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
- Junta targeting rebel-held areas in northern Myanmar with airstrikes and artillery
- Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)
- Myanmar National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum 2024
- Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)
- Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland Releases a New Briefer, “The Rise of Pro-Junta Militias in Southeastern Burma”
/in Member statementsFor Immediate Release
3 August 2022
Today, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), releases a new briefing paper, “The Rise of Pro-Junta Militias in Southeastern Burma.” Our latest briefer finds evidence of increasing violence perpetrated against civilians since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021 by newly formed paramilitias in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region. These armed groups are trained and fully supported by the military junta. They have access to weapons and are incentivized through moral and monetary support by the illegal regime.
Activists and human rights defenders continue to face threats to their lives for their work and commitment to the Spring Revolution. Many are facing arbitrary arrest, criminalization, torture, ill-treatment, and killings at the hands of the junta forces and their backed armed groups across the country. The formation and reorganizing of paramilitias by the junta have led to rising levels of violence deployed by these groups. These include: Pyusawhti, Thway Thauk and the Black Kite Brotherhood among others.
According to documentation and reporting by HURFOM and networks, there have been at least 129 victims of militia violence, with 18 killed across target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region since the attempted coup. The majority of the victims have been in Dawei as tensions between armed groups continue to rise. The victims are mostly young men, but their families, including women, the elderly, and children, have also been targeted. They have been shot, and brutally tortured before their deaths. Many human rights defenders have fled in exile to avoid being caught and killed by groups such as these.
HURFOM condemns the unlawful acts being perpetrated by the junta backed paramiltias and demands that they be held accountable through being tried and punished under international accountability mechanisms. Change cannot come from inside Burma alone. International stakeholders have a moral and political obligation to intervene when the safety of innocent people is at risk. Each day that passes without action is one more which must rest on the consciousness of world leaders.
Media Contact
Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director
Email: info@rehmonnya.org
Signal: +66 86 167 9741
HURFOM was founded by exiled pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprisings, recent activists
and Mon community leaders and youth. Its primary objective is the restoration of democracy,
human rights, and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization, and all its
members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country.
The Rise of Pro-Junta Militias in Southeastern Burma
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsAcross the last year and a half, the Burma Army has continued to wage unprecedented levels of violence against a largely unarmed civilian population. Their campaign of fear and barbarity has led to thousands of deaths and injuries across the country. Innocent people are routinely rounded up and arrested before being forcibly detained under fabricated charges. In addition to a worsening humanitarian crisis that has seen over one million people displaced,1 the military junta has relentlessly blocked key routes intended for aid delivery and service provision.
The junta is paving pathways for destruction as the country’s prospects for democracy slowly deteriorate. Their desperate quests for power were apparent even before the attempted coup on 1 February 2021, as they sought legitimacy through various diplomatic channels while the very institution of the Tatmadaw was becoming increasingly more unpopular. Their tirade of war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity and genocide, is further evidence of the great lengths that the military junta is willing to go to invoke cruels means of control onto the people of Burma.
One of the ways that the junta has attempted to squander the opposition movement, including those who have aligned themselves with the prodemocracy movement, is through the backing of para-militias. These include: Pyusawhti, Thway Thauk and the Black Kite Brotherhood among others. These groups have targeted supporters and affiliates of the Spring Revolution including members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
According to documentation and reporting by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) and networks, there have been at least 129 victims of militia violence, with 18 killed across target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region since the attempted coup. The majority of the victims have been in Dawei, as tensions between armed groups continue to rise. The victims are mostly young men, but their families, including women, the elderly and children, have also been targeted. They have been shot, and brutally tortured before their deaths. Many human rights defenders have fled in exile to avoid being caught and killed by groups such as these.
Further, the purpose of this briefing paper will be to outline how the paramilitaries since the coup were formed and the types of human rights violations they have perpetrated in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region. The report will include case studies and analysis on how the paramilitias are committing human rights violations. It will cover from 1 January 2022 until the end of July 2022.
Latest Report by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Finds Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes Perpetrated by the Myanmar Junta
/in Press Releases and StatementsLatest Report by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Finds Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes Perpetrated by the Myanmar Junta
For Immediate Release
28 July 2022:
Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) released, “Resisting a Coup,” a new six-month report which covers human rights violations committed by the Myanmar military junta between January and June 2022. Over the course of the six-month reporting period, the regime torched thousands of homes, and murdered civilians with impunity. Against the backdrop of the violence continues to be a full-fledged humanitarian crisis that has left thousands displaced and living in poverty. ND-Burma calls for immediate international intervention including targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo.
Across ND-Burma’s member target areas are cases of extreme violence perpetrated by the soldiers of the Myanmar military. The wide-spread antagonism against the junta has led to the regime responding the only way they know how – by waging more internal conflict. This is evident in the mass numbers of civilians who have been routinely internally displaced. Evidence of the military junta deliberately embarking on a ‘trajectory of terror’ suggest that the regime will not stop their merciless attacks until the masses submit.
ND-Burma members have documented crimes committed by the Myanmar Army including arbitrary arrest and detainment, torture, rape and sexual violence, destruction of property, enforced disappearances, murder and others. The acts of violence that the junta has committed amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Accountability for their crimes is long overdue.
Further, the ND-Burma calls for an immediate cessation in violence and a retreat of junta soldiers from civilian areas. The international community, including UN bodies, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, must take concrete steps which hold the junta responsible.
ND-Burma supports a United Nations Security Council resolution on a global arms embargo, and an immediate referral of the situation of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. We call for diplomatic, political, and economic pressure on the military junta to immediately cease the targeting of the civilian population in Myanmar. Attempts for peace and reconciliation will not be taken seriously under the military junta.
Media Contact:
Ko Ting Oo
+66815956138
arakanvictory@protonmail.com
Diamond Htoo
+66 96 759 5082
outreachofficer@nd-burma.org
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.
Full Members
Affiliate members
RESISTING A COUP
/in ND-Burma's Reports, Periodic ReportThroughout the reporting period of January to June 2022, ND-Burma members witnessed the Myanmar military make a mockery of democratic norms and principles. Our findings make clear that the regime is continuing to act with deeply ingrained impunity amid a full fledged humanitarian crisis which has now seen over one million civilians internally displaced by the junta’s violence.1
When the Myanmar military orchestrated their coup on 1 February 2021, it changed the political discourse in the country. It also triggered a domino-like effect of opposition groups forming to protest the junta’s illegitimate seizure of power. Within the first few months following the overthrow of the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government, a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) which continues to show its strength, emerged. Led by the civil service sector, medics, teachers, engineers and those representing other professions, announced that they would refuse to adhere to their responsibilities under the military junta. In March 2021, the CDM was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.2
In addition, the Spring Revolution has rallied support through strategic organizing efforts which have even exposed the military junta for violating their own Constitution in the attempted power-grab. The establishment of the National Unity Government (NUG) and the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) were formed as legitimate platforms for formal engagement and diplomacy in Myanmar. Armed opposition groups called People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) were created in direct response to the junta’s violence being deployed against civilians who rejected their illegal coup. Civilians across various backgrounds and ethnicities continue to work in solidarity in fierce opposition to the dictatorship.
What has become abundantly clear throughout the reporting period is that the junta is no match against the resilience and bravery of civil society organizations and pro-democracy affiliated organizations, including EROs. While global actors have overwhelmingly failed to respond to the multiple crises in Myanmar with the urgency required, actors inside the country have exemplified bravery by sacrificing their lives for their freedom. Rather than work with trusted, long-time activists, including the NUG, some international bodies have risked legitimizing the junta by working with them.
Weekly Update 12 July – 17 July 2022
/in HR SituationTerrorist-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing, who leads an army guilty of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, visited Russia as ties deepen between the two authoritarian countries. Following the coup-leader’s trip to Moscow, Russian officials announced that it sought to deepen their defence cooperation with Myanmar. This declaration is extremely worrisome given Russia’s own troubling trajectory of suppressing human rights.
Nearly 50 members of Myanmar’s deposed government have been killed since coup
/in NewsThe military says party members are not targeted, but statistics suggest otherwise.
Nearly 50 members of Myanmar’s deposed National League for Democracy (NLD), including three former members of Parliament, have been killed and more than 900 NLD lawmakers have been arrested in the 17 months since the coup, according to a group within the party that documents rights abuses under military rule.
Kyaw Htwe, spokesman for the NLD’s Human Rights Record Group, told RFA Burmese that among the 48 killed, 11 died during detention, eight died in prison, and 29 — including the former MPs — were killed “for no reason.”
“In many villages in Sagaing and Magway regions, we heard reports that [pro-junta forces] set fire to houses of not only NLD members, but also those who had supported the party,” he said of the two areas where junta troops have encountered some of the fiercest resistance to military rule by the armed opposition.
“Residents also say people are getting killed simply for being accused of being members of the party.”
Among the 48 killed, five were women, the NLD group said. Two of the victims were from Kachin state, one from Shan state, 11 from Yangon region, 14 from Mandalay region, seven from Bago region, four from Tanintharyi region, and the remaining nine from Sagaing and Magway regions and Mon state.
The eight people who died in prison included Nyan Win, a long-time member of the NLD who served as the party’s secretary.
One of the three MPs killed was Kyaw Myo Min, who represented Bilin township in the Mon State Assembly. His body was discovered on July 6 near Min Saw village in Kayin state’s Hpa-An township, not long after his arrest.
A colleague of Kyaw Myo Min, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told RFA that the military did not even bother to inform the MP’s family of his death.
“His body was found with his hands tied behind his back and the head was separately buried in the mud by the side of the creek,” the colleague said.
“They were so inhuman. It looked like the body was not even buried properly — it seemed as if they just left it there. I think that his head was thrown into the creek and it was covered in mud and leaves during recent heavy rains.”
The other two lawmakers who died were Nyunt Shwe, a member of the Bago Region People’s Assembly and Tin Yi, of the Kyunsu Township People’s Assembly in Tanintharyi region. Nyunt Shwe died in prison of COVID-19 and Tin Yi, who was over 70 years old, died while fleeing arrest.
The 29 people killed “for no reason” included veterans, anti-junta activists and NLD party officials who died at the hands of the pro-military Thway Thauk militia, allegedly composed of ultra-nationalists and members of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Bo Bo Oo, vice chairman of the NLD in Yangon region’s Sanchaung township, told RFA that junta leader Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing bears full responsibility for the deaths.
“They targeted the party’s executive members, but ordinary party members and those they accused of being party members, as well as ordinary activists, were also harmed with a vengeance,” he said.
“All this happened because the leader of the military regime is a thug who encourages terror. We are hearing things [about what is happening] that we don’t want to hear. For Myanmar, it is very shameful.”
Bo Bo Oo said it is impossible for any NLD member — from the central level to the village level — to remain at home peacefully amid the current situation.
Hundreds of arrests
According to the NLD’s Human Rights Record Group, at least 920 of the party’s MPs who won seats in Myanmar’s November 2020 general election have been arrested since the coup, including the three who were killed and 109 who remain in custody.
The group’s spokesman, Kyaw Htwe, said around 20 NLD MPs have made pledges to the junta to give up politics, while the remainder of those no longer detained have “fled to safety” — mostly to Myanmar’s remote border regions — because they fear being rearrested and tortured.
Repeated attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Minister for Information Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered Monday. In response to an RFA inquiry on Oct. 6, 2021, he said the military was “not targeting the NLD,” but that the party’s MPs and other members had been arrested and prosecuted because they were “linked to violence.”
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that the military wants to “wipe away the NLD party from Myanmar’s political scene forever.”
“Those responsible for the deaths must have been told that it did not matter if NLD party leaders or members died. That’s why we are hearing all these lawless, tragic stories of people being killed with no restraint,” he said.
“I think [the junta is] operating with a policy to arrest, imprison and kill NLD leaders and hardcore members so that it’d be impossible for the party to re-enter Myanmar’s political stage.”
The military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, claiming voter fraud led to a landslide victory for the NLD in the country’s November 2020 election. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule.
According to the NLD’s Human Rights Record Group, in addition to the killing and arrest of NLD members, the military has killed 2,636 people and arrested at least 9,469 anti-junta activists since the coup.
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RFA News
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