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At least 35 charred bodies found in Karenni State village on Christmas

December 25, 2021/in News

The KNDF says that Myanmar junta troops are responsible for the massacre of who they believe to be men, women and children fleeing clashes near a Karenni village Warning: This report contains disturbing images The remains of at least 35 charred bodies, including one belonging to a child, were found near a village in eastern […]

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (December 13-19) 2021

December 20, 2021/in HR Situation

In 2016, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), one of the members of the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma, released a report on prison conditions in Myanmar, and the urgent need for reform. Among their key findings, overcrowding in cells led to the deterioration of health conditions of inmates. Prisoners were regularly subjected to […]

At least 35 charred bodies found in Karenni State village on Christmas

December 25, 2021/in News

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (December 13-19) 2021

December 20, 2021/in HR Situation

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At least 35 charred bodies found in Karenni State village on Christmas

December 25, 2021/in News

The KNDF says that Myanmar junta troops are responsible for the massacre of who they believe to be men, women and children fleeing clashes near a Karenni village

Warning: This report contains disturbing images

The remains of at least 35 charred bodies, including one belonging to a child, were found near a village in eastern Myanmar’s Karenni (Kayah) State early Christmas morning, according to both locals and an anti-junta armed resistance group based in the region.

The bodies were found on eight burned vehicles and five motorbikes near the village of Moso on Saturday. The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) has accused the Myanmar military troops who were present in the area on Friday of committing the crime in question.

The commander of the KNDF’s Brigade 4, who did not want to be named, said that at around 11am on Friday, members of his group saw smoke billowing out of the parked vehicles, but they did not see the burned bodies, as the fire was still blazing.

Due to fears that junta troops may still have been present in the area, the KNDF was only briefly able to visit the area surrounding the trucks that day; it was not until the following morning, when they returned to the scene, that they witnessed the full extent of the massacre.

Moso_village-Burned_vehicles_2.Jpg

Vehicles torched by the military troops near the village of Moso in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township are seen on December 25 (News Light in Karenni)

Among the charred remains were the fingers of a child who the KNDF commander estimated to be younger than five. He noted that KNDF members had previously seen a small vehicle carrying a woman and child pass down the road leading to that area before the fires had started.

“We don’t know exactly how many women, men and children are among those burned. Some became ashes, some others were charred,” the commander told Myanmar Now.

“The [bodies] were no longer recognizable or identifiable when we saw them.”

Supplies found by KNDF members on the vehicles suggested that the victims were locals fleeing clashes in the area.

The commander speculated that the Myanmar army troops may have deliberately set the people in the trucks on fire using gasoline as an accelerant, noting that the vehicles were positioned intentionally next to one another, side by side.

“They [the junta soldiers] are no longer humans. Their crimes are worse than those committed by fascists,” the commander said.

International charity Save the Children said in a statement published on Saturday that two of their staff were returning to their office after carrying out a humanitarian visit in the area when they were “caught up in the incident.” The staff were still missing at the time of reporting.

The organisation wrote that they had received confirmation that their private vehicle had been attacked and burned.

“Save the Children condemns this attack as a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” CEO Inger Ashing said in the statement, adding, “attacks against aid workers cannot be tolerated.”

Around 100 troops from the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Division 66 made advances from Demoso Township towards Hpruso on Friday, according to the KNDF. The troops then clashed with a joint force belonging to the KNDF and members of the Karenni Army near the village of Moso.

During the military offensive, the army troops beat and arrested villagers and ransacked their property, the KNDF said in a statement on Saturday. The troops also killed four members of the Karenni Border Guard Force (BGF), known as BGF Battalion 1004, who attempted to stop the army troops from terrorising the villagers, the KNDF said.

“[They] arrested four members of the BGF Battalion 1004 and tied them up before executing them by shooting them in the head,” the KNDF statement said.

The KNDF received reports from Moso that some of the village’s residents went missing on Friday and that they would try to confirm the identities of the victims.

“This is an inhumane act,” a spokesperson from the KNDF said. “We would like to express our condolences to the families of those victims whose lives were sacrificed in this incident. Secondly, we will retaliate against the military council in response to this incident.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on December 26 to include information from Save the Children’s statement on the incident.

Charred bodies are seen on a vehicle torched near the village of Moso in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township on December 25 (KNDF)

According to the state media reports from the junta’s mouthpiece on Saturday, seven vehicles coming from the village of Kwaing Ngan towards Moso on Friday did not stop when asked to do so by Myanmar army troops. The junta alleged that people in the vehicles shot at the soldiers from the trucks and they were “captured dead” after a shootout.

The report did not mention how many were killed in the shootout or the fact that the charred bodies were found near Moso village.

Moso_villagers_4.Jpeg

Charred bodies are seen on a vehicle torched near the village of Moso in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township on December 25 (KNDF)

The KNDF rejected the junta’s claim and insisted that the victims were villagers.

“They were villagers, including women and children. How could they have weapons?” said the spokesperson. “They ran in fright amid the clash and junta troops stopped them and burned them alive on the vehicles.”

Myanmar Now is unable to verify whether the victims were killed and burned later or burned alive.

Karenni State was one of the first areas of the country to see the emergence of an armed resistance movement in the wake of the February 1 coup.

The Karenni Civil Society Network reported last week that more than 150,000 civilians have been displaced in predominantly Karenni areas of Kayah State and southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township since the conflict began.

Myanmar Now News

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup (December 13-19) 2021

December 20, 2021/in HR Situation

In 2018, another report: “Activism and Agency,” also authored by AAPP looked at the experiences of female prisoners specifically which drew similar findings including sexual, physical and psychological abuse and harassment. Across decades, those detained in Myanmar’s various detention centers are not safe. Since February, thousands of innocent civilians including human rights defenders have been arrested, detained and subjected to harrowing treatment in military custody. Despite the many calls of groups like AAPP, the junta has not reformed prison conditions to be in line with international standards in the slightest.

Over the last week, more evidence emerged of unlawful treatment of prisoners, including a freelance journalist who became the first member of the press to be tortured to death by the junta in prison. Following a nationwide strike held on 10 December (Human Rights Day), inmates at Insein Prison participated in solidarity with the pro-democracy movement by refusing to leave their cells. They also sang an anti-dictatorship song when the junta interrogated them about the leaders of the protest within the prison. The regime responded violently by beating prisoners until they were no longer conscious and then subsequently denied them medical treatment.

The All Burma Federation of Student Union expressed worry for those who had been beaten, and then held in solitary confinement. Ko Bo Kyi of AAPP has said on multiple occasions that prison conditions have significantly deteriorated since the failed coup as the junta continues to abuse prison rights with impunity.

Systematic use of torture in prisons is a violation of international law. The junta is lawlessly detaining innocent civilians and then further subjecting them to conditions which deprive them of their dignity, safety and well-being. Human Rights Watch, BBC, the New York Times and the Associated Press are among the many who have documented the atrocities committed against civilians behind prison walls.

Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners outlined by the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs make clear that ‘all prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings.’ The illegal junta has failed to protect and uphold prisoner rights. The international community has an obligation and responsibility to respond to the atrocities taking place to set a precedent that no one is above the rule of law, and to protect the lives of detainees.

KAREN STATE

With over 80 000 displaced, Karen villagers are in need of warm clothing as the cold season takes its toll on civilians forced to flee increasing junta offensives. The military junta has not eased in its brutal campaign of warfare against the Karen which has gone on for decades. On 15 December, reports emerged that over two-hundred soldiers had invaded the civilian town of Lay Kay Kaw, which is controlled by Brigade 6 of the Karen National Union. Dozens of activists were arrested as it provoked further instability as clashes took place with the Karen National Liberation Army.

According to the Karen Information Center, the junta was firing with large weapons at areas where they suspected the civilian defense forces to be hiding. Tensions had been building since 14 December, and forced several hundred civilians to begin fleeing. Thousands more began fleeing ongoing attacks by the junta who were indiscriminately firing into nearby civilian areas. On 16 December, Karen rights groups reported more fighting broke out near Mae Taw Tha Lay. The regime has blocked key routes needed to transport urgently needed humanitarian aid.

KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE

In Kayah (Karenni) State, displaced villagers are distraught over more instability threatening their livelihoods. Ongoing conflict has made it impossible for them to work as the presence of soldiers has made locals fearful of going too far outside of their villages. Farmers have been unable to tend to their fields, and have lost opportunities to harvest food and sustain an income.

To make matters worse, the illegal junta continues to block key routes needed for the delivery of humanitarian aid to internally displaced people (IDPs). Places where civilians would typically take refuge, such as churches and temples, have been taken over as military base camps. As the cold weather begins, IDPs have no choice but to seek safety and shelter in the jungle where living conditions are harsh.

According to the Karenni Civil Society Network, the junta has destroyed nearly 400 buildings in Kayah (Karenni) State. Between 22 November and 5 December, almost 1500 fled fighting in the State.

SAGAING REGION

More than 100 homes were set on fire by the military junta in Sagaing region’s Ayadaw Township on 13 December. The deliberate arson attack forced hundreds of villagers to flee, who returned to find approximately 100 homes completely scorched and devastated by the fires. The junta continues to target those affiliated with the pro-democracy movement, including those involved with the People’s Defense Forces. Soldiers reportedly also abducted two men, and destroyed a school.

Artillery firing was also aimed at the village. Food that was in the homes was eaten by the soldiers. Villagers that returned to their demolished homes recoiled from their losses, which had already been deeply strained by the impacts of the failed coup and increasing militarisation. In another worrying series of events, a citizen journalist reporting on the situation in Sagaing region was arrested and has not been heard from since.

Bodies of three men who returned to their village after fleeing clashes were caught and shot at close range were killed by the military junta. A villager commenting on the indiscriminate killings said: “Those soldiers are not even human anymore. They only know to kill all the men they see.”

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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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