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
- Myanmar military still bombing towns despite earthquake crisis, rebels say
- PRESS STATEMENT: CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR DISASTER RELIEF FOR EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS AND AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN MYANMAR
- AAPP Launches its New Report on Justice, the Judiciary and the Weaponization of Law to Repress Civilians in Burma
- Junta offensives leave 4 dead, thousands displaced in northwest Myanmar
- Open letter: Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest signal urgent need for investigation and complete end of mandate
UNDER WHOSE COMMAND?
/in NewsHuman rights abuses under Myanmar’s military ruleA report by Security Force Monitor
For the first time, extensive research has mapped the Myanmar Army’s entire Chain of Command. The research details the hierarchy and control exercised by senior commanders over hundreds of units throughout a twelve year period. We now know the entire chain of command and can identify who was in command when each alleged human rights abuse occurred between 30 March 2011 and 30 March 2023.
Proving individual responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity is a complex task. This is especially true in Myanmar, where secrecy around the army’s structure has long hampered efforts for accountability.
A decade of worsening human rights abuses
On 30 March 2011, Min Aung Hlaing became Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Myanmar, otherwise known as the Tatmadaw. The Myanmar Army is by far its largest and most powerful branch of the armed forces. Since Min Aung Hlaing took command of the military, the United Nations, human rights groups and others have accused the Myanmar Army of committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes across the country.
During the same period, Myanmar initially appeared to be on a path towards greater democracy and civic participation. That ended in February 2021. Led by Min Aung Hlaing, the army ousted the democratically-elected government, headed by the National League for Democracy party, in a coup d’état. Civilian protest was met with a wave of violence unleashed by the armed forces. Today, the army is accused of continuing to enact a brutal crackdown including arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearances and mass killings.
A crowd of hundreds of thousands of protestors gather in the centre of Yangon to show their support for the Civil Disobedience Movement and to reject the coup.
The Security Force Monitor (SFM) is a project of the Columbia Law Human Rights Institute. Our new research lays bare the Chain of Command of the Myanmar Army and reveals how allegations against soldiers from low level units can be linked to senior army commanders.
Since 2011 more than 60% of the senior commanders of the Myanmar Army have had disappearances, killings, rape or torture allegedly committed by units under their command.
This research shines new light on the control exercised by senior army commanders over the conduct of individual army units. We hope it can be used to support efforts to deliver accountability for alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes committed by the Myanmar Army, and justice for those that have suffered at their hands.
Military commanders take their positions in parliament. The Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of Myanmar’s parliament, is dominated by former soldiers, their positions guaranteed under a constitution which was ratified after a fraudulent referendum in 2008.
Methodology
Establishing the chain of command is one of the key elements in determining who should be held accountable for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The Myanmar Army is one of the most secretive and opaque militaries in the world. Without a good understanding of the structure of the Myanmar Army, human rights groups have struggled to link alleged violations committed by low-level units to the generals in charge.
To build our research we relied on open source information drawn from the work of national and international human rights organizations and local activists. In doing so, we have been able to piece together the most comprehensive picture of the army’s operational structure to date.
Our sources include books, independent newspapers and the military’s own media outlets. We rigorously tracked what each of these sources reported about every unit and commander over the course of more than twelve years to build our picture of the army, piece by piece:
For example a commander is identified in a single newspaper article. This establishes a single claim for the commander on the day the article was published.
As we find more sources with claims about the commander at different points in time, we add them to the timeline.
We can now see a fuller timeline of the commander’s career.
The secrecy around the Myanmar Army means there is a lot of conflicting information in the public domain. Every time we get a new source we analyze it against everything else in our dataset.
Sometimes sources might have competing claims about who is the commander of a unit.
We can resolve the conflict and identify the accurate information by comparing sources about each person’s career, as well as data on similar commanders.
We used this basic cross referencing approach with our research on the chain of command, commanders, the areas under the commander’s control and all other aspects of our dataset.
Armed Forces Day. 15,000 soldiers paraded in an annual event that is recognised as the day the modern Burmese army was founded. Panos
Myanmar’s Army
The Myanmar Army has a dynamic structure that changes depending on where units are operating. Our research builds on this understanding to show how command flows from top to bottom.
At the top is the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, Min Aung Hlaing, who controls all branches of the military. Under him is Soe Win, simultaneously Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services and commander of the Myanmar Army. Both have held their positions since 30 March 2011.
Below them is the Joint Chief of Staff who controls all aspects of the army, including the General Staff of the army and six Bureaus of Special Operations.
Each Bureau of Special Operations controls at least one Regional Military Command (RMC).
The people that hold these positions are the senior commanders of the Myanmar Army sitting at the top of the army’s hierarchy.
Below these senior commanders are units which carry out operations on the ground based on orders from these senior commanders.
Two major formations that move around the country are Military Operations Commands (MOCs) and Light Infantry Divisions (LIDs). They fall under the control of the Regional Military Command responsible for the area where they are operating, but also report up to the army chief of staff. RMCs control any army units that enter into their territory.
All Regional Military Commands, Military Operations Commands and Light Infantry Divisions command Infantry and Light Infantry Battalions, which are the main combat unit of the Myanmar Army. This analysis is limited to connecting violations allegedly committed by MOCs and LIDs and these battalions to the wider chain of command.
While this basic structure was known, the specific chain of command for each unit and how it may have changed through time was not. Our research has tracked the movements of every single unit, its command relationship in these three formations, and the careers of senior army commanders for an entire twelve year period.BATTALIONS(LIDS)100xBATTALIONS (MOCS)200xBATTALIONS (ROCS)36xBATTALIONS (RMCS)187xTACTICAL OPERATIONS COMMANDS (LIDS)30xTACTICAL OPERATIONS COMMANDS (MOCS)60xLIGHT INFANTRY DIVISIONS (LIDS)10xMILITARY OPERATIONS COMMANDS (MOCS)20x6xREGIONAL OPERATIONS COMMANDS (ROCS)4x41xTACTICAL OPERATIONS COMMANDS (RMCS)MILITARY REGIONS (YANGON RMCS)REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDS14xBASED ON AREAARMY CHIEF OF STAFFBUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS6xJOINT CHIEF OF STAFFTATMADAW-KYIARMYDEPUTY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEFOF DEFENCE SERVICESTATMADAWCOMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
Understanding this dynamic and changing structure enables us to reveal, for the first time, which senior commanders were in command for every alleged human rights abuse committed by an army unit.
Military and police beat a family arrested during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar, in 2021.
Chain of Command
Take this example of allegation of arbitrary arrest and torture in April, 2011, shortly after Min Aung Hlaing became Commander-in-Chief of the military.
The allegation identifies that the 502 Light Infantry Battalion falls under the command of 1 Military Operations Command. Given the date and location more connections can be made to the wider army chain of command.
Sources before and after the alleged violation establish Northeastern Regional Command controls Kyaukme township and the chain of command up all the way to the top of the military.
Other sources from before and after the alleged violation identifies every commander in the chain of command ending with Min Aung Hlaing at the top.
Senior commanders in the Myanmar Army. From left to right: Mya Htun Oo, Soe Win, Min Aung Hlaing.
Linking Allegations
The vast majority of senior army commanders over a twelve year period can be linked through the chain of command to allegations of disappearances, killings, rapes and torture.
Most of these commanders were promoted to higher ranks after these alleged violations occurred.
Since Min Aung Hlaing became Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Army in 2011, the entire vast army apparatus was controlled by just 79 senior commanders.
Senior commanders can be held responsible for human rights abuses committed by their subordinates.
64% (51 of the 79) senior army commanders that have served under Min Aung Hlaing have had alleged disappearances, killings, rape or instances of torture committed by units under their command.
54% (28 of 51) of these commanders were promoted in rank after at least one alleged disappearance, killing, rape or instance of torture was committed by units under their command. The others could not be promoted in rank further (9), promotions could not be determined (11), or may be promoted in the future (3).
Children, affected by clashes between the military and ethnic rebel groups, playing at the Kho Lone monastery, temporarily being used as a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), in Kutkai in Shan State. Local civil society organisations say more than 2,000 people have been displaced as residents caught in the middle seek safety in nearby monasteries.
Establishing patterns
With a full understanding of the Myanmar Army’s chain of command, we can now map allegations of abuse onto this structure to establish patterns.
Between 30 March 2011 and 30 March 2023, allegations of disappearances, killings, rape or torture have been made consistently against the same units – even when different people were in command.
Over those twelve years, senior army commanders served in multiple different positions.
Whenever commanders served along Myanmar’s borders they almost always had allegations against units under their command. However, when commanding units in major cities like Yangon or the capital Naypyidaw, especially before the 2021 coup, there were no reports of allegations against their subordinate units.
Mya Htun Oo’s career can serve as an example for this analysis. He served in five different positions in the army’s chain of command between 2011 and 2023.
This chart highlights the positions that Mya Htun Oo held in the Myanmar Army between 30 March 2011 and 30 March 2023.
The other circles represent another person who commanded the same unit at some point during that time frame. For example, Eastern Central RMC had nine different commanders, including Mya Htun Oo.
For some positions subordinates units under Mya Htun Oo were accused of committing disappearances, killings, rapes or torture. During other commands there were no such allegations against subordinates.
The same is true for other senior commanders.
Four commanders of Eastern Central RMC, including Mya Htun Oo, had subordinates accused of committing disappearances, killings, rapes or torture during their command.
The other five other commanders of Eastern Central RMC did not have any of those allegations made against units under their control during their command of Eastern Central RMC.EASTERN CENTRAL REGIONALMILITARY COMMAND![]()
5 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS![]()
6 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS![]()
GENERAL ARMY STAFF![]()
JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF
This chart shows, for the first time, every position held by every senior commander and whether disappearances, killings, rape or instances of torture were allegedly committed by units under their command for that position.
In many areas of the country, almost every single person who ever held command had disappearances, killings, rape or instances of torture allegedly committed by units under their command.
This is particularly true in areas of long-standing conflict and concern for human rights abuses: Kachin state controlled by Northern RMC, Kayin state controlled by Southeastern RMC, and Shan state divided among Northern, Eastern Central, Eastern, Northeastern, and Triangle RMCs.NAYPYIDAW REGIONALMILITARY COMMANDYANGON REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDSOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDCOASTAL REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDSOUTHERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDSOUTHWESTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDWESTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDEASTERN CENTRAL REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDEASTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDNORTHEASTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDTRIANGLE REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDCENTRAL REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDNORTHERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDNORTHWESTERN REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDGENERAL ARMY STAFF6 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS5 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS4 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS3 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS2 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS1 BUREAU OF SPECIAL OPERATIONSJOINT CHIEF OF STAFFTATMADAW-KYIARMYDEPUTY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEFTATMADAW COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
This report
Our research is ongoing. We are continually adding to our dataset. The facts and statistics in this report were last updated on 11/1/2023
As noted throughout the text, this analysis is limited to particular allegations against specific units. This analysis does not include allegations where no specific unit is identified. A future analysis will include these types of allegations. The analysis does not include allegations against artillery, armored or support units of the army, as the chain of command research for these units is ongoing.
For the most up to date information, please get in touch.
Search the chain of command
You can search the chain of command in Myanmar for yourself.
Explore the connections through the chain of command from alleged violations up to senior commanders in our Data Explorer.
Search the chain of command
Learn more about how we did this research
Go to the About section to learn more about specific areas of Security Force Monitor’s methodology in researching the Myanmar Army.
Sources
Human Rights Situation weekly update (October 22 to 31, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Oct 22 to 31, 2023
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Kachin State, Shan State, and Bago Region from October 22nd to 31st. Military Junta arrested over 50 civilians and used them as human shields within a week. They burnt and killed 5 civilians from Tabayin Township in Sagaing Region on October 27th. After the leaked the information about farmers from Waw Township had to pay money to the Military Junta troop, the Junta threatened and forced them to sign the document that the news is not real and paid in Bago Region.
Over 30 civilians were killed and 34 injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. Around 11 civilians were arrested and 9 were killed by the Military Junta within a week. Civilians left their places 8 times within a week because of the Military Junta Troop’s matching and raiding. An underaged child died and 7 children were injured when the Military Junta committed violations.
Infogram
Monthly Overview of the Human Rights Situation (October 2023)
/in ND-Burma Members' Reports, ResourcesThroughout October, the regime routinely targeted civilians in an ongoing campaign to undermine their fundamental freedoms. Despite the daily challenges, the people are resilient and have not given up their fight for democracy. The Burma Army knows that they are losing the war they have waged, and in response, they have scaled up attacks to try and instill terror and fear.
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) remains committed to documenting the assaults and attacks indicative of military impunity. Evidence is necessary to ensure justice for victims and survivors.
While carrying out these horrendous attacks, the junta is trying to present an illusion to the international community that the situation in the country is normal when, in reality, it is anything but the contrary. The junta invited government officials, diplomats, ethnic revolution organizations, and even NGOs to an event commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The NCA is not a successful pathway or platform to peace in Burma, but in their attempts to appear legitimate and committed to ‘peace,’ the junta held a lavish ceremony.
Thousands feared displaced in new Myanmar clashes: UN
/in NewsAmong those who have fled their homes in northern Shan State, several hundred people have reportedly crossed the border into China seeking safety
Thousands of people are feared to have been displaced by four days of fighting in northern Myanmar, including several hundred who reportedly fled to China, the United Nations (UN) said on Monday.
On Friday, three powerful ethnic armed organisations attacked junta troops across a swathe of northern Shan State, home to a planned billion-dollar rail link, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure project.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) have since said they have seized several military posts and key roads.
The three groups—which analysts say can call on at least 15,000 fighters between them—have fought regularly with the military over autonomy and control of resources.
“As of 30 October, over 6,200 individuals have reportedly been newly displaced” by the fighting, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
“Additionally, several hundred people have reportedly crossed the border into China in search of safety.”
It said it expected more people to be displaced amid ongoing clashes.
One man in the town of Hsenwi—which sits on a vital road to China—told AFP on Monday that he was sheltering with around 100 others in a Buddhist monastery.
“We did not have a place to escape,” said the man, who requested anonymity for security reasons. “We tried to leave but we could not drive out of the town as there was ongoing fighting.”
China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that it was “closely following” the fighting and called on all sides to prevent the situation from escalating.
Myriad ethnic armed organisations operate across Myanmar’s ethnic states and have for decades clashed with the government.
Since the military seized power in 2021, several of these groups have allied with People’s Defence Forces that have sprung up to battle the junta.
More than 1.6 million people have been displaced by the violence that has flared since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, according to a UN estimate.
Myanmar Now News
Number of displaced worldwide has reached a record 114 million: UNHCR
/in NewsMany of those made homeless were victims of ongoing conflicts in Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN refugee agency said
The number of people displaced from their homes worldwide is estimated to have exceeded 114 million, the United Nations said on Wednesday—a record figure.
The main drivers in the first half of 2023 were the conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan; and a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said in a statement.
“The number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights violations globally is likely to have exceeded 114 million at the end of September,” the agency said.
“The world’s focus now is—rightly—on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. But globally, far too many conflicts are proliferating or escalating, shattering innocent lives and uprooting people,” said UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi.
He blamed the international community’s inability to solve or prevent conflicts and urged better cooperation to end violence and allow displaced people to return home.
Record numbers
The number of displaced people worldwide jumped from 108.4 million people at the end of last year to 110 million people by the end of June 2023, the UNHCR said in its Mid-Year Trends Report.
A UNHCR spokesman confirmed to AFP the 114 million figure at the end of September was a record since the agency began collecting data in 1975.
The new estimate precedes the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas gunmen poured into Israel on October 7, beginning an attack that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, while also kidnapping more than 220 others, according to Israeli officials.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says retaliatory Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,500 people.
The number of people internally displaced within Gaza is estimated at about 1.4 million, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.
One in 73 displaced
More than one in 73 people around the world are forcibly displaced, the UNHCR said.
At mid-2023, there were 35.8 million refugees who had fled abroad, and 57 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Millions more are asylum seekers or in need of international protection.
Almost one-third of all displaced people originated from just three countries: Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine.
Low- and middle-income countries hosted 75 percent of refugees and other people in need of international protection.
The countries hosting the most refugees are Iran and Turkey at 3.4 million each; Germany and Colombia with 2.5 million each; and Pakistan with 2.1 million.
Nearly half of Syria’s population remained displaced at mid-2023: 6.7 million people within the country and 6.7 million refugees and asylum-seekers, with most hosted in Turkey.
Globally, 1.6 million new individual asylum applications were made between January and June 2023—the largest number ever recorded in the first six months of any given year.
Of those, 540,600 claims were in the United States, 150,200 in Germany and 87,100 in Spain.
“As we watch events unfold in Gaza, Sudan and beyond, the prospect of peace and solutions for refugees and other displaced populations might feel distant,” said Grandi.
“But we cannot give up. With our partners we will keep pushing for—and finding—solutions for refugees.”
Some 3.1 million people did return home between January and June, including 2.7 million IDPs.
Myanmar Now News
Chin refugees request criminal investigation of Myanmar junta officials by Philippine authorities
/in NewsIf the government proceeds with the investigation, the Philippines will be the first country in Asia to invoke universal jurisdiction to hold foreign nationals accountable for crimes against humanity
Displaced members of Myanmar’s Chin community have turned to courts in the Philippines to bring war crimes charges against Myanmar junta officials, according to a statement released by activists and the accusers’ attorneys on Wednesday.
With legal representation from Philippine attorneys and support from the activist organisation Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), five displaced residents of Chin State filed a criminal complaint with the Department of Justice in Manila, requesting an investigation into 10 regime officials, including junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
The complainants accuse the junta of murdering civilians, including their own relatives, as well as desecrating bodies, burning churches and houses, and withholding aid from people impacted by conflict or natural disasters. All five sought refuge abroad following assaults by junta forces that forced the entire surviving population of the town of Thantlang, Chin State to flee in 2021.
In the statement released on Wednesday, they allege that the military killed civilians when they tried to put out fires deliberately started by soldiers.
“I will not accept that my nephew’s death was in vain. He died attempting to save fellow citizens from the raging fires. I beseech the authorities here in the Philippines to grant us the justice we pray for,” said one of the complainants, whose name was withheld for security reasons.
A total of 528 ethnic Chin people have been killed in military atrocities since the coup, of whom 217 were civilians and the rest were resistance fighters, according to the advocacy group Institute of Chin Affairs.
Salai Ling, the deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organisation, is among the complainants and spoke on their behalf.
“The atrocities of the regime forces against the Chin people and residents of Thantlang have put all of our lives upside down: Our losses are permanent and irreplaceable. The destruction of the whole town was painful to watch, the loss of our loved ones, our community, our churches, and all of our historical roots and lifetime of memories are indescribable,” Salai Ling told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.
“We are asking for justice because for far too long the Myanmar military has been allowed to commit war crimes and atrocity crimes with complete impunity,” he added.
When reached for comment, MAP executive director Chris Gunness noted the importance of involving Myanmar’s fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in holding the junta accountable.
“Various international mechanisms and bodies, such as the UN Security Council, have said repeatedly that ASEAN should be in the lead. The cases MAP is supporting in places like the Philippines and Indonesia puts ASEAN in the driving seat,” Gunness said.
MAP has also requested that Indonesia’s human rights commission investigate state-owned companies that have allegedly supplied weapons to the Myanmar military, and has petitioned the constitutional court in Jakarta to proceed with a universal jurisdiction case.
“It allows survivors of gross violations to tell their stories and validate their narratives in their own home regions. And finally it promotes the concept of ‘no safe havens’ such that Min Aung Hlaing and his criminal clique will think twice before they swan around the region with their families, doing their shopping and dealing with their healthcare,” the MAP director added.
Romel Bagares and Gilbert Andres, the attorneys representing the Chin refugees, argue that a Philippine law enacted in 2009 allows authorities to try foreign nationals for crimes committed outside the country under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction.
According to this principle, states have the right to prosecute certain egregious crimes—including crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, and war crimes—regardless of where the crime occurred or the nationality of the perpetrators or victims.
If the requested investigation proceeds in Manila, the government of the Philippines will be the first in any Asian country to invoke universal jurisdiction in investigating and prosecuting such crimes.
Spanish courts previously invoked universal jurisdiction in prosecuting an Argentine former naval officer for crimes against civilians during a military dictatorship in his native country. Germany also convicted foreign nationals under this principle for their involvement in genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda.
Earlier this year, the human rights organisation Fortify Rights supported a criminal complaint against Myanmar military officials—also invoking universal jurisdiction—filed with authorities in Germany.
Before supporting the case in the Philippines, MAP helped file a criminal complaint with the Turkish government in March of 2022, leading to an investigation of Myanmar junta officials accused of using torture.
Myanmar Now News