Amnesty International denounces torture and ill-treatment of detainees by the military junta in Burma

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The NGO Amnesty International (AI) has denounced on Tuesday the torture and inhuman treatment suffered on a “routine” basis by people detained in prisons and interrogation centers at the hands of the Armed Forces of Burma a year and a half after the February coup. of 2021.

After interviewing more than fifteen people since last March, the organization has documented the “horrible experiences of people arrested” by the Burmese military junta. Since the coup, more than 14,500 people have been arrested, according to data from the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).

In a statement, Amnesty has denounced that many of them are arrested without arrest warrants and are forced to confess through tools such as torture and ill-treatment. In addition, they are threatened with reprisals, such as harming their loved ones or carrying out forced disappearances.

“Burma has gone to unimaginable levels of brutal treatment of detainees as part of its strategy to get them to crumble and leave the resistance,” AI Secretary General Agnès Callamard said.

However, he has said, this is having “the opposite effect”. “People continue to resist despite the violations, even if executions are carried out,” like the ones last weekend.

“As a matter of urgency, the Burmese Army must release thousands of people who are detained simply for exercising their rights, and allow them to return to their families,” he said.

To do this, he stressed, the United Nations Security Council must “increase pressure on the Burmese Army, either through the International Criminal Court (ICC), with an arms embargo or with specific sanctions.”

The document indicates that the investigations carried out by the NGO have made it possible to obtain data on beatings against detainees, who have also been electrocuted. Many of them have denounced having suffered psychological torture, such as death threats and rape, in order to confess information about activities contrary to the military coup.

“When they found us sleeping, they beat us. If they saw us sitting, they beat us. They put their rifles to our heads and threatened to kill us at any moment,” said a student arrested in the Magwe region.

Ma Kyu, arrested in Karenni state for protesting against the coup, has indicated that the police warned her that “he could kill her after the arrest”. “We don’t even need to take you to prison,” they said, just as she has explained.

Amnesty has warned that some members of the security forces committed sexual crimes against the detainees. Saw Han Nway, a transgender woman who was arrested in September 2021, has gained notoriety due to the severe torture suffered after her arrest.

“When I used feminine pronouns to refer to myself, they told me I was gay and made me show my male genitalia,” she lamented.

Yet despite the harrowing experiences of many of those detained, many insist that they will never give up. “We’re like cell phones. We recharge once we run out of battery,” Nway said.