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Human Rights Situation in Myanmar (14 February – 21 February 2022)

February 21, 2022/in HR Situation

Myanmar Junta’s Prisoner Amnesty: No Political Dissidents Released

February 14, 2022/in News

The Myanmar junta’s Union Day prisoner amnesty has seen only convicted criminals released from jail rather than political dissidents. The regime released 814 criminals on Saturday on the condition that if they are convicted of another offense in the future, they will have to serve the remainder of their previous sentence in addition to any […]

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar (14 February – 21 February 2022)

February 21, 2022/in HR Situation

Myanmar Junta’s Prisoner Amnesty: No Political Dissidents Released

February 14, 2022/in News

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Human Rights Situation in Myanmar (14 February – 21 February 2022)

February 21, 2022/in HR Situation

It is no surprise to the people of Myanmar that the junta cannot be trusted. Decades of violence against civilians, perpetrated with impunity has denied many justice. Rights, freedoms and basic protections under the regime have entirely disappeared. While trying to pursue legitimacy nonetheless, the leaders of the attempted coup have failed tremendously. And yet, the international community and other stakeholders including regional actors have seemingly been complicit in their war path which has deprived civilians their right to life.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial meeting, which took place last week, did not include a representative from Myanmar after the junta was barred from attending. A ‘five-point consensus’ proposed to the junta last year, has failed to make even the slightest bit of progress. A peace process has not been facilitated, nor has any end of the fighting been alluded to. Thousands remain in military custody under the harshest of conditions, where in addition to falsified charges, they have been deprived of their basic human rights.

Talks at the ASEAN meeting included a discussion on how to resolve the worsening human rights crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN is divided on how to deal with the junta. Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have been critical of the junta. Whereas, Thailand and Cambodia have failed to draw a hard line with the regime amid a series of excuses and citing the crisis as ‘an internal issue.’

ASEAN cannot be relied upon as a mediator in the crisis when the junta has so obviously proven that their lies are interwoven into excuses which are evident of a lack of accountability and regard for critics. They have no moral compass and cannot be trusted.

KARENNI (KAYAH) STATE

In addition to Karenni IDP camps being targeted with airstrikes by the military junta, the Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG) has also reported the drones are being used to attack civilians after shelling a funeral home. Infantry battalion 102, fired 120 mm artillery shells and 81 mm mortars. Despite zero injuries or casualties, this speaks to the level of cruelty which the junta is bombarding innocent civilians with.Only a month ago, airstrikes on western Demawso, killed three internally displaced teenagers, and after an attack on Rekeebu IDP camp, another two young girls were killed as well as an elderly man. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to flee the junta and seek safety and protection. As ND-Burma and KnHRG documented in a recent joint report, ‘The World Must Know,’ human rights violations perpetrated in Karenni (Kayah) State by the terrorist junta have increased as has in other states and regions since 1 February 2021. The safety of civilians has been seriously undermined as ongoing bombardments threaten to further destabilize the state. Problematic patterns of impunity have jeopardized prospects for justice as residents are ruthlessly targeted while soldiers evade accountability.

SAGAING REGION

In Mingin Township, Sagaing region, the bodies of four civilians were found deceased with evidence of serious trauma to their bodies. One of the bodies was discovered badly burned and reduced to ashes. The discovery of the villagers came after the regime had set hundreds of homes on fire in Mote Thar and Mauk Tet. Only a few homes have been left standing as the numbers of displacement continue to rise.

According to Myanmar Now, those killed were Naing Soe Lin, a 21-year-old vegetable seller, and three volunteer village guards named Kaung Min San, 18, Than Min Soe, 24, and Naing Zaw, 28. The victims had families and were denied not only protection and their rights, but also a proper burial. The wife of Naing Soe Lin is also missing.

The increase of force and airstrikes comes as the junta is losing their offensives across the country. In January 2022, nearly forty civilians were forced to guide junta soldiers as human shields, including women and children.

SHAN STATE

The latest documentation by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) found harrowing evidence of further crimes against humanity perpetrated against innocent civilians. A 44 year old farmer, who had been displaced, was tortured to death in Kyaukme township, northern Shan State. Military intelligence officers arrived at his home and violently forced their way into his home where they searched for drugs. When their search failed to render the results they were after, the farmer, Sai Tun Win, was beaten on his body and head. His family members were also assaulted by the soldiers and robbed of their possessions, including 30 000 Myanmar Kyat.

Sai Tun Win was forced to accompany the soldiers where he was found at a hospital with wounds to his head and mouth, and a remaining handcuff on his left hand. The regime called the whole thing a ‘misunderstanding’ and refused to pay the devastated family any compensation. Just one week before, SHRF reported on the case of a villager who was killed in a violent hit and run by the junta in Mong Hsu, southern township and no compensation was provided, nor justice for the family was granted in further incidents of human rights violations perpetrated against innocent civilians.

Villagers in northern Shan State were also forced to flee airstrikes perpetrated by the military junta. The majority of those who fled were women and children.

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Myanmar Junta’s Prisoner Amnesty: No Political Dissidents Released

February 14, 2022/in News

The Myanmar junta’s Union Day prisoner amnesty has seen only convicted criminals released from jail rather than political dissidents.

The regime released 814 criminals on Saturday on the condition that if they are convicted of another offense in the future, they will have to serve the remainder of their previous sentence in addition to any new one. Seven Sri Lanka nationals were also released and deported under the amnesty.

“It is sad that prisoners of conscience were not released. The regime still holds them because it dare not release them,” said one former political prisoner from Mandalay.

Up to February 11 this year, 9,087 people have been detained for anti-regime activities since last year’s coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 703 of those have been convicted and imprisoned, with 45 of them, including two teenagers, given the death sentence.

*Prisoners released from Yangon’s Insein Prison on February 12. / Nay Myo*

The AAPP said the actual number of people detained or arbitrarily killed by the regime could be higher.

A lawyer acting for anti-coup activists detained in Yangon’s Insein Prison said that the regime wants to give the international community the false impression that it has released dissidents. “But at the same time, it [the amnesty] sends an explicit message to the opposition forces inside the country that the junta won’t release political prisoners,” he added.

On Saturday, 96 prisoners from Insein Prison, 40 prisoners including a Chinese national from Mandalay’s Obo Prison, 13 from Bago’s Pyay Prison, 70 from prisons and labor camps in Mon State and 21 from Rakhine State were released.

Ousted Karen State chief minister Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint had her jail sentence commuted by half by the junta. The 67-year-old was detained after the coup and sentenced to 80 years in prison in December for corruption, sedition and violation of the military-drafted 2008 constitution.

The regime also closed the cases of 46 individuals detained for having alleged ties to the Rakhine ethnic armed organization the Arakan Army, which was once labelled a terrorist group by the Myanmar military.

Among those released were 23 villagers from Lekka Village in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U who had been detained since April 2019 under the Counter-Terrorism Law. Twenty-seven people from Lekka Village were originally detained, with three of them dying during interrogations. It is unclear if the remaining detainee from Lekka is still being held.

The military regime has detained elected lawmakers since the coup, including State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Over 1,500 people have been killed by the junta since the military’s takeover.

The regime spent at least 9 billion kyats (around US$5 million) on a grand military review in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw on Saturday to mark the 75^th anniversary of Union Day, according to sources in the capital. The All Burma Federation of Student Unions staged a protest against the event on Saturday in Yangon, calling on the people to root out the sham Union system.

The civilian National Unity Government (NUG) also held a virtual event to mark Union Day and the signing of the Panglong Agreement on February 12, 1947 between the then Aung San-led Burmese government and some of the country’s ethnic minorities.

Kachin Independence Army chief of staff General Gam Shawng Gunhtang delivered an address to the NUG’s virtual event, urging the NUG to take a leadership role in realizing the commitments made in the Panglong Agreement and calling on ethnic minority groups to cooperate.

Irrawaddy 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 […]

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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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