Myanmar: UN investigators document deliberate military attacks on civilians
Why the Myanmar crisis matters Civilians under fire: airstrikes on homes, schools, hospitals. airstrikes on homes, schools, hospitals. Abuses continue: torture, arbitrary detention and sexual
Why the Myanmar crisis matters Civilians under fire: airstrikes on homes, schools, hospitals. airstrikes on homes, schools, hospitals. Abuses continue: torture, arbitrary detention and sexual violence documented. torture, arbitrary detention and sexual violence documented. Evidence preserved: information from more than 1,600 sources gathered to support prosecutions. The findings come in the annual report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), covering July 2025 to June 2026, published Tuesday. "One of the areas that we're concentrating on is, because of the suffering that's happening in Myanmar, are the airstrikes [against communities] that are occurring...We're looking at the command structure and how the orders would be given for such airstrikes," said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Mechanism. "In particular there are many airstrikes targeting, hitting schools. Children are often the victims of these airstrikes and also hospitals. So our team is collecting that evidence of where it has occurred, the kind of munitions that are used." Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military seized power in February 2021, overthrowing the civilian government and arresting top leaders including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
The coup also triggered nationwide protests and subsequent armed resistance movements which control large swathes of the fractured country. Relentless attacks Attacks intensified in the run-up to elections completed in January and have not let up since, the report found. Investigators traced strikes on homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and displacement camps, and identified some of the military units responsible. They also found the military's growing use of motorised power gliders and drones has made attacks harder for civilians to see coming, cutting the time people have to flee or find shelter. © UNOPS/KMT Lives devastated “Behind every piece of evidence we collect are people whose lives have been devastated by these crimes,” said Mr. Koumjian. “Communities across Myanmar are not only living under the constant threat of violence but are also coping with the profound and lasting impact of what they have endured.” Investigators also documented widespread torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities, including cases tied to a 2025 law that criminalizes criticism of the elections – under which people have been jailed for up to 20 years, or face the death penalty, for acts as minor as posting critical comments online.
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