A Licnese to Torture ?
While religious sites and worship places are not exempt from the military’s destruction
and utilization as military objects, members of different religious clerics are also
subjected to torture and ill-treatment of the military forces. On March 11, 2023, the
Myanmar military committed a mass killing of villagers including three Buddhist
monks at a monastery in Pinlaung township, a part of Pa’O Self-Administered Zone
in southern Shan State.59 During the raid on Nanneint village in Pinlaung township, at
least 30 civilians including three Buddhist monks and two teenagers were murdered
as the photos published by Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), an ethnic
revolutionary organization and verified by an independent media agency showed.60 Of
the 30, the dead bodies of 28 civilians with gunshot wounds in the head and torso of
them were found scattered in the compound of the monastery.
Chapter 3
Conclusion
The Myanmar military has been utilizing the systematic, widespread and deliberate use
of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Myanmar
for many decades. While there is very little or no justice for the survivors from torture in
the past massive atrocities in Myanmar, the Myanmar military never hesitates to repeat
its torture practice to the people.
This results in gargantuan loss of human resources, gigantic human sufferings and
also leads to irreparable damage to the people of Myanmar. Moreover, these continued
atrocities in Myanmar represent an example of the failure of international community
to comply with its obligation to protect humankind at any corner of the world, rendering
sham legitimacy and impunity which the successive regimes and military juntas have
enjoyed to escape justice.
The Myanmar military junta must be held accountable for its international crimes
against the people it is meant to protect. The voice, resilience, solidarity and efforts to
hold Myanmar military accountable must not be rendered void.
34
59
“At least 22 people killed in suspected massacre at Myanmar monastery”, Reuters, March 17, 2023, https://
www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/least-22-people-killed-suspected-massacre-myanmar-monastery-2023-03-17/ (accessed June 10, 2023)
60
Junta forces kill 29, including three monks, in southern Shan State, Myanmar Now, March 13, 2023, https://
myanmar-now.org/en/news/junta-forces-kill-29-including-three-monks-in-southern-shan-state/ (accessed
June 10, 2023)
Equality Myanmar