Myanmar military uses systematic torture across country

Since its takeover of the government in February, the Myanmar military has been torturing those it has detained in a methodical and systemic way across the country

The soldiers in rural Myanmar twisted the young man’s skin with pliers and kicked him in the chest until he couldn’t breathe. Then they taunted him about his family until his heart ached, too: “Your mom,” they jeered, “cannot save you anymore.”

The young man and his friend, randomly arrested as they rode their bikes home, had been subjected to hours of agony inside a town hall transformed by the military into a torture center.

“I’m going to die,” the young man told himself, stars exploding before his eyes. “I love you, mom.’”