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.
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- 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
AA vows ‘retaliation’ for Myanmar army’s mass killing of civilians
/in NewsThe group accused junta troops of killing nine civilians—mostly elderly villagers—during a raid late last week
The political wing of the Arakan Army (AA) has declared that it will retaliate for the Myanmar military’s mass killing of civilians in northern Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township last week.
In a statement released on Friday, the United League of Arakan (ULA) accused troops from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 550 of killing at least nine civilians, including elderly people, during a raid on the village of Sin Inn Gyi the day before.
Residents of the village said they found the bodies of nine people—mostly elderly residents and their carers who were unable to flee the attack—early Friday morning.
Junta forces from LIB 550 raided the village late Thursday after the AA ambushed two military vehicles in the area earlier in the day, local sources told Myanmar Now.
Soldiers torched several homes and shot the nine civilians dead before leaving the village, locals said.
The victims were identified as Sin Inn Gyi residents Ma Gyi, 86, Maung Kyaw Thein, 62, Kyaw Zan, 60, Khin Maung, 58, May Nu, 54, Mhe Ni, 45, Maung Maung Thein, 43, and Maung San Hla, 37, as well as Kyaw Naing, a 60-year-old traditional medicine specialist who was in the village to see a patient.
Villagers said they were only able to give the deceased makeshift burials due to the military’s heavy artillery shelling in the area.
In its statement, the ULA described the incident as one of the military’s “most inhumane war crimes” and called its forces cowardly for targeting unarmed civilians instead of engaging in combat with armed opponents.
There were also reports that shelling and drone and air attacks had left at least two other local civilians dead and five others injured.
“We will retaliate most seriously against the Ponnagyun-based LIB 550 for committing these war crimes and others who were involved in this incident,” said the ULA statement.
The AA said that it attacked the junta forces because the military’s recently imposed land and water travel restrictions in northern Rakhine State were causing undue hardships to the local civilian population.
According to residents of the state capital Sittwe, all traffic in and out of the city has been blocked since Thursday morning, leaving many buses and transport trucks from other parts of the country, including Yangon, stranded.
Myanmar’s military regime has not made any response to the ULA’s claims that its forces targeted civilians in last week’s attacks.
Myanmar Now News
UN Chief Admits World Has Failed the People of Junta-Ruled Myanmar
/in NewsThe UN Secretary-General says the globe has failed the people of Myanmar, which has been engulfed by violence since the military staged a coup last year.
“The international community as a whole has failed. And the UN is part of [the] international community. It is dramatic to see the suffering of the Myanmarese people,” said António Guterres, after being asked at Saturday’s ASEAN Summit for his response to criticism that the United Nations and ASEAN have failed the Myanmar people.
Myanmar has been plunged in bloody conflict since the military ousted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February last year.
The UN chief’s admission came after almost two years in which the junta has brutalized the country with extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and airstrikes despite pleas by its people for the world body to intervene. The junta has so far killed more than 2,400 people amid the lack of international pushback.
The UN Secretary-General said, however, that he believed the Indonesian government would make progress on Myanmar when it takes the ASEAN helm next year.
“My special envoy is ready to fully cooperate with the ASEAN envoy in order to be able to create the conditions, to establish, as I mentioned, a democratic transition to let the political prisoners go in freedom and to end the dramatic violations of human rights in Myanmar,” he said.
Like the UN, ASEAN has been accused of failing Myanmar by sticking to its five-point peace plan despite it being largely ignored by the junta.
Saturday’s summit saw the bloc announce additional measures for implementation of the plan, known as the Five-Point Consensus, after ASEAN leaders identified the military regime as responsible for blocking progress. ASEAN also called on the UN to support implementation.
The additional measures include “concrete, practical and measurable indicators with a specific timeline” and engagement with all stakeholders – which opens the way to meetings with representatives of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel government dominated by former lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s party.
“Engagement would be done in a flexible and informal manner, primarily undertaken by the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar,” ASEAN leaders said in the statement.
On Monday, former United Nations experts from the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) called on the UN to answer the ASEAN call for support.
“The UN must respond to ASEAN’s calls by using enforceable mechanisms to advance accountability for Myanmar and exert all possible pressure on the junta. ASEAN cannot deal with the junta alone,” said Marzuki Darusman, former chair of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.
ASEAN leaders also maintained the ban on regime representatives participating in the bloc’s high-level meetings but failed to extend it throughout the ASEAN system, where Myanmar retains influence.
The junta dismissed the decisions made at Saturday’s summit, saying it would not accept ASEAN resolutions made in Myanmar’s absence.
The military regime, which brands the NUG and its affiliates as terrorist organizations, said it “strongly objected and condemned the attempts by ASEAN member states to engage with those unlawful and terrorist organizations through any means and forms.”
The regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus was a process and “inserting additional pressure by setting a timeframe will create more negative implications than positive ones.”
Irrawaddy News
Myanmar Regime Helicopter Kills At Least 60 Junta Troops in Sagaing Region: Resistance
/in NewsA Myanmar junta Mi-35 combat helicopter mistakenly killed at least 60 regime troops in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region, on Sunday, according to the Civilian Defense and Security Organization of Myaung resistance group.
“It’s confirmed at least 60 junta troops were killed by the Mi-35. We saw it through our scopes. The dead bodies were piled up in a paddy field. Resistance troops had left the area 30 minutes earlier,” said Ko Nway Oo, the organization’s spokesman.
He said the bodies were later loaded onto boats.
Junta troops in plainclothes burned villages on the border between Myaung and Yesagyo townships on Sunday morning before being shot by the Northwest Command helicopter, according to Ko Nway Oo
Seven villages in Myaung have been burned down, including four in the last week, he said.
The Russian-made Mi-35 fired in at least 25 bursts, causing numerous deaths, the organization reported.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
“We hear a regime ship is coming down the Ayeyarwady River with more weapons and troops. It shot at villages on the riverbank. We heard more attacks are planned,” said Ko Nway Oo.
He said no civilian casualties had been reported but thousands of villagers have fled their homes.
The Burmese Guerrilla Force in Myingyan, Thway Thauk Revolution, MGN Ranger and Justice Revolution Force are fighting with Ko Nway Oo’s organization to repulse junta attacks.
Junta troops from Yesagyo Township were also ambushed by resistance forces in Myaung on Sunday. The organization said 30 minutes’ fighting left five junta troops dead and many injured.
Irrawaddy News
ASEAN leaders call for measurable progress on Myanmar peace plan
/in NewsThe Southeast Asian bloc’s meeting in Cambodia was under pressure to show results.
ASEAN leaders called Friday for measurable progress in their peace plan for Myanmar, amid growing criticism over the Southeast Asian bloc’s failure to stem the deepening conflict in one of its 10 member states.
Meeting at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia, the group reaffirmed their commitment to the Five Point Consensus that was agreed to in April 2021 and aims to bring peace and restore democracy to Myanmar following the military coup against the elected government that has spawned a deepening civil conflict.
A statement emerging from the summit in Phnom Penh called on ASEAN Foreign Ministers to establish a specific timeline for implementation of a plan that includes “concrete, practical and measurable indicators” of progress. ASEAN reserved the right to review Myanmar’s representation at its meetings.
The call for tangible progress comes as human rights groups assail ASEAN’s failure to pressure the Myanmar junta, which has largely ignored the Five Point Consensus and resisted dialogue with representatives of the civilian administration it ousted. Instead, the military has dubbed many of its key political opponents as terrorists or outlaws and waged a scorched earth campaign in the Burmese heartland.
CREDIT: AP/Apunam Nath
Earlier Friday, Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo expressed “deep disappointment” about the worsening situation in Myanmar. Indonesia is set to take over the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN from Cambodia, which is nearing the end of its 12-month stint.
Myanmar’s coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was excluded from the summit, and Widodo told reporters he wanted to extend a ban on Myanmar junta representatives, who are barred from meetings of ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers, The Associated Press reported.
Friday’s statement, however, stopped short of barring the junta from attending other ASEAN meetings.
“Indonesia is deeply disappointed the situation in Myanmar is worsening,” Widodo said. “We must not allow the situation in Myanmar to define ASEAN.”
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also called on Myanmar to abide by and implement the Five Point Consensus.
Analysts say there are clear fault lines among ASEAN’s 10 members on how to deal with the Myanmar crisis – with Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore reportedly taking a tougher line than nations such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
Nevertheless, as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen kicked off Friday’s proceedings, he asserted: “Our Motto ‘ASEAN: One Vision, One Identity, One Community’ still holds true to its values today.”
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of what were actually two summits in one day. ASEAN is required to hold two leaders’ meetings a year but countries that don’t have the cash to pay for separate meetings are allowed to hold them back-to-back.
Also on the agenda were security issues, regional growth and geopolitics.
Marcos seemed to urge caution over global powers gaining further influence in the region. Leaders of strategic rivals the U.S. and China – President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Li Keqiang – are joining summit meetings in Phnom Penh this week.
“It is imperative that we reassert ASEAN Centrality. This in the face of geopolitical dynamics and tensions in the region and the proliferation of Indo-Pacific engagements, including the requests of our dialogue partners for closer partnerships,” he said.
Marcos’ comments came a day after top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said Saturday’s ASEAN-U.S. Summit would try to promote the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, whose signatories include the Philippines. That framework is widely seen as Washington’s effort to counter China’s investment in infrastructure and industry in Southeast Asia and beyond.
“ASEAN is clearly at the center of the region’s architecture, and the U.S.’s strategic partnership with ASEAN is at the heart of our Indo-Pacific strategy,” Kritenbrink said.
The 10 ASEAN members will still need international trade and investment partners as the world recovers from the impact of COVID-19. Hun Sen was cautious about expectations of a strong post-pandemic recovery.
“While we are now enjoying the fruits of our efforts and moving towards sustainable growth we should always be vigilant as the current socio-economic situation in ASEAN as well as in the whole world remains fragile and divided,” he said.
But he cited forecasts that economic growth in ASEAN would reach 5.3% this year and 4.2% in 2023, which he called “impressive compared to the rest of the world.”
ASEAN leaders also held talks Friday with China, South Korea and the United Nations. On Saturday they meet with India, Australia, Japan, Canada and the U.S. Next week, there will be further summits of leaders of the G-20 in Indonesia, and APEC in Thailand.
Indonesia is next to take the ASEAN chair and it may be hosting an 11th member. Leaders issued a statement Friday saying they agreed in principle to East Timor joining the bloc.
RFA News
MYANMAR: ASEAN LEADERS MUST TAKE DECISIVE STEPS, STOP AIDING AND ABETTING JUNTA’S ATROCITY CRIMES
/in Member statements(Jakarta, 9 November 2022) — ASEAN must stop aiding and abetting the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes and take concrete action to exclude all political and non-political representatives of the Myanmar military junta from attending ASEAN summits, meetings and activities, said Progressive Voice (PV) and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).
Justice For Myanmar, a group of activists, found that the Myanmar military junta had recently been appointed chair of the ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference (AACC). General Tun Aung led the junta’s delegation where they assumed the AACC Chairmanship for the coming year.
General Tun Aung is a former director of the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd and is sanctioned by the UK and Canada. Just yesterday, in its fifth round of sanctions, the EU also sanctioned General Tun Aung among other individuals and an entity linked to the Myanmar military.
Justice For Myanmar’s findings come just days before the ASEAN Summit, which is set to take place on 10 – 13 November in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“By allowing the Myanmar military junta to chair the ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference, ASEAN is violating the Five-Point Consensus to cease the ongoing violence, doing the opposite of ensuring regional stability. ASEAN is becoming further complicit in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity by emboldening the military junta,” said Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice.
“General Tun Aung is a sanctioned individual, and the crimes being committed by the military under his command are well known. Instead of holding General Tun Aung accountable for war crimes, ASEAN is rolling out a carpet for him to be in charge of the regional body that aims for greater partnership between air forces. ASEAN must stop aiding and abetting the junta’s atrocity crimes. Top leaders of ASEAN must take decisive action at the upcoming Summit to exclude both political and non-political junta representatives from all ministerial and related meetings and activities. This should include the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR),” said Khin Ohmar.
“ASEAN’s dialogue partners, EU, Australia, New Zealand, US, Japan and South Korea must immediately sanction the Air Force Chief,” said the rights groups.
In its most recent attack, the Myanmar military carried out airstrikes targeting the Kachin people gathered at a music festival on 23 October, reportedly killing at least 80 people and injuring more than 100 others. In September, the military also launched airstrikes on a school in session in Sagaing Region, killing at least 11 children.
Over 2,400 people have been killed by the junta since its attempted coup in February 2021; this number only continues to climb.[1]
The junta also continues to co-chair the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus Experts’ Working Group (ADMM-Plus EWG) on Counter Terrorism, together with Russia.
In July, 448 civil society organizations sent an open letter urging members of the ADMM-Plus EWG on Counter Terrorism to boycott the meeting. Australia, New Zealand, US, Japan and South Korea did not attend. Despite ASEAN dialogue partners distancing themselves from the meeting, with the US specifically urging partners to use the mechanism for defence cooperation and “not to deliver propaganda,” ASEAN has allowed the junta to take control of the group’s website and use it as a platform to spread disinformation and propaganda, according to Justice For Myanmar.
“These instances are yet more examples of why the international community must no longer rely on ASEAN and its Five Point Consensus to provide solutions for the crisis in Myanmar. If ASEAN leaders want to stop aiding and abetting atrocity crimes and hope to gain any semblance of credibility, they must exclude the junta from its meetings. They must recognise and work with the National Unity Government and urge action from the UN Security Council,” said FORUM-ASIA.
The groups slammed ASEAN’s response to the crisis, which effectively emboldened the junta to carry out its war of terror. On 27 October, ASEAN foreign ministers concluded a special meeting on Myanmar by opting to retain the Five Point Consensus, which the Myanmar military has constantly defied.[2] Two days after the airstrike, the ASEAN Chair released a statement calling on “one with significant power” to cease its violence, not only falling short of holding the junta accountable but not even explicitly naming them.
“The human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar pose a threat to regional stability; it is not merely an “internal affair”. ASEAN must refrain from legitimising the military junta: stop giving a seat to them at its summits and meetings. It should instead engage with the National Unity Government and support civil society groups,” said FORUM-ASIA.
The groups called on ASEAN leaders to develop a concrete plan of action that includes clear benchmarks and indicators of success to realistically measure progress, in a joint open letter signed by 505 organizations.[3]
“We urge the international community to increase tighter economic and diplomatic sanctions on the Myanmar military, including imposing a ban on the sale of aviation fuel to the junta to reduce its ability to carry out airstrikes on civilians. A comprehensive arms embargo with effective enforcement mechanisms is urgently needed to cut off the junta’s access to the weapons it is using indiscriminately,” said the groups.
[1] https://aappb.org/?p=23257
[2] http://l.forum-asia.org/Beyond.FPC
[3] https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.10_OpenLetter_ASEAN_SE_FINAL.pdf
— END —
Progressive Voice is a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organisation rooted in civil society, that maintains strong networks and relationships with grassroots organisations and community-based organisations throughout Myanmar. https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 85 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
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One civilian killed, village destroyed in repeated Myanmar military raids in upper Sagaing
/in NewsA man with an intellectual disability is found murdered after a junta attack that wiped out most of his Mingin Township village’s remaining homes
A junta force raiding villages in Sagaing Region’s Mingin Township reportedly killed a local man on Tuesday amid the assaults on the area, known as Taung Dwin Chaung.
That day, the unit of Myanmar army soldiers and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members who had been occupying the village of Kyaw targeted Kone Maw, more than one mile away. There, they torched nearly 30 homes and murdered 55-year-old Htay Lin, who had an intellectual disability, according to members of a local anti-junta defence team.
The troops went on to burn 14 more buildings in Kyauk Maw village, one-quarter mile from Kone Maw, including a structure within a primary school compound, the Tawng Dwin People’s Defence Force-Mingin (TDPDF) spokesperson said.
Myint Myat Thu, the group’s information officer, told Myanmar Now that the military column first shot heavy artillery at the community and also looted a number of homes.
“Twelve of the 14 houses in question were reduced to ashes. They then ransacked the village and took everything that was valuable,” he said.
The TDPDF attacked the raiding column with heavy and light weapons at around 2:30pm.
Kone Maw, which once had 100 households, had already been attacked by the junta in June, at which time several homes were torched. The second arson assault on Tuesday resulted in the village being almost completely destroyed, according to locals.
For nearly one year, junta forces have been raiding the Taung Dwin Chaung region, an area of Mingin home to more than 35 villages. During that time, some 30 troops have been consistently present in Kyaw, which has become a base from which the soldiers provide combat training and arms to villagers who joined their militias.
“They also raided nearby villages, stole motorcycles and sold them for money and killed the cows and pigs for food,” the TDPDF’s Myint Myat Thu said. “They also seized rice and oil from the civilians, as well as other property. Five cows were taken just recently—while four of them were released, they kept one.”
The TDPDF has said that it remains outgunned by the military, and at the time of reporting, claimed to be in possession of one assault rifle, a number of daggers, and handmade muskets and mortars.
Myanmar Now News