GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed investigator says his team has turned up significant evidence of “systemic torture” in Myanmar's detention centers, including electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape and burning of sexual body parts over the last year.
Nicholas Koumjian was speaking as the international independent team he heads released its latest annual report on Tuesday, focusing on a one-year period running through June 30.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
The team said it has made advances in identifying security personnel involved in operations at the detention facilities and “perpetrators who have summarily executed captured combatants or civilians accused of being informers.” Perpetrators included security forces, affiliated militias and opposition armed groups, it said.
The report “details the documented torture in Myanmar’s detention facilities which includes beatings, electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence,” a summary of its findings said.
“Our report highlights a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities committed in Myanmar,” Koumjian said. “We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law.”
“We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” he said.
His team has opened new investigations into atrocities committed against communities in Rakhine state as the military and the opposition force known as the Arakan Army battle for control of the territory.
More than 700,000 people from the Rohingya minority fled to neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 to escape persecution in Myanmar. About 70,000 others crossed the border last year when the Arakan Army effectively took over Rakhine.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar has been working since 2018 under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council to help document rights abuses and violations in the country.
It has shared evidence with authorities looking into cases involving the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court and the U.N.'s International Court of Justice.
-FILE- In this Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, photo, F, 22, who says she was raped by members of Myanmar's armed forces in June and again in September, is photographed in her tent in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, file)
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Clayton Kershaw isn't done pitching just yet, agreeing Thursday to join the U.S. team for this year's World Baseball Classic.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner wanted to pitch for the Americans in the 2023 tournament but was prevented because of insurance issues. He had a $20 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time.
“I was too broken for the insurance to cover my arm and everything,” Kershaw said on MLB Network, “so now that it doesn't matter I get to go and be a part of this group.”
A left-hander who turns 38 two days after the March 17 championship game, Kershaw announced last September that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 18th in a stellar career for the Dodgers. He won his third World Series title and finished 223-96 with a 2.53 ERA and 3,052 strikeouts.
“I just want to be the insurance policy,” Kershaw said. “If anybody needs a breather or if they need me to pitch back-to-back-to-back or if they don’t need me to pitch at all, I’m just there to be there. I just want to be a part of this group.”
Later Thursday, new Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman announced he will join the U.S. team.
When Kershaw received a call from U.S. manager Mark DeRosa, he thought he was being invited as a coach.
“I didn't have a whole lot of interest in picking up a baseball again," Kershaw said. “I started throwing 10, 12 days ago and it doesn’t feel terrible, so I think I’ll be OK.”
Kershaw joins a U.S. pitching staff that includes right-handers David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes and Logan Webb along with left-handers Tarik Skubal and Gabe Speier.
The American roster also includes catchers Cal Raleigh and Will Smith; infielders Ernie Clement, Gunnar Henderson, Brice Turang and Bobby Witt Jr.; outfielders Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Aaron Judge; and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.
The U.S., which lost the 2023 championship game to Japan, opens March 6 against Brazil at Houston, part of a group that also includes Britain, Italy and Mexico.
Shohei Ohtani struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to end Japan's 3-2 win in the 2023 championship. Kershaw doesn't anticipate facing Ohtani, his teammate for the Dodgers' World Series titles in 2024 and 2025.
“I think something will have gone terribly wrong if I have to pitch against team Japan in the finals or something. I think we got plenty of guys to get that guy out and not me,” Kershaw said. “But if that happens, I'll be nervous. I'll be nervous at this point.”
AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw celebrates the end of the top of the 12th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
