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.
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Junta forces attack Kalay township village from land and air
/in NewsAfter an attack by the resistance on an area military outpost, Myanmar army troops open fire on the village from two helicopters before setting homes ablaze
The Myanmar army carried out an airstrike from two helicopters on Natchaung village in Sagaing’s Kalay Township on Thursday afternoon and set homes in the community on fire later that evening, according to local sources.
Natchaung, home to some 2,000 households, is located some 15 miles southeast of Kalay town.
After an armed resistance group ambushed a military-occupied high school in Natchaung—where some 100 soldiers were stationed—at around 10am on Thursday, the army sent two helicopters to the site at 3pm. They reportedly circled the village five times from south to north while firing shots.
“The helicopters came one by one. The first one would come, fire shots, and then the second one would come after the first one went back. Then the cycle would be repeated,” a local man told Myanmar Now.
“They fired shots for a long time. Each of the helicopter trips lasted around 20 minutes.”
Junta troops started torching houses in Natchaung at around 6pm after the local defence forces had left and many locals from the village had fled, another resident said.
Although few locals managed to escape during the afternoon airstrikes, more were able to leave in the evening, according to the resident.
“The [Myittha River] jetties did not dare to operate as the military was in the village, so most of the people just stayed in the village,” he said, adding that members of the Myanmar army had promised them in November that they would not harm anyone who stayed behind after such clashes and opted not to run.
He said that at least three homes were destroyed but the full extent of the damage was not known.
Village in Ye-U Township torched two days after junta air raid
Yae Myet is just the latest village to be targeted by an aerial assault by regime forces
Soldiers raided six homes, stealing valuables and arresting locals who they accused of being connected to the resistance.
The Kalay chapter of the People’s Defence Force, the Chin National Defence Force, and a number of local guerrilla groups are operating in the region, according to the locals who spoke to Myanmar Now.
The airstrike not only damaged homes, but also monasteries, they added. Residents of other nearby villages, such as Nat Myaung and Chaungwa, were also displaced by the attack.
Initial reports said nine people were killed in the clash and the airstrike but Myanmar Now was not able to confirm this information.
With Sagaing and Magway becoming resistance strongholds in the 10 months since Myanmar’s military coup, the junta’s armed forces have been carrying out offensives in the regions, including using attacks from the air and burning homes in Ye-U and Yae Myet in Sagaing and Hnankhar in Magways’ Gangaw.
We tried to contact the junta’s information officers regarding the allegations of escalating attacks by its army, but the calls went unanswered.
Myanmar Now News
At least 35 charred bodies found in Karenni State village on Christmas
/in NewsThe KNDF says that Myanmar junta troops are responsible for the massacre of who they believe to be men, women and children fleeing clashes near a Karenni village
Warning: This report contains disturbing images
The remains of at least 35 charred bodies, including one belonging to a child, were found near a village in eastern Myanmar’s Karenni (Kayah) State early Christmas morning, according to both locals and an anti-junta armed resistance group based in the region.
The bodies were found on eight burned vehicles and five motorbikes near the village of Moso on Saturday. The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) has accused the Myanmar military troops who were present in the area on Friday of committing the crime in question.
The commander of the KNDF’s Brigade 4, who did not want to be named, said that at around 11am on Friday, members of his group saw smoke billowing out of the parked vehicles, but they did not see the burned bodies, as the fire was still blazing.
Due to fears that junta troops may still have been present in the area, the KNDF was only briefly able to visit the area surrounding the trucks that day; it was not until the following morning, when they returned to the scene, that they witnessed the full extent of the massacre.
Moso_village-Burned_vehicles_2.Jpg
Among the charred remains were the fingers of a child who the KNDF commander estimated to be younger than five. He noted that KNDF members had previously seen a small vehicle carrying a woman and child pass down the road leading to that area before the fires had started.
“We don’t know exactly how many women, men and children are among those burned. Some became ashes, some others were charred,” the commander told Myanmar Now.
“The [bodies] were no longer recognizable or identifiable when we saw them.”
Supplies found by KNDF members on the vehicles suggested that the victims were locals fleeing clashes in the area.
The commander speculated that the Myanmar army troops may have deliberately set the people in the trucks on fire using gasoline as an accelerant, noting that the vehicles were positioned intentionally next to one another, side by side.
“They [the junta soldiers] are no longer humans. Their crimes are worse than those committed by fascists,” the commander said.
International charity Save the Children said in a statement published on Saturday that two of their staff were returning to their office after carrying out a humanitarian visit in the area when they were “caught up in the incident.” The staff were still missing at the time of reporting.
The organisation wrote that they had received confirmation that their private vehicle had been attacked and burned.
“Save the Children condemns this attack as a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” CEO Inger Ashing said in the statement, adding, “attacks against aid workers cannot be tolerated.”
Around 100 troops from the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Division 66 made advances from Demoso Township towards Hpruso on Friday, according to the KNDF. The troops then clashed with a joint force belonging to the KNDF and members of the Karenni Army near the village of Moso.
During the military offensive, the army troops beat and arrested villagers and ransacked their property, the KNDF said in a statement on Saturday. The troops also killed four members of the Karenni Border Guard Force (BGF), known as BGF Battalion 1004, who attempted to stop the army troops from terrorising the villagers, the KNDF said.
“[They] arrested four members of the BGF Battalion 1004 and tied them up before executing them by shooting them in the head,” the KNDF statement said.
The KNDF received reports from Moso that some of the village’s residents went missing on Friday and that they would try to confirm the identities of the victims.
“This is an inhumane act,” a spokesperson from the KNDF said. “We would like to express our condolences to the families of those victims whose lives were sacrificed in this incident. Secondly, we will retaliate against the military council in response to this incident.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on December 26 to include information from Save the Children’s statement on the incident.
According to the state media reports from the junta’s mouthpiece on Saturday, seven vehicles coming from the village of Kwaing Ngan towards Moso on Friday did not stop when asked to do so by Myanmar army troops. The junta alleged that people in the vehicles shot at the soldiers from the trucks and they were “captured dead” after a shootout.
The report did not mention how many were killed in the shootout or the fact that the charred bodies were found near Moso village.
Moso_villagers_4.Jpeg
The KNDF rejected the junta’s claim and insisted that the victims were villagers.
“They were villagers, including women and children. How could they have weapons?” said the spokesperson. “They ran in fright amid the clash and junta troops stopped them and burned them alive on the vehicles.”
Myanmar Now is unable to verify whether the victims were killed and burned later or burned alive.
Karenni State was one of the first areas of the country to see the emergence of an armed resistance movement in the wake of the February 1 coup.
The Karenni Civil Society Network reported last week that more than 150,000 civilians have been displaced in predominantly Karenni areas of Kayah State and southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township since the conflict began.
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (December 13-19) 2021
/in HR SituationIn 2016, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), one of the members of the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma, released a report on prison conditions in Myanmar, and the urgent need for reform. Among their key findings, overcrowding in cells led to the deterioration of health conditions of inmates. Prisoners were regularly subjected to torture and inhumane treatment leading to deaths in custody.
In 2018, another report: “Activism and Agency,” also authored by AAPP looked at the experiences of female prisoners specifically which drew similar findings including sexual, physical and psychological abuse and harassment. Across decades, those detained in Myanmar’s various detention centers are not safe. Since February, thousands of innocent civilians including human rights defenders have been arrested, detained and subjected to harrowing treatment in military custody. Despite the many calls of groups like AAPP, the junta has not reformed prison conditions to be in line with international standards in the slightest.
Over the last week, more evidence emerged of unlawful treatment of prisoners, including a freelance journalist who became the first member of the press to be tortured to death by the junta in prison. Following a nationwide strike held on 10 December (Human Rights Day), inmates at Insein Prison participated in solidarity with the pro-democracy movement by refusing to leave their cells. They also sang an anti-dictatorship song when the junta interrogated them about the leaders of the protest within the prison. The regime responded violently by beating prisoners until they were no longer conscious and then subsequently denied them medical treatment.
The All Burma Federation of Student Union expressed worry for those who had been beaten, and then held in solitary confinement. Ko Bo Kyi of AAPP has said on multiple occasions that prison conditions have significantly deteriorated since the failed coup as the junta continues to abuse prison rights with impunity.
Systematic use of torture in prisons is a violation of international law. The junta is lawlessly detaining innocent civilians and then further subjecting them to conditions which deprive them of their dignity, safety and well-being. Human Rights Watch, BBC, the New York Times and the Associated Press are among the many who have documented the atrocities committed against civilians behind prison walls.
Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners outlined by the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs make clear that ‘all prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings.’ The illegal junta has failed to protect and uphold prisoner rights. The international community has an obligation and responsibility to respond to the atrocities taking place to set a precedent that no one is above the rule of law, and to protect the lives of detainees.
KAREN STATE
With over 80 000 displaced, Karen villagers are in need of warm clothing as the cold season takes its toll on civilians forced to flee increasing junta offensives. The military junta has not eased in its brutal campaign of warfare against the Karen which has gone on for decades. On 15 December, reports emerged that over two-hundred soldiers had invaded the civilian town of Lay Kay Kaw, which is controlled by Brigade 6 of the Karen National Union. Dozens of activists were arrested as it provoked further instability as clashes took place with the Karen National Liberation Army.
According to the Karen Information Center, the junta was firing with large weapons at areas where they suspected the civilian defense forces to be hiding. Tensions had been building since 14 December, and forced several hundred civilians to begin fleeing. Thousands more began fleeing ongoing attacks by the junta who were indiscriminately firing into nearby civilian areas. On 16 December, Karen rights groups reported more fighting broke out near Mae Taw Tha Lay. The regime has blocked key routes needed to transport urgently needed humanitarian aid.
KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE
In Kayah (Karenni) State, displaced villagers are distraught over more instability threatening their livelihoods. Ongoing conflict has made it impossible for them to work as the presence of soldiers has made locals fearful of going too far outside of their villages. Farmers have been unable to tend to their fields, and have lost opportunities to harvest food and sustain an income.
To make matters worse, the illegal junta continues to block key routes needed for the delivery of humanitarian aid to internally displaced people (IDPs). Places where civilians would typically take refuge, such as churches and temples, have been taken over as military base camps. As the cold weather begins, IDPs have no choice but to seek safety and shelter in the jungle where living conditions are harsh.
According to the Karenni Civil Society Network, the junta has destroyed nearly 400 buildings in Kayah (Karenni) State. Between 22 November and 5 December, almost 1500 fled fighting in the State.
SAGAING REGION
More than 100 homes were set on fire by the military junta in Sagaing region’s Ayadaw Township on 13 December. The deliberate arson attack forced hundreds of villagers to flee, who returned to find approximately 100 homes completely scorched and devastated by the fires. The junta continues to target those affiliated with the pro-democracy movement, including those involved with the People’s Defense Forces. Soldiers reportedly also abducted two men, and destroyed a school.
Artillery firing was also aimed at the village. Food that was in the homes was eaten by the soldiers. Villagers that returned to their demolished homes recoiled from their losses, which had already been deeply strained by the impacts of the failed coup and increasing militarisation. In another worrying series of events, a citizen journalist reporting on the situation in Sagaing region was arrested and has not been heard from since.
Bodies of three men who returned to their village after fleeing clashes were caught and shot at close range were killed by the military junta. A villager commenting on the indiscriminate killings said: “Those soldiers are not even human anymore. They only know to kill all the men they see.”
More houses torched as junta troops leave Loikaw village
/in NewsResidents of Kunnar said soldiers also burned down a number of houses when they took control of the village last week
Regime forces occupying the village of Kunnar in Kayah (Karenni) State’s Loikaw Township set fire to 19 houses before retreating on Monday, according to local residents and resistance sources.
A member of the anti-regime Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) told Myanmar Now that the soldiers, who took control of the village late last week, started the fires at around 8am on Monday.
“We were at the edge of the village and they were on the main road in the middle of the village. They torched the houses while retreating. They also fired shots into the village before starting the fires,” he said.
The incident comes days after regime forces were accused of deliberately burning down houses in Kunnar and another village in the area on Friday.
There were also reports that more fires had been set on Sunday, but this could not be confirmed.
According to the KNDF member, there were around 130 troops stationed in Kunnar over the weekend. He added that there had been no new clashes since fighting broke out twice last week, on Monday and Thursday.
The junta troops were also accused of stealing food from more than 50 houses and destroying furniture, appliances and other property as they made their way out of the village.
“There were soldiers in the village for two or three days, but they started to leave this morning. First, however, they torched seven houses—nice, big houses,” said Reh, a Kunnar resident who fled the village amid last week’s clashes.
In a statement, the KNDF said that a total of 19 houses were destroyed on Monday.
The Karenni Civil Society Network reported on Friday that more than 150,000 civilians have been displaced by conflict in Kayah State and southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township since late May.
The group added that at least 400 buildings, including houses and churches, had been destroyed as of December 7.
Myanmar Now News
Thousands Flee Into Thailand as Myanmar Junta Shells Villagers
/in NewsSome 5,000 residents of villages in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township on the Thai border have sought shelter in the neighboring country, while an estimated 10,000 more locals remain internally displaced in the area following the Myanmar junta’s heavy offensives against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and civilian People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups.
On Sunday, more displaced people crossed the Thaung Yin River, which forms the border with Thailand, after the junta shelled civilian residential areas. A relief worker helping the IDPs said a growing number of people are stranded at the border and need help, as the fighting has escalated there.
The military fired artillery at them and some shells landed on Thai soil, the source said, adding that he heard the Thais fired back with smoke bombs as a warning.
Military tensions escalated last week when some 200 junta soldiers raided Lay Kay Kaw new town near Myawaddy on Dec. 14, alleging that democracy activists and members of PDF groups were hiding there. Two MPs-elect from the National League for Democracy, U Wai Lin Aung and Dr. Pyae Phyo, were among around 40 people detained by the junta on that day.
The raids and clashes followed the junta’s accusation that the Karen National Union, Myanmar’s oldest revolutionary force, was supporting and sheltering striking civil servants and anti-regime armed resistance groups. The KNLA is the armed wing of the KNU.
Many internally displaced people (IDPs) have been unable to cross the river into Thailand, so Lay Kay Kaw administrative officials are arranging for temporary IDP camps to be set up in the area, said KNU Vice Chairman Padoh Kwe Htoo Win.
“The military activities have continuously intensified in the area, with the deployment of 105-mm howitzers in Myawaddy. It’s likely that they will fire artillery from there [at Lay Kay Kaw and surrounding areas],” he said.
The junta has also sent drones and reconnaissance planes over Lay Kay Kaw and the surrounding area every day, he added.
On Monday morning, planes circled above Lay Kay Kaw, Padoh Kwe Htoo Win told The Irrawaddy in the afternoon. He added, “We are worried they will bomb the area,” which has many villages that are home to ethnic Karen, Mon, Shan and Bamar communities.
Irrawaddy News
Army attacks on two Loikaw villages leave at least 20 houses destroyed by fire
/in NewsKarenni resistance forces said that junta troops deliberately set the houses on fire after shelling the villages
Regime forces destroyed at least 20 houses in two villages in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Loikaw Township on Friday, according to the anti-regime Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF).
The group accused the military of firing heavy weapons into the villages of Daw Saw Wea and Kunnar from noon until 6pm on Friday and then deliberately setting a number of houses on fire.
In a statement released on Friday, the KNDF called the attacks “one-sided”.
Earlier in the week, a combined force of KNDF and Karenni Army (KA) troops clashed with junta soldiers near the two villages, which lie about 1km apart.
Reh, a resident of Kunnar who fled after the fighting started last Monday, confirmed that he saw smoke rising from the village on Friday afternoon.
“After firing heavy weapons, they came to torch houses in the village for no reason. There are only a few people still there,” he told Myanmar Now on Sunday morning.
He confirmed that at least one house in Kunnar had been set on fire, while 13 houses and seven tractors had been burned in Daw Saw Wea. He said he didn’t know about the other houses that had reportedly been destroyed.
“Most of the houses also had barns attached to them, so that means the rice inside of them is gone now, too. But we can’t put out the fires, because there are soldiers stationed there,” he added.
Last week, residents of around a dozen villages in Kayah State’s Loikaw and Demoso townships were forced to flee their homes following clashes between the military and local resistance forces.
The state was one of the first parts of the country to see the emergence of an armed resistance movement in the wake of the February 1 coup.
The Karenni Civil Society Network reported on Friday that more than 150,000 civilians have been displaced in predominantly Karenni areas of Kayah State and southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township since the conflict began.
Myanmar Now News