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UN rights chief slams Myanmar death penalty cases

December 2, 2022/in News

More than 130 people have been sentenced to death in secretive military courts since the coup, UN says. More than 130 people have been sentenced to death in secret closed-door trials held by Myanmar’s military junta since it seized power last year, a top U.N. official said Friday, calling the pattern a “political tool to […]

More civilians reported dead as Myanmar military continues terrorising Sagaing communities

December 2, 2022/in News

The number of casualties from a junta campaign through Khin-U Township continues to grow as locals uncover new victims and the army targets more villages Several more civilian deaths have been reported in Khin-U as Myanmar military troops perpetrate a series of air and ground attacks on communities in the besieged Sagaing Region township. Three […]

UN rights chief slams Myanmar death penalty cases

December 2, 2022/in News

More civilians reported dead as Myanmar military continues terrorising Sagaing communities

December 2, 2022/in News

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UN rights chief slams Myanmar death penalty cases

December 2, 2022/in News

More than 130 people have been sentenced to death in secretive military courts since the coup, UN says.

More than 130 people have been sentenced to death in secret closed-door trials held by Myanmar’s military junta since it seized power last year, a top U.N. official said Friday, calling the pattern a “political tool to crush opposition.”

The closed-door trials are a violation of people’s basic right to due process and a fair trial, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said.

Death sentences have been handed out to 139 people since the military seized power, Türk said, with the regime carrying out its first executions in about three decades in July.

“The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality,” Türk said, calling for a suspension of the use of the death penalty.

The comments came after at least seven student activists were sentenced to death on Wednesday, with sources telling Radio Free Asia their execution was set for Dec. 7. The junta accuses them killing a retired army officer at a bank, but the trial by a military court took place behind closed doors in Insein Prison.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) says a total of 16,472 people have been arrested by the military junta since the February 2021 coup, with 13,002 still in prison.

Türk said the use of the death penalty showed the regime’s “disdain” for global efforts to end the violence in Myanmar, including the Five-Point Consensus the regime signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last year.

RFA News

More civilians reported dead as Myanmar military continues terrorising Sagaing communities

December 2, 2022/in News

The number of casualties from a junta campaign through Khin-U Township continues to grow as locals uncover new victims and the army targets more villages

Several more civilian deaths have been reported in Khin-U as Myanmar military troops perpetrate a series of air and ground attacks on communities in the besieged Sagaing Region township.

Three military columns began raiding villages in western Khin-U on November 15 in a campaign that has included multiple aerial assaults, reducing hundreds of homes to ashes and killing an estimated 14 residents and 10 resistance fighters, according to sources within local anti-junta defence forces.

“Some elderly people died in the burning houses, and others were killed after being arrested. Some children were shot dead while they tried to flee the raids,” said Lu Chaw, the spokesperson for the Khin-U People’s Defence Team (PDT).

Over the past week, Myanmar Now reported on the casualties of seven local resistance members and five civilians in attacks on the villages of Mone Hla and Kan Tharyar. Among the slain civilians were two boys, aged nine and 14, both shot dead by Myanmar army soldiers.

On Monday, it was learned that there were at least one dozen more fatalities during these assaults, most of whom were civilians from other nearby villages including Myin Daung and Myit Taw.

Myanmar Now was only able to gather further information about half of these victims.
Khin-U_raids.jpeg

Map indicating the routes of junta columns and subsequent raids of villages in western Khin-U Township

The deaths occurred after a joint force of two military columns entered western Khin-U from neighbouring Kanbalu Township to the north; the occupation led to an outbreak of fighting in Mone Hla on November 23 between junta soldiers and local resistance forces and involving airstrikes by the regime.

Both sides suffered casualties, including the death of at least six guerrilla fighters.

It was previously reported that 40-year-old civilian Daw Mya was killed by junta artillery fire while fleeing from Mone Hla, but another man in his 50s named Phoe Tauk from the same community was later also reported dead.

The next day—November 24—the joint Myanmar army column travelled south, and for one night occupied the village of Thar Wut Hti, more than two miles from Mone Hla. The soldiers joined a third column that had marched from Khin-U town and were linked to the shooting of the 14-year-old boy in Kan Tharyar during their advance.

The joint column from Kanbalu continued their southbound route until they arrived in Myin Daung, around four miles from Thar Wut Hti. They occupied the village for three days, until November 28, before departing towards Ye-U Township to the west.

Most of Myin Daung’s residents fled, returning only after the soldiers had left, at which time they discovered three charred bodies inside a village shop.

“I suspect that they were burned to death because the bodies were found with their arms wrapped around each other,” a Myin Daung local said.

The resident confirmed that the corpses belonged to three men who had lived in Myin Daung, identified as Nay Soe, 32; Ko Zaw, 48; and Tin Win Myint, 53.
Myin_daung.jpeg

Two burned bodies of Myin Daung locals are seen on November 28 (Supplied)

On November 25, the column from Khin-U left for the village of Myit Taw in the southeast. A 65-year-old local man, Hla Win, was reportedly shot dead by the soldiers there, according to Lu Chaw of the Khin-U Township PDT.

“The old man was walking with a cane and the soldiers shot him from behind,” the resistance group’s spokesperson told Myanmar Now.

After spending one night in Myit Taw, the troops left for Kan Thit on November 26, where 19-year-old resistance fighter Phoe Si Win was reportedly killed in a clash with the regime soldiers.
Myin_daung_health_facility.jpeg

A local health facility in Myin Daung village after a junta raid (Supplied)

Fighting has broken out in Khin-U on a daily basis in recent weeks, according to a member of the third battalion of the Shwebo District chapter of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), which is based in the township. Around 20,000 Khin-U residents have been forced by the military campaign to flee their homes.

The battle in Mone Hla was the most severe of these incidents, said the PDF member, who participated in the fight.

“The air force opened fire for nearly an hour while the ground troops made steady advances,” he told Myanmar Now. “[The resistance] doesn’t have much firepower. We really have to be careful of using our firepower if we have multiple fights happening.”

“We have the courage to shoot them, but not the bullets,” he said.

Editor’s note: PDTs, known by the Burmese acronym of Pa Ka Pha, are township-based resistance units under the direct command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government’s defence ministry.

Myanmar Now News

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 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 […]
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 […]

Multimedia

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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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