ND Burma

Food seller killed at interrogation centre in central Myanmar

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Soldiers arrested the man along with his wife, who is still detained in Magway Region

A man was killed at an interrogation centre in Magway Region last week, a day after he and his wife were arrested by soldiers in the river port town of Chauk, according to a local urban guerrilla group.

Kyaw Tint, 50, and his wife, Tin Mar Ni, were arrested on the evening of February 1 by a group of about 15 soldiers at their home in Chauk’s Ward 5. They were taken to an interrogation centre, where Kyaw Tint died the following morning, according to Payta, deputy leader of the Chauk Guerrilla Force (CGF).

The arrested couple sold beans and nuts for a living and had a son and two daughters, according to the CGF.

“We can’t say anything for sure, as we couldn’t see what actually happened inside the interrogation centre. But it was a certainty that they would be tortured there,” said Payta, citing local people’s accounts. 

The interrogation centre, referred to as Na Ga 60 by junta soldiers, is located on Pyihtaungsu Road, which connects Chauk and Seikphyu townships via the Anawrahta Bridge on the Ayeyarwady River. The town of Chauk serves as a river port for transporting petroleum from the nearby Singu-Chauk oil fields.

An officer from a Chauk Township social welfare group confirmed that Kyaw Tint’s body was taken to the cemetery via the Chauk Township Hospital and cremated, but details on his arrest and interrogation are still unavailable.

According to Payta, Kyaw Tint’s body was cremated at the Myaynigone Cemetery. His wife was still detained at the interrogation centre at the time of reporting.

Khin Maung Yi, a member of the Chauk Myoma Market Committee who lived in Chauk’s Ward 10, was also arrested in the area in late January, according to Payta.

“This is not a transparent judicial process. They tortured a man to death. This is not something that can become the norm. This is not only violating human rights but also just downright cruel,” Payta said.

Myanmar Now is still attempting to contact the victims’ relatives regarding the case.

A similar incident took place in the same area in October 2021, when Phyo Wai Tun, the 40-year-old owner of the Tun Lin Zabu hostel, was arrested on suspicion of helping to fund the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) and was killed during interrogation. Only his ashes were returned to his family.

Some 20 soldiers from Infantry Battalion 13 came to detain Phyo Wai Tun and his two brothers in the village of Gway Pin, some 20km southeast of Chauk, at around midnight on October 30, 2021. They beat the brothers brutally for nearly an hour in their home before taking them away, and there has been no word from Phyo Wai Tun’s brothers since the arrest. 

Pro-junta propaganda channels on Telegram have circulated a claim that Kyaw Tint was taken in for questioning because he was found to have sent funds to the PDF, and that he died of a heart attack during questioning. 

At least 2,951 people have been killed by the military council in total, and a large number of arrests for alleged funding of resistance groups have taken place in the two years since the coup.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 13,829 people are currently detained in Myanmar for political activities, of whom 2,317 have received prison sentences.

Myanmar Now News

ND Burma

Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State & Tanintharyi Region (January 2023)

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The first month of the year in Southeastern Burma and country-wide proved equally disastrous as those prior. Despite the multiple calls to the international community for action as the junta commits endless atrocities, they seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Across January 2023, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) documented dozens more malicious attacks against civilians. While these crimes are occurring, the regime is shamelessly continuing with their plans to hold ‘elections’ later this year. HURFOM fieldworkers reported on early cases of civilians already being bribed to vote for the military.


The Mon State Junta Administration General Administration Department (GAD) has been conducting several meetings in each township in Mon State for all levels of Administrators to operate an accurate census and prepare for the upcoming juntarun election:


“They seem like they are preparing for the election. The Mon State junta is conducting election-related activities such as instructing each level of GAD staff to collect the numbers of the population in the whole state and training the polling station officers to hold the General Election,” said a source close to HURFOM.

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ND Burma

Human Rights Situation weekly update (January 22 to 31, 2023)

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Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions in January 22 to 31, 2023

From January 22 to 31, military junta airstrikes in Chin State, Kayah State, and Sagaing Region.They arrested three locals as a hostage, including children and a woman from Thabeikkyin township in Mandalay region.They arrested and killed civilians until now.

ND Burma

Three killed as junta troops raid villages east of Muu River

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Hundreds of houses were also torched in a series of unprovoked attacks carried out in two Sagaing Region townships

Myanmar’s military has killed at least three civilians and torched hundreds of houses in a series of raids carried out along the eastern bank of the Muu River in Sagaing Region in recent days.

Sources in the area said the raids began when a column of around 150 soldiers occupied both eastern and western Maubin villages in Shwebo Township on Saturday.

By the time the junta troops left on Monday, more than 300 houses had been destroyed, according to one resident.

“All of our relatives’ houses were lost in the fire. Even my father’s two-storey brick house was completely destroyed,” he said.
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Smoke rises from Ingynnpin, a village in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township, on January 30 (Supplied)

Smoke rises from Ingynnpin, a village in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township, on January 30 (Supplied)

Residents also found the charred remains of two men in the ashes of a haystack, he added. The victims were identified as Kan Htoo and Myint Than, both in their 50s.

A volunteer helping the displaced villagers said they were even chased into the woods as they fled the approaching army column.

“They fired machine guns at the fleeing civilians. They killed a cow and caught one villager,” said the volunteer, adding that the soldiers also burned down farm huts used by villagers to hide.

On Monday, the junta troops proceeded to Ingynnpin, a village about 5km to the north, where they killed and burned a local man in his 50s named Khin Maung Myo.

Arson attacks were reported on four villages in the area before the regime column moved on to Yone Su, in Khin-U Township, on Tuesday.

A resident of Maubin said that thick smoke could be seen rising from Yone Su on Tuesday afternoon, visible from more than 5km away.

“They started torching that village in the morning and the ashes are falling even here. We can also hear gunshots,” he said.

Residents of Yone Su have yet to return to the village to assess the damage, as it was still occupied by soldiers as of late Tuesday, locals told Myanmar Now.

There were no reported clashes in the area ahead of the recent attacks. Sagaing Region is regarded as a stronghold of forces fighting the regime that seized power two years ago today. 

Myanmar Now News

ND Burma

A summary review report on the military regime’s human rights violations during one year in 2022

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From January to December 2022, the junta troops violated numerous human rights abuses and committed international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in various parts of Myanmar. National Unity Government, Ministry of Human Rights collaborated with Network for Human Rights Documentation (Burma) – ND-Burma, Equality Myanmar and Spring Archive to provide summary review on the military regime’s human rights violations.

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ND Burma

Myanmar army column advances through Sagaing Region township, torching seven villages in one day

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Several villagers believed to have been captured are missing, and one is found beheaded

A 30-year-old man was found decapitated on Monday amid a junta rampage through Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township that left some 100 homes in seven villages burned in one day. 

The 100-soldier column carrying out the raids has been actively torching communities along the Chindwin River since Monday. 

Nay Tun, the deceased, lived in the forest near the village of Pa Tein Pyin, and was captured after the arrival of the advancing military unit. Another villager told Myanmar Now that his body, found later that day, showed signs of torture. 

“He had all his toes cut off before he was finally decapitated,” the local said. 

In total, around 100 homes had been destroyed within a seven mile radius at the time of reporting. Among these were two houses in Pa Tein Pyin, as well as the communal hall. 

The other villages targeted on Monday included Inbat—where almost half of the burned homes were located—and Kyat Shar, Kyaung Kone, Kyun Paw, Hnaw Pin, Kyauk Hmaw. 

“It’s very hard to build a house, and so many good houses were destroyed in the arson attacks,” an Inbat resident who lost his home said. “It wasn’t just houses… even the cowsheds and barns were destroyed.”

“The fire actually got worse, because the locals didn’t dare to come back into the village to put out the flames, thinking the junta forces were still there,” he continued. “Even the crops were destroyed.” 

He spoke to Myanmar Now from the forest, where he and others had sought refuge. 

“We don’t even have pots and pans to cook with, let alone shelter,” he said. 

According to a statement released by the anti-junta Northern Yinmabin Strike Force on Tuesday, the military column in question spent Monday night in the village of Sone Chaung, where they captured five locals. They later released just one of the individuals; the whereabouts of the remaining four were not known at the time of reporting. 

The junta unit proceeded through the villages of Aung Moe and Si Hlaung, and were occupying Nat Ku Taung as of Wednesday morning, according to local sources. 

A second army column was also seen stationed near Nat Ku Taung in the village of Ye Kyi Pin, and a third—made up of both soldiers and members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia—were seen attacking more Yinmabin Township villages along the Chindwin River on Wednesday. 

Due to the raids throughout the week by these columns, some 10,000 people from 11 villages were forced to flee their homes. 

“They are staying at relatives’ homes, monasteries, schools, and in other places where we think they may be safe,” a Yinmabin local helping the displaced persons said. “The junta column hasn’t withdrawn and we don’t know where it is heading next.” 

A spokesperson for a local resistance force speculated that the military was intensifying its attacks on areas considered to be resistance strongholds in Sagaing in order to clear the way to hold junta-controlled elections later this year. 

Myanmar Now News