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Charred corpses discovered in Sagaing village occupied by junta troops

May 13, 2022/in News

It was not clear if the six victims were local people or civilians from elsewhere who had been taken hostage as human shields Local defence forces in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township say they found the charred remains of six people on Thursday in a village that had been occupied by regime forces for two days. […]

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 […]

Charred corpses discovered in Sagaing village occupied by junta troops

May 13, 2022/in News

Myanmar’s junta is blocking pathways for transitional justice

May 10, 2022/in News

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Charred corpses discovered in Sagaing village occupied by junta troops

May 13, 2022/in News

It was not clear if the six victims were local people or civilians from elsewhere who had been taken hostage as human shields

Local defence forces in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township say they found the charred remains of six people on Thursday in a village that had been occupied by regime forces for two days.

Members of an anti-junta group entered the village of Mone Taing Pin after a military column of about 70 soldiers left early Thursday morning. A leader of the group said that the bodies were all found in one house.

No other details were known about the victims, he added.

“We still can’t identify the bodies, as there was nothing left of them but bones. We don’t know if they were local people or if they had been taken from somewhere else as hostages,” said the leader, who identified himself as Bilone.

“The house they were in was completely destroyed by fire,” he added, noting that around 30 of the roughly 400 houses in the village had been reduced to ashes.

Two days earlier, local defence forces clashed with the soldiers who went on to take control of Mone Taing Pin.

According to Bilone, two resistance fighters were killed in that battle after the military opened fire with heavy artillery. Their bodies were also recovered after the junta troops left the area.

“The regime forces picked up the bodies from where they fell and dumped them just outside of the village,” he said.

A funeral was held for the pair later that day, he added.

Anti-regime groups active in the area said that the presence of displaced villagers and other civilians had constrained their efforts to mount attacks on junta forces.

A plan to use explosive devices against the troops that had occupied Mone Taing Pin had to be abandoned after it was learned that they were holding 28 people, including three monks, as human shields.

“We couldn’t attack them. We had already set up the explosives and were waiting for them all night. But we had to cancel the plan because they had hostages,” said KG, the leader of another group in the area.

The soldiers reportedly went from Mone Taing Pin to Ponnagar, another village about 5km to the south.

While no details were available at the time of reporting, KG said that shots were heard after the soldiers arrived at the village.

It was unclear if this indicated renewed fighting, or if some of the hostages had been killed.

Junta officials were not available for comment when contacted by Myanmar Now.

Myanmar Now News

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

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

GenocideSeptember 2, 2025 - 9:42 am
Crimes Against HumanityJune 16, 2025 - 7:55 am
International Humanitarian Law Cartoon AnimatonApril 29, 2025 - 8:37 am
အတိတ်မှ ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြီးအကျယ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအ တွက် အာမခံခြင်း (Guarantees of non-recurrence)February 10, 2025 - 9:58 am

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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