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.
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Hardline monks tied to pro-junta militias in Myanmar’s Sagaing region
/in NewsResidents say the monks are helping to form the groups and even receiving weapons training.
Ultranationalist Buddhist clergymen, including outspoken monk Wirathu, are throwing their support behind the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia in its fight against prodemocracy paramilitaries in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, including by undergoing weapons training clad in saffron robes, residents said Monday.
Members of the prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group have demonstrated some of the fiercest resistance to junta troops and their militia-backed offensive in Sagaing since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. The military is better equipped and has embarked on a scorched earth campaign in the region with the help of the Pyu Saw Htee, but residents say that a new tool has been added to its arsenal: hardline monks from the Ma Ba Tha group.
A video recently went viral on social media in Myanmar purportedly showing members of the Ma Ba Tha on a “tour” of several pro-junta villages in Sagaing in support of forming Pyu Saw Htee units. The video appears to show the monks helping to train people and delivering Buddhist sermons.
In one clip, Ma Ba Tha leaders known as “sayadaws” — including Wah Thawa, Wira Raza, and Pandita — appear to be holding guns in their hands and telling residents that the PDFs are killing people and setting fire to villages. One monk is heard to say, “Wirathu himself visited the villages yesterday and raised the morale of residents.”
Sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the footage was filmed on Feb. 27 at the Yadanar Kan Myint Htei Monastery during a Pyu Saw Htee training camp graduation ceremony in Taze township’s Kabe village. They confirmed that pro-junta monks have been “carrying guns” and “taking part in some of the fighting” in the region.
An eyewitness from Taze’s Kyunle village told RFA that the Pyu Saw Htee groups were “led by Ma Ba Tha monks” and that “Wirathu is involved.”
“There are Pyu Saw Htee and Ma Ba Tha monks,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“These monks are not local monks. All the local monks are gone. They have fled to safety. Some villagers said they saw Wirathu. [Such actions are] totally against the rules observed by the [Buddhist clergy] and we condemn it.”
According to the eyewitness, nearly half of the 350 houses in Kyunle are pro-military and mostly Pyu Saw Htee. Residents who do not support the Pyu Saw Htee have “fled their homes,” he added.
Another resident of the area who declined to be named said the armed monks had summoned Taze’s inhabitants to the Yadanar Kan Myint Htei Monastery and Kyunle’s Lay Thar Monastery and told them not to accept the PDF.
“Since the local monks fled the Yadanar Kan Myint Htei Monastery, they took over the place and tried to turn the villagers against the PDFs,” he said, adding that “all the monks” at the Lay Thar Monastery are junta supporters.
Pro-military ‘from the beginning’
Tayza Nanda, an abbot of the pro-democracy Spring Revolutionary Monk Network in Taze, told RFA that the Ma Ba Tha sayadaws are working in the region with the support of the military.
“These monks have been backed by the military from the beginning,” he said. “What they are saying and doing now is all in line with Wirathu’s preaching and now they are taking up arms. They are [junta chief Sen. Gen.] Min Aung Hlaing’s followers who support evil.
“Real monks can’t even preach to those who carry weapons, let alone carry arms themselves,” Tayza Nanda added.
RFA could not independently confirm allegations that Wirathu is involved with the Pyu Saw Htee. Attempts to contact Wirathu went unanswered Monday.
Junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun confirmed to RFA that militia groups had been formed “to protect these villages from PDF attacks.”
“Since the PDFs are threatening villages that do not support them, we have formed militia groups there to provide security for these villages,” he said. “We have not provided monks with weapons. There is no reason to do that.”
Zaw Min Tun noted that he had never “said a word before about the PDF-supporting monks who reside there and are carrying arms,” without providing details about his claims.
A member of the Taze PDF told RFA that on March 6 his group attacked a Pyu Saw Htee unit led by sayadaw Wah Thawa in Kabe village, and that the unit “fled with many wounded.”
“Wah Thawa is no longer in the area. He has fled to Kanbalu. Wah Thawa, who was seen in the footage with a pistol and bullet-proof vest, was the leader,” he said. “Monks hold even more authority in rural areas than village administrators, so [the junta] tried to use the monks to do their organizing of Pyu Saw Htee units.”
The Taze PDF member said the Pyu Saw Htee and the Ma Ba Tha group attacked small villages in the area, including Kyunle and Kabe, and had “forced the locals to join them.”
Using religion for political gain
Rajadhamma, an abbot with the Buddhist Mandalay Sangha Union, said Wirathu had cultivated close ties in the past with the monk leaders of the Pyu Saw Htee group in Sagaing — Wah Thawa, Wira Raza and Pandita.
“All three of them used to live close to Wirathu in the past. We can even say that they are the actual leaders of this group,” he said. “Now they are taking weapons training for killing others. Holding guns and learning how to shoot is completely inappropriate for our religion.”
Ultranationalist Buddhist monk Wirathu was charged by the deposed National League for Democracy government with sedition in May 2019, but the charges were dropped by the junta in September 2021 and he was set free. He is currently touring towns in Mandalay and Bago regions, and witnesses say the military has provided him security.
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that reports of the Ma Ba Tha’s involvement with the Pyu Saw Htee suggest the militia is using religion for political gain in Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country.
“The majority of people in our country are Buddhists and they all love and respect the monks, so [the military is trying] to use the monks for their benefit,” he said. “We have never heard about an entire group of monks taking up arms training.”
Myanmar’s military has killed at least 1,672 civilians since the coup and arrested nearly 9,625 others — mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests.
According to a report issued last week by Data for Myanmar, a research group that documents the impact of conflict on communities, pro-junta forces have burned more than 6,700 houses to the ground in 186 locations in nine regions and states since the military coup. Last month, the group said most of the junta-sponsored arson had occurred in Sagaing region.
Last month, a post went viral on social media that allegedly showed a leaked document from the junta’s Northwest Military Command ordering the delivery of more than 2,000 weapons to 77 pro-junta militia groups and calling for the formation of more militia units in remote villages in Sagaing. RFA was unable to independently confirm the authenticity of the document.
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
RFA News
Junta forces seize control of strategic road after intense assault on resistance stronghold
/in NewsThe KNDF withdrew from Daw Ngan Kar under a barrage of missiles, airstrikes and artillery fire, but have vowed to retake the neighbourhood
The junta’s forces have taken control of a key neighbourhood along a strategically important road in Karenni State that leads to Naypyitaw, forcing resistance fighters to retreat under a barrage of missiles, airstrikes and artillery fire.
The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KDNF) withdrew from Daw Ngan Khar, which is just minutes from the centre of the town of Demoso, after coming under attack on Saturday.
A road linking Demoso to Moebye, a town just north of the border with Shan State, runs through Daw Ngan Khar and then connects to a route that leads to Myanmar’s capital.
Some 200 soldiers were involved in the assault, according to a spokesperson for the KNDF’s Battalion 1.
“They fired missiles. There was no way we could defend against a series of missiles. They also fired 60mm, 80mm, 120mm and 122mm artillery shells relentlessly,” he told Myanmar Now. “We didn’t want to give up control over the area but we had to as we didn’t want to lose any more lives.”
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The KNDF still had control of other parts of Demoso Township and would retake Daw Ngan Khar, he said: “We want Daw Ngan Khar back and we will take it back. Please give us your support.”
He added: “It wouldn’t solve every problem but it would be a lot better for the IDPs and for the resistance forces if we could regain control over the area between Daw Ngan Khar and Moebye. At least the IDPs would have somewhere to flee to. They no longer have anywhere to run now.”
During the assault on Daw Ngan Khar, junta soldiers from Infantry Battalions 102, 261, and 427 fired heavy artillery. In recent days and nights scouting helicopters have been hovering over Demoso Township and the junta’s air force has dropped bombs on camps where displaced people have been sheltering, the KNDF spokesperson said.
He had also heard reports that junta forces bombed villages along the Demoso-Moebye road, killed civilians and burned down houses, though he was unable to gather further details because of the communications blackout.
Fighting escalated in the area a month ago after junta soldiers entered and occupiedMoebye. Since then over 100 junta personnel and 40 resistance fighters have been killed, according to statements by the KNDF.
Nineteen civilians have also been killed, including four who died when junta aircraft dropped bombs on camps for people who had fled their homes, according to the statements.
Since fighting erupted in the wake of last year’s military coup, more than 170,000 people have fled their homes in Karenni region, which covers Karenni State and Pekhon Township in southern Shan State.
Many have had to flee several times amid repeated attacks on displacement camps by the junta’s forces, several volunteer aid workers have said.
In early January, anti-junta forces said they had taken control of Loikaw Township, where Karenni’s capital is based. The junta responded by launching numerous assaults aimed at reclaiming the territory, while cutting off phone and internet access to the area.
Resistance forces in Karenni, like those elsewhere in the country, say they do not have enough weapons and ammunition, and have called on the National Unity Government (NUG) to supply them.
Saturday’s defeat in Daw Ngan Khar happened because the resistance was outgunned by the junta, said a KNDF fighter who was involved in the clash.
The group’s fighters had to take turns using weapons during the clash because they didn’t have enough for everyone to be armed at the same time, he said.
“We didn’t think they’d use that much force. It was just too cruel,” he added. “We eventually had to retreat solely because we didn’t have as many weapons as them. But we are going to continue fighting because we just can’t stand injustice.”
Since declaring a war of resistance against the junta in September, the NUG has repeatedly said it is working to establish a chain of command to unify the numerous anti-junta armed groups across Myanmar.
But it remains unclear to what extent the underground administration is arming and training resistance forces.
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Naing Htoo Aung, the secretary of the NUG’s defence ministry, told Myanmar Now that supporting the nationwide armed resistance was a “priority”.
“We are trying to provide more funds and weapons,” he said last week. “This is a priority as well as a challenge for the defence department of the NUG.”
The KNDF says it is working under the command of the Karenni Army (KA), a rebel group that has operated in the region for decades, rather than under the NUG.
The KNDF has 18 battalions and is formed of groups of locals who took up arms last year to resist the new junta.
Other resistance groups in the region–including those from Moebye, Pekhon, Demoso, Loikaw and Hpruso townships–say they have formed official ties with the NUG.
There are various other self-organising guerrilla groups active in the region, but it is unclear if they are still operating independently or under the command of a larger group.
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Aung San Myint, the deputy secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, the political wing of the KA, said every resistance group must come under a single chain of command in order to defeat the junta.
“We need to have a step-by-step military plan,” he said. “The plan is very chaotic right now because the resistance groups are not under a single chain of command. That is the reason why we’ve lost so many people.”
Karenni State, also known as Kayah, has a population of around 300,000 people. Well over half that number have been displaced by fighting since the coup, according to local civil society groups.
Junta officials could not be reached for comment on the latest clashes.
Myanmar Now News
Women vow to rise from ashes to defeat Myanmar regime
/in NewsIn Sagaing Region, women who have lost their homes to brutal attacks by junta forces continue to defy their oppressors
Charred wood and blackened sheets of corrugated metal were all that welcomed Hla May* when she returned to her home.
The air in her village was still thick with the acrid smell of smoke. And with every gust of wind, ashes stirred and swirled, making it that much harder to breathe.
But Hla May was not reduced to despair the way her home had been reduced to ashes. As she surveyed the devastation, she gripped a piece of corrugated tin—part of what had once been her home—and braced herself to speak.
“You can burn our village, but not our spirit and our soil,” she said defiantly.
The others who gathered around her repeated her words, which had become the newest slogan of their movement to resist Myanmar’s brutal military regime.
“If we stop protesting after the fire, they will think we have given up. They will think we are afraid,” Hla May continued, her voice rising.
Around a quarter of the roughly 800 homes in Pan Ywar, a village in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township, were burned to the ground on January 31, the eve of the first anniversary of last year’s coup. They were among the thousands that the military has torched around the country since seizing power.
Sagaing Region has borne the brunt of the junta’s scorched-earth campaign to eradicate opposition to its rule. According to one estimate, around 60% of the more than 6,000 homes set on fire by regime forces since the coup were in Sagaing.
Despite the junta’s efforts to terrorise civilians into submission, however, the resistance movement continues to grow. And women, including ordinary housewives like 48-year-old Hla May, have been at the forefront of this struggle.
A series of attacks carried out on Saturday reduced one village to ashes, sources in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U Township reported
‘I remain strong’
On the night that their village was set alight, Hla May and the other residents of Pan Ywar were hiding in the forest. They had fled with a few emergency provisions after learning that soldiers were approaching the nearby village of Mweton.
Helplessly, they watched as first Mweton, and then Pan Ywar, were consumed by fire.
“Some started crying when they saw the flames, but not me. Our houses didn’t burn down because of our negligence. They were intentionally set on fire,” said Hla May.
“I am not sad. I remain strong,” she added.
Even after they returned to the village the next day and saw the extent of the damage, Hla May did not shed a tear. She just examined the ruins and thought about those responsible for laying waste to their lives.
The marauders who did this didn’t just take things of value, such as food and vehicles, she said. They took everything they could lay their hands on, and destroyed everything else.
“They take whatever they want, even children’s toys,” she said.
Hla May used to be a farmer. Now, however, she lives in the forest, surviving on food donated by other villages.
“I had to give up my work. I couldn’t do it anymore. But to tell the truth, I’m not interested in doing my work now. All I want to do is focus on winning the revolution,” she said.
‘We can’t just surrender’
For 20-year-old Nyein, who also lived in Pan Ywar until it came under attack, these past few weeks have been the hardest of her life.
An avid gardener, Nyein was devastated when she saw that the plants she had cultivated with such care had been set ablaze by junta troops.
“I’m sad. I feel like I have nothing left,” she said, describing how she felt as if all her happiest memories had been crushed in a single night of wanton destruction.
But even so, she said she did not regret her opposition to the regime.
“We can’t just surrender without resisting. It can’t be helped that they burned down our houses because of that,” she said.
Like others from Pan Ywar—some of whom had spent years working in the city to save enough money to build their homes—Nyein now lives on a bamboo mat under a tarpaulin sheet.
Forced to flee with nothing but the clothes on her back, she said she had to go for days without bathing when she first arrived in the forest. Feminine hygiene products are still unavailable, she added.
There is enough food to eat for now, she said. She wasn’t sure, however, how long it would last. She said she would just have to deal with her current situation one day at a time.
But even under these circumstances, she and other women in the village decided to hold a protest against the junta 11 days after their homes were destroyed.
Brandishing fragments of their former lives as symbols of defiance, they demanded that the junta give up power and restore the country’s rightful government.
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‘Fight until the bitter end’
The sight of flames rising from her village didn’t really upset Aye Nge; it wasn’t until the next day, when she returned to where her home had once stood, that the tears began to flow.
Surrounded by a scene of utter destruction, she cried inconsolably for some time, knowing how much it had cost her parents to build their home.
“Some people worked like slaves to build their homes. They were good homes,” she said in a low voice.
But even after losing her home and all of her possessions, Aye Nge said she was prepared to make even greater sacrifices if need be to bring down a dictatorship that had inflicted so much suffering on the country.
“We didn’t think they would be this cruel. We were hurt deeply by their actions. We will fight against the military regime until our last breath, through our pain and sadness,” she said.
“I have lost my home, but even if I lose my life, I will continue the fight in spirit until the military regime is gone,” she added.
This was a sentiment shared by many of the women of Pan Ywar.
“We will uproot the military council, no matter how difficult it is. We will never surrender. We will never get down on our knees. We will continue the revolution from the jungle or anywhere else,” said Hla May.
“No matter what, we must fight until the bitter end. We must keep up the fight, even if we are left with nothing. Only then will life be better for our next generation,” said Nyein.
“We won’t give up just because they burned our village,” she added.
*All names have been changed to protect the identities of the women interviewed for this article
This article was originally published in Burmese by HI Burma
Myanmar Now News
Regime Artillery Strikes Kill Children and Senior Citizens in Upper Myanmar
/in NewsTwo children and nine senior citizens were killed earlier this week by junta artillery strikes and raids in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township.
Around 100 regime soldiers raided Letpan Taw Village in Yinmabin on Tuesday, firing artillery rounds which killed ten people sheltering in the village monastery, said residents.
“They died after they [junta troops] fired artillery at the monastery. We saw it from the place where we were hiding. But we could do nothing. The victims were then placed on a bed in the west of the monastery and set on fire. They were a total of ten people including two kids,” said one resident.
Eight elderly people died in the artillery strike alongside the two children.
One of the victim’s family members said: “It grieved us to see their charred bodies. We feel like we would fight them [the junta] at once if we had weapons. Words fail me.”
An elderly woman from Kantha Village, who was taking shelter at Kantha’s monastery, died in another junta raid, locals reported.
Civilians from Kantha and Letpan Taw villages were also reportedly abducted by military regime troops.
“Five people were abducted with their hands tied. We heard one of them was released on Wednesday,” a member of the Yinmabin People’s Defense Forces (PDF) told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. Yinmabin PDF clashed with junta troops during the raid on Letpan Taw Village on Tuesday.
“Clashes are still taking place,’ said one Yinmabin PDF fighter on Thursday. “We don’t know where they [regime forces] are heading. But as they march, we ambush them with mines where possible. They are not wearing military uniforms, but they are in black clothes and short pants, pretending [to be civilians]. They dare not travel in small groups, so they come as a large group and there might be around 100 of them.”
Military tensions remain high in the area with junta forces deployed near a pagoda in the west of Theegon Village in Yinmabin.
The Myanmar military has reinforced its soldiers across Yinmabin and is raiding one village after another in an effort to crush resistance in the township, said local PDF fighters.
Irrawaddy News
RESIST (Women’s Courage Tested in Myanmar One Year Since the Failed Coup)
/in ND-Burma's ReportsWomen in Myanmar have shown their strength over decades of armed conflict. They have also reshaped a landscape of patriarchal values that have long attempted to shape the country. Advocates have been calling for stronger legislation to protect women from physical and emotional violence, but there has been a disappointing lack of desire to pass laws which would protect survivors and ensure access to justice.
The malice exhibited by the Myanmar junta includes many years of sexual violence perpetrated during internal conflict. Under these harrowing circumstances, women and girls bear the burden. They are targeted by soldiers while trying to escape raids, and flee organized violence. Those who survive are left traumatized and often without adequate access to psychosocial counseling. Their lives, along with their families, are forever marred by the regime’s vehemence.
Pathways to justice are filled with roadblocks, including costly trials and protection granted to soldiers. The junta has been able to evade accountability and increase the likelihood of repeat offenses. Years of impunity has reinforced a deeply flawed legal system that denies the dignity, safety and security of victims.
Since the failed Myanmar coup on 1 February 2021, civilians have come under fire as soldiers have attempted to squander resistance movements through any means necessary. Over 1,500 people have been killed and hundreds more injured, according to local documentation groups. Against this backdrop of unyielding violence, women’s resistance movements have prevailed under the darkest of circumstances. Pro-democracy campaigns have taken place in spite of the threats and risks to their physical and digital security.
In the presence of the Myanmar military, women have never been safe. Nevertheless, women’s voices for change continue to persevere. Against all odds, indeed, they continue to resist.
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand and The Network for Human Rights Documentation Call for Justice for Women in Myanmar in New Joint Briefing Paper, “Resist”
/in Press Releases and StatementsThe Human Rights Foundation of Monland, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand and The Network for Human Rights Documentation Call for Justice for Women in Myanmar in New Joint Briefing Paper, “Resist”
8 March 20222
For Immediate Release
Today, on International Women’s Day, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) and the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) release a joint briefing paper, “Resist: Women’s Courage Tested in Myanmar One Year Since the Failed Coup.”
In the 13 months which have now passed since 1 February 2021, the people of Myanmar have had their basic rights and freedoms swiftly obstructed by the military junta. Women are among the hundreds who have been killed, and the thousands arbitrarily and unlawfully arrested by the Myanmar military. The lives of citizens in the country have not been safe for many months now. And yet, despite the great terrors and daily risks to their lives, the Spring Revolution has amassed a nation who refuses to bow down to the authoritarian regime.
Women throughout Myanmar’s history have tirelessly advocated for equality and recognition through their participation in all sectors of society at a minimum of 30 percent. Since the failed coup, women leaders have shown up across the country in various ways including leading protests, organizing and campaigning anti-coup rallies and offering support behind the scenes to displaced families, civilian armed defense forces and more. They have left their jobs and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement as doctors, medics, lawyers, teachers, bankers and from a variety of other professions. Amidst all of the threats, women in Myanmar continue to resist.
HURFOM, KWAT and ND-Burma call for an immediate end to violence against civilians in Myanmar, in particular an end to conflict related sexual violence and acts which endanger the lives of women and children. Women have been gunned down in their homes with their families by the junta, and have faced extreme violence in military custody. Alongside growing numbers of arbitrary arrests, detainment and forced disappearances, women who challenge the junta are susceptible to more danger if immediate action is not swiftly taken.
Media Contact
The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand
kwat.office@gmail.com
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland
auemon@gmail.com
The Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma
NDBoffice@protonmail.com
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland was founded by pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprising and more recent activists and Mon community leaders and youths, and its main aim is for the restoration of democracy, human rights and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization and all its members are volunteers who have the same opinion for the same aim. By accepting the main aim, we would like to participate in the struggle for the establishment of a democratic Burma doing our part as a local ethnic human rights group, which is monitoring the human rights situation in Mon territory and other areas in the southern part of Burma.
The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand is a non-profit organization which works to eliminate discrimination and violence against women, enhance the living standards of women and enable them to participate in decision-making processes at all levels, and strengthen the quest for social justice, peace and development in the Kachin region
The Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma was 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 a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
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