Myanmar: Systematic denial of healthcare leading to alarming number of deaths in custody

The undersigned organizations are gravely concerned over reports of an increasing number of deaths in custody in Myanmar, especially in the last four and a half years that has seen an unprecedented erosion of respect for and the protection of human rights.

Since the 2021 military coup, over 1,800 people have reportedly died while being detained by the military junta, many owing to a systematic denial of healthcare in prisons and/or as a result of untreated injuries they sustained during abusive interrogations following their arrest.

We demand that the Myanmar military urgently provide people deprived of their liberty access to adequate healthcare, of the same standard and with the same options as are available in the community and accessible to all detainees without discrimination, and put an immediate end to the torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.