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 junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say
- Myanmar’s junta cuts filmmaker’s life sentence to 15 years as part of wider amnesty
- Close The Sky
- International condemnation of the escalating humanitarian crisis and rights violations in Myanmar
- Women in Karenni State face increasing levels of violence
Argentine court hears allegations of genocide against Myanmar leaders
/in NewsUniversal jurisdiction case to review accounts of rape and slaughter of Rohingya.
Updated at 10:30 p.m. EDT on June 7, 2023.
An Argentine court is hearing testimony about allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by senior Myanmar officials against Rohingya Muslims in a landmark case.
The hearing is being held in Argentina under the principle of “universal jurisdiction” enshrined in the country’s constitution, which holds that some crimes are so heinous that alleged perpetrators thousands of miles away can be tried.
“This is a historic fight for justice,” said Tun Khin, president of the London-based advocacy group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, or BROUK, which filed the complaint with the Federal Criminal Correctional Court in Buenos Aires in 2019.
“Holding the military accountable for genocide of the Rohingya will benefit everyone in Burma,” he said.
The week-long hearing will call witnesses to testify before federal prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan, who is gathering evidence in the case.
The 46-page criminal complaint centers on violence in 2012 and 2018 that drove about 1 million Rohingyas from Myanmar, mostly to neighboring Bangladesh, where many live in squalid refugee camps to this day.
In harrowing detail, the document describes rapes, beheadings and the slaughter of Rohingya civilians committed by Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, and their civilian supporters.
It describes “the gang rape of women, girls and boys” and includes “the virtually total destruction of their towns and villages by intentionally setting them on fire.”
Goal: Arrest or extradition
Ultimately, the complaint calls for the perpetrators to be identified “and the necessary measures be adopted” for them to be interrogated by a judge, “including their arrest and/or extradition if necessary.”
“The idea is that someone will be caught and brought trial. It forms part of a longer arc of accountability and truth-telling,” said Akila Radhakrisan, head of the New York-based Global Justice Center, a group specializing in human rights and sexual violence against women.
But cases like these can take decades to be resolved, Radhakrisan said.
For example, it was only on May 23 that a key fugitive in the 1994 Rwandan massacre was found in South Africa and arrested following a warrant issued by the United Nations’ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
The public shaming and a pending arrest warrant for perpetrators in Myanmar could limit their travel, and also deter others around the world that might engage in similar human rights abuses, officials said.
Prosecutor Marijuan is technically still in the phase of collection of evidence.
Aside from the courtroom testimony, evidence includes detailed information collected by a 2017-2019 UN-backed Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, which interviewed hundreds of witnesses in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Those named in the accusation include Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s armed forces and the ruling junta, which overthrew the civilian government in a coup two years ago, senior officials in the police and border guard, and radical Buddhist monks including Ashin Wirathu.The accusation also names pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of Myanmar’s civilian government between 2016 and 2021, as being complicit in the genocide. Removed from power in the coup, she is now serving a lengthy prison term in Myanmar on charges that supporters say are politically motivated.Anonymous testimonyFearing retaliation from agents of Myanmar’s military government, witnesses coming to court have taken strict measures to remain anonymous. The hearings are being held behind closed doors. The Rohingya are represented in court by Tomas Ojea Quintana, an Argentine attorney who has served as U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar between 2008 and 2014.Argentina has held previous cases about alleged crimes committed elsewhere.A 2010 case examined crimes committed in Spain during 1939-1975 fascist rule of Francisco Franco; a 2014 case against Israeli authorities for crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip; and a 2018 case against Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman for crimes against humanity committed in Yemen.
RFA News
Myanmar military is stepping up attacks on schools ahead of school year
/in NewsThe attacks are seen as a warning to families whose children attend non-junta schools.
Myanmar’s military has stepped up attacks on schools run by anti-junta paramilitaries and ethnic armed groups, according to a Thai-based NGO, in what an aid worker says is a bid to force children to study under its education system.
While the military began using airstrikes against schools following its successful coup d’etat in February 2021, the number of attacks increased ahead of the start of this year’s school season on June 1, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said in a statement.
Several of the airstrikes took place in Kani and Kale townships in Sagaing region, as well as in Tanintharyi region – two hotbeds of anti-junta resistance since the takeover – the June 5 statement said, labeling such attacks “war crimes.”
“The junta has definitely been committing war crimes like these – everyday they violate what the International community has prohibited,” said an AAPP official, speaking to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.
“The schools they attacked are in areas controlled by the [People’s Defense Force] and other revolutionary forces where they have no authority.”
Among the attacks was one by military helicopters on a school in Kale’s Shu Khin Thar village on June 5 that a local PDF group known as the CNO Upper Chindwin Region said took place while village elders were holding a meeting. The attack killed one person and injured four others, the group said in a statement, adding that the junta has ordered such strikes to “threaten families” who send their children to village schools run by anti-junta groups.
The AAPP said it had also documented a June 5 attack by a junta Mi-35 helicopter on a school in Sagaing’s Kani township that injured two children and damaged the building, as well as nearby homes. There was no fighting or military activities taking place at the time.
And early in the morning of June 6, military fighter jets dropped bombs on San Pha Lar village in Kayin state’s Kawkareik, destroying the village school and four houses. Local media reported that teachers and students in the village are now too frightened to go to school.
A resident of Kani township who is aware of the incident but declined to be named called the junta’s deliberate targeting of schools “a heinous act.”
“Children are entitled to freedom of education,” the resident said. “School buildings can never be military targets.”
In the months of April and May alone, the AAPP said the military carried out 31 airstrikes and fired 184 barrages of heavy artillery into areas controlled by the rebel Karen National Union’s 6th Brigade, damaging three schools, a monastery, two Christian churches, two clinics and 387 civilian homes. The attacks forced 23,021 civilians to flee, according to the KNU.
Targeting non-junta schools
Japan Gyi, co-chair of the Relief Group for People Displaced by Conflict (Kale), told RFA that the military regime is intentionally targeting schools that are not under its control.
“Their education system is a complete failure and the people know it very well,” he said. “But, just as all dictators, they are forcing people to study under their system and live under their management.”
Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the school attacks went unanswered on Wednesday.
Residents of Sagaing and Magway regions and Chin and Kayin states have told RFA that they are being forced to build bomb shelters at schools because of the threat of airstrikes and urged the international community to intervene.
Armed resistance groups and NGOs have called for a ban on companies that sell jet fuel to Myanmar’s military, but the junta continues to carry out airstrikes across the country.
In a statement earlier this week, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government said that junta forces killed 129 civilians in the month of May alone, including 19 children. The civilians were killed by junta airstrikes, artillery or while in detention, the statement said, in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Mon and Shan states, as well as Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Bago regions.
An information official in Sagaing’s Khin-U township who declined to be named told RFA that civilian deaths have increased there and other regions as anti-junta forces have become better armed and more successful in ground engagements with the military.
“Due to junta aggression, innocent civilians including the elderly, pregnant women, mothers with newborn babies and children have had to flee their homes when fighting breaks out,” the official said. Many elderly residents have died while trying to flee or were burned to death in military arson attacks, he added.
According to the AAPP, authorities have killed at least 3,622 civilians since the coup.
RFA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (May 22 to 31, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from May 22 to 31, 2023
Military Junta troops launched an airstrike, heavy artillery attacked, and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Kayin State, and Shan State from May 22nd to 31st. Civilian houses and buildings were destroyed by 500lb highly explosive bombs and attacking heavy and light artillery. The head of the Prison who works for the Military Junta beat and tortured the political prisoners from Myingyan Prison from Mandalay Region, Thayarwady Prison from Bago Region, and Kyaiksagaw Prison as a result some died by being held in solitary confinement. 3 civilians were burned and killed within a week by the Military Junta’s soldiers.
8 civilians including an under-age child were tortured and killed under interrogation by the Junta troop in Kawthaung, Tanintharyi Region. 5 youths were shot and killed on the road No, 2 near Economic University, Ywathagyi, and arrested 16 youths in Sanchaung Township, Yangon Region. SNA under the Military Junta command, is threatening the civilians, forcing and recruiting new soldiers in Banmauk Township, Sagaing Region.
Infogram
Rapper to be imprisoned for complaining about power cuts
/in NewsA relative has confirmed that hip-hop artist Byu Har will be sent to Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison to face charges of incitement
Hip-hop artist Byu Har will be sent to Yangon’s Insein Prison next month for criticising Myanmar’s junta on social media, according to a relative.
The 38-year-old rapper, who was arrested on May 23 for complaining about frequent power outages in the country since the regime seized power more than two years ago, will be transferred to the prison on June 10, the relative said.
He is currently being held at the North Dagon Township Police Station, where he has been since his arrest at his home in the township’s Ward 48 more than a week ago.
He was remanded there on May 29 on charges of incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code. He faces up to three years in prison if found guilty.
The relative told Myanmar Now that Byu Har is in good health, contrary to claims made on a pro-junta social media account that he had died while undergoing interrogation.
“He no longer has the injuries that he had in the photo of his arrest that was posted online. He’s in good health and is only facing one Section 505a charge. That’s all we know for now,” said the relative, who did not want to be identified by name.
The propaganda page that claimed Byu Har was dead had also called for his arrest after he posted his criticism of the regime online.
He also faced similar calls in April, when junta backers urged the regime to arrest him for saying on Facebook that he would not be performing during the annual Thingyan water festival, which has been widely boycotted since the military takeover in February 2021.
On the evening of May 29, regime forces also raided the home of Byu Har’s father, songwriter Naing Myanmar. After failing to find him, they detained his wife at the local police station, but released her later that night, sources said.
Naing Myanmar is best known for his pro-democracy anthem “Kabar Ma Kyay Bu,” written during the 1988 uprising against military rule. Based on the melody of “Dust in the Wind,” by American rock band Kansas, it was widely sung at anti-coup protests held two years ago.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a total of 22,737 people have been arrested for opposing the regime, of whom 18,417 are still in detention.
Myanmar Now News
Intense clashes in Myanmar’s Chin, Shan states leave 19 dead
/in NewsFour civilians, including an 11-year-old, were killed by heavy artillery and airstrikes.
Intense fighting between the military and anti-junta forces in Myanmar’s Chin and Shan states since the weekend left 19 dead, including four civilians, RFA Burmese has learned.
The clashes, which killed an 11-year-old boy and left a dozen civilians injured, are the latest to erupt in two areas known as hotbeds of resistance to military rule since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.
Salai James, the chairman of the anti-junta Zofe Chin Defense Force, told RFA that a battle broke out between his paramilitaries and military troops in the Chin townships of Hakha and Thantlang on May 28.
Over the course of two days, he said, junta troops fired heavy artillery on CDF positions with support from four fighter jets and a military helicopter.
“The junta’s heavy artillery hit the edge of Hakah town, which is close to their artillery base,” Salai James said. “Eleven anti-junta fighters have been killed by their airstrikes so far, but we haven’t been able to retrieve all of their bodies yet as we are still fighting.”
The bodies of only seven of the 11 dead CDF fighters had been retrieved as of Tuesday, he added.
A Hakha CDF official, who declined to be named for security reasons, said that the fighting is “continuing to intensify” as the junta forces seek to regain territory between Hakha and Thantlang, which is currently controlled by a joint force of Chin defense groups.
“They haven’t been able to operate safely in Hakha and Thantlang – that’s why they regularly attack those areas,” he said. “When their ground troops can’t beat the resistance forces, they use their air power to attack us.”
Fighting between the two sides continued on Tuesday, residents of the two townships said.
Since the coup, the junta has launched nearly 80 aerial attacks on Chin state, killing 64 people, including members of anti-junta local defense forces, according to a May 22 statement issued by the Institute of Chin Affairs.
Shan fighting
Fierce fighting also was reported in eastern Shan state, when a joint force of ethnic Karenni resistance groups battled junta troops in the townships of Pekon and Pinlaung, according to anti-junta groups.
On May 27, junta troops “randomly fired heavy artillery” into Pinlaung’s Moe Bye village in an attack against members of the anti-junta Moe Bye People’s Defense Forces, killing an 11-year-old boy and injuring four civilians, Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Organization said Tuesday.
“This kind of attack isn’t a one-off occurrence – the junta plans and attacks this way in many different places, knowingly firing at the civilian population,” he said. “This is not only a war crime but also a crime against humanity.”
The Moe Bye PDF confirmed details of the battle, which was fought intermittently from May 27-29, in a statement issued on Monday.
Additionally, four medics from an anti-junta unit based in neighboring Kayah state’s Demoso township were killed while treating the injured during the fighting in Shan state, the Karenni Revolutionary Union rebel group said in a statement on Sunday.
The dead included Caroline Khine Lin, Angela, Mya Htwe and John Bosco – all between the ages of 17 and 23, the KRU said.
And at around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, junta forces launched a series of airstrikes on an area of Moe Bye where civilians had taken shelter from the fighting, injuring four people and damaging three homes, according to the Moe Bye People’s Defense Force.
In a May 1 statement, the rebel Progressive Karenni People’s Force said that there have been at least 663 clashes in southern Shan state and neighboring Kayah state between the coup and April 30, 2023.
The junta has yet to issue a statement on the fighting in Chin and Shan states and attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered Tuesday.
The clashes follow a vow by junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Armed Forces Day in March to eradicate the shadow National Unity Government, the anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitary group, and the organizations that support them.
RFA News
Myanmar military arrests civil disobedience movement teacher in Ayeyarwady
/in NewsThe junta claims she had a document connecting her to the shadow National Unity Government.
Junta troops have arrested a teacher in Myanmar’s southwestern Ayeyarwady region claiming she has links to the shadow National Unity Government, according to pro-junta Telegram messaging channels.
Residents of Bogale township told RFA Tuesday that 30-year-old Theint Theint Soe was arrested on May 23. She has been working as a teacher for eight years and participated in the civil disobedience movement following the February 2021 military coup, the locals said.
“Her husband was arrested a week earlier. The teacher was arrested on the same day that her husband was released,” said a resident who didn’t want to be named for fear of reprisals.
“She was arrested for allegedly supporting participants in the civil disobedience movement.”
Residents said Theint Theint Soe was being held at Bogale Police Station but it was not clear what laws she had been accused of breaking.
Telegram channels that support the junta said she was arrested because a document certified by the shadow National Unity Government board of education was found with her.
Nearly 300 civil disobedience movement teachers have been arrested since the 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
RFA News