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
- Nearly 500 cases of sexual assault against women in Myanmar’s conflict
- Two women killed in airstrike on Oakkan village, Kawlin Township in northwest Myanmar
- Political prisoner dies due to lack of adequate medical care in Myanmar’s Dawei Prison
- Patterns of Military Oppression In 2023-2024
- Sexual abuse and violence worsens in Myanmar factories: activists
30,000 civilians trapped by conflict in Myanmar’s Lashio
/in NewsTens of thousands have already fled the town in Shan state amid fighting between Kokang rebels and the military.
Around 30,000 civilians are trapped in the largest town in northeastern Myanmar’s Shan state amid intensified fighting between the military and ethnic Kokang rebels, residents and aid workers said Thursday.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, is part of an alliance of three ethnic minority insurgent forces known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance. The alliance launched an offensive last October, codenamed Operation 1027 for the date it began, and pushed back junta forces in several regions.
After a five-month ceasefire ended on June 25, the MNDAA and allied forces attacked junta camps in Madaya, Singu and Mogoke townships in Mandalay region, and Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Nawnghkio and Lashio towns in Shan state to the east.
MNDAA forces began targeting military outposts in Lashio – a town with a population of just over 130,000 – on July 3, and more than 50,000 people have since fled their homes amid heavy shelling that caused civilian casualties, residents told RFA Burmese.
But some 30,000 residents remain trapped in the town, mostly because they lack the financial wherewithal to escape, they said.
“With children, we do not have enough money to flee from the armed conflict,” said one resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “So, we … must keep living inside the town. It is also expensive to rent a car to flee.”
The resident added that Lashio is dealing with a scarcity of commodities and rising prices, while shops are closing daily.
A 100-year-old man in Lashio told RFA that he couldn’t leave the town because of injuries to his head and leg caused by shelling. He now depends on food supplies from relief groups, he said.
“I have received food from relief groups as most shops in Lashio are closed,” he said. “[Junta] airstrikes took place yesterday. All the houses near the [military’s] Light Infantry Battalion No. 507 headquarters were completely destroyed.”
The elderly resident said that three of his neighbors were killed by heavy weapons fire and had to be buried in a trench.
According to Lashio residents and relief groups, around 30 civilians were killed and another 30 were injured by artillery attacks from July 3-17.
In need of aid
A relief worker in Lashio confirmed to RFA that many people are trapped in the town because they can’t afford to abandon their homes, while those who have taken refuge in nearby towns are facing various difficulties.
“Many people want to leave the town, but they have no money,” said the worker, noting that most are trying to reach Myanmar’s second largest city Mandalay, 280 kilometers (175 miles) to the southeast, or southern Shan state’s capital Taunggyi, 345 kilometers (215 miles) to the south.
“They are trying to sell their motorcycles to cover the cost of moving to other areas.”
The relief worker noted that many of his colleagues had already left Lashio amid the fighting, although a contingent was trying to return from neighboring Hsipaw township to assist trapped residents.
Of the more than 50,000 residents who have already fled, many have relocated to Kutkai, Nam Lan, Taunggyi, Mandalay, and the commercial capital Yangon, a displaced resident who made his way to Taunggyi told RFA. However, some have been trapped en route, while others are now destitute in their towns of refuge.
“We fled our homes without enough money, and we expect to face many problems in the long run,” he said. “We have no jobs or income in these other towns.”
The Lashio resident said that rent is on the rise in Taunggyi, due to the rising number of internally displaced persons, or IDPs, arriving in town.
Attempts by RFA to contact MNDAA spokesperson Li Kyar Win and the junta’s Shan state spokesperson and economic minister Khun Thein Maung for updates on the conflict, went unanswered Thursday.
The MNDAA announced on Tuesday that it had arrested 32 junta soldiers, including a deputy company commander, during fighting near Lashio.
Translated by Aung Khin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
RFA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (July 8 to 14, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from July 8 to 14, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, Shan State, and Rakhine State from July 8th to 14th. The Military Junta used the political prisoners as human shields in Thandwe Prison, Rakhine State, and 2women political prisoners died from the heavy artillery of the Military Junta. The Military Junta had limitations of visiting the prison, torturing and feeding unhealthy foods to the prisoners in Pathein Prison, Ayeyarwady Region. The Military arrested the civilians for the Military Service in Ayeyarwady Region and Mandalay Region.
Over 40 civilians died, and almost 60 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 3civilians were injured by the Military’s landmine.
Infogram
More political will needed for international courts to bring Myanmar junta to justice
/in NewsMizzima
Despite cases moving against the Myanmar junta in international courts more political will and resources are needed to bring the junta to justice, according to advocacy group, Progressive Voice
It said that the processes around international accountability for the crimes committed by the Myanmar military inched forward in the past week, as Argentina’s judiciary moves closer to issuing arrest warrants under universal jurisdiction for those responsible for the Rohingya genocide in 2017. Additionally, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) approved seven countries to join the genocide case against Myanmar.
Progressive Voice believes that while such processes have the unique potential to give a form of justice to victims and survivors, not just of the Rohingya genocide but of the plethora of crimes committed by the military against the people of Myanmar, more political will and resources are needed for such mechanisms to really work for those who need it most and end impunity for good.
Following the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) petitioning Argentine courts in 2019 to open an investigation into genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, and the Argentine judiciary opening a case in 2021, the Argentine Prosecutor has petitioned the Argentine Court to issue arrest warrants for numerous Myanmar military and government figures.
Welcoming the latest development, BROUK President Tun Khin stated, “Today we are one more step closer to finally seeing the first ever arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing and senior members of the Burmese military.”
However, the Prosecutor’s petition for arrest warrants has a broader scope than BROUK’s recent request of predominantly Myanmar military personnel, to include civilian leaders Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then-President U Htin Kyaw.
BROUK has therefore called on the Argentine Court to consider “whether issuing arrest warrants for Aung San Suu Kyi and Htin Kyaw serves the best interests of justice at this time.” The Argentine Court will now decide whether and how many of these arrest warrants will be issued.
Adding to the developments in Argentina is the ICJ’s decision on 3 July 2024 to allow the Maldives, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK to join the case against the State of Myanmar for genocide, originally brought by The Gambia in 2019. This ruling allows these countries to submit observations and interventions in the ongoing ICJ case.
Such incremental developments may not bring immediate justice to the Rohingya, but they are a step forward in establishing publicly and symbolically the culpability of the military in some of the most horrific crimes committed in Myanmar, according to Progressive Voice.
It added that it is important to note that such mechanisms are not just for the Rohingya. Indeed, the UN-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar’s 2018 report—a foundational document for many of these accountability processes—recommended that the generals of the Myanmar military be investigated not just for genocide committed against the Rohingya.
It also recommended investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the military against other ethnic communities in Rakhine State, including the ethnic Rakhine, as well as in Kachin and northern Shan States.
Myanmar’s rights-based civil society groups, including Progressive Voice and partners, were at the forefront advocating to the United Nations for the establishment of these mechanisms, and also engaged and collaborated with the mechanism thereafter.
Advocacy and campaigns to hold the Myanmar military to account under international law are therefore not new.
Prior to the military-led pseudo-democratic transition that began in 2011, border-based democracy and human rights groups campaigned for the establishment of a commission of inquiry for the systematic human rights violations and international crimes by the Myanmar military throughout the country. The campaign was supported by international allies, such as then-Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Quintana and two of his predecessors.
In 1997 and again in 2022, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) established Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) that found the military had engaged in “widespread and systematic use of forced labour” and heavily imposed “far-reaching restrictions…of basic civil liberties and trade union rights.”
Such international moves towards accountability show that there is a will to address the systematic human rights violations and violence that affect the whole population of Myanmar. Ensuring justice for the Rohingya who have been victims to one of the most serious of international crimes—genocide—will also mean securing justice for all peoples of Myanmar who have suffered from heinous international crimes by the same perpetrators, the Myanmar military, according to Progressive Voice.
It says that there is no denying that international accountability mechanisms are slow, riven by politics, and face legitimate criticisms of hypocrisy given that powerful nations and their allies that commit war crimes are rarely brought to account in such courts.
Yet Progressive Voice believes that their power in establishing truth when domestic accountability is completely impossible, and in pressuring the international community to take more effective and rightful action, such as coordinated targeted sanctions or diplomatic isolation, has value.
International accountability mechanisms also add momentum to people’s legitimate movements to end dictatorship and seek justice and accountability such as Myanmar’s Spring Revolution. The prospect of arrest warrants being issued against Min Aung Hlaing or INTERPOL issuing a Red Notice for him brings a sense of justice for people.
Moreover, it becomes that much harder for international entities to partner with a military that has been convicted of genocide under international law, as their involvement with this military would mean being complicit in or aiding and abetting its crimes.
Progressive Voice says that ultimately, the Myanmar people’s revolution will be won on the ground, by the hundreds of thousands of men and women, young and old, who have made huge and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
It will not be won by a remote court in the Netherlands or Argentina.
Yet these processes to achieve justice can give an extra dimension of pressure on the military junta, as well as the sense that its violently constructed world is caving in, all the while catalyzing discourse and policy on ending impunity.
Progressive Voice believes it is important therefore that the international community provides political, technical, and financial support to the universal jurisdiction case in Argentina; States Parties to the Rome Statute refer the crisis in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court under Article 14; and more countries join the ICJ case.
These processes are a significant component of the multi-faceted movement for federal democracy in Myanmar and one path to finally end the impunity that military has enjoyed for so long and prevent recurrence of mass atrocities.
Junta deploys first round of military recruits to Myanmar’s frontlines
/in NewsThe new soldiers are headed to brutal conflict zones after only 3 months of training.
The first round of soldiers recruited under Myanmar’s controversial military draft law have completed their training and are being deployed to the frontlines of the junta’s war against rebels in the country’s remote border areas, their family members said Tuesday.
The deployment marked the latest chapter in the junta’s bid to shore up its forces amid heavy losses against various ethnic armies and rebel militias since its 2021 coup d’etat, prompting the junta to enact the People’s Military Service Law in February.
Under the law, men between the ages of 18 and 35 and women between 18 and 27 can be drafted to serve in the armed forces for two years.
The announcement triggered a wave of assassinations of administrators enforcing the law and drove thousands of draft-dodgers into rebel-controlled territory and abroad.
The military carried out two rounds of conscriptions in April and May, training about 9,000 new recruits in total. A third round of conscription began in late May, with draftees sent to their respective training depots by June 22.
The first batch of recruits completed their three-month training on June 28, and family members told RFA Burmese on Tuesday that the new soldiers were sent to conflict zones in Myanmar’s Rakhine and Kayin states, and Sagaing region, beginning in early July.
While the junta has never said how many recruits were trained in the first group, a mid-April report by the Burmese Affairs and Conflict Study, a group monitoring junta war crimes, indicated that it was nearly 5,000 young people from across the country.
RELATED STORIES
Thailand, Myanmar sign agreement on extradition of criminal suspects
Junta military preparations point to brutal next phase in Myanmar conflict
Dozens of officials carrying out Myanmar’s draft have been killed
“My husband told me that orders from [the junta capital] Naypyidaw directed the deployment of new recruits from training batch No. 1 to conflict-affected areas, including Rakhine state,” said Nwe Nyein, the wife of a new recruit from Ayeyarwady region.
“They [the junta] had previously said that new recruits under the People’s Military Service Law would not be deployed to the frontlines,” she said. “However, I am worried because my husband was sent to the remote border areas.”
Nwe Nyein said that the second batch of recruits are expected to complete their military training on Aug. 2 and reports suggest that they will also be sent to the frontlines.
Used as ‘human shields’
A resident of Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said that some people close to him had been injured in battles in northern Shan state and have since returned home.
“A young man from our town was shot in the arm, but he never underwent an operation to remove the bullet,” the resident said. “He also said that almost all the new recruits sent to the frontlines had been killed, and their families didn’t even receive their salaries.”
In southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region, residents told RFA that the junta is deploying new recruits to battle.
Min Lwin Oo, a leading committee member of the Democracy Movement Strike Committee-Dawei, condemned the deployment of new recruits with only short-term military training, suggesting that they are being used as “human shields.”
Flagging morale
Former Captain Kaung Thu Win, who is now a member of the nationwide Civilian Disobedience Movement of former civil servants that left their jobs in protest of the military’s power grab, told RFA that the junta urgently needs more soldiers, and he expects that nearly all new recruits will be sent to the frontlines.
“About 90% of these new forces will be dispatched to the battlegrounds, regardless of whether they engage in combat [with rebel groups] or target people [civilians],” he said. “Their [the junta’s] main objective is to ensure they have more soldiers equipped with guns.”
Kaung Thu Win also said that the junta faces many challenges in its propaganda efforts to persuade new recruits to fight, but is also increasingly unable to trust its veteran soldiers as losses mount.
Than Soe Naing, a political commentator, slammed the junta over the reported deployment and echoed the former captain’s assessment of the military’s low morale.
“Young people are being sent to die after … [mere] months of military training,” he said. “Even veteran soldiers in their 60s who have been sent to the battlefield have lost their motivation.”
5 years of service?
The junta has yet to release any information about the deployment of new recruits to the frontlines.
Meanwhile, although the People’s Military Service Law states that new recruits must serve for a total of two years, reports have emerged that the junta is telling soldiers that they will have to fight for five.
Junta officials have publicly denied the reports.
Attempts by RFA to contact the office of the chairman of the Central Body for Summoning People’s Military Servants in Naypyidaw for further clarification went unanswered Tuesday.
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
RFA News
Brotherhood Alliance announces four-day ceasefire; India calls for release of nationals from cyber scams centers
/in NewsBrotherhood Alliance announces four-day ceasefire
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) announced Sunday that a temporary ceasefire was put in place in Lashio Township of northern Shan State, near the Burma-China border, during the Communist Party of China’s third plenum meeting, which ends July 18.
“The MNDAA set its ceasefire for four days but there were fighting in Lashio town on Sunday night,” said a Lashio resident. “The military has reached a situation where it is under the worst threat in history. We can say that the regime’s downfall will come soon,” said Kyaw Zaw, the National Unity Government (NUG) spokesperson.
The MNDAA added that it will retaliate against the military if it carries out any attacks against the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the MNDAA and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), over the next four days. The Brotherhood re-launched its offensive in northern Shan State on July 3 after signing a China-brokered ceasefire with the military on Jan. 11.
Thailand seizes shipments meant for drug production
Thailand’s 3 Plus News reported on Saturday that Thai authorities confiscated 90,000 kg of toluene, a chemical compound which can be used in drug production, at Laem Chabang port in Chonburi Province, located in eastern Thailand. It arrived in six shipping containers from Busan, South Korea on July 8.
“This chemical is very dangerous for mankind. These chemicals can destroy [families], so we have to step up to suppress it,” said an official from Thailand’s Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) at the Ministry of Justice.
According to Thai investigators, the six containers were ordered by a logistics company in Samut Sakhon Province, west of the capital Bangkok, and destined for Shan State via Mae Sot, Tak Province in western Thailand. Thai media reported that those 90 tons of toluene can produce four and a half tonnes of heroin, or 4,500 kilograms of methamphetamine, or 120 million yaba tablets, which is a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine.
India calls for release of nationals from cyber scams centers
India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar called for the release of Indian nationals trafficked to work at cyber scam centers in Burma during a meeting with the regime’s deputy prime minister, who is also the minister of foreign affairs, Than Swe on July 12.
Jaishankar “pressed strongly for the early return of Indians unlawfully detained” in Burma at the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, which was held in New Delhi July 11-12.
BIMSTEC is a regional organization established in 1997. It aims to connect countries around the Bay of Bengal to promote economic growth, trade, and cooperation in areas like transportation, energy and counter-terrorism. Than Swe met with Thailand’s new Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa on July 11.
News by Region
KAREN—The Karen National Union (KNU) stated that 134 civilians have been killed and 439 injured in areas under its control since January. It added that over 2,000 human rights violations were committed by the military, including 96 arrests of civilians.
A total of 1,182 buildings, including 29 religious buildings, 14 schools and four healthcare facilities, were destroyed in airstrikes, artillery and landmine attacks. Over 1.2 million civilians have been displaced from their homes and are now Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) since the 2021 military coup.
MANDALAY—Madaya Township residents reported that the military carried out airstrikes on Kyauktada, Bokone, Htonepho villages and the Alpha cement factory on Sunday. The Madaya People’s Defense Force (PDF) claimed that six military outposts were abandoned as the troops were deployed along the Mandalay-Mogok Road, as well as at Mandalay Hill and other public areas.
SHAN—The TNLA announced that 54 civilians have been killed and 82 have been injured in northern Shan since fighting between it and the military began on June 25. It added that the military is conducting retaliatory airstrikes and artillery attacks on areas under its control and more than eight civilians have been killed and injured per day up to July 10.
The TNLA seized Nawnghkio Township after it captured the remaining military outpost there last Wednesday. Fighting continues between the TNLA and the military in Lashio and Kyaukme townships of northern Shan, as well as Mogok Township in Mandalay Region.
YANGON—Residents from Mandalay Region, as well as Arakan and Shan states have fled their homes and become IDPs due to the fighting between the military and resistance forces such as the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Arakan Army (AA), and have sought refuge in Yangon.
“The entire bus was full of people coming to Yangon, including children and elders. They said they are fleeing the fighting in northern Shan State and Mandalay as it is no longer safe there,” said a passenger traveling from Shan State to Yangon.
DVB News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (July 1 to 7, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from July 1 to 7, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, and Shan State from July 1st to 7th. The Military Junta used the civilians as human shields and searched mines on Monywa-Mandalay Road. The Military’s ward and village Administrators asked for the money under the reason of Military Service Law. The Military’s Minister of Labor said that will stop the workers who go to foreign countries with visiting visas (PV) and working on July 6th.
Almost 30 civilians died, and nearly 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 3 under-aged children died, and 4 were injured when the Military Junta committed abuses.
Infogram