UN Human Rights Chief calls Burma a ‘never-ending nightmare’; Military to defer conscription for students

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UN Human Rights Chief calls Burma a ‘never-ending nightmare’ 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called Burma’s crisis a “never-ending nightmare” as 4,603 civilians, including 659 women and 490 children, have been killed since the 2021 military coup. But he admits the actual death toll may be higher.

“Three years of military rule have inflicted – and continue to inflict – unbearable levels of suffering and cruelty on people in Myanmar. Three years of military operations designed to repress, terrify, dehumanize and destroy,” he said. 

Türk called for the immediate cessation of violence against civilians, the release of all political prisoners and urged the international community to “refocus its energy on preventing atrocities in the country.”

Regime says military to defer conscription for students

The Chair of the Naypyidaw Council, Than Thun Oo, said that students, civil servants, caretakers of elderly parents, and those under medical treatment will be temporarily deferred from military conscription, regime media reported. 

He claimed that the media has spread “fabricated news and misinformation” amidst reports that the Burma Army plans to provide military training to university students in cities across the country. 

The military regime announced on Feb. 10 that it would enforce its 2010 conscription law, which requires men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for at least two years. Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun later said that the military has no immediate plans to enlist women. 

Chinese nationals suspected of online fraud repatriated

The second batch of Chinese nationals arrested in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, were repatriated to China via Thailand on March 1. The handover of 368 Chinese from Burma to Thailand took place at the Burma-Thailand Friendship Bridge No. 2 in Mae Sot. 

The first group of 150 Chinese were deported from Burma and repatriated on Feb. 29. The total number of 518 Chinese deported were accused of entering Burma illegally and engaging in online fraud activities. They were repatriated to China without facing any criminal charges in Burma.

The Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) stated that it has arrested a total of 997 foreigners, including 92 Thai nationals, and have been deporting them in batches since Friday.

Weekly Cartoon: The tiny dictator and his generals force Burma’s youth into Thailand to avoid forced conscription.

News by Region

ARAKAN—The Arakan Army (AA) claimed that an artillery shell fired at Myoma market in Sittwe killed 12 people and injured 81. It blamed the attack on the Burma Navy. “This incident signifies the ruthless perpetration of war crimes by the terrorist SAC which intentionally fired artillery shells into the crowded marketplace while there was no active fighting in Sittwe and its outskirts,” the AA stated. 

It vowed to hold the military accountable for the attack. The National Unity Government (NUG) condemned the shelling in a statement on Friday. The military blamed the incident on the AA.

The AA released footage showing detained Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 378 Headquarters Commander Major Thein Htike Soe, Captain Akar Myint, and District Police Commander Lieutenant Colonel Khin Maung Soe admitting to the murder of journalist Myat Thu Tun, and singer Kyaw Zan Wei on Feb. 29. 

The two victims were reportedly executed on Jan. 23 at Light Infantry Battalion 378 in Mrauk-U. Myat Thu Tun was arrested by the military in September 2022. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for an investigation into his death. 

TANINTHARYI—Approximately 70 political prisoners were among the 150 transferred from Myeik to Kawthaung Prison on Feb. 28. An unknown number of political prisoners were among the 300 transferred on Feb. 14.

“Prison departments typically transfer inmates seven to 10 times annually, causing significant distress for both prisoners and their families, ” stated Thaik Tun Oo, a member of Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM).  

The People’s Defense Force (PDF) claimed that it killed five soldiers and seized weapons from a military base and an inspection post in Dawei on Feb. 28. It stated that it had arrested a deputy rector and two professors during a raid at Dawei Technology University. 

“They are serving the Burma Army and activating military education when many students and young people are against it. We are detaining them but assuring them we will not harm them,” said a PDF spokesperson. An unnamed source close to Dawei Technology University said that only 100 out of 950 enrolled students have been studying this academic year. 

YANGON—Four people were killed and one was injured in Hlaingtharyar and Insein townships on March 1. “Two young men, who were riding a bicycle near a traffic light, were killed by a bomb. Shortly after the incident, the army arrived and discovered another bomb in the vicinity,” a Hlaingtharyar resident told DVB. Two others were killed by a bomb in Insein Township.

DVB News

‘First We Killed Her Mother’ – Myanmar Soldier Confesses to Gang Rape

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She survived a bullet. Then, her throat was slit.

The 33-year-old woman was the last one killed during a “raid” of a village in Rakhine State’s Minbya Township on Jan. 17, according to a confession from Ko Ko Aung.

The confession was videotaped by the Arakan Army which has detained him.

Ko Ko Aung said he was among the five soldiers in the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 205 who raped the woman, after killing an elderly man and her mother.

The victim watched as her mother was shot twice in the head, before she was dragged under their stilted home and raped.

A video released by the Arakan Army on Sunday shows Ko Ko Aung admitting to the murders and gang rape. He is shown reenacting them.

His unit arrived in Minbya Township by boat on Jan. 17 and then marched to Nga Tan Pyin village, he says.

An elderly man was the first person found. He was killed. The killing was ordered by the unit’s commander, a major, Ko Ko Aung says.

The rape victim and her 64-year-old mother were the next to be apprehended. Almost every other resident of the village had fled.

They were arrested outside their home.

Sergeant Kyaw Myo Oo shot the elderly woman twice in the head after receiving approval from captain Nay Lin Kyaw to kill her, Ko Ko Aung says in the video.

The slain rape victim (left) and her slain mother (right). / Arakan Princess Media

After killing her mother, Sergeant Kyaw Myo Oo then dragged the daughter to the ground under her stilted home and raped her. After he was finished, Lance Corporal Thura Naing and three other soldiers, including Ko Ko Aung, took turns raping her.

In the video taken by his captors, Ko Ko Aung said he shot  the rape victim in the chest after he and his comrades were finished raping her. The shooting took place in front of her house.

She did not die from the bullet, Ko Ko Aung says. Because she was still alive, Lance Corporal Thura Naing slit her throat, he explains.

After committing murder and gang rape, the unit was attacked by troops from the Arakan Army.  Ko Ko Aung was the only one of the five soldiers he said raped the woman to survive.

The captain who  ordered the murders and rape, Nay Lin Kyaw, later died at a military base after suffering burns during a clash with Arakan Army troops, Ko Ko Aung said.

In late January, Rakhine media identified the victims in Nga Tan Pyin Village by name. Besides the mother and daughter, U Maung Saw Thein, 62, was slain.

Junta soldiers also massacred seven Rakhine civilian detainees, including a former journalist and a rapper, at a military headquarters in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U Township last January.

Junta battalion commander Major Thein Htike Soe, Mrauk-U District Police Chief Khin Maung Soe and army captain Arkar Myint confessed to involvement in the execution of the seven people in late February after they were detained by the Arakan Army.

Irrawaddy News

Human Rights Situation weekly update (February 22 to 29, 2024)

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Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Feb 22 to 29, 2024

Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Shan State, and Rakhine State from February 22nd to 29th. Military Junta announced the Martial Law at Momeik and Mabein Township on February 28th. The military Junta arrested the civilians who used the land and water transportation to Rakhine. Military Junta Troop recruited new soldiers and made the civilians lists in Ayeyarwady Region, Bago Region, Rakhine State, and Mon State and forced 112 Rohingya people from Kyauktalone Refugee Camp in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State, to attend the Military Service.

Over 20 civilians died and over 60 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 4 underaged children died when the Military Junta committed abuses. An LGBT civilian also died by the arrest and torture of the Military Junta at the police station of Monywa, Sagaing Region on February 24th.

NUG Calls for Global Action to Halt Myanmar Junta’s Escalating War Crimes

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Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) declared on Wednesday that effective international actions are urgently needed to prevent the military regime from relentlessly attacking hospitals and civilians.

The NUG said Myanmar’s military has conducted over 1,200 attacks on health facilities, killing 104 medics, injuring 136 others, and destroying a total of 308 hospitals and clinics since the military coup in 2021.

In the latest attack, patients and staff were wounded when junta aircraft bombed the Min Phoo village hospital in Minbya Township, Rakhine State at 1.45 am on Tuesday.

The ethnic Arakan Army (AA) said captured junta soldiers and their family members were among the patients being treated in the hospital at the time of the airstrike.

“The [hospital] is not a military target. It was treating civilians as well as junta soldiers who surrendered to the AA along with their family members,” said a captured junta commander in a video released by the AA on Thursday.

“The attack on the hospital also damages the dignity of our military,” added Lieutenant Colonel Nay Lin Tun, commander of Infantry Battalion 299.

The commander was captured after being wounded in a clash with AA troops in Minbya Township on Jan. 28. He had just finished his third week of recovery from surgery at the hospital in Min Phoo when the airstrike was conducted.

A public hospital in Ramree town, Rakhine State following an attack by junta warplanes on February 20. / AA

On Feb. 20, regime aircraft used powerful bombs to attack a public hospital and residential areas of Ramree town in Rakhine State, destroying the entire hospital building as well as damaging Myoma market, a school, and a convent, the NUG said.

Junta aircraft also attacked a hospital in Kawlin town, Sagaing Region on Feb. 9, destroying almost the entire building. There were no casualties as patients and hospital staff managed to evacuate before the attack, the NUG said.

The civilian government said the junta is frequently attacking hospitals and other civilian targets in violation of the Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions.

It also vowed to take severe action against those who contribute to the military regime’s onslaught against the health sector.

“The international community must not ignore the junta’s violence against health services and civilians,” the NUG said in its statement.

The junta is suffering humiliating defeats on multiple fronts across the country as the NUG’s People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and allied ethnic armed organizations step up their offensive.

Regime forces have retaliated by intensifying attacks on civilian targets including villages, towns, schools, hospitals and religious sites across the country.

Intentional attacks on civilian areas including villages, towns and schools, as well as buildings dedicated to education, healthcare and religion, are considered war crimes under international law.

Irrawaddy News

Myanmar junta kills 12 after firing into crowded market

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Eighteen others are critically injured, rescue workers said.

Junta shelling of a crowded market in western Myanmar killed 12 people and critically injured 18 more on Thursday morning, rescue workers told Radio Free Asia.

A junta battalion on a nearby road fired indiscriminately into a marketplace in Rakhine state’s capital of Sittwe during the busiest time of day, locals said.

Sittwe has become a disputed territory since a rebel group, the Arakan Army, captured surrounding junta camps and seized six townships across Rakhine state. In early February, the Arakan Army demanded junta troops in Sittwe surrender before their arrival in the capital. 

The junta army’s grasp on the area has been tenuous after losing territories, but troops have attempted control by placing restrictions on the capital and making large-scale arrests. On Feb. 19, regime forces detained 500 people who landed in Sittwe off a flight arriving from Yangon.

A rescue volunteer who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA the dead have been sent to Sittwe Hospital’s mortuary, and the injured are being treated there

“Those 18 were critically injured and their injuries are life-threatening,” he said. “Some people died on the spot and others after arriving at the hospital. All of them are vendors and shoppers.”

The names and ages of the deceased could not be confirmed. However, most of them were women, children and the elderly, the volunteer added.

The shell was fired by a battalion near Shu Khin Thar road, residents said.

RFA contacted Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein for further details about the attack, but he did not reply. 

The Arakan Army ended a humanitarian-based year-long ceasefire on Nov. 13 with the junta when they began to attack border outposts and convoys across Minbya and Rathedaung townships. 

The Arakan Army released a statement on Tuesday saying that 111 civilians have been killed and 357 have been injured by small and heavy artillery fired by the junta from the ceasefire to Feb. 18, 2024.

RFA News

Myanmar Junta Captives Confess to Rakhine Executions

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Myanmar junta soldiers and police in Mrauk-U Township have confessed to involvement in the execution of seven Rakhine civilians, including a former journalist and rapper, in an Arakan Army (AA) video.

The detainees said the seven civilians were held at Mrauk-U police station before they were taken to Light Infantry Battalion 378 headquarters in late December.

The AA seized the police station on December 24 but the senior ranks left with the detainees for the infantry camp.

Major Thein Htike Soe, a Battalion 378 company commander, said he ordered Lance Corporal Than Aung and Captain Arkar Myint to execute the civilians, including rapper and social influencer Phoe La Pyae and Phoe Thiha, also known as Myat Thu Tun, a formerjournalist.

Maj Thein Htike Soe says on the video that he and District Police Chief Khin Maung Soe told the divisional commander Min Min Tun that the seven detainees were killed by shrapnel in a bomb blast. He did not say why he ordered the killings.

Deputy Police Chief Major Khin Maung Soe and army Captain Arkar Myint said the major ordered the executions on January 23.

Capt Arkar Myint says in the video: “The lance corporal asked to carry out the executions in the bomb shelter under the clinic, inside the base. I agreed and told him to bury the bodies.”

Former journalist Phoe Thiha and rapper Phoe La Pyae who were among the seven civilians executed by the junta in Rakhine State.

He expressed sadness for the executions and apologized to the families and the wider community for his involvement, adding that he would accept any punishment.

The AA on February 11 reported that dead bodies were found in a bomb shelter under the clinic inside Battalion 378 in Mrauk-U Township with gunshot wounds and signs of torture.

On February 22 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the international community to act to stop junta massacres.

“This shocking murder bears the hallmark of the Myanmar military junta, which for three years now has imposed a climate of terror on all media professionals and is once again demonstrating its ruthless violence,” said Cédric Alviani of RSF.

He has called on the regime to cease its campaign of terror against the media and release the 62 journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the country.

Fighting restarted in Rakhine State when the AA attacked junta forces on November 13 with repeated civilian casualties caused by junta airstrikes, shelling and naval attacks.

Irrawaddy News