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Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar : Post-Coup (August 23-29) 2021

August 30, 2021/in HR Situation

MYANMAR CSOS CALL FOR THE FULL RESTORATION OF ROHINGYA’S RIGHTS AND AN END TO IMPUNITY OF THE MYANMAR MILITARY

August 25, 2021/in Press Releases and Statements

[25 August, 2021] 43 Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs) have publicly pledged to seek justice for the Rohingya and to heal the wounds of long-running ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar. The statement is being issued in remembrance of the Rohingya genocide and crimes against humanity that took place four years ago on 25 August, 2017. […]

Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar : Post-Coup (August 23-29) 2021

August 30, 2021/in HR Situation

MYANMAR CSOS CALL FOR THE FULL RESTORATION OF ROHINGYA’S RIGHTS AND AN END TO IMPUNITY OF THE MYANMAR MILITARY

August 25, 2021/in Press Releases and Statements

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Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar : Post-Coup (August 23-29) 2021

August 30, 2021/in HR Situation

In the seven months which have passed since the junta seized power in an attempted and unlawful coup, the situation of human rights has continued to decline. Activists and journalists have been oppressed through violent tactics and arbitrary arrest. With over 1000 civilians killed by the junta’s murderous crackdowns, the military indeed has blood on their hands. Despite the harrowing number of civilian lives lost in conflict and while participating in anti-coup activities, the Myanmar junta has plans to deploy even more troops to ethnic areas including Karen, Kachin and Kayah States. The fighting will have devastating impacts on displaced communities who have already been forced to flee from their homelands routinely. According to the most recent humanitarian snapshot by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 189,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar as of 16 August, due to armed conflict and unrest since the coup.

Amid the turmoil which continues to embody the state’s social and political space, the junta maintains their unjust rule is legal. Leaders of the National League for Democracy, including State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, remain in custody of the junta and are being denied access to their lawyers, with countless court dates postponed. Meanwhile, the same old tactics are ongoing when for example, a raid by the junta in Yangon resulted in over 30 young people being detained.

In a concerted effort by civil society to show solidarity in marking the four year anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, 43 Myanmar organizations expressed their commitment to urging the full restoration of Rohingya rights. Pressure must remain on the international community to pursue legal courses of action against the junta through various international referral pathways. ND-Burma Coordinator, Ko Han Gyi, remarked: “The genocide committed against the Rohingya four years ago is consistent with the systemic and brutal violence that is a hallmark of the Myanmar military. The National Unity Government acknowledged the crimes against the Rohingya by using a statement expressing sadness at the ‘horrendous violence, gross human rights violations and massive displacement that the Rohingya people have suffered…’

Though the violence appears to be never-ending, Myanmar soldiers are defecting. At least 2000 soldiers and police have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement and related Spring Revolution activities. Police in Kayah State have also moved to strike with hundreds of officers. The Karenni State Police has over 300 who’ve defected from the junta’s Ministry of Home Affairs, with a spokesperson remarking: “As a long term vision, we aim to make it a model police force for others in the country.”

Conflict in Ethnic Areas

KACHIN STATE
The Internet has been cut off in Hpakant Township, Kachin State by the Myanmar junta. The blocking of online services was met with confusion from locals who weren’t sure why it was shut off, or when it would resume. Civilians suspected that it was a sign of increasing military operations to come as an increased presence of soldiers has sparked fears in Kachin communities.

KAYAH STATE
According to the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN), there are 120,449 internally displaced persons who have been impacted by the attacks by the Myanmar junta and the Karenni Army. Within that number, half (55,265) are in Demawso Township. Fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force specifically has displaced nearly 70% of Demawso’s 80,000 residents.

The KCSN Assistant Coordinator remarked: “As the Burma Army continues to conduct military operations in Karenni State, IDPs face many hardships. Some have to keep moving from place to place to escape the offensives.”

KAREN STATE
The Myanmar junta is increasing operations in Karen State. On 25 August, civilians became worried when the military aerially surveilled Hpapun District. A more robust set of militarized activities combined of junta troops and Border Guard Forces could displace hundreds more.

Fighting is spreading to various brigades controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army. A senior officer remarked that coup leaders are responding to a series of successful attacks by the People’s Defense Forces. The set retaliations by the junta will attempt to ‘wipeout’ PDFs in 6th and 7th Brigades. Calls for humanitarian aid in civilian areas are being amplified as military operations expect to displace more civilians.

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MYANMAR CSOS CALL FOR THE FULL RESTORATION OF ROHINGYA’S RIGHTS AND AN END TO IMPUNITY OF THE MYANMAR MILITARY

August 25, 2021/in Press Releases and Statements

[25 August, 2021] 43 Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs) have publicly pledged to seek justice for the Rohingya and to heal the wounds of long-running ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar. The statement is being issued in remembrance of the Rohingya genocide and crimes against humanity that took place four years ago on 25 August, 2017.

“We stand in solidarity with the Rohingya and their immense struggles against oppression and discrimination, and call to fully restore their rights in Myanmar, for justice and accountability, and to end the impunity of the Myanmar military,” the groups said.

“Four years on, justice for the Rohingya remains shamefully elusive. Not a single individual who committed the heinous crimes against the Rohingya have been held to account,” said Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice. “The same criminals who committed genocide are now carrying out a nationwide campaign of terror with total impunity. They must be stopped. We must face the grave injustices against the Rohingya head on and work to build an inclusive Myanmar that draws its strength from its diversity and solidarity for humanity rather than holding on to the status quo.”

This wave of genocidal violence in 2017 forcibly displaced over 800,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh that now host over 1.1 million refugees. The recent attempted coup has cast a dark shadow in their prospects for return. Conditions in Bangladesh continue to deteriorate as Rohingya refugees live in crowded, underfunded camps facing fires, flooding, the COVID-19 pandemic and relocation to the unsafe and unsuitable island of Bhashan Char.

“The last few months of the spring revolution have shown that women are at the forefront of ending patriarchy and the struggle for human rights and federal democracy,” said Naw Hser Hser of Women’s League of Burma. “It is vital that women of all parts of society, including Rohingya, are part of building a vibrant federal democratic union that celebrates its diversity and is free from misogynistic military rule. For this, Rohingya women must be represented in political processes.”

The joint statement calls on the NUG and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) to use their power to repeal racist and xenophobic laws such as the 1982 Citizenship Law and the four “Race and Religion Protection Laws”. The four race and religion laws have also perpetuated gendered discrimination and violence, while subscribing to the misogynistic and patriarchal system fostered by decades of military rule.

“For decades, the most severe human rights violations and atrocity crimes committed by the Myanmar military have been documented by local and international human rights organizations,” said Ko Han Gyi of ND-Burma. “The genocide committed against the Rohingya four years ago is consistent with the systemic and brutal violence that is a hallmark of the Myanmar military. The international community must pursue all avenues possible to ensure justice and accountability for the countless victims and survivors of grave crimes and end their impunity.”

At the root of February’s attempted coup is the military’s total impunity. “The passivity, and in some cases total inaction by the international community, in particular ASEAN, to pursue justice and accountability has further emboldened the military in their continued use of atrocity crimes that they commit today. The military and the impunity they enjoy must be stopped,” said the groups.

The statement calls on the international community to immediately pursue justice and accountability for the grave crimes committed against the Rohingya, including by supporting the case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, the case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the court in Argentina that was filed on the basis of universal jurisdiction. It also urges the international community to pursue other avenues of accountability, including the possibility of establishing an ad-hoc tribunal or a UN Security Council referral of the situation in Myanmar to the ICC. In addition, it also urged the NUG to immediately ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC to ensure accountability for the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Note to Editors:

See the statement by 43 civil society organizations on full restoration of Rohingya’s rights and ending impunity of the Myanmar military here.

– Ends –

For more information, please contact:

Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice, info@progressive-voice.org
Naw Hser Hser, Women’s League of Burma, wlb-secretariat@protonmail.com
Ko Han Gyi, Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma, officendb@protonmail.com

See the CSOs’ statement in English I Burmese.

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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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