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
Human Rights Situation weekly update (November 15 to 21, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Nov 15 to 21, 2023
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Mandalay Region, Bago Region, Mon State, Chin State, and Shan State from November 15th to 21st. Military Junta destroyed 4 of the civilian bridges in Kale, Sagaing Region, and Kyaikmaraw Township, Mon State. The military also prohibited access to travel and fishing in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State on November 19th. Military Junta arrested and extorted the youths who go out at night in the Yangon Region.
Over 50 civilians died and 9 were injured within a week by the Military Junta’s heavy and light attacks. 11 underaged children died when the Military Junta committed violations. PSLF/TNLA released a statement on November 18th that the Military Junta Troop used the Toxic Gas Bombs in the fighting in Namkhan Township, North Shan State.
Infogram
Media release by Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, ND-Burma and Spring Archive
/in Press Releases and StatementsOn October 9th, 2023, at 11:30pm, the Myanmar military launched a deadly attack on the Mung Lai Hkyet IDP camp in Waimaw township, Kachin state. The attack, which took place in Kachin Independence Organisation territory close to the China border, destroyed the camp and the surrounding area, resulting in the deaths of 29 civilians, including 11 children, and leaving 76 camp members badly injured. ‘Skyfall: Myanmar’s Junta Targets IDP Camp Without Warning’ is a collaborative investigation on this incident from Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, ND-Burma and Spring Archive. The piece draws on interviews with survivors, community leaders and on the ground sources to examine the series of events that led to the attack, the event itself and the psycho-social impact on survivors.
“We have heavy trauma from this incident. Previously we were displaced by the fighting and lost everything we owned, so now we start our life again from zero. We faced similar situation again so I’m disappointed and don’t want to live anymore. I can’t find proper word to describe our life. Now we all are stay together difficulties in the temporary shelter.” (Survivor, Mung Lai Hkyet camp)
The authors condemn the attack in no uncertain terms, and the research asserts that the incident at Mung Lai Hkyet constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity. While evidence of crimes and human rights violations by the Myanmar military is ongoing, the survivors of this attack have still to face fresh challenges, as an already displaced population must contend with the destruction of their shelters and possessions, as well as the loss of loved ones.
“We have received some humanitarian assistance, [however] furthermore we need counseling for our mental health; even when we hear phone ring, we are sacred” (Survivor, Mung Lai Hkyet camp)
Urgent and long-term support, operationalised by local CSOs who are the best placed to deliver, must be priortised by humanitarian aid organisations and all ethnic governance institutions. It must also be acknowledged that women and girls suffer disproportionately from conflict, displacement and poverty, and their needs must be particularly considered.
For more information please contact;
Ja Ing
Signal +66 64 195 6721
office@ndburma.org
Karenni officials: 200 university workers are safe after evacuation
/in NewsMyanmar’s junta alleges the teachers and staff members were being detained after recent fighting.
More than 200 civilians evacuated from a university during recent fighting in the Kayah state capital in eastern Myanmar are being provided health care at a safe location, Karenni officials told Radio Free Asia.
The military junta has alleged that the civilians, which include teachers and the rector from Loikaw University, were being detained against their will.
“Some of them seem to be in a good mood, but some others said they are missing their family members,” said Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Organization. “We have told them that we will proceed in accordance with rules and regulations.”
Fighting began in Loikaw in eastern Myanmar on Nov. 11 when the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, or KNDF, targeted junta bases and a prison in the city. Junta troops retaliated with airstrikes and shelling, killing 20 civilians, according to the Karenni Human Rights Organization.
The KNDF announced on Nov. 15 that they had successfully occupied the university, where two battalions of military junta soldiers had been stationed. The soldiers had frequently raided and shelled nearby villages, according to KNDF Chairman Khun Bedu.
Regime spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said the attack on Loikaw University was a “barbaric act” and alleged that Karenni troops had killed some teachers and taken other teachers hostage.
Khun Bedu denied these accusations, saying the attack was carried out only because soldiers were stationed there.
A Karenni National Progressive Party official told RFA that junta troops used some university staff members and students as human shields during the fighting. They were evacuated to a secure place and no one has been tortured or killed, he said.
“We are working to allow them to go to their destinations safely,” he said. “We are not using them as human shields like the military did.”
On Monday, the KNDP published a recorded video clip on its social media page with statements from the university’s rector and several teachers.
Some of the university staff members were being questioned about possible junta associations, said Banyar, who goes by one name. Legal action may be taken against some of them, he said on Monday. He did not provide specific details.
Artillery attacks and air strikes
Karenni forces launched their offensive this month after their northern allies’ “Operation 1027,” during which rebel groups won control of three major cities in Shan state.
The Karenni Humanitarian Aid Initiative on Tuesday said air strikes and artillery attacks killed 68 civilians between Nov. 11-19 in Loikaw and Shan’s Pekon township. Victims included 10 children and 18 women, the group said.
The information was gathered from the Karenni Human Rights Organization and media reports, they said.
A humanitarian volunteer for Karenni displaced persons told RFA that the actual casualty toll may be higher.
“We cannot get some figures from the frontlines of battles,” the volunteer said. “As the military was being defeated in the battles, they carried out air strikes on civilian targets and shot people dead.”
RFA attempted to contact Myint Kyi, junta spokesperson for Kayah state, but phone calls went unanswered.
Neither the junta nor Kareni forces have stated total casualty tolls from the fighting that began on Nov. 11.
Elsewhere in Myanmar, a People’s Defense Force in Chin state said they have occupied a military outpost at Kennedy Peak between Kalay and Tedim townships.
About 30 junta soldiers had been stationed at the outpost since the February 2021 military coup.
“We began to attack this outpost at 4 a.m., and totally controlled the camp at around 6 a.m.,” an official from PDF Zoland told RFA. “It was the highest mountain in northern Chin and strategically important. So we captured it.”
RFA attempted to contact Kyaw Soe Win, the social affairs minister and junta spokesperson for Chin state government, for his response but was unable to reach him.
RFA News
Skyfall: Myanmar’s junta targets IDP camp without warning
/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's ReportsOn 1 February 2021, the Burmese military attempted a coup, resulting in the rise of a national resistance movement on an unprecedented scale. Following a brutal crackdown and a national uprising on an unprecedented scale, 4,160 people, including pro-democracy activists and civilians have been killed by the junta and pro-military groups, 25,353 people have been arrested and 19,632 are currently in detention.
Resistance to the junta took many forms, including establishment of the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), National Unity Government (NUG), National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and the National Unity Government (NUG). The People’s Defense Force (PDF) was established in May 2021 by the NUG, to serve as the armed wing of the resistence movement. Since then, the PDF in various forms has operated nationwide, both under and outside of NUG authority, including in the areas that were historically non-conflict, such as Sagaing and Magway Region and in areas controlled by Ethnic Revolution Organizations (EROs).
Chin State, Karen State, Karenni (Kayah) State, Kachin State, Sagaing and Magway regions are among those targeted with routine air and ground strikes by Military Junta. According to UNHCR, the number of estimated of IDPs displaced within Myanmar at the beginning of the coup was 306, 200 and IDPs increased in post-coup as of 23rd October 2023 is 1,659,600, which means displacement has increased by 441% since February 2021. Since the coup, the junta has failed to take control of the country, and the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M)’s own report released in 2022 stated that the junta can only control of around 20 percent of the country’s townships. The rest areas were either controlled or heavily contested by ethnic resistance organizations (EROs) and local PDFs.
Human Rights Situation weekly update (November 8 to 14, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsMilitary Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Bago Region, and Shan State from November 8th to 14th. Over 25 civilians died and around 10 were injured by the Military Junta airstrikes and bomb attacks. The Military announced Martial Law at 8 Townships in Shan State. They also announced Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Sittwe, Rakhine State on November 13th.
Over 60 civilians died and almost 40 were injured within a week by the heavy and light artillery attacks of the Military Junta . 5 underaged children died when the Military Junta committed violations. Military Junta Troop arrested the director of a humanitarian Organization in Sittwe, Rakhine State, and took 2 of their cars in Loikaw, Kayah State.
Infogram
Locals flee Laukkai as fighting between military, resistance nears
/in NewsAs some 2,000 people are believed to have left the Kokang town, the UN announces that recent displacement across northern Shan State totals 50,000
Thousands of people have reportedly fled the town of Laukkai (Laukkaing) in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State, fearing that clashes between the military and the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations may be imminent.
The allied resistance forces, including the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Arakan Army, have already seized control of the town of Chin Shwe Haw, 15 miles from Laukkai, as well as several other locations in the region, as part of Operation 1027, launched on October 27. To stop the arrival of junta reinforcements, they have also blocked roads, including the national highway connecting Mandalay with the northern Shan State administrative centre of Lashio, and the section which connects Lashio to Laukkai through Hsenwi Township.
Locals estimated that up to 2,000 people had left Laukkai recently, becoming stranded eight miles south of the town near the village of Par Hsin Kyaw, on the way to Chin Shwe Haw, due to road blocks. As of Tuesday evening, the MNDAA had reportedly allowed internally displaced persons from Laukkai some use of alternative routes while keeping main transportation veins blocked.
As of Thursday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that some 50,000 people across northern Shan State had recently been displaced, in addition to 40,000 in Sagaing Region and Kachin State.
Laukkai was under the control of the Myanmar junta and its allied militias at the time of reporting. The chairperson of the military-appointed administration team for the Kokang area—Myint Swe—was believed to still be in the regime capital of Naypyitaw after attending an emergency meeting called by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing of the National Defence and Security Council on Wednesday. Several other key figures from the Kokang Region with close ties to the military had also reportedly left the town.
The junta-appointed council for the Kokang region issued a statement on October 28 claiming it was fully capable of “defending” Laukkai if attacked.
As of Wednesday, Myanmar army soldiers and their affiliates announced through megaphones that all shops in Laukkai were required to close, several locals said, adding that fully armed military vehicles were seen patrolling the town’s streets.
A 30-year-old man working in Laukkai told Myanmar Now that the junta had covered windows and doors with bricks on the top floors of hotels and high buildings.
“They’d already been stationed inside high buildings in Laukkai since November 1. At least seven junta soldiers were deployed in each building,” he explained, adding that soldiers had put barbed wire around the entrances and exits to the town.
Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify his claims.
Since Tuesday, residents reported hearing gunshots fired within the town, but noted that since Operation 1027 was launched, every day the military had fired missiles and heavy weapons in the direction they believed Brotherhood Alliance forces to be stationed outside of Laukkai.
The prices of basic commodities were also on the rise, and increasingly rare to locate, with a 50-kilogram sack of rice selling for 400,000 to 800,000 kyat (US$190-$380).
Even the price of instant noodles had doubled, a local man said.
“It’s not only that commodity prices are rising. It’s the fact that we can only buy dried commodities from China. The other basic commodities have gone out of stock.”
Myanmar Now News