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Myanmar’s junta is blocking pathways for transitional justice

May 10, 2022/in News

Documenting abuses remains a key way for the country to move forward, even as the military tries to drag it back to the past Democracy in Myanmar has been sabotaged by the country’s military junta. In its place, the regime has unleashed a lawless campaign of violence against an innocent civilian population. Thousands have been […]

Junta Bars UN Special Envoy on Myanmar From ASEAN Meeting

May 9, 2022/in News

The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar was blocked by the country’s junta from attending a meeting on humanitarian assistance for the Southeast Asian nation, which has been devastated by last year’s military coup. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday held the meeting in Cambodia to discuss plans to deliver aid to Myanmar. The […]

Myanmar’s junta is blocking pathways for transitional justice

May 10, 2022/in News

Junta Bars UN Special Envoy on Myanmar From ASEAN Meeting

May 9, 2022/in News

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Myanmar’s junta is blocking pathways for transitional justice

May 10, 2022/in News

Documenting abuses remains a key way for the country to move forward, even as the military tries to drag it back to the past

Democracy in Myanmar has been sabotaged by the country’s military junta. In its place, the regime has unleashed a lawless campaign of violence against an innocent civilian population. Thousands have been killed, and many more have been arrested to face fabricated charges in closed-door, military-run courts. These acts are the junta’s direct responses to a thriving opposition movement that has rejected its failed power grab.

The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) has been documenting state-wide, systematic human rights violations since 2004. Its 13 member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Myanmar have endured to advocate for justice for victims. In the wake of last year’s attempted coup, it has continued its efforts to safely and securely document atrocities committed in the country.

Documentation of abuses is always a major challenge for human rights defenders, but over the past year, it has become even more difficult. As it intensifies its use of brutal military tactics across the country, the junta has also targeted those who attempt to collect evidence of its crimes. Internet blackouts and scorched-earth campaigns are just two of the ways the regime attempts to cover its tracks.

The four pillars of transitional justice are truth, justice, reparations, and non-recurrence (institutional reform). In Myanmar, however, all pathways towards granting and ensuring transitional justice have been blocked by the regime. A blanket of denial continues to smother the very function of institutions meant to uphold and preserve the rule of law.

Human rights documentation is a pathway to transitional justice that allows survivors to pursue accountability through the international system. Granting victims safe and accessible spaces to share their experiences ensures that the reconciliation process is clear from the beginning. Organizations such as ND-Burma act as facilitators for psycho-social support and as advocates for restitution. However, under the current regime, these options are no longer even remotely accessible.

There is no rule of law in Myanmar, or any reliable transitional justice mechanisms that would hold the military accountable for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. Attacks against innocent civilians continue with impunity. It’s important to emphasize that transitional justice is not solely about prosecutions and punishment. Justice also involves the provision of reparations to victims, recognition and acknowledgment of the truth about mass violations, and legal security reforms to guarantee non-repetition.

There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that Myanmar’s military forces have committed grave crimes under international law. In February 2022, ND-Burma released “The World Must Know,” a report produced together with the Karenni Human Rights Group that details the junta’s war crimes in Karenni State. These crimes were committed with complete impunity: Not one of the victims or their families in the case studies presented, including the dozens of civilians who were burned alive on December 24, 2021, has seen a single member of the military face any consequences for these unlawful acts.

Justice for victims is routinely denied as soldiers are protected in military courts. As it stands, Myanmar also has no reparations policy which would provide redress to victims or their families. In 2015, the Reparations Working Group was established to advocate for a state-led reparations program. Since February 2021, these efforts have been forcibly put on hold. With no significant policy related to institutional reform in Myanmar, military violations against various ethnic groups and civilians have continued.

ND-Burma documentation shows that survivors want institutional reform to prevent human rights violations from happening again. Fortunately, as Myanmar’s elected, legitimate government continues to look to the future, all stakeholders, including civil society organizations, have an opportunity to collaborate on the drafting of a new federal democratic constitution that guarantees the equality of all ethnic groups, enshrines their right to self-determination, and works toward an end to conflict and security sector reforms that ensure respect for human rights.

Truth-telling and human rights documentation initiatives have long been carried out by civil society organizations. For victims and survivors of the military junta’s harrowing assaults on civilian lives, justice is long overdue. These attacks have spanned decades, yet in the context of the failed coup, the calls for accountability demand concrete action which would finally put an end to the impunity.

Han Gyi is a long-time human rights defender advocating for transitional justice and democracy in Myanmar. He is currently the Coordinator of the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma.

Maggi Quadrini works on human rights for community-based organizations along the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Myanmar Now News

Junta Bars UN Special Envoy on Myanmar From ASEAN Meeting

May 9, 2022/in News

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday held the meeting in Cambodia to discuss plans to deliver aid to Myanmar. The regime was represented by its Minister for International Cooperation Ko Ko Hlaing, the junta’s point man on provision of assistance to Myanmar.

Absent from the meeting in Phnom Penh was Noeleen Heyzer, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar.

According to the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), a group of former UN experts on Myanmar, and the group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, her attendance was blocked by the junta.

“She was invited and then disinvited,” SAC-M said in a statement.

Heyzer was appointed as United Nations special envoy on Myanmar late last year to help solve the Myanmar crisis and facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance.

The reason she was banned from the meeting was not clear, but it appears likely the move was prompted by her recent meetings with the parliamentary body of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and its relief and resettlement minister Dr Win Myat Aye to discuss issues including humanitarian assistance for Myanmar.

The regime has branded the NUG as a terrorist organization. Even international diplomats who mention the NUG are subject to junta condemnation.

When Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah proposed that ASEAN engage informally with the NUG to discuss how humanitarian aid can be distributed to the people of Myanmar, the regime rejected the remark as “irresponsible and reckless”, and warned Malaysian officials against contacting or supporting what it calls a “terrorist group”.

Heyzer has turned out to be the first international envoy to publicly engage with the NUG. Her meetings came after ASEAN was condemned for its failure to make progress on its peace plan for Myanmar. Despite the criticism, the bloc’s officials haven’t met with the shadow government, while being pressed to do so.

Calling Heyzer a crucial actor, the NUG’s Foreign Ministry on Monday said her exclusion from the meeting was yet another insult against the United Nations.

“The National Unity Government also extended its support to the UN envoy and expressed its deep appreciation for her engagement with the National Unity Government and local stakeholders on provision of ASEAN humanitarian assistance to Myanmar,” it said.

The outcomes of the consultative meeting in Phnom Penh included plans for the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) to deliver aid to areas identified by the Myanmar military junta and in coordination with the junta.

The SAC-M condemned this as flouting fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, saying it would advance the military objectives of the Myanmar junta.

The group said there are 14 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar, while an estimated 800,000 people are displaced inside the country. Most are seeking refuge from the junta’s attacks in territory along Myanmar’s borders outside the junta’s control. The junta refuses to permit cross-border aid into these areas.

Irrawaddy News

Spring Revolution

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)September 20, 2024 - 2:30 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 8 to 14, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Magway Region, Shan State, Kachin State, and Rakhine State from September 8th to 14th. Military Junta arrested the civilians as human shields from Mindon Township, Magway Region, and Salingyi Township, […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)September 13, 2024 - 5:08 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 1 to 7, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, and Shan State from September 1st to 7th. The Military Junta threatened that they would launch airstrikes on the townships which they lost. The […]

Multimedia

What is the Truth (Cartoon Animation)May 31, 2024 - 4:58 pm
What is Transitional Justice (Cartoon Animation)May 3, 2024 - 8:38 am
Close the SkyApril 11, 2024 - 7:45 am
Forced MarriageJanuary 9, 2024 - 2:12 pm

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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