A/HRC/42/CRP.5 torture were used in court against them1171 and that in December 2018 they were sentenced to two years imprisonment for “unlawful association”.1172 502. The Mission also documented various forms of severe mental pain or suffering inflicted by the Tatmadaw upon their victims, including through death threats.1173 The Mission received credible information that, in March 2019, in northern Shan State, Tatmadaw soldiers placed a grenade in the mouth of a Kachin man and threatened to kill him if he did not confess to being a KIA fighter.1174 In another case investigated by the Mission in northern Shan State, Tatmadaw soldiers placed a plastic bag over the head of a victim, in a mock execution by asphyxiation, to extract a confession. 1175 A survivor told the Mission: “They told me 'you have to speak the truth if you want to see your wife and children again, otherwise we will make you dig your own grave, and will kill you”.1176 The survivor added that they pointed at a plot of land, which he understood as being the place where they were going to make him dig his own grave.1177 503. Several of the male victims in the cases investigated by the Mission were detained while on their way to or from livelihood-related activities such as farming, fishing, or gathering vegetables, fruit, and firewood.1178 They were subsequently interrogated and physically or psychologically abused. This indicates the risks civilians face in undertaking livelihood activities in the current climate of insecurity. Women and girls, especially heads of households,1179 are particularly vulnerable to attack when engaged in livelihood-related activities, including sexual and gender-based violence.1180 504. While some victims were released after a few hours and allowed to return to their homes, others were detained for longer periods to work as porters or guides or in other functions, often in conditions amounting to forced labour, while being subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.1181 505. In March 2019, in a village in Kuktai Township, northern Shan State, 1182 Tatmadaw soldiers belonging to the 99th LID detained two Kachin men on suspicion of having affiliations with the KIA.1183 The two men were on their way back from gathering food in the area at the time of capture. They were interrogated, kicked, punched and threatened with death and injury with knives. They were released later on the same day.1184 506. In another case investigated in Kachin State, sources told the Mission that Tatmadaw soldiers initially tied up, punched and kicked three Kachin men on suspicion of affiliation to the KIA. They subsequently forced the men to work as porters and guides for almost a month before handing them over to the police.1185 The Mission received information that, by the time the victims were transferred to the police, the physical signs of the torture, such as bruising, had healed, rendering it more difficult for the victims to prove the acts occurred.1186 507. In another case investigated by the Mission in northern Shan State, a Kachin man was initially hit on his head, kicked in other parts of his body and subjected to a mock 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 GI-051. 2155, 2156, 2157, 2158, 2159. GI-028, GI-034, GI-035, PI-126. GI-034. GI-045. 1337. 1337. PI-126, GI-028, PI-164, GI-034, GI-035, GM-019, and V-390. A/HRC/42/CRP.4, para. 65 and 99. See A/HRC/42/CRP.4, para. 122-130 and 228 for more details; PI-069, PI-136. GI-024, GI-045, GI-046. Name of village withheld. GI-035, GI-034. GI-035, GI-034. GI-051, GI-030, GI-028, FFFGEN-1-85853. GI-030. 139