The report covers investigations conducted from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, and describes an escalation in aerial attacks and other alleged crimes against civilians in the period leading up to Myanmar’s elections, which were completed in January.

The Mechanism said its investigations identified attacks targeting homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps for internally displaced people. The attacks caused deaths, injuries and widespread destruction, according to the report.

Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Mechanism, said the evidence collected reflects the continuing impact of violence on communities across Myanmar and the need for those responsible to face accountability.

Aerial attacks increasingly target civilian areas

The Mechanism said Myanmar’s military has increasingly relied on paramotors and drones in aerial attacks, making strikes more difficult for civilians to detect and reducing their opportunities to flee or seek shelter.

Investigators said they had identified some of the military units responsible for the attacks.

The report does not provide a complete casualty assessment in the material released by the Mechanism, but documents deaths, injuries and destruction resulting from attacks on civilian locations.

The findings come as Myanmar’s conflict continues more than five years after the military seized power from the elected government in 2021. Fighting between the military and armed groups has continued across multiple parts of the country.

Detention and sexual violence remain under investigation

The Mechanism also said it had collected and analyzed extensive evidence concerning arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities.

Some cases were linked to a 2025 law criminalizing criticism of Myanmar’s elections. The report said numerous people had been arrested under the law and could face sentences of up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty for activities including posting critical comments on social media.

The Mechanism said most of the evidence it has collected concerns alleged crimes committed by Myanmar security forces and affiliated militias.

It is also investigating alleged atrocities involving armed groups opposed to the military, reflecting the Mechanism’s broader mandate to investigate the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar rather than focusing exclusively on one side of the conflict.

Evidence preserved for future prosecutions

The Mechanism said its investigations are based on evidence from more than 1,600 sources, including more than 750 witness accounts.

Investigators have also examined photographs, videos, audio recordings, documents, maps, geospatial imagery, social media posts and forensic evidence.

The evidence is being preserved and analyzed for use by authorities pursuing accountability through national, regional and international courts.

The Mechanism continues to share evidence and analysis concerning alleged crimes against the Rohingya with authorities involved in accountability efforts, including the International Criminal Court and proceedings in Argentina.

It has also provided evidence and analysis to the parties in The Gambia v. Myanmar proceedings before the International Court of Justice. The case concerns allegations that Myanmar violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention during the 2016 and 2017 clearance operations against the Rohingya.

Myanmar faces continuing accountability pressure

The Mechanism was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect, preserve and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011.

Its latest report therefore serves both as an assessment of alleged abuses during the reporting period and as part of a longer-term effort to preserve evidence that could support future criminal proceedings.

The findings add to the international accountability efforts surrounding Myanmar’s conflict, while the violence documented during the reporting period indicates that civilians continue to face serious risks from military operations and other armed actors.

For the Mechanism, the central challenge remains preserving reliable evidence while investigations continue and ensuring that material gathered today can be used by competent authorities when accountability proceedings move forward.

Source: United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), Aug. 11, 2026.

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Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Saturday that Suu Kyi’s release would be handled according to domestic law, despite ASEAN’s demand for her “complete and unconditional release.” The ministry also said the government would continue cooperating with the current special envoy, Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro, but questioned the need for the arrangement after Singapore assumes the ASEAN chair on Jan. 1, 2027.

The response highlights the widening divide between Myanmar’s military-backed authorities and ASEAN over efforts to resolve the political crisis and armed conflict that followed the 2021 military takeover.

Suu Kyi remains central to ASEAN diplomacy

Suu Kyi has remained detained since the military removed her elected government from power in 2021.

She is serving a sentence under house arrest at an undisclosed location in Naypyitaw on charges that her supporters and rights groups have described as politically motivated. Myanmar’s government has said some of her sentences were commuted on humanitarian grounds but maintains that any full release must follow domestic law.

The government recently allowed a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to meet with the 81-year-old Suu Kyi. It was the first known contact between her and an independent international humanitarian organization since her detention five years ago.

The Philippines welcomed the meeting as a possible opening for dialogue and reconciliation but called for broader access to political detainees and renewed its demand for Suu Kyi’s unconditional release.

ASEAN peace plan remains unresolved

ASEAN adopted a five-point peace plan in April 2021 to seek an end to violence in Myanmar and encourage dialogue among the country’s competing political forces. The bloc’s special envoy was tasked with helping facilitate that process.

Myanmar’s military-backed leadership has not fully implemented the plan, and Min Aung Hlaing has been excluded from ASEAN’s highest-level meetings.

The government is now questioning whether the special envoy mechanism should continue. It said it would work with Lazaro during the Philippines’ chairmanship but did not see a need to maintain the arrangement after Singapore takes over.

Min Aung Hlaing, the former army chief who seized power from Suu Kyi’s civilian government, has sought to rebuild Myanmar’s relationship with ASEAN while pursuing greater political legitimacy for his administration.

In a speech more than three months after becoming president following elections held in December and January, he rejected ASEAN’s peace plan and accused some member states of discriminating against Myanmar.

Disputed elections complicate Myanmar’s regional diplomacy

Myanmar’s military-backed government has also linked its position to the country’s recent elections, arguing that the resulting political transition provides a new basis for state authority.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said the government that emerged from the multiparty elections had assumed responsibility for the state and represented what it described as the genuine will of the people.

Critics, however, have rejected the elections as an attempt to consolidate military influence while presenting a return to civilian government.

The competing claims leave ASEAN facing a difficult diplomatic task. The regional bloc has sought to maintain engagement with Myanmar while pressing its authorities to implement the five-point peace plan and address the political crisis that followed the military takeover.

Future of ASEAN mediation remains uncertain

Myanmar’s rejection of an unconditional release for Suu Kyi and its questioning of the special envoy mechanism could further complicate ASEAN’s efforts to maintain a common approach to the crisis.

The Philippines’ remaining months as ASEAN chair will therefore be important for determining whether the bloc can preserve access to Myanmar’s authorities and political stakeholders.

With Singapore preparing to assume the chairmanship in 2027, ASEAN will also face the challenge of determining whether its existing mediation framework can continue to generate meaningful engagement while Myanmar’s military-backed government resists key demands from the regional organization.

This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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