Human Rights Situation weekly update (March 1 to 7, 2023)

Military junta troops arrested 15 locals from Tatine Village as human shields, killed them, and left their dead bodies from March 1st to 7th in Sagaing Region. 5 civilians from Myingyan township, Mandalay Region, 6 from Launglon, Tanintharyi Region, 3 locals from Yinmabin and 5 youths from Ye-U were arrested and killed. Junta troops are still committing the massacre of civilians as war crimes. Military Junta’s soldiers raped and killed 3 women from Tadine village, Sagaing Region, and a woman was also raped and burnt at Myauknon village. Military Junta Troop arrested and killed 34 civilians within a week and raped and killed 4 women.

“We Dare Not Return”

Displacement and the Denial of Human Rights in Southeastern Burma

On 7 February 2021, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) began documenting the escalation of atrocities committed by the military junta following a failed coup attempt on 1 February 2021. Over the last two years, the expansion of Burma Army soldiers, particularly in ethnic areas, has caused widespread displacement. Innocent civilians have been injured, killed and routinely forced to flee their villages as soldiers target them. The systematic and widespread assaults perpetrated by the junta-backed forces are ongoing.


HURFOM has observed no signs of the military easing its attacks. State-backed armed forces have instead continued to spearhead their campaign of terror, including the perpetration of illegal, inhumane acts. Among the many human rights violations we have documented are arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate firing and shelling, enforced disappearances, murder and torture. A lack of reliable domestic accountability measures has allowed the Burma Army to evade responsibility for their crimes. No one in Burma feels safe under the current circumstances. This is due to the significant curtailing of fundamental human rights, democratic norms and freedoms.


Deeply ingrained military impunity has shielded the junta soldiers from accountability as they burn homes, raid villages, and violently detain innocent people. A flawed military-drafted Constitution protects the Burma Army as the highest authority, paying no mind nor interest in their vast crimes, which have spanned decades. To the Generals, they are the exception to every rule, including the ones that they dictate and which technically make their coup a violation of their own accord.

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland Releases a New Report, “We Dare Not Return,” Displacement and the Denial of Human Rights in Southeastern Burma

For Immediate Release

7 March 2023: Today, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) releases a new report, “We Dare Not Return,” Displacement and the Denial of Human Rights in Southeastern Burma. The report includes an analysis of the current situation in our respective target areas of Southeastern Burma throughout 2022. The findings draw on interviews with emergency response teams, survivors, and witnesses of the attacks. The Burma Army committed all the crimes documented in the report with complete and total impunity. They are widespread, systematic and indicative of a worsening pattern of violence. 

Between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022, HURFOM reported that at least 146 people were killed, including 26 women and children. In addition, more than 480 were injured, and nearly 1500 were arbitrarily arrested and detained. The Burma Army continued to target opposition forces, including members of pro-democracy groups. This subsequently led to over 85 cases of enforced disappearances. Dozens of human rights defenders remain in exile for their safety. HURFOM also documented 750 houses burned, including 58 villages. The humanitarian crisis caused by the junta’s destruction has led to over 150 000 people being forcibly displaced in Southeastern Burma. 

Throughout the reporting period of 2022, the conditions on the ground caused civilians to feel unsafe. Many villagers that HURFOM spoke to said they ‘dare not return’ to their homes out of fear that they would be arrested, tortured or even killed by the military junta. There are economic and social struggles as villagers cannot work, study or support their families because the presence of the regime has deterred them. On multiple occasions, HURFOM documented Burma Army soldiers indiscriminately firing into villages. 

The situation in the third year since the failed coup has not improved. The rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in southeastern Burma requires urgent and immediate attention as more lives are caught in the crossfire daily. International actors and UN bodies must support and enact a no-fly zone in Burma, a global arms embargo, and an urgent and immediate referral of the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court. 

And yet, a sentiment of hope, determination and adversity is still prominent throughout the country as rallying forces join together to defeat and dismantle the junta. The people on the ground in Burma are brave in their unwavering commitment to see an end to military rule. The international community must not let their struggle be in vain. They must use their diplomatic tools and resources to engage meaningfully with civil society organizations and the National Unity Government. 


Media Contact
Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director
Email: auemon@gmail.com 
Signal: +66 86 167 9741

HURFOM was founded by exiled pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprisings, recent activists and Mon community leaders and youth. Its primary objective is restoring democracy, human rights and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization, and all its members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country. 

4 of every 5 townships in Myanmar impacted by conflict since coup: UN agency

The UN Human Rights Office calls for ‘urgent, concrete action’ to end a humanitarian crisis in the country.

Nearly four out of every five townships in Myanmar has been impacted by conflict in the two years since the military coup, according to the United Nations, prompting calls by civil society for “immediate action” to end the junta’s crimes against its own citizens.

A new report published on Friday found that 255 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, or nearly 80%, had been impacted by armed clashes between the military and anti-junta forces between Jan. 31, 2023, and the Feb. 1, 2021, takeover as the regime’s generals have “embarked on a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement accompanying the findings.

“Tragically, regional and global efforts for peace and restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears,” Türk said.

“The military, emboldened by continuous and absolute impunity, has consistently shown disregard for international obligations and principles,” he said. “Urgent, concrete action is needed to end this festering catastrophe.”

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JuxtaposeJSKone Ywar village, Yinmarbin township, in Myanmar’s Sagaing region is seen Nov. 17, 2020 [left] and March 4, 2023. The second image was taken days after junta troops torched the village. Credit: Google Earth CNES/Airbus [left] and Planet Labs

The report documents a long list of human rights violations from Feb. 1, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2023, alone amid what it said was a “sharp rise in violence” over the past year – particularly in the country’s northwestern and southeastern regions.

It cited credible sources as having confirmed the military’s killing of at least 2,940 civilians and arrest of 17,572 others since the coup. The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), an NGO based in Thailand, puts the numbers higher, with at least 3,110 killed and 20,167 arrested.

Central to the military’s impact on Myanmar’s civilian population is its so-called “Four-cuts approach” against the armed resistance, the report found. This included indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, razing of villages, and denial of humanitarian access as part of a bid to “cut off” anti-junta forces from access to food, finances, intelligence and recruits.

The military launched 301 airstrikes in 2022, compared to 125 a year earlier, fired heavy artillery shells 756 times, compared to 376 times in 2021, and burned civilian villages 1,355 times – a staggering five-fold increase from its 282 arson attacks the prior year.

The report singled out the systematic and widespread burning of villages and dwellings as one of the military’s most frequently used tactics, noting that nearly 39,000 houses across the country have been burnt or destroyed by junta troops since February 2022 alone – a more than 1,000-fold increase from a year earlier.

Of the country’s regions, Sagaing was the most affected, with more than 25,500 homes destroyed by military arson, the U.N. said. The military razed nearly the entire village of Ah Shey See in Sagaing’s Kale township, burning 621 structures to the ground, the report found, based on an analysis of satellite imagery.

Civilians in the crosshairs

The military’s indiscriminate airstrikes do more harm to the civilian population than its enemies, the commander of an anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitary group in Chin state’s Kanpetlet township told RFA Burmese, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.

“The military airstrikes target our bases but they often misfire and hit civilian populations, causing the people to suffer,” he said.

A resident of Kawkareik township in southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin state told RFA that not even civilians who flee attacks on their villages are safe from the military.

“People fleeing to the jungle have no shelter and have to live with what little they can carry, under [makeshift] roofs made of leaves,” said the resident. “The military troops still target and shoot at them, as if [the shelters are] an enemy base.”

The U.N. report also documented at least 24 mass killings by junta troops of five people or more in 2022 alone.

The reported increase in the targeting of civilians comes despite numerous claims by junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun during interviews with RFA that the military does not target noncombatants or commit arson attacks.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s economy has foundered as the result of military mismanagement, doubling the country’s poverty rates from March 2020.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said in its report that nearly half of the population now lives in poverty, while rural populations risk starvation amid military restrictions in conflict zones. Some 17.6 million people are being denied access to crucial humanitarian aid, it said.

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Junta troops torched Kone Ywar village, Yinmarbin township, in Myanmar’s Sagaing region on March 1, 2023. When the flames finally died down by Wednesday morning, they methodically set fire to whatever was left standing. Credit: Citizen journalist

Commissioner Türk accused the military of creating a “perpetual human rights crisis” in Myanmar since the coup.

“Across Myanmar, people are continuously exposed to violations and crimes, including killings, enforced disappearances, displacement, torture, arbitrary arrests, and sexual violence,” he said.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the military and its affiliated militias continue to be responsible for most violations, some of which may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

The U.N. report called for an immediate halt to the violence in Myanmar, the release of those arbitrarily detained, accountability, and unhindered humanitarian access.

Call for immediate action

Speaking to RFA, Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the office of shadow National Unity Government Prime Minister Duwa Lashi La, welcomed the U.N. report, but called for immediate and concrete action to stop the junta.

“This is a situation where tens of people are killed by the junta every day, and their homes and property are being destroyed on a daily basis, as well,” he said.

“Time is of the essence. The longer action is delayed, the more innocent civilians will suffer. That’s why we need to determine the root causes, choose the right methods to deal with them, and implement them quickly.”

Kyaw Win, director of the Burma Human Rights Network told RFA that the military’s human rights violations do more than “constitute” crimes against humanity, calling them even worse than what is documented in the U.N. report.

“What the Myanmar military is carrying out are crimes against humanity … because it has systematically committed such crimes everywhere using the same pattern and methods,” he said.

Other sources said they were unsurprised by the U.N.’s findings, noting that the military has become increasingly brutal over the two years since the coup.

“If such atrocities continue to happen every month, the people will be in serious trouble,” said a member of the PDF in Sagaing’s Wetlet township, who also declined to be named. “The international community must join together to overthrow the military regime as soon as possible.”

RFA News

Junta arrests 22 civilians after mine blast in Sagaing region

The arrested include 3 civil disobedience movement teachers.

Junta troops have been rounding up civilians in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region in the hunt for supporters of anti-regime militias after a mine blast that killed two People’s Defense Force Members.

Three of the 22 civilians were released Sunday, leaving 19 in custody including three civil defense movement teachers, according to a spokesman for the local defense force.

The arrests follow the capture of two People’s Defense Force members in Indaw township on Friday after the mine blast hit a police vehicle escorted by military soldiers in Indaw town center.

“Troops are patrolling most of the areas and market places in town by vehicle,” said a local who requested anonymity. “The two boys who triggered the mine died. Two boys who went to see the place where the mine exploded were arrested.”

The information officer for the local People’s Defense Force (PDF) said troops rounded up locals from Friday through Sunday.

“On the morning of March 3, two young PDF comrades were arrested, and they keep arresting people accused of being donors [to the PDF],” said the spokesperson who declined to be named.

He said the three women – who teach students who dropped out of school to protest the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup – were 44-year-old Aye; 52-year-old Ohn Mar; and 39-year-old Thein Hla from Indaw town.

Locals said that all of the arrested civilians were being interrogated by Indaw-based military infantry battalion 186.

Many of the shops in Indaw town are closed and the streets are silent, according to locals.

RFA’s calls to the junta council spokesman for Sagaing region, Aye Hlaing, went unanswered.

Nearly 20,000 civilians have been arrested nationwide, including more than 2,000 from Sagaing region, in the 25 months since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

RFA News

AAPP Press Release: New Report “Towards Accountability: The Urgent Need for Renewed International Attention to Sit-Tat’s Crimes Against Humanity in Burma”

March 1, 2023, marks 759 days since the military junta attempted to take control of the country and repressed pro-democracy resistance with mass arrests, massacres, and other atrocities. Today, to call on the international community to take action against the junta, AAPP has published its report, “Towards Accountability: The Urgent Need for Renewed International Attention to Sit-Tat’s Crimes Against Humanity in Burma.” The report provides AAPP data and testimonies on killings, detentions, and property seizures perpetrated by the junta against the pro-democracy movement.

To mark the report’s publication, co-founders and current Executive Committee members of AAPP, U Tate Naing and U Bo Kyi, issued the following press statements. Also included below is an excerpt from the report’s foreword written by Elaine Pearson, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch.

U Tate Naing, AAPP Secretary, said: “During the 23-year period since the founding of the organization, AAPP has been documenting countless human rights violations with strong evidence. However, this report will show that after the 2021 coup d’état, the crimes against humanity committed by Burma’s military have set a record in terms of brutality and violence.
If international justice mechanisms cannot take effective action against the crimes committed by Burma’s military, the junta will only continue its commission of blatant criminal acts. Therefore, the international community must facilitate justice for the people of Burma as immediately as possible.”

U Bo Kyi, AAPP Joint-Secretary, said: “AAPP has been monitoring human rights violations committed by the junta in Burma since long ago, and we have documented many human right violations. But it is not enough to call them human rights violations. The junta has committed and is committing crimes against humanity, which are serious international crimes. It is time to take action against this junta through the ICC and all other available mechanisms.”

Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Asia Director wrote: “It’s no longer a matter of knowing that crimes against humanity have been committed in Myanmar. The question now is how the perpetrators can be held to account…The report also calls for better coordinated targeted sanctions by foreign governments on junta officials and for ASEAN member states to adopt legislation necessary to support the exercise of universal jurisdiction to facilitate the prosecution of those responsible for these crimes.”

In Solidarity,

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)

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