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.
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THE JUNTA WIPED US OUT AGAIN
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsSocio-economic impacts post-coup in Southeastern Burma
Burma is a country that is vast in natural resources, diversity and culture. Its greatest strengths have always been the innovativeness of its people, their resilience and their courage. It is also a place that has been embroiled in decades of civil war in which there remains one sole entity who is responsible for the majority of lives lost and changed forever by their brutality. The Burma Army has committed grave crimes against civilians with long-held impunity for generations.
At pivotal moments in history, the military has had opportunities to reverse course and work with civilians, rights defenders and the international community to bring peace to the nation. However, in pursuit of power and profits, the Burma Army has consistently taken paths that solely advance themselves and their interests, rather than those which would bring prosperity and stability to people.
On 1 February 2021, the Burmese military once again proved that they are not capable of meaningful dialogue, peace or adhering to the terms of a free and fair election. The reasons for the attempted coup are nothing but excuses by the junta who have failed to provide any substantive evidence of their allegations. Their decision to rob the people of a free and fair election was planned without consideration for the electoral system and democratic principles. Denying the landslide victory and subsequent governance of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has brought nothing but instability and chaos.
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland Releases a New Report: “The junta wiped us out again”: Socio-economic impacts post-coup in Southeastern Burma.”
/in Member statementsFor Immediate Release
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland Releases a New Report: “The junta wiped us out again”: Socio-economic impacts post-coup in Southeastern Burma.”
26 October 2022
Today, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), releases our latest report: “The junta wiped us out again”: Socio-economic impacts post-coup in Southeastern Burma. Our findings confirm that the Burma Army has deliberately derailed prospects for democracy in the country and has embarked on a campaign of targeted and wide-spread abuse in an attempt to terrorize the population into submission. Their volatile and unlawful actions have resulted in widespread displacement resulting in a refugee crisis alongside crippling social and economic impacts on innocent civilians. In areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region, the military junta has continued to act with impunity. HURFOM condemns the ongoing attacks and calls for immediate international intervention.
Since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021, HURFOM has been documenting the human rights violations committed against local people by various battalions of the Burma Army. Through focus groups and interviews conducted by HURFOM for this report, witnesses and victims of various crimes perpetrated by the junta have voiced feelings of insecurity and fears of their future. Economic mismanagement has led to inflation, which has priced basic goods including cooking oil and rice, outside of the financial means of local people. Electricity blackouts are common, leaving many people without power for hours during the day. Compounded with limited work opportunities and ongoing bribery and extortion by the regime, civilians across Southeastern Burma are worried about their futures.
Our findings include evidence of serious disregard for civilian safety and their livelihoods by the military junta. Education has been interrupted, risking a generation of children growing up illiterate and unable to provide for themselves. Young people have been forced to abandon their studies or seek opportunities abroad. As the junta unleashes their campaign of terror, resistance movements are adapting and using various tools and organizing methods to overcome them.
The uptick in violence has also led to protracted displacement. HURFOM observed rising numbers of displacement as the presence of the Burma Army has led to more villagers fleeing to safer areas in search of refuge and protection. Across HURFOM’s documentation, it is evident that the junta is using the same policies of scorched earth, divide and rule as well as the four cuts strategy to deploy their villainous acts.
The international community must be inspired by the will and power of the people and act with integrity and moral conviction on their behalf. There have been multiple calls by civil society organizations who are calling for diplomats and global actors to use their power to protect the lives of those inside Burma. It is imperative that they respond beyond words of condemnation but with actions that will finally make clear to the Burma Army once and for all that they are not above the rule of law and will be punished at the highest international level.
Media Contact
Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director
Email: auemon@gmail.com
Signal: +66 86 167 9741
HURFOM was founded by exiled pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprisings, recent activists and Mon community leaders and youth. Its primary objective is the restoration of democracy, human rights and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization, and all its members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country.
Myanmar junta forces kill, burn 10 in southern Sagaing village
/in NewsNine of the victims were members of a local resistance group killed in a pre-dawn raid in Yinmabin Township
The charred remains of nine resistance fighters and one unidentified civilian were found in a village in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township on Friday, according to local sources.
The bodies were discovered in the village of Shwe Hlan, which had been raided by around 100 regime forces the day before, the sources said.
“A total of 10 people were killed and their bodies were thrown into a house that was then set on fire,” said Lone Yat, a member of a local defence force.
In statement released on Saturday, an anti-regime group called the Aung San Generation said that nine of the victims belonged to two of the group’s battalions—eight from its Monywa District Battalion 13 and one from Pakokku District Battalion 2.
All nine were in their early 20s, the group said. Two other members were wounded, and two have gone missing, according to the statement.
No information was available about the civilian who was killed.
According to a member of a people’s defence team who did not want to be identified, the raid began at around 5am and took the resistance fighters completely by surprise.
“We had people guarding the area, but some of them were asleep when the military arrived. It was very early, so many local civilians were also trapped,” he said.
At least eight houses were torched in the village, he added. Locals estimated that the raid caused around 60m kyat ($29,000) in damage and loss of property.
Two helicopters were used to take the regime forces out of the village on Friday evening, according to Lone Nat.
There were also reports that the troops that attacked Shwe Hlan also robbed and killed two civilians—a pregnant woman and an elderly person—the day before.
Before raiding Shwe Hlan, the military column also carried out multiple air and ground attacks on Yin Paung Taing, a large village located in the same area, locals said.
Two defence team members who attempted to attack the regime forces with explosives as they left Yin Paung Taing were reportedly tortured and decapitated after being captured.
According to unconfirmed reports, 19 civilians, including two children aged 10 and 17, were killed in the village over the course of three days.
Myanmar Now News
Military jets bomb concert in northern Myanmar, killing at least 50
/in NewsAttack is believed to be single deadliest airstrike since February 2021 coup.
Military jets bombed a concert northern Myanmar commemorating the founding of an ethnic political group on Monday, killing at least 50 civilians and wounding 100 more, according to residents.
It was believed to be the deadliest single airstrike since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup.
The attack came just days ahead of a special meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in Indonesia to discuss growing violence in Myanmar, one of its members.
The bombing was the latest explosion of violence in fighting over the past 20 months between the military and pro-junta militias and rebel groups scattered across the country. It was strongly condemned by the United Nations, Western governments and human rights groups.
“The junta dropped four bombs in the middle of a crowd where a thousand people were celebrating,” said Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Organization, or KIO, which was marking its 62nd anniversary at the concert, which featured several Kachin celebrities, some of whom were killed.
“It is really concerning that the junta intentionally dropped bombs on an area that was not only not a battlefield, but a place where we were celebrating together with many civilians,” he said.
A month ago, two military helicopters killed more than a dozen civilians, including seven children, at a school in Sagaing region, further to the north, in what was previously thought to be the bloodiest airstrike since the coup.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/JEYzd644CLIThe attack occurred at the Anan Par Training Ground, about two miles outside of Hpakant township’s Kan Hsee village, residents told RFA’s Burmese language service. The training ground is under the control of the 9th Brigade of the Kachin Independence Organizatin’s military wing, the Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, which has been fighting the government off and on for decades in a bid for greater autonomy.
Among those killed in the attack were KIA soldiers, Kachin celebrities, and civilians, residents of Hpakant said Monday.
A Kachin artist, who declined to be named, said at least nine Kachin celebrities who attended the concert were among the casualties. Musicians Aurali Lahpai, Galau Yaw Lwi (a.k.a Yungwi Shadang), and Ko King were killed, while Zaw Dain, a veteran actor and the former chairman of the Kachin Artist Association was injured, he said.
The Associated Press reported that as many as 80 people were killed, citing KIO members and a rescue worker.
RFA was unable to independently verify the death toll or the identities of the victims.
Blocked Access
A member of a Hpakant-based relief group, who declined to be named for security reasons, told RFA that providing assistance to the wounded wasn’t possible because junta forces had blocked off the road leading to the site of the attack.
“We cannot go there to provide any relief help,” he said. “Junta forces have blocked several gates to make sure no one can travel to the area,”
Other local relief groups said that although they had requested permission to travel to the Anan Par Training Ground from General Ko Ko Maung, the head of the junta’s Northern Military Command, they had not been cleared to go as of the evening on Monday. The area is located around 15 miles outside of Hpakant.
Win Ye Tun, the junta’s Minister for Social Affairs and the spokesperson for Kachin state, told RFA that he hadn’t received details about the airstrike, but said he is assembling a team to provide assistance.
“I haven’t received any specific information about civilians being killed. I heard some news, but it’s an ongoing battle,” he said. “I am currently networking resources to help. We can’t just take off to go there and help immediately. After the fighting is over and when it is safe to go there, I will follow up.”
International condemnation
The attack prompted a statement on Monday from the U.N. office in Myanmar condemning what it said appeared to be an “excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces against unarmed civilians,” adding that reports suggested “over 100 civilians may have been affected.”
The statement said that those injured should be “availed [of] urgent medical treatment,” calling such airstrikes “unacceptable” and demanding that those responsible be held to account.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said Monday that Guterres had expressed “deep concern” over reports of the airstrikes in Kachin state.
“We reiterate our call for the immediate cessation of violence and all those who were injured need to be given urgent medical treatment as needed,” he said.
A statement jointly issued by the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, EU member states, Norway, Switzerland, and the U.K., said Sunday’s attack “underscores the military regime’s responsibility for crisis and instability in Myanmar and the region and its disregard for its obligation to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”
Phil Robertson, deputy head of Human Rights Watch’s Asia-Pacific Division, went further, calling the strike a “war crime.”
“It is outrageous and unacceptable that they have attacked a group of civilians,” he said, adding that the junta knew there was an entertainment event taking place at the site and suggesting the airstrike was “retaliation” against the KIA for its resistance to military rule.
“It shows how completely bankrupt, both morally and ethically, this Myanmar military junta is,” he said. “It’s a clarion call for the U.N. Security Council to finally act … to stop the military junta from these kinds of atrocities against their own people.”
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government suggested that the military had violated the Geneva Conventions with the latest attack on civilians and called in a statement on the international community and the U.N. to “take effective actions urgently” against the junta.
It noted that the attack came just a month after a Sept. 16 airstrike on Sagaing region’s Let Yet Kone village killed 13 civilians, including seven children, and wounded 12 others. The attack, in which two military helicopters fired on a school for more than an hour, was thought to be the single worst air raid on a civilian area in Myanmar since the coup.
The National Unity Government said that since seizing power, the military had carried out nearly 240 airstrikes targeting the civilian population throughout Myanmar, “resulting in [the] deaths of over 200 civilians and destruction of many houses and religious buildings.”
Later on Monday, the junta issued a press statement denying reports that civilians had been killed in the attack in Kachin state, which it said were “lies” circulated by “fake” online media groups.
The statement said the training ground where the attack occurred was an “active military area operated by terrorists,” and that there were only armed fighters and KIA-supporting businessmen at the site, but no “common civilians.”
It also claimed that junta forces had carried out the operation “according to the law of armed conflict, based on the Geneva Conventions.”
RFA News
Myanmar military bombs Kachin music concert, killing dozens including civilians, performers and KIA officers
/in NewsThe KIA says the nighttime airstrikes were carried out by the junta to target civilians ‘on purpose’ and constitute a war crime
Myanmar junta airstrikes on a music festival killed several dozen people in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State on Sunday evening, according to media reports and a spokesperson from the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).
The festival was being held in honour of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the KIO, marked officially on October 25. Sunday’s concert was held at a site called A Nang Pa in jade-rich Hpakant Township, an area under the control of Brigade 9 of the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and just two miles from the village of Ginsi (Kan Hsee), according to the Kachin News Group.
Three Myanmar military fighter jets dropped bombs on the location mid-way through the festival at around 8:30pm, killing at least 50 people including four well-known Kachin artists, and injuring many more. Footage of the area after the attack showed that structures in the area had been levelled by the blasts, and debris, including machinery, vehicles and building materials, scattered widely.
Also among the casualties were KIA officers who were attending the event, according to the organisation’s spokesperson, Col Naw Bu. He said that the KIO was working to provide medical treatment for those who were wounded.
“There was no fighting that had broken out between us and the military [in the area],” Col Naw Bu told Myanmar Now on Monday afternoon, noting that it had been months since the last clash in Hpakant.
“They bombed the event on purpose knowing that there were many civilians there. This is inhumane and a war crime,” he said.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1584462193877463041&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmyanmar-now.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fmyanmar-military-bombs-kachin-music-concert-killing-dozens-including-civilians-performers-and&sessionId=635343c2f85ad9a300c49d00a9d031b0e17c70c9&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1c23387b1f70c%3A1664388199485&width=550pxThe Kachin News Group reported that around 100 people were injured and reportedly trapped in Ginsi as Myanmar army troops restricted social welfare groups from accessing the site to provide assistance.
A source within the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) speculated that the death toll may be higher than initial estimates.
“It is very sad. Many of the victims were our fellow KBC Christians and they were just regular civilians,” the source said.
One of the bombs reportedly detonated near the main stage while singer Aurai was performing, killing him instantly. Other artists killed in the attack were singer Galau Yaw Lwi and a keyboard player named Ko King. Actor Lahtaw Zau Ding was also reportedly among the casualties, but Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify his death at the time of reporting.
At least nine Kachin entertainers were at the festival to perform.
Kachin_singers_0.Jpeg
Left to right, singers Aurai and Galau Yaw Lwi, who were reported as having been killed in the military bombing on October 23, and and actor Lahtaw Zau Ding whose condition is still unknown at the time of reporting (Kachin News Group)
The incident is the most lethal airstrike perpetrated by the junta on a KIA-controlled area since the military coup in February last year.
Zay Thu Aung, a Myanmar air force captain who defected to the resistance after 17 years as a military pilot, told Myanmar Now that the jets that attacked Hpakant on Sunday had come from the Tada-U airport in Mandalay, and were likely Russian-made Yak-130 model aircraft.
“It is very possible that they used Yak-130s because that kind of jet can drop 500-pound bombs or 1,100-pounds bombs at night,” he told Myanmar Now. “The military council will do whatever it pleases… They only think about winning the war.”
Another air force officer who defected, Sgt Htet Naing Aung, who was stationed at an air base in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina, confirmed the likelihood that Yak-130 jets were used.
Zay Thu Aung estimated that the travel time by air from Tada-U to Hpakant would have been a half-hour maximum, leaving little warning time.
Sources close to the KIA said that scouts for the resistance were aware that the aircraft had left the Tada-U that evening, but that no one believed that they had set out to target the festival.
Phone and internet connections were cut off in Hpakant by the military soon after the coup.
The military has repeatedly accused the KIA, headquartered in Laiza along the Kachin-China border, of playing a vital role in the ongoing anti-coup resistance movement by training, arming and collaborating with People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) active in Sagaing; the region is highly contested, and is connected to northern Kachin State through land routes.
On Monday morning, clashes broke out between the military and a joint force belonging to the KIA and the PDFs near the town of Momauk, 200 miles southeast of Hpakant, in which the junta’s forces employed jets and heavy artillery fire.
A 17-year ceasefire between the military and the KIA broke down in 2011 when fighting resumed in Momauk.
Myanmar Now News
Myanmar army artillery fire in Karenni State hits shelter housing displaced family
/in NewsThe father in the family of four was killed and the mother was injured along with their eight-year-old son; only the five-month-old infant was reportedly left unscathed
Heavy artillery fired by the junta’s forces near Kone Thar village in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Loikaw Township on Sunday killed a 35-year-old man and severely injured a 33-year-old woman—his wife—according to local sources.
One of the shells exploded near a farm hut where the couple had sought refuge after fleeing their home in Kone Thar with their two children, aged 8 and five months, just one day earlier.
The man was reportedly killed on the spot. The woman suffered a head injury, and the eight-year-old boy was hit in the thigh by shrapnel.
“We don’t know if the woman will survive… I only heard that the injury was very serious,” a local told Myanmar Now.
Only the infant was left unscathed, he added.
Loikaw_konethar.jpg
The damaged hut following the artillery explosion (Karenni Human Rights Group)
The family, whose identities were not confirmed at the time of reporting, relocated to the hut after junta soldiers arrived in Kone Thar and proceeded to occupy the community over the weekend.
Residents feared that a battle with resistance forces was imminent, the local said.
“The hut where they were staying was also serving as a makeshift IDP [internally displaced persons] camp. The shell fell near the hut while they were all sleeping,” he explained.
At least four clashes have broken out in Kone Thar since last year, with locals repeatedly forced to flee.
The junta’s artillery fire on Sunday was not provoked by any fighting in the area, according to the local, who claimed that troops in Demoso, as well as Pekhon in southern Shan State, were also known to do the same.
“It’s happening all over the country. The military is fring heavy artillery shells without there being any battles,” he said.
A woman from Kone Thar was also reportedly killed in an earlier shelling on September 27.
The Progressive Karenni People’s Force (PKPF) released a statement in early October that a total of 339 civilians had been killed by the military since the February 2021 coup, and 1,200 houses and 27 religious buildings had been destroyed in Karenni State.
The PKPF also stated that nearly 1,600 junta personnel and 171 Karenni resistance fighters had been killed since May 2021.
Frequent clashes have occurred recently in Loikaw, Bawlakhe, Demoso, Hpruso and Shadaw townships in Karenni State, as well as Pekhon in Shan State.
According to locals and members of the resistance, the military’s administrative mechanism is only able to function in urban wards within Karenni territory, where the junta’s forces still maintain a presence.
Myanmar Now News