ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Recent Posts
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- Press Statement: Argentine Court’s arrest warrants are welcome progress towards justice
- OPEN LETTER: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MUST TAKE CONCRETE ACTION TO SUPPORT THE MYANMAR PEOPLE’S EFFORTS TO BUILD A RIGHTS-PROTECTING FUTURE
UN Security Council Demands Answers Over Myanmar’s Christmas Eve Massacre
/in NewsThe United Nations Security Council has called for accountability for the Christmas Eve massacre in Hpruso Township, Kayah State, in which at least 35 people, including four children and two Save the Children staff, were killed in Myanmar.
Photos from a Kayah-based group showed the charred remains of bodies on burned trucks in the rural area.
Security Council president Abdou Abarry from Niger said in a statement that the global body condemned the slaughter and “called for the immediate cessation of all violence and emphasized the importance of respect for human rights and of ensuring safety of civilians”.
The statement added that members reaffirmed their support for the people of Myanmar and the country’s democratic transition.
The statement stressed “the need for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need, and for the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel”.
The Security Council action on Myanmar is normally vetoed by permanent members Russia and China. In the wake of the Feb. 1 coup, the council failed to condemn the military takeover as both Russia and China, which maintain close relations with the military, blocked the move and insisted it was a domestic affair.
The human rights affairs minister in the parallel National Unity Government U Aung Myo Min said: “It also very important that justice is done for every crime the military regime has committed.
He said the lack of any rule of law in Myanmar meant the NUG was looking to the international courts to bring the junta leaders to justice. Delays in international action, however, pushed “the people to take matters into their own hands”, U Aung Myo Min added.
The massacre happened after a battle between junta troops and the Karenni Army and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), an alliance of resistance groups fighting the regime in Kayah State.
Junta soldiers detained villagers near Moso and killed and burned them along with seven vehicles and five motorbikes.
Four members of the Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front, a border guard force which agreed a ceasefire with the former junta in 1994, were tied up and shot in the head while they were negotiating with junta forces for the release of the abductees, according to the resistance group.
The Security Council’s condemnations echoed statements from domestic civil society organizations, ethnic armed groups, Save the Children and Myanmar’s envoys to the UN.
The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths condemned the junta’s actions and called for a thorough investigation.
Armed resistance against the junta began in Kayah State in late May and nearly half of the state’s population of around 150,000 has been displaced by fighting. An estimated 187 people in the state had been killed by Dec. 26, said the Progressive Karenni People’s Force.
By Wednesday, at least 1,382 civilians have been killed by the junta and an estimated 11,254 have been detained with more than 8,000 still in detention.
The junta’s crackdowns and offensives against the civilians opposing the regime include indiscriminate shooting, launching artillery and frequent aerial bombardment.
The UN’s special envoy to Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, on Tuesday called for a New Year’s ceasefire.
Irrawaddy News
At least 61 civilians killed this month in clashes in Myanmar’s remote border regions
/in NewsMore than 40,000 people were displaced from the fighting in Kayah and Kayin states, and Sagaing and Magway regions.
More than five dozen civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced due to clashes between Myanmar’s military and anti-junta forces in four of the country’s remote border regions in December alone, according to local militias and an official with the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).
At least 61 people died and more than 40,000 fled fighting this month – the 10th since the military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a Feb. 1 coup – in Kayah and Kayin states, as well as in Sagaing and Magway regions, sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
The deaths occurred as the result of four specific incidents, including the Dec. 7 massacre of 10 people in Sagaing’s Don Taw village, a Dec. 17 helicopter attack on Hnankhar and Mwayle villages in Magway’s Gangaw township, a Dec. 20 airstrike on Ye Myat village in Sagaing’s Yay-Oo township that killed seven, and a Dec. 24 fire in Kayah state’s Phruso township in which 35 people perished.
A spokesman for the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF), an armed ethnic group fighting against the military in Kayah state, said the military was responsible for the killing of civilians in December and said that such reckless actions suggest that the junta is “on the verge of collapse.”
“They are acting in the most violent way to frighten the people,” he said.
“But no matter what they do, how brutal they are, they will not see us surrendering in fear or receiving every blow with our heads bowed.”
The junta says voter fraud led to the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s November 2020 election but has yet to provide evidence for its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,382 people and arresting 8,331 in the nearly 11 months since, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The military has also launched several offensives in the country’s remote border regions, battling ethnic armies and local branches of the prodemocracy People’s Defense Force militia that have formed to help protect residents. Many civilians have lost their lives in the crossfire, while reports of looting, torture, rape, and summary executions by junta troops are common.
Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun has acknowledged armed clashes between government troops and PDF militia fighters that he labels “terrorists,” but denies that any massacres of civilians have taken place.
Increasing number of refugees
In the meantime, the United Nations Security Council, U.S., Britain, Canada and other members of the international community have issued a series of statements condemning mass killings by the military and raising concerns about the high number of people who have been displaced by the violence.
A spokesman for the ethnic Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) recently told RFA that around 20,000 civilians from 10 villages had been forced to flee to refugee camps or into the mountains in the wake of what has been referred to as a massacre that took place in Kayah state’s Hpruso township on Dec. 24.
Meanwhile, fighting in and around Kayin state’s Lay Kay Kaw area since Dec. 15 has forced some 16,500 civilians to flee to makeshift camps along the banks of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River and into neighboring Thailand. Local media also reported in recent weeks that at least 4,000 civilians had fled their homes in Magway and Sagaing regions due to airstrikes by the military.
Sources estimate that in December alone, more than 40,000 people were displaced in Kayah and Kayin states as well as in Sagaing and Magway regions. Those displaced by the recent fighting join more than 500,000 refugees from decades of conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups who were already counted as displaced at the end of 2020, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, a Norwegian NGO.
Stronger response needed
Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, welcomed the global condemnation of the junta’s killing of civilians – including women and children – but called the response by the international community “weak.”
“Orders were deliberately given to kill a large number of people and the dead were innocent civilians and women and children,” he said.
“Such actions should be viewed as international crimes and therefore require greater international action and justice. But what we are seeing now is that [junta troops] are getting bolder and bolder as the international reaction is rather weak.”
He called on governments around the world to take “immediate and effective action” against the junta to prevent the further death of innocent people in Myanmar.
Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told RFA that despite condemnation, he expects the military will continue to label those who oppose it as terrorists and kill them.
“They have … branded mass uprisings as acts of terrorism and cracked down brutally, using extreme force,” he said.
“I see the military [continuing to portray] those who are being killed as terrorists. And that means the military will continue to follow this path.”
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
RFA News
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup 2021 December 20-21
/in HR SituationDuring the holiday season, the people of Myanmar have been denied peace and protection in their homelands. Across the country, the military junta continues to terrorize the civilian population through unlawful arrests, abductions, torture and murder. No one feels safe.
In Karen State, clashes have been intensifying since 15 December between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar military. The onslaught of air and ground attacks forced over 10 000 villagers in Lay Kay Kay, Karen State to flee the junta’s relentless offensives. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are in urgent need of food, shelter, warm clothing and refuge where they are free from the looming possibility of more assaults.
According to Karen rights groups, tensions began to rise when the regime entered Lay Kay Kaw, a town controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) and arrested over a dozen people, including an elected Member of Parliament and human rights defenders. When the KNU rightfully intervened to safeguard their people and communities, the junta responded by firing over 100 artillery shells and indiscriminately fired into the town. Many buildings and homes were destroyed.
At least 6900 people have been displaced since December 15 and over 4000 have taken refuge in Thai soil, according to ND-Burma member, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland. HURFOM urged the UN to designate a “no-fly zone” in all ethnic areas, including recent armed conflict in Karen, fighting centered around the town of Lay Kay Kaw. Those who have been displaced on the border and inside Thailand must be protected and provided with urgently needed humanitarian aid.
Innocent civilians living in areas where the junta has increased their armed presence are at risk of being killed by soldiers. The Karen Women Organization (KWO) strongly condemned a fatal attack against a 56 year old woman who was working on her farm with her husband when the Burma Army Battalion, LIB 101 along with five soldiers from the Border guard Force approached. Her husband fled, leaving her alone and terrified. She was asked where the KNLA soldiers were and when she replied she did not know, her nose was broken. She was then shot in the mouth and killed. KWO explained that this case was not isolated – rather one of many indicative of the rising assaults against women and civilians across the country.
As rights groups including ND-Burma have documented throughout the year, human rights violations in Myanmar are sysmatic, widespread and ongoing. They are being perpetuated endlessly through a cycle of impunity, emboldened by the international community’s lack of action. A global arms embargo is imperative to stopping the junta’s access to murderous weapons which are used to indiscriminately kill. Further, a referral to the International Criminal Court would send a critical message to the Myanmar Army which makes clear – no one is above the law and those who commit human right atrocities will be held accountable.
CHRO has also documented a rising number of COVID-19 cases which are adding to the stress of already worried civilians.
KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE
Over thirty refugees including women, children and the elderly were burned alive in Hpruso Township, Kayah (Karenni) State. The Karen Women’s Organization was among the civil society organizations to condemn the atrocities by extending solidarity and support. State media falsely alleged the innocent civilians killed were ‘terrorists’ in yet another lie in the regime’s sweeping fabrications and cover-ups of the atrocities happening on the ground.
Twenty houses in Kayah (Karenni) State were also destroyed in Loikaw by the junta, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces, following clashes earlier in the week. Civilians who lost their homes also lost valuable possessions, food and money. Over 150 000 have been internally displaced in Kayah (Karenni) State.
MAGWAY
Magway Township continues to be targeted by the junta. Nearly two dozen people were killed when the junta used airstrikes against Hnan Khar village in Magway region’s Gangaw Township. The victims were soldiers and innocent civilians, though an exact count could not be confirmed. Attempts from people trying to retrieve bodies were shot at.
As a result of the clashes, many people tried to flee. Witnesses to the attacks who were trying to flee said that elderly people had to be carried since they could not walk or run.
Seven bodies found in Ye-U village following airstrike
/in NewsThe bodies included two women, three men, and two that were burnt beyond recognition
The bodies of seven local people who were killed last week following airstrikes on the village of Yae Myet in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township were discovered on Friday.
Residents of the village told Myanmar Now that the bodies included two women and three men. The other two bodies could not be identified at all, they said.
“We still don’t know who they are. Some had been hit by artillery shells and were badly disfigured, while others had been burnt beyond recognition,” said one local, citing members of the Ye-U People’s Defence Force (PDF) who found the bodies.
Another resident who saw the two burnt bodies said they had been partially buried.
“They were buried together in front of a burned-down house. However, they were only half buried,” he said.
Villagers and PDF members who attempted to cremate the remaining bodies had to abandon their efforts after a military jet flew overhead, he added.
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The military used five helicopters to carry out airstrikes on Yae Myet last Monday. The village of roughly 400 households was subsequently occupied by around 100 troops for the next three days.
Residents who had fled the attack said they could see flames rising from the village two days later. Those who returned after the soldiers left found that more than 60 houses had been torched. Other property, including 30 motorcycles and other vehicles, had also been destroyed by fire.
In a statement released last Tuesday, the military said it targeted Yae Myet because it had received information that local PDF forces were holding a meeting there.
Residents noted, however, that no mention was made of civilian casualties or the destruction of property.
Around 5,000 people from neighbouring villages, including Gwet, Naypukone, Euyin, Natgyikone and Sinthaykone, were also displaced by attacks last week.
The military has increasingly deployed helicopters and fighter jets against resistance forces around the country, including in Sagaing and Magway regions and Kayin (Karen) State, resulting in heavy civilian casualties.
Myanmar Now News
Two civilians killed as junta offensive on Thai-Myanmar border continues
/in NewsBoth victims were near a camp for displaced civilians when they were killed by heavy artillery fire on Christmas day
At least two civilians were killed on Saturday as Myanmar’s military continued its offensive against anti-regime forces near the Thai-Myanmar border over the Christmas weekend.
The junta used heavy artillery as well as helicopters and a jet fighter to pound targets in territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) in Kayin (Karen) State’s Myawaddy Township, multiple sources told Myanmar Now.
Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU’s foreign affairs officer and spokesperson, confirmed the reports of shelling and airstrikes, but said that none of the group’s troops had been killed or wounded in the attacks.
The two civilian victims were identified as Aung Myo Zin, a 40-year-old cook at a temporary camp for displaced villagers, and 38-year-old A Sai K, the editor of the anti-junta Federal Journal, who had recently fled to the area.
Both men were killed after an artillery shell exploded near a school in Htee Mei Wah Khee, a village that had been sheltering around 400 displaced locals, at around 1pm Saturday, according to witnesses.
“Airplanes flew over at least three times and dropped many bombs. Then the military’s ground troops opened fire with heavy weapons,” said a member of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), which has also been involved in recent clashes in the area.
One man in his 40s—later identified as Aung Myo Zin—was killed instantly, he added.
Friends of the other victim, A Sai K, said they didn’t learn of his death until the following day.
“We scattered after the shell hit and had no idea what was going on. The people who were there didn’t know who he was because he had only recently arrived,” said Soe Ya, the editor-in-chief of the Delta News Agency, who was with A Sai K at the time of the attack.
“We checked the body this morning and realised it was him,” he told Myanmar Now on Sunday.
A_sai_k.jpeg
Several other people were also injured, including one man whose leg had to be amputated. The total number of casualties could not be confirmed at the time of reporting.
While only two bodies had been discovered as of Sunday, it was possible that others had also been killed, according to Soe Ya.
“These were heavy weapons that exploded near a group of displaced people. More people may have been killed, but we can’t confirm that yet,” he said, adding that at least seven people had suffered head injuries.
According to the PDF member, several artillery shells landed around Htee Mae Wah Khee, including one that exploded at a church that was under construction.
He added that civilians taking shelter in the village were later moved to a safer location.
Following the hour-long attack, the military’s ground troops advanced towards Htee Mae Wah Khee, according to the PDF member and a soldier from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU.
From 7pm to 3am Sunday, KNLA and PDF troops clashed with the junta army and the Karen Border Guard Force, an ethnic armed group under the command of the Myanmar military, the two sources said.
During the fighting, at least one artillery shell landed on the Thai side of the border, according to a report by Kawkareik Open News.
The shell was fired by the military from the village of Thay Baw Boe, south of Myawaddy, and hit a house in Mawli Chai, a village in Thailand’s Mae Sot Province, the report said.
Meanwhile, local media in Thailand reported that some tanks were seen heading towards the Thai-Myanmar border on Saturday as clashes on the Myanmar side continued.
On December 20, the KNU called on the United Nations to hold an emergency meeting to establish a no-fly zone over the Thai-Myanmar border to prevent the regime from carrying out airstrikes.
Three days later, the junta launched airstrikes on Lay Kay Kaw, a town under the control of the KNLA’s Brigade 6, before carrying out subsequent attacks during the Christmas weekend.
Clashes between the military and the KNLA were triggered by military raids on Lay Kay Kaw on December 14, in which some 30 people, including an MP from the ousted National League for Democracy government, were arrested.
Public Voice Television, a media outlet operated by the shadow National Unity Government, claimed earlier this week that KNLA and PDF fighters had killed at least 68 junta troops, including command-level officers, since the fighting began.
Around 10,000 civilians have been displaced by the deteriorating security situation in the area. Roughly half are believed to have crossed the Moei River into Thailand, where they have received assistance from the Thai authorities.
Written by Tin Htet Paing
Linn Htin contributed to this report
Myanmar Now News
59 civil society organizations issue a statement on the massacre of Karenni people by terrorist Myanmar military junta
/in Press Releases and StatementsOn December 24, 2021, Light Infantry Battalion 108 under the command of Light Infantry Division 66 of the terrorist military junta which is trying to seize power illegally, launched an offensive clearance operation near Moso Village in the western part of Hpruso Township in Karenni State, and arrested approximately 40 innocent villagers including women and children. They then put them in vehicles while they were handcuffed behind their backs and burned them alive, intentionally committing a massacre. Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) has released an emergency statement on these atrocity crimes.
Since May 20, 2021, nearly half of the Karenni population of 150,000 people have been displaced and became internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to brutal human rights violations, including artillery shelling, burning, violent crackdowns, torture, arbitrary arrests and killings by the military junta’s troops in Karenni State. More than 652 houses and buildings have been destroyed, and hundreds of innocent people have been killed.
We, the civil society organizations, strongly condemn the actions that amount to international crimes perpetrated by the military junta in Karenni State and we will stand with Karenni People to get justice. A similar massacre took place at Dontaw Village in Salingyi Township in Sagaing Region on December 7 where 11 innocent civilians were burned to death. Before this, the terrorist military junta has been the perpetrator on three occasions where at least 40 people were massacred in three different inhumane incidents in Kani Township, Saging Region in July. We are worried that these kinds of inhumane actions will continue to happen.
While the atrocities were being committed in Karenni State, since December 15 the terrorist military junta started to shell using heavy weaponry at Lay Kay Kaw and surrounding areas in Karen State and later with the use of airstrikes, as jets bombed the area indiscriminately. This has displaced more than 10,000 innocent civilians, half of whom fled to Thailand to take refuge. Some Thai villagers also had to relocate for security reasons as some houses on the Thai side of the border were destroyed by artillery shells fired by the terrorist military junta.
The terrorist military junta continues to perpetrate such inhumane criminal acts against people across the country including those in Karenni and Karen States, as they were not held to account for the international atrocity crimes they committed for decades and justice has not been brought. These acts of the terrorist military junta cause extremely high levels of human insecurity and suffering for the people.
Therefore, we urge the United Nations Security Council, Secretary General and international community to immediately respond and take action as follows so that the terrorist regime led by Min Aung Hlaing is effectively punished.