Human Rights Violations in Myanmar.

By:  Ary Adam

A land of mountains, tropical forests and Buddhism, but also a land of conflict, Myanmar, a country situated between India, China and Thailand, is a logistical hub between South Asia, East Asia and South-East Asia. This geographical location can be both a blessing and a curse. At present, the country is in the latter situation. Since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the country has been in a state of constant conflict. In addition to the obvious instability caused by decolonisation, this is due to a large and complex ethnic heterogeneity. Many of these groups are seeking total independence from Myanmar, while others want to seize power or increase their influence in the country. Some, specifically targeted by the various administrations that have governed the country, are simply trying to survive.

Despite this, there seemed to be a lull when, in 2015, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize awarded and descendant of the man who negotiated the country’s independence, Aung San Suu Kyi, came to power in democratic elections. After nearly 70 years of conflict and authoritarian or military regimes, a new era seemed to be dawning, an era of democracy and peace. However, this did not mean happiness and prosperity for all. Although support for the government was strong among the population, some ethnic groups were severely discriminated against. This is the case of the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority in a Buddhist country, originally from the state of Rakhine in the west of the country. Today, there are around 600,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, and their numbers have been more than halved, with over a million having taken refuge in Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern Bangladesh. This situation existed long before Aung San Suu Kyi was elected, but it flared up in 2012 and, let alone resolved, has continued under her government. The reason being that this ethnic group is not recognised as part of the Burmese nation, but as an ethnic Bangladeshi group that has illegally immigrated to Myanmar. Despite these few drawbacks for the ruling party, the November 2020 elections confirmed and even solidified Aung San Suu Kyi’s position as Prime Minister (82% of the vote).

But the joy was short-lived. Less than 3 months later, on 1 February 2021, a coup d’état orchestrated by the army and specifically its Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the government, including the Prime Minister and President, on the pretext of electoral fraud during the previous elections. These allegations, the veracity of which I will not judge, have never been proven by the military junta. The coup de facto made Min Aung Hlaing the new Prime Minister of Myanmar. The very next day, demonstrations and civil disobedience movements broke out all over the country, growing in strength over the following days, calling for the abolition of the new military dictatorship and the restoration of democracy. These peaceful actions were met with a severe and growing response from the new authorities in power, ranging from Internet blackouts to media censorship, and culminating in martial law and massacres of demonstrators. This situation of governmental instability also reignited the tensions between the various ethnic groups and their armies, reigniting a cycle of civil war.

Although very numerous and with different ideologies and objectives, ranging from independence to the gain of autonomy and from the fight for democracy to strict nationalism, most of them saw in the military junta a common enemy to fight. Despite this temporary union, there is little doubt that tensions between these ethnic armies will flare up again as soon as the situation is resolved, one way or the other.

A civil war… A civil war is never, at any time or in any place, beneficial to the population of a country, all the more so if we focus on respect for human rights. Human rights were set out in 1948 and adopted by almost all the countries of the world at the time, and are supposed to highlight the fundamental rights of every human being. However, no country in the world can claim to respect all of them. Some countries do better than others. Some countries find themselves in situations where respect for these rights is either not a priority or not even a desire. The latter is the current situation in Myanmar. Neither the junta in power nor the ethnic or political armies fighting against the former are concerned about the impact of their actions in relation to a text adopted 67 years ago. In this context of war, many human rights violations can be identified. We shall see later what the main ones are under the current regime. Despite this, it is important to stress that the government is not the only one to violate these rights, and that its opponents do not hesitate to commit crimes.

Military conflicts, synonymous with fighting and death, are also unquestionably associated with abuse. Military abuses can be committed against infrastructure or, more importantly, against civilian populations. The Burmese conflict is no exception. The abuses are countless and are exacerbating a situation that is already in an advanced state of hatred. First and foremost, there are attacks on important infrastructure, not only for the population but for the country as a whole. These attacks are a violent blow to the civilian populations who need them to survive in their respective places of life. It is also a moral attack on these people, who often lose everything they have built up over the course of their lives. Since the start of the war, it is estimated that more than 100,000 civilian homes have been destroyed in the country, 69% of them in the Sagaing region (North) alone (OHCHR, 2023). Public infrastructures such as hospitals and schools have not been spared either. According to the OHCHR Myanmar report of September 2024, there have been hundreds of attacks on health and education facilities, mainly in the Sagaing region and in the central regions of Rakhine, Magway, Mandalay and Shan (OHCHR, 2024).

Finally, it is possible to add to these abuses those committed against the population. The latter are general punishments against all those who support the rebels, those who demonstrate peacefully against the government or anyone who might be suspected of any crime. The first result was (and still is) arbitrary mass arrests. First against demonstrators who expressed their discontent with the coup d’état of February 2021, and then throughout the civil war. According to the latest reports from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 29,000 people have been arrested since the start of the conflict, of whom more than 22,000 are still being held (AAPP, 2025). Arbitrary arrests mean indiscriminate arrests. Men as well as women, children as well as the elderly are locked up. These arrests mainly took place in the regions of Mandalay and Yangoun as well as Sagaing. The first two regions are home to the country’s two largest cities, while the third region is the scene of most of the fighting and atrocities throughout the country. Needless to say, the conditions of detention are deplorable and the detainees suffer from the abuses of their jailers, ranging from negligence to the most inhuman forms of torture. I think it is important to quote the report of the Independent Investigation Mechanism for Myanmar on the abuses inflicted on prisoners to illustrate the scale of the problem: « The means of torture included : beatings […] electric shocks ; pulling out fingernails […] burning skin […] sleep deprivation […] dousing detainees in petrol and setting them alight […] breaking fingers » as well as sexual assaults on prisoners of all ages and sexes « rape (gang rape […] insertion of objects into anal and genitals openings ; burning of sexual body parts […] sexual humiliation […] sexualized torture, sexual mutilation […] sexual slavery. »

These conditions and treatment led to the deaths of just under 2,000 prisoners, the vast majority in the Sagaing region, representing around 30% of confirmed civilian victims inflicted by the Burmese junta (AAPP, 2025). Moreover, the abuses against civilians do not stop with the detainees, but also extend to those who, even according to the government, have committed no crime. The massive use of artillery and air strikes has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. And it’s not getting any easier. If we look at the OHCHR Myanmar report of September 2024, the number of air strikes more than tripled between the periods Jan 2022 to March 2023 and Apr2023 to June 2023, and the number of deaths increased almost tenfold. The number of artillery strikes increased by 50% over the same period, while the number of deaths tripled. These figures show not only that the war is far from over or calmed down, but also that with the intensification of the conflict, civilians are even more at risk and targeted by military forces. We can also add to this the use of indiscriminate weapons such as mines, which once laid can explode against anyone, even several years later. According to UNICEF figures, in 2024 alone, 537 incidents took place, with a total of 889 victims recorded. Most of these took place in Shan State (East), Sagaing State and Rakhine State (West).

In addition to these physical and moral abuses against civilians, the ruling junta has also introduced measures to increase its control over the population. Conscription, commonly used in wartime, was applied and involved 50,000 people every year, including all men aged between 18 and 35 and all women aged between 18 and 27 (The Irrawaddy, 2024). As support for the government was not immense and the will to fight weak, abductions or the detention of family members were used to force the cooperation of conscripts. However, this type of technique is a double-edged sword for the army, allowing them on the one hand to recruit new elements, but on the other to reinforce the hatred of some who prefer to turn to the armies of resistance. The junta also uses methods of repression against unarmed opposition and has increased its surveillance and control capabilities by using or banning the use of digital tools. For example, telephone and internet services are deliberately cut off and the use of VPNs banned to limit access to information. On the other hand, the use of a biometric electronic identity card is now required to leave the country (Human Rights Watch, 2025).

Finally, the government is blockading international aid sent to help the local population. For them, it makes no difference whether the aid is used for food, health, shelter or education. Humanitarian aid must be stopped in order to punish as many people as possible and increase their control over the regions. According to OCHA figures for 2024, more than 18.5 million people in the country are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Of these, 5.3 million were targeted to receive aid, but only less than a million were able to obtain it. This represents 18% of those targeted and 5% of those in need. It is also possible to look at the figures for funding required versus that actually received, the latter showing that only 5% of the funds required were received. This situation would already be dramatic in a war context, as it would weaken populations already suffering from the conditions and displacements caused by the fighting. Added to this is the fact that Myanmar’s geography exposes it to extreme environmental conditions such as cyclones, a number of which reach Myanmar every year, devastating infrastructure and people. Just like earthquakes, as the one on March 28^th showed. The combination of all these factors has led to the resurgence of diseases such as cholera, serious malnutrition problems, the collapse of infrastructure and the absence of an education system.

Although a major event, it has somehow slipped under the radar of the mainstream media and therefore of public attention. International chancelleries, although initially reactive, also considered this conflict to be a minor problem of our time, preferring to focus on others (ranging from COVID 19 to the wars in Ukraine or Gaza). Different approaches were used by each country to influence the resolution of the conflict. Some, like Russia, supported the junta by supplying them with equipment and weapons. This can be explained by the search for additional support in the course of their mutual wars (Strangio, 2025). Others have condemned without providing any real or material support. This is the case of the United States and the European Union, which have applied 8 packages of sanctions against certain members of the regime. However, these have little chance of influencing the conflict, given that they mainly concern a ban on certain leaders entering EU territory or a ban on EU countries providing military aid to the junta (Conseil européen-Conseil de l’Union Européenne, 2025), which in any case does not obtain supplies from European countries.

ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, has attempted a negotiating approach, condemning the use of indiscriminate violence and calling for ‘an inclusive and sustainable peace resolution that is owned and led by Myanmar’ (Strangio, 2024). In other words, ASEAN is not powerful and influential enough to play a real role in resolving this conflict. China is playing a more ambiguous game, supplying military equipment to both the government and the rebel armies. In this way, it is trying to secure future favours for whichever side emerges victorious from the conflict. It has to be said that Myanmar is a key state for China, giving it access to the coasts of the Indian Ocean simply by crossing it (Lintner, 2025). Finally, a number of countries, including Argentina and Gambia, have brought cases against the abuses in Myanmar before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. While Argentina has unilaterally issued an arrest warrant for junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other military officers (Xu, 2025), the International Criminal Court is continuing its investigation and its judgement is pending, while the International Court of Justice, following Gambia’s accusations of genocide, also has its judgement pending (Rizwanul, 2022). It should be noted, however, that all these judgements concern abuses and potentially genocide against the Rohingya that took place before 2021, and therefore before the Burmese civil war.