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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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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