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Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (January 3-9)2022

January 10, 2022/in HR Situation

Myanmar has a message to Cambodian leader, Hun Sen: You are not welcome. His visit symbolizes support for the murderous regime who have killed, arrested and detained hundreds of innocent people with impunity. The leaders of the military junta have been violently steering the country off course for decades. Since 1 February, their selfishness and […]

Locals blame military after married couple’s mutilated bodies found in Sagaing

January 10, 2022/in News

The victims each had burn marks on their skin and the wife had one of her breasts missing Locals in Sagaing’s Kalay Township found the badly mutilated bodies of a married couple late last month, days after they went missing, and have blamed the military for their murders. Moe Moe Htay, 48, was found dead […]

Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (January 3-9)2022

January 10, 2022/in HR Situation

Locals blame military after married couple’s mutilated bodies found in Sagaing

January 10, 2022/in News

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Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (January 3-9)2022

January 10, 2022/in HR Situation

The leaders of the military junta have been violently steering the country off course for decades. Since 1 February, their selfishness and violence has heightened fears and anxieties as older generations are forced to relive traumas and a younger population grapples with what the reality of military rule looks like. Hun Sen shaking hands with Min Aung Hlaing, a ruthless dictator does not nothing but seemingly accept the mass crimes of soldiers routinely violating civilian rights and freedoms.

Civil society has been vocal in their opposition to the meeting between the two leaders in which over 190 organizations issued a joint statement condemned Hun Sen for supporting the terrorist regime. The calls were supported by Cambodian human rights groups as well. Protests across Myanmar were attended by activists, human rights defenders and civilians who echoed calls rejecting Hun Sen’s visit scheduled on 7 January.

Min Aung Hlaing has failed to act on commitments he made to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, including halting violence against peaceful demonstrators, among other recommendations in the 5-Point Consensus. All efforts by ASEAN have been disappointing and have not led to any meaningful change. The fact that ASEAN chose to not invite representatives of the military to several meetings has not deterred the junta from their war path.

The General Strike Coordination Body released a statement also denouncing Hun Sen’s visit on the grounds that it ‘ignores the will of the Myanmar people.’ While visiting, ousted civilian government leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are not allowed to meet with the Cambodian officials.

The message being sent is clear, and must be heard. Cambodian is also riddled with a past of mass atrocities which amounted to genocide. Hun Sen has governed without hesitating to also squander voices of opposition, and has also made an enemy of the free press. “Dictators supporting dictators,” will not bode well and risks setting a standard that these meetings are to be accepted.

ASEAN has an obligation, as does the rest of the international community, to cut all business ties with the criminal regime and engage in a constructive dialogue with the National Unity Government.

CHIN STATE

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has reported the deliberate burning of Thantlang town, making it the 18th time the junta has deliberately scorched the area since 9 September. CHRO has been documenting the widespread human rights violations being perpetrated in Chin State. In Thantlang alone, over 10 000 people have been displaced. According to CHRO, as of 3 January, over 700 structures, including seven churches and a dozen religious buildings have been intentionally set on fire since 9 September.

As well documented by the media and rights groups, Chin State had known only peace for many years until a strong resistance movement emerged after the attempted coup. Despite ongoing threats by the illegal junta to cooperate, or face violent threats to their lives and infrastructure, the Chin people have shown great courage in the midst of such horrors. Evidence and documentation of orders for soldiers to ‘clear the town’ must be taken seriously by the international community to hold the regime to account.

SHAN STATE

Fighting between the military junta and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State intensified in a suspected retaliation after two TNLA soldiers were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen. Six locals who were caught in the crossfire and all from the same family, were injured when an artillery shell landed on their home. Three children under the age of five also sustained injuries.

Fighting in Shan State has forced many civilians to flee their homes, prompting the Committee for Shan State Unity Committee to issue a statement calling on all stakeholders to find a solution to end violence and keep civilians safe.

KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE

The Karenni National Progressive Party announced that they are committed to exposing the junta’s widespread human rights violations by creating a documentary. One quarter of the population in conflict-torn Kayah (Karenni) State has been forcibly displaced by the Myanmar military’s violence. The junta has committed serious violations which have forced the most vulnerable to the brink of survival.

The announcement comes as more harrowing evidence emerges of the massacre where more than 30 people were killed in Kayah (Karenni) State, including women, children and the elderly. During a press conference, a doctor who carried out post-mortem examinations of the remains called the crimes against the victims said they were “murdered in the cruelest and most inhumane manner I have ever seen in my entire life.”

Over the weekend, the Kayah (Karenni) capital city of Loikaw was violently assaulted by junta armed forces in clashes which killed at least four civilians and displaced over 1000. The civilian armed resistance in Kayah (Karenni) State has been met with brute force from the Myanmar military. The ‘scorched-earth’ tactics being used are indicative of a worrying tactic of the junta to eliminate opposition, even at the cost of innocent civilian lives.

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Locals blame military after married couple’s mutilated bodies found in Sagaing

January 10, 2022/in News

The victims each had burn marks on their skin and the wife had one of her breasts missing

Locals in Sagaing’s Kalay Township found the badly mutilated bodies of a married couple late last month, days after they went missing, and have blamed the military for their murders.

Moe Moe Htay, 48, was found dead by the Myittha river on December 29 with a knife wound in her stomach, burn marks on her skin, and one of her breasts missing, a relative of the couple told Myanmar Now.

The body of her husband Nyi Nyi, 49, was found nearby the next day. “He had his hands tied to a bamboo stalk like a chicken and was burned,” said the relative.

The couple left their village of Khon Toe Myo Thar on December 25 to collect money they were owed by someone half an hour away in the village of Tinthar.

But they never arrived at their destination. The relative believes they were abducted and murdered by soldiers on guard duty at the Kabarni bridge.

The families of the couple held a funeral for them on January 6. Their bodies were cremated near the village where they were found.

They leave behind two sons, one in his teens and the other in his twenties.

Myanmar Now reviewed photos of the bodies that matched the descriptions given by the relative.

The injuries were so severe that the pair were only recognisable by their clothing, the relative said.

Several local residents declined to speak with Myanmar Now about the killings out of fear of being targeted by the military.

Calls to the Kalay Township police station seeking comment on the case went unanswered.

Locals in Kalay have mounted fierce armed resistance against the junta, inflicting heavy casualties against its forces with guerrilla-style attacks.

In response soldiers have routinely terrorised civilians with killings, abductions, torture and arson.

Myanmar Now News

Spring Revolution

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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 […]
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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 […]

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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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