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 from Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations to ASEAN to End Myanmar Military’s Violence, Advance Accountability and Operationalize Cross-border Humanitarian Aid
- Press Release – Rights-Based Reform: ASEAN Five Years on from the 5-Point Consensus
- Rights-Based Reform: ASEAN Five Years on from 5-Point Consensus
- [Open Letter] SEANF must remove membership of junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
- President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military Leader
/in HR Situation, NewsOperation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.
Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 and to discuss a ceasefire with the agreement of Haigeng in Northern Shan State. However, the military junta continued to attack with heavy artillery and launched airstrikes on the townships of Northern Shan State.Due to the military’s activities, the Northern Brotherhood Alliances and some revolutionary forces announced “The Second Wave of Operation 1027” on June 25, 2024, four months after the ceasefire. The military junta increased the frequency of airstrikes that began in the second wave (see Graph-1).
The junta visited China most recently from 5th to 10th November to attend the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion Meeting. This was the first time traveling to foreign countries since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021. The Burma Army has perpetrated 306 airstrikes in nine States and Divisions from November 10th to 30th after the return from China.
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The Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Releases New Briefing Paper,‘Attacks from the Air’ on Human Rights Day
/in Others10 December 2024
On Human Rights Day, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) releases its latest briefing paper, “Attacks from the Air,” which includes cases of airstrikes throughout the month of November 2024 in Kachin, Karenni and Shan States. ND-Burma condemns all forms of violence against innocent people and calls for immediate action by the international community to ensure the protection of civilians living in constant terror and fear of attack by the Burma Army.
Desk research compiled by ND-Burma in English and Burmese, combined with data from our members, found twenty-five incidents of airstrikes took place in November in these specific areas, leading to 25 adults killed and ten children, 74 wounded, including 23 adults and 51 children. There were at least 77 damaged properties, including a church, monastery, hospital, tea shop, five office buildings, and six vehicles. The junta perpetrated all of the airstrikes.
Airstrikes are increasing throughout the country as the regime is weakened by an ongoing lack of morale and defections. Significant gains by the armed revolutionary groups have also led to historic defeats and the reclamation of land and territory belonging to ethnic people. Attacks from the air are regularly deployed by the Burma Army to isolate and target civilians. Vulnerable and unprotected, the military’s actions in attacking displaced and conflict-affected groups reveal their cowardice and blatant disregard for human life.
The airstrikes documented in the briefing paper occurred during the early hours of the morning and evening when traumatized civilians were attempting to rest. Temporary shelters and camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) were targeted with airstrikes, as were local teashops. Women and children were among those killed and wounded, as families continue to suffer immense devastation and loss from the junta’s relentless attacks.
ND-Burma welcomes the International Criminal Court’s application to file an arrest warrant for war criminal Min Aung Hlaing for his long-standing crimes against the long-persecuted Rohingya. Every individual has the right to life, live free from harm, and have fundamental rights and freedoms upheld and protected. The military junta is not above the law, and this pivotal step towards justice must lead to an end to the dictatorship so that peace can prevail in Burma.
It is vital to acknowledge and pursue pathways of transitional justice for reparations for communities who have suffered immensely under authoritarian rule. The cases included in ND-Burma’s briefing paper of airstrikes and bombs deployed upon civilians are to be taken seriously by the international community, including ASEAN and UN bodies, which must end all and any existing ties with the illegitimate junta. Global stakeholders must fund human rights defenders to ensure their meaningful work can continue as they inform communities of their human rights and give them the courage to resist oppressive regimes.
The future belongs to the people of Burma.
For more information:
Nai Aue Mon
Signal: +66 86 1679 741
San Htoi
Signal no: +66649369070
Download briefer : https://bit.ly/3VuZCfn
The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) consists of 13 organisations representing a range of ethnic nationalities, women, and former political prisoners. Since 2004, ND-Burma member organisations have been documenting human rights abuses and fighting for justice for victims. The network has nine full members and four affiliate members.
Attacks from the Air:Airstrikes Perpetrated by the Military Junta in Northern Shan State, Kachin State and Karenni State in November 2024
/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's ReportsThis briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) will analyze the impact of the airstrikes perpetrated against innocent civilians by the military junta in Northern Shan State, Kachin State and Karenni State throughout November 2024.
Desk research compiled by ND-Burma in English and Burmese, combined with data from our members, found twenty-five incidents of airstrikes took place in November in these specific areas, leading to 25 adults killed and ten children, 74 wounded, including 23 adults and 51 children. There were at least 77 damaged properties, including a church, monastery, hospital, tea shop, five office buildings, and six vehicles.
ND-Burma has several members operating on the ground in the locations included in this analysis, including the Pa-O Youth Organization, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand and the Ta’ang Students and Youth Union. Of the twenty-five cases, fourteen were also documented by ND-Burma organizations. Their ongoing documentation efforts are critical to collecting further evidence needed to hold the military junta accountable for its crimes.
The deployment of the airstrikes has resulted in many long-term challenges for those targeted, including a lack of adequate shelter, food and medical supplies. The worsening offensives have also led to obstacles in the safe delivery and provision of humanitarian assistance, which the military routinely attempts to intercept and sabotage.
The junta deliberately denies urgently needed aid to the communities they have bombed, both aerially and in on-the-ground attacks. Concerning the vast majority of attacks on civilians, especially from the air, the military regime is the perpetrator of these attacks.
Airstrikes are frequently carried out late at night and early in the morning when there is little warning or time to flee. The junta has violently targeted displaced populations in temporary shelters, internal displacement camps, homes, villages, schools, places of worship, and clinics. Survivors have expressed anxiety, trauma and suffering over the uncertainty and indiscriminate nature of the targeted assaults against them.
The junta has also destroyed entire livelihoods as villages are devastated from the skies. What food, livestock, and materials remain are often raided by military forces in the aftermath of their attacks. The ongoing suffering and plight of civilians have worsened due to the lack of a coordinated and urgent response by the international community.
The future belongs to the people of Burma.
For more information:
Nai Aue Mon
Signal: +66 86 1679 741
San Htoi
Signal no: +66649369070
Civil society support for the application by the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing
/in Member statementsTo: Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court
CC: Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
9 December 2024
Subject: Civil society support for the application by the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing
Your Excellencies,
On the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, we, 174 Myanmar civil society organizations, have the honor to address Your Excellencies to express our unequivocal support for the investigation regarding the Situation in Bangladesh and Myanmar,[1] namely crimes against humanity, including deportation and persecution, perpetrated by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya population.
We commend the Office of the Prosecutor for its landmark application for an arrest warrant, dated 27 November 2024, against Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military, for his criminal responsibility for crimes committed between 25 August and 31 December 2017.[2] This application represents a monumental step toward justice and accountability, not only for the Rohingya but for all peoples of Myanmar. We eagerly anticipate further applications for arrest warrants in the near future and strongly urge the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (the Court) to issue an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing without delay.
For decades, the Myanmar military has engaged in a systematic campaign of violence and persecution against the Rohingya, employing physical violence, propaganda, and institutionalized discrimination. In 2017, this culminated in a brutal campaign of genocide, forcing more than 750,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.[3] Today, an estimated 1 million Rohingya remain in refugee camps in Bangladesh, living in extremely precarious conditions.[4]
The situation in Myanmar remains dire. In Rakhine State, the Rohingya continue to endure grave persecution at the hands of the Myanmar military, which has carried out airstrikes on Rohingya villages,[5] blocked humanitarian aid,[6] and forcibly conscripted Rohingya civilians for military service, using them as frontline fighters and human shields,[7] with unchecked impunity. The Rohingya continue to face conditions akin to apartheid,[8] living in confined villages and internment camps under constant threat of violence and deprived of basic rights and freedoms, including access to food, healthcare, education, and employment.[9] This reality underscores the Myanmar military’s ongoing genocide and other international crimes against the Rohingya.
For decades and continuing today, the Myanmar military junta has targeted not only the Rohingya, but also other ethnic and religious minorities, as well as civil society organizations, pro-democracy activists, and human rights defenders, with “widespread and systematic” atrocities and human rights violations—emboldened by decades of complete impunity.[10] Since staging an illegal coup attempt on 1 February 2021, the military junta has intensified and expanded its violence against all peoples across Myanmar, killing more than 6,025 people and arbitrarily arresting more than 27,797.[11] Over the past three and a half years, the military has destroyed at least 105,314 civilian homes by arson[12] and launched more than 3,292 airstrikes—many targeting civilian areas, including internally displaced person camps, schools, medical facilities, and religious infrastructures.[13]
To prevent further atrocities and ensure justice for the Rohingya and all other communities in Myanmar, it is imperative that Min Aung Hlaing and others responsible be held accountable without delay. We recall the declaration of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, pursuant to Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, granting the Court jurisdiction over international crimes committed in Myanmar since 1 July 2002.[14] We therefore call for further investigations by the Office of the Prosecutor into the Myanmar military’s commission of international crimes against the people of Myanmar since 1 July 2002, including the ongoing mass atrocity crimes committed nationwide since its attempted coup of February 2021.
In conclusion, while respecting the Court’s final decision, we reiterate our full support for the Office of the Prosecutor’s application for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing. We also look forward to further investigations by the Court and subsequent cases thereat related to the Myanmar military’s commission of genocide against the Rohingya, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar. The issuance of an international arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing would send a powerful message—not only to the Rohingya, but to the tens of millions of people in Myanmar who continue to suffer from the military’s crimes—that international criminal law is a vital tool for achieving justice and accountability, and that justice will prevail in their lifetimes.
We commend the Court and the Office of the Prosecutor for their steadfast commitment to securing justice for the Rohingya, and eagerly await further applications for and the issuance of arrest warrants related to the Situation in Bangladesh and Myanmar forthwith.
Sincerely,
For more information, please contact:
Signed by 174 Myanmar civil society organizations, including eight organizations that have chosen not to
disclose their names
Download the letter in PDF.
[1] https://www.icc-cpi.int/situations/bangladesh/myanmar
[2] https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-application-arrest-warrant-situation-bangladesh
[3] https://apnews.com/article/rohingya-migration-bangladesh-myanmar-boats-c03221ad9bf90a9467bf4030b961dbd3
[4] https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/bgd
[5] https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/rakhine-village-attack-03182024051323.html
[6] https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/how-near-total-absence-humanitarian-access-impacting-lives-myanmar
[7] https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/10/myanmar-military-forcibly-recruiting-rohingya
[8] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/11/myanmar-rohingya-trapped-in-dehumanising-apartheid-regime-2/
[9] https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/24/myanmar-no-justice-no-freedom-rohingya-5-years
[10] https://www.ohchr.org/en/2021/03/statement-thomas-h-andrewsun-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-myanmarunited; A/HRC/39/CRP.2, paras. 97, 607, 1369
[11] https://aappb.org/?p=30445
[12] https://web.facebook.com/data4myanmar/posts/pfbid0D5PsxfLXDmhyQbhWu6EWvWaYLodmTamaYDZa9AW3wt6Y74QupCy9vwRuV3LYwnNzl
[13] https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2024/10/09/aerial-attacks-carried-out-by-the-military-council-5/
[14] https://x.com/NUGMyanmar/status/1428739347717648389
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