MYANMAR The regime’s hidden abuses against women in Burmese prisons

Arbitrary arrests, humiliating searches, denial of pre- or postnatal care: a report by the International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva-based NGO, describes testimonies and complaints about a “specific” aspect of the generals’ repression in the three years since the coup. More than 1,500 women are still in prison for political reasons in Myanmar.

Bangkok () – The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a non-governmental organisation founded in 1952 and based in Geneva, has released a document shedding light on a hitherto little-considered aspect of the repression in Myanmar since the military coup on 1 February 2021.

Based on the testimony of women deprived of their liberty by the regime and of lawyers and activists who have so far sought to protect their rights and dignity, Unseen and Unheard: Violations of the Human Rights of Women Deprived of Liberty in Myanmar is an indictment of the physical and psychological punishments inflicted on many Burmese women of various ethnic origins who were arrested or imprisoned. As of 20 June – testifies the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma – nearly 4,000 were still detained and 1,528 of them were convicted on false charges. It is a document that can also be used by those who are called upon to prove and judge the accusation of genocide that has already been made against the Burmese regime.

“After arbitrarily arresting and imprisoning women and girls for legitimate activism, Myanmar’s military subjected them to abhorrent acts of gender-based violence that constitute serious human rights violations and crimes under international law. These crimes include torture and ill-treatment of female prisoners intentionally deprived of their liberty to cause pain and suffering, and as a tool to crush dissent,” said Melissa Upreti, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

The list of abuses described includes beatings, sexual violence and humiliating body searches; discipline that is often excessive and violent, including solitary confinement; denial of necessary hygiene and health products; denial of care, including pre- and post-natal care. The possibility of ensuring real justice for women who suffer unjust detention and abuse in Burmese prisons is virtually non-existent, and efforts by those who have tried to take legal action over cases of torture and other unlawful procedures during interrogation – as well as general conditions of imprisonment – have come to nothing.

The ICJ has therefore called on the military junta to immediately stop violating the rights of women deprived of their liberty because they oppose its control, but has also called on the relevant UN agencies – as well as the diplomats of the organisation’s member states and experts in international law – to strengthen their commitment to documentation and reporting in order to support this part of the Burmese resistance that has so far remained invisible.