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Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say

January 10, 2025/in News

The military has responded to an insurgent offer of talks with even more airstrikes, residents say. The Myanmar air force has bombed a fishing village in Rakhine state killing 41 civilians and wounding 52, most of them Rohingya Muslims, residents involved in rescue work said on Thursday, in an attack insurgents condemned as a war […]

Myanmar’s junta cuts filmmaker’s life sentence to 15 years as part of wider amnesty

January 10, 2025/in News

Shin Daewe had been convicted of violating the country’s Anti-terrorism Law. Myanmar’s junta has reduced the sentence of journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe from life behind bars to 15 years as part of a larger prisoner amnesty, her family said Thursday. On Jan. 5, the junta announced that it had shortened the life […]

Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say

January 10, 2025/in News

Myanmar’s junta cuts filmmaker’s life sentence to 15 years as part of wider amnesty

January 10, 2025/in News

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Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say

January 10, 2025/in News

The military has responded to an insurgent offer of talks with even more airstrikes, residents say.

The Myanmar air force has bombed a fishing village in Rakhine state killing 41 civilians and wounding 52, most of them Rohingya Muslims, residents involved in rescue work said on Thursday, in an attack insurgents condemned as a war crime.

Military planes bombed Kyauk Ni Maw village on the coast in Ramree township on Wednesday afternoon sparking huge fires that destroyed about 600 homes, residents said, sending clouds of black smoke up over the sea.

The area is under the control of anti-junta Arakan Army, or AA, insurgents but a spokesman said no fighting was going on there at the time of the air raid.

“The targeting of innocent people where there is no fighting is a very despicable and cowardly act … as well as a blatant war crime,” AA spokesman Khaing Thu Kha told Radio Free Asia.

The military has responded to an insurgent offer of talks with even more airstrikes, residents say. — Smoke rises from fires in Kyauk Ni Maw village in Rakhine state after a Myanmar air force bombing raid on Jan. 8, 2025. (Arakan Princess Media )

Hla Thein, the junta’s spokesman for Rakhine state, told RFA he was not aware of the incident. Posters in pro-military social media news channels said Kyauk Ni Maw was a transport hub for the AA.

A resident helping survivors said medics were trying to give emergency treatment to the wounded amid fears that the air force could return at any time and let loose bombs and missiles.

“People are going to help them out and more are coming,” said the resident, who declined to be identified for safety reasons.

“We’ve been treating the injured since last night but we don’t dare to keep too many patients in the hospital for fear of another airstrike.”

The AA has made unprecedented gains against the military since late last year and now controls about 80% of Myanmar’s westernmost state.

On Dec. 29, the AA captured the town of Gwa from the military, a major step toward its goal of taking the whole of Rakhine state, and then said it was ready for talks with the junta, which seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat.

But the junta has responded with deadly airstrikes, residents say.

The military denies targeting civilians but human rights investigators and security analysts say Myanmar’s army has a long reputation of indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas as a way to undermine popular support for the various rebel forces fighting its rule.

“The military is showing its fangs with its planes, that people can be killed at any time, at will,” aid worker Wai Hin Aung told RFA.

The bombing of Kyauk Ni Maw is the latest bloody attack on members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. About 740,000 Rohingya fled from Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh following a bloody crackdown by the military against members of the largely stateless community in August 2017.

Over the past year, Rohingya have suffered violence at the hands of both sides in the Rakhine state’s war, U.N. rights investigators have said.

The AA took a hard line with the Rohingya after the junta launched a campaign to recruit, at times forcibly, Rohingya men into militias to fight the insurgents.

On Aug. 5, scores of Rohingya trying to flee from the town of Maungdaw to Bangladesh, across a border river, were killed by drones and artillery fire that survivors and rights groups said was unleashed by the AA. The AA denied responsibility.

RFA News

Myanmar’s junta cuts filmmaker’s life sentence to 15 years as part of wider amnesty

January 10, 2025/in News

Shin Daewe had been convicted of violating the country’s Anti-terrorism Law.

Myanmar’s junta has reduced the sentence of journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe from life behind bars to 15 years as part of a larger prisoner amnesty, her family said Thursday.

On Jan. 5, the junta announced that it had shortened the life sentences of 144 people to 15 years in prison to mark the 77th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from British colonial rule a day earlier.

The reduction was part of a broader amnesty that saw the junta release more than 6,000 inmates, although that number included just a small share of the hundreds of political prisoners jailed for opposing the military’s February 2021 coup d’etat.

Family members confirmed to RFA Burmese on Thursday that Shin Daewe, 50, was among 14 of 48 people serving life sentences in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison who were included in the amnesty.

Known for her work highlighting the challenges facing Myanmar’s environment and the impact of conflict on civilians following the coup, Shin Daewe was arrested on Oct. 15 in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township while picking up a video drone that her husband says she had ordered online to use in filming a documentary.

She was later sentenced to life in prison by the Insein Prison Special Court on Jan. 10, 2024, for violating Myanmar’s Anti-terrorism Law, prompting an outcry from rights groups and members of the media.

Shin Daewe’s husband, Ko Oo told RFA at the time that police had interrogated her for nearly two weeks before charging her and transferring her to Insein Prison, adding that it appeared she had been tortured.

Prolific documentarian

Shin Daewe served as a journalist for the independent Democratic Voice of Burma during Myanmar’s 2007 Saffron Revolution, when the military violently suppressed widespread anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks.

She later released a documentary that helped bring global attention to the revolution — named for the monk’s saffron-colored robes — and ensuing crackdown.

Beginning in 2010, Shin Daewe began making documentaries full time, several of which went on to win awards at local and international film festivals.

In 2013, her documentary “Now I Am 13,” about the life of an uneducated teenage girl in central Myanmar, won a silver medal at the Kota Kinab International Film Festival and won the Best Documentary Award at the Wathann Film Festival a year later.

Other documentaries, including “Brighter Future,” about the Phong Taw Oo monastic education center; “Rahula,” which portrays the story of a sculptor from Mandalay; and “Take Me Home,” about a camp for internally displaced ethnic Kachins, also received recognition at various festivals.

Observers had labeled Shin Daewe’s sentencing part of a bid by the junta to stamp out criticism by using lengthy jail terms to instill fear in opponents.

Shortly after the ruling, the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and the European Film Academy issued a joint statement calling for Shin Daewe’s immediate release.

Before the coup, Myanmar ranked 139th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ annual press freedom index, but dropped to 171st in the media watchdog’s latest rankings – up slightly from 173rd a year ago, which was the worst in the country’s history.

RFA 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
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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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