and access to foreign currency are all lifelines that allow the generals to maintain their grip. Cutting these off is essential.
Third, regional actors, especially Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, must break their silence. For too long, the region’s states have treated Myanmar’s crisis as an internal affair. But the torture of children and widespread atrocities cannot be brushed aside as domestic politics. It undermines the entire region’s credibility and stability. Neighboring countries must push harder for humanitarian access and begin exploring options for accountability.
Finally, civil society and diaspora groups must be empowered to document, advocate and sustain pressure. The voices of survivors should be amplified, not silenced. International media and human rights organizations need to ensure that these stories do not fade into obscurity.
The stakes are far greater than Myanmar’s domestic politics. When the world tolerates torture of children and systematic abuse by a military regime, it signals to other authoritarian leaders that they can act with impunity. It corrodes the entire international system that is meant to protect basic human dignity.
The people of Myanmar have shown remarkable courage in resisting the junta’s brutality. Despite massacres, airstrikes and torture, the opposition movement has not been extinguished. That resilience deserves more than sympathy. It demands action.
The UN’s new report has given us the evidence. The question is whether the international community has the resolve to act. Failure to respond will not just betray Myanmar’s children, it will erode the credibility of international law everywhere.
As we watch this tragedy unfold, we should remember that silence is complicity. The torture chambers of Myanmar are not hidden. They are open for the world to see. The only question is whether the world will choose to look away.
• Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC.
X: @AzeemIbrahim