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Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup(January31- February 6)2022

February 7, 2022/in HR Situation

Hundreds of homes razed amid scorched earth campaign in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

February 7, 2022/in News

Pro-junta forces have torched more than 1,000 homes in four villages over five days. Junta troops and pro-military militiamen in Myanmar’s Sagaing region burned down more than 700 homes in Pale township over the weekend, according to sources, amid a scorched earth campaign that has left some 1,100 buildings destroyed in four neighboring villages over […]

Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup(January31- February 6)2022

February 7, 2022/in HR Situation

Hundreds of homes razed amid scorched earth campaign in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

February 7, 2022/in News

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Human Rights Situation in Myanmar: Post-Coup(January31- February 6)2022

February 7, 2022/in HR Situation

On 1 February 2021, a somber anniversary marked 365 days since the unlawful coup. Throughout the year, the regime used dozens of tactics to attempt to silence and squander the resistance movement. No matter the levels of extreme violence deployed, the spirit of the Spring Revolution has continued to persist in defiance of the junta. The freedom to live in peace is not worth giving up, and so people of all ages have shown their commitment to the renewed pro-democracy movement in many shapes and forms.

The junta is deeply unpopulation in Myanmar and has been for many years. Since their attempt at seizing power, they have become even more disliked. In studies conducted, confidence in Myanmar’s ‘leadership’ dropped 60 points in 2021 with a record number of people stating they don’t feel safe walking alone at night. The gallup poll found this drop in confidence to be the largest gap of any country in the last 15 years.

The international community has rightfully so been accused of ‘sitting and watching’ Myanmar’s economic, political, and social turmoil. Over 1500 people have been killed, thousands more unlawfully detained and evading arrest. Alongside record numbers of Tatmadaw soldiers defecting, the pr-democracy is alive and well in Myanmar. Yet, rather than willfully intervene to stop the violence and hold the junta leaders responsible, it seems that very often, the global actors have turned the other way.

While those living in Myanmar exhibit exceptional bravery, the international community has still been uncomfortably silent and continues to fail in their obligations to hold the military junta accountable. Sanctions must be enacted on the junta’s senior leaders and those complicit in the decisions to kill civilians – including women and children. Sanctions on aviation fuel and a global arms embargo would seriously inhibit the military junta’s ability to access weapons used to indiscriminately fire and kill civilian populations.

As Rohingya human rights and democracy activist, Wai Wai Nu, stated so well in her appropriately tired editorial, The World Has Failed to Stand with Myanmar, the failure of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to act on the situation inside the country represents a “historic lack of support.” Since 1 February, the UNSC has met only behind closed doors and failed to engage with civil society groups who have been vocal in their calls for action and accountability.

The messaging has been clear from the people, and yet surprisingly the United Nations Special Envoy, Dr Noeleen Heyzer made comments during an interview with Channel News Asia suggesting power sharing with the Myanmar junta. Civil society rejected her comments. She should support solutions by the people who have made clear that their path forward does not include a dialogue with a regime with blood on its hands. A global arms embargo must be supported, alongside sanctions and an immediate referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.

KAREN STATE

According to the Karen National Union, the Myanmar military has continued attacking the Karen National Liberation Army in a series of air and ground strikes which have led to the displacement of thousands of villagers. Women, children and the elderly remain extremely vulnerable and at risk. Naw K’nyaw Paw of the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) expressed concern over the attacks, citing the many difficulties displaced people have been forced to contend with. KWO also documented two harrowing cases of a woman and child dying due to indiscriminate fire by the military junta. On 29 January, mortar shelling killed a 3-month old baby and a 20 year old woman. The next day, more firing destroyed a woman and injured an elderly woman who was struck on her head and chest.

The Karen Human Rights Group estimates over 100 000 people newly displaced between April 2021 and January 2022. The ongoing airstrikes have prevented villagers from being able to safely return home. The Tatmadaw has also cruelly scattered landmines throughout civilian areas, burned their homes and stolen livestock and their possessions.

On 5 February, Karen rights groups reported that the junta had deployed airstrikes in Kaw Thoo Lei. Two bombs hit T’Dwe Koh village at 1 AM. The village is in Ma Htaw Village tract, Dweh Lo Township, Mutraw district. The attack killed two civilians and injured six. Two of them are now in a critical condition.

KAYAH (KARENNI)

In January of this year alone, at least 45 people were killed by the military junta in Kayah (Karenni) State. Rights organizations including the Karenni Human Rights Groups have documented state-wide atrocities and condemned them in the harshest terms calling these attacks ‘inhumane’ and expressing commitment to prosecute perpetrators in the future. Among the victims, six died when they were shot at with airstrikes and four died while suffering from heart failure during artillery firing. Several other bodies found had evidence of serious trauma, including head wounds and visible lacerations. Men, women and children killed have been found in the ditches, and on the road. Almost 200 people in Kayah (Karenni) State have been murdered by the junta.

The Myanmar military has denied all involvement in the attacks and deferred responsibility without evidence to the civilian armed defense forces and Kayah (Karenni) based ethnic armed organizations. Clashes between the regime and joint Karenni forces have displaced almost 200 000 people. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force stated that their forces have administrative control over 90% of territory in the State.

SAGAING REGION

Homes belonging to innocent villagers in Sagaing region are being burned to the ground by the Myanmar junta. On 2 February, more than 400 homes were razed by junta soldiers who accused residents of harboring civilian armed defense forces. One village said his whole village of Mwe Tone is now completely gone as 220 of the 265 homes were scorched. Witnesses recounted what’s left as ‘a pile of ashes.’ When the arson began, residents had no time to grab their belongings or livestock.

This attack is only the latest in a brutal onslaught of offensives which have taken place in Sagaing region over the last year. The displacement and indiscriminate attacks have made villagers more resentful and have garnered stronger support for anti-coup forces.

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Hundreds of homes razed amid scorched earth campaign in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

February 7, 2022/in News

Pro-junta forces have torched more than 1,000 homes in four villages over five days.

Junta troops and pro-military militiamen in Myanmar’s Sagaing region burned down more than 700 homes in Pale township over the weekend, according to sources, amid a scorched earth campaign that has left some 1,100 buildings destroyed in four neighboring villages over the span of five days.

On the evening of Feb. 4 soldiers and members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia entered the villages of Hlaw Gar and Kine Twin, sending inhabitants fleeing, residents told RFA’s Myanmar Service. Villagers who hid near the area said they saw fighters from the two groups loot homes before setting them alight, destroying around 500 of 1,000 homes in Hlaw Gar and some 200 of 260 in Kine Twin.

“They burned down the homes in Kine Twin village … and then they moved north. Pyu Saw Htee forces entered Hlaw Gar village around 10:30 p.m. and raided the homes. They seized the property they wanted and transported it to Inn Ma Htee village, where the military is training Pyu Saw Htee members,” said a villager from Hlaw Gar, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“Around 1 a.m., Pyu Saw Htee members in plainclothes started burning the homes. The military soldiers wearing uniforms extinguished the fire,” he added, suggesting that troops did not want to be seen carrying out arson.

Sources told RFA that residents remain too frightened to return to the area because junta troops had left “secret monitors” to watch civilian movements.

They said the weekend arson was the latest in a series of burnings in response to a Jan. 23 attack by local anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) militiamen on the military camp used to train members of the Pyu Saw Htee in Inn Ma Htee village.

Within the space of five days, the military and pro-junta militia members have razed buildings in four villages lying within six miles of each other. At least 400 structures were burned on Jan. 31 in Mwe Tone and Pan villages, which lie just northwest of Hlaw Gar and Kine Twin.

A 40-year-old resident of Kine Twin village who lost his home over the weekend told RFA he had been on the run for five days straight.

“I have had to temporarily flee the village since the [PDF] attack on Inn Ma Htee village. Finally, I decided not to return and ran for my life,” said the villager, who declined to be named.

“The people [of Kine Twin] are now staying in nearby villages or in the woods. They fled on their carts with their cattle and are now sheltering under trees. … The weather is so cold. It is very challenging for elderly people. No one has slept for days.”

The resident said that the refugees feel insecure and afraid that they will be targeted by airstrikes, which the military increasingly employs against villages it sees as friendly to the PDF.

The bodies of 11 people were discovered in Myinmu township’s Padoke Tine village on Feb. 4, days after the military carried out an airstrike on a graduation ceremony for PDF recruits with five helicopters, killing some 20 civilians, sources told RFA last week.

A PDF member from Pale township told RFA that the recent incidents show that the military will use whatever means it can to crush anti-junta forces.

“I think they are trying to secure the villages around In Ma Htee village. I think they are burning down homes in all the villages where they think PDF forces are hiding,” he said.

“This is brutal, and they are victimizing the local citizens. But they will pay for what they have done. … We are always waiting for the right time to strike back at them.”

Thousands displaced

On the evening of Feb. 5, PDF forces led an attack on the police station in Pale town center and engaged with security forces. The following morning, the military fired artillery on villages in the surrounding area that they accuse of providing haven to PDF fighters, sources told RFA on Monday.

Residents said that more than 10,000 people from the villages of Nyaunggone, Kangyi, Phoe Kone, Nyaung Kan, Ywa Tha, Leik Kone, Yahtin, Aye Gone, Mya Gone and Yoe have fled their homes since Jan. 31.

“The shelling blast from the junta troops’ artillery fire burned homes. After the fire, people in town were too afraid to stay. They packed up their valuables and took shelter in nearby monasteries,” said one resident of Pale town.

Later, around 30 soldiers arrived in Pale town and nearby villages and arrested those who remained or took them for interrogation, said Phoe Thar, a member of the Black Panther PDF group.

“We heard they fired guns, beat the adult males and seized mobile phones, but I heard those who got arrested were released after a while. They spread the military columns and cleared the nearby area. All the people from the villages on their operation route have fled. Some villages are deserted now.”

Repeated attempts by RFA to reach junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on reports that the military and Pyu Saw Htee fighters had been setting homes on fire in Pale township went unanswered over the weekend and on Monday.

On Sunday, the junta announced that security forces and troops from the Sagaing regional command division were working together in response to the attacks on the Pale police station.

According to the research group Data for Myanmar, which documents the impact of armed conflict in the country, junta forces have burned down at least 3,379 homes from 126 villages and townships in nine regions and states in the year since the military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup. More than 1,400 of the homes are in Sagaing region, the group said.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

RFA News

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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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