GENEVA - UN investigators say Myanmar’s military intensified deliberate aerial attacks on civilians ahead of elections completed in January, with the violence continuing afterward.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said its Annual Report, released in Geneva on Aug. 11, documented attacks targeting homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps for internally displaced people, causing deaths, injuries and destruction.
Covering July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, the report said the military increasingly relied on paramotors and drones, making aerial attacks harder for civilians to detect and reducing the time available to flee or seek shelter. Investigators said they had identified some of the military units responsible for the attacks.
The Mechanism also collected and analysed extensive evidence of arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities. Some cases were linked to a 2025 law criminalizing criticism of the elections.
The IIMM said numerous people have been arrested under the law and face penalties including prison terms of up to 20 years and the death penalty for activities such as posting critical comments on social media.
While most evidence collected by the IIMM concerns alleged crimes committed by Myanmar security forces and affiliated militias, the Mechanism said it is also investigating alleged atrocities involving armed groups opposed to the military.
The investigation draws on evidence from more than 1,600 sources, including over 750 witness accounts, as well as photographs, videos, audio material, documents, maps, geospatial imagery, social-media posts and forensic evidence.
The IIMM said it continues to share evidence and analysis with authorities pursuing accountability for crimes committed against the Rohingya, including at the International Criminal Court and in Argentina. It has also responded to requests from other authorities investigating crimes committed since the military takeover in 2021.
The Mechanism has additionally provided extensive evidence and analysis to parties in The Gambia v. Myanmar proceedings before the International Court of Justice, where judges are considering whether Myanmar violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention during the 2016 and 2017 clearance operations against the Rohingya.
Myanmar’s military had not responded to the latest IIMM findings, according to Reuters. The military has previously justified aerial bombings as attacks against military targets.
Created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, the IIMM collects, preserves and analyses evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, preparing material that can support prosecutions before national, regional and international courts.
IIMM head Nicholas Koumjian said communities across Myanmar are living under continuing threats of violence while coping with the lasting impact of what they have endured. “This underscores the urgent need to hold those responsible to account.”
