Human Rights Situation weekly update (May 15 to 21, 2024)

/in ,

Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from May 15 to 21, 2024

Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Shan State from May 15th to 21st. Over 200 men from Magway Region, Yangon Region, and Shan State were arrested for 2nd batch of Military Service and blackmailed. Military Junta Troop and staff who work for the Military collected money from the cars and passengers and also were getting money for making NRC cards (National Registration Citizenship).

Over 20 civilians died, and over 50 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 8 underaged people died and 5 were injured when the Military committed Human rights abuses. A civilian also died by the landmines of the Military Junta.

CRISIS IN RAKHINE: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MUST CONVENE URGENT SPECIAL SESSION ON MYANMAR

/in

19 May 2024: The Rohingya people in western Myanmar are again at risk of genocide. The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council must address this risk and the worsening human rights emergency in Myanmar generally, by convening an urgent special session, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).

This weekend, Rohingya remaining in Buthidaung township, northern Rakhine state, have reported being targeted with coordinated killings, large-scale arson attacks and shelling, beginning on Friday 17 May. 200,000 people are reported to be displaced with unconfirmed numbers of casualties. Credible sources cite Arakan Army soldiers as committing the attacks. The Arakan Army claimed on 18 May that its forces had seized the last remaining Myanmar military junta bases in Buthidaung township, which borders Bangladesh. The Human Rights Council must convene an urgent special session to address the crisis.

The Arakan Army has been one of the most effective armed groups opposing the vicious Myanmar military following the attempted coup in February 2021. Since last October it has succeeded in defeating the military throughout much of northern Rakhine state and southern Chin state in western Myanmar. It has also joined other resistance forces in freeing large areas of north-east Myanmar. Now, however, it seems to be turning its guns on the defenceless Rohingya people to complete the genocide undertaken by the same military it has opposed. The Arakan Army is bound by obligations under international humanitarian law and is required to investigate possible violations of international humanitarian law by troops under its command.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM) reported to the Human Rights Council in 2018 that war crimes, crimes against humanity and possible genocide were committed against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine by the Myanmar military in 2016 and 2017. As a result, 750,000 Rohingya refugees sought shelter in Bangladesh, where they remain today along with 300,000 other Rohingya who fled earlier military campaigns. Around 600,000 Rohingya are still in Myanmar.

The events of 2016 and 2017 are subject to a continuing investigation at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Genocide Convention. In January 2020, the ICJ issued an interim ruling, finding a real and imminent risk of further irreparable harm to the right of the Rohingya in Myanmar to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts, and, pending its final decision, it indicated a series of binding provisional measures to protect those rights. Four and a half years later, Rohingya in Myanmar remain subject to persecution and denial of their rights and continue to be at serious risk of genocide.  

The ICC has been investigating the forced displacement of Rohingya to Bangladesh since 2019 but it has not yet taken any action against the leaders of the Myanmar military who were responsible then and who are responsible now for continuing atrocities. 

The situation in Myanmar is shifting significantly. The Myanmar military junta does not have effective control of the country and has a rapidly diminishing influence in Rakhine. The military junta remains by far the primary source of violence and instability and grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. This includes the military’s destruction, by burning and shelling, of entire towns seized by resistance forces since October 2023.

The Human Rights Council should use the special session to adopt a resolution calling on all parties to comply fully with the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ and to uphold international human rights and international humanitarian law in Myanmar at all times. The Council must also expedite efforts to address the accountability deficit in Myanmar and identify ways to use the extensive evidence already collected by the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, including by calling on the Security Council to refer the whole situation in Myanmar to the ICC or through the establishment of a special international criminal tribunal for Myanmar.

Download the English version of the statement: SAC-M PR HRC special session ENGLISH

About 30 Rohingya killed in clashes between Myanmar junta, insurgents

/in

Thousands are fleeing a township after the Arakan Army ordered them to leave.

About 30 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority have been killed in clashes between junta forces and ethnic minority Buddhist insurgents, residents of Rakhine State said on Saturday, raising new fears that the persecuted Muslim community is being caught in the middle of increasingly bitter fighting.

Twelve Rohingya civilians were killed in junta airstrikes targeting fighters from the Arakan Army, or AA, in Buthidaung township on Friday.  Later in the day, the Arakan Army bombed  a school where Rohingyas were sheltering with drones, killing 18 of them, residents said.

About 200 people were wounded, a Buthidaung Rohingya resident who identified himself as Khin Zaw Moe told RFA.

“People are scared. The casualties may be even higher,” he said. “The exact number is not known due to the difficulty in communicating.”

Rohingyas from about 20 villages were sheltering in the high school when it was attacked, he said. It was not clear why the Arakan Army bombed the school.

RFA tried to telephone the AA spokesman, Khaing Thukha, and the junta’s Rakhine State spokesperson, Hla Thein, but could not get through to either of them. 

The AA, who are battling the junta for self-determination of the Buddhist ethnic Arakan community in the state, said in a statement on Saturday its forces had captured all junta bases in Buthidaung. It did not mention Rohingya civilians.

Rohingya, who have been persecuted for decades in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, are getting caught up in the war between the AA and junta forces, human rights workers  say.

Both sides have pressed Rohingya into their ranks and at the same time have accused Rohingya of helping their rivals. Both the AA and junta forces subjected members of the Muslim minority to violence, residents and rights workers say.

Another Rohingya resident of Buthidaung said the AA burned down homes in eight neighborhoods of the town although he didn’t know how many of the homes had been destroyed.

Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin told RFA that tens of thousands of Rohingyas had fled from their homes after the AA ordered them to leave the town by 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Another township resident told RFA on Saturday that AA fighters had rounded up thousands of Rohingya near Buthidaung prison. 

RFA was unable to confirm any of the accounts because telephone lines and internet links were down.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled from a Myanmar military crackdown in 2017, in response to a series of attacks on the security forces by Rohingya insurgents. Most of those refugees are sheltering in camps in southeast Bangladesh, where they joined hundreds of thousands who fled earlier abuses.

More than half a million Rohingya remain in Rakhine State, many of them in camps for the internally displaced. Rohingya activists estimate the Rohingya population of Buthidaung to be around 200,000. 

RFA News

Human Rights Situation weekly update (May 8 to 14, 2024)

/in ,

Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from May 8 to 14, 2024

Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, Kachin State, Shan State, and Kayin State from May 8th to 14th. 20 civilians died and over 50 were injured by the airstrike and dropping bombs in Saw Township, Magway Region, and Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region. Military Junta committed a massacre which involved shooting and killing over 30 local civilians from Lathtuttaw Village in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region. Military Junta Troop arrested men from Magway Region, Ayeyarwady Region, and Bago Region for 2nd Batch of Military Service and also arrested 7 youths who denied Military Service and their relatives as hostages.

Over 80 civilians died, and over 120 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. A civilian also died by the landmines of the Military Junta.

Myanmar junta forces kill 15 villagers after clashes with Rakhine State insurgents

/in

Aerial bombings and gunfire on three villages destroyed homes and cars, and critically wounded many.

Myanmar junta forces battling ethnic minority insurgents in three townships in the west have killed 15 people in strikes on villages, residents told Radio Free Asia Wednesday.

The junta artillery fire and airstrikes on Tuesday also wounded 16 people in Rakhine State’s Thandwe, Kyauktaw and Maungdaw townships, they said.  Junta troops frequently retaliate against civilians across Rakhine State following offensives by the Arakan Army ethnic minority insurgent group, witnesses  say.

Residents told Radio Free Asia that 12 people were killed in an attack and another person was critically wounded when troops shelled Thandwe township’s Lin Thi village on Tuesday evening. Seven people were killed in the artillery strikes while five died in the hospital, according to Lin Thi residents.

Three people were killed in junta airstrikes further to the north on Tuesday, near the border with Bangladesh, residents there said.

RFA telephoned Rakhine State’s junta spokesperson, Hla Thein, but he did not respond. The military junta and the Arakan Army have been fighting in Rakhine State since a year-long ceasefire ended in November.

More than 200 civilians have been killed and nearly 600 have been wounded by air raids, land mines and small and heavy weapons in the six months since November, according to data compiled by RFA from accounts from residents and the Arakan Army.

The junta-controlled Myanma Alinn Daily newspaper reported on Monday that 60 civilians had been killed and 113 wounded by artillery fired into villages by the Arakan Army.

A witness who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA that junta forces fired heavy weapons from a junta camp strategically positioned on a hill on Tuesday.

“When fighting erupted with the Arakan Army, junta troops in the Bardan Hill camp shelled the village,” he said. “A family of five died in the first round, two more were killed in the second and the rest of the injured were brought to the hospital by boat. Three more died in the hospital last night and two died this morning.”

Most villagers fled to safety, but shelling could still be heard on Wednesday morning, he added.

Ngapali beach, a tourist town in Thandwe, has faced increasing economic difficulties as the conflict has escalated in the region, scaring off visitors.

Junta targeting hospital and school

To Thandwe’s north, Arakan Army troops captured Kyauktaw township’s regional junta headquarters in February. The military has responded with targeted attacks on civilians, residents say. The junta’s air force bombed a hospital and school on Tuesday in Wea Gyi Daunt village, injuring as many as 20 patients and healthcare workers. 

A villager who declined to be identified for security reasons told RFA that unlike in Thandwe, where fighting instigated the attack, three bombs were dropped apparently for no reason, hitting only civilians.

“They dropped a bomb last night. The hospital was also destroyed. Two health workers were injured initially, then seven more were injured,” he said. 

The Arakan Army reported that as many as 20 patients and healthcare workers were wounded, five of them critically. Some victims had died from their wounds, the insurgents said, but did not say how many.

Junta troops also bombed the Kyauktaw-based Infantry Battalion 374 base, which the Arakan Army recently captured, residents said.

Junta airtrikes further north, near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh, killed three civilians and wounded six in Kin Chaung village in Maungdaw township, residents said. One man who witnessed the attack said two jets bombed the area even though there had been no clashes.

“Two elderly women and a man died. Six people were injured. Six or seven cars were destroyed,” said the man, who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information. “A religious building in a monastery compound collapsed and two houses burned down.”

Rakhine State is one of several Mynamar regions where fighters trying to end military rule have made advances recently against the junta that seized power from an elected government in early 2021.

RFA News

Widespread Myanmar water shortage kills scores of people

/in

Nearly 50 villages in the west are impacted by this year’s intense hot season, residents said.

Nearly 50 villages in western Myanmar are facing shortages of water, residents told RFA on Tuesday, after the hot season brought record high temperatures across the region.

Ponds and small lakes across Rakhine State are drying up, leaving residents with limited water for drinking and cooking. The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands of people displaced by conflict face the risk of disease as a result of the lack of water.

Villages across Ponnagyun township have faced severe drought since April, as the hot season reached its most intense period, said one resident, who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals. “There are two or three ponds in the village. But this year, the daytime temperature rose so high that the ponds went dry,” he said. “Some people don’t even bathe regularly and sometimes even lack drinking water. There are some aid groups donating water but it’s not enough because most of the villages need it.”

Ponnagyun faces a water shortage every year but this year has been the worst, he said, adding that some residents were suffering from diarrhea from drinking dirty  water.

Nearly a quarter of the households in Ah Htet Myat Hle village’s camp for internally displaced people are facing a water shortage, a camp administrator said. Water-borne illnesses killed three people in the camp in April, with similar symptoms killing nearly 80 in other  camps across the state in the same month, aid workers have said.

Camp official Aung Myint told RFA that hundreds of people were facing various  symptoms from drinking unclean water.

“We are already having a lot of trouble in the camp. Hundreds of people are suffering from diarrhea. My child is also suffering from it, too,” he said. “Three people from the camp have died from disease. It is caused mainly due to unclean drinking water, rising heat and the toilets.”

Mass displacement and disruption in Rakhine State from fighting between junta forces and ethnic minority insurgents from the Arakan Army, has forced thousands of people from their homes and deprived them of their livelihoods. Those forced into camps, mostly members of the persecuted Rohingya minority, lack access to doctors and sanitation. 

RFA News