Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma

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Title: UN Reiterates Call for Health Workers and Facilities to be Protected [EN/MY]
Topic: Health, Safety and Security
Topic: Health, Safety and Security
Description: "The United Nations in Myanmar warns of the impact on public health, including the COVID-19 response, from attacks on medical personnel and facilities, and reiterates its call for health workers, health facilities and patients to be protected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global surveillance system, since the beginning of February there have been 158 reported attacks on health care, resulting in 11 deaths and 51 injuries. This is currently the majority of reported attacks on health care services worldwide since the beginning of 2021. Some 83 attacks impacted facilities, 21 attacks impacted ambulances, 76 attacks impacted health personnel, and 73 attacks impacted patients. The global tracking system cumulatively lists 51 health facilities across Myanmar as having been under occupation by security forces. At least 31 of these facilities remain currently occupied and have reported a drop in the number of people seeking medical care. Meanwhile, at least 139 doctors believed to be participating in civil disobedience have reportedly been charged under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code. These include highly specialized health personnel whose expertise cannot easily be replaced, which will significantly impact both the quality and quantity of health services available. Attacks on health care pose a grave risk for the delivery of essential health services, as well as for the COVID-19 response, with potential devastating consequences for Myanmar and beyond. At a time when Myanmar needs them the most, health workers fear arrest or detention for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. “The United Nations in Myanmar stands ready to continue its support of the national COVID-19 response but this requires a return to the comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic previously underway, that the inviolable nature of health facilities and health workers and patients is respected, and the immediate release of urgently needed medical and technical personnel detained or arrested while exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Andrew Kirkwood, acting interim United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, said. The United Nations Country Team in Myanmar consists of FAO, ILO, IOM, ITC, OHCHR, OCHA, UNAIDS, UNCDF, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNODC, UNOPS, UNV, UN WOMEN, WFP, and WHO..."
Source/publisher: UN Country Team in Myanmar via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 6 May, (772) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. These 3 from Pyay Township in Bago Region, Gangaw Township in Magway Region and Meiktila Township in Mandalay Region were killed on previous days 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 May 6, a total of (3738) people are currently under detention; of them (84) are sentenced. 1478 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. It has been 95 days since the military coup, people have been protesting daily against the military dictatorship for a return to democracy, peace and human rights. Many people have been killed and injured, and face various atrocities and threats. On 6 May, demonstrations and strikes continued across Burma. In Pazundaung Township, Yangon Region, the “Yay Kyaw strike” was crackdown and followed by patrol cars and motorcycles but the protestors successfully got away. At noon today, in Myittha Township, Mandalay Region, a military and the police detention vehicle arrived and searched Dar Kaung village, forcing most of the local youths to flee. In the crackdown on the village, one person was shot by a rubber bullet and another was arrested. Yesterday evening and night, the junta group was shooting unprovoked but intentionally at civilians around Burma, some were wounded and killed. Yesterday in the afternoon, in Aungmyaythazan Township, Mandalay Region, the junta shot at a motorcycle driver because he did not stop. He got away but a woman was shot and killed while she was waiting to get her covid vaccination. Last night, in Meiktila town, Mandalay Region, a civilian on a motorcycle was shot dead. Further details of the fallen man are still being investigated. When civilians are arrested, they get inhumanely tortured. It is a crime committed by many dictatorships. Last night, a young man was taken out of the house for questioning, at the end of the street he was brutally beaten. They put clothes in his mouth while beating him, after he was taken away the parents were told to give 2 million kyats for him to be returned. As the family were preparing this, they got a phone call to come and confirm his dead body at the hospital. This young man’s dead body had neck and face injuries consistent with torture. The family were not allowed to bury the body. Yesterday in Lashio Township, Shan State, a social media video emerged which showed the junta group arresting and beating youths. In Thamantaw village, Magway Region, the junta destroyed villagers’ storage of rice, and sesame and cooking oil, now the villagers are experiencing food shortages. The village elders were forced to shout words from the “Spring Revolution Song”. They were beaten, whilst some other villagers fled, the junta beat a young man to death from Thamantaw village. Since the coup, these barbaric incidents are carried out in public, and in secret by the terrorist regime. The right to life and security is a fundamental right, as long as dictatorship continues people’s daily lives will always be threatened. On May 5, it was announced that the General Administration Department (GAD) is now under control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This move is to effectively make the village/ward administration level (which is the principal direct engagement with people at local level) under the control of the central administration, in order for the junta to govern effectively. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-05-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson, The National Unity Government of Myanmar Address to the German Parliamentarian Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Needs
Description: "Thank you to so much for having me here at this critical moment in Myanmar. It is an honor to address the Parliament of Germany through these vital important Committees. I am here to brief you on the deepening catastrophic developments crisis in Myanmar that followed the illegal coup d'etat of 1 February. But I also come with a direct appeal from the people of Myanmar: Please support us in this, our darkest hour. Your solidarity and supports in these difficult times mean to us life. We are nearing 100 days since that fateful day when Min Aung Hlaing murderer in chief and his henchmen shattered our democratic aspirations in Myanmar. On that day, like many people in Myanmar, I feared for my life but have survived. Many have not been as fortunate. Since that horrible day, the coup leaders' forces have murdered nearly 800 patriots Nation's heroes of Myanmar and detained over 4,700, with 3,700 of my brothers and sisters currently imprisoned including our State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and our President U Win Myint . Please take note: I say the "coup leaders' forces" and not "Myanmar military forces" because the people of Myanmar have made clear they do not recognize these forces as their own. Indeed, the mission of a nation's military is to protect and defend its people. The forces under the command of murderer in chief, Min Aung Hlaing are doing precisely the opposite - murdering, maiming and arbitrarily detaining the people of Myanmar in ever growing numbers. The people of Myanmar view Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as a terrorist organization inflicting devastation on our country and our people. They are detaining people without cause, without explanation, and without hearings. They are beating and murdering on the streets of Myanmar and torturing in prisons. Reports of gender-based violence while in detention are on the rise, with rapes and sexual torture occurring in prisons and on the streets. This should come as no surprise as for decades the Tatmadaw used rape as a weapon against ethnic nationalities in Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Shan, Mon, Rakhine and Chin States..."
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Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication: 2021-05-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Junta Bans Satellite Television
Topic: Crisis and Conflict, Press Freedom, Peace and Justice, Technology and Rights
Sub-title: Adds to Severe Restrictions on the Internet, Media
Topic: Crisis and Conflict, Press Freedom, Peace and Justice, Technology and Rights
Description: "The Myanmar junta added a ban on satellite television to existing restrictions on the internet and media, tightening its grip over information in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 4, 2021, the ruling State Administration Council announced that anyone using satellite dishes to watch television faces up to one year in prison or a fine of K500,000 (US$320). The military junta claimed that “illegal organizations and news agencies” were broadcasting programs via satellite that threaten state security. The ban appears targeted at independent Burmese language broadcasters such as the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima, which have continued broadcasting via satellite since the junta revoked their operating licenses in March. The ban will also affect foreign news channels broadcast via satellite into Myanmar. “The satellite TV ban is a blatant attempt to deny access to independent news broadcasts and further isolate Myanmar’s people,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal advisor. “The junta should immediately withdraw its outrageous blanket censorship and end its relentless assault on news reporting.” The ban on satellite television is part of the military’s full-scale attack on the country’s media, Human Rights Watch said. On May 4, the junta also announced it was banning two more media outlets, Kachin-based 74 Media and Shan-based Tachileik News Agency, increasing the number of banned media outlets to eight. Many of those outlets, including 74 Media and Tachileik News, have responded with defiance to the junta’s bans, vowing to continue their reporting. In addition to banning media outlets, the security forces have aggressively targeted journalists for arrest. At least 71 journalists have been arrested since the February 1 coup, of whom at least 48 remain in detention. The authorities have charged many of those detained, including Japanese freelance reporter Yuki Kitazumi, with violating a new provision in the penal code adopted by the junta that makes it a crime to publish or circulate comments that “cause fear” or spread “false news.” Those convicted face up to three years in prison. The authorities have imposed severe restrictions on the internet, making it very difficult for people to access or to share information. Mobile internet data and wireless broadband have been turned off for more than six weeks, and Facebook and other social media platforms popular in Myanmar have been blocked since the coup. “The Myanmar junta’s increasingly desperate efforts to block those inside the country from accessing independent news and information won’t hide the truth about its ongoing violations of rights,” Lakhdhir said. “Concerned governments should use their wide array of tools, including arms embargos and targeted sanctions, to pressure the junta to end its rights abuses and bring those responsible to account.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: At military camps in the Myanmar jungle, doctors and students learn how to fire guns
Description: "A dozen armed recruits crawl along a dusty pathway, the cicadas masking any sound of their approach towards their target, a small village in the jungles of Myanmar. The ambush scenario is fabricated but the threat they are training for is real: a military junta that seized power in a coup on February 1, and embarked on a brutal crackdown on any perceived opposition to its rule. Many of those who have fled to the jungles are members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) -- which has seen thousands of white- and blue-collar workers, including medics and teachers, as well as engineers and factory workers, leave their jobs to disrupt the economy in resistance to the coup. Now they want to know how to defend themselves from Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, which continues to shoot people dead in the streets, has deployed rocket-propelled grenades and mortars against its own citizens, and hunts those wanted for arrest in terrifying nighttime raids on homes, according to the UN. So they have traveled to the county's borderlands, to areas control by ethnic armed groups that have been fighting the military, central government and each other for greater rights and autonomy, on and off for 70 years, to be taught how to fire a gun. Maj. Gen. Nerdah Bo Mya is chief of staff of the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), one of two armed wings of the Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar's oldest rebel group that claims to protect the ethnic minority Karen people and their territory in southeastern Karen state. He heads up a free basic training program. "This is a responsibility to protect life," he said. "If we don't train them who's going to help them?" The increasingly violent tactics used against protesters and bystanders has led to more than 760 deaths, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), although they say the actual death toll is likely far higher. Nerdah Bo Mya said not one of the 200 anti-coup protesters he has trained had held a gun before and many were still in college. "They're quite young, their age is around 24, 25 -- and some are nurses and also some doctors and medical staff," he said. As well as being told how to handle weapons, they are prepared for the physical hardships of combat, shown first aid techniques and taught basic marksmanship. The KNDO is not the only armed ethnic group offering CDM members training. Footage from a number of ethnic areas shows recruits chanting slogans, such as "for the people," "for our freedom" and "for our independence." The military junta has not responded to CNN's request for comment on these camps. On May 4, however, the military leadership published a statement in the state-run New Light of Myanmar calling on those who had traveled to ethnic areas or overseas to come home.....Basic training for anti-coup protesters: Once they have received the training, the idea is for the men and women to return to their cities and pass on their knowledge to fellow protesters. One 18-year-old, who was manning a roadblock in the city of Bago last month when dozens were killed by the military, said many of his comrades had traveled to the ethnic areas for training. He had stayed behind. Asking to remain anonymous for his safety, the teenager said: "We have two groups, one to protect the neighborhood and another went to get the training and they will come back and teach us what they have learned.": Nerdah Bo Mya acknowledges it is a very one-sided battle on the streets of Myanmar. "We told them they have to be wise and we have to fight with our head and not with our heart," he said, acknowledging that the Tatmadaw is a highly trained fighting force. It ruled Myanmar for more than half a century through brutality and fear, turning the country into a poverty-stricken pariah nation. Nerdah Bo Mya said the CDM members need weapons to have a chance against the Tatmadaw, but would not say whether his group had provided any -- or whether bomb-making was part of the course. He criticized China and Russia for enabling the military leadership, saying the rest of the world needs to support the CDM movement, and singled out the United States. China and Russia are the largest and second-largest suppliers of arms to Myanmar. Both have agreed to United Nations resolutions condemning violence against peaceful protesters but not condemning the coup specifically and have resisted a UN arms embargo on the country. Nerdah Bo Mya says the anti-coup protesters worry the international community will forget about them, saying: "They all look up to the American government for democracy and freedom and if Chinese and Russian governments can help the brutal corrupt military regime why the American government cannot help these people who are striving for freedom and democracy in Burma." So far, US President Joe Biden has condemned the violence being used against protesters and has imposed sanctions on military leaders and some military-led businesses.....Historical fight between the military and ethnic minorities: The Myanmar military's sustained conflict with ethnic minorities has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and rights groups have long linked soldiers to atrocities and human rights abuses in ethnic regions, including massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, and forced labor. In 2016 and 2017, the military launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State, committing atrocities which led to more than 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 alone, prompting a genocide case to be heard at the International Court of Justice. Amnesty International reported in 2017 that ethnic minorities in Kachin and the northern Shan State had also suffered abuses from the ethnic armed organizations, including forcible recruitment. In Karen State, Nerdah Bo Mya says ethnic armed organizations feel they have an obligation to work together with anti-coup protesters to rid the country of military dictatorship. "We have heart for these kind of people, because we have gone through this ourselves and we know what kind of pain, what kind of suffering... what kind of atrocities they're going through so we can put ourselves in their shoes." The violence wielded by the military in the big cities like Yangon and Mandalay have forced some Bamar people to reckon with their past -- some are for the first time acknowledging and even apologizing for not recognizing or standing up for the ethnic struggles, which are far from over. Fighting has intensified in the country's mountainous north and southeastern border areas following the coup. rmed clashes between the Myanmar military and another Karen armed group -- the Karen National Liberation Army -- have displaced about 40,000 people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). The military has conducted airstrikes and mortar shelling on KNLA bases and villages. Last week, the KNLA seized a military outpost in a jungle area close to the border with Thailand's Mae Hong Son province. On Monday, northern rebel group the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said it had shot down a military helicopter near the town of Moemauk in Kachin state, after days of military air raids. There is no doubt that three or four weeks of basic training does not equip these doctors and students to fight against a well-armed military. But Nerdah Bo Mya says they will return to the cities better equipped mentally, at least. "It is not necessary to fight with the Burmese army on the streets, but they can do something else, they can do something more defensive and more productive," he says. He did not expand on what that might be. For students to seek out ethnic armies shows how severely the security situation in Myanmar has deteriorated in just three months. Those once medically trained to save lives are now learning how to defend them in urban battle. That only raises fears the days and weeks to come in Myanmar will become more violent..."
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 5 May, (769) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes 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 May 5, a total of (3696) people are currently under detention; of them (83) are sentenced. 1458 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. The longevity of the coup in Burma has led to near state collapse. Unarmed civilians face threats with weapons and daily junta atrocities, as well as to their livelihood and future prosperity. On 5 May, the National Unity Government (NUG) announced the formation of a People’s Defence Force (PDF). AAPP welcomes the formation of the PDF in defense of unarmed civilians and the fight for democracy. On 4 May, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, and founder of Progressive Voice, Khin Ohmar, called for the recognition of the National Unity Government (NUG) as the legitimate government in the “Unfolding Crisis in Burma” video conference held by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. People across Burma from different backgrounds come together again today to protest despite the repression. This morning in Myitkyina, junta troops and police used civilian cars to crash into youths at a motorcycle protest. 4 women were arrested and 3 motorbikes seized. This morning in Mogaung Township, near Nanmati Kyauktaung, two junta vehicles were blown up. Thereafter the junta randomly opened fire. The terrorists in Burma commit unprovoked shootings on a daily basis, killing and injuring civilians. A villager was shot dead in a clash which took place from May 3 to May 4 around noon between junta forces and the people’s defence forces in Thar Kaung village, Gangaw Township, Magway Region. A 17-year-old boy in Thar Kaung village and a man in Paya Taung village, Pauk Township, Magway Region were shot dead by the terrorist group on 4 May. The identities are still being investigated and will be confirmed on the fatality list as and when. Last night, according to a social media video, on Shwe Pyay Aye Road , South Dagon Township, Yangon. A group of junta police and soldiers viciously beat up on a man with a police baton and arrested him. In Aye Thar Yar ward, Monywa Township, Sagaing Region, the junta started shouting and swearing at people because they were banging pots and pans. Then proceeding to destroy people’s homes and motorbikes, throwing stones at houses and breaking windows, and beating up locals, including three women. The violence, robbery, looting, beating and arresting of civilians, including severe torture are clear indications of a junta dedicated to ruling without any law. Media is not spared repression. The terrorists announced three media outlets, Myitkyina News Journal, 74 Media, and Tachileik News Agency would have their media licenses revoked. The junta group are trying to cover up their acts of terrorism by disrupting the flow of information between the media and public. Burma’s media sector is on the verge of collapse. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 3.29 MB 912.12 KB 999.38 KB
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 4 May, (769) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. These 3 from Launglon Township in Tanintharyi Region and Htilin Township in Magway Region were killed on previous days 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 May 4, a total of (3677) people are currently under detention; of them (83) are sentenced. 1438 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. People across Burma continued to protest against the dictatorship today, including in Mandalay, Yangon, and other cities. Students protested the subjugation to military rule education, starting a “do not go to school and drop out” campaign. Today in Nyaung Oo Township, Bagan town, Mandalay Region the junta arrived and opened fire on a protest, people were able to disperse quickly and there were no arrests and injuries. Yet, the junta group has been shooting at civilians day and night. It is a worrying situation for those protesting dictatorship. On May 3, at noon in Suuphyukone village, Nwathogyi Township, Mandalay Region, at a protest the junta police arrived. The villagers did not allow so-called police to enter, then the military arrived and started shooting, some villagers were injured and 19 arrested. The junta is regularly searching to arrest using the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law at night, beating up, killing, raiding, berating and torturing civilians. People have formed a defense force in Htilin Township, Magway Region, to protect the community. Since yesterday up until today, there were clashes between the junta group and the people’s defence force, who said at least three civilians were killed, the junta group instead announced only three were killed. AAPP has so far only verified one fatality, we are continuing to identify the remaining victims. Villagers from and around Htilin Township are fleeing. Terrorists are carrying out raids, robbing, and destroying without any limits, a practice now again widespread in the rural areas. The junta are searching houses in Dar Ye Kaung village, Myittha Township, Mandalay Region, destroying property and looting money yesterday. Last night, the junta raided houses of the protest leaders, destroyed their motorcycles and looted 500,000 kyats (US$325) from one of the protest leaders’ houses in Aung Pan village, Yezakyo Township, Magway Region and threatened the entire village. The junta destroyed houses in Sin Inn village, Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region, looting gold, money, jewelry, not only taking all these goods but also destroying the shrine. Pigs and chickens were taken away and killed, shooting. The entire village has been displaced. Yesterday afternoon the junta raided Pintin village in Khin-U Township, they destroyed several houses, stole property, and arrested one local villager. Despite experiencing these severe human rights abuses and violence on a daily basis, people in Burma are still being ignored. ASEAN in particular needs to exert stronger pressure on Burma, the international community needs to enforce powerful action. Delayed responses will result in even more casualties and suffering for civilians. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-05-04
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 999.59 KB 3.27 MB 901.69 KB
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Title: Global Civil Society Statement on Myanmar
Description: "We, the undersigned organizations, call on the United Nations Security Council to urgently impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar to help prevent further violations of human rights against peaceful protesters and others opposing military rule. In recent weeks, Myanmar security forces have killed hundreds of people, including dozens of children, merely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military junta has responded with increasing brutality to nationwide protests calling for the restoration of democratic civilian rule. As of May 4, security forces have killed at least 769 people, including 51 children as young as 6, and arbitrarily detained several thousand activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians. Hundreds have been forcibly disappeared, the authorities unwilling to provide information on their well-being or where they are being held. Over the past few months, the military has demonstrated a callous disregard for human life that has driven its strategy for decades. In video footage from cities and towns across the country, soldiers can be seen shooting down protesters, including children, brutally beating medical aid workers, and firing shotguns into crowds of peacefully protesting doctors. In addition to the latest violations of human rights, Myanmar’s security forces have a history of grave abuses against peaceful critics of the government and military, and war crimes and other international crimes against the Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups. Of particular note is the military's widely documented use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon against ethnic communities. No government should sell a single bullet to the junta under these circumstances. Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence. Arms and materiel provided to Myanmar’s security forces are likely to be used by the security forces to commit abuses in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. For this reason, the undersigned organizations urge the United Kingdom, the Security Council’s “penholder” on Myanmar, and other Security Council member states to begin negotiations on a resolution authorizing an arms embargo as soon as possible. This will demonstrate to the junta that there will be no more business as usual. Security Council members have increasingly spoken with one voice on Myanmar. The Council has called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and others arbitrarily detained, including civilian leaders. It has condemned the military’s crackdown on peaceful protesters and called for an end to the ongoing violence. But unity is not an end in itself. The Council should now build on that unity and negotiate a resolution that would include an arms embargo and other substantive measures. A comprehensive UN arms embargo on Myanmar should bar the direct and indirect supply, sale, or transfer of all weapons, munitions, and other military-related equipment, including dual-use goods such as vehicles and communications and surveillance equipment, as well as the provision of training, intelligence, and other military assistance. Such an embargo should be accompanied by robust monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. We note with disappointment the failure of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) April 24, 2021 summit to take more robust action to protect Myanmar’s people. Less than a day after the summit’s conclusions were published, the military’s violence continued, which only highlights the need for UN member countries and the Security Council to take decisive action to pressure the junta to reverse course. The time for statements has passed. The Security Council should take its consensus on Myanmar to a new level and agree on immediate and substantive action. An arms embargo would be the centerpiece of a global effort to protect the people of Myanmar from further atrocities and help bring an end to impunity for crimes under international law. Myanmar’s people cannot afford to wait any longer for the Security Council to take action..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Faces Third Wave of COVID-19 Infections Amid Anti-Coup Protests
Description: "As neighboring countries face rising numbers of coronavirus cases, Myanmar health officials have expressed concern that a third wave of COVID-19 could hit the Southeast Asian nation under a military junta that seized power three months ago. In India to the northwest, more than 300,000 people are being infected daily and thousands are dying, while Thailand to the southeast is already experiencing a third wave. Dr. Khin Khin Gyi, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Sports, warned on Apr. 27 that a third COVID-19 outbreak was likely in Myanmar, which has been rocked by nationwide protests against the military regime and subsequent violent crackdowns since Feb. 1. “There is a possibility of a third wave of the pandemic coming,” she said. “It is possible that there are outbreaks among the large crowds of people.” “More than 60 percent of infected patients don’t show symptoms,” she said. “Only when they got tested do we have learned about the infections.” Khin Khin Gyi also spoke out on COVID-19 and prevention measures under the civilian-led government under country leader Aung San Suu Kyi before it was overthrown. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Sports recorded 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to date to 142,858, while the total number of deaths held at 3,209. Since the military takeover, most of the country’s doctors and nurses have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) of striking workers who opposed the junta and have largely boycotted its vaccination drive. Myanmar received 3.5 million vaccines from India around the end of January under a vaccine drive implemented by the former National League for Democracy government. Fear of old doses Though the junta has urged people in residential areas to get vaccinated, its security forces have arrested many health care workers for participating in the CDM, limiting the number of professionals who can administer the jabs. A doctor in Yangon who requested anonymity for security reasons said that people will not accept vaccines provided by the regime because vials that have sat too long in storage may have lost their effectiveness. “The remaining vaccines are not effective because of the delay in storage,” he said. “The people won’t accept them.” A young man from northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing region who did not want to be identified said he would not get a virus vaccine under the military regime for another reason. “I will not get the vaccines provided by the terrorist regime because they are murdering hundreds of people, and I don’t trust them,” he said, referring to the nearly 770 people who have been killed by security forces in the weeks following the coup. Myanmar detected its first positive COVID-19 case on March 23, 2020. The country, which shares a long land border with China, initially had a low number of confirmed infections and single-digit deaths until mid-August, when the number of COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket during a second wave that was deadlier then the first. To contain the spread, Myanmar officials put in place stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and mandatory quarantines for those traveling to other states and regions within the country as well as for those returning to Myanmar from abroad. In response, Khin Khin Gyi said the storage and maintenance process for the more than one million doses of the vaccine has not been compromised. “There is no such thing as us stopping our work because of the absence of some people,” she said. “The hospitals are still operating. Under the current situation, plans to keep medical facilities operational down to the township level are in place.” No one to provide treatment At least 1.9 million people of Myanmar’s population of 54 million have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to health officials. The ruling junta has said that the number of people being tested for the virus has dropped to about 2,000 a day compared to nearly 150,000 people daily under the NLD government. An assistant doctor from Mandalay General Hospital, who is participating in the CDM, said this was due in part to a lack of health care workers. “There is no medical staff to take the swabs, no staff to analyze the samples in the lab, no doctors to test the results,” he said. “Even if someone tested positive, there is no one in the hospital who can provide treatment. All of us are participating in the CDM.” Reported by Soe San Aung for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-04
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar junta bans satellite dishes in media crackdown
Sub-title: Anyone who installs satellite dishes could face a one-year prison sentence or $320 fine, military-controlled media reported
Description: "Myanmar’s military junta has banned satellite dishes, threatening prison sentences for anyone who violates the measure, as it intensifies its crackdown on access to independent news outlets. The junta, which faces unanimous opposition from the public and has struggled to maintain order, has imposed increasingly tough restrictions on communication since seizing power on 1 February. Mobile data has been cut for most people for more than 50 days, while broadband access has also been subject to severe restrictions. Several media outlets have been banned but continue to operate in hiding, either publishing online or broadcasting for television. On Wednesday, the military-controlled newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported that news agencies were using illegal satellite dishes to broadcast programmes that “harm the state security, the rule of law and community peace and tranquillity”. Anyone who installs satellite dishes could face a one-year prison sentence or K500,000 ($320) as a fine, it said. More than 80 journalists have been arrested in recent months, according to the independent Irrawaddy news outlet, which is itself facing legal action under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code. This law states that publishing information that causes fear or spreads false news is punishable by up to three years in prison. On Monday, Yuki Kitazumi, a Japanese journalist, was charged under the same law, according to a report by Kyodo news agency. Kitazumi became the first foreign reporter to face charges since the coup. Thousands of people have been arrested under the junta, including 3,677 people who have been sentenced or are in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group. It reported that 769 people have been killed by the military. Despite the risks of military violence, protesters have continued to gather to oppose the coup. Teachers, students and parents marched outside schools in Mandalay on Wednesday morning, according to local media, calling for a boycott of the education system under the junta. On Tuesday night, a candlelit vigil was held in northern Kachin state. Earlier this week, five protesters were killed and another injured in a blast in the southern region of Bago. State media said the group were trying to plant a bomb, and that Thet Win Hlaing, a 35-year old former MP for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, was among those who died. A number of blasts have been reported in Yangon and other cities over recent weeks, including some targeting government and military property. On Tuesday, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations told the US Congress to intensify pressure on the military by imposing more targeted sanctions. Kyaw Moe Tun called for measures against the state-run Maynamar oil and gas company Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, and the state-owned bank Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. “I wish to stress that Myanmar is not just witnessing another major setback to democracy, but also the crisis is threatening the regional peace and security,” he said. The US, along with several western countries, has condemned the coup and imposed sanctions on the generals as well as some of their family members and businesses..."
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Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Attacks on healthcare jeopardizing COVID-19 response, UN team says
Sub-title: There have been at least 158 reported attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Myanmar, with more than 139 doctors arrested and charged since the military coup in February, endangering not only vital health services but also the COVID-19 response, the UN Country Team (UNCT) there said on Wednesday.
Description: "“At a time when Myanmar needs them the most, health workers fear arrest or detention for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, the Country Team said in a news release, reiterating its call for health workers, health facilities and patients to be protected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s global surveillance system, the 158 reported attacks resulted in at least 11 deaths and 51 injuries. It also listed some 51 health facilities across Myanmar as having been under occupation by security forces, and that at least 31 of those facilities remain currently occupied. The occupied facilities also reported a drop in the number of people seeking medical care. In addition, at least 139 doctors participating in the civil disobedience movement have reportedly been charged under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code. Those detained include highly specialized health personnel whose expertise cannot easily be replaced, which will significantly impact both the quality and quantity of health services available, according to the UNCT. 'Inviolable nature’ Andrew Kirkwood, UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Myanmar, said the UN system in the country stands ready to continue its support for the national COVID-19 response. “But this requires a return to the comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic previously underway, that the inviolable nature of health facilities and health workers and patients is respected, and the immediate release of urgently needed medical and technical personnel detained or arrested while exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, he added. Crisis into its fourth month Into its fourth month, the political turmoil – marked by near daily pro-democracy protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces – has reportedly claimed at least 750 lives and wounded countless more. There are also serious concerns over the continuing impact of the crisis. Last week, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned of skyrocketing poverty and economic collapse, while the UN human rights chief, in April, cautioned that Myanmar risks spiralling into a “full-blown conflict”, urging States with influence to take immediate and impactful action to halt the bloodshed.....Urging protections for healthcare globally: Launched in 2012, WHO’s Attacks on Health Care initiative collects evidence globally to advocate for safeguarding health care from attacks, which it defines as “any verbal or physical act of violence, obstruction or threat that interferes with the availability, access and delivery of such services”. The data on “attacks on health care” in various settings, including humanitarian emergencies, is collected by the agency’s global surveillance system, available online. This initiative does not aim at identifying perpetrators of such incidents, WHO said..."
Source/publisher: UN News
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar's U.N. envoy tells U.S. lawmakers more sanctions needed
Description: "Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday that Washington should target the state-run Myanmar oil and gas company and a state-owned bank with sanctions. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, a representative of elected lawmakers who oppose Myanmar's military junta, also warned that the crisis triggered by a Feb. 1 coup in the Southeast Asian nation threatened regional security. The Biden administration has denounced the coup and imposed sanctions on the generals who led it as well as some of their family members and businesses that provide them with revenue. The Myanmar ambassador told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs that as well as the military-run Myawaddy and Innwa banks, the United States should slap sanctions on the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). MOGE operates offshore gas fields in joint ventures with international firms, including U.S.-based Chevron and France's Total, while MFTB conducts transactions in foreign currencies for Myanmar's government. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group says security forces have killed at least 766 civilians since the coup, which sparked nationwide protests. Some pro-democracy activists have traveled to Myanmar's mountainous borderlands to join armed groups fighting for ethnic autonomy, raising fears of a spiraling conflict. “I wish to stress that Myanmar is not just witnessing another major setback to democracy, but also the crisis is threatening the regional peace and security," said Kyaw Moe Tun, who dramatically broke with the military junta in February, but has retained the country's seat at the United Nations..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: UN Security Council: Adopt Global Arms Embargo on Myanmar
Sub-title: More Than 200 Groups Worldwide Call for a UN Sanctions Resolution
Description: "The United Nations Security Council should immediately impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar, Human Rights Watch and over 200 other nongovernmental organizations from around the world said today in a public appeal to council members. The Security Council should act swiftly to pressure the junta to stop violating the human rights of people protesting the February 1, 2021, coup and military rule. “The UN Security Council’s failure to even discuss an arms embargo against the junta is an appalling abdication of its responsibilities toward the people of Myanmar,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. “The council’s occasional statements of concern in the face of the military’s violent repression of largely peaceful protesters is the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and walking away.” The groups said that the United Kingdom, the council’s designated drafter of Myanmar texts, should immediately open negotiations at the Security Council on a draft resolution authorizing an arms embargo. The UK has been reluctant to do so, prioritizing consensus statements supported by all council members over a resolution with substantive measures that China, Russia, and other members might initially oppose. “No government should sell a single bullet to the junta under these circumstances,” the groups said in their appeal. “Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence. Arms and materiel provided to Myanmar’s security forces are likely to be used by the security forces to commit abuses in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.” Myanmar’s military nullified the country’s November 2020 election results and imposed a manufactured “state of emergency.” State security forces have killed over 760 people since the coup and arbitrarily detained more than 3,600, including journalists, medical personnel, teachers, students, and others in violation of international human rights law. Hundreds may have been forcibly disappeared. A number of individual governments and the European Union have imposed sanctions on senior leaders of the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s military is known, and companies controlled by the military; but the Security Council has only issued three statements since the military takeover. Those statements have called on the military to halt the excessive use of force against protesters and release political prisoners, including former President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials elected in the November 8, 2020, election. The groups’ appeal for an arms embargo echoes and broadens a February 24 declaration by 137 nongovernmental organizations, which urged the Security Council to act swiftly to halt the flow of weapons to the junta. “The time for statements has passed,” the groups said. “The Security Council should take its consensus on Myanmar to a new level and agree on immediate and substantive action. An arms embargo would be the centerpiece of a global effort to protect the people of Myanmar from further atrocities and help bring an end to impunity for crimes under international law.” The organizations also said they were disappointed with the April 24 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its failure “to take more robust action to protect Myanmar’s people.” The junta has ignored ASEAN’s call for an end to the violence. In February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pledged to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, has repeatedly called for an arms embargo and sanctions. Guterres’ special envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, has also called for targeted sanctions. The Security Council’s unwillingness to discuss a sanctions resolution represents a collective failure to heed the many calls to action from around the world. Human Rights Watch has said that the Security Council should also impose targeted sanctions, global travel bans, and asset freezes on the leadership of the junta and military-owned conglomerates. The junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and several other military officials have been implicated in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Tatmadaw in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, and Chin States. Until the Security Council acts, individual UN member states should continue to adopt measures at the national and regional levels to block sales and other transfers of weapons and materiel to Myanmar, with the goal of creating a de facto global arms embargo, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should also demand that Security Council members that care about protecting the human rights of Myanmar’s people set aside concerns about resistance from the permanent members Russia and China, and circulate a draft resolution that council members can discuss and vote on. A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members to pass. “The Security Council has an unfortunate history of inaction on human rights in Myanmar, barely uttering a peep when the military carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya in 2017,” Charbonneau said. “The Security Council should call China and Russia’s bluff and put a sanctions resolution to a vote. If Moscow and Beijing side with a military already accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, they will have to pay for the rising political cost of their obstruction.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Min Aung Hlaing hails ‘freedom of expression’ as his regime continues bid to destroy independent media
Sub-title: Two more media outlets have suspended operations as military-run press doubles down on denial of military’s mass killings
Description: "Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said the media is “crucial” for freedom of expression and democracy, state newspapers reported on Monday, as the junta pushed ahead with its propaganda war and continued its efforts to crush independent journalism. He made the remarks at a speech on Sunday morning to mark the opening of the Myawady Media Centre in Yangon’s Yankin township, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported. “The media... plays a crucial role in enhancing the freedom of expression for democracy [and] improving the government’s transparency by distributing knowledge to the people,” the report said, attributing the comments to the Senior General. Local media ought to “prevent the broader infiltration” of ideas and culture from “developed countries” said the report, which was published on World Press Freedom Day. Last week the junta revoked the publishing license of yet another news outlet, the Kachin-based Myitkyina News Journal. The newspaper said in a statement on Sunday that it had suspended its operations, seven years after it was founded. “We pledge to try to service the public again if there is any chance to do so in future,” the statement said. The Mandalay-based Voice of Myanmar (VOM) also announced it was suspending its operations on Monday, a week after chief editor Nay Myo Lin and reporter Shine Aung were detained by the regime. “We regret to inform you that we have to suspend our operation temporarily because the two are still being detained,” VOM said on its Facebook page. Nay Myo Lin’s wife, Zarni Mann, told Myanmar Now that she has not been given a reason for the arrests. Her husband is being interrogated at a military base in Mandalay and has not been able to meet with family members, she added. “They said they had something to ask him and took him,” she said. “I still don't know anything about his condition.” At least 84 journalists have been arrested since the February 1 coup, and 50 of them are still in detention. While continuing its assault on independent media, the junta has also doubled down on its false claims about the deaths of protesters who were murdered by its police and soldiers. A Global New Light report last week claimed that several of the more high profile deaths in recent months were caused by health problems or shooting from other protesters. It repeated the claim that other protesters shot Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing and Kyal Sin–two 19-year-old women whose images became icons of the anti-coup movement after they were murdered by the regime’s forces in February and March. Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing’s murder was captured on video, and several analyses of footage and images from the Naypyitaw protest confirmed she was shot in the head by a police officer. And there were several eyewtinesses to Kyal Sin’s murder in Mandalay in early March. One of them was a friend of hers. “I saw it with my own eyes, they shot at her,” he told Myanmar Now, requesting anonymity. “We didn’t have anything that looked like weapons. We were just peacefully protesting.” He and other protesters who were nearby when Kyal Sin was shot in the neck are wanted by the regime and are now in hiding. “As it’s our responsibility, and in honour of Kyal Sin’s death, we’re doing our best to prepare and fight in this revolution,” he said. “We don’t pay attention to what they’re announcing or publishing. We’re going to fight until the end.” Last week’s report also claimed that Tin Nwe Yi, a 59-year-old teacher killed while protesting in Yangon in February, died of “heart disease”. One of her family members told Myanmar Now that the hospital has refused to give them an official document stating her cause of death. “We haven’t gotten an official letter from the hospital. They won’t put it out. If it was a normal death, they would do it,” the relative said. “We went to the hospital but they said they can only give it out if they’re ordered to.” The report also claimed that Ko Ko Lay, 62, died of heart disease, even though there is a photo of his body after he was shot in the head during a crackdown in Myitkyina on March 8. Zaw Myat Lin, an NLD official who was abducted in March and murdered in custody, died of “other ways”, the report said. His body showed signs of torture when it was returned to his family. The report also repeated the military’s claim that a death toll since the coup compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) was “highly bloated.” The group has reported 766 deaths and about 4,600 arrests so far. The AAPP did not verify the addresses of some of the people on its list or the names of their fathers, the report said. An AAPP official, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said that if the military believes the group’s figures are inaccurate, then it should allow an international body to investigate the killings. “They’re just going to continue to deny it blatantly,” he said..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Thousands call for 'spring revolution'
Description: "At least one person has died in northern Shan state as youths carried a banner that read: "We cannot be ruled at all." Deaths have also been reported in the central town of Wetlet. Thousands of anti-coup protesters took to the streets across Myanmar on Sunday, calling for a "spring revolution" as the country began its fourth month under a military regime. Cities, rural areas, remote mountainous regions and even the country's rebel-controlled border territories have witnessed protests against the junta. The military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1, bringing a halt to Myanmar's democratic reform and economic growth. The unrest that has ensued has shown no signs of abating and on Sunday demonstrations kicked off early in the commercial hub of Yangon, as organizers called for "the global Myanmar spring revolution.".....Support for Suu Kyi: Yangon was not alone as protests took place across the country. The central Mandalay region saw hundreds take to the streets, led by monks in saffron-colored robes, brandishing the flag of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. In northern Shan state, youths carried a banner that read: "We cannot be ruled at all.".....Deaths reported as crackdown continues: And in Shan's Hsipaw township violence erupted when security forces cracked down on protesters, killing at least two people. Some youths gathered on a street corner in Hsipaw before marching down the streets in a flash mob, dispersing as authorities clamped down on the dissent. The junta has aimed to quell the unrest through a brutal crackdown that has resulted in widespread arrests and a death toll that now exceeds 700. Also on Sunday, two people were shot and killed in the central town of Wetlet, the Myanmar Now news outlet reported. One person was also killed in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, according to the Kachin News Group..."
Source/publisher: "DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication: 2021-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Amid Killing of Protesters, Myanmar Coup Leader Opens High-End Military-Run Hospital
Topic: chief, conglomerate, Coup, junta, MEC, Military, MoeKaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital, Myanmar Economic Corporation, opening, regime, Sanctions, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing
Topic: chief, conglomerate, Coup, junta, MEC, Military, MoeKaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital, Myanmar Economic Corporation, opening, regime, Sanctions, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing
Description: "In an apparent attempt to expand his military conglomerate, Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has opened a new military-owned hospital in Yangon 91 days after seizing power from the country’s democratically elected government. The opening of the new hospital came on Sunday, as the nation is still reeling from the brutality of his troops, who have killed more than 760 protesters across the country since the coup. On the same day, the regime’s forces killed at least five people and arrested several others for protesting against the junta. The newly opened MoeKaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital has become the second “private” high-end hospital owned by the military after Kan Tha Yar Hospital on the shore of Yangon’s Inya Lake. The new hospital will be the latest addition to the holdings of the military cartel in the country, where the men in uniform have enriched themselves through businesses ranging from banking to brewery to jade mines and more. Most of them operate free of civilian oversight. According to Justice for Myanmar, a covert group of activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people in the country, Kan Thar Yar International Specialist Hospital, opened in 2017 by the senior general, is a private for-profit facility under the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). Profits from the hospital are off-budget and the hospital operates without civilian oversight. The same is true of the newly opened MoeKaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital. The maternity and child hospital is located in the leafy compound of the Military Documentation Office in Yankin Township. The opening ceremony was joined by the coup leader’s wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla. The senior general claimed the new hospital was built under his guidance to become an “internationally recognized” medical facility that could be relied on by citizens while promoting the “private health care” sector, according to military-owned Myawaddy TV. It said the hospital will provide maternal and child healthcare services such as in vitro fertilization procedures, storage of genetic items and genetic diagnostic work, among others. The broadcaster quoted him as saying that, “We will try to get a ‘Joint Commission International’ certificate of international recognition [for the hospital].” Given mounting global sanctions, including from the US and EU, against himself and his regime, and the fact that the junta has been shunned by the international community for its atrocities against its own people, it is not clear how the junta plans to obtain such certification. The putsch leader even said the new hospital aimed to act as a one-stop service center for patients with “reasonable service charges”. However, given the room rates—which include some that run as high as 100,000 kyats [US$64] per day—the cost of treatment at the new hospital is evidently far from “reasonable”, as the senior general claimed; the majority of the people in the country are struggling to get by, as the economy has collapsed since the February coup. So far, it’s not clear to what extent Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and his family are involved in the ownership of the hospital. In March, the US imposed sanctions on two adult children of the junta leader in response to the coup and the military’s use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, calling for the reinstatement of the democratically elected civilian government. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon and six companies controlled by them. The OFAC said the pair controlled a variety of business holdings that have directly benefited from their “father’s position and malign influence”..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: At Least Five Protesters Killed as Myanmar Forces Crack Down on Protests in Several Cities
Topic: Coup, crackdown, Detained, forces, Global Myanmar Spring Revolution, junta, killed, plainclothes, Police, protesters, regime, shot, troops
Topic: Coup, crackdown, Detained, forces, Global Myanmar Spring Revolution, junta, killed, plainclothes, Police, protesters, regime, shot, troops
Description: "Myanmar regime forces launched their most extensive crackdowns in two weeks on anti-regime protests on Sunday, killing at least five protesters, and wounding and arresting several people across the country. Since early morning on Sunday, soldiers, police officers and also plainclothes men were out in force at protest sites in various cities, chasing protesters as they marched in support of the Global Myanmar Spring Revolution, a movement joined by democracy supporters in overseas countries to show support for Myanmar’s National Unity Government and to honor fallen heroes who were killed by Myanmar junta forces. Locals in Yangon’s Thaketa and Sanchaung townships posted videos and pictures of plainclothes men with private vehicles dragging young protesters away violently and, in some places, chasing after them at high speed in private vehicles. Video footage showed that detained youths were beaten and forced to kneel down on the ground before being dragged away. Dozens were reportedly arrested in both townships and elsewhere, yet the exact number of detainees was not available by the time of publication. Peaceful protesters faced early lethal crackdowns just as they were gathering to take to the streets in several cities. In Mandalay, at least four protesters were arrested while they were gathering to take to the streets as armed plainclothes officers chased them. The regime forces continued to conduct searches and make arrests throughout the day. At least five were arrested in Mandalay’s Mogoke on Sunday. In Nawnghkio (Naung Cho) in Shan State, U Win Naing, 40, was shot dead by regime forces as they opened fire with live rounds on anti-regime protesters who were gathering to stage demonstrations. An anti-regime protester who had to run away from the crackdown said that since 8:30 a.m., troops who took up positions in several streets of the town had been shooting randomly. Locals also reported that an injured 60-year-old man died from gunshot wounds. At least 14 youths were arrested and an unconfirmed number of people were injured. In Shan State’s Hsipaw, Muslim protester Ko Phoe Lone was killed after being shot in the head by regime forces and two were injured in their legs during a violent crackdown on a demonstration. News outlets in the state also reported that junta forces threatened to shoot any civilians who left their homes in Hsipaw, after the protest was cracked down on. Two people were also reportedly killed and seven were injured in Wetlet, a town in Shwebo District, Sagaing Region, as troops fired live ammunition at anti-regime protesters who were gathering for a demonstration at around 10 am. The two who were killed were Ko Zaw Oo, 42, and Ko Min Zin, 22. Anti-regime protesters In Hpakant Township of Kachin State said regime forces also launched brutal crackdowns against them by shooting with live rounds and using hand grenades on Sunday morning. During the crackdown, Ko Wai Phyo, 33, was killed after being shot in the head and more than 20 people were injured. A protester said that among those injured, some were in critical condition but were forced to remain in hiding to evade arrest. Despite the arrests and lethal crackdowns, pro-democracy protesters nationwide continued to stage peaceful demonstrations against military rule. As of Sunday evening, at least 764 people had been killed by the regime since the Feb. 1 coup and more than 3,500 were being held under detention.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "Today was World Press Freedom Day, The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) honors the importance of news media in Burma, journalists have been providing accurate information in the face of suffering and oppression inside the country. Freedom of press in Burma has collapsed since the coup. (84) have been detained at one point since the coup. 50 journalists are currently detained, 25 of whom have been prosecuted. This is in addition to two journalists on bail awaiting trial, and 29 journalists evading arrest warrants. Freedom of press will disintegrate and journalists will be persecuted as long as we have a dictatorship. As of 3 May, (766) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen heroes today. This (1) fallen hero from Wetlet Town in Sagaing Region was killed yesterday 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 May 3, a total of (3614) people are currently under detention; of them (83) are sentenced. 1417 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Even though people were killed in violent crackdowns yesterday, people from all over Burma continued in protest against the junta today. In Taungdwingyi town, Magway Region, junta forces chased and shot at vendors on motorbikes. Two people were injured. The depravity of this junta is on display in raids on HIV/AIDS patient centers. Yesterday in East Dagon Township, Yangon Region. The center was stormed and junta troops took three children on ART medication and nine others seeking medical treatment for arrest. These patients need daily and timely medication, without this access their health condition will deteriorate and hence we are rightly concerned. The junta destroy property of the civilians in various ways. Last night, at 46-47 Street, General Aung San Road, Rangoon, the junta threw stones at houses, sprayed abusive words on cars, and destroyed windows of all cars parked alongside the street. Those actions make visible the lawlessness and intentions of this junta – it is to destroy the rule of law. Conflict continues in Kachin State. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shot down a military helicopter near Kone Law village, Momauk Township, Kachin State on 3 May. The terrorists used artillery to fire at Kone Law village in response, killing a monk and injuring 10 villagers this afternoon. Atrocities committed by the junta in both rural and urban areas get worse day by day since the coup. Peace is absent as the junta steps up its attacks on ethnic people who feel the full brunt of the devastating effects of the war again. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Eight reported killed as Myanmar protests aim to ‘shake the world’
Description: "Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days on Sunday killing eight people, media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis. The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Myanmar communities around the world to mark what organisers called "the global Myanmar spring revolution". "Shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people's unity," the organisers said in a statement. Streams of demonstrators, some led by Buddhist monks, made their way through cities and towns across the country, including the commercial hub of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay, where two people were shot and killed, the Mizzima news agency reported. The Irrawaddy news site earlier posted a photograph of a man it said was a security officer in plain clothes taking aim with a rifle in Mandalay. Three people were killed in the central town of Wetlet, the Myanmar Now news agency said, and two were killed in different towns in Shan State in the northeast, two media outlets reported. One person was also killed in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, the Kachin News Group reported. Reuters could not verify the reports and a spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The protests are only one of the problems the generals have brought on with their Feb. 1 ouster of the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates. In some places civilians with crude weapons have battled security forces, while in central areas military and government facilities that have been secure for generations have been hit by rocket attacks and a wave of small, unexplained blasts. There have been no claims of responsibility for the explosions. 'HANDMADE BOMBS': Khit Thit media reported a blast outside a police barracks in Yangon early on Sunday. Vehicles were ablaze it said, but it gave no information on any casualties. Later, two more blasts went off in the city, with one, outside an administration official's home, wounding one person, the Irrawaddy reported. A news portal in Shan State reported a blast outside the home of a prominent businessman. The state-run broadcaster in its evening news bulletin on Saturday gave details of at least 11 explosions over the previous 36 hours, mostly in Yangon. "Some rioters who do not want stability of the state have been throwing and planting handmade bombs at government buildings and on public roads," the broadcaster said. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says security forces have killed at least 759 protesters since the coup. Reuters is unable to confirm the toll. The military, which ruled for almost 50 years until launching a tentative reform process a decade ago, acknowledged in mid-April the death of 248 protesters, saying they were killed after they initiated violence. The protests and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes have crippled the economy and raised the prospect of 25 million people sliding into poverty, the U.N. Development Programme has warned. read more The military said it had to seize power because its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were not addressed by an election commission that deemed the vote fair. Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup along with many other members of her party..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar military junta targets media in post-coup crackdown | DW News
Description: "In Myanmar, news is emerging that security forces have shot dead eight people - during a confrontation with opponents of the recent military coup. Local news outlet Myanmar Now says seven people were killed in the central town of Aungban. Mobile phone footage from the scene shows that people have also been wounded. One person died of their injuries after being taken to a nearby hospital. News like this is increasingly hard to get out, as Myanmar's military continues a brutal crackdown on dissent. That crackdown has affected protesters and the media itself. The UN says at least five local news outlets have had their license revoked - including Myanmar Now. In addition, more than 30 journalists have been arrested. Kay Zon Nwe is one of the local reporters and editors who were taken into custody, sometimes under threat of death. Members of the foreign press have also been targets, such as Thein Zaw — a photographer for the Associated Press. It's believed many jailed journalists are awaiting trial at Inn Sein prison, a facility that's notorious for human rights abuses. They could face three-year jail sentences on charges of spreading false information. Video shows police officers in Yangon charging after anti-military demonstrators – and a journalist taking photos of it all. Several police surround Thein Zaw as he tries to get away. One puts him in a chokehold. He’s then handcuffed and dragged off. This happened in late February. Thein Zaw's pictures were to be sent to his employer, the global news agency AP. Outlets, like DW, then buy this material. So journalists like him are critical for international media to be able to report on Myanmar. Instead, Thein Zaw is now behind bars. He and a growing number of journalists and media workers are facing up to three years in jail – under vague charges of violating a public order law. It's estimated over 200 people have been killed in a brutal crackdown on largely peaceful protests, since the military's takeover on February 1. Getting information is becoming trickier, too. The military regularly shuts the internet down, and it's blocked some social media sites. It's also withdrawn the licenses of five major media outlets. A decade after the end of the junta in Myanmar - the military is back in charge. It's a major setback for press freedom. And for journalists on the ground, it means facing censorship, threats and intimidation once again..."
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Source/publisher: "DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication: 2021-03-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar's media under pressure from all sides
Description: "The Burmese military regime has routinely arrested journalists and banned independent media. But reporters continue to work underground — under pressure from the ruling junta, but also from the opposition. Myanmar's military government, which overthrew the elected government on February 1, continues to violently crack down on protesters and the opposition movement. At the same time, it has also been trying to gain control over information. Step by step, authorities have restricted access to social media and the internet. On February 4, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp were blocked, followed the day after by Twitter and Instagram. Blocking Facebook was a crucial move: about half of the country's residents used the social media giant as their main news source. The military has also imposed nationwide internet blockades since February 15, which have regularly lasted from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Mobile internet has been shut down since March 15, with only broadband connections providing access to the internet. For a few days now, the nightly shutdown has no longer applied to these connections. But the move worked: large parts of the population now receive their news almost exclusively from sources permitted by the military. State media holds a monopoly In addition to cutting off online communication, the state television station MRTV has been brought into line. The broadcaster now regularly shows photos of activists and demonstrators, naming them as alleged enemies of the state. Military broadcaster Myawaddy TV recently announced that for the first time in 30 years, 19 people had been sentenced to death for killing a soldier. And the state-owned newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar has reported in detail the military's legal and moral obligations for ousting the elected government. Meanwhile, independent or private media outlets such as Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now, 7Day News and others have been banned. Most have retreated to parts of the country controlled by ethnic minorities and their troops, such as Karen state on the border with Thailand. From there, they continue to publish their views against the military government. Journalists are in hiding According to Human Rights Watch, some 48 journalists are currently in detention; 23 others were detained but have since been released. Most have been accused of violating a new section of the penal code which criminalizes the dissemination of "statements, rumors or reports" that can lead to fear among the population and may incite people to "attack the state and public order" or to lead to "attacks between different classes and communities." DW spoke with several journalists, who cannot be named for security reasons. They have not slept in their homes for weeks, and fear being arrested during nightly searches by the military — as was the case with Kaung Myat Hlaing of the Democratic Voice of Burma. The journalist from the southern coastal town of Myeik livestreamed police shooting near his apartment as they detained him in a crackdown on March 1. He remains in custody. "I'm doing well, so far," one journalist told DW, who has moved from place to place living with other reporters. "But the nights have their terrors." As soon as the barking of stray dogs or the banging of pots by neighbors announce that the military is moving into the neighborhood, they instantly turn off their computers and lights in the hope staying hidden. "We talk a lot about work. It's easier to bear the situation in a group," one said. "But many journalist friends have left the military-controlled areas and taken off to support the underground or exile media." Underground media forced self-censor But it's not just the military putting pressure on the media. Most local media reporting from the underground cannot afford to take a neutral position on the situation without incurring the wrath of the protesters. For example: Instead of using the military government's self-imposed name, "State Administrative Council," they write "State Terrorist Council." People are not "arrested" by the security forces, but "kidnapped." "It's no longer possible to write a report or analysis without making a clear commitment to the revolution or the military," one journalist told DW. The problem, he said, is that now many journalists no longer write what is happening, but what people want to hear. Basically, he said, almost all local media outlets have an agenda: instead of journalism, it's about activism. "I have decided to stop writing anything for the time being, because every statement is misinterpreted," he said. As a result of this polarization, only supporters of the military or supporters of the revolution get a chance to speak. But there are also people in Myanmar who, while not friends of the military, also don't want a revolution. They fear the complete collapse of the state and years of chaos. One university official told DW that he hoped the situation would soon stabilize, and that banks would reopen and it would finally be possible to go back to work. Even if that stabilization meant stopping the protests against the military..."
Source/publisher: "DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication: 2021-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Karen State Remains Defiant Amid Military Attacks
Description: "With Myanmar’s military coup now three months old, there are few corners of the Southeast Asian country that haven’t been affected by its aftermath. Hundreds of thousands have revolted against the military’s action nationwide, but the armed forces have responded forcefully by detaining thousands and leaving more than 750 dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. But in recent weeks, with mass street demonstrations waning, the uprising has entered a new phase in old territory, throughout Myanmar’s ethnic minority-held states. In Myanmar’s Karen state, officially Kayin state, conflict isn’t new. Like others, the country’s third-largest ethnic group has endured severe conflict for more than seven decades, largely over ethnically based hostilities. Additionally, fighting against Myanmar’s Tatmadaw armed forces has also been a long battle, but today a resurgent military is forcing the Karen to further defend their territory. A month ago on March 31, according to a report by Singapore broadcaster CNA, the junta, officially the State Administration Council, announced a one-month cease-fire across Myanmar. But according to Dave Eubank, the director of the humanitarian service group Free Burma Rangers, which operates in Myanmar, that promise hasn’t been kept, as attacks from the military have continued. “The Burma army said there’s a cease-fire. There is no cease-fire there,” he told VOA this month. Decades of animosity: The Karen National Union (KNU) is a political organization that says it represents the Karen people, who have their own unique languages, customs and administrative system. Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948. Since then, the Karen have been in conflict with the central government over calls for independence and for a federal system to be implemented. Decades of animosity have endured between various ethnic groups, including the Karen, and the Bamar people, also called Burmans, the dominant ethnic group in Myanmar. But with the coup sparking huge anger throughout the country, there are signs that the military could eventually face a united opposition. The head of Foreign Affairs Department for the KNU, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, said it’s been a “dream” for all ethnic states within Myanmar to align, despite their differences, but he acknowledged it’s a complicated situation. “That is the future we dream for several years, but for it to come true, it’s very difficult,” he said. But for now, the spokesperson acknowledged that fighting back against the advancing military was a necessity. “According to our experience, there will be a way to support pressure to the government, the military way, and the political and social … all kinds of ways, with a need to push against the military," he said. "We need to push the military regime to the table for dialogue.” Padoh Saw Taw Nee said there had been more than “200 casualties” among the Karen as a result of “shelling with heavy weapons” from the military. “If you couldn’t tackle this issue very carefully, there will be kind of a civil war. ... There will be a lot of consequences to our country,” he added. Ground attacks within the Karen have been happening since the end of 2020, according to local reports.....Population fearful: Airstrikes and reconnaissance flights are instilling terror into the locals on the ground, inside sources have told VOA. Lieutenant Colonel Saw Kyi Kyaw of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council told VOA that the organization’s mission was to “make peace” but that it would fight back if necessary. “We will not attack anyone, but if Tatmadaw starts attacking us, we will fight back to defend ourselves,” he said. In recent days, the Karen took control of a military outpost near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to a Reuters report. But when VOA spoke earlier this month to Saw Thuebee of the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group supporting vulnerable communities in the region, he said the Karen already were facing a humanitarian crisis because of the thousands of internally displaced people. Saw Thuebee called on Myanmar’s neighbor to help those in need. “We are hoping and requesting [that] the Thailand government launch the materials across the border so that we can continue to provide humanitarian assistance" to internally displaced people, he said.....Widespread hunger: The United Nations said last week that “millions” faced hunger in the country amid the violence. Myanmar was under military rule for most of its modern history until 2011. In last November’s general elections, the military claimed unsubstantiated electoral fraud. On February 1, the military removed the National League for Democracy government. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained and have since been additionally charged. The armed forces have been deployed to suppress street protests, while martial law has been imposed across the country. The junta has implemented daily internet shutdowns for the sake of the country’s “stability.”
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Source/publisher: "VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: They are hunted and in hiding but Myanmar's journalists continue to report the truth
Description: "Journalist Ye Wint Thu was already on the run when his name and photo appeared on a wanted list broadcast by Myanmar's military junta. For weeks, he had been documenting protests in Yangon against the military coup. But in early March, after a colleague was violently arrested in the south of the country, and the junta revoked the licenses of five prominent media organizations, his included, he got word that he should go into hiding. "I got a call from my source saying I should run right now because they are going to arrest you tonight," said Ye Wint Thu, who is in his late 30s. He stuffed what he could into bags — his laptops, work projects and important documents — and fled with his wife. Since then, they have stayed with friends, family and colleagues, moving each night to evade the security forces who regularly conduct nighttime raids of suspected safe houses. Ye Wint Thu's story is not a one-off. Journalists across Myanmar are being attacked by the military junta merely for doing their jobs. More than 80 journalists have been arrested since the coup on February 1, with more than half of those still in detention, according to a statement from Western embassies in Myanmar. Offices of newspapers and online media have been raided. A nightly news bulletin on state TV broadcasts the names and images of those sought by the junta. Many of them, like Ye Wint Thu, are journalists. Some have been hauled off to secretive military interrogation centers and charged with crimes under section 505a — a law amended by the military that makes it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison for publishing or circulating comments that "cause fear" or spread "false news." Braving bullets and potential torture if they are captured, Myanmar's reporters are continuing to expose alleged atrocities by the junta against its own people. And alongside the muzzled media, citizen journalists are taking great risks to gather information, while activists secretly publish and distribute revolutionary newsletters and pamphlets. "What's happening in Myanmar is a humanitarian crisis of the press," said Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "As global condemnation of the coup rose, it's becoming clear that the [military junta] want to suppress the news and to suppress coverage on what they're doing to the pro democracy demonstrators. And so they're going after the press." 'I could die on the street': Before the coup on February 1, Ye Wint Thu traveled around Myanmar producing and anchoring a current affairs TV program for independent media outlet Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). Now, he said, most journalists and editors he knows have gone underground as it's too dangerous to be on the streets......"I could die on the street.: Someone could shoot at me or I could get arrested. On the streets, there's a lot of informants and a lot of people who I don't know, so I might get killed," he said. During one crackdown in Yangon's Hledan, a district which had become a flashpoint for protests, Ye Wint Thu described running from security forces who were shooting at protesters. He sought shelter in a migrant hostel. "I had to hide in a small bedroom because the soldiers and police were shooting and were trying to catch people on the streets," he said. Despite knowing that he's wanted by the junta, Ye Wint Thu said he won't stop working. "Most of the journalists are on the run, like me. They can't do their jobs freely," he said. "All I can do now is conduct interviews here and make phone calls ... We can't stop, it's really important for the people of Burma," he said, using another name for Myanmar. In downtown Yangon, DVB's office has been sealed shut. The staff managed to recover essential broadcast equipment but the once buzzing newsroom, like most media offices in the city, remains empty. Police regularly check the premises to make sure they aren't broadcasting. The morning of the coup, DVB was taken off the air along with all other independent TV channels. The news organization switched to broadcasting via satellite but the junta issued an order for citizens to remove the PSI satellite dishes that carried their channel. Now, while they look for another satellite to broadcast from, DVB is relying on getting information out via its website and YouTube pages, as well through Facebook where it has 14 million followers. "We never stopped, not even for a single day," said Toe Zaw Latt, DVB's operations director who recently fled the city......A network of safe houses: Upon seizing power, the military cut all access to mobile data and wireless broadband, and until last week completely shut down the internet each night. Toe Zaw Latt said the junta's attempt to control all media and communication has created an "information vacuum" in the country, which it attempts to fill with military propaganda. Journalists move carefully through a network of safe houses, plotting their routes before they go out to avoid military checkpoints. If they're stopped, security forces search their phones and cameras — any images of protests or the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi can be cause for arrest. "Every day, once you decide to leave, you know that you may never make it back to your room or your safe house. But it is your decision," Toe Zaw Latt said. Toe Zaw Latt tells his reporters: "Don't stay long on the ground, get the story, get out. Shoot and run. Cover your identity. Don't risk your life. There will be stories all the time. If it is too risky, don't take that risk." They operate in small networks for their safety, and there are no bylines on news articles. Even uploading footage is dangerous, as the journalists often have to find someone willing to allow them to use their network. "You have to make the file size very small, you have to upload to a particular network to get it out of Myanmar. Then people outside will access the cloud and upload," Toe Zaw Latt said. "I had to take risk on a daily basis to get internet access. You have to share [network connection] and you cannot let them know you are uploading files, as it is very scary." Toe Zaw Latt is part of an old guard of exiled Myanmar media workers. For half a century, Myanmar was ruled by successive military dictators until economic and political reforms began in 2011. For years, DVB relied on a clandestine network of video journalists who would bravely sneak footage out of the country so independent news could be broadcast into Myanmar. Following the abolishment of pre-publication censorship in 2012, exiled media organizations that operated in Thailand or Europe began slowly moving back. Once blacklisted, journalists could now interview government ministers and report openly in the country. In 2013, daily independent newspapers were allowed to publish for the first time since military rule. From 2015, under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian National League for Democracy government, TV news channels like DVB were granted licenses, but journalists were still targeted with colonial era laws and defamation. Press freedom was not great, journalists said, but it was better. And there was hope it would continue to improve. Myanmar ranks 140 out of 180 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, dropping one place from the year before. Now, they have been forced to go back underground. Toe Zaw Latt said four DVB journalists have been arrested since the coup. The former exiled journalists pass down their knowledge and experience to the younger generation who have suddenly found themselves the public enemy of a murderous regime intent on wiping out the truth and replacing it with its own. As it's too dangerous for many to be out on the streets, media workers both inside and outside the country are relying on the bravery of citizen journalists. These are normal people filming or photographing, posting on social media and sending information to reporters. Their videos, often shot from behind windows or walls, provide evidence of the military's shootings, beatings and other human rights abuses and counter the official narrative that security forces are using "minimum force" or independent media is "fake news." "Lots of citizen journalists know that these kind of records are really important," said Toe Zaw Latt. "The [junta has been] accused of crimes against humanity. The more remote, the more abuses because no one is watching," he said. He described one instance where a man walked for 24 hours to reach a place with network connectivity so he could send a few photos about a conflict in this home state. "They want to take a risk to tell the stories," he said.....Sacrificing freedom to report: For some that mental and emotional toll is great. Journalists say they wrestle with guilt and grief at leaving family and partners behind, or being the reason they have to flee, potentially putting them in danger. "The painful part is, I said I'm sorry a thousand times to my partner. If not because of me, he didn't need to go [into hiding]," said Tin, a journalist for independent online news outlet Myanmar Now, who is using a pseudonym for her safety. "When I go to sleep I just wish I could see a different morning, another day," said Tin. "The coup happened around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. We woke up to the coup and woke up to the news. So whenever I go to sleep I wish that tomorrow morning I can see something different." Tin said she feels guilty thinking about her hardships when others are going through so much worse. She draws strength when she thinks of the 760 people killed by the military since the coup. "I keep reminding myself these are not just numbers, these are lives and families behind those numbers," she said. Known for its investigations and hard-hitting features, Myanmar Now has been a loud and critical voice publishing in Burmese and English. International media, including CNN, often rely on its reporting, which has included reports on military's finances and business dealings with cronies and foreign ventures. That has drawn the ire of the military. In mid-March, Myanmar Now's office was raided by security forces. Along with DVB, Myanmar Now was one of five to have their publishing license revoked. But Tin said they have adapted to the challenging environment in ways they never thought they'd have to. "A lot of time phone calls don't work. Or in areas where security forces are shooting, you can hear loud bangs or running or shooting. It has been difficult to get information so we keep calling around midnight or 11 p.m. when we think there should no longer be shooting," she said. Tin said journalists are now faced with two choices: "If you want to keep reporting, you have to be exiled or in a place where they can't find you," she said. "You have to sacrifice freedom to report.".....Military courts: That lack of freedom is something Brang Mai struggles with daily. Brang Mai founded Myitkyina News Journal, an independent weekly, in 2012 with 30 employees covering the northern state of Kachin. On April 29, the military revoked the journal's publishing license. "Everything is online. It's very dangerous to print, and we cannot find a place to work," he said. Since the coup, three of his journalists have been arrested, and it has been a struggle to find out where they are, Brang Mai said. Once charged, trials are held, not in civilian courts, but within the prison walls, in secretive, military-run hearings. The CPJ's Crispin said Myanmar's jails and prisons are like a "black box." "Many just disappear inside prison, they're not given access to their families, they're not given access to lawyers, the news organizations are not allowed to contact them, so it's becoming a real black box as to what's happening to many journalists that are that are in jail," he said. Brang Mai spends his days frantically organizing lawyers for his detained reporters, arranging security for their families and his other staff, hiring trustworthy drivers, and seeking out safe houses. He moved back to his home town of Myitkyina to report on the country's opening up, but now fears being forced back into exile. "We never thought that this would happen again. What we facing here is unbelievable," Brang Mai said. "All of a sudden everything vanished within a day or two. If we move out to another country, maybe we get asylum, we just have to restart from basics again.".....Rise of alternative media: While some face the prospect of going into exile, others are creating new forms of media. Subverting the junta's internet cuts and suppression of information, Myanmar's young people are printing underground newsletters and pamphlets and secretly distributing them in the streets. Some have revolutionary names like Molotov. Others, thrown from bridges or stuck to lampposts, feature news of the coup, arrests, military abuses, and even poems. Activists have now launched a short wave radio station to reach the public and each other. Federal FM, formed in April by a group of activist volunteers, broadcasts news and updates on the political situation. "Radio is one of most important things for public information because we know military is cutting internet and phones and news agencies their satellite has been taken away. So I know radio is the only way to inform the public about what's going on," said Nway Oo, presenter for Federal FM who uses a pseudonym for safety. Federal FM is broadcast on 90.2 MHz on Thursdays and Sundays in Yangon and Mandalay, and aims to expand all over the country. Set up by members of the ethnic protest group General Strike Committee of Nationalities, their mission is to educate listeners about federalism — and hold the newly formed National Unity Government to account. "From radio we are able to criticize and express our aims or goals for a federal union," Nway Oo said. Their purpose, she said is to "support the revolution by giving people the news and the peoples' voice.".....Myanmar's journalists say they won't abandon the people: DVB's Toe Zaw Latt last month made the difficult decision to leave Yangon. The security situation there was untenable, he said. The military had re-imposed household registrations, a hangover from military rule where all house guests have to be registered so the military can keep tabs on who is staying where. "They make it harder to hide. They know student leaders and celebrities are on the run, so it's to chase them down," he said. Toe Zaw Latt, an Australian citizen, managed to make it to the airport and fly out last month. He is now in Australian quarantine. "This is not over. There is a coup, there is a huge army with guns, but we are not going to give up. For journalists, of course, there is danger, we are facing huge difficulties, but we are not going to give up," he said. For Ye Wint Thu, what's happening to his country is not new. He was four years old when his father was imprisoned for 10 years for being a democracy activist following the 1988 failed uprising against the then-military regime. This time, he believes the younger generation will not give up. "They will keep protesting. Generation Z, they are the hope of the country of Burma," he said. Like many journalists in Myanmar, Ye Wint Thu is determined to keep reporting. "I can't plan at all because things are changing every day," he said. "[But] I'll stick as long as I can inside Burma, and do my job as best as I can."..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 2 May, (765) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (6) fallen heroes today. (2) from Hsipaw Town and Nawngcho Town in Shan State, (1) from Hpakant Town in Kachin State and (2) from Wetlet Town in Sagaing Region died on 2 May. (1) from Kutkai Town in Shan State was killed yesterday 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 May 2, a total of (3555) people are currently under detention; of them (82) are sentenced. 1396 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. On 2 May, across the world and inside Burma, people powerfully protested the coup regime on the Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Day. Since the ASEAN leaders meeting, junta forces continue to perpetrate violence, today was the bloodiest day since the ASEAN meeting, at least five civilians were killed in one day. This is alongside increasing arrests. Two people were killed, and three others injured during a violent crackdown at an anti-dictatorship protest today in Hsipaw Town and Naungcho Town, Shan State. The Hpakant strike was repressed with live ammunition, mines, and hand grenades. One protester was shot dead in Hpakant, Kachin State. More than 20 people were injured and chased forcing the protestors to hide. There is great concern for these injured protesters’ access to medical treatment. Terrorists also arrested more than 10 civilians by breaking and destroying house doors in Hpakant. The junta also opened fire whilst people were gathering to begin a protest in Wetlet Town, Sagaing Region. Two men were shot dead, and eight others injured. The terrorist troops are now wearing plain clothes, carrying combat weapons, and arresting protestors so it is less easy to be recognized by civilians. Junta forces are also hiding to ambush and shoot. Two civilians were killed and at least five others were arrested today by this way in Mandalay City. AAPP is consolidating further information to verify this. Junta forces went to the Eain Phyu Taw spare auto parts store to allegedly buy car tires in Kutkai Town, Shan State on 1 May. The victim’s mother said the store was closed and they had stopped selling because of the ending of the fasting period. The victim’s mother was dragged into a car by the junta forces and an argument between the son and the terrorists broke out, he was then shot twice in the chest and died. Aside from all this, today the terrorist group crackdown on protests and arrested civilians in Mogaung Town, Kachin State, Mawlamyine City, Mon State, Mandalay and Pyugyidagun Townships, Mandalay Region, Monywa City, Sagaing Region, and Hlaing, Insein, and North Okkalapa Townships, Yangon Region. Some civilians across the country were injured. Arrests are made in plain clothes and the terrorist group has consistently used private vehicles, military trucks, and motorbikes to oppress civilians. Today, strikes were attacked using military trucks and private vehicles in Naungcho Town, Shan State, Shwebo Town, Sagaing Region and Eaindu Town, Karen State. More than 50 motorbikes were confiscated from youth protesters during the Eaindu protest. The junta stormed a school for the blind based in the Khawel Chan, Yangon Region last April and raided a girl orphanage house on Byaing Yay Oe Zin Street on 1 May nighttime in Tamwe Township, Yangon Region. During the raid, the door of the shelter was stormed and destroyed, the young women living in the shelter were taken out one by one. As of now, it has not been confirmed regarding arrests. Although Myanmar ratified to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), these rights have been dismantled by the dictatorship, women are suffering from both mental and physical insecurity. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Coup Highlights in 90 Days
Description: "Myanmar has now been under military rule for three months. Here is a timeline of the major events since Feb 1. Feb 1: Myanmar’s military seizes power in a coup claiming the 2020 November general election that brought a landslide victory to the National League for Democracy (NLD) was marred by fraud. It arrests the leaders of the democratically elected government, including President U Win Myint, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and region and state ministers. The military announces a yearlong state of emergency and says a new election will be held and power transferred to the winner. Feb 2: Myanmar’s people bang pots and pans to protest against the coup. This form of protest has been taking place at 8 pm daily across the country ever since. Myanmar’s military forms the State Administrative Council (SAC) with military officers and selected civilians replacing NLD ministers. Feb 3: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is charged under the Export and Import Law and Natural Disaster Management Law and remanded in custody. Additional charges are later filed against her under the Telecommunications Law, sedition law and Natural Disaster Management Law in Naypyitaw. She also faces a charge under the Official Secrets Act in Yangon Eastern District. She faces a total of six charges and has not been allowed to meet her lawyers in person. The military blocks access to Facebook, the primary means of access to the internet for the overwhelming majority in Myanmar. It is later followed by overnight internet shutdowns, which have since been lifted. Feb 4: Led by 32-year-old Dr. Tayzar San, around 20 people took to the streets against the military regime in Mandalay. The street protests from Mandalay then spread across the country. Feb 5: The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body representing the elected NLD lawmakers from the 2020 November election, is formed. Feb 6: Anti-regime protests begin in Yangon and other cities, followed by a total internet blackout which is lifted the following day. Feb 8: Many civil servants come out on strike and join the civil disobedience movement (CDM). Mass protests with hundreds of thousands of protesters take place in Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyitaw and other cities. Some private banks have to close as their employees join the CDM. Myanmar’s military imposes a ban on gatherings of more than five people in Yangon and other areas. Feb 9: Ma Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, 19, is shot in the head as police open fire on anti-regime protesters in Naypyitaw. She later dies of brain injuries. Feb 11: People, including celebrities, stage a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon in response to alleged Chinese support for Myanmar’s military. Protests continue daily outside the embassy until Feb 20. Feb 13: People protest outside the offices of United Nations agencies and the US Embassy in Yangon, calling on the international community to take action against the SAC. Feb 15: In an interview with Myanmar’s media, Chinese ambassador Chen Hai says the political situation in Myanmar is “absolutely not what China wants to see” and dismisses social media rumors of Chinese involvement in the Feb. 1 coup as “complete nonsense”. Feb 19: Ma Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, who was shot in the head in the first shooting of junta forces, dies at a 1,000-bed public hospital in Naypyitaw, becoming the first victim to be shot dead since the coup. The SAC says she was shot by fellow protesters. Feb 22: In what the biggest day so far of defiance since the coup, large crowds of protesters joined a general strike against the junta, closing businesses and flooding on to streets across the country. The protests are referred to as the “five twos revolution”, a reference to the date 22.2.2021. Feb 24: Facebook and Instagram ban Myanmar’s military and military-controlled state media, citing “exceptionally severe human rights abuses and the clear risk of future military-initiated violence in Myanmar”. Feb 26: The military-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) meets political parties in Naypyitaw during which UCE chairman U Thein Soe says the results of the 2020 general election are invalid. Leaders of some political parties that did not win a single seat in the November poll ask the UEC to abolish the NLD. Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, in his speech to the General Assembly’s informal meeting on Myanmar, called on the international community to “use any means necessary” to reverse the coup and protect the country’s people. He flashes a three-finger salute, a sign of protest, while addressing the meeting. Feb 27: The junta announces the dismissal of U Kyaw Moe Tun, saying the envoy “betrayed the country and had spoken for an unofficial organization which doesn’t represent the country and had abused the power and responsibilities of an ambassador”. U Kyaw Moe Tun later sends a letter to the president of the UN General Assembly to say that he still holds the post. March 3: More than 30 are killed in at least four cities in one of the bloodiest days since the coup as soldiers and police fire live rounds into crowds of protesters. March 6: Junta forces detain ward-level NLD chairman U Khin Maung Latt in Yangon’s Pabedan Township. His dead body is returned the following day. Dozens of similar cases follow as activists and protest leaders die overnight in military custody. March 8: The SAC revoked the licenses of five media outlets, Mizzima, DVB, 7 Days, Myanmar Now and Khit Thit Media. Junta forces abduct U Zaw Myat Lin, manager of a vocational institute run by the NLD in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township. His dead body is returned the following day. March 11: Myanmar’s military regime sues The Irrawaddy for its Feb. 20 video showing the police asking for 13 million kyats (US$9,200) from relatives to release striking doctors detained at an anti-regime protest. March 14: In another of the deadliest days since the coup, more than 50 people die in Yangon’s Hlaingtharyar Township as the security forces carry out a murderous crackdown on anti-regime protesters. Some Chinese-owned factories were set on fire in Hlaing Tharyar and Shwepyithar. The Chinese Embassy urges Myanmar’s authorities to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, projects and businesses. The military council declares martial law in Hlaing Tharyar and Shwepyithar. March 15: Martial law is declared in North Dagon, South Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa townships in Yangon and five townships in Mandalay. The junta blocks mobile internet access, the primary source of internet for the majority in Myanmar. Mobile internet access remains unavailable until May 1. March 21: The Home Affairs Ministry declares the CRPH and its related organizations to be unlawful associations. March 27: The military regime holds Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw. More than 100 protesters are killed across the country on the bloodiest day of the protests to date as people fill the streets, defying a military warning that they could be shot “in the head and back”. The UN human rights high commissioner’s office said it had received reports of “scores killed”, adding that “this violence is compounding the illegitimacy of the coup and the culpability of its leaders”. March 31: The CRPH says it will abolish the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. April 1: A striking policeman leads civilians to attack a police outpost in Tamu, Sagaing Region. The policeman dies in the attack that sees the four junta police officers killed. The military regime blocks wireless internet access, making fiber internet the only means to get online in the country. April 4: The European Union announces the suspension of all the development projects in Myanmar. Apr 8: Eleven people die and dozens are injured as junta forces impose a violent crackdown in Taze, Sagaing Region, where anti-regime protests are gaining momentum. April 9: At least 82 people are killed as junta security forces raid a protest camp in Bago where anti-regime protesters have rallied each day against the coup for 68 consecutive days. Many people are detained during the raid that forces more than 1,000 people from their homes. April 10: At least eight police officers are killed as the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army attacks a police outpost in Lashio, northern Shan State. April 15: Prominent protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing in Monywa is detained after his motorbike is rammed by junta forces in a private car. The 26-year-old activist faces 10 charges, including high treason. April 16: The CRPH forms the National Unity Government (NUG), with President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi taking their original positions, and ethnic leaders and activists appointed as ministers. The Home Affairs Ministry later declares the NUG to be an unlawful association. The junta also says it will blacklist striking doctors which it has sued for incitement. April 24: In his first foreign trip since the coup, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends the ASEAN summit on Myanmar in Jakarta. A five-point consensus is reached on ending violence, facilitating a constructive dialogue between all parties, a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, acceptance of aid and a visit by an envoy to Myanmar. Myanmar’s people express their disappointment as the leaders fail to mention the release of political prisoners. ​ April 26: Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing says he will carefully consider ASEAN leaders’ recommended steps for solving the crisis after the situation stabilizes. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman says: “China will maintain close communication with ASEAN and support its mediation efforts while reaching out to all parties in Myanmar in its own way, so as to secure an early ‘soft landing’ for the situation in Myanmar.” April 29: Airbases in Magwe and Meiktila are attacked with rockets. April 30: The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners said 759 people have been killed, 3,485 are in detention out of 4,537 detained while 1,316 warrants have been issued by the regime since the February coup..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar journalists granted sanctuary in India
Sub-title: Junta forces Burmese media underground and into exile again
Description: "An Indian court has granted sanctuary to two Burmese journalists, a colleague and some relatives a month after they fled across the border from Myanmar into Manipur state. They had been lying low in Tengnoupal district. On April 20, the Manipur High Court granted the group safe passage to Imphal, the state capital, and protection from Indian authorities until further notice. They left for Imphal the following day. At first glance, the two men could easily be mistaken for locals in Moreh, a bustling trading hub on the northeastern state's border with Myanmar. The town is an ethnic melting pot with cross-border familial relations that go back centuries. India has always been a friendly neighbor in peace and an ally in crisis to these people. 'Thin,' 44, is a video journalist and 'Lau,' 38, is a webmaster. Both work for Mizzima News, a Burmese media organization that was among the first to lose its operating license after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing staged his coup on Feb. 1. Thin told Nikkei Asia that an arrest warrant had been issued against him under Article 505 (a) of Myanmar's penal code, which criminalizes the publishing or circulation of any "statement, rumor or report, with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, any officer, soldier, sailor or airman, in the army, navy or air force to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such." Thin immediately hopped on a bus in Yangon along with a 22-year-old female staff member and Lau, Lau's wife and their three kids. The journey to the Indian border took two nights and three days. They slipped across and joined hundreds of other refugees who fled after the junta, the State Administration Council, embarked on a brutal crackdown on the nationwide civil disobedience movement. Thin and Lau declined to go into detail about their entry route into India. They said they were sheltered for a month by a network of civil society organizations representing local ethnic groups on both sides of the border. Before fleeing, Thin was covering the street protests in Yangon. He barely slept in February, and witnessed some terrible incidents. "I saw a military armored vehicle crush a group of protesters on bicycles," he said. With the loss of Mizzima's satellite channel and reduced access to the internet, Thin said it was becoming increasingly hard to report what was happening on the ground -- and also much more dangerous. "The military junta indiscriminately fired at protesters and jouralists," he said. "I got used to running past dead bodies lying on the ground." According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 759 people had been killed by heavily armed troops and police and 4,537 arrested as of April 30. At least, 71 of those in detention are journalists, according to the United Nations. The porous India-Myanmar border is 1,624 km long and touches the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. In March, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that illegal immigrants found in these four northeastern states should be deported. The Manipur state government duly issued an order to the deputy commissioner of five border districts, including Tengnoupal, to "politely turn away" people seeking refuge. This prompted such a severe backlash that the order was retracted on March 30. Despite the restrictions and border patrols, at least five hundred refugees are believed unofficially to have crossed over into Moreh and other parts of Tengnoupal. Nikkei reached out to district authorities to confirm this, but they declined and said they were not authorized to speak. The Manipur court noted that India is not a signatory to the Geneva Refugee Convention of 1951 or the New York Protocol of 1967. It instead based its ruling on India being signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, both declared by the U.N. in 1948 and 1966, respectively. Thin told Nikkei that there has been no news about six Mizzima colleagues who were arrested, and their whereabouts are not known. On April 8, Mizzima's co-founder, journalist Thin Thin Aung, was arrested with two colleagues. Soe Myint, Mizzima's editor in chief and co-founder, is still at large. He told Nikkei by email that nothing more has been heard of his colleagues. He confirmed that three of the six Mizzima staffers have been charged under Article 505 (a). "At least one of them, we have confirmed, faced torture," Soe Myint told Nikkei. "The rest, we do not have any contact or trace of them -- we don't know whether they are being tortured or are even alive." For Thin and Lau there is a strong element of deja vu. Both took refuge in India during a shorter prodemocracy uprising in Myanmar in 2007. Lau was 24 at that time. It took him four days to get from Moreh to Delhi, where he obtained a refugee card from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of his brethren from Chin state made the same journey, and ended up taking asylum in the West. Lau returned to Myanmar in 2012 and joined Mizzima. "I'm not a journalist but with my background in computer studies, I took the webmaster job because I wanted to fight for democracy in my country," he said. Thin started working at Mizzima in 2008, ten years after Soe Myint and Thin Thin Aung started the news service in Delhi where they were living in exile. They shifted operations to Yangon in 2013 after the government of President Thein Sein, a retired general, allowed private news organizations to operate for the first time in 50 years. Mizzima maintained a good relationship with India throughout, and in 2018 signed a content sharing agreement with Prasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster. Thin and Lau want to continue reporting the Myanmar crisis from Delhi, and are seeking permission to go there. News of their presence first appeared on April 15, when the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union issued a statement asking the state government to give them "safe passage" to the UNHCR. Acording to Soe Myint, 42 Mizzima journalists are in hiding but still working inside Myanmar, with another 34 in Australia, Canada, India. Norway, Singapore, Thailand and the U.S. "We will be back to where we were in 2011, working in exile, Soe Myint told Nikkei. "We need to work with offices set up in India and our units working underground inside the country." Although the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw recently announced the parallel National Unity Government, there seems to be little chance of the exiled journalists being able to go home any time soon. Thin and Lau are keeping in touch with their network of sources and citizen journalists, many of whom belong to Generation Z -- born between 1995 and 2012 -- and play vital roles reporting developments on social media platforms. "We continue to provide news and information," said Thin. "We don't know where all our colleagues are but each one of us is still working." Soe Myint said that India's support has always been crucial in the fight for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. "We are confident that we will win this battle," he said signing off. "But we need your support and solidarity."..."
Source/publisher: "Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of publication: 2021-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar protesters march three months after coup; U.N. warns of ‘standstill’
Description: "Protesters against military rule marched in Myanmar on Saturday three months after a coup ended a democratic transition, with several small blasts compounding a sense of crisis that a U.N. envoy warned could bring state administration to a halt. The military has tried to end dissent and impose its authority on a people largely opposed to the return of rule by the generals after 10 years of democratic reforms that included a government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite a relentless crackdown in which at least 759 protesters have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, crowds come out day after day to reject the junta. "Our cause, democracy, our cause, a federal union. Free arrested leaders," protesters chanted at one of two rallies in the main city of Yangon. Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup the along with many other members of her party. The AAPP says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the military. People also rallied in the second city of Mandalay and the southern town of Dawei, media reported. There were no immediate reports of violence. Media reported several small blasts in different places including Yangon late on Friday and on Saturday. There were no immediate reports of casualties and no claims of responsibility. A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The military has accused pro-democracy activists of planting bombs. The U.N. special envoy on Myanmar told the Security Council on Friday that in the absence of a collective international response to the coup, violence was worsening and the running of the state risked coming to a standstill, according to diplomats who attended the private meeting. read more Christine Schraner Burgener briefed the 15-member council from Thailand, where she has been meeting regional leaders. She hopes to travel to Myanmar but the military has yet to approve a visit. "The general administration of the state could risk coming to a standstill as the pro-democracy movement continues in spite of the ongoing use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests and torture as part of the military's repression," Schraner Burgener said, according to diplomats. She told diplomats that reports of a continuing crackdown risked undermining momentum toward ending the crisis following a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on April 25 with the junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Schraner Burgener, expressing concern about rising violence, cited reports of bomb attacks and of civilians, mostly students from the urban areas, getting weapons training from ethnic minority insurgents. U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said Min Aung Hlaing had used the summit as a "propaganda ploy". "Indeed, he tried to appear to be what he is not - a legitimate leader," Andrews said in a post on Twitter. "The good news: Those who ARE legitimate are ready to engage: the National Unity Government." Ousted members of parliament from Suu Kyi's party, politicians representing ethnic minorities and democracy activists set up the unity government but it has yet to win the international recognition it says it is due. The U.N. Security Council reiterated its “deep concern” at the situation and its support for Myanmar’s democratic transition. The council has issued several statements since the coup but diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger council action against Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Seven reported killed as Myanmar protests aim to ‘shake the world’
Description: "Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days on Sunday killing seven people, media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis. The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Myanmar communities around the world to mark what organisers called "the global Myanmar spring revolution". "Shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people's unity," the organisers said in a statement. Streams of demonstrators, some led by Buddhist monks, made their way through cities and towns across the country, including the commercial hub of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay, where two people were shot and killed, the Mizzima news agency reported. The Irrawaddy news site earlier posted a photograph of a man it said was a security officer in plain clothes taking aim with a rifle in Mandalay. Two people were killed in the central town of Wetlet, the Myanmar Now news agency said, and two were killed in different towns in Shan State in the northeast, two media outlets reported. One person was also killed in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, the Kachin News Group reported. Reuters could not verify the reports and a spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The protests are only one of the problems the generals have brought on with their Feb. 1 ouster of the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates. In some places civilians with crude weapons have battled security forces, while in central areas military and government facilities that have been secure for generations have been hit by rocket attacks and a wave of small, unexplained blasts. There have been no claims of responsibility for the explosions. 'HANDMADE BOMBS' Khit Thit media reported a blast outside a police barracks in Yangon early on Sunday. Vehicles were ablaze it said, but it gave no information on any casualties. Later, it reported another blast in the city. A news portal in Shan State reported a blast outside the home of a prominent businessman. The state-run broadcaster in its main evening news bulletin on Saturday gave details of at least 11 explosions over the previous 36 hours, mostly in Yangon. It reported some damage but no casualties. "Some rioters who do not want stability of the state have been throwing and planting handmade bombs at government buildings and on public roads," the broadcaster said. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says security forces have killed at least 759 protesters since the coup. Reuters is unable to confirm the toll. The military, which ruled for almost 50 years until launching a tentative reform process a decade ago, acknowledged in mid-April the death of 248 protesters, saying they were killed after they initiated violence. The protests and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes have crippled the economy and raised the prospect of 25 million people sliding into poverty, the U.N. Development Programme has warned. read more The military said it had to seize power because its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were not addressed by an election commission that deemed the vote fair. Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup along with many other members of her party..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: This revolution is about more than who governs Myanmar
Sub-title: While the anti-coup movement is ostensibly about who rules – the military or the people – embedded in it are four tendencies that, with the world’s help, will radically remake Myanmar society for the better.
Description: "Myanmar is in the throes of a profound political crisis, but the solution must extend beyond the question of who’s in charge of government. The resistance to the Tatmadaw’s takeover has been spearheaded by the youth. Members of so-called Generation Z have learned from their elders in the 1988 pro-democracy movement, but this “Spring Revolution” is not like their parents’ failed revolution. The battle is lopsided – the military has more guns and more money than the people right now – but, with action from the international community, it is entirely winnable. The prize will not only be democratic government, but a far more just, inclusive and united society, thanks to four progressive tendencies embedded in the youth-led movement.....Genuine democracy: The first of these tendencies is a demand for genuine democracy that moves beyond past compromises. The events of the past three months mean the masses are no longer willing to settle for a return to the pre-coup status quo. This revolution aims to complete, once and for all, a process stalled since 1962: the creation of a federal union and the removal of the Tatmadaw from politics. Many people reluctantly accepted the military-drafted 2008 Constitution because they believed it would help move the country towards democracy. The National League for Democracy’s 2015 victory under that charter gave them hope for a better future. The military unequivocally dashed those hopes on February 1. Those that weren’t already convinced now know that a “partial democracy” is a contradiction of terms, and that a power sharing agreement with the Tatmadaw is a road to nowhere. To that end, people are striking, peacefully protesting, boycotting and performing acts of civil disobedience, hoping to paralyse the military’s ability to govern, even if it means deep personal and economic pain. They are now considering any means necessary to finally remove the military from politics. They’ve called on the international community and the United Nations to invoke the principle of the Responsibility to Protect and, despite the slim-to-zero chance that this call will be heeded, they continue collecting evidence of the Tatmadaw’s crimes against humanity, hoping to hold the coup makers accountable under global bodies of justice, such as the International Criminal Court. Even the idea of armed revolution has become popular, with the National Unity Government declaring its ambition to establish a People’s Defence Army that would later be integrated into a “federal army” alongside ethnic armed groups already fighting for autonomy in their own states. Young people are reportedly flocking to areas under the control of ethnic armies to receive weapons training. But the idea of an armed offensive against the Tatmadaw, however emotionally gratifying now, may be ill advised in the longer term. For one, the military has superior weapons and greater resources than all of its challengers combined, and it has survived countless armed insurrections since its founding. Additionally, the technical and practical challenges of unifying many geographically dispersed armed groups with varying political goals into a single force may prove overwhelming. Still, the growing popularity of the idea among young and old alike – many of whom are getting a first-hand experience of the depths of the Tatmadaw’s brutality and inhumanity for the first time – is a testament to the desperate desire, shared by almost everyone, to rid the country of this notorious institution, which has impoverished its citizenry and tarnished the national image for more than half a century.....Across ethnic lines: The second critical tendency of the Spring Revolution is a desire to shatter pernicious national mythologies. Generations of Myanmar people have been conditioned to believe a distorted version of history – something this movement is helping to right. For more than 70 years, minority ethnic groups have felt betrayed by the majority Bamar, who, instead of bringing about the democratic federal union promised in the 1947 Panglong Agreement, have continued to maintain their political and social dominance while marginalising minority voices. The military has systematically reinforced these divisions since General Ne Win seized power in 1962 through divide-and-conquer tactics. In propaganda spread through the schoolroom and state-controlled media, successive military regimes portrayed ethnic insurgent groups as bandits led by warlords who posed a threat to the nation. Most Bamar live in regions untouched by conflict and did not understand that ethnic armed groups had taken up arms as political actors with the universal ambition of autonomy. They had little knowledge of the suffering and abuse – the abductions and arbitrary killings, the use of systemic rape as a weapon of war and subjugation – that ethnic groups have endured at the Tatmadaw’s hands. Perhaps the most significant result of the Spring Revolution is the unprecedented unity that has developed between the Bamar and other ethnic nationalities. The use of lethal force by security forces – their indiscriminate shooting into homes and apartments, their targeting of aid workers, their looting and wanton vandalism – have helped lowland Bamar understand what their ethnic compatriots have endured for decades. Moving displays of Bamar sympathy have sprung up, and people – largely the youth – are publicly apologising for not speaking out in the past.....Toppling taboos: A third tendency of the Spring Revolution lies in its critique of religious orthodoxy and antiquated social norms. This is particularly noticeable in attitudes towards women and girls, who have been central to the protest movement, displaying just as much commitment, creativity and courage as their male counterparts – both on the frontlines and in the rooms where strategy is made. Women have harnessed traditional beliefs to challenge misogyny and the military in creative ways, notably using the fear among many men – particularly those within the Tatmadaw – of losing their male essence, known as hpone, by passing below women’s garments. As security forces moved in to quash protests around the country, female-led groups of demonstrators hung women’s htamein (longyi) from clotheslines strung over streets and roads, knowing that superstitious, conservative soldiers would be reluctant to pass beneath them. In many cases, they were right. Junta forces often stopped to burn the garments before passing beneath them. The demands for gender equity have permeated aspirations for new government leadership as well: about half of the National Unity Government members announced on April 16 are women. And despite the enormous respect accorded to senior Buddhist monks, young protesters have been quick to criticise monks who express support for the coup makers. After Wazipeik Sayadaw, a Shan State monk with close ties to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, reportedly advised the senior general to “shoot protesters in the head”, portraits of the monk turned up strung alongside htamein at protests in Yangon’s Sanchaung Township. This was a challenge to the monk directly, but also to a misogynist belief that even representations of monks are too sacred to be displayed near “lowly” women’s clothing. When Sitagu Sayadaw, a highly influential senior monk in Sagaing Region well known for his philanthropic work and Buddhist scholarship, publicly supported the coup, scores of Buddhist social media users were quick to post scathing criticisms of him online. Western readers, accustomed to open critiques of the clergy, may find this nothing to write home about. But these moves – which even parents, senior relatives and religious leaders that do support the movement likely found deeply uncomfortable – are unprecedented, given the hierarchical relationship between laypeople and the Sangha. This revolution is changing mindsets: formerly untouchable elders are being revaluated with a critical eye, often facing social punishment campaigns from young people willing to judge them on their actions rather than their venerated status.....The Rohingya divide: The final tendency of the Spring Revolution may also be its most complex. This movement has, like nothing before it, forced a reckoning with longstanding prejudices against the Rohingya – though there are gradations to how much progress has been made in this realm. Undoubtedly, there has been a much-needed growth in acceptance of the persecuted minority, and an overdue recognition of their plight. Social media users have tweeted what seemed like heartfelt apologies to the former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Ms Yanghee Lee, for their past hate speech against the Rohingya “and against me personally because I used the name ‘Rohingya’ while speaking about their plight”, Lee recently wrote in Nikkei Asia. Such apologies were “unthinkable just a few months ago”, she added. Early on in the protests, multiple demonstrators posted photos of themselves holding signs expressing support for the Rohingya, and remorse for ignoring or denying their suffering in the past. But while unity has emerged on abolishing military dictatorship, standing with ethnic nationalities, and building a more progressive, open society, divisions remain over the Rohingya, with opinion roughly divided into four groups. The first still regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants with no real right to a dignified life in Myanmar, insisting on calling them “Bengali” no matter how they self-identify, or how many generations have lived here before them. People of this mind may never be convinced. The second acknowledges that the Tatmadaw committed crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017, but still holds that most Rohingya are foreign interlopers who are not entitled to live in Myanmar. Most among this tribe also refuse to recognise “Rohingya” as a legitimate ethnic designation. The third recognises the atrocities the Rohingya have suffered at the hands of the Tatmadaw and also accepts that many have lived in Myanmar for generations, entitling them to some form of citizenship, but only a second-class, “Bengali” citizenship, since they are not among the 135 indigenous “races” who automatically receive citizenship under the racist, military-drafted 1982 Citizenship Law. The final group is, sadly, likely to be the smallest in size. This group accepts the Rohingya’s right to citizenship and to self-identification as “Rohingya”. These thinkers reject the arbitrary distinctions between “officially recognised” groups and others – ideas pushed on the populace by the xenophobic Ne Win, the country’s first coup maker and military dictator. They insist that Myanmar should have only one category of citizenship, free of racial distinctions. Until this last understanding is more widely shared, we’re doomed to spawn a crippled form of democracy.....Towards a more just future: This revolution is truly unprecedented, in its demands and its sophistication, and it has the potential to transform society and deliver a new nation of more just structures, values and norms. We are confident of victory, but it will take perseverance. More than 750 people have been killed by junta forces, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners. Despite the rising death toll, people remain undaunted. When soldiers crack down in the daytime, they hold candlelight vigils at night. Instead of confronting security forces head on, people are finding new ways to resist, such as with sticker campaigns and quickly dispersing flash mobs. Civil servants and critical private-sector workers are refusing to return to their jobs, shuttering banking and payment services, hospitals, rail travel and cargo movement. Military-made products like Myanmar Beer and Red Ruby cigarettes have been targeted for consumer boycotts, tanking these brands and draining the Tatmadaw of revenue. The forms of resistance keep multiplying. Just how long it will take may depend on the international community. Each day that justice is deferred, more will die. The movement’s goals are deeply aligned with the values and prerogatives that most Western nations espouse. If these nations can replace empty admonishments with serious moves against the Tatmadaw’s funding – more robust sanctions on extractive industries, for a start – we may be able to realise the more just future we all strive for sooner rather than later..."
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Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 1 May, (759) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes 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 May 1, a total of (3508) people are currently under detention; of them (82) are sentenced. 1356 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. 1 May 2021 marked International Labor Day. AAPP honors the active participation of the entire labor movement, who have been on the front lines of this Spring Revolution. People across Burma continue to fight against injustice and dictatorship. Today, seven civilians, who did not even take part in the protest were arrested after the junta forces arrived in vehicles and attacked the strike in Insein Township, Yangon Region. Two civilians were ordered to stop while riding a motorcycle near 38×39, 78th Street, Mandalay City, Mandalay Region and were shot in the abdomen and knees when they did not stop, last night The terrorist group is now repressing charities. In Myitkyina this morning a group of 11 youth involved in a free food campaign and around 30 people were arrested by junta troops in soldiers and police uniforms at gunpoint. In Mandalay Region, Mogok Town, Kyat Pyin Ward, the Ruby Yadanar clinic was looted and all medical supplies worth around 1,500,000 kyats (US$965) were taken by the junta group. Yesterday evening in Bago Region, Pyay town, two funeral vehicles belonging to the Moe Metta Funeral Service were seized. The junta does not even exempt charity and philanthropy from its violent acts. The terrorist group is systematically targeting those who they want to arrest, and is now targeting the ward administrators and former administrators across the country. In Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region, more than 20 former ward administrators have been detained since April 29 and some administrators from Myeik and Kawthaung have also been arrested. On April 29, Ngaputaw Township the ward administrator of Ngup Kaung was kidnapped, On April 30, the administrator for Ward 11, Mandalay Region, Pyin Oo Lwin Township was also arrested. The terrorists are arresting and detaining influential people in society, the junta are trying to establish their administrative power in incendiary ways. It has been 90 days since the coup and the situation inside Burma remains extremely unstable. Administration, the judiciary, legislature collapsed, media attacked. A so-called agreement at ASEAN leader meeting on Burma has not had a significant impact on the coup. A closed-door meeting was also held by the UN Security Council yesterday but likewise no specific agreement was made. People across Burma are facing brutal junta perpetrated violence on a daily basis. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: ASEAN meeting outcomes ignores assault on rights and civil society
Description: "Global civil society alliance CIVICUS is disappointed that the outcomes of the regional ASEAN summit held in Jakarta fell short of what is necessary to address Myanmar’s human rights crisis, including by failing to call for the immediate release of human rights activists, journalists and others arbitrarily detained. This failure undermines any chance of ensuring a genuine dialogue and transition back to democratic civilian rule. A statement released after the summit said the leaders and foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had reached a consensus on five points. They included asking for an immediate stop to the violence and opening a dialogue between the military and civilian leaders, with that process overseen by a special ASEAN envoy who would also visit with a delegation. The group also offered humanitarian assistance. The statement offered no timeline for these actions to be taken or an implementing mechanism. No mention was made of the nearly 4,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained by the military, including activists, peaceful protesters, and journalists, some in unknown locations and denied access to lawyers or family members. Many are facing serious and baseless charges, including treason. “Millions of people in Myanmar were hoping that ASEAN would, for once, uphold the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter including the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and were once again tremendously disappointed. ASEAN has failed the thousands of political prisoners including activists and journalists by not calling for their immediate and unconditional release, which should be an integral part of any successful efforts to restore democracy,” said David Kode, CIVICUS’s Advocacy and Campaigns Lead. The summit also failed to acknowledge the National Unity Government (NUG) that was formed on 16 April 2021 representing elected members of the Union Parliament. It also ignored the serious violations that have occurred in Myanmar since the coup which left around 750 dead, including children and thousands injured due to the use of lethal force by the security forces to crack down on protests, the ill-treatment by the security forces during night-time raids and the internet shutdowns. No mention was made of UN resolutions on the crisis adopted by consensus at the Human Rights Council since the coup. Nor was there any acknowledgment of or offering of support to the UN mechanisms mandated to monitor and report on human rights violations relating to the coup. “The failure to acknowledge and engage with the legitimately elected representatives of the people of Myanmar shows that ASEAN leaders’ talk of democracy is only lip service. We call for ASEAN to put their words into action by demanding an end to the state of emergency and for the elected civilian government to be restored,” said David Kode. Since the meeting, the junta already seem to be backtracking from their already minimal promises. Myanmar military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said he will consider proposals by ASEAN to solve the ongoing crisis in Myanmar only after peace and stability are restored in his country. CIVICUS reiterates calls for an immediate end to the escalating violence by the military, the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, and for steps to be taken by the international community, including ASEAN, to hold those responsible for the serious human rights violations to account..."
Source/publisher: Civicus (Johannesburg)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Civil servants face junta pressure to return to work
Description: "Workers associated with the civil disobedience movement have been thrown out of public housing and issued legal notices. Meanwhile, many banks are also grappling with a lack of working employees. As the civil disobedience movement (CDM) grows in popularity in Myanmar, the military has started ramping up pressure on government employees to return to work, while businesses struggle under the weight of missing employees and internet blackouts. Civil servants started refusing to carry out their duties, just days after the February 1, 2021, coup, when the country's military seized power. The movement has been expanding since then, with widespread support from both in and outside the country, and a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. However, the junta has been pushing government workers participating in the movement to go back to work, using forceful tactics. In one case, government hospitals in cities began issuing letters to medical workers to come back to work. In another instance, a CDM-affiliated railway worker was forced to leave his government apartment. Doctors pressured to return to hospitals One doctor working at a government hospital said the junta is afraid of the CDM's power. "The CDM is one of the most important things to stop the government mechanism," a 25-year-old assistant surgeon, who asked for his name not to be published, told DW. "That's why they try to push CDM participants back to work in various ways, like forcing railway staff to leave their government apartment if they don't come back to work." A military spokesperson last week accused CDM-affiliated medical workers of being responsible for the deaths of people in hospitals, who could not receive proper treatment. The surgeon, who is working at Myanmar's largest hospital — the Yangon General Hospital — disagrees with that accusation. "They want to open public hospitals again as soon as possible, and mislead people into thinking that the country is stable, and that they can get back to their normal lives. That's why they are still pushing healthcare workers to return to their jobs, by accusing them of committing genocides in the newspaper." On Tuesday, the junta issued arrest warrants for 20 doctors who had joined the CDM against the military dictatorship, charging them with defamation. The surgeon told DW that doctors are preparing for the worst. "I am not afraid of them. It doesn't matter, even if they revoke my medical license. I will be a part of the CDM until the end of the junta," he said. Cash flow comes to a halt "Businesses were hurting because of the pandemic, even before the coup. Any business would be lucky to break even, and many have closed," said political analyst Dr Khin Zaw Win, who runs an independent think-tank in Myanmar called the Tampadipa Institute. "The movement aims to disrupt the government machinery and does not force essential services to stop operating," he told DW. Cash flow within the country has also come to a halt, since banks have not been opening due to a shortage in staff. Many people are lining up at ATMs, mainly in the big cities like Yangon and Mandalay. "Banks are a good example — many staff have joined the CDM, and the junta is affected. But some banks are providing services to customers with a skeleton staff," said Khin Zaw Win. However, the Central Bank of Myanmar last week said that the private bank sector is still strong, and that customers can trust them. "All of our work has stopped because customers don't want to spend on extra things. We can't receive payments from our customers because the banks are closed," said 36-year old businessman Hla Win, who declined to use his real name, and who runs a mobile accessories company in Myanmar. The internet has been shut down in the country by the military in order to control the growing anti-coup movement, and mobile data has been inaccessible since March. "No banks are open and there is no internet for people living in small cities who want to use internet banking," he told DW. "We were still able to run virtual sales before, but this coup stopped everything." A solemn New Year According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), at least 737 people have been killed by the junta as of April 19. As the people of Myanmar mourn the civilian deaths, many decided not to celebrate the New Year festival, also known as the Thingyan Water Festival, which took place from April 13-17. However, social media videos showed junta members celebrating with joy, and spraying water in the capital Naypyitaw on April 14. Elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested on February 1, triggering a wave of anti-coup protests. She is facing six charges set by the military. In addition to several deaths, over 3,200 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced for their role in the protests..."
Source/publisher: "DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: End Threats Against Rights Group
Sub-title: Respect Rights to Freedom of Association, Expression
Description: " Myanmar’s military junta should immediately stop threatening the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a leading human rights monitoring group, Human Rights Watch said today. The group has documented security force abuses since the February 1, 2021 coup, including killings of protesters, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, and unjust court convictions. On April 26, the Home Affairs Ministry of the ruling State Administration Council (SAC) accused the AAPP of operating illegally because it was not registered as an organization. The junta’s announcement threatened “severe action” against the group for causing “State service personnel and public panic” that will “incite the occurrence of more riots” and “harm State stability, rule of law and restoration of law and order.” “While the world’s media and diplomats regularly cite the AAPP’s daily updates on the military crackdown, Myanmar’s generals are desperately trying to silence the group to keep the truth from getting out,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The threats are part of the junta’s shroud of silence and censorship, targeting frontline groups like AAPP, arresting journalists, and shutting down the internet.” The junta’s efforts to target the AAPP are illustrated in the 115-page briefing paper, obtained by Human Rights Watch, that the junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, presented to leaders at the ASEAN summit in Jakarta on April 24. Min Aung Hlaing claimed, without providing evidence, that the AAPP uses “data” that “appeared in fake and hoax news.” He added that the junta was “very upset” that “world media and international organizations restated” that information. Responding to the allegations, AAPP Secretary-General Bo Kyi, a recipient of the Human Rights Watch Alison des Forges Defender Award in 2009, told The Irrawaddy magazine that: “I think it is just a political move as international governments, media and UN are referencing our data … The key issue is the violence they have committed, their killing and arrests. Instead of solving those problems, they are targeting a group like ours which is revealing the true events.” The AAPP told Human Rights Watch that the military’s threats have forced them to close their office in Yangon and compelled their staff to go into hiding and work from undisclosed locations. The junta has also arbitrarily arrested journalists to prevent reporting on the opposition Civil Disobedience Movement’s broad-based resistance to the coup and the security force abuses. UNESCO reported that the junta has arrested at least 71 journalists since the coup. The AAPP says that 48 journalists are currently known to be in detention, most in undisclosed locations without access to their families or legal counsel. Many other journalists have fled to border regions controlled by ethnic groups, or to neighboring countries. The junta has brought charges against numerous journalists and activists under revised penal code provisions adopted on February 14. The State Administration Council inserted a new provision, section 505A, that could be used to punish comments regarding the illegitimacy of the coup or the military government, among others. The new section would criminalize comments that “cause fear,” spread “false news, [or] agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a Government employee.” Violation of the section is punishable with up to three years in prison. The law arbitrarily interferes with the exercise of rights protected under international law, including freedom of expression. The junta has also increased pressure on independent media outlets by revoking their operating licenses. On March 8, the State Administration Council announced that it had cancelled the licenses of Mizzima, Myanmar Now, 7Day News, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and Khit Thit Media. While these media groups have continued to report on events, they do so at great risk since journalists working for these outlets face immediate arrest if they are discovered doing their jobs as reporters. “Groups like the AAPP and the independent media are playing a critical role holding Myanmar’s junta accountable, and they need to be able to continue their work,” Robertson said. “Governments concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar should be offering public support for these organizations and their brave staff members.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Survivors of Bago’s devastating crackdown vow to retake their city
Sub-title: Despite suffering the worst single-day death toll since the coup, Bago’s defenders say they are not ready to give up yet
Description: "Nyein Maung, a native of Yangon who didn’t move to Bago until late February of this year, was still not very familiar with the city when he became a protest leader at its main defence site. As a sailor who had spent many years at sea, he had finally decided to settle down in his wife’s hometown with her and their four-year-old son. By the time he arrived, however, Bago was already experiencing its first wave of brutal crackdowns. It was not long before he saw for himself what the junta that had seized power on February 1 was prepared to do to crush resistance to its rule.....Nyein Maung, a native of Yangon who didn’t move to Bago until late February of this year, was still not very familiar with the city when he became a protest leader at its main defence site. As a sailor who had spent many years at sea, he had finally decided to settle down in his wife’s hometown with her and their four-year-old son. By the time he arrived, however, Bago was already experiencing its first wave of brutal crackdowns. It was not long before he saw for himself what the junta that had seized power on February 1 was prepared to do to crush resistance to its rule. On February 28, just days after he moved to Bago, he watched in horror as a young man who had been shot in the stomach by regime forces was viciously beaten by five armed policemen. After they left him for dead, Nyein Maung went to see if might have survived the attack. When he found that the man was still breathing, he put him into his car to take him to the hospital. At that point, the police started shooting at him. Nyein Maung managed to escape with just a bullet hole in his car, but decided then and there that he had to do something to protect protesters from the junta’s relentless violence, even if it meant putting his own life on the line. “I left my family that day and started staying somewhere else. My friends and I built a stronghold. We didn’t really have a system, but we were determined to defend ourselves with anything we had,” he said. The 31-year-old former sailor let his wife and father know that he had joined the revolution and then left home with just 100,000 kyat in his pocket. “I told them, ‘If a federal army is formed, I will be a part of it. If I die, just sell the car and our other possessions so you can continue living.’ Our group is made up entirely of people who aren’t afraid of losing their lives,” he said. But it wasn’t just his life that Nyein Maung was prepared to lose. He told his father, who serves in the navy, that he had to take a clear stance on the protests. “I said, ‘If you’re going to kill people and be involved in the crackdowns, we’re finished.’ But he told me he had nothing to do with that,” he said, adding that his father has since joined the Civil Disobedience Movement.....The main barricade: The protests in Bago started near the famed Shwemawdaw pagoda in the city centre, but spread to other areas as the military moved in to violently suppress large gatherings. Around 140 young protesters, including Nyein Maung, formed a security team in early March. Using sandbags, they built barricades at major protest sites, such as the ones in Bago’s Ma Ga Dit, Hmor Kan and Socialist wards, where Nyein Maung was a frontline defence team leader. The main stronghold was at Ma Ga Dit, where protests were held daily from 9am. All three of these sites were targeted for major offensives by the military. The defence team manned the barricades in shifts. As a team leader, Nyein Maung was serious about maintaining discipline, instructing team members to refrain from consuming alcohol while on duty. “This is no time to be joking around. One mistake and you lose your life. I told them they need to be able to make clear decisions,” he explained. Meetings were held every day at 4pm to divide the team into groups and assign them to different wards. They also discussed the security situation as it evolved from day to day. On March 14, team members defending the Ma Ga Dit barricade with air guns, Molotov cocktails and handmade weapons killed two police officers, marking a turning point in the conflict between Bago’s residents and the regime’s forces. The stronghold was subsequently destroyed several times in the ensuing weeks, but was rebuilt each time. To ensure that it was never left undefended, the security team set up a camp so they could stay there around the clock. By early April, when troops from Light Infantry Division 77, stationed nearby, started shouting threats at them, it became clear that they were heading for decisive clash that would likely end badly for them. “They always gave us warnings at night, telling us that they would come down harder on us than they did on Hlaing Tharyar,” said Nyein Maung, referring to the massive assault on Yangon’s industrial outskirts in late March. “They warned us to drop our weapons, and were listing charges we’d be given and all that,” he added. But at this stage, they had no intention of giving up. Armed with improvised explosives, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails, as well as non-lethal gas-powered guns, they dug in and braced for what was to come. “We told the people who had been feeding us that we would protect them and hold on for as long as we can,” said Nyein Maung, recalling the tense days before the final onslaught.....‘Driven by cruelty’: By this time, there were actually four barricades set up in Ma Ga Dit ward, each one numbered according to the lane off of the main road where it was located. On the morning of April 9, when the military finally launched its attack, barricades 1, 4, 7, and 13 were all surrounded by heavily armed troops. Barricade 1 was the first to come under fire. In an effort to hold off the forces storming barricade 1, Nyein Maung and about 30 others started firing gas guns and fireworks from barricade 4. They also lobbed explosives, which proved to be their most powerful weapon. “We had two homemade explosives. It got four of them. I can confirm that because I threw them myself. I think we held on for about ten minutes,” Nyein Maung recalled. But they soon found that they were no match for soldiers with weapons of war. “At 5:10am, the military threw a grenade, and then opened fire with RPGs. That’s when stronghold 1 fell. We led another defence attack and they used two more RPGs. One fell next to me, and a lot of us were killed,” said Nyein Maung. When they tried to retreat to barricade 4, they found that it had also been destroyed. Still coming under heavy fire from artillery, grenades, and machine guns, they fled to barricade 7 and then to 13. “We retreated to stronghold 7. By the time we got to 13, we had to give up. Only 24 of us made it out alive,” he said. At least 82 civilians were confirmed dead after the April 9 crackdown, although the actual number was likely much higher, as many of the wounded did not receive medical treatment, according to local residents. “The injured and the dead were put in the compound of the Zeyar Muni pagoda. A monk there asked the military to return the bodies to their families, but they wouldn’t hand them over,” said Thurein, a local volunteer. Those who survived escaped to the countryside, where they were pursued by troops who continued shooting in villages that were not part of the protests. For the next two days, the regime carried out intense clearance operations in Bago and the surrounding area, rounding up anyone suspected of involvement in the resistance movement. Now in a safe place with several other members of his team, Nyein Maung denounced the junta’s ruthless use of military might against a far smaller defensive force. “Their rate of killing isn’t normal. They wouldn’t even kill this many in a battle. They are just driven by cruelty,” he said. Despite this defeat, however, he remained convinced that he would be able to avenge his fallen comrades and repay those who supported their efforts. “We apologize to the families from Ma Ga Dit and Socialist wards that fed us. We didn’t back down. We will reclaim our city of Bago,” he said..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 30 April, (759) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes 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 April 30, a total of (3485) people are currently under detention; of them (80) are sentenced. 1316 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today, people across the country, including Yangon, took to the streets to protest dictatorship, a dawn protest was suppressed by the terrorists in Kale Town, Sagaing Region. However, the protesters were able to get away and no one was arrested. This morning, the terrorist group used a Mark-2 car to crash into a protest and beat and arrest 4 civilians in South Dagon Township, Yangon Region. Ethnic media outlets are now being targeted as the junta focuses its oppression on arresting, prosecuting, and revoking publishing rights in main cities across the country. Family members of journalists are also being taken as hostages. Terrorists went searching for the editor-in-chief of the Hakha based Chinland Post media in his house last night in Chin State but could not find him. So instead, his brother in law was taken as a hostage. This is now a policy of the junta. Up until April 29, at least 49 people have been taken as hostages at one point since the coup. Hostage-taking is a serious human rights violation and is a proven method of terrorism. According to the Chapter (3) of Media Law; Article (4-c) states that News Media workers shall have the right to reveal issues relating to rights and privileges lost by the citizen” and Article (7-a) declared that “he/she shall be exempt from being detained by a certain security related authority”. Yet in Burma the rule of law is disregarded by the terrorists. The junta forces use the law as they unjustly please. Conflict between junta coup forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) are intensifying in the ethnic states. Conflict has been raging in Momauk Township, Kachin State since April 10. A man was killed and a woman seriously injured in a military plane attack on April 29. In addition to this, clashes in Kachin State have forced around 10,000 villagers to flee their homes. As a consequence of a three-day bombing campaign by coup forces, more than 2,000 locals fled from Papun District to Thailand on April 28. These locals are now reportedly living in the forest without shelter. They are being granted temporary residential permission by Thai authorities. Over ten thousand people have been displaced by airstrikes in Karen State. Burma was developing peace and national reconciliation to bring an end to the over-70 year civil war. It is ethnic people who suffer most from the atrocities, happening now again because of this military coup. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 29 April, (759) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. (1) from Pyapon Township in Ayeyarwady Region died on 29 April. (2) from Mandalay and Kani Township in Sagaing Region were killed previous days 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 April 29, a total of (3461) people are currently under detention; of them (80) are sentenced. 1276 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today people across Burma continued to protest in different ways against the military coup despite the brutal crackdowns and repressions. This morning, plain clothes junta forces in private cars armed with guns in ShweBo Town, Sagaing Region, crashed into the main protest group. Junta forces threatened, swearing, at the protesters. Thereafter, one woman from the strike was arrested. Arrests are being made in private cars, not military trucks or police cars. This is because the terrorists are attempting to cover up their acts of violence, and make it more difficult for civilians to report on the junta’s actions because they are using private vehicles. Last night, a night protest was cracked down on and one civilian got shot on his thigh in Pyigyidagun Township, Mandalay Region. Terrorists are committing unlawful shootings and killings day after day. Last night, a young man was shot in the abdomen and died on the spot near Zegyo Clock Tower on 84 road, Mandalay City. He was trying to run away after the military stopped him for a motorcycle check. A local man was shot and wounded in the abdomen and arm by the terrorists in Auk Kwin Village, Pyapone Township, Ayeyarwady Region last night and died this morning. In addition to this, two civilians were arrested and detained last night, one of whom died. The junta forces are becoming more violent each day. Civilians are being treated like enemies. The junta forces were using slingshots and throwing stones at an apartment because they did not turn the lights off after 10 pm, destroying the windows in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township, Yangon Region. Daily lives of the civilians are being threatened by the junta through these relentless actions. A group of 50 junta troops in plain clothes and police uniform stormed the house of Ko Zin Maung Phyo’s yesterday in Thayet Chaung Township, Dawei District. The Dawei District Students Union member is evading a Penal Code 505(a) warrant. They broke into the house at night, smashing the doors and destroying everything in the house. The junta troops also seized the farm and land registration papers and all the other documents. The junta are also targeting arrestees and brutally torturing civilians into confession. Two villagers from a village in Kani township, Sagaing Region, were arrested on April 27. One of them was told to pick up the dead body next day. The body of the fallen villager was found with wounds consistent with torture. As long as the dictatorship does not end, the security and dignity of civilians will continue to deteriorate. Protest leaders, politicians, and activists are being prosecuted by the junta forces under several laws. Wai Moe Naing, the leader of the Monywa strike, has been charged under seven sections, including the Penal Code Section 505-a, and three more sections, including Penal Code Section 124. The junta has tried to imprison dissidents for as long as possible under various sections of the law. This is the practice of successive dictatorships. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Despite ASEAN consensus, military abuses continue around the country
Sub-title: Myanmar’s junta has effectively ignored the terms of a five-point agreement reached in Jakarta last weekend
Description: "Nearly a week after Myanmar’s chief coup maker met with leaders of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last Saturday to discuss the crisis in the country, reports of abuses by the military continue. The ASEAN meeting, held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, reached a five-point consensus that aimed to end the ongoing violence, which has already claimed more than 750 civilian lives in less than three months. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who made his first trip outside of Myanmar since seizing power on February 1 to attend the emergency summit, appears to have backed away from the terms of the agreement since returning to the country. The day after the meeting, coverage of the summit in state-run newspaper The Mirror made no mention of the five points, which included plans to allow representatives of the regional grouping into the country to observe the situation on the ground. On Tuesday, however, the regime announced that it would only move forward with this and other points in the agreement once the country had become “stable”. Meanwhile, it continues its efforts to restore stability through brute force, killing at least seven people during and in the days immediately after the Jakarta summit, in direct violation of its commitment to end violence against civilians.....Ongoing abuses: The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which has documented the regime’s arrests and killings of protesters and other civilians, said that the ASEAN meeting had failed to achieve the desired results. “On the night after the meeting, the junta’s armed forces continued to commit atrocities against civilians, including women, in plain sight,” it noted in a statement released earlier this week. On the day of the summit, a young man was shot dead by plainclothes policemen in Mandalay, while a woman arrested in Myaung Mya, a town in Sagaing Region, died shortly after being taken into custody on the same day, according to AAPP. There was also one other civilian death reported in Yezagyo, Magway Region, on Saturday, followed by two more the next day—one in Kawthaung, in Tanintharyi Region, and another in Yangon’s Insein Township, AAPP records show. Since then, there have been at least two more fatal shootings of civilians, including one of a fried-rice vendor in Mandalay on Monday and another in Kayah State’s Demoso Township on Tuesday. In another attack, a woman in Kayin State’s Phaya Thone Su Township sustained serious injuries last Saturday after she was shot by the military and hit with a car while she was taking part in an anti-coup motorbike rally. Besides using lethal force, soldiers and police have kept up a steady campaign of harassment against civilians in an effort to break their resistance to military rule. Residents of Yangon report that regime forces come into their neighbourhoods every night after curfew to prevent people from banging pots in protest against the coup. “They came onto our street last night and started threatening anyone who dared to bang a pot. They used very vulgar language and fired at people’s houses with slingshots. It happens every night now,” said one Yangon resident who asked not to be identified. On Sunday, a group of women in Yangon’s Mayangone Township were forced to bang their pots and dance in the street while soldiers watched and laughed. If they stopped dancing, the soldiers hurled insults at them and threw stones at their houses, AAPP said in a statement that recounted a number of similar incidents involving attempts to humiliate civilians. “Forcing women to hurt their dignity in public, and treating civilians as if they were enemies, are cruel acts that the military continues to lawlessly commit,” the group said in its statement. In another incident that took place in Yangon’s Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township last Saturday, a transgender woman was forced to wear a man’s longyi and mocked by regime forces. Many remain undeterred by this behaviour, however, as ordinary citizens continue to register their rejection of the military’s overthrow of the elected civilian government. A resident of Yangon’s Tamwe Township who complained about the junta’s persistent efforts to disrupt the lives of civilians said that he and most of his neighbours refused to be intimidated. “They curse at passersby, interrogate them for a while, and then let them go. When they came to my door, I closed it and they threw stones. But we will continue to demonstrate against them. We won’t be ruled by these people,” he told Myanmar Now.....Intensifying pressure: While ordinary citizens do their best to cope with the heavy military presence, those taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) are coming under growing pressure to end their efforts to deny the regime control of the state. Among those most under threat from the junta are healthcare workers, who spearheaded the CDM in the early days after the coup. In the months since, the movement has been joined by many other public employees and emerged as a major stumbling block to Min Aung Hlaing’s ambitions. Frustrated by its inability to break the CDM, the junta has in recent weeks stepped up its efforts to arrest the movement’s leaders and put them behind bars on trumped-up charges. Since April 13, military-controlled television has broadcast the names of at least 20 health professionals who have been charged with incitement and issued with arrest warrants. At least 300 medical workers are now on the regime’s wanted list. On Tuesday, a failed attempt to apprehend a doctor in Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township resulted in the arrest of her father and younger sister, according to a relative. The doctor, Yu Sandar Moe, has since gone into hiding, the relative told Myanmar Now. According to a statement released by the University of Medicine (1) Students Union on Saturday, a total of 46 medical workers and students, including 29 striking doctors, have been arrested since the coup. The junta has also threatened to revoke doctors’ passports and medical licenses if they join the CDM. Private hospitals and charity clinics that accept CDM doctors will also have their licenses taken away, the junta said. Other prominent figures in the anti-coup movement have also been targeted for arrest. On Saturday, regime forces carried out a raid on a monastery in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township in an attempt to arrest a monk who has led protests in the area. It was the second time this month that the junta had failed to catch the monk. On April 2, soldiers surrounded the village of Thabyay Aye to arrest him, but locals fought back with homemade rifles. Four villagers were killed in that clash, which also reportedly resulted in military casualties. At least six people were killed earlier this week during clashes elsewhere in Yinmabin. The recent efforts to crack down on protests have also forced tens of thousands of people from 30 villages to flee as soldiers set up camp in the area. Meanwhile, civilians armed with hunting rifles in southern Chin State’s Mindat Township claim to have killed 30 regime soldiers during four days of fierce clashes that began last Saturday. Amid concerns that the situation in Myanmar still threatens to spin out of control, Mann Win Khaing Than, the chief union minister of the recently formed National Unity Government, called on ASEAN to ensure that the regime abides by its agreement to deescalate its use of violence..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
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Title: Frontline doctors risk persecution, careers – and their lives
Sub-title: A frontline medic describes the dangers of trying to save lives at a time when the regime regards many health workers as criminals for serving at protests and participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Description: "On the evening of April 9, reports began emerging that security forces had killed scores of people in Bago, after they unleashed heavy weapons and grenades to disperse protesters manning barricades. Before launching the operation in the city about 80 kilometres northeast of Yangon, the armed forces had blocked roads in Bago. This prevented ambulances from collecting the wounded, many of whom were eventually dumped in a monastery compound. At least 80 people were killed in Bago that day, but a final death toll will probably never be known. Something else we’ll likely never know is how many of the wounded died because they did not receive treatment. I arrived in Bago three days later to help treat the wounded. It was a difficult task –many of them were in hiding, for fear they would be arrested if they sought treatment. Witnesses also said volunteer medical workers had been detained by the security forces, following a pattern reported elsewhere in the country. As a frontline medical volunteer, I’ve regularly witnessed the brutality of the junta’s dispersal tactics. The first time was during a protest near Thanlyin Technological University in southeastern Yangon Region on March 9. Troops had occupied the campus, and students were protesting peacefully to demand that they leave. The soldiers suddenly opened fire with live rounds, leaving several people injured. We began treating some of the injured in a safe house not far from the site of the protest, but we had to quickly evacuate the patients when soldiers arrived nearby. Thankfully, we managed to get them to another safe house and continue treating them. Compounding the suffering Not every injured protester manages to escape. Some are seized by the police and army and denied first aid, often dying as a result of loss of blood. Even when the injured manage to evade security forces, they are far from safe. As the Bago example illustrates, accessing healthcare and medical assistance is itself a dangerous challenge for protesters, and for the medical volunteers who come to their assistance. The best-case scenario for an injured protester is to be quickly evacuated from the scene by frontline medical volunteers and treated. But there is always a risk that the armed forces will stop the ambulance in which they travel or raid the clinic they are taken to. As a result, they are often forced to wait hours for proper treatment, or denied it altogether. Because the regime has made state hospitals unsafe places for injured protesters, medical volunteers refer them to private hospitals or clinics run by charities. The military is notified about all admissions to government hospitals and patients can be arrested before they are discharged. Patients wanted by the authorities are also often shackled to their beds. My team encountered one man who had suffered facial injuries after being hit with shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade. The man had been hiding at home for three days without seeking treatment because he feared arrest if spotted by soldiers. We were eventually able to take him to a safe private medical facility for treatment. He is recovering, but has suffered damage to one of his eyes. The World Health Organization has said that from February 1 to April 30, there were at least 158 attacks on healthcare facilities, vehicles, staff and supplies, as well as patients in Myanmar, resulting in 11 deaths and 51 injuries. Because of these incidents, volunteer teams are often forced to park ambulances some distance from protest sites to avoid attracting the attention of soldiers and police. Equally disturbing are raids on medical treatment centres and charity rescue service offices. Raids were conducted on the intensive care unit at Yangon’s privately run Grand Hantha International Hospital on March 14, on a clinic in Mandalay on March 27 that resulted in the arrest of 26 people, including doctors and volunteers, and on a clinic at Kalay on April 7, as well as on a medical facility in Yangon’s Sanchaung Township on April 5, during which nine people were detained, including doctors and volunteers. Medics need protection It is a distressing time to be a medical professional in Myanmar. Last year, we were honoured as national heroes for our role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. But since the February 1 coup, the military has turned on government health workers due to their role in instigating the Civil Disobedience Movement. The regime now regards us as criminals rather than heroes – all doctors who are providing care to anti-coup protesters are at risk of arrest for incitement under section 505A of the Penal Code, for which the maximum penalty is three years’ imprisonment. Tatmadaw spokesperson Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun has even accused government doctors who’ve left state hospitals to join the CDM of committing murder. In reality, CDM doctors are helping the public in many ways, including by providing free treatment at private hospitals and charity clinics, making home visits, and providing telephone counselling. Doctors and other healthcare professionals at state hospitals are accustomed to high workloads and low pay, but prior to February 1 they had not gone on strike to demand better working conditions. By refusing government work in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, they have sacrificed their lives, positions and prospects of a bright future. In a cruel move, the military council said on April 20 that doctors supporting the CDM would be blacklisted and their passports cancelled. Even private and charity-run clinics have been ordered not to accept the services of CDM doctors or admit wounded protesters for treatment. Clinic owners that violate the order risk being jailed. The cumulative effect of all this has been to deny timely and effective care to those who need it. These are dark days for medical workers and their patients. The international community must condemn the reprehensible actions of the military regime, including its targeting of medical workers and its efforts to deny life-saving treatment to injured protesters..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
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Title: Glaring glimpse into Myanmar military’s self-delusion
Sub-title: Junta report presented to ASEAN on Myanmar's political situation revealed a tortured relationship with the bloody truth
Description: "Myanmar’s junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing arrived at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta with justifications for his February 1 coup compiled in a neat document entitled “The Current Political Situation in Myanmar.” Written in a first-person account redolent of a court case defense summation, the 118-page paper outlines the alleged fraud and corruption at last November’s elections that motivated the coup and subsequent responses by the military, or Tatmadaw. The military’s electoral fraud allegations had been mounting for months since the nationwide polls, and its insistence that 10.4 million votes were fraudulent is as implausible as when the accusation was aired by military officials days before the coup, which acted to form the State Administration Council (SAC) and topple the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. The document absurdly uses screen grabs of statements from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, United States Secretary of State and international media to demonstrate “the election as not free and fair due to ballot rigging”, when the related statements predominantly criticized constitutional provisions preserving Tatmadaw power and the disenfranchisement of Rohingya Muslims. It also manages to heap blame solely on the NLD for the pre-election cancellations that deprived some 1.4 million people the vote. But it is the document’s self-deluded description of the nationwide protests that erupted in response to the coup and suspension of democracy that is most glaring. It outlines five stages of progressively severe protest to justify the military clampdown. First, as the junta sees it, there were peaceful protests led by the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). The narrative in this section almost commends protestors for their ingenuity and spontaneity, with several pages of photos of colorful demonstrations. The second stage, however, is characterized as “riots”, the third stage “anarchistic mobs” and the fourth stage “insurrection”, with alleged provocateurs summarized as “NLD radicalist (sic), destructionists, bad guys…Federal Army idealists.” The fifth stage slugs the protests as “terrorism…the worst stage ever.” The report outlines the alleged destruction of property with protesters “utilizing immature children as human shield.” It shrilly says “on the pretext of democracy they (NLD and demonstrators) are exercising mobocracy and tyranny of the majority.” In a picture diagram of the supposed five stages, the document bids to justify the junta’s arrests and use of force to counter “protester actions”, but utterly and blindly fails to document its violent assault on the country and its people over the last three months. According to the report, the list of casualties includes six dead Tatmadaw with 45 injured and five dead Myanmar Police Force (MPF) with 12 inexplicably “Fall” and 253 wounded. From February 1 to April 15, it says 64 police stations, the majority in Mandalay, were destroyed by fire. It also claims 62 war or village administration offices, 52 offices, 16 roads, 13 banks, and 105 other buildings were destroyed. Security forces also claim to have seized 3,118 shields, 694 slingshots, 14,183 pellets, 1,114 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 16 guns, and 4,630 “firebombs.” Now compare this with the more credible summary of state repression compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which lists 755 protestors killed, 4,496 arrested with 3,448 still detained and an unknown number of casualties nationwide as of April 27. This contrast in assessments has obviously irked the SAC, with the Ministry of Home Affairs this week threatening AAPP with “severe action” for its contradictory reporting. By any measure, though, contrasting the AAPP’s data with Min Aung Hlaing’s ASEAN-friendly account is an exercise in cognitive dissonance and revelation of the SAC’s inability to generate remotely credible fake news. The military document also summarizes an ASEAN-appeasing five-part future work plan, which like the previous military regime’s “Seven Step Road Map to Discipline Flourishing Democracy” that preceded it its military-crafted 2008 Constitution, includes a “work in progress” approach that will allow the Tatmadaw to set the tempo and timetables of supposed state-building. The five stages will include reconstituting the Union Election Commission and establishing correct voter lists; prevention of Covid-19 and a vaccination drive; the recovering of businesses affected by the pandemic; “Restoring Eternal Peace with NCA”, without acknowledging the 2015 ceasefire agreement is already dead; and finally, free and fair multi-party elections. This section, like a lot of Tatmadaw plans, has a “Waiting for Godot” aspect. In summary, the briefing booklet evokes the metaphor of a student “passed who cheated on his exams” to decry alleged NLD meddling and corruption in the elections. SAC propaganda also recently referenced the “Harry Tan” incident of 1956, where a seventh-grade student involved in protests was famously shot dead by police, the first student killing of the post-independence era, to perversely besmirch the NLD and its “cheating on democracy.” Clearly, the SAC is more comfortable in a bygone era than the future as it asserts the current takeover of state power is more like the 1958 military “caretaker government” and therefore not a real coup, a word it has barred harassed local media from using. It has called on the regional bloc for “understanding the root causes and the reality of current situations, and hopes for ASEAN cooperation.” In sum, the booklet is even more crude, shrill and unnerving than the usual lame efforts that pass for propaganda from the Tatmadaw’s True News Information Team. Rather, it is a slapdash scrapbook with all the hallmarks of a late minute submission than a serious authority seeking regional and global understanding. Hysterical headlines and highly suspect figures of destroyed property and alleged crimes is an insight not into obtuse authoritarian bluster but sheer self-deception. The SAC issued a statement on Monday suggesting ASEAN “review the information booklet circulated at the meeting before comments are made relating to the current political situation.” Tatmadaw propaganda has always revealed a tortured relationship with truth, but the report’s justifications for the coup and the one-sided narrative of grievance and violence is a pathological projection of a severe conscience: guilt pours over its crude pages. The Tatmadaw leadership is likely aware most of their “news” is sheer bunk and largely designed to convince themselves and their rank and file rather than the general population and wider world. It’s also unclear if the coup confessional is a SAC initiative or the efforts of the US$2 million funded shill Ari Ben-Menashe and his Dickens and Madson public relations firm hired by the junta to launder its global reputation. The booklet has the legacy blend of previous military regimes’ propaganda in the early 1990s, with an obsession with “evidence” and an assembly of grievances to justify seizing state power from untrustworthy civilian politicians and unruly subjects — all designed to downplay their own extreme violence. The booklet is useful evidence for the case against ASEAN interventions in Myanmar: it’s akin to submitting inane scribbles and scraps for a final semester assignment at university and expecting the indolent yet corruptible faculty to pass you regardless of the quality. Clearly, the SAC realizes with cynical acuity that with ASEAN it doesn’t need to make much of an effort; mere attendance makes the grade. The Tatmadaw also knows the game plan ahead. Indeed, they have confronted these ritualized, regional admonishments before without repercussion. ASEAN will embark on yet another limp, ineffectual engagement strategy, promising dialogue and assistance. The West and United Nations will sigh relief that their support for ASEAN’s efforts absolves them of anything other than issuing strong statements, imposing a smattering of sanctions and be assuaged that a prolonged dialogue “process” is underway. Urgently needed humanitarian assistance for millions of people affected by state violence then becomes hostage to these elite maneuvers. For those in the West who actually do care about the future of Myanmar, this booklet should spark distress that the Tatmadaw is determined to drag the country back into a stone-age dictatorship, with ASEAN as its usher. That is the real danger of the junta’s disinformation screed. By engaging with the SAC’s justifications for extreme violence, international interlocutors are inculcating the generals’ delusions. ASEAN is, as ever, the preferred prophylactic for Western inaction on Myanmar and is tantamount to selling the nation’s democratic resistance down the river. David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, peace and human rights issues on Myanmar..."
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Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The Myanmar Junta’s Assault on the Truth
Topic: Press Freedom
Sub-title: Crackdown on Media Aimed at Hiding Security Force Abuses
Topic: Press Freedom
Description: "Myanmar security forces have launched a full-scale attack on the country’s media, targeting journalists for arrest, raiding the offices of newspapers and online media, and banning five outspoken media outlets. At least 71 journalists, including a Japanese freelancer, have been arrested, of whom 48 remain in detention. In the latest escalation, the junta is including journalists in the nightly broadcast of individuals “wanted” by the authorities. Every day brings new reports of additional journalists being detained. The authorities have charged many of those detained with violating a new provision in the penal code, adopted by the junta after the February 1 coup, that makes it a crime to publish or circulate comments that “cause fear” or spread “false news.” Those convicted face up to three years in prison. It is clear that in today’s Myanmar, “false news” is any news the junta doesn’t want the public – or the world at large – to hear. The crackdown on journalists is part of the junta’s larger effort to suppress coverage and deny the reality of serious rights abuses the military is committing across the country. Facing international outrage over the killing of more than 750 people by security forces, authorities have accused the media, which it says “does not want peace and stability in the country,” of “plotting to mislead the international community and the public.” The junta has also threatened “severe action” against a local group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, that has been tracking arrests and deaths, accusing the group of releasing “incorrect data” and harming “state stability.” The authorities have imposed severe restrictions on the internet, making it very difficult for people to access or to share information. Mobile internet data and wireless broadband have been turned off for more than six weeks, and Facebook and other social media platforms popular in Myanmar have been blocked since the coup. Despite the challenges and risks, Myanmar’s journalists and ordinary citizens continue to document atrocities and share information with the world. For daring to share what is happening in Myanmar, they are in the military’s crosshairs. They urgently need and deserve the international community’s attention and support..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Rural migrants return to Hlaing Tharyar – and an uncertain future
Sub-title: A brutal crackdown in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township in mid-March triggered an exodus of migrant workers. As protests subside, many are heading back to the big city but are finding that work is scarce.
Description: "On April 18, the second day of the traditional Myanmar year, Yangon Region’s outer western Hlaing Tharyar Township was busier than it had been in a month. With the Thingyan holiday over, large numbers of people were entering the heavily industrialised township on motorbikes, in taxis and aboard light trucks loaded with their belongings. They were returning to the scene of a massacre. Pitched battles on March 14 between well-armed security forces and protesters wielding home-made weapons left at least 58 protesters dead, according to a local network of volunteer medical groups, and several factories were burned down. That same day, the junta declared martial law in the township and in neighbouring Shwepyithar – a draconian new security regime, where civilians can be hauled directly before military tribunals and handed death sentences, that was later extended to four other outlying, industrialised townships in Yangon. Fearing a wider crackdown, and with many having already lost their factory jobs amid the near-collapse of the garment sector, tens – possibly hundreds – of thousands of migrant workers fled to their home towns and villages. Hlaing Tharyar, whose population had swelled to close to a million thanks to a decade of steady migration from the countryside, suddenly resembled a ghost town. But after more than a month away, and with protests in decline because of brutal suppression by soldiers and police, many of those who fled have begun making their way back to the commercial capital. They were largely driven to return by a lack of jobs in the countryside, but with increased factory closures and reduced output, and a steep decline in the wider economy, many are struggling to find new work and to meet the expenses of living in the city, raising the prospect of hunger and further waves of displacement. Ma Nwet Yi Win, a former workplace union leader at a shoe factory in Hlaing Tharyar, joined the mid-March exodus and left for her home village in Ayeyarwady Region’s Ngapudaw Township, but is now back in Yangon. Returning to the city to find work was the only way for the migrant workers to survive because there are no jobs for them in the villages, she told Frontier. “If Yangon is stable and it’s safe to live there, the people will return. They have to return if they want a job or the opportunity of going abroad to work,” said Nwet Yi Win, who lost her job at the shoe factory after it closed permanently on March 24. Nwet Yi Win said ultimatums from factory managers to resume work or be fired had prompted some workers to return to their jobs in early April. She said many had been afraid of returning to Yangon because of the military’s “inhumane oppression”, including regular raids on homes to arrest political opponents, but were worried about losing their jobs. However, according to Hlaing Tharyar residents, even those who still had jobs in the township’s dwindling number of operational factories largely chose not to return until after the mid-April Thingyan holiday. Ko Aung Ye Min, who works at a noodle factory in the township, had ignored a less severe order from his bosses for employees to resume their jobs on April 1 or forfeit their Thingyan holiday pay. “I don’t care about the money – I have to take care of my life and if I had returned to work on April 1, I might have been risking death,” he said, referring to the threat of Tatmadaw crackdowns. Aung Ye Min said that, like him, most of the factory’s employees did not return to work until April 20, by which time a sense of stability seemed to be returning to Hlaing Tharyar. Ko Min Min Soe, a taxi driver in Hlaing Tharyar, said migrant workers who returned to their rural homes after the violence in mid-March had to rely on motorbikes because taxis were unavailable. Taxi drivers did not want to risk their vehicles being damaged in a fresh bout of unrest, he said. However, the reduction in protests and return of migrant workers since Thingyan is keeping him and other taxi drivers busy. “I already have three orders for trips to bring back migrant workers from Kyaiklat [Township, Ayeyarwady Region], Ahpyauk [town in Yangon Region’s Taikkyi Township] and Kawhmu [Township, Yangon Region],” he said. “Each trip is worth about K50,000. Three or four workers are pooling their money and hiring my car together,” he said. But even if some of the township’s bustle has returned, the landlords of dormitory blocks – where much of the migrant workforce is housed – say Hlaing Tharyar’s population is still well below pre-coup levels. U Aung Hlaing Win, 55, who owns four hostels in Shan Kyaung ward in eastern Hlaing Tharyar, said about half his rooms were vacant. “Before Thingyan, some of my hostels had no tenants. I have begun receiving tenants since April 18, but the situation is totally different to before the coup. My hostels used to be full and I had to turn people away,” he told Frontier. Aung Hlaing Win added that the ward was still quiet with many shops closed because their owners were yet to return to Yangon. “Most of the migrant workers in our ward are from Rakhine State and Ayeyarwady Region. They come here to work in factories or run small businesses like shops. It seems that some are still wary about returning to Yangon because they think it is not safe yet, but they might return by the end of April,” he said. Labour activist Nwet Yi Win also expects many more workers to return to the township because they will need jobs to support themselves and their families. But most will likely be disappointed, she believes, and will find themselves no better off than in their rural homes. “After the military coup, many [garment] factories closed permanently because of a lack of orders from abroad, so I don’t know how those people will find another job,” she said. “Because of the COVID-19 situation, we also cannot go to neighbouring countries to find work.” Despite losing her job at the shoe factory, Nwet Yi Win still makes some money from reporting labour issues to non-government organisations, but she mainly relies on financial support from her family. Jobs are harder to find because even factories that have continued operations have downsized their staff, as orders and income have plummeted. Ma Su Myat Nwe has been looking for work since she was laid off from a Hlaing Tharyar garment factory in February. After more than two months, she is thinking of giving up the search and leaving Yangon for good. “I might go to Lashio where my parents work at a restaurant,” she said. “Although I don’t have to pay for accommodation because I’m staying at my brother’s home [in Hlaing Tharyar], it’s not going to work in the long term.” Those lucky enough to keep factory jobs have meanwhile seen their earnings reduced thanks to the 7pm curfew imposed under martial law. Although only an hour earlier than a nationwide curfew that has been in place since February, it deprives factory workers of the opportunity to earn overtime pay in the evenings. This supplementary income enabled them to not only meet the expenses of living in Yangon but also send money to their families and maybe save some for the future. “If we don’t work overtime, we will receive only K150,000 a month, but if we work overtime our salaries rise to about K220,000. Every factory worker wants to find a job that includes overtime,” said garment factory worker Ma Thida. Her workplace now closes at 4:30pm each day, she said, to ensure workers have time to return home before curfew. However, labour activist Nwet Yi Win said that, even without a curfew, there would likely be few opportunities to work overtime. Orders have plummeted because the garment sector, which dominates Hlaing Tharyar’s industrial zones and was already severely weakened by the economic fallout from the pandemic, relies heavily on demand from European countries that have strongly condemned the coup, she explained. Some companies, such as H&M and Benetton, have already stopped sourcing from Myanmar. Factory worker Ma Thida said she was relieved to still have a job, despite not being able to earn overtime, but was no longer able to support her family in her home village. She had been sending her family K100,000 a month before the coup, she said. Meanwhile, creeping inflation is making it harder to even support herself. “My income is lower than before, but the prices for basic commodities have risen. It’s harder to make ends meet,” she said. “I don’t expect the situation to be good, but I hope it won’t get worse.”..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Fighting erupts in Myanmar; junta to ‘consider’ ASEAN plan
Description: "Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis. The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar's oldest rebel force, said it had captured the army camp on the west bank of the Salween river, which forms the border with Thailand. The Myanmar military later hit back against the insurgents with air strikes, the KNU and Thai authorities said. The fighting took place as the junta, in a setback for diplomatic efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said it would "positively" consider the bloc's suggestions to end the turmoil in Myanmar but only when stability was restored. The ASEAN leaders said after meeting on the weekend with the junta chief that they had reached a consensus on steps to end violence and promote dialogue between the rival Myanmar sides. The outbreak of hostilities near the border shifted the focus of opposition to the junta away from the pro-democracy protests that have taken place in cities and towns across the country since the coup on Feb. 1. The military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, detained her and other civilian politicians, then cracked down with lethal force on anti-coup protesters. Security forces have killed more than 750 civilians in the demonstrations, an activist group says. The Karen and other ethnic minority forces based in frontier regions have supported the largely urban-based pro-democracy opponents of the junta......PRE-DAWN ATTACK: In Tuesday's fighting, villagers on the Thai side of the river said heavy gunfire started before dawn. Video posted on social media showed flames and smoke on the forested hillside and KNU forces had captured the outpost, the group's head of foreign affairs, Saw Taw Nee, told Reuters. The Myanmar military later mounted air strikes, Saw Taw Nee said. There was no word on casualties and 450 Thai villagers were moved away from the border to safety, the Thai military said. The Myanmar army made no comment. It has historically portrayed itself as the one institution that can keep together the ethnically diverse country of more than 53 million people. The KNU agreed to a ceasefire in 2012, ending its struggle for autonomy that began shortly after Myanmar’s independence from Britain in 1948. But its forces have clashed with the army since it seized power, ending a decade of democratic reforms that had also brought relative peace to Myanmar's borderlands. Fighting has also flared in the north and west, where the Irrawaddy news site reported 13 government soldiers were killed in clashes in Chin State over the past few days. About 24,000 people are sheltering in the jungle after being displaced in recent weeks by violence near the Thai border, including military air strikes, Karen groups say.....'CAREFUL CONSIDERATION': Elsewhere in Myanmar, there have been few reports of bloodshed since the weekend meeting between the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and Southeast Asian leaders to try to find a way out of the crisis. The junta, in its first official comment on the meeting, said it would give "careful consideration to constructive suggestions ... when the situation returns to stability". The suggestions would be "positively considered" if they facilitated the junta's own "roadmap", and "serves the interests of the country", it said in a statement. The junta did not refer to what ASEAN called a five-point consensus, issued at the end of the meeting, to end the violence and initiate talks. ASEAN's points included appointing an envoy to visit Myanmar for talks with all sides. But Min Aung Hlaing, in comments reported in state media, said: "The visits to Myanmar proposed by ASEAN will be considered after stabilising the country." U.N. Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews called on Min Aung Hlaing to make a commitment to live up to the ASEAN plan. "The people of Myanmar...need and deserve to know if it is your intention to honour this commitment," Andrews said in an open letter. Activists have criticised the plan, saying it helped to legitimise the junta and fell far short of their demands. In particular, it did not call for the release of Suu Kyi, 75, and other political prisoners. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the coup. Suu Kyi's party won a second term in November. The election commission said the vote was fair but the military said fraud at the polls had forced it to seize power. Protesters against the junta were out in several places on Tuesday including the main city of Yangon, where hundreds surged down a street in a “flash mob” march, images on social media showed..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Military In Politics: Myanmar | Insight | Full Episode
Description: "In the early hours of February 1st, 2021, the Myanmar military known as the Tatmadaw seized power of the country. The coup led to the ousting of democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi and brought Myanmar's decade long experiment with democracy to a crashing halt. A mass uprising soon broke out across the country. The security forces responded by launching a brutal crackdown against the protesters, turning some areas of the capital, Yangon into battle zones. But why did the army stage a coup and shatter the hopes and dreams of many of its citizens? Will the violence and protests in the streets help restore democracy in Myanmar?..."
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Source/publisher: "CNA Insider" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2021-04-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar coup: Unity government tells ASEAN no talks until prisoners freed
Description: "The pro democracy unity government in Myanmar which includes members of Aung San #Su​ Kyi's party, says it will not enter talks until the junta releases all political prisoners. Souteast Asias regional bloc has been holding talks with the leaders of the miltiary who seized power on February 1st. Since then massive protests have been held against the coup, hundreds of civilians have been killed and many more arrested. Wai Hnin Pwint Thon campaigns officer at #Burma​ Campaign UK, and the daughter of a man currently serving a 65-year jail sentence in Myanmar for his part in the 2007 protests gave us her talke on the current situation. She says negotiations will have to happen but that talking with the #Myanmar​ military is futile..."
Source/publisher: "France24" ( Paris)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Parallel Government Rejects Talks With Junta Before Political Prisoners Are Freed
Description: "Myanmar’s parallel government on Wednesday rejected holding talks with the junta that seized power in early February until the military regime releases more than 3,000 political prisoners, rebuffing a plan by the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors. Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met last Saturday and signed a “five-point consensus” on resolving the crisis by halting army violence against civilian protesters and holding talks. Members of the pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG), formed on Apr. 16, said they will not engage in dialogue until detained leaders from the previous civilian-led government, including deposed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, are freed. They also want ASEAN members and other nations to recognize the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar. “In order to have a meaningful dialogue, it is very clear that it is only possible if our leaders who are being detained are freed,” Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told RFA, speaking for the NUG. “We believe that only when they are freed will the talks be fair and meaningful,” he said. Many leaders, other officials, and lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested by the military during and after the Feb. 1 coup, while those who evaded arrest have formed the NUG. Political leaders and analysts in Myanmar said ASEAN’s stance on the crisis was unfair to pro-democratic forces and would prolong the current military dictatorship. They also said that the release of the more than 3,400 people who are being detained by junta forces is a key condition for resolving the crisis. Security forces, including police, have conducted violent crackdowns on anti-coup protesters in cities and towns nationwide, at times using deadly force. More than 750 people have been killed since the coup began, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thailand-based human rights group.....Proposal deserves support: Nandar Hla Myint, spokesman for the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said ASEAN’s proposal deserves support. “I believe ASEAN is serious about the situation of individual countries in the region, and at the same time it adheres to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country, so it came up with something acceptable to both sides,” he said. The five-point agreement calls for an ASEAN envoy and delegation to visit Myanmar to meet with concerned parties, but junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said that the visit would be considered only if there was internal stability. A political analyst who declined to be named said the regime leader’s comment could mean that the crackdowns will continue and that the visit will be put off. “None of the five demands in the agreement calls for the release of detained leaders,” he said. “Min Aung Hlaing has no intention of releasing them. Who are they going to negotiate with, then, if the unlawfully arrested leaders are not released? There is no need to hold discussions with anyone.” Myint Oo, an NLD lawmaker from Bago region who won a seat in the November 2020 elections, said the political crisis could not be solved by ASEAN’s recommendations and that the grouping’s suggestions were an insult to people protesting peacefully for democracy. “Look at the way ASEAN said that both sides should cease violence, as if it was the peaceful protesters who were using violence. This fact alone is offensive to the gentle and peaceful citizens who are staging this Spring Revolution,” he told RFA. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the pro-military think tank the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, said he believed the military council would comply with ASEAN’s points if the demands were in line with a law enacted in the national interest. “We believe we can do everything we can in the national interest within a legal framework.” he said. “We certainly see it will move forward step by step. It might not move as speedily as they would expect, but each of the five demands could be implemented at appropriate times.”.....Junta outlaws AAPP: Continuing its drive to cut off the flow of information about killings and arrests in the crackdown, the junta outlawed the AAPP after accusing the group of producing biased information and incorrect data that hurt the stability and rule of law in Myanmar. The Ministry for Home Affairs under the State Administration Council, as the junta government is known, announced on Monday that it would take action against the AAPP for releasing what it said was inaccurate data to intimidate and cause anxiety among civil servants and the public, which could be interpreted as inciting violence. The AAPP publishes daily updates on the numbers of people killed, arrested, and released by the military and police in connection with anti-junta. The statements have been cited frequently by foreign governments, media, and other international organizations. Pro-army pundit Thein Tun Oo agreed with the junta’s move, saying AAPP reports are “weak in background checks or references, and the numbers get inflated.” The AAPP, however, said it has compiled lists of detainees since the day of the military coup along with the names of the dead, places where the attacks occurred, dates of deaths, and causes of death. “Everything is recorded with photos and video recordings and the data published daily,” the organization said in response to an RFA query. The military regime is attacking the AAPP because it is recognized by the U.N., foreign governments, and rights groups as a credible source of information about political prisoners in Myanmar, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “They are trying to silence a very important organization that is doing a very difficult job. It is an attempt to keep the outside world from hearing what is happening in Burma,” he said.....More protests, arrests: Sporadic demonstration in support of the NUG and anti-junta protests continued to be held in townships in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions as well as in Shan and Kachin states. The AAPP said the death toll as of Wednesday was 756 and that 3,449 people were arrested, while another 1,237 people were in hiding while facing charges. At least two people were killed and 15 were arrested amid protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces on Wednesday, witnesses said. In Sagaing region, a military corporal was killed during a brief clash between the Tamu People’s Defense Force and Myanmar soldiers Tuesday evening near the Indian border, residents said. Soldiers took away the body of Corporal Aung Aung, a local soldier who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement of striking workers in March, they said. In the Sagaing town of Monywa, where residents have been holding daily anti-junta protests, soldiers took away nine people from three neighborhoods Tuesday night, locals said. “Nine got arrested,” said a resident who declined to be named. “They were accused of communicating with underground forces. There had been a series of explosions in the area recently, so their arrests could be connected to that.” An explosion on a bridge in Kachin state Tuesday night caused the structure’s foundation to crack and some rafters on nearby railroad tracks connecting the towns of Myitkyina and Mandalay to catch fire, said a resident of Hopin where the blast occurred. It is not clear who was behind the bombings..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: National Unity Government Ministry of Women, Youth and Children's Affairs Announcement (1/2021) - အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အမျိုးသမီး၊ လူငယ်နှင့် ကလေးသူငယ်ရေးရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁/၂၀၂၁)
Description: "Ministry Investigates Sexual Violence in Detention: 1. We strongly condemn the serious allegations of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls in unlawful detention committed by the military-led State Administrative Council and its security forces. We have received many disturbing reports of women being tortured, verbally and sexually assaulted, severely beaten causing serious injuries, including a case of a woman being raped during an interrogation by the security forces. Some detained women have also reportedly been humiliated in public, forced to dance in the streets to entertain the security forces, while others have been groped and manhandled during arrests. One woman miscarried while in detention as a result of mistreatment.....2. These cases are indicative of the wider pattern of sexual and gender-based violence committed by Myanmar’s military that has persisted for years with impunity, particularly against ethnic minority women and girls in armed conflict areas. In 2019, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (IIFFMM) found that the military committed "widespread and systematic" gender-based violence against ethnic communities, employing tactics such as rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and other forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men and transgender people. According to the IIFFMM, such violations could amount to crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The military’s use of rape as a weapon of war to terrorize ethnic communities has been widespread and systematic, particularly in ethnic conflict-affected areas, and has been widely documented by the local ethnic women organizations and the international community.....3. We are deeply troubled that the State Administrative Council appears to have set aside the Joint Communique that was signed by the Government of Myanmar and the United Nations in 2018. This agreement was adopted under the framework of United Nations Security Council resolution 2106 (2013) and requires Myanmar’s military to implement specific time-bound commitments that include the issuance of clear orders through chains of command prohibiting sexual violence and accountability for breaching these orders, as well as timely investigation of alleged abuses.....4. We appeal to the international community to immediately investigate the allegations of widespread sexual and gender-based violence being committed by the military junta so that all perpetrators, regardless of seniority or rank, can be held accountable for their actions. Furthermore, we believe that immediate action is needed to end the ongoing intensification of nationwide attacks against civilians by the military, that includes widespread allegations sexual and gender-based violence. We therefore urge the UN Secretary-General to use his good offices to deter further grave violations from taking place. This could include an official visit to Myanmar by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, with the goal of stopping the military terror and violence and securing the safety of the people of Myanmar.....5. We are committed to a zero-tolerance policy for crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, in line with Myanmar’s obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including UN Security Council resolution 1325 and related resolutions, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We call on the UN, including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary- General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, and the international community to work with our Ministry to protect the rights of women, youth and children and stop and prevent further violence. We all have a responsibility to hold the perpetrators of such heinous crimes to account and to address the needs of survivors through a survivor-centered approach, including provision of necessary services such as medical care and psychological support. The ministry will continue investigate these allegations and document the incidents in order to bring justice for all victims. Our Ministry stands with the victims and survivors of sexual and genderbased violence and commits to ending violence against women, youth and children and to ensure justice and accountability....Ministry of Women, Youth and Children's Affairs National Unity Government..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Two Myanmar air bases come under attack - reports
Description: "Unidentified attackers launched assaults on two Myanmar air bases on Thursday, with blasts reported at one base and rocket fire seen at another, media and a witness said. The attacks come after three months of turmoil in Myanmar triggered by a Feb. 1 military coup. There was no claim of responsibility or any confirmation of any casualties in the attacks. A military spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment. In the first attack on Thursday, three blasts went off at an air base near the central town of Magway in the early hours, the Delta News Agency reported in a post on Facebook. Security checks were stepped up on roads outside the base after the blasts, the news portal said. Later, five rockets were fired at one of the country's main air bases, at Meiktila, to the northeast of Magway, reporter Than Win Hlaing, who was near the base at the time, said in a post. He also posted a video clip that included the sound of what appeared to be a rocket flying overhead followed by a blast. Reuters could not verify the clip. Since the ouster of an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy protests have rocked cities and towns, and the military has cracked down with lethal force, killing 756 people, according to an activist group. Reuters is unable to confirm the casualty toll. Fighting between the military and ethnic minority insurgents has also flared since the coup with the military launching numerous air strikes in border lands in the north and east. While the armed forces have been battling insurgents in frontier regions for decades, attacks on such high-profile military facilities in central areas have been rare. HOPE FADES: The growing insecurity comes as hope fades for a bid by Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours to find a path out of the crisis. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held a meeting on Saturday in the Indonesian capital with the junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and later said they had reached a "five-point consensus" on steps to end violence and promote dialogue between the generals and their civilian rivals. But the junta has declined to accept the proposals, saying it would consider them "when the situation returns to stability" and provided the recommendations facilitated the military's own roadmap. Myanmar's pro-democracy unity government, formed to oppose the junta, ruled out talks on the crisis until all political prisoners are released. In an indication of the military's determination to crush dissent, state television announced late on Wednesday that authorities were seeking to charge one of the main leaders of the pro-democracy protests with murder and treason. Wai Moe Naing, 25, was arrested on April 15 when security men rammed him with a car as he led a motorbike protest rally in the central town of Monywa. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Wai Moe Naing's group was linked to several explosions of "homemade grenades" in Monywa. "In addition, they also tortured and brutally killed two police officers ... on March 26," the newspaper said. It is unclear if Wai Moe Naing has a lawyer...."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Violence continues to erupt in Myanmar
Description: "Just under six months ago, the people of Myanmar delivered a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy Party. It was the 75-year old's second election win, and it made the military so furious that it seized power in a coup on the first day the new parliament was due to sit. Since then hundreds of people opposing the military regime have been shot dead and thousands have been arrested. South-East Asia correspondent Mazoe Ford reports, and a warning, her story contains some distressing images..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: ABC News (Australia)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ‘We wanted to scare them’: the brothers who fought back against Myanmar’s army
Description: "Three months after the coup, four brothers tell how they joined protesters fighting the junta before fleeing for the border. The young men only had a moment to study the river before rushing into the waist-deep water. The brothers – ranging in age from 15 to 21 – were unfamiliar with the border area and afraid of being seen. On the run from Myanmar’s military, they pushed on into the Thaunggin River. After just a few minutes of wading, they stumbled into no man’s land. Moments after crossing the river, three smugglers dressed in military fatigues met them. After handing over 6,000 Thai baht (US$200) and exchanging a few words, the smugglers led them deeper into the woods and then to safety in Thailand. Three months after the military coup on 1 February, four Burmese brothers have told the Guardian of how they were inspired to join the fight against the military – and how their involvement in protests in Yangon that turned violent eventually forced them to flee at the end of March. Safely outside the country, the brothers have given an account of brutal military repression and their decision to take the fight to the military in a bid to prevent further violence. Their journey would take them from peaceful protest in Yangon to petrol bombing police stations and running for their lives. Lin*, 21,the eldest of the four brothers, said he had watched the coup unfold from his home in western Thailand, close to the border. Seeing the death toll mount amid growing military brutality he felt compelled to join the resistance movement, and soon his three younger brothers and two cousins from different parts of Myanmar followed him to Yangon. At 15, Za* is the youngest of the brothers. He said he took part in the resistance because he wanted to stop the violence on the streets. “Look at how many people they have killed in the past two months. If we don’t do anything and just let it happen so many more innocent people will die,” Za said. Joining the protests: The men met up in Yangon and for the first few days joined the peaceful protests. Soon, they became part of a nightwatch team protecting residential neighbourhoods from night-time raids by security forces. Armed with sticks and swords they say they helped women, children and the elderly move around safely. As they continued to demonstrate, some teams of frontline protesters began discussing the possibility of hitting back, Lin says. “People started saying we need to fight back. But they didn’t know how, and they were scared.” Lin says he was concerned it was just what Myanmar’s military, also known as the Tatmadaw, was hoping for. They told how they joined a small minority of protesters on the frontlines squaring off against security forces, using molotov cocktails and slingshots in what they said they believed was a legitimate form of self-defence against the military’s automatic weapons. But it was not without cost. During one attack on a police station, Lin says one of the team died after being hit in the head by a rubber bullet. He was in his 50s. “I don’t want my children to grow up in the situation that my generation and the older generations did,” says Moe*, 18, another of the brothers. The first attack: It was about 11pm when the group carried out its first attack on a police station. Lin describes how they moved towards the building, with more people joining the group as they got closer. Some were carrying molotov cocktails, others were armed with slingshots and swords, he says. But when the men edged near to the police station, the group hesitated. Lin says: “At that time I was aggressive, I was mad, no one was willing to throw the cocktail bomb. “I came back [to Yangon] thinking I was going to be a peaceful protester … but if I needed to be another thing, then I will be that, too,” Lin said. “So I took the molotov and went up to the [overpass] bridge.” The bottle landed right on top of a pile of rubbish leaning against the building. Flames started to shoot upwards towards the roof, Lin says. “We wanted to scare them,” he says of the Tatmadaw. “You make us feel unsafe, then we want you to feel unsafe too.” Lin says a truck full of Tatmadaw soldiers arrived, and the group started retreating. Footage seen by the Guardian shows teargas rounds whizzing past them as they fled. The group could hear the sound of people celebrating in their homes as they sprinted past. “It was like we were coming back from war.” Over the next few days, the brothers, along with a handful of other teams, targeted multiple police stations. Lin says he doesn’t believe they injured anyone in the attacks. They were unsuccessful in burning down the buildings. He says the attacks were psychological warfare and the men felt they had to show some degree of force to counter the military.....‘We had to run’:The campaign continued until the day Lin says they heard one of their friends had been abducted by security forces. “They contacted us and said he died. They tortured and killed him,” he recalls. “We all had to run at that point. They said, ‘One of our guys is gone. We are on the run now. You should too.’” They agreed it was time to leave. The brothers woke up early to begin their trip east to Hpa-An, the capital city in Karen state, close to the border with Thailand. The day after they left their apartment in Yangon, a neighbour told them police had searched it. After laying low in Hpa-An for a few days, they finally got the call to leave. They would have to make the cross near Myawaddy, a town known for its casinos and entertainment venues. After just a few minutes of wading through the river, they stumbled into no man’s land. Moments after crossing the river, three smugglers dressed in military fatigues met them. The smugglers demanded their payment upfront before they moved the brothers to a secret location. After paying the troops, the group hiked for another 20 minutes in the dark to a bunker where they were told to wait. “We were afraid of them because they were strangers with guns and we were in their place,” says Htet*, 18, another of the four brothers. “If they wanted to do something they could’ve and we didn’t have anything to stop that.” At around 3pm they were told it was finally time to go. They walked along a dirt path that would lead to a paved road, their guide told them. After more trekking on their own, they found their way out of the woods. They had made it. The group crossed the border at a time when Myanmar’s military had killed more than 550 people and detained nearly 3,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. “It was a hard decision to make to come here. Even though we are safe and comfortable, we want to be back there. But it was just too dangerous,” Lin says. “But the good thing was I had my brothers. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it alone.” *Names have been changed to protect identities..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 28 April, (756) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (1) fallen heroes today. This (1) fallen hero from Tedim Township in Chin State was killed last night 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 April 28, a total of (3449) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1237 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Since the ASEAN leaders meeting on 24 April at least 6 people have been killed by the junta. The junta’s pledge to “refrain from violence” should never have been believed by ASEAN. There is only “one party” exercising violence in Burma. Despite the junta’s ongoing violence on a daily basis, the Spring Revolution intensified across the country, including in Yangon and Mandalay. On April 28, the Yadanarbon and Mandalay University student strikes were attacked by military vehicle and people arrested in Mandalay City, Mandalay Region. Six civilians were arrested, and ordered to raise their hands under the hot sun. The numbers of injured have not been confirmed yet. Since the terrorists arrested Wai Moe Naing, the protest leader of the Monywa strike, by crashing his motorbike, junta forces have continued to crackdown on protests using vehicles and motorbikes. Arrests have continued both day and night using private cars. A 20-year-old young man was shot dead around 10pm last night in Tedim Township, Chin State and his body has not yet been returned to his family from the hospital. The terrorist group is using different forms of repression to put pressure on public servants involved in the CDM movement. If they can not arrest CDM staff, they take family members as hostage; force them to move from the government housing; firing; or charging and issuing warrants under various laws. Teachers from universities, colleges and management level have been forced to come back to work on 3 May at the latest. Families of Budalin Hospital CDM staff members were forced to move from staff housing in Sagaing Region. CDM participation by the civil servant is having a significant impact on the day-to-day running of the administration mechanism of junta. This is why CDM staff are being targeted. The junta coup lifted the FTTH fiber-optic 1 am to 9 am blackout enforced for 72 continuous nights, on 27 April. However, all other internet services are still cut off and the information flow remains restricted. Some social media and news are still banned, for 83 days now. The terrorist group is restricting the flow of information because of the fear civilians will get accurate information and opposition even stronger. The junta is also using Myawaddy TV (MWD) and Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) broadcasts to spread its propaganda. The violation to freedom of press is emblematic of the diminishing human rights in the country. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 27 April, (755) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. (1) from Demoso Township in Kayah State died on 27 April. (1) from Mandalay was killed yesterday 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 April 27, a total of (3448) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1200 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. On April 27, people across the country remained on the streets to protest the dictatorship despite atrocities of shooting and torturing by the terrorists. Today, anti-military protests and repression escalated in Yangon. Although the coup leader agreed to end violence at the ASEAN leaders meetings days ago. In reality, junta forces have been violating human rights abuses on a daily basis. Today a man was killed and at least four civilians injured in Demoso Township, Kayah State during a crackdown on the people-made barricades, the terrorist group used live ammunition on civilians like in a conflict. Also, a man was killed and two others injured in an unprovoked shooting in Mandalay last night. Recently, the terrorist group has been cracking down on media and trying hard to cover up the news. This morning, the Mandalay based editor-in-chief of Voice of Myanmar (VOM) and a journalist were arrested. On the night of April 25, a former journalist of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was arrested and taken to an interrogation center. According to UDHR Article 19, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. The terrorist group has cut off information flow between the media and public in order to delay access to accurate information. At the same time, the junta are trying to cover up their violence and crimes to both international and domestic audiences. It is for those reasons that journalists are being persecuted. At present, the terrorist group is not only openly looting but also kidnapping civilians. Some arrested villagers from Win Kone village, Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region were released on April 24 only after locals paid junta forces an amount they demanded. Today, terrorists raided the house of a protest leader in Mogok, Mandalay Region and looted items in the house. Last night, a fisherman was beaten and interrogated by the junta forces in a village that is located in Kangyidaunt Township, Ayeyarwady Region. His old watch and 1000 kyats were confiscated. On the morning of April 25, the junta forces raided someone’s house who is working for the funeral service society in Myingyan Town, Mandalay Region. They destroyed his house and looted his antiquity collections, money and crafts. The terrorist regime commits various forms of violence leaving people insecure and fearful mentally and physically. The civilians are facing daily threats and their basic human rights are being violated. The only way to achieve democracy, human rights, and internal peace is not through negotiations but to eradicate dictatorship in Burma. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
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Title: 'I thought I would die.' Myanmar protesters describe torture they suffered in detention
Description: "The 19-year-old's eyes are so swollen he cannot open them properly. His face is marked with big purple welts and bruises. Etched into his shoulders and back are long, dark lacerations that have yet to heal over -- wounds, he said, that were inflicted when Myanmar military officers who had detained him whipped him repeatedly with cable wires. "I thought I would die," the teenager, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, said of his three-day stint in a military detention camp, while showing a photo of his wounds. He is one of more than 4,400 people detained by Myanmar's security forces since the military seized power in a coup on February 1, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The round-up, part of a systematic and bloody crackdown on any perceived opposition to the takeover, has ensnared politicians, protesters, journalists, striking workers, celebrities, and even children and bystanders. Many people have been taken in terrifying nighttime raids or abducted off the streets and held in secretive facilities out of contact from their families. Little is known about the conditions they are kept in. But the accounts of those who have been released, as well as from defectors from the military and family members, detail brutal acts of violence and torture. The teen was traveling back to Yangon from Bago on his moped when he said he was stopped at a military checkpoint on April 9. It was a long drive, and it was already getting late. That day had seen one of the deadliest crackdowns on protesters, with more than 80 killed by security forces in the town, according to AAPP. Searching his bag and phone, soldiers found images of him with a shield at protests. The 19-year-old said he was taken to a military compound, where his hands were tied and he was repeatedly beaten by the guards, who used cables, the butts of guns, and glass bottles. "The commander tied my hands from the back and used small scissors to cut my ears, the tip of my nose, my neck and my throat. (He) hit my head with a glass bottle, beat me up, pointed at me with guns but the bullets did not come out. He used the gun to threaten me as soon as I got to their station. Then he let his fellow soldiers beat me up that night," he said. The soldiers accused him of giving money to the Civil Disobedience Movement, in which doctors, workers and civil servants have gone on strike to cripple the economy and bring down the junta, led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. "They beat me with a cable wire, they used a big cable wire and they braid it with two cable wires to make it bigger. They forced us to be on our knees, with our backs straight, and punched and kicked us. When we fell on the ground they hit us with the cable wire. It hurt so much. I even told them to kill me instead of torturing me it was that painful," the teenager said. Three weeks after his ordeal, he remains in hiding. His wounds are healing, he said, but he still has difficulty walking and can't properly fasten his buttons. During the beatings, one thing kept him going. "I thought I was about to die but I have to stay strong, I couldn't eat what they gave to me but I forced myself to eat to stay alive, we have to be released and when we get released we can participate (in the protests) again," the 19-year-old said. His scars, both physical and mental, are a constant reminder of the military's grotesque cruelty and lack of regard for the civilians they claim to rule over. The 19-year-old said he was detained after soldiers found images on his phone of him at protests. More than 750 people, including large numbers of children and young people, have been killed by security forces since the military junta seized power, AAPP has documented. A growing number of those killed are injured protesters who were detained by the military and denied medical attention. Others, including ousted members of the democratically elected National League for Democracy, have died in custody, their bodies bearing the marks of torture. "People arrested by the security forces are more likely to be subjected to torture or ill treatment in detention," said Zaw Win, human rights specialist with rights group Fortify Rights. "Our team has documented cases of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and beatings since February 1. The military tactics of arrest and ill treatment are creating an environment of terror and anxiety among the public. Yet, protesters are still going to the streets to call for an end to military rule." Torture was widespread and well documented during the previous military regime, which began transferring power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011. Despite the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy being in power since 2014, the United Nations Convention Against Torture was never signed. The AAPP said torture in Myanmar is still commonplace during interrogation and imprisonment to extract confessions or further degrade and humiliate detainees. CNN has reached out to Myanmar's military for comment. In state media, the junta has said it is acting with restraint in handling what it has described as demonstrations by "riotous protesters" whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.....Barely recognizable: Despite claims of restraint, the military junta has shown no shame in its acts of cruelty -- if anything, it's made efforts to publicize those acts as a warning to anyone who dares to speak out. Every night at 8 p.m. local time, neatly coiffed news anchors announce a list of people wanted for arrest on junta-controlled TV. The broadcasts have included actors, musicians, journalists and doctors who have gone on strike to protest the coup -- their photographs and social media profiles beamed across the country. On April 18, the military aired the images of six people it had arrested and accused of being in possession of homemade bombs following a series of deadly blasts in the Yangon suburb of Yankin on April 17. The faces of the four men and two women bore severe signs of abuse. One of the women, 31-year-old dance teacher Khin Nyein Thu, was barely recognizable, her mother said. Her face was swollen and bloody. Her mother, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said Khin Nyein Thu was picked up in a nighttime raid and she is concerned about her welfare in an interrogation center, where she is now believed to be held. An undated photo of dance teacher Khin Nyein Thu. Her mother managed to catch a glimpse of her daughter when she was first taken to the police station. "She was clearly in pain, she was walking unsteadily and when I called her she turned around to look at me. It was at this point I could tell that her face was very swollen," she said. "I was told by someone who was released that she has been hit in the face, I understand she has cuts on her face and lips, and bruised eyes, and lost a tooth." She described Khin Nyein Thu, her only child, as a creative, artistic person who loved to dance, paint, kickbox, and share what she knows with others. Though detained on April 17, Khin Nyein Thu has not been charged or taken to prison, her mother said. Instead, she believes she has been transferred to another interrogation camp. "I could not sleep all night and I had a choking feeling of fear. The worst was thinking I could not follow her," the mother said of the night her daughter was taken. Desperate to hear from her daughter, she added, "I want to see her. I want her to get medical treatment as soon as possible." 'They will kill anyone they want':Even among the lower ranks of the military, there are soldiers disgusted with the violence they are being ordered to carry out against their fellow countrymen and women. From the safety of neighboring India, a 23-year-old former army cadet said he defected from the military, haunted by his experiences on nighttime raids. CNN has agreed not to name him for his safety. He described a culture of intimidation and brainwashing within the military, known as the Tatmadaw, where from day one new recruits are told the country can only be at peace if the army is in charge. Freshly graduated from military training in March, the 23-year-old was posted to Yangon's Mingaladon township, where he was ordered to join the nightly raids and arrest suspected protesters or opponents of the coup. He said every night they would deploy with two rounds of ammunition, assault rifles, detailed maps of neighborhoods and names of protest leaders from their informants. "They order us to shoot when the person we want to arrest is escaping from the house," the former cadet said. "At one point we went to arrest two leaders, one got arrested and one was trying to escape and we shot him on the spot." He said the person who was shot managed to escape, so they arrested his daughter who was also in the house. "The orders depend on the commanders of the group, if they told us shoot then we have to shoot right away," he added. A former army cadet from Myanmar's military who defected across the border to India after being ordered to take part in raids and beatings of protesters. The former cadet claims he intentionally broke his rifle that night so it wouldn't fire, but he couldn't avoid participating in the beatings. His account gives a harrowing insight into the military's operations, as reported by countless protesters and family members of those detained. "They were crying when we raid their houses and beating them. The neighbors knew too but on one dares to come out at night. If someone looks at us through their windows, we asked them to come out and beat them too. The military will find fault at every house they raid and will beat them," he said. The culture of fear within the ranks means he cannot complain. "I cannot say anything even if I do not like what they are doing," he said. Anyone found outside after curfew at 8 p.m. local time is interrogated and beaten. If they run, military orders are ordered to shoot them, the former cadet said. No one is spared this treatment, including women and children. "The youngest one I saw was around 10 or 11 years old, a boy," he said. "If someone talks back to us, we will hit them with the back of the gun -- and some bleed. I feel sad every night as I have to watch when they are beating people in the house, including children, and I couldn't say anything to them. I feel sad every night." The former cadet also described what many family members and activists have reported -- that injured protesters are being denied medical care while in custody. Some pass away in detention from their wounds, left to die with no aid to ease their suffering. "When people got shot and got arrested they didn't get any treatment. Some were still alive when they got shot but because they didn't get any treatment, they died in the morning because they lost too much blood. Then the military gave the dead body back to the family," he said. The former cadet said that at the military barracks, soldiers are not allowed to leave the base and are only allowed to watch the military TV channel. "They brainwash us by telling us that it's only because of the Tatmadaw's existence the country is peaceful. They told us the ethnic armed groups are smuggling drugs and trafficking people and that is why the Tatmadaw has to fight them. If the Tatmadaw do not exit, the civilians will not be able to live peacefully anymore," he said. Previous atrocities perpetuated by the military have shown the indoctrination to be nationwide and decades old. Human rights abuses by the military, including beatings, torture, extrajudicial killings, forced labor and sexual violence, have been long documented by the UN and rights groups in ethnic areas such as Kachin and Karen states. In 2017, the military's campaign of killing and arson against the Rohingya community in Rakhine state forced more than 740,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. A genocide case against the military and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is ongoing at the International Court of Justice. Now, the military has brought its ruthless war tactics from the jungles and borderlands to the towns and cities. Soldiers, like the young former cadet, are turning their guns on people who could be their neighbors. The former cadet said it was the cruelty to the families of the protesters that finally broke him, so he decided to escape and made the long journey from Yangon to the Indian border. "I have to go out every night and I don't want to do this anymore, I cannot keep seeing people got beaten every night," he said. "They will kill anyone they want kill, that's what I know of them."..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Japan: Suspend Aid Benefitting Myanmar Junta
Topic: Business , Crisis and Conflict
Sub-title: Urgently Review All Non-Humanitarian Projects
Topic: Business , Crisis and Conflict
Description: "The Japanese government should immediately review its aid portfolio for Myanmar and suspend non-humanitarian projects that benefit the junta or military, Human Rights Watch said today. Japan should immediately suspend Official Development Aid (ODA) infrastructure projects carried out by Myanmar government ministries and other assistance involving military-controlled entities. Following the February 1, 2021 military coup, the Japanese government stated it would refrain from carrying out new non-humanitarian ODA programs in Myanmar, but it has yet to adopt a clear, public position regarding ongoing projects. The latest figures show that in 2019, Japan provided about 169 billion yen (US$1.6 billion) in loan assistance, 15 billion yen ($140 million) in grant aid, and 6.7 billion yen ($62 million) in technical assistance to Myanmar. “As Myanmar’s security forces gun down protesters on the streets, Japan should not take a ‘wait and see’ approach but should promptly and responsibly review its aid portfolio to Myanmar,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer. “Japan should suspend all non-humanitarian aid projects that benefit the junta or military as part of global efforts to pressure Myanmar’s generals to cease their violent crackdown, release all political prisoners, and restore the democratically elected government.” Ongoing nationwide protests have demonstrated widespread opposition to military rule. The response of the junta’s State Administration Council to the largely peaceful protests has been increasingly brutal. Since the coup, security forces have killed over 750 people, including at least 45 children, and detained an estimated 3,431 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians. Human Rights Watch and four other organizations sent a letter to Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on February 25 saying that the Japanese government should halt non-humanitarian ODA programs to Myanmar. A Foreign Ministry official told Human Rights Watch on April 15 that Japan’s plans for a 100 million yen ($930,000) financial grant to the Myanmar police, originally announced on July 2, 2020, had been “undetermined” due to the coup. The official did not clarify whether the aid has been permanently terminated or suspended, and no public statement has been made regarding this project, or any other ongoing aid project. Another problematic project is the Bago River Bridge Construction Project in Yangon, approved by Japan and Myanmar in December 2016. The project involves a 31-billion-yen loan ($288 million) provided by Japan’s aid agency, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). On March 26, the local media outlet Myanmar Now reported that the project involves the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a military-owned conglomerate recently sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union. The report said that a MEC-owned steel mill in Hmawbi, Yangon, is supplying steel for two-thirds of the bridge’s construction and profiting enormously. In response to a March 27 inquiry by Human Rights Watch, JICA confirmed that Yokogawa Bridge Corp., a Japanese construction firm involved in the project, had finalized a contract with MEC and its affiliate in November 2019. A representative from Yokogawa Bridge also confirmed to Human Rights Watch that it has a “business dealing” with MEC, while saying that construction was on hold partly due to a “lack of material resources.” The representative said that the company would “pay close attention to ensuring the safety of those involved in Myanmar and continue discussions with relevant parties on what to do going forward.” The project is also being carried out in conjunction with Myanmar’s Construction Ministry and the Myanmar Port Authority under the Transport Ministry. According to Mohinga, the aid website operated by Myanmar’s Planning and Finance Ministry, Japan is currently funding several non-humanitarian infrastructure projects directly with the Planning and Finance, and Transport and Communication Ministries. Such projects should also be reviewed for possible suspension. Japan has been a leading donor to Myanmar. By 2017, the government had provided more than a total of 1 trillion yen ($9.3 billion) in loan assistance, more than 320 billion yen ($2.9 billion) in grant aid, and 98 billion yen ($912 million) in technical assistance. As of 2017, Official Development Aid from Japan to Myanmar ranked highest among member countries and institutions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s development cooperation directorate. In November 2016, when Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, visited Japan, Japan announced that its public and private sectors would contribute 800 billion yen ($7.4 billion) to Myanmar over a five-year period. The Japanese government should trigger human-rights-based conditions enshrined in its ODA charter, which states that “Japan will pay adequate attention to the situation in the recipient countries regarding the process of democratization, the rule of law and the protection of basic human rights, with a view to promoting the consolidation of democratization, the rule of law and the respect for basic human rights.” With respect to humanitarian aid, Japan should maintain such projects but redirect the funds through nongovernmental groups to ensure it is used effectively and directly benefits populations in need. Development aid should be directed only toward basic human needs and where possible delivered through independent nongovernmental organizations. Since the coup, the junta has overhauled the Myanmar Investment Commission and all regional investment bodies, installing nine members, including Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun, who is also a junta member. The US, UK, and EU have sanctioned Moe Myint Tun for his direct involvement in and responsibility for what the EU said was “undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar … repressive decisions and for serious human rights violations.” As a military commander who oversaw operations in Rakhine State until 2019, he was also “therefore responsible for those serious violations and abuses against the Rohingya population,” according to the EU. “The Japanese government’s indecisiveness and silence over suspending its non-humanitarian aid that benefits the junta is contributing to the military repression in Myanmar,” Kasai said. “Japan should swiftly and publicly show it is on the side of Myanmar’s people and not the commanders who are behind the arrests and killings of protesters every day across the country.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Man killed in Myanmar two days after regional deal, local media say
Description: "Myanmar security forces shot dead a man in the second city of Mandalay on Monday, national media reported, two days after Southeast Asian leaders said they had reached consensus with the junta on ending violence. Activists opposed to military rule called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans and to keep their children away from school, adding to doubts about a regional bloc's push to end Myanmar's post-coup crisis. The man was shot dead at a fried rice shop in Mandalay late on Monday and some other people were wounded, three Myanmar media reported. Mizzima news service also said a woman had been shot dead on a motorcycle in the southern town of Dawei. A junta spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With most internet access cut and journalists' movements restricted, Reuters could not confirm the incidents independently. An activist monitoring group says more than 750 people have been killed by security forces as the generals unleashed lethal force in the face of sustained protests against their Feb. 1 coup. There were more protests on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of violence at them. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reached an agreement at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia at the weekend on steps to bring peace. But the junta chief did not submit to calls for the release of political prisoners, including the leader of the ousted civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi, and the ASEAN accord lacked any timeline for ending the crisis. Activists criticised the agreement that came out of the ASEAN meeting, a so-called five-point consensus that included an end to violence, starting dialogue among all parties, accepting aid, and appointing a special ASEAN envoy who would visit Myanmar. "We deplore the fact that the consensus was reached without any legitimate representation of the people of Myanmar," said a statement in the name of more than 400 Myanmar civil society groups, who said ASEAN should push the junta to hand over to a rival civilian unity government formed by its opponents. The military has not officially commented on the outcome of the meeting but the state broadcaster, citing the ruling military council in its main bulletin, said: "Some of the facts from ASEAN are a good contribution so we will consider that." MORE ACTION Pro-democracy activists have called for an intensification of efforts against the military from Monday by refusing to pay electricity bills and agricultural loans, and keeping children from going to school. "We don't participate in their systems, we don't cooperate with them," activist Khant Wai Phyo told a protest meeting on Monday. The ASEAN agreement did not mention political prisoners although the statement said the meeting heard calls for their release. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says 3,431 people have been detained for opposing the coup. The most prominent is Suu Kyi, 75, who has been charged with various offences including violating a colonial-era official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and has led Myanmar’s struggle against military rule for decades. Her party won a second term in November. The election commission said the vote was fair but the military said fraud at the polls had forced it to seize power. Suu Kyi appeared via video link for a hearing in her case on Monday and again asked the court for permission to meet her lawyers in person, a member of her legal team said. She has only been allowed to speak to them by video link in the presence of security officials so far. Police told the court they had referred her request to higher authorities and were "working on it step by step", lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said Suu Kyi had not been allowed direct contact with the lawyers because it could be an avenue for illegal communication with protest leaders and because of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to an interview with Russia's RIA news agency last week. Her lawyers have said the charges against her were trumped up. The next hearing is on May 10..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar junta builds 'walled garden' of internet services
Sub-title: Banking apps go back online but the regime maintains its authoritative grip
Description: "Myanmar's junta has relaxed internet restrictions on selected business apps, signaling the return of an old censorship board that this time will control who can access what on their digital devices. Some telcos have enabled internet access to banking and business mobile applications. Consumers using service providers such as state-run MPT can now access Office 365 email and messaging applications run by Microsoft as well as local banking applications. The junta has also recently lifted the nightly internet blackout for fiber-to-the-home providers. "What we are seeing is essentially the re-establishment of the old censorship board, but for the internet space this time," said Oliver Spencer, legal adviser to digital rights group Free Expression Myanmar, referring to a body that inspected and censored news publications before being disbanded by President Thein Sein in 2012 as part of his political reforms. "It empowers the junta to control the internet, offering businesses, media and social platforms access only if they abide by military diktat. "For the banks and businesses, it's short-term benefits and long-term costs." Spencer warned that the junta can "take down internet access of companies or banks at whim." Businesses have been feeling the heat from the regime, with tycoons, bank staffers and supermarket employees threatened or detained by the security forces in recent days. According to telecom industry representatives who asked for anonymity, the relaxation came upon instructions from the authorities, and reconnections began during the weekend. The decision indicates the junta might change its approach to regulating the internet. In recent years, the authorities could block individual websites; now they are set up to allow access only to platforms they approve. The "whitelist" method, which opens connections only to specific IP addresses, is mainly designed to facilitate services necessary for banking operations. The list of approved apps has not been made public. Since the coup on Feb. 1, the regime has, at various points, imposed total blackouts and a nightly internet ban, blocked mobile and wireless services, and censored social media platforms and websites. Going dark has severely hurt businesses and helped push the economy toward collapse, with service providers who rely on digital platforms paralyzed and local banks struggling to carry out digital transactions. Investors have repeatedly complained. On March 19, all foreign chambers of commerce representing Western businesses, except the British and Australian chambers, jointly condemned the military's atrocities and repeated their calls for unrestricted information access and a free flow of information. The Australian and British chambers joined the chorus on March 30. The move reflects that the junta is "at least listening to their own people," said a senior internet service industry source, referring to local banks and big businesses disrupted by the internet restrictions. Selectively allowing business apps to operate is intended to minimize the impact on commerce while allowing the junta to retain a firm grip on communications and information access. The move could ease pressure on the junta to resume internet services, the source added, calling it "the Chinese and North Korean way" of regulating cyberspace. "Are they trying to build a 'Walled Garden of the Internet?'" the source wondered. Said Vicky Bowman, Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business director: "Obviously telecom operators want users to have full internet access, and not just to a limited number of apps, otherwise the Myanmar people are denied their rights. I would expect the companies with a commitment to respect for human rights to continue to press the government for a lifting of all restrictions."..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: What We Fight for When We Stand Against the Coup
Description: "The coup is not the answer (Khine, from the field): On the 1st February 2021, my aunt woke me at 6am. She told me, “Min Aung Hlaing is conducting another military coup.” I woke up immediately, confused. “Is this a nightmare or is it really happening?”, I thought to myself, shocked by the news. I have been facing down Myanmar’s military junta since I was in my mother’s womb in 1988. Born in 1989, I am now 32 years old, the same age as my parents during the 1988 uprising. But our battle for democracy and human rights goes on. My first response to the emergency was to go out and buy essentials: rice, oil, a torch, a radio, candles, and batteries. From past experience, we knew exactly what we would face under military rule. When I finished, I felt blank. I struggled hard to focus on staying calm and coming to terms with the situation. I knew that if I could achieve this fundamental step, I would be equipped to focus on what to do next. The voice of the people is a fundamental element within a democratic political system. As an independent researcher in spatial design and participatory place-making, I believe in listening to people’s voices. I understand that compassionate listening is a priority in every project; it is the best way to find comprehensive solutions for a better living environment. Inspired by this approach, I decided to express my voice as an individual citizen through writing. On the 3rd day of the coup, I decided to write, to make my voice heard as a citizen. On the 28th day of the coup, I finished this draft and handed it over to my co-authors overseas. I felt relieved and satisfied with what I had accomplished. I saw it as the first strike in a long battle. However, later the same day, my optimism disintegrated. News reached me that my father had been detained due to his involvement in the uprising. I felt as though the sky had fallen on me. He has now been detained in prison for more than a month without charge, in violation of his human rights. At his first trial, on 8 April, they did nothing but postpone the trial for another date. My involvement in the uprising against the military coup began when I was just a fetus in 1988. Now, at 32, I am the same age as my parents during the 1988 uprising. Now, father and daughter fight side by side. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 23rd April 2021, there are already 745 people killed (more than 40 are underage), 3371 people detained (like my father, thousands are still awaiting trial, and are being abused in the meantime) and more than 1118 arrest warrants (under 505-a) for speaking out against the coup. The figures are still increasing, and there are ongoing deadly attacks and arrests against unarmed civilians. Those events are obvious proof of how our battle for democracy and human rights remains unfinished. Like us, many other fathers and daughters, mothers and sons are now working to resist the military’s deadly crimes against humanity. As Ermonela Jaho, the Albanian-born soprano, said in her interview for Global Woman Diva Program, “live every day to the fullest and you have already made the future a reality.” We are struggling for our right to live every day to the fullest. Under a dictatorship, there is no room for people to create their own destiny. I owe it to myself to design my life and live fully. For that reason, I cannot accept living in a dictatorship. This time, I believe we will win because we must.....How We Have been Suffering: Perpetrating an unjust military coup in the middle of global pandemic clearly demonstrates that the power-starved military in Myanmar has no empathy for civilians. We have been suffering a combined health, economic and social crisis resulting from Covid-19 for over a year. We are awaiting the arrival of the vaccines and preparing for Myanmar’s recovery. Even so, with whatever strength we have left, the people are non-violently resisting the coup-makers in spite of our fear of Covid-19 and the deadly attacks against us. Myanmar society has suffered the trauma of living of under an oppressive regime for more than 50 years. We are all tired of being attacked by those who act against morality and humanity. The putschists will never stop on their own! Now, it is the civilians’ duty to stop them. Though we know we will win this battle, Myanmar still risks facing further political, economic, and social crises. With each subsequent crisis, recovery becomes harder than ever. The following are the major political and socio-cultural issues impacted by this selfish and egotistical act on the part of the military in Myanmar. (1) Changing the Constitution This coup poses a major threat to the reform of the 2008 Constitution. To accelerate the peace process and ensure federal democracy in Myanmar, the 2008 Constitution has to change. This constitution was drafted by the dictators and designed to safeguard the interests of the former authoritarian regime. To allow room for justice, fairness, inclusion and respect, the values of diverse civilians from all ethnic groups should be reflected in the constitution of Myanmar. But, in reality, the views of civilians were ignored and the 2008 Constitution does not represent the will of the civilians. Under the dictatorship governance, the citizens’ voices will be silenced even further. Recently, on 31 March, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) declared the abolition of the 2008 Constitution. This is the first step towards federal democratic state-building. Despite the challenges facing us, this is a ray of hope among the ruins.....(2) Freedom of Expression and Democratic Knowledge:Our experience clearly reminds us that there is no room for democracy in a land governed by a dictatorial regime. We grew up without being educated about how to claim our rights. We were not taught tactics to identify what we really want as a society, what we want to change and how to make changes as a collective. Military rule has failed to provide us with tools for (a) developing self-awareness, the ability to question and search for one’s true self; (b) knowing and valuing one’s own existence, and knowing how to respect others; (c) building self-confidence; (d) developing critical thinking skills that account for different perspectives; (e) building understanding and trust; (f) knowing how to conduct constructive arguments and knowing how to share, communicate, collaborate and commit to engaging with one another, in order to transform our thoughts into actions. Without these key tools for self-searching, expression, communication and collaboration, we could not fully develop our self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-management. We became weak and were easily manipulated and brainwashed. The dictators conditioned us to have a “fear of expression” rather than “freedom of expression”. We learned that the right way to live in Myanmar is to follow and obey our parents, our teachers, our elders, our religious leaders, and our government. Asking questions, arguing, or refusing to do as we are told is considered rude, even evil. The elders used to say, “We are older than you, we have lived longer than you and so we know you better than you know yourself. It is better that we manage your life than you manage your own.” The prevalence of this type of thinking shows how the junta has shaped our psychology, since our elder’s time. Military rule has transformed our independence so much that conservative behaviors became the norm. What started with the junta using fear to oppress, nowadays operates as a kind of conservatism that claims to protect ‘culture.’ In reality, this ‘culture’ controls even our slightest social freedoms. During the last five years, our dreams started to come true: we acquired much greater freedom of expression and the opportunity to put our thoughts and desires into action. However, rather than reconstructing the country, our time was wasted fixing problems caused by failures of understanding, communication and collaboration. Without the key tools mentioned above, we failed to see things from different perspectives, and we tended to express prejudices in a very subjective way. Ego also plays too much of a role in the way that our people act and overwhelms our ability to communicate and collaborate. We believe that this egocentrism, a lack of openness to understanding, and an unwillingness to build trust are the root of the conflicts happening in Myanmar. Expressions from egocentric points of views provoke unconstructive hate speech and inhibit the potential to develop just and balanced solutions, such as can be seen in the Rohingya crisis and any other conflicts amongst the different ethnic groups in Myanmar. Our ingrained “fear of expression” caused us to underestimate the value of diversity. We understand that five years is not enough to build a seamless democratic country, but ceasing conflict and instead making efforts to collaborate would greatly increase the speed at which we can see a difference. To acquire true democracy in Myanmar, we cannot rely solely on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; we should look to ourselves too. If we do not have the societal and interpersonal habits required for a constructive dialogue, we will never see the beneficial outcomes brought about by democracy. Participatory democratic practices must be performed with urgency in reconstructing a Myanmar adapted to our personal and societal needs of today’s world. To make this a reality, Myanmar needs to cultivate democratic knowledge and practices. Our battle for freedom and democracy is not yet won. We are only just beginning to realise the problems we have to tackle. But, again, today, the democratic transformation of Myanmar is being undermined by the unthoughtful, unjust, and disloyal act of the military coup.....(3) The Right to a Better Living Environment: Jane Jacobs writes that “cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”1 Indeed, it is only through people’s participation that we are able to develop better places for people, that respond to the problems and needs of each neighborhood. No outsider knows better than the local community. Are government officers, mayors, and general administrators ready to set up the democratic governance necessary to manage cities, districts and townships with a participatory approach, working with the inhabitants and place-makers as stakeholders? Myanmar is not yet in a position to give a satisfactory answer for this question. Even under the civilian democratic regime, Myanmar still needed to cultivate democratic knowledge and practices to ensure the participatory governance. However, the Myanmar Sustainable Development Goals include achieving the right to a safe and better living environment. Myanmar was figuring out the most comprehensive methods to bring more people into the process of creating people-led urban governance and development strategies. The right to the city can be fulfilled only by means of democratic city governance that gives more space to people to participate. The dictators do not believe in participatory democratic governance. Thus, under the dictatorship, our dream for safe and better living environments for the well-being of the people will remain out of reach.....How We Fight for our Freedom: “Sing loud. You shall hear other ears hearing. Look high. You shall see other eyes looking. Beat loud. You shall know that other blood is pulsing.” –Rafael Alberti (Spanish Poet)2 We are making our voices heard through our uprising. We hold hands firmly and are working together to end the dictatorship and fulfill our own destiny. We create a battle symphony with the sound of pots and pans! We raise our three-fingered salute! We march! We stage creative uprisings through various forms of collaborative performance! We help each other and show global solidarity! We support the Civil Disobedience Movement! Driven by our strong determination, we remain resilient against the deadly attacks. There is a hidden gem in this battlefield that we can take advantage of to turn everything around. It will help us not only to defeat the military, but also achieve the federal democracy we dream of. It will determine the end result – who will pay and who will gain. This key is the “synergy” born out of trust and cooperation between our diverse civilians across the country, pro-democratic political parties and activists, the CRPH (The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw), the EAOs (The Ethnic Armed Organizations) and pro-democratic supporters across the world. The coup-makers underestimate the power, resilience, and intelligence of the people. In addition, the coup shows who our real friends, enemies and frenemies are. Because of this coup, we have begun to question the presence of China in Myanmar. Discussions about China’s purported support for the military makes us mistrust the country. In order to achieve our collective dream for a functioning federal democracy, we first need to defeat the current military coup, then end ongoing attempts to reestablish a dictatorship. In the place of the existing military, we demand a trustworthy, faithful and responsible federal defense force in Myanmar. Victory in this battle means a lot for civilians; not only the failure of the coup and the end of the dictatorship regime, but to end, once and for all, attempts to interrupt the process of building a federal democratic state. We have only one another – our solidarity is our only weapon. We will never give up our rights to live freely and fully. (Featured image courtesy of Phyo) Khine (pseudonym) is a designer living in Yangon. She is passionate about exploring artistic ways of expressions and communications. Her focus is to take part in projects developing intercultural understanding and communication through design and artistic creations. Nway Oo (pseudonym) is a researcher in Language Sciences based in Europe. Peter (pseudonym) is an architect and film maker. He has led research, academic and curation activities in Alger, Addis Ababa, Istanbul, Yangon and Paris..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 26 April, (753) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Kawthaung Town in Tanintharyi Region and Insein Township in Yangon Region were killed on previous days 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 April 26, a total of (3441) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1179 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today marked 85 days since the attempted coup and over 700 civilians, including women and children, have been killed, and many injured. The number of detentions similarly escalates, it is equally worrying that the accurate condition of detainees is unknown. Protests in defence of democracy continued to erupt across the country. On April 25, six civilians were beaten and arrested in Mindat Town, Chin State. In response to this, there was a clash between junta forces and civilians, some were killed and injured. Terrorists have been brutally repressing women and now reportedly oppressing the LGBTIQ communities. On the night of April 24, Yangon Region, in Mingalar Taungnyunt Township, a transgender women was reportedly beaten during her arrest. They were forcing her to wear a Longyi (male dress) whilst mocking her at the same time, AAPP is awaiting confirmation on further details. One’s sexual orientation is their personal choice. Rights and everyone’s existence must be respected. We are worried that LGBTIQ will not only be discriminated but also treated worse compared to others during their arrests because of the barbarity committed by this terrorist group during the coup. We can expect further torture and repression. The terrorist group has been viciously cracking down on local villages defending themselves, then forcing residents to flee their homes. Thousands of people from around 20 villages in Kani and Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region have fled their homes due to the terrorist groups’ actions. Such as arbitrary arrests, detentions, and violent repression. Junta forces were also stationed at monasteries, schools, and villages. Villagers were forced to flee their homes and villages because the military entered the local villages and started arresting, beating, and killing. Some of the villagers who were already sick died while running away from the military. Burma will be in an even more critical situation if effective action is not taken to combat the crisis. The terrorist group has oppressed people across the country in order to maintain its power. Peace will remain elusive without democracy. There must be a focus on defeating dictatorship in Burma. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 25 April, (751) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. These (3) fallen heroes from Mandalay City in Mandalay Region, Yesagyo Town in Magwe Region and Myaung Township in Sagaing Region were killed on previous days 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 April 25, a total of (3431) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1159 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today, people across Burma continue to protest against the dictatorship in different ways despite intense repression. The ASEAN leaders meeting vaguely asked for an “immediate end to the violence” – it was an unclear and general statement. During the meeting there were discussions and requests, some stern, but the statement does not include what the civilians are asking for – respect for their basic human rights, democracy and peace , neglected in the statement. People in Burma are not asking for humanitarian aid, but for the international community to stand for the truth. The statement does not deter terrorist atrocities against unarmed civilians on a daily basis with both combat zone weaponry. Yesterday after the ASEAN leaders meeting finished, even on that same day, the terrorist group violated the dignity of civilians including women. Human rights abuses committed openly in public. The statement did not stop the violence against innocents. Last night in Mayangone Township, Yangon, people ‘banging pots and pans were arrested. They were made to play drums on the streets and the women forced to dance whilst the junta forces openly mocked them. If they stopped playing or dancing they were beaten. The junta troops also threw stones at houses who protested by making noise with pots and metal boxes. After this, young men were detained and tortured on the road. Assaulting women with weapons who expressed outrage over the immodesty of the public ridicule – the junta treats people like enemies, committing crimes without any restraint. Yesterday in Karen State, at Three Pagoda town, a junta car crashed into motorcycle protesters and they were shot at 6 times. Five protesters were later arrested in a car crash and one woman was seriously injured. In Thapyay Aye village, Yinmarbin Township, Sagaing Region the junta came to crackdown the monastery and arrest the head monk. After this they destroyed one building and they seized 20 laptops from the monastery. The terrorist group troops openly loot, but it is being resisted. In order to stay in power, the junta is creating internal unrest. On the evening of April 24, Sagaing Region, in Myaung Township, a woman was arrested and died minutes later from illness, yet it is the detention of innocent civilians which is having these consequences. Civilians are already suffering on a daily basis through the atrocities of this junta. Compromise or negotiation with the terrorists will not be possible. Compromise will be used to prolong junta rule. Action which does not allow the terrorist to continue committing atrocities must be sought so that innocent civilians suffer no more. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 916.54 KB 3.31 MB 924.28 KB
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Title: Grassroots Voices: A letter from a jail cell
Description: A letter from a jail cell: Dear Father, the River, whose stomach was cut open, has declared war on our tiny house on the bank, hasn’t she? Right in front of the house you must be looking out for someone who will help you with embankment poles to straighten the river, to fill her holes with sandbags. In the murky water, which rises like a bamboo lance, you must be gazing at the sesame plantation — laden with fruits ready for harvest. You must be thinking a fistful of rice in your mouth is about to be fingered out. Maybe you will find solace in religion, contemplating our five foes. Maybe you will think of the void a son’s labour can fill. One son, two daughters and one son; The eldest is a poet in prison, the first daughter, a school teacher, the second, a graduate in the kitchen, the youngest, a student. Your poet son, is he even employable as the dah you use to clear weed? Forgive nothing, Father. Nothing! “Son, Pho Chan, why do I hear noises behind you?”, you asked on the phone. “I am at the bus stop to post a manuscript to a journal,” I lied. From your liar son in the dock to thugs who sweeten you with the tips of their tongues, “To our benefactor peasants … ”, because they want to have you from behind, hate them all, Father. Hate them all. A thief is unarmed. A thug is armed to the teeth. If thieves are ungovernable, if thugs are ungovernable, what’s the point of government? Whatever happens to the jungles whatever happens to the mountains whatever happens to the rivers they don’t care. They love the country just the way they love to grate a coconut, from inside out, for coconut milk. Plinth by plinth, to make their throne taller, they will point their guns at the urna on the Lord Buddha’s forehead. Their class is that crass. To cuss at that class if your religion forbids you allow me to lose that religion. I will turn the air blue on your behalf. Maybe you don’t know yet. your son was set up for demanding the so-called police not to harm ordinary citizens. Someday your son, who is not a thief nor a thug will become employable, good as your dah that clears weed. For now, Father, keep gazing at the plantation you’d ploughed with your naked shoulders. Keep singing the anthem of The Peasant Union. Yours ever, K Za Win Cell 1, Section 10 Thayawaddy Prison..... "Poet name – K Za Win (1982–2021) Birth name – Chan Thar Sway K Za Win was born from a peasant family, in Letpadaung village, Sarlingyi township, Sagaing region. His father’s name is U Kyaw Swe and his mother’s name is Daw Win May. He is the eldest son with three other siblings. He started to write poems from the age of 16. In 2004, his poems were published in magazines such as Thaung Paung Htway Lar Comedy magazine with the poem titled ‘The End’, and in First Eleven Sports Journal. From 2009-2010, he continued to compose poems and political essays under different pseudonyms. He produced his own collection of poems with the title ‘Reply letter to Ramón’. In 2015, as he was about to leave for Japan as a migrant agricultural worker to build a new life with his fiancé, he was arrested in Letpadaung for supporting the democratic education movement led by the students, and was jailed in Tharyarwaddy prison. After he was released, he lived in Monywa and worked as a volunteer Myanmar language teacher. He was an active member of the West-North Plains Poet group as well as the All Burma Youth Poet Union. He never failed to meet his student union comrades who were being detained in prisons. He contributed to political mobilizations as much as he could. Since the Spring Revolution began, he has shown immense bravery by taking part in Monywa protests, and lost his life as the demonstrations faced a violent crackdown from the military on March 3rd 2021..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Journal of Peasant Studies via Routledge (London)
Date of publication: 2021-03-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: At Least 109 Reported Attacks and Threats to Health Care in Myanmar Over Just Two Months of Military’s Crackdown
Description: "At least 109 attacks and threats against health workers, facilities, and transports have reportedly been perpetrated in Myanmar from February 11 to April 12, 2021, according to an analysis based on open-source reports conducted by Insecurity Insight, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR). The attacks are uniformly reported to have been committed by the country’s armed forces and police amid ongoing protests against the military coup. In addition to the military’s attacks on civilians and demonstrators, health workers have been targeted for providing medical care to injured civilians and other health workers have been attacked for their participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which is protesting the military takeover. Within the 109 total incidents that took place across Myanmar between February 11 and April 12, Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR highlight reports of: 97 health workers arrested 32 health workers injured 10 health workers killed Hospitals raided at least 49 times Hospitals occupied at least 36 times The incidents referred to are based on the dataset 11 February – 12 April 2021 Violence Against Health Care in Myanmar Data, which is available on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). For the purposes of this research brief, one incident can comprise multiple types of violence or threats such as those above. For example, in one reported incident in Kyauk Kone township in Yangon city on February 27, 20 health workers were arrested and four were injured. In another reported incident on April 5 in Saunchaung township in Yangon, four medical staff were arrested when a charity clinic was raided by soldiers and police. In one reported incident on March 9 in Heho town, Shan state, soldiers occupied the Heho General Hospital. Local residents protested the occupation, resulting in the arrest of 36 people. The detained individuals were sent to Taunggyi Prison. “The Myanmar military’s persecution of health workers is taking many horrifying forms: ambulances shot at, clinics taken over by armed forces, medics killed,” said Jennifer Leigh, an epidemiologist serving as PHR’s Myanmar researcher. “By attacking the health system, the junta is terrorizing the population and cutting off access to life-saving care in the middle of a pandemic.These are gross violations of human rights, and threats against long-standing international principles of protection of health care, including the obligations of health professionals to care for the sick and wounded without interference.” “Attacks on health care are a global phenomenon, experienced in many conflict settings but also fueled by the pandemic,” said Christina Wille, managing director of Insecurity Insight. “Tragically, Myanmar has emerged as a major hotspot for violence against health care, as the military brazenly assaults health workers and attempts to control the country’s health infrastructure.” The research brief highlights reported incidents of violence against health workers, facilities, and transport in Myanmar between February 11 and April 12, 2021. It does not include information on violence against patients. Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR used an open-source methodology to compile incidents noted in local, national, and international news outlets, online databases, and social media reports. The incidents reported are neither a complete nor a representative list of all incidents. Most incidents have not undergone verification by Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR. Data collection is ongoing and data may change as more information is made available. However, the data offers a snapshot of how Myanmar’s military is persecuting health workers and targeting facilities amid its broader crackdown on dissent. The research brief makes several recommendations to United Nations (UN) Member States, urging the international community to ensure the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2286, adopted May 2016, which strongly condemns attacks on medical personnel in conflict situations. Earlier this month, PHR and 20 other organizations sent an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the Biden administration to take immediate additional actions to address the public health and human rights crisis in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: Physicians for Human Rights (New York)
Date of publication: 2021-04-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 235.59 KB
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Title: 'I will not return to work': Myanmar coup cripples healthcare system
Description: "Myanmar's front-line medical workers are finding themselves in a precarious position, torn between their patients and working for a military government enforcing a brutal crackdown on the country. Moe* is 53 years old and has stage three breast cancer. She used to go for radiotherapy treatment every three weeks at the state-run Mandalay General Hospital in northern Myanmar. But the day after the military deposed Myanmar's elected government in a coup on 1 February, the hospital closed its doors. Doctors, nurses and other medical workers all walked out in protest and have not returned. Now Moe cannot afford the roughly $700 (£502) she would need to complete her remaining cycles of treatment at a private hospital. Without it, she believes she has around a year to live. Nevertheless, she does not blame the doctors: "It's the fault of the military," she told the BBC. "Even if I die with cancer, I can accept it. The rest of the people in Myanmar deserve democracy.".....'Near collapse': Myanmar's healthcare system has been one of the worst-affected sectors in the aftermath of a coup on 1 February which saw the military seize control of the country, sparking widespread protests. Thousands of doctors have joined the country's civil disobedience movement which has seen public employees and other state officials refusing to work under the new military regime. Myanmar coup: What is happening and why? The TikTok loving teen and others killed in Myanmar Myanmar's public healthcare system accounts for around 80% of all hospitals and clinics and provides heavily subsidised care to the country's 54 million people. This virtually vanished overnight - and in the midst of a global pandemic. "It's a grim situation," says Dr Mitchell Sangma, who is on the ground for humanitarian organisation Medicins San Frontiers (MSF) in Myanmar's main city Yangon. "The public health system is near collapse." But doctors feel they have little choice. "For as long as the military junta stays in power I will not return to work," says Kyi Kyi* a doctor in Mandalay who has been on strike for nearly three months. "I do not want to recognise their authority in any way." For the first few weeks after the coup, Kyi Kyi offered free consultations at private sector hospitals. But she quickly realised this was too dangerous: "We started seeing soldiers stationed around the hospitals, waiting for us to arrive."..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: BBC News (London)
Date of publication: 2021-04-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 371.7 KB
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Title: Intensifying widespread, systematic slaughter by Myanmar military must be halted – Bachelet
Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Description: "UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday urged States to take immediate, decisive and impactful measures to push Myanmar's military leadership into halting its campaign of repression and slaughter of its people. "We have witnessed yet another weekend of coordinated bloodshed in many parts of the country, including the reported mass killing of at least 82 people in Bago between Friday and Saturday. The military seems intent on intensifying its pitiless policy of violence against the people of Myanmar, using military-grade and indiscriminate weaponry," Bachelet said. "There are clear echoes of Syria in 2011. There too, we saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force. The State's brutal, persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time warned in 2011 that the failure of the international community to respond with united resolve could be disastrous for Syria and beyond. The past ten years have shown just how horrific the consequences have been for millions of civilians." "I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict. States must not allow the deadly mistakes of the past in Syria and elsewhere to be repeated." Over the weekend, credible reports indicate that Tatmadaw forces opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, fragmentation grenades and mortar fire in Bago in the south of the country. Security forces also reportedly prevented medical personnel from helping the wounded, as well as charging relatives a "fine" of roughly USD 90 to claim the bodies of those who were killed. Some individuals are also now resorting to the use of makeshift or primitive weapons in self-defence. Clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups have also intensified in several locations in Kachin, Shan and Kayin states, where the military have been employingairstrikes that have killed and displaced civilians. As arrests continue, with at least 3,080 people currently detained, there are reports that 23 people have been sentenced to death following secret trials -- including four protesters and 19 others who were accused of political and criminal offences. The mass arrests have forced hundreds of people to go into hiding, and reports suggest that many journalists, civil society activists, celebrities and other public figures are being sought, many simply because of the dissent they have been expressing on-line. Wireless broadband and mobile data services were cut indefinitely on 2 April, leaving the vast majority of people without access to vital sources of information and communication. Meanwhile, the country's economy, education and health infrastructure have been brought to the brink of collapse, leaving millions of Myanmar people without livelihood, basic services and, increasingly, food security. Thousands of internal migrants have left urban centres for their home communities -- which once relied on their income. COVID-19 measures have effectively been brought to a standstill. The High Commissioner called on the Myanmar military and neighbouring States to facilitate humanitarian access to populations in need. She urged neighbouring States to give temporary protection to people fleeing the violence, and to refrain from returning people fleeing Myanmar at this time, in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement. "Statements of condemnation, and limited targeted sanctions, are clearly not enough. States with influence need to urgently apply concerted pressure on the military in Myanmar to halt the commission of grave human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity against the people," Bachelet said. The High Commissioner made particular reference to the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which contains clear recommendations for impactful action in relation to the military.* Bachelet stressed the need to cut off the supply of arms and finances to the military leadership that aid its commission of serious human rights violations..."
Source/publisher: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication: 2021-04-13
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Vigil InSight Situation Report
Topic: Health, Protection and Human Rights, Safety and Security
Topic: Health, Protection and Human Rights, Safety and Security
Description: "Protests continue despite a death toll of over 700. Resumption of widespread ethnic separatist violence sees thousands held at Thai border. Increased tensions with China and India. This document provides an analysis of the current situation in Myanmar and the implications for aid agencies working in the area. Watch the Vigil InSight video. SUMMARY International focus remains on the continued protests against the military coup, which are becoming increasingly violent. A significant increase in violence has been seen, linked to the country’s various ethnic separatist insurgencies, particularly along the Thai and Chinese borders. This has led to rising numbers of displaced persons and pushbacks of them by Thai authorities though India is now letting them through. Chinese troops have been deployed to the border, likely to secure gas supplies..."
Source/publisher: Insecurity Insight via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication: 2021-04-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "The terrorist leader attended the ASEAN leaders meeting today, claiming legitimacy to the international community whilst killing and injuring peaceful protestors and innocent civilians. The release of political prisoners was not included on ASEAN ‘five points of consensus’ released late evening. All of the arbitrarily detained must be released. At least 1 activist was killed on the day of this meeting, and violations have been systematically perpetrated this past week. If the illegal military does not stop terrorizing its people, then what will ASEAN do. As of 24 April, (748) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. (1) from Pyinmana in Naypyitaw died on 24 April. (2) from Loikaw Town in Kayah State and Pyay Town in Bago Region were killed on previous days 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 April 24, a total of (3389) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1138 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. In Naypyidaw today, a young man was killed during a motorcycle demonstration in Pyinmana Township. This morning in Mandalay, plainclothes terrorists were seen using motorbikes looted from civilians to chase after and shoot protestors, a young man was shot in the abdomen. Also in Mandalay, a young man who set fire to tires was shot in the head and dragged into a car when he could not move. In Dala, Yangon Region, some police and military vehicles chased away youths participating in a motorcycle demonstration. On 23 April night, in Thaton Town, Mon State. Two men were shot dead for no reason. Yesterday afternoon, in Thapye Aye village close to Myingyan Town, Mandalay Region, the junta went looking to arrest and shoot people, five villagers were injured and one is in critical condition. In Htigyaing Town, Sagaing Region, yesterday afternoon an anti-military activist was arrested and there was a clash between civilians and the junta, two women were injured in the clash. Persecution is a pattern of this terrorist group, civilians are persecuted daily, in various ways. On 22 April, in Pyay Town, Bago Region, three youths were arrested, the terrorist group returned the dead body of one with wounds across the body consistent with torture. Civilians are being made into an enemy in detention, increasing numbers killed day after day. The right to security and liberty have disappeared under this junta. The terrorists care only about their interests and power. So-called police and soldiers take property from civilians like bandits. On the night of April 22, in Mogok, Mandalay Region, junta forces looted 7 million kyat and threatened the neighborhood that whoever posted the case on social media would get shot. On the evening of April 23, they entered a household goods store (which sold fire extinguishers and equipment), in Mandalay and looted. The post-coup period is getting long, the terrorist group is robbing, destroying property, killings are only intensifying. All sectors of the economy have begun to collapse in response to the political deterioration. People continue to call for meaningful action against the terrorist group, but are still being ignored. The situation for ordinary people is worse than ever. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar coup: Week from March 30 to April 17, Opponents of junta unveil Suu Kyi-led unity cabinet
Sub-title: Group seeks recognition as 'legitimate government'; ASEAN summit rumblings intensify
Description: "Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.....The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November. But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud. For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page. Read our in-depth coverage: -- Myanmar junta taps Russian air power to bomb ethnic rebels -- Failed state: Myanmar collapses into chaos -- Myanmar junta efforts to restore calm 'unworkable': ex-Japan envoy -- Myanmar junta reaps millions in gem sales as economy crumbles -- Myanmar coup presses Japan to retreat from Abe-era business push -- Taiwan takes tougher line against Myanmar regime -- How Myanmar's post-coup violence is transforming a generation -- Who is Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing? 5 things to know -- Myanmar: Inside the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's government..."
Source/publisher: "Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Southeast Asian Leaders Call For Immediate End To Violence In Myanmar
Description: "Leaders of nine Southeast Asian countries on Saturday called for an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar, where the military government has cracked down violently on the enormous protests over its February coup. At an emergency summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held in Jakarta, Indonesia's president called the situation in Myanmar "unacceptable." "The violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored," President Joko Widodo said. Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters have demonstrated in the months since Myanmar's military seized full control of the country from the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In response, the military has imposed Internet blackouts, arrested thousands and fired on protesters. At least 748 people have been killed and 3,389 are being detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Burmese human rights group based in Thailand. The official statement released Saturday by ASEAN leaders makes five demands of the military junta, including an "immediate cessation" of the violence and a peaceful solution to the situation via "constructive dialogue," mediated by a special envoy appointed by ASEAN. The leaders also demanded that Myanmar's military government allow the arrival of humanitarian assistance. The military's leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who was in attendance, did not make a public statement. The summit was his first trip outside Myanmar since the coup. The invitation of the general was criticized by opponents of the coup, including the new National Unity Government in Myanmar, formed earlier this month by pro-democracy politicians who have named the deposed democratic leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, as their leaders. The National Unity Government argued the general's invitation risked legitimizing the military coup and had called on Interpol to arrest General Min Aung Hlaing upon his arrival in Jakarta. In a statement released after the summit, the group's spokesperson, Dr. Sasa, praised ASEAN's actions. "We welcome the encouraging news that ASEAN leaders have reached consensus that the military violence in Myanmar must stop and political prisoners released," Sasa said. "... We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and restore our democracy and freedom for our people and our region." ASEAN has traditionally defaulted to a more hands-off approach to the internal affairs of its 10 member nations. In the days after the coup in February, the bloc issued a statement urging a "return to normalcy" but stopped short of explicit condemnation. But ahead of Saturday's summit, pro-democracy advocates and organizations urged ASEAN to take a stronger stand. "This is not an internal matter for Myanmar but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis which is impacting the entire region and beyond," said Emerlynne Gil of Amnesty International ahead of Saturday's summit. Myanmar's deposed ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, who drew international praise for denouncing the coup in a remarkable speech before the U.N. General Assembly in February, pleaded with ASEAN to prioritize civilians. "Whatever the decision made by the leaders of the ASEAN, they should take into account the saving lives of innocent civilians in Myanmar and providing humanitarian assistance to the people in need," Kyaw Moe Tun said in an interview with Al-Jazeera ahead of Saturday's summit. In Myanmar, protests have mostly quieted in recent weeks due to the crackdowns. According to The Associated Press, some 150 protesters gathered Friday in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, but dispersed quickly when police arrived..."
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Source/publisher: National Public Radio (Washington, D.C.)
Date of publication: 2021-04-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-25
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Title: ‘Will the killings stop?’ Demands for Asean to ensure Myanmar honours pledge to end violence
Sub-title: Asean says consensus with junta was ‘beyond expectations’, but there is no timeline or explicit commitment to stop violence
Description: "Human Rights Watch has told south-east Asian leaders not to “pat themselves on the back” for getting Myanmar’s military rulers to agree to end deadly violence, saying a consensus reached by Asean lacks specifics and makes no mention of freeing political prisoners. Nearly 750 protesters have been killed since the military seized power in a 1 February coup. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced after a summit on Saturday that the head of Myanmar’s junta had agreed to stop the violence. The Malaysian prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who attended the meeting, said the outcome was “beyond our expectation”. But Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said: “Asean cannot paper over the fact that there is no agreement for the Myanmar junta to release the more than 3,330 political prisoners currently in detention in the country, including senior political figures who presumably would be involved in any negotiated solution to the crisis,” he said. “Not only were the representatives of the Myanmar people not invited to the Jakarta meeting but they also got left out of the consensus that Asean is now patting itself on the back for reaching.” Robertson said Asean had to ensure the agreement was honoured, and called for further sanctions against the junta leaders. “The lack of a clear timeline for action, and Asean’s well known weakness in implementing the decisions and plans that it issues, are real concerns that no one should overlook,” he said. A statement released by Asean – whose meeting marked the first concerted international effort to find a resolution to the crisis – said it was agreed there should be constructive dialogue and an immediate end to violence. The group would also provide humanitarian assistance, and a special envoy would be appointed to meet with all concerned parties. On Saturday, as Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing attended the meeting in Jakarta, soldiers and police fired on protesters near Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, according to reports by Agence France-Presse. One 50-year-old protester was held by the police and shot dead by a soldier, an eyewitness told the news agency. Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said he was anxious to work with Asean’s special envoy and monitor the results of the summit. “The result of the Asean summit will be found in Myanmar, not a document,” he said. “Will the killing stop? Will the terrorising of neighbourhoods end? Will the thousands abducted be released? Will impunity persist?” Charles Santiago, head of the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, also stressed the need to ensure the commitments were implemented urgently. “How willing Asean is in responding seriously to the Myanmar crisis is dependent on them holding Min Aung Hlaing to account, ensuring he does not take them for a ride, and delivers on the agreed points. We must not see a scenario where Min Aung Hlaing endlessly delays action, or controls who they talk to and deliver aid to,” said Santiago. Asean’s decision to invite Min Aung Hlaing to its meeting in Jakarta attracted criticism from Burmese activists and rights experts, who said it risked legitimising the coup. Since seizing power on 1 February the junta has killed 748 civilians, according to an advocacy group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. This includes dozens of children. At least 3,389 people are currently in detention or have been sentenced, including Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won the November election in a landslide victory. “We tried not to accuse his side too much because we don’t care who’s causing it,” Muhyiddin said of the junta chief, according to reports by Reuters. “We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, it’s the other side that’s causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop.” Dr Sasa, spokesman for Myanmar’s national unity government, which was set up by pro-democracy politicians and includes elected officials who have been detained, said he welcomed the agreement, adding: “We look forward to firm action by Asean to follow up its decisions and to restore our democracy and freedom for our people and for the region.” Military-controlled Myawaddy TV reported Min Aung Hlaing had attended the meeting, and said Myanmar would closely cooperate with Asean on various issues, including “the political transition in Myanmar, and the process that will be implemented in the future”. The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were present at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Dr. Tayzar San: ”ALL I OWN IS BOOKS" - ဒေါက်တာတေဇာဆန်း: “ကျွန်တော်ပိုင်ဆိုင် သမျှက စာအုပ်တွေပါ”
Description: "This evening I got information that the apartment in Mandalay in which I used to live has been raided twice by a group of soldiers, policemen, and plainclothes agents. Some sources said that it was already third time. They've known the exact address of this apartment for a while. They broke down the locked door and destroyed the whole apartment. Before destroying it, they took everything they could in small bags like termite ants. There was nothing of value there. I regret only books being destroyed. It took me time to stock them and some have been beautiful. Luckily, few favorite ones are on other place. Hopefully they will survive, for better days. I do not understand why they destroyed books and other small things in the apartment. Most of the stuff in the apartment is not my property. Actually, all I own is books. My sister's guitar is among things they stole from the apartment. How is the guitar related to the revolution against the dictatorship I'm doing? Hard to grasp. Actually, what we called "army" is a thief and a robber gang. How sad it would be for the General Aung San, the founder of the Tatmadaw army, if only he would found out that his child has become robber gang. General Aung San requested from the army to be the “Mother and Father of the People”. Would he now reverse that motto? This Burmese (Bama) army is the killer of the people. Actually, Tatmadaw has been been a big gang of thieves and robbers for years. Over 70 years similar crimes have been committed on regular basis in other non-Bama ethnic regions where Tatmadaw’s war against civilians never stopped. We the Bama, majority ethnic people have a clear view of the inner workings of this murderous and robbery army during the current 2021 Spring Revolution. We are experiencing it first-hand and in front of our own eyes. It is now becoming obvious to everybody in the country who is the common enemy. Who is the main obstacle to the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous federal democracy. It is in a plain sight that the only obstacle for the peace and prosperity in our country is a terrorist military regime. Clarity of this fact is the biggest gain in our current revolution.....ဒီနေ့ ညနေနဲ့ ညဦးပိုင်းမှာ မန်းလေးက ကျနော် နေခဲ့ဖူးတဲ့ တိုက်ခန်းလေးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ လက်ပါးစေ စစ်သား၊ ရဲ၊ အရပ်ဝတ်အစုံ အင်အားအလုံးအရင်းနဲ့ နှစ်ကြိမ် လာသွားတယ်လို့ ကြားသိရပါတယ်။ အချို့သတင်းတွေကလည်း သုံးကြိမ်လို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။ ဒီတိုက်ခန်း‌လေး လိပ်စာအတိအကျကို သူတို့သိထားတာ ကြာပါပြီ။ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလလယ်လောက်ကတည်းက မန်းလေးမြို့လူထုက စရဖလို့ ယူဆရသူတစ်ယောက်ကို ကျနော့်အိမ်လိပ်စာပါတဲ့ စာရွက်ကလေးနဲ့အတူ လက်ပူးလက်ကြပ် မိထားဖူးပါတယ်။ ဒါ့ကြောင့် အဲ့ဒီမှာ ဘယ်သူမျှ မနေတော့တာလည်း ကြာလှပါပြီ။ ကျနော့်အတွက် အရေးကြီးပစ္စည်းလည်း အဲ့ဒီမှာ ဘာမျှ မထား၊ မရှိ‌ပါဘူး။ သူတို့က သော့ခတ်ထားတဲ့ တိုက်ခန်းတံခါးကို ဖျက်ဖွင့်ပြီး တစ်အိမ်လုံး မွေနှောက်ဖျက်ဆီးသွားကြပြီး တွေ့သမျှ တန်ဖိုးရှိ၊ မရှိ၊ ဘာသောညာသောမရွေး အကုန်လုံးကို အိတ်ကြီးအိတ်ငယ် အသွယ်သွယ်နဲ့ အဓမ္မ ယူဆောင်သွားကြလေသတည်း။ ပစ္စည်းသင်္ခါရ လူသင်္ခါရသဘောပေမို့ ကျန်တာ‌တွေတော့ သိပ်မနှမြောပါဘူး၊ စာအုပ်တွေတော့ နှမြောလှတယ်ဗျာ။ ကို့ယ်အကြိုက် လက်ရွေးစင်လေးတွေချည်း အိမ်မှာ စုသိမ်းထားတာမို့ပါ။) သူရို့က ကျနော့်ကို ရဲစခန်းပေါင်း‌များစွာမှာ စွဲဆိုထားတဲ့ ပုဒ်ထီးပုဒ်မတွေရှိတယ်လို့တော့ ကြားသိပါရဲ့။ ဒါပေသိ၊ ဒီစာအုပ်‌တွေ၊ အခြားပစ္စည်းတွေကို အဓမ္မလုယူသိမ်းဆည်းရတဲ့ အကြောင်းရင်းကို ကျနော့်တော့ ဉာဏ်မမှီ၊ စဉ်းစားလို့ မရပါ။ အဲ့တိုက်ခန်းမှာ ရှိတဲ့ပစ္စည်းတွေကလည်း အကုန်လုံးက ကျနော့်ဥစ္စာပစ္စည်း မဟုတ်။ ကျနော် ပိုင်ဆိုင်တာက စာအုပ်တွေပဲ ရှိတာ။ သူရို့ အိမ်က သိမ်းယူသွားတဲ့ ပစ္စည်း‌တွေထဲမှာ ကျနော့်နှမတစ်ဦးရဲ့ ဂစ်တာလေးဝောာင် ပါသွားသေးပါသတဲ့။ ကျနော်လုပ်နေတဲ့ အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေးနဲ့ ဒီဂစ်တာ‌လေးနဲ့က ဘယ်လိုများ ပတ်သတ်တာပါလိမ့်၊ ဆန်းကြယ်လှပါဘိတောင်း။ အိမ်း၊ “တပ်မတော်” လည်း သူခိုး၊ ဓားပြဂိုဏ်းအကြီးစားကြီး လုံးလုံး ဖြစ်နေပါပေါ့လား။ တပ်မတော်ကို စတင်တည်ထောင်ခဲ့သူ ဗိုလ်တေဇ (ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အောင်ဆန်း) သာ ဒီအကြောင်းတွေ သိမယ်ဆို ဘယ်လောက် စိတ်မကောင်း၊ ဝမ်းနည်းဖြစ်နေမယ်မသိဘူး။ သူ့ပြည်သူတွေအတွက် သူရင်နာလို့ ဆုံးရှာမှာ မဟုတ်ဘူး။ တပ်မတော်အတွက် ဗိုလ်တေဇာမှာခဲ့တဲ့ စကားက “ပြည်သူသာ အမိ၊ ပြည်သူသာ အဖ” တဲ့။ အခုတော့ သူရို့က ဒီဆောင်ပုဒ်ကို ပြောင်းပြန်လုပ်ထားပါပေါ့လား။ တကယ်တော့ ဒီ ဗမာ (မြန်မာ) စစ်တပ်ဟာ သူသတ်၊ သူခိုး၊ ဓားပြအုပ်စုအကြီးစားကြီး ဖြစ်နေတာ နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ကြာခဲ့ပါပြီ။ အထူးသဖြင့် ဗမာမဟုတ်တဲ့ ကျန်တိုင်းရင်းသား လူမျိုးတွေဒေသတွေ၊ ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ဖြစ်ပွားရာဒေသတွေမှာ ဒီလိုမျိုး ရာဇဝတ်မှုပေါင်းများစွာကို နေ့စဉ်နဲ့အမျှ၊ အချိန်နဲ့အမျှ ကျူးလွန်လာတာ နှစ်ပေါင်း (၇၀) ကျော် ကြာခဲ့ပါပြီ။ “ကျောချမှ ဓားပြမှန်း သိ” ဆိုသလို ကျနော်တို့ ဗမာတိုင်းရင်းသားတွေကတော့ ဒီစစ်တပ်ရဲ့ အတွင်းသရုပ်မှန်ကို အခု ၂၀၂၁ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကြီးမှာ ကွက်ကွက်ကွင်းကွင်း၊ ရှင်းရှင်းလင်းလင်း၊ မျက်မြင်ကိုယ်တွေ့ သိရှိခံစားလိုက်ကြရတာပါပဲ။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းပြီး သာယာဝပြောတဲ့ ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံတော်တစ်ရပ်ကို တည်ထောင်ဖို့ အဓိကအနှောက်အယှက်ပေးနေတဲ့ ဘုံရန်သူဟာ ဒီအကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုပဲဆိုတာ လယ်ပြင်မှာ ဆင်သွားသလို့ (ဗမာတွေကိုယ်တိုင်က) ထင်ထင်ရှားရှား သိမြင်သွားကြတာပေါ့ဗျာ။ ဒါသည်ပင်လျှင် တော်လှန်ရေးထဲက အမြတ်ကြီးတစ်ခုလို့ ကျနော်ကတော့ ခံယူမိပါတယ်။ အဖိနှိပ်ခံ ပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံး သွေးစည်းကြလော့။ ဘုံရန်သူကို တိုက်ခိုက်ကြလော့။ ဘုံပန်းတိုင်ကို ရှေးရှုကြလော့။..."
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Source/publisher: Tayzar San via Igor Blazevic
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 159.04 KB 329.61 KB 50.03 KB
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 23 April, (745) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (6) fallen hero today. These (6) heroes from Mogok Town in Mandalay Region and Pakokku Town in Magwe Region were killed on previous days but 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 April 22, a total of (3371) people are currently under detention; of them (79) are sentenced. 1118 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Nowadays in Burma the terrorists are brutally assaulting anyone who stands against the junta. Women are not spared against the brutality. Females are being systematically tortured, (physically and mentally) sexually assaulted with intent. A 17 year old girl who was released from Shwe Pyi Thar interrogation center, Sanchaung Township, Yangon, said so-called police from no.24 police station verbally assaulted and touched her inappropriately on shoulder then threatened her with his gun. Two other women detained at the same interrogation center in relation to the bombings from Yankin Township where also brutally beaten. One of these women was treated worse and assaulted with a metal pipe. The so-called police sat on her shoulder, pulling her hair, hitting her female organs, she was not given medical treatment. These crimes are a clear violation of human rights, the terrorist group is cruelly torturing women. The junta is not using female officers but mostly male soldiers during questioning. After torture they are not given adequate medical treatment, putting their life at risk even further. The junta is putting the mental and physical security of the female arbitrarily detained at risk of sexual assault at any time. It is creating a climate of fear, sexual assault could happen at any time at these male-only interrogation centers Burma has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Dictrimaton Against Women (CEDAW). It is an international tragedy that these violations are happening inside Burma. The UN Women Organization, human rights groups, including the international community must not ignore us. They should take immediate and stern action for violating CEDAW and protect all women in Burma. In Bago Region, Pantaung Police Station was set on fire. On 22 April early morning, the junta arrested a 2-year old child, his father and grandfather. So-called police tortured the father and grandfather in front of the 2-year old child, forced to confess to the arson. After this forced confession, the mother came to collect the 2-year old. The mother was then arrested as a conspirator. Some local villagers were also detained and forced to confess through beatings in interrogations. On 22 April, in Tamu City, Sagaing Region, a male employee of Kanbawza Bank was followed by the junta. When they found 4 walkie talkies in his hut, they brutally beat him to the face, broke his wrist, so that his bone was showing, and lost excessive amounts of blood. He was told to only wear underwear while they threatened him with his life. Now the terrorist group is torturing and committing increasingly brutal violence, children are not safe, they can be taken as hostages. The junta is trying to break our dignity through violations of human rights, with no rule of law. They commit criminal acts. All civilians including children, women, and the elderly, could be detained. Civilians are helpless, there is no security inside Burma. These are the conditions of life inside Burma under the junta. Early morning April 23, Kayah State, Loikaw Township, Shan Ward, the junta crackdown on a dawn protest, one man who was running away had to jump into the stream and is currently missing. On April 23 there was also a gunfire clash in Magway region, in Thayet Township, between the terrorists and the people. The coup leader will attend the 24 April summit. The National Union Government (NUG) has informed Interpol to arrest the coup leader. To bring the continued brutality by this junta to an end, the international community must take immediate action to arrest the terrorist leader. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-23
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 901.01 KB 3.24 MB 923.58 KB
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Title: For Immediate Release: From the office of Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson, National Unity Government of Myanmar - အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ နိုင်ငံတကာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေး ဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်
Description: "On principle, the meetings that can contribute to a solution to the deepening crisis in Myanmar are welcome, meetings that exclude the people of Myanmar but include murderer in chief Min Aung Hlaing who is murdering the people of Myanmar are unlikely to be helpful. The legitimate representatives of the people and country of Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG) stands ready to engage and attend any ASEAN meeting on Myanmar, including the one scheduled for April the 24th that starts in less than 24 hours. We firmly believe that a meeting on Myanmar should not include illegal, illegitimate military junta unless the following serious conditions are met. The military junta must meets the following conditions and demonstrates that it is adhering to them. This is the only way to restore democracy, stability and prevent the great civil war that will end in genocide. 1. Stop murdering civilians. The junta has killed over 740 Myanmar civilians since the coup and the number of its victims increase daily; 2. Stop systematically attacking neighborhoods and randomly discharging weapons into civilians' homes that have claimed the lives of many civilians, including children; 3. Stop bombing and shelling villages, which has caused significant casualties and has led to tens of thousands of civilians being displaced; 4. Stop preventing those who need medical care from receiving it, including agreeing to immediately stop: (i) occupying medical facilities, (ii) arresting and attacking medical personnel, and (iii) preventing emergency medical personnel from reaching victims; 5. Unconditionally release the over 3,300 political prisoners detained since the coup and stop arbitrarily detaining protesters, CDM members and others who are exercising their fundamental right to the freedom of expression. 6. End the coup, end all violence and return the power to elected Government of Myanmar- t he National Unity Government -NUG We once again express our sincere appreciation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) willingness to help Myanmar address the crisis that has gripped our nation, and indeed our region, following the illegal coup d'etat on 1 February. Dr.Sasa Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson National Unity Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: Dr. Sasa via National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication: 2021-04-23
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Soldier shoots 14-year-old girl in the hand during raids on Mandalay neighbourhoods
Sub-title: A monk was also injured in the attacks, a rescue worker said
Description: "A 14-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man were injured when the coup regime’s troops stormed residential areas in at least three townships in Mandalay on Wednesday night and shot at people who were outside their homes, rescue workers said. The girl was shot in the right hand and the man was shot in the thighs and in the back, one of the workers told Myanmar Now. The military came into neighborhoods in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi township at around 9pm and began shooting, a resident said. The attack happened after residents heard an explosion near a ward administration office where the troops were stationed. “They have been setting off sound bombs every night to scare people so no one thought they would come into the neighborhoods and start shooting at them. People were just staying in front of their homes,” the resident said. The girl was shot while she was washing herself in front of her house. She had to undergo surgery for the bullet wound on Thursday after the arteries in her hand were damaged, according to a relative. “She is unable to move two of her fingers,” the relative said. “The arteries were damaged. Last night even the family could not bear to look at it. The flesh is coming out.” Myanmar Now was unable to gather further details about the man who was shot. The troops continued to shoot their guns and intimidate people until midnight, the resident said. Eyewitnesses said two teenagers were also arrested after the attacks. “My child was crying, but I had to shut his mouth forcefully. We had to sleep in immense fear the whole night,” another Chanmyathazi township resident said. Soldiers also raided a monastery in Maha Aungmyay township and shot a monk with rubber bullets. “He was shot in the back. I was told that they stormed into the monastery and started firing. I can’t say the name of the monastery due to security reasons,” said a rescue worker who helped injured people at the monastery. The armed forces also attacked residents in Pyigyitagon township on Wednesday night and reportedly arrested one person, locals said. At least 10 residents were reportedly arrested across the three townships. Myanmar Now was unable to verify the number independently. The military’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment. The troops also carried out raids inside the Mya Yi Nandar housing complex in Chanmyathazi township on Thursday morning, witnesses said. Despite constant attacks against protesters and civilians, Mandalay’s residents continue to stage daily anti-coup rallies. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group said at least 739 civilians have now been killed by Min Aung Hlaing’s regime..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 148.71 KB
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Title: Southeast Asian summit to address Myanmar’s post-coup crisis
Topic: Business, Indonesia, Global trade, Min Aung Hlaing, Asia, Myanmar, Jakarta, Aung San Suu Kyi, Summits, Bangkok, Asia Pacific, World News, Southeast Asia
Topic: Business, Indonesia, Global trade, Min Aung Hlaing, Asia, Myanmar, Jakarta, Aung San Suu Kyi, Summits, Bangkok, Asia Pacific, World News, Southeast Asia
Description: "When the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations holds a special summit Saturday to discuss Myanmar, the regional body will be under as much scrutiny as the general who led the February coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Opponents of the junta are furious that ASEAN is welcoming its chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to its meeting in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, arguing that because he seized power by force, he is not Myanmar’s legitimate leader. Also weighing heavily against him is the lethal violence perpetrated by the security forces he commands, responsible for killing hundreds of largely peaceful protesters and bystanders. “Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch. “ASEAN members should instead take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the country’s democratically elected government.” The junta’s foes have promoted the idea that the opposition’s parallel National Unity Government, recently established by the elected lawmakers the army barred from being seated, should represent Myanmar, or at least have some role in the Jakarta meeting. It has not been invited. “It’s unacceptable that they invite this murderer-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, who has just killed more than 730 people in Myanmar, and I think it is very unfortunate that they, again and again, talk to the military generals and not to the civilian government of Myanmar, which is the NUG,” says the parallel government’s Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Sasa, who uses one name. Evan Laksmana, a researcher for Indonesia’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank with close government ties, told The Associated Press there is a very practical reason for engaging Min Aung Hlaing face to face. ASEAN recognizes “the reality is that one party is doing the violence, which is the military, and therefore that’s why the military is being called to the meeting. So this is not in any way conferring legitimacy to the military regime,” he said. By talking to the general, ASEAN hopes to initiate a longer-term process, starting with ending the violence, that will “hopefully help facilitate dialogue among all the stakeholders in Myanmar, not just (with) the military regime.” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a news conference Friday that her country hopes the ASEAN leaders will reach an agreement that is good for the people of Myanmar. But skeptics feel ASEAN faces basic problems in seeking to resolve Myanmar’s crisis. They point to the divergent interests of the group’s members, its longstanding conventions of seeking consensus and avoiding interference in each other’s affairs, and the historic obstinacy of Myanmar’s generals. One faction in the group, comprising Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, believes the instability engendered by the coup threatens the entire region as well as ASEAN’s credibility as a group powerful enough to act independently of big power influence. They also point out that the ASEAN Charter — adopted in 2007, 40 years after the group’s founding — includes democracy, human rights, good governance and rule of law as guiding principles. “Now is a grave time for ASEAN’s much-touted centrality, the idea that ASEAN is a central regional platform for regional dialogue, for promoting peace and stability in the region,” said Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. He said that conception of ASEAN is now facing “its most severe, grave challenge” in 53 years of existence. Member countries with more authoritarian regimes — Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — see little benefit in paying more than lip service to such principles, and have treated Myanmar’s crisis as its own internal matter. The Jakarta meeting is a hybrid one, with onsite attendance encouraged but virtual participation by video an option because of the coronavirus pandemic. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte both announced they will stay home and send their foreign ministers in their stead, but they are dealing with serious COVID-19 outbreaks, obscuring any political message in their decisions. “It is more difficult to communicate on a personal level between the leaders without the leaders being present fully, particularly with regards to the prime minister of Thailand, whom we believe to have the best relationship with the current senior general from Myanmar,” observed Indonesia’s Laksmana. He believes ASEAN has a unique opportunity to engage productively with Myanmar’s ruling junta “because right now there is no other option on the table.” “We haven’t seen any progress from the U.N. Security Council, for example. There is no collective effort by other countries. This is it. This is the first potential breakthrough for the current crisis,” he told The Associated Press. U.N. specialized agencies and experts have been active in criticizing the coup and the junta’s crackdown. U.N. Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener will not take part in ASEAN’s deliberations, but intends to take part in sideline consultations. The junta has rejected her repeated requests to visit Myanmar. The Security Council could effectively coordinate actions such as arms embargoes to pressure the junta, but Russia and China, major weapons suppliers to the junta, would veto such moves. Western nations have already enacted targeted sanctions against members of the junta and businesses giving them financial support, but Myanmar’s past military governments have successfully stood up to such pressures, and would be expected to do so again, especially with support from Beijing. ASEAN prefers quiet diplomacy to intimidation, seeking incremental gains. Even getting the two Myanmar sides to talk to each other could take some time, acknowledges Laksmana. “I think the gravity of the situation on the ground is as such now that there is no space or even willingness for dialogue until we end the violence,” he said. “So I think the first steps would be to what extent can ASEAN facilitate the observance of a humanitarian pause first and then the delivery of the humanitarian aid,” he said. Only after that might a forum be possible where all the stakeholders could talk. A Southeast Asian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said another opening move is under consideration. This would involve having ASEAN’s current chairman, Brunei Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, travel to Myanmar for meetings with the military leadership and Suu Kyi’s camp to encourage dialogue. He would go there with ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi — also from Brunei — if the junta gives them the nod. ASEAN-style diplomacy with Myanmar has borne fruit in the past. The military regime in charge in 2008 was incapable of mounting sufficient rescue and recovery efforts in the wake of devastating Cyclone Nargis, but refused to open up the country to an international aid effort. ASEAN took the initiative in offering to open a channel for foreign assistance, and the much-needed aid started flowing..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Associated Press" (New York)
Date of publication: 2021-04-23
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ‘The military is hunting us’: volunteer medics in the crosshairs
Sub-title: With bullets, beatings and arrests, the junta is trying to scare volunteer rescue workers from treating its victims, and are breaking international humanitarian law to do it, charity groups say.
Description: "When the three-member team of volunteers from Mandalay’s Payaheta Darri charity rescue service arrived, the found they couldn’t get their ambulance close enough to get the 18-year-old victim onto a stretcher and wheeled to safety. Friends had brought the teenager, who had been shot in the back, inside a home on 76th Street between 34th and 35th streets in in the city’s central Chan Aye Thar Zan Township. With security forces continuously firing live rounds. The closest the ambulance could get was about three blocks down 34th Street. Ko Htet Myat, 21, a volunteer with Payaheta Darri since the group’s founding in 2015, set out on foot. He moved cautiously past young protesters huddled behind sandbag barricades and woven bamboo strips, turning onto 76th Street, which he described as a “battlefield”. Inside the home, he pulled the victim onto his back, the teenager’s arms slung over Htet Myat’s shoulders. Htet Myat slouched forward and began making his way back to the ambulance. On 76th Street three bullets whizzed by – the last terrifying close to his head – before he turned back down 34th. He finally loaded the teen into the ambulance and took him to a nearby hospital. It was about 1pm on March 27. At about the same time, in Nay Pyi Taw, strutting columns of garlanded troops paraded before junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to mark the 76th anniversary of Armed Forces Day. Meanwhile, throughout Myanmar that day, forces under Min Aung Hlaing’s command killed more than 100 civilians in crackdowns on protests. Htet Myat is among thousands of volunteer ambulance and rescue workers in Myanmar, who are increasingly being targeted by the junta with both bullets and the law. Earlier that morning, outside of a branch of state-owned Myanma Economic Bank, junta soldiers fired several shots at his ambulance as it took another gunshot victim to a hospital. Since the crackdowns began, there have been at least 28 attacks on hospitals and health workers, according to the United Nations, which has condemned the junta’s deliberate targeting of rescue workers and their vehicles. “Attacks against health volunteers and against ambulances are preventing life-saving help from reaching civilians wounded by security forces,” UN spokesperson Mr Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York on April 6. The junta has raided the offices of several charity organisations doing rescue work, and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says that at least 18 medical volunteers have been arrested, charged or sentenced for attempting to save lives. Most of the organisations are small, local entities working independently, but even volunteers for the large, government-affiliated Myanmar Red Cross Society have been injured and arrested, with some of them still in custody. MRCS general secretary Dr Htin Zaw Soe said that Geneva Conventions signed by Myanmar in 1949 recognise volunteers and vehicles bearing the Red Cross flag and logo as symbols of protection, making it a violation of international humanitarian law to target them. “They [security forces] may not be aware of this [law],” he said. “We plan to raise awareness among the public so this is more widely known.” For Htet Myat in Mandalay, the moral calculus is clear without bringing in international humanitarian law. “It is just inhumane of them [the security forces] to prevent us from helping the injured,” he told Frontier. “If protesters have been shot and badly injured, the junta’s security forces should allow us to retrieve them [and] save people’s lives.” ‘There is no guarantee for our safety’ The targeting of rescue workers did not begin with the Armed Forces Day slaughter. One of Payaheta Darri’s four ambulances was shot 15 times while parked outside the team’s office in Mandalay’s Chan Aye Thar Zan Township on the night of February 17. U Ye Myint Win, aka Nickey Diamond, a Myanmar human rights specialist with the international watchdog group Fortify Rights, believes the junta considers the charity groups to be anti-coup partisans. “The military junta assumes these charity groups support the protesters, and that is why they are also cracking down on them,” he said. “One of their objectives is to prevent injured protesters from being rescued and treated.” On February 28, junta forces beat two Red Cross volunteers as they were administering first-aid to injured protesters in Mandalay’s Chan Mya Tharzi Township, and damaged two of their ambulances. The day before, three other volunteers from the Pakkoku branch of the Red Cross in Magway Region were arrested while providing aid. Htin Zaw Soe said the organisation does not know why the arrests were made or if the volunteers have been charged with a crime, but that they are still in custody. It is lobbying local police for their release. In Mandalay, at least 26 members of the Payaheta Darri and Payaheta Min Khaung charity rescue groups, including two medical doctors and one nurse, were arrested and taken to Obo Prison for treating injured protesters on March 27, then charged with incitement under section 505-A of the Penal Code, according to an official with Payaheta Min Khaung. Also among the arrested was the Payaheta Darri team leader, a spokesperson told Frontier, adding that the group has since suspended its service “due to insecurity”. In Yangon, the highly-respected Free Funeral Service Society has suspended all operations since March 4, after security forces launched a midnight raid on its North Okkalapa Township office. During the raid, security forces brutally assaulted staff and volunteers, leaving at least three injured, and seized computers and other equipment, though they made no arrests. Two days prior to the raid, FFSS chair U Kyaw Thu had gone into hiding. Hours after the office was raided, the junta charged him in absentia with incitement under section 505-A of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum three-year year sentence. Daw Myint Myint Khin Pe, FFSS finance officer and Kyaw Thu’s wife, was charged with incitement on February 25, after the society voiced support for the Civil Disobedience Movement and pledged not to assist police or military personnel with medical or funeral service, according to a March 4 broadcast on state news. Military-run media has also accused the couple of “misusing” donations, including raising more than K316 million in donations for CDM participants between February 10 and March 3, and of distributing to about 2,000 CDM participants between K100,000 and K200,000 each. “All of our staff are now in hiding,” an FFSS employee who asked not to be named told Frontier on April 2. “The military is hunting us.” On March 3, CCTV footage that was shared on Facebook captured security forces savagely beating three male volunteers with the Mon Myat Sate Htar rescue charity who had been detained that day by security forces in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township, where the group is based. The AAPP says a fourth was also detained, but was separated and harassed before the camera began rolling. The three volunteers in the video, clad in construction hard hats, are forced to kneel before being kicked in the head and beaten with batons and rifle butts by police, who had also shot out the windows of their ambulance. All four suffered injuries and were reportedly treated at Insein Prison, where they were detained for several weeks. The AAPP says they were also slapped with 505-A charges, but Mon Myat Sate Htar could not confirm this, and they were all released on March 24. After their release, all four returned as volunteers to the frontlines of demonstrations. But Mon Myat Sate Htar president U Hla Kyaing said he fears the incident will deter others from volunteering as the need increases. U Zin Moe, vice president of the Mawlamyine Rescue Organisation, said volunteers were being forced to gamble with their own lives. “We want to help people, but there is no guarantee for our safety,” he said. On April 2, in the Mon State capital, soldiers and police dragged three volunteers from an MRO ambulance that had been called to assist people injured in a motorcycle accident at around 7pm. Police interrogated and humiliated the three on the street, though they made no arrests that night, Zin Moe said, adding that the nationwide 8pm-to-4am curfew in place since February has made it impossible to operate rescue services at night. The curfew has no medical exceptions, he said. ‘The injured just piled up’ The deadly consequences of the security forces’ targeting of medical workers was on full display during the April 9 mass slaughter in the city of Bago, where many victims died from excess blood loss after the military prevented rescue workers from getting to them. That day, police and soldiers reportedly killed more than 80 people. An official from a Bago rescue group who requested anonymity told Frontier that nearly every rescue group in the city was unable to tend to the wounded because of an unending torrent of junta gunfire. “The injured just piled up,” he said. “Even nearby residents couldn’t get to them. We wanted to save them, but our teams couldn’t run straight into a barrage of gunfire. The UN issued a statement the following day condemning the crackdown. “The UN in Myanmar is following continued escalation of violence in Bago with reports of heavy artillery being used against civilians and medical treatment being denied to the injured,” it said. “We call on the security forces to allow medical teams to treat the wounded.” Among the dead was at least one medical worker. U Thiha, a volunteer from the Pyae Wa charity group, was killed in Bago’s Ponna Su ward while helping to arrange a funeral when security forces arrived and opened fire. Witnesses told Thiha’s mother, Daw Yamin Oo, 52, that the 32-year-old was shot in the thigh as he tried to flee by scaling a wall. After he fell, soldiers approached and savagely beat him. Ponna Su residents told Frontier they later saw Thiha being dragged behind a police motorbike through the rock-strewn streets, screaming at first until his body became limp. “When I saw my son’s dead body, his head was dented and his chest was also bruised, and there was no skin at all below his knees,” Yamin Oo told Frontier. “How inhuman!” she said, going momentarily silent before breaking into a wail and calling out her son’s name. Ye Myint Win from Fortify Rights believes the savagery of such attacks is meant to send a message to protesters. “They want to instill fear in the people, so protesters know they will be helpless if they are shot or injured,” he said. Yamin Oo offered a similar, if more pointed, assessment of an institution whose power depends on fear. “My son was brutally murdered,” she said. “Soldiers and police are not security forces who protect the public – they are terrorists!”..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 22 April, (739) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes 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 April 22, a total of (3370) people are currently under detention; of them (76) are sentenced. 1099 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today, people across Burma continued to protest the dictatorship. In Myingyan, Mandalay Region on April 22, the main strike was fired upon by the junta forces. The terrorists then detained protestors in Myingyan Town. Last night in Chanmyathazi Township, Mandalay Region a 14 year-old girl and a man were shot and injured in the neighborhood for no reason. Reports of the junta reportedly calming down on crackdowns. Is nothing of the sort. The junta has continued to repressively try to shut down the internet across the country, and in rural areas where information is now especially difficult to ascertain and document, the junta’s violence is continuing at its normal brutality. This is most likely because of the upcoming ASEAN summit on 24 April, it wants to avoid condemnation and accountability and so is moderating its violence and terror in the more easy to document urban areas. Terrorist groups continue to arrest political party members, student activists, striking CDM workers, and youth protesters. Warrants are increasing, the junta is putting any and everyone who is against this junta on this list. In Magwe Region, over 100 CDM oil workers were threatened by the junta into returning back to work. If they did not return to work on April 22 they will be charged under 505(a) of the Penal Code. 2 private hospitals (Sein Thitsar and Sawn Metta) in Bhamo City, Kachin State were threatened by the junta if the 4 doctors involved in CDM give medical treatment there, then the hospital’s license would be revoked. Through the propaganda media MRTV, the junta said doctors will be prosecuted. On April 20 evening two CDM teachers from Hpa-An Township were detained in a village they were hiding in. The junta is changing tactics, the terrorists are threatening civilians and civil servants because they realise they cannot govern the country. Civil servants from many and various departments are now being detained, just as the junta is also increasingly issuing arrest warrants. Just like in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the terrorists are violently arresting monks to maintain power. In Mandalay Region, Mogok, Sayadaw U Yewata (former chairman of ABSFU, formerly called Ye Yint Paing) from Yepu Monastery was beaten and detained last night. Journalists are now being charged under different sections of the law. In Ayeyarwady Region, a freelance journalist from Myaungmya was arrested last night. In addition, from yesterday the Monywa Gazette announced on their website they will stop operating. The terrorist group is trying to shut down the internet to hide the evidence of their atrocities, again. Information is being suppressed, and yet the media continues to work hard and document the truth to inform Burma’s people. Last night in Monywa Township, no.3 light infantry battalion chased 3 petrol trucks who passed them by, one driver was shot dead. After 6pm in Mon State, Billin and Thaton Township, the so-called police and military were shooting at anyone who passed by their camps. Civilians are too frequently injured and killed in Burma nowadays, after nearly 3 months the people continue to endure atrocities. If this dictatorship gets stronger, democracy will disappear. We must end the history of dictatorships in Burma to ensure democracy and human rights for all. For this movement to succeed we must have internal strength but also more substantial international support. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf pdf
Size: 884.59 KB 1.11 MB 3.25 MB 912.84 KB
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 21 April, (739) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) hero from Myaung Township in Sagaing Region was killed the previous day 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 April 21, a total of (3331) people are currently under detention; of them (76) are sentenced. 1059 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. On April 21, “Blue Shirt Day 2021”, in honour of the seventh anniversary of the death of prominent journalist U Win Tin, protesters in Burma and many and all people inside and outside of the country, wore a blue shirt to stand with all political prisoners still detained in Burma. Political prisoners, those disappeared and in-hiding continue to increase. The situation for those detainees, their access to court – medical treatment – and fair trial is deprived. On this Blue Shirt Campaign Day, AAPP urges the international community including ASEAN to take action to ensure immediate release of all the political prisoners in Burma again. Today, sound grenades and live ammunition was used against the Dawei Strike in Tanintharyi Region. Five people including a 16-years old student were beaten and arrested. Among the arrested five, one youth was reportedly injured by a bullet shot, emergency treatment for him is clearly needed. The junta makes people who peacefully oppose them into enemies. They don’t even give medical treatment, increasingly civilians are dying from this. A main strike in Launglon town, Tanintharyi Region was also crackdown on. Two motorbikes were reportedly stolen by the junta forces, but no confirmed arrests yet. Yesterday, 200 terrorist troops took a military base between Thee Kone village in Yinmar Pin Town and Kapine village in Sagaing Region. Local residents opposed to this troop base waged a defence clash in which five villagers were killed as initially reported, further confirmation is being investigated. The junta reportedly used drones to scout the villages before using heavy artillery. The terrorists raid houses and take people as hostages. On April 19, two NLD members of Kyaukse Township, Mandalay Region, were searched for in their homes. The two were evading arrest. So, the junta detained both of their eldery fathers (one of whom is visually impaired). A CDM teacher charged with Section 505(a) and evading arrest in Thanbyuzayat town in Mon State was searched for on April 19, three family members were found and taken as hostages. Such hostage taking is a serious crime committed by the junta to indoctrinate a climate of fear. The terrorists oppress in many ways, unarmed civilians defy this oppression in peaceful protests/CDM – to destroy the dictator’s governance. Several innocents have sacrificed their lives. The international community must take whatever action is necessary. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 868.4 KB 3.21 MB 916.52 KB
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Title: Dirty Secrets #3: Min Aung Hlaing's daughter in secret deal with MYTEL
Description: "The daughter of Myanmar’s #1 international criminal has had substantial business dealings with military-controlled mobile operator Mytel, new leaked documents obtained by DDoSecrets show, in a serious conflict of interest. Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of the leader of illegal coup d'état Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was still a shareholder in Pinnacle Asia, a company that built mobile phone towers for Mytel when her father staged the coup illegally on February 1. She only resigned from Pinnacle Asia on March 17 – just days after the US government imposed Treasury sanctions against her in response to the violent attacks on unarmed civilians who are against the murderous regime.....Mytel and Min Aung Hlaing: Mytel was created during the military’s proxy government, led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. The government’s 28% share is allocated to Star High. Star High was created by Myanmar Economic Corporation, a military conglomerate controlled by Min Aung Hlaing. Star High’s remit is seemingly to hold the military’s stake in Mytel. This creates a serious conflict of interest as Min Aung Hlaing's family is profiting access to state business. Min Aung Hlaing personally played a key role in the establishment of Mytel, leading numerous negotiations with the Vietnamese military and presiding over the launch.....Pinnacle and Mytel: Pinnacle Asia appears linked to Mytel from its first inception. Pinnacle Asia was established in 2016, the same year that the military was awarded shares in Myanmar’s fourth mobile operator Mytel. Pinnacle Asia then entered into business with Star High to build towers for Mytel and, according to a Linkedin profile, also has contracts with Ooredoo, another mobile phone company. Pinnacle Asia’s managing director is Sao Sawm Zai, an Australian citizen. A third director is Mya Myitzu. Sao Sawm Zai and Mya Myitzu are both directors of Pinnacle Myanmar, a Singapore registered company. Little information is available about the Singapore business, which had links to publicly listed firm Singaporean Myanmar Investco to establish a Jones the Grocer franchise in Myanmar. The deal was called off in 2018......Bank complicity: Yoma: The tower business that Khin Thiri Thet Mon owned until last month is financed by internationally exposed Myanmar banks. This raises human rights and corruption concerns for their shareholders. In February 2020, Yoma Bank, a Myanmar lender, issued a loan to Pinnacle Asia, guaranteed against a tower contract with Mytel. Khin Thiri Thet Mon signed the loan as a guarantor. The loan specified that revenue from Mytel is to be routed to Yoma Bank until the loan is repaid. The loan was authorised by both Star High and Telecom International Myanmar. This was followed by a second loan guaranteed against Mytel towers.....International shareholder exposure: Even though Yoma Bank was doing business with Min Aung Hlaing’s family and financed towers for Mytel, Norway’s Norfund and Singapore’s GIC invested in the bank. The equity purchase was announced in April 2020. In 2019, the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, converted an earlier Yoma Bank loan to 5% equity in the bank. Norfund, GIC and IFC stand to profit from Yoma Bank’s business with Mytel and the family of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and are exposed to the corruption and human rights implications of these loans. In July 2020, crony bank AGD, owned by Tayza, announced a project finance agreement with Pinnacle Asia for an undisclosed amount to increase tower holdings to 400 by 2021. Tayza is a close associate of Than Shwe who built his business through the preferential treatment he receives as a result of his close and personal ties with the military. In August 2019, the UN Fact-Finding Mission concluded that the military’s economic interests enable their atrocity crimes. It recommended that “no business enterprise active in Myanmar or trading with or investing in businesses in Myanmar should enter into or remain in a business relationship of any kind with the security forces of Myanmar, in particular the Tatmadaw, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them” and cautioned against business with family members of the military, which can be linked to or support the military. Yoma Bank and AGD disregarded these recommendations.....Family business: Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s business with Mytel shows how Min Aung Hlaing’s family profits from access to state resources. Star High was awarded the government’s lucrative share in Mytel but, before the brutal and illegal coup de’ tat, was unaccountable to parliamentary scrutiny. Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s business with Star High and Mytel is a clear example of a conflict of interest that is seen across military cartel businesses. Since the coup, the military has been deliberately attacking and killed more than 700 people including 49 children. Youngest killed was seven years old girl, whom before being shot, was scared because her father and brother were beaten by police who broke into their house. They have been using lethal weapons with sole aim to kill and these amount to crimes against humanity. The military has carried out indiscriminate air strikes against ethnic Karen and Kachin peoples in recent days, part of ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity the Myanmar military has been committing against ethnic communities for decades. Min Aung Hlaing and the junta leadership, who are seeking to profit from the coup, must be held to account and perpetrators of these crimes must be prosecuted. Khin Thiri Thet Mon and other children of top military generals have long profited from the systemic corruption of the Myanmar military, at the expense of the people of Myanmar. As long as the military maintains power, this corruption will continue. Min Aung Hlaing’s family must be investigated for corruption and any stolen assets returned to the people of Myanmar. The cartel must be dismantled..." ‍
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Millions face hunger as Myanmar crisis worsens, United Nations says
Description: "Food insecurity is rising sharply in Myanmar in the wake of the military coup and deepening financial crisis with millions more people expected to go hungry in coming months, the United Nations said on Thursday. Up to 3.4 million more people will struggle to afford food in the next three to six months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices rise, a World Food Program (WFP) analysis shows. "More and more poor people have lost their jobs and are unable to afford food," country director Stephen Anderson said in a statement. "A concerted response is required now to alleviate immediate suffering, and to prevent an alarming deterioration in food security." The WFP said market prices of rice and cooking oil had risen by 5% and 18% respectively since the end of February, with signs that families in the commercial capital of Yangon were skipping meals, eating less nutritious food, and going into debt. The agency plans to expand operations, tripling to 3.3 million the number of people it assists, and is appealing for $106 million, it said. A Myanmar junta spokesman did not immediately answer phone calls to seek comment. Myanmar’s army seized power from the democratically elected civilian government on Feb.1, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil and cracking down on mass protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement with brutal force, killing more than 700 people, a monitoring group said. The crisis has brought the banking system to a standstill, shuttering many branches, leaving businesses unable to make payments and customers unable to withdraw cash. Many people depend on remittances from relatives abroad. Most imports and exports have been halted and factories have closed. The World Bank forecasts Myanmar's GDP to contract 10% in 2021, a reversal of previously positive trends. Before the coup, the WFP said about 2.8 million in Myanmar were considered food insecure. The coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll of the economy, which had been growing as it emerged from decades of isolation and financial mismanagement under former military governments..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Doctors Urge UN Action Against Military Junta
Topic: anti-regime, arrests, bystanders, CDM, Coup, Doctors, killed, medical, medics, Military, protesters, Protests, regime, treatment, UN, wounded
Topic: anti-regime, arrests, bystanders, CDM, Coup, Doctors, killed, medical, medics, Military, protesters, Protests, regime, treatment, UN, wounded
Description: "After witnessing the military regime’s continuous targeted raids on doctors and healthcare facilities treating the wounded, Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights has asked the United Nation (UN) and international organizations to take meaningful measures against the junta. In an open letter to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN, Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights demanded that the UN stop the junta’s forces from intentionally targeting medical professionals providing care to the wounded and help the injured seek treatment without fear for their own safety. The group includes volunteer doctors and 15 medical students’ unions. Since the Feb. 1 coup, the military regime has been conducting the deadly crackdowns on anti-regime demonstrations across Myanmar. Numerous atrocities have been committed against protesters and civilians by the junta’s forces during raids, arrests, and interrogations. During the crackdowns, many wounded protesters have been arrested without being provided medical treatment. Meanwhile, in several instances the bodies of the dead have been taken away and not returned to the families. Also, charity organizations and ambulances trying to pick up the bodies of those killed or provide medical assistance to the wounded have been fired upon or arrested by the regime’s forces. In a shooting in Mandalay in late February, Ko Yarzar Aung, a 26-year-old protester, who was shot in the leg, died at a military hospital without being provided the proper treatment, a witness told The Irrawaddy. A doctor from a charity group in the city, who tried to treat Ko Yarzar Aung, said that except for some minor treatment, the regime’s forces would not allow her to attend to wounded detainees before they were taken away. The doctor said that Ko Yarzar Aung would not have died from his leg injuries if he had been treated properly. In late March, the junta’s forces raided an office of a charity group comprised of several organizations in Mandalay giving treatment to the wounded, according to a social worker. The troops seized three ambulances and destroyed two others. They also seized clinic materials and arrested 26 social workers, including several medics. During an attack on anti-regime strongholds in Bago on April 9, when about 82 died in a massacre, the regime’s forces closed every entrance to four wards for days. No ambulances and social organizations giving medical assistance and free funeral services were able to go into the wards to pick up the dead or give medical treatment to the wounded. Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights said in its open letter to the UN that the military regime’s polices and soldiers are intentionally targeting medical treatment sites, charity clinics and hospitals providing critical care to the injured. On April 5, the regime’s troop stormed the house of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kyaw Min Soe in Mayangone Township of Yangon and arrested the physician. They tied the doctor’s hands behind his back, and a black bag was put over his head. The doctor, a professor at University of Medicine, Yangon, has been involved in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) and was also providing medical treatment to those injured in anti-regime protests. On April 12, the regime’s forces arrested Dr. Maw Maw Oo, head of the Emergency Department of Yangon General Hospital, who had been providing medical care to the wounded even though he has joined the CDM. Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights said that in some places, doctors have been forced to keep the lights off in order to prevent the junta’s forces from finding and arresting them. Working with just torchlight, they have performed life saving operations. Since last week, the military regime has been issuing arrest warrants for doctors in the CDM each night. As of Wednesday, 179 medics in the CDM have been charged. “It is truly agonizing for us to see our fellow countrymen taking their last breaths in front of our very eyes,” said Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights. It also said in its letter that by many lives which could otherwise have been saved have been unnecessarily lost because doctors have been forcibly prevented from providing essential medical care to the wounded. After receiving the open letter, Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, tweeted on its Twitter account on Wednesday that the time for statements of concern has long passed. “I was very moved by the letter I received from Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights,” he said. He added now is the time for the UN to place human rights at the forefront and use every practical diplomatic tool available. As of Wednesday, nearly 740 people have been killed by the junta’s forces during their crackdowns, raids, arrests and interrogations, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Those killed include anti-regime protesters, bystanders, pedestrians and residents. In spite of killing and arrests, tens of thousands of people across Myanmar continue to take to the streets to show their defiance of the military rule..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: ASEAN: Withdraw Invite to Myanmar Junta Leader
Sub-title: Southeast Asian Leaders Should Press for Return to Democratic Rule
Description: "The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should immediately withdraw its invitation to Myanmar’s junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to attend its upcoming summit, Human Rights Watch said today. ASEAN has scheduled an emergency meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 24, 2021, to discuss the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s inclusion of Min Aung Hlaing lends unwarranted legitimacy to the junta’s State Administrative Council over Myanmar’s democratically elected government, which the military overthrew in a coup on February 1. Before and since the coup, the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union have imposed financial and travel sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing for his involvement in grave human rights violations as military commander-in-chief. “Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “ASEAN members should instead take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the country’s democratically elected government.” On November 8, 2020, Myanmar’s voters overwhelmingly elected members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, to the national parliament. The NLD secured 83 percent of the contested seats. Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, claimed that the election was marred by massive fraud but has produced no credible evidence to substantiate that charge. Both domestic and international election monitoring organizations found the elections credible and rejected the Tatmadaw’s unsubstantiated claims. Myanmar’s generals refused to accept the massive electoral defeat of the military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and acted to deprive Myanmar’s people of their right to choose their government, a right enshrined in international law. Early on February 1, the day that the new parliament was to sit for the first time, the military arrested and detained President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, along with scores of other NLD ministers, members of parliament, and regional administrators. The state security forces have arbitrarily arrested numerous local NLD officials, at least two of whom have been tortured to death in detention. The authorities have also arrested commissioners of the national Union Election Commission and many of its state and regional offices. Malaysia and Indonesia have publicly expressed concern about the coup, and Singapore and the Philippines have urged the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint. However, ASEAN as a group has done little more than call on “all parties” to refrain from violence and to seek a peaceful solution through “constructive dialogue.” This call ignores the reality that the violence has overwhelmingly been committed by state security forces against peaceful protesters, and the State Administrative Council has declared unlawful two bodies that would be likely parties to any dialogue. On March 21, the SAC declared the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a group representing elected lawmakers, an “unlawful association.” On April 20, the SAC issued the same declaration for the recently formed National Unity Government, established by opponents to the coup. Ongoing nationwide protests organized by the national Civil Disobedience Movement have demonstrated widespread opposition to rule by the military, which has governed the country for most of the past 60 years. The junta’s response to the largely peaceful protests has been increasingly brutal. Since the coup, security forces have killed over 700 people, including at least 45 children as young as five, and detained an estimated 3,200 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians. Hundreds have been forcibly disappeared, which may amount to crimes against humanity. Over the past weeks, the military has demonstrated the callous disregard for human life that has driven its strategy for decades. In video footage from cities and towns across the country, soldiers can be seen shooting down children, brutally beating medical aid workers, and firing shotguns into crowds of peacefully protesting doctors. In the city of Bago on April 9, military and police used grenades against barricades erected by protesters, killing scores of people. The State Administrative Council has also ordered the shutdown of mobile data and public Wi-Fi connections, resulting in the shutdown of much of the country’s internet, and placed areas of the country under martial law. In these areas, protesters, other opponents of military rule, and journalists face trials in closed military courts under unfair trial procedures, with no right to appeal. Under the council order, those convicted by military courts may be sentenced to death or hard labor for unlimited periods of time. Since the declaration of martial law, military tribunals have sentenced at least 19 people to death. “ASEAN should be playing a constructive role in resolving Myanmar’s crisis, not providing a podium to the general most responsible for creating it,” Adams said. “ASEAN should make clear that it stands with Myanmar’s democratically elected government and will demand accountability from Min Aung Hlaing and other junta leaders responsible for the deaths of hundreds protesting for democracy.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 20 April, (738) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes 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 April 20, a total of (3300) people are currently under detention; of them (76) are sentenced. 1020 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today, protests across the country continued in resistance to the dictatorship. A seeming calm in crackdowns is actually not the case. This morning in Narnat Taw Ward, Loikaw City, Kayah State, a demonstration was attacked by junta forces, the area was then stormed and houses destroyed. This kind of violence is happening everywhere, as did many arbitrary arrests in several areas today. Yesterday early morning in Myingyan City, Mandalay Region, one protester was shot in the thigh and detained. By the evening, the junta told his family to collect his dead body. Across Burma, wounded people are being detained, mistreated and not given adequate medical care. In international conflicts people have a right to medical care when injured. The junta is treating anyone they see like an enemy. Injured protestors can not get treatment they desperately need. You have less chance of getting treated in junta crackdowns than in warzones seen outside our country. On the early morning of 19 April, in Chanmyathazi Township, Mandalay City, junta forces in a white unmarked car and military truck dropped a dead body by the trash in the Mya Nandar housing complex with his head wide open, wounds on his back, face bruised and his body burnt. There is a complete lack of human rights, the junta does not inform the family or place them in a hospital, there is no human dignity given. In Chanayethazan Township, Mandalay Region, the No.6 Police Station deputy was brutally arrested because of his involvement in CDM. The deputy has pre-existing kidney problems, he is reportedly not allowed medical care for his kidney problems. His family are worried if he can not get medical treatment, his health will further decline. The family have not been allowed to visit him, they are requesting he receive the medical treatment he urgently needs. It is a worry scenario when those being detained need medical treatment, in detention the situation is very insecure, there is no human rights given. This is worryingly happening every day across Burma now. But this is a systematic pattern of the junta behaviour. Detainees are entitled to human rights. The junta are targeting urban and rural areas with violence in crackdowns. In Sagaing Region, Ta Yaw Gyin village and Tha Byay Aye village in Yin Mar Bin Township; and Moe Gaung village, Chaung Ma village, Yar Gyi village, Lar Po village, and Sae Ywar village in Kani Township, locals were forced to flee because of the junta. Terrorist troops arrived and the villagers were forced to hide in paddy fields. The junta then based itself at the village, and destroyed and looted the villagers’ possessions. Last night, in Mee Laung Phya village, Nyaung Oo Township, Mandalay Region, the junta searched people’s homes, looting gold and jewelry. 30 villagers were detained and most of the rest were forced to flee. Yesterday evening, in Letwe-Myinni village, Nwathogyi Township, Mandalay Region, the junta set fire to defensive barricades. Terrorist troops also beat some of the villagers, searching one house and looting a satellite and other goods. All people feel unsafe because of the junta’s actions. The terrorist’s violence will only deteriorate. People will continue to have even less peace and security. ASEAN must not act like this is Burma’s internal affair, instability threatens the entire region’s economic and political interests. ASEAN must take a stronger response than at present. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 867.23 KB 3.16 MB 918.83 KB
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Title: Five civilians killed in clash with junta’s forces in Sagaing’s Yinmabin Township
Topic: Military Coup
Sub-title: Troops used drones to track locals’ location and fired at them with long-range artillery
Topic: Military Coup
Description: "Five civilians were killed and five more injured after a shootout between the coup regime’s troops and locals armed with hunting rifles in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday. Following the clash, rumours circulated that 10 locals had died. Myanmar Now was able to confirm one death on Tuesday evening, and four more on Wednesday morning. “It’s not true that there were 10 deaths. We’re in touch with the leaders,” a relief worker from Yinmabin told Myanmar Now. The five casualties were Bo San, Aung San Oo, Aung Naing, Zaw Myo Aung, and Kyaw Myo Tun. They were from the villages of Win Kone, Kapaing-Theekone and Kyobin. The fighting with locals broke out after some 200 soldiers stationed themselves on the road to the Alaungdaw Kathapa pagoda near Kapaing village. While the locals defended themselves using traditional hunting rifles, troops took up positions beyond their range, using drones to track the villagers’ locations and fire at them with long-range artillery. Relief workers were only able to retrieve the body of Bo San, who had suffered multiple injuries in the shelling. At the time of reporting, Myanmar Now was still gathering further information about the five men who were killed in Yinmabin, but due to the lack of internet access to the region, such independent verification has been difficult. The ruling junta cut off mobile internet nationwide in March. Around 10,000 residents from at least 17 villages had fled their homes due to the clashes and were hiding in the jungle, the relief worker said. Residents in Sagaing Region’s Kalay, Kani, Tamu, Taze and Yinmabin townships have been resisting the regime’s attacks since the military began indiscriminate crackdowns on protests across the country following the February 1 coup..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Title: Myanmar Junta Imported $15M Worth of Russian Radar Equipment in February
Sub-title: Russia has continued to support the Myanmar regime after a military coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and brought an end to a decade of civilian rule.
Description: "The Myanmar military regime imported $14.7 million in radar equipment in February, Russian customs data seen by The Moscow Times. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu agreed to supply Myanmar with Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems, Orlan-10E surveillance drones and radar equipment during a visit to the capital Naypyidaw in January. The deal was made a week before a military coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, which brought an end to a decade of civilian rule. It is unclear if the Russian radar equipment Myanmar imported in February was part of the January agreement. The Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) did not respond to a request for comment. Russia has continued to support the increasingly isolated Myanmar regime. During a visit to Yangoon at the end of March, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin — who was the first high-profile foreign official to visit the country after the coup — vowed to deepen military cooperation between the two countries. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data for 2019, Myanmar's spending on Russian arms imports totaled an estimated $807 million for the decade, making Russia the number two military exporter to Myanmar behind China. In December, trade data also showed that Russia exported $96 million worth of goods classified as “hidden,” which are often defense-related products. While overall trade between Russia and Myanmar remains minimal, Myanmar’s leaders have urged Russian businesses to invest in the country. Their statements come as the international community increasingly shuns the Myanmar junta over its human rights violations. The U.S. has suspended a trade deal with Myanmar while several Singaporean companies, including a firm that sold anti-drone products to Myanmar's police, have canceled their deals. Over 500 civilians are reported to have been killed following the coup and the United Nations human rights office has warned the situation was heading “toward a full-blown conflict.” The EU, which on Monday introduced a new round of sanctions against Myanmar’s generals, has previously accused Russia of hampering a united international response to Myanmar’s military coup..."
Source/publisher: The Moscow Times ( Moscow)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 19 April, (738) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) hero from Htone Bo Town in Pandaung Township, Bago Region was killed the previous day 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 April 19, a total of (3261) people are currently under detention; of them (75) are sentenced. 970 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today at 8pm YGN time, junta propaganda MWD said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners was spreading fake news. AAPP is giving an accurate, verified, representation of the brutality of this illegal junta. Despite the inhumanity of torture, the junta in Burma has done it every single day since the attempted coup. Verified photos of six youths who were tortured after being arbitrarily accused and arrested for a bombing in Yankin township, Yangon Region went viral on social media. Such overt displays by the junta’s propaganda media reveal the inhumanity and notorious persecution in clear violation of international human rights laws and conventions, but in particular it is supposed to threaten people protesting for democracy of similar fates. Medical treatment is urgently needed for these respected youths. The consequences of these interrogations by the junta is extremely worrying. Terrorist troops passed by in front of a hotel with sailors returning to Burma, junta forces entered hotel rooms after allegedly hearing the banging of pots and pans, two sailors were assaulted, one had broken ribs, the other is reported to have gashed his eyebrows. The terrorists also robbed $1,500 from a sailors wages. AAPP strongly denounces such brutality, and we urge the UN, international community, including ASEAN, to take effective action as quickly as possible. Today, people across Burma continued to protest against the dictatorship with various marches. At the General Dawn Strike in Mandalay City, a frontliner was attacked by a car and the General Dawn Strike shot with rubber bullets, tear gas and live ammunition. 11 people were beaten and arrested and a victim was reported to have been injured in a car attack. This morning, two motorcycle strikes in Mandalay were rammed by a vehicle, one girl was crushed, another was injured by a bullet and more than 10 people were beaten and arrested. It is a serious situation when a terrorist group has repeatedly over the last few days been crashing into, to detain protestors in unmarked vehicles. Today, in Mohnyin town, Kachin State a strike was repressed, and two people, including a female university student, were arrested. People-made barricades were burned down in Nanataw Ward in Loikaw Township, Kayah State and the junta opened fire with live ammunition, and two young men were arrested. In Myin Gyan Town, Mandalay Region, the most tenacious fort in Ward 6 was brutally crackdown, the junta made it like a conflict zone with surface to air missiles and heavy artillery since April 18 evening. Six people, including a 13-year-old child, were reported to have been arrested, although some local residents who resisted were not wounded. The No.6 Ward barricade, demolished yesterday, was rebuilt by locals but then stormed again by large numbers of terrorists this morning. Two local residents were injured, one is reportedly in serious condition. The junta troops also went door-to-door searching for people; thousands of residents from No.6 Ward have fled to nearby villages. Homes and neighborhoods in Ward 3 and 4 were also violently raided, motorcycles were burnt down in No.4 Ward. In Kani township, Sagaing Region, more than seven villages fled due to the terrorist operation by the junta. Yesterday afternoon, large numbers entered Chung ma village, in Kani township, where junta troops searched door-to-door and stole food. Military vehicles arrived last night and shot randomly, forcing children and adults to flee. As a result of the junta’s forces’ arbitrary raids and shooting, residents are no longer safe even in their communities and face danger everywhere at any time. This morning, the junta troops opened and destroyed tombs at the Sin Phyu Kwin Cemetery, which had cremated fallen heroes from the Spring Revolution in Bago City. Bodies were removed and laid outside. A new tomb has not yet been created, terrorists have no respect for the dignity of those fallen with these disgusting acts. Burma’s transition to democracy, supposed to promote peace, national reconciliation and democracy, was destroyed by the coup. Abolishing the junta is the only solution to building a fully democratic society for the people. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Size: 863.02 KB 3.09 MB 904.16 KB
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Title: Myanmar: “I’m scared, but will not surrender…”
Sub-title: Journalists in Myanmar have put their lives at risk to tell the stories of protestors, doctors, nurses and citizens impacted by the military coup, writes Phil Thornton.
Description: "As a freelance photojournalist, Ng Maung has worked the frontlines of the protests since Myanmar’s military coup began on 1st February. Keeping low, behind flimsy barricades of wood, corrugated tin, tyres and bamboo, he photographed the hurts police and army inflicted on pro-democracy activists. Ng Maung told IFJ of the danger protestors and journalists are facing from heavily armed police and soldiers. “We were warned snipers were on roofs near where we were. I could hear and sense the bullets as they passed. These kids had no protection against bullets.” Ng Maung explained his view was restricted when focusing through a camera lens at soldiers down the street. “You see what is directly in front, not to your immediate side. Bullets were getting closer. I saw a young guy on the ground with a head shot…a lot of blood. People took him on a motorbike to an ambulance, but it was too late, he was already dead.” Ng Maung said soldiers and police are armed to kill and dressed for battle, unlike the unarmed protestors. “They’re targets are young men and women, mostly peaceful protestors, opposing the torture and jailing of elected politicians, workers, doctors, students and journalists. The only protection they have are hiding behind these barricades and running.” In an earlier interview with IFJ in February, Ng Maung, voiced his fears about unseen army snipers when he said they made the streets dangerous to work. “If I can see them I’m not scared, but knowing they could be concealed on rooftops, water towers, behind windows…anywhere…is terrifying.” Ng Maung’s fears became a reality on 23 March when a bullet tore through his hand as he focused his lens. “I could hear shooting. Near me three kids were using phones to take photos. I warned them to move away…take cover, as soldiers were firing.” Ng Maung felt the force of the bullet as it tore into his left hand, pulping bones, tissue and tendon. “I was confused, my hand was burning, at first it was relief the boys were not hit. Then I was worried my hand was destroyed. It looked bad. It took about three hours to get to a clinic.” Ng Maung is full of praise for volunteer doctors and nurses working the protests. “I’ve seen them put themselves at risk of being shot or wounded to care for the injured. I owe them a lot…they work for free…I am forever in their debt.” Ng Maung’s smashed hand has to be rebuilt. He has had a number of operations to try to reconstruct his hand – wire implants, bone repair and skin grafts. Despite the pain and the graphic nature of the wound, Ng Maung managed to photograph the surgical procedures. Ng Maung kept in regular contact with IFJ during the protests and after his wounding spoke of his determination to keep working as a photojournalist despite the dangers. “Everyone is in danger - the military shows no mercy - protestors, doctors, students, workers, children, citizens or journalists – we are all targets just to be shot...silenced. I feel they are no longer human and they don’t see us as human. I'm scared, really scared. As a journalist, I have no protection. I have to be very careful and secretive in getting information. It is so bad I dare not go home to sleep at night. It's very dangerous now. To report we risk our lives. I’m a photojournalist because I want people to know the truth from the pictures I take. I want to expose the brutality of the military and the brave resistance of our people to the world…I hope for international action to end the oppression.” The revolution will not be televised… To silence journalists, like Ng Maung, the military coup leaders ordered telecommunication companies and internet services to block social media platforms and shut down their networks to stop access to information and news. Journalists have been arrested and charged under 505a of the penal code, which carries a sentence of three years in prison. The licenses of Myanmar Now, Mizzima Media, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), 7 Day News and Khit Thit Media were revoked on 8 March. The Ministry of Information shut-down the five independent media outlets and banned them “from publishing or broadcasting” or using any kind of media or technology platforms reporting “news that affects the rule of law and security of the people and supports those who commit high treason…in accordance with Article 419 and 420 of the Constitution.” To make sure the five banned media organisations and their respective journalists got the message, soldiers and police broke into their offices, ransacked, thrashed and stole equipment. Ng Maung told IFJ “journalists are now being hunted – we’ve been put on wanted lists and they have arrested at least 42 journalists.” The police and army have been given unfettered authority by the coup appointed State Administration Council to raid homes to search and arrest without warrants. So called ‘suspects’ can be detained for 24-hours without court permission. Other sections of the Penal Code list a range of fines and jail sentences - twenty years, ten years, seven years and three years for alleged breaches. Faced with the danger of lethal force, nighttime raids on their homes or arrest, many journalists and media workers have been either forced into deep hiding or have left cities for remote ethnic areas in the jungle along the China, India, Bangladesh or Thailand borders. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed as of Sunday 16 April, 737 people have been killed and 3,229 arrested; 42 of those are journalists. Ko Bo Kyi is a founder and secretary of AAPP-Burma and was first jailed in 1989 for his political beliefs by the then military regime. He explained to IFJ how the military has deliberately created and are using divisions between soldiers and civilians to maintain its reign of terror. “This military is isolated from society. Soldiers are given a different history to what is really happening in the country or outside world. The internet cuts and mobile phone data blockages are not just to prevent protestors from organising, but to stop soldiers getting real information – their news intake is restricted to media controlled by the military - radio, websites, newspapers and television channels.” Ko Bo Kyi said despite fear of arrest, torture and jail, journalists and citizen journalists are still managing to report. “Everyday, underground reporters and civilian journalists are going out and bravely documenting human rights abuses. They’re finding ways to get verifiable and credible reports out to people inside and outside the country.” They’ve destroyed our industry… Zaw Myint, a senior editor, told IFJ he has been forced by soldiers and police making night raids near his home to leave his family and go into hiding, constantly changing his location. “I’m not the only journalist, many of us are now in deep hiding. It’s dangerous on the ground now. We can’t use our name on our stories. It’s getting difficult to survive as we aren’t being paid. Most of us are struggling and our families are suffering...the pressure is massive.” Zaw Myint said finding a means to communicate is getting more difficult. “Mobile data has been cut, it’s difficult to get ADSL connected, getting caught with a pocket Wi-Fi will get you arrested. I try to hook into established Wi-Fi at hotels owned by the military’s cronies.” With the forced closure of the independent media outlets most journalists fear their severance pay will soon be gone, Zaw Myint explains most journalist earn between US$300 and US$700 a month. “Most of us are struggling. The army has killed our industry. They’ve taken down our platforms to publish, they’ve robbed us of our salaries. They done this to silence us. It’s sad to see our industry ripped apart. There’s now no justice, only their law of the gun.” Zaw Myint made the decision to stay in the city despite the constant fear of arrest. “There are still some of us prepared to take risks to tell what’s going on. I hope our colleagues who get to safety in other places will keep working. We’ll print on pamphlets, photocopy them and get them to the people. We’ll send our stories and footage to exiled colleagues for publishing, we’re hurting now, but we will find a way to keep reporting and broadcasting.”..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "International Federation of Journalists" (Brussels)
Date of publication: 2021-04-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Prominent Protest Leader Escapes Arrest by Myanmar Junta
Topic: Coup, junta, Ko Tayzar San, Ko Wai Moe Naing, Mandalay, military regime, Myanmar Military, Tatmadaw
Topic: Coup, junta, Ko Tayzar San, Ko Wai Moe Naing, Mandalay, military regime, Myanmar Military, Tatmadaw
Description: "One of Myanmar’s most prominent anti-regime protest leaders has escaped arrest after junta security forces failed to capture him at his home on Monday. Soldiers and police—some in plainclothes—arrived at Ko Tayzar San’s apartment in Mandalay and forcibly entered by smashing down the door. The protest leader was not there at the time of the raid as he has been in hiding elsewhere. The failed attempt to detain the 32-year-old comes a few days after the regime seized another protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing in Sagaing Region’s Monywa. His mother said she has lost contact with her son since then and is worried about his safety. Ko Tayzar San has become a familiar face in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, since early February for being at the forefront of anti-regime protests. He is known for his leading role in organizing the first ever protest against the junta in Myanmar just a few days after their Feb.1 coup, while other activists in the country were still deliberating their course of action. Following that first protest in Mandalay, anti-regime rallies started taking place across the country. After the failed raid on his home on Monday, Ko Tayzar San wrote on his Facebook page that he had abandoned the place for some time. “But they rampaged through the whole apartment and took everything,” he said. The protest leader said he was upset that his collection of books at the apartment was ‘robbed’ by the regime’s troops. Ko Tayzar San is also an executive director at a free library in Mandalay. “The Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military) has become a gang of robbers. It would be gut-wrenching for its founder General Aung San,” he wrote. Aung San established the Myanmar military 79 years ago and was also the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s detained leader. Ko Tayzar San said the raid and robbery were testaments to how Tatmadaw troops have behaved in the country’s ethnic areas, where fighting between the army and ethnic armed groups has raged for decades. Extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, arson and looting by the army have been widely reported. “Now we have experienced it personally,” he said. “It also proves that they [Tatmadaw] are our common enemy who have been hindering our attempt to establish federal democracy in the country,” he added. Before Ko Tayzar San came to prominence as a protest leader, he trained as a medical doctor but worked as a librarian and NGO worker with a focus on public health, political education and youth capacity building..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2021-04-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Local uprisings emerge to challenge Myanmar’s army
Description: "Sleeping by their makeshift barricades, knots of young men at Tahan in the western Myanmar town of Kale had not expected an attack in the pre-dawn darkness. Armed with a few hunting guns made by village blacksmiths, catapults, some airguns and Molotov cocktails, they were no match for forces hardened by decades of conflict and equipped with combat weapons. The first barrage of shots and rocket propelled grenades from Myanmar's army, known as the Tatmadaw, came around 5 a.m. on April 7, the protesters and residents of Kale said. By evening, the one-sided battle was over, the sandbag barricades had been cleared and 13 people were dead, three people involved in the armed group told Reuters. Soldiers deployed on street corners and remain until now. "So many people on our side were wounded that we couldn’t do anything and had to retreat," Aung Myat Thu, one 20-year-old protester in Kale, told Reuters from there by messaging app. Although the resistance in Kale was quickly crushed, it points to a new phase of bloodshed in Myanmar after the Feb. 1 coup, with some protesters now seeking to take up arms against the junta's forces. The junta did not respond to requests for comment. The junta-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said 18 rioters were arrested in Kale after attacking security forces with homemade weapons. "Some of the members of the security forces were seriously injured," it said Despite the early setbacks, disparate groups are trying to source better weapons, sharpen tactics, share intelligence and get training from some of the two dozen or so existing ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, several opposition politicians said. "Some small defence units have been formed across the country, in the community, villages or wards," said Moe Saw Oo, a spokesman for the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body representing ousted lawmakers that has set up a rival national unity government. "At the same time, we are in coordination with ethnic armed organisations about the establishment of a proper defence force," he said. Over 700 people have been killed and more than 3,000 have been detained by security forces cracking down on the nationwide protests that have raged since the military deposed the civilian government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. Even as the fighters in Kale retreated, other groups have sprung up elsewhere. Acts of sabotage, such as the burning of administrative buildings and attacks on businesses linked to the army have broken out the in the main city of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay. "It is a sign of the determination and the extreme violence the military has been using against protesters rather than a strategic assessment they can take on the might of the military," said analyst Richard Horsey, who recently briefed the U.N. Security Council on the threat of national collapse. Among the new groups, the Ayeyarwaddy Federal Army announced its arrival last week in the heartland of the Bamar majority, which forms the core of the armed forces as well as Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. "Armed revolution is the only way to return the people's power," spokesman Mratt Thu Aung told Reuters via messaging app. He did not disclose the group's location or the size of its force and Reuters was unable to do so independently.....'IF WE DON'T FIGHT...'.....Pressure to organise an armed group in Kale began in mid-March as the army stepped up violence against protests sweeping the largely Buddhist country of 53 million. On March 17, police opened fire on an anti-coup rally - killing four people - after chasing protesters to Myohla on Kale's outskirts, said a 36-year-old activist who was there. "From that point, the people, especially the youth, felt that we needed to do something to defend ourselves," he said, declining to give his name for reprisals against his family. By late March, at least three barricades were set-up around the main market in Tahan, hundreds of people joining to pile up sandbags. Young people in the town banded together to form the Tahan Civil Defence Group, local activists said. The group then raised funds and sought out weapons - mainly rudimentary hunting guns made by local blacksmiths, they said. "At first we had seven guns, which then increased to 15 within a short time," the 36-year-old activist said. The group went for target practice session in a nearby forest on March 26. Two days later, the Tahan Civil Defence Group held off an assault by junta forces. Shortly after, it combined with other local groups to form the Kalay (Kale) Civil Army. Such groups were getting help from the CRPH across the country, an official of the group said. Several thousand young people had been given basic training in arms and fighting by at least four ethnic armed organisations, mostly in Myanmar's border areas, he said. "More are coming," he said, declining to be named. "If we don't fight, the future of Myanmar is gone."......'DON’T UNDERSTAND THE TATMADAW'...In Kale, the little-trained fighters were emboldened by early success. The 19-year-old fighter said he was sleeping between barricades on the main road through Tahan when gunfire woke him. "I grabbed my hunting gun and two soldiers started shooting at me," he said. "I had one chance to shoot back, but my gun didn't work." He sheltered behind a wall, then fled during a lull. The Tatmadaw advanced systematically, blocking off escape routes, one resistance member in Tahan said. "We don't understand the Tatmadaw mindset," the 43-year-old said from a safe house. "That's our mistake." Several young fighters were among the 13 dead at the end of a day of fighting, activists said. Survivors had now gone underground, they said. "We were not safe in Kale anymore," the 19-year-old fighter said by phone from northeastern India, whose border is just over 100 km (60 miles away). Indian authorities declined to comment. A local NLD lawmaker involved in forming the Kalay Civil Army said fighters had been asked to lay low for now, while equipment and training were improved across Myanmar. “Maybe the time will come to fight with the Tatmadaw,” the lawmaker said, “For that, we will need good training.”..."
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Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Mother of detained activist Wai Moe Naing demands her son be granted access to healthcare
Sub-title: The 26-year-old activist suffers from high blood pressure, and was hit by a car before he was taken into regime custody
Description: "The mother of detained Monywa protest leader Wai Moe Naing on Saturday requested that her son be allowed access to medical treatment after he was hit by a car and arrested by the junta’s armed forces on April 15. The 26-year-old Wai activist has suffered from high blood pressure for six years, Moe Sandar Kyu, his mother, told Myanmar Now. “I’m concerned because I don’t know how he’s living or if he’s being fed. He’s not a very healthy person but he’s very motivated. And that’s why he’s active,” she explained. Moe Sandar Kyu believes Wai Moe Naing was likely injured after he was struck by a car on Thursday, and demanded that she be updated on his current state. A photo of Wai Moe Naing in regime custody with a bruised eye and swollen face went viral on social media on April 16, suggesting that he may have been or is being tortured. His mother told Myanmar Now that she had not seen the photo since she, like many people across Myanmar, does not have Internet access since all mobile data was cut off by the coup regime earlier this month. “Since the time he was arrested, I’ve not been able to sleep well. [That day,] I couldn’t sleep for the entire night. On the 16th as well,” she said. “I am worried because I don’t know and I can’t see how he’s doing.” Wai Moe Naing was chair of the Monywa University Student Union from 2014 to 2015, and is also a member of Monywa’s General Strike Committee and the Sagaing Regional Youth Committee. He rose to prominence for his role organising daily anti-coup protests in Monywa, which sits on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River, since February 6. After two police officers were killed in Monywa on March 25, the junta hit him and fellow activist Ta Yote Gyi with murder charges. There is no known evidence linking them to the crime, but the allegations were made by the regime authorities in what has been seen as retaliation after Monywa locals captured and detained a person suspected to be an informant to the junta. He is also facing several other charges, including incitement and theft. Wai Moe Naing is currently being detained and interrogated at the military’s Northwestern Regional Command headquarters. “I don’t want the interrogation to go on for too long. For the protests and his involvement in the revolution, they’re definitely going to punish him like everyone else. But for these bizarre allegations of crimes he didn’t commit, we’ll resolve them as best we can,” Moe Sandar Kyu said, adding she has asked for legal assistance. Wai Moe Naing’s father died when he was six years old, and he is Moe Sandar Kyu’s only child. She had recently retired after working for 20 years as a schoolteacher in Monywa. “I only have one son, and he just has me. We’ve been surviving, just the two of us, without anyone’s help. I nurtured him as a struggling single mother. And now that it’s my turn to rest, he has been working hard to provide for me,” the 54-year-old mother said. Young people across Monywa will continue to fight for the cause of Myanmar’s anti-dictatorship Spring Revolution even though Wai Moe Naing was arrested, she told Myanmar Now, adding that everyone protesting was doing so out of their own free will. “He has said this since the beginning. This is the youth’s duty,” she said. “They have to fight the fight knowing that it is to oppose injustice.”..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar military junta arrests prominent trade union leader
Topic: Global development, Rights and freedom
Sub-title: Daw Myo Aye, labour organiser and a leader of civil disobedience protests, dragged from office by army
Topic: Global development, Rights and freedom
Description: "One of Myanmar’s leading trade union leaders has been arrested as part of escalating attacks on pro-democracy figures by the military junta. Daw Myo Aye, director of Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM), one of Myanmar’s largest independent unions, is a central figure in the movement for workers’ rights. She has been one of the most prominent union leaders in the civil disobedience movement, which has been organising national strikes and protests since the military seized power from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February. Myo Aye was dragged from her office by the army last Thursday and taken to a police station where she has been charged and detained. According to the union, she is due to be transferred to a prison in Yangon. “We lost our pillar,” said a member of staff at STUM. “But … we are going to operate with the remaining staff. We operate within the law and we provide assistance to workers in accordance with the labour law. Our organisation will not collapse because she is not here.” Thousands of people have been arrested and hundreds killed since protests against the military junta began. According to the latest figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), 737 people have been killed by the military, and 3,229 individuals are detained or have been sentenced. Chue Thwel, Daw Myo Aye’s daughter, said: “Since the beginning of the coup on 1 February, I thought they would come for her … I feel they arrested her to set an example.” A spokesperson for the Worker Rights Consortium, a labour rights monitoring organisation, said: “With many labour leaders already in hiding or exile, the military’s arrest of Daw Myo Aye poses a serious challenge to the vital role of the Myanmar labour movement in the struggle to restore democracy.”..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
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Title: Myanmar: Five-year-old among almost 100 killed by security forces
Topic: UNLAWFUL KILLINGS
Topic: UNLAWFUL KILLINGS
Description: "Responding to reports that at least 91 people, including a five-year-old boy, were killed by Myanmar security forces across the country on 27 March in its ongoing brutal crackdown on protesters, Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, said: “This is just the latest example of the military authorities’ determination to kill their way out of nationwide resistance to the coup. These abhorrent killings again show the generals’ brazen disregard for the inadequate pressure applied so far by the international community. “This comes a day after the military announced that further protests would be met with shots to the head. “The cost of international inaction is being counted in bodies, including children shot dead in their homes. Amid the horrifying death toll is a nation of over 50 million held hostage, subjected to arbitrary arrest and sweeping surveillance, living in fear of death and torture. “The people of Myanmar continue to protest, all while they grieve more killings by the hour. The nations that participated in the military’s Armed Forces Day events today in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, particularly China and Russia, are the same states that have shielded the Tatmadaw from accountability time and time again, supplying them with the means to carry out mass slaughter. “UN Security Council member states’ continued refusal to meaningfully act against this never-ending horror is contemptible.” Background At the time of writing, media reported that the military killed nearly 100 people in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns today, including a five-year-old boy. On 26 March, state television announced protesters were “in danger of getting shot to the head and back”. According to estimates from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPPB), the minimum death toll since the 1 February coup stood at 328 on 26 March. While a small number of protesters have armed themselves with crude homemade weaponry including molotov cocktails, slingshots and homemade air-pressure rifles, the protests have overall remained peaceful and in the incidents that Amnesty International has examined, lethal force used by the military has been unlawful and excessive. Elsewhere in the country, armed conflict is escalating between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups. Amnesty International has grave concerns about the potential for further mass atrocities as well as the resumption of large-scale conflict and associated mass displacement adding to the country’s existing internally displaced population of over 300,000. Amnesty is calling on the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar, and refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. The Security Council must also impose targeted financial sanctions against Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (Myanmar’s military chief now in charge of the country) and other military leaders responsible for atrocity crimes against various ethnic minorities across the country, including the Rohingya. The UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar has previously called for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other senior officials to be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
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Title: Myingan ‘like a war zone’ as regime troops destroy protest stronghold, locals say
Sub-title: Hundreds of soldiers and police crush an anti-coup defence area in the Mandalay Region town, shooting indiscriminately and arresting locals, including one child
Description: "The regime’s armed forces crushed an anti-coup stronghold in the Mandalay Region town of Myingyan on Sunday in an afternoon attack. The Lanmadaw protest base in the town’s sixth ward was a primary defence area from which civilians had been using homemade guns, such as hunting rifles, to resist attacks by regime troops. Some 200 members of the armed forces assaulted the stronghold from late afternoon until 10pm, according to locals. An estimated six people, including a 13-year-old boy, were arrested after the attacks, a resident said. Local sources said that there were casualties on the side of the armed forces, but that no civilians had died in the assault. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm these details at the time of reporting. A Myingan local told Myanmar Now that troops were “shooting at every person they saw… like in a war zone.” Residents rebuilt the Lanmadaw stronghold before dawn on Monday, but it was destroyed by the troops again at around 10am. Prior to the attack on Lanmadaw on Sunday, soldiers and police also indiscriminately shot at people near Myingan’s municipal market. At least one man was injured and in critical condition after being shot in the head, according to local sources. He was a worker in a rice shop, and was shot by troops as he tried to close the shop’s doors as they passed by the area. At around 4pm on Sunday, there was an explosion in front of the KBZ Bank branch in the town but no one was reported as injured. The cause of the blast is unknown. According to local relief organisations, at least 23 people have been killed in Myingyan by the military and police in crackdowns on demonstrations since the February 1 coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that has been monitoring the regime’s violence, reported that more than 730 people have been killed nationwide during the same period..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The Tatmadaw is keeping families in the dark about their loved ones’ remains
Sub-title: As junta forces increasingly refuse to return the bodies of those they’ve slain, the pain of grieving families is being exacerbated by uncertainty.
Description: "The morning of March 11 was surprisingly cold in Mandalay, at least by the normal standards of Myanmar’s second-largest city. U Zaw Lin and his 19-year-old son, Ko Lin Htet, kept warm by huddling under a blanket. Lin Htet, a second-year geology student at Mandalay’s Yadanabon University, was recounting his experiences on the front lines of Mandalay’s anti-military protests when their conversation was interrupted by a phone call. “I have to go, dad,” Lin Htet said after hanging up. He leapt from the bed, disappearing into another room to get dressed. When he returned, he was wearing his father’s white sport shoes. “Look, your trainers fit me. Can I wear them?” Zaw Lin, 47, recalls his son asking. Lin Htet wanted to wear the shoes because he planned to join the Mya Taung protest group, which has been marching twice-daily through Mandalay since shortly after the February 1 coup. Sensing his son’s excitement, Zaw Lin gave his assent. Then they went their separate ways: Lin Htet to the protests, Zaw Lwin to his job at a car spraying workshop on Mandalay’s 16th street in Maha Aung Myay Township. He was at home eating lunch when he got the phone call. “A friend said that news was being shared on Facebook that Lin Htet had been shot,” Zaw Lin recalled, his voice trembling. “I was shocked – I couldn’t believe it at all.” As soon as Zaw Lin saw the photos, he knew it was his son. Lin Htet was tall, standing at six foot one (about 185 centimetres), with long black hair and the blue plaid shirt he’d left home in. What stood out in the photos, though, were Zaw Lin’s white shoes. “When I saw the photos on Facebook, I knew it was my beloved son, but I had trouble believing it – I couldn’t breathe, I was in shock,” Zaw Lin said. He rushed to the spot where his son had been shot, on 89th Street in Chan Aye Thar San Township, but the body was already gone. All that remained was the facemask his son had worn. Witnesses told him they had seen soldiers drag Lin Htet’s body into an unmarked black Toyota Alphard and drive away. Zaw Lin and his wife, Daw Htay Htay Myint, went to several police stations, army camps and hospitals around the city hoping to find their son’s body, but to no avail. Two days later, Police Chief U Toe Toe from the Maha Aung Myay’s No 6 police station told them that their son had been cremated the day he died. “I asked, ‘Why weren’t we informed?’ When I asked how they could do that without telling family members, he said they had to do it because it was their duty,” Zaw Lin said. He was furious at the police, both for their failure to help and their lack of remorse. “If they were unarmed, I would have fought them one by one,” he told Frontier on April 6. “But at the time, I even had to apologise to them just so I could try to get back my son’s remains for burial. Still, they shouted at us and claimed they had no responsibility to help.” More than a month later, Zaw Lin still does not know where his son’s remains are. Myanmar’s security forces have responded with growing brutality to the anti-coup demonstrations that have swept the country in recent months, a movement dubbed by some as the “Spring Revolution” and largely led by youthful “Generation Z” protesters like Lin Htet. Like Zaw Lin, scores of relatives who have lost loved ones face the added pain of not knowing the fate of their remains, and not having the chance to properly farewell them. The uncertainty magnifies their grief. On March 17, six days after Zaw Lin lost his only son, Ma Yee Mon Theint’s husband was killed in Hlaing Tharyar, an industrial suburb in Yangon’s west. Ko Thura Oo, a 25-year-old trishaw driver, was shot and killed by soldiers and police during an afternoon demonstration on Tharaphi Street in the Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone. Yee Mon Theint received the devastating news that evening, shortly after returning home from her job selling fish in a local market. “I was told by a friend who ran from the spot where my husband was shot. I tried to go to him, but because of the continuous shooting I couldn’t leave [my home] immediately. When I got there, my husband’s body was gone,” she said, crying. A witness told Frontier they saw Thura Oo shot in the head and back, before soldiers removed his shirt and hat and dragged his body into a nearby car. Yee Mon Theint said that when she arrived at the blood-stained spot where her husband had fallen, all that remained were his shirt and hat. Desperate to find her husband’s body, she went to Hlaing Tharyar Hospital, but they had no record of him. Later, ahe heard a rumour that his body had been dumped in a creek in the industrial zone, but her searches turned up nothing. Despite not finding his body, Yee Mon Theint accepted her husband’s death and held a small funeral ceremony three days later, but she still hopes that his remains will one day be returned. “Although my husband is already dead, I really want his body back. I want to bury him in a peaceful place,” she said, wiping away tears. “I have no idea where they took him.” Estimates on the number of people killed in Hlaing Tharyar range from 70 to more than 100. The leader of a relief organisation that works in the township told Frontier that the remains of at least 12 people who have been confirmed dead have not been returned. “Some family members are missing dead bodies although they heard information from witnesses, or [had seen evidence] that their sons and husbands had been shot during the protests,” said the leader, who asked not to be named. In other cases, he said, his organization has retrieved the bodies of protesters who have been killed, but has been unable to locate any family members, or even identify them. A relief worker in Mandalay, where at least 118 people have so far died, told Frontier that the bodies of three people – Lin Htet, another man and a woman named Daw Pyone – were unaccounted for in Maha Aung Myay Township alone. Relief groups are often asked to help families try to locate missing family members, the official said. “If the person’s body is not with the relief group, the family members then go to a police station or hospital to try and confirm if the person is alive,” he said. While the Mandalay official said he couldn’t understand why security forces were not returning the bodies of those killed in the crackdown, the leader of the Hlaing Tharyar relief group said he believed the military was trying to cover up evidence of its brutality. “I think it’s simply that the military wants to destroy the evidence of what they are doing,” he said. “They don’t want to hand back bodies that clearly show evidence of being shot.” The military regime has disputed death toll figures from independent monitoring groups, such as the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. On April 9, the military regime claimed that just 248 protesters had died, less than half of the AAPP total. That same day, junta forces reportedly massacred at least 82 people in the town of Bago, and AAPP says as of April 18, 730 people had been killed since February 1. Zaw Lin can still barely believe his son is gone. The father and son had enjoyed a close relationship, and Zaw Lin said he missed their animated conversations. “We have been distraught since my son left. I only had one son; he was a very talented child, and I miss him so much,” Zaw Lin said, crying. He described his son as intelligent, with a cool and calm demeanor, but said he had become angry after the February 1 coup. Lin Htet read news obsessively on social media; some days, he would sit alone and talk to himself, his father said, an indication of the profound impact the political situation was having on his son’s mental wellbeing. But Lin Htet had also been heavily involved in the youth-led protest movement since shortly after the coup. He would join rallies and marches, and note down significant dates – such as when protests started in Yangon and Mandalay, and when the United Nations held a meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar – on a calendar at home. When Lin Htet’s parents tried to explain how anxious they were about him joining demonstrations, he would respond passionately, explaining why it was important for him to take part. “I didn’t think he would be so interested in politics,” Zaw Lin said. “When I suggested that politics is not a simple topic and he should spend some time learning more about it, he responded that the time had come for the younger generation to take the lead, and that he needed to be involved.” Zaw Lin accepts that his sone is gone – but his wife, Htay Htay Myint, believes that her son is still alive and in hiding. She prays and performs good deeds each day, hoping this will speed his return. “Every day I have to live with anxiety and grief,” she said. “I still expect to get a call from my son, and wonder if someone with good spirits is protecting him. Until I find his body, I cannot accept that my son is dead.”..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Two killed in separate incidents, as hundreds flee amid military build-up
Sub-title: One casualty was reported in Kyaukme, in northern Shan state, while the other was in Sagaing region’s Kani township
Description: "Two anti-coup protesters were killed in northern Myanmar over the weekend as the military continued its push to crush resistance to its rule. One person was reported dead in the northern Shan State town of Kyaukme on Saturday, while another died during a shootout in Sagaing Region’s Kani Township on Sunday. Aung Ko Ko Phyo, a 25-year-old government employee who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, was shot in the head as he was leaving the monastery where he had temporarily ordained as a monk during the Thingyan holidays. According to local sources, Aung Ko Ko Phyo, who worked for the Department of Electrical Power, was shot near Kyaukme’s Wailuwun monastery at around 9pm on Saturday. “He was on his way to his teacher’s home. He had just left the monkhood because it was the end of Thingyan,” a Kyaukme resident told Myanmar Now. There were numerous witnesses to the incident, the source added, noting that it occurred in the centre of town. A doctor who treated him said he died from a bullet wound and would be cremated on Monday. The troops who killed him removed his body from the scene soon after the shooting. Family members were told they could collect it on Sunday. However, according to a local news agency, his mother was forced to sign a release before she was allowed to claim his body stating that her son had been stabbed to death and that the military was not involved in his killing. Residents of Kyaukme, a trading town located about 175km northeast of Mandalay, have held regular protests against the military since it seized power in a coup on February 1. On Sunday, another man died after the arrest of a local man led to a five-hour confrontation between regime forces and civilians in Sagaing region. The shootout, which occurred on the Monywa-Kalaywa-Yargyi road between Mingin and Kani townships, began at around 1pm, a resident of the area told Myanmar Now. “[Soldiers] fired a shot and came into the village. They arrested a local and that’s when the fighting began,” said a resident of Sal Yar Chaung, the village where the arrest was made. At least 100 soldiers were involved in the clash, according to another villager. No further details were available about the man who died. Residents said that some of the military forces may have been injured by homemade hunting rifles and air guns used by members of a village defence team. Residents say that hundreds of people have fled the area since Sunday, as more army troops pour in and conduct door-to-door raids targeting local civilians. “They came into the village in the morning. There were a lot of them. They were searching every house, so we had to run. It looks like they’re setting up base,” said a resident of Chaung Ma Kyway, one of the affected villages. The shootout on Sunday came days after a similar incident on April 15 left six civilians dead and at least 20 others missing. Many parts of Sagaing region have been tense since late last month amid efforts by the regime to crack down on strongholds of the anti-coup movement. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 730 civilians have been killed by the junta nationwide as of April 17..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 18 April, (737) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (7) fallen heroes today. These (7) heroes from Kani Township in Sagaing Region and Kyaukme Town in Shan State were killed the previous days 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 April 18, a total of (3229) people are currently under detention; of them (75) are sentenced. 930 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. All across the country today, various protests against junta were carried out. On 18 April, junta crackdowns may have appeared calmer but in Myingyan City, Mandalay Region, the junta fired at young protestors, a man inside a house and shot and seriously injured. On April 17 nighttime, in Larpo village, Kani Township, Sagaing Region, protestors defending themselves from junta forces attacks were shot at, 2 protestors were shot dead. Last night at around 9pm in Kyaukme Town, Shan State, 3 young boys riding a motorbike were fired at by the junta, one was shot dead in the head, the 2 others detained. In Yangon, Yankin and other townships, explosions were set off yesterday. After the explosions, from last midnight up until noon today the junta raided Yankin Township, and arbitrarily assaulted and detained 30 women and youths. In most of the wards in Myeik City, Tanintharyi Region, the junta has been randomly throwing sound grenades throughout the night, attempting to continue its climate of fear. On 16 April, the junta searched for an MP, his sister, Daw Nwel Nwel Aung (a lecturer in Botany at West Yangon University), was taken as a hostage from her home in South Okkalapa Township, because junta forces could not find her brother. The junta has continued its policy of hostage taking, just as new tactics of these terrorists emerge. People are not safe, even at home, they can be abducted any time, facing terror every single day. This month has also seen an increase in pressure on journalists. In Kachin State, 3 journalists from the Myitkyina News Journal outlet are detained in interrogation centers. At these interrogation centers, detainees are forced to sign and confess under duress or through harsher torture. These places witness unimaginable suffering, they should not exist – but the dictatorship in Burma continues to perpetrate crimes against humanity here. Now journalists are being targeted in these interrogation centers. The junta in Burma is killing, shooting, harassing, looting, assaulting. The generals in Burma only look out for themselves. Innocent civilians are losing their rights to security and dignity, their property is under attack. There is no rule of law, every single corner of the country is repressed. For the uprising to fully succeed, we must ensure accountability for these crimes. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 17 April, (730) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) heroes from Mogok in Mandalay Region were killed 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 April 17, a total of (3152) people are currently under detention; of them (75) are sentenced. 871 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. On the Burmese New Year, the junta released 23407 released prisoners. This however, did not include any of the political prisoners detained since the attempted coup. 9 political prisoners sentenced before the 1 February were released. They were released from Insein and Obo Prison, including 3 students from the Peacock Generation, and 6 from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU). However, the ABSFU students were due to be released this year anyway. The junta has released mass general prisoners only at New Years, normally they only include political prisoners who have nearly finished their sentences. There are two concerns from this amnesty. One is that the junta is doing this to clear prisons for more democracy supporters, striking workers and anyone else they arbitrarily want. The other worry is that they are trying to create instability. Also, on February 12, the junta released a similar number of prisoners, soon after there was instability on the streets, fire rings thrown into neighborhoods, fear quickly spread. The junta is trying to show the international community they are not a terrorist group. The fact the junta is releasing such large numbers demonstrates serious concern for the near-future. On Burmese New Year, across the country, protests endured. At a motorbike protest today in Inn Zauk Village, Launglon Township in Tanintharyi Region, plainclothes junta troops’ in a private vehicle crashed into the protestor at the back of the procession and detained him. Today, in Mandalay Region, Mogok City, the junta attacked and destroyed the barricades, 2 civilians were killed, 4 wounded. The junta commander shouted at the soldiers, caught on video saying “I only want the dead bodies”. Further demonstrating crimes against innocents, all civilians are in danger anywhere, anytime. Everyday the junta’s violence deteriorates, it is a systematic pattern of crimes against humanity. All people under this junta are being terrorized with heavy weapons and physical assaults, threats. No-one is safe, there is no security, we are living under a climate of fear again. In ethnic areas civilians are continually targeted, including children. On April 12 early morning, a 3-year old and 14-year old were killed in Wah Thoe Kho village, Hpapun District, Karen State. The decades long civil war always has impacted locals most severely, they are made into victims in this conflict by the junta, once again enduring abuse. ASEAN and the international community must take an impactful stand against these crimes against humanity. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 2.97 MB 852.56 KB 853.19 KB
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 16 April, (728) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) heroes were killed yesterday 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 April 16, a total of (3141) people are currently under detention; of them (75) are sentenced. 58 people including UEC members were released today, and so removed from the under detention list. 832 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. Today, pictures on social media showed protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing evidently beaten in detention. His human rights are being violated, he has been tortured, his face beaten and swollen – evidently since arrest. Peaceful protests are attacked, rammed by unmarked cars and detained. There is no rule of law in Burma. Executive Member of Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD), Salai Duh Hu Thang, is being tortured at a military barrack detention center in Haka, Chin State. AAPP utterly condemns the junta’s actions. International human rights organization, democratic parties, and global governments must take action and condem these human rights violations On 16 April, around midday in Bago City, the junta crashed into motorbike protesters using private vehicles, going on to steal the motorbikes. Among this protest group, one man and one woman are missing and cannot be contacted. In Tanintharyi Region, Kan Pauk in Yebyu Township, as a protest march came to an end, the military fired weapons at the fading demonstrations on three occasions. Yesterday in the evening and at night, the junta brutally cracked down in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, and Kani Township, Sagaing Region. In Myingyan, last night around 10.30pm until 2am, at a barricade by Ward 6, the junta fired their conflict zone weapons, two died, some injured and detained, AAPP is confirming and verifying the number. At milestone 12 close by to Kani Township, the junta entered and crushed the village community security, 6 locals were killed, at least 20 locals are also missing, AAPP is confirming and verifying the number. In Kachin State, Shwegu Township, junta battalion #602 arbitrarily shot at 2 youths passing-by driving one motorbike. In Mandalay Region, the junta is also targeting religious areas. Storming two well-known monasteries, one called Masoeyein Monastery, at least 20 youths living there were detained in the crackdowns The junta is targeting NLD members, as well as taking family members as hostage. Yesterday, late evening, Salin Township, Magway Region, the junta went into the homes of NLD township executive committee member and treasurer, stealing two motorbikes and money and gasoline canisters. The junta is looting anything of value. The junta is committing these acts all the time and it is deteriorating day by day. Yesterday at around midday, a woman was stopped on a public road and robbed of 1 million kyat in North Okkalapa Township, Yangon. Around noon yesterday in Theelone village, Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region, the junta attacked the homes of villagers involved in strikes, detaining 5 people. On April 14, Magway Region, Taungdwingyi Township, Pyin Chaung Village, the junta raided and destroyed homes of alleged demonstrators, stealing snacks from shops, anything they saw, trying to find protestors from the day’s demonstrations. These acts, raiding religious property, committing violence – systematically taking family members hostage, destroying, looting homes and stealing from shops. These actions are serious crimes. We should be rightly concerned about the junta’s continued use of human shields in conflict. In Putao Township, Kachin State, the junta is using local villagers as human shields on the front-line, telling them to bring the dead bodies of junta soldiers, around 50 soldiers forced local villagers to travel with them from Myitkyina to Putao. This is forced labor, the junta in Burma is using innocent civilians to attempt to get an advantage in conflict. This is a severe violation of international law, and yet another war crime. If action is not taken, these violations will most certainly continue. Human rights are continuously disrespected by this junta, if these criminal acts are not punished it will only foster impunity for yet even further more violations. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 841.97 KB 3.03 MB 2.53 MB
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Title: Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup
Description: "As of 15 April, (726) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) compiled and documented (11) fallen heroes today. (1) from Mandalay died on 15 April. (10) were killed on previous days 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 April 15, a total of (3151) people are currently under detention; of them (75) are sentenced. 813 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document. A new technique of the regime of the junta is now using unregistered vehicles with fake licence plates to smash into and arrest peaceful demonstrators. Today in Saigaing Region, Monywa, Wai Moe Naing was crashed into, beaten and detained, AAPP is concerned for his access to adequate medical treatment from the crash. Across Monywa youth demonstrators were detained today. In all dictatorships in Burma, this junta has tortured and mistreated. The junta has form for using torture in interrogation centers, we are also therefore worried the lives and dignity of detainees will be violated. In Mandalay City, in a demonstration march led by healthcare workers and families, 6 were detained. At least 20 other local civilians were also detained. Junta forces also fired guns at Sule Mosque in Maha Aung Myay Township, Mandalay City and killed one person, 2 were critically injured, 1 of those critically injured was disabled. According to Myanmar Now 5 people sleeping inside the mosque were arrested, including children aged between 11 and 16. These religious compounds and places of worship are supposed to be protected, but this junta targets these areas, looting and openly destroying property. The junta continued with its brutal arbitrary repression in complete disrespect of the Ramadan religious festival. In conflicts across the globe killing may stop, but the terrorists in Burma continue murdering and torturing no matter any holy days. Yesterday afternoon in other cities and towns in Mandalay Region there were also shootings and killings. In Mandalay City, three civilians were injured. Yesterday in Myitnge, Mandalay, one person was shot dead, and another was shot and reportedly tortured to death, drowned in a puddle of mud by the junta. Yesterday in Myingyan whilst riding a motorbike, one person was shot and injured, he was tied up dragged along to death, his body has not been seen since. One other woman was shot in the arm and died. The junta is also attacking ambulances. Last night in Mandalay, a team of medics transporting injured protestors was stopped, and a woman grabbed by the hair and dragged out, three others of the medical team were detained. The junta is publicly terrorizing and violating anyone and everyone’s human rights. This evening in Yangon. The junta crashed into a taxi, and detained and assaulted the taxi driver and 3 passengers and threatened the neighbourhood with similar action. The previous night in Thamine ward, Insein Township, Yangon one civilian beating pots and pans was assaulted and arrested by junta troops, who then threatened the rest of the neighborhood with similar action. The junta wants to create a climate of fear. Everyday celebrities are issued arrest warrants on the TV propaganda mouthpiece. Today, famous Zin Wine and Singer Po Po (who had warrant issued for arrest) were detained In Kachin State, Momauk Township the terrorist military and KIA are engaged in heavy fighting. The junta is using artillery against civilians, who hide in bunkers, increasingly displaced and killed since the military use of airstrikes. The international community must implement a no-fly zone to stop these war crimes. AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heros in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses: “Our uprising must succeed” Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://web.facebook.com/burmapoliticalprisoners/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/aapp_burma In Solidarity, AAPP..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of publication: 2021-04-15
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 832.95 KB 3.03 MB 822.36 KB
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Title: Junta troops kill two protesters in Mogok at National Unity Government rally
Sub-title: A video filmed at the scene depicts a member of the armed forces saying, ‘I want them dead. Do you hear me? Five of them’
Description: "Two protesters were shot and killed by regime troops during a demonstration on Saturday to welcome the anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG) in the Mandalay Region town of Mogok, according to local sources. Around 100 soldiers and police arrived at the scene in Aung Chanthar ward and opened fire on the civilians present, eyewitnesses said. “One [of the protesters] was shot in the head. Another was shot in the abdomen,” a local who was also at the demonstration told Myanmar Now. The two casualties were believed to be in their 20s, locals said. Police officers transported the bodies in a cart to an area near Chanthargyi pagoda, where the troops had set up a base. They then put the bodies in an ambulance which eyewitnesses said was headed toward the Mogok Public Hospital. “They shot at people who attempted to pick up the bodies,” the protester at the scene said of the armed forces. “We weren’t able to get them,” he added. Two other protesters were injured after being shot in the leg and thigh, and were also apprehended and put in the ambulance by the troops, another local said. Around 1,000 Mogok residents showed up to the rally at 11am to welcome the NUG government– the cabinet of which was announced by the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on Friday. The violent crackdown began 45 minutes later. In a video seen by Myanmar Now filmed by a local resident, a member of the armed forces is heard saying, ‘I want them dead. Do you hear me? Five of them.’ Another voice responded, ‘yes.’ The military’s information center had not released any information regarding the shootings in Mogok at the time of reporting, and had not responded to media inquiries. At least 10 protesters have been killed in Mogok by the regime’s armed forces for participating in anti-dictatorship protests since the February 1 coup, yet demonstrations have continued daily. Fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has also recently broken out in Mogok, with the KIA launching an offensive against the junta’s troops. After news of the KIA attack, local youth expressed support for the Kachin army on social media..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 214.16 KB
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Title: Military and civilians clash in Kani, Sagaing Region, leaving six locals dead
Sub-title: A security team comprised of locals armed with hunting rifles was attempting to intercept trucks transporting detained protesters when the armed forces opened fire on them on April 15
Description: "Six locals were killed during a shootout between the military and a civilian-led security team in Kani Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday evening. The security team– made up of locals armed with hunting rifles– was standing watch after hearing news that detained protesters were being relocated from their area, and wanted to intercept the trucks in which they were being transported. A member of the security team told Myanmar Now that they had set up checkpoints on the Monywa-Kani road and were planning to stop the prisoner transport vehicles. “We heard news that they were relocating about 70 protesters including protest leaders who were captured here,” he said. One military truck drove through the checkpoint without stopping. Soon after, some 12 trucks arrived at the scene and opened fire on the locals at around 4pm. The shootout continued until around 8pm. The six men killed were Kyaw Hlaing Win, Zin Ko, Ko Naing, Aung Naing Moe, Tin Ohn and Win Ko. They were from Thaminset, Lal Shae and Bant Bwe Myauk villages. A monk from Thaminset village was also arrested, and around 20 people went missing during the shootout. The military may have suffered casualties in the clash, as locals used hunting rifles to fight back against the junta’s troops, but Myanmar Now was unable to confirm further details at the time of reporting. Since Friday, soldiers have been stopping and interrogating passerbys in areas along the Kani-Monywa road, claiming they are doing so for security purposes. Anti-regime protests in Kani stopped after two protesters were killed in a military crackdown in early April. However, locals in the area have said that they are ready to defend themselves against the junta’s armed forces with any weapons available to them, including hunting rifles commonly used in the area. In Tamu and Kalay, in western Sagaing, locals have been using the same weaponry to oppose the coup regime’s suppression of their movement. According to monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, some 728 people have been killed by the junta’s armed forces since the February 1 military coup in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 220.31 KB
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Title: Myanmar junta chief to attend ASEAN summit in first foreign trip since coup
Description: "Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia on April 24, Thailand said on Saturday, for his first known foreign trip since he seized power on Feb. 1. Myanmar has been in upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. Security forces have killed 728 people, according to an activist group, in an attempt to crush protests. In the latest violence, security forces shot and killed two protesters in the ruby-mining town of Mogok, a resident told Reuters, while several small bombs went off in the main city of Yangon, wounding several people, media outlets reported. Myanmar's neighbours have been trying to encourage talks between the junta and the ousted government, but the military has shown little willingness to engage. Several of the 10 ASEAN leaders, among them Min Aung Hlaing, confirmed they would attend the meeting in Jakarta, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said. A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. Pro-democracy politicians including ousted members of parliament on Friday announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) including Suu Kyi and leaders of the anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities. The NUG has called for international recognition as the legitimate authority, and requested an invitation to the ASEAN meeting in Min Aung Hlaing's place. It could not immediately be reached for comment...NEW YEAR AMNESTY... The junta released 23,184 prisoners from jails across the country on Saturday under a New Year amnesty, the Prisons Department said, though few if any democracy activists arrested since the coup were thought to be among them. Saturday is the first day of Myanmar's New Year and the last day of a five-day holiday that is usually marked with visits to Buddhist temples and raucous water throwing and partying in the streets. Suu Kyi is among 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). "These (freed) detainees are mostly from before Feb. 1 but there are also some who were imprisoned afterwards," Prisons Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo said by telephone. He said he had no details of the offences for which they had been jailed. Among those released were 137 foreigners, who would be deported, state television said. It gave no details. The AAPP said the military continued to seek 832 people in connection with the protests. Among them are more than 200 people, including several actors, singers and internet celebrities, who have spoken out against the coup and are wanted on a charge of encouraging dissent in the armed forces, which can carry a three-year jail term. State media announced the names of another 40 wanted people, 20 of them doctors, on Saturday..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 114.45 KB
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Title: Myanmar releases prisoners for New Year, though likely not dissidents
Description: "Authorities in Myanmar will release 23,184 prisoners from jails across the country on Saturday under a New Year amnesty, a Prisons Department spokesman said. But few, if any, democracy activists arrested since the February 1 coup are expected to be among them. Saturday is the first day of the traditional New Year in Myanmar and the last day of a five-day holiday usually celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and rowdy water throwing and partying in the streets. Pro-democracy activists called for the cancellation of the festivities this year and instead for people to focus on a campaign to restore democracy after the military ousted the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi is among 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group. "These detainees are mostly from before February 1 but there are also some who were imprisoned after," Prisons Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo told Reuters by telephone. Asked if any of those being freed might have been detained in connection with the protests against military rule, he said he did not have details of the amnesties. While the military was freeing the thousands of prisoners, it was also seeking 832 people on warrants in connection with the protests, the AAPP said. Among them are 200 people -- including several internet celebrities, actors and singers who have spoken out against the coup -- wanted on a charge of encouraging dissent in the armed forces. Two of them, the married couple of film director Christina Kyi and actor Zenn Kyi, were detained at the airport in the main city of Yangon on Saturday as they tried to leave the country, several media outlets reported. A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. Myanmar has been in crisis since the coup, which the military defended with accusations of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party, though the election commission dismissed the objections. The ousted government had held power for the first five years of civilian rule since nearly half a century of army rule ended. Political leaders, including ousted members of parliament, announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) on Friday including Suu Kyi and leaders of the anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities. Special Envoy to the United Nations, Dr. Sasa, who represents Myanmar's now ousted and disbanded parliament, told a press conference Friday that the NUG will attempt to amalgamate Myanmar's ethnic armed organizations to form a "federal army." Dr. Sasa referred to coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Defense Services, as "the murderer in chief." More than 700 anti-coup protesters have been killed by security forces since Min Aung Hlaing seized power on February 1.The new army will embrace defectors from Myanmar's security forces and encourage them to bring their own weapons, Dr. Sasa said. The NUG says it is the legitimate political authority and has called for international recognition. The junta has yet to comment on the unity government but has said it will hold a new election within two years and hand power to the winner. Two senior diplomats from the U.S. State Department have agreed with Myanmar's newly-formed shadow civilian government on "the importance of restoring Burma's path to democracy," according to a tweet posted by US Asia Pacific Media Hub Friday.n the post, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Atul Keshap and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Busby are tagged and photographed as being in agreement with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which announced the formation of the NUG Friday. The hugely popular Suu Kyi faces various changes, including violating an official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years. Her lawyers dismiss the charges. Her supporters suspect the military will use the charges to exclude Suu Kyi and perhaps her political party from any future election..."
Source/publisher: Reuters via Bex Wright via Jaide Garcia via CNN
Date of publication: 2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 173.09 KB
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