Yangon: Human Rights Watch says women held as political prisoners in Myanmar have faced torture, sexual violence, medical neglect and harsh prison conditions. The findings are based largely on interviews with former women detainees and include allegations involving pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive healthcare and treatment in detention.
In 2025 and 2026, Human Rights Watch interviewed 17 former women political prisoners, three family members and four lawyers and advocates. The former detainees had been held in 11 interrogation centres and prisons across Myanmar. They included activists, journalists, healthcare workers and aid workers.
The former prisoners described beatings, electric shocks, cigarette burns, prolonged periods in painful positions, sexual violence and degrading treatment, according to the report. Some also described long periods of solitary confinement and poor conditions inside detention facilities.
The report documented allegations of gender based abuse, including invasive body searches, sexual harassment and surveillance while prisoners were changing clothes or showering. Some women also reported a lack of basic menstrual hygiene supplies and adequate medical care.
Pregnant prisoners were among those facing serious difficulties. Human Rights Watch documented testimony that some women did not receive adequate prenatal or obstetric care. One former prisoner said she was unable to obtain an ultrasound to determine her due date. She said that when her water broke at midnight, a hospital referral did not arrive until around 10 am. She was reportedly shackled again shortly after giving birth.
The report also described cases in which women gave birth inside prison facilities after facing delays or a lack of access to adequate medical care.
Human Rights Watch cited information about severe shortages of medical staff in some prisons. It said Thayawaddy Prison had three doctors for more than 3,000 prisoners, while Insein Prison had four or five doctors for more than 8,000 prisoners.
The report also documented allegations linked to the March 2025 earthquake. According to the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar, 59 political prisoners, including 26 women, died in connection with the earthquake, mainly at Obo Prison in Mandalay. Human Rights Watch said some prisoners who survived the initial disaster later died after allegedly failing to receive adequate treatment for their injuries.
One case involved Nwe Ni Win, who was eight months pregnant when she was injured during the earthquake at Obo Prison. Human Rights Watch said local media reported that she was denied medical treatment for more than two weeks. The organisation said her fetus later died in the womb and that she subsequently died from an infection following a stillbirth.
Human Rights Watch says more than 30,000 political prisoners have been detained since the February 2021 coup, including about 6,600 women and 640 children. The figure refers to people detained since the coup and does not necessarily represent the number currently held in prisons.
The new findings add to years of international concern over detention conditions in Myanmar. United Nations investigators have also documented allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and other abuses in military run detention facilities.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said in its latest annual report that its investigations had advanced into alleged crimes involving detention, torture and sexual violence during the period from July 2025 to June 2026. The mechanism has also reported evidence concerning sexual and gender based crimes.
The findings come as Myanmar's political system has changed since the military seized power in 2021. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military during the coup, became president in April 2026 after elections that were widely criticised by opposition groups and international observers.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's former civilian leader, remains detained but was transferred to a designated residence in April 2026. The United Nations later called again for the release of people it considers to have been arbitrarily detained.
Human Rights Watch has called for an end to abuses against political prisoners and for those responsible for serious violations to be held accountable.
Myanmar's military backed government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest allegations.
The individual accounts in the Human Rights Watch report have not been independently verified. However, the allegations concerning torture, sexual violence and poor detention conditions are consistent with a wider pattern documented by United Nations investigators and other rights organisations since the 2021 coup.