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
Seven students sentenced to death for murder of retired officer
/in NewsAt least 132 people are currently facing death for their alleged involvement in attacks on regime targets
A military tribunal sentenced seven students to death on Wednesday after finding them guilty of murdering a retired army officer earlier this year, according to a source close to the defendants.
The condemned prisoners, who were all students of Dagon University, were convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced under Sections 34 and 302a of the Penal Code, the source said.
They were accused of shooting Saw Moe Win, a retired lieutenant colonel, in front of the South Dagon branch of the Global Treasure Bank, which he managed, in April.
Two urban guerrilla groups—the Anti-Fascist Armed Force and the Yangon Liberation Force—claimed responsibility for the killing on April 19, a day after it was carried out.
The accused—Thura Maung Maung, Thiha Htet Zaw, Hein Htet, Khant Zin Win, Zaw Lin Naing, Thet Paing Oo, and Khant Lin Maung Maung—were arrested several days later.
Thura Maung Maung, Thiha Htet Zaw and Hein Htet are also facing charges under Section 51c of the Counter-Terrorism Law for alleged possession of weapons and explosives, according to Myanmar Now’s source.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Alliance of Students’ Unions—Yangon condemned the death sentences, saying that the junta was using its “corrupt judiciary system to murder people.”
“We object to and condemn the death sentences [handed down by] courts that are acting as pillars of the terrorist military regime,” the group said, adding that it was closely monitoring the situation.
There were also reports that four other prisoners had been sentenced to death by a special court inside Yangon’s Insein Prison on Thursday.
The prisoners, identified as Wai Zin Yan, Min Htet Thar, Thu Htoo Aung, and Phyo, were arrested in Yangon on June 10 and charged with murder under Section 302a of the Penal Code, according to information released the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
No further details were available at the time of reporting.
On March 17, another Dagon University student named Saung Lay Pyay was also sentenced to death for her alleged involvement in the murder of a high-school teacher in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township.
Another suspect in that case named Naing Aung was handed a life sentence under Sections 50a and 50i of the Counter-Terrorism Law.
Most death penalties imposed since last year’s coup have been handed down by military tribunals operating in townships under martial law.
According to the AAPP, a total of 132 people have been sentenced to death for attacks targeting the regime that seized power in February 2021.
In July, the junta sparked outrage when it executed four political prisoners, including veteran activist Ko Jimmy and elected MP Phyo Zayar Thaw.
It was the first time in decades that the death penalty had been carried out in Myanmar.
Thematic Analysis: Women in Myanmar targeted by the military regime
/in Justice NewslettersNovember 25th is designated as “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women”. On that day, civil society Organizations including Women’s Organizations from the International community expressed their desire to stop violence in various forms of activity. The movement against violence to stop women has been called for since 1981. Yet, according to the resolution of the 54th General Assembly of the United Nations on December 17th, 1999, November 25th was designated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The United Nations Charter and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) contain Articles 1-16 that define Violence against Women among the 30 Articles that member states must comply with. Myanmar signed the agreement in 1997 as one of the 189 countries that have signed an agreement to respect the laws included in CEDAW and take national measures. Myanmar’s handful of people who controlled the country’s power at that time only signed it to gain more international recognition. In reality, the discrimination against women not only in the mountainous ethnic areas but also in the mainland in Myanmar, physical and psychological violence, such as well-known incidents of arrests, rapes, detentions, and killings have not disappeared.
The situation is getting worse since the military regime coup on February 1st, 2021. Especially, women have been targeted attack after the coup. The various forms of violence against women are being perpetrated as a matter of military. On November 25th, Free Expression Myanmar (FEM) announced that the Myanmar military killed more than 300 women across the country within 21 months of the country’s seizure of power. Also, The Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs of the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) said that during the 21 months of the violent military coup, more than 370 women were killed, 3,385 were arrested, and 127 were reported to have been sexually assaulted across the country.
In Shan State, a local female leader who is the founder of the Justice Movement for Community-Inlay based in the Inlay region of southern Shan State has an unlawful arrest warrant issued under Article (50) for protesting against the military coup. The women fleeing the war in the KNU-controlled areas of Karen State are often taken as hostages by the terrorist army. And the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) said that “women were forced to carry 10-pound heavy packs”, as reported by Irrawaddy News Agency in May 2022.
On October 7th, 2022, at around 10:30 AM, Ma Tharaphu, age 22, was abducted by the joint forces of the military intelligence and pro-junta militia troops after a preliminary investigation, a local witness reported to the Human Rights Foundation of Monland. She was stopped, the troops checked her cell phone and arrested in Kyaukni Maw Village, Long Lon Township, Dawei District.In August, the terrorist army entered villages in Sagaing Region and raped 7 local women, including a woman with poor mental health, according to Burmese Women’s Union (BWU). On November 18, a woman over 80 years old did due to the burning of a village by the terrorist army. In addition, local news reported that a 50-year-old woman was hit by a weapon while fleeing the war. Therefore, the terrorist army commits brutally killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions against women. Moreover, the terrorist military perpetrated torture and sexual assault. Thus, such crimes must be repaid for justice when the democratically-elected government regains power.
Thousands flee fighting in Myanmar’s far south
/in NewsAt least 10 junta troops were killed during clashes that began in southern Tanintharyi Region late last week
Fighting between regime and resistance forces in southern Tanintharyi Region has forced thousands of civilians to flee and left casualties on both sides, according to local sources.
The clashes began last Friday in Le Thit, a village on the border between Tanintharyi and Kyunsu townships in Myeik District, and continued for the next four days, an officer of a local defence force told Myanmar Now.
By Monday, around 100 junta troops stationed in the village were forced to withdraw in order to regroup with reinforcements, after which they attempted to mount a counteroffensive the next day, said the officer.
“They retreated after three battles, but when they launched another assault, we managed to get the upper hand again,” he said, adding that 10 regime soldiers and one resistance fighter were killed in the clash on Tuesday.
“They thought we were only armed with muskets, so they just marched forward. But actually, we had rifles to fire at them,” said the officer.
The resistance fighter who died was killed by artillery fire, he added.
Le_thit.png
Two anti-regime groups based in the area—the Tanintharyi Defence Guerrilla Force and the People’s Defence Team of Myeik and Kyunsu—took part in the fighting, according to the officer.
The regime forces included troops from Light Infantry Battalions 556, 557, 558, and 561 based in Tanintharyi, as well as members of the pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia, he added.
Le Thit is located near Tanintharyi’s Andaman Sea coast and is regarded as a stronghold of anti-regime forces in the area. It has come under attack from the military several times in the past, according to locals.
A member of another local resistance group told Myanmar Now that all 3,000 of the village’s inhabitants fled as junta troops approached ahead of the fighting that began last week.
“When we went back after they retreated, we found that they didn’t just loot and destroy people’s homes, but also killed and ate their cows, including even newborn calves,” he said.
He added that most of the regime casualties appeared to be members of the Pyu Saw Htee, whose bloodied uniforms were found in the village after the military withdrew.
Resistance forces said that the movement of junta troops towards the eastern side of Le Thit, where local defence teams are most active, could signal an intensification of fighting in the coming days.
Myanmar Now News
Tun Tun Hein, deputy speaker of the Lower House under the NLD, is convicted of treason, in addition to two previous counts of incitement
/in NewsA court controlled by the military council sentenced the former deputy speaker of Myanmar’s Lower House to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for alleged treason.
Seventy-three-year-old Tun Tun Hein is also a central executive member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose elected administration was ousted in the 2021 military coup. At the time of his conviction, he had been detained at the main prison in Lashio, northern Shan State, for nearly 22 months.
A judge serving under the coup regime convicted the parliamentary official of high treason under Section 122 of the Penal Code bringing his total prison term to 24 years. He had previously been convicted of two incitement charges last December, for which he was sentenced to four years.
Tun Tun Hein is awaiting trial for another charge related to alleged electoral fraud, according to a source close to his family.
The military initially placed him under house arrest in the administrative capital of Naypyitaw as the coup unfolded on February 1 last year. After one week, he was sent to his hometown of Nawnghkio in northern Shan State, but was again detained by the military on February 10 and imprisoned in Lashio.
The junta subsequently charged Tun Tun Hein with incitement, treason and electoral fraud—the statutes also used against other ousted NLD leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and several chief ministers.
Tun Tun Hein reportedly suffered two strokes—in 2017 and 2018—and has been suffering from multiple cerebrovascular conditions, according to an interview with his daughter May Thingyan Hein published in Radio Free Asia’s Burmese service in April 2021.
She said that her father had only been allowed by prison authorities to be seen by a general practitioner, rather than a medical specialist. She also explained that he had been denied bail, which was requested by his attorney on the basis of his medical needs.
Lower House speaker T Khun Myat was among the parliamentary leaders who, like Tun Tun Hein, were removed from their roles during last year’s coup. However, the ex-MP for the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party was subsequently reappointedto his post by the junta.
Mahn Win Khaing Than, Upper House speaker until the military takeover, managed to escape arrest. He is currently Prime Minister of the publicly mandated National Unity Government.
Henry Van Thio, the second vice-president under the NLD, has not been heard from since the coup and his whereabouts remain unknown.
According to an NLD statement on November 8, the second anniversary of the stolen 2020 election, nearly 1,200 members of the party had been arrested by the military council, 67 of whom were killed in junta custody.
Myanmar Now News
Myanmar junta hands 100-year prison terms to men convicted of joining armed resistance
/in NewsAmong the recent convicts is a former National League for Democracy MP, accused of involvement in attacks on military personnel that occurred while he was in regime custody
The Myanmar military regime has sentenced four individuals to at least 95 years in prison in recent months after junta-controlled courts determined that they were involved in the armed resistance movement, according to sources familiar with their cases.
Among them was an ex-parliamentarian from the National League for Democracy (NLD), whose elected government was ousted in the February 2021 coup. Fifty-two-year-old Win Myint Hlaing previously represented Taungdwingyi Township in the local legislature of Magway Region, now a resistance stronghold.
The three other individuals had reportedly been members of local guerrilla groups. Aung Khant Oo, 29, also from Magway, was in the Beikthano People’s Defence Army, and Kyaw Thet, 30, and Hnin Maung, 36, were active in a resistance group based in Mandalay Region’s Wundwin Township.
All were convicted of several counts of violating the Counterterrorism Law this month as well as in October, and handed prison terms ranging from 95 to 225 years—the longest sentences delivered by the junta since the coup.
Lawmaker Win Myint Hlaing was sentenced to a total of 148 years for 14 separate convictions in the Magway District Court on October 30. While the details surrounding the cases remain unclear, the four sections of the counterterrorism statute under which he was charged—50a, 52a, 51c and 54—are related to attacks on “state-owned facilities,” the “recruitment” of resistance fighters, or the use of bombs.
He had already been handed 25 years in prison for five other convictions in April, including incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code. His total sentence was 173 years at the time of reporting.Nov_25_.Jpeg
Former NLD MP Win Myint Hlaing (Facebook)
Win Myint Hlaing participated in anti-dictatorship demonstrations in the wake of the coup and went into hiding after the military authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in late February. He was apprehended in November last year in Yatsauk (Lawksawk), southern Shan State, along with his brother, Zaw Zaw.
He was subsequently interrogated at a military facility in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi for around two weeks before being transferred to Magway Region’s central prison where he is currently detained.
A source close to Win Myint Hlaing’s family told Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity that most of the terror charges filed against him were related to incidents that happened while he was already in junta custody.
“He was accused of involvement in incidents, such as the killing of regime informants and policemen, which happened after his arrest. He was charged along with those arrested after him,” the family friend said.
Citing court sources, she explained that the judge at the Magway District Court who heard his cases was reportedly “surprised” when Win Myint Hlaing’s defence lawyer emphasised that his client was already in detention when the attacks occurred.
The military also accused him of leading the Beikthano People’s Defence Army, according to a junta statement released after his arrest.
Two months after the military captured Win Myint Hlaing, Aung Khant Oo—who was a member of the resistance group—was arrested by junta soldiers.
Aung Khant Oo was later charged with the illegal use of explosives, in addition to several anti-terrorism and incitement charges. After nearly 10 months in detention awaiting trial, he was sentenced to a total of 203 years on November 15 by the same regime-controlled Magway District Court.
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Aung Khant Oo, member of the Beikthano People’s Defence Army (Facebook)
A friend and fellow member of the Beikthano resistance group, told Myanmar Now that Aung Khant Oo was also accused of involvement in attacks on junta targets which occurred after his arrest.
“Included in his cases were incidents that happened in February [2022] and later. That’s why his sentences became so long. There were more than 10 cases,” Aung Khant Oo’s friend said.
Myanmar Now is unable to verify his claims independently.
Meanwhile, Kyaw Thet and Hnin Maung, from Wundwin, were reportedly arrested in January this year and were both handed exhaustive prison terms as well as death sentences for their involvement in the Mandalay guerrilla group.
While details surrounding their cases remain unclear, Kyaw Thet has been ordered to serve 225 years and Hnin Maung 95 years, in addition to being sentenced to death, according to Kyar Ye, a fellow resistance fighter.
Both were initially held in Meiktila Prison, but transferred to a larger facility in Myingyan where inmates facing terms of more than a decade are frequently incarcerated.
A veteran defence attorney told Myanmar Now that judges are prohibited from handing down separate sentences for violations of the same terrorism charges for acts allegedly committed within the same year.
“It is instilling fear into the people. But the people are not afraid. Those [judges] who have handed down these sentences will end up with a bad reputation,” said the veteran lawyer.
Sources close to Win Myint Hlaing and Aung Khant Oo said that their family members were able to meet with them before they were sentenced, but have not seen them since the convictions.
The family friend of the former MP said that he was in good health even though he required regular medication for high blood pressure.
“I am hoping to reunite with him soon as I believe our revolution will win,” she said.
The friend of Aung Khant Oo told Myanmar Now that he had encouraged his fellow resistance fighters to continue their struggle.
“He said that he was ‘hanging in there’ and urged us to keep fighting.”
According to data collected by the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 13,000 people in Myanmar were behind bars at the time of reporting, with some awaiting trial and others already convicted. Eighty-six have reportedly been sentenced to death.
Additional reporting by Aung Naing
Myanmar Now News
CDM teacher in Tamu gets 10-year sentence on terror charges
/in NewsThe teacher was accused of distributing money from the National Unity Government to teachers taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement
A primary school teacher from Sagaing Region’s Tamu Township has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for financing “terrorist” activities, according to a source close to her family.
Honey Su Kyi Zaw, 30, was arrested at her home in Tamu’s Saw Bwar 6 Ward on November 23 last year and accused of financially supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.
The Tamu District Court sentenced her on Monday, two days before the anniversary of her arrest, the family source told Myanmar Now.
She was prosecuted under Section 50j of Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law for distributing funds provided by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) for CDM teachers, the source said.
The military junta that seized power in February 2021 designated the NUG a terrorist organisation in May last year.
“She was collecting donations for teachers who had tested positive for Covid-19. It wasn’t as they alleged,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source added that the evidence against Honey Su Kyi Zaw was provided by KBZ Bank, which submitted account information that allegedly showed transactions involving other accounts linked to the NUG.
“They didn’t find any evidence on her phone. She was unjustly accused and prosecuted,” the source said.
Honey Su Kyi Zaw was a teacher at Primary School No. 8 in Chauk Natgyi, a village in Tamu Township. Residents there say that she was likely targeted because she was a member of the ousted ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
“She didn’t like the military coup, so she joined protests and the CDM. She was an NLD member, but she also spoke out against party members if she thought they were acting dishonestly,” said one local resident.
“After joining the CDM, she made handicrafts and sold them online to support herself. She was an honest and peaceful teacher,” he added.
Honey Su Kyi Zaw has been held at the police station in Tamu since her arrest. She remains there for the time being due to the poor security situation on the road from Tamu to Kalay, where she will later be transferred to prison, sources said.
Since last year’s coup, the junta has prosecuted hundreds of people under Section 50j of the Counter-Terrorism Law without concrete evidence. Conviction carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment.
Myanmar Now News