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
- Open letter from Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations to ASEAN to End Myanmar Military’s Violence, Advance Accountability and Operationalize Cross-border Humanitarian Aid
- Press Release – Rights-Based Reform: ASEAN Five Years on from the 5-Point Consensus
- Rights-Based Reform: ASEAN Five Years on from 5-Point Consensus
- [Open Letter] SEANF must remove membership of junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
- President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty
Death Toll at Hands of Myanmar Junta Reaches 1,281
/in NewsThe bodies of a 23-year-old female medic and two male members of the Kale People’s Defense Force (PDF) were found at a camp which was raided by junta troops last Tuesday in Kale Township, Sagaing Region.
The civilian resistance group said victims were Biak Rem Chin, Cher Thang Puia and Ram Mawia.
Biak Rem Chin, also known as Chin Chin, was providing medical training at the camp. She had been shot in the forehead while Cher Thang Puia and Ram Mawia showed signs of torture on their faces.
During the raid, the junta captured nine female medics at the base and their condition remains unknown.
The three deaths mean the numbers killed by the military regime is at least 1,281, reported the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which records killings and arrests by the junta. The group estimated that the actual number of victims is much higher.
According to the AAPP’s latest report, junta forces have killed around 50 civilians so far this month, including five teenagers, bystanders, villagers, a striking teacher and a hostage.
High-school teacher U Zaw Min Aung, 40, who joined the civil disobedience movement by refusing to work under the regime, was tortured to death in interrogation hours after being detained in Myin Thar village, Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region.
He was seized with another civilian on the night of Nov. 17 and accused of having links to PDFs.
Ko Ye Aung, who was seized as a hostage in Kyauktada village in Mandalay Region was tortured to death during interrogation, the AAPP said.
On Nov. 12, Ko Myint Naing and Ko Ye Aung, the father and uncle of a young activist who faced an arrest warrant for incitement, were detained. The next day, Ko Ye Aung’s family was told to retrieve his body, which was apparently covered in torture injuries.
Junta forces have detained more than 10,000 people, while nearly 2,000 people face arrest warrants.
Numerous relatives of wanted activists have been taken hostage by the junta.
The AAPP said the 13-year-old son of National League for Democracy member U Htay Aung was seized when junta forces could not find him.
On Nov. 13 morning, the junta seized the wife of U Thein Naing Tun and a young philanthropist named Ko Thein Zaw as hostages in Taung Tha Township, Mandalay Region, when troops failed to find former village administrator U Thein Naing Tun and two other wanted people.
Irrawaddy News
Myanmar Military Launches Crackdown on Urban Guerrilla Forces
/in NewsYANGON, MYANMAR —
Myanmar security forces are deploying large numbers of forces to crack down on dissident groups in various townships in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, as anti-coup forces continue to intensify attacks against military assets and affiliates.
A key member of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and former member of the parliament, Phyo Zeyar Thaw, was arrested in Dagon Seikkan township Thursday (November 18).
The next day, the ruling junta released news of the arrest, with photos of Phyo Zeyar Thaw, handcuffed and with bruises on his face, amid guns and ammunition. It also released photos of 40 young men and seven women arrested between November 12 and 17, allegedly for carrying out terrorist attacks in Yangon under Phyo Zeyar Thaw’s direction.
The junta has accused Phyo Zeyar Thaw of recruiting youths at the behest of what it considers terrorist groups, such as the opposition shadow government, the National Unity Government, and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, consisting of elected MPs from last year’s 2020 general election.
A spokesman for the National Unity Government’s Military Command and Control Unit of Yangon Division said of the 47 detainees arrested by the military, 20 are members of the National Unity Government unit. Since the announcement of the National Unity Government’s “People’s Defensive War” on September 7, opposition forces have launched an “Operation Swallow” in Yangon and two neighboring regions of Bago and Ayeyarwaddy.
The National Unity Government military unit has claimed responsibility for shootings in several parts of Yangon and said there had been 443 attacks in Yangon between September 7 and November 6.
Aung Kyi Nyunt, chairman of the MPs group, expressed serious concern about the arrest of many young people, including Phyo Zeyar Thaw.
“They would be tortured under interrogation. They lives are at risk,” Aung Kyi Nyunt told VOA Saturday (November 20).
Four people were arrested Friday (November 19) in connection with the November 4 shooting death of Thein Aung, a high-ranking official of Mytel, a military-owned telecom company. Seven other men were arrested with weapons and ammunition, including two M16 rifles, for firing on a township administration office November 7.
The junta accused the opposition government and parliamentarians’ group of connection to the shootings, attacks and assassinations in Yangon, and the groups also have been accused of providing arms to young people involved in these attacks. Aung Kyi Nyunt would not comment on the military’s allegations.
The military has increased security in many townships and is conducting raids at night.
“After 8:00 at night, we do not dare to go out in our neighborhood. Soldiers are on the road, and [people] can be interrogated and arrested for no reason,” said a North Okkalapa township resident.
A total of 198 people were killed in terrorist attacks between February 1 and November 16, the junta announced on November 18. The junta reaffirmed it will crack down on those who create instability.
The junta also has warned that those who rent houses or apartments for members of the opposition military forces will be prosecuted under existing law and their property will be confiscated.
Opposition military forces say that despite the arrests, they will increase their efforts, and the command unit said it will be speeding up its operations in Yangon.
Kyaw Oo, a member of the opposition People’s Defense Force, who has been carrying out guerrilla attacks since April, told VOA his group received information in October that the junta would launch an operation in Yangon within three months.
“Since then, the military has put more security forces on Yangon than ever before. As a result, prominent people were targeted and arrested on missions. Later arrests may become more severe. So, now all the groups in Yangon are paying special attention to security. Otherwise, we will be arrested,” Kyaw Oo said.
VOA News
Tortured teashop owner loses hearing after more than four months in detention
/in NewsThe man and his wife have both been held in Mandalay’s Obo Prison since their arrest in early July
The owner of a teashop in Mandalay Region’s Sintgaing Township has lost his hearing and some of his eyesight due to torture at the hands of his interrogators, according to a source close to his family.
Min Thu Tun, 32, was arrested at his teashop in the village of Ohn Pin Chan on July 6 on suspicion of involvement with anti-regime forces active in the area.
He is currently being held in Mandalay’s Obo Prison, where he faces charges of incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code and illegal possession of weapons under Sections 5 and 6 of the Weapons Act.
His condition has greatly deteriorated since he was arrested together with his wife and five others, including his 12-year-old son and employees of his teashop, according to the family contact.
“He has gone deaf and his eyes have also been badly injured. They said his eyesight is not very good. He got all those injuries from being tortured,” the source said, citing someone who saw Min Thu Tun at an in-prison court hearing in October.
The family was taken into custody following a clash between junta forces and local resistance fighters near Mandalay International Airport in the nearby town of Tada-U. One soldier was killed in the shootout and one member of the Sintgaing People’s Defence Force (PDF) was arrested.
During a raid carried out after the clash, regime forces reportedly discovered explosives in a hut near Min Thu Tun’s Shwe Kyal Zin teashop.
Min Thu Tun, his wife Tin Nwe Hlaing, and three other suspects are still being held by the junta, but the couple’s son, Aung Swan Pyae, and one other boy have since been released after initially being charged with possessing explosives.
Tin Nwe Hlaing, 32, is also suffering from health problems, according to the family contact.
“She has a stomach disease. The rice they serve in prison is of poor quality, causing her to have frequent stomach pains. It’s really worrying,” he said.
“Their child is being looked after by their relatives. It’s so sad to see a family being torn apart,” he added.
No details were available about the condition of the three other detainees, Sai, Htet Wai Yan, and Min Min Soe.
The next court hearing is expected to be held at a special court inside Obo Prison on November 19.
Myanmar Now attempted to contact the regime’s information officer and Sintgaing’s central police station for information regarding the cases against the detainees and their condition in custody, but did not receive a response.
Neither Min Thu Tun nor Tin Nwe Hlaing have received adequate treatment for their health issues, according to the source close to the family.
“They’re not guilty in the first place. I just want to request the military council to release them as soon as possible,” he said.
Myanmar Now News
Weekly update on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar: Post-Coup (November 8-14) 2021
/in HR SituationDetained veteran student activist, U Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy), a member of the 88 Generation Students Group was arrested at the end of October where he later suffered a violent interrogation in military custody. He was then charged with high treason and terrorism. The five charges he faces could see him face 30 years in prison if convicted, with the possibility of the death penalty.
Former NLD Chief Minister, Nang Khin Htwe Mying, 67 was found guilty on five separate charges in a military court. She was handed a maximum of 15 years for each case – which brought the total to 77 years in prison.
U Win Htein, who has been sentenced to two decades in prison for sedition by the junta, is an 80 year old patron of the NLD in declining health who was transferred from a Naypyitaw detention centre to Obo Prison in Mandalay.
As more charges are laid, ousted politicians are still being detained and family members taken hostage in their place. Win Myint Hlaing, 51, who represented Taungdwingyi Township in Magway’s regional legislature was taken away with his brother on 8 November and has not been heard from since.
Meanwhile, since the attempted coup, the junta has continued to crackdown on former government officials who have rejected the regime and remained loyal to the NLD. Over the last 90 days, the military has seized approximately 70 properties of NLD lawmakers and other party members who have joined the National Unity Government or People’s Defense Forces.
Despite all the efforts to weaken the resistance movement and Spring Revolution, efforts to dismantle the junta have not wavered. The arrests and targeted assaults on the people’s freedoms are only signifying the fragility of the junta and their desperate attempts to eliminate competition to appear stronger. People continue to overwhelmingly reject everything that the military stands for.
CHIN STATE
Satellite imagery showed the devastation and destruction perpetrated by the military junta in Chin State where homes and churches were burnt to the ground. The regime continues to deny their involvement but photos and testimonies from survivors speak the truth.
As resistance forces continued to fight to defend their territory, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) in Mindat township stated that over a week and a half, a Myanmar military convoy was repeatedly attacked and nearly 60 soldiers were killed.
The wave of atrocity crimes in Chin State has led to challenges documenting evidence of the war-path left behind by the Myanmar junta. An ongoing internet shutdown has made it even harder. Organizations are taking huge risks to attempt to collect critical documentation.
KACHIN STATE
Communities in Kachin State are reeling from the aftermath of targeted airstrikes by the military junta. Livelihoods have been forcibly put on hold as the regime’s presence evokes fear and uncertainty. Since March, multiple airstrikes have displaced thousands. Many displaced villagers have left the IDP camps and returned home, fearing that they would contract the COVID-19 virus in close quarters. Yet many of their needs remain unmet as conflict and the pandemic, as well as inflation, has put basic items out of financial reach for local people.
SHAN STATE
Shan State is among the many areas which continues to be faced with the brutality of the junta as ongoing offensives threaten their survival. In the last two days, scorched earth tactics forced nearly 40 000 residents in Shan State and Sagaing region. In Pekon township, southern Shan State there were 10 000 people from 20 villages seeking refuge.
Villagers also reported the rape of a local elderly woman in northern Shan State after soldiers stole food from her home. The 62-year old was in her home with another woman when three soldiers approached her home. After one left to feed the livestock, the soldiers returned and raped the woman.
Myanmar Junta Troops Rape Chin Mother: Media
/in NewsMyanmar’s junta soldiers gang-raped the mother of a baby in front of her husband in Tedim Township, Chin State, on Thursday night, according to the Chin media.
The alleged incident in Akllui village on the Kale-Tedim highway involved the 27-year-old mother and three soldiers while her husband, 34, was forced to crouch in the toilet, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) for Kalay, Kabaw and Gangaw reported. The group said it received a victim’s report and was investigating the case.
The husband was injured in the head after being hit with rifle butts and plates.
Two of the soldiers returned to the house and raped the victim again later that night, the CDF said.
The three soldiers took a phone, power bank, 18,000 kyats (US$10) and golden earrings, according to the Zalen news outlet, quoting a relative. The couple and their three children have been evacuated to a safe location, according to the CDF.
On Thursday night, at least five houses were raided and looted by regime forces stationed in the village, according to the media. The junta forces left the village on Saturday.
The CDF condemned the attack on the ethnic Chin woman, saying it insulted the whole community.
The civilian resistance group has vowed to take revenge on the regime forces for its sexual abuse of women.
Sisters 2 Sisters, a group raising awareness on excessive force and sexual violence by regime forces, condemned the rape.
The group, which promotes solidarity in fighting systemic oppression, said all sexual violence during conflict is a war crime and a crime against humanity, breaching international humanitarian law.
It said the soldiers responsible must be punished.
On Nov. 7, a junta soldier raped a 62-year-old woman after asking the victim for vegetables at a village in Kutkai Township, Shan State. Myanmar’s junta confirmed the rape case on Nov. 11.
Irrawaddy News
Myanmar Junta Releases US Journalist After Ex-Diplomat’s Intervention
/in NewsMyanmar’s junta released and deported the US journalist Danny Fenster on Monday, three days after sentencing him to 11 years for incitement, contacting an illegal organization and breaching visa regulations.
The regime’s spokesman confirmed the 37-year-old’s deportation after his release from Yangon’s Insein Prison.
The release followed the former US diplomat and ex-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s meeting with the regime’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.
On Monday, the Richardson Center tweeted that Fenster’s release was secured following a private humanitarian visit by Richardson and negotiations with Min Aung Hlaing.
The tweet said “We are so grateful that Danny will finally be able to reconnect with his loved ones, who have been advocating for him all this time, against immense odds.”
It was posted with a picture of Fenster and Richardson at the airport in Yangon.
Fenster, the managing editor of the online news site Frontier Myanmar, was arrested on May 24 at Yangon’s airport shortly while boarding a flight to Malaysia. He was held in Insein.
“We are relieved that Danny is finally out of prison – somewhere he never should have been in the first place,” said Frontier editor-in-chief Thomas Kean.
Before working for Frontier Myanmar, Fenster was with Myanmar Now after joining The Irrawaddy for a few months.
On Friday, the US State Department condemned the sentence as an unjust conviction of an innocent person.
Fenster is the third foreign journalist to be detained by the junta. Two freelancers, Robert Bociaga from Poland and Yuki Kitazumi from Japan, were detained before Fenster’s arrest. Both were later freed and deported.
Since the military takeover, the regime has targeted journalists with arrests, lawsuits, raids on newsrooms and violence in an attempt to suppress coverage of the junta’s lethal crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters.
Around 100 journalists have been detained by the regime since the coup. Around 50 of them remain in prison.
Irrawaddy News