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At least 61 civilians killed this month in clashes in Myanmar’s remote border regions

December 30, 2021/in News

More than 40,000 people were displaced from the fighting in Kayah and Kayin states, and Sagaing and Magway regions. More than five dozen civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced due to clashes between Myanmar’s military and anti-junta forces in four of the country’s remote border regions in December alone, according to local […]

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup 2021 December 20-21

December 27, 2021/in HR Situation

During the holiday season, the people of Myanmar have been denied peace and protection in their homelands. Across the country, the military junta continues to terrorize the civilian population through unlawful arrests, abductions, torture and murder. No one feels safe. In Karen State, clashes have been intensifying since 15 December between the Karen National Liberation Army […]

At least 61 civilians killed this month in clashes in Myanmar’s remote border regions

December 30, 2021/in News

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup 2021 December 20-21

December 27, 2021/in HR Situation

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At least 61 civilians killed this month in clashes in Myanmar’s remote border regions

December 30, 2021/in News

More than 40,000 people were displaced from the fighting in Kayah and Kayin states, and Sagaing and Magway regions.

More than five dozen civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced due to clashes between Myanmar’s military and anti-junta forces in four of the country’s remote border regions in December alone, according to local militias and an official with the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

At least 61 people died and more than 40,000 fled fighting this month – the 10^th since the military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a Feb. 1 coup – in Kayah and Kayin states, as well as in Sagaing and Magway regions, sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

The deaths occurred as the result of four specific incidents, including the Dec. 7 massacre of 10 people in Sagaing’s Don Taw village, a Dec. 17 helicopter attack on Hnankhar and Mwayle villages in Magway’s Gangaw township, a Dec. 20 airstrike on Ye Myat village in Sagaing’s Yay-Oo township that killed seven, and a Dec. 24 fire in Kayah state’s Phruso township in which 35 people perished.

A spokesman for the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF), an armed ethnic group fighting against the military in Kayah state, said the military was responsible for the killing of civilians in December and said that such reckless actions suggest that the junta is “on the verge of collapse.”

“They are acting in the most violent way to frighten the people,” he said.

“But no matter what they do, how brutal they are, they will not see us surrendering in fear or receiving every blow with our heads bowed.”

The junta says voter fraud led to the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s November 2020 election but has yet to provide evidence for its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,382 people and arresting 8,331 in the nearly 11 months since, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The military has also launched several offensives in the country’s remote border regions, battling ethnic armies and local branches of the prodemocracy People’s Defense Force militia that have formed to help protect residents. Many civilians have lost their lives in the crossfire, while reports of looting, torture, rape, and summary executions by junta troops are common.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun has acknowledged armed clashes between government troops and PDF militia fighters that he labels “terrorists,” but denies that any massacres of civilians have taken place.

Increasing number of refugees

In the meantime, the United Nations Security Council, U.S., Britain, Canada and other members of the international community have issued a series of statements condemning mass killings by the military and raising concerns about the high number of people who have been displaced by the violence.

A spokesman for the ethnic Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) recently told RFA that around 20,000 civilians from 10 villages had been forced to flee to refugee camps or into the mountains in the wake of what has been referred to as a massacre that took place in Kayah state’s Hpruso township on Dec. 24.

Meanwhile, fighting in and around Kayin state’s Lay Kay Kaw area since Dec. 15 has forced some 16,500 civilians to flee to makeshift camps along the banks of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River and into neighboring Thailand. Local media also reported in recent weeks that at least 4,000 civilians had fled their homes in Magway and Sagaing regions due to airstrikes by the military.

Sources estimate that in December alone, more than 40,000 people were displaced in Kayah and Kayin states as well as in Sagaing and Magway regions. Those displaced by the recent fighting join more than 500,000 refugees from decades of conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups who were already counted as displaced at the end of 2020, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, a Norwegian NGO.

Stronger response needed

Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, welcomed the global condemnation of the junta’s killing of civilians – including women and children – but called the response by the international community “weak.”

“Orders were deliberately given to kill a large number of people and the dead were innocent civilians and women and children,” he said.

“Such actions should be viewed as international crimes and therefore require greater international action and justice. But what we are seeing now is that [junta troops] are getting bolder and bolder as the international reaction is rather weak.”

He called on governments around the world to take “immediate and effective action” against the junta to prevent the further death of innocent people in Myanmar.

Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told RFA that despite condemnation, he expects the military will continue to label those who oppose it as terrorists and kill them.

“They have … branded mass uprisings as acts of terrorism and cracked down brutally, using extreme force,” he said.

“I see the military [continuing to portray] those who are being killed as terrorists. And that means the military will continue to follow this path.”

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

RFA News

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup 2021 December 20-21

December 27, 2021/in HR Situation

In Karen State, clashes have been intensifying since 15 December between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar military. The onslaught of air and ground attacks forced over 10 000 villagers in Lay Kay Kay, Karen State to flee the junta’s relentless offensives. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are in urgent need of food, shelter, warm clothing and refuge where they are free from the looming possibility of more assaults.

According to Karen rights groups, tensions began to rise when the regime entered Lay Kay Kaw, a town controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) and arrested over a dozen people, including an elected Member of Parliament and human rights defenders. When the KNU rightfully intervened to safeguard their people and communities, the junta responded by firing over 100 artillery shells and indiscriminately fired into the town. Many buildings and homes were destroyed.

At least 6900 people have been displaced since December 15 and over 4000 have taken refuge in Thai soil, according to ND-Burma member, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland. HURFOM urged the UN to designate a “no-fly zone” in all ethnic areas, including recent armed conflict in Karen, fighting centered around the town of Lay Kay Kaw. Those who have been displaced on the border and inside Thailand must be protected and provided with urgently needed humanitarian aid.

These attacks, in addition to being crimes amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, are also in violation of the 2012 ceasefire. The breaking of the ceasefire is not surprising. The Myanmar military has regularly forfeited agreements in pursuit of their own invested interests and in doing so has spurred further distrust.

Innocent civilians living in areas where the junta has increased their armed presence are at risk of being killed by soldiers. The Karen Women Organization (KWO) strongly condemned a fatal attack against a 56 year old woman who was working on her farm with her husband when the Burma Army Battalion, LIB 101 along with five soldiers from the Border guard Force approached. Her husband fled, leaving her alone and terrified. She was asked where the KNLA soldiers were and when she replied she did not know, her nose was broken. She was then shot in the mouth and killed. KWO explained that this case was not isolated – rather one of many indicative of the rising assaults against women and civilians across the country.

As rights groups including ND-Burma have documented throughout the year, human rights violations in Myanmar are sysmatic, widespread and ongoing. They are being perpetuated endlessly through a cycle of impunity, emboldened by the international community’s lack of action. A global arms embargo is imperative to stopping the junta’s access to murderous weapons which are used to indiscriminately kill. Further, a referral to the International Criminal Court would send a critical message to the Myanmar Army which makes clear – no one is above the law and those who commit human right atrocities will be held accountable.

CHIN STATEThe Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has reported ongoing offensives and militarization in Chin State. Since 1 February, the strength of the resistance movement has highlighted the emergence of a new, young and brave movement of people committed to the Spring Revolution. Religious buildings continue to be targeted, especially churches, which is the religion of the majority of Chin people. According to CHRO, two youths (age 16 and 18) were arrested while visiting a prayer mount on Christmas Eve that the junta has turned into a strategic sentry post. One of the young people abducted is feared to be in critical condition from torture in interrogation.

CHRO has also documented a rising number of COVID-19 cases which are adding to the stress of already worried civilians.

KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE

Over thirty refugees including women, children and the elderly were burned alive in Hpruso Township, Kayah (Karenni) State. The Karen Women’s Organization was among the civil society organizations to condemn the atrocities by extending solidarity and support. State media falsely alleged the innocent civilians killed were ‘terrorists’ in yet another lie in the regime’s sweeping fabrications and cover-ups of the atrocities happening on the ground.
Twenty houses in Kayah (Karenni) State were also destroyed in Loikaw by the junta, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces, following clashes earlier in the week. Civilians who lost their homes also lost valuable possessions, food and money. Over 150 000 have been internally displaced in Kayah (Karenni) State.

MAGWAY

Magway Township continues to be targeted by the junta. Nearly two dozen people were killed when the junta used airstrikes against Hnan Khar village in Magway region’s Gangaw Township. The victims were soldiers and innocent civilians, though an exact count could not be confirmed. Attempts from people trying to retrieve bodies were shot at.

As a result of the clashes, many people tried to flee. Witnesses to the attacks who were trying to flee said that elderly people had to be carried since they could not walk or run.

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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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