Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar

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Title: After 34 Years, ’88 Generation Continues to Inspire, and to Sacrifice
Description: "Myanmar’s military shot dead 16-year-old student activist Ma Win Maw Oo during the pro-democracy popular uprising in 1988, which turns 34 years old on Monday. Nearly 34 years after her death, the same military killed Ko Jimmy, who was also a young pro-democracy student activist back in 1988. Myanmar’s new regime, which is run by the military, hanged the 53-year-old veteran democracy activist in Yangon’s Insein Prison last month for his anti-regime activism against the current junta. The killing of the two contemporary activists by the same military under different generals 34 years apart paints a grim picture of the reality Myanmar faces today. Myanmar erupted into a nationwide pro-democracy protest on Aug. 8, 1988 to end the 26-year rule of dictator General Ne Win’s authoritarian regime. The protests continued until the military staged a coup in September and the army violently gunned down the protesters. At least 3,000 democracy supporters were killed. While it failed to end military dictatorship in the country, the popular uprising paved the way for Myanmar’s short-lived democratic period, which was ended by another military takeover in February 2021. The Myanmar people’s leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi established per political reputation in the ’88 uprising, out of which her National League for Democracy (NLD) was born. Then came the party’s landslide victory in the 1990 general election, whose result the military refused to honor. Fast forward more than two decades and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was leading a democratically elected civilian government until it was ousted by the putsch last year. Were it not for the ’88 pro-democracy movement, it would have been difficult for any of the above to have come into existence. The spirit of ’88 keeps Myanmar moving forward and striving for democracy even today, under Min Aung Hlaing’s dictatorship. When the army staged a coup last year, millions of people defied military rule just as in 1988. True to its old self, the army brutally cracked down on the protesters, as it did in 1988. After more than three decades, the military’s barbarism has not diminished. So far it has killed more than 2,000 civilians. Its repression has been even crueler this time, including sending Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to solitary confinement in a prison, hanging Ko Jimmy and three other democracy activists, and launching airstrikes against civilians and anti-regime armed resistance forces. But the people of Myanmar have undergone a radical change: no longer do they seek reconciliation with the military. Infuriated by their sudden loss of freedom and democracy, which were hard won through the sacrifices of the ’88 pro-democracy movement, as well as the junta’s day-to-day atrocities against them, they are now determined to root out the military dictatorship in the country by any means necessary. What they have in common with the ’88 generation is their craving for democracy and freedom. That’s why Ko Jimmy, a veteran of the 1988 uprising, paid with his life for his beliefs and for the country, just as Ma Win Maw Oo confronted the soldiers as they sprayed bullets on the streets of Yangon 34 years ago. The young anti-regime resistance fighters, whether in the Myanmar heartland or along the borders, feel the same. So do the urban guerrilla fighters in Yangon. The ’88 pro-democracy uprising tried to kindle the torch of democracy in Myanmar. Today, 34 years on, it is inspiring a new generation to keep the torch aflame, whatever it takes..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Photographer Aye Kyaw reportedly dies in Myanmar military custody
Description: "Bangkok, August 8, 2022 – Myanmar authorities must immediately disclose the status of photojournalist Aye Kyaw amid reports that he died in detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. At about 2 a.m. on July 30, military authorities arrested Aye Kyaw, a member of the Upper Myanmar Photography Association who had photographed anti-junta protests, at his home in the city of Sagaing, according to reports by the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia and the local outlet Yangon Khit Thit Media. At about noon that day, a local official told Aung Kyaw’s family that he had died in custody and his body was being held at the Sagaing City Hospital, according to RFA. That report quoted a member of the Ohbo Health and Social Assistance Association, a burial service in Sagaing, as saying his group took Aye Kyaw’s body to a religious hall, and that the journalist’s family buried him on July 31. An anonymous source quoted by RFA said they saw dark bruises on Aye Kyaw’s ribs and back. “Myanmar authorities must immediately account for the whereabouts of photojournalist Aung Kyaw, and come clean about whether he died in military custody,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “If he died while in junta detention, then those responsible must be identified and brought to justice.” CPJ emailed Myanmar’s Ministry of Information for comment, but did not immediately receive any response. Yangon Khit Thit Media reported that authorities ordered the journalist’s family not to post about his burial on Facebook. Citing one of his family members, RFA reported that authorities had arrived at the journalist’s home on July 30 to search for weapons. CPJ was not able to find contact information for Aung Kyaw’s family members, and calls to the Upper Myanmar Photography Association went unanswered. Aung Kyaw is at least the fourth journalist to be killed since the military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021, according to CPJ reporting. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), an independent rights monitoring group, at least 2,167 prodemocracy activists and civilians have been killed by the junta since the coup..."
Source/publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
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Title: Statement on the death sentence for political activists, including (9) women Burmese Women's Union
Description: "Unjustly sentenced to death, Jimmy, Phyo Zayar Thaw, Aung Thura Zaw, and Hla Myo Aung were actually killed, the military council announced on July 25. Despite warnings and objections from the international community, the decision was made without informing the families of the political prisoners who were killed. In addition, there are reports that other people who have been unjustly sentenced to death are being prepared for execution. We, the Burmese Women's Union, strongly condemns the unlawful killing of these political activists in prison. Currently, there are 77 people who are unjustly sentenced to death, including 9 women. In the view of BWU, the jurisdiction under military council was unjust and all the sentences were biased. In the current situation, the sentences themselves should be regarded as crimes and murders. From the perspective of international human rights, the act shows no respect for justice and human rights in terms of law. Furthermore, the right to life does not allow the death penalty to be imposed on anyone. The action is also obviously against the essence of democracy. BWU is seriously concerned that the terrorist military council is in a position to carry out more executions. So, now is the time for us to unite more to prevent such kind of actions. The actions of the Terrorist Military Council ignore the interests of the people and risk the sweat, blood and lives of many people to maintain their power. Therefore, in eradicating the military dictatorship, the related alliance groups, Democracy and human rights activists and all the people should work together in harmony, hand-in-hand. Although the international community, including ASEAN, warned and protested against the execution of political activists, the Terrorist Military Council did not recognize and acted against it. The heinous actions of the Burmese military council proves that it is time for the international community, including ASEAN, to take more practical measures to bring changes in Burma. Therefore, it is important to immediately stop the inhumane acts of Burmese military. And, we the Burmese Women Union, would like to urge international governments to put more and severe pressures against Burmese military to stop its unlawful actions..."
Source/publisher: Burmese Women's Union
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
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Title: ရှစ်လေးလုံးနေ့ (၈.၈.၈၈) (၃၄) နှစ်မြောက် အထိမ်းအမှတ် သဝဏ်လွှာ။
Source/publisher: Karenni State Consultative Council
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
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Title: အမျိုးသမီး (၉) ဦးအပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံရေးတက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူများအား သေဒဏ်ချမှတ်မှုအပေါ် မြန်မာ့အမျိုးသမီးသမဂ္ဂ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်
Description: "Burmese Women’s Union (BWU), a statement on the death sentence for political activists, including (9) women..."
Source/publisher: Burmese Women's Union
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: (၃၄) နှစ်မြောက် ၈၈၈၈ လူထုအရေးတော်ပုံ နှစ်ပတ်လည်နေ့အထိမ်းအမှတ် ၈၈မျိုးဆက် (ငြိမ်းချမ်း‌ရေး နှင့် ပွင့်လင်း လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်း) ၏ သ‌ဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်
Description: "ယနေ့သည် ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကြွေးကြော်သံများကို ကိုင်စွဲကာ နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝန်းရှိ ရဟန်းရှင်လူ ကျောင်းသား ပြည်သူ လူထု လူတန်းစားအလွှာအသီးသီးမှ အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို ဆန့်ကျင် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့ကြသော ၈၈၈၈ (ရှစ်လေးလုံး) လူထုတော်လှန်ရေးကြီး၏ (၃၄) နှစ် ပြည့်မြောက်သော နှစ်ပတ်လည်နေ့ အခါသမယ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ရှစ်လေးလုံးအရေးတော်ပုံကြီးသည် ဒီမိုကရေစီသူရဲကောင်းများစွာ၊ ရဟန်းရှင်လူ ပြည်သူ မြောက်များ စွာတို့၏ အသက်သွေးချွေး ဘဝများ စတေးခဲ့ရပြီး စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ မတရားဖိနှိပ် ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများကို အံတုကာ အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ပြတ်ရေးအတွက် ပုခုံးထမ်းတင်ပေးခဲ့သော မြန်မာ့ ဒီမိုကရေစီခရီးလမ်း၏ ဂုဏ်ရောင် ပြောင်မြောက်သည့် သမိုင်းစာမျက်နှာတစ်ခုလည်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ၁၉၅၈ မှ စတင်ခဲ့သော စစ်အာဏာရှင်/တစ်ပါတီအာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို အဆက်ဆက်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ၁၉၆၂ မှသည် ၁၉၇၄-၇၅-၇၆ စသော ရှေ့မျိုးဆက်အသီးသီး၏ တော်လှန်ရေးတာဝန်ကို လက်ဆင့်ကမ်း ကျေပွန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် အပြင် ၁၉၉၆-၉၈လှုပ်ရှားမှုများ ၊၂၀၀၇ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး စသည့် နောင်မျိုးဆက်များကိုပါ ဒီမိုကရေစီ ခရီးတွင် ခြေကုပ်မြဲစေရန် မျိုးစေ့ချပေးနိုင်ခဲ့သည့် ပြယုဂ်တစ်ခုလည်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ လက်ရှိ အချိန်အခါသည်လည်း ရှစ်လေးလုံးလူထုအရေးတော်ပုံ အပါအဝင် ရှေ့မျိုးဆက်အသီးသီးမှ လက်ဆင့် ကမ်းခဲ့သော တော်လှန်ရေးအောင်လံကို နွေဦးတော်လှန်‌ရေးတွင် ယနေ့မျိုးဆက်သစ်များမှဆက်လက် သယ်ဆောင်၍ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံးစုပေါင်းကာ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ဖြတ်နိုင်ရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီစနစ် ရှင်သန်ထွန်းကားရေးအတွက် မျိုးဆက်အသီးသီး လက်တွဲတိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေသော ကာလ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ လက်ရှိ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် မျိုးဆက်အသီးသီးသည် လက်ချင်းတွဲ၍ ကျရာ သမိုင်းပေးတာဝန် များကို ကျေပွန်စွာ ထမ်းဆောင်လျက်ရှိပြီး စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ ရက်စက်ရမ်းကားမှုများကြောင့် အသက်သွေးချွေး ဘဝများ ရဲရင့်စွာ ပေးဆပ်သွားခဲ့ကြသည့် သူရဲကောင်းများလည်း ရှိပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ တရားမဲ့ ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းခံခဲ့ရပြီး နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝန်းရှိ အကျဥ်းထောင်များ စစ်ကြောရေးများတွင် မတရားချုပ်နှောင်ခံထားရသော တော်လှန်ရေးညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများသည်လည်း အကျဥ်းသားအခွင့်အ‌ရေးများ မရရှိသည့် အပြင် ဥပဒေမဲ့ ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ တရားလက်မဲ့ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများ ဆိုးဝါးစွာ ကျူးလွန်ခံရ လျက်ရှိသည်။ ထိုသို့ စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ ဖိနှိပ်ရက်စက်မှုများ ကြားမှပင် ဖမ်းဆီးခံ တော်လှန်ရေး ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများသည် ပြည်တွင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာရှိ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး ပြည်သူများနှင့် တသားတည်းရှိကြောင်း ပြသသည့်အနေဖြင့် တော်လှန်ရေးတိုက်ပွဲများ ဆက်လက်၍ ဆင်နွှဲနေကြလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အသက်နှင့်ဘဝများ ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့သည့် သူရဲကောင်းများ၏ စွန့်လွှတ်မှုနှင့် အခက်အခဲများကြားမှပင် ဆက်လက်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေသော ဖမ်းဆီးခံတော်လှန်ရေးမောင်နှမများ၏ အသံများကို ကြီးမြတ်စွာ ဂုဏ်ပြုသည့်အားဖြင့် ပြည်တွင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာရှိ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ မျိုးဆက်အသီးသီးမှ ထိုအင်အားများကို ဆက်လက်ကိုင်စွဲ၍ ဤနိုင်ငံမြေပေါ်မှ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ပြတ် ပပျောက်ပြီး ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီစနစ် ရှင်သန်ထွန်းကားသည်အထိ အတူလက်တွဲ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ကြပါမည်ဟု လေးနက်စွာ ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။ “မပြီးဆုံးသေးတဲ့ ရှစ်လေးလုံး လူထုလွတ်မြောက်ရေး ဒို့အတူရုန်း” “စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ် မုချ ကျဆုံးရမည်” “အရေးတော်ပုံ အောင်ကိုအောင်ရမည်” တော်လှန်ရေးသစ္စာဖြင့် ၈၈မျိုးဆက် (ငြိမ်းချမ်း‌ရေး နှင့် ပွင့်လင်း လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်း)..."
Source/publisher: The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: (၃၄) နှစ်မြောက် ၈၈၈၈ အရေးတော်ပုံနေ့သို့ ပေးပို့သည့် သဝဏ်လွှာ
Description: "၁။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီ၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတသည့် လူမှု ဘဝများ ရရှိနိုင်ရန်အတွက် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့၏ စနစ်ဆိုးနှင့် မတရားဖိနှိပ်မှုများကို နိုင်ငံ တစ်ဝှမ်းလုံး၌ လူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုကြီးဖြင့် ဆန့်ကျင်တွန်းလှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ၈၈၈၈ အရေးတော်ပုံကြီး သည် ယနေ့ဆိုလျှင် (၃၄) နှစ်တိုင် ရှိခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ယင်းအရေးတော်ပုံကြီးသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ တစ်ပါတီအာဏာရှင်စနစ်မှ ဒီမိုကရေစီစနစ်သို့ ကူးပြောင်းနိုင်ရေး စတင်ခဲ့သည့် ပထမဆုံးသော သမိုင်းဝင် လူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှု အရေးတော်ပုံကြီးပင် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ၁၉၆၂ ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင်အုပ်စုတို့သည် အာဏာဆုပ်ကိုင်နိုင်ရေးနှင့် လက်နက် အားကိုးဖြင့် ပြည်သူလူထုအား ခြိမ်းခြောက်သတ်ဖြတ်ကာ အနိုင်ကျင့်ဖိနှိပ်အုပ်ချုပ်၍ အာဏာရှင် အဆက်ဆက်က စနစ်တကျ ချုပ်ကိုင်ခဲ့ခြင်းကြောင့် ကျောင်းသားလူငယ်များနှင့် ပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံးက နည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့သည့် သမိုင်းဝင်နေ့စွဲများထဲတွင် အထင်အရှား အသက်ဝင်လျက်ရှိနေဆဲပင် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၁၉၈၈ ခုနှစ်မှ စတင်ခဲ့သည့် တော်လှန်ရေး ခရီးသည် ခက်ခဲကြမ်းတမ်းမှုများ မည်သို့ရှိနေစေကာမူ မိမိတို့၏ အသက်ကိုပင် ပဓာနမထားဘဲ တိုင်းပြည်နှင့် လူမျိုးအနာဂတ်အတွက် ရဲဝံ့စွာ လျှောက်လှမ်းနေကြသည့်အတွက် တော်လှန်ရေး ရဲဘော်တို့၏ စိတ်ဓာတ်နှင့် ရဲရင့်မှုများအပေါ် များစွာ လေးစားဂုဏ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။ ၃။ ယခုနွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးသည် ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် ကျောင်းသားလူငယ်ထုတို့၏ စိတ်ဓာတ် ခိုင်မာမှု၊ ရဲရင့်ပြတ်သားမှု၊ ဥာဏ်ပညာနှင့် ထိုးထွင်းဖန်တီးနိုင်မှုတို့ကြောင့်သာ ခိုင်မာသော စုဖွဲ့မှုများနှင့် နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းတွင် အားကောင်းသော ဆန့်ကျင်တွန်းလှန်မှုများသည် ယနေ့ထိတိုင် အားကောင်းနေဆဲ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ တစ်ဖက်တွင်လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက စည်းလုံး ညီညွတ်စွာရှိနေသည့် တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများအကြား သွေးခွဲနိုင်ရေး၊ ညီညွတ်မှုပျက်ပြား ရေးတို့ကို ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိသည့်အပြင် အတုအယောင်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲကျင်းပ၍ အရပ်သားအစိုးရ ထံ အာဏာပြန် လွှဲပေးမည်ဟုဆိုကာ ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအား လိမ်လည်လှည့်စားရန် ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၄။ ဤသည်မှာ စစ်အာဏာရှင် အဆက်ဆက် ကျင့်သုံးခဲ့သည့် အလိမ်အညာ နိုင်ငံရေး လှည့်ကွက်တစ်ခုသာ ဖြစ်သဖြင့် နိုင်ငံရေးပါတီများသည်လည်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်သက်ဆိုးရှည်စေ ရန် ဖန်တီးထားသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးကစားကွက်ထဲသို့ ဝင်ရောက်ခြင်းမပြုဘဲ တိုင်းပြည်၏ အနာဂတ်၊ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ဆန္ဒနှင့် အကျိုးစီးပွားကို ရှေးရှုကြရန် သတိပေးမေတ္တာရပ်ခံလိုပါသည်။ ပြည်သူ လူထုအနေဖြင့်လည်း ၈၈ မျိုးဆက်ခေါင်းဆောင် ဦးကျော်မင်းယု (ခ) ကိုဂျင်မီ အပါအဝင် ပြည်သူ ထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာအား ဥပဒေမဲ့ ဖမ်းဆီးကာ သတ်ဖြတ်လျက်ရှိသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ ၏ ရွေးကောက်ပွဲသည် တိုင်းပြည်နှင့် ပြည်သူလူထုအတွက် မဟုတ်ဘဲ ၎င်းတို့၏ ကိုယ်ကျိုး စီးပွားအတွက်သာ ဖြစ်သည်ကို အထူးသတိပြုစေလိုပါသည်။ ၅။ ၁၉၆၂ ခုနှစ်မှ စ၍ ယနေ့ထိတိုင် ဒီမိုကရေစီ၊ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ တရားမျှတမှု၊ လူ့အခွင့် အရေးနှင့် တိုင်းပြည်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေးတို့အတွက် အသက်ပေးတိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားကြသည့် သူရဲ ကောင်းများ၏ ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့မှုများကို အလေးအနက် တန်ဖိုးထား၍ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်စွာဖြင့် အနာဂတ်ဖက်ဒရယ်နိုင်ငံတော်သစ် တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် တာဝန်ကိုယ်စီထမ်းကာ ဆက်လက် လျှောက်လှမ်းသွားကြရမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အနာဂတ်တွင် တိုင်းပြည်နှင့် လူမျိုးတို့ အတွက် အေးချမ်းဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်သည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ အသိုက်အဝန်းတစ်ရပ် တည် ဆောက်နိုင်ရန် ယနေ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးသည် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် တိုင်းပြည်ကို ဖျက်ဆီးခဲ့ သည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်များကို အမြစ်ပြတ် တိုက်ထုတ်ရမည့် နောက်ဆုံးတိုက်ပွဲပင် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၆။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် စစ်အာ ဏာရှင်များကို ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ရင်း အသက်ပေးသွားခဲ့ကြသည့် တော်လှန်ရေးသူရဲကောင်း များကို အစဉ်ထာဝရ ဦးညွှတ်အလေးပြုလျက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ စစ်အာဏာရှင်များ အမြန်ဆုံး ကျဆုံးရေးနှင့် အနာဂတ်ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားတော်လှန်ရေး အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ ကျောင်းသား လူငယ်များ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူများနှင့်အတူ ခိုင်မာစွာ ဆက်လက် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားမည်ဟု လေးနက်စွာ ကတိပြုရင်း ဤအောက်မေ့ဖွယ် သဝဏ်လွှာအား ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of publication: 2022-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-08
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Title: BURMA COUP WATCH FOR THE MONTH OF JULY 2022: Junta’s executions spark global outcry as opposition promises payback
Description: "As of 29 Jul, there had been at least 14,070 armed clashes and attacks, resulting in the displacement of some 866,400 people since the coup began. Junta troops continued to slash their way through the country in July, torturing and killing civilians, burning people alive, and torching villages. • Junta forces have killed at least 2,138 civilians and arrested 14,917 as of 29 Jul. The regime continued to target former officials and NLD members, as well as perceived opponents and their families. Reports suggested that the junta was installing facial recognition CCTV systems in several cities to beef up its surveillance capabilities. • The regime sparked global outcry by executing four political prisoners, including an MP, the first executions in decades. Opposition forces staged protest actions and vowed to step up resistance, as local media sources said the junta was preparing to execute 41 more inmates in Yangon. • Local civil society reported an increase in violence against women since the coup, with 1,835 cases documented in 2021 and 1,158 during Jan-Jun 2022. Women in conflict-affected areas reportedly suffered some of the most horrific abuses. • The ICJ dismissed the regime’s preliminary objections in The Gambia vs Myanmar case, allowing the proceedings to move forward. The NUG welcomed the ruling, saying it stood ready to cooperate with international accountability efforts. • The World Bank projected a mere 3% growth in 2021-22, warning that political and economic uncertainty had severely damaged Burma’s financial system. The junta further damaged the economy by tightening forex restrictions as inflation continued to hit all sectors hard. • French oil and gas firm TotalEnergies withdrew from Burma after transferring some of its shares to junta-controlled company MOGE, thus ignoring civil society calls to exit responsibly. • The junta hosted its first high-level regional meeting, which was attended by China’s Foreign Minister. • ASEAN barred the regime from attending a high level meeting while allowing it to chair another. Malaysia further hardened its stance against the junta, repeating calls for the bloc to engage with the NUG..."
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma,  Asia Democracy Network,  Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development,  Burma Human Rights Network,  Initiatives for International Dialogue,  International Federation for Human Rights,  Progressive Voice and US Campaign for Burma
Date of publication: 2022-08-05
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-05
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Title: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State & Tanintharyi Region, July 2022
Description: "The Military Junta is Continuing to Perpetrate Human Rights Violation with Impunity in Southeastern Myanmar It has now been nearly a year and a half since the military junta attempted their unlawful coup. The regime has failed to honor the wishes of the people who overwhelmingly showed their support for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide victory. Despite earning less than 10% of the vote, the junta claimed electoral fraud without evidence and has since continued to make decisions which have devastated the country’s economy and social, political order. In addition, a humanitarian crisis has plunged one-million civilians into deep poverty as they are forcibly displaced from their homes. Their behavior in the days and months which have passed since 1 February 2021 have been increasingly violent. As the month of July came to a close, human rights violations in target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland continued to be scaled up. Homes have been deliberately scorched by the junta as arbitrary arrests and ongoing raids spark fear in local communities. The international community’s slow will to act has led civilians to fear the worst is yet to come. Without concrete action and a response that makes clear that the junta is not above the rule of law, the Burma Army will continue to commit crimes with impunity. Civilians, including the elderly have not been spared. On 26 June 2022, joint troops of the military junta and soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion No.46 raided five homes in Longlone Township, Dawei. A 60-year old couple were arrested, and had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot to death at close range. The victims were residents of Kadak Gyi village, U Thaung Win, age 61 male, and Daw Win Aye, age 62, female. Homes in Kadagyi village were also destroyed, and some valuables and banknotes were stolen. Environmental degradation is also taking a toll on civilians. Villagers in northern Yebyu township claimed that there had been no compensation for their houses destroyed by a project survey conducted by Yardanar Natural Oil and Gas group in February 2022. In February 2022, officials from the “Yadanar Natural Oil and Gas Project” conducted a survey in the village of Pauk Pin Kwin, located in Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region. The survey destroyed twelve houses, and those who suffered property losses have not received compensation. The Yadanar Natural Oil and Gas Project bought land plots in the village in 2002/2003 but the company did nothing with the land. Eventually local villagers built houses on these plots. After the coup, the company showed renewed interest in their project. Oil companies, like TOTAL, chose to withdraw from the project in light of human rights abuses conducted by the military since the coup. Only Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, which is controlled by the military junta, continue to support the Yadanar project. Young people, including students and affiliates of the Spring Revolution continue to be targeted by the military junta. A Mawlamyine University student, Ko Myo Thura Aung, who was abducted by the junta forces on June 30th 2022, has not been contacted by his family. He was studying in his fourth year of Physics and is accused of merging with the Civil Disobedience Movement. According to the Mawlamyine University Union, at least thirty students have been arbitrarily detained by the junta since the coup from the University. One student was murdered after being shot. Additional information has been difficult to obtain as the junta is increasingly blocking access to prisons. Members of the NLD and pro-democracy affiliates also continue to be relentlessly targeted. A member of the NLD party chairman who was abducted by the junta forces on June 22, 2022 in Bilin Township, Mon State, was found dead in a ditch on 7 July 2022. According to the local villagers. U Kyaw Myo Min and his coworkers, U Pan Myint and U Ko Ko Maung were arbitrarily arrested by the junta forces in Paw Kee village, Bee Lin Township, Mon State. Based on the NLD’s Human Rights Record Group, the junta has killed nearly 50 former members of Parliament, and over 900 NLD lawmakers have been arrested since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021. Meanwhile, as the junta expands their militarized operations into civilian areas, more people are being forced to abandon their livelihoods and flee. Internally displaced people (IDPs) and war-affected refugees at the Palaw IDPs camps in Tanintharyi are facing food shortages, according to an emergency response team member. The number of IDPs in the Palaw resettlement sites and camps has increased from 1,166 last month to almost 1,950 families this month. This is a rough estimate and may be higher. Crimes such as these are continuing with impunity, and further setting a dangerous precedent that suggests the military junta is above the law. Villagers who have been murdered by the junta during their power spree must be granted justice. The military is guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These acts have been on display for the world to witness, including news that the military junta executed four political prisoners on the morning of 25 July 2022. Situation Overview in Target Areas Karen State Worsening hostilities in Karen State have prompted calls from rights groups in Burma, including the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), who have drawn attention to the human rights situation. KHRG noted that the junta is continuing to deploy air and ground attacks in civilian areas. A lack of international action and condemnation has granted impunity to military junta soldiers who are continuing to deprive innocent people of their immunity. HURFOM observed rising numbers of displacement as the presence of the Burma Army has led to more villagers fleeing to safer areas in search of refuge and protection. Across HURFOM’s documentation, it is evident that the junta is using the same policies of scorched earth, divide and rule as well as the four cuts. The Burma Army increased their attacks particularly in Karen State, promoting calls for Karen rights groups to call for urgent action including sanctioned aviation fuel, and a global arms embargo. Airstrikes on 1 July, in Thay Baw Boe village and Dooplaya district wounded five civilians, with three in critical condition. HURFOM has documented the growing numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Karen State as the junta increases their presence, despite multiple orders from the Karen National Union (KNU) for the military to immediately retreat and withdraw all their forces. The junta forces in southeastern Dooplaya have been deploying relentless attacks against local villages in the areas with heavy mortar shelling and with airstrikes. At least 7 airstrikes targeted 16 villages located in Dooplaya District. Throughout the month of June 2022 alone, HURFOM reported nearly 3,500 civilians newly displaced in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region. Mon State The military junta has adopted its scorched earth campaign tactics in Mon State where villagers are unable to return home due to their homes being deliberately set on fire. Residents of Lim Bo Lai village, in the Karen National Union (KNU) administrative area of Thaton Township, saw 61 of their houses burnt to ashes, as well as a monastery and a school. Three villagers were also killed. The bodies of the three villagers were found in the ashes of burned houses. It is possible they were burned alive or burned after being killed. Those who were killed by the military were Saw Samu, age 39, Saw Maung Lupyo, age 55 and Htee Doh Pawee, age 54 who was also a Buddhist monk. The perpetrators of this brutal attack were the junta’s Light Infantry Division No. 44. “In this situation, even if we can return home, there are often no houses left to live in,” said a villager Light Infantry Battalion No. 9 continued to burn remaining houses, destroying more than 60 houses in 4 villages in Thaton township. More than 110 civilians’ houses in 7 villages in Thaton township have been burned to the ground since June 26, 2022. An ongoing concern for civilians in Mon State is the fear of clashes between various armed opposition groups, and the military junta as well as junta-backed militias. They are concerned over the possibility of being targeted by the regime, and subsequently investigated, arrested and tortured. During the first week of July 2022, an unknown armed group invaded No 1023 military base of the Border Guard Force (BGF) located near Htaw Pa Law village, Hla Ka Zine village track, in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State. The BGF has since abandoned the base after it was burned down. Following this, they retaliated and conducted a search of vehicles passing through the checkpoint. There have been frequent armed clashes in Kha Lae- Da Gon Die area, and now the military base has been burnt down. Local villagers are afraid of being subjected to the junta’s brute force. “They left their houses and fled,” said a villager. Most people moved to Mudon Township, Mon State until it is more secure to move back. Another local who spoke to HURFOM said. “I’ve closed my house and just come back once a week to check its condition. I’m worried that the soldiers will burn down my empty house now that I’ve moved to Mudon.” Tanintharyi Region Tensions in the Tanintharyi region have led to growing instability as ongoing clashes threaten civilian livelihoods. The uncertainty plaguing what unknowns lay ahead has been the cause of ongoing stress and anxiety for residents, many of them displaced multiple times and in need of urgent materials. Junta forces looted and burned homes in Taung Pyouk village track, Dawei. At least ten civilian houses were burnt down between July 15 – 18, 2022, according to the local villagers: “The junta forces burnt down at least five houses only in Ah Lae Su village, which is part of the Taung Pyouk village track, located in Tha Yet Chaung Township,” a local villager told the reporter. Before burning the houses, the soldiers removed all the valuable belongings from the homes, a local source said. Another recalled, “I heard gunshots. There were no armed clashes. It’s just random shooting from one side. I moved my belongings with a truck to Thel Chaung Gyi village,” said a 35 years-old villager from Ah Lae Su village.The military juntas’ forces have bases in the Mya Nadi Mount in Taung Pyouk village track and they have been randomly shooting at nearby villages with heavy weapons every day, according to local sources. More indiscriminate attacks and firing has set course for the worst. On July 19th in the early morning, the junta battalion LIB No. 285 indiscriminately fired with artillery into the Pain-Nae-Taung village, Palaw township, Myeik, Tanintharyi. Villagers said that these attacks killed a 20-year-old man,two injured, and destroyed more than ten homes. Ko Zin Wine, age 20, was killed on the spot. The weapon hit him in the head and neck. The junta forces continued to fire heavy weapons at nearby villages and mountain areas till midnight on July 19, a male villager reported. An estimated 180 villagers fled their homes. According to additional confirmation, one woman and one man were injured because of the artillery attacks. The PDF and junta forces repeatedly clashed in Palaw township during the second week of July. At least three local defense members were killed, including a 30 year old male villager. Locals from Kyaung Shar Kwin area, Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region have told HURFOM that they had to abandon their plantation due to landmines: “A landmine exploded near my plantation. After that, I have not gone back. Another explosion can take place any time.” Between late 2019 and 2020, there have been 10 victims who suffered from landmine explosions in Yebyu Township. Five victims were from the Kyaung Shar Kwin area. Local plantation owners are frightened to go to their lands due to frequent explosions: “I’ve abandoned my plantation. I am afraid to go there. All landmine victims have been my neighbors. If I were injured, my family would be in trouble. That’s why I’ve abandoned my betel nut plantation for three years now,” said a plantation owner from A Lae Sakan village. Both ethnic armed organizations – the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Karen National Union (KNU) are active in this area, but no group has taken responsibility for the landmines. The Dawei District office released a statement on March 16, 2022 stating that both NMSP and KNU had A responsibility to find a solution. Civilians are targeted and extorted regularly on suspicions of supporting or being affiliated with People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). Kyauk-Hlay-Kar village in Thayet Chaung Township, Dawei was attacked and extinguished by the junta forces, killing five villagers accused of being PDF members and supporters, according to locals. A 45-year-old Kyauk-Hlay-Kar villager, said three local people were killed when about 70 Junta troops stormed the village on July 10 2022: “They arrested two more villagers on suspicion of being PDFs. Then they shot and killed those villagers when these military columns arrived at Yaung Maw village. A total of five villagers were killed as many locals were fleeing the village. It was estimated about 200 families are fleeing to safer areas. Names of the victims; the exact personal accounts, and locations are being examined by HURFOM. In a related case, on the night of 14 July 2022, two tutors from Myeik University of Technology and Computer University were accused of being linked with the CDMs’ assets and abducted by the junta security forces. They both are female tutors: Daw Ei Ei Phyo and Daw Thi Thi Swe. Some witnesses reported that during the forcible arrest, the soldiers continued beating them. On July 15 night, a fourth year Computer University student, Ma Thuzar Win Htet, 21, was also abducted by the Junta forces with no warrant from her residence. The witnesses reported that the junta troops raided Ma Thuzar’s parents’ home and were arbitrarily arrested. All arrested Tutors and this female student were brought to unknown detention centers, and the updated information was still being investigated. Key Findings Other armed and violent groups like the Pyu Saw Htee and Black Kite Brotherhood are believed to be sponsored by the junta, and they have targeted innocent civilians, predominantly those affiliated with the pro-democracy movement. Organizations providing legal support to women and childen have reported increases in domestic assuaults and rape – particularly of children. Families are scrambling to make a living and provide for themselves and often children are left at home and subject to abuse from strangers, and even family members. Civilian fears over landmines in their villages and places where they farm and secure their livelihoods have posed threats so grave that many dare not return to work or home, in fear of being killed. Prominent pro-democracy politicians and activists, including those affiliated with the National League for Democracy, continue to be targeted by the junta. They are also increasingly being charged under draconian laws and face long, unjust sentences. Devastatingly, four political prisoners were executed by the junta at the end of the month. Clashes have led to forced internal displacement in Burma as instability and tensions force people from their homes. Motorcycles, mobile devices, and money are regularly confiscated and extorted from civilians at checkpoints stationed by the junta deliberately along key-routes. Civilians were forced to pay excessive bribes to retrieve their possessions. However, very few were able to afford the high costs. Torture remains rampant in Burma, and across target areas where innocent civilians are subjected to grueling, horrifying acts by the junta to extract information. The international community including UN bodies and ASEAN are not responding swiftly enough to the situation on the ground in Burma, which demands urgent attention and consequences for the junta. Military impunity remains deeply ingrained into the institutions representing the Tatmadaw, which only emboldens the junta to continue perpetrating human rights violations. The rise of plain-clothes ‘security’ officers is backed by the military junta and have been using intimidation tactics and threats to extort civilians out of money, and their possessions. Cases have been reported across HURFOM’s main target areas. The arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention by the junta are ongoing, as are warrantless raids and indiscriminate firing into civilian areas. Recommendations The Human Rights Foundation of Monland immediately calls for the following: ● A referral of the situation on the ground in Burma made immediately by the United Nations Security Council to the International Criminal Court ● Concerted and coordinated action by global actors for an urgently mandated global arms embargo which would prevent the free flow of weapons into the hands of the murderous junta ● Aviation fuel sanctions to put an effective end to the airstrikes in Burma which have contributed to significant loss of life, particularly among innocent civilians ● Targeted sanctions on military junta officials, as well as their families, which puts holds on their financial assets and possessions and undercuts their ability to do corrupt business dealings abroad ● Strengthened and renewed protection mechanisms which grant civilians who are vulnerable and at risk of assault in a position where they are able to access justice referral and accountability pathways ● Renewed and continued funding support for local organizations responding to the needs of their communities on the ground. Cross-border aid pathways must be accessed and all humanitarian aid in the hands of local actors. ● Foreign investors in Burma must immediately cease their operations and withdraw their involvement from all development projects in the country, including but not limited to airports, seaports, and cement businesses. ● An abrupt and immediate halt to the use of torture by the military junta, and further we call for investigations to probe the unlawful deaths of civilians in Burma who have been tortured to death, as well as those who have been forced to endure trauma and long-term injuries as a result..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of publication: 2022-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ၂၀၂၀ ရွေးကောက်ခံလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်က မတရား ဖမ်းဆီးပြီး ဥပဒေပုဒ်မ မျိုးစုံတပ်ခြင်းနှင့် စစ်ကြောရေးတွင် လူမဆန်စွာရက်စက်ညှင်းပမ်း နှိပ်စက် ခြင်းကြောင့် သေဆုံးသွားရသူများ၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်ခံရနေမှုများနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်
Description: " ၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီကို ဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့ပြီးနောက် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၏ လက်ရှိဖမ်းဆီး၊ ထိန်းသိမ်းခံရမှု အခြေအနေများ နှင့်စပ်လျဉ်းပြီး သတင်းအချက်အလက်များကို စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ် မှတ်တမ်းကောက်ယူပြီး နိုင်ငံတကာသို့ သိရှိနိုင်စေရန်တင်ပြလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ အာဏာသိမ်းခဲ့သည့် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့မှ ယနေ့ အချိန်ထိ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ၃၄ ဦး ရှိပြီး၊ ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက် လာသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ၇ ဦးရှိသဖြင့် လက်ရှိဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံနေရသူ ၂၇ ဦးရှိပါကြောင်း၊ တိုင်းဒေသကြီး သို့မဟုတ် ပြည်နယ်လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်း ခံရသူ ၇၉ ဦးရှိပြီး၊ ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက်လာသူ ၁၁ ဦး ရှိပါကြောင်း၊ အခြား ၁ ဦးမှာ အကျဉ်းထောင်ထဲတွင် ဆေးကုသ ခွင့်မပြုသဖြင့် သေဆုံးပြီး ကျန် ၁ ဉီးမှာလည်း စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရပြီးနောက် လမ်းဘေးတစ်နေရာတွင် ရက်စက်စွာ သတ်ဖြတ်ခံခဲ့ရပြီး သေဆုံးခဲ့ရခြင်းကြောင့် ဖမ်းဆီးခံရပြီး သေဆုံးသူ ၂ ဦး ရှိသွားပြီဖြစ်သဖြင့် လက်ရှိဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းခံနေရသူ ၆၆ ဦးရှိသွားပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ပြည်ထောင်စုအဆင့် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်၊ တိုင်းဒေသကြီးနှင့် ပြည်နယ်အဆင့် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် စုစု‌ပေါင်း ယခုလက်ရှိ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံ‌နေရသူ ၉၃ ဦး ရှိပါသည်။ ၃။ စစ်ကောင်စီက မတရားအကြမ်းဖက်ပြီး အမှုဆင်ဖမ်းဆီးခံရခြင်း၊ နှိပ်စက်ခံရခြင်း၊ သတင်း အဆက်အသွယ်မရရှိဘဲ ထိန်းသိမ်းခံထားရခြင်း၊ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံ လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် အများစုအား မည်သည့်နေရာတွင် ထိန်းသိမ်းထားသည်ဆိုသည်ကိုပင် မိသားစုဝင်များ ကိုယ်တိုင် မသိရှိရခြင်းနှင့် တရားဥပဒေအရ အကာအကွယ်ရယူခွင့် အပြည့်အဝမရရှိခြင်း စသည့် အခြေခံလူ့ အခွင့်အရေးများ များစွာဆုံးရှုံး‌နေရခြင်းနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ CRPH အနေဖြင့် သတင်းအချက်အလက် များကို စနစ်တကျ ကောက်ယူပြီး နိုင်ငံတကာလွှတ်တော် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ နှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး အဖွဲ့အစည်းများထံသို့ ချိတ်ဆက်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၄။ အဆိုပါ လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်ကြီးများအနက် တစ်ချို့ကို ကောက်နုတ်ဖော်ပြရလျှင် ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော်အဆင့် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များဖြစ်သည့် ဦးထွန်းအောင် (ခ) ဦးထွန်းထွန်းဟိန် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်၊ နောင်ချိုမဲဆန္ဒနယ်သည် ၁-၂-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပထမအကြိမ် ဖမ်းဆီးပြီး နောက်ပြန်လည် လွတ်မြောက်လာပြီး ဒုတိယအကြိမ်အဖြစ် ၁၀-၂-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထပ်မံဖမ်းဆီးခံရပါသည်။ ၎င်းနောက် ၂၂-၁၂-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပုဒ်မ ၅၀၅ (က)၊ (ခ) အမှုတို့အတွက် အလုပ်ကြမ်းနှင့်ထောင်ဒဏ် လေးနှစ် ချမှတ်ခဲ့ပြီး ၇-၆-၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့တွင် ရာဇသတ်ကြီး ပုဒ်မ ၁၂၄ (ဃ) ဖြင့် အမှုဆင်ပြီး ထပ်မံစွဲဆို၍ နောက်တိုးပုဒ်မများ ထပ်ထပ်တိုးခြင်း၊ ဒေါ်ဝင်းမြမြ မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ စဉ့်ကိုင်မဲဆန္ဒနယ်အား ၂၇-၂-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပုဒ်မ ၅၀၅ (က)၊ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရပြီး အိုးဘိုထောင်အတွင်း တစ်နှစ်ကျော် အကြာ ထိန်းသိမ်းထားခဲ့ပြီး ၂၉-၆၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့တွင်မှ အလုပ်နှင့် ထောင်ဒဏ် ၃ နှစ်ကို ချမှတ်ခြင်း၊ တစ်ချို့သော လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်ကြီးများမှာ ထောင်ဒဏ်ချမှတ်ခံခဲ့ရသော်လည်း ထောင်ထဲတွင် ရှိ၊မရှိမှာ မသေမခြာသလို မည်သည့်‌အကျဉ်းထောင်တွင်ရှိနေမှန်းမသိရခြင်း စသည့် လုပ်ရပ်များသည် ကမ္ဘာ့ကုလသမဂ္ဂက ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာထားသော လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ကြေညာစာတမ်းပါ လူတစ်ဉီး တစ်ယောက်ချင်းစီ၏ အခွင့်အရေးများကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီမှ ပြောင်ပြောင်တင်းတင်း ချိုးဖောက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၅။ ထို့အပြင် တိုင်းဒေသကြီးလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်ကြီးများအနက်မှ အချို့ကို ကောက်နုတ် ဖော်ပြရလျှင် ဉီးညွန့်ရွှေ ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ မဲဆန္ဒနယ်(၁) တိုင်းဒေသကြီး လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်ကို ၉-၇-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် စကစက သဘာဝဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာ ပုဒ်မ ၂၅၊ တပ်မတော်ကို အကြည်အညို ပျက်စေမှု ပုဒ်မ ၅၀၅-က တို့နှင့် ဖမ်းဆီးတရားစွဲခဲ့ပြီး ပဲခူးကျိုက်ကဇော် အကျဉ်းထောင်ထဲတွင် Covid ရောဂါကူးစပ်ခြင်းခံရပြီး ဆေးကုသခွင့် လုံလောက်စွာမရသဖြင့် ၁၆-၈-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် သေဆုံးခဲ့ ရခြင်း၊ ဦးကျော်မျိုးမင်း၊ မွန်ပြည်နယ်၊ ဘီးလင်းမဲဆန္ဒယ်အား ၂၂-၆-၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့ နံနက် ၉ နာရီခန့်တွင် ဆိုင်ကယ် Taxi ဖြင့် ခရီးထွက်ခဲ့စဉ် တော်လှန်ရေးသမား နှစ်ဦးအပါအဝင်Taxi မောင်းသူရွာသားနှင့် အတူ လမ်းခရီးတွင် စကစ၏ ပစ်ခတ်ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းခံခဲ့ရပါသည်။ ယင်းနောက် ၃၀-၆-၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့ နံနက် (၈) နာရီတွင် တော်လှန်ရေးသမား နှစ်ဦးနှင့်အတူ ဦးကျော်မျိုးမင်းကို စကစ၏ စစ်ကြောရေးတွင် လူမဆန်စွာ လက်ပြန်ကြိုးတုတ်ထားပြီး ၎င်းကြိုးကို လည်ပင်းအား သိုင်းချည်ခြင်းတို့ ပြုလုပ်သည့် အပြင် မျက်နှာ၊ ဉီးခေါင်းနှင့်ခန္ဓာကိုယ်အနှံ့ စစ်ဖိနပ်ဖြင့် ကန်ခြင်း၊ ကျည်ကာ ဦးထုပ်ဖြင့် ရိုက်ခြင်း၊ ထိုးကြိတ်ခြင်များပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သဖြင့် ဒဏ်ရာပြင်းထန်သဖြင့် ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်သည့်နေရာတွင် မေ့မြော သွားခဲ့သည်။ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲများ၏ ရက်စက်စွာ ရိုက်နှက်နှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် ခန္ဓာကိုယ် အနှံ့ဒဏ်ရာများ ပြင်းထန်စွာရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။ ဒါ့အပြင် ၃၀-၆-၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့တွင်ပင် သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်သတ်၍ မြောင်းထဲတွင် အလောင်းကို ပစ်ချခဲ့ခြင်းမှာ လူတစ်ဉီးတစ်ယောက်ကို အတင်းအဓမ္မ ဥပဒေမဲ့စွာ ရက်စက်စွာသတ်ဖြတ်ပြီး လူ့အခွင့်အရေးများကို အဖန်တလဲလဲ ချိုးဖောက်နေခြင်း၊ လွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၏ အခွင့်အရေးများနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ “လွှတ်တော်ဆိုင်ရာဥပဒေများမှအပ အခြားဥပဒေ များဖြင့် အရေးယူခြင်းမရှိစေရ” ဟူသည့် ဥပဒေပြဋ္ဌာန်းချက်များနှင့် ဆန့်ကျင်နေပြီး ဖမ်းဆီးနေခြင်း စသည့် ကိစ္စရပ်များကို နိုင်ငံတကာသိရှိအောင် တင်ပြခဲ့ပြီး ဖြစ်သလို ပြည်သူအများ သိရှိနိုင်ပါရန် ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။.."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of publication: 2022-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.29 MB
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Title: Open Society Foundations Condemn Horrific Myanmar Executions
Description: "NEW YORK—The Open Society Foundations are appalled and deeply saddened by the recent horrific executions by the military regime in Myanmar of former NLD Member of Parliament Phyo Zeya Thaw, prominent activist Kyaw Min Yu, as well as Aung Thura Zaw, and Hla Myo Aung. The executions are the first in Myanmar in more than three decades. The executions, which were unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council on July 27, mark a further regression in the already dire human rights situation that has prevailed in Myanmar since the military coup of February 2021. Since the coup, Myanmar’s military regime has engaged in countless human rights violations including military air assaults targeting villages of ethnic communities, burning civilian facilities, and cracking down civil society organizations inside the country. Open Society calls on the international community to step up its efforts to end the crisis in the country, with steps including: the imposition of a full arms embargo action to expand the number and type of sanctions on senior military leaders and those around them fully supporting and expediting the work of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar established by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018 Open Society is also calling on Myanmar to allow unimpeded access to UN investigators and human rights monitors, and urges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to adopt a more effective diplomatic response to the crisis, drawing on support from civil society and humanitarian groups. We urge G20 leaders and donors to increase support for humanitarian aid, including funding for civil society to document these heinous acts and push for international accountability..."
Source/publisher: Open Society Foundations
Date of publication: 2022-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Latest Report by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Finds Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes Perpetrated by the Myanmar Junta
Description: "Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) released, “Resisting a Coup,” a new six-month report which covers human rights violations committed by the Myanmar military junta between January and June 2022. Over the course of the six-month reporting period, the regime torched thousands of homes, and murdered civilians with impunity. Against the backdrop of the violence continues to be a full-fledged humanitarian crisis that has left thousands displaced and living in poverty. ND-Burma calls for immediate international intervention including targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo. Across ND-Burma’s member target areas are cases of extreme violence perpetrated by the soldiers of the Myanmar military. The wide-spread antagonism against the junta has led to the regime responding the only way they know how – by waging more internal conflict. This is evident in the mass numbers of civilians who have been routinely internally displaced. Evidence of the military junta deliberately embarking on a ‘trajectory of terror’ suggest that the regime will not stop their merciless attacks until the masses submit. ND-Burma members have documented crimes committed by the Myanmar Army including arbitrary arrest and detainment, torture, rape and sexual violence, destruction of property, enforced disappearances, murder and others. The acts of violence that the junta has committed amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Accountability for their crimes is long overdue. Further, the ND-Burma calls for an immediate cessation in violence and a retreat of junta soldiers from civilian areas. The international community, including UN bodies, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, must take concrete steps which hold the junta responsible. ND-Burma supports a United Nations Security Council resolution on a global arms embargo, and an immediate referral of the situation of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. We call for diplomatic, political, and economic pressure on the military junta to immediately cease the targeting of the civilian population in Myanmar. Attempts for peace and reconciliation will not be taken seriously under the military junta..."
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of publication: 2022-07-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Red Alert: Myanmar Regime to Hang More Political Prisoners; World Must Act Now
Description: "Here is our urgent warning to the world: Myanmar’s barbaric regime is planning to execute more political prisoners on death row in the coming days and weeks. For anyone who has sympathy for them and desires to see justice prevail in the country, now is not the time for procrastination. Following the junta’s recent executions of four democracy activists, the fate of the remaining 76 political prisoners on the regime’s death row is now of great concern to Myanmar people. They have reason to be worried. After the weekend hangings of Ko Jimmy, Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw, alarming reports have emerged that political prisoners sentenced to death in Yangon’s Insein Prison have been isolated from other inmates. Forty-one of the 76 detainees sentenced to death are being held at Insein Prison. As of Thursday, 118 people had been sentenced to death for their anti-regime activism in Myanmar. Forty-two of those were sentenced in absentia. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma on Wednesday said the remaining 76—who include university students, young professionals and eight women—would likely face extrajudicial killings at the hands of the regime, like the four activists hanged over the weekend. The Irrawaddy has also learned that more hangings are in the pipeline. The news has devastated the family members of the political prisoners on death row. They are silently praying they will not receive phone calls from prison authorities informing them they are to have “a meeting” with their condemned loved ones. The four recently executed activists were granted video meetings with their mothers and other relatives, then hanged within 24 hours. “I don’t want to get the call from them. I fear bad consequences. I can’t bear to think about it,”said a family member of a political prisoner sentenced to death. Through her tears, a deeply distraught mother begged the junta not to kill her son, while pleading for help from others: “Is there anyone who can save us? I would die if I face it. I can’t take it anymore.” The quotes above are extracts from The Irrawaddy’s interviews with family members of some of the political prisoners on death row; they capture the bleak situation in the country, as well as the families’ emotional devastation. All of the interviewees asked that their names and those of their imprisoned relatives be withheld, as they were extremely worried that the junta would kill their loved ones in haste as a punishment for talking to the media. For some skeptical souls who dare to wonder whether the regime would really do something so heinous for merely talking to the press, remember what regime leader Min Aung Hlaing once said: “There is nothing I don’t dare to do.” In the latest testament to their limitless inhumanity, the regime on Wednesday organized attacks on the homes of the recently executed Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, angered by the fact that the duo are being praised as martyrs, and because Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw’s mother told the media she was proud of her son. Please note the attacks came while the parents and relatives were still mourning their fresh losses. As the regime never fails to show new acts of barbarity to the world, we should not underestimate the junta; they won’t allow (and have never allowed) any ethical consideration or pang of conscience to get in the way of their grip on power. Given the junta’s relentless show of inhumanity, fears are high for the lives of the remaining 74 political prisoners on the regime’s death row. Even if they don’t kill them all, some—especially those convicted in high-profile cases—are at great risk, as the regime would simply carry out their executions as a form of reprisal, in the name of their so-called “rule of law” and “seeking justice” for junta informants and other regime targets attacked by resistance groups. Then, Myanmar will have to mourn more losses. If the executions are carried out, it would be too much for many in Myanmar, which has already lost more than 2,000 people to the regime since the coup last year. It’s time for the UN to adopt some meaningful resolutions to save lives in Myanmar—a step beyond Security Council condemnations of the executions of the four democracy activists. The same goes for the world’s democracies, including the US; it’s time to prove to the evil regime that they have to pay a price for their horrendous treatment of Myanmar and its people, as the world will no longer tolerate them. With the regime’s executions last week, we have all failed Ko Jimmy, Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw. The world should not fail the Myanmar people, and the 74 political prisoners on death row, again. They should not feel they are forsaken while struggling to survive amid the junta’s unwavering abuses. They deserve to feel there are some in the world who care for them. Show your humanity with meaningful action on Myanmar now, please! EDITOR’s NOTE: The editorial was updated on Friday to reflect the latest number of death sentences..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-07-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) နောက်ဆုံးထွက်ရှိသည့် အစီရင်ခံစာတွင် မြန်မာ စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့က လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ်ကျူးလွန်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်ကြောင်း တွေ့ရှိထားသည်
Description: "လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ)၊ ND-Burma မှ “အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအား ခုခံခြင်း” ဆိုသည့် ၆ လပတ်အစီရင်ခံစာထုတ်ပြန်ပြီး ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် ဇန်နဝါရီမှ ဇွန်လအတွင်း မြန်မာစစ်အာဏာရှင်များ ကျူးလွန် သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများကို တင်ပြထားသည်။ လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ၆ လအတွင်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့ သည် ပြစ်ဒဏ်ခတ် အရေးယူခံရခြင်းမရှိဘဲ ထောင်နှင့်ချီသည့် အိုးအိမ်များအား မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီး၍ ပြည်သူများအား သတ်ဖြတ်နေသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက် ကျူးလွန်မှုများကြောင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာသည့် အကြပ်အတည်းများ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လျှက်ရှိပြီး သောင်းနှင့်ချီသည့် ပြည်သူများ စစ်ပြေးဒုက္ခသည်များအဖြစ် ထွက်ပြေးရကာ ဆင်းရဲကြပ်တည်းစွာ နေထိုင်ကြရသည်။ ND-Burma အဖွဲ့ဝင်များ လှုပ်ရှားနေသည့် ဒေသများတွင် ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို မြန်မာ့တပ်မ တော် စစ်သားများက ကျူးလွန်နေသည်။ စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့သည် ၎င်းတို့အား ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ဆန့်ကျင် နေမှုအား ၎င်းတို့နားလည်သည့် တခုတည်းသောနည်းလမ်းဖြစ်သော အကြမ်းဖက်မှုဖြင့် တုန့်ပြန်သည့်အ တွက် ပြည်တွင်းပဋိပက္ခများ ပိုမိုများပြားလာသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ပြည်သူလူထု အများအပြားမှာ အဆက် မ ပြတ် အိုးအိမ်စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးရပြီး လူသားချင်းစာနာမှုဆိုင်ရာ အကြပ်အတည်းဖြစ်ပေါ်စေသည့် အထောက် အထားများဖြစ်သည်။ စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့မှ တမင်ရည်ရွယ်၍ ‘ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် လမ်းကြောင်းသို့ တွန်းပို့နေသဖြင့်’ ၎င်းတို့အား လက်မခံသရွေ့ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကို အာဏာရှင်တို့က ရပ်ဆိုင်းမည်မဟုတ်ပေ။ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ ကျူးလွန်သည့် အတင်းအဓမ္မဖမ်းဆီးခြင်း၊ ညှဥ်းပန်းနှိပ် စက်ခြင်း၊ မုဒိန်းကျင့်ခြင်းနှင့် လိင် ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ၊ ပစ္စည်းဥစ္စာများ မတရားသိမ်းဆည်းခြင်း၊ လက်စတုန်းဖျောက်ဖျက်ခြင်း၊ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း စသည့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှု၊ လူသားများအပေါ် ဆန့်ကျင်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် လူမျိုးတုန်းသတ်ဖြတ်မှု များကို ND-Burma အဖွဲ့ဝင်များမှ မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားသည်။ စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့ ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှု များအတွက် တာဝန်ယူ တာဝန်ခံရန်မှာ အချိန်ကြာမြင့်နေပြီဖြစ်သည်။ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများနေထိုင်ရာဒေသတွင် အကြမ်းဖက်ကျူးလွန်မှုများ ချက်ခြင်းရပ်တန့်ရန်နှင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တပ်များရုပ်သိမ်းရန် ND-Burma မှ တောင်းဆိုသည်။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ASEAN အပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအနဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်များ တာဝန်ယူ တာဝန်ခံမှု ရှိလာစေရေးအတွက် လက်တွေ့ကျသည့် အရေးယူများ ချမှတ်ဆောင်ရွက် ရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂလုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအပေါ် ချမှတ်သည့် ကမ္ဘာလုံးဆိုင်ရာ လက်နက်တင်ပို့ ရောင်းချမှု ပိတ်ပင်ရေးကို ND-Burma မှ ထောက်ခံကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ မြန်မာ့အခြေအနေအား နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်ခုံရုံး (ICC) သို့ လွှဲပြောင်းပေးရန်နှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ အမြန်ဆုံးရပ်ဆိုင်းရန်အတွက် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့အပေါ် သံတမန်ရေး၊ နိုင်ငံရေးနှင့် စီးပွားရေးအရ ဖိအားပေး အရေးယူရန် တောင်းဆို ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of publication: 2022-07-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: [Joint Statement] Myanmar: Execution of four democracy activists highlights junta’s brutality
Description: "We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the execution carried out by the military junta against four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar. We call on the international community, including ASEAN states, to publicly denounce these grave violations committed by the junta and to hold them accountable for their crimes. The four include prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu better known as ‘Ko Jimmy’, who was arrested in October 2021 and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a former lawmaker from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and rapper, who was arrested in November 2021 for allegedly committing “terror acts” by the junta. The other two activists are Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. The four pro-democracy activists were convicted of trumped-up charges of terrorism under the draconian 2014 Counterterrorism Law and others laws and sentenced to death in June 2022. Their closed-door trial by secretive military tribunals has been condemned due to a lack of transparency and adherence to the due process of law. Kyaw Min Yu was also allegedly tortured during his detention. We are appalled that family members of the activists were not informed ahead of time that the executions would be carried out. Since news of the executions was released, family members have only received vague answers from officers at Insein Prison, such as that the prison procedures had already been followed. Further, the military junta continues to refuse to disclose the location and condition of the bodies of those executed. When Phyo Zeyar Thaw’s mother requested for his body, the prison officers responded that there is no law that calls for the return of the body to family members. The military junta must clarify the exact date and time that the executions were carried out, as well as immediately provide information on the whereabouts of the bodies. We condemn the cruelty of the military junta and are seriously concerned about the fate of many others who have been sentenced to death by the junta. These appalling actions are serious human rights violations and should be denounced by all members of the international community with calls for justice and accountability. With a total of 117 political prisoners being sentenced to death since the coup, failing to do so will put many other detained activists at risk of suffering the same fate. The executions are reportedly the first known judicial executions for over the three decades in Myanmar. It was undertaken despite repeated calls from human rights groups and the international community to the junta to halt and reverse the decision. The junta has even disregarded the calls from the ASEAN chair, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, to refrain from carrying out the executions. The execution was conducted three days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed the Myanmar military government’s preliminary objections regarding the allegation of genocide against the Rohingya, giving the possibility of the investigation as requested by the Gambia to move forward. Since the coup in February 2021, human rights groups have documented the arbitrary and extrajudicial killings of more than two thousand individuals in the country. Thousands remain in detention facing torture and ill-treatment while the National Unity Government (NUG), the legitimate government elected by the people of Myanmar in November 2022, was declared a terrorist organisation. The junta has also weaponised humanitarian aid to undermine the resistance movement and to gain legitimacy. Various diplomatic efforts by international and regional mechanisms, including the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus that focuses on a meaningful and inclusive dialogue toward a peaceful solution, have failed to prevent the junta from committing serious human rights violations – some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. While some countries have imposed targeted sanctions, others such as Australia and Japan have failed to move in that direction and have effectively relied on the Five-Point Consensus as a solution. By executing the activists, the military junta has sent a strong message that it has no interest in respecting proposals from ASEAN and the international community to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the country. The international community must urgently step up and immediately deploy stronger actions to halt this brutality and hold the junta accountable..."
Source/publisher: Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development
Date of publication: 2022-07-27
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Teenage Girl Among Four Killed by Myanmar Junta Soldiers in Sagaing
Description: "Four civilians, including a teenage girl, were executed by Myanmar junta forces during a raid in Pale Township, Sagaing Region, on Monday, according to resistance groups. Around 200 troops raided Taung Ywar Thit village and residents and resistance fighters found four bodies after the soldiers left on Tuesday. A Royal Eagle People’s Defense Force (PDF) spokesman told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that Daw Aye Win, 45, and her daughter Ma Moe Yi, 17, were shot dead along with a 45-year-old woman. He said they were shot in the head and found in the same property. U Tin Maung, 60, was found partially buried, the spokesman said. The resistance group said regime forces attacked and raided the village without being attacked. Several hundred residents fled their homes. Since Sunday, 28 civilians from Pale villages have been detained and more than 12 civilian detainees are still missing and around 10 villagers have been released, according to the PDF and Pale Entertainment news site. On Wednesday, regime forces raided and torched houses in Htay Aung village in adjacent Myaing Township. Around 120 houses in the village were burned down, the news site reported. On Thursday last week, regime forces burned down Hmawet Tone and Myinywar villages in the township after resistance attacks. Two male villagers in their 70s were found dead in burned houses. Amid daily attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed organizations, junta forces are committing atrocities, arbitrary arrests, killing civilians, carrying out torture, burning alive and using civilians as human shields, carrying out aerial bombardment and shelling of residential areas and looting and burning houses, especially in Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Mon and Karen states, and Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing regions. As of Tuesday, 2,077 people have been killed by regime forces while 14,549 have been detained since last year’s coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-07-13
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Car rams into flash mob protesters in Yangon
Sub-title: Regime forces have repeatedly deployed their vehicles to crack down on anti-junta protests since last year’s coup
Description: "One person was hurt on Thursday after a car rammed into a group of protesters in Yangon’s Hlaing Township, according to activist sources. The incident occurred at around 3pm, shortly after a flash mob of around 20 people carrying a protest banner started shouting slogans near the Thukha bus stop on Insein Road, the sources said. “The car rammed into us just seconds into our demonstration. The guy at the far left was hit and thrown into the air,” said one person who took part in the protest. Myat Min Khant, the Yangon district chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), told Myanmar Now that all of the protesters, including the one who was hit, fled the scene after the incident. “The person who was hit managed to escape, but his arm was injured,” he said. Myanmar Now has received a video that shows the moment of impact. In it, a white Toyota Belta can be seen running into a masked protester holding one end of the banner. According to Myat Min Khant, a black item that exploded with a loud bang, believed to be a flash grenade, was thrown out of the vehicle as it sped away. Thursday’s protest was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the day that Myanmar’s first dictator, General Ne Win, blew up the Yangon University Student Union building on July 7, 1962. “With a strong mind, we will fight for a new world. Never forget what happened on 7.7.1962” read the banner carried by the protesters. A friend of the man who was hit by the car shared a screenshot of a conversation he had with him later that day on Facebook. “The first thought that jumped into my head was that I had to take care of my parents, and so I just ran in a panic. My legs are still sore even now,” the man said. According to a Facebook group called Hlaing Info, plainclothes officers were seen searching the area near the Thukha bus stop soon after the protesters had scattered. While it could not be confirmed that regime authorities were responsible for the apparently deliberate attack on the protesters, it would not be the first time that the junta had used a vehicle to crack down on an anti-dictatorship demonstration. In December of last year, regime forces were captured on video at they plowed into a crowd of protesters on Panbingyi Street in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township, killing or injuring several people before making a number of arrests. In April, junta troops riding in a double cab pickup truck smashed into a taxi while trying to hit a crowd of marchers in Yangon’s Okkalapa Township. The three people inside the taxi, including two women from the Confederation of Trade Unions, Myanmar, were arrested after the collision. The latest incident was on May 30, when five teenagers suffered multiple injuries after regime soldiers ran their vehicle into them following a flash mob protest in South Okkalapa Township. The five minors were then beaten and arrested, according to the ABFSU’s Myat Min Khant..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2022-07-08
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-08
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Title: Body of NLD politician found in Myanmar's Kayin state
Sub-title: Two other party members, arrested with him, were also killed by junta troops, while one man escaped.
Description: "The body of a National League for Democracy MP has been found two weeks after his arrest. Kyaw Myo Min had been tied up and buried in a shallow grave in Kayin state’s Hpa-An township. He had been arrested in his home town of Belin in neighboring Mon state on June 22 along with two other NLD members and a local who were traveling by motorcycle. Junta forces shot at them and they were then arrested. An NLD member told RFA the troops had tried to hide Kyaw Myo Min’s body. “He was tied up at his back and buried on the shore of the creek, but he was not buried well and his head was visible. It seems the body was dumped on the shore of the creek and covered with leaves. It was difficult to identify the body as it had decomposed. There were no visible bullet or stab wounds”, he said. A member of Kyaw Myo Min’s family, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said the family knew he was in danger because it was impossible to contact him after his arrest. Last Saturday locals also found the bodies of the other two arrested NLD members, Pan Myint and Ko Ko Maung. The bodies were dumped in Hpa-An township close to where the MP’s body was found. There are a number of infantry troops stationed in Belin township: the Thein Zayat-based Kha Ma Ya 207 brigade, the Kyaik Hto-based Kha La Ya , Kha Ma Ya 102 from Tha Hton, along with Military Battalion 33 and the Border Guard Force Brigade. It is not yet known which troops were involved in the arrests and killings. Calls to the military council spokesman by RFA went unanswered and it has not released any statement on Kyaw Myo Min’s arrest. One of his family members told RFA the local who was arrested with the NLD members managed to escape so the troops broke the other captives’ legs and critically injured Kyaw Myo Min. “Now they are doing what the powerful do: anything they want without following laws regarding prisoners,” said an NLD source and colleague of the murdered MP. “I will record their illegal activities so I can recall them during the [coming] revolution. People will know who committed the crimes and they will be made to suffer one day.” Kyaw Myo Min became an MP in 2011. He also served as chairman of the Belin branch of the NLD. An NLD statement released in May said 917 NLD members had been arrested since the coup on February 1, 2021. It also said 18 party members, including MPs, died due to inadequate health care and brutal interrogations. Many NLD members joined the mass protests after the 2021 coup and armed themselves to fight after junta forces launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of publication: 2022-07-07
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-07
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Title: Decapitation Video Points to Increasing Military Atrocities in Myanmar
Sub-title: The grisly video may have been purposefully leaked in order to terrorize civilians and deter them from supporting anti-regime resistance forces.
Description: "Among the latest of many distressing videos to emerge from the killing fields of Myanmar was one of a young woman being decapitated, allegedly by army personnel who suspected her of being involved with a resistance group. On July 1, the two-minute video went viral among some Myanmar communities that have taken refuge in neighboring countries after fleeing from brutal military raids. A resident belonging to the Chin community in a border state of India’s northeastern region claimed that the woman was apprehended in Magwe Region after days of tracking by a combined squad of the military and loyalist militias known as Pyu Saw Htwe. “What we have heard so far is that the woman was on the hit list of the army and its band of loyalists. She had been putting in efforts to convince a section of police personnel to join the People’s Defence Force (PDF). Apparently, one among them in the region had joined the PDF,” the resident said on condition of anonymity. “The information about the woman’s role seemed to have been leaked by some police personnel loyal to the regime.” The chilling two-minute video shows the woman with tied hands kneeling at the porch of a wooden house with a man wielding a sword and standing by her side. The sword then descends on her neck and what followed thereafter bore a horrific similarity to some of the beheading videos released by the Islamic State not long ago. The neck was not severed completely when the executioner seemed to have been instructed by his companion to complete the job. After it was finally separated with a few more blows, the sword was thrust three times into the stomach of the woman’s headless corpse. Another member of the Indian refugee community was of the opinion that the video was deliberately filmed and leaked as a deterrent against similar efforts by the PDFs in the future. Magwe, which lies in central Myanmar, is the second largest of the seven Bamar majority regions in the disturbed country. The resistance movement against the military regime has also been among the most potent in this zone, where conflict has historically been rare, compelling the military to adopt ruthless tactics to put an end to the rebellion that seems to have garnered wide support among the populace. The latest ambush took place on June 9, when as many as 20 regime troops were reportedly killed following an ambush by the Yaw People’s Defense Force in Magwe’s Gangaw township. Videos and photographs of unbelievable atrocities committed by the military against the civilian populace have also emerged intermittently from Sagaing Region and Chin State since last year, when the PDFs were formed in order to resist the military regime that seized power in February 2021. Along with Magwe, these two regions, which border India, are among the greatest hotspots of resistance in the country. One video which was circulated among a section of the refugee community in India showed a male teenager being left to die by the military after being burned alive. He was reportedly a member of the Kalay PDF, which has been among the most active resistance squads in the country. Videos of settlements being raided and bombed were more common from Mindat township and the adjoining areas in southern Chin State, where a movement against the regime has become unflagging and widespread. The military regime’s atrocities are reflective of its increasing desperation to retain power by any means necessary, in the face of a swelling resistance in a large part of the country. According to most estimates, its effective fighting strength is no more than 100,000-120,000 troops, who are currently battling a large number of PDFs, ethnic armed organizations, and other unidentified resistance groups. While many PDFs are in alliance with the EAOs and owe their allegiance to the National Unity Government that has been set up to coordinate the resistance against the junta, some have been carrying out attacks independently, making the regime’s task of defeating them extremely difficult..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Washington, D.C.)
Date of publication: 2022-07-06
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-06
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Title: Nearly 5,000 Civilians Displaced by Regime Raids in Myanmar's Restive Sagaing
Description: "Around 5,000 residents from over 10 villages in Sagaing Region’s Tabayin Township have been forced to flee their homes after the Myanmar military airlifted reinforcements into the area. On Monday at around 4.30pm three helicopters carrying over 50 junta soldiers landed in a Tabayin village, forcing the residents to flee the same evening, according to local sources. A volunteer helping the displaced people said on Tuesday: “It was not convenient for travel as it rained the whole night. The temporary camps are crowded. People continued to flee their homes until midnight. People fleeing in their cars, motorbikes and motorized trailers formed a long line. There were unspeakable troubles.” Junta forces carried out airstrikes on July 2 after a memorial to mark the one-year anniversary of fighting in Tabayin’s Set Pyar Kyin Village which left over 20 resistance fighters dead. Regime troops have since been raiding villages in Tabayin. Clouds of smoke were seen in Kyauntawlay and Inpin villages on Tuesday. It was unclear how many houses were torched by military regime forces as villagers still can’t return home, said a resident. Regime troops stationed in Set Pyar Kyin and Boke villages reportedly used heavy weapons to attack resistance fighters advancing to the villages, according to a local resistance member. One resident said: “As they kill not only children but also elderly persons by burning them alive, slitting their throats and shooting them in their heads, people dare not let the soldiers see them. They flee as soon as they hear soldiers are heading to their villages.” Over 340,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Sagaing Region, as well as some 110,000 people in neighboring Magwe Region, according to the Institute of Strategy and Policy Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-07-06
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-06
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Title: Who is Behind Myanmar Junta’s Ye-U Massacre?
Description: "The person most responsible for the deaths of 26 residents in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region, recently reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA), is alleged to be the head of 4th Military Operations Command Brigadier General Kyi Thaik and Light Infantry Battalion 708 under his control. The operations command, which is based in Phuu Gyi between Hmawbi and Taikkyi in northern Yangon Region, controls infantry units. Light infantry divisions and military operations commands are formed for rapid response to enemy movements. According to conversations between three Battalion 708 troops in the video obtained by RFA, the battalion commander ordered a sergeant to kill civilians. The troops were acting on direct orders from a divisional commander, said a former captain who has abandoned the regime. “A battalion commander will seek permission from the division chief on how to treat captives. The battalion commander will follow the orders,” he said. Kyi Thaik was appointed in February last year following the coup. He has been in Sagaing since last year and returned to Phuu Gyi earlier this month. After Brigadier General Phyo Thant was promoted to northwest commander in Monywa after the 2021 coup, Kyi Thaik succeeded him as operations commander. Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told RFA that the regime is investigating the case. A similar incident happened in northern Shan State in July 2016 when a divisional commander, who ordered the death of detained villagers, was sentenced to five years in prison. Light Infantry Battalion 362 under the 10th Military Operations Command raided Wan Tat village in Lashio Township on June 26, 2016, and detained five male villagers. Battalion commander Major Tin Myo Zaw phoned his operations chief, Colonel Myo Aung, about the five detainees. Myo Aung ordered their death and Tin Myo Zaw kept a recording, according to the former captain. After villagers and a lawmaker filed a complaint, seven soldiers, including Myo Aung and Tin Myo Zaw, were tried at a court martial at the northeastern command and given five years in prison. Myo Aung spent less than one year in prison after the military chief Min Aung Hlaing granted an amnesty. Myo Aung is a nephew of Aung Thaung, who was an industry minister under the State Law and Order Restoration Council junta. His cousin is the current naval chief, Admiral Moe Aung and one of Aung Thaung’s sons. Myo Aung has been a manager at Amata Distribution Co, an IGE Co subsidiary owned by one of Aung Thaung’s other sons, since late 2017. A striking major said the court martial should prosecute the division and battalion commanders and soldiers involved in the killings in Ye-U if someone files a complaint. However, those with wealth and contacts will avoid any serious punishment, he said..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2022-06-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: 'I had to cut off the head, bro'
Description: "Myanmar troops swap slaughter stories Evidence of atrocities revealed on a soldier’s lost cell phone Editor's note: This story contains images and descriptions that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. By Khin Maung Soe and Nayrein Kyaw for RFA Burmese Two armed men stand behind a tangle of bodies leaking blood which congeals in the dust. Each of the five victims is blindfolded, hands tied behind their back, and appear to have been killed by gunfire or a blade to the throat. The armed men – one with his rifle slung over his shoulder and the other smoking a cigarette – strike a nonchalant pose that is recorded for posterity in a series of grisly photos captured on a soldier’s phone. These graphic images are among a cache of files recently obtained by RFA Burmese that document atrocities apparently committed by soldiers during military operations in Myanmar’s war-torn Sagaing region. The files include a video in which those two same armed men brag about how many people they have killed, and how they have killed them. The content was retrieved from a cell phone that was found by a villager in Sagaing’s Ayadaw township where the military had been conducting raids amid an offensive against the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group. An intermediary who obtained the video and photos forwarded them to RFA in Washington. detainees Among the many images is one of about 30 men with their hands tied behind their backs on the grounds of a monastery. Among the many images is one of about 30 men with their hands tied behind their backs on the grounds of a monastery. Two of them appear to be the same men who are seen dead in the photos taken a day later of the five victims of execution. Another series of photos shows a young man with his arms bound behind him, his face puffy and bloodied. An outstretched hand holds his chin up, forcing him to look into the camera, while a second hand holds a knife to his chest over his heart. men-interrogation The images also include many ‘selfie’ photos of a soldier, seemingly the phone’s owner. He also features in the video and the photos of the dead bodies. The 10 1/2-minute video shows him and two other men mugging for the camera and chatting in crude terms about the number of people they have killed and what they did with the bodies. The phone’s owner, who wears a wide smile and sometimes slurs his words, has a hand grenade pinned to his chest. More armed men can be seen in the background. “You said you killed 26 people. How did you kill them? Just shooting them with a gun?” asks the phone’s owner of one of his fellow soldiers. “Of course, we killed them with our guns. But not with our hands,” the soldier responds. “For us, we even killed a lot by slitting their throats. I, myself, killed five,” the phone’s owner says. “I have never [slit throats],” the third soldier chimes in. The second soldier then reconsiders his personal tally of death. “I think eight,” he says. “I killed eight [by slitting throats].” Clues in the images A closer look at the photos provides proof that these men serve in Myanmar’s military. Soldiers in the photos sport the arm badge of the Myanmar Army and, in at least one photo, the Northwest Military Command based in Sagaing. Soldiers are seen with bamboo baskets normally used as backpacks by junta soldiers. Numbers on rifle butts in the photos even help identify one military unit. RFA asked Capt. Lin Htet Aung, a defector from the military who has joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), about the evidence. He said the numbers “708” and “4” seen on the guns indicate they are from the 4th Company of the Light Infantry Battalion 708 (708 LIB). The battalion belongs to the Yangon-based Military Operations Command No. 4 (MOC-4) which has been deployed to Sagaing and Magway regions and may be involved in joint operations there, he said. rifle When contacted about the material recovered from the cell phone, junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told RFA that authorities had opened a probe into the matter. “Regarding these incidents, we can respond only after investigation in the field,” he said. “We are now investigating it.” The statements made by the men in the video appear in line with reports of attacks on civilians by junta troops in Sagaing and elsewhere in Myanmar, amid military offensives against the PDF, ethnic armies, and other anti-junta forces. There have been widespread reports of soldiers arbitrarily detaining residents during village raids, looting their homes, setting buildings ablaze, and torturing, raping, and murdering inhabitants they accuse of assisting the armed resistance. The junta has previously denied such allegations or attributed the incidents to the PDF. Sagaing region, home to around 5.3 million people, has seen some of the worst fighting between the military and the opposition since the junta seized power in February 2021. Thai NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) says junta authorities have killed nearly 2,000 people in Myanmar since the coup, including at least 683 in Sagaing. truck In photos from the phone, soldiers have the arm badge of the Northwest Military Command, which is based in Sagaing region. The images obtained by RFA provide a rare glimpse into the lives of perpetrators of the ongoing atrocities in Myanmar under junta rule. While the victims of raids have documented the aftermath of such incidents, it is rare to hear directly from those responsible, speaking in detail about how they committed the acts and attempting to justify them. A careful review of the data from the images found they had been taken on a Chinese-made OPPO phone. The photo of the young man being interrogated at knifepoint was taken on April 28, 2022, while the photo of the bound captives was taken on May 10, and the photos of the five execution victims were taken on May 11. Local media reports suggest killings by the military took place in Ayadaw township around the time the photos were taken. According to a May 11 Facebook post by the Ayadaw Post, junta troops entered Ayadaw’s Chin Pin village, shot six guards, and abducted 30 people on May 7. But reporting by RFA indicates the photos may actually have been taken in neighboring Ye-U township. One of the slain men in the May 11 photo was wearing a t-shirt advertising a grocery store in the township. murder This photo (blurred to cover the graphic scene) shows the phone owner and a man who also appeared in the video standing next to five slain men lying in pools of blood. Two of the slain men also can be seen in the photo from the previous day showing about 30 men with their hands tied behind their backs on the grounds of a monastery. A resident of Ye-U told RFA that the May 10 image of the 30 men with their hands tied appears to have been taken at Mon Taing Pin monastery in the township. A separate source also confirmed that another photo, taken April 26 and showing a roofed walkway, resembles a pagoda at Wet Phyu village, which lies 17.5 miles (28 kilometers) to the west of Mon Taing Pin. RFA is not naming these and other sources for safety reasons. RFA previously reported that 27 people were killed in Ye-U township’s Mon Taing Pin and In Pin villages some time between May 10 and May 12. Villagers said the incident began late on May 9, when Mon Taing Pin village came under fire from small arms, artillery and mortars. Initially, two PDF members guarding the village were killed in the gunfire before the military raided it. One villager in Mon Taing Pin said the soldiers rounded up several dozen men from the village, aged between about 20 and 60, and they were detained in the monastery. He said the men were beaten up and killed and then put inside houses in the village which were set on fire. Photos provided to RFA by residents of the aftermath of the incident included images of razed buildings, human remains nearly completely incinerated by fire, bloated corpses, and the lower part of a severed torso – the legs of which had also been removed and left at the scene. map Boasting of killing Details about the disposal of victims’ bodies provided by the three soldiers in the video found on the cell phone sound strikingly similar to the state of the remains discovered in Ye-U township last month. And the lack of emotion in the soldiers’ voices as they discuss the incident suggests that killing has become normal behavior for them. “Seriously. I have killed people before. And I don’t like blood. It’s nauseating, though I killed them. Cut them in three parts,” the phone’s owner says. “I killed those whom I caught. And the sergeant told us to cut them in three pieces and bury them,” the soldier who claims to have killed more than two dozen people responds. The phone’s owner goes on to describe covering up his handiwork, using slurred speech that suggests he isn’t sober. “One guy had his head blown off at the back. He had burns all over his body and his skin was peeling off. Yuck, it was horrible,” he says. “I had to cut off the head, bro. I had to chop it off [and it took] five or six tries … Pieces of flesh came out, like pork. But human flesh is yellowish.” He goes on to brag that he is “an expert in killing.” selfies The photos on the phone include many selfies of a soldier, who appears to have been the phone owner. He also is seen in the video and the photos of the slain men. But the boasting is intermingled with more plaintive comments, in which the soldiers compare themselves to “driftwood,” obliged to follow orders, and lament that they could be killed at any time. “Do you know why I didn’t complain then [when we had to cut up the bodies]? [Our superiors] were leading the fight and I didn’t want to say anything. Otherwise, there’s no need to cut off their heads,” the phone’s owner says at one point. “What is life? It’s a fight. You win or you die. But our lives don’t seem to matter whether we live or not … [This video is] just for the record. We’re brothers. If I get killed, you won’t see me anymore, but you can remember me with this.” Reports of the military’s targeting of civilians since the coup led to U.S. sanctions last year against the 33rd Light Infantry Division (33 LID) and the 77th Light Infantry Division (77 LID) of Myanmar’s Army over “excessive force, including killings” following their deployment to Mandalay and Yangon, respectively. The 33 LID was also the target of U.S. sanctions in 2018 “for engaging in serious human rights abuse” against the ethnic Rohingya during alleged “terrorist” clearance operations a year earlier in Rakhine state. Atrocities committed by soldiers from the 33 LID and the 99 LID during that campaign, which forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh and was subsequently designated an act of genocide by Washington, were documented in a groundbreaking investigative report by Reuters news agency in June 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of publication: 2022-06-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-06-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Ten more civilians killed in Myanmar army push to seize control of Sagaing
Sub-title: Locals describe the capture of villagers—including children—by junta soldiers who force them to serve as human shields and porters before they are murdered
Description: "Junta forces reportedly killed 10 villagers, including two children, in recent days in Sagaing Region, where the military continues to carry out fierce assaults on the civilian population in an attempt to overpower the resistance stronghold. Eight of the victims were from Ta Ohn, a village five miles east of Shwebo Township’s administrative centre, which was attacked and looted by a 100-soldier column on June 9. Embedded in the unit were members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia, armed and trained by the Myanmar army, locals said. The bodies of seven villagers were not found until Monday, in a stream more than one mile away from the community where they lived. “The bodies were badly decomposed. I think they shot them on the hill and dragged them into the swamp,” a villager told Myanmar Now, adding that locals were unable to retrieve and bury the corpses due to the continued junta occupation of the area. The victims, who are believed to have been forced to act as human shields and porters for the military column, were identified as Thein Tan, 50; Kyaw Lin, 45; Sein Mahn, Maung Htoo and Win Shwe, all aged 40; Pho Htoo, who was in his 30s; and 20-year-old Ye Wai Lin. Another local man, 50-year-old Hnin Maung, was shot dead and his body burned inside Ta Ohn, the villager said, citing eyewitnesses. Locals explained that the troops detained multiple residents at the village’s monastery, including women and children. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm the total number of civilians who were abducted. “The villagers had nowhere to run when the military entered, firing their guns. They captured everyone that fled and made them stay inside the village. That’s how they detained so many people,” another villager said. He said that at least nine of those who were taken by the junta were forced to carry supplies on June 10 and 11 while soldiers raided the neighbouring villages of Ohn Pauk, Maung Tat, Ti Pin and finally Se Gyi, where they were last seen alive by eyewitnesses on June 12. There, the troops torched five homes identified by the accompanying Pyu Saw Htee members as allegedly belonging to members of the local anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF), a Se Gyi resident told Myanmar Now. “Everyone had to flee. Some fled on carts while some fled on motorcycles. We had to leave everything behind as they started firing heavy weapons,” he said. “I don’t think words can do justice for what I’m feeling right now. I want revenge but I have no weapon in my hands. It’s really heartbreaking and I feel powerless.” The seven men from Ta Ohn are believed to have been killed at a site one mile from the village of Se Gyi. The identities of the remaining two individuals who were captured with them were not known at the time of reporting, as well as whether they were still alive. Mawlaik Township Two other murders took place in northwestern Sagaing’s Mawlaik Township, where teenagers staying in an IDP camp near Ma Gyi Tan village were abducted in a junta raid on the site on June 8 and subsequently killed, their bodies found later that day. “The children were captured and forced to carry the soldiers’ bags and guide them around the area before ultimately getting killed,” a 50-year-old woman from the area told Myanmar Now. They were identified as Sithu and Phyo, both in ninth grade, but whose exact ages were not known. Moe Di, spokesperson for the Mawlaik PDF—which clashed with the junta column in question on the day of the raid on the camp—confirmed the death of the two boys, saying that their bodies were found with knife wounds and their hands tied behind their backs. Myanmar Now was unable to obtain photos of the victims due to the ongoing military-imposed internet blackout on much of Sagaing. The military unit combined with another coming from Kalay to the south, forming a new column of some 150 troops in Mawlaik on June 10 before focusing their assaults on villages on the western shore of the Chindwin River, Moe Di explained. A PDF member was killed in a battle which took place with the Myanmar army that day, but the resistance group was not able to inflict any casualties, the spokesperson said, adding that his fighters were forced by heavy artillery fire to retreat. “We had to withdraw because there was no way for us to defend against such a weapon,” Moe Di said, adding that clashes were still ongoing at the time of reporting. Hundreds of homes were burned by the military over the next four days, including almost all of the residences in the village of Ma Gyi Tan, as well as houses in Yuwa and Tat Kone, locals said. Some 5,000 residents from a total of five communities were forced to flee the arson attacks—which the military has repeatedly denied perpetrating nationwide—to the eastern shores of the Chindwin. The telecommunication cuts have meant that an assessment of the extent of the damage was still ongoing at the time of reporting. Depayin Township A 30-year-old man in Depayin Township narrowly escaped death during a military raid on his village of Muu Kan Gyi on Tuesday, describing to Myanmar Now how he hid and witnessed more than 75 troops burning 200 other residences. “I could see them from the house I was hiding in. They seemed to be enjoying torching the houses,” he said. The building in which he had sought refuge reportedly failed to catch fire. “One of the army officers they called Kyaw Tun gave them permission to burn the house and two soldiers came inside to torch it,” the man recalled. “I could smell alcohol on them while I was hiding under the bed. I would have been killed if they found me.” He emerged after the troops left the following morning to find that his own house had been destroyed, along with his food stores. “I wish nothing but death on them,” he said of the junta troops. “They’re funded by our tax money, and they are terrorising us.” Locals said that the same junta column that torched Muu Kan Kyi had previously burned the villages of Ywar Soe and Pauk Chaing in neighbouring Shwebo Township over the weekend, and had gone on to occupy the communities of Ti Pin and Htoo Gyi, all located along the eastern bank of the Muu River. A local anti-junta defence force, Min Ma Naing Thein Nghat, reportedly tried to drive out the unit from the village of Ye Kyi Wa, across the Muu River from Muu Kan Gyi—which is situated on the western shore—but they ultimately were forced to retreat by the difference in firepower, the guerrilla group’s leader said. “They relentlessly fired both 60mm and 40mm shells at us from the other side of the river. That’s why we had to withdraw,” he told Myanmar Now, adding that a 30-year-old resistance fighter was killed in the clash. The leader emphasised the need for the civilian National Unity Government to arm forces like Min Ma Naing Thein Nghat, noting that there was only one gun for every three members of his group. “We have to face the junta with handmade rifles and 10 to 15 bullets while 100 percent of the junta personnel are armed with a rifle each,” he explained. “If only they could arm us properly, there isn’t any reason we wouldn’t win over the military.”..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2022-06-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-06-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Junta Killing, Detaining, Torturing and Displacing Children: UN
Description: "The Myanmar junta has deliberately killed hundreds of children as part of a strategy to inflict immense suffering on innocent civilians and subjugate the people of the country, a UN expert said on Tuesday. At least 382 children have been killed or injured by armed groups since the coup and the Myanmar military bears the most responsibility for these deaths, according to a report by Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. Of the deaths and injuries of children, 59 percent occurred during targeted or indiscriminate attacks by the military, according to the report, which also found that at least 111 were killed or injured by landmines. The report states that the junta has arbitrarily detained over 1,400 children since the coup and at least 274 remain behind bars. From 2021 to March 2022, it adds, at least 142 children were subject to torture in prison, resulting in injuries and in some cases deaths. Regarding junta forces’ treatment of child prisoners, Andrews writes: “They have beaten, cut and stabbed children, burned them with cigarettes, forced them to hold stress positions, subjected them to mock executions, deprived them of food and water.” Additionally, at least 61 children—some very young—are currently being held as hostages to put pressure on family members wanted by the regime. On April 5, a 3-year-old boy was abducted from his kindergarten in Yangon by junta forces after they arrested his mother. On the same day, a 14-year-old boy was arrested by regime forces looking for his father, a friend of the 3-year-old’s mother. The special rapporteur was unable to confirm the whereabouts of the mother, her son or the 14-year-old, all of whom appear to remain in the junta’s custody. More than 250,000 children have been displaced since the coup due to junta attacks on civilians, Andrews said based on information from UN agencies, humanitarian and human rights groups and civil society organizations. He urged the world to return its attention to Myanmar. “Member states, regional organizations, the Security Council, and other UN entities must respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said. The UN special rapporteur recommended imposing an arms embargo on Myanmar, slapping sanctions on the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and other key sources of revenue, and facilitating cross-border humanitarian aid by the UN and ASEAN..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-06-15
Date of entry/update: 2022-06-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar junta tribunal sentences 7 youths to death in Yangon
Sub-title: As of March 11, army tribunals in the Yangon region have sentenced more than 150 people to death or life in prison.
Description: "Myanmar’s junta condemned seven youths to death this week in the Yangon region after a secret military tribunal found them guilty of murder, a junta newspaper reported. The seven, all from all from Hlaingtharyar township in the country’s largest city Yangon Region, were ruled guilty of taking part in the March 6 murder of a ward official suspected of being a police informer and sentenced to death on Wednesday under Section 54 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. As of March 11, military tribunals in the Yangon region have sentenced more than 150 people to death or life imprisonment, RFA reporting has revealed. No executions have been reported by the military regime that overthrew Myanmar’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021. The seven were identified as Ye Min Naing, Soe Moe, Thant Zin, Daewa, San Shay, Athay Lay and Aye Aye Min. Another youth, Htet Myat Naing from Yangon’s North Dagon township, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison under Section 50(j) of the Anti-Terrorism Law for having links to and collecting money for terrorist organizations. An underground youth activist in Yangon said the military is imposing harsh punishments on young people to discourage them from participating in resistance movements against the junta, the junta newspaper said. "The deliberate arrests of young people and such harsh sentences are attempts to intimidate the youth not to be involved in the revolution. No matter what they do, young people are already determined to march on with this,” he told RFA. Lawyers have argued that the sentences imposed by military tribunals handing down highest sentences on the youth are unjust and punishable. Military spokesman Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun said the government was not targeting young people but was prosecuting violators of the law. According to Thai-based rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma, a total of 10,707 people were arrested and 1,072 of them were imprisoned between Feb. 1, 2021 and May 19, 2022, and 72 have been sentenced to death, including 2 children. And another 41 have been sentenced to death in absentia..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of publication: 2022-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2022-05-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: THE IMPACT OF LONG TERM TRAUMA IN BURMA
Description: "This Briefing pape provides a summary of the body evidence on the long-term implication for the mental health of people in Burma in view of the unprecedented levels of violence directed by the military junta towards the population, as well as the weaponization of the COVID-19 crisis in the country (1) Drawing from AAPP data, as well as academic literature and several interviews with CSO Activists, this birefing paper reveals the severe consequences of psychological traum, and the persisting effects of destress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among communities, after suffering from insecurity, widespread attacks, torture, displacement, and terrorist-like action by the armed wing of the military junta..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of publication: 2022-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-04-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 10.57 MB 3.43 MB
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Title: MARCH 2022 - WITH NO SUCCESS IN SIGHT, JUNTA DIGS IN WITH DIRTY TACTICS
Description: "On 27 Mar, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing vowed to “annihilate the opposition.” As of 31 Mar, the junta had arrested at least 13,040 civilians, including politicians, activists, and journalists, and killed at least 2,053 civilians. The junta got dirtier in its tactics. It funded paramilitary groups, enacted “legislation” allowing it to conscript police into its war, used social media channels to discredit and hunt down its opposition, and demanded that hospitals turn over patient records to undermine treatment of opponents. Cities across Burma struggled with power blackouts as electricity production fell to a quarter of the national demand. Outages disrupted water distribution and business operations, while rising fuel prices made the use of generators unsustainable..."
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-BURMA, Asia Democracy Network, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Burma Human Rights Network, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice and US Campaign for Burma
Date of publication: 2022-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-04-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 851.32 KB (Original version) - 23 pages
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Title: Southeast Burma Field Report: Intensification of armed conflict, air and ground attacks, and widespread human rights violations, July to December 2021
Description: "Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is pleased to announce the release of its latest field report, Southeast Burma Field Report: Intensification of armed conflict, air and ground attacks, and widespread human rights violations, July to December 2021. The reporting period was marked by increased armed conflict and attacks, which spread to locations in KHRG’s operational area that had reported little to no fighting or shelling during the initial five months following the February 1st 2021 military coup. A surge of armed conflict and attacks, including airstrikes, took place in the Lay Kay Kaw area of Dooplaya District in December 2021 after State Administration Council (SAC) and Border Guard Force (BGF) troops entered the area and conducted raids and arrests while searching for Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) participants and People’s Defence Force (PDF) members. Over 10,000 people were displaced in just over a week. Possibilities for seeking refuge in Thailand remain extremely limited. Most displaced villagers were either pushed back by Thai authorities or forced to set up temporary encampments along the river. Mu Traw (Hpapun) District had been the target of major offensives, including airstrikes, during the first five months of the coup. Although there were no further airstrikes in Mu Traw District from July to December 2021, most parts of the district continued to experience heavy conflict and military activities, with some areas experiencing fighting and shelling on a near daily basis. Many villagers continue to face displacement, while those who have remained in their villages have endured repeated threats by SAC soldiers, including battalion commanders, who seek to punish civilians for the activities of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The reporting period was also marked by an increase in human rights violations, including forced labour, the use of human shields, torture, killings, theft and looting, and the planting of landmines. Incidents of forced labour, including the use of civilians as human shields, have become more widespread and systematic because tied to the movement of SAC and BGF troops through KNU-controlled areas while rotating troops or bringing food rations, supplies and ammunition to more remote army camps. In many cases, these acts were combined with other rights violations like beatings or torture, the deprivation of food and water, and various threats, including threat to life. Theft and looting, particularly of food items, crops and livestock, also became more systematic as the presence of SAC soldiers in rural areas, including KNU territory, spread. Theft and looting often took place after villagers were forced to flee their homes, and in some cases included the destruction of property. As the SAC continued to target anyone seen as opposing the military regime, it undertook violence, including torture and beatings, against civilians while searching for people whom they suspected of having an affiliation with the PDF and CDM. There has also been an increase in intentional killings of civilians by SAC security forces. The situation of rural villagers in Karen State has grown more critical, with many villagers now facing severe food insecurity and health issues, including the spread of COVID-19, with little access to external support. KHRG hopes that this field report will allow national and international stakeholders to gain a better understanding the impact of SAC atrocities in Southeast Burma. It includes a number of recommendations on how national and international stakeholders can develop more inclusive support schemes that ensure the protection and well-being of rural villagers. Recommendations Neighbouring states must allow for the legal provision of cross-border humanitarian aid through non-state actors and local service providers. The UN, donors and other international actors must support and increase the legitimacy of the CSOs, CBOs and ethnic health and aid providers operating on the ground because they have the most direct and best access to affected populations and understand their needs. A comprehensive global arms embargo against the Burma military must be imposed. Military “No Fly Zones” need to be established and enforced; and sanctions must be placed on supplying aviation fuel to the Burma military. Civilian safe zones need to be created, whether in Burma or across the border, and the protection of civilian safe zones must be internationally guaranteed. UN agencies in Burma must take a clear and strong position in responding to the situation on the ground, and to use all possible resources to limit the human rights abuses and violations undertaken by the SAC..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
Date of publication: 2022-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf
Size: 98.49 KB 135.67 KB
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Title: Myanmar’s military ruler vows to ‘annihilate’ resistance groups
Sub-title: Min Aung Hlaing also urges ethnic minorities not to support militias opposed to army rule
Description: "Myanmar’s top general has vowed to intensify action against homegrown militia groups fighting the military-run government, saying the armed forces would “annihilate” them. Gen Min Aung Hlaing, speaking at a military parade marking Armed Forces Day on Sunday, also urged ethnic minorities not to support groups opposed to army rule and ruled out negotiations with them. The military seized power last year from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Security forces have since used lethal force to suppress mass nationwide protests, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,700 civilians, according to a detailed tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Forced to turn away from peaceful protests, many of those opposed to military rule took up arms, forming hundreds of militia groups called People’s Defence Forces – better known as PDFs. In some parts of the country, they’ve joined forces with well-organised, battle-hardened ethnic armed groups, which have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades. Min Aung Hlaing, addressing thousands of military personnel during the parade in the capital Naypyidaw, said he would not negotiate with “terrorist groups and their supporters for killing innocent people” and threatening peace and security. He said the military, known as the Tatmadaw, “will annihilate them to (the) end”, according to an official translation of his speech. His government has declared major resistance organisations – regardless of whether they are directly engaged in armed struggle – as terrorist groups. Membership or even contact with them carries harsh punishment under law. “I would like to highlight that there are no governments or armies worldwide that negotiate with any terrorist groups,” he said. Despite a huge advantage in equipment and numbers, Myanmar’s military has struggled to crush the new militia units. Outgunned and outmanned, the PDFs have relied on support from local communities and knowledge of the terrain to carry out often surprisingly effective attacks on convoys, patrols, guard posts, police stations and isolated bases in remote areas. The military is currently conducting operations in Sagaing, in central Myanmar, and in Kayah State, in the country’s east, using airstrikes, artillery barrages and the burning of villages. The army recently seems to have expanded its offensive into Chin State in the west and Kayin State in the south-east as well. Last year’s Armed Forces Day was the single bloodiest since the military’s seizure of power on 1 February 2021. Security forces across the country opened fire on demonstrators, killing as many as 160 people. Anti-military protests were held on Sunday despite the risks in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, and elsewhere. To avoid arrest or injury, urban street protests usually involve flashmobs, which quickly disperse before security forces crack down. The main opposition group, the self-styled National Unity Government, urged people to join a “power strike” on Sunday night by switching off the lights and their televisions for 30 minutes while the military parade was broadcast on state-run TV channels. The group said the strike was also intended to protest daily power outages. The blackouts started several months ago, and the government blames them on high gas prices and damage to power lines caused by sabotage. The US, European Union and 20 other countries issued a statement marking Armed Forces Day by recalling “those killed and displaced by violence over the last year, including at least 100 people killed on this day alone one year ago”. It called on the military to cease its violence and return to democratic rule, and urged countries not to supply arms to Myanmar. The US, UK and Canada on Saturday imposed the latest in a series of coordinated sanctions on senior military officials and business leaders who allegedly act as arms dealers for Myanmar’s army..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2022-03-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Joint Statement on Armed Forces Day in Myanmar
Description: "Following is a joint statement on Armed Forces Day in Myanmar issued by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Begin text: On Armed Forces Day, we remember those killed and displaced by violence over the last year, including at least 100 people killed on this day alone one year ago. Some countries continue to supply lethal assistance to Myanmar’s military regime, enabling its violence and repression. We urge all countries to support the people of Myanmar by immediately stopping the sale or transfer of arms, military equipment, materiel, dual-use equipment, and technical assistance to Myanmar, in line with UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/75/287. We reiterate our call on the military to cease its violence and restore Myanmar’s path to democracy..."
Source/publisher: United States Department of State
Date of publication: 2022-03-26
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
Description: "March 24 is observed as the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, marking the day Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador was assassinated on March 24th, 1980 for denouncing violations of human rights. The military coup in Myanmar/Burma on February 1st, 2021 exacerbated the number and intensity of gross human rights violation across the country. Since the military seized power, civilians have become victims of arbitrary arrest, torture, targeted and indiscriminate killing, airstrikes, shelling and other violent abuses at the hands of the Burma Army. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,687 civilians have already been killed since the coup, though the number is likely much higher. Across the country, over 800,000 civilians are displaced and living under constant threat to their physical security and mental health[1]. Those who have become victims still await justice, while their perpetrators are yet to be punished and continue to commit further human rights violations. On the other hand, State Administration Council is continuing to commit human rights violation with impunity and there is no accountability from any perpetrator. In Southeast Burma where armed conflict has been happening for more than seven decades, local communities are subjected to widespread human rights violations, especially by armed actors. The ethnic minorities in Southeast Burma has been systematically targeted and attacked by the Burma Army. According to KHRG’s documentation, the majority of the victims of human rights violations or their families have never received remediation for what they have suffered due to the culture of impunity within armed groups, especially within the Burma Army. The Burma Army has been committing forced disappearance, rape, murder, torture, the deliberate destruction of civilian property, and other forms of human rights abuses without facing any repercussions, whereas the victims and families of the victims have had to endure the long-lasting impacts of the abuses. Since the coup, conflict has escalated again in Southeast Burma and dozens of villagers have been killed by airstrikes, shelling, landmine explosions, and other forms of violent attacks, including while being used as human shields. Civilians have also been systematically used as forced labour by the Burma Army. While accountability for past abuses has not been realised, further abuses are being committed by the Burma Army. KHRG calls upon the international community to take resolute action against the Burma Army, its military-owned businesses, and any entity that works with the Burma Army in an effort in diminish human rights abuses in Burma, end military impunity, restore accountability and justice, and assist victims of gross human rights abuses. The countless victims of human rights violations and their families deserve and have the right to know the truth, receive justice, and be able to live their lives with dignity. The penetrators must be held accountable for the violations they have committed during both times of war and peace. It is the responsibilities of all to ensure the right to the truth concerning gross human rights violations and the dignity of victims. KHRG would like to acknowledge those who have suffered human rights violations and victims who continue to wait for justice. KHRG also pays tribute to those who have suffered or lost their lives while striving to raise awareness to human rights violations in Burma..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
Date of publication: 2022-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 134.47 KB
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Title: Myanmar Anti-Regime Leader: Freedom Does Not Come For Free
Description: "Tayzar San is one of the most prominent of Myanmar’s anti-regime protest leaders and a key member of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) — a body that brings forces opposed to the military regime together. A coalition of elected lawmakers, ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and pro-democracy activists, the NUCC serves as a political consultative body to the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG), and is leading the efforts to lay the groundwork for the creation of a federal democratic union. As one of the junta’s most wanted people, Tayzar San has been on the run for many months. But while in hiding, he continues his mission to eliminate military dictatorship from his motherland. Recently, the 33-year-old doctor turned activist talked to The Irrawaddy about the urgent need for funds for the revolution and called on the public to take the boycott and social punishment campaigns seriously. You and other prominent opposition figures have talked about the importance of financing the revolution. How is the current funding situation? The NUG talked about the defense budget in their six month report on the people’s defensive war. The NUG said that they have received nothing, neither cash nor any material support, from foreign counties for the revolution and depend only on public donations. In fact, finance is the essential need for the revolution and will determine its result. But the coup has plunged the country into political, social and economic turmoil. And so our people are facing hardship and their financial support for the revolution is limited. But I want to say that to win this revolution quickly, we definitely need more funding. We have all heard and seen that our People’s Defense Forces (PDF) comrades need arms and other material items. So we all need to push and contribute more. I want to say that this revolution is not for the NUG, NUCC and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CPRH – the NUG’s parliamentary committee), but for all the people of Myanmar. If the revolution is successful, it will benefit all of us. Equally, if this revolution doesn’t succeed, all of us including future generations will suffer. In the NUG’s six month report, the defense ministry said it has only received around US$30 million to fund the armed resistance. What do you think of that? I was really surprised by that. I thought the amount would be more. Everyone knows that weapons and ammunition are expensive. At the same time, our enemy, the terrorist regime, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the military and has had 70 years to build up its infrastructure. Compared to that, spending US$30 million is like tossing sesame seeds into the mouth of an elephant. In a virtual discussion that I joined last year, one EAO leader said that, according to their calculations, if we could spend US$15 million a month on military expenses, we could bring down the regime in a short time. At least US$2-3 million is required to arm a battalion. So US$30 million is nothing. That’s not to be discouraging but to make people aware of the situation. Funding is the lifeline of the revolution, so we need to work together to push for more of it. If we can do that, we can reach our desired destination of a peaceful and flourishing country fast. What can the NUG do to improve fundraising? As far as I know, the NUG currently has two sources of revenue [for the resistance movement]. The first one is bond sales, which is well known. People who can afford it, buy bonds. But I think that they can organize a campaign to sell more bonds and reach the business community more. Another source of funds is the People’s Revolution Supply Family (PRF) program. We rely on it a lot. Under it, all of our people can help supply PDFs for a minimum amount of US$20 each month. But so far people have very little knowledge about the PRF. Actually, the PRF program is a great source of fundraising for the PDF members who are risking their lives in our fight for freedom. But as there’s little public awareness of the PRF, the amount of people participating is still very low. While we try to get donations from business people who can make big contributions, we should also try to do more to get the general public to contribute monthly to the PRF. But the NUG shouldn’t just rely on those two sources of funding. They need to find innovative ways to generate more revenue and also work on how to raise taxes as a legitimate government. For international aid, the world only bets on the winning horse. We need to work to let the international community know that our revolution is moving forward, and that we will definitely win. What will happen to the revolution if the funding doesn’t increase? For me, the current situation is not satisfactory as there is a great need of funding but it is also not discouraging. Our [armed] resistance started with any available weapons and even under the current situation with insufficient weapons and ammunition, the PDFs can threaten the junta forces and have taken control of rural areas in Sagaing Region and Kayah State. Tactics will also play a role in battle, while the main difference between us and the terrorist regime is that our fight is spirit-based and has the full support of the people. For them [the military regime], regardless of how well-equipped they are, as soon as they leave their bases or camps, they are in enemy territory. It is certain that we will win this revolution and there is a lot of good potential. But it will depend on us to make that happen. So I would like to urge our people not to relax or be disrupted by events and don’t be disunited. In terms of public participation in the revolution, you have also recently reminded people of the boycott and social punishment campaigns. Why have you done that? Because now more than a year after the coup, the terrorist military council members and some of their collaborators, supporters and opportunists are starting to publicly attempt to claim that normality is returning under the regime. They didn’t dare do that before as the peoples’ campaign against them was quite strong. But now they are testing the water. This is a battle between Dharma and Adharma. We need to clarify clearly the line between our enemy and us and we shouldn’t let them get into our society. They are the ones responsible for all the social and economic consequences since the coup. We need to strongly reject all of them. The boycott campaign against any businesses and services owned or affiliated with the military is also important. It needs to apply to anyone, any organization, any product affiliated with the military or supporting the military, because the money we use to buy their products or to use their services will turn into guns and bullets that kill our people and our PDF fighters. So not a single penny should reach the military. Our people already know that. But they might overlook the importance of the boycott campaign and social punishment for the revolution. And the terrorist regime and their collaborators will take advantage of that. We can’t let them do as they want. If we do, we are stupid. What else would you like to say? I would like to say that the more people contribute, the faster the revolution will succeed. You shouldn’t assume that the revolution will be over without you participating. There are several ways to participate. I am not asking you to do what the PDF youths are doing: fighting on the ground and risking their lives for the revolution. Let’s push to meet the financial needs for the people’s defensive war. Let’s be a support force [to the PDFs] by joining strikes, continuing to donate, continuing the Civil Disobedience Movement, boycott campaign and social punishment. Freedom does not come for free. We all have to make whatever contribution we can..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: New Evidence and Findings of Post-Coup d’État Crimes Against Humanity
Description: "In the six months following its February 2021 coup d’état, the Myanmar junta murdered, imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, forcibly displaced, and persecuted civilians in acts that amount to crimes against humanity, said Fortify Rights and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School (“Schell Center”) in a new report released today. The report makes new contributions to accountability and international justice efforts targeting the junta’s atrocities since the coup, including by: Identifying 61 senior military and police officials who should be investigated and possibly prosecuted for international crimes; Establishing the locations of 1,040 military units nationwide; Revealing new information about the military chain-of-command during the crackdown on peaceful protesters throughout the country; and Providing the most thorough legal analysis to date of the junta’s widespread and systematic attacks on the people of Myanmar in the first six months after the coup. “Published just days prior to the one-year anniversary of the Armed Forces Day Massacre, this report provides the international community a better understanding of the junta’s crimes, the individuals responsible, and their battalions’ locations in relation to attacks. U.N. member states must ensure accountability for these ongoing atrocities,” said Tom Andrews, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Robina Senior Fellow at Yale Law School’s Schell Center, and author of the foreword to the report. “This pivotal report on the junta’s horrendous crimes can help guide efforts to ensure accountability.” The 193-page report, “Nowhere is Safe”: The Myanmar Junta’s Crimes Against Humanity Following the Coup d’État, is based on more than 120 testimonies, leaked documents and information, and in-depth legal analysis of new evidence. It focuses on the first six months after the military’s attempted coup on February 1, 2021. For months and often in broad daylight, Myanmar Army soldiers and Myanmar Police Force officers shot and killed unarmed civilians in cities and towns throughout the country, among other atrocities. The report proves how the junta engaged in a premeditated, widespread, and systematic attack on the civilian population. Among the 61 senior military and police officials named in the report as potentially liable for crimes against humanity are Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Senior General Soe Win, and the Joint Chief of Staff General Mya Tun Oo. These men are also responsible for what Fortify Rights determined to be genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017, as well as war crimes in Rakhine State in 2019 and probable crimes against humanity and war crimes in Shan and Kachin states. Other military and police suspects identified in the report are 19 regional commanders of the police force, 13 regional commanders from the military, and 27 other senior officials from the junta..."
Source/publisher: Fortify Rights
Date of publication: 2022-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Press Release: Unprecedented Legal Case To Launch in Turkey Against Myanmar Junta
Description: "London, 24 March, 2022: The Myanmar Accountability Project, MAP, will lodge a criminal file for torture against members of the Myanmar junta at the Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul on 29 March 2022. “This is the first case to be initiated in a national court outside Myanmar into crimes that have been committed inside the country since the coup in February last year,” said MAP Director, Chris Gunness. “ The case relates to torture which took place in the notorious, Ye Kyi Ain interrogation centre in northern Yangon. We will be sending the names of specific torturers to the Turkish authorities and requesting that Interpol arrest them. Criminal responsibility also rests with members of the illegal military regime, including the leader of the failed coup, Min Aung Hlaing.” Since the coup, the use of torture has become widespread and systematic, raising it to the level of international crimes. A report by the UN Human Rights Council found that since the coup, 325 people including 26 children had been tortured to death. The report concluded that “hundreds, if not thousands, have been subjected to torture.” Chief legal Counsel for MAP, Gülden Sönmez, said the prospects for this “universal jurisdiction case in Turkey are good. The legal basis for a prosecution is sound. The evidence is very solid and with so much sympathy in Turkey for the people of Myanmar, dating back to the geocide against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims in 2017, the political environment is also sympathetic to a conviction,” she said. “The message from this case in Turkey to the leaders of Myanmar’s failed coup is that you will be held accountable for your crimes and that you will face justice,” said Gunness. “You should take steps to get on the right side of the law. Stop the torture. Stop the crimes against humanity. And to the lower ranking members of the security forces, I say that your actions are being monitored. You too will be held to account.” Later in the year, MAP will be initiating cases against the Myanmar junta in France and in the East Asia region..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Accountability Project
Date of publication: 2022-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: “Nowhere is Safe”
Sub-title: The Myanmar Junta’s Crimes Against Humanity Following the Coup d’État
Description: "Based on more than 120 interviews, “Nowhere is Safe”: The Myanmar Junta’s Crimes Against Humanity Following the Coup d’État , exposes how the Myanmar military junta murdered, imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, persecuted, and forcibly displaced or transferred peaceful protesters, activists, political leaders, and other civilians throughout the country in the six months following the military coup on February 1, 2021. It provides the most extensive legal analysis to date on the attack, finding that the Myanmar junta is responsible for crimes against humanity under international law, and it reveals the identities of 61 Myanmar military and police officials who should be investigated and possibly prosecuted. It also reveals the physical locations of 1,040 military units nationwide. Through detailed recommendations, this report provides a pathway for the international community to address impunity by the Myanmar junta, hold preparators accountable, and end ongoing attacks..."
Source/publisher: Fortify Rights
Date of publication: 2022-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 32.93 MB 31.03 MB 141.25 KB
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Title: Life in Hell: Dehumanization
Description: "The entire population of Myanmar has been deprived of their basic human rights at the moment. Among them, prisons are the worst place of the most serious HR violations which are totally unknown to the rest of the world, to the entire country and the humanity. Political prisoners and detainees who took part in the anti-coup movement and fought against the military dictators by all means during the Spring Revolution have been heavily tortured by the prison authority, stooges of the dictator. This animation video is presented by GSCC, AAPP and AJAR marking the “International Day for the Right to the Truth” to disclose the true reality and to make known of the most unknown and worst HR violations behind bars. (Our Revolution Must Surely Win!!!)..."
Source/publisher: General Strike Collaboration Committee, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and Asia Justice and Rights
Date of publication: 2022-03-23
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The upcoming 5th BIMSTEC Summit on March 30 in Sri Lanka must respect calls from Myanmar democracy movement
Description: "Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), comprised of seven countries from South Asia and Southeast Asia namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, is scheduled to hold its 5th Summit on March 30 which will be hosted by Sri Lanka. The biennial summit is a conference where leaders of member states come together to discuss and make highest policy decisions for peace, prosperity and sustainability of Bay of Bengal region. The 4th summit held in Nepal in 2018 was attended by Myanmar president U Win Myint. On 1st, February, 2021, Myanmar military attempted to seize power from the civilian government. It has been 400 days since for Myanmar people of all ethnics and religions, who have categorically rejected and resisted the military’s coup attempt, risking their lives to defend democracy and end military tyranny by all means as they strive for a federal democratic system. To this end, the military junta’s coup attempt to seize control of the country has failed. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing sent his remark representing Myanmar at the 24th anniversary of BIMSTEC in June 2021 and in BIMSTEC’s announcement of his message, he was referred to as honorary chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar. In December 2021, Myanmar military was invited to take part in military exercises of BIMSTEC countries in India and, in addition, there are records that Myanmar military representatives attended many of BIMSTEC meetings as country representatives. Most of the members of BIMSTEC are democracy countries, yet BIMSTEC have provided legitimacy to the Myanmar military that is a terrorist organization that has killed 2,313 people just because they protested against the military and detained 11,564 civilians (Grim data collected by the Media Monitoring Collective, MMC from February 2021 to January 2022). The Junta has arrested democracy and human rights activists and defenders and deliberately targeting civilians with airstrikes, ground military attacks, setting villages on fires and committing mass killings. The military’s campaign of terror has forced over 500,000 people to flee their homes, further deepening the humanitarian crisis. These grave violations of human rights amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been collectively condemned by the people of Myanmar and international community together. BIMSTEC risks compliciting in Myanmar military’s atrocities crimes by continuing to invite coup leader Min Aung Hlaing as representative of Myanmar to the 5th BIMSTEC summit in 2022 as it will lend legitimacy to the Myanmar military and further embolden them to continue its atrocity crimes against the people. Such action will only cause additional pain and serve as salt to the wound of the people of Myanmar who are already suffering from atrocities by Myanmar military on a daily basis. We, the undersigned organizations in solidarity with Myanmar across the globe demand the following: 1. BIMSTEC must disassociate itself and cut all ties with the military council members which was established by the Myanmar military who have been accused of committing genocide, war crimes and many acts of crimes against humanity. 2. The demands of democracy movement and spring revolution of Myanmar people must be respected and recognized. 3. There cannot be a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable Bay of Bengal region, if democracy and human rights cease to thrive. We call on leaders of BIMSTEC member states to discuss and decide on the issues of Myanmar in consideration of humanity and human dignity..."
Source/publisher: 136 Myanmar Civil Society Organizations
Date of publication: 2022-03-23
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: မတရားစစ်အာဏာလုချိန်မှ အစပြု၍ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ၏ စစ်ကြောရေး၊ တရားစီရင်ရေးနှင့် အကျဉ်းစံ အတွေ့အကြုံများ
Description: "ယနေ့ မတ် ၂၃ ရက်နေ့၊ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်တွင် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) စတင် ဖွဲ့စည်း ထူထောင်ခဲ့သည်မှာ (၂၂) နှစ် ပြည့်မြောက်ခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်သည်။ စတင်ထူထောင်ချိန်မှစ၍ ၂၂ နှစ်တာကာလအတွင်း AAPP အနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားအရေး၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ အစဉ်တစိုက်လေ့လာစောင့်ကြည့် မှတ်တမ်းတင်မှုများ၊ ထုတ်ပြန်မှုများကို ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည်။ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၁ ရက်နေ့၊ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မတရားအာဏာလုယူမှုနောက်ပိုင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ စစ်ကြောရေးစခန်းများနှင့် အကျဉ်းထောင်များ၏ အခြေအနေမှာ ယခင်ကထက် အဆပေါင်းများစွာ ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာခဲ့သည်ကို စောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာမှုများအရ တွေ့ရှိရသည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ၏ ထောင်တွင်းရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့နေရသည့် အခြေအနေများမှာ လူတစ်ယောက်၏ အခွင့်အရေးမှန်သမျှ အဟောသိကံဖြစ်ကြရသည်။ ယခုအစီရင်ခံစာတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာကို မတရားအာဏာလုယူချိန်မှ အစပြု၍ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ၏ စစ်ကြောရေး၊ တရားစီရင်ရေးနှင့် အကျဉ်းစံ အတွေ့အကြုံများကို ဖေါ်ပြထားသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်းမှ ကောက်ယူထားသော မှတ်တမ်းများ၊ အကျဉ်းကျခံနေရဆဲ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ၏ မိသားစုဝင်များနှင့် တွေ့ဆုံမေးမြန်းမှုများ၊ ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက်သူများနှင့် တွေ့ဆုံမေးမြန်းမှုများအပေါ် အခြေခံ၍ သက်သေခံအထောက်အထားနှင့်တကွ တင်ပြထားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် သက်ဆိုးရှည်နေသေးသ၍ ပြည်သူများ၏ အနာဂတ်ပျောက်နေဦးမည်သာဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့အတူ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးထောင်ချမှုများ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတရပ်လုံးအပေါ် အနိုင်ကျင့်စော်ကားမှုများ၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ နယ်ပယ်အသီးသီး၊ နေရာဒေသအသီးသီးတွင် ဆက်လက်ရှိနေဦးမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ဤအစီရင်ခံစာက တစိတ်တဒေသအားဖြင့် သက်သက်ခံနေမည်ဖြစ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of publication: 2022-03-23
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Title: အကျဉ်းထောင်ထဲမှ လူမဆန်သော ဘဝများ
Description: "လက်ရှိမြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံးအနှံ့ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်ခံနေရတာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အဲဒီထဲကမှ ကမ္ဘာကရော၊ နိုင်ငံကရော၊ လူ့လောကတစ်ခုလုံးကပါ လူမသိသူမသိ ချိုးဖောက်ခံနေရဆုံးနေရာက အကျဉ်းထောင်တွေဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးမှာ နည်းမျိုးစုံနဲ့ပါဝင်ပြီး အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အာဏာရှင်ကို ဆန့်ကျင်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရင်း အကျဉ်းထောင်ထဲ ရောက်နေကြတဲ့ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားတွေကို အာဏာရှင်ရဲ့ လက်ပါးစေ ထောင်အာဏာပိုင်များမှ နည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်နေကြပါတယ်။ အဆိုပါဖြစ်ရပ်တွေကို အခြေခံပြီး အကျဉ်းထောင်တွေထဲက လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်အခံရဆုံး အဖြစ်အပျက်တွေကို အများပြည်သူ သိရှိနိုင်အောင် ဖော်ထုတ်ဖို့အတွက် ရည်ရွယ်ပြီး “The International Day For The Right To The Truth” အထိမ်းအမှတ်အဖြစ် အောက်ပါ Animation Video ကို GSCC ၊ AAPP ၊ AJAR တို့ပူးပေါင်း စီစဉ်တင်ဆက်လိုက်ပါတယ်။ (အရေးတော်ပုံအောင်ရမည်!!)..."
Source/publisher: General Strike Collaboration Committee, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and Asia Justice and Rights
Date of publication: 2022-03-23
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာ သတင်းလွှာ အတွဲ(၁)၊ အမှတ် (၉) ထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း ( ၂၀ မတ် ၂၀၂၂)
Description: ""လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာ သတင်းလွှာအား နှစ်ပတ်တစ်ကြိမ်ထုတ်ပြန်ပါမည်။" - စစ်အုပ်စုထုတ်ပြန်ချက်နဲ့ ကွဲလွဲနေသည့် ကလေးအကျဉ်းထောင်တွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်သတ်ဖြတ်မှု - ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းအတွင်း ဖမ်းဆီး သတ်ဖြတ်ခံရမှုများ - စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းအတွင်း ဖမ်းဆီး သတ်ဖြတ်ခံရမှုများ - မကွေးတိုင်းအတွင်း ဖမ်းဆီး သတ်ဖြတ်ခံရမှုများ - စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းထဲက အင်တာနက် ဖြတ်တောက်ခံထားရမှုများ - NUG၊ CRPHနှင့် NUCCကို ဥရောပ ပါလီမန် ထောက်ခံ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာ သတင်းလွှာ အတွဲ(၁)၊ အမှတ် (၉) ကို pdf formatဖြင့် အောက်ဖော်ပြပါ linkတွင် ဝင်ရောက် ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Human Rights
Date of publication: 2022-03-22
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: UN Secretary-General’s new report whitewashes the UN’s historical failures in Myanmar
Description: "UN Secretary-General’s new report whitewashes the UN’s historical failures in Myanmar The United Nations’ ‘systemic failures’ in Myanmar remain unaddressed amid grave crimes committed by the Myanmar military [18 March 2022, Geneva] Progressive Voice and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) express deep disappointment at the UN Secretary-General’s follow up report to the 2019 ‘brief and independent inquiry’ in the UN involvement in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018 (Rosenthal Report). The Rosenthal Report found ‘systemic failures’ and ‘structural shortcomings’ in the UN’s handling of the Rohingya crisis. The issues outlined in the report, which describes the presence of the UN in Myanmar as “dysfunctional”, remain unresolved, including the absence of a clear and unified strategy, lack of horizontal and vertical communication and coordination within the UN systems, and bureaucratic dysfunction. Despite the lack of progress, the Secretary-General’s report paints a rosy picture of a “new generation of UN Country Teams, under the leadership of an empowered, independent reinvigorated Resident Coordinators” as one of the hallmarks of its reforms in response to the Rosenthal Report. However, the report fails to mention that, ironically, since the Rosenthal report, Myanmar has repeatedly been without a permanent Resident Coordinator for prolonged periods, and even in the midst of the current catastrophic crisis, the position has been left vacant for six months and counting. Moreover, the Secretary-General’s proposed solution merely repackages past failed programs, a ‘business as usual’ approach in the face of catastrophe. Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice said: ‘The UN is once again making the same mistakes and repeating its cycle of failure in responding to the Myanmar military’s grave human rights violations and atrocity crimes. In highlighting ‘empowered’ and ‘reinvigorated Resident Coordinator’ system in other countries, while overlooking the abysmal lack of UN leadership in Myanmar since the Rohingya genocide in 2017, the report whitewashes the UN’s historical and continuing failures in Myanmar. The UN Secretary-General has lacked impetus in rallying nations towards meaningful actions to stop the military’s violence and protect the people in the wake of the coup, opting for a ‘business as usual’ mentality in the face of grievous human rights violations. ‘The UN must take immediate action to ensure institutional accountability for its actions in Myanmar. This is vital for the UN to prove its own mandate and rebuild trust from the people of Myanmar and victims and survivors of human rights violations – those whom the UN system should be protecting, and yet continues to fail.’ FORUM-ASIA said: ‘The UN’s ‘systemic failure’ in Myanmar during the Rohingya crisis must be addressed at the highest levels of the UN system. Before Myanmar, similar patterns of failures have contributed to grave violations in Sri Lanka. The UN’s leadership has so far been anemic and has not demonstrated genuine willingness and commitment to address and remedy its own failures and shortcomings. There must be a comprehensive and independent inquiry and review of the UN system that failed the people of Myanmar. The UN must ensure accountability and end these repetitive cycles and patterns of negligence and dysfunction in responding to crises in Myanmar and around the world.’ The appalling lack of leadership on Myanmar in the UN system, even prior to the 1 February 2021 failed military coup has again contributed to UN’s failure to implement a coherent system-wide response to grave violations of human rights and atrocity crimes being committed by the military. ‘Evidently, the UN severely lacks a coherent protection framework in its response to the ongoing human rights catastrophe in Myanmar’, said the groups. “A brief and independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018 – Report of the Secretary-General”, issued during the UN Human Rights Council’s 49th Regular Session is supposed to track the progress in the implementation of recommendations of the Rosenthal Report and follow-up action to enable effective work of the UN and to strengthen prevention capacity of the UN System..."
Source/publisher: FORUM-ASIA and Progressive Voice
Date of publication: 2022-03-18
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Widespread abuses since Myanmar coup may amount to war crimes, says UN report
Sub-title: UN rights office warns military has shown ‘flagrant disregard for human life’ and has deliberately targeted civilians since it seized power on 1 February 2021
Description: "Myanmar’s military junta has committed widespread and systematic abuses against civilians that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the first comprehensive report to be produced by the UN’s human rights office since last year’s coup. The UN rights office warns the military has shown “flagrant disregard for human life” and has deliberately targeted civilians since it seized power on 1 February 2021. The report details numerous atrocities by the military, including the bombardment of populated areas with airstrikes and heavy weapons, and a series of mass killings of civilians. It cites cases where civilians have been shot in the head, burned to death, arbitrarily arrested, tortured or used as human shields. “The appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response,” said Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights. Many western countries have imposed sanctions on members of the military and military-owned businesses, while the Association of South-east Asian Nations has led attempts at negotiations, though with virtually no progress. At least 1,600 people have been killed by security forces in Myanmar since the coup, according to the UN, which says airstrikes, helicopter gunships, artillery, and mortars are being used indiscriminately in populated areas. The report also refers to series of massacres by the security forces, including the killing of up to 40 women, men, and children in Kayah State in December. Those who discovered the victims’ remains said some bodies were in positions that suggested they had tried to escape and had been burned alive, according to the UN. The military junta, which is widely opposed by the people, has imposed brutal violence and repression in an attempt to maintain control of the country. Despite this, the public remains defiant in its refusal to accept military rule. Alongside a peaceful protest movement, many civilians – from poets and farmers, to IT workers and students – have taken up arms in response to military atrocities. Raids on the homes of anyone suspected of dissent “occur with unrelenting regularity”, according to the report. At least 12,500 have been detained over the past year, with “hundreds if not thousands having been subjected to torture”. About 325 people, including 16 children, have been killed in detention. The report is based on interviews with more than 155 victims, witnesses, and advocates, as well as satellite imagery and video footage. The junta has previously accused the UN of bias and seeking to interfere in its domestic affairs, and has rejected past death toll estimates cited by officials. It has also accused the UN of downplaying violence by anti-coup groups. The UN report said at least 543 people have been killed due to their perceived support for the military, but that the majority of human rights abuses it had documented were carried out by security forces. Bachelet said the public was defiant in its demand for an end to military rule. “Throughout the tumult and violence of the past year … they remain committed to seeing a return to democracy and to institutions that reflect their will and aspirations,” she said. “Meaningful action by the international community is urgently needed to stop yet more individuals from being stripped of their rights, their lives and their livelihoods,” said Bachelet..."
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Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2022-03-16
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: BHRN strongly condemns the Junta’s forcible evictions through mass destructions of civilians’ homes
Description: "The Burmese military is forcibly evicting civilians as they have struggled to face popular uprisings for more than a year since the coup. The military has overthrown a democratically elected government, committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, according to the UN fact-finding mission. The junta has always oppressed people through multiple tactics, such as mass killings, burning homes, abductions, and imprisonment of innocent civilians. They have done this after every coup with the excuse of restoring rule and order during the crises. They are now carrying out clearance operations by destroying civilians’ homes in Yangon’s Hlaing Thar Yar township, Rakhine State’s capital Sittwe and various towns in the Mandalay region, such as Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, and Myit Ngwe. On 5th March, the junta issued an eviction notice that ordered residents of Myitnge in the Mandalay region to remove their homes within three days for not having proper tenancy documents. It targeted residents from seven out of 13 wards in the town, including over 2000 households with small-scale shops and the staff dormitories of Myanmar Railway (MR). Myitnge has been the home for MR staff members since the British colonial time. According to local sources, BHRN learned that residents paid fees to every successive government for their tenancy. After the coup, the MR staff joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Local people said that the junta targeted CDM staff initially. Later, they also pressured civilians’ homes in the wards to be removed; thus, they had to destroy their homes by themselves. People who could not demolish their properties before the junta forces arrived can face forceful destruction by bulldozers from the military. On 7th March, the junta’s people broadcasted a message across the town, which stated that anyone who let the evicted CDM staff stay at their homes would face charges from the military. It mentioned that the army would seal off those homes as penalties. The junta removed over 70 homes in the railway ward of Sittwe in Rakhine state on 9th March and evicted about 200 houses in the Arr Jaik Daw Kone cemetery in the same city on 10th March. The junta also sent eviction notices to 133 shops in Ba Htoo Stadium and 95 shops in Aung Myay Mandalar stadium in Mandalay, and 162 shops in the stadium in Pyin Oo Lwin to be removed by 31-3-2022 at the latest. “The fascist military is using a very cunning tactic – eliminating a demographic of the population that resists the coup. To do so, the Junta has been bombing several villages in ethnic-controlled areas and evicting homes in the outskirts of big cities. However, disrupting a demographic of the population that is strongly resisting the coup could create huge pressure on the uprising to continue,” said BHRN’s executive director U Kyaw Win. From October to December 2021, the junta claimed the residential areas and shops in eastern Hlaing Thar Yar were squatters and forcefully removed them and destroyed the properties with bulldozers. As a result, thousands of people became homeless. Local sources said those lands have commercial projects related to companies with close ties to the junta. More than 100,000 households and 450,000 people received smart cards (squatter identity cards) under the previous civilian government in Yangon. Among them, more than 38,000 households are from Hlaing Thar Yar township. Such forceful evictions by the junta breach humanitarian norms and violate Burmese citizens' fundamental civil and human rights. BHRN concludes that the military’s practices of favoring its cronies and supporters with economic opportunities by oppressing innocent civilians are a significant barrier to nurturing human rights and democratic culture in Burma for both long and short terms. The international community should not ignore the junta’s gross violations of the civil and human rights of the people in Burma and should hold them accountable for their crimes. We urge the international community to protect innocent civilians’ lives and households and assist in their struggles for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. The international community cannot neglect the crisis in Burma anymore as it is becoming a security threat for the region. A global arms embargo and tougher economic sanctions must be imposed on the Burmese military, preventing them from further committing atrocities against their people..."
Source/publisher: Burma Human Rights Network
Date of publication: 2022-03-15
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: A Year On, No Justice for Myanmar Massacre
Sub-title: Military Crackdown in Hlaing Tharyar Continues
Description: "On March 14, 2021, “Zarni” joined protests in Hlaing Tharyar, near Yangon, against the Myanmar military’s February 1 coup. The large protests were planned by factory workers, a large portion of the industrial area’s residents. Protesters prepared barricades to ward off security forces, who had been cracking down on peaceful protests around the country. But there were no arrests that day, Zarni said. “They just shot to kill.” Human Rights Watch documented that police and soldiers with assault rifles deliberately surrounded – or “kettled” – the Hlaing Tharyar protesters, killing at least 65 people. The security forces, witnesses said, emerged from different directions to trap them. The shootings in Hlaing Tharyar stand out as one of the deadliest days since the coup, not least because of the apparent premeditated use of lethal force. A year later, Zarni says Hlaing Tharyar is still not safe. “We have been under martial law since then. So long as the military exists, we continue suffering.” The challenges of documenting human rights abuses in an increasingly closed country make exact tallies of people killed difficult. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has reported that 1,600 protesters and bystanders have died since the coup. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project suggests a far higher number of total deaths. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates 837,000 people are displaced within Myanmar, over 500,000 since the coup. In October, the authorities forcibly evicted and destroyed informal settlements in Hlaing Tharyar, leaving at least 8,000 families homeless. Night raids and arbitrary arrests have continued, while closed military courts handed down death sentences. Unemployment and food insecurity have also increased in Myanmar, and the UN Development Program predicts urban poverty rates will triple in 2022. The UN Human Rights Council will discuss the situation in Myanmar on March 18. The council should call on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution referring the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and recommend to the UN secretary-general to further assist international mechanisms investigating abuses. It should also call for all revenues from oil, gas, timber, and gems that flow to the military and fuel abuses to be put into an escrow account in the name of the Myanmar people until a democratically elected civilian government is restored. Failure to take strong steps in Myanmar emboldens the military to commit further abuses and unnecessarily prolongs the suffering of people throughout the country..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication: 2022-03-14
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Republic of the Union of Myanmar National Unity Government BUDGET 2021/22
Sub-title: Protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people of Myanmar
Description: "1. Introduction:This budget is a historic first budget of the National Unity Government, following a year of tumultuous and catastrophic change in our country brought on by the military junta. In delivering this budget statement, the National Unity government intends to present to our people and to friends of freedom around the world: • an assessment of our economy and of the military’s inability to arrest its unprecedented decline, • a statement on the efforts by the National Unity Government (NUG) to provide humanitarian relief directly by the NUG and through our partners across the country, • an enumeration of the NUG’s priority initiatives - to support the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), to expand access to life-saving assistance to those most impacted by the military’s actions, and to contain the spread of COVID-19 - which will be scaled up throughout this coming year, and • a vision as to how the NUG’s humanitarian efforts will support our people as they seek a return to peace, stability, and respect for the rule of law; as they set about rebuilding our country’s economy; and as we together bring about a democracy that embraces and serves all of our people. The release of this budget statement comes amid a period of chaos for people across Myanmar. Since 1 February 2021, the military has been solely responsible for creating a three-dimensional crisis - political turmoil and violence perpetrated by the military, an economy that has collapsed and remains paralysed, and the persistent threat posed by COVID-19. The military is actively manipulating each element of this crisis for its own enrichment and in ways that are exacerbating suffering throughout the country. The military’s only strategy is to wage a reign of terror. The military is failing and continues to fail in their attempt to break the people’s will and govern by fear. Against this backdrop, the people of Myanmar continue to stand alongside each other in solidarity. The people remain steadfast in their rejection of the military’s attempts to destroy our country’s future as part of their desperate efforts to preserve their own power and privilege. The NUG shall address each element of Myanmar’s present crisis in our role as the legitimate representatives of the democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar. The NUG is working to reduce the harm suffered by those most impacted by the military’s actions and to shift the economic cost of this attempted coup to the military and those who prop them up. Doing so will help to amplify our people’s resistance and deliver change, as those across the country continue to deny the military and demand the return of legitimate government. With the release of this budget statement, the NUG also reaffirms its commitment to a Federal Democratic Union - a fundamental basis for security and prosperity for all the people of Myanmar. Not only we are working to hasten the end of the military’s role in political life, but with this budget statement, we are also working to prepare for the return to civilian rule. The priorities that follow each aim to help our people and to turn their sacrifice for freedom into the basis for such a Federal Democratic Union..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication: 2022-03-12
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Atrocity Alert No. 291: Ukraine, Myanmar (Burma) and Mali
Sub-title: Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.
Description: "HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS KILLED IN UKRAINE AS RUSSIAN INVASION CONTINUES Since Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine, violence has spread across cities resulting in increasing civilian casualties from the use of indiscriminate explosive weapons. From 24 February to 8 March the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified 516 civilian deaths, including 37 children, and hundreds of people injured. OHCHR has warned that the actual death toll is undoubtedly much higher. According to the World Health Organization, at least 20 attacks on healthcare facilities, workers and ambulances have been recorded. Deliberate attacks against civilians and healthcare, as well as the use of indiscriminate weapons in civilian areas, are forbidden under international law and may amount to war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. More than two million people have fled so far, with millions more trapped or unable to flee. On 6 March Russian forces repeatedly shelled an intersection on an evacuation route in the city of Irpin, killing eight people, including two children. Although Ukrainian and Russian forces agreed on humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee from besieged cities like Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, shelling has continued. On 8 March Russian forces reportedly shelled designated evacuation routes in Mariupol, leaving hundreds of thousands trapped without food and water. On 7 March the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said that, “simply put, millions of lives shattered… even as the TV cameras roll, many can’t flee in safety… It’s been 11 days of escalating violence, fear and pain.” Griffiths alerted that UN agencies are unable to meet growing humanitarian needs. The international community has continued to rapidly respond to the crisis. On 3 March representatives of the International Criminal Court arrived in Ukraine to begin the Court’s investigation of the situation. On 4 March the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate systematic violations and abuses of human rights and International Humanitarian Law. On 7 March the International Court of Justice held its first hearing in the case Ukraine brought against Russia under Article IX of the Genocide Convention. Amidst the ongoing conflict, member states must continue to assist refugees, as well as support aid delivery and the evacuation of civilians. The UN General Assembly should suspend Russia from its seat on the HRC for violating its fundamental responsibilities as an HRC member. The UN Security Council must work on an agreement ensuring safe passage and the delivery of humanitarian aid in conflict affected areas. Parties to the conflict should reconvene ceasefire talks and adhere to agreed-upon humanitarian pauses. TATMADAW ALLEGEDLY PREPARING “KILL ALL, TORCH ALL” CAMPAIGN IN SAGAING REGION Since October 2021 Myanmar’s (Burma) military – the Tatmadaw – has concentrated its ongoing scorched earth campaign in Sagaing Region, as well as other areas with strong opposition. On 7 March local media reported that the military may have plans to escalate its offensive and launch a so-called “kill all, torch all” campaign in Sagaing Region. News reports indicate that clashes have broken out daily in Sagaing Region in recent weeks and that the military allegedly wants to eliminate all resistance in the region before the annual Armed Forces Day on 27 March. The Tatmadaw has recently escalated its raids on villages in Sagaing Region, including with air strikes, the torching of civilian infrastructure and killing of civilians. In February alone the military killed at least 47 civilians suspected of supporting armed resistance groups in seven of the region’s townships. On 26 February a large group of civilians, including at least 80 children, were detained amidst clashes with local resistance groups in Chin Pone village in Yinmabin township, Sagaing Region. The Tatmadaw allegedly detained the civilians as human shields against a counterattack from a local armed resistance group. The use of human shields is a violation of International Humanitarian Law and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Amidst the intensifying assault, the region’s internet blackout has been expanded, cutting internet access “indefinitely” to all of Sagaing Region’s 34 townships, except for four urban centers. Communities are becoming isolated and residents have reported that the lack of internet access has limited their capacity to flee and avoid the military’s raids. Liam Scott, Research Associate at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, stated that, “the military has already cracked down especially hard on Sagaing Region, so a major offensive would be devastating for the region’s civilian population. The ‘kill all, torch all’ rhetoric presents a grave warning that the military is preparing to indiscriminately target civilians and civilian infrastructure.” To limit the Tatmadaw’s capacity to perpetrate atrocities in Sagaing Region and throughout the country, the UN Security Council should urgently impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, and member states should immediately impose sanctions on Myanmar’s oil and gas sector. DOZENS KILLED AS ATROCITIES CONTINUE IN CENTRAL MALI On 4 March the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) announced the opening of an investigation into allegations that at least 35 people were killed in Diabaly commune, Ségou Region. A video circulating on social media last week shows dozens of burned bodies with their eyes blindfolded and hands bound together. Some of the victims appear to have holes in the back of their heads. According to a local official, the bodies were found on 1 March and are believed to be people who were arrested earlier by Malian soldiers. The Malian Armed Forces have denied allegations of their role in the killings and announced their own investigation into the situation. Malian defense and security forces have been fighting Islamist armed groups in Diabaly for years. Fulani villages in central Mali have frequently been targeted and persecuted due to their perceived support for Islamist armed groups. Although Islamist armed groups and community self-defense militias are the primary sources of violence and insecurity in central Mali, defense and security forces have also committed atrocities. The UN has previously accused Malian soldiers of war crimes, including targeted killings, torture and rape, during the decade-long crisis in the country. Despite counterterrorism and military operations, the security situation in Mali has continued to deteriorate. The center and north of the country are marked by increasing attacks targeting civilians and peacekeepers. Following a visit to the country in February, Alioune Tine, UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, emphasized that, “the international and African community must recognize the need to rethink security responses in the Sahel and I call for the development of more integrated security strategies, focused on the protection of civilian populations and their fundamental human rights.” MINUSMA is one of the largest and most dangerous UN peacekeeping operations, with 154 peacekeepers killed in hostile acts since 2013, including 20 in 2021. On 7 March two peacekeepers were killed by a roadside bomb in central Mali. Targeting UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. It is essential that the Malian transitional authorities ensure their operations against Islamist armed groups do not further exacerbate inter-communal tensions and are undertaken in strict compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law. Malian authorities, with the support of MINUSMA, must increase their security presence in central Mali and strengthen capacity to prevent future atrocities. All attacks against civilians and MINUSMA must be properly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. Ending the current climate of impunity is crucial..."
Source/publisher: Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication: 2022-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Funding Revolution Important for the Victory: Prominent Myanmar Activist
Description: "Veteran democracy activist Min Ko Naing has delivered a message on the importance of financially backing the revolution to topple Myanmar’s junta as a new scheme to generate funds will be launched by the parallel, civilian National Unity Government (NUG). In a video message on Thursday, the well-known activist, who is also a key figure on the National Unity Consultative Council— the NUG’s political consultative body — said plans to fund essential weapons for revolutionary forces are underway and will be made public. Previous fundraising efforts by the NUG, including launching lottery tickets to support striking civil servants and raffle and bond sales, have raised millions of dollars. However, the costs of bringing down the regime are significant. “The victory of the revolution depends on finances,” Min Ko Naing said. The 1988 uprising leader updated the public on the revolution’s progress, saying the junta is struggling on the ground and thus escalating its attempts to distract the public. He reminded people not to believe the regime’s propaganda and to help the revolution where possible. “They are burning entire villages to threaten others who fear they might suffer the same attacks,” the activist said, regarding the rising numbers of arson attacks on civilian targets in resistance strongholds. Min Ko Naing said regardless of threats and violence, Myanmar’s people will not surrender because they know it will end with them living under junta rule and the control of Pyu Saw Htee militias, which are trained and armed by the military. “People understand the revolution has pushed the military to the stage where they dare not fight without air support,” Min Ko Naing said. The increasing number of senior military officers defecting and joining revolutionary forces and the successful sale of NUG bonds to fund the revolution are positive developments, he said. The population rejects military rule and the junta faces opposition in numerous forms, including flash-mob protests, armed resistance, economic pressure and advocacy. The regime has killed at least 1,642 civilians and over 12,000 people have been arrested, including elected government leaders, since last year’s coup..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-03-11
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Junta Forces Massacre 14 People in Upper Myanmar
Description: "Fourteen people, 11 resistance fighters and three civilians, were slaughtered earlier this week in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U Township, as Myanmar junta forces stepped up attacks on local People’s Defense Forces (PDF). The military regime is reportedly on a ‘Kill All, Torch All’ mission to eliminate resistance in Sagaing before the annual Armed Forces Day on March 27. Soldiers from Division 77 and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia from Sagaing’s Ye-U Township arrived in Khin-U Township on March 5. They joined troops already deployed in Ywa Thit Gon Village in Khin-U and raided several surrounding villages, according to local residents. Junta troops raided Thein Taw Village on Tuesday morning. They reportedly fired at least 50 rounds from 40 mm grenade launchers as they entered the village and clashed with PDF fighters. Members of the village defense forces were forced to withdraw as junta troops continuously fired on them. But 11 fighters were detained and shot dead, said residents. The slain resistance fighters bore signs of torture and some had been shot point-blank in their heads, a local who was involved in retrieving their bodies told The Irrawaddy. “It appears that they were not killed in the fighting, but that they were shot dead after being arrested. They had no gunshot wounds to their bodies, but they were shot point-blank in their heads. Heads had been severed from some bodies. We also saw knotted ropes near the bodies which are believed to have been used to tie them. And they were apparently kicked in their chests with boots before being shot dead,” he said. Eight of the victims were between 18 and 25 and two were 17. The other victim was 40, said locals. Regime soldiers also shot dead three Kyun Lel villagers who they abducted and took to Thein Taw Village. The victims were 45, 48 and 55, according to locals. “I think they [junta soldiers] killed the three villagers because they had witnessed their cruelty,” said one resident. Locals were only able to retrieve the bodies on Wednesday after junta troops had left the village. They said they saw the cremated body of a junta soldier in the field where the resistance fighters were massacred. Junta troops also torched homes, with 35 houses burned down in Dan Gon Village and 25 houses destroyed in Hman Taw Village, according to locals. On February 17, 14 PDF fighters died in a junta raid on Myothit Village in Khin-U. Five resistance fighters were killed in a raid on Thayet Kan Village on February 20. That village was also raided on January 25, when 11 resistance fighters died..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-03-11
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Situation Update ( 28 February- 6 March, 2022)
Description: "The special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for Myanmar and Cambodia's foreign minister Prak Sokhonn announced that he is to visit Myanmar for four days on 20-23 March 2022. This comes after some of the ASEAN member countries criticized the Myanmar junta for making no progress in resolving the crisis that has unfolded in the country since the military coup last year. In January 2022, ASEAN Chair and Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen visited Myanmar while ASEAN members including Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore demanded Hun Sen for consultation with ASEAN on Myanmar. ASEAN also has denied the participation of the junta leader Aung Min Hlaing at the ASEAN summit in December and the junta-appointed Wunna Maung Lwin at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in February 2022. The United States also announced that a non-political representative will be invited to the US- ASEAN Summit as ASEAN also has had its decision to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to the summit in Washington on 28-29 March. On both occasions when ASEAN decided to invite non-political representatives from Myanmar, the junta refused and condemned the decision. Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty during her court case on corruption charges because she allegedly accepted $600,000 and seven gold bars from a political ally. She is also facing 10 additional corruption charges against her in junta courts in Naypyitaw, apart from the charges of violating the Official Secrets Act and alleged election fraud in the 2020 Myanmar General Elections. A research group in Myanmar, Data for Myanmar, has announced that more than 6,100 Myanmar citizens' houses were burned by the military junta since the military coup, with more than 60% reportedly in Sagaing Region. The heavy fighting between the junta forces and civil resistance forces continues across the country, especially in Chin, Kayah, Karen and Kachin states and Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay and Yangon regions. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, an international research group collecting data across the world in conflict zones also announced over 13,000 political violence and protest cases reported in Myanmar in 2021 that nearly 11,000 incidents were involved with fatalities. The ultra-nationalist group Ma Ba Tha is to lead a campaign to encourage civilians living in people’s resistance forces strongholds to crack down on resistance groups by joining militias led by ordained Buddhists. Media also have reported that the monks from the Yadanar Kan Myint Htale Monastery were armed. The junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) also announced that it had distributed 2,080 weapons to 77 paramilitary groups. The junta freed the ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu from the Ma Ba Tha group, after dropping sedition charges filed during the rule of the ousted NLD government in 2019. Amid the junta’s increasing airstrikes against civilians, killing civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes that has created a humanitarian crisis, 55 British Parliamentarians from 9 different political parties and Independent MPs have called for aviation fuel sanctions against the Myanmar junta. The European Union has imposed sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and for more entities last week after more than a year of advocacy by the Myanmar civil society and rights groups. MOGE is the junta’s biggest single source of revenue, responsible for financing its repression against Myanmar civilians. Despite the criticisms from the rights groups, Norwegian telecom group Telenor will be selling the business to Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP) controlled by the junta affiliates and Lebanese investment firm M1 Group, the sources said, adding that the $100 million in retained earnings are held at a Myanmar bank. As of 4 March 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) recorded that 1,603 people have been killed by the junta. 9,507 people are currently under detention. 84 have been sentenced to death and 1,973 are evading arrest warrants..."
Source/publisher: Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of publication: 2022-03-07
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup (Updated 2 March 2022)
Description: "As of March 2, (1590) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) fallen hero from Shwebo Township in Sagaing Region was killed on February 25 and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP. The actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when. As of March 2, a total of (9443) people are currently under detention. (782) people have been sentenced in person, of them 45 have been sentenced to death (incl. 2 children). 1973 are evading arrest warrants. 118 people have been sentenced in absentia, of them 39 sentenced to death in absentia. In total 84 sentenced to death, in person and absentia. The exact identities and total figure remains to be verified, but we will continue to confirm the recently released. On March 1, Htet Aung, vice-chairman of All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and former chairman of Pyay University Students’ Union, was sentenced to four years imprisonment with hard labour under Section 52(d) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. He was arrested on September 6, 2021 for protesting against the military coup. He is a third-year student majoring in geology at the University of Pyay in Bago Region. A former chairman of the Basic Education Students’ Union named Aung Min Khaing a.k.a Mae Gyi, detained since May 17, 2021, was sentenced to three years imprisonment under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code by the special court in Insein Prison. AAPP will continue to inform on verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update the lists with details of these alleged offenses..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of publication: 2022-03-02
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 2.54 MB 7.99 MB 1.01 MB
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Title: The Day the Myanmar Junta’s Crackdown Claimed Its First Life
Description: "On this day last year, Myanmar saw the first civilian death resulting from a police crackdown on protesters following the military’s Feb. 1 coup. Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine died on Feb. 19, 2021 after being shot in the head during an anti-coup protest 10 days earlier in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, becoming the first protester to be killed since the coup. The 20-year-old student had been brain dead and on life support at a Naypyitaw hospital since being shot by police on Feb. 9. She cast her first vote in the 2020 general election, the results of which were rejected by the military. The military said it only used rubber bullets against protesters, while junta police claimed her wounds suggested she had been shot by a weapon fired by non-security personnel. However, a video of a police captain firing shots at protesters went viral and a subsequent post-mortem showed she was killed by a live round that struck her in the head. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a body comprising deposed lawmakers who won seats in the 2020 general election, declared Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine a martyr and many people attended her funeral. The military regime has been on a killing spree ever since; over 1,550 more protesters have been killed in junta crackdowns since the February coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-02-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ASEAN: Support a Global Arms Embargo on Myanmar Military Junta
Sub-title: New “flash report” details war crimes, ongoing attacks on civilians in Myanmar’s Karenni State
Description: "The Myanmar military massacred civilians, used human shields, and committed other atrocities in Karenni State in acts that may amount to war crimes, said Fortify Rights in a new flash report published today. Fortify Rights recommends that member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) support the establishment of a U.N. Security Council-mandated global arms embargo to prohibit the sale of weapons and dual-use technology to the Myanmar military junta. ASEAN foreign ministers are due to meet for their annual retreat this Wednesday. “The Myanmar junta is murdering people with weapons procured on the global market, and that must stop,” said Ismail Wolff, Regional Director at Fortify Rights. “Clear and definitive action is needed to compel the Myanmar junta to rethink its attacks on civilians. The U.N. Security Council must urgently impose a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military, and it would be strategic and sensible for ASEAN to support it.” The 36-page flash report, entitled, “Ongoing War Crimes in Karenni (Kayah) State, Myanmar: May 2021 to January 2022,” documents information related to the murder of at least 61 civilians in Karenni State by the Myanmar military. The report includes additional details surrounding the “Christmas Eve massacre” near the village of Moso in Hpruso Township, Karenni State, where the Myanmar military killed at least 40 civilians, including a child and two humanitarians working with Save the Children, on December 24, 2021. A medical doctor in Myanmar—name withheld for security—who conducted autopsies on bodies retrieved from the massacre site told Fortify Rights that autopsies were not possible on many of the bodies because they were so thoroughly burned. However, he and another doctor identified at least 31 bodies, including five bodies of women and one girl under the age of 15. “Some had their mouths stuffed with cloth, so we were pretty sure these people were gagged,” the doctor told Fortify Rights. “Almost every skull was fractured and badly cracked . . . [In some bodies], we could gather enough evidence to say they were burned to death alive.” The flash report draws on firsthand testimony from 31 eyewitnesses, survivors, internally displaced persons (IDPs), religious leaders, humanitarian and civil-society workers, members of armed resistance groups, and others between May 2021 and January 2022. Fortify Rights obtained and reviewed photographic and video evidence of atrocities and internal files and documentation from humanitarian agencies and ethnic armed organizations operating in Karenni State. In December 2021 and January 2022, the military junta intensified its attack on civilians in Karenni State, murdering men, women, and children, bombing civilian-populated areas, and using heavy artillery, arson, and airstrikes against civilian targets. These violations were committed in the context of armed conflict between the Myanmar military and several ethnic armies and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)—community-led militias established for self-defense and to resist military rule in the aftermath of the coup d’état on February 1, 2021. The report also documents the Myanmar military’s use of civilians as human shields and forced porters. For example, the Myanmar military detained an 18-year-old student from Moe Bye on the Karenni-Shan state border, his uncle, and two other men in early June 2021. Soldiers then used them as human shields during armed clashes with PDF fighters in Karenni State. “The soldiers put their guns on our shoulders and shot PDFs, staying behind us,” the man told Fortify Rights, his name withheld for security. “We were kept tied up and blindfolded. We were tortured a lot, in so many ways. They kicked our bodies, hit our heads with gun handles, and more.” The military junta’s attacks since the coup forced the displacement of an estimated 170,000 civilians in Karenni State, or more than half of the state’s estimated population of 300,000, according to the Karenni Civil Society Network. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), national internal-displacement figures “reached a new high of 441,500” people displaced since the coup, with approximately 91,900 displaced in Karenni State and 56,200 displaced in neighboring southern Shan State as of January 31, 2022. UNHCR previously noted that “[a] substantial proportion of Kayah [Karenni] State’s 300,000 population is now displaced.” The Myanmar military’s forced displacement of civilians threatens to become protracted given the continued attacks on towns and villages and destruction and damage to civilian homes and properties, said Fortify Rights. In November 2021, Fortify Rights published an investigation into the blocking of humanitarian aid in Karenni State. The 31-page flash report, entitled Access Denied: The Myanmar Military Junta’s Deprivation of Lifesaving Aid in Karenni (Kayah) State, documented how the Myanmar military arbitrarily arrested aid workers, destroyed food stocks, confiscated aid, and committed other ongoing acts that may constitute war crimes. Fortify Rights “flash reports” provide preliminary documentation regarding ongoing human rights violations, short of a full investigation. The Geneva Conventions primarily define the laws of war, providing fundamental rules to regulate the conduct of armed conflict. The Myanmar military’s murder, forced displacement, and other attacks on civilians in Karenni State constitute severe violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and may amount to war crimes, said Fortify Rights. In a joint statement released on the anniversary of the February 1 coup, the European Union and foreign ministers of nine U.N. member states, including Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, urged the international community to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations in Myanmar accountable for their crimes and for countries to end the sale of “arms, materiel, dual-use equipment, and technical assistance” to the military junta. Since February 2021, the U.N. Security Council has issued four press statements and one presidential statementexpressing various levels of condemnation of violence in Myanmar, with no discernable effect. The military junta in Myanmar has repeatedly flouted the Security Council’s directives, providing a context for heightened action from the council, such as an arms embargo, said Fortify Rights. The junta has also failed to honor ASEAN’s “Five Point Consensus” on the situation in Myanmar, adopted by consensus in April 2021, which includes provisions for the “immediate cessation of violence” and a commitment for all parties to exercise “utmost restraint.” ASEAN reportedly declined to invite the junta’s foreign minister to this week’s meeting and instead invited Myanmar to send a “non-political representative.” The bloc previously postponed a meeting in January, reportedly due to disagreement over whether to invite a junta representative. “The junta is not a government; it’s a criminal enterprise and doesn’t belong at the ASEAN table,” said Ismail Wolff. “It would be dangerous for ASEAN to give Min Aung Hlaing and his junta any political legitimacy.” Today’s flash report makes 18 recommendations to the U.N. Security Council, ASEAN and all U.N. member states, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, armed resistance groups, and the Myanmar military junta. The report recommends that the U.N. Security Council pass a resolution mandating a global arms embargo to prohibit the sale of weapons and dual-use technology to the Myanmar military junta. Further, it calls on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and to deny the Myanmar military access to funds, especially revenue generated from the sale of natural gas—the junta’s single largest source of income. The report calls specifically on member states of ASEAN to play a more significant role in these efforts, including engaging the NUG on solutions, providing it with material support, and supporting the establishment of a global arms embargo against the military junta. ASEAN states are not significant suppliers of arms to the Myanmar military but routinely deal with the political, economic, and humanitarian fallout from the military’s attacks on civilians, said Fortify Rights. “The Myanmar military has posed a threat to international peace and security for decades, including by committing genocide with impunity against Rohingya Muslims as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes against other ethnic nationalities,” said Ismail Wolff. “An arms embargo is crucial to help end these atrocities, and it would be strategic for ASEAN on several levels. Urgent action is needed now.”..."
Source/publisher: Fortify Rights
Date of publication: 2022-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar watches a mother’s grief as junta soldiers claim another victim
Sub-title: Kyi says she begged soldiers to release her son, but they refused. Footage of her mourning beside his body has been viewed widely, just one of many similar stories
Description: "Kyi kneels on the ground, pleading for her son to wake up. Crouched beside a riverbank, she rocks back and forth, shaken with grief. Her son’s body, which has washed ashore, is motionless in the shallow water. One of his wrists is tied with rope. “My boy, I know it would be nice if you respond to me,” she cries. It’s a video that has been seen widely within Myanmar – one Facebook video has been viewed more than a million times – but is also a scene that is tragically common. Videos and evidence of military killings are continually shared online – adding to the vast files of evidence being collected by rights groups, but also to the daily trauma that people are faced with. Kyi’s son, Sin Pauk, was 28, a farmer and a caring son. “He was the only child and a very clever son to me,” Kyi tells the Guardian. He didn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, she says, and was very religious. His death occurred after the army entered Kinsanpya village in Kanni, in the Sagaing region of western Myanmar on 30 January, forcing the villagers to flee. He had gone to feed his ducks and was one of seven people unable to get away in time, all of whom were arrested. Locals told Kyi that detainees were being kept on a boat by soldiers stationed inside the village that night. Kyi knew her son was among those being held. Despite the risk to her safety, she went back to the village to plead for his release. It is not possible for the Guardian to independently verify the accounts given. Kyi says she begged the soldiers, but they refused to let Sin Pauk go. She was not allowed to enter the boat to see him. The body of Sin Pauk was eventually found, about 5km (three miles) away, in the river near Ta On village. Two other villagers, including 60-year-old San Aung, were found separately at a riverbank near Kinsanpya village on 3 February. The rest remain missing. When her son’s body was found, he was wearing different clothes, Kyi said. His throat had been cut. “I wish they had the same karma as my son.” “I waited for him since he always comes home to me, whatever it takes,” says Kyi. “I know he won’t leave me.” Sin Pauk is one of more than 1,500 killed by the military since the coup last year. Last week, as the country marked the one-year anniversary of the military’s seizure of power, the violence continued unabated. In the Sagaing region alone, the military launched an airstrike on a graduation ceremony for recruits to an anti-junta armed group, killing civilians, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. Hundreds of homes have also reportedly been burned. The pace of atrocities perpetrated by the military, the dire security situation and unreliable communications pose major challenges for rights groups and journalists who try to document such events. Often, little is known about those who have been killed..."
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Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2022-02-10
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-10
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Title: Teacher taking part in CDM shot dead while riding motorcycle with her child on her back
Sub-title: Yi Yi Khine was hit by a bullet in her stomach while driving in downtown Kalay on Tuesday
Description: "A teacher who was part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was shot and killed as she rode her motorcycle with her child on her back in the Saging Region town of Kalay on Tuesday morning, a relative said. The bullet hit Yi Yi Khine, a 42-year-old middle school teacher, in the stomach at around 9am as she rode through downtown Kalay, and she died shortly after arriving at the nearby hospital. The child was not injured. It is unclear exactly who shot Yi Yi Khine, the relative said, but there was a military base near the site of the killing. “She couldn’t get help easily because it was the day of the silent strike,” the relative said. “She could still talk a bit when she arrived at the hospital.” Yi Yi Khine passed away at about 11am and her funeral was held the following day. She also leaves behind a second young child. Locals in Kalay joined millions of people across the country on Tuesday who took part in a silent strike to show their opposition to military rule on the one-year anniversary of the coup. “The roads were empty by 10am and it stayed that way until 4pm,” a Kalay resident said. “The shops had to remain open because the military threatened them. There were no buyers whatsoever.” Soldiers spent the day patrolling the town in about 20 vehicles, he added. Over 100 civilians have been killed and over 400 arrested by the military in the township of Kalay since the coup, according to the Kalay Township Strike Committee. Kalay was apparently the first place where civilians took up arms to fight back against the coup regime last year, with protesters using traditional hunting rifles to defend themselves in late March when they were attacked by the junta’s forces..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2022-02-03
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Free Press Union statement on Myanmar - one year on
Description: "1 year after the coup in Myanmar: silencing and oppression of critical voices 01/02/2022 Today, exactly one year ago, the military junta seized power in Myanmar and violently cracked down on nationwide peaceful and democratic protests. The crackdown on independent media and freedom of expression within the country that followed immediately after, has degraded press freedom dramatically. Recently, attacks on the free press have intensified extremely, leading to the killing of 3 independent journalists and the arrest of 3 journalists from ethnic media outlets in January 2022 alone. We call on the international community to join us in demanding the military junta to put an end to the escalating violence against journalists, to seek justice for these courageous journalists, and to provide safe refuge to those whose lives are at risk both inside and out of the country. Since the onset of the coup, the Myanmar military has made sure to keep a tight grip on the flow of information in the country. Centralizing information and censoring independent journalists is one of the main tactics used by the military as a way of seizing control and limiting freedom of expression. On February 1st 2021, the sporadic internet black outs that followed, were a way of limiting citizens’ access to information. Shortly thereafter, the army seized control of state television and the Ministry of Information. In early May 2021, the military subsequently declared all satellite television illegal. The licenses of 9 media houses were revoked and 4 charged under Section 505 (A) ever since. Alarmingly high levels of censorship, arbitrary arrests, violence and even killings of journalists, demonstrate the increasing danger that journalists in Myanmar are facing. Local journalists and ethnic media workers have become open and physical targets of the junta. Many journalists have already been assaulted, shot at and injured while covering national protests, illegally arrested and prosecuted for carrying out their journalistic work - often accused of supporting opposition forces. So far, 136 journalists have been arrested, 49 remain in detention and at least 3 journalists have been killed (source: ASEAN). After the coup the military changed the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, and introduced the New Section 505 (A) that prohibits causing fear, spreading false news and agitating crimes against a government employee, all punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. The junta is using this law against the media. Following these large threats, many independent journalists have gone into hiding and move around on a daily basis. This makes it next to impossible to operate independently inside the country. A large group of journalists and media houses have fled to neighbouring countries Thailand and India. With the recent battles of Lay Kyaw Kyaw, more than 15 ethnic media organizations were pushed to cross the border into Thailand. The journalists in exile are facing numerous challenges such as the obtainment of work visas, discrimination and ethnophobia that hamper their safety. Despite all challenges, media organizations and freelance journalists are extremely resilient and haven’t stopped their important work despite the rising pressure. Critical voices continue their work of daily reporting and voicing criticism. Ethnic media continue their work from KNU-liberated areas. New, innovative and creative solutions are developed to continue working and providing access to information for Burmese citizens. Nonetheless, the crackdown on the media and the hostile environment affecting the safety of journalists of Myanmar is concerning. It is evident that the junta sees journalists as their enemy, and we are concerned that they will not hesitate to use more violence in the battle for facts and information. The crackdown on the media comes at a time where the continuation of independent and accurate informationis crucial to the conflict situation in Myanmar, to provide people with lifesaving information, offer them facts about the ongoing events, counter misinformation, and record human rights violations. Without facts and access to reliable information, the people of Myanmar will remain unable to decide over their own destiny and fully enjoy human rights. Our calls to action The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the continued violence against media workers in Myanmar. We welcome earlier statements of UNESCO and the Media Freedom Coalition condemning the violence and internet shutdowns imposed by the junta. But more is needed. That is why we call for: - the international community to continue to condemn and address violations of press freedom in Myanmar and ensure that those responsible will be brought to justice; - governments from both neighboring countries as well as the international community should create a safe haven to the journalists who are stuck in a limbo, by providing them with emergency visas. The situation that many journalists fleeing Myanmar due to threats to their lives are facing, only to find themselves in a situation where their lack of a legal status puts them at risk of persecution and eviction by the authorities, is dire. There is a real sense of urgency in terms of Myanmar journalists requiring safe ways to seek refuge through emergency visas; - the international community is to provide long term support to independent Myanmar media including smaller ethnic media organizations from remote areas in order to recover, rebuild, and continue their reporting either in Myanmar or in exile. Media development organizations, media outlets and Myanmar journalists have shown resilience and have continued their vital work in order to bring reliable information to the Myanmar public. They need long-term support..."
Source/publisher: Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Date of publication: 2022-02-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: MONTHLY OVERVIEW - Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State & Tanintharyi Region
Description: "One year has now passed since the Burma Army’s attempted coup on 1 February 2021. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) began documenting atrocities being perpetrated against civilians by the military junta in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region on 7 February 2021. The crimes that have been committed speak to the unrelenting horrors which continue to be forced upon innocent clusters of the population. The majority of the people in Burma strongly reject the military coup and have been collectively strengthened by a commitment to toppling the terrorist regime. More than anything, the Burma Army craves legitimacy and has used violence as a tool to try and submit the people to their will. However, despite the grave horrors projected onto civilians, the Spring Revolution remains unbroken. It is a struggle that civilians feel they cannot step away from until their freedom and rights are restored. One year ago, the Burmese military made clear its disregard for democracy and peace. They reaffirmed the reality that they would not follow the rules of international, democratic governance but would rather try to rewrite their own playbook which went even beyond the 2008 military drafted Constitution. By dismissing key pillars of a functioning, free and fair government in their refusal to accept the victory of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the people very quickly resisted – and have continued to show their strength through protests, underground organizing and even taking up arms to join local civilian defense forces. Despite the mass momentum which has fueled the revolution, the Burma Army has only wielded more violence including air and ground strikes to force civilians to submit and for armed groups, including ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to surrender. However, the people remain vigilant and committed to ensuring that they are victorious in their long deserved quests for peace and security..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of publication: 2022-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-02
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Title: One Year after the Illegitimate Military Coup in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Description: "We will never forget. It has been a year since the violent and illegitimate occupation of the democratically elected government by Myanmar's military junta on 1 February 2021. This was at a period when the people were at their most vulnerable, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was and still is a grave and utter betrayal of the public will and trust and a sheer disregard of democratic institutions and values. In the past 365 days, we have been witnessing accounts of serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, criminalisation, arbitrary detentions, illegal arrests, torture, violent reprisals, and sexual and gender-based violence committed against pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders. This junta has fueled a humanitarian crisis that continues to impose fear, escalating violence, and destroy innocent lives throughout the country. Bombings of villages identified as centres of the opposition had resulted in killings of civilians and humanitarian workers and triggered gross internal displacement of communities. The crisis continues to escalate and has spilt across its borders as thousands have fled and sought refuge in neighbouring countries. We are appalled by the junta's disregard of socio-economic and health emergencies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as curtailing supplies of oxygen and medicines, arresting doctors and medical personnel, and leaving thousands to die without medical help. We will always remember. The sheer tenacity, bravery and courage of LGBTIQ+ persons who were and are at the frontlines fighting for democracy, dignity, and freedom will forever be commemorated and ingrained in our collective memory. Despite repressive conditions, our LGBTIQ+ siblings have tirelessly campaigned both online and offline in pursuit of reclaiming democracy and urging for a global action to condemn military-led atrocities. We are deeply moved by various forms of creative resistance such as flash mobs, the waving of rainbow flags, the march of drag artists that had become symbols of peoples' solidarity and strength. This military junta and their supporters have blood on their hands. We deeply regret that many have been separated from their loved ones and have lost their lives amid the struggle. Data reported by Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) in June 2021 revealed that at least 12 LGBTIQ+ people were shot to death, while hundreds more were detained, arrested, and severely tortured based on their SOGIESC. Many are currently in hiding to escape retaliation. We stand firmly in solidarity. As long as Myanmar is unfree, democracy in Southeast Asia will never move forward. We commit our continuous support for efforts to reclaim and fortify human rights, freedoms, peace and democracy in Myanmar. Human rights and freedoms, particularly of LGBTIQ+ peoples, can flourish only if the people are recognised and respected as the rightful sovereign of the country. As such, we strongly deplore the military junta as an illegitimate force that is unworthy of any recognition. We urge the UN to step up and impose necessary sanctions and actions against the junta. Min Aung Hlaing, the rest of the military leadership, their political allies, and their families should be made accountable for the atrocities they committed. We urge all governments, the UN, and the entire international community to recognise Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) immediately and assure urgent unified response to provide unified assistance for putting Myanmar back on the path to democracy, the restoration of fundamental freedoms such as on information and expression, and guarantee the prevalence of peace and prosperity. While Myanmar is in crisis, we urge the international community to open up its borders, facilitate safe passage, and create domestic conditions to guarantee safety and dignity for all Myanmar persons seeking refuge. We urge ASEAN, especially the government of Cambodia in its capacity as the Chair of the regional bloc, to fully implement its Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar: an immediate cessation of violence, constructive dialogue with all stakeholders especially marginalised and ethnic groups who are excluded from political processes, provision of humanitarian assistance, and the appointment and unhindered visits of an ASEAN Special Envoy to facilitate constructive dialogues with all stakeholders. To our Myanmar LGBTIQ+ queerblings both in the country and abroad, you are not alone in this struggle. We are with you until and after democracy is fully regained in your beloved country..."
Source/publisher: 61 LGBTIQ and Civil Society Organizations via Civicus
Date of publication: 2022-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ပူးတွဲကြေညာချက် – မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် စစ်တပ်အာဏာသိမ်းခြင်း တစ်နှစ်ပြည့်
Description: "၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့သည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ ပြည်သူများ၏ အသစ်တဖန် ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသော စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်အား ဆန္ဒပြခြင်းနှင့် တော်လှန်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တစ်နှစ်ပြည့်မြောက်သည့် နေ့ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုသည် ရွေးကောက်ခံအစိုးရတစ်ရပ်၏ အစိုးရဖွဲ့အုပ်ချုပ်နိုင်ရေးကို တားဆီးခဲ့သည်။ စစ်တပ်သည် အစိုးရအဖွဲ့ဝင်များကို တရားမဝင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းပြီး ရိုဟင်ဂျာမွတ်ဆလင်သိန်းနှင့်ချီ၍ ဘင်္ဂလားဒေ့ရှ်နိုင်ငံသို့ ထွက်ပြေးစေခဲ့သည့် ၂၀၁၇ ခုနှစ်က ဖြစ်ရပ်ကို အောက်မေ့သတိရစေသော အစိုးရကျောထောက်နောက်ခံပြု အကြမ်းဖက်အစီအစဉ်ကို စတင်ခဲ့သည်။ စစ်တပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတဝန်း ခုခံတော်လှန်မှုကို ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး ရက်ပိုင်းအတွင်း စတင်ခဲ့သော စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကို ဆန့်ကျင်ရန်သည့် အကြမ်းမဖက်လူထုအာဏာဖီဆန်သည့်လှုပ်ရှားမှု (CDM) သည် ဆန္ဒပြခြင်း၊ သပိတ်မှောက်ခြင်းနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းငြင်းဆန်သော နည်းလမ်းများစွာဖြင့် ကြံကြံခံ ဆက်လက်တည်ရှိနေသည်။ ပြည်သူများ၏ ခုခံစစ်ကြောင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခများ ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ မရှိခဲ့သော နိုင်ငံ၏အစိတ်အပိုင်းများတွင် တိုက်ပွဲများ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသည်။ ပေးဆပ်ရမှုသည် အလွန်ပင်ကြီးမားပါသည်။ လူအများအပြား အလုပ်အကိုင်နှင့် အိုးအိမ်များ ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ ထောင်နှင့်ချီ၍ ဖမ်းဆီးခံထားရပြီး အရပ်သား ၁၄၉၉ ဦးထက်မနည်း အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ကြောင်း AAPP ၏ အချက်အလက်များအရ သိရသည်။ UNHCR အချက်အလက်များအရ အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးကတည်းက ခန့်မှန်းခြေ လူ ၄၀၆,၀၀၀ ခန့် နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ရပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ၃၂,၀၀၀ ခန့် အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများသို့ ထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ကြရသည်။ စစ်တပ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုသည် COVID-19 ကပ်ရောဂါအကျပ်အတည်းကို တိုက်ဖျက်ရန် ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများကို ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားစေခဲ့ပြီး သေဆုံးသူအရေအတွက် မြင့်မားလာစေခဲ့သည်။ စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးသည် ဗိုင်းရပ်စ်ကို ထိန်းချုပ်ရန် ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများကိုများစွာ ရှုပ်ထွေးခက်ခဲစေပြီး သန်းနှင့်ချီသောပြည်သူများ၏ ကျန်းမာရေးနှင့် ဘေးကင်းရေးကို အန္တရာယ်ဖြစ်စေသည်။ အဆင့်မြင့်ပညာရေးအပေါ် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု၏ အကျိုးဆက်များက အလွန်ဆိုးရွားလှသည်။ ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို အားနည်းစေပီးနောက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ တက္ကသိုလ်များနှင့် အင်စတီကျူးများသည် မိမိခြေပေါ် မိမိရပ်တည်နိုင်ရန် စတင်ကြိုးပမ်းနေစဥ် စစ်တပ်က ထပ်မံသိမ်းပိုက်လိုက်ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ တက္ကသိုလ်များသည် ပိတ်ထားဆဲဖြစ်သည်။ ရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်ခြင်းဖြင့် အရည်အသွေးပြည့်ဝသော ပညာရေးကို မျှော်လင့်နေကြသော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ မျိုးဆက်နောက်တခု၏ မျှော်လင့်ချက်များကို ကွယ်ပျောက်စေခဲ့သည်။ အတိုက်အခံအဖွဲ့များ၊ တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူများနှင့် ပညာရှင်များသည် အစားထိုးပညာရေးအစီအစဥ်များကို ကြိုးစားအကောင်အထည်ဖော်နေကြသော်လည်းဘဲ တောင်းဆိုချက်များ၏ အနည်းငယ်မျှကိုသာ ဖြည့်ဆည်းပေးနိုင်သည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့်ဆက်ဆိုင်သော အကြောင်းအရာများကို လုပ်ဆောင်နေကြသော ပညာရှင်များ၊ ကျောင်းသားများနှင့် ကျွမ်းကျင်ဝန်ထမ်းများအနေဖြင့် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု တနှစ်ပြည့်မြောက်သောနေ့တွင် အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးအတိုက်အခံများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် ဖြိုခွင်းခြင်းများကို ရှုတ်ချလိုက်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံအများအပြားတွင် မကြာသေးမီက ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ထိုးစစ်များအတွင်း အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများအပါအဝင် လက်နက်မဲ့ အရပ်သားများကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားသတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းနှင့် ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရစေခြင်းများကို ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ရှုတ်ချသည်။ အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို တွန်းလှန်နေကြသော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ မိတ်ဆွေများ၊ အပေါင်းအသင်းများနှင့် သြစတြေးလျ တက္ကသိုလ်အသီးသီးမှ မြန်မာကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများနှင့်အတူ မိမိတို့ တစိတ်တဝမ်းတည်း ရှိနေပါသည်။ စစ်တပ်က နိုင်ငံရေးကနေ ဆုတ်ခွာရန်၊ သတ်ဖြတ်မှုနှင့် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများကို ရပ်တန့်ရန်၊ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ လုပ်ဖော်ကိုက်ဖက် ပါမောက္ခ Sean Turnell အပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံရေး အကျဉ်းသားများအားလုံး လွတ်မြောက်စေရန်နှင့် ပြည်သူများရွေးကောက်ထားသော အစိုးရထံ အာဏာပြန်လည်အပ်နှံရန် တောင်းဆိုနေသူများအားလုံးနှင့်အတူ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အတူ ရပ်တည်နေပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Asian Studies Association of Australia, Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars, Australia-Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, Australia Myanmar Institute, Griffith Asia Institute and Myanmar Research Centre
Date of publication: 2022-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Statement of Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, on the anniversary of the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar
Description: "One year ago, the elected government of Myanmar was deposed by military authorities. At that time, I explained that the issues surrounding this coup, its legality under the constitution and the effect on democracy in Myanmar were not within the mandate of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. This is because the coup itself did not qualify as a “serious international crime,” a term defined in our Terms of Reference as including only genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, I explained that given the tragic history of the Myanmar military using violence against political opponents, the Mechanism was concerned and would be closely following events. I explained that if it appeared that crimes against humanity or war crimes were being committed, the Mechanism would fulfill our mandate to collect the evidence and build files that could facilitate criminal prosecutions of those persons responsible in national, regional or international courts. Tragically, reports received over the last year suggest that well over a thousand individuals have been killed in circumstances that may qualify as crimes against humanity or war crimes. The security forces have detained thousands of civilians in circumstances that include credible allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and even killings while in detention. The Mechanism is working diligently to substantiate and document the facts underlying these reports to establish whether these crimes were committed and if so, who is criminally responsible, and to prepare files that could facilitate prosecutions. The Mechanism has been able to gather a great deal of relevant material concerning these events and we are adding information and evidence to our files almost daily. The Mechanism is very grateful to the many thousands of persons and organizations that have shared evidence relevant to our examination of serious international crimes in Myanmar. We are committed to doing all we can to assure the safety and security of those with whom we interact and will make every effort to build cases so that their brave contributions to justice in Myanmar are not made in vain. Investigations of serious international crimes are always challenging. It typically takes a long time and significant resources to build good cases. The Mechanism is using all possible strategies and innovations to gather and verify evidence in order to build strong case files that can facilitate prosecutions in national and international courts. The cooperation of States where the evidence and witnesses are located is essential. The Mechanism is grateful to the many States providing ongoing cooperation and looks forward to strengthening and deepening such cooperation in order to advance its mandate. Governments all over the world have been unanimous in calling for a cessation of the violence by all parties now being inflicted on the people of Myanmar. ASEAN, in particular, has made the immediate cessation of violence, the very first point of its Five Point Consensus. The work of the Mechanism, by collecting evidence of the very worst international crimes, complements these efforts to end the violence. The Mechanism is closely watching events and working to fulfill its mandate. Those who are considering committing crimes should be aware that serious international crimes have no statute of limitations. International justice has a very long memory and one day the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes in Myanmar will be held to account..."
Source/publisher: United Nations
Date of publication: 2022-02-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: လူထုအောင်ပွဲရသည်အထိ တော်လှန်ရေးအလံကို အမြင့်မားဆုံးလွှင့်ထူပြီး ဆက်လက်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ကြ
Description: "အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူတန်းစား တော်လှန်ရဲဘော်အပေါင်းတို့ မိမိတို့ အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူတန်းစားများသည် သမိုင်းကြောင်းတလျှောက်လုံး ကိုယ့်ကြမ္မာကိုယ်ပြဌာန်းခွင့်၊ လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်၊ လူ့ရပိုင်ခွင့်များ ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရပြီး မိမိတို့တိုင်းပြည်တွင်လည်း ပဒေသရာဇ်စနစ်၊ လူမျိုးကြီး ဖိနှိပ်ချုပ်ကိုင်မှုစနစ်၊ ဖက်ဆစ် စစ်ဝါဒီစနစ်များ ကြီးစိုးလွှမ်းမိုးကာ ပြည်သူ့လက်ထဲတွင်သာ ရှိရမည့် ပြည်သူ့အာဏာသည် မောင်ပိုင်စီးခံရလျက် အစဥ်လုယူခံထားခဲ့ကြရသည်။ ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်သည် ၁၉၆၂ မှစ၍ ယနေ့အချိန်ထိတိုင် ၎င်းတို့ဖက်ဆစ်မိသားစုများ၊ နှီးနွှယ်ပတ်သက်နေသည့် စီးပွားရေးခေါင်းပုံဖြတ်သူများ စသည့် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အကျိုးစီးပွားတခုတည်းအတွက်သာ တိုင်းပြည်၏ မြေပေါ်မြေအောက်၊ ရေပေါ်ရေအောက် သယံဇာတအရင်းအမြစ်များ၊ လူထုလုပ်အားကဲ့သို့သော လူ့စွမ်းအားအရင်းအမြစ်များ၊ တန်ဖိုးမဖြတ်နိုင်သော လူထု၏ အနာဂတ်နှင့်ကြမ္မာကို အဓမ္မနည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ဂုတ်သွေးစုပ် ချုပ်ခြယ်သိမ်းပိုက်ထားလျက်ရှိသည်။ ယနေ့ဆိုလျှင်လည်း ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ တကျော့ပြန် ပေါ်ပေါ်ထင်ထင် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု တနှစ်ပြည့်ခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်သည်။ မိမိတို့တိုင်းပြည်၌ အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူမျိုးပေါင်းစုံ၏ သမိုင်းကြောင်းတွင် မတရားမှုကို ခုံခံတွန်းလှန်လျက် တော်လှန်ရေး တိုက်ပွဲများအတွင်း သွေးသားနှင့် အသက်ခန္ဓာ ကို စတေးစွန့်လွှတ်ခဲ့ကြသည့် စံပြရဲဘော်များ၊ အညတရ သူရဲကောင်းများ များစွာပေါ်ထွန်းခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်သည်။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ တကျော့ပြန် ပေါ်ပေါ်ထင်ထင် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု တနှစ်တာအချိန်ကာလအတွင်း ၎င်းတို့၏ ပုံစံမျိုးစုံဖိနှိပ်မှုကြောင့် ပြည်သူ ၁၅၀၃ ဦးထက်မနည်း အသက်ခန္ဓာ စွန့်လွှတ်ခဲ့ရ ပြီးဖြစ်ကာ ၁၁၈၃၈ ဦးထက်မနည်းသော ပြည်သူများသည် မတရားဖမ်းဆီးချုပ်နှောင်ခြင်းကို ခံခဲ့ရသည်။ လူထု၏ စီးပွားရေး၊ စားဝတ်နေရေး တို့သည်လည်း ပိုမို၍ ဆင်းရဲတွင်းနက်လာကာ အငတ်ဘေးပြဿနာကို ကြီးကြီးမားမား ရင်ဆိုင်နေကြရသည်။ ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်နှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ ခါးပိုက်ဆောင်အဖွဲ့များဖြစ်သည့် ရဲ၊ ပျူစောထီး၊ အမျိုးသားရေး အမည်ခံ လက်မရွံ့ ဖက်ဆစ်လက်ပါးစေများနှင့် အခြားသောဖက်ဆစ်သစ္စာခံများ၏ ပြည်သူ့စည်းစိမ် မောင်ပိုင်စီးခြင်း၊ ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ ညှဥ်းဆဲနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ နယ်မြေရှင်းလင်းရေးအမည်ခံ လက်နက်မဲ့ပြည်သူများထံ ကျူးကျော် သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများကြောင့် မိမိနေရပ်မှ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်ရသည့် ပြည်သူများစွာရှိခဲ့သလို အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသူ များစွာ ရှိသည်။ ဂျီနိုဆိုက်ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ၎င်းတို့ လုပ်နေကြမြဲဖြစ်သော အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများအဖြစ် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ၊ လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ်ကျူးလွန်သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ၊ လူအစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများကို ကရင်နီ၊ ချင်း၊ စစ်ကိုင်း၊ မကွေး စသည့်ဒေသများတွင် ထပ်မံကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သေးသည်။ မိမိတို့ အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူတန်းစားတရပ်လုံး၏ ဘုံရန်သူဖြစ်သည့် ဤသို့သော ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်ကို အမြစ်မှချိုးဖျက်ရန် အတွက်မူ လူထုလွတ်မြောက်ရေး တော်လှန်အလံကို အမြင့်ဆုံးလွှင့်ထူလျက် ရဲရင့်စွာ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ကြရုံမှတပါး အခြား မရှိပေ။ ထိုသို့တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရာတွင်လည်း အကြမ်းမဖက်ငြိမ်းချမ်းသော လှုပ်ရှားမှုများ၊ အာဏာဖီဆန်ရေး လှုပ်ရှားမှုများ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာဖိအားပေးလှုပ်ရှားမှုများ၊ စစ်အုပ်စုအကျိုးစီးပွား ဖြတ်တောက်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှုများ၊ လက်နက်ကိုင် ခုခံံတွန်းလှန် လှုပ်ရှားမှုများ စသည့် လူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုပုံသဏ္ဍာန် အသီးသီးတွင် ကဏ္ဍတခုချင်းစီကို စနစ်တကျ ပီပြင်စွာပုံဖော်ကာ ပေါင်းစပ်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရမည် ဖြစ်ပေသည်။ ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စုနည်းတူပင် လူထုကို အစဥ်ဒုက္ခပေး ဂုတ်သွေးစုပ်နေမည့် ဖက်ဆစ်ဝါဒ၊ လူမျိုးကြီးဝါဒ၊ မဟာ အုပ်စုကြီးဝါဒ၊ အဓမ္မအာဏာရှင်ဝါဒများကို တပါတည်း တိုက်ဖျက်နိုင်မှသာလျှင် ဖိနှိပ်ခံလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံး မျှော်ကိုးသည့် ပြည်သူ့ဒီမိုကရေစီကိုရရှိကာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးပြည့်ဝပြီး ပြည်သူ့ကောင်းကျိုးချမ်းသာကို ပြည်သူသာလျှင် တည်ဆောက် နိုင်သည့် လူ့ဘောင်အဖွဲ့အစည်းကို ရရှိမည်ဖြစ်ပေသည်။ ထိုနည်းတူစွာပင် လူထုတော်လှန်ရေးကိုအဆိပ်ခတ်နေသော အယူအဆများဖြစ်သည့် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စုနှင့် စေ့စပ်ညှိနှိုင်းရေးလမ်းစဥ်၊ လေယူရာယိမ်း မူဝါဒမဲ့လမ်းစဥ်၊ လူထုအားသတင်းအမှားပေးလမ်းစဥ်၊ ပုန်ကန်တော်လှန်မှုကို အရှိန်လျော့ကျစေမည့်လမ်းစဥ်များအား ဖောက်ပြန်ရေးနည်းနာများအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ကာ နင်းချေဖျက်ဆီးနိုင်မှသာလျှင် ကောင်းမွန်သော အလေ့အထများကို လူထုတိုက်ပွဲအတွင်း မျိုးစေ့ချနိုင်လျက် တော်လှန်ရေးသည် သန့်စင်ကာ ဂုဏ်ပြောင် ဂုဏ်ရောင် ရှိနိုင်ပေမည်။ အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူမျိုးပေါင်းစုံ တော်လှန်ရဲဘော်များနှင့်အတူ လူထုတော်လှန်ရေးအလံတော်ကို အမြင့်ဆုံးလွှင့်ထူလျက် ရင်ဆိုင်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားမည်ဟူသည့် GSC စတင်ဖွဲ့စည်းစဥ်ကတည်းက ထားရှိခဲ့သည့် တော်လှန်ရေး သစ္စာအဓိဌာန်ကို ယနေ့တွင် ထပ်လောင်းကတိပြုလိုက်ပေသည်။ အဖိနှိပ်ခံလူတန်းစားတရပ်လုံး၏ ဘုံပန်းတိုင်ဖြစ်သော ပြည်သူ့ကောင်းကျိုးချမ်းသာကို ပြည်သူသာလျှင် တည်ဆောက်နိုင်သည့် လူ့ဘောင်အဖွဲ့အစည်းဆီသို့ အရောက်သွားနိုင်ရန်အတွက်မူ ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီစံနှုန်းများ အခြေပြုလျက် လူထုလွတ်မြောက်ရေးတိုက်ပွဲအား မဆုတ်မနစ်တမ်း ဆက်လက်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ကြပါစို့။ အဖိနှိပ်ခံများ သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်ကာ တော်လှန်ရေးကို ဆက်လက်သယ်ဆောင်ကြ..."
Source/publisher: General Strike Committee
Date of publication: 2022-02-01
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Year of Brutality in Coup’s Wake
Sub-title: Governments Should Deny Abusive Junta Funds, Arms
Description: "(Bangkok) – Since the military coup on February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s junta has carried out a brutal nationwide crackdown aimed at suppressing widespread public opposition to its rule, Human Rights Watch said today. Concerned governments, including the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Japan, should together block the junta’s access to foreign revenues from oil, gas, and other extractives that are funding its abusive rule. "How many more people does Myanmar’s military have to detain, torture, and shoot before influential governments act to cut off the junta from its flow of money and arms." - Brad Adams (Asia Director) Under the leadership of Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, junta security forces have carried out mass killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and other abuses against protesters, journalists, lawyers, health workers, and political opposition members amounting to crimes against humanity. Military attacks in the country’s northwest and southeast have resulted in numerous war crimes. The nature of the security force crackdown – methodical, widespread, and systematic – reflects the junta’s countrywide policy of suppressing the opposition. “How many more people does Myanmar’s military have to detain, torture, and shoot before influential governments act to cut off the junta from its flow of money and arms,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Myanmar’s people, who have not given up their fight for democracy in the face of daily atrocities, need to know they have the global community’s support.” On February 1, 2021, the military arrested the country’s elected civilian leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, in early morning raids in the capital, Naypyidaw. In the ensuing weeks, millions of people across the country joined the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), peacefully protesting the junta through mass demonstrations and general strikes. Security forces responded with increasingly excessive and lethal force, including live ammunition, grenades, and so-called less-lethal weapons. Police and soldiers massacred protesters in cities and towns across the country. The security forces have killed nearly 1,500 people since the coup, including at least 100 children. “When they came at us, we had nothing,” said a protester attacked on March 3 in Yangon. “We didn’t have a stick. We didn’t have a knife. All we had was our chants and our three-finger salute.” On March 26, the junta’s MRTV channel warned protesters to “learn from the tragedy of earlier ugly deaths that you can be in danger of getting shot to the head and back,” and urged parents to deter their children from demonstrating: “Let’s not waste lives for nothing.” Security forces killed 160 people the next day. To contest the junta, in April, civilian members of parliament, ethnic minority representatives, and civil society activists formed a National Unity Government (NUG). In August, Min Aung Hlaing extended the one-year state of emergency, which the junta had declared on February 1, until 2023. The junta has arbitrarily detained over 11,000 activists, politicians, journalists, and others, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, and forcibly disappeared hundreds. Military tribunals have sentenced 84 people to death in summary proceedings that do not meet international fair trial standards. Detainees are frequently kept incommunicado, unable to contact relatives or legal counsel. Security forces have subjected many detainees to torture and other ill-treatment, including routine beatings, burning with lit cigarettes, prolonged stress positions, and gender-based violence. At least 150 people have died in custody, in many cases at military-run detention centers. “There was so much blood,” said a former detainee who was beaten during his eight-month detention. “I couldn’t even remember what I was there for. I couldn’t sit or stand. I kept wanting to faint. Maybe I did keep fainting.” The junta has arrested over 120 journalists, about 50 of whom remain in detention awaiting charges or sentencing. At least 15 journalists have been convicted, the majority under section 505A of the penal code, a new provision that criminalizes publishing or circulating comments that “cause fear” or spread “false news.” The junta stripped the media licenses of seven local outlets and banned satellite television. “I’ve had to get my whole family out,” one journalist said. “Myanmar is not a safe place for anyone with a moral compass.” Security force crackdowns spread beyond cities into rural and ethnic minority areas as resistance to the junta grew countrywide. The military continues to launch targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including airstrikes and heavy artillery barrages, the United Nations has reported. Accounts from displaced people and aid workers suggest that the junta has continued to use the military’s longstanding “four cuts” strategy, in which the armed forces maintain control of an area by isolating and terrorizing the civilian population. In some areas, recently formed People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and other anti-junta armed groups fought alongside long-established ethnic armies against the junta’s military forces. In November, clashes were reported in every state and region in the country. On December 24, security forces summarily executed at least 39 people in Hpruso township, Karenni (Kayah) State, including four children and two staff members from the international aid organization Save the Children. Many of the victims were bound, gagged, and showed signs of torture, and some may have been burned alive. “It is one of the most shocking and depressing things I have ever experienced,” said a doctor responsible for performing autopsies on the victims. Since the coup, over 400,000 people have been internally displaced by fighting and unrest, primarily in the northwest and southeast, with an estimated 32,000 refugees fleeing to India and Thailand. The junta has deliberately blocked humanitarian aid from reaching millions at risk, in violation of international humanitarian law. Troops have attacked aid workers, destroyed supplies, and blocked access roads and aid convoys, seemingly as a form of collective punishment against civilians in areas where junta rule is contested. According to the UN, the number of people needing assistance in the country has grown from 1 million before the coup to 14.4 million, including more than 5 million children. About 25 million people, or half the population, are estimated to be living below the national poverty line. The Myanmar healthcare system has effectively collapsed since the coup. With the junta cracking down on medical professionals for their role in the Civil Disobedience Movement, Myanmar has become one of the deadliest countries in the world to work in health care, according to data from the World Health Organization and Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition. “We have to fight and overcome this, otherwise our futures are lost,” said one young doctor. From February 1 to November 30, security forces allegedly killed at least 31 health workers and arrested 284. Security forces have beaten and shot medical staff providing care to injured protesters and forced clinics operated by nongovernmental groups to close, driving medics and volunteers to work underground in poorly resourced makeshift mobile clinics. While the US, Canada, UK, and EU member states have imposed targeted sanctions on junta leaders and military-controlled companies over the past year, the junta’s foreign currency revenue remains largely untouched, in particular from natural gas sales, its greatest source of funds. Governments should immediately impose sanctions to block the junta from accessing the US$1 billion in foreign revenue that gas projects generate annually, and tighten sanctions enforcement on other sources of foreign revenue from mining, timber, and transportation facilities. The UN Security Council should end its inaction borne of political gridlock, and urgently pass a resolution that institutes a global arms embargo on Myanmar, refers the military’s grave crimes before and since the coup to the International Criminal Court, and imposes targeted sanctions on the junta leadership and military-owned conglomerates. If China and Russia continue to oppose council action on Myanmar, they should face concerted global pressure for upholding the junta’s indefensible rights abuses. “The one-year anniversary of Myanmar’s military coup serves as a signpost of a deepening descent into crimes against humanity and humanitarian catastrophe that the US, EU, and others need to address,” Adams said. “These countries should at long last impose costs on the junta that are too great for the generals to bear.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2022-01-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-28
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Title: “Our Health Workers Are Working in Fear”: Targeted Violence against Health Care One Year after Myanmar’s Military Coup, January 2022
Description: "415 Attacks on Health Care in Myanmar During One Year of Crackdowns Following Military Coup: Report Ahead of February 1 coup anniversary, new report spotlights Myanmar armed forces’ brutal violence against health workers and facilities January 26, 2022 At least 415 attacks and threats against health workers and health infrastructure in Myanmar were perpetrated during the one year since the country’s coup and the ongoing crackdown, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Insecurity Insight, and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR). February 1 marks the one-year anniversary of the Myanmar coup d’état and the military’s ensuing crackdown on civilians, which has been characterized by targeted violence against health workers and obstruction of health care services, in gross violation of international law. “Our Health Workers Are Working in Fear”: After Myanmar’s Military Coup, One Year of Targeted Violence against Health Care,” based on open-source information, documents and analyzes trends in violence against health workers and facilities during the military crackdown since the coup, highlighting: A total of 415 attacks on health care 286 health workers arrested or detained 128 health facilities attacked 30 health workers killed “In the year since Myanmar’s coup, nurses and doctors have been in the military’s crosshairs. Armed forces have harmed and intimidated health care workers, raided COVID-19 clinics and blocked vital humanitarian aid, resulting in the decimation of the Myanmar health system amid a pandemic,” said Lindsey Green, program officer for PHR and a report co-author. “Without immediate action from the international community to pressure the Myanmar military to end the bloodshed, Myanmar’s besieged health workers and civilians will enter a second year of a health and human rights catastrophe.” The data featured in the new report covers February 1, 2021 through January 10, 2022. Researchers from the CPHHR, Insecurity Insight, and PHR used an open-source methodology informed by the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. The incidents reported are neither a complete nor a representative list of all incidents. Data collection is ongoing and data may change as more information is made available. However, the research provides a snapshot of how Myanmar’s military is persecuting health workers and targeting facilities amid its broader crackdown on civilians in the past year. The underlying data set can be explored at Humanitarian Data Exchange on a global map on threats and violence against health care. Attacks on health care have become a prominent feature of the country’s coup d’état. Today, Myanmar is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a health worker, with more reported attacks against health care in Myanmar in the past year than in any other country on Earth. While the highest number of monthly incidents were documented amid nationwide protests in March 2021, there has been a gradual increase in reported attacks from September 2021 through early January 2022, amid escalating armed resistance across the country and crackdowns by the Myanmar military. The new report also analyzes how forms of violence against health care have evolved alongside wider events happening in the country over the 12 months since the coup, including the nationwide protests, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), the disastrous third wave of COVID-19, and the declaration of a people’s defensive war. The report shows how, today, the people of Myanmar are facing gravely diminished access to routine and emergency health care services, with ongoing and egregious deliberate targeting of health care by the Myanmar military and other armed actors. Mandalay Medical Cover, a volunteer medical organization, provided a statement alongside PHR to the UN Human Rights Council about the impacts of violence against health care: “Our healthcare workers are working in fear. We are being oppressed, we are forcefully arrested – as are our family members if we cannot be found – and are being prevented from providing proper medical care, resulting in permanent damage to patients and the loss of many lives…. By effectively and forcibly preventing doctors from providing essential medical care to these people, many lives which could otherwise have been saved are unnecessarily lost.” Attacks on health workers violate human rights and are grave breaches of international law. The researchers offer a series of detailed recommendations to the State Administration Council, Myanmar military (Tatmadaw), National Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations, People’s Defence Force, and the international community. PHR is calling on the Myanmar military-led State Administration Council and Tatmadaw to immediately cease the targeting of health care workers with warrants and arrests for participating in the CDM and peaceful protests or for their provision of health care, as well as to immediately release people arbitrarily detained. All parties to the conflict must adhere to the provisions of international humanitarian and human rights law regarding respect for and the protection of health services and the wounded and sick, and regarding the ability of health workers to adhere to their ethical responsibilities of providing impartial care to all in need. PHR is calling on international actors to provide COVID-19 vaccines, medical aid, and broader humanitarian support to the people of Myanmar through flexible mechanisms that recognize the evolving nature of conflict dynamics and difficulty in reaching all people in need. This should include support for cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid (along borders with China, India, and Thailand) to reach those in need who cannot be reached otherwise. PHR is also calling on the United States Congress to pass the BURMA Act, which calls for the authorization of humanitarian assistance and targeted sanctions with respect to human rights abuses perpetrated by the Myanmar military. In addition to the February 2021 coup and ongoing crackdown against civilians, Myanmar security forces also perpetrated atrocities against the Rohingya people, which resulted the exodus of more than one million people from Myanmar to Bangladesh. As the one-year anniversary of the coup is marked on February 1, the human rights and health crisis continues to grow in Myanmar, with escalating conflict, increasing numbers of internally displaced people and refugees, and the effective collapse of the public health care system. “The impacts on the people of Myanmar of the military coup d’état and attacks on health care over this past year are incalculable and will continue to have implications for many years to come – especially as these attacks continue unabated,” the report states..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Insecurity Insight, Johns Hopkins University and Physicians for Human Rights via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication: 2022-01-26
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Local media editor is third journalist killed by Myanmar’s junta in less than a month
Description: "Local news website editor Pu Tuidim became the third journalist to be killed in Myanmar in just over three weeks when he was abducted and murdered by government soldiers in the northwest of the country last weekend. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this barbaric murder of a reporter who tried to inform his fellow citizens about the fighting between armed rebels and the military junta. Pu Tuidim’s body was found in Matupi township, in Chin State, a mountainous region bordering on India, on the morning of 9 January, two days after he and nine other civilians were abducted by members of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s armed forces, as he was covering the clashes between the Tatmadaw and local armed rebels. The soldiers shot him after using him as a human shield. He was the founder and editor of the Khonumthung Media Group, a local news outlet named after Chin State’s highest mountain. Tragically, the website had just published an article about the Tatmadaw’s use of civilians as human shields. On the evening of 9 January, Pu Tuidim's colleagues posted a statement condemning this practice and deploring their editor’s death “caused by the military council’s atrocities.” The message was circulated throughout the region under the hashtag of #အထူးဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲခြင်း, a Burmese expression meaning “Special Mourning.” Escalating terror “Cruelty, cynicism, barbarity – these words seem inadequate to describe Pu Tuidim’s shocking murder,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “He is the third journalist to be killed in Myanmar in less than a month, in a sign of the absolutely unacceptable practices increasingly employed by the junta. We appeal to the international community to toughen the sanctions imposed on the junta’s members in order to end this headlong escalation in terror.” The most recent previous media fatality was Federal News Journal editor Sai Win Aung, who was killed by gunfire near the Thai border in the southeastern state of Kayin during a Tatmadaw artillery attack on 25 December. He was also covering fighting between the Tatmadaw and the People’s Defence Force (PDF), the armed resistance to the junta. Freelance photographer Soe Naing was the first journalist to die at the junta’s hands. He died under torture on 14 December, four days after soldiers arrested him while he was covering a silent street protest in Yangon. The number of journalists imprisoned in Myanmar has meanwhile risen to at least 59, according to RSF’s press freedom violations barometer, which is constantly updated. They include two journalists who worked for the Zayar Times, a newspaper that was closed when the military staged their coup last February. The two journalists, deputy editor Pyae Phyo Aung and reporter Myint Myat Aung (also known as D. Myat Nyein), were each sentenced to two years in prison for “inciting crime” in a trial last week inside the prison where they are being held in the central city of Shwebo. The did not have access to a lawyer. Myanmar is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index..."
Source/publisher: Reporters Without Borders (Paris)
Date of publication: 2022-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-12
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Title: BURMA COUP WATCH FOR MONTH OF DECEMBER 2021: Junta capitalizes on poor international resolve to step up savagery
Description: "Burma’s illegitimate military regime kept trying to grind down a nation that overwhelmingly rejects it. During 1 Feb–10 Dec 2021, there were at least 7,053 attacks on civilians or armed clashes that failed to protect them, a 664% increase from the same period in 2020. Increased attacks caused 5,000 Karen villagers to flee into Thailand, and pushed Thai villagers on the border to relocate for safety. As of 1 Dec, 432 NLD members remained in detention, while junta military tribunals had sentenced 92 people to death. UNDP warned that 46.3% of the population will be living in poverty in 2022. It is estimated that 14.4 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2022..."
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-BURMA, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma and Women Peace Network
Date of publication: 2022-01-05
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-06
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Title: Chins killed by the Tatmadaw in 11 Months (February-December, 2021) – ၁၁လတာ ကာလအတွင်း တပ်မတော်မှသတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့သည့် ချင်းလူမျိုးများ (ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ – ဒီဇင်ဘာ၊ ၂၀၂၁)
Description: "Within the 11 months, from the military coup on February 1 till December 31, 2021, the Myanmar junta troops killed 163 Chin people. Among the deaths were 87 civilians (including 13 women) and 76 members from Chin resistance forces. Among them, three were killed by landmines planted by the Tatmadaw and the bodies of eight civilians were not recovered. Seven were either burned to death or killed in a fire caused by the troops. Some victims were killed when the Myanmar junta troops violently attacked on peaceful protesters and others lost their lives when the Military Council deployed heavy artillery and airstrikes indiscriminately against innocent civilians. Some were arbitrarily arrested and tortured to death, some even burned to death. In addition to killing innocent civilians without any reason, the junta troops carried arson attacks, planted landmines, and fired heavy weapons into civilian neighbourhoods. The Tatmadaw clearly appears to target the Chin civilians intentionally to create fear among the population. The Myanmar Military Council’s systematic attacks and killings of civilians are clearly crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Myanmar Military Council must be held accountable for its crimes. The ICA urges the Tatmadaw to immediately cease targeting civilians, their houses, and belongings, and to cease killing innocent people, particularly women and children and to refrain from indiscriminate firing and using heavy artillery against the civilian population. The ICA also calls on the international community to intervene and increase pressure on the Myanmar junta to cease its military operations and human rights violations against the Chin People. Media Contact: [email protected], +919362634715..... ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၃၁) ရက်နေ့အထိ (၁၁) လ တာ ကာလအတွင်း စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၃) ဦးအား သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ သေဆုံးသူများတွင် အမျိုးသမီး (၁၃) ဦး အပါအဝင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၈၇) ဦးနှင့် ချင်းတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များမှ (၇၆) ဦး အထိ ရှိပါသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးသူ (၇) ဦး၊ အလောင်းပြန် မရသည့် အရပ်သား (၈) ဦး နှင့် မိုင်းထိ၍ သေဆုံးသူ အရပ်သား (၃) ဦးထိ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မှ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့်အရပ်သားများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးမှုနှင့် စစ်ကြောရေးအတွင်း ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ လူနေအိမ် များနှင့် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းနှင့် လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးကြရခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအား အကြောင်းမဲ့ သတ်ဖြတ်သည့်အပြင် ကျေးရွာလူနေအိမ်များအတွင်း လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းသန်းပစ်ခတ် မီးရှို့ခြင်းနှင့် လူနေရပ်ကွက်များ၊ အရပ်သားများကျင်လည်ကျက်စားရာနေရာများတွင် မိုင်းထောင်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တို့ကို ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်လျက် ရှိသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စနစ်တကျ တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းတို့သည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်နေကြောင်း ထင်ရှားနေပေသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ၎င်းကျူးလွန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများအတွက် တာဝန်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း နှင့် အရပ်သား ပြည်သူ များ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်အပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း တို့အား ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်မှ အလေးအနက် တိုက်တွန်းသည်။ ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းအား စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စစ်ဆင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေမှုနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ အား ရပ်တန့်စေမည့် ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် ထပ်မံတောင်းဆိုသည်။ ဆက်သွယ်ရန်: [email protected], +919362634715..."
Source/publisher: Institute of Chin Affairs
Date of publication: 2022-01-06
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Statement on high death toll of Chins within 11 months under Myanmar junta - စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုကြောင့် ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား သေဆုံးဦးရေ မြင့်တက်လာခြင်းအပေါ် သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်
Description: "Over 160 Chins were killed January 6, 2022 Within the 11 months, from the military coup on February 1 till December 31, 2021, the Myanmar junta troops killed 163 Chin people. Among the deaths were 87 civilians (including 13 women) and 76 members from Chin resistance forces. Among them, three were killed by landmines planted by the Tatmadaw and the bodies of eight civilians were not recovered. Seven were either burned to death or killed in a fire caused by the troops. Some victims were killed when the Myanmar junta troops violently attacked on peaceful protesters and others lost their lives when the Military Council deployed heavy artillery and airstrikes indiscriminately against innocent civilians. Some were arbitrarily arrested and tortured to death, some even burned to death. In addition to killing innocent civilians without any reason, the junta troops carried arson attacks, planted landmines, and fired heavy weapons into civilian neighbourhoods. The Tatmadaw clearly appears to target the Chin civilians intentionally to create fear among the population. The Myanmar Military Council’s systematic attacks and killings of civilians are clearly crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Myanmar Military Council must be held accountable for its crimes. The ICA urges the Tatmadaw to immediately cease targeting civilians, their houses, and belongings, and to cease killing innocent people, particularly women and children and to refrain from indiscriminate firing and using heavy artillery against the civilian population. The ICA also calls on the international community to intervene and increase pressure on the Myanmar junta to cease its military operations and human rights violations against the Chin People.....၁၁ လအတွင်းချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၀) ကျော် အသတ်ခံရ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလ ( ၆ ) ရက် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၃၁) ရက်နေ့အထိ (၁၁) လ တာ ကာလအတွင်း စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၃) ဦးအား သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ သေဆုံးသူများတွင် အမျိုးသမီး (၁၃) ဦး အပါအဝင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၈၇) ဦးနှင့် ချင်းတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များမှ (၇၆) ဦး အထိ ရှိပါသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးသူ (၇) ဦး၊ အလောင်းပြန် မရသည့် အရပ်သား (၈) ဦး နှင့် မိုင်းထိ၍ သေဆုံးသူ အရပ်သား (၃) ဦးထိ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မှ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့်အရပ်သားများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးမှုနှင့် စစ်ကြောရေးအတွင်း ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ လူနေအိမ် များနှင့် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းနှင့် လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးကြရခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအား အကြောင်းမဲ့ သတ်ဖြတ်သည့်အပြင် ကျေးရွာလူနေအိမ်များအတွင်း လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းသန်းပစ်ခတ် မီးရှို့ခြင်းနှင့် လူနေရပ်ကွက်များ၊ အရပ်သားများကျင်လည်ကျက်စားရာနေရာများတွင် မိုင်းထောင်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တို့ကို ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်လျက် ရှိသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စနစ်တကျ တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းတို့သည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်နေကြောင်း ထင်ရှားနေပေသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ၎င်းကျူးလွန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများအတွက် တာဝန်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း နှင့် အရပ်သား ပြည်သူ များ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်အပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း တို့အား ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်မှ အလေးအနက် တိုက်တွန်းသည်။ ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းအား စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စစ်ဆင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေမှုနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ အား ရပ်တန့်စေမည့် ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် ထပ်မံတောင်းဆိုသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Institute of Chin Affairs - ICA
Date of publication: 2022-01-06
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf
Size: 22.85 KB 239.53 KB
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Title: ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ကျူးလွန်မှုများ အကျဉ်းချုပ်ဖော်ပြချက်
Description: "အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မတရားအာဏာသိမ်းမှု (၁၁) လ ကျော်လာသည့်အချိန်တွင် တနိုင်ငံလုံးအနှံ့ လူမဆန်စွာရက်စက်မှုများ၊ ဘေးဒုက္ခများ၊ စစ်ရေးအရှိန်မြင့်တက်လာမှုများနှင့်အတူ အရပ်သား ပြည်သူလူထု ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ် ပျက်စီးဆုံးရှုံးရမှုများနှင့် နစ်နာခံစားရမှုများမှာ ဆထက်တိုး၍ ဆိုးရွားလာနေဆဲ ပင် ဖြစ်သည်။ ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၅) ရက်နေ့က ရန်ကုန်မြို့၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်၊ ပန်းပင်ကြီးလမ်း၌ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် လူအုပ်ထဲသို့ စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေများက ကားကိုအရှိန်ပြင်းပြင်းမောင်းနှင်၍ ဝင်တိုက်ကာ သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်၍ ဆန္ဒပြပွဲကို ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ဒဏ်ရာရရှိသူများ၊ အသက်အန္တရာယ်ထိခိုက်သူများနှင့် ဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသူများရှိခဲ့သော်လည်း စစ်အုပ်စုကမူ ၎င်းတို့အနေဖြင့် တရားမဝင် ခွင့်ပြုချက်မဲ့ ဆူပူဆန္ဒပြမှုအား လူစုခွဲ ထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့ခြင်းသာဖြစ်ကြောင်း တာဝန်ယူမှု၊ တာဝန်ခံမှုကင်းမဲ့စွာ ငြင်းဆိုခဲ့သည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန်ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ဒေသများထဲမှ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းမှာ အာဏာ သိမ်းအကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ပစ်မှတ်ထားတိုက်ခိုက်မှုကို ဆိုးဆိုးရွားရွားရင်ဆိုင်ရလျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ အတွင်း၌ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းကျေးရွာများရှိ ဒေသခံ (၁၈) ဦးထက်မနည်းမှာ စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေများ၏ ဖမ်းဆီး မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းကို ခံခဲ့ရပြီး ထိုအထဲတွင် အသက် (၁၈) နှစ်အောက် ကလေးနှစ်ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။ အလားတူ ပင် ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၂၅) ရက်နေ့က ကယားပြည်နယ်၊ ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ မိုဆိုကျေးရွာအနီးတွင် မော်တော်ယာဉ်ပေါ်၌ ကလေးငယ်များပါ ပါဝင်သည်ဟု အတည်ပြုထားသည့် မီးရှို့ခံထားရသော အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူ ရုပ်အလောင်း ၃၀ ကျော်ကို ရှာဖွေတွေ့ရှိခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထိုအပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများကို မီးရှို့မသတ်ဖြတ်ခင် ဖမ်းဆီးထားစဉ်အတွင်း ၎င်းတို့လွတ်မြောက်ရေးအတွက် သွားရောက်ညှိနှိုင်းခဲ့သော ကရင်နီပြည်နယ် လူမျိုးပေါင်းစုံလွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်ဦး (ကလလတ) ပြည်သူ့စစ်အသွင်ပြောင်း မှ တပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင် ၄ ဦးအား စစ်တပ်မှ လက်ပြန်ကြိုးများတုတ်၍ ဦးခေါင်းကို ပစ်ကာ ရက်ရက်စက်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြောင်း ကလလတ မှ ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ မိုဆိုကျေးရွာဖြစ်စဉ်တွင် အချို့သော အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများ ပျောက်ဆုံးလျက်ရှိသည်။ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ၏ နေအိမ်၊ အဆောက်အအုံနှင့် ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများကို စစ်အုပ်စုမှ မီးရှို့ ဖျက်ဆီးမှုခြင်းများ အား ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့်လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျေးရွာများ၊ လူနေ ရပ်ကွက်များ မီးရှို့ခံရမှုမှာ အနည်းဆုံး (၅၆) ကြိမ် ရှိခဲ့ပြီး အဆောက်အဦပေါင်း (၆၅၀) ထက်မနည်း ပျက်စီး ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ အဆိုပါ အချက်အလက်မှာ မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်းမှ စောင့်ကြည့်မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားချက်များအရဖြစ်ပြီး လက်တွေ့မြေပြင်တွင် ယခုထက်ပိုမိုများပြားနိုင်ဖွယ်ရှိ သည်။ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လူမဆန်စွာ ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများကြောင့် နိုင်ငံတဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်သူ (၁၂၇) ဦးကျဆုံးခဲ့ရပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) ၏ ကောက်ယူ စုဆောင်းရရှိသည့် မှတ်တမ်းများအရ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ၌ ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် ကျဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ (၆၁) ဦး၊ အမျိုးသမီး (၅) ဦးနှင့် အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ် (၇) ဦး ရှိခဲ့သည်။ AAPP မှ လက်လှမ်းမီသမျှ ကောက်ယူရရှိထားသည့် အချက်အလက်များအရ ဒီဇင်ဘာ ၁ မှ ၃၁ ရက်နေ့အထိ စစ်အုပ်စု၏ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုကြောင့် ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရသူပေါင်း (၃၀၉) ဦး ရှိခဲ့သည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီးဦးရေ (၆၈) ဦး၊ အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ်ဦးရေ (၁၅) ဦး နှင့် ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၁၈) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုသည် နိုင်ငံအဝှမ်း၌ အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ်ပါတီဝင်များ၊ အရပ်သားပြည်သူ လူထု၏ နေအိမ်များ၊ ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများကို အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ PDF စသည်တို့နှင့်ဆက်သွယ်သည်ဟု ဆိုကာ မတရားချိပ်ပိတ်သိမ်းဆည်းမှုများကိုလည်း ပြုလုပ်လျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ချိပ်ပိတ်သိမ်း ဆည်း ခံခဲ့ရသော နေအိမ်အဆောက်အအုံပေါင်း (၃၃) ခု ရှိခဲ့သည်။ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းမှုများကြောင့် အကျဉ်းထောင်များ၌ ချုပ်နှောင်ခံနေကြရသည့် မတရား ဖမ်းဆီးခံများ၏ အကျဉ်းထောင်တွင်းအခြေအနေမှာလည်း လူမဆန်သော နှိပ်စက်ညှဉ်းပန်းမှုများနှင့် ရင်ဆိုင် ကြုံတွေ့နေကြရသည်။ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၁၀) ရက်နေ့၊ အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနေ့၌ မြန်မာ တနိုင်ငံလုံး အသံတိတ်သပိတ် (Silent Strike) ကို ဆင်နွှဲခဲ့ကြချိန် အင်းစိန်အကျဉ်းထောင်၌ ချုပ်နှောင်ခံထားရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကလည်း သပိတ်တွင်ပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထို့အတွက်ကြောင့် ထောင်တွင်းဆန္ဒပြပွဲတွင် ပါဝင်ခဲ့သူ (၈၉) ဦးမှာ နံပါတ်တုတ်၊ ရာဘာကြိုးတို့ဖြင့် ပြင်းထန်စွာ ရိုက်နှက်ခံရပြီး တိုက်ပိတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၂၉) ရက်နေ့က ပြစ်ဒဏ်ချမှတ်ခြင်းခံခဲ့ရသည့် ဗမာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာ ကျောင်း သားသမဂ္ဂများ အဖွဲ့ချုပ် ဒုဥက္ကဋ္ဌဖြစ်သူ ကိုဝေယံဖြိုးမိုးကို အင်းစိန်ထောင် အတွင်းမှာ ထောင် အာဏာပိုင် များနှင့် အကျဉ်းသားတချို့က အကြမ်းဖက်ရိုက်နှက်ခဲ့ခြင်းကြောင့် အသက်အန္တရာယ် စိုးရိမ်ရသည့် အခြေအနေမှာရှိနေပြီး လုံလောက်သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုကိုလည်း မရရှိ ပေ။ အထက်ပါဖေါ်ပြချက်များသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်၏ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော တရားမဲ့ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများအား အကျဉ်းချုပ်ဖေါ်ပြချက်မျှသာဖြစ်ပြီး အခြားသော တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ်များတွင်လည်း ထိုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်ကျူးလွန်မှုများ များစွာရှိခဲ့သည်။..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of publication: 2022-01-05
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Doctor says victims of Karenni State massacre ‘murdered in cruelest, most inhumane manner’
Sub-title: New evidence surfaces implicating the Myanmar military in the killing of nearly 50 people and the destruction of evidence in Hpruso Township
Description: "Families of the victims of a massacre in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Hpruso Township and a doctor who carried out post-mortem examinations of their remains have disclosed new details concerning the dozens of people slain and burned by the military on December 24. The National Unity Government (NUG) and the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) shared photos, medical records and evidence gathered from the site of the crime in an online press conference on Monday. Bo Bo, the deputy township police chief of the Karenni State Police Force—an anti-junta law enforcement network made up of police officers taking part in the CIvil Disobedience Movement (CDM)—speculated that up to 49 people could have been killed on the Moso-Kwaing Ngan road near Moso village, some two kilometres northwest of Hpruso town. Myanmar Now initially reported that at least 35 charred bodies and multiple burned vehicles were found by members of the resistance group the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) at the roadside site early on Christmas morning. They accused Myanmar army troops present in the area of committing the massacre. Bo Bo said on Monday that the group of doctors who carried out the post-mortem examinations had managed to carry out autopsies on 31 of the bodies, but that the others were completely destroyed in the fire, crumbling to ashes when touched, and collected in three body bags. Twenty-six of the victims who could be examined were identified as male, including two boys estimated to be under 17 years old. Six were determined to be female, including a young girl under the age of 12, Bo Bo said. A doctor who performed autopsies on the bodies and who spoke at the press conference on the condition of anonymity confirmed the Karenni police officer’s summary and added that the girl would have been between the ages of 10 and 15. “I think everyone can imagine whether it would have been possible that a young child under the age of 18 tried to shoot them,” said the doctor, who is also taking part in the CDM, commenting on the unlikelihood that the victims could have instigated the attack by opening fire on the soldiers believed to have murdered them. “They killed innocent civilians and burned the bodies to destroy the evidence of their crime,” he added. The doctor also confirmed that several of the bodies he examined had their hands tied behind their backs, were gagged, or had perforations to their chests and lungs. He added that they only managed to retrieve the bodies three days after the incident because the military continued to fire artillery shells at anyone who attempted to enter the area. Laboratory analysis had not yet determined if the victims were burned alive. Describing the experience of carrying out the post-mortem examinations, he said, “That was the day I saw dead bodies en masse who were murdered in the cruelest and most inhumane manner I have ever seen in my entire life.” Along with the bodies, six trucks, two civilian cars, two tractors and six motorcycles were also burned, Karenni State police officer Bo Bo said, adding that the bodies they were unable to examine were found wedged between the three trucks, which were carrying barrels of oil. He added that two of the bodies which were able to be identified were confirmed to be staff members of the international aid group Save the Children, which had reported their staff missing following the incident. Four other bodies were determined to be members of a Border Guard Force (BGF), a militia operating under the junta. The BGF members had been seen in Moso village at 11am on December 24, and had reportedly attempted to negotiate the release of civilians being held by the military. It was later reported that they had been executed. Family members of the victims also attended Monday’s online press conference. The wife of Moso resident Bu Reh confirmed that a tractor found destroyed in the fire was the one that her husband had been driving when he left their home. Crying, she explained that Bu Reh had left on the tractor at around 7am and never returned. “There had been shooting that day and I had to run away like an animal,” she said, “Our family is going through a lot of pain. We haven’t been able to eat and we spend our days crying. It’s so upsetting because the children are still so young.” She added that Bu Reh was only carrying a knife as he had been planning to gather bamboo, so it was not possible that he tried to shoot at the soldiers, which has been implied by the military. The military council released a statement on the same day as the massacre that they fired shots at the seven “suspicious” vehicles because they refused to stop when they told them to do so. The junta alleged that people in the vehicles shot at the soldiers from the trucks and they were “captured dead” after a shootout. The statement did not address the reports of murder or the burning of evidence. Junta information officer Gen Zaw Min Tun told BBC Burmese that 25 members of the anti-junta resistance group the People’s Defence Force died in the incident, and that among them was one woman. The families of the victims, the NUG leadership, and the Karenni State police officer collectively rejected the military’s claims that the victims of the massacre were PDF fighters who refused to stop their vehicles for the junta troops. They maintain that they were civilians. Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, pointed to the fact that all of the bodies and vehicles were burned in a single location, indicating that the military was likely attempting to destroy evidence of crimes that occurred there. In response to a family member demanding justice for their slain loved ones, Aung Myo Min promised that the NUG would file a case against the junta in the International Criminal Court, as well as send details of the massacre to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar established by the UN’s Human Rights Council. “I can sympathise with the victims and we are doing our best to take legal action against the military council and the leaders of the coup regime who are most responsible for these atrocious crimes,” he said..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2022-01-04
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-04
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Title: The Karen Women's Organization Expresses Horror at Harrowing Violence Perpetrated Against Innocent Civilians in Kayah State
Description: "The Karen Women's Organization [KWO] strongly condemns the attacks by the Burma Army in Hrpuso township, Karenni State in which at least 30 refugees, including women and children, were burned alive. Deeply disturbing images of scorched bodies and charred remains on trucks that were set ablaze on Christmas Eve. Even during this holiday time of Christmas and New Year's, the people of Burma are being denied peace and safety in their homelands. In the regime's attempts to squander People's Defense Forces, innocent civilians are routinely and unjustly being taken as hostages and killed. KWO has witnessed similar assaults in Karen State including ongoing ground and air strikes. KWO extends our solidarity and support to the victims and their families in Karenni State. Our ethnic brothers and sisters are all too familiar with the brutality that the Burma Army is capable of. The people of Karen State continue to be forced to endure the oppression of the junta. Thousands of our people are stranded, and in urgent need of humanitarian aid. We have seen similar attacks being launched across the country which are routinely taking place with deeply ingrained impunity. Accountability for the atrocities being committed by the Burma Army are long overdue. The violence they are perpetuating is in violation of international law and constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Therefore, it is with utmost urgency that KWO calls for a global arms embargo and diplomatic pressure to ensure a referral of the junta to the International Criminal Court. International condemnation for the human rights violations is not enough. There must be concrete action to protect the lives of thousands who still remain in danger in Burma..."
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organisation
Date of publication: 2021-12-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-26
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Title: အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီမှ ကရင်နီပြည်လူထုများအား အစုလိုက် အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုအပေါ် ရှုတ်ချကန့်ကွက်ခြင်းနှင့် အရေးပေါ်သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်။
Source/publisher: Karenni State Consultative Council
Date of publication: 2021-12-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-25
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Title: ၉၁ နှစ်ပြည့် တောင်သူလယ်သမားနေ့ အထိမ်းအမှတ်အဖြစ် တောင်သူလယ်သမားထုထံသို့ပေးပို့သော သဝဏ်လွှာ
Source/publisher: University of Yangon Students’ Union
Date of publication: 2021-12-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Statement by International Karen Organisation - Karen State Crisis: Sanction Aviation Fuel, Arms and Gas Revenue
Description: "The International Karen Organisation today called for the urgent implementation of new targeted strategic sanctions on the Burmese military in response to escalating attacks against civilians in Karen State. Simultaneous attacks by the Burmese military are taking place in different parts of Karen State, in Sagaing Region, Kachin State, Chin State and many other ethnic states, at the same time as the military continue to make mass arrests of political leaders, peaceful protesters and PDF members across the country. This demonstrates that the international community is moving much too slowly to cut the flow of arms and revenue to the military, and reduce their capacity to attack and oppress the people of Burma. Sanctions need to be applied on the supply of aviation fuel, arms, and on gas revenue and other sources of revenue for the Burmese military. Funding for cross border aid needs to be increased without placing unnecessary reporting burdens on local civil society organisations which are impossible to meet, and effectively act to block life-saving aid to those in need. The Burmese military appear to be targeting hundreds of Burmese democracy activists who have taken shelter in Lay Kay Kaw, a town in Karen State under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU). In the process, they are indiscriminately using heavy artillery and gunfire against civilian areas, forcing thousands of Karen villagers to flee as well as the democracy activists. This is a war crime. It is a violation of international law. On 14th December the Burmese military raided the town of Lay Kay Kaw, in the KNU controlled Dooplya District, in southern Karen State, bordering Thailand. They arrested around 30 activists who had taken refuge in the town. Hundreds of Burmese democracy activists were sheltering in Lay Kay Kaw. On 15th December the Burmese military escalated attacks, using heavy artillery in surrounding areas and forcing more than 1,000 local civilians to flee. In the following days these attacks continued and expanded. On 19th December the Burmese military began attacking Palu and other nearby villages where many people who had fled attacks against Lay Kay Kaw had taken shelter. As of the morning of 20th December, the number of people displaced by these attacks was estimated at 4000. With numerous attacks taking place, numbers of displaced people are constantly changing. At the same time, the Burmese military has increased shelling against civilian villages in Doo Tha Htu (Thaton) District in Karen State, as more Burmese military troops move into KNU areas. In both areas the Karen National Liberation Army is defending civilians against attacks and encroachment by the Burmese military. On 18th December around 30 Burmese military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers of the type supplied by China and Ukraine, and military transport vehicles, brought reinforcements through Myawaddy travelling towards Dooplaya. There are increased jets and drones flying over the areas, increasing fear of indiscriminate aerial bombing of the kind that happened in March and April this year. Before the new attacks this December there were already more than 80,000 people internally displaced, mostly because of bombings and the threat of bombings. Jets and drones have continued to fly over the area, preventing villagers from returning home and stopping them from growing this year’s crops, creating a humanitarian crisis on top of the COVID pandemic. Around 2,000 Karen villagers crossed into Thailand this week and around 600 have been pushed back by the Thai authority. We call on the government of Thailand not to keep pushing refugees back into a war zone as they have done so many times in the past. We call on the USA, EU, UK, Canada, Australia and sympathetic governments, and on the United Nations Secretary General, to make representations to the Royal Thai Government not to force refugees to return against their will. The Burmese military are attacking our people with much more sophisticated weaponry than they used before the so-called reform process began. They have used the past ten years with sanctions lifted and more business opportunities to increase income and buy more modern and deadly equipment. They have more heavy artillery, more jets and new drones which they are using against civilians. It is absolutely vital that more sanctions are rapidly imposed on the Burmese military in order to reduce their military capacity. The international community must: Sanction aviation fuel The majority of people in Karen State have been displaced by air strikes and are unable to return because of the threat of airstrikes. These air strikes have killed and maimed innocent civilians and have created a humanitarian crisis. The international community must impose sanctions to stop aviation fuel reaching the military. Companies which supply the military with aviation fuel should be sanctioned and evidence collected for future prosecutions for complicity in violations of international law. Expand the arms embargo The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo. With Russia and China blocking a potential resolution on an arms embargo, countries should impose unilateral arms embargoes. Only around 40 of 193 UN members have imposed arms embargoes against the Burmese military, despite recommendations from the United Nations Fact-Finding Commission on Myanmar, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, and a UN General Assembly Resolution in June this year. We call on all countries to impose unilateral arms embargoes. More targeted economic sanctions, including gas revenue Almost a year on from the military coup, the Burmese military is earning up to $1.4bn in gas revenues. This money is being used to kill our people. Even countries which claim to support human rights and democracy in Burma have not stopped gas revenue, with hundreds of millions of dollars being given to the military from a gas project run by American and European Union companies Chevron and Total. We call on American President Biden and French President Macron to stop blocking sanctions on gas revenue and impose gas revenue sanctions. The European Union cannot sanction gas revenue as long as President Macron keeps blocking it. It makes no sense to us that President Biden and President Macron have arms embargoes against the Burmese military but are still allowing their companies to give money to the military which they can then use to buy arms from Russia, China, India, Serbia, Ukraine and other countries. They won’t sell arms, but they help fund the purchase of arms. The international community has long failed to take action against the Burmese military for violations of international law committed against the Karen people. This decades long impunity has contributed to the crisis in Burma today. We hope that the international community will now finally learn lessons from past mistakes and take effective action immediately..."
Source/publisher: International Karen Organisation
Date of publication: 2021-12-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: HURFOM Marks the 73rd annual International Human Rights Day by Releasing a New Briefing Paper, “Trajectory of Terror,” which finds dozens of human rights violations committed by the Burma Army in Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi region
Description: "HURFOM: Ten months of terror have passed since the Burma Army orchestrated a failed coup on 1 February. “Trajectory of Terror,” is a new briefing paper by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) which outlines human rights violations committed in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region perpetrated by the military junta between the end of February until the end of November 2021. Military impunity is emboldening the junta to commit more atrocities. On Human Rights Day, HURFOM expresses grave concern over the lack of safety civilians are being forced to contend with amid the junta’s dark crusade for power and control. HURFOM calls for an immediate forfeiting of powers by the Burmese military and an end to the violence which has killed hundreds and injured many more, including the elderly, women and children. [Download in English] The human rights situation in Burma has spiraled out of control. The increased violence and negligence wielded by the military Generals has left millions without food and shelter. Civilians do not feel safe in the country. Homes are being looted, and villages are being burned to the ground in deliberate acts of arson by the junta. Members of political opposition parties and human rights defenders have been forced into hiding. Children are being denied the right to be educated safely as military soldiers roam schools and use classrooms as bases. Livelihoods have been crippled as landmines litter farms and encircle villages, making leaving for food and work a life or death prospect. This sabotage of survival has been brought on willfully by the Burma Army. HURFOM fieldworkers have spoken to witnesses on the ground who detailed arbitrary arrests, abductions and assaults on fundamental freedoms of residents in our target areas. The violence has created an unstable environment where hundreds are fleeing persecution and fearful for what their futures hold. A response by the international community which meets the gravity of the peril’s civilians are being confronted with on a daily basis is long overdue. As the year ends, it is with the most profound urgency that HURFOM reiterates calls of our network and allies to respond to the many crises which are worsening daily. Media Contact Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director, Email: [email protected], Signal: +66 86 167 9741 HURFOM was founded by exiled pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprisings, recent activists and Mon community leaders and youth. Its primary objective is the restoration of democracy, human rights and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization, and all its members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of publication: 2021-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-10
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Title: The United States Promotes Accountability for Human Rights Violations and Abuses
Description: "We are determined to put human rights at the center of our foreign policy, and we reaffirm this commitment by using appropriate tools and authorities to draw attention to and promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, no matter where they occur. The United States appreciates the coordinated actions taken today by the United Kingdom and Canada under their respective sanctions programs to target Burmese military actors responsible for violence and repression. We also welcome the close coordination with the EU, UK, and Canada last week on our strongest sanctions package to date on Belarus, which jointly imposes costs on the Lukashenka regime for its continued repression of the Belarusian people. The United States looks forward to continuing our partnerships with allies, partners, and civil society alike in defending human rights and promoting accountability and good governance. In further recognition of Human Rights Day 2021, the Department is designating 12 officials of foreign governments under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriation Act, 2021. This law provides that in cases where there is credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in a gross violation of human rights or significant corruption, those individuals and their immediate family members are to be designated publicly or privately and are ineligible for entry into the United States. The Department of State is designating under Section 7031(c) the following individuals for their involvement in gross violations of human rights: Abel Kandiho, Major General and head of the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence within the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights, namely torture. Kandiho was also designated this week by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program in connection with serious human rights abuse. Shohrat Zakir, Erken Tuniyaz, Hu Lianhe, and Chen Mingguo, current and former senior PRC officials in Xinjiang, China for their involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. Shohrat Zakir and Erken Tuniyaz were also designated today by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program in connection with serious human rights abuse. Ihar Kenyukh and Yauheni Shapetska, heads of the notorious Akrestsina Detention Center in Minsk, Belarus, for their involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the torture and/or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in the aftermath of the fraudulent August 9, 2020 presidential election. Benazir Ahmed, current Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police and former Director General of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Miftah Uddin Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel and former commanding officer of RAB Unit 7, for their involvement in a gross violation of human rights, namely the May 2018 extrajudicial killing of Teknaf City Municipal Councilor Ekramul Haque in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh. The RAB, Benazir Ahmed, and five other officials were also designated today by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program in connection with serious human rights abuse. Chandana Hettiarachchi, a Sri Lankan naval intelligence officer, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely, the flagrant denial of the right to liberty of at least eight “Trincomalee 11” victims, from 2008 to 2009. Sunil Ratnayake, a former Staff Sergeant in the Sri Lanka Army, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the extrajudicial killings of at least eight Tamil villagers in December 2000. The designation of these two Sri Lankan individuals is not the only action we are taking in support of accountability for gross violations of human rights in Sri Lanka. Mario Plutarco Marin Torres, a former governor of Puebla, Mexico, for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights in Mexico, namely, the arbitrary detention of journalist and human rights defender Lydia Cacho in December 2005. We commend Mexican authorities for arresting Marin Torres in February on torture charges. Additionally, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is imposing sanctions on 15 individuals and 10 entities including for roles in serious human rights abuse and repression across several countries. A complete list of the Department of Treasury’s additional actions can be found here https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0526 . These designations underscore our support for human rights and commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abusers and violators the world over..."
Source/publisher: United States Department of State
Date of publication: 2021-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-10
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Title: Myanmar: Two reporters attacked while covering anti-regime protest
Description: "Two journalists were injured at an anti-regime protest in Yangon when a military vehicle drove through the crowd on December 5. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns the brutal attack and demands that the junta immediately cease its increasingly extreme violence against journalists. Journalists with the independent Myanmar Pressphoto agency, Ma Hmu Yandanar Khet Moh Moh Tun and Ko Kaung Sett Lin, were on assignment when junta forces drove through a peaceful anti-regime protest in Yangon and opened fire on those attempting to flee. The attack killed five people and left dozens wounded, drawing international condemnation. Hmu Yandanar sustained serious injuries when the military vehicle rammed into the back of the protest. She remains in a critical condition at a military hospital in Yangon following surgery. Kaung Sett Lin was also injured and received medical treatment at the same hospital before being taken into custody. Coverage of the event by state-endorsed media made no mention of the military vehicle or the deaths, stating that its forces disbanded an “unlawful riot”. While the regime claimed that 11 demonstrators were arrested, witnesses suggest that over 15 people were taken into custody. Myanmar’s junta has antagonised journalists since it assumed control in the military coup on February 1, with over 100 journalists arrested during its administration and more than 20 remaining in custody. After its exclusion at a regional summit in October, the junta released dozens of journalists in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds, an action largely met with distrust. The IFJ said: “The IFJ condemns the junta’s ongoing violence towards journalists and demands that the journalists enduring detainment are released. This incident shows that, despite recent attempts to remedy its image, Myanmar’s junta continues to contravene international human rights standards and subjugate freedom of expression.”..."
Source/publisher: International Federation of Journalists
Date of publication: 2021-12-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-09
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Title: Junta soldiers massacre and burn 11, including teenagers, during raid on village in Sagaing
Sub-title: The victims, all of whom were unarmed, included a disabled civilian and 10 members of local anti-junta guerrilla forces
Description: "This report contains disturbing images Eleven unarmed people, including teenagers, were captured and massacred by junta soldiers in a village in Sagaing Region on Tuesday, shortly before locals found the smoldering remains of their burnt bodies. Some 100 soldiers raided Done Taw in Salingyi Township at around 11am after guerrilla fighters detonated explosives in an attack against a military convoy travelling nearby, local media reported. Villagers found the badly charred bodies of the 11 victims in a pile, some with their hands tied, leading many to assume they were burned alive. “The victims were taking shelter in a makeshift hut while running away from the military raiding their village,” said someone who is helping to organise their funerals. “The soldiers found them, beat them up and burned them.” Done Taw is near the Letpadaung copper mine, which is owned by the military conglomerate MEHL and a Chinese company named Wanbao. The Salingyi G-Z Local People’s Defence Force (PDF) also said the victims were burned alive after the soldiers beat them. The leader of the Done Taw PDF, a self-organising anti-junta guerrilla group, added that the 11 were unarmed when they were captured. “They beat them to the brink of death and burned them alive before they died. Some of them are not even 18,” he said. It is unclear if there were any eyewitnesses to the incident and Myanmar Now was unable to immediately confirm the exact circumstances of their deaths. The victims were all male and included a 40-year-old with paraplegia and five teenagers under the age of 18, while the rest were aged 30 or younger, according to a list compiled by the Done Taw PDF. The paraplegic man was the only victim who was not a member of the Done Taw PDF, the leader said. Most of the victims were unrecognisable from being so badly burned, he added, except for 17-year-old Than Myint Aung, who was identifiable from his ear piercing. All 10 PDF members worked as volunteers helping Covid-19 patients before joining the resistance against the junta, he added. A video filmed by locals showed a group of burnt bodies lying in various positions in a pile of ashes with smoke still rising from the remains of what appears to have been a hut. “Motherfucker,” says one of the people in the video, using a Burmese phrase that plays on the spelling of military chief Min Aung Hlaing’s name. “They’re not even recognisable anymore.” The soldiers found the 11 victims on a betel farm at around 11am, around which time villagers heard gunshots and saw smoke rising from near that area, the PDF leader said. “They didn’t know that the soldiers were coming there until it was too late,” he said. He added that he believed the victims were not shot dead. Villagers were still fleeing for their safety when they gave accounts to Myanmar Now in the chaotic aftermath of the killings. The 11 victims “were running through the farm and got shot and were taken to the hut where they were burned,” said a Done Taw villager. Another local said she saw a monk get shot in the arm when soldiers started firing from the North Yamar bridge at around 7am. “I saw the monk get shot with my own eyes,” she told Myanmar Now. “I heard that the bullet went neatly through his arm. I didn’t get to see his arm though.” The monk was not one of the 11 who were caught and he survived the gunshot, she added. Early on Tuesday morning the Done Taw PDF attacked a convoy of military vehicles using three homemade explosives near the North Yamar bridge, which is about 300 meters from the village. After the attack, soldiers began searching for the assailants in nearby woodlands, the PDF leader said. The soldiers were then seen entering the village from near the Pathein-Monywa road at 8am, according to other locals. Their arrival led to people fleeing from nine villages in Salingyi and neighbouring Yinmabin Township, including Done Taw, Kyay Sarkya, Kan Kone and Aung Moe. “They marched into the region on foot via the North Yamar bridge. They had a car with them as well. They also fired heavy and light weapons in the area,” said a villager from Kyay Sarkya village, which neighbours Done Taw. Done Taw has only one entrance and exit route, through the Shwe Myin Tin farm on the bank of the Chindwin river, locals said. The lack of escape routes was likely the reason the 11 victims were captured, they added. A local man living close to Done Taw said the soldiers who terrorised the area stationed themselves on Tuesday evening on Laynhyin hill, about a mile away from Done Taw. The Done Taw PDF gave Myanmar Now a list naming ten of the 11 victims. They are: Arkar Soe, 14; Hsan Min Oo, 17; Than Myint Aung, 17; Kyaw Thet, 17; Chit Nan Oo, 19; Win Kaw, 20; Htet Ko, 22; Zin Min Tun, 22; Tin Naing, 30, and U Soe, 40. The unnamed eleventh victim was 17 years old, the group said. Earlier this year junta soldiers massacred dozens in the Sagaing township of Kani..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-12-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-08
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Title: Myanmar: Soldiers accused of shooting, burning 13 villagers
Description: "Soldiers have been accused of killing 13 people from a village in central Myanmar, 11 of whose burned bodies were discovered on Tuesday. The incident occurred near the city of Monywa, after local militias opposing military rule carried out at least two bomb attacks on a military convoy. Locals say soldiers then swept through nearby villages, rounding up and killing six men and five teenagers. The military junta is yet to comment on the incident. Locals say that people's defence forces volunteers - armed groups formed to resist military rule in towns and villages - from the area planted two improvised explosives on a road used by the military in an attempted attack. One of these devices detonated early, killing the two men planting it. When the second device exploded, two more men were reportedly detained and shot dead. Residents allege the military then swept through nearby villages, rounding up and capturing six men and five teenage boys, who were in hiding. Their hands were tied, and they were shot before their bodies set alight. Armed volunteer people's defence forces in towns and villages in Myanmar have carried out hundreds of bombings and assassinations targeting officials working with the military government after the violent suppression of pro-democracy rallies made peaceful protest almost impossible. What is the background to the violence? Mass protests had broken out across Myanmar after the military seized control of the South East Asian country in February and declared a year-long state of emergency following a general election. The military claimed there had been widespread fraud during the election late last year, which had returned elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to power. The election commission has dismissed these claims. Since then, the military has engaged in a brutal campaign of repression, killing at least 1,303 people in the demonstrations and arresting more than 10,600. Earlier this week, Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting dissent and breaking Covid-19 rules, in the first of a series of verdicts that could see her jailed for life. Monywa is also close to a controversial Chinese-owned copper mine, which has provoked protests from local villagers going back 10 years over grievances that the Chinese company operating it, Myanmar Wanbao, is in a joint venture with a conglomerate controlled by the Myanmar military..."
Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
Date of publication: 2021-12-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-08
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Title: National Unity Government: Announcement No.12/2021 - အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁၂/၂၀၂၁)
Description: "ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ https://nugmyanmar.org ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁၂/၂၀၂၁) ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်သူများကို ကားဖြင့်တိုက်၍ အကြမ်းဖက် ဖမ်းဆီး၊ သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း ၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက်နေ့မနက်တွင် ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်အတွင်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ လျှပ်တပြတ်သပိတ်အဖြစ် ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် လူငယ်များကို အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အုပ်စုက စစ်ကားဖြင့် အနောက်မှ အလစ်အငိုက် ဝင်ရောက်တိုက်ခိုက်ပြီးနောက် သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ် အကြမ်းဖက်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ဖြိုခွင်းမှုကြောင့် ဆန္ဒပြလူငယ်အချို့ကျဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး အများအပြား ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်နေသည့် ပြည်သူ ၁၁ ဦးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ အကြမ်းဖက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည့် ပြည်သူများမှာ အမှန်တရား၊ တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် တန်းတူညီမှျမှုတို့အတွက် ရဲရဲရင့်ရင့် ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်နေကြသည့် မိမိတို့ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ရင်သွေးများလည်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ယခုကဲ့သို့ အကျည်းတန်သော စက်ဆုပ်ဖွယ်ဖြစ်ရပ်များသည် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်၏ လက်နက်ကိုင် အနိုင်ကျင့်လိုသည့် ဖုံးဖိမရသော အမူအကျင့်၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူမှန်သမျှကို ကြိုက်သလို သတ်ဖြတ်နိုင်သည်ဟုခံယူထားသည့် စစ်တပ်၏ အင်မတန်နိမ့်ကျ၊ လူ့ကျင့်ဝတ်မဲ့မှု၏ ပြယုဂ်တစ်ခုဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ထိုသို့သော သတ္တိကြောင်ပြီး ယုတ်မာရိုင်းစိုင်းသည့် ပြစ်မှုမျိုးကို ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည်မှာ ယခုအကြိမ်သည် ပထမဆုံးအကြိမ်မဟုတ်ပါ။ အောက်ဖော်ပြပါ အဖြစ်အပျက်များသည် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနက မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားသည့် အလားတူဖြစ်စဉ်များဖြစ်ပါသည်။ • ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့ မြိတ်မြို့တွင် ဆန္ဒပြသူတစ်ဦး အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့က ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။ • မေလ ၂ ရက်နေ့ ရွေဘိုမြို့တွင် ရွှေဘိုပင်မသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း လူစုနေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှာ လူအုပ်ထဲသို့ ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့ပြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများကို ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့သည်။ • မေလ ၆ ရက်နေ့ မွန်ပြည်နယ်၊ ချောင်းဆုံမြို့နယ်တွင် ဆိုင်ကယ်တစ်စီးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့မှ ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် ဆိုင်ကယ်စီးလာသူ ပြည်သူတစ်ဦး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ • မေလ ၂၁ ရက်နေ့ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်၊ မြစ်ကြီးနားမြို့နယ်တွင် ထင်ရှားသည့်ကချင်တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူ ၂ ဦးဖြစ်သော ဒေါ်ဆိုင်းနူးပန်နှင့် ဦးလွမ်းဇောင်း အပါအဝင် လူငယ် ၃ ဦးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့က သေနတ်ဖြင့်ပစ်၊ ကားဖြင့်တိုက်၍ ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့သည်။ • မေလ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် သံဃသမဂ္ဂသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် သံဃာနှစ်ပါး ဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသည်။ • ဧပြီလ ၁၅ ရက်နေ့ မုံရွာမြို့တွင် သပိတ်ခေါင်းဆောင် ကိုဝေမိုးနိုင်ဦးဆောင်၍ အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ဆိုင်ကယ်သပိတ်ပြုလုပ်နေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့က အရပ်သား အိမ်စီးကားဖြင့် တဖက်ယာဉ်ကြောမှ မောင်းနှင်လာကာ ကားနှင့်တိုက်၍ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။ ကိုဝေမိုးနိုင် ဆိုင်ကယ်လဲကျသွားသောအခါ ၎င်းတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ ကားပေါ်မှ ဆင်း၍ ဝိုင်းဝန်းရိုက်နှက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။ • ဇွန်လ ၆ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် လူငယ်သုံးဦးစီးနင်းလာသည့် မော်တော်ဆိုင်ကယ်အား အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ ကားဖြင့်ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့သဖြင့် လူငယ်နှစ်ဦး သေဆုံးခဲ့သည်။ • ဇွန်လ ၁၆ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် မန္တလေး မဟာမိတ်တပ်ပေါင်းစု သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း လူစုနေကြစဉ် ဆန္ဒပြသူများ၏ ဆိုင်ကယ်များကို ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့သဖြင့် ဆန္ဒပြသူအများအပြား ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့ကြသည်။ • အောက်တိုဘာ ၂ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် မန္တလေး သံဃသမဂ္ဂ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် သံဃာ ငါးပါးနှင့် ဆန္ဒပြ ပြည်သူ သုံးဦး အဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသည်။ ထိုတစ်နေ့တည်းမှာပင် LGBT အရေးတက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှား သူတစ်ဦးဖြစ်သော စူးရှရှင်းသန့်ကို ဆိုင်ကယ်မောင်းနေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ပြီး စစ်ကြောရေးသို့ ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည်။ • အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေး၊ မဟာအောင်မြေမြို့နယ်တွင် လူငယ် ၆၀ ခန့်စုဝေး၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်နေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့မှ ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်၍ ဖြိုခွဲခဲ့ပြီး ဆန္ဒပြသူ ၁၀ ဦးကို ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။ ၃။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများကို ကားဖြင့် တိုက်၍ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းသည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ စုဝေး စီတန်းလှည့်လည်ခွင့်ဆိုသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို ချိုးဖောက်ရုံသာမက အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သောကြောင့် ထိုလုပ်ရပ်များအပေါ် ပြင်းထန်စွာရူတ်ချသည်။ ၄။ ပြည်သူလူထု၏တရားဝင်အာဏာအပ်နှင်းခြင်းခံထားရသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (CRPH) နှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ(NUG)တို့က စစ်ကောင်စီသည် အကြမ်းဖက်အဖွဲ့ အစည်းဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာထားပြီး ဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်မှုကျုးလွန်မှုများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ နိုင်ငံတကာခုံရုံး များတွင် အပြစ်ပေးစီရင်နိုင်ရန်ကြိုးပမ်းနေမှုအား ယဉ်ကေျးသည့်၊ လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းစံချိန်စံနှုန်းများကို လေးစားလိုက်နာ သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းတစ်ခုလုံးက ဝိုင်းဝန်းပူးပေါင်းလုပ်ဆောင်ပေးကြရန် လိုအပ်သည်။ ထို့ပြင် အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ်များကျူးလွန်နေသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီကို အကြမ်းဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်ချက် များနှင့်အညီ ကိုင်တွယ်အရေးယူကြရန် တောင်းဆိုသည်။ ၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ပြည်သူများက အသိတရားရှိရှိဖြင့် ကာကွယ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ရှိသည်။ ၆။ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုတစ်ခုစီအတွက် ကျူးလွန်သူတစ်ဦးချင်းစီတိုင်းကို အပြစ်ပေးအရေးယူနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အချက်အလက်အထောက်အထားများ ရှာဖေွခြင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ရာဇဝတ်ခုံရုံး၊ တရားရုံးမျာမှတစ်ဆင့် အရေးယူနိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားခြင်းဖြင့် တရားမျှတမှုကို ပြည်သူနှင့်လက်တွဲ၍ ‌ဖော်ဆောင်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရက သန္နိဌာန်ပြုသည်။ ၇။ အဖိုးတန်လှတဲ့ ပြည်သူတစ်ဦးတစ်ယောက်ချင်းစီရဲ့ အသက်ပေါင်းများစွာကို ယခုလိုရက်စက်စွာ သတ်ဖြတ်ခံနေရခြင်း၊ ပညာသင်ပြီး ကိုယ့်ဘဝတိုးတက်ရေး၊ တိုင်းပြည်တိုးတက်ရေး ကြိုးစားရမည့် လူငယ်များ လမ်းပေါ်တွင် ဆန္ဒပြရင်း သေကျေကြရခြင်း၊ မိဝေးဖဝေး လက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးတိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရင်း ပင်ပန်းဆင်းရဲ ခံကြရခြင်း ၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီး ခံရကာ စစ်ကြောရေးတွင် ညှင်းပမ်းနှိပ်စက်ခံရပြီး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခံရခြင်းများအားလုံး အမြန်ဆုံးအဆုံးသတ်နိုင်ရန် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အားလုံးတွင် တာဝန်ရှိပါသည်။ ၈။ ထို့ကြောင့် တရားမျှတမှုအတွက်၊ လွတ်လပ်မှုအတွက်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူအားလုံး တန်းတူညီမျှမှုအတွက် တောင်းဆိုနေသည့် ပြည့်ရင်သွေးများကို ယခုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်စွာ ရက်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အာဏာရှင် များအား အပြီးတိုင်အမြစ်ဖြတ် အဆုံးသတ်နိုင်စေရေး ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ နိုင်ငံအဝန်းတွင်ရှိသည့် ပြည့်ရင်သွေးလူငယ်များနှင့် ပြည်သူတရပ်လုံး၏ ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့ရမှုများ ၊ ဆက်လက်ပေးဆပ်နေရမှုများ အလဟဿ မဖြစ်စေရန်အတွက် သမိုင်းကပေးသောတာဝန်ကို ဦးထိပ်ရွက်ဆင်၍ အဆုံးသတ်ထိ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားမည်ဟု ထပ်လောင်းကတိသစ္စာပြု အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication: 2021-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်၊ ပန်းပင်ကြီးလမ်းပေါ်တွင် ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၏ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များနှင့် စပ်လျဉ်း၍ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း
Description: "၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက်နေ့၊ ယနေ့နံနက် ၈နာရီဝန်းကျင်တွင် ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်၊ ပန်းပင်ကြီးလမ်းပေါ်၌ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြချီတက်လာသော စစ်အာဏာရှင် ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များက လူမဆန်စွာကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ပစ်ခတ်ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့ခြင်းကြောင့် ဆန္ဒပြလူငယ် ၅ ဦးသေဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ၁၅ ဦးခန့် ဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရပါသည်။ ၂။ အဆိုပါအကြမ်းဖက်မှု၌ အများအပြားပြင်းထန်သော ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ပြီး ရိုက်နှက်ခြင်း၊ ခြေထောက် ဖြင့် ကန်ကျောက်ခြင်း၊ သေနတ်ဒင်ဖြင့် ရိုက်နှက်ခြင်းများ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့်အပြင် ဆေးကုသခွင့် မရရှိဘဲ စစ်ကြောရေးစခန်းများသို့ ဖမ်းဆီး ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည့် လူမဆန်သော ဖြစ်စဉ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံးနှင့်ထပ်တူ များစွာဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲရပါသည်။ ၃။ လွတ်လပ်စွာစုဝေးခွင့်၊ လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်ခွင့်တို့သည် နိုင်ငံသားတို့၏ အခြေခံအခွင့် အရေးတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပြီး ယခုကဲ့သို့ အပြစ်မဲ့သော ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများအား ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ အကြမ်းဖက် ဆောင်ရွက်နေခြင်းသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကြေညာစာတမ်း (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) ပါ ပြဌာန်းချက်များကို လိုက်နာမှုမရှိဘဲ ပြောင်ပြောင်တင်းတင်း ချိုးဖောက်နေခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၄။ ယခုကဲ့သို့သော လူမဆန်သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို နေ့စဉ်ရက်ဆက် ကျူးလွန်နေကြသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့်လက်ပါးစေများအား ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် ရှုံ့ချပါကြောင်းနှင့် ၎င်းတို့အား သံတမန်ရေးနည်းလမ်းအပါအဝင် လိုအပ်သည့် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရေး ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် ဆက်သွယ်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက် ရှိပါကြောင်း သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of publication: 2021-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Japan Plays a Diplomatic Double Game on Rights in Myanmar
Sub-title: Despite its official condemnation of the coup, Japan continues to move towards normalizing ties with the junta
Description: "Since the February 1 military coup in Myanmar, the junta’s security forces have killed nearly 1,300 people, arrested more than 10,000, and continue to detain nearly 7,400. The junta-controlled courts have sentenced 65 people to death, including 2 children. Facing such violence, militias have formed around the country to oppose the junta, and target security forces as well as civilians perceived to be supporting the junta. Japan, one of Myanmar’s closest allies, has taken some action. Tokyo denounced the coup, while demanding an end to violence and the release of elected government officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi. The Japanese government halted new non-humanitarian Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects earlier this year while allowing existing aid projects to continue. It also continues to cooperate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in its efforts to press the junta to address the human rights violations, via an ASEAN Special Envoy. The Diet passed a resolution in June that condemned the coup and called for a “swift restoration of the democratic political system.” However, Japan has stopped short of placing targeted economic sanctions on senior military and junta officials or their economic interests, as its democratic allies have done. And now it appears that Japan is playing a double game, officially allied with governments critical of the coup, while increasingly normalizing diplomatic contact with the junta. This approach risks undermining the international community’s efforts to hold the Myanmar junta accountable for ongoing crimes against humanity in Myanmar, including torture, murder, and rape. In May, Japan’s Foreign Ministry reportedly accepted five junta-appointed diplomats, asserting that refusing their appointment would place Japanese nationals in Myanmar at risk, and that “practical connections” with the junta are necessary. This was a major shift, considering that the Japanese government had earlier refused to accept junta-appointed diplomats since the coup on the rationale that it would risk legitimizing the military’s move to overturn the country’s democratic elections and install the junta. In November, Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of Nippon Foundation and Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, met with the junta chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and discussed the “current situation and the peace process in Myanmar, as well as Japan’s assistance to the country.” Sasakawa previously voiced concerns about placing targeted sanctions on the military, claiming that doing so would “increase China’s influence.” Although Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi claimed that Sasakawa’s visit was in a personal capacity, independent local media did not interpret it as such, describing Sasakawa as “Japan’s special envoy.” Hideo Watanabe, former cabinet minister and director of the Japan Myanmar Association, also visited Min Aung Hlaing twice this year after the coup, according to a Japan Myanmar Association member-only newsletter obtained by Human Rights Watch. Watanabe is a leading senior figure in encouraging Japanese companies to invest in Myanmar, especially in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone. Recalling his latest trip to Myanmar in September, Watanabe described Min Aung Hlaing being “very shocked” by the June parliamentary resolution. Sympathizing with him, Watanabe described the resolution as “interventionist,” “extremely disappointing,” and “pitiful.” Then-Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also described Watanabe’s trips as private, but it would be naive to believe that Min Aung Hlaing saw his visit as such. In the newsletter, Watanabe claimed that Min Aung Hlaing has “trust” in him as the “window” between Japan and the military, known as the Tatmadaw. Watanabe also said he had communicated to the commander-in-chief “once again” the Japanese government’s position on a new special economic zone in Mon State, which was discussed by the Japanese and Myanmar governments before the coup. The article said that Min Aung Hlaing once again “approved” the project. The Japanese government’s claim that high-profile Japanese figures with strong contacts in the Myanmar military or government are acting in a private capacity is not new. In 2018, the former Japanese diplomat Kenzo Oshima was part of Myanmar’s domestic commission to investigate the military’s ethnic cleansing campaign against ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State. Japan’s Foreign Ministry had welcomed the commission’s creation. When Human Rights Watch presented evidence that Myanmar’s government had created similar commissions eight times since 2012 and none led to accountability for grave abuses, Foreign Ministry officials distanced themselves from Oshima, claiming that he had joined in a personal capacity. It’s evident that ministry officials, prodded by Sasakawa and Watanabe, believe they can contain Min Aung Hlaing’s reign of terror through dialogue alone. Their collective cognitive dissonance is perhaps inevitable, considering Japan’s significant economic investments in Myanmar and an overarching concern with containing the influence of China. But if nothing else, the Foreign Ministry should lend an ear to one of their own. In an interview earlier this year, Japan’s former ambassador to Myanmar Tateshi Higuchi, expressed embarrassment for not being able to read Min Aung Hlaing’s “nature” during his tenure between 2014 to 2018. He advised Japan to “drop its optimism and illusory assumptions,” and asserted that Japan should prioritize saving lives and alleviating the suffering of people in Myanmar, advocating sanctions against the military. Higuchi also disparaged the Foreign Ministry and Sasakawa’s go-to “but what about China” line, saying “the situation is not that simple” and that the “the military does not want to be in a situation in which China is the only option.” Japan should stop playing this double game, and work with its allies to swiftly impose targeted sanctions on the Tatmadaw and its economic interests, while suspending ongoing non-humanitarian ODA programs. Sasakawa and Watanabe should also stop coddling Min Aung Hlaing, and instead use their political capital to demand the junta stop violence against protesters, respect human rights, and restore the democratic system they shredded..."
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Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-12-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-03
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Title: Parliamentarians at Risk: Reprisals against opposition MPs in Southeast Asia in 2021
Description: "Across Southeast Asia, parliamentarians are increasingly at risk. Lawmakers who use their mandates to defend human rights or to hold power to account have for years been targeted through trumped-up criminal charges, threats and harassment, physical violence, and detention. In 2021, we continued to see MPs targeted, to a large extent because of the military coup in Myanmar and its devastating aftermath, but also due to alarming developments elsewhere. This briefing from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) provides an overview of human rights abuses against elected lawmakers in Southeast Asia. The findings in 2021 are stark, and APHR must unfortunately report that the situation facing MPs has only deteriorated further. The number of detained lawmakers in the region rose from just one in 2020, to 91 in 2021 due to the Myanmar military regime’s wave of arrests. In fact, Myanmar has previously been a country where APHR has rarely documented abuses against MPs, but it has now joined the ranks of Southeast Asian states repressing lawmakers. The coup in Myanmar is the most dramatic example of a wider trend of closing democratic space in the region. In countries where APHR has previously documented abuses against MPs, such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, authorities continued to level baseless criminal charges against opposition MPs, while often also being implicated in or failing to prevent or effectively investigate threats, online abuse, and disinformation campaigns against lawmakers. In 2021, the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region also served as an apparent excuse to justify the silencing of democratic debate, either by targeting lawmakers exercising their freedom of expression to scrutinize official measures, or by suspending parliament, as was the case in Malaysia..."
Source/publisher: ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Date of publication: 2021-12-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Two Mandalay Region men killed in junta custody in separate incidents
Sub-title: In one case, soldiers repeatedly beat a farmer in front of villagers and splashed water on his face to wake him when he passed out
Description: "Two men were murdered by soldiers after being detained in Mandalay Region this week in seperate incidents, locals have told Myanmar Now. Than Tun Aung, a 25-year-old farmer, was detained and severely beaten on Monday after soldiers stationed in his village of Khine, Myingyan Township, started firing their guns at random, several locals there said. He was among 11 men at the village bar at the time who were accused of an “unauthorised gathering” and taken to the local school. Than Tun Aung fainted from the beatings on his way to the school, but the soldiers splashed him with water to wake him up and kept beating him as they continued on their way, said a local who spoke to eyewitnesses. “The kid died while they splashed water on him and kicked him repeatedly,” the local said. “They were beating him for ‘not answering’ their questions but the truth is he just couldn’t speak anymore because of his injuries.” Five hours after his arrest, villagers found his body between the market and the local clinic covered with a blanket. Soldiers told villagers he died of a cold, said another local, who has now fled Khine. Than Tun Aung’s funeral was held at the village cemetery on Tuesday, but soldiers disrupted the ceremony by blocking the way for people who were carrying his body to be cremated, said the second local. “The main road to the cemetery is the road near the school where the soldiers are stationed,” he said. “The soldiers came out of the school and told us that they couldn’t let us pass, so we had to go through the woods to get to the cemetery.” Than Tun Aung leaves behind a 22-year-old wife and a one-year-old son. Around 30 soldiers have been stationed at the school for about a month and more than 1,500 residents have fled to nearby villages. The 10 other people detained with Than Tun Aung have been released but are not allowed to leave the village, locals said. “Those who were arrested didn’t dare to flee because the military threatened to harm their families if they did,” said one resident. Than Tun Aung’s family did not want to speak with the media because soldiers were still in the village, the locals added. Soldiers have been checking villagers’ mobile phones and social media pages, they said. There have also been incidents of soldiers detaining villagers and forcing them to sing the Myanmar national anthem while they beat them, the locals said, adding that in other cases soldiers have forced villagers to fight each other. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment. In a similar case on Wednesday, Phyo Maung Ye, the 30-year-old owner of the Today teashop in Sintgaing Township’s Kathe village, was shot in the leg three times as he was detained by junta forces and died in custody at the Hpalanbo police station the same day. Twelve police and soldiers detained Phyo Maung Ye along with his wife and two-year-old son, who were also taken to the police station but released hours later, according to locals. Phyo Maung Ye was arrested on suspicion of helping to fund the People’s Defence Force (PDF), said one local. “A Facebook account wrote that Phyo Maung Ye was financially supporting the PDF and he posted a status to refute that claim, but he was arrested at his shop the next day,” said the local. “He was shot three times in his leg during his arrest. We heard he had his arm broken during interrogation as well.” The police station claimed that Phyo Maung Ye died when he tripped and fell during an escape attempt. They did not allow his family to take his body and said they had cremated it themselves. “It’s impossible that he tripped and fell and died. He died because they tortured him. He had already been shot when he was arrested,” said another local. “He was a good person doing honest work. He was not affiliated with the PDF either,” he added. “He did not give them any financial support. It saddens me a lot that our own villager had to experience this.” The Sintgaing chapter of the PDF said Phyo Maung Ye’s killing was an act of terrorism by the military. “He was not a member and he was not a supporter. They took out their anger on an innocent civilian,” said a member of the group. Myanmar Now tried to contact the military council and the Hpalanbo police station about Phyo Ye Maung’s death but all calls went unanswered. In July junta forces arrested and tortured another teashop owner in Sintgaing. Min Thu Tun was detained along with his wife and child in Ohn Pin Chan and reportedly lost his hearing and some of his eyesight while being interrogated. At least 1,302 civilians have been killed by the junta since it seized power in February and 7,687 remain in junta custody, according to recent figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-12-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-03
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Title: Briefing: Shelling out punishment across Mutraw
Description: "Since June 2021, Burma Army troops have intensified shelling and persecution of civilians in Mutraw (Hpapun) District of northern Karen State, in retaliation for increased KNU guerrilla attacks, which are blocking the regime’s supply routes and eroding their pockets of control in this mountainous border area. Most of the shelling has taken place in southern Mutraw, along the main access road from Kamamaung on the Salween River to Hpapun town, where the regime’s bases are centred. Shelling was heaviest in September, with dozens of shells fired nearly every day. Shells were fired indiscriminately into villages and fields, causing civilian injuries and damage to property, but failing to hit any military targets. Unable to retaliate directly against their guerrilla assailants, regime troops have increasingly targeted villagers for collective punishment: looting and destroying property, arbitrarily arresting men and women, and using them as porters and human shields. The regime’s shelling and terror tactics have caused new displacement in southern Mutraw, bringing IDP totals to over 82,000 in the district – almost the entire rural population. Most of the IDPs remain sheltering in the jungle, not daring return home in case of renewed airstrikes after the rains. Unable to plant their rice-fields this year, they are in urgent need of food aid. Yet the regime’s areas of control are shrinking. KNU blockades and attacks have forced the Burma Army to abandon eleven of their camps in Mutraw since the coup. Morale is low and dozens of the regime’s troops have recently deserted. Deserters interviewed by KPSN say most troops want to leave the army, and are no longer obeying orders. At this critical time, with resistance mounting across the country, KPSN urges the international community to stand with the people of Burma, and cut off all diplomatic and economic support for the illegitimate coup regime. KPSN also urges foreign donors to immediately scale up cross-border humanitarian aid to IDPs in Karen State and other conflict-affected areas of Burma. Burma Army steps up shelling in response to increased KNU guerrilla attacks In KPSN’s May 2021 briefer “Terror from the Skies”, we provided a background of the Burma Army’s decades-long attempts to crush the KNU in Mutraw District. Even after the KNU’s 2012 ceasefire, the Burma Army set up new bases in Mutraw, and started building new access roads for quick deployment of troops and military supplies. In 2020, the Burma Army stepped up artillery attacks, causing the Karen National Liberation Army to issue an ultimatum on December 1, 2020, for the Burma Army to withdraw all its bases from KNU-controlled areas and dismantle all camps set up since the NCA by the end of 2020. When the ultimatum was ignored, the KNU tightened its blockade of access routes into Mutraw, and in March 2021, after the military coup, began attacking and capturing Burma Army camps. The Burma Army retaliated not only with renewed shelling, but with airstrikes – the first in the area for over 25 years. This caused mass displacement of over 70,000 villagers, mostly into the jungle. Thousands fled across the Salween River to Thailand, but were pushed back within days by the Thai authorities. The regime’s fierce air and ground assaults only galvanized the KNU to step up guerrilla attacks against Burma Army bases and supply lines in Mutraw. Since June, the KNU has mainly targeted the main access road leading from Kamamaung in the south to Hpapun town, where the regime’s bases are centred. In an attempt to deter the KNU attacks, the Burma Army has fired hundreds of artillery shells and sprayed gunfire from its bases into surrounding civilian areas. Shells landed in villages and surrounding farmlands, damaging houses, property and livestock, and injuring at least eight villagers, including a monk. Gunfire also killed one villager. However, the shelling failed to hit any KNU military targets. Increased Burma Army looting and vandalizing of villagers’ property Since June 2021, KPSN has documented numerous incidents of looting across Mutraw by Burma Army troops, mainly of villagers’ livestock and food supplies, but also clothes, tools, phones, solar panels and cash. One likely factor for the frequent looting is food shortages caused by the KNU blockade of supply lines. In a well-publicized incident on October 12, 2021, twelve Burma Army soldiers from LIB 404, based at Kyauk Nyat on the Salween river, looted food from a Thai boat transporting goods along the river. Kyauk Nyat is one of the last remaining military outposts on Mutraw’s northeast river border and the troops there had apparently run out of rice rations. The troops fired shots to force the boat to stop, and demanded rice. As the boat was not carrying rice, the troops instead looted chickens, vegetables and dried noodles. However, another factor is clearly retaliation for losses inflicted by the KNU, as Burma Army troops have not only looted, but also deliberately vandalized and destroyed villagers’ property. For example, after suffering heavy casualties in early September during clashes around Mae Wai, on the main supply route to Hpapun town, the regime troops looted and vandalized all the villagers’ property in Khaw Poe Khee, Mae Wai tract. A woman from Khaw Poe Khee interviewed by KPSN, who had fled during the fighting, described the damage she found when she returned home a month later. “Things were scattered all over the house. There were holes made in some pots and some were thrown to different places. They took all my rice and cooking oil. After cooking and eating in the house, they defecated in the pots and plates. They used our blankets, mosquito nets and clothes for cleaning, then threw them in the pond and mud.” Arbitrary arrest, torture, use of human shields Another form of collective punishment used by the Burma Army troops has been arbitrary arrest and torture of villagers, and use of men and women as human shields. On August 12, troops from LIB 407 based at Ma Htaw, on the main road south of Hpapun, arrested three male villagers from Ma Htaw, aged 25, 34 and 45, and beat them with guns. On August 19, troops from LIB 341 and LIB 401, entered Ter Kee Koh village, northeast of Hpapun, and arrested three elderly male villagers, aged 42, 56 and 65, who were on their way to their farms. They were kicked and hit in the head, and then forced to porter and serve as human shields for the troops..."
Source/publisher: Karen Peace Support Network
Date of publication: 2021-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Thousands displaced by shelling and air raids in Depayin
Sub-title: Attacks on a number of villages in the Sagaing Region township are believed to have left at least six civilians dead
Description: "Air raids and shelling forced thousands of people from at least nine villages in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township to flee over the weekend, according to local sources. The latest attacks, carried out on Saturday, come as Myanmar’s junta steps up its use of military aircraft to crush anti-regime forces in Sagaing. Earlier this month, around 100 soldiers raided three villages in Depayin and torched homes after being transported to the area by helicopter. On Saturday, attack helicopters were used to carry out airstrikes on Nyaung Hla, a resident of the village, located near the Muu River about 16km southeast of the town of Depayin, told Myanmar Now. The attack, which also included artillery shelling, forced most of the village’s roughly 5,000 inhabitants to flee, he said. “We could hear guns and artillery. Some of the elderly who couldn’t run didn’t get out,” said the man, who identified himself by the alias Nyi Naung. He added that smoke could be seen rising from the village. “They say the military set motorcycles parked at the monastery on fire. That’s where most people left their motorcycles,” he said, citing reports from other village residents. Other sources claimed that at least six people were killed in the attack, although this could not be confirmed at the time of reporting. Another villager who called himself Zero said that a military unit stationed at a nearby bridge fired on the village continuously during the assault. “They fired artillery at the houses and shot up the village non-stop. We don’t know who was still in the village or who was killed,” he said. Local residents said that four of the five helicopters used in the attacks were carrying soldiers. These troops were dropped off near Nyaung Hla on Saturday evening, before the attacks began, they said. The affected villages were Nyaung Hla, Segyitaw, Thayetdaw, Mukatwin, Me Oe, Letyetkone, Weagyi and Yinkyin, local sources reported. Residents said there hasn’t been any recent fighting in the area, so they didn’t know why their villages were being targeted. “There haven’t been any clashes around here,” said Zero, who speculated that reinforcements were probably sent because troops based in the area thought they were surrounded by resistance forces. “I think they were also too afraid of landmines to go out,” he added. On Sunday morning, the Depayin People’s Defence Force issued a statement warning residents not to gather in groups in open fields or cover their vehicles with waterproof sheets, to avoid being mistaken for regime troops. Regime officials could not be reached for comment..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Burma/Myanmar - Junta Watch
Description: "This week, the Myanmar military regime’s propaganda machine went into overdrive over the arrest of an ex-NLD lawmaker accused of planning attacks against the junta, even as coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was shunned from two more international summits. It also sentenced 21 young people to death and claimed to support the media despite its record of persecuting journalists, among its other activities. Regime steps up propaganda after arrest of ex–NLD lawmaker The military regime has intensified its smear campaign against the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), its legislative body the CRPH and its armed wing the People’s Defense Force (PDF), following the arrest of former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker U Phyo Zeya Thaw, who allegedly masterminded deadly attacks on regime targets in Yangon, along with dozens of civilian resistance fighters. “Terrorists from the CRPH, NUG and PDF terrorist groups are destroying schools, hospitals, government offices, public buildings, houses, roads and bridges, in addition to the brutal killings of Buddhist monks, teachers, civil servants and innocent civilians across the country,” reported the junta-controlled English-language newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar in an issue from this week. Other state-owned newspapers Myanma Alinn, Kyemon and military mouthpiece Myawady have been featuring daily updates on what they call the “list of casualties caused by terrorist attacks.” So far the list includes the names of some 240 people the regime says were teachers, Buddhist monks, ward administrators and clerks. The newspapers also feature a separate list of some 500 education and health facilities and markets allegedly damaged by the PDF, and another list of some 400 roads and bridges, detailing when, where and how they were blown up. Yet another list published on Nov. 26 included the names of 26 state-owned banks and 41 private banks the regime claims were attacked with improvised explosives by PDF groups. The headlines of the reports misleadingly state that the attacks occurred between Feb. 1 and late November, but the NUG and PDF were not even formed until some two-and-a-half months after the coup. Coup leader shunned from China-ASEAN Summit, Asia-Europe Meeting Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was excluded from the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Nov. 25, marking the third time in two months he has been sidelined from an international summit. Prior to ASEM, he was barred from attending the China-ASEAN Summit on Nov. 22 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He was also excluded from an ASEAN summit after he failed to implement the regional bloc’s five-point consensus. China wanted to invite Min Aung Hlaing to the annual China-ASEAN summit but the regional grouping objected. His exclusion cost Min Aung Hlaing an opportunity to present his narrative of the military takeover to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other regional leaders, and, more importantly, an opportunity to claim legitimacy for his regime. On the other hand, his absence saved state leaders from regional countries from having to listen to a lot of nonsense, thus enabling them to focus on other important issues. The regime said nothing about their leader’s absence from the China-ASEAN Summit. Junta files corruption charge against former investment minister The military regime brought a corruption charge against U Thaung Tun, who served as minister of investment and foreign economic relations under the ousted civilian government, on Nov. 23, alleging that he rented government-owned land in Yangon to a company at below the market rate. U Thaung Tun, who was also a national security adviser and chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, has been detained since the Feb. 1 coup. He served as Myanmar’s ambassador to Washington, Geneva, New York and Brussels under the former military regime. Following the coup, the regime named U Aung Naing Oo as the new head of the Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Ministry. Coincidentally, the ex-military officer served as the ministry’s permanent secretary under U Thaung Tun, under the ousted civilian government. Regime convenes Security, Peace and Stability and Rule of Law Committee State Administration Council (SAC) chairman Min Aung Hlaing chaired the sixth meeting of the Security, Peace and Stability and Rule of Law Committee on Nov. 23. At a glance it seems the SAC just held a regular meeting on security affairs. But it is important to note that the meeting was held five days after the arrest of former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker U Phyo Zeya Thaw. Significantly, junta media only published a summary of the meeting; after other high-level meetings, they have reported every word uttered by the coup leader. However, given the latest developments, there can be no doubt that the meeting discussed ways of stepping up the junta’s fight against urban guerillas and PDF groups. Young people accused of killing junta-appointed administrators sentenced to death In an attempt to threaten potential opponents, junta tribunals on Nov. 23 sentenced to death 21 anti-coup activists who allegedly killed administrators and an alleged military informant in Yangon’s South Dagon Township and Dagon Seikkan Township, where the regime has imposed martial law. In April, the regime handed its first death sentence since its February coup. Nineteen people—18 men and a woman—from Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township were given the death sentence for allegedly attacking two junta soldiers. Junta leader claims to recognize Fourth Estate while oppressing media Hypocritically, the junta leader, who has ordered bans on several independent media outlets and arrested dozens of journalists, said on Nov. 24 that he recognized the media as the Fourth Estate of the country, as the new members of the Myanmar Press Council took oaths before him. Just one month after the coup, the regime revoked the publishing licenses of five media outlets. Some media agencies were raided and dozens of journalists were detained at their offices or homes or while covering anti-regime protests and some were charged with high treason and terrorism for doing their jobs. Currently, some 50 journalists remain under detention with press freedom being increasingly restricted. The regime has reconstituted the Press Council since its coup. New chairman U Ohn Maung, a poet who goes by the pen name Myinmu Maung Naing Moe, is a former lieutenant colonel and won several national literature (poetry) awards under the previous military regimes. The new vice chair, U Myo Tun, a poet and writer going by the pen name Maung Sein Naung (Lewe), was formerly a captain at the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare of the Defense Ministry. However, general readers are unlikely to have heard of these two so-called men of letters. KNU organizes military training with NUG support, junta says The regime’s Myawady TV said on Nov. 25 that Myanmar’s oldest autonomy-seeking revolutionary group, the Karen National Union (KNU), had organized military training for civilian resistance forces with the support of the country’s shadow National Unity Government in areas under the group’s control in the southern part of the country. Based on information extracted during interrogation of 20 people arrested for attacks on regime targets, it said the brigades 1,2,3,5 and 6 of the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), offered the training, gave shelter to those evading arrest by the regime and supplied arms to groups engaged in urban guerrilla warfare in a number of cities and towns in the country. The KNU signed a peace deal with the government in 2015 but denounced this year’s coup and, following the military’s crackdowns on protesters, launched attacks on regime bases in the country’s south. The junta retaliated with air strikes, causing thousands of civilians to flee. The regime’s official naming of the KNU as supporters of a civilian resistance movement against it may herald more attacks on the Karen armed groups in the near future, as the junta has been intensifying its crackdowns on the civilian resistance..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-11-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Joint Statement on increasing violence in Myanmar, November 2021
Sub-title: A joint statement on Myanmar signed by the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Description: "We reiterate our grave concern over reports of ongoing human rights violations and abuses by the Myanmar Security Forces across the country, including credible reports of sexual violence and torture, especially in Chin State, Sagaing Region and Magwe Region. In Chin State, it is reported the military has burned homes, churches and an orphanage in Thantlang village, and has targeted humanitarian organisations. More than 40,000 people are reported to have been displaced in Chin State and 11,000 in Magwe Region as a result of recent violence. Reports of internet shutdowns and other methods of communication in Chin State and other areas of the country are also troubling. Communities impacted by violence need access to information to keep themselves safe. We are concerned about allegations of weapons stockpiling and attacks by the military, including shelling and airstrikes, use of heavy weapons, and the deployment of thousands of troops accompanying what security forces assert are counter-terrorism operations, which are disproportionately impacting civilians. We also note our increasing concern at armed clashes in Rakhine State in early November. The current situation and reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar raise acute concerns about the risks of future violence and atrocities across Myanmar, and what the international community can and should be doing to prevent such atrocities. We welcome the Press Statement by the UN Security Council on 10 November, which called for the immediate cessation of violence, protection of civilians, and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We call for the respect of human rights and the immediate cessation of all human rights violations and abuses, and violence against civilian populations. To that end, we call on the international community to suspend all operational support to the military, and to cease the transfer of arms, materiel, dual-use equipment, and technical assistance to the military and its representatives. We encourage the international community to work together to prevent future atrocities in Myanmar, including by supporting justice and accountability for those responsible for atrocities. The situation in Myanmar has an impact on regional security. We reiterate our support for the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, noting in particular the call for a cessation of violence and for genuine engagement with ASEAN`s Special Envoy in leading inclusive dialogues aimed at peace. Recalling the horrific violence perpetrated against Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2017, we call on Myanmar Security Forces to immediately end the violence being perpetrated across the country. We will continue to work closely with ASEAN, the UN and the wider international community to promote accountability and support a lasting resolution to the current crisis and a return to the path of democracy..."
Source/publisher: Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication: 2021-11-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: EU DITHERING WHILE BURMESE ACTIVISTS ARE JAILED AND KILLED
Description: "Burma Campaign UK today called on European Union member states to urgently impose a new round of targeted economic sanctions on the Burmese military, and to agree to impose regular new rounds of sanctions from now on. It is now five months since the European Union brought in any new sanctions against the Burmese military. In that time: Another 418 people have been killed by the military, bringing the total to 1,291. Another 4,221 people have been arrested by the military, bringing the total to 10,452. 7,548 political prisoners are in jail today, many facing torture. The number of people who have fled their homes since the coup because of threats and attacks by the military has grown to a quarter of a million people. There is much more that the European Union can do to cut the flow of money to the Burmese military, but while hundreds die and thousands are arrested, the European Union is dithering. The European Union has sanctioned some military companies and state-owned companies involved in timber and gems, but there is much more that they can do. The recent failure to keep imposing new rounds of sanctions is all the more disappointing because it had at first appeared that the EU had learnt from past mistakes in imposing sanctions on Burma, when one off rounds of sanctions were introduced only every few years after an atrocity was committed. Following the military coup on February 1st, there were three rounds of sanctions brought in by the EU. This was a much more systematic and effective way of imposing sanctions. It ensured that the military understood that the European Union would be relentless in identifying and sanctioning sources of revenue to the military. This is more effective both in reducing revenue, and the psychological impact on the military and the nepotistic business crony cartel which provides vital economic support to the military. Sanctions which should be considered by the EU include: Sanction gas revenue to help cut one of the main sources of international money flowing to the military. Sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General and other military bodies responsible for the purchase and manufacturing of arms. Sanctions on state-owned entities and banks which now provide revenue to the military. Targeted sanctions on revenue from extractive industries. Sanctions on Burmese companies and individuals financing the military or which are supplying the military with arms and equipment or facilitating the purchase of arms and other equipment. “The military has not stopped the killings and arrests and the European Union must not stop doing everything it can to stop money reaching the military,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The EU needs to keep identifying and sanctioning sources of revenue for the military, relentlessly tightening sanctions month after month.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication: 2021-11-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Military Atrocities and Civilian Resilience: Testimonies of injustice, insecurity and violence in Southeast Myanmar during the 2021 coup
Description: "Since the February 1st 2021 military coup, the human rights situation in Myanmar has seriously deteriorated. The State Administration Council (SAC) headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has engaged in systematic violence against civilians and stripped away the few key civil and political protections that the already problematic 2008 Constitution was supposed to guarantee, further opening the door for widespread human rights violations. The SAC’s treatment of citizens as enemies of the state and its unrelenting efforts to crush all opposition have resulted in widespread violence and the loss of lives during this first six months of the coup. The SAC has shot and killed peaceful protesters, bombed rural villages forcing thousands to flee, deprived people of access to health services and information, and turned the law against the people of Myanmar to arrest, detain, and torture at will. As future returnees could potentially face similar In highlighting the human rights violations that have occurred since the February 1st coup, this report presents the degrading security situation and humanitarian crisis that civilians in Southeast Myanmar are currently facing. It also presents the hopes and struggles of rural villagers and civilians, to show how, despite the increased insecurity that they face, they continue to seek out ways to counter a military regime they know to be both illegal and unjust. Most importantly, this report seeks to ensure that the experiences and concerns of rural ethnic villagers are not just heard but addressed. Overview Interviews conducted by KHRG reveal the level of violence that the SAC undertook against protesters, and the ways in which protesters have continued to voice their opposition to the coup in the face of increasing brutality and repression by the state military. Protesters recounted stories of fear and insecurity as they encountered the ruthless response of the SAC to civilian opposition, yet equally expressed a strong sense of hope and an unwavering commitment to upholding the fight for democracy and freedom from oppression through to the very end. These interviews also highlight the efforts of civilians to support and sustain each other as protesters and those engaged in civil disobedience sought refuge and protection. This report also presents the escalation of insecurity in rural ethnic areas, where the Myanmar military has long used violence against civilian villagers as a key strategy in waging war against ethnic armed actors. Although conflict and attacks had been ongoing in certain parts of Southeast Myanmar even prior to the coup, the shifts currently taking place reflect a complete disregard for human rights and signal a return to a “four cuts” approach that, as independent researcher Kim Joliffe has highlighted, “treats civilians not just as ‘collateral damage’ but as a central resource in the battlefield”. Although some areas in Southeast Myanmar have experienced little to no fighting, others have endured an ongoing onslaught of attacks and fighting since the coup. It is estimated that, as of June 23rd, close to 177,000 villagers in Southeast Myanmar, including 50,000 in Kayin State, have been displaced since the February 1st coup (with over 140,000 still experiencing displacement as of August 23rd). KHRG also received a growing number of reports of direct attacks on civilians, including targeted killings, forced labour, looting and confiscation. That, combined with the SAC’s use of the COVID-19 pandemic as an additional weapon of war, has left rural villagers at-risk from multiple forms of attack. What is evident in both rural and urban areas is not just the increase in acts of violence since the coup, but that the SAC has sought to legitimise its own abusive actions and inscribe in law the deprivation of fundamental human rights. The Myanmar military, in ousting the newly elected civilian government, not only illegally seized power by making unsubstantiated claims about election fraud, but also set about instituting legislative changes that would effectively legalize state-based repression and its own use of excessive force against civilians. Similarly, the SAC is using the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and calls for ceasefire to then give itself permission to undertake whatever measures it deems necessary to “keep the peace”. Although the SAC announced a unilateral ceasefire on its part since April 2021, it also stipulated that it would continue to respond to “actions that disrupt government security and administration”, thus authorizing its own military offensives. Since the coup, it has repeatedly accused other armed actors of failing to honor peace commitments, and to label any groups that oppose the SAC as terrorists. From the outset, it has also used the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the Natural Disaster Management Law, to justify arrests. It has limited access to information about the health crisis, and more recently to vital medical care, using the pandemic as a political weapon against the public as well as ethnic armed groups. With ongoing displacements, a worsening COVID-19 pandemic, and the SAC blocking national and international aid organisations’ access to critical areas, the humanitarian crisis has become dire, placing many in life-threatening situations. Methodology This report is based on interviews conducted with rural villagers as well as with participants in the protests and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) who fled to KNU-controlled areas for their safety. KHRG began conducting interviews shortly after the February 1st coup, through the first week of June 2021. A total of 133 interviews were conducted, covering a wide range of topics related to the coup. Forty-nine of those interviews were with people who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, many of whom had either fled to their home village in Southeast Myanmar or been provided refuge in a KNU-controlled area. This report also draws on raw data reports prepared by KHRG researchers working in local communities within KHRG’s operational area. The raw data for this report covers the period from the beginning of February through the end of July, thus the first six months of the coup. Over 100 raw data submissions were used for this report. Key Findings Chapter 1: Protests After the February 1st coup, protests erupted throughout Myanmar in both urban and rural areas, often drawing tens of thousands of people in large cities, and/or uniting hundreds of villages in rural areas, all voicing their opposition to the coup and military dictatorship. Although peacefully engaging in the right to freedom of expression, civilian protesters became the target of repression and violence at the hands of the military regime. Since the military overthrew the civilian government on February 1st 2021 and declared a state of emergency allowing for the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial power to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services, it has also instituted laws and policies that restrict or suspend the fundamental rights of citizens. In particular, it has enacted legislative changes that undermine freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to privacy. Although in contravention of international law, these legislative reforms, along with the declaration of a state of emergency, are specifically being used to silence and criminalise any and all forms of dissent. Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, SAC security forces cracked down on the protests using excessive violence, including brutally beating and torturing protesters as well as shooting at them using both rubber and live bullets. Hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands more injured as a direct result of violence by SAC security forces. “In joining the protests in Yangon and Mandalay, it is like we pick straws over who will die in the street [joining the protests is like a deadly game of chance]. They [police] can shoot people at any time if they want. In fact, they shot people. Many people have already died. They [police] never gave a warning to people before cracking down on the protests.” --Maung E---, a university student in Yangon KHRG conducted interviews with a number of SAC soldiers and police officers who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, and who confirmed the use of excessive force and violence by security forces during the protests. In some cases, this was violence that they had witnessed, but in other cases, it was violence that they were ordered to undertake as part of their security activities surrounding the protests. “When there was a protest in Hledan, Yangon we would break up the mass gathering. There was a total of 50 of us. Six of us had real guns [machine guns] including me. We had to fire live rounds [against protesters]. Our bullets are not meant for shooting innocent civilians.” --A police officer based in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo District As the SAC responded to the protests with increased violence, the protesters adopted more varied protest strategies and also developed self-protection strategies in an attempt to make themselves less vulnerable to injury, violence and arrest by security forces. SAC security forces have also engaged in arrests without providing the reason for the arrest and without allowing access to legal counsel or communication with family members. Likewise, family members and friends of detainees have often been unable to access information about why they were arrested, where they are detained, how they are doing, whether they are alive or dead and other critical information about court proceedings. “Laws are from their mouth [decided solely by the SAC] because whatever they say is considered law [toward the civilians]; they can kill, they can arrest, they can detain and they can do whatever they want [by the order of SAC authorities]. There is no rule of law. Every action they have been practicing is against the civilians.” --A young teacher from Hpa-an Town Chapter 2: The Civil Disobedience Movement On February 2nd 2021, healthcare workers across Myanmar walked off their jobs to express their opposition to the military coup. This form of protest quickly spread to other branches of public service, eventually turning into a nationwide, large-scale Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). While CDM participants in general spoke of the desire for democracy, a return to civilian government, and the hope of undermining the SAC by shutting down the wheels of government, SAC security forces (police and military) who joined the CDM also cited unjust and unlawful orders as motivating factors. The CDM participants with whom KHRG conducted interviews faced major barriers to joining the movement, making it clear that a decision to join could have life-threatening consequences. Since joining the CDM, participants have experienced livelihood issues, increased risks and restrictions, as well as threats of arrest and attack by the SAC against themselves and their family members, leading many to go into hiding. “I also worry for my family’s security because of the actions that the Burmese military has done. If they cannot arrest me, they will target my family. I heard that they will threaten my wife. I heard that they will harm my family.” --A CSO worker from Ayeyarwady Region KNU local leaders have been attempting to provide security and necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing for CDM participants who have reached KNU-controlled territory, leading CDM members, protesters and human rights activists to flee to KNU territory seeking protection. Informal networks and local community support have also been particularly strong, with some civilians seeing this as their best way to contribute to the movement. “Ordinary people like us do not need to participate in the CDM. We just have to support those who do participate in the CDM. The situation happening now is not right, so we have to support them. We have to care for them and we have to give them food, and support them in what they need. They are working for us as well.” --Saw Y--- from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District Chapter 3: Militarisation and a return to violence The security situation in rural areas of Southeast Myanmar rapidly degraded during the first six months following the military’s seizure of power. Since the military coup, human rights violations have steadily increased, as have displacements and threats of injury and death to civilians in rural areas. Just the news of the military takeover led many villagers to begin preparing for the possibility of fighting, and thus displacement, and for the re-emergence of the kind of human rights abuses that they had suffered in the past. “Some people dare not to stay at home anymore. They go to stay at their huts. Those who are living close to the road dare not to sleep at their houses. They heard that Tatmadaw soldiers will patrol so they are afraid and go to sleep in other places. Then, they come back to their houses in the morning. Some people hide food in the jungle. If anything happens, they can go and hide there and they will have food.” --A missionary in Dooplaya District Increased ground attacks in some areas began shortly following the military takeover but the airstrikes in Karen State, which began on March 27th, marked a pivotal moment in the escalation of fighting and attacks, and have contributed to a growing climate of insecurity that recalls earlier periods of military abuse. t is extremely difficult to estimate the total number of displacements due to conflict since the February 1st military coup. UNHCR, which is working on relief operations, estimated 47,700 in Kayin State, and another 1,100 in Mon State. The figures are likely much higher given the poor access to IDP sites and displacement information in many areas, and the variable nature of displacements, which can be recurring or extended, and can vary from several days to several months or longer. One of the biggest problems continues to be access to aid. Due to both COVID-19 and increased insecurity following the coup, many international stakeholders are no longer operating on the ground in some areas. Even attempts by local stakeholders to provide support to IDPs have met with opposition by the SAC. “We will be shot dead so no boats dare to run. We dare not go to send rations for the IDPs. The supplies are accumulating on the Thai side. The boats from the Thai side do not go to the Myanmar side because they are afraid they will be shot by SAC soldiers.” --A boat driver interviewed by KIC While airstrikes and fighting have led to large-scale displacements and a growing humanitarian crisis, the human rights situation has also degraded with an increase in abuses (like forced labour, targeted killings, looting and arbitrary arrest) that had curtailed following the NCA. Areas that have faced less fighting and attacks have still been heavily affected by the overall climate of insecurity. Aside from witnessing the movement of troops and reinforcement of troops and supplies in their region, many villagers noted increased patrolling by armed soldiers. Another cause of concern for villagers in some areas has come from the emergence of various militia groups. Since the coup, the SAC has been appointing new members who are former Tatmadaw soldiers. They are rotating between different areas within the village tract, and have been appointed specifically to monitor the activity of villagers and the local KNU. “We only dare to criticise the military coup secretly within our family because there are many junta spies that [report] people who criticise and disagree with the military government to the police.” --An interviewee from Dooplaya District Since the coup, there has been renewed insecurity and threats to freedom of movement for villagers. The military has been checking travelers and making arrests, which has increased fear surrounding travel. KHRG has received an increasing number of reports about landmine accidents since the military coup. Despite ongoing calls on the Myanmar government and all ethnic armed groups to halt the use of landmines and to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty, the planting of new landmines continues to take place. Chapter 4: COVID-19 since the coup The lack of testing and reporting by the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) has not been able to conceal the fact that, as of early July, COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed and Myanmar is facing a serious humanitarian crisis. Since the announcement of the coup, KHRG has received multiple reports that most of the prevention measures that had been set up to protect villagers from the spread of the virus to rural areas were no longer being adhered to. The lack of accurate information about COVID-19 since the SAC took power has contributed to the sense that COVID-19 was no longer something villagers needed to be concerned about. “Since the military coup, even in our village and at the national level, people didn’t continue thinking about COVID-19 anymore. I myself didn’t continue thinking about it anymore.” --A village secretary in Noh T’Kaw Township, Dooplaya District The SAC has not only continued to provide inaccurate information, it has also restricted access to resources and services, and prevented other key actors from helping manage the spread of the virus and address the health needs of the people of Myanmar. Prior to the coup, the NLD government had been working to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, and began making plans for rolling out vaccinations. Because it is now the military government taking over this process, rural villagers are refusing the vaccination due to distrust of the military. “[W]e worry that the Myanmar military will mix something into the vaccine. […] So no one dares to get the vaccine.” --A villager from T’ Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District Chapter 5: Challenges to peace, democracy, and development The coup has had devastating effects on all aspects of daily life in Myanmar, creating impacts as individualised as lack of access to the internet and as widespread as a downturn in the national economy. By eroding possibilities for peace, democracy and development, these problems have touched the lives of all civilians, but have impacted rural villagers in particular ways. The coup involved not just a wider shift from elected civilian government to military dictatorship but also a replacement of local administrators with SAC-selected individuals. Replacing elected leaders with military-appointed ones not only serves to further undermine the democratic process, it erodes relationships of trust between local communities and the administrators that are supposed to serve and represent them. “Everything depends on the village administrator, because no matter how much you protect your village, if the village administrator works under the military government you can’t do anything. He will simply send information to the SAC.” --A villager from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District The coup has had harsh impacts on Myanmar’s economy, at both the individual and national levels. Civilians across Southeast Myanmar are experiencing job loss, higher prices on necessities, restrictions on travel, and loss of access to telecommunication systems, all of which are increasing food and livelihood insecurity. The CDM has had a large impact on education in Southeast Myanmar. After the SAC seized power, many teachers in government schools joined the CDM, so most of the government schools have had to close. Even when the SAC reopened some government schools on June 1st 2021, there was a shortage of both teachers and students. There have also been heavy impacts on access to healthcare. There are approximately 30,000 physicians in Myanmar, and about 20,000 work for the government hospitals. As a response to the coup, approximately 75 percent of those working in government facilities have joined the CDM and refused to work. “If people need to go for an operation and they are not allowed to go […] they will just die.” --Naw O--- from Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District The coup has also had an impact on access to information, through telecommunication interruptions and SAC control of news and media outlets. Telecommunication interruptions are particularly serious in rural areas where information is already limited to what people can access through their phone. Chapter 6: Moving forward Although there may have been early confidence that the Spring Revolution would be successful, there have been increasing divides regarding how the fight should go on. Many stressed the importance of continuing the fight until the end, and the need for more government staff to join the CDM. Others noted the lives already sacrificed. “People from Myanmar have died many times already. Therefore, we must not feel hesitation to die this time [for this cause]. If we are afraid to die this time [for this cause] and just do nothing about it [military dictatorship], our lives will be dead forever.” --An interviewee from Kawkareik Town For some, the coup has served as an awakening since it highlighted the oppression that ethnic minorities have faced at the hands of the military, as well as the level of violence the Myanmar military is capable of. In the eyes of many, a political solution involving negotiation with the military regime is not possible. Despite the sense that negotiation would not benefit civilians, some believe that the way forward is still through peaceful means. Others spoke of the necessity for well-planned self-defense and carefully executed offensives involving the collaboration of both the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and EAOs. Several interviewees highlighted the need for full inclusion of minority voices in any strategies and plans for moving forward. A strong emphasis was also placed on the need for a federal democracy that allows for self-determination as the only means of ensuring ethnic minority rights and equality. “I protested for my country to be free from military dictatorship, for my country to become a real federal democracy and for the ethnic minorities to receive equal rights. If we don’t have equal rights in this country while we are living in this country, there is no reason we could consider ourselves citizens of Myanmar.” --A KECD teacher in Dooplaya District Conclusion Information continues to pour in regarding incidents of violence, with increasing stories of torture, forced labour and killings in rural Southeast Myanmar. Fighting and attacks continue and are becoming more widespread. Many facing displacement are still not receiving support, and some have reported having little left to eat. Displacements are ongoing and the possibility of seeking refuge across the border in Thailand remains limited. Reports of illness-related deaths are being submitted, yet villagers are unsure whether this is due to COVID-19 or some other illness, since there is little availability of testing or medical care. Ethnic minorities want their voices to finally be heard, but also to be supported as they stand up for their own rights and for equality and justice. “We have had [in the past] to solve whatever we face in our own way and suffer it by ourselves. Therefore, people think no one will stand with or for them when they have any problems or face anything. […] [I]t is critical that civilians feel that they are being supported by others, that they are not alone in this fight. They need others to stand with them and beside them.” --An interviewee in Kawkareik Town Recommendations To the State Administration Council (SAC) Immediately step down and hand over power to the National Unity Government (NUG). End the crackdown, arrests and targeted attacks on protesters and CDM participants. Cease the halting and seizure of medical and humanitarian supplies intended to alleviate the COVID-19 and other humanitarian crises in Southeast Myanmar. Reverse the suspension of Sections 5, 7 and 8 of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of the Citizens (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 5/ 2017). Revoke amendments to the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law, the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (SAC Law Nos 3/2021, 5/2021 and 6/2021). End interruptions to communication services and the suppression of media freedom since this is a violation of the right to access information. Cease attacks on civilian areas, as well as patrols and military transports through, in or near villages or livelihood areas; demilitarise areas close to villages and farms by removing troops and camps. Stop all forms of forced labour, including using villagers as human shields, porters, and navigators; and refrain from making arbitrary demands on local communities such as demanding the use of their vehicles, boats or other property for military purposes. End arbitrary and illegal taxation practices, as well as the confiscation of civilian property for military and personal use. Ensure compliance with international humanitarian standards and human rights law; and end impunity by ensuring that any armed actor who has violated the rights of any person is held accountable for abuses in fair and transparent investigations and judicial processes in independent and impartial civilian courts. Put an end to clearance operations, as well as activities, commonly termed the “four cuts strategy”, that prevent civilian access to food, communication, aid and other basic necessities. To international organisations, NGOs, funding agencies, and foreign governments Refrain from giving any legitimacy to the military junta and from recognising them in any international forum. Exclude the SAC as a partner for the distribution of aid. Urge UN agencies in Myanmar to take a clear and strong position in responding to the situation on the ground, and to use all possible resources to limit the human rights abuses and violations undertaken by the SAC. Provide financial and technical support as needed for the NUG, including on international human rights laws and standards and other matters of governance. Consult and sign MoUs with the NUG and EAOs to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis across the country. Support a UN Security Council resolution on a global arms embargo. Diversify international funding distribution so that more funding is made directly available to non-state actors, particularly ethnic service providers and civil society organisations, regardless of their registration status. Prioritise methods of service delivery and communication that rely on local CSOs/CBOs and ethnic service providers that have the ability and networks (due to consistent access and trust from the community) for local implementation of support programmes. Recognize the complex logistics of service delivery and be willing to contribute to solutions proposed by local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers. Mitigate the impacts of displacement, armed conflict and insecurity on livelihood through increased support and initiatives that reduce the vulnerability of small farmers and day labourers. Support EHOs and other non-state health actors, both regarding COVID-19 prevention and treatment (including screening/testing and the running of quarantine facilities), and the provision of other essential health services in rural areas. Urge Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure that their authorities do not deny entry to people crossing the border seeking refuge; and encourage them to work with cross border organisations to develop support and protection services for those seeking refuge. Provide neighboring countries with the necessary resources and technical assistance to provide humanitarian aid, including for COVID-19, for the people from Myanmar who are fleeing the military violence. Engage with Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure the passage of aid to Myanmar, in particular through cross border aid organizations and local civil society organizations already operating in the area. Advocate for the release of political prisoners, including political actors, protesters, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and their family members. Insist that the Security Council refer Myanmar to the ICC or set up an ad hoc tribunal to ensure all perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass atrocities are prosecuted and that justice is attained for victims and survivors. To the SAC and EAOs/EAGs Put an immediate halt to the planting of landmines and ban all further use of landmines; mark all areas contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and inform the local communities of these locations for their safety. Comply with international humanitarian standards and human rights law, particularly with regard to the protection and safety of civilians..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
Date of publication: 2021-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Military Atrocities and Civilian Resilience: Testimonies of injustice, insecurity and violence in Southeast Myanmar during the 2021 coup (Press Release)
Description: "Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is pleased to announce the release of its latest report, Military Atrocities and Civilian Resilience: Testimonies of injustice, insecurity and violence in Southeast Myanmar during the 2021 coup. This report highlights the serious crimes committed by the Myanmar military and the deteriorating human rights, humanitarian, and human security crisis as a result of the brutal violence inflicted upon civilians in Southeast Myanmar and throughout Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021. This report also presents the hopes and struggles of rural villagers and civilians, demonstrating that, despite the increased insecurity they face, they continue to seek ways to counter a military regime that is illegal and unjust. Through interviews conducted with rural villagers as well as with participants in the protests and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), this report exposes the violence that the military-led State Administration Council (SAC) has used against protesters, and the ways in which protesters have vehemently continued to voice their opposition to the coup in the face of increasing brutality and repression by the military. Interviewees recounted stories of fear and insecurity as they encountered the ruthless response of the SAC to their efforts to defend their rights and the future of their country. And yet, they also expressed a strong sense of hope and an unwavering commitment to upholding the fight for federal democracy and freedom from oppression to the very end. This report also presents the increased insecurity in rural ethnic areas, where the Myanmar military has long used violence against civilian villagers as a key strategy in waging war against ethnic armed actors. This escalation of violence by the Myanmar military has led to the widespread displacement of villagers in Southeast Myanmar. It is estimated that, as of June 23rd, close to 177,000 villagers in Southeast Myanmar, including 50,000 in Karen State, have been displaced since the February 1st coup (with over 140,000 still experiencing displacement as of August 23rd, 2021). Also explored in this report are the wider impacts of the coup, like the breakdown of the healthcare system since the military coup and the SAC's restrictions on access to information and healthcare services vital to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. KHRG hopes this report will allow national and international stakeholders to understand better the impact the military coup has had on ethnic minorities in Southeast Myanmar. Included in the report are several recommendations for national and international stakeholders. These recommendations state how stakeholders can develop and implement policies that limit the power of the SAC; facilitate humanitarian access without working with the SAC; protect human rights; and promote accountability for international crimes..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
Date of publication: 2021-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: New Briefer from the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma Condemns Ongoing Attacks Against Innocent Civilians in Myanmar
Description: "For Immediate Release DATE: 24 November 2021 Civilians in Myanmar have unjustly been subjected to systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the military junta for decades. A new briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma), “Democracy Derailed in Myanmar,” details how the junta has curtailed attempts for democratic reform in Myanmar. A failed attempt at seizing control of the country by the Myanmar military on 1 February 2021 has left the country in desperate need of humanitarian assistance alongside worsening economic and social crises. With over 3 million civilians lacking critical life-saving materials including food, water and shelter in the midst of raging internal conflict, the Myanmar Generals have effectively left the most vulnerable in oblivion. Villages under martial-law, amid sweeping restrictions on movement and access to information, has made basic survival a daily challenge. Among ND-Burma’s findings, ongoing conflict in urban and rural areas, as well as the suppression of fundamental freedoms, including that of the press, and the mishandled COVID-19 response has led to the conclusion that the junta is on a war-path which includes the destruction and annihilation of anyone or anything that stands in their way. Using evidence collected by ND-Burma members including the Chin Human Rights Organization and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, and desk-research, it is abundantly clear that long held impunity is emboldening the junta to commit state-wide atrocities. Any government which uses violence to suppress basic rights and freedoms must be condemned in the harshest possible terms. It is unacceptable that civilians are fearing for their lives in the midst of a brutal, militarized civil war. Longstanding calls for their protection must be heard, and freedom of expression must not be used to derail civilian rights.
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of publication: 2021-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာ)နိုင်ငံမှ ထုတ်ပြန်သည့် အစီရင်ခံစာသစ်တွင် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအား စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့မှ ဆက်လက် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုကို ရှုံ့ချထားသည်
Description: "၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့ ဆယ်စုနှစ်များနှင့်ချီ၍ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ စနစ်တကျ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ကို မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် လက်မခံဘဲ ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) (ND-Burma) မှ ထုတ်ပြန်သည့် “ဒီမိုကရေစီလမ်းကြောင်းပေါ်မှ လမ်းချော်ခဲ့သောမြန် မာ” အစီရင်ခံစာတွင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုက မြန်မာ့ဒီမိုကရေစီ အကူးအပြောင်းအား မည်သို့ ဟန့် တားနှောင့်ယှက်နေသည်ကို တင်ပြထားသည်။ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ရက်တွင် အာဏာသိမ်း၍ တိုင်းပြည်အာဏာကို မတ ရား ရယူပြီးနောက် အလွန်စိုးရိမ်ဖွယ် လူသားချင်းစာနာသည့် အရေးပေါ်အကူအညီများ လိုအပ်ခြင်း နှင့်အတူ လူမှုရေး စီးပွားရေး ချွတ်ခြုံချ ဆိုးရွားလာသည်။ ပြင်းထန်သည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူ ၃ သန်းခန့်မှာ စားရေ ရိက္ခာ၊ ရေနှင့် နေထိုင်စရာ အပါအဝင် လူ့ဘဝအသက်ရှင်သန်ရေး အ တွက် လိုအပ်သည့်အထောက်အကူပစ္စည်းများ ကင်းမဲ့ ချို့တဲ့လျှက်ရှိပြီး စစ်ဗိုလ်ချုပ်ကြီးများသည် ထိခိုက်နစ်နာ အလွယ်ဆုံးသူများအားလည်း မေ့လျော့ပစ်ထားကြသည်။ စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးဥပဒေအောက်ရှိ ရွာသားများမှာ ခရီးသွားလာခွင့်နှင့် သတင်းအချက်အလက်ရရှိမှု အပေါ် တင်းကြပ် ကန့်သတ်ခံရခြင်းကြောင့် နေ့စဥ် အသက်ဆက် ရှင်သန်ရေးအတွက် အခက်အခဲ များနှင့် ကြုံတွေ့ရသည်။ ND-Burma မှ တွေ့ရှိချက်အရက် ကျေးလက်နှင့် မြို့ပြများတွင် ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသည့် တိုက်ပွဲများ၊ သတင်းလွတ်လပ်မှုအပါအဝင် အခြေခံလွတ်လွပ်ခွင့်များကို ဖိနှိပ်ခြင်းနှင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါကို ထိရောက်စွာ မကိုင်တွယ် မဖြေရှင်းနိုင်တို့က စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့သည် ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး ၄င်းတို့ရပ်တည်မှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သည့် မည်သူ့ကိုမဆို သုတ်သင်ချေမှုန်း ဖျက်ဆီးမည်ကို ပြသ နေသည်။ မွန်ပြည်လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဖောင်ဒေးရှင်းနှင့် ချင်းလူ့အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့အပါအဝင် ND-Burma အဖွဲ့ဝင်များမှ သက်သေအထောက်အထားများ မှတ်တမ်းတင် စုဆောင်းမှုအရ စစ်တပ်သည် ကာလကြာရှည် အသုံးပြုနေသည့် အပြစ်ရှိသူများအပေါ် အပြစ်ပေး အရေးယူခြင်းမရှိမှုကြောင့် နိုင်ငံနှင့်ချီ၍ ကျယ်ပြန့်သည့် ကြမ်းကြုတ်ရက်စက်မှုများကို ဆက်လက်ကျူးလွန်နေသည်မှာ ထင်ရှားသည်။ မည်သည့်အစိုးရမဆို အခြေခံအခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်များအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် ချိုးဖောက် လာပါက အပြင်းထန်ဆုံး စကားလုံးများဖြင့် ပစ်တင်ရှုံ့ချရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး စစ်အင်အား တိုးချဲ့ချထား တပ်လွှမ်းမိုးသည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူများသည် ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ ဘေးကင်း လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်နေရသည်မှာ လက်ခံနိုင်စရာ အကြောင်းမရှိပေ။ ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် ကာလကြာရှည် တောင်းဆိုနေမှုကို မဖြစ်မနေ နားထောင်ရ မည်ဖြစ်ပြီး လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်မှာလည်း နိုင်ငံသားအခွင့်အရေးမှ လမ်းချော်သွားရမည် မဟုတ်ပေ။..."
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of publication: 2021-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: All-women militia formed in Myanmar’s Sagaing region in response to military violence
Sub-title: Fighters say the group empowers women, who have been targeted by soldiers in village raids.
Description: "Activists in Myanmar’s Sagaing region have formed the country’s first women-only anti-junta militia, a collection of students, teachers, farmers and white-collar workers fighting to take back the country from well-armed government troops who toppled the democratically elected government in a Feb. 1 coup. Hera, 16, said she quit high school to take a position as commander in the Myaung Women Guerrilla Group (MWGG) after watching soldiers attack unarmed protesters and civilians. “The local civilians must flee their homes when the soldiers arrived in the village,” she said. “I shed tears whenever I see them in the refugee camps, and it motivates me to fight. I have no fear because I was willing to give up my life when I signed up to be in the group. I want to fight for democracy.” The military has launched offensives throughout Myanmar’s remote border regions that are under the control of ethnic armies and anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) militias, and reports suggest that troops regularly raid villages, looting and burning homes and attacking civilians. Junta security forces have killed 1,275 civilians since taking over in a Feb. 1 coup, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. At least 80 of those killed were women, the group said. Last week, soldiers allegedly raped two young women in Chin state’s Tedim township, prompting rights groups to decry the military’s use of “sexual violence as a weapon” since the coup. A member of the MWGG who gave her name as Amera told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the group was launched in Sagaing’s Myaung township last month to empower women who might otherwise be preyed upon by raiding troops. “It is assumed that women’s hands are meant for the rocking the cradle, but we want to show to the people that our hands are also capable of armed resistance to the military regime,” she said. “Besides, we women face discrimination in many ways, given the situation in the country. All in all, we have come out to break down the barriers that limit the role of women in society.” Amera said that MWGG fighters now regularly participate in operations using explosives and “exterminating military informers.” A MWGG platoon commander named Athena told RFA that she took up arms to serve in her brother’s place after he was killed in a mine explosion during a militia training drill. “My family members were worried at first and they asked me to come back home after my brother died. But I decided not to go home until democracy has been restored,” she said. Women in resistance movements Many women have taken part in anti-junta movements since the coup, with some joining the armed resistance and others peacefully protesting the military regime. On Sept. 6, 11 women-led protest groups from Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, and towns in Sagaing joined together to form the Women Allied Forces. A woman protest leader who organized daily actions against the military coup in Monywa told RFA that the formation of an all-women militia is a significant milestone in the resistance movement. “The situation [since the coup] has led us to demonstrate that women can do the same jobs as men. I think these resistance movements bring more equality and may help to eliminate discrimination in the future,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “Some people think it is not so special that women participate in protests. But it is extraordinary to see the women bravely fighting in militia group. They have made their mark in the history of the resistance movement.”..."
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Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Soldiers use civilians as ‘human shields’ during raids on villages in Magway Region
Sub-title: Some of those captured have since been released, but troops told locals they would kill the others if they heard gunfire near their villages
Description: "Junta soldiers used 13 civilians including a teenaged boy as human shields during raids on villages in the Magway Region Township of Yesagyo on Wednesday, according to residents. The troops, who were from Light Infantry Division (LID) 101, raided at least 11 villages in the township, which sits at the confluence of Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers in central Myanmar. Several locals told Myanmar Now the soldiers were hunting for members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF). The civilians they detained also included two women and 10 men. About 60 LID 101 soldiers based in Pakokku, 47km from Yesagyo, occupied the villages of Min Ywar and Ngatayaw on Monday and another 60 joined them the next day before Wednesday’s raids began, the Yesagyo PDF said. Citing eyewitnesses, a leader from the Yesagyo PDF, said that 10 of the 13 people used as human shields were taken from the village of Hlaykhoke. “We were informed that soldiers tied the hands of those ten locals behind their backs and asked them to walk in front of them,” he said. About 3,000 residents from Yesagyo reportedly fled the raids, according to a Hlaykhoke villager who is among those displaced. Five of the 13 detained, two women and three middle-aged men, were released around 8pm on Wednesday, said the Hlaykhoke local and a resident of Ngatayaw village. The other eight, including a 15-year-old boy, remain in detention, they added. “One of the two women released said soldiers let them go but told them that they would kill all the remaining captives immediately if they hear the sound of gunfire near the village,” said the Hlaykhoke villager. “They just wanted to inform us that they had been released and told us to flee to avoid being arrested,” he said. On Thursday morning, soldiers entered the village of Ngatayaw and ransacked houses belonging to members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said the Ngatayaw local. The raids came four days after a coalition of local defence forces attacked a police outpost in Pakan Nge, 20km south of Yesagyo, and seized two motorcycles and two rifles before setting the outpost on fire. Locals said that junta forces told them they would not stop their attacks until they found the weapons that the PDF members seized from the outpost. The Yesagyo PDF on Monday released a video of locals clapping for PDF fighters returning from the attack in Pakan Nge. Lin Yone, the leader of a group involved in the attack called the Phoenix Guerrilla Force, said that the raid on the villages on Wednesday was likely fuelled by the video footage. “I think the military was checking around the villages in Yesagyo due to this video file in which the people are welcoming us without any fear,” said Lin Yone. Pakan Nge is on the western side of the Chindwin River and the villages raided by the junta forces on Wednesday are located on the eastern side of the waterway. In August, the military carried out clearance operations in several of Magway’s townships, including Yesagyo, Myaing, Gangaw and Pauk, to quell armed resistance to its rule. Resistance fighters in the region have launched numerou attacks on junta troops in recent months..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Mandalay Region teacher participating in CDM dies hours after arrest by the junta
Sub-title: The 40-year-old high school teacher was taken into military custody at 11am—by 5pm his family was notified that he had died
Description: "A teacher from Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township who had been taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. Within hours, his family was notified that he had died at an interrogation centre. Zaw Min Aung, 40, was a high school teacher participating in a general strike across Myanmar in accordance with the CDM, which aims to topple the junta that seized power in February’s military coup. He was arrested from his home in Myintha village at around 11am by a large group of soldiers and policemen. A local teacher told Myanmar Now that the victim’s family was notified at around 5pm by officials from the police station in the nearby village of Kyar Nyat that he had died. “We were only told that he died during the interrogation. We don’t know the exact cause of his death. His body was all wrapped up with only his face exposed,” the teacher said, adding that Zaw Min Aung was reportedly cremated at the Kyar Nyat cemetery. Another local said that it was likely that Zaw Min Aung was wrongly flagged by a military informant as being involved in the anti-coup movement beyond his participation in the CDM, and was subsequently targeted. “He was a very honest and quiet person. He liked to help people, too. His only political action was taking part in the CDM. I think he was tipped off to the military by an informant,” the local man said. Another Myintha resident, 30-year-old Moe Kyaw, was also arrested for shouting warnings to villagers that junta troops had arrived on Wednesday. He was later released from the Kyar Nyat police station, but was reportedly tortured during his interrogation, another villager told Myanmar now. Of Zaw Min Aung, the latter villager said, “it saddens me a lot to see that a teacher from our village had to face such a fate.” Myanmar Now tried to contact the Kyar Nyat police station in Thabeikkyin regarding the arrests and the teacher’s death, but all calls went unanswered. Zaw Min Aung leaves behind a wife and two young sons. Other teachers participating in the CDM have been recently targeted in Mandalay Region, arrested and killed in military custody. Thein Zaw, a teacher from Kin village in Madaya Township, was accused of supporting the anti-coup People’s Defence Force and kidnapped by the military on October 6. He was forced to guide his captors to his home three days later, and was killed en route. His body was disposed of by the junta’s armed forces near the village cemetery. Win Lwin, from Ywar Bo village in Sintgaing Township was also arrested on November 1 and died one day later in military custody. Villagers in Leik San Khun in Amarapura Township tore up a notice posted on the junta’s local administration office, threatening teachers with death if they did not return to work. Soldiers responded by carrying out a raid on a group of locals preparing for a wedding, and beating those present. Thabeikkyin Township was once the site of mass demonstrations against military rule, but the protests waned after leaders were forced into hiding by the junta’s crackdowns..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-11-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Soldiers take 13-year-old boy hostage in bid to force his father to hand himself in
Sub-title: The troops also badly beat Htay Aung’s wife when they raided his home in Mandalay Region
Description: "Police took a 13-year-old boy hostage from a village in Mandalay’s Amarapura Township on Sunday when they were unable to find and arrest his father, who is a local member of the National League for Democracy (NLD). locals said. The police officers also badly beat the wife of Htay Aung, who is in hiding after fleeing his village of Kantaw. “The wife was covered in blood from their beatings,” said a local man who wanted to remain anonymous. “When the family went to the junta’s administrator to ask about the child, they told them that they would release the kid if the father turned himself in.” The boy was reportedly being held at Myitnge police station as of Wednesday. Another villager said it was unclear why junta authorities are targeting Htay Aung. “The man is not even a party leader, he’s just a regular member,” the local said. “We don’t know why they were looking for him so desperately. Our best guess is that a military informant named him.” In October, soldiers put up notices containing death threats at the local administration office in the Yay Kyi Pauk village tract, where Kantaw is situated. The notice ordered teachers taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) to return to work, the two locals said. Villagers tore up the notices and were later beaten by soldiers for doing so, they added. Last week the same thing happened in the nearby village of Leik San Khun; villagers tore up notices containing death threats to teachers who refuse to return to work and were then beaten by soldiers. The Mandalay regional police force did not answer calls seeking comment on the detained boy. The coup regime has taken dozens of family members hostage, including young children, in a bid to force its opponents to give themselves up in recent months. Last week a man was killed in detention after junta authorities in Madaya Township detained him because they were unable to find his nephew..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-11-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Diplomacy Training Program (Myanmar Diaspora, Human Rights Advocacy, Capacity Building Program)
Description: "It is a true pleasure to join you this evening to mark the opening of the Myanmar Diaspora, Human Rights Advocacy, Capacity Building Program. I have been involved in organising similar training courses for Burmese activists in Thailand. As a facilitator and co-organizer of these trainings, I was very impressed with the DTP program and, of course, I am a great fan of Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta. We shared the same vision and mission for human rights and for democracy. I take great pride in now addressing a DTP course as the National Unity Government’s (NUG) Minister of Human Rights. Some of you are joining us from inside Myanmar, where you continue to fight for freedom, rights and democracy at great personal risk. This takes tremendous courage and I thank you for your commitment to our people and to our nation. As of today, at least 1,260 of our people, including children, have been killed by the military junta. Another 10,143 have been arrested, while 7,251 remain in detention subject to torture, disappearances and sexual violence. Another 65 people have been sentenced to death by military tribunals. Senior United Nations officials, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar have held the military responsible for a human rights catastrophe. They have also said that the military’s atrocities likely comprise crimes against humanity and war crimes. This is because their attacks are deliberate, widespread and systematic, target civilians, and are conducted in the full knowledge of the junta leadership. To repeat, these crimes include murder, rape, severe deprivation of physical liberty, and enforced disappearances. Tragically, for so many in Myanmar, the fight for human rights has come at the cost of their lives or freedom. My own story goes back to 1988 and that revolution of our generation. The military’s atrocities drove us into the jungles and then, just as now, the youth were forced to take up arms to fight for their survival. For many years I was exiled from our homeland, as I am again now. And just as then, I remain committed to the overthrow of the military. It was in the jungle camps that I first grasped the true meaning of human rights. At the 1988 protests, we would shout for democracy, shout for human rights, but I did not yet have a true sense of what these things were. Out of a hunger for knowledge, we set up a "Jungle University” in our camp that was filled with donated books. Here I found a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it was unlike anything I had read. It spoke of equality and it challenged discrimination. Amongst all the suffering and violations that I saw around me, human rights finally made sense. I began to collect people’s stories and to document their experiences to share with the world. To shine light on the military’s crimes against its own people. As this effort grew, I got the opportunity to study at Columbia University and, from there, I started the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB). Our mission at HREIB was to share knowledge, to teach human rights in meaningful ways, and to equip future generations to keep the world aware of the people’s struggle. Over the years, we trained thousands of participants. Today, we all face a new struggle. We are part of a new Spring Revolution. Our country and our people are suffering terribly. We must rebuild our nation. Each of us has been given the gift of education and opportunity. This DTP course is a new opportunity, and with that comes responsibility: a responsibility to do all you can with this new knowledge in service to our country and to all those denied such opportunities. We must never stop learning, also it is important that we must never stop working for Myanmar. This Program also comes at an exceptionally important time. I express my gratitude to the DTP for generously holding it, and to the NUG Representative Office in Australia, led by Dr. Tun Aung Shwe, for its extraordinary efforts in support. Myanmar needs a new generation of human rights defenders and advocates, and that is what this course will equip you to be. For our part, the NUG remains committed to bringing the military junta’s crimes to the world’s attention and to pursuing accountability. We are engaging with the very bodies that you will learn about - the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council - as we fight for recognition as the legitimate representative of the people, and as we urge the international community to take desperately needed action against the criminal military junta. In closing, I wish you a very successful course and I thank you again for your leadership, for your courage, and for your service to the Myanmar people..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Human Rights
Date of publication: 2021-11-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ချင်းပြည်နယ်၊ တီးတိန်မြို့နယ်၊ အပ်လွယ်ကျေးရွာတွင် မီးနေသည် အမျိုးသမီးတစ်ဦးအား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ တပ်သားများမှ အုပ်စုလိုက် မုဒိမ်းကျင့်ခြင်းနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ အမျိုးသမီးများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) မှ ပြင်းထန်စွာ ရှုတ်ချခြင်း
Source/publisher: Women's League of Burma
Date of publication: 2021-11-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Freedom from Fear - Democracy in Myanmar “Human rights and international law: the duty of commitment"
Description: "It is an honour to join you today as the National Unity Government’s (NUG) Minister of Human Rights. It is a great pleasure to be with you in Parma and I join my colleagues in thanking you for the invitation. The Myanmar people have shown tremendous courage in opposing the military junta through civil disobedience and organised resistance. Tragically, this has come at the cost of lives and freedoms. Your support continues to give us strength. Human rights situation in Myanmar Myanmar is facing a human rights catastrophe. Since the military junta launched its failed coup d’etat on 1 February, it has committed some of the worst crimes against the Myanmar people. At 13 November 2021: • at least 1260 civilians had been killed, many of them children • at least 7251 people were in detention, with reports of deaths in custody, torture and mistreatment, sexual violence, and the denial of medical treatment • and a total of 65 people - including 2 children - had received death sentences. • Arrest warrants had been issued for another 1954 people. Furthermore, over the past 10 months: Children have been taken hostage with their family members, tortured, and killed in the street. Villages In Chin State, Karenni State, Sagaining Division, Magwe Division and Tenessarim Divisions have been targeted with air strikes and artillery, and set ablaze. Entire communities have been displaced, resulting in new waves of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), some driven into neighbouring countries. And COVID-19 has been weaponised by the junta, with medical treatment and COVID-19 vaccines withheld in an attempt to gain military advantage. Furthermore, these crimes have been accompanied by the military’s infamous “four cuts strategy”, which has cut off communities and presumed insurgents from funding, food, intelligence and recruits, including through internet blackouts. This has raised a genocide alarm in Chin State and Kareni State, and there is limited time for the international community to act. Left unchecked, we could see atrocities on an unprecedented scale in modern Myanmar. A determined international response is required. This is a perfect storm of violations. And, significantly, these acts comprise crimes against humanity because: • They are widespread and systematic • They have been directed against civilians • And they have been conducted with the knowledge and at the orders of the junta leadership. And, as we meet here today, there is every indication that these atrocities will escalate. The Special Rapporteur on Myanmar has also warned that the military’s tactics in the country’s north and northwest are “ominously reminiscent" of those it used before its genocidal attacks against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017. Crimes against humanity In September 2021, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights held the military responsible for a 'human rights catastrophe' that included widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Also in September, the Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) told the UN’s Human Rights Council that analysis of collected materials showed that the military's crimes were 'widespread and systematic in nature'. More recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar confirmed to the UN General Assembly that the Myanmar military had engaged in probable crimes against humanity and war crimes. 1. Actions taken by the NUG The NUG has taken a series of steps to bring these crimes to the world’s attention and to pursue accountability. For instance: (a) The NUG continues to report on the human rights situation through public reports, statements, and by engaging with UN fora and experts, including the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, the IIMM, and the UN’s Human Rights Office (b) The NUG has submitted an Article 12(3) Declaration to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This Declaration accepts the ICC’s jurisdiction over international crimes committed in Myanmar since 1 July 2002 (c) The NUG is cooperating with the International Court of Justice in The Gambia vs. Myanmar hearing on the Genocide Convention (d) And the NUG has developed a Code of Conduct to ensure that all defensive actions respect international norms. 2. Recommendations Despite the scale and nature of the military’s atrocities and their clear threat to international and regional peace and security, an international response has been tragically lacking. There are three immediate steps that Italy, as part of the international community, can take in support of the Myanmar people: (1) NUG recognition The first step, also raised by the Minister of Health and Education, is NUG recognition. This recognition is a critical step to stopping the atrocities, to protecting civilians, and to holding perpetrators to account. Here, following efforts by the EU Parliament, the French Senate and the US Congress, the Italian Parliament could recognise the NUG as the official Government of Myanmar, and pressure the Italian Government to do the same. The General Assembly’s Credentials Committee is currently considering Myanmar’s representation. Italy also has a vital role to play at the General Assembly and in other UN fora. (2) Accountability The NUG continues to urge the Security Council to adopt a resolution that targets impunity, supports accountability efforts, and starves the junta of cash and arms. The Italian Government could publicly and politically support these efforts. (3) Humanitarian response As the Minister of Health and Education outlined, humanitarian assistance - including medicines and vaccines - is urgently needed. Conclusion As a final point, the Italian public and media also have incredibly important roles to play through awareness raising, keeping attention on the situation in Myanmar, and through encouraging their political representatives to act in support of the Myanmar people. I thank you again for your solidarity and support..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Human Rights
Date of publication: 2021-11-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: AAPP Press Release: 10,000 Documented Detentions Since 1 February
Description: "This morning AAPP documented the detention of 10,000 civilians by the military Junta in its crackdown on the pro-democracy struggle. These are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and other loved ones who chose to resist an illegitimate 1 February coup attempt. Yet, these are only 10,000 individuals documented by AAPP. Our organization knows there are many more. On April 24, the military told an ASEAN leaders’ summit 9,948 had been detained and 4,511 were already released. But the so-called SAC tries deception with unconditional releases. On June 30, the military said they would release 2,342 protestors, although only 370 have been identified. Again, on October 18, announcing 5,636 would be released. However, AAPP has confirmed 4,075, with only 1,199 identified. All of those released were forced to sign 401(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, threatening them with harsher sentences in any future arrest. According to these past announcements by the Junta, 12,489 political detainees have been released since the coup. But there is a crater sized gap between reality and what this Junta tells the world. As of November 11, at least 150 have been killed in custody, some within 24 hours through brutal interrogation methods, others locked in an overcrowded jail and denied necessary medical treatment during a pandemic. Yet all the detained will be mentally and physically tortured. Even those they take hostage when their relatives cannot be found. 244 people have been arrested as hostages since the coup, 194 of them remain detained. The youngest is an infant under 1-years-old. As of our sources, prison conditions are ruthless, with corruption everywhere. There is not enough quality food to eat or space to sleep. Detainees need to pay bribes to avoid degrading or harsh labor, denied even the most basic human dignity. Fundamentally, the 10,000 civilians arrested were not criminals, they are students, doctors, journalists, teachers, striking workers, politicians, lawyers, civil servants. People who do not want a return to harsh authoritarian rule. ASEAN’s ‘Five-Point Consensus’ to deal with the [military inflicted] political, economic, and social crisis ignored the escalating numbers of political prisoners. The first talking point must be the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Arbitrary detentions began this illegitimate coup, the continued existence of political prisoners is the barometer of democracy in Burma. As long as there are political prisoners there can be no national reconciliation..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021`-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Crimes Committed by the Terrorist Junta in October
Description: "In the nine months since the coup, we have seen an intensification of inhumane acts committed by the terrorist-like junta. The military are violently raiding towns and villages, causing civilian casualties across all states and regions. Children have not been spared. After being arbitrarily arrested, civilians are often forced to pay a ransom for their release. Those in refugee camps face threats and harassment, and torture is systematically committed against innocents. These acts of terror are perpetrated by the junta, to instill fear in the population. On October 18, the terrorist group announced they would release (1316) people who had been sentenced and (4320) people who were facing trial, a total (5636) arbitrary detainees. The releases were achieved because of political pressure by ASEAN and the international community, but this was never an absolute amnesty, they were conditional releases. According to AAPP documentation, as of October 31, only (4072) were released, (122) of whom have been re-arrested. The number of re-arrests is likely to be higher, as some releases have not yet been identified by AAPP. In October, a church and at least 400 houses in Thantlang, Falam and Mindat Townships in Chin State were set on fire by the junta. The military denied responsibility for the arson that occured in Thantlang Township, on October 29. However, a spokesman for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) threatened the public on social media, “to see the Thantlang incident as an example of what is to come”. In fact, the junta is also targeting National League for Democracy MP’s, officials, and supporters. The NLD Party which won the largest number of votes in the November 2020 election. In October, at least 10 NLD offices were attacked. The junta has also broken into NLD offices, looting items, committing arson and setting off bombs. At least 25 properties owned by Hluttaw representatives, NLD members, and ordinary civilians such as hotels, hospitals, houses and shops, were illegally seized by the junta in October. Arrests According to AAPP documentation, (319) civilians were detained by the terrorist junta between October 1 and 31. (80) women were detained, and (27) were taken as hostages, including (9) children, under the age of 18. In Mandalay, the Monk Union has been protesting daily against the military coup. On October 2, at around 1:30 pm, some 10 junta soldiers, armed and in plain clothes, arrived at Mya Taung Monastery in two cars. The military troops used a car to crack down on the protesting monks. During the crackdown, five monks were forced to change into normal clothes and were beaten, held at gunpoint and arrested. The same night, three other civilians were searched and arrested by the junta. Families continue to be held as hostages on a daily basis. At the beginning of this attempted coup, the wife and nine-year-old daughter of a Naypyidaw-based police superintendent, who was involved in CDM, were arrested. Still, no one knows where they are being detained. When a father was not found in Thayet Chaung Township, Tanintharyi Region, his wife and two children, aged two and six-years-old, were arrested and detained on October 9. Killings In October, at least (79) civilians were killed in the junta’s targeted attacks. This includes (6) women and (3) children, under the age of 18. Of those, (17) died as a result of torture. On the morning of October 1, around 100 terrorist junta soldiers raided Pyindaung village in Khin Oo Township, Sagaing Region, and chased the fleeing villagers. Five villagers, including a five-year-old boy, were shot dead in a field in the village. Houses were destroyed. Tractors, five cars, 40 motorbikes, rice and oil, were also stolen by the junta. Ko Kyaw Naing Tun a.k.a Ah Nge Lay, who was released from Magway Central Prison on October 19, was re-arrested at his home in Magway on October 27, on suspicion of killing the Aung Metta ward administrator. The family was notified to retrieve his dead body on October 28. Police say he died due to COVID, but his body and head (especially his back), were covered with injuries consistent with torture. This is but a summary of human rights violations committed by the terrorist junta group in October. In this climate of fear, similar atrocities have been widely perpetrated across the country, amounting to crimes against humanity..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-11-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 751.29 KB
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