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
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- INTERVIEW: Why an Argentine court filed a warrant for Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest
- Myanmar junta bombs rebel wedding, at least 10 killed
- Press Statement: Argentine Court’s arrest warrants are welcome progress towards justice
Weekly Update Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (24 January – 30 January )2022
/in OthersAhead of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting with a minister from Cambodia (the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations Chair) and the UN special envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer, over 280 organizations including ND-Burma and several member organizations, called for the UNSC to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation and take urgent steps to protect civilian during this time of crisis. Human Rights Watch also called on the UNSC to ‘abandon their timid approach to their Myanmar military’s mounting atrocities and replace mealy-mouthed statements with tough action.’ These are all reasonable requests with overwhelming evidence of the junta’s crimes against humanity and war crimes which warrant immediate action.
As of 31 December 2020, there were 980 000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in neighbouring countries. Between January 2020 and December 2021, over 775 000 people were internally displaced within Myanmar. This significant growth in displacement speaks to the harrowing violence being deployed by state-backed forces. The Myanmar Army is acting with lawlessness emboldened by impunity due to the lack of consequences they have faced. However, it cannot be denied that their onslaught of grave atrocities has not forced civilians to submit to their dictatorship and authoritarianism. By the regime’s own account – they are failing in their offensives and the growing number of Tatmadaw defections speaks to fragments within the junta itself.
The families and friends of two volunteer Kachin teachers who were killed seven years ago by the military junta are still waiting for justice. Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Hkawn Nan Tsin were volunteering with the Kachin Baptist Convention when they were raped and stabbed to death in January 2015. The Myanmar Army destroyed evidence of their crime and there has yet to be any accountability for the young women. Since their death, dozens of civilians in Kachin State have been killed by the military junta, especially since the attempted coup. The sense of solidarity across Kachin State is strong with commitments to ‘defeat the military dictatorship.’
KAREN STATE
Fighting in Karen State has forced thousands of people to flee. The Myanmar junta is planning to further increase their offensives against Karen armed opposition groups, making the situation for internally displaced people even more uncertain. Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, told the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Burma, Noeleen Heyzer, on January 17, 2022 that displaced villagers would not be pushed back. However, in stark contrast to these comments, there are reports that displaced people are being pressured by Thai authorities to return to Karen State. This is increasingly worrisome as fighting in Lay Kay Kaw has taken place steadily for about one month. The one peaceful town has now become a battlefield. Reassurances for safety for those who have returned have not been fulfilled. On 3 January, artillery shelling killed a woman and injured three others who returned to Palu Lay village. IDPs are in desperate need of medicine, food and adequate shelter. Karen civil society organizations have largely filled the gaps in the provision of these materials but more support is needed.
On 27 January, the Karen Human Rights Group reported that a landmine planted by LIB #285 at K’Wer Village, Lermulah Township killed a mother and her six year old son.
KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE
Civilians in Kayah (Karenni) State have been deprived of their humanity as unrelenting fighting makes the future more uncertain for civilians. The crimes perpetrated in Kayah (Karenni) State have devastated livelihoods. Details of the Christmas Eve massacre in particular in which the junta burned alive several dozen civilians attempting to flee violence continue to emerge. The victims included 26 males and five females. Family members have recounted endless calls that went unanswered to the victims because they were caught in the junta’s merciless attack.
Ethnic Revolution Organizations are among those who have called on the international community and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a no-fly zone against the military junta, and to take greater steps to ensure civilian safety zones. This includes the Karenni National Progressive Party. Civilians have been targeted at IDP camps, as was the case when three people were killed and seven injured during an airstrike by the junta launched at a refugee camp in eastern Kayah (Karenni) State. Karenni police officers have also called for the dictatorship to be dismantled and have demanded justice for victims by ensuring the regime is put on trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Worse yet – the bodies of six people, including women and children, were found mutilated in a septic well. The victims include three 17 year old boys and a 16 year old boy. A 63 old woman was also found with her 23 year son with evidence of torture on their bodies including bullet and stab wounds.
Villagers Found Slain After Myanmar Junta Raids
/in NewsAt least 23 civilians were killed in junta raids since early January in Loikaw Township, Kayah State, according to a humanitarian group.
Loikaw, the state capital, is largely deserted because of junta airstrikes in early January after clashes broke out between Myanmar’s regime and resistance groups.
On Friday six civilians killed during junta raids were found in Yeyo village and one was found in Bado village.
The charred bodies of a mother and her son were found in Htungungantha village on Thursday, according to sources.
In Yeyo village, four of the six victims were teenagers dumped in a septic tank. Some of the victims’ hands were tied and they had been shot, according to villagers.
A member of the Karenni Democratic Front said: “They were trapped in the village when junta soldiers arrived. Some of them had their hands tied. We can confirm that they were unarmed civilians.”
The victim from Bado appeared to have been tortured in a bathroom, dragged to a pit and shot.
A resident said: “Junta troops on January 24-25 were talking about conducting clearance operations. We are afraid we will find many more bodies.”
Thousands have been displaced in Loikaw Township during January.
At least 23 bodies have been found in the township. “The bodies were badly disfigured. They were being eaten by dogs. They might have been killed four days ago,” said a charity worker.
The regime denied killing any civilians in Loikaw, saying its troops only shot back at “terrorists”. It said it used helicopters because resistance fighters were using civilians as human shields.
On January 16, regime aircraft attacked displacement camps in Hpruso and Demoso townships, killing three civilians including, a seven-year-old girl and three health workers.
“Junta troops are still deployed in Loikaw town. Many houses were damaged or burned by artillery strikes and air raids. They are targeting civilians,” said a KDF member.
More than 30 civilians were killed and burned in vehicles in Hpruso Township in December.
Irrawaddy News
Boy, 10, among four civilians killed by soldiers in Sagaing after resistance bomb attack
/in NewsThe boy was shot dead along with his uncle and brother
Soldiers shot and killed four civilians, including a 10-year-old boy, after their unit came under attack by explosives in Sagaing Region’s Ayadaw Township on Wednesday morning, locals have told Myanmar Now.
Resistance fighters from the Ayadaw Revolutionary Alliance detonated the bombs near Baw Kone village, damaging a military vehicle and injuring troops. Several soldiers then raided the village and shot at people.
They killed an uncle and his two nephews, one of whom was the 10-year-old, as they were working on their farm, and also shot a man in the head while he was riding his bicycle, the local said.
“They were digging a well and planting onions in the farm when the soldiers shot and killed them,” said the local of the three family members.
“Maybe they were killed because they didn’t answer to the military when they were asked about the perpetrators of the bomb attack, or maybe the military wanted to scare the other villagers,” he said.
The 10-year-old was identified as Phyo Wai Soe, a sixth grader. His brother, Wai Lin Aung, was 24, and their uncle, San Lin, was 30. The man killed on his bicycle was Pho Htwe, who was 60 and the father of the village’s head monk.
The soldiers also torched huts on farmland in Baw Kone and arrested three villagers, another local said. Two of those arrested, both women, were released later in the evening with bruises on their faces.
“They said they were beaten and were told that the village would be burned to ashes if the military was attacked with explosives again,” said the second local.
The third detainee was a 20-year-old man and had not been released as of Thursday evening.
The bodies of the uncle and his two nephews were buried at the Baw Kone village cemetery at around 5pm on Wednesday and Pho Htwe was cremated.
“They were killed because they didn’t run as they thought it had nothing to do with them. It’s really sad,” a third Ayadaw local said. “Civilians should stay away from the sites of explosive attacks and from the military and try to get up-to-date news.”
Locals say that junta troops are stationed about a mile away from Baw Kone at the Naing Gyi Aing police station and have been burning houses and robbing and killing civilians in the surrounding area, as well as using civilians as human shields.
Junta officials did not answer calls seeking comment.
Ayadaw_2.Jpg
On Tuesday the Ayadaw Revolutionary Alliance killed four family members aged between 17 and 30 who they said had helped the military to identify areas where resistance fighters had planted explosives.
An officer from the Ayadaw Revolutionary Alliance identified those killed as Gatone Lay, 30, Mar Mar Khine, 25, Zin Mar So, 19, and Kyaw Min Khant, 17, and said they were all residents of Kan Phyu village.
“The minefield was raided three times and several people saw them arriving together with the junta’s forces while the resistance forces were setting up explosive devices. They were only killed after such incidents took place three times,” the officer said.
Ayadaw Township is a stronghold of anti-junta activity and still sees regular protests in rural areas against the coup.
On January 17, resistance fighters attacked a military vehicle with explosives near a village in Mandalay Region. Soldiers responded by killing two civilians, including an eight-year-old child.
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar : Post-Coup (January 17-23)2022
/in HR SituationThe cracks in the military junta are showing. In addition to heavy casualties, the regime is struggling to maintain recruits. The Myanmar Army has less support now than ever as an unstoppable Spring Revolution topples the regime’s incessant claims for legitimacy.
Junta casualties continue to mount as the regime sends more reinforcements while expanding their recruitment tactics, which now include the wives of mid-ranking soldiers and compulsory military training for the children of soldiers who are over the age of 15. This is in violation of laws which strictly prohibit the use of children in combat. As the junta continues to engage in unlawful practices, soldiers are continuing to defect at an unprecedented rate. To counter this, the junta has even attempted to coax some retired soldiers out of retirement to battle the resistance movement. Over 8000 soldiers and policemen have joined the civil disobedience movement, and an estimated 2000 soldiers have defected with many more considering leaving the regime. The NUG has offered protection to those who do so. According to the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG), 160 soldiers were killed within the first month of January 2022.
The ongoing airstrikes by the Myanmar junta are also a sign of the Tatmadaw losing the fight between them and the people as experts speculate that the reliance on air attacks is a sign of weakness. Even so, it is the regime’s ruthless targeting of innocent civilians which has created a refugee crisis as people flee to various borders and neighboring townships seeking safety. During a meeting over the last week, Noeleen Heyzer, the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy on Myanmar, called on Thailand to take a more proactive role in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. There are now over 3 million people in need inside the country, who have been vehemently deprived of their basic rights to protection and survival. The majority of those who require support continue to be women, children and the elderly.
As the international community bides its time waiting to respond, the people on the ground are suffering. The junta is still evading wide-spread accountability and as a result, they have failed to halt any of their offensives. Rather, they are committed to expanding their forces to squander the resistance at all costs. The leaders of the world must act with intention and urgency. The many victims and families of the junta’s crimes deserve justice and to be heard.
In Chin State, the resistance and opposition to the military junta remains fierce. The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) says they have documented over 180 killings and unlawful deaths, in addition to the arrests of 892 Chin people by the military junta. The junta deployed airstrikes in civilian areas in northern Chin State after local armed forces attacked a military convoy carrying over 150 soldiers near Hiangzing village.
Horrifying evidence of crimes committed against civilians continues to emerge. Of the ten civilians abducted by the junta in Matupi Township, Chin State, all were found with signs of severe torture before they were killed. Among the victims was a 13 year old boy who had his throat slashed. CHRO has said those responsible are from infantry battalion 140 based in Matupi.
The steady increase in fighting has forced opposition groups to prepare for an even worse onslaught of violence. A spokesperson for the Chin National Front said more operations are ‘likely to be carried out in the northern and southern parts of the State.’
KAREN STATE
Refugees and IDPs from Karen State are continuing to flee violence perpetrated by the military junta. Almost 50 000 IDPs who had been forced to leave their homes over the last month are seeking refuge from the onslaught of offensives that they continue to be berated with. In territory controlled by the Karen National Union, there has been an increase in IDPs who are seeking safety and shelter in nearby villages. Karen civil society organizations alongside local communities are urgently trying to respond to emergency needs including shelter, food and basic hygiene items.
Along the border, there are between 3000 and 5000 refugees. Many of those displaced include women, children and the elderly who require medicine in addition to food and clean drinking water. The junta is continuing their onslaught of violence through air and ground strikes not only against Karen armed groups but also against innocent civilians in refugee camps – as was the case on January 13 when the regime launched an airstrike on a Democratic Karen Buddhist Army base where many IDPs had fled.
KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE
No one appears to be safe from the military junta’s violence. In Kayah (Karenni) State, civilians were urged by the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) to build bomb shelters for their own protection. The announcement came after two IDP camps were bombed with aerial strikes which killed six people on 17 January. Three medical volunteers were also killed in airstrikes in Nann Mal Khon village the day before on 16 January, in yet another incident where civilians have been directly targeted. The KSCC said, “the regime is clearly murdering both innocent civilians and resistance fighters without any discrimination. [They] are committing genocide and it will potentially increase in ferocity.”
According to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, between 7 and 17 January 2022, the junta deployed at least eight airstrikes in the State.
Myanmar Junta’s New Cyber Law to Jail Anyone Using VPN
/in NewsMyanmar’s military regime is seeking to adopt a new cybersecurity law to jail anyone accessing banned sites like Facebook via virtual private networks (VPNs).
The regime banned social media following last year’s coup, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – the main gateways to the internet in Myanmar – but people access the sites using VPNs, which allow internet users to bypass blocks.
The move to outlaw VPNs is seen as a further attempt to curb digital freedoms, including stifling online fund-raising for resistance groups, internet criticism and the flow of reliable information. Last month the regime doubled mobile internet data taxes.
According to a letter leaked online, the regime’s Ministry of Transport and Communications distributed a revised bill, which it first proposed within a week of the February coup, to 13 other ministries, chambers of commerce, banks, financial services, telecommunications operators and internet service providers and asked for comments by Jan. 28.
The draft law would grant the regime unlimited power to access user data, ban content it dislikes, restrict internet providers and intercept data, and imprison those criticizing the regime online and employees of non-compliant companies.
In the letter, the ministry stated that the decision to enact the law had been made.
An earlier proposal for the cybersecurity law was shelved amid opposition from both domestic and international business groups and IT communities as it would enable the junta to intrude into companies’ internal management.
Rights groups have widely condemned the proposed law as a violation of digital rights, privacy, human rights and freedom of expression.
A former Yangon regional lawmaker from the ousted National League for Democracy, Nay Phone Latt, said the bill is further evidence of the junta’s intent to permanently undermine internet freedom and proof of the success of the anti-regime digital strike.
Sentencing VPN users “would be similar to jailing the whole country”, he said.
“It is totally unacceptable. Only a parliament of elected representatives should have the power to draft legislation. The terrorist regime has no authority to draft laws,” he said. Nay Phone Latt said unless people follow the law, it will just be a written document.
Irrawaddy News
Myanmar Court Sentences 2 Prominent Activists to Death
/in NewsBANGKOK — Two prominent political activists in military-ruled Myanmar have been sentenced to death for alleged involvement in terrorist activities, an army television station reported Friday.
Myawaddy TV said on its evening news broadcast that Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, also known as Maung Kyaw, were convicted under the country’s Counterterrorism Law. They were found guilty of offenses involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism.
Both have been detained since their arrests, unable to comment on the allegations, and no lawyer ever emerged to comment on their behalves. Min Yu’s wife, Nilar Thein, in October denied the allegations lodged against her husband.
Details of their trials were unavailable because the proceedings were carried out in a closed military court. It was unclear if their two cases were linked.
Modern-day Myanmar has a record of rarely carrying out death sentences.
The two are among the most prominent activists to be given death sentences since the military in February last year seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Its takeover sparked wide-scale popular protests, which have since turned into a low-level insurgency after nonviolent demonstrations were met with deadly force by the security forces. Almost 1,500 civilians are estimated to have been killed, and more than 11,000 arrest carried out for political offenses.
Some resistance factions have engaged in assassinations, drive-by shootings and bombings in urban areas. The mainstream opposition organizations generally disavow such activities, while supporting armed resistance in rural areas, which are more often subject to brutal military attacks.
Kyaw Min Yu is one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, veterans of the popular uprising that failed to unseat a previous military government.
He has been active politically ever since then and has spent more than a dozen years behind bars. His Oct. 23 arrest in Yangon was originally reported by his wife, an activist who also has been jailed in the past. Both went into hiding after the February takeover and she is believed to still be in hiding.
Two weeks after his arrest, a statement from the military-installed government accused Kyaw Min Yu, of “conducting terrorism acts including mine attacks to undermine the state stability” and alleged he headed a group called “Moon Light Operation” to carry out urban guerrilla attacks.
He had already been on the wanted list for social media postings that allegedly incited unrest.
Phyo Zeyar Thaw is a former lawmaker with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party. He was a hip-hop musician before becoming a member of Generation Wave, a political movement formed in 2007.
He was arrested on Nov. 18 in possession of weapons and ammunition, according to a statement at the time from the ruling military.
That statement also said he was arrested on the basis of information from people arrested a day earlier for carrying out the shootings of security personnel.
Other statements from the military accused him of being a key figure in a network of dozens of people who allegedly carried out what the military described as “terrorist” attacks in Yangon.
VOA News