Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Individual Documents
Description:
"A military spokesman claimed on Wednesday afternoon that the Myanmar army took control of Oo Yin Tha, a village the military said had been used as a base camp by Arakan Army (AA) troops in Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township.
Colonel Win Zaw Oo from the military’s Western Command told The Irrawaddy, “The villagers knew how long it took for us to take control of the village with our operation. The AA had established a foothold there for three days. We conducted a clearance operation in the village and took control of it [on Wednesday], at around 4 p.m.”
In July, the entire population of Oo Yin Tha fled their homes after the village was targeted by artillery and mortar shells. The villagers have been taking shelter in the nearby Kyar Nyo Pyin camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) since then.
The village comprises 53 households.
Villager Daw Oo San Yin told The Irrawaddy, “We fled our homes two months ago after the soldiers opened fire on us like rainfall.” She said the villagers weren’t sure which troops had been staying in the villages since they left, but had recently heard that the soldiers torched the homes. “We saw the smoke and flames coming from the village. We can still see the fires today. We don’t know how many homes were burned. We dare not go and look,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
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"Six villagers, including a little girl, were injured by artillery fire on Monday in the village of Thayet Ta Pin, in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township.
Villagers say the shots came from the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw), though the Tatmadaw has denied responsibility, saying counterfire from the Arakan Army (AA) could just as well have caused the injuries.
The AA said they were not there.
Villagers told The Irrawaddy that, after an unidentified blast was heard near a passing Tatmadaw column Monday afternoon, soldiers began shooting at homes.
“Yesterday afternoon, after 1 p.m., we heard an explosion outside the village, when the soldiers were near our village, coming from Kyauktaw toward Maha Muni pagoda. I do not know how it happened,” Villager U Maung Win told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. “After the explosion, the soldiers who had arrived in the village shot into the houses.”
Villagers said those shots injured U Maung Than Mya, 53; U Maung San Thein, 41; Daw Ma Nyunt, 41; U Maung Than Wai, 32; Ko Maung Maung Soe, 16 and Ma Khine Thazin Nyein, 3.
Additionally, four female students of the nearby Maha Nwe Boarding School lost consciousness from fright when the explosion went off. They are now being treated at Kyauktaw Hospital..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Non-Ceasefire Groups
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Description:
"A tactical frontline base of the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) was raided and no less than 30 soldiers were killed by Arakan Army (AA) rebels in rural Mrauk-U Township, in northern Rakhine State, at dawn on Wednesday, Arakan Army spokesperson U Khine Thukha told The Irrawaddy.
He said fighting was ongoing between the two sides as of Wednesday evening.
U Khine Thukha said the AA staged the attacks on a military station at Lin Mway Taung Hill—a 30-minute drive north of downtown Mrauk-U—and occupied the base within a few hours; his troops then retreated from the hill in the morning after confiscating Tatmadaw mortars, firearms, ammunitions and some prisoners of war.
U Khine Thukha said he is still waiting for updates from AA headquarters so could not provide a detailed battle report. He said that although he could not give a precise number of Tatmadaw causalities, the Myanmar military retrieved the dead bodies of its soldiers using three dump trucks and took them to Mrauk-U later on. He said two AA soldiers were killed and five were injured in the raid..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-08-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Non-Ceasefire Groups
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"THEINNI, SHAN STATE—Sporadic clashes are ongoing between the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, and joint forces of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in northern Shan State, with casualties and injuries reported in clashes in Theinni and Kutkai townships.
Rebel fighters attacked Yay Pu gate, a checkpoint for inspecting smuggled goods between Theinni and Lashio townships, with a rocket-propelled grenade around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning from a nearby hill, killing a militiaman and injuring another, according to Tatmadaw soldiers and police providing security at the gate.
“One was hit in the head and another was slightly injured in his right foot,” a military officer at the gate told The Irrawaddy on Saturday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-08-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-27
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Individual Documents
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Description:
"In Myanmar's Rakhine state, another ethnic group besides the Rohingya has been fighting for its rights and recognition.
The ethnic Arakan people have been battling the Myanmar government for decades, and in 2009 founded their own armed group, the Arakan Army, in 2009.
Thousands have fled the violence into neighbouring Chin State and are now living in camps because of the recent spike in violence.
Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera English"
Date of publication:
2019-08-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
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Description:
"At least three children were killed and three others seriously injured in an artillery shell explosion today at a village under Minbya township, 50 miles east of Arakanese capital city of Sittwe. The incident took place at 10 am near the Pan Myaung village hospital, when one of artillery shells fall in the village.
According to village sources, Aung Zin Phyo (6 years old son of U Aung Than Mying) and Min Htet Kyaw (9, son of U Kyaw Win) were killed on the spot near their residences. On the other hand, Ma Nyo Nyo Win (15, daughter of U Kyaw Thein) died at the hospital.
Few other villagers are also being hospitalized as they received serious injuries. A local villager accused that the artillery shell fall during the Myanmar Army’s exercises nearby Pan Myaung village.
“I don’t know if the artillery shell could fall due to intention of the security forces. We know that an army column stationed in the mountain adjacent to our village on 21 August. Since then, they are
firing artillery shells to a distant location,” he added.
Several residents of the village informed Narinjara News through telephonic conversations that the artillery shell fall down as the security forces started firing from the mountain. The villagers are
worried about their safety and security after the tragedy..."
Source/publisher:
"BNI Multimedia Group" via Narinjara News
Date of publication:
2019-08-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
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Description:
"The Myanmar military conducted air strikes using two attack helicopters, as well as artillery shelling, against Arakan Army (AA) rebels in northern Rakhine State’s rural Minbya and Mrauk-U townships on Thursday and Friday.
U Hla Thein Aung, an Arakan National Party lawmaker in the Rakhine State Parliament from Minbya, said the fighting between the two sides lasted nearly all day on Thursday. He said two or three attack helicopters launched hellfire missiles and bombarded the Kalama mountain range, where AA guerrilla forces are believed to be stationed.
The lawmaker said the battle zone is situated 3 miles northeast of Pan Myaung model village in Minbya. He said the frontline is just 1 or 2 miles from Shwe Kyin village, which is home to more than 1,800 people.
Rakhine Ethnic Congress secretary Ko Zaw Zaw Tun said the air strikes caused some residents of neighboring villages like Shwe Kyin, Dai Tha and Kyaung Taung to flee their homes for safer locations on Thursday and Friday. He said his group was informed by locals that Thursday’s fighting was heavy and lasted almost the whole day..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Non-Ceasefire Groups
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Sub-title:
About 3000 people remain trapped after more than a week of fighting between the Tatmadaw (military) and Arakan Army (AA) in Minbya township, Rakhine State, said Ko Zaw Zaw Tun of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC).
Description:
"“We don’t know how to rescue these trapped people. The military blocked access to Let Khote village, so we can’t deliver food,” he said.
The fighting between the military and AA began on August 4 and trapped about 3000 people from 15 villages, including Zedi Yan, Nga Tet, Kyaw Maw, Phon Thar, Pale Taung, Oh Pon Taung, Pyaing Chaung, Ngan Tet, Khwa Zon, Nat Maw, Maung Poke Ke, Nyaung Chone, Kyauk Sone, Seittaya and Let Khote.
When the rescue team, including monks and MPs, went there on Friday, they were stopped at Let Khote village, which is a designated conflict zone of the military, said U Hla Thein Aung, state hluttaw MP for Minbya.
“We asked why we weren’t allowed in. The Tatmadaw replied that it was because of security reasons, so I told them the security of those 3000 people is more important than our lives, but they said they were just following orders,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
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Description:
"The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Arakan Army (AA), which have not yet signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, said in a statement that hundreds of innocent people have died and 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting.
The fighting in northern Rakhine grows more intense by the day and the military is shelling areas controlled by the TNLA and MNDAA, a spokesperson for the alliance said.
The military had also entered areas controlled by the Shan State Army, it said.
These activities were based on ethnic hatred, it said, which could destroy trust and delay the peace process.
It said the military has to stop its attacks on allied groups or the military will have to accept responsibility for the consequences.
Efforts to reach Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the military’s True News agency, were unsuccessful..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Non-Ceasefire Groups, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
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Sub-title:
The government has provided plenty of aid for people forced to flee clashes between the Tatmadaw (military) and Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State, a senior official told the Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) on Thursday.
Description:
"U Soe Aung, deputy minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, was responding to a question from MP U Pe Than of Myebon township in Rakhine.
“The government has provided adequate assistance for refugees from the armed conflict. Our ministry and others are cooperating in the relief work,” he said.
There are nearly 60,000 refugees in Rakhine and much more assistance is needed, U Pe Than said.
“The government provided only K100 million, which is not enough for one month, but the minister said the aid is sufficient. I don’t want to argue about it. Rakhine nationals will complain after hearing this. He also said they are ready to help, but we have seen nothing,” he said.
Seven refugee camps are being built in six townships in Rakhine at a cost of K1.6 billion, U Soe Aung said.
The regional government has made no restrictions on donations. “There is only one restriction and that is security. We cannot reach some remote places because of security concerns,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Refugees from Burma: general reports, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
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Sub-title:
The Chinese-backed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone is shaping Myanmar’s conflict with the Arakan Army. Rakhine communities will benefit little from the project while bearing many of the costs, and it ignores their calls for control over the area’s natural
Description:
"Resource-rich Ramree Island, on the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, has remained on the sidelines of recent violence as fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to intensify. But the Myanmar government’s relations with the AA are now increasingly shaped by pressure from Beijing to advance the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a US$1.3 billion Chinese-backed development project based on Ramree.
The Myanmar government and Chinese state-owned CITIC Group are pushing the Kyaukphyu SEZ ahead despite public opposition. There has been limited transparency and inadequate public consultation with communities affected by the project.
The movement for Rakhine autonomy and federalism calls for local control of natural resources as a key tenet. If the National League for Democracy (NLD) government moves ahead with the Kyaukphyu projects without addressing these issues, it risks prolonging the conflict with the AA, making repatriation for the Rohingya increasingly risky and unlikely.
“The communities hope to have their own laws, their own management, their own regulation of natural resources and government – that’s why the Rakhine people support the AA, because they want their rights,” Tun Kyi, a spokesperson for the community-based organisation the Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, told ASEAN Today..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma-US relations
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Description:
"The United Nations hurled a fresh accusation at security forces and insurgents in Myanmar. An investigator said their actions in the restive states of Rakhine and Chin may amount to war crimes. Government troops, known as the Tatmadaw, have been battling ethnic rebels, the Arakan Army, for close to two years now..."
Source/publisher:
CNA
Date of publication:
2019-07-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms
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Description:
"A Plan International aid worker was shot by Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State, the army said Tuesday, the first time an NGO employee has been swept up in violence plaguing the area.
Rakhine State is one of Myanmar's poorest regions and NGOs provide aid to tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims still languishing in displacement camps as well as other local communities.
But the Tatmadaw has deployed thousands of troops there in recent months to try and crush rebels from the Arakan Army, who are fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.
Myanmar national Ko Ye Lin Naing, 25, was driving a motorcycle in Mrauk U township Sunday when "a security forces member opened fire... as a warning shot" when he did not stop, according to a statement from the commander-in-chief's office.
He was wounded and taken to the hospital, but the army says he was carrying a grenade and charged him under a counterterrorism law.
Plan International, a prominent aid agency that provides aid to displaced households and children affected by conflict in Rakhine, said it was "extremely concerned" about their employee who remains in the custody of security forces.
Fighting between the Arakan Army and the military prompted a weeks-long internet shutdown that rights groups say is being used to provide cover for abuses including extrajudicial killings and torture.
The military says it fighting insurgents and dealing with a sophisticated group that uses modern technology and is heavily armed.
The clashes follow an army crackdown in 2017 against the Rohingya Muslim minority in northern Rakhine, when more than 740,000 were driven into Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-07-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Description:
"The Burma Human Rights Network is extremely alarmed by the continued fighting, deaths of individuals in the custody of Burmese authorities, and worsening humanitarian situation in Rakhine State amid the conflict between the Burmese Military and the ethnic insurgent group, the Arakan Army. The conflict in Rakhine stems from the conflict in Burma’s Kachin State, where the Arakan Army first formed, but spread to Rakhine State and worsened significantly over the past year. Most recently a 28-year-old man named Zaw Win Hline died under suspicious circumstances while in military custody in Rakhine’s Mrauk U Township. He is the 14th civilian to die in military custody in Rakhine State this year, according to The Irrawaddy.
“The number of civilian deaths, reports of torture, arbitrary arrests, and worsening humanitarian situation should be alarming for the entire international community. The issue has seldom been raised and Burma has not been held to account for their continued violations of human rights and international norms. The international community should act now, to avoid repeating the mistakes of past inaction,’ said BHRN’s executive director, Kyaw Win.
As fighting carries on in Rakhine State, BHRN has received continued reports of torture, indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilians, arbitrary arrests, attacks on religious places, the use of land mines, and injuries or deaths resulting from unexploded artillery shells. At the same time, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are reporting shortages of food and aid due to restrictions related to the conflict. IDPs near Mrauk U Township also complained of flooding during recent rains, which is likely to worsen as the rainy season continues. Rohingya refugees living in northern Rakhine State are also suffering from significant aid shortages, many of them since 2017 when the Burmese army engaged in a genocidal campaign against the minority.
In light of recent revelations about the UN’s failure to avoid catastrophes in Rakhine State in recent years, it is imperative that the International Community act now to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Burma must allow full and unhindered access for NGOs operating in Rakhine State and all civilians must have access to aid. The use of sanctions against the Burmese Military and their business associates should be utilized without hesitation until human rights violations cease. The international community should also take steps to negotiate a ceasefire between the Burmese Army and the Arakan Army and move to have the Burmese include the Arakan Army in existing treaties with other insurgent groups throughout the country. Finally, ASEAN nations have a particularly important role to play in influencing Burma’s behavior, as they will most likely have to bear the consequences of new refugees created by the conflict fleeing by land or boat..."
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice via "Burma Human Rights Network"
Date of publication:
2019-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
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Description:
"I have just completed my mission to Myanmar’s neighbours Thailand and Malaysia. I thank the Governments of both countries for facilitating my visit.
Myanmar continues to deny my access; however as I am mandated by the Human Rights Council, I continue to collect information regarding the human rights situation in Myanmar, including from people on the ground. My meetings with different interlocutors in both Thailand and Malaysia have provided me with ample information for my update to the Human Rights Council in September and my report to the General Assembly in October, some of which I will share with you today.
Following my visit, it is extremely clear to me that the human rights situation of Myanmar has created and is continuing to create, serious regional issues for South and South East Asia. These issues include for example, the existence of nearly 1.5 million refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; trafficking and smuggling of people from Myanmar through the region; and the drug trade within and outside the region. It is incumbent on Myanmar’s neighbours to acknowledge these most serious issues, that Myanmar has produced them and that they continue to have significant impacts on countries in the region.
It is of great concern to me that Myanmar appears to be increasing pressure and engaging the Governments of neighbouring countries in its efforts to violate rights and avoid scrutiny. This includes obstructing me in carrying out my mandate. While I was in Thailand, I had to abort part of my visit due to interference. This is very serious and not to be taken lightly.
Additionally, while I was in Thailand, I was extremely disturbed to hear about Singapore’s deportation of six Myanmar nationals whom they claim to have been supporting the Arakan Army (AA). The six were arrested upon their return to Myanmar, and I am told that they are now detained incommunicado. I am extremely concerned about their situation, in view of recent cases of deaths of Rakhine men while in custody on suspicion of association with the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. I am also worried about the fate of their families and other Rakhine people living in Singapore. I urge Singapore to uphold its customary international law obligation not to return people to where they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
The conflict between the Tatmadaw and the AA is raging on, and the reports I have received indicate that human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population are worsening. The Government ordered mobile internet shutdown in nine townships in northern Rakhine and southern Chin has been in place for nearly a month now – this is unprecedented and it is also unacceptable. As you know, it is now monsoon season in Myanmar and there have been terrible floods in three townships in Rakhine State. There is no access to mobile internet in any of those townships, meaning that people were not adequately prepared for or warned of the floods that occurred. This has resulted in displacement and houses being destroyed. Humanitarian actors and natural disaster responders, including Government actors, were impeded by the lack of internet access, rendering the Government’s disaster preparedness planning ineffective. The question is, did the Myanmar Government impose the internet ban to inflict more harm on the people living in Rakhine?
The internet blackout has also prevented individuals wanting to engage with me from being able to make contact. It is challenging to get information on what is happening on the ground under these circumstances, but I have been told that three villages in Rakhine have been burned down by the Tatmadaw in the last two weeks. We have seen this before. We saw it happen to minorities in Shan and Kayin States in the 1990s and 2000s. We saw it happen to the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017. And we are seeing it happen to other minorities in Rakhine State now..."
Source/publisher:
reliefweb via UN Human Rights Council
Date of publication:
2019-07-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, ASEAN-Burma relations
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"Human rights violations in Myanmar are creating increasingly serious issues for South and South East Asia, a UN expert said today, urging stronger action by regional countries to address potential peace and security concerns.
Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee cited the nearly 1.5 million refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, trafficking and smuggling of people from Myanmar and the drug trade within and outside the region as examples of deepening concerns.
Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, continues to be denied access to the country and concluded her 11-day mission to Thailand and Malaysia today.
“It is incumbent on Myanmar’s neighbours to acknowledge these most serious issues and that they have been created by Myanmar. The continuing gross violations of human rights in Myanmar jeopardise the lives of people around that country and relentlessly impact Myanmar’s neighbours in such a way that could threaten South and South East Asian peace and security.”
The Special Rapporteur urged regional states to take a stronger position. “When states in this region engage with Myanmar, human rights should firmly be on the agenda. I therefore most strongly urge ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to prioritise human rights in Myanmar, and to hold the Government of Myanmar to its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.”
During her visit, Lee received reports that the conflict between the Tatmadaw and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) rages on, and that human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population are worsening. The total number displaced by the conflict since January could now be as high as 55,000 across Chin and Rakhine States. “The situation is urgent and deserves more attention from the international community,” said the expert.
The Government’s almost month-long mobile internet shutdown in nine townships in northern Rakhine and southern Chin was unprecedented and unacceptable, Lee said. “It is now monsoon season in Myanmar and there have been terrible floods in three townships in Rakhine State. There is no access to mobile internet in any of those townships, meaning that people were not adequately prepared for or warned of the floods that occurred. This has resulted in displacement and houses being destroyed.”
Lee also spoke to people from Myanmar who have grave concerns about the way that hate speech and misinformation campaigns are being waged on social media. It appears that these campaigns are getting more sophisticated, coordinated and strategic, using coded language to get around content restrictions to continue to spread hateful messages. She said social media companies are taking inadequate and inconsistent action; anything done should be in a transparent manner and in close consultation with civil society and technology organisations in Myanmar.
She was distressed that on her mission she received reports of women and girls, some as young as nine, being trafficked from northern Myanmar to neighbouring countries for sex work. Years of conflict in northern Shan and Kachin States has left families financially desperate, making women and girls vulnerable to human trafficking.
The Special Rapporteur said it is incumbent on the international community to bring about criminal justice in Myanmar.
She also said that victims need to receive reparations for the harm caused to them and they have a right to know the truth about what happened to them, their family members and their communities. Solid guarantees that violations that have occurred in the past, and continue to occur now, will not happen again in the future are also essential.
“The first step for this to happen is for the Government and the military to reverse its stance of denial, and to recognise what the people of Myanmar have suffered at their hands. The countries in this region, and ASEAN, have a large role to play in persuading Myanmar to bring about this fundamental shift.”
ENDS
Ms. Yanghee Lee (Republic of Korea) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. She is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. Ms. Lee served as member and chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003-2011). She is currently a professor at Sungkyunwan University, Seoul, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Ms. Lee is the founding President of International Child Rights Center.
The Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher:
reliefweb via UN Human Rights Council
Date of publication:
2019-07-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar), Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, ASEAN-Burma relations
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"The situation of human rights in Myanmar[1] is increasingly deteriorating with the Myanmar military becoming evermore emboldened to act with impunity, continuing to evade accountability for the grave crimes they have committed in Rakhine State. Just days after the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar delivered her oral statement at the 41st Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council, warning of possible fresh war crimes being committed under the blackout of information due to the ongoing internet shutdown, reports of the military burning down villages emerged as civilians, such Zaw Win Hline who was tortured, continue to die while in military custody.
Fifteen days after the Myanmar government shut down the internet in eight townships in Rakhine State and in Paletwa Township in Chin State, the Myanmar military burned down villages in Rathedaung Township as they carried out “clearance operations” against the ethnic armed organization, the Arakan Army (AA). A school teacher residing in Amyet Taung Village where the Myanmar military torched homes stated that while the Myanmar military assumed AA members were residing in the village, this “wasn’t true” and that “It [the attacks] only affects the civilians…The villagers are now fleeing their homes and are in trouble.”
While the Myanmar military steps up its presence in Rakhine State as they conduct such heinous operations, they have also continued to arrest and detain those suspected of being members of the AA. Most recently, a local resident from Shwe Tun Phyu Village in Mrauk-U Township, Zaw Win Hline, was arrested by the Myanmar military on 20 June, 2019, suspected of being a member of the AA. He died on June 24th after being subjected to several days of interrogation and torture. According to his mother, when he was brought to the Sittwe hospital having sustained severe injuries, he was vomiting blood and unable to eat or drink water. Reportedly his last words, “Don’t give me water, Mom. I will not last long. My organs are badly damaged. I can’t breathe. Don’t give me water, Mom. I have to go,” were shared widely on the internet drawing outrage among rights activists, sparking a campaign demanding justice. According to reports, soldiers had beaten him with packed stones in a longyi (traditional Burmese sarong) on his back and chest.
Such cases of torture, as well as extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests that continue to be reported widely in Rakhine State, constitute war crimes under international law. According to reports by Radio Free Asia, some 14 civilians have died in custody of the military or the police since March 2019 during the intensification of the Rakhine conflict. Meanwhile, the Myanmar Police Force has filed charges against four of the top leaders of the AA under the Counter-Terrorism Law. This is the first time leaders of any ethnic armed organization have been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
The Myanmar military is also becoming evermore intolerant of criticisms against them. A report by Athan, a freedom of expression activist organization, found that the Myanmar military has sued nearly 80 individuals over a three and a half year period, with numbers surging in the past three months. Many have been charged under the outdated and repressive colonial-era penal code – Article 505(a) – and are accused of “causing or intending to cause members of the armed forces to mutiny, fail or disregard their duties.” In addition, there is a wider trend of increasing numbers of political prisoners under the National League for Democracy-led government. The recent numbers of political prisoners documented by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners indicate a total of 466 political prisoners with 34 currently serving their sentences, 161 awaiting trial inside prison and 271 awaiting trial outside prison. This is an increase of 78 political prisoners since last month.
Meanwhile, Christopher Sidoti, a member of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) has likened the conditions for Rohingya internally displaced person’s camps in Rakhine State to a Nazi concentration camp. Speaking on the continuing restrictions on the freedom of movement for the Rohingya, he stated “What has happened in the past two years has strengthened the genocidal intent.” His comments come as the IIFFMM prepares their report to the Human Rights Council, which will be delivered at the upcoming 42nd Regular Session in September 2019..."
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-07-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
more
Description:
"As the Myanmar military has committed atrocity crimes during operations in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan States, older people confront particular risks. Some older people stay behind as villages empty at word of a military advance, often due to their strong ties to home and land or to being physically unable to flee. After finding them, soldiers arbitrarily detain, torture, and at times kill older women and men.
A 67-year-old ethnic Rakhine farmer who stayed behind when most of his village fled in March 2019, in part because a severe hearing impairment meant he had not heard fighting nearby between the military and Arakan Army (AA), described what Myanmar soldiers did after forcing him out of his home: “When I got to where the captain was, the soldiers tied my hands… behind my back, with the rope that’s used for cattle. They asked me, ‘Did the AA come to the village?’ I said no, I’d never seen [the AA]… and then the soldiers beat me.”
During the military’s attack on the Rohingya population in 2017, many older women and men were burned alive in their homes. Mariam Khatun, an ethnic Rohingya woman around 50 years old, fled to the nearby forest with her three children when Myanmar soldiers entered her village in Maungdaw Township. “My parents were left behind in the home,” she said. “I had two young children, how could I take them as well? … My parents were physically unable to move.”
As she and her children reached the river next to the village, Mariam Khatun looked back and saw the village burning, knowing her parents were still inside their home.
Amnesty International’s review of lists of people killed from different Rohingya villages indicates older people often suffered disproportionately. A quantitative study by Médecins Sans Frontières found similarly, showing that in the month after the military began its brutal operations on 25 August 2017, the highest rates of mortality – by far – were among Rohingya women and men age 50 and older.
For older people in Rakhine and Kachin States who have fled, the journey through Myanmar’s mountainous borderlands was often difficult, worsened by the military blocking main routes and restricting humanitarian access. Amnesty International documented several cases of older people dying as they tried to flee to safety, unable to access health care..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2019-06-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
"A series of events prompted by the armed attacks against the Myanmar border security forces by the Arakan
Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on 25 August 2017 in the northern part of Rakhine State, precipitated a
massive movement of Muslims and other ethnic minority groups making the current situation in Northern
Rakhine as one of the fast-growing humanitarian crises in the history. As a result, it is estimated that
approximately 700 000 refugees had crossed the border into Bangladesh. People who remained in their
villages are facing substantial hardships, including significantly reduced access to markets and agricultural
land, which have created a compounding negative effect on their livelihoods and increased the need for
immediate humanitarian assistance.
While the majority of humanitarian actors active in Northern Townships of Rakhine State focused on provision
of immediate food assistance, FAO and its implementing partners MHDO and LBVD supported the local
agriculture productions to stabilize and increase the availability of foods..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
505.29 KB
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Description:
"In Rakhine State, fighting between the Myanmar Military or Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) continues and has spread to include Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Ponnagyun. To a lesser extent, fighting has also impacted communities in neighbouring Paletwa township of Chin state. The majority of fighting has occurred in more rural or mountainous areas, however recent fighting has spread to Minbya and Mrauk-U. Reports indicate the use of air strikes, increased use of landmines and other improvised explosive devises. During the month of February, the number of displaced persons increased by over 10,000 with reported displacement of nearly 17,000. (Note: though this Sit Rep covers the month of March, as of April 23 figures had increased to nearly 32,000. End Note).
The Government of Myanmar, local communities, the Red Cross Movement, and the World Food Programme are responding to food and non-food emergency needs. UNICEF and other actors are working with the Government to access populations in need, especially as the IDP figures grow. In central Rakhine, OCHA is leading a process of contingency planning while in northern Rakhine UNICEF is working with UNHCR, UNFPA, and national and international actors to determine additional needs and response priorities. The current pattern of displacement indicates that primarily women and children are moving to monasteries or other ad-hoc settlements while men stay to protect households and assets. Additionally, some IDPs are quickly returning to their homes if the fighting subsides. As fighting continues unabated, concern is growing over the safety of families residing in paddy fields or overcrowded sites with inadequate services. The upcoming monsoon rains could create potentially hazardous conditions without addition support and appropriate planning. In locations not impacted by the current fighting, several agencies have resumed activities where possible.
In a “note to correspondents” released on 19 March, the Acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator expressed his concern about the fighting and reported civilian casualties and displacement. He urged all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and uphold responsibilities under international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as allowing access to populations in need. In the central Rakhine IDP camps created in 2012, hosting primarily Rohingya IDPs, the situation remains unchanged. Over 128,000 people remain in overcrowded and under-resourced camps. As the end of the dry season approaches, agencies are preparing to address potential water shortages in Pauktaw IDP camps.
In Chin State, more than 500 people remain displaced due to recent fighting. UNICEF field office staff report that an additional 2,000 people are constrained by fighting and insecurity. UNICEF is working with Sittwe-based NGO partners as well as Government of Myanmar officials in Paletwa and the state capitol Hakha to coordinate evaluation of needs, planning, and response activities.
In Kachin State, a period of calm holds as the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Tatamadaw remains in place. However, humanitarian access, particularly to areas not under government control remains blocked by the Government of Myanmar resulting in a constrained response. National NGO humanitarian agencies continue to provide services in these areas. In review of the travel authorization requests by the humanitarian community, over half have not been approved by the Government. In Kachin and Shan, this results in effective access to less than 45 percent of the people in need.
In Shan State, fighting between ethnic armed organizations or EAOs resulted in an increasing number of IDPs, including in south Shan State. Over 10,000 people have been displaced from six townships; the majority of these have now returned home. Fighting in early March displaced over 600 people in southern Shan State to two locations where they are receiving support from the Government, NGOs and private organizations. In northern Shan State, the displacement, or re-displacement of hundreds of people—many of whom have fled multiple times. Local groups who are generally the first to provide assistance are reporting a strain in response capacity as their resources are stretched by numerous repeated displacements in a short period of time. Though many IDPs have already returned to their homes, for those that remain displaced, they are generally sheltering in religious sites. Interagency assessments note that NFIs and WASH are the most needed support. In Shan, during the month of March, the Mine Risk Working Group noted three deaths and nine injuries due to conflict, landmines and UXO out of a total of five deaths and 22 injuries in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine..."
Source/publisher:
reliefweb via UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Date of publication:
2019-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's Rights - studies, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.26 MB
more
Description:
"During the month of April, the unilateral ceasefire called by the Myanmar Military in December for four months and then extended through June generally continued to hold in all areas of the country except Rakhine. In Kachin, this ceasefire has led to a relatively longer period of calm than has been experienced in several years. While this is a positive step forward, UNICEF and other humanitarian actors continue to have difficulty accessing different population groups—for assessment or response activities; this is particularly true in areas not under government control. In Shan State, though military action taken by Myanmar armed forces has halted, fighting and conflict among different armed ethnic groups continues to cause small-scale displacement for communities. Many of these communities have been displaced multiple times. While local communities are among the first to respond and support displaced populations, they have noted to humanitarian colleagues that their ability to provide assistance is becoming strained as resources are stretched due to the increasing frequency of displacement.
In Rakhine State, fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army (AA) continued in April causing a near doubling of displaced people. Impacted townships include Mrauk-U, Minbya, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Rathedaung and Buthidaung and impacts mostly ethnic Rakhine populations, though Rohingya and other minority groups have also been affected. In Chin State, the number of IDPs in Paletwa township also doubled in April. Sixteen international non-governmental organizations released a statement on 1 April urging all parties to the conflict to ensure protection of civilian and be provided with unfettered and sustained access to all affected populations. The statement further identifies that at least 95,000 people living in the affected areas are unable to access basic and essential services which could jeopardize their health, food security and wellbeing.
The Government of Myanmar, local communities, the Red Cross Movement, and the World Food Programme (WFP) continue to be the providers of first response but are calling for an increase in the number of nationals and international organizations to be allowed to access populations in need. With the onset of the rainy season, agencies are particularly concerned about the potential for disease outbreaks and contamination due to overcrowded, poor shelters in some locations, and a lack of required services. Support to over 128,000 Rohingya IDPs in camps in central Rakhine continues..."
Source/publisher:
reliefweb via UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Date of publication:
2019-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), WFP (World Food Programme), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Children
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1003.43 KB
more
Description:
"Burma Human Rights Network remains extremely alarmed by the number of civilian casualties and injuries suffered by members of various ethnic groups in the areas of conflict between the Burmese Army and the ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army. Civilians have been killed or maimed by guns, landmines, and artillery shells with near silence from the international community. Among those casualties are Rakhine, Rohingya and Chin civilians. As of now, nearly 40, 000 civilians in Rakhine have been displaced due to this conflict.
“The fighting between the Burmese Army and the Arakan Army has significantly harmed the communities of all ethnic groups living in the region. As minorities their lives are too often treated as less valuable to the military. It is imperative that Rohingya and Rakhine can achieve some unity now to amplify their voices to call for peace and that the international community acts to help them do so,” said BHRN Executive Director Kyaw Win.
Between March of 2019 and today, BHRN believes that at least 35 civilians have died in the conflict based on confirmed ground sources and news reporting, though this number is a conservative estimate. Among the dead were five children and at least two elderly individuals. All of these deaths were the result of direct violence such as gunshots, artillery shelling, landmines, or aerial bombardments and do not include deaths which may have occurred due to sickness or starvation resulting from displacement. It is worth noting that the Burmese Military has not utilized the same scorched earth policy against civilians they deployed against the Rohingya in response to Rohingya militant attacks in 2016 and 201 but the disregard for civilian life while using heavy artillery, aerial bombardments, and landmines remains excessive and deadly.
On top of deaths and injuries, Rohingya continue to frequently find themselves unable to seek medical help due to travel restrictions imposed on them by the Government and NGO access during the conflict is extremely limited.
At the same time, reports are now emerging that Chin civilians are being forced to serve as porters in the conflict by the Burmese army, a serious human rights violation.
In this conflict the Burmese Military continues to show disregard for International Law and guiding principles and norms. In particular, the Military has clearly violated the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 3 which guarantees the right of life liberty and security of person, Article 4 which prohibits slavery or servitude, Article 5 which prohibits the use of torture, Article 9 which prohibits arbitrary detention, and Article 13 which assures freedom of movement. The Burmese military have also disregarded the Principle of Proportionality which states, “Before launching an attack there is an obligation to assess whether or not the impact on the civilian population is excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” Finally, the Military is operating in defiance of the ASEAN Charter Article 2 2(I) and 2(J) which call for the protection of human rights and upholding of International Humanitarian Law.
The Burmese Government must be reminded that these cases should be referred to the International Criminal Court and that the civilian government also bears responsibility for the military operations taking place in Rakhine State. While the National League for Democracy has often escaped blame for Military operations, their continued enabling, excusing, and minimising of the violence of the military has made them culpable as well. These instances should be pertinent to the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and when conducting further military actions Burma should be aware that any crimes are being monitored and documented.
BHRN calls upon the international community to increase pressure on the Burmese Military to cease the conflict in Rakhine State and immediately end arbitrary attacks on civilians and the use of heavy weapons in civilian areas. The international community must impose targeted sanctions on the Military’s economic interests, including businesses connected to senior military and known cronies. An arms embargo against the Burmese Military is also necessary and requires the participation of all ethical governments. Simultaneously, the Arakan Army must stop the use of landmines and IEDs in or near civilian areas. Unimpeded access for NGOs must be granted and all residents in Rakhine State must be allowed freedom of movement, especially in order to obtain medical treatment..."
Kyaw Win
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice via "Burma Human Rights Network"
Date of publication:
2019-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The same units of the Myanmar military that in 2017 were implicated in a brutal crackdown that drove hundreds of thousands of mainly Muslim Rohingya from the country are again committing war crimes as they step up their campaign against ethnic Rakhine rebels, Amnesty International has said.
The conflict in western Myanmar's Rakhine state escalated in January after 13 police officers were killed in a co-ordinated attack by the Arakan Army, prompting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi to order the armed forces to "crush" the group, which recruits from the largely-Buddhist ethnic Rakhine community.
In a new report on Wednesday, Amnesty said its investigations showed war crimes and human rights violations were being committed by soldiers from the Rakhine-based Western Command, which was also implicated in atrocities against the Rohingya in August 2017.
Victims also identified soldiers from the Myanmar Army's 22nd and 55th Light Infantry Divisions, units that usually operate in other parts of the country.
Rebels clash with Myanmar forces, thousands displaced (2:30)
"Less than two years since the world outrage over the mass atrocities committed against the Rohingya population, the Myanmar military is again committing horrific abuses against ethnic groups in Rakhine state," Nicholas Bequelin, regional director for East and Southeast Asia at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
"The new operations in Rakhine state show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorising civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic."
More than 730,000 Rohingya, a minority ethnic group denied citizenship by Myanmar, were driven into Bangladesh in the bloody crackdown in 2017. A United Nations fact-finding mission has called for the prosecution of top Myanmar generals for crimes against humanity and genocide over the violence..."
Kate Mayberry
Source/publisher:
Al Jazeera
Date of publication:
2019-05-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The report examines the period of intense military operations that followed coordinated attacks on police posts by the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed group, on 4 January 2019. The new operation followed a government instruction to ‘crush’ the AA.
“Less than two years since the world outrage over the mass atrocities committed against the Rohingya population, the Myanmar military is again committing horrific abuses against ethnic groups in Rakhine State” said Nicholas Bequelin, Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia at Amnesty International. “The new operations in Rakhine State show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorizing civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic.”
Amnesty International conducted 81 interviews, including 54 interviews on the ground in Rakhine State in late March 2019 and 27 remote interviews with people living in conflict-affected areas. They included ethnic Rakhine, Mro, Rohingya and Khami villagers, belonging to the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim faiths. The organization also reviewed photographs, videos and satellite imagery, and interviewed humanitarian officials, human rights activists and other experts.
While ethnic Rakhine communities have long fostered political grievances against Myanmar’s central government, the AA is led by a younger generation of ethnic Rakhine nationalists. Today the AA is estimated to have a fighting force of up to 7,000 troops. Established in 2009, it has fought alongside other ethnic armed organizations in northern Myanmar and in recent years has clashed sporadically with the military in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin State. Fighting intensified in late 2018..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2019-05-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
more
Description:
"On 4 January 2019 the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed group, launched coordinated attacks
on four police posts in northern Rakhine State, killing 13 police officers and injuring nine others. The attacks
– which came after months of low-level yet steadily increasing clashes between the group and the Myanmar
military – triggered a major escalation in the conflict.
Since then, Rakhine State – the site of the military’s horrific attacks on the Rohingya population in October
and November 2016, and again from August 2017 – has plunged further into crisis. Days after the AA
attacks, a government spokesperson announced that the military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, had
been instructed to “crush” the AA. The military deployed additional combat division troops to the region, and
the authorities suspended humanitarian access for most UN agencies and international humanitarian
organizations. In the months that have followed, the fighting has intensified with regular clashes between the
two parties. As is so often the case in Myanmar, civilians have paid the heaviest cost.
This briefing documents violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses in Rakhine
State since 4 January 2019, the overwhelming majority of which have been committed by the Myanmar
military. It is based on research undertaken between January and May 2019, including 81 interviews with
people directly affected by the conflict, 54 of which were done in-person in Rakhine State in March 2019
and another 27 by telephone. In addition, Amnesty International interviewed local and international
humanitarian officials; local human rights activists; and journalists covering the conflict. The organization
also reviewed photographs and videos related to human rights violations and analysed satellite imagery of the
affected areas.
Amnesty International’s research found that the military has fired indiscriminately in civilian areas, killing and
injuring civilians and damaging homes and other property. Compounding the situation, soldiers have at times
obstructed access to medical treatment for civilians injured by such attacks. In late January, a seven-yearold ethnic Rakhine boy died after a mortar exploded in Tha Mee Hla village, Rathedaung Township, during
fighting between the AA and Myanmar military. Although he was severely injured, it took several hours before
soldiers gave his family permission to take him to a hospital; he died the following day. In another incident in
early April, a helicopter opened fire on Rohingya workers cutting bamboo in the forest close to the Sai Din
waterfall in Buthidaung Township, killing at least six civilians and injuring at least 13 more. An ethnic
Rohingya man who was severely injured during the attacks told Amnesty International, “The helicopter came
from behind the mountain. Within minutes it fired rockets… I was running for my life thinking about my
family and how I would survive..." .....“၂၀၁၉ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလ ၄ ရက်နေ့တွင် ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်မတော် (အေအေ) က ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်မြောက်ပိုင်းရှိ ရဲစခန်းလေးခုကို တစ်ပြိုင်တည်း တိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သဖြင့် ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင် ၁၃ ဦးသေဆုံးပြီး ကိုးဦးဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့သည်။ ပြီးခဲ့သည့်လပေါင်းများစွာကတည်းက အေအေအဖွဲ့နှင့် မြန်မာ့တပ်မတော်တို့အကြား တိုက်ပွဲလေးများ တစတစတိုးမြှင့်ဖြစ်ပွါးနေခဲ့ရာမှ ယခုတိုက်ခိုက်မှုကြောင့် တိုက်ပွဲ၏အရှိန်အဟုန် ကြီးမားစွာ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာခဲ့သည်။
ယင်းအချိန်မှစ၍ ၂၀၁၆ အောက်တိုဘာလနှင့် တစ်ဖန် ၂၀၁၇ သြဂုတ်လမှစတင်ပြီး ရိုဟင်ဂျာများအပေါ်စစ်တပ်က ရက်စက်စွာတိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သော ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်တွင် ကြီးမားသော ပဌိပက္ခကြီးတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာခဲ့သည်။ အေအေ၏တိုက်ခိုက်မှု ပေါ်ပေါက်ခဲ့ပြီး ရက်ပိုင်းအတွင်းမှာပင်…”
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/0417/2019)
Date of publication:
2019-05-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
PDF PDF pdf pdf
Size:
1.78 MB 342.47 KB 1.35 MB 334.29 KB
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Description:
"Amnesty International has accused the Tatmadaw of committing war crimes in its operation against the Arakan Army in Rakhine State and has called on United Nations Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
The global rights watchdog issues the call in “No one can protect us”: War crimes and abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, a 46-page report issued on May 29.
Amnesty says that intensified fighting between the Tatmadaw and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army since January has been accompanied by indiscriminate attacks, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances.
“Less than two years since the world outrage over the mass atrocities committed against the Rohingya population, the Myanmar military is again committing horrific abuses against ethnic groups in Rakhine State,” Amnesty’s regional director for East and Southeast Asia, Mr Nicholas Bequelin, said in a statement ahead of the report’s release.
“The new operations in Rakhine State show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorizing civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic,” he said.
Frontier was unable to reach Tatmadaw spokespeople for comment on Wednesday.
The report, which notes that the fighting intensified after a government order to “crush” the AA following its deadly attacks on security posts on January 4, Union Day, also calls on the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar.
“With Myanmar’s military committing atrocities as brazenly as ever, it’s clear international pressure needs to intensify,” Bequelin said.
“Again and again, the international community has failed to stop the Myanmar military’s crimes and protect the civilian population. The Security Council was established to respond to exactly these kinds of situations, it’s time it took its responsibility seriously,” he said.
Many of the violations documented in the report were committed by troops from the Tatmadaw’s 22nd and 55th Light Infantry Divisions, identified by their distinctive shoulder patches.
“The decision to deploy these units, which are usually based in other parts of Myanmar, could only have come from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, suggesting that the current operation against the AA is being overseen at the highest levels of the Myanmar military,” the report said.
It alleged that other violations were committed by soldiers from units under the Western Command, the regional military command based in Rakhine State “which has been implicated in atrocities against the Rohingya population”.
“The fact that violations – including war crimes – have been committed not only by units long based in Rakhine State and associated with previous atrocities, but also by newly-deployed units, highlights the institutionalised and systemic nature of military abuse in Myanmar,” the report said.
“Even after the significant international attention of recent years, the Myanmar military has shown no sign of reform. On the contrary, and as this report shows, it appears intent on repeating a decades-old pattern of discrimination and violence,” Amnesty said.
Amnesty said it conducted 81 interviews for the report, including 54 on the ground in Rakhine, and spoke to Rakhine, Mro, Rohingya and Khami villagers, belonging to the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim faiths..."
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-05-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Myanmar authorities should immediately drop charges against Aung Marm Oo, the editor and executive director of the Development Media Group (DMG) based in Rakhine State, said Fortify Rights today. Aung Marm Oo, also known as Aung Min Oo, faces charges under the Unlawful Association Act for his involvement in the Sittwe-based DMG, a media outlet that reports on human rights violations in Rakhine State and other parts of the country.
“This is part of a widespread and ongoing crackdown against basic rights and free expression in Myanmar,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights. “The authorities should immediately drop this case against Aung Marm Oo and DMG.”
On May 1, the Special Branch (SB) Police, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed charges against Aung Marm Oo at the Sittwe Myoma Police Station No. 1 in Rakhine State for alleged violations under Section 17/2 of the Unlawful Association Act. Section 17/2 of the Unlawful Associations Act prohibits the management or promotion or assistance in the management or promotion of an unlawful association and carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine.
Aung Marm Oo is currently in hiding.
The Sittwe police summoned and questioned DMG’s Reporter-in-Charge Nay Win San and Senior Reporter Thet Naing on their work with the DMG for approximately one hour on May 5 and three hours on May 6. Police reportedly asked Nay Win San about an article published by the DMG entitled “Moonless Night in Mrauk-U,” which focused on a violent police crackdown against peaceful protesters in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U in January 2018 that left seven protesters dead and others wounded. Police also questioned DMG journalist Thet Naing about the group’s news coverage of Rakhine State and questioned both journalists about DMG’s daily activities, publishing permits, circulation, and names of the staff.
The chief of the Sittwe Police Station Captain Aung Mya Oo told the Irrawaddy, “We are questioning [the DMG reporters] because SB has filed a case against the Editor-in-Chief U Aung Min Oo under 17(2).”
On May 8, Aung Marm Oo issued a statement on the charges, calling for the Myanmar Press Council (MPC) to “intervene to its full capacity.”
The DMG was founded on January 9, 2012, and it was based on the Thailand-Myanmar border before registering in Myanmar and moving to Sittwe and Yangon in January 2014. DTV Daily News Programme and the bi-monthly Development News Journal operate under the DMG. DMG publishes in English and Burmese languages.
Myanmar authorities have long used the sweeping provisions of the Unlawful Associations Act to arrest and imprison human rights defenders and journalists. The vague and overly broad provisions of the Unlawful Associations Act pose a sustained threat to human rights and the authorities’ selective enforcement of the law against minority groups and human rights defenders constitute violations of the right to freedom of expression and association.
“Myanmar Parliament can and should repeal this colonial-era law without delay,” said Matthew Smith. “This law has no place in a rights-respecting democracy.”
Despite the recent release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who spent more than 500 days in detention for their investigation into a massacre of 10 Rohingya men by Myanmar security forces in northern Rakhine State, the Government of Myanmar continues to prosecute and jail journalists and human rights defenders.
Myanmar authorities have recently brought charges against other media outlets reporting on events in Rakhine State. For example, the Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia are facing defamation-related charges for their reporting on clashes between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA)—an armed opposition group operating in Rakhine State.
The Myanmar military and AA have engaged in armed conflict since 2015. Clashes between the two armies intensified in recent months and weeks, displacing more than 30,000 civilians in seven townships of Rakhine State since January 2019. Fortify Rights has received credible reports of Myanmar Army soldiers killing, torturing, and arbitrarily arresting Rakhine civilians since January 2019—violations that would amount to war crimes.
In 2016, Fortify Rights documented how the Myanmar Army forced Rakhine civilians to dig graves and carry supplies under the threat of death during fighting with the AA in Rakhine State.
In January 2019, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her administration met and advised the Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to “crush” the AA. “The president’s office has instructed the military to launch an operation to crush the terrorists,” government spokesperson Zaw Htay told a news conference in Naypyitaw.
The Government of Myanmar should drop all charges against human rights defenders and journalists and free all remaining political prisoners in the country, said Fortify Rights today.
On May 8, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee and U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye, said: “We remain terribly concerned about the state of media freedom and the democratic space in Myanmar.”
“Media freedom is not a privilege, it’s a right,” said Matthew Smith. “In the context of war crimes and forthcoming national elections, crackdowns on media freedom are particularly egregious and should be fixed without delay.”..."
Nickey Diamond, Matthew Smith
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice via "Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2019-05-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
General human rights violations against specific groups, Discrimination against the Rakhine, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
"We, the 24 organizations of the CSO Working Group on MNHRC Reform, call on the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) to act independently of the Myanmar military, and take firm, decisive action in regards to gross human rights violations committed in ethnic, conflict-affected areas. We are particularly disappointed that the MNHRC has unquestioningly accepted the Myanmar military’s version of events after six ethnic Rakhine villagers were shot dead while in custody of the military, despite on the ground reports that their killings were unlawful.
On 30 April, 2019, the Myanmar military detained all male villagers between the ages of 15 and 50 from Kyauk Tan Village, Rathaedaung Township, Rakhine State on suspicion of having ties with the ethnic armed organization, the Arakan Army (AA). On 2 May, six of the detainees were shot dead and at least eight were injured. The Myanmar military has sought to absolve itself of any liability, claiming that the actions of their soldiers were in self-defense. Yet according to eyewitnesses, the soldiers fired indiscriminately into the crowd after one of the detainees started yelling and trying to run away. This is just the latest in a series of allegations that the Myanmar military is committing gross human rights violations throughout northern Rakhine State as it seeks to flush out the AA. Just last month, another three villagers from Latka Village, Mrauk Oo Township died in custody, after 27 people had been detained on suspicion of being part of the AA. The military claimed the causes of death were suicide, heart attack, and withdrawal from drug addiction, but the rushed cremation and the fact the families were not notified of their death points to extrajudicial killing.
In this context it is vital that the MNHRC fulfils its mandate as a national human rights institution to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the deaths of these civilians. Yet in its statement, dated, 3 May, 2019, it simply echoes the military’s version of events, stating that “during detention, about 2am, May 2, 2019, some detainees started shouting and attempting to attack the security force. Therefore, the security forces fired to defend themselves and to separate the mob which caused 6 deaths, 8 injuries and 4 missing.” There was no attempt by the MNHRC to verify the claims of the Myanmar military, which contradict what eyewitnesses and other detainees have said what has happened.
A similar statement was made by the MNHRC to Parliament in May 2018, when two Kachin men who, according to witnesses, were arrested while tending to buffalo in January 2018, were later found buried after being executed by the Myanmar military. A Kachin Independence Army (KIA) uniform had been put on one of the men. Despite medical reports that said they could have been tortured, the MNHRC stated that they were KIA soldiers, and had been killed in battle, contradicting all reports and testimony from the people on the ground that they were merely civilians and the Myanmar military had taken them away while they were in the fields.
In times of armed conflict, where unspeakable human rights abuses are being committed against civilians, Myanmar needs a strong, effective and independent national human rights institution. In the cases outlined above, the MNHRC has been the opposite, unquestioningly siding with the Myanmar military’s version of events, despite the decades of misinformation and propaganda that the military has disseminated to try and hide its abuses. At best, the MNHRC is whitewashing the military’s crimes, and at worst, is complicit in them. We therefore urge the MNHRC to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the killings of Kyauk Tan Village. It must accompany such an investigation and any subsequent recommendations with public pressure to ensure that relevant parties, especially the Myanmar military, are held accountable. It is time for the MNHRC to show whether it is on the side of human rights, or the Myanmar military..." "မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားလူ့အခွင့်အရေးကော်မရှင် (Myanmar National Human Rights Commission – MNHRC) အနေဖြင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခဖြစ်ပွားရာ တိုင်းရင်းသားနယ်မြေများတွင် အစိုးရစစ်တပ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရက်စက် ကြမ်းကြုတ်သော လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ လွတ်လပ် အမှီခိုကင်းပြီး မှန်ကန် ခိုင်မာပြတ်သားသည့် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများကို လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် မိမိတို့ အဖွဲ့အစည်းပေါင်း ၂၄ ဖွဲ့ ပါဝင်သည့် အမျိုးသားလူ့အခွင့်အရေးကော်မရှင် ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲရေးဆိုင်ရာ အရပ်ဘက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ လုပ်ငန်းအဖွဲ့ (CSO Working Group on MNHRC Reform) မှ တောင်းဆိုလိုက်ပါသည်။ စစ်တပ်မှ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းထားစဉ်အတွင်း ရခိုင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများ ဖြစ်ကြသည့် ရွာသားခြောက်ဦး ပစ်သတ်ခံခဲ့ရပြီး သက်သေသတင်းများအရ ယင်းသတ်ဖြတ်မှုများသည် ဥပဒေနှင့် မညီကြောင်း ထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုကြသော်လည်း စစ်တပ်၏ အကြောင်းပြချက်ကို MNHRC က ကျိုးနွံစွာ လက်ခံလိုက်ခြင်းနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ မိမိတို့မှ အထူးပင် စိတ်ပျက်မိပါသည်။
၂၀၁၉ ခုနှစ် ဧပြီလ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် စစ်တပ်က ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ် ရသေ့တောင်မြို့နယ် ကျောက်တန်းရွာရှိ အသက် ၁၅ နှစ်နှင့် ၅၀ နှစ်ကြား အမျိုးသားအားလုံးကို ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်တော် (Arakan Army – AA) နှင့် ဆက်သွယ်သည်ဟူသော သံသယဖြင့် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့ပါသည်။ မေလ ၂ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထိန်းသိမ်းခံရသူများထဲမှ ခြောက်ဦး ပစ်သတ်ခံရပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ရှစ်ဦး ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့သည်။ ထိုသို့ဖြစ်ရခြင်းသည် စစ်သားများက မိမိကိုယ်ကို ကာကွယ်သည့်အနေဖြင့် လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်ဟု စစ်တပ်ကပြောဆိုခဲ့ပြီး ၎င်းတို့တွင် အပြစ်မရှိကြောင်း ဖြေရှင်းချက်ပေးရန် ကြိုးစားခဲ့ပါသည်။ သို့သော်လည်း မျက်မြင် သက်သေများ၏ ထွက်ဆိုချက်များအရ ထိန်းသိမ်းခံထားရသူတစ်ဦး အော်ဟစ်ပြီး ထွက်ပြေးရန် ကြိုးစားချိန်တွင် စစ်သားများက လူအုပ်အတွင်းသို့ အရမ်းကာရောပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့ခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်ဟုဆိုပါသည်။ ဤသည်မှာ AA ကို အပြတ်ရှင်းရန်အတွက် ကြိုးစားရာတွင် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်မြောက်ပိုင်း၌ စစ်တပ်က ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရက်စက် ကြမ်းကြုတ်သော လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုဖြစ်စဉ်များထဲမှ နောက်ဆုံးရ သတင်းတစ်ခုဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့အတူ ယခင်လက မြောက်ဦးမြို့နယ်ရှိ လက္ကာရွာမှ အရပ်သား ၂၇ ဦးကို AA အဖွဲ့ဝင်များ ဖြစ်သည်ဟူသော မသင်္ကာမှုဖြင့် ထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့ရာ ရွာသား သုံးဦးမှာ ထိန်းသိမ်းခံရစဉ်အတွင်း သေဆုံးသွားခဲ့ပါသည်။ သေဆုံးရခြင်းအကြောင်းရင်းမှာ မိမိကိုယ်ကို သတ်သေခြင်း၊ နှလုံးရောဂါနှင့် မူးယစ်ဆေးပြတ်မှု တို့ကြောင့်ဖြစ်သည်ဟု စစ်တပ်ကပြောခဲ့သော်လည်း ချက်ချင်း မီးသြင်္ဂိုလ်လိုက်ခြင်းနှင့် ၎င်းတို့သေဆုံးခြင်းကို မိသားစုဝင်များအား အကြောင်းမကြားခြင်းတို့က ယင်းသေဆုံးမှုသည် ဥပဒေမဲ့သတ်ဖြတ်မှု ဖြစ်ကြောင်းကို ညွှန်းပြနေပါသည်။..."
Moe Thway, Thet Thet Aung
Source/publisher:
24 Civil Society Organizations
Date of publication:
2019-05-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
564.57 KB 248.81 KB
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Description:
"Two civilians were injured after they stepped on a mine on Tuesday in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township.
Two locals, aged 25 and 27, from the village of Nga Pyaw Chaung in Kyauktaw suffered injuries to their legs, arms and shoulders and are receiving medical treatment at the local hospital in Kyauktaw, Ko Nyi Pu, a member of the Kyauktaw-based social organization Phyu Sin Meitta told The Irrawaddy.
“They got serious injuries on their legs, but are not in a critical condition. We have arranged to send them to Sittwe Hospital if necessary,” said Ko Nyi Pu.
The two men, together with some 30 other residents of the village went to a mountain to the west of the village to collect timber to be used for building houses. The pair stepped on a mine on their way back home, said Ko Maung Maung Than who was part of the group collecting timber.
“The logs are quite big so we brought over 30 people to carry them. We used the same route to go to the mountain, but nothing happened. The two stepped on the mine and the explosion occurred as the whole group came down the mountain carrying logs,” Ko Maung Maung Thein told The Irrawaddy.
Locals said that the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, and the Arakan Army (AA) had clashed in the same area some two months ago..."
Min Aung Khine
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2018-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
"We, the 24 organizations of the CSO Working Group on MNHRC Reform, call on the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) to act independently of the Myanmar military, and take firm, decisive action in regards to gross human rights violations committed in ethnic, conflict-affected areas. We are particularly disappointed that the MNHRC has unquestioningly accepted the Myanmar military’s version of events after six ethnic Rakhine villagers were shot dead while in custody of the military, despite on the ground reports that their killings were unlawful.
On 30 April, 2019, the Myanmar military detained all male villagers between the ages of 15 and 50 from Kyauk Tan Village, Rathaedaung Township, Rakhine State on suspicion of having ties with the ethnic armed organization, the Arakan Army (AA). On 2 May, six of the detainees were shot dead and at least eight were injured. The Myanmar military has sought to absolve itself of any liability, claiming that the actions of their soldiers were in self-defense. Yet according to eyewitnesses, the soldiers fired indiscriminately into the crowd after one of the detainees started yelling and trying to run away. This is just the latest in a series of allegations that the Myanmar military is committing gross human rights violations throughout northern Rakhine State as it seeks to flush out the AA. Just last month, another three villagers from Latka Village, Mrauk Oo Township died in custody, after 27 people had been detained on suspicion of being part of the AA. The military claimed the causes of death were suicide, heart attack, and withdrawal from drug addiction, but the rushed cremation and the fact the families were not notified of their death points to extrajudicial killing.
In this context it is vital that the MNHRC fulfils its mandate as a national human rights institution to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the deaths of these civilians. Yet in its statement, dated, 3 May, 2019, it simply echoes the military’s version of events, stating that “during detention, about 2am, May 2, 2019, some detainees started shouting and attempting to attack the security force. Therefore, the security forces fired to defend themselves and to separate the mob which caused 6 deaths, 8 injuries and 4 missing.” There was no attempt by the MNHRC to verify the claims of the Myanmar military, which contradict what eyewitnesses and other detainees have said what has happened.
A similar statement was made by the MNHRC to Parliament in May 2018, when two Kachin men who, according to witnesses, were arrested while tending to buffalo in January 2018, were later found buried after being executed by the Myanmar military. A Kachin Independence Army (KIA) uniform had been put on one of the men. Despite medical reports that said they could have been tortured, the MNHRC stated that they were KIA soldiers, and had been killed in battle, contradicting all reports and testimony from the people on the ground that they were merely civilians and the Myanmar military had taken them away while they were in the fields.
In times of armed conflict, where unspeakable human rights abuses are being committed against civilians, Myanmar needs a strong, effective and independent national human rights institution. In the cases outlined above, the MNHRC has been the opposite, unquestioningly siding with the Myanmar military’s version of events, despite the decades of misinformation and propaganda that the military has disseminated to try and hide its abuses. At best, the MNHRC is whitewashing the military’s crimes, and at worst, is complicit in them. We therefore urge the MNHRC to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the killings of Kyauk Tan Village. It must accompany such an investigation and any subsequent recommendations with public pressure to ensure that relevant parties, especially the Myanmar military, are held accountable. It is time for the MNHRC to show whether it is on the side of human rights, or the Myanmar military..."
Moe Thway, Thet Thet Aung
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice via "24 Civil Society Organizations"
Date of publication:
2019-05-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
566.75 KB 248.81 KB
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Description:
"Myanmar authorities should independently investigate the killing of detainees held by the military in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 2, 2019, army soldiers shot and killed at least six villagers from among several hundred who had been detained in Kyauk Tan, Rathedaung township, for suspected links to the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group.
On May 5, the military said that it had created a team of five officers that has been investigating the incident since May 3. However, the Myanmar army has a long history of failing to effectively or credibly investigate alleged abuses by its own forces, rarely holding military personnel accountable.
“The Myanmar military concedes that they killed six villagers that they were holding in Rakhine State, but only a genuinely independent investigation will get to the bottom of what happened,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “An independent and impartial investigation is needed to bring to justice anyone responsible for wrongdoing.”
Fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army has displaced over 33,000 people in Rakhine and Chin States since November 2018. The media have reported that the army has detained scores of people during military operations.
On the morning of April 30, soldiers rounded up about 275 villagers in Kyauk Tan – all men and boys between the ages of 15 and 50 – on suspicion of involvement with the Arakan Army, according to media reports. The men and boys were detained in a local schoolhouse for two days of interrogation, with some reports that they were denied food and water..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2019-05-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
"UN aid agencies and NGO partners launched the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, and are seeking to raise USD920 million to meet the massive needs of more than 900,000 refugees from Myanmar and over 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in host communities..."
Source/publisher:
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State, 2019 - Burma/Myanmar Government sources (pages from "The Global New Light of Myanmar"), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s upstart Arakan Army (AA) has intensified its insurgent operations in recent months, opening a new front of instability in the nation’s long-running ethnic civil wars.
The armed conflict has compounded volatility in Rakhine state, from where over 700,000 Muslim Rohingya have been expelled in government “clearance operations” beginning in 2017 the United Nations and others suggest may have had “genocidal intent.”
In January, over 300 AA troops raided four border posts in northern Rakhine state, underscoring the 10,000-strong armed group’s rising capabilities since its formation in 2009, with support among the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority.
The Myanmar government has doubled down in its tit-for-tat reprisals, classifying the group as a “terrorist organization” and threatening reporters who cover the AA’s side of the surging conflict with unlawful association, an anti-state criminal offense.
Asia Times spoke to the AA’s leader and founder General Tun Myat Naing in mid-April in Pangsang at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the United Wa State Army, another armed group which enjoys de facto statehood within Myanmar.
In a wide-ranging interview, Tun Myat Naing spoke to his ambition of achieving autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and what he and his fighters are willing to do to achieve it. Excerpts follow..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Myanmar soldiers are shelling villages, detaining civilians and blocking aid as part of a new crackdown in Rakhine state by some of the army units implicated in atrocities against the Rohingya, a rights group says.
Villagers and local activists in the northern Myanmar state have told Amnesty International that artillery or mortar shells are being fired in the vicinity of townships and people are returning to abandoned communities to find properties looted and damaged.
Military activity in the restive state has intensified since early January when an armed ethnic Rakhine group called the Arakan Army attacked four police posts, reportedly killing 13 officers.
More than 5,200 people have been displaced by the subsequent fighting, the UN says, and dozens of families have reportedly fled into neighbouring Bangladesh.
Nearly a million Muslim Rohingya people are sheltering in sprawling refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, but most of those displaced in the latest fighting belong to Buddhist ethnic minorities who, unlike the Rohingya, are recognised as Burmese citizens...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian
Date of publication:
2019-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Rohingya Villagers in Northern Rakhine State have informed BHRN of food and medical shortages as the conflict intensifies in the region between Burmese security forces and the ethnic Rakhine armed group, the Arakan Army (AA). While the International Committee of the Red Cross has been able to help several Rakhine villagers displaced by the conflict, Rohingya say restrictions imposed by the military have left them unable to receive aid. Some Rohingya villagers that spoke to BHRN have said that they haven’t been able to get aid since August 2017. Recently, Burma military has declared a unilateral ceasefire with most of the country’s many armed groups, they have excluded the Arakan Army from it and focused on isolating and targeting the Rakhine and Rohingya communities since.
“Burma must ensure the safety and security of all civilians. Burma has already restricted aid going into the area, forcing those who have nothing to do with the fighting to suffer needlessly. The international community has an obligation to take a stand against such actions, and prevent them from worsening as the conflict is likely to continue,” said BHRN Executive Director, Kyaw Win.
At the same time, Rohingya in Rathedaung Township have informed BHRN of fighting near the villages of Ye Khone Taing and Aa Ka Taung and said that Burmese soldiers have stationed in their villages, putting civilians at increased risk. Those in the area reported gunfire and what they believed to be artillery in fighting between the Burmese security forces and the Arakan Army. The Burmese military has also deployed helicopters in the conflict following statements from Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration’s calls to ‘crush’ the insurgents.
While the majority of Rohingya living in Northern Rakhine State fled to Bangladesh in 2017, many remained behind and have continued to suffer from lack of food and medicine while being unable to find work or food as restrictions on movement imposed by Burmese authorities have prevented them from leaving their villages. Rohingya villagers in rural areas of Buthidaung and Rathedaung have said that people are again fleeing due to these shortages and fear of spillover of violence from the conflict.
The Burmese Government must allow full access to NGOs to all areas in Rakhine State, especially to those areas facing conflict where people are most in need and most vulnerable. Burma must work towards a ceasefire with the Arakan Army in concert with its ceasefire with other armed groups. The International Community cannot wait for another full-blown crisis to emerge before acting and must address these issues now before they are beyond repair. To ensure a peaceful solution and avoid further chaos and suffering, sanctions against the Military and their business interests must be on the table as a means to ensure consequences for egregious behaviors...''
Kyaw Win
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
209.51 KB
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Description:
''Triggered by a wave of rebel attacks, the recent surge in hostilities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state marks an ominous watershed in a hitherto low-intensity conflict between Arakan Army (AA) insurgents and government forces.
After four years of low-key political and military infiltration from bases several hundred kilometers away on Myanmar’s northern Chinese border, assaults by hundreds of ethnic Rakhine fighters on four police posts in early January appeared to indicate the ethno-nationalist rebel group had shifted its operational focus squarely back onto its home-turf in Rakhine state.
he military, or Tatmadaw, responded at speed by air-lifting crack units into Rakhine from other parts of the country and ratcheting up operations backed by artillery and air power aimed at “crushing” rebels who now operate across almost all townships in the northern half of the state.
Last week, on January 31, the Tatmadaw staged a day of well-publicized war games in Meiktila in central Myanmar show-casing a range of improved capabilities, not least parachute assaults, low-level air strikes and aerial resupply drops. Attended by armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the drills were clearly intended to send a blunt message both to the general public and the AA: the gloves are coming off...''
Anthony Davis
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Ethnic Rakhine insurgents have attacked four police stations in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, provoking a military counteroffensive. Escalation could imperil both prospects for Rohingya repatriation and the country’s transition toward civilian rule. All sides should step back from confrontation and pursue talks about Rakhine State’s future.
On 4 January – Myanmar’s Independence Day – the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine group, launched coordinated attacks on four police outposts in northern Rakhine State, killing thirteen officers and injuring nine others. The attacks followed months of low-grade violence in the state, including a roadside bomb attributed to the AA that struck the chief minister’s convoy but did little damage. The government has directed the military to launch “clearance operations” against the group, which will likely precipitate further violence and civilian casualties. Thousands of civilians have already fled villages near the raided outposts. The attacks signify a dangerous shift from politics to insurgency as the means of addressing ethnic Rakhine grievances. The state is already afflicted by the Rohingya mass flight; an escalated fight between ethnic Rakhine and the government would represent a blow to Myanmar’s political transition to civilian rule and be difficult to stop. All sides should step back from confrontation and instead discuss how best to address Rakhine grievances through political channels...'' ''မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့ ဇန်နဝါရီ(၄)ရက်နေ့တွင် ရခိုင်တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်အုပ်စုဖြစ်သော ရခိုင့်တပ်မတော် (AA) သည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်မြောက်ပိုင်ရှိ ရဲကင်း (၄)ခုကို တပြိုင်နက်တည်းတိုက်ခိုက်ရာ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲဝင် ၁၃ ဦးကျဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး ၉ ဦးဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့သည်။ ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းဝန်ကြီးချုပ်ယဉ်တန်းကို အနည်းငယ်ထိခိုက်မှုဖြစ်စေခဲ့သော မိုင်းဗုံးခွဲမှုအပါအဝင် AA ကလုပ်ဆောင်ခဲ့သော အသေးစား...''
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
980.08 KB 956.97 KB
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Description:
''Its creation follows at least eight other special government inquiries and boards conducted since 2012 in Rakhine State alone.
In a five-page legal briefing, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) assesses the inquiry in reference to standards on the conduct of investigations.
The ICJ finds that the ICOE cannot reasonably be seen as having any chance of being independent, impartial, or making an effective contribution to justice or accountability for the crimes under international law. To the contrary, giving any recognition to it is likely to undermine and delay effective international measures for justice and accountability...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-09-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), General human rights violations against specific groups, Discrimination against the Rakhine, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
272.19 KB 540.9 KB
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Description:
''The ICJ called on Myanmar’s government to act as swiftly as possible to address the root causes of violence, discrimination and under-development in Rakhine, as well as for enhanced engagement by the international community in efforts to effectively address the situation, and to take measures to ensure that security operations are conducted in accordance with international human rights standards.
The military operations follow attacks by ARSA on August 25 on police posts and a military base in which at least 12 police, military and government officials were killed, along with a large number of attackers (according to government figures).
In the wake of the attacks on 25 August, the military launched what it has termed as a “clearance operation,” and the government announced that parts of northern Rakhine State have been designated as a “military operations area.”''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2017-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Business and Human Rights (global, regional, thematic), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
''New government curbs on aid activities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State “are affecting at least 50,000 people,” the United Nations has said in an internal note, highlighting the growing impact of recent fighting on the civilian population.
The Rakhine State government this month blocked non-governmental organizations and UN agencies from travelling to rural areas in five townships in northern and central parts of the state affected by conflict.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and UN World Food Programme were exempted from the ban on aid activity in the region, where fighting between government troops and autonomy-seeking ethnic Rakhine rebels has displaced thousands.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) summarized recent information gathered from aid organizations on the impact of the restrictions in the two central Rakhine townships of Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
''New government curbs on aid activities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State “are affecting at least 50,000 people,” the United Nations has said in an internal note, highlighting the growing impact of recent fighting on the civilian population.
The Rakhine State government this month blocked non-governmental organizations and UN agencies from travelling to rural areas in five townships in northern and central parts of the state affected by conflict.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and UN World Food Programme were exempted from the ban on aid activity in the region, where fighting between government troops and autonomy-seeking ethnic Rakhine rebels has displaced thousands.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) summarized recent information gathered from aid organizations on the impact of the restrictions in the two central Rakhine townships of Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Six border guard police officers were wounded in an ambush by the Arakan Army (AA) on Wednesday in northern Rakhine State, according to Myanmar Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun.
He said the AA ambushed a vehicle with border guard police on board at around noon north of Maungdaw Township’s Kyee Kan Pyin Village, where the board guard police have a base.
“One was seriously wounded and the rest sustained minor injuries,” Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy. “It happened in the north of Kyee Kan Pyin, not near the [border] fence. It was closer to the motor road. As far as I know, they were ambushed, which was followed by an exchange of fire.”
All the six wounded officers have been sent to Yangon for medical treatment, he added.
Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the AA, claimed that there was no clash in Maungdaw on Wednesday...''
Min Aung Khine
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Six policemen, including one police colonel, were wounded during an ambush by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Wednesday in northern Rakhine State, according to an announcement on State media on Saturday.
Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) announced on Saturday that a police van with security forces from No. 2 Border Guard Police Headquarters on board was attacked near Wat Kyein Village in Maungdaw Township. The government said ARSA, a Rohingya insurgent group which also launched serial attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State in 2017, was behind the ambush. The group has been denounced by the government as a terrorist organization since the 2017 attacks.
Despite the attack taking place a few days ago, the government’s announcement came only after a short video allegedly recorded at the scene went viral online early on Saturday. The footage includes the date of the attack and bears an ARSA logo...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
''A military column raided an entire village and looted gold, jewelry, cash and dozens of mobile phones from the villagers of Tha Mee Hla Village in Rathedaung Township in northern Rakhine State on Saturday, according to Arakanese lawmakers.
Rathedaung Township representative, Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai said that she was initially informed by a villager over the phone on Saturday. Considering how serious the allegations were, she asked regional lawmaker U Than Naing to get firsthand accounts from the victims on Sunday morning. U Than Naing then went to the village to confirm the incident.
“Firstly, I thought it’s hard to believe because we never expect such kind of treatment from the army,” said Daw Khin Saw Wai.
U Than Naing posted on social media on Sunday stating that he found only 10 homes in the village spared of bullets out of a total 84 homes. Some homes were struck by artillery fire and had bullet holes. He wrote that a seven-year-old child had been wounded by an artillery explosion near his home and had to be immediately transported to Sittwe General Hospital for medical treatment. Another two women from Tha Mee Hla were also wounded by artillery shells...''
Moe Myint
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
1970-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Myanmar’s army says it killed 13 ethnic Rakhine fighters in counter attacks, after the well-armed group carried out deadly strikes on police posts earlier this month.
Rakhine state has seen new levels of violence in recent weeks between the Arakan Army (AA) – insurgents fighting for greater autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists – and security forces.
Many of the battles are taking place in the same region from which more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh after August 2017, when the army launched a crackdown the UN deemed ethnic cleansing.
The AA are a more formidable force than the fighters claiming to represent the Rohingya and have inflicted historically higher death tolls on the military.
On Myanmar’s independence day on January 4, the AA launched pre-dawn raids that killed 13 police officers and wounded nine before the army stepped in, setting off violence that has displaced thousands...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian
Date of publication:
2019-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
more
Description:
''The Burma Human Rights Network is alarmed by reports of Burmese military and police arbitrarily detaining ethnic Rakhine villagers following fighting between the Burmese military and the Rakhine ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army. Fears have also emerged that aid may be blocked to Rakhine villages suspected of aiding or sheltering Arakan Army fighters, as has been done in the past.
“Civilians are always those who suffer most from war and conflict, and it is imperative that the Burmese army respect the human rights of the Rakhine civilians in the areas they are operating in. The use of collective punishment and arbitrary detention by the Burmese Army is not only a violation of human rights but furthers resentment among civilians and will ultimately prolong the conflict,” Said BHRN’s Executive Director Kyaw Win.
On December 27th security forces entered Yae Gaung Chaung village in Rathedaung township, Rakhine State, following days of fighting between the Arakan Army and the Burmese security forces. Civilians were forced to enter a local monastery where they were questioned and several were detained. These skirmishes come after the Burmese Military unilaterally declared a ceasefire in the country but explicitly excluded conflict in Rakhine State.
On January 4th, Burma’s Independence Day, the Arakan Army attacked again, killing 13 members of the Burmese security forces. In response Burma has vowed to “crush” the insurgents and increased efforts to eliminate local support for them...''
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
185.19 KB
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Description:
"The Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s newest and least known insurgent groups, has been hurled from obscurity to prominence after a series of escalated attacks that threaten to tilt the country’s already volatile Rakhine state towards all-out war.
On January 4, Myanmar’s Independence Day from British colonial rule, the Arakan Army staged one of their most brazen and belligerent attacks after several weeks of expanded ambushes and engagements with Myanmar security forces..."
David Scott Mathieson
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
''The chief of the Arakan Army (AA), Tun Myat Naing, recently spoke with The Irrawaddy’s Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint about his group’s policies and accusations by the President’s Office that it has ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against Muslims in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Ethnic Rakhine rebels killed 13 Myanmar police officers Friday in a coordinated attack on the country’s Independence Day, according to the army.
Rakhine state has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks between the Arakan Army (AA) rebels – who are demanding greater autonomy for their Buddhist ethnic group – and security forces, displacing thousands.
It has added a fresh layer of complexity and danger to the violence in an area already scored by deep ethnic and religious enmity, which saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims forced over the border by a brutal army crackdown in 2017...''
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state has been wracked by armed conflict over the past several weeks, as escalated and expanded fighting between Myanmar security forces and the rebel Arakan Army erupts across several townships.
The new clashes are destabilizing a region already wracked by the Myanmar military’s now notorious “clearance operations” that drove over 700,000 Rohingyas into neighboring Bangladesh, a campaign of violence the United Nations has reported as crimes against humanity..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Thu Thu Aung, Poppy McPherson
Source/publisher:
Reuters
Date of publication:
2019-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
more
Description:
''The war in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State is likely to intensify as more government forces have been deployed to the area in the wake of rebel attacks on police stations, The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar website, reported on January 10.
Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured in the attacks, which were carried on January 4 – Myanmar’s independence day – by the Arakan Army (AA), a local rebel group fighting for autonomy for the state.
The Irrawaddy quoted AA commander Tun Myat Naing as saying that government soldiers “are coming by air and by road” and justified the raids because police units based in the area had helped the Myanmar Army attack the AA in December...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The war in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state is likely to intensify as more government forces have been deployed in the area in the wake of rebel attacks on police stations, The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar website, has reported.
Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured in the attacks, which took place on January 4 – Myanmar’s independence day – by the Arakan Army (AA), a local rebel group fighting for autonomy for the state.
The Irrawaddy quoted AA commander Tun Myat Naing as saying that government soldiers “are coming by air and by road” and justified the raids because police units based in the area had helped the Myanmar Army attack the AA in December...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Rakhine insurgents have killed 13 policemen and injured nine in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state as the country marked Independence Day, the official news agency said.
Fighting renewed in Rakhine state in early December between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army, which wants greater autonomy for Rakhine, where the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group makes up the majority. The Arakan Army does not cite religion as a factor in its insurgency.
It was also in the restive western state that a military-led crackdown in 2017, following attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents, prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee westwards to neighbouring Bangladesh...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian
Date of publication:
2019-01-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
''YANGON—More than nine years after it was formed by 26 Arakanese (Rakhine) youths, the Arakan Army (AA) today is a 7000-member strong army which is gaining progress in its bid to establish a stronghold in its homeland, Rakhine State.
Hundreds of AA troops launched a coordinated attack on four border guard police outposts in Buthidaung Township on Friday. Only after the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) sent reinforcements and attacked from the air, the AA troops retreated.
Thirteen police were killed in the attack during which the AA abducted 18 police and their family members who they later released.
The conflict plays out as Myanmar comes under growing pressure from the international community regarding the exodus of Rohingya from northern Rakhine State into Bangladesh following brutal military clearance operations spurred by serial attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on a number of police outposts in August 2017...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
The Arakan Army has denied that it is allied with a Rohingya Muslim terrorist group and objected to a Myanmar government spokesman’s warning to its supporters not to back the insurgent group after it conducted deadly attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine state last week, RFA reported.
At a news conference on Monday, President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim terrorist group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state.
In a statement on its website and Facebook page, the AA said Zaw Htay’s statements were inappropriate, viewing them as an attempt by the government and the military to stir up misunderstanding between the Arakan military group’s allies and ethnic Rakhine support base.
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
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Description:
''Myanmar’s leaders on Monday vowed to “crush” an insurgency in western Rakhine state by the Arakan Army (AA), demanding that ethnic Rakhines end support for the armed group that killed 13 policeman in coordinated attacks during the country’s Independence Day last week.
Zaw Htay, director general of President Win Myint's office, said Myanmar’s de facto leader State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi discussed the AA’s attacks during a meeting on national security held with the president, military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and other cabinet members.
“The president’s office has instructed the military to launch an operation to crush the terrorists,” he told a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw.
“The Myanmar government has denounced the AA as a terrorist organization and ordered the military to implement effective counter-insurgency measures against it,” he said.
Zaw Htay also said that the AA’s attacks were a “stab in the back” and that political differences divisions should be resolved through discussion.
On Friday, Myanmar’s Independence Day, members of the AA used both light and heavy weapons to attack four police outposts in Buthidaung township, killing 13 officers and injuring nine others. Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim militant group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state, triggering a brutal military crackdown that killed thousands and drove more than 725,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh...''
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of publication:
2019-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
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Description:
''The Arakan Army on Tuesday denied that it is allied with a Rohingya Muslim militant group and objected to a Myanmar government spokesman’s warning to its supporters not to back the insurgent group after it conducted deadly attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine state last week.
Coordinated assaults by the AA on four police outposts in Buthidaung township on Jan. 4 left 13 policemen dead and injured nine others. The rebel force said it lost three of its soldiers in the violence.
At a news conference on Monday, President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim militant group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state, triggering a brutal military crackdown that killed thousands and drove more than 725,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh.
In a statement on its website and Facebook page, the AA said Zaw Htay’s statements were inappropriate, viewing them as an attempt by the government and the military to stir up misunderstanding between the Arakan military group’s allies and ethnic Rakhine support base.
AA commander-in-chief Major General Tun Myat Naing also posted an online message that the AA does not have any connection to ARSA...''
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of publication:
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Frequent clashes between Myanmar security forces and Buddhist rebels in Rakhine state have spread alarm among thousands of Rohingya refugees living in no-man's-land on the country's border with Bangladesh, as concerns grow over the intensified fighting.
More than 730,000 members of the mostly Muslim minority have fled Myanmar to escape a brutal military-led crackdown that started in 2017. Most of the Rohingya have taken shelter in sprawling refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh but some have been living in limbo on the border, unwilling to enter the settlements or return home...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
"In the immediate aftermath of last Sunday?s attacks on security forces in northern Arakan State?s Maungdaw Township, rumours, accusations and outright propaganda quickly crowded out what little was actually known about the situation.
Officials and politicians wasted no time in ascribing the attacks to the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), a group widely believed to be defunct, despite a complete lack of evidence. And many journalists blindly repeated their claims, propagating the agendas of interested parties in a highly polarized conflict.
Others, including the dangerously influential monk Ashin Wirathu, added further fuel to the fire, using Facebook to warn of a ?third Jihad”, in a post that was shared more than 6,000 times..."
Carlos Sardina Galache
Source/publisher:
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)
Date of publication:
2016-10-12
Date of entry/update:
2016-10-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
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Description:
"Large coordinated attacks hit three Myanmar border police posts in the troubled Rakhine State on 9 October. In this Q&A, Crisis Group Myanmar Adviser Richard Horsey warns that it could tip simmering tensions between the beleaguered Rohingya Muslim minority and the government into wider, open conflict... At least 250 assailants, and perhaps as many as 500-800, launched simultaneous early morning attacks on 9 October on three border police posts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships near Myanmar?s north-western border with Bangladesh, according to information released by the government. They were armed mostly with knives and slingshots, as well as about 30 firearms. Nine police officers were killed and the attackers fled with at least 50 guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. In subsequent days there have been further deadly clashes between this group and the security forces.
The attacks were carried out by Muslims, according to both government statements and local sources. An unverified video of the attackers, filmed in the wake of the attacks, has been circulating on social networks and seems legitimate. In it, one of the group calls on ?all Rohingya around the world to prepare for jihad and join them”. This, the need for local knowledge to carry out the assaults, and the difficulty of moving large numbers of people around this area are all suggestive of local Muslim involvement ? possibly organised with some outside support. However, many details of who exactly organised this and how remain unclear.
The attacks mark a major escalation of violence in Rakhine. The number of attackers and their sophisticated tactics ? they used a diversionary attack to draw the defenders out of one of the posts before the main assault began ? display an unprecedented level of planning in a conflict that has to date seen little sign of organised violent resistance from the oppressed Muslim population..."
Richard Horsey
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2016-10-12
Date of entry/update:
2016-10-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Inter-Communal violence and discrimination - Myanmar - international comment
Language:
English
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