A/HRC/39/CRP.2 in conflict.257 Women were also targeted by the Tatmadaw, and raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence as a method of torture. 258 165. In a typical example, a 23-year old male victim reported that he was tortured by Tatmadaw soldiers for three days at a military camp in March 2016 in Kutkai Township, Shan State. He was Ta’ang and was accused of being a member of the TNLA, who are of the same ethnic group. He was detained with 18 other Ta’ang men. He was repeatedly beaten all over his body with a rope and a piece of firewood, and was burned with cigarette stubs. Tatmadaw soldiers also poked his neck with a knife, making small cuts. The other detainees were also tortured.259 166. While most torture victims were adults, the Mission also received information on the torture of children.260 One individual stated that, when he was 14 years old, in 2013, two Tatmadaw soldiers beat him inside the monastery where he lived in Kyauyme Township, Shan State. They used rifle butts to beat him, and interrogated him on the whereabouts of his brother. The brother had deserted the Tatmadaw after he had been forcibly recruited by them.261 167. Information was also received of elderly persons being subjected to torture and illtreatment. For example, Tatmadaw soldiers tortured a man over 60 years old on 9 August 2017 in Kutkai Township, Shan State. The man, who was living in a camp for internally displaced persons, was suspected of being a messenger for the TNLA. 262 The victim was tortured for more than 24 hours at his place of employment, and later at a military base near his village where he was transferred blindfolded. The Tatmadaw soldiers asked him where the messengers for the TNLA were, and beat him severely, causing the victim to lose some of his teeth. The victim was also tied-up with rope and had hot wax poured on him. The soldiers made the man kneel for hours on small sharp stones during questioning, broke his arm and forced him to sleep on the injured arm overnight. 263 168. Similarly, reliable sources have confirmed that a community leader in his sixties was tortured at a military camp near Muse town before being transferred to a prison in Shan State in late 2017. At the military camp, the elderly victim was offered little food for several days and severely beaten. Soldiers also placed dogs in his cell to terrify him. The Tatmadaw soldiers wanted the victim to admit that he was a KIA supporter. 264 169. Village administrators and community leaders were also tortured because they were often the only individuals able to speak Myanmar language. 265 For example, on 10 January 2016 in Kunhing Township, Shan State, a victim reported that Tatmadaw soldiers detained him with another civilian and the village administrator in a monastery. The Tatmadaw and the TNLA had been fighting in the area. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and the Tatmadaw soldiers slapped them on the face and hit them on their chests. They also poked them in the neck with a sharp knife. They were interrogated about the whereabouts of the TNLA. One Tatmadaw soldier also threatened them: “if you do not tell us where the TNLA men are, you will die and dig your own grave”. 266 Perpetrators 170. Tatmadaw soldiers were identified as perpetrators in most of the accounts of torture in northern Myanmar verified by the Mission. 267 In some cases, they were accompanied by 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 44 DI-066, PI-062, PI-079, PI-109, PI-111, QI-089. See this chapter, section A.4: Sexual and gender-based violence. PI-109. QI-079, QI-094. QI-079. PI-035. PI-035. K-147. DI-067, PI-035, PI-038, PI-111. PI-111. PI-038, PI-044, PI-054, PI-079, QI-090.