Myanmar’s military intensified air attacks on civilians before an election held last December and January, and all sides in the country’s civil war committed war crimes and serious abuses, including torture and sexual violence in the past year, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday.
Aerial Attacks and Abuses
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said it had documented a pattern of deliberate aerial attacks on homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings, and camps for internally displaced people. There was a notable escalation in aerial attacks in the months preceding the elections.
The military increasingly used low-cost paramotors, gyrocopters, and drones to conduct low-altitude strikes with unguided explosives, it said, adding that it was investigating incidents in Sagaing Region in which pilots allegedly cut their engines before reaching targets, allowing them to glide silently and giving civilians little warning.
Investigators also gathered extensive evidence of arbitrary detention, torture, and sexual violence in military-run facilities, including alleged physical and sexualized torture and deaths in custody, the IIMM said.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
