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
Waking to War Crimes
/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's ReportsThe Myanmar military’s war on the people has devastated the lives of thousands across decades of unrelenting internal conflict. Since the junta’s attempted coup on 1 February 2021, their systematic assaults on civilian livelihoods has worsened across all regions and States in Myanmar. As divisive as they are deceptive, the Generals see themselves as the rightful governors of the State and have blatantly manipulated their own military drafted Constitution to justify their power-grab. Nationwide crackdowns have followed in response to peaceful protesters calling for a resumption of the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
The junta has scaled up military operations nationwide, targeting hundreds of innocent civilians. On September 7, the National Unity Government (NUG), a government formed by activists and elected officials, officially declared a ‘defensive war’ on the junta.1 The People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), which are groups of civilians trained in combat, are now fighting alongside various ethnic revolution organizations (EROs) against the military junta for their freedom. The onslaught of clashes has come with high casualty rates for both sides, including citizens who have been caught in the crossfire. By October, 3 million civilians were in desperate need of life-saving support with 219 000 people displaced by internal violence.
The junta has claimed that the NUG and PDFs are terrorist organizations in a failed bid to downgrade their legitimacy. These attempts have been unsuccessful as more evidence emerges which shows how the junta is violating human rights laws, norms and principles. The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has called on the leader of Myanmar’s armed forces and orchestrator of the coup, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, to step down. Echoing these sentiments has been the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews who has repeatedly called on the UN General Assembly to stand with and for the people of Myanmar.
From the very beginning of the Spring Revolution, it has been the individuals on the ground who have spoken truth to power despite the great risks faced in condemning the junta’s series of illegal and unjust acts. This has come at the cost of thousands of arrests as freedom fighters sacrifice their lives in the name of democracy for Myanmar. The voices of people of various ethnicities, genders, religion and socio-economic backgrounds persist and they continue to demand accountability from a regime who has sabotaged their survival.
At the time of writing, the junta has killed at least 1200 civilians since February with over 10 000 arrested amid a deeply hostile environment for peaceful protesters. With 60% of those killed by state forces around the world in 2021, Myanmar is currently the deadliest country in the world for demonstrators.6 Excessive lethal force by the military has seen at least 25% of those killed while protesting being shot in the head.7 Violence has not declined, rather it has worsened and exacerbated civilian anxieties over their well-being and security. The unyielding campaign of terror waged by the junta is gravely familiar to ethnic people who have suffered under their brutality for decades.
In Chin and Kayah (Karenni) States, everyday life has been especially challenging for civilians. The emergence of several local PDFs and armed resistance groups has led to the Myanmar junta regularly expanding their military operations. Sagaing region has also been hit particularly hard by the regime’s violence, which include the deployment of the ‘four-cuts’ tactics. The strategy has long been used to isolated rival groups by cutting off supplies to food, recruits, information and funding. Dozens have been killed as the regime loots villages, tortures civilians and engages in extrajudicial killings.
Three shootings leave four people dead in Mandalay
/in NewsThe killings come less than a week after another incident that claimed the life of a five-year-old girl
Four people were shot dead in Mandalay over the weekend in three separate incidents that took place between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, according to local sources.
The first shooting was reported in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township, where residents told Myanmar Now that they heard multiple gunshots after around 10pm Saturday.
People living on 28th Street, where the shooting occurred, said they did not learn until the next morning that one person had been killed and three others were injured in the incident.
“We could hear gunshots all over the neighbourhood. There were two barrages of gunfire. We thought there had been clashes at the ward and township administration offices,” said a man who asked to remain anonymous.
“We only found out in the morning that it was soldiers chasing around four civilians,” he added.
The victims were reportedly four youths who were returning from a restaurant when they encountered the soldiers. No further details were available at the time of reporting.
The two other incidents were reported in Pyigyitagon and Chanmyathazi townships at around the same time Sunday morning, sources told Myanmar Now.
Soe Nyein, the 40-year-old ward administrator for an industrial zone in Pyigyitagon Township, was eating breakfast at a noodle shop when he was shot dead at around 7am, according to a woman who witnessed the incident.
“He was shot in the head while he was eating Shan noodles. He died on the spot. He had an assistant with him who survived the attack. But I don’t think he lived for long, as he was shot in the chest,” said the woman.
Soe Nyein was appointed ward administrator after the military seized power in February, the woman added.
“He worked at the administration office as an errand boy for a few years, until he became an administrator after the coup. He always bullied the people in the neighbourhood,” she said.
The third shooting took place in front of the 300-Bedded Teaching Hospital on 62nd Street Chanmyathazi Township, where a young couple was gunned down on their motorcycle.
The victims were identified as Chan Mya Nyein, a hospital employee, and her husband, Arkar Phyo, both in their 30s.
According to a friend of the couple, Arkar Phyo was taking his wife, who was pregnant, to work when they were both shot in the head at close range.
“His brains were totally blown out. She was still alive when they took her to the hospital, but she died soon after,” said the friend, citing witnesses.
It was unclear who was responsible for the shooting. While there has been speculation that the couple was shot for going through a checkpoint without stopping, a number of local news outlets have cited a military official as saying that they were shot by gunmen on a motorcycle.
Another friend of the couple said that it was possible that they were victims of a targeted killing.
“People were writing online that they were military informants. In truth, they didn’t support either side,” said the friend, who asked not to be identified.
According to the friend, someone sent the couple a bomb disguised as a present when they got married in May. One person was injured when the bomb exploded, he added.
He declined to say who he thought was responsible for the killing, but suggested that it could have been a personal attack carried out by someone using recent unrest as a cover.
Mandalay has seen numerous violent incidents since the coup, including some that have claimed the lives of bystanders.
Last week, a five-year-old girl was shot dead in Aung Tharyar, a ward in Chanmyathazi Township, after soldiers opened fire following a bomb attack by an urban guerrilla group.
Ei Thandar Aung was playing in the yard in front of her house when a bullet struck her in the back of the head, killing her instantly, a witness told Myanmar Now.
The junta later denied responsibility for the incident, which it blamed on local resistance forces.
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (December 6-12 )2021
/in HR SituationThe junta has put a target on the armed resistance movement in Sagaing region. State-wide atrocities have taken place which have put civilian lives at risk. Eleven people were most recently tied with wire, shot and burned alive. The majority of those killed were young people under the age of 30, with five being under age 18. Their scorched bodies are further evidence of the junta’s crimes against humanity, and impunity which permits them to commit these acs without accountability. In Sagaing region alone, at least 14 civilian bodies have been burned since February. More airstrikes in the region forced civilians to flee artillery firing and shelling in the following Sagaing region villages: Aung Si Myay, Aung Tharyar, Baw Kone, Lel Pyin Kwet and Mya Kan Thar. Despite the fear and anxiety these attacks provoke, a civilian who fled told local media outlet, Myanmar Now, said “We are now on the run but I don’t care if our village gets burned to ashes. Old can be replaced by new. We can start over and try again. Our first priority is to eradicate the dictatorship.”
The junta is engaging in human rights atrocities to control the population and achieve their goal of completely squandering civilian dissent. Such a goal deserves condemnation in the harshest terms. Weak resolutions by UN bodies, and exclusions from regional meetings are not enough to stop the junta from committing acts of terrorism. Over the last week, more children were killed, and a National League for Democracy (NLD) official was shot and killed in broad daylight. Testimonies of women being assaulted and sexually harassed in detention are more evidence of the junta’s impunity and disregard for civilian lives. Despite all of the horrifying human rights abuses, the people on the ground in Myanmar are standing tall and refusing to let the cruelties exhibited by the military junta break their spirits. It is unacceptable that the international community has failed to support their rallying calls for peace and democracy. Governing bodies on the global stage must use their power to protect.
CHIN STATE
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) reported that a 45 year old mother was killed, and her two year old child seriously injured by a landmine planted by the military junta outside of their home in Mindat, Chin State. The infant has sustained serious head wounds, and lost both of her legs. The attack is yet another stark reminder of the horrors and atrocities that every day civilians have been forced to face.
KAREN STATE
The ongoing, increasing presence of the military junta in Karen State has forced civilians to put their livelihoods on hold. This has had worsening economic impacts for residents who are unable to earn an income and are fearful of being threatened or killed by the Myanmar Army.
The Karen National Liberation Army reported that armed clashes are increasing ‘on a regular basis’ as the junta expand their operations. Between October and November 2021, the junta recorded 355 clashes. All of the fighting poses serious risks to civilians who are at risk of being killed during artillery shells which are fired into villages, farms and plantations. A report recently published by the Karen Peace Support Network, “Shelling Out Punishment Across Mutraw District” estimated that there were over 80,000 civilians displaced in Mutraw District as a result of target air and ground attacks.
KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE
The worsening situation in Kayah (Karenni) State has forced thousands to flee. Those who have sought safety in IDP camps have a multitude of fears, including the possibility of food running out. A local humanitarian organization expressed concern that the violence which has displaced civilians has led to food shortages. If the situation does not see any form of stability, food could run out within one or two months. Any delay in the provision of humanitarian aid only exacerbates the suffering of IDPs on the ground. Meanwhile, youth in Hpruso and Demawso Townships continue to be targeted by the military junta.
According to the Karenni Civil Society Network, over 150,000 people—more than half the population of Karenni State. Civil society organizations are working tirelessly to provide food, shelter and survival materials to those deprived of their basic access to goods and services. These efforts must be supported by the international community.
Myanmar Resistance Claims to Kill Around 80 Junta Troops
/in NewsAround 80 junta soldiers were reportedly killed during attacks by civilian resistance forces in Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay and Yangon regions and Chin and Kayah states on Thursday.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify any of the reports.
On Thursday afternoon, two civilian resistance groups from Kani and Mingin townships ambushed a military convoy, which included motorbikes, on the Monywa-Kalewa highway in Mingin, Sagaing Region, using mines, according to the Kani People’s Defense Forces (PDF).
Seven motorbikes and two other military vehicles were damaged, leaving more than 30 regime troops dead, the group claimed.
On Friday morning, Mingin PDF said it attacked 11 ships, including military gunboats, carrying jade from Kachin State to Monywa on the Chindwin river.
The military casualties are unknown, the PDF said.
The Democratic Guerrilla Force in Sagaing Region claimed to have killed 10 junta troops, including an army captain, during an ambush on a military convoy in Yinmabin Township on Thursday morning.
Seven combined civilian resistance forces used 11 mines and said two military trucks were damaged.
Triple Two, a civilian resistance force, claimed to have used 30 mines on a bus carrying regime troops in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday morning in response to the junta’s alleged atrocity where 10 villagers were burned alive in Don Taw village, Salingyi Township, this week.
The group told the media that the bus was carrying troops responsible for burning the villagers alive.
It said more than 10 troops were killed in the attack.
A video from the group shows a bus amid explosions.
Pale PDF said it ambushed junta police in a civilian vehicle in Pale Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday using two homemade, remote-controlled mines. The casualties are unknown, it said.
The resistance group said around 20 junta reinforcements arrived and opened fire at random.
The People’s Revolution Army claimed to have killed six regime troops when it attacked a foot patrol in Myaing Township, Magwe Region, using six mines on Thursday afternoon.
After the attack, villages fled their homes to avoid a possible junta raid in revenge.
On Thursday, two attacks were reported in Mandalay Region.
Two resistance groups used a grenade to attack regime forces at a ward administration office in Aungmyaythazan Township, Mandalay Region, on Thursday afternoon.
Three regime troops and a junta-appointed ward administrator were reportedly killed and two pedestrians suffered minor injuries in the blast, said Mandalay Phoenix Force, which claimed responsibility.
Three junta police were killed in an ambush by five resistance groups on three motorbikes and another vehicle in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, on Thursday morning, said 27 Revolution Force, one of the groups which claimed responsibility.
A junta policeman was killed and two others wounded when an unknown group bombed South Okkalapa police station in Yangon on Thursday evening, according to media reports.
The Chin Defense Force in Kanpetlet said seven junta soldiers were killed and six others wounded during three hours of fighting with regime forces in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State, on Thursday morning.
Although regime forces used artillery, the resistance fighters escaped without casualties, the group said.
The people’s administration in Kanpetlet said regime forces burned seven houses and crops and stole two motorbikes in a village after the clash.
On Thursday evening, Demoso PDF said it attacked sentries at Battalion 427 in Demoso Township, Kayah State.
During 45 minutes of fighting, seven junta soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded with the PDF claiming it suffered no casualties.
During the firefight, a house in Nyaungkon village in the township was damaged by a 120mm artillery shell fired from Loikaw, the state capital.
Junta forces are facing attacks from PDFs and many ethnic armed groups across the country.
The regime’s atrocities continue, including arbitrarily killing civilians, burning people alive, using civilian detainees as human shields, bombarding residential areas, looting and burning houses and committing acts of sexual violence, especially in Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin, Shan, and Kayah states.
By Thursday, the regime forces had killed an estimated 1,323 civilians and detained 10,815 people, including elected government leaders, since the Feb. 1 coup, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners that records deaths and arrests.
Irrawaddy News
Junta soldiers massacre and burn 11, including teenagers, during raid on village in Sagaing
/in NewsThe victims, all of whom were unarmed, included a disabled civilian and 10 members of local anti-junta guerrilla forces
This report contains disturbing images
Eleven unarmed people, including teenagers, were captured and massacred by junta soldiers in a village in Sagaing Region on Tuesday, shortly before locals found the smoldering remains of their burnt bodies.
Some 100 soldiers raided Done Taw in Salingyi Township at around 11am after guerrilla fighters detonated explosives in an attack against a military convoy travelling nearby, local media reported.
Villagers found the badly charred bodies of the 11 victims in a pile, some with their hands tied, leading many to assume they were burned alive.
“The victims were taking shelter in a makeshift hut while running away from the military raiding their village,” said someone who is helping to organise their funerals. “The soldiers found them, beat them up and burned them.”
Done Taw is near the Letpadaung copper mine, which is owned by the military conglomerate MEHL and a Chinese company named Wanbao.
The Salingyi G-Z Local People’s Defence Force (PDF) also said the victims were burned alive after the soldiers beat them.
The leader of the Done Taw PDF, a self-organising anti-junta guerrilla group, added that the 11 were unarmed when they were captured. “They beat them to the brink of death and burned them alive before they died. Some of them are not even 18,” he said.
It is unclear if there were any eyewitnesses to the incident and Myanmar Now was unable to immediately confirm the exact circumstances of their deaths.
The victims were all male and included a 40-year-old with paraplegia and five teenagers under the age of 18, while the rest were aged 30 or younger, according to a list compiled by the Done Taw PDF.
The paraplegic man was the only victim who was not a member of the Done Taw PDF, the leader said.
Most of the victims were unrecognisable from being so badly burned, he added, except for 17-year-old Than Myint Aung, who was identifiable from his ear piercing.
All 10 PDF members worked as volunteers helping Covid-19 patients before joining the resistance against the junta, he added.
A video filmed by locals showed a group of burnt bodies lying in various positions in a pile of ashes with smoke still rising from the remains of what appears to have been a hut.
“Motherfucker,” says one of the people in the video, using a Burmese phrase that plays on the spelling of military chief Min Aung Hlaing’s name. “They’re not even recognisable anymore.”
The soldiers found the 11 victims on a betel farm at around 11am, around which time villagers heard gunshots and saw smoke rising from near that area, the PDF leader said. “They didn’t know that the soldiers were coming there until it was too late,” he said.
He added that he believed the victims were not shot dead.
Villagers were still fleeing for their safety when they gave accounts to Myanmar Now in the chaotic aftermath of the killings.
The 11 victims “were running through the farm and got shot and were taken to the hut where they were burned,” said a Done Taw villager.
Another local said she saw a monk get shot in the arm when soldiers started firing from the North Yamar bridge at around 7am.
“I saw the monk get shot with my own eyes,” she told Myanmar Now. “I heard that the bullet went neatly through his arm. I didn’t get to see his arm though.” The monk was not one of the 11 who were caught and he survived the gunshot, she added.
Early on Tuesday morning the Done Taw PDF attacked a convoy of military vehicles using three homemade explosives near the North Yamar bridge, which is about 300 meters from the village.
After the attack, soldiers began searching for the assailants in nearby woodlands, the PDF leader said. The soldiers were then seen entering the village from near the Pathein-Monywa road at 8am, according to other locals.
Their arrival led to people fleeing from nine villages in Salingyi and neighbouring Yinmabin Township, including Done Taw, Kyay Sarkya, Kan Kone and Aung Moe.
“They marched into the region on foot via the North Yamar bridge. They had a car with them as well. They also fired heavy and light weapons in the area,” said a villager from Kyay Sarkya village, which neighbours Done Taw.
Done Taw has only one entrance and exit route, through the Shwe Myin Tin farm on the bank of the Chindwin river, locals said. The lack of escape routes was likely the reason the 11 victims were captured, they added.
A local man living close to Done Taw said the soldiers who terrorised the area stationed themselves on Tuesday evening on Laynhyin hill, about a mile away from Done Taw.
The Done Taw PDF gave Myanmar Now a list naming ten of the 11 victims. They are: Arkar Soe, 14; Hsan Min Oo, 17; Than Myint Aung, 17; Kyaw Thet, 17; Chit Nan Oo, 19; Win Kaw, 20; Htet Ko, 22; Zin Min Tun, 22; Tin Naing, 30, and U Soe, 40.
The unnamed eleventh victim was 17 years old, the group said.
Earlier this year junta soldiers massacred dozens in the Sagaing township of Kani.
Editor’s note: after Myanmar Now published this story, it emerged that U Soe, 40, was not among the 11 victims and had survived the military raid. More details about the error can be found here.
(Reporting by Khin Yi Yi Zaw, Maung Shwe Wah, Zaw Ye Thwe and Wathone Nyein Aye)
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (29 November – 5 December) 2021
/in HR SituationTen months have now passed since the attempted coup in Myanmar. In the time that has elapsed, horrifying rights abuses have been perpetrated against local people who have exemplified a spirited resistance to the junta. The regime is armed with weapons and uses force as a fear mongering tactic. Civilians have what the military lacks – which is a moral compass that propels them forward amidst the difficult new realities on the ground.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a government of and for the people, has been offering the international community multiple pathways for dialogue and interaction, as to not legitimize or recognize the illegal junta. At the United Nations, civil society organizations, alongside the NUG, have been vocal in their demands that a junta representative must not be granted a seat. Over the last week, the nine member Credentials Committee of the General Assembly, which is the body responsible for approving UN representatives, decided to refer a decision on who will be selected to speak for Myanmar, as well as Afghanistan. This in effect means that U Kyaw Moe Tun, who was appointed by the National League for Democracy (NLD), will continue to be the permanent representative for the time being. This step was welcomed by the NUG, though the military junta not surprisingly criticized the UN for denying its envoy.
Pressure on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to not recognize the junta remains. Cambodia will become the chairman of ASEAN beginning in 2022. Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, invited the junta appointed foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin to a meeting in the next week. The decision has spurred suspicions that Cambodia will not take a hardline against Myanmar’s assaults and violent suppression of human rights in the country. A new report released by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) found that of the ‘dramatic rise’ in attacks against opposition Members of Parliament, those in Myanmar were the worst and were an ‘example of a wider trend of closing democratic space in the region.’ The NLD’s Central Working Committee reported that over 570 NLD party members have been detained since February. Only 128 of those detained have been released, and 432 remain in custody.
The urgency for the international community to intervene with concrete action such as targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo is growing every day.
CHIN STATE
According to the Chin Human Rights Organization, over 200 more homes were destroyed over the course of five days between 25 and 29 November. More than 473 structures have been intentionally destroyed by the military junta in Thantlang. Satellite tools and mapping resources by Human Rights Watch detected several thermal anomalies over Thantlang, Chin State, on at least 10 different dates in the past month, during the day and at night. Evidence suggests these fires were deliberately set by the military junta. Photos circulated online showed the mountainous town disappearing as homes, villages and land are being intentionally burnt to the ground.
Religious freedoms, freedom of mobility and the right to safety, shelter and protection are all being undermined as the junta commits war crimes with impunity.
KACHIN STATE
In Kachin State, the presence of the military junta is continuing to undermine civilian safety. An IDP camp and church in Momauk, Kachin State, was damaged after it was shelled by the military junta. More human rights violations followed, with thirty civilians being abducted to be used as human shields while soldiers patrolled the town. Locals were taken from the market, schools and hospitals to guide the junta. Women and children were among those in the regime’s custody. All detainees were released later in the evening.
Bomb blasts in recent days in Kachin State have led to injuries. At a high school in Hpakant, six people were hurt when a school bus struck a landmine. Very few students have dared return to school as instability wreaks havoc in the region and sparks fears. Soldiers have also taken to patrolling classrooms.
On 30 November, the Kachin Independence Army ambushed a junta convoy with a landmine in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State. In retaliation for the at least seven soldiers killed in the attack, the junta launched an artillery attack and shelled a local village. Three homes were damaged and livestock was killed by the shells.
SAGAING REGION
Over 30,000 residents from 15 villages in Sagaing region were forced to flee airstrikes fired by the military junta. Five helicopters by the regime were used to send additional soldiers to fight the local People’s Defence Forces (PDF). The attack was in retaliation for heavy casualties faced by the junta. Witnesses recalled the helicopters firing ‘at anyone they could see.’
Soldiers also set fire to 20 homes and two barns in Kalay Township. The junta targeted homes that they believed had occupants with ties to the PDF.
An additional five displaced civilians were killed by the junta as soldiers raided villages and refugee camps in Gangaw township, where hundreds of troops have been deployed. A series of serious human rights violations are being deployed including torture, sexual harassment and arson. The increasing military presence has been devastating for innocent people caught in the crossfire. An arms embargo must be immediately enforced.