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
- Junta targeting rebel-held areas in northern Myanmar with airstrikes and artillery
- Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)
- Myanmar National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum 2024
- Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)
- Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar
Junta soldiers burn hundreds of homes and murder civilians during rampages in upper Myanmar
/in NewsOne of those killed was found with severe injuries on his body, suggesting he had been tortured, a local resident said
Junta soldiers killed civilians, burned hundreds of homes, and destroyed food stocks during attacks on villages in Sagaing Region last week, locals said.
Troops entered Kan Lay Kone village in Taze Township on February 21 and abducted 43-year-old Soe Moe, who they then took to another village five miles away called Thapyay Inn, according to the locals.
He was found dead on Thursday with his hands tied behind his back near a stream in Thapyay Inn. “We think he was tortured for three whole days,” said one local man. “There were a great number of injuries on the body.”
It was unclear why he was targeted, the man added. “He was on his way to check on his relatives when he ran into the junta column,” he said.
Elsewhere in Taze, Nay Win Htun, 40, was shot dead in his village of southern Chaung Sone on Friday. Locals said the soldiers threw the man’s body into his house, which they then set fire to.
Another junta column entered Taze from Kanbalu Township and raided the villages of Kan Phyu, Wat Toe and Thar Khaung Gyi on February 24, according to Taze locals.
“They’ve been terrorising those villages for three days,” said one resident. “They also torched houses that were not destroyed by artillery shells. And they killed and ate the cows in the village. They’re just doing whatever they want.”
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In Shwebo Township on Friday, 50 soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee militiamen burned around 400 homes in the village of Hna Ma Sar Yit. Locals later found the bodies of three residents and said three others, who were all elderly, had gone missing.
“They started firing shots at around 6am,” said one local man, adding that the attackers used both heavy and light weapons.
Yin San Aye, 33, and U Thein, 55, were later found dead with bullet wounds, while 77-year-old Khin Than died in a fire in her home, he added.
Tons of rice were also destroyed in the fires. This is the fourth time the village of some 600 houses had been attacked by the junta’s forces.
“I don’t even have the words to describe what we’re feeling right now. I would understand if we were armed and posed a threat to them. We weren’t armed in any way. The villagers were fleeing but they just kept on firing. It’s just too cruel,” the local man said.
The Pyu Saw Htee members who joined the soldiers came from Thee Lone, Pan Yan and Myin See villages, he added.
A local woman told Myanmar Now her house was burned after she fled the village with her eldery parents.
“Once all of us had fled, they started torching the houses in the southern part of the village until they reached the middle. And then my house was torched. We could also hear them yelling that they would kill anyone they saw,” she said.
Residents say many in the village have taken part in anti-coup protests.
Local news reports said thousands have been displaced by military raids on the Shwebo villages of Ywar Soe, Pauk Chaing and Seikkhun.
Soldiers burned another 40 houses with shelling in Shwebo’s Ngarpi Oe village on Thursday and killed a 25-year-old man, villagers and a local resistance force leader there said.
The men were on night watch duty in their village of Seikkhun when the troops arrived
The attack came as retaliation after a Pyu Saw Htee leader named Myint Than was killed along with another man named La Yaung. Junta forces in the nearby village of Gway Pin Kone opened at Ngarpi Oe using artillery.
“We didn’t have enough time to do anything at all,” said the resistance force leader. “The battle was totally unexpected. They started to fire artillery shells right after the Pyu Saw Htee leader got killed.”
“We don’t have enough equipment or weapons to fight back. They continuously used heavy artillery shells. It was really overkill, considering the civilians were unarmed,” he added.
The 25-year-old man was shot dead while fleeing the attack on his motorcycle at around 9pm, he added. The fires raged until Friday morning.
“They wouldn’t have needed to use this much force even if it had been an actual battle. There were only 20 seconds between each heavy artillery shell. We couldn’t do anything but retreat,” the resistance fighter added.
The village sits along the Shwebo-Kyaukmyaung road near the entrance to the UNESCO world heritage site of Hanlin, which contains archeological ruins from the Pyu era.
“The place where the shells fell is only 15,000 feet away from the Han Lin city gate. The shell essentially fell in preserved territory,” said a 60-year-old villager named Lin.
Another man, 40, said a two-storey house, a barn and 410 litres of rice grain were also destroyed by the shells, while six cows were killed.
Over 5,000 people have fled Ngarpi Oe and the nearby villages of Gyoegyar, Kan Gyi Taw, Ywar Thit Kone and Thea Kyun because of the attacks, according to locals.
Myanmar Now News
Weekly Update Human Rights Satiation in Myanmar 21 February – 27 February 2022
/in HR SituationClear evidence of the power of the Spring Revolution can be seen in the momentum of ongoing protest and campaigning efforts. Another nationwide protest named the ‘Six Twos Revolution’ was organized to mark the anniversary of the 2021 ‘Five-Twos Revolution,’ held last year as part of a nationwide general strike. Protesters proudly held posters and signage reiterating calls for an end to the Myanmar junta’s crimes against humanity. Three finger salutes were seen as another act of defiance while individuals donned flowers in their hair and the traditional thanaka on their faces. The banging of pots and pans to draw out evil spirits, a popular non-violent form of protest adopted over the last year, was also encouraged. Political prisoners detained in various jails across Myanmar also found ways to participate by observing five minutes of silence. People also distributed anti-junta fliers and hung banners.
The peaceful demonstration was one where all involved demonstrated their rights to protest. And yet – the military junta unjustly violently cracked down. Peaceful protesters were arrested, including dozens in Tanintharyi and Sagaing regions.
Security forces, wearing riot gear, ruthlessly ambushed 34 young people celebrating a birthday party who they alleged were involved in the protest. ND-Burma member, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, reported on the case and indicated that no arrest warrants were shown in conjunction with the arrests. They were detained at Laung Lone Township police station.
In Monya, Sagaing region, two women on a motorcycle handing out anti-junta materials were rammed by a car causing them both to fall. One of them was two months pregnant and miscarried as a result.
These injustices against innocent civilians once again speak to the cruelty which the Myanmar junta has never hid behind. Accountability for these crimes and more is long overdue, as is the protection for internationally recognized rights and freedoms.
Artillery shells were fired in Nagar-Taung Hill, three kilometers from Three Pagodas Pass Township which injured at least three innocent civilians on 22 February 2022. A young woman, a resident of Makatta and two day laborers, Nai Thit and Saw Pha Doh were injured when the shells landed. The firing forced over 120 households to flee from their villages and take refuge in Brigade four of KNU territories.
The KNU has warned the junta and the BGF to retreat from Karen areas on multiple occasions to ensure their control is eliminated.
Meanwhile, approximately 20 internally displaced people sheltering in Lay Kay Kaw recently tested positive for COVID-19. Health officials say it is difficult to isolate patients due to crammed camp conditions. This is yet another unfair burden placed on innocent people by the junta.
KARENNI (KAYAH) STATE
Airstrikes were once again deployed by the Myanmar junta in Karenni (Kayah) State in the town of Moebye following intensified clashes between People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and the regime. On 16 February, Myanmar Army forces entered several villages near Moebye and air and ground strikes followed on a daily basis. Karenni based PDFs have been reporting that they’ve killed more than two dozen junta soldiers during the clashes. Civilians caught in the crossfire of the shelling have said the impacts of the blasts ‘shake the walls’ of their homes. Thousands have fled for safety but have faced challenges as they try to escape including multiple checkpoints and extortion by the soldiers.
The onslaught of fighting has left the Karenni people fearful for their futures. Since the beginning of the year, IDP camps have been struck by air attacks and forced thousands to flee. Traumatized survivors have lost loved ones and witnessed the harrowing impacts and brutality of civil war up close.
More airstrikes targeting local people by the Myanmar junta led to three civilians killed, and five injured one the evening of 23 February.
SAGAING REGION
Sagaing region remains one of the most hard-hit areas by the junta’s violence. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the terrorist acts committed by the Myanmar junta are worsening in their scope, particularly in areas like Sagaing region where the resistance to the junta has been successful. The impacts of clashes are continuing to have devastating impacts on civilians.
Worsening hostilities prompted a man overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his wife, son and daughter killed during a raid on his village in Sagaing region, to run towards the soldiers responsible, calling on them to shoot him, to which they did. More and more harrowing accounts are emerging and are continuing to expose the relentlessness of the junta. No civilian is safe, no life spared.
In addition, over a dozen homes were scorched by the junta in Ai Taung West village, Kani township, forcing more villagers to flee. Burning homes has become a common tactic deployed by the regime. In Chaung-U village, the military also set fire to the majority of the 400 households. Alongside the raids, possessions of civilians have been stolen, including cash, valuables and livestock.
Military bombs civilian area in Karenni State’s Demoso Township, killing three people
/in NewsThe targeted villages are near the town of Nan Mei Khon and along the strategic road connecting two resistance strongholds: Demoso and Moebye
Three civilians were killed and five were injured after the Myanmar army attacked two villages in Karenni State’s Demoso Township from the air on Wednesday evening.
A military jet bombed Dung Ka Mee and Si Li Dung, which are separated by a road, just after 6pm, according to a volunteer rescue worker. The villages are less than 10km from Nan Mei Khon town.
“Three civilians died on the spot. An older woman was left unconscious and is now in critical condition,” he told Myanmar Now.
The casualties included three men, two of whom were found dead inside a house in Dung Ka Mee, and one who had been travelling by motorcycle on the road near the house at the time of the blast.
“The motorcyclist came along the main road, which was exactly where the military bomb dropped and he got hit,” the rescue worker said.
Those injured included a 60-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man, and three individuals who have yet to be identified.
A house in each of the two villages was destroyed.
On Thursday there were reportedly three more airstrikes on the Nan Mei Khon area between 5:30am and 12:30pm, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF).
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Battles reignited between the junta’s forces and a Karenni resistance alliance in Moebye, southern Shan State, on February 16. The military has employed both heavy weapons and airstrikes during the clashes.
“The battles actually started in Moebye and it spread to Nan Mei Khon. You can get to Loikaw and also to Demoso through Dung Ka Mee village as it connects Demoso and Moebye,” the rescue worker said, referring to the road where the bombs hit.
The military council has not released any information on the incident.
According to the statement released by the KNDF, 61 junta soldiers had died in the eight nonstop days of battles on Wednesday.
More than 20 resistance fighters had also been killed during that same period, according to reports released by their respective guerrilla groups.
Myanmar Now News
Press Statement: Myanmar CSOs meet with the UN Special Envoy
/in Press Releases and StatementsReiterates CSOs rejection of power-sharing with the military junta, offers recommendations to UNSE
On 21 February, representatives of 20 Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs) met with the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar.
The meeting followed a joint statement issued by 247 CSOs in response to the UN Special Envoy’s (UNSE’s) interview with the Channel News Asia (CNA).
While reiterating concerns expressed in their statement, the representatives assured the UNSE that the Myanmar people’s revolution presents an unprecedented opportunity for a peaceful Myanmar, as the people themselves have come to identify their collective vision for a new Myanmar that is based on federal democracy.
The calls have been clear: a new vision of Myanmar does not include the military in politics.
The representatives expressed concern over possible UN and governments attempts to convince political entities in Myanmar to enter into power sharing settlements in the lead up to the military junta orchestrated August 2023 elections. During the meeting, the representatives stated that it is extremely crucial for the UN to understand that the current political crisis is not between the National League for Democracy and the junta or between the National Unity Government (NUG) and the junta, but it is the junta staging a war against the nation and committing violence and atrocities against the people.
In addition, the representatives emphasized the need for justice and accountability. They emphasized that the terrorist military junta, who have committed grave crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes – must be held accountable, and not offered more power, a seat at the table or legitimacy from the international community.
The representatives also reiterated their concern regarding the UNSE’s comment that “the military is in control at this particular time”, stressing that such comment is a misinterpretation based on misconstrued understanding of the realities on the ground. Myanmar people have resisted the brutal and sadistic tactics of the illegal terrorist military junta and successfully prevented it from gaining territorial, political or economic control over the country for over a year – the representatives urged the UN to acknowledge this historic feat.
Moreover, the groups emphasized that the mandate of the UNSE has been historically ineffectual. The groups urged the mandate to be transformed from its traditional approach of peace brokering to center on accountability and moves to achieve transitional justice, to strengthen relevance of the role that reflects the current realities on the ground. The groups also urged that the mandate should ensure that stakeholders engaging in Myanmar comply with UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions relevant to the protection of civilians in situations of armed conflict, including UNSC resolutions on Women Peace and Security.
In addition, the representatives urged the UNSE to put in place necessary measures to ensure Myanmar people’s voices are given priority and ensure that procedures include a robust and inclusive engagement with Myanmar civil society organizations. In this regard, the groups expressed their readiness to continue to engage with the UNSE.
Finally, the groups called on the UNSE to bring several recommendations put forward by the people of Myanmar and CSOs to the UN, ASEAN and the wider international community. These include the following;
On humanitarian aid, the UN, ASEAN and international humanitarian aid organizations must:
To ASEAN:
To the UN Security Council:
The UNSC must adopt a resolution on Myanmar that includes the following:
For more information, please contact:
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Statement on Women with Gun-shoot Wound by Junta and call for provide medical treatment Inbox
/in Member statementsKhin Kay Khine, who was working at the backyard of her house, was shot in the abdomen by a stray bullet fired indiscriminately by troops of the military council who entered into Winkapaw village, Taung Pyauk area in Thayetchaung township, Dawei district, Tanintharyi Region, in the evening of 3 November 2021. Fortunately, Khin Kay Khine did not die on the spot and villagers sent her to the Dawei public hospital via a jungle route.
While Khin Kay Khine was being treated in the hospital, the military learned about her case and military affairs intelligence agents watched her around the clock. She was then transferred to a military hospital in order to black out the news. Her sister, who accompanied her at the hospital, was released after about one month at the hospital, and put in a car. Khin Kay Khine was then sent to prison for interrogation. Since then, Khin Kay Khine has been out of contact with her family members.
About a month later, it was heard from the family of a Dawei political prisoner that she had been sentenced to seven years in prison on February 10 at the prison court while she was still suffering from the gunshot wound. Our network has been monitoring the incident closely but did not release the information due to concern for the safety of her family members.
Now, we have got information that three women prisoners are in emergency need of medical treatment, including Khin Kay Khine, who is still suffering from the gunshot wound.
1) We, the Network for Advocacy Action (NAA), call upon ICRC to provide assistance to political prisoners who are currently being held in prisons and in need of medical treatment.
2) We urge international organizations that respect Human Rights to give pressure for the immediate release of political prisoners who are being detained unfairly, including Khin Kay Khine.
3) We hereby declare that we strongly oppose the violations of human rights and inhumane brutality of the military council.
Network for Advocacy Action (Tanintharyi)
Contacts: – +(95)9 792 413 960
– +(66) 951 147 147
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar (14 February – 21 February 2022)
/in HR SituationIt is no surprise to the people of Myanmar that the junta cannot be trusted. Decades of violence against civilians, perpetrated with impunity has denied many justice. Rights, freedoms and basic protections under the regime have entirely disappeared. While trying to pursue legitimacy nonetheless, the leaders of the attempted coup have failed tremendously. And yet, the international community and other stakeholders including regional actors have seemingly been complicit in their war path which has deprived civilians their right to life.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial meeting, which took place last week, did not include a representative from Myanmar after the junta was barred from attending. A ‘five-point consensus’ proposed to the junta last year, has failed to make even the slightest bit of progress. A peace process has not been facilitated, nor has any end of the fighting been alluded to. Thousands remain in military custody under the harshest of conditions, where in addition to falsified charges, they have been deprived of their basic human rights.
Talks at the ASEAN meeting included a discussion on how to resolve the worsening human rights crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN is divided on how to deal with the junta. Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have been critical of the junta. Whereas, Thailand and Cambodia have failed to draw a hard line with the regime amid a series of excuses and citing the crisis as ‘an internal issue.’
ASEAN cannot be relied upon as a mediator in the crisis when the junta has so obviously proven that their lies are interwoven into excuses which are evident of a lack of accountability and regard for critics. They have no moral compass and cannot be trusted.
SAGAING REGION
In Mingin Township, Sagaing region, the bodies of four civilians were found deceased with evidence of serious trauma to their bodies. One of the bodies was discovered badly burned and reduced to ashes. The discovery of the villagers came after the regime had set hundreds of homes on fire in Mote Thar and Mauk Tet. Only a few homes have been left standing as the numbers of displacement continue to rise.
According to Myanmar Now, those killed were Naing Soe Lin, a 21-year-old vegetable seller, and three volunteer village guards named Kaung Min San, 18, Than Min Soe, 24, and Naing Zaw, 28. The victims had families and were denied not only protection and their rights, but also a proper burial. The wife of Naing Soe Lin is also missing.
The increase of force and airstrikes comes as the junta is losing their offensives across the country. In January 2022, nearly forty civilians were forced to guide junta soldiers as human shields, including women and children.
SHAN STATE
The latest documentation by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) found harrowing evidence of further crimes against humanity perpetrated against innocent civilians. A 44 year old farmer, who had been displaced, was tortured to death in Kyaukme township, northern Shan State. Military intelligence officers arrived at his home and violently forced their way into his home where they searched for drugs. When their search failed to render the results they were after, the farmer, Sai Tun Win, was beaten on his body and head. His family members were also assaulted by the soldiers and robbed of their possessions, including 30 000 Myanmar Kyat.
Sai Tun Win was forced to accompany the soldiers where he was found at a hospital with wounds to his head and mouth, and a remaining handcuff on his left hand. The regime called the whole thing a ‘misunderstanding’ and refused to pay the devastated family any compensation. Just one week before, SHRF reported on the case of a villager who was killed in a violent hit and run by the junta in Mong Hsu, southern township and no compensation was provided, nor justice for the family was granted in further incidents of human rights violations perpetrated against innocent civilians.
Villagers in northern Shan State were also forced to flee airstrikes perpetrated by the military junta. The majority of those who fled were women and children.
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