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 military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline
- 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
Urgent Statement on Political Prisoners and Prison Conditions Across Burma
/in Member statementsAugust 9, 2022
At present, news on prison conditions in the country is under a blackout. The outside world is likely unaware of the real situation inside prisons – of human rights violations, torture, and murder.
Monitoring Inside Prisons by Military Security Affairs Forces and Police
The terrorist junta have ordered Military Security Affairs Forces (SAF) and police forces, to directly manage the prisons, as well as closely monitor the prisoners with strict rules to prevent information from getting out.
Prisons Visits Banned
In many of the places, including Yangon, and Obo (Mandalay) Prison, political prisoners have been denied visitation access by relatives since the terrorist junta seized power. As a result, prisoners are deprived of food, medicine and of contact with the outside.
Transfer of Political Prisoners to Different Prisons; Torture and Extortion
During the month, political prisoners have also been transferred to other prisons. In Monywa Prison, political prisoners were transfered twice in July and August, to Myingyan Prison, Nyaung Oo Prison, and Shwe Bo Prison. We also know that on August 5, more than 120 political prisoners from Insein Prison were transferred to Tharrawaddy Prison.
Last July, around 100 political prisoners from Hpa-an Prison were transferred to other places, including Insein Prison. Among the political prisoners transferred, members of the Hpa-an Student Union were beaten and tortured on a daily basis.
In Magway Prison, political prisoners were beaten daily without reason, both the family members and prisoners faced challenges because they were not informed before of the transfer to another prison.
Political prisoners are also forced to do hard work such as carrying sewage and sacks of rice. In addition, they are beaten by a group of other prisoners without cause, until they were severely injured and made to sleep near the putrid sewage. If political prisoners refuse to do this, there are unfair demands like how much money they must pay. Whilst criminal prisoners are ordered to beat political prisoners.
Increased COVID-19 Infections Within Prisons
Increasing numbers of prisoners are catching COVID-19, they are being isolated without medical treatment. Around 50 political prisoners are infected in Obo Prison. Since they are not allowed to see relatives, they find it difficult to get medicine and food. At least three political prisoners are in serious pain and life-threatening condition.
Hunger Strikes
Political prisoners who have been sentenced to death, as well as families, are concerned, they are victims of severe mental stress following the execution of four political prisoners including two prominent activists. Particularly since the terrorist junta force’s announcement that “more death row prisoners are to be executed”. Following this, there have been reports that political prisoners in some prisons are on hunger strike.
We are particularly concerned about the danger to these lives due to solitary confinement, and the severe beatings of political prisoners. There is, therefore, an urgent need to reveal the true situation. AAPP has been told that since a hunger strike in Obo Prison on August 4 and August 5, two gunshots were heard from the prison. Families of the detained are worried.
We, AAPP, strongly condemn these human rights violations, torture, and killings concealed within the prisons. We urge the United Nations, international governments, human rights organizations monitoring the political situation, the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as ASEAN member states to demand the genuine prison conditions, as well as take action to prevent such targetted and widespread human rights violations.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Download link for statement 08.09 Statement on Current Situations in Prisons_AAPP_9 August 2022
Junta troops burn 500 homes, displace thousands in Sagaing
/in NewsVictims of the attacks include an 80-year-old woman found burned to death after failing to escape.
Junta forces stepped up their attacks in Myanmar’s hard-hit Sagaing region in the first week of August, torching nearly 500 homes in 10 villages and causing at least 5,000 people to flee, local sources said.
The attacks in Sagaing’s Tabayin and Ayadaw townships included air raids and ground assaults and appeared especially to target large and well-built homes, but houses were burned in every village through which troops passed, one source said.
Around 180 out of nearly 200 homes were destroyed on Aug. 4 in Tabayin’s Kaing Kan village alone, one resident told RFA on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Troops entered the village at 9:00 am, burning down the bigger and nicer houses as they came in. But houses have been burned down in every village that they entered,” RFA’s source said.
“They think that anti-junta resistance will stop when the people are repressed and have to struggle for their living instead of engaging in opposition activities. I believe that this repression will fail, though,” he added.
Locals said that four bodies, including the body of a woman, were discovered near a drain outside Kaing Kan village following the attack but had not yet been identified.
In Ayadaw township’s Min Ywa Gyi village, heavy shelling by junta forces preceded the burning of homes during weekend attacks, one village resident said on Monday, also declining to be named because of safety concerns.
“The [ruling] Military Council set fire to the houses. This is their usual tactic,” he said. “The troops came by helicopter, shelled the village with heavy artillery and then burned the houses.
“As far as I could see yesterday, no fewer than 200 houses had been burned down,” he added.
Myanmar military forces are at war with People’s Defense Force (PDF) units created to oppose junta rule, “but instead they are destroying civilians’ lives and homes, which isn’t fair,” he said.
Woman burned to death
Local sources said that Daw Shin, an 80-year-old woman, was found burned to death in Min Yaw Gyi after failing to escape the military raid and that local defense groups were busy Sunday clearing landmines left behind by junta troops, with those displaced by the fighting seeking shelter in a nearby monastery and with charity associations.
Calls seeking comment from a Military Council spokesman rang unanswered Monday. But a member of Tapayin township’s People’s Defense Force told RFA that the more junta forces repress the local people, the more the people will fight against junta rule.
“We are not scared by these brutalities,” he said. “If there were 100 people resisting before, 300 people will come out now, and the more violent the junta troops become, the more the people will rise up against them.”
Also speaking to RFA, Nay Zin Lat—a regional MP from Kanbalu township for the National League for Democracy, which was overthrown in a Feb. 1, 2021 military coup—said that military leaders are trying to rule Myanmar’s people through fear.
“They are limited in their ability to attack the PDF forces on the ground, so when they find they can’t do it, they just torture the local civilians, who have nothing to do with the PDFs.
“By doing this, they are trying to cut local contacts with the PDFs and spread fear among the people so that they will end their support for the fighters. This is the cruelest treatment imaginable,” he said.
RFA News
TIME FOR THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR
/in Member statementsDate: August 7, 2022
In recognition of the 34th anniversary of the 8888 Revolution Day on 8 August 2022, the CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar)[1] (abbreviation “Working Group”) and 32 Myanmar civil society organizations signing below pay tribute to and honor people of different religious communities, ethnicities, and classes who sacrificed their lives for federal democracy and human rights in Myanmar, and it is time to establish a new human rights commission that will uphold, protect and promote human rights in line with international standards.
The military junta has systematically and deliberately committed violent offensives and mass human rights violations against the people across the country every day since its coup attempt on 1 February 2021. Within 551 days of the attempted coup, over 2,000 innocent people, including children, have been killed by the military, with the actual number is likely to be higher. Likewise, the junta murdered four democracy activists who had been unjustly sentenced to death by its puppet court. More than 11,900 civilians have been detained by the junta for opposing the attempted coup. At the same time, residents of ethnic minority areas and central Myanmar are living in psychological and physical insecurity as a result of the junta’s airstrikes, indiscriminate shelling, unlawful arrests, unlawful killings, massacres, plunder, destruction and arson of their villages with severe violations of their right to life, right to livelihood, right to movement and right to safety. Under the junta’s control, Myanmar’s judicial system is void of independence and justice, and people need independent and fair mechanisms to inform and report rights violations.
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) was established as a national human rights institution under the quasi-civilian government led by U Thein Sein in 2011. Due to its failure to align with international standards, including the Paris Principles which guides national human rights institutions, and its lack of independence, the MNHRC has lost the trust of international and local human rights organizations as well as the public. Despite repeated demands by civil society organizations to denounce the military’s attempted coup since 11 February 2021, the MNHRC has ignored the demands and continues to stand with the military junta, which has committed grave human rights violations. Even worse, the MNHRC members have extorted money from the detainees during their pretentious military approved prison inspections.
The MNHRC shamelessly attends regional and international human rights forums and conferences, representing Myanmar to the international community as a propaganda tool of the junta.
In its stance, activities, and existence, the MNHRC undermines the federal democratic revolution in Myanmar. There is clearly a dire need to replace the MNHRC with a new national human rights commission that can promote and protect human rights independently and fairly in accordance with international standards. Only then a newly established national human rights commission can represent Myanmar people’s desire for human rights and federal democracy on the international stage.
A human rights commission bill was drafted by the Working Group and submitted to the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), and National Unity Government (NUG) on December 6, 2021 in order to fulfill this necessity. The members of the Working Group will continue to strive towards the establishment of the Union Human Rights Commission.
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, jointly call for the MNHRC to be dissolved and for a new Union Human Rights Commission to be established by the NUG. We call on the people of Myanmar to participate in condemning the MNHRC, one of the supporting pillars of the military junta, in order to achieve a new national human rights commission that respects and follows human rights standards.
For more information please contact:
The Statement was initiated by CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar) which consists of 20 civil society organizations from diverse backgrounds. Following 32 Myanmar civil society organizations endorsed the statement.
Endorsed by
Additional endorsement after release of the statement
[1] Working Group was formerly known as the CSO Working Group on Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Reform, founded in 2019. The Working Group currently consists of 20 civil society organizations from diverse backgrounds to reflect the new mission of establishing a new national human rights institution that is in line with the Paris Principles.
Download PDF in English I Burmese
Hundreds killed, thousands forced to flee since coup in Myanmar Tanintharyi region
/in NewsViolence has risen sharply in the southern region since the start of the year, a research group says.
At least 214 civilians have been killed and 89 injured in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region in the 18 months since the country’s military seized power in a coup, according to local research group Southern Monitor.
The group said in a statement on Thursday that since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, at least 17,415 people in Tanintharyi – the home region of junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s parents – were forced to flee their homes, while 93 homes were destroyed in arson attacks over the same period.
The dead included those killed by junta troops as well as victims of retribution attacks by the armed opposition for their alleged role as informants for the military regime, it said.
Southern Monitor’s information officer told RFA Burmese that the number of civilian deaths in Tanintharyi has risen sharply since the beginning of 2022, with the months of April and June being the deadliest.
“Violent incidents in Tanintharyi region have increased significantly in 2022. People died in an increasing number of battles as well as in bombings and landmine incidents,” said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Another worrying trend is the killing of civilians. It can be said that killings by both sides have increased quite a bit.”
He said most of the assassinations and civilian deaths occurred in Tanintharyi’s townships of Launglon and Yebyu.
At least 93 houses were razed in Tanintharyi since the coup, according to Southern Monitor – 33 in Palaw township, 30 in Thayetchaung township, 18 in Tanintharyi township, six in Dawei township, three in Yebyu township, two in Launglon township, and one in Myeik township.
A spokesman for the anti-junta Democracy Action Strike Committee (Dawei) told RFA that most of the fires were started by the junta troops and pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia fighters raiding villages.
“A military column would come and a battle with PDFs would occur. When [the military] couldn’t proceed any further, they’d set fire to a nearby house,” said the spokesman, who also declined to be named, citing security concerns.
In Launglon, they just set fire to the houses, even though there were no clashes. One of the houses burnt down was owned by a former Dawei District Protest Committee member. At the time of the incident, he was a member of the committee. There were also cases when the Pyu Saw Htee and the military came together and just burned down a house for no reason.”
According to the Dawei Political Prisoners Network, as of April 29, there were 221 political prisoners in detention in Tanintharyi, two of whom have been sentenced to death by the junta.
Military crackdown
Residents of the region told RFA that the armed resistance in Tanintharyi started in earnest in August 2021 in response to the military’s violent crackdowns on civilians.
A spokesman for the Palaw Township People’s Defense Force said most of the fighting in Tanintharyi region, up until recently, had been caused by military clearance operations. He claimed that the armed resistance was not responsible for starting any clashes.
“The fighting we have here began when they entered the area,” said the spokesman, who also asked to remain anonymous.
“We’re not in a position to attack them yet because we are still in a state of preparation. The PDF has not launched any offensives, except one.”
According to the list compiled by Southern Monitor, from June 2021 to July 2022, there were 133 battles and at least 141 attacks using landmines. Most of the attacks took place in the townships of Dawei, Launglon, Thayetchaung, Palaw and Tanintharyi.
Attempts by RFA to reach junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the violence in Tanintharyi went unanswered Thursday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced Wednesday that the number of people displaced by violence in Myanmar had ballooned to 866,000 from 346,000 prior to the coup.
It said most of the refugees are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, but the junta has yet to announce any plans to address the problem.
Written by Joshua Lipes.
RFA News
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.