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
- Open letter: Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest signal urgent need for investigation and complete end of mandate
- Myanmar children, monks among dozens killed in heavy airstrikes
- UN chief: Discussing humanitarian aid corridor from Bangladesh to Myanmar
- Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes first appearance before the ICC: confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for 23 September 2025
- Myanmar junta troops massacre 11 villagers, most too old to flee, residents say
Human Rights Situation of Myanmar: Post Coup (December 27 to 2 January)2022
/in HR SituationOn 1 January, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that since 1 February, 1393 people had been killed, 11, 296 arrested and over 8000 are still being unlawfully detained. In December alone, according to the National Unity Government, over five dozen civilians were murdered and tens of thousands were displaced by the junta’s violence. The Women’s League of Burma reported that nearly 100 women were among those killed by the regime in 2021.
Prospects for peace for the people of Myanmar appear more distant now, than in recent times. The turmoil and terror spurred by the military junta since the failed February coup have squandered hopes and dreams of young people, and perpetuated a growing feeling of instability. Despite the junta’s fear mongering, the spirit of civilians, revolutionary fighters, human rights defenders and people of all ages, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds has not been broken.
The resilience seen over the last 11 months speaks volumes to the strength and courage citizens have embodied and exemplified. Yet, in the midst of the devastating times and harrowing levels of violence, the international community has countlessly been too slow to act. Dozens of statements were accompanied by condemnation but no action. Closed door meetings with the UN Security Council failed to meet the moment of crisis and urgency being made from the ground.
As the year came to an end, the conflict in Myanmar’s ethnic areas did not ease. Quite the contrary, airstrikes and ground attacks saw the forced internal displacement of thousands. Women, children, and the elderly were among those without adequate shelter, food or clothing while they were fleeing for their lives to the borders of neighboring countries, including Thailand. In Karen State, on December 23 and 24, the junta launched three airstrikes in surrounding villages of Lay Kay Kaw. The Karen National Union (KNU) has emphasized that there is a ‘high possibility that [the attacks] will happen again.’ The KNU, in addition to civil society organizations, have urged for collective action to the atrocities in Myanmar which are ongoing, systematic and widespread.
A New Year is a renewed opportunity for action and accountability. The international community must not fail the people of Myanmar who have been more than patient. Time must not be wasted, and true, meaningful steps towards holding the junta accountable for their endless crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
KAREN STATE
Violence in Karen State has been increasing throughout the year periodically and more so recently since the end of December 2021. According to the Karen Peace Support Network, , the number of IDPs and refugees to date has fluctuated as Thai authorities only allow war victims to cross into Thailand when they hear gun fire. After a while, those who had fled were pressured to return to Karen State.
The updated numbers of refugees in Thailand is currently around 5000 who are sheltering in various places in the country. However, ground reports suggest significant pressure from Thai authorities for those fleeing violence to be sent back. It is unlawful, and harmful to send innocent civilians fleeing a war zone back into an environment that is unsafe.
ND-Burma member, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, reported that fighting between the Karen National Liberation Army of Brigade 6 in Dalee village took place on 31 December. At least 60 households, and an estimated 240 villagers fled to nearby KNU controlled areas.
SAGAING REGION
More attacks by the military junta are creating rampant displacement amidst Internet cuts and blocking urgently needed humanitarian aid. On 28 December, more homes were burnt to the ground in Kale Township, Sagaing. Ongoing airstrikes and ground attacks left 20 civilians dead, and displaced thousands more. Civilian defense forces are actively fighting with the Myanmar military who is retaliating against innocent villagers in response.
Residents of Ye-U village were found ‘burnt beyond recognition’ following airstrikes a few days earlier. Among the seven people killed, two included women. Some of the bodies were half buried near a home that had been destroyed. In the relentless assaults across the country, Sagaing region is among those which have been hit the hardest as civilian casualties continue to grow, adding a horrifying layer of devastation to the current crisis.
SHAN STATE
In Shan State, Pekon Township, two villagers who were abducted by the junta and forced to guide soldiers died in custody. The two men, aged 67 and 49 were among 19 villagers taken hostage at the end of October. The two victims had stayed behind during a raid on their village to take care of the elderly residents. Their bodies have not been returned to their families as clearance operations, including theft and arbitrary arrests, have left the region in shambles.
Reports of more civilians being tortured in military custody included a teacher, and a couple who were members of the National League for Democracy who were killed in military custody. These awful atrocities are being violently committed in areas where resistance forces against the regime are most active.
Pakokku man accused of funding PDF dies in junta custody
/in NewsThe man was in prison for more than a month before his family learned that he had been arrested and was reportedly in poor health
A man who was arrested in October on charges of financially supporting the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) died in prison last week, according to a source close to his family.
Relatives of 43-year-old Myo Naing, a resident of Pakokku in Magway Region, were notified of his death last Monday, just weeks after they learned of his whereabouts, the source said.
He had been transferred to Pakokku Prison less than two weeks earlier and was said to be facing three charges under Myanmar’s Anti-Terrorism Law at the time of his death.
“They said he felt a sharp pain on the left side of his chest and collapsed. He was sent to the out-patient department and was going in and out of consciousness on his way to the hospital. He died 15 minutes after arriving at the hospital,” said the source.
The victim’s family was later notified by the Prison Department that he had died due to pre-existing health conditions, according to the family friend, who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
“They said he had pre-existing health conditions, but I’ve never heard anything about him having any health problems or being admitted to a hospital,” he said.
On Tuesday, the day of Myo Naing’s funeral, the Prison Department issued another notice stating that there were no external injuries on his body.
“The notice also said that he had been charged with possession of weapons. There were three charges against him, but that’s all his family knows,” the source added.
Members of the victim’s immediate family were not available for comment.
On Thursday, the anti-regime Pakokku People’s Revolution Committee of released a statement saying that the military must take full responsibility for Myo Naing’s death.
According to a member of the committee, Myo Naing was arrested by armed and plainclothes junta personnel at a tea shop in mid-October, but his family did not learn that he was in prison and in poor health until December.
“We spent three weeks trying to get information about him at the local police stations, but didn’t get any answers, so we just assumed that he was being held at the interrogation centre,” the committee member said.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military has killed a total of 1,398 people since seizing power on February 1 of last year, including many who have died during interrogation.
Myanmar Now News
More Magway villagers fall victim to marauding regime forces
/in NewsAt least two civilians were killed in separate incidents last week as the junta continues its efforts to crush opponents to its rule
Regime forces and members of the pro-military Pyu Saw Htee group murdered at least two villagers in Magway Region last week, according to local sources.
On Thursday, the charred remains of a man were found inside a house that had been set on fire in Hnan Khar, a village in Gangaw Township that has been largely deserted since it came under an aerial attack on December 17.
The body was believed to belong to 45-year-old Htwar Maung, one of three people abducted by regime forces in the area last week, local sources said.
Htwar Maung and another man, 60-year-old Pei Tone, were reportedly taken into custody together when military troops returned to Hnan Khar on Wednesday.
According to a village leader, Pei Tone was found alive near the house containing the burnt body.
“He was close to death when we found him. We couldn’t ask him anything, because he couldn’t speak,” said the village leader, adding that Pei Tone, who was said to be mentally disabled, had bruises covering his head and back.
The third person was identified as 50-year-old Than Ngwe, who was seen being taken away with his hands tied behind his back as the troops left the village later the same day.
Like Pei Tone, Than Ngwe was described by local residents as being mentally challenged. It is believed that he was taken as a human shield. Residents of Hnan Khar discovered nine bodies in the village after it had been occupied by regime forces in the wake of last month’s air raids.
Residents of Hnan Khar discovered nine bodies in the village after it had been occupied by regime forces in the wake of last month’s air raids.
Meanwhile, there were also reports that a 58-year-old man had been shot and killed in Zee Taw, a village located some 215km southeast of Hnan Khar in Pauk Township, during a raid by police and local Pyu Saw Htee members on Friday.
The victim, Myint Shwe, was reportedly killed at around 11am as he was returning home after working in his fields.
Pauk.jpeg
According to the leader of a guerrilla force active in Pauk Township, Myint Swe was murdered as he attempted to flee a group of 16 men on motorcycles who had entered the village minutes earlier.
“They were just going around Zee Taw shooting randomly when they ran into him. They shot him six times,” said the local guerrilla leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A woman who identified herself as a relative of the victim confirmed this account.
“I was feeding my children when they arrived. The Pyu Saw Htee were wearing hats to hide their identities and they drove away right after shooting him,” she said.
“They just ran into him by chance and shot him dead.”
Pyae Sone, a police defector who leads the Magway-based Myay Latt Guerrilla Force, was in the area at the time of the incident and said he later saw the victim’s body.
“He was such a simple person. He didn’t even know how to use a mobile phone, let alone take part in the revolution. He ran away in fear when he ran into them. They shot him until he was dead,” he said.
The Pyu Saw Htee group has been active in the area for months, terrorizing local villagers in an effort to suppress support for armed groups opposed to the junta that seized power last February.
In October, around 30 members of the group surrendered with their weapons to anti-regime forces in Magway after the military failed to protect them from attack.
Myanmar Now News
Junta forces and military-backed armed group terrorise Sagaing residents
/in NewsDisplaced locals from a Taze Township village say they heard the military fire both shells and guns before they saw smoke rising from the community
Displaced locals from Sagaing Region’s Taze Township said they saw smoke rising from their village on Sunday morning after a clash between local resistance forces and junta troops broke out there one day earlier.
The military occupied the village—Kar Paung Kya—after opening fire with heavy weapons on members of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Taze.
According to a member of the Taze PDF, they clashed with more than 100 junta soldiers for 45 minutes after the resistance group launched an attack near Kar Paung Kya using explosives. The Taze PDF was forced to retreat after the military retaliated, he added, with the coup regime’s soldiers remaining in Kar Paung Kya.
“Some said they could see smoke coming out from the edge of the village. We don’t know anything for sure yet,” said a Kar Paung Kya local who would like to remain anonymous.
Locals said they heard the military firing both shells and guns near the village early Sunday morning before they saw the smoke.
“The military is still inside the village. They fired an artillery shell once in the morning and fired some 20 rounds of light weapons,” another Kar Paung Kya resident said.
Further details about the military’s activities in Kar Paung Kya were not known at the time of reporting.
Karpaungkya.jpeg
According to the Taze PDF member, a 22-year-old resistance fighter known as Myo Chit San was killed by the junta’s artillery fire on Saturday.
Kar Paung Kya’s 3,000 residents have been displaced for months after the military carried out more than 10 raids on the 700-household village since late August.
The Myanmar army torched several homes in Kar Paung Kya in October after occupying the community for a week.
One day before the clash near Kar Paung Kya, buildings in the town of Kyunhla—some 60km from Taze—were ransacked and torched by members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee network, two sources told Myanmar Now.
Among the sites targeted were homes in Pyinma Myaing ward, several tea shops, and a motorcycle in Sipin Zay Kone ward, as well as a goldsmith which was looted there, locals said.
One of the locals who spoke to Myanmar Now noted that the Pyu Saw Htee members appeared to be targeting the shops and houses owned by members or supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose elected administration was ousted in Myanmar’s February 1 coup.
“They torched the buildings because they believed they belonged to pro-NLD people,” the local man said. “The Pyu Saw Htee group has been terrorising the town for a long time. We don’t have any PDF groups present in the town of Kyunhla.”
He added that residents of the neighbourhood had to put out the blaze set by the Pyu Saw Htee as the fire department did not respond to the incident.
Members of the group were also seen firing shots in the town and threatening locals two days before the raid, with some residents speculating that the Pyu Saw Htee were testing out their weapons and shooting in the air, according to another local.
The individual added that the members of the group had also fired shots into the air until 1am after torching the buildings in Pyinma Myaing ward.
“They were doing so in order to make the neighbourhood residents believe that they had to open fire because there was a clash [between the resistance and the junta forces],” he said, noting that no such clash had occurred.
Myanmar Now tried to contact the Kyunhla central police station to comment on the locals’ accounts of the events, but the officer on duty refused to answer the calls.
Junta information officer Gen Zaw Min Tun said during a press conference on September 15 that the military had not formed the Pyu Saw Htee group nor had they provided them with weapons or training.
At least two villagers in Kyunhla Township were killed during the airstrikes by the Myanmar military in late-October.
Locals from several villages in the region had to flee on November 9 when the military fired shells to the west of the Thaphan Sate dam during a battle with the PDF just outside the township.
The Kyunhla Township PDF has stated that the military has carried out frequent raids on villages in the area and robbed civilians of their valuables and food supplies.
Sagaing Region quickly became a resistance stronghold against the junta following the February coup.
Myanmar Now remains unable to contact the military for comment on the ongoing offensive in northwestern Myanmar, nor has the junta addressed in state-controlled newspapers the crimes of which it is accused in the region.
Myanmar Now News
NEW THREATS FROM THE AIR
/in Member statements, ND-Burma Members' ReportsNew report maps out SAC war crimes in northern Burma
A new report by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) provides evidence, including detailed
maps, of war crimes by forces of the State Administration Council (SAC) regime in Kachin State and northern Shan State during the past six months.
“New Threats from the Air” reveals a new and deadly trend of airstrikes over populated villages in Kachin
State, in apparent retaliation for conflict losses along strategic transport routes. Five airstrikes in Putao,
Hpakant and along the Irrawaddy river killed two villagers and injured thirteen, including six children, in
the first few months of this year.
Maps show how SAC troops from the notorious assault divisions ID 33, ID 88 and ID 99, have fired artillery
shells directly into civilian areas. Thirteen shelling incidents during the past six months killed eight villagersand injured twenty, including six children.
Maps also provide evidence of ongoing confidence of impunity for sexual violence by SAC troops. A rape
attempt by a SAC soldier in Kutkai on April 12 took place only a few kilometers from where a soldier from
the same battalion raped an elderly woman in November last year.
The report documents thirteen incidents of indiscriminate shooting by SAC troops, injuring seven civilians
and killing eleven – including a seven-year-old boy killed in his bed in Myitkyina, when troops shot randomly into civilian houses following a bomb explosion in the town.
Twenty-three people have been arbitrarily arrested by SAC forces across Kachin State, including seven
who were severely tortured to make them confess to being members of the Kachin Independence Army
(KIA) or People’s Defence Forces (PDF). Dozens of villagers, including women, have been forced to walk
between SAC troops as human shields in Momauk, Hpakant and Namtu.
Ongoing fighting and SAC abuses have caused new displacement of over 5,700 villagers across northern
Burma during the past six months.
KWAT is calling urgently for increased diplomatic and economic pressure on the military regime to end
their atrocities, and enable the transfer of power to a democratically elected government under a new federalconstitution.
For more information:
Moon Nay Li (+66 855233791)
San Htoi (+95 9761113558
Download Report in [English] [Burmese]
Download Press release in [English] [Burmese]
UN Security Council Demands Answers Over Myanmar’s Christmas Eve Massacre
/in NewsThe United Nations Security Council has called for accountability for the Christmas Eve massacre in Hpruso Township, Kayah State, in which at least 35 people, including four children and two Save the Children staff, were killed in Myanmar.
Photos from a Kayah-based group showed the charred remains of bodies on burned trucks in the rural area.
Security Council president Abdou Abarry from Niger said in a statement that the global body condemned the slaughter and “called for the immediate cessation of all violence and emphasized the importance of respect for human rights and of ensuring safety of civilians”.
The statement added that members reaffirmed their support for the people of Myanmar and the country’s democratic transition.
The statement stressed “the need for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need, and for the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel”.
The Security Council action on Myanmar is normally vetoed by permanent members Russia and China. In the wake of the Feb. 1 coup, the council failed to condemn the military takeover as both Russia and China, which maintain close relations with the military, blocked the move and insisted it was a domestic affair.
The human rights affairs minister in the parallel National Unity Government U Aung Myo Min said: “It also very important that justice is done for every crime the military regime has committed.
He said the lack of any rule of law in Myanmar meant the NUG was looking to the international courts to bring the junta leaders to justice. Delays in international action, however, pushed “the people to take matters into their own hands”, U Aung Myo Min added.
The massacre happened after a battle between junta troops and the Karenni Army and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), an alliance of resistance groups fighting the regime in Kayah State.
Junta soldiers detained villagers near Moso and killed and burned them along with seven vehicles and five motorbikes.
Four members of the Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front, a border guard force which agreed a ceasefire with the former junta in 1994, were tied up and shot in the head while they were negotiating with junta forces for the release of the abductees, according to the resistance group.
The Security Council’s condemnations echoed statements from domestic civil society organizations, ethnic armed groups, Save the Children and Myanmar’s envoys to the UN.
The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths condemned the junta’s actions and called for a thorough investigation.
Armed resistance against the junta began in Kayah State in late May and nearly half of the state’s population of around 150,000 has been displaced by fighting. An estimated 187 people in the state had been killed by Dec. 26, said the Progressive Karenni People’s Force.
By Wednesday, at least 1,382 civilians have been killed by the junta and an estimated 11,254 have been detained with more than 8,000 still in detention.
The junta’s crackdowns and offensives against the civilians opposing the regime include indiscriminate shooting, launching artillery and frequent aerial bombardment.
The UN’s special envoy to Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, on Tuesday called for a New Year’s ceasefire.
Irrawaddy News