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 (September 1 to 7, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 1 to 7, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, and Shan State from September 1st to 7th. The Military Junta threatened that they would launch airstrikes on the townships which they lost. The Military Junta arrested the university students from Yangon Region and Ayeyarwady Region for the Military Service. The head of the Prison who works under the Military Junta, collected money for the guest permission in Maubin Prison, Ayeyarwady Region.
Over 40 civilians died, and over 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. Over 20 underaged civilians died when the Military Junta committed abuses and violations.
Infogram
Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar
/in NewsMirjana Spoljaric warns that conflict has cut off ‘countless people’ from essential services.
Myanmar’s junta must allow greater aid access to civilians, the Red Cross chief said at the end of a visit to the war-torn country, warning that the conflict has created a humanitarian crisis that’s put “countless people” at risk.
The United Nations says about 3 million people have been forced from their homes by fighting between junta troops and those who oppose the military’s Feb. 1, 2024, coup d’etat, many since clashes surged at the beginning of the year.
The comments from International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric came as aid workers told RFA Burmese that 40,000 people had been displaced in central Myanmar’s Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions by junta airstrikes and troop raids between Aug. 1 and Sept. 10.
In a statement following her Sept. 5-9 trip, Spoljaric warned that a breakdown of healthcare services in Myanmar is leading to a rise in preventable diseases, while a lack of medical supplies is worsening the suffering of the wounded and chronically ill.
“Many families in Myanmar are going without basic medicines and health care, face food shortages and have limited access to clean water and sanitation. They live with the fear of conflict and violence,” she said in a statement. “The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves.”
Spoljaric noted that the military’s regular use of explosive weapons in populated areas has led to an increase in civilian casualties, while restrictions on the movement of people and goods has limited access to essential services for many communities.
During her visit, Spoljaric met with junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to discuss the ICRC’s goals in the country and urged him to allow greater access to conflict-affected areas – particularly in Shan, Kachin, Rakhine, Chin, Kayah, and Kayin states.
She also traveled to Rakhine state, where the military killed 70 people, including its troops in rebel captivity, in airstrikes on Sunday and Monday.
International humanitarian organizations have been helping civilians displaced by fighting in the region but most groups have withdrawn staff and suspended their work as the security situation has deteriorated.
Spoljaric said that the ICRC is engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders in the conflict “to remind them of their obligation to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian actors.”
Airstrikes displace 40,000
On Tuesday, residents and relief workers told RFA that junta troops had resumed offensives against villages in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, and that the air force is carrying out bombardments more frequently there.
A resident of Su Yit Kone village, in Mandalay’s Natogyi township, told RFA that nearly everyone had fled into the jungle because of the threat of airstrikes.
“The junta is intentionally destroying local houses every day to make the people afraid,” said the resident who, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be named due to security risks. “The villages aren’t active anymore. When it becomes dark, everyone beds down in the jungle.”
In Pa Zi Gyi village, in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township, residents have been sheltering in the jungle since April 2023, when a junta airstrike killed more than 170 people and leveled all but three of the village’s 400 homes.
With airstrikes on the rise in the region, “we still don’t dare go back home,” one resident said, adding that junta planes are “constantly seen flying overhead.”
“Our village has turned into a wilderness,” he said. “We survive on collecting herbs and vegetables from the forest.”
The resident said that the displaced are only occasionally visited by small charity groups, who help supplement their food supplies.
Central region under assault
Meanwhile, junta ground forces are also stepping up raids on villages in the region.
On Tuesday, Data For Myanmar, which monitors arson attacks in Myanmar, reported that junta troops razed more than 1,043 houses in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions in the first half of 2024 alone.
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the reasons for the uptick in attacks in central Myanmar went unanswered Tuesday.
An official with the insurgent People’s Defense Force in Mandalay said that the junta sees central Myanmar as a militarily strategic region because it connects northern Shan, Kachin and Chin states to the rest of the nation.
“The people of central Myanmar have suffered a lot from the fighting, but they will persevere,” he said. “Victory by the armed opposition could present huge challenges to the junta because of the region’s strategic value, which is likely why the military is making a push there.”
RFA News
Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw
/in NewsOver 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday
The Arakan Army (AA) claimed that more than 50 people, including prisoners of war, were killed during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on the No. 2 Border Guard Post in Maungdaw Township, located near the Burma-Bangladesh border in northern Arakan State on Monday. It reported that members of pro-military Rohingya armed groups and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) were among the dead.
The AA added that a fighter jet opened fire on U.N. buildings in Waithali village and at 3 Mile Point in Maungdaw on Sept. 9. The AA seized control of the No. 2 Border Guard Post on July 6. Another 17 people, including children and healthcare workers, were also reportedly killed and 10 were injured during airstrikes on a healthcare center in Pauktaw Township, south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, on Sunday.
“It is the place where the AA provided healthcare for prisoners and prisoners of war. They dropped bombs with their aircraft twice,” an anonymous source from the AA told DVB. Pauktaw came under the control of the AA on Jan. 24. Min Aung Hlaing said during a visit to the Shan State capital Taunggyi on Sept. 3 that the military would launch retaliatory attacks in areas controlled by resistance forces.
Military prepares for resistance attacks in eastern Kachin State
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) General Sumlut Gun Maw condemned the regime’s order for heightened defense against the KIA and People’s Defense Force (PDF) in the Kachin State Special Region 1, which is located in northeastern Kachin near the China border, on Monday. The area is controlled by the pro-military Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF).
“The order should not have been issued,” Sumlut Gun Maw posted on his social media account. The martial order was issued in June and signed by Zahkung Ting Ying, the chief of the Kachin Special Region 1. He directed the BGF and militias based in Chipwi, Tsawlaw, Kanpaikti – which make up the special region – to “implement strict defense measures.”
The regime order claimed that “the KIA and PDF are conducting offensives to disrupt the peace of local ethnic communities and the country” in the region. Much of Burma’s lucrative rare earth mining is conducted in the Kachin Special Region 1. The Kachin BGF was formed by the New Democratic Army – Kachin under military chain of command in 2009.
ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw
A delegation led by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw on Monday. Spoljaric called on the regime to allow greater humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas of the country.
“Many families in Myanmar are going without basic medicines and health care, face food shortages and have limited access to clean water and sanitation. They live with the fear of conflict and violence. The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves,” Spoljaric stated in a press release on Monday.
Spoljaric visited Burma from Sept. 5-9 and met with colleagues at the Myanmar Red Cross in Naypyidaw on Sunday. This is her first trip to Burma since becoming ICRC president in October 2022. The previous ICRC president, Peter Maurer, visited Burma in June 2021 – four months after the military coup. The regime claimed that it is adhering to international humanitarian law.
News by Region
KACHIN—At least four civilians were killed and at least six were injured during fighting between the KIA and the military in Saitaung village of Hpakant Township on Sept. 5. Ywat Zaw Khaung from the Peace-talk Creation Group, which mediates between the military and resistance forces, was among the injured.
“I heard the representatives of the Peace-talk Creation Group negotiated with the military not to use violence against the public, but it seems the military did not accept and is conducting retaliatory shelling,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson told DVB. Around 1,500 civilians living around Saitaung village have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting.
KAREN—Cyber scam centers operating in Shwe Kokko, located 12 miles (20 km) north of Myawaddy, have reportedly relocated to territory under the control of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in Karen State, as well as Laos and Cambodia, since the Karen BGF issued a warning for them to leave by October.
“They may move to Cambodia or Laos but they will return to Burma. I have seen a lot of job postings for these businesses,” an anti-human trafficking group working along the Thailand-Burma border told DVB. The Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar has documented that there are nearly 50 cyber scam compounds operating along the Thai border.
SHAN—Heavy flooding has affected towns in eastern Shan State, including Kengtung and Tachileik, since the remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived in the region on Monday. The flooding has also impacted areas under the control of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).
“The stream on the [Mongpawk] outskirts near the Chinese border overflowed. In the morning, the water began to rise, and by evening, it had started to gradually recede,” a Mongpauk resident told DVB. Water levels exceeded critical thresholds in Tachileik on Monday, according to local sources. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has issued a heavy rainfall warning for most of Burma.
DVB News
Myanmar junta airstrikes kill dozens, including prisoners, rebels say
/in NewsThe military has responded to a string of setbacks in Rakhine state with more intense air attacks.
Myanmar’s military has killed 70 people, including many of its troops in rebel captivity, in two airstrikes in Rakhine state where Arakan Army insurgents have been making major gains against junta forces, the group said.
The Arakan Army, or AA, has captured many members of the military and pro-junta militia in advances over recent months in which they have pushed junta forces back into just a few pockets of territory in Myanmar’s western-most state.
The military has responded with airstrikes, taking an increasingly deadly toll of civilians in areas under AA control, the rebels and rights groups say.
On Sunday, an airstrike in Pauktaw township, just east of the state capital of Sittwe, killed at least 17 people, including seven prisoners, and wounded 10, the AA said in a statement.
“People didn’t have time to run because the plane flew in so quickly,” said one resident of the area, who declined to be identified for safety reasons.
On Monday, junta jets launched an airstrike in Maungdaw township, in the north of Rakhine state near the border with Bangladesh, killing more than 50 people, the AA said in another statement.
The junta has not released any information about the attacks and telephone calls to spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.
Bombs dropped in Maungdaw hit a former military position captured by the AA, about five kilometers (three miles) east of Maungdaw town, where the insurgents have detained prisoners, including members of the mostly Mulsim Rohingya community who joined a pro-junta militia.
The AA said a U.N. building in Wai Thar Li village was also bombed. Radio Free Asia RFA tried to contact the U.N. office in Myanmar Yangon but a staff member said the office could not respond outside working hours.
International humanitarian organizations have been helping civilians displaced by fighting in the region but most groups have withdrawn staff and suspended their work as the security situation has deteriorated.
The AA has warned against attacks in densely populated areas under its control. The junta denies targeting civilians.
RFA News
Myanmar armed group says 11 civilians killed in junta air strikes
/in NewsBANGKOK —
Myanmar military air strikes in northern Shan state killed 11 civilians and wounded 11 more, a spokeswoman for an ethnic minority armed group battling the junta told AFP on Friday.
The junta is battling widespread armed opposition to its 2021 coup and its soldiers are accused of bloody rampages and using air and artillery strikes to punish civilian communities.
“They bombed at two areas in Namhkam” town on Friday around 1 a.m. local time, Lway Yay Oo of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said.
The strikes killed 11 and wounded 11, she said, adding that the office of a local political party had been damaged.
The dead were five men, four women and two children, she said.
Namhkam is around 5 kilometers from the border with China’s Yunnan province, with TNLA fighters claiming control of the town following weeks of fighting last year.
Images on social media showed people sifting through rubble and carrying a young person who appeared to be wounded.
One video showed several destroyed buildings. AFP reporters geolocated that video to a site in Namhkam and said it had not appeared online before.
AFP was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment.
Since last year the military has lost swaths of territory near the border with China in northern Shan state to an alliance of armed ethnic minority groups and “People’s Defense Forces” battling to overturn its coup.
The groups have seized a regional military command and taken control of lucrative border trade crossings, prompting rare public criticism by military supporters of the junta’s top leadership.
Earlier this week junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned civilians in territory held by ethnic minority armed groups to prepare for military counterattacks, state media reported.
The junta also announced this week that it had declared the TNLA a “terrorist” organization.
Those found supporting or contacting the TNLA and two other ethnic minority armed groups, the Arakan Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, can now face legal action.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021 and launched a crackdown that sparked an armed uprising.
Conflict since the coup has forced more than 2.7 million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
VOA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (Aug 22 to 31, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Aug 22 to 31, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Bago Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, and Shan State from August 22nd to 31st. Head of Prison which works under Military Junta, tortured and blackmailed the political prisoners in Thayet Prison, Magway Region, and Thayawaddy Prison, Bago Region. The Military Junta is arresting and blackmailing the fully aged civilians for military service in the Yangon Region, Ayeyarwady Region, Bago Region, and Naypyidaw.
Over 20 civilians died, and over 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. Over 100 civilians were arrested by the Military Junta within a week.
Infogram