2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Individual Documents
Description:
"Today, the 7th of July marked the 59th anniversary of the massacre of the national student
heroes who were brutally murdered by the cruel military junta led by murderer Ne Win.
This is a day of mourning for the whole nation. We salute and will always remember the
fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom from the brutal military
junta. They died to bring peace and a federal democracy that, in the end, will prevail. The
people of Myanmar have made it repeatedly clear that they will no longer tolerate military
coups and cruel military dictatorships in Myanmar by sacrificing their lives, again and
again at the hands of these cruel military dictators. Fifty nine long years of sacrificing the
lives of the brave people of Myanmar have been too painful and too long for the people to
tolerate any longer. From Ne Win to Min Aung Hlaing, the movement of peaceful protest
against military rule has cost the lives of thousands of brave Myanmar people. These
oppressive military regimes bring nothing but death and destruction to the people and
country of Myanmar. Now today, once again, in this the 21st century, Min Aung Hlaing and
his brutal military junta forces have murdered nearly 1,000 brave people of Myanmar who
have once again sacrificed their precious lives for the cause of freedom and federal
democracy. Over 6000 of our brave heroes have been illegally arrested and detained in
military run concentration camps, and more than 2000 are evading illegal arrest warrants.
1.2 million Myanmar people have fled for their lives, and 6.4 million Myanmar people will
be without food by the end October this year. Over 27 million Myanmar people will be
living in extreme poverty within a year, compounded with the rapid resurgence of
Covid-19. Under the failed military coup and regime, the economy is collapsing along with
our health care, banks, education system and basic services. All this is truly the product of
this genocidal military junta headed by Min Aung Hlaing. Our fallen heroes have made it
crystal clear with their lives that we the people of Myanmar have no future with dictators,
be it Ne Win, Than Shwe, Min Aung Hlaing or any other murderer. Therefore, no matter
how long it takes, no matter how hard it becomes, we will never give up, and we will never
surrender until these genocidal military dictators are defeated and eradicated once and for
all from the precious soil of Myanmar. When we achieve a free and inclusive federal
democratic union - the new future for all the people of Myanmar - the names of these
national heroes will be lauded and respected by the nation and all generations to come.
These national heroes have given their lives for the future of Myanmar where a place will
be found for ALL regardless of race, religion, culture, ethnicity or background. The
sacrifices they have made for us are not in vain, and today we are marching closer and
closer to freedom and a federal democracy where lasting peace, prosperity and stability
awaits us. Together, we are winning against the darkness, and the dawn of light will soon
break upon the blood stained soil of the Golden Land. The dark blot of military control
over the history of Myanmar will be forever replaced by the light of freedom, peace, self
determination and democracy. Equality, respect, stability, equality intelligence and
prosperity will take the place of smoking guns and the orders of murderous fools.
May God bless the united people of Myanmar!
Sincerely,
- H.E. Dr. Sasa -..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Madam President,
The European Union thanks the High Commissioner for her oral update.
The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar. This unacceptable seizure of power abruptly turned back the clock of history in the country. Once again, the path towards democracy has been reversed and the will of the people expressed in the November 2020 elections, has been ignored. The EU calls on the Myanmar armed forces to immediately halt violence and the use of force against civilians and to allow the population to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Arbitrary arrests and detentions and the torture and ill-treatment of detainees must end. We take note of the release of some detainees by the Myanmar military authorities.
The EU acknowledges the efforts undertaken by ASEAN to initiate a peaceful dialogue-driven process to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The swift and faithful implementation of the five-point consensus reached at the Leaders’ Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on 24 April is important
The EU strongly supports the valuable work of the High Commissioner and her Office, to ensure continuous monitoring, documenting and reporting on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. The EU calls on Myanmar to cooperate with your Office by ensuring immediate access to the country and by facilitating the opening of a country office.
We share your concern that the human rights-, humanitarian- and security situations are deteriorating quickly, with indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population, precipitating mass displacement and a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis. This threatens the lives of many thousands in Myanmar, including women, children and persons belonging to minorities, in particular in the Saigan and Mandalay regions as well as in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin and Shan States.
The Special Advisor of the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide warned in her recent address to this Council that root causes of discrimination and violence need to be addressed, including guaranteeing full citizenship and other rights to the Rohingya community in Myanmar and ensuring accountability for past crimes in order to deter more atrocity crimes from being committed.
The EU reiterates our strong support to the mandate of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to collect evidence of serious international crimes or violations of international law, including those committed after 1 February 2021, and facilitate criminal proceedings in order to ensure the accountability of those responsible.
We would welcome your views, Madame High Commissioner, on how your Office can contribute to existing accountability efforts, including through cooperation with other mechanisms, and what your current priorities are in this regard..."
Source/publisher:
Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"Madam President,
The European Union thanks the Special Rapporteur for his oral update as requested by this Council last March. The EU attaches critical importance to your mandate, Mr. Andrews, and would like to acknowledge your continued efforts to document the human rights situation on the ground. We call on Myanmar to resume immediate cooperation with your mandate and grant unrestricted access throughout the country.
The EU shares your serious concerns, Mr. Andrews, about the worsening human rights situation in Myanmar, following the military coup on 1 February, which the EU continues to condemn in the strongest terms. Since the coup, the Myanmar junta and its security forces have increased their brutal repression of peaceful protests across the country, leaving large scores of unarmed citizens dead or wounded. The escalation of military attacks against citizens, including those belonging to ethnic minorities, has resulted in an unprecedented number of displaced persons since the 2016 events in Rakhine state. .
Through its actions, the security forces have shown a blatant disregard for international law, and must be held to account. Violence will not give legitimacy to the illegal over-throwing of the democratically-elected Government.
The EU reiterates its calls to the Myanmar armed forces: These acts of violence against the people of Myanmar must stop and the rights of Myanmar citizens must be guaranteed.
The five-point consensus reached at the Leaders’ Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on 24 April is a positive and important first step to begin a process of de-escalation and the return to the democratic transition in Myanmar/Burma. The European Union underlines the need for their swift and faithful implementation.
In this regard, how do you see, Mr. Andrews, the cooperation between your mandate and the Special Envoy due to be appointed under the five point consensus?..."
Source/publisher:
Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
With all of her sons whom she relied on imprisoned, San Say Aye is struggling for her own survival.
Description:
"San San Aye of Dagon township in Myanmar’s Yangon region has four sons on death row in Insein prison. They were among 18 people convicted by court-martial for the alleged killing on March 29 of Zaw Min, a pro-military resident. Junta-controlled media said Zaw Min was killed by knives and machetes by a group of 40 people from the same ward, and his body was thrown into a fire pit on the street on March 29. San San Aye insists her sons are innocent. With all of her sons whom she relied on imprisoned, she is struggling for her own survival and to visit her sons regularly in prison. She described to RFA’s Myanmar Service an ordeal shared by an increasing number of mothers in the Southeast Asian country since the Feb. 1 military coup:
Three cars arrived at our home on the first day after Burmese New Year. They asked for my kids. They asked if Khine Myae is home. Their father said he is. Then they entered the home. At that time, my younger son (Khine Myae) was combing his hair. They yelled, ‘Khine Myae. Come down here.’
My son said, ‘My name is not Khine Myae. It is Gold Fish.’ They said ‘Come down here. Gold Fish.’
My two other sons were asleep as they were assigned as night guards in the neighborhood. They asked them to come out. So two of them came out. They asked his name. My son said his name is Aung Myo Linn.
They said, ‘Raise your arms.’ Another one said, ‘Sir. Aung Myo Linn is not included.’ They said, ‘Raise your hands anyway. I know there is another one inside. Come out, or I'll gun you down!’
Another son also came out. They asked, ‘What is your name.’ My son said his name is Soe Pyae Aung. They asked him to raise the hands the same way. They asked him to be still.
I was folding clothes at that time. I was terrified by them. They entered into my home. They asked, ‘Who is it?’ I said this is my oldest son. He is not very healthy. They asked his name. He said Htet Naung Linn.
They said, ‘Come down. Htet Naung Linn.’ Then, my son said, ‘I am Khine Myae who you are looking for.’ They said, ‘Come down.’
I thought they only wanted Khine Myae for interrogation. But they took all four sons in their car in handcuffs.
I asked why they arrested my sons. They said they have to interrogate them. I expected they would be released after interrogation. But that didn’t happen.
On May 24th, the military court at Insein prison gave them the death sentence.
In the morning, the next day, I wondered why they gave them the death penalty. Article 505 does not carry a death sentence. I tried to inquire. The next day, I learned from the news that they had been charged with Article 302 for murder. They were given this sentence for a murder that occurred at Ward 56. They didn’t get a chance to defend or explain.
On the day when they said the murder occurred, all of my four sons were right in front of this home on security guard duty for the neighborhood.
I remember it was the day we made chicken and gourd fruit curry for my sons. When I heard about the murder in the street, I told all of my sons not to go there. The authorities had been shooting residents in the neighborhood. When everything calmed down at night, my sons went there to take a look.
As a parent, I am absolutely confident in saying that my sons were not among these who committed that murder.
My sons said that they will be home soon because they are not the ones who did the killing. They are not among the murderers.
They did go there to see what happened. They were involved in the protests. So I said they could be charged with Article 505(A) for their activities and they will be released soon. They told me, ‘Don’t worry, Mom. We will be back.’
This death sentence is totally unexpected. My sons didn’t murder anyone. I never heard of something like that. The first time I heard of someone getting a death sentence was when my own sons got it.
I don’t know what to say. This is totally unacceptable. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. My sons didn’t commit any murder. I want to appeal to the authorities that this sentence is not fair.
My sons have their entire future ahead of them. My sons are young adults with a promising future. But I can’t imagine what their future will be like after they are ruined by this death sentence..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"We welcome the Council’s decision to proceed with this important dialogue.
Myanmar once again stands at a precipice, threatening to become an international human rights pariah. Since the February 1 coup, the military junta has arbitrarily detained thousands and killed hundreds, including dozens of children. Legislators from the elected government remain detained incommunicado.
The civilian population lives under a constant fear of arbitrary arrest and detention. Journalists, lawyers, doctors, and students face increased intimidation and threats. Those who had been held in interrogation centers and prisons describe widespread torture and ill-treatment.
The military-controlled State Administration Council (SAC) continues to restrict the internet and has ramped-up phone and internet surveillance, cutting critical information amid a global pandemic and political crisis. The junta has also exploited the political instability to launch new, abusive military operations in ethnic minority areas across the country, displacing hundreds of thousands.
The Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has issued strong calls for a global arms embargo against the junta alongside targeted sanctions against junta members, and for businesses to reassess their economic dealings with the military.
Concerned states should urgently adopt or enhance targeted sanctions on the junta leadership and on military-owned companies, such as the oil and gas entities that keep the junta in power.
The UN General Assembly has urged member states to halt arms transfers to Myanmar. The UN Security Council should follow through and impose a global arms embargo to help prevent further military abuses.
The only way back from the precipice is the restoration of an elected civilian government that delivers on its commitments to address the root causes of Myanmar’s human rights crisis. These include ensuring equality and non-discrimination for all ethnic groups in Myanmar, notably recognition of Rohingya citizenship and other basic rights.
We encourage the Special Rapporteur and High Commissioner to provide intersessional briefings as needed so that this Council can take all measures necessary to respond to this unfolding crisis..."
Source/publisher:
HRC47: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
The UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered this statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner’s oral update on Myanmar.
Description:
"Thank you, Madame President.
Thank you High Commissioner for your update and for your continued efforts as you fulfil your mandate.
The United Kingdom continues to condemn the military coup in Myanmar, and I reiterate today our call on the military to respect the human rights of the people of Myanmar and their democratic wishes.
The coup has had a detrimental impact on freedom of speech. Over 80 journalists have been arrested and many others forced into de facto exile. In many cases, there has been little or no information about their whereabouts, nor have they been provided access to lawyers. This is a clear attack on the rule of law and basic freedoms.
Despite the many risks, independent media in Myanmar continue to play an essential role in exposing the actions of the Junta. Journalism is not a crime. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained and call on the international community to continue to support independent media. In a crisis such as this, where the military regime seeks a monopoly of information, the role of the media is vital in combating propaganda, and keeping alive the spirit of democracy. Supporting these platforms and the verified stories they share is a duty for all of us.
High Commissioner,
What can the international community do to ensure that journalists are allowed to carry out their job without fear or threat of violence?..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Updated 5 July 2021:
AAPP will not be publishing a briefing, detention, or fatality lists on Sunday’s moving forward.
As of 5 July, (892) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Monywa Township and Kanbalu Township in Sagaing Region 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 July 5, a total of (5၀85) people are currently under detention. (240) people have been sentenced in person, of them 26 have been sentenced to death (incl. 2 children). 1964 are evading arrest warrants. 118 people have been sentenced in absentia, of them 39 sentenced to death in absentia. Total 65 sentenced to death, in person and absentia. We are also continuing to verify the recently released detainees.
On July 4 in Mandalay, four people including Myat Thu, a protest leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), were arrested by the terrorist junta’s troops while they were at home. Myo Min Soe a.k.a Poe Hat, a village administrator of Pein Ne Kwin Village Tract of Ayeyarwady Region’s Kyangin Township, was arrested by junta on July 1.
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 entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Updated 6 July 2021:
AAPP will not be publishing a briefing, detention, or fatality lists on Sunday’s moving forward.
As of 6 July, (894) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from South Dagon Township and Hlaingthaya Township in Yangon Region 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 July 6, a total of (5၀94) people are currently under detention. (241) people have been sentenced in person, of them 26 have been sentenced to death (incl. 2 children). 1964 are evading arrest warrants. 118 people have been sentenced in absentia, of them 39 sentenced to death in absentia. Total 65 sentenced to death, in person and absentia. We are also continuing to verify the recently released detainees.
On the night of July 5, Khin Kyaw a.k.a Mae Gyi from South Dagon Township in Yangon Region, who is a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was shot dead by a pro-junta group called “Pyu Saw Htee”. Khin Kyaw’s dead body was then collected by the terrorist junta from his home.
On July 4, Aung Gyi, a reporter at Myaelatt Athan News Agency, and his 80 years old father San Maung, executive member of NLD of Paungde Township, Bago Region, were arrested on July 4 in relation to the murder of a pro- junta informer in Paungde Town.
Theint Sandi Soe, a third year university student majoring in Law, who was arrested as a hostage when the terrorist junta did not find his father, protest leader of Mogoke Town Soe Htay. Theint Sandi Soe suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and is not being allowed to receive medical treatment for this serious health condition.
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 entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"July 5, 2021, Myanmar: Justice For Myanmar calls for an immediate suspension of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in response to recent Indian announcements regarding the Sittwe Port. On July 4, 2021, the Hindu Business Line reported that the Indian government awarded Bharat Freight Group subsidiary A to Z EXIM Private Limited a contract to operate and develop the Sittwe Port. This follows a tender for the dredging of Sittwe port and the Kaladan River, in which publicly-listed company Knowledge Marine and Engineering Works Limited (KMEW) is the sole remaining bidder.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "We condemn the Indian government for continuing business as usual following Myanmar's brutal and illegal attempted coup. India's Kaladan project has exacerbated conflict and threatens ethnic communities. Speeding ahead with the project now under the military junta is reckless and will put local lives at risk. We call for the project to be immediately suspended until there is democracy with the military fully under civilian control. We call on Indian companies, including Bharat Freight and KMEW, to immediately end their complicity with the Myanmar junta through their involvement in the Kaladan project."
The Kaladan project was formalised in 2008 under the previous military dictatorship and is designed to provide an alternative maritime trade route for landlocked northeast Indian states. It involves a cross-border road, an inland water terminal in Paletwa and a seaport in Sittwe, areas where the Myanmar military has committed genocide, and continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. A 2013 civil society report criticised the project for a lack of consultation, lack of transparency, land confiscation, environmental destruction and risks to cultural heritage..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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234.07 KB 118.13 KB
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Sub-title:
Asia Times' correspondent Bertil Lintner explains why Russia has warmly embraced Myanmar's military coup makers
Description:
"This exclusive Q & A first appeared on Asia Times’ Southeast Asia Insider newsletter. If you are not already a subscriber please sign up here.
A recent visit to the Russian capital by Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has caught the attention of analysts and observers and raised questions over Moscow’s motives for forging ever-closer relations with the Tatmadaw, which has been shunned and sanctioned by the West following its seizure of power in a February coup.
The erstwhile Soviet Union had once been a major power in Southeast Asia, but lost influence in the region following its collapse in 1991. Under President Vladimir Putin’s watch, Moscow has slowly but surely rebuilt many of those frayed ties with regional autocracies and democracies alike, primarily through arms deals.
Asia Times’ correspondent and renowned Myanmar expert Bertil Lintner reported on the deepening ties between Moscow and Naypyidaw this week. In this week’s Q&A segment, Lintner weighs in on what he sees as a geopolitically resurgent Russia more clearly than ever telegraphing its presence in Southeast Asia.
Why is Russia openly embracing Myanmar’s coup government while the West and US penalize and condemn its suspension of democracy?
Firstly because Myanmar is a big buyer of Russian military hardware. But there are other important reasons why Moscow wants to maintain close relations with the country’s ruling military.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, old Asian allies drifted away and sought other economic as well as strategic partners. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has been able to restore some, though not all, of its former glory as a global superpower. It’s a work in progress.
Moscow’s friendship with Naypyitaw should be seen from that perspective. It is also important for Moscow to set an example here as it strives to disrupt Western efforts to promote democracy in Asia and elsewhere.
For the Myanmar military, which has been condemned by most of the democratic world for its coup and subsequent brutality against protesters, it is desperately looking for partners and recognition and Russia fits the bill.
Not even China, Myanmar’s old ally, is willing to offer as much open political and diplomatic support as Russia. Moscow is looking for a new, trustworthy ally in the region that can help reestablish the influence lost after the Soviet Union’s demise.
Both Russia and China have blocked the UN Security Council from imposing sanctions against Myanmar’s junta. Are the two powers working in concert or do they have divergent interests in Myanmar?
Naturally because both countries are opposed to Western ideas of democracy taking root in Asia and both resented the influence that the US and other Western countries managed to gain during the ten years of relative openness that Myanmar enjoyed from 2011 to 2021.
But there are also differences. The Russians have put all their eggs in one basket, the military, while China also maintains cordial relationships with ethnic armed organizations opposed to the Myanmar military and government, primarily the United Wa State Army. The ceasefire group is well-equipped with sophisticated Chinese weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles, artillery and even armored personnel carriers.
China’s policy can be characterized as carrot and stick: the carrot is business, trade and support at the UN’s Security Council; the stick is the UWSA and its armed rebel allies. If China doesn’t get what it wants, the UWSA will get more weapons, not to fight the Myanmar military but as a show of force and to make sure that an offensive against the UWSA would be too costly.
But for that reason, Myanmar’s generals are also wary of the Chinese and suspicious of their motives, which go way beyond having cordial bilateral ties. Myanmar is the only neighbor that provides China direct access to the Bay of Bengal, bypassing contested waters in the South China Sea and the congested Malacca Strait.
Therefore, China is playing power games in Myanmar through its ties to the UWSA and its allies – and by cultivating individuals in the military and in politics and the media who could be used to enhance China’s strategic interests in Myanmar. Russia, on the other hand, is a relatively problem-free ally.
How will a Russia-influenced and armed Myanmar potentially shift the region’s strategic dynamics and balance of power?
The flow of Russian (and, of course, Chinese) weapons to Myanmar has turned its armed forces into one of the most numerous and best-equipped in the region. And even if its adversaries have been domestic ethnic and political rebels, the Myanmar military also has a long history of actually fighting.
Moreover, Myanmar is now ruled by a military junta with little or no civilian input. There is no other country in the region, not even Thailand, where the military has such a strong position in governance and policy-making. Anyone including businessmen, diplomats, UN personnel and other outsiders who want to deal with the country has to deal with the generals first. There are at present no other players.
A new, better-armed and more powerful Myanmar military has become a regional force to be reckoned with. The Myanmar-Russian alliance may not alter the overall balance of power in the region, but it will no doubt have an impact as it has given the Russians a new strategic foothold in Asia.
But there are also differences to keep in mind. Culturally and socially, Myanmar and Russia are light years apart and for those reasons interactions between the two sides are not going to be easy. Only time will tell how this unique relationship will develop.
For the time being, Myanmar has no other choice in terms of powerful outside allies and so far the Russians have played their cards quite skillfully..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, Russia-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
What began as a coup by the Myanmar military has ‘rapidly morphed’ into an all-out attack against the civilian population that has become increasingly widespread and systematic, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Tuesday.
Description:
"Speaking at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet reiterated that the situation in the country has evolved from a political crisis in early February to a “multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe”, repeating a formulation she first used a month ago.
Since the coup, nearly 900 people have been killed while around 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of violent military raids on neighbourhoods and villages.....Downward spiral: “Suffering and violence throughout the country are devastating prospects for sustainable development and raise the possibility of State failure or a broader civil war”, she cautioned.
Ms. Bachelet explained that the catastrophic developments since February have had a severe and wide-ranging impact on human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development.
“They are generating clear potential for massive insecurity, with fallout for the wider region”.
The UN High Commissioner urged the international community to stand united in pressuring the military to halt its continuing attacks on the people of Myanmar and return the country to democracy, reflecting the ‘clear will of the people’.....The UN must act: She said the UN system must not fail the country a second time”, she added, citing the 2019 review of UN action in the country, by Gert Rosenthal.
She also advised swift action to restore a working democracy before the human rights situation in the country deteriorates further.
“This should be reinforced by Security Council action. I urge all States to act immediately to give effect to the General Assembly's call to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”, Ms. Bachelet said.....Hunger, violence and poverty: Ms. Bachelet said COVID had had a ‘disastrous’ impact on an economy that relied on remittances, the garment industry and other sectors which have been devastated by the resultant global recession.
UN Agencies estimate that over 6 million people are severely in need of food aid and forecast that nearly half the population could fall into poverty by early 2022.
“A void has been opened for the most harmful – and criminal – forms of illicit economy to flourish”, she underscored.
Meanwhile, a countrywide general strike, combined with the widespread dismissal of civil servants – including educators and medical personnel – has cut off many essential services in the country.
Since 1 February, at least 240 attacks on health-care facilities, medical personnel, ambulances and patients have disabled COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccination.....Intense violence and repression: She denounced indiscriminate airstrikes, shelling, civilian killings and mass displacement. Civil voices are also being silenced: over 90 journalists have been arrested and eight major media outlets shuttered.
“We have also received multiple reports of enforced disappearances; brutal torture and deaths in custody; and the arrest of relatives or children in lieu of the person being sought”, she said.....New equation: Despite the repression, the UN High Commissioner indicated that the military leadership has not successfully secured control of Myanmar, nor won the international recognition it seeks.
“On the contrary, its brutal tactics have triggered a national uprising that has changed the political equation”, she said.
She added that people across the country continue peaceful protests despite the massive use of lethal force, including heavy weaponry, and a ‘civil disobedience movement has brought many military-controlled government structures to a standstill’.
Some people, in many parts of Myanmar, have taken up arms and formed self-protection groups. These newly formed groups have launched attacks in several locations, to which the security forces have responded with disproportionate force, she noted.....Consequences: “I am concerned that this escalation in violence could have horrific consequences for civilians. All armed actors must respect and protect human rights and ensure that civilians and civilian structures such as health centres and schools are protected”.
“Any future democratic government in Myanmar must have the authority to exercise effective civilian control over the military. The international community should build upon the range of international accountability mechanisms already engaged, until transitional justice measures also become genuinely possible at the national level”, the High Commissioner concluded..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The UN and Burma - news and commentary, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar’s junta reserves its worst treatment for prisoners who challenge its right to rule, according to those recently freed
Description:
"Imprisoned activists opposed to the February 1 military takeover are being treated worse than convicted criminals, according to detainees who were released last week.
Myanmar’s prison population has swollen since the coup due to the regime’s efforts to crush resistance to its rule. While hundreds rounded up over the past five months were freed last Wednesday, thousands more remain behind bars.
Among them are many activists, university students, and members of the National League of Democracy (NLD) charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
While they continue to endure harsh conditions in prison, well-connected criminals are treated very differently, former detainees told Myanmar Now.
Nanda Marlar, a notorious fraudster convicted of cheating dozens of people out of millions of dollars, is the most striking example of a prisoner with special privileges, they say.
Unlike most others being held in Yangon’s dreaded Insein Prison, Nanda Marlar has an 8’x12’ room of her own, complete with a bed and mattress, an air-conditioner, a TV and a radio, said one ex-prisoner.
As a VIP prisoner, she also enjoys real power within the prison’s walls, according to those familiar with her circumstances.
“She’s not afraid of anyone. Basically, she bullies everyone else in there,” said a recently released detainee who asked not to be identified.
Meanwhile, prominent prisoners who have made a name for themselves by contributing to society are deprived of even basic necessities.
Than Myint Aung, an author and cofounder of the Free Funeral Service Society, one of Myanmar’s most respected charities, was arrested on the day of the coup and still languishes in Insein Prison today.
According to her daughter, who spoke to the BBC on June 30, she spent more than a month in an interrogation centre at the start of her incarceration.
Now in her late sixties, she has a number of health issues, including cataracts in her left eye and deafness in her right ear. Despite this, however, the authorities have yet to respond to a request to allow her to receive healthcare.
Myanmar Now attempted to contact the Department of Prisons for comment on Than Myint Aung’s situation, and about prison conditions in general, but did not receive a reply.
Political prisoners in other parts of the country are not treated any better.
Win Mya Mya, a veteran politician who was elected to the Pyitthu Hluttaw last year as the NLD’s candidate for Sintgaing Township in Mandalay Region, is currently being held in Mandalay’s Obo Prison.
While she is confined to a small cell with a few other political prisoners, no such restrictions are placed on common criminals, said one woman who was a prisoner there until last week.
“We who were detained under Section 505a face brutal oppression, but convicted criminals are free to come and go [around the prison] as they please,” the woman said.
“They are allowed to keep personal possessions and have better privileges than any of us. They can move around whenever they want, while we were always locked up,” she added.
What really disappointed her, she said, was the fact that some of the criminals she met in prison had committed very serious offenses, such as human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Their relatively lenient treatment, when even political prisoners quite advanced in age were routinely subjected to torture, made a mockery of rule of law in the country, she said.
Officials at Obo Prison declined to respond to requests for comment.
While a number of journalists were among those released on Wednesday, most well-known activists and political figures are still being held pending trial.
Of the hundreds of detained student council members, only one—Bhone Htet Naung, an education officer with the Yangon University Student Council—was released.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the junta is still holding more than 5,000 people in custody for resisting the return to military rule.
As of Monday, a total of 892 Myanmar citizens have been murdered by the junta since the military seized power, according to AAPP figures..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"The recent pictures of the charred bodies of an elderly couple in their 80s in a village in central Myanmar have shocked the world. They were found by their family when they returned to their village of Kin Ma in Magway Region. Villagers had been chased out of their homes when fighting broke out nearby between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and local resistance fighters who are supporters of the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG).
The family of the elderly couple told local media they decided to leave their parents in the village because they were too frail to take with them. After three days hiding in the jungle, the villagers returned and were dismayed to find their entire village razed to the ground.
Eyewitnesses said the security forces ransacked the houses before setting them on fire. The blaze was so large it was recorded by NASA’s satellite fire-tracking system at 15:22 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on Tuesday June 15, according to Reuters. A total of 200 houses out of 240 in the village were burned down.
This shocking incident happened a few days after more than a dozen unidentified bodies were found in a village in Demoso Township in Kayah State in eastern Myanmar.
The corpses were found in Ngwe Taung when the villagers returned. They had fled in fear of their lives when intense fighting broke out between the army and the combined forces of the ethnic Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and a newly organized militia, the People’s Defence Force (PDF).
The KNDF is a combined force of civilian fighters from the Karenni territories and other ethnic armed organizations.
Most of the corpses found were barely recognizable and some had been partially eaten by dogs, according to those who helped cremate the bodies. Some of the victims had their hands tied behind their backs and some had headshot wounds.
Kayah State has experienced violent clashes between the military and local militias, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, especially for the Myanmar military. According to the KNDF, the Tatmadaw lost nearly 200 troops. The military retaliated by using helicopters and heavy artillery to strike the resistance forces in the Karenni area.
Myanmar is witnessing attacks on innocent civilians by the military on an unprecedented scale. They are not restricted to areas where the army and the militias clash, but are also occurring in towns and cities.
Attacks on individuals are escalating across the country. In recent weeks, local administrators appointed by the military have been killed by unidentified assailants. They were accused of passing on information to the authorities about local residents suspected of opposing military rule. According to local media, in the month of June alone, more than two dozen local administrators were either gunned down or stabbed by assailants.
The coup makers claim the violent attacks were spearheaded by members of the PDF, a citizens’ militia formed by young protesters collectively known as Gen Z.
On June 22, a lieutenant colonel and another military officer were killed when security forces raided the hideout of PDF members in Mandalay. This was the first time a senior officer had been killed in an armed clash between the two forces. The security forces responded with heavy weapons in a bid to capture the PDF members holed up in the building. State media claimed four militia members died and eight were captured. This figure was hotly disputed by the PDF, which claimed it lost two of their fighters with six being captured.
Following the arrests of the PDF members in Mandalay, the military confiscated a large cache of arms and ammunition on a truck bound for Mandalay in Thabeikkyin Township. The weapons seizure indicates that the PDF, who have received military training in areas controlled by ethnic non-state armies, are better armed than previously thought. This could be a sign that more deadly armed resistance from the militias is to be expected.
The NUG has endorsed the PDF, but does not command or control it. Such loosely formed, shadowy armed groups are emerging in several areas of the country and appear to be actively involved in clandestine attacks on local administrators suspected of being military informants, and related facilities across the country.
The most spectacular attack took place on June 18 when a parked military truck with soldiers on board was bombed in east central Yangon. The truck was parked in front of an office of the junta’s proxy political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. State media have yet to report on the incident.
Myanmar Now reported that PDF fighters claimed these daring assaults on military facilities were only possible because of the support and help they got from army soldiers. Major Hein Thaw Oo, a Myanmar military officer who broke ranks and joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), insisted there were many people like him who would like to join the CDM if given the chance.
Some may argue that using the tactics of assassinations and bombings to achieve political ends will put militias at risk of engaging in terrorism, but to most citizens, resorting to violence is the only option left as the international community has failed to intervene to stop the atrocities committed by the regime. This notion is shared by the NUG.
However, the International Crisis Group in a June 28 report, “Taking Aim at the Tatmadaw: The New Armed Resistance to Myanmar’s Coup”, urged the NUG to strengthen its military code of conduct.
“The NUG, even if it does not have command and control of these groups, should continue strengthening its military code of conduct, ensure that this code is widely disseminated, carry on publicly signaling the priority it gives to the document and use its influence to press all resistance elements to adhere to the provisions,” the group said in the report.
The report also pointed out that the diverse nature of the militias and communication problems present significant challenges to putting in place a unified chain of command.
Confronting the new citizen militias in many different locations, especially in towns and cities, will be a major challenge for the Tatmadaw, even as it faces a renewed escalation of fighting with non-state armies along the border.
With the overwhelming support the militias are receiving from within the country and abroad, it is highly likely that they will become much stronger, better armed and more structured. Evidence shows that the resistance force members are ready to give their lives to bring down the military dictatorship..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
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Sub-title:
The death of a toddler in Kengtung has highlighted the impact of the regime’s violence on even the most innocent
Description:
"Moe Thandar was an adorable toddler who had just learned how to ask for things she wanted by raising her hand.
She was the firstborn daughter of Than Soe Aung and Nandar, a young couple from Kengtung in Shan State. She had just turned 14 months old and was the pride and joy of her family.
“Although she couldn’t speak yet, she would always gesture at us with her mouth when she was hungry and wave at animals and say ‘come, come’ whenever she saw them,” said her 23-year-old mother, Nandar. “If we called out to her to come to sleep, she would bring her own pillow and lie down.”
But in a country thrown into crisis by a military coup, even a child of Moe Thandar’s age and innocence can fall victim to the spiral of violence that has gripped Myanmar.
On the day that she died, her father was taking her to see a doctor for her diarrhoea. But as he was navigating the streets of Kengtung on his motorbike, he ran into a convoy of regime forces that was patrolling the town.
It was then that he became involved in a collision that knocked both him and his daughter off the motorcycle. Moe Thandar suffered a head injury that claimed her life a few hours later.
It was a devastating loss for her parents. But exactly what led to that tragic accident has become the subject of a lawsuit that now threatens to deprive Nandar not only of her child, but also of her husband.
True to its practice of avoiding accountability for its actions, the regime has blamed Than Soe Aung for his daughter’s death. In a case that has attracted considerable attention on social media, he is now facing trial for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The case has also highlighted the impact of the coup on some of Myanmar’s youngest citizens, who like many others have been caught up in the regime’s indiscriminate use of force to impose its will on the nation.
‘Pure agony’
Nandar said that her husband was sleeping soundly after a hard day of work as a cargo handler when she woke him up late in the evening of June 19 to tell him that their daughter needed medical attention.
“It was past 9pm that day. Our baby had diarrhoea all day, so my husband got up to take her to a doctor. He left on the motorbike, really worried about her,” she said.
With his daughter cradled in his left arm, Than Soe Aung set off to find a clinic that was still open at that late hour. When he couldn’t find one, he stopped at his uncle’s house to ask for help. He left there at around 10pm to return home.
It was near a restaurant called Shwe Nagar that he encountered the three-vehicle patrol convoy, which included military and police personnel, as well as the local general administrator.
What happened next is in dispute, but according to a police report circulating on the internet, Than Soe Aung failed to stop when one of the patrol vehicles blinked its headlights at him to signal that he should pull over for inspection.
However, another account offered by township police claims that the motorbike crashed after hitting the side of the car driven by the deputy chief of the township General Administration Department (GAD).
A third version of events—the one offered by Than Soe Aung himself, and conveyed to Myanmar Now through his wife—is that a car struck his motorbike from behind as he was trying to dodge a police car coming towards him on the wrong side of the road.
According to Nandar, a witness to the incident told her that her husband was also beaten by police and soldiers after being knocked off his motorcycle.
“He had to scream ‘I have a child here! I have a child here!’ in order for them to let him go pick our daughter up. Even then, it took quite a while to find her,” said Nandar, citing the witness.
“It was pure agony. I couldn’t even believe my own ears when I first heard about it.”
A second blow
After the couple got permission to collect their daughter’s body from the morgue at the Kengtung People’s Hospital, they held a funeral for her at the cemetery right away.
“I cried my eyes out. She was all we had. This whole incident filled me with rage and hatred,” recalled Nandar.
But before they could even begin to grieve, the now childless couple received another blow at the hands of the authorities.
When they returned to their home at around 5:30pm after spreading their daughter’s ashes in the river, a community leader arrived to summon them to the police station. That’s when they arrested Than Soe Aung.
“We begged them to wait just seven days so that we could hold a memorial service for our daughter. But they just wouldn’t let us,” said Nandar.
Than Soe Aung now faces up to seven years in prison for “culpable homicide not amounting to murder”—an offence under Section 304a of the Penal Code that applies to cases of impaired driving that result in death.
The move has outraged local citizens, who believe that the GAD official was the one responsible for the accident, and who should therefore be facing charges.
Despite her own anger over the incident, however, Nandar says she has no desire to press charges against anybody for what happened.
“I don’t want to file a lawsuit. We’re just day labourers. We don’t have that much money. Besides, if we sued [the GAD official], he would have to serve seven years. He’d lose his job. He’s got a family and children of his own,” she said.
Now living alone in the small apartment that they had rented for 500,000 kyat (about $300) a month, Nandar said she wouldn’t wish her fate on anybody, even those who had inflicted this suffering on her family.
“I think it was unfair that I had to lose my daughter and see my husband go to prison, but there is nothing I can do, is there? I just hope my husband will be released soon,” she said.
Innocent victims
However the case proceeds, it has served as a reminder for many of the toll that the coup has taken on children.
According to the United Nations, more than 60 minors under the age of 18 have been killed by regime forces since the military seized power five months ago. Many others have been injured.
Most were not involved in protests. Many happened to be in public places when police and soldiers were cracking down on demonstrators, while others were gunned down in their own homes during raids.
On the same day that Moe Thandar lost her life, Pho Thingyan was shot dead while running away from soldiers who suddenly appeared while he was playing in Yangon’s Bahan Township. He was just 13 years old.
Less than a month earlier, on May 27, a 14-year-old teen named Sunday Aye was shot in the head while fleeing from soldiers during a raid on the village of Kayan Thar in Kayah State’s Loikaw Township.
Kayah State is one of several areas, including Chin State and Sagaing Region, where the deployment of military forces to crush armed resistance to the coup has resulted in massive displacement of local civilians.
In many of these areas, illness is rife among the elderly and the very young due to a lack of access to basic shelter and healthcare. There have also been reports of infants and children dying due to harsh living conditions...."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Since the 1st of February, Myanmar has entered a phase of political crisis with a dramatic collapse of all services, including access to health care services and basic support for the most vulnerable within the population.
Description:
"The strong rejection of the military regime by a large majority of the population has led to disproportionate use of force and the escalation of violence against the civilians. It caused a number of deaths, up to 842 until June 3rd, 5 609 persons arrested, among them 4 468 are still detained, and 250 000 people displaced since the military coup.
Médecins du Monde (MdM) is increasingly concerned about the rising tolls and barriers to access health care services as the majority of public health facilities remain closed.
Médecins du Monde has implemented, since 1994, programs in direction of marginalized and vulnerable groups with a continuity of services during all those years. Today, our clinic in Yangon is closed, as it has been for the past 2 months, as the safety and security of our staffs and patients, our first concern, cannot be assured. Services to our patients are largely affected, after already almost a year of challenging times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the population no longer has access to basic survival means, including food, being unable to have money in hands, and of course access to health care, which creates a situation where most of the basic needs are not fulfilled anymore.
THE BURMESE BETWEEN FEAR AND VIOLATED RIGHTS
People from Myanmar are suffering and will suffer for an undetermined period of time from a regime of terror and abusive detentions. Humanitarian actors already present in the country need to be able to reach the population without barriers: this is a question of ensuring respect for fundamental human rights. People need to have unhindered access to basic health services, and humanitarian organizations that are well established in Myanmar.
MdM strongly condemns all forms of violence against healthcare workers as they endanger the health and human rights of the people of Myanmar. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global surveillance system in their three-month post-coup review, there have been 158 reported attacks on health care workers, resulting in 11 deaths and 51 injuries and more than 100 doctors have been arrested since the beginning of February.
PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN MYANMAR
We urge the military regime to cease all violent and repressive actions taken against the population. We also call on the international community to take unified action to protect the people of Myanmar in the best way possible, increasing humanitarian aid through international NGOs and local civil society organizations on the ground, preparing for the internal displacements and refugee crisis which will be inevitable if things continue this way..."
Source/publisher:
Médecins du Monde
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"On June 30, the military regime released over 2,000 people who had been detained over the past five months for their involvement in the anti-junta movement.
Most of those freed were civilians detained in anti-regime protests, as well as 12 journalists. The Irrawaddy has interviewed some of the freed journalists about how they were arrested and their experiences in prison.....Ko Aung Mya Than Reporter, Ayeyarwaddy Times: Eight junta vehicles surrounded my house and I was taken away for interrogation. I was beaten. They punched me in my ribs, face and mouth and slapped my face. Around eight drunken soldiers interrogated me, while accusing journalists of making false reports.
I challenged [the military] in a Facebook live on the day of the coup [on Feb. 1]. So they had a grudge against me and beat me while interrogating me for challenging them. At first, I was questioned at Maubin Police Station [in Maubin Township, Ayeyarwady Region]. My face got swollen and my mouth was terribly bruised [from the beatings]. I was not allowed to sleep that night and the whole of the next day. In fact, it was a beating rather than an interrogation as I had challenged them [on Facebook live]. Seven [soldiers] beat me and they didn’t even give me water.
Two days after my arrest, I was taken to Light Infantry Battalion 27 and interrogated again. I was not beaten there. After questioning, I was placed in solitary confinement at Maubin Prison until I was released.
I was detained for one month and 19 days and I was kept in solitary confinement throughout my detention, except for three days in a prison cell with others. It appears that I have suffered some internal injuries. I am afraid that I will suffer from the effects of the torture later in my life. For now, I am fine except for frequent dizziness.
In prison, detainees charged under 505(a) [incitement charge] were not tortured. It was only during interrogations that detainees were tortured. Even the police could not interfere. They [soldiers] were pretending to be police. Among them [those who interrogated me] were people from the special branch [of police], the military security affairs office and soldiers. Most of them were soldiers. They did the interrogations. Police could not interfere and had to do what they were told by the soldiers. They [the military] are overstepping their authority.....Ko Zin Thaw Naing Editor, Democracy Vision: I was arrested by police from Botahtaung Police Station in Yangon and was taken to the police station. I was put into a cell and then a military officer questioned me. I was beaten and punched that night while I was being interrogated. I was remanded in custody the following day and the police took me to the prison for fear that something might happen to me at the police station.
I was not sent to an interrogation center. They had already filed a lawsuit against me for swearing at the coup leader before I got arrested. They got nothing from my phone when I was arrested. So they were not able to file a new charge and only charged me for swearing.
Frankly speaking, as they have our personal information, they can arrest us any time they want. We were freed, but it is like moving from a small prison to a bigger one. They can arrest us at any time for any excuse.....Ko Banyar Oo Freelance Journalist: I was sent straight to prison. I was questioned by the police at the prison. I was not beaten during the interrogation. Normally, people who were interrogated [at a police station or interrogation center] before being sent to prison were beaten. The food they gave us inside the prison was not OK. It was lousy and could hardly be called rice and curry. They gave us lectures to suppress our morale and, as we refused to obey prison rules, they put us in solitary confinement.
Altogether seven journalists were placed in solitary confinement and sent to the main jail. There is a room in which prisoners are forced to squat in the stress position. We were taken to that room and asked to squat in the stress position. We had an argument as we told them not to treat political prisoners that way. Then, the other political prisoners who were already squatting there joined the argument, which lead to a clash. We were then sent to a criminal prisoners’ wing as a punishment for instigating the argument. We spent 18 days there.
Although we were not beaten, we were threatened with solitary confinement if we talked to each other. It was a violation of our human rights. They didn’t set conditions for our release. But we have concerns that they may arrest us if there are bomb explosions or arson attacks near our homes. So I feel unsafe.....Ko Soe Yarzar Tun
Freelance Journalist: At Insein Prison the correctional department staff sat on chairs as they interrogated us, while we were told to sit on the floor. They attempted to suppress the political prisoners by doing that. There were 80 people in my cell and, around two days later, they selected four including me and put us in solitary confinement. I think I was in solidarity confinement for one day and one night.
At first, I could make phone calls through the police. Then, I could not contact my family for the next two months. Later, at the trial, I could contact them by using my lawyer’s phone. We were not tortured like political prisoners were tortured in the past, but they punished us for not obeying prison rules. We didn’t have to negotiate with prison authorities to get released.
The police only swore at me a little when I got arrested and did nothing to me. The following day, I was sent to an interrogation center. I was not beaten there either. The prison was too overcrowded. As more detainees came, there were more than 80 people per cell and we had to sleep on our sides as there was no room to lie flat.
There were no significant human rights violations against those charged under Article 505(a). But around half of the detainees on each wing were sick. On June 28, some 15 people arrived in the prison after being interrogated. Three of them were very sick and suspected of having COVID-19. The three were placed in solitary confinement and the others were placed in a separate cell. There is a clinic inside the prison which gave out medicine. I am concerned that I might be arrested again for no reason. I have to be more careful as I was arrested even though I didn’t do anything wrong.....Ko Ye Myo Khant
Photojournalist (Myanmar Pressphoto Agency): I was not beaten when I was arrested. But I was threatened and pressured to confess that I had violated journalist ethics by protesting against the coup and also that I had incited people to protest. I was sent straight to prison and was not taken to an interrogation center.
There were human rights violations against political prisoners while we were in prison. [Prison staff] treated political prisoners more harshly than those who committed other crimes. Those under pretrial detention didn’t have to do labor. But those who were convicted under Article 505(a) had to do some labor at the main jail. I was not beaten in prison.
Young people under 18 years were detained for a long time in prison. So were sick and elderly persons. I saw at least three people who died in prison after falling sick..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Dear respected members of the Parliament of the European Union, thank you so much
indeed for giving me this great opportunity to represent my people and country of Myanmar,
which have suffered too much for far too long under the hands of the failed coup leader Min
Aung Hlaing and his military junta regime’s reign of terror against the 54 million people of
Myanmar.
This is the darkest moment in our history. The people of Myanmar are facing the darkness
of the genocidal military junta. While the future of Myanmar is in the hands of the brave
people of Myanmar, we need the strong and continued support, friendship and recognition
from the people, Parliamentarians, and European Union and its international alliance. Your
support and recognition are absolutely crucial in ending this cruel military junta in Myanmar
and building a new Myanmar into an inclusive federal democratic union for ALL the people
of Myanmar regardless of race, religion, culture, gender, background and ethnicity.
Under the hands of the failed coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing and his genocidal military junta
forces, the 54 million people of Myanmar are facing brutal crimes against humanity, war
crimes and ethnic cleansing.
1. Over 915 people, including 72 children have been murdered in cold blood since 1st of
February 2021 when the military Generals in Myanmar took entire nation hostage.
2. More than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people were arrested illegally without cause.
3. Many of our democratically elected leaders of Myanmar are facing a show trial with
fraud charges which has nothing to do with the rule of law but has everything to do
with the destruction of our democracy and freedom, and the prolonging of the military
junta reign of terror against the people of Myanmar.
4. More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee for their lives from illegal arrest
warrants.
5. A Few days ago the military junta in Myanmar made another show again by releasing
more than 2,000 illegally detained civilian hostages who should never have been
arrested in the first place. The military junta is preparing another mass illegal arrest
by releasing them as show and also for making more spaces at famous junta run
concentration camps - the Insein Prison and other junta run concentration camps and
prison cells across the country. Insein prison and other junta run prisons must be
closed by the international community immediately before these concentration
camps become the place of hell where human beings are being dehumanized by the junta forces. These prisoners of conscious held in these concentration camps have
done nothing wrong; they simply were using their right to freedom of expression.
6. 1.2 million innocent people of Myanmar have fled for their lives from their homes,
villages, town and cities which have come under attack by the genocidal military junta
forces, who are guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing
against the people of Rohinga our brothers and sisters, the people in Kachin, Karen,
Kayah, Mon, Shan, Rakhine and Chin States which make over 40% of the Myanmar
population. (UNCHR: 1.2 million IDPs, Refugees from Myanmar).
7. 27 million people of Myanmar will be living in poverty within a year. (Half the
population of Myanmar will live under the poverty line within a year - UNDP).
8. 6.4 million people in Myanmar will have no food by the end of October this year
(United Nations World Food Programs - WFP).
9. We have received several hundred thousand emails: 151,000 emails contain
documented cases of crimes against humanity, and 310,000 videos and photographs
of atrocities.
10.427 strong cases are being open by international human rights lawyers on behalf of
28,005 victims who suffered crimes against humanity committed by the military junta
forces. These are being named with case details and cases notes.
11. Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly and out of control without the provision of Covid-
19 vaccinations. Myanmar is becoming another breeding ground for Covid-19.
12. Myanmar is quickly becoming a failed state, and our economy is collapsing without
break, our health care, education and other basic services are paralyzed, and food
insecurity is sharply rising.
13.The violence and killing continue and are becoming more and more widespread
across the nation.
14.Therefore, we are getting closer and nearer to a great civil bloodbath, great civil war,
and another genocide, which can be prevented only by the international community’s
strong actions against this genocidal military regime in Myanmar.
15.The ASEAN five-point consensus on Myanmar passed more than two months without
any actions on the ground, and the military junta continues to use ASEAN as their
propaganda tool.
16.The 76th UN General Assembly resolution adopted on Myanmar has passed two
weeks with no results on the ground in Myanmar. The military junta in Myanmar keeps
showing zero respect for the International Community, our ASEAN brothers and
sisters, and the people of Myanmar.
17.The military junta forces have occupied our churches, schools, community halls and
hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots. These junta forces are replacing
textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns and bullets; replacing
Bibles and hymnals with intimidation, oppression, mortars and bombs; and replacing
life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of torture, destruction and death.
18.It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the
school children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of
worship and community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the
communities, pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is
not normal that our hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is
crashing due to this military reign of terror. It is not normal that our teachers, tutors,
professors, doctors, nurses, midwives, engineers, scholars and civil servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their peaceful movement of Civil
Disobedient Movement-CDM which is more powerful than all the military junta’s acts
of terrorism against the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
175.27 KB
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Description:
"July 4 (Reuters) - Myanmar security forces killed at least 25 people on Friday in a confrontation with opponents of the military junta at a town in the centre of the Southeast Asian nation, two residents and Myanmar media said on Sunday.
A spokesman for the military did not respond to calls requesting comment on the violence at Depayin in the Sagaing region, about 300 km (200 miles) north of the capital, Naypyidaw.
The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said "armed terrorists" had ambushed security forces patrolling there, killing one of them and wounding six. It said the attackers retreated after retaliation by the security forces.
Myanmar has been plunged into chaos by the Feb. 1 coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with violence flaring in many parts of the country of more than 53 million people.
One resident of Depayin, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said four military trucks dropped soldiers at the village early on Friday.
Youths from a local People's Defence Force, formed to oppose the junta, took up positions to confront them. However, they only had makeshift weapons and were forced back by the security forces' heavier firepower, the resident said.
"There were people dying at farms and by the railroad. They (soldiers) shot everything that moved," said another resident, who said his uncle was among the dead.
A total of 25 bodies had been collected after the fighting, both residents said.
The BBC Burmese service website and Than Lwin Khet News service carried similar accounts. The Myanmar Now news service put the death toll at not fewer than 31 and said about 10,000 people had fled the area.
Reuters was not able to verify the details independently.
The Depayin People's Defence Force said on its Facebook page that 18 of its members had been killed and 11 wounded.
People's Defence Forces have been founded by opponents of the junta in many parts of Myanmar, some of them in association with a National Unity Government set up underground as a rival to the military administration.
About two dozen ethnic armed groups have fought for decades in Myanmar's borderlands, but Depayin is in the heartland of the ethnic Bamar majority, which also dominates the armed forces.
Violence since the coup has driven more than 230,000 people from their homes, the United Nations says. It also says more than 880 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and more than 5,200 are in detention.
The military authorities have said these figures are not true, but have not given their own estimates.
The army says its assumption of power was in line with the constitution. It alleged fraud in November elections swept by Suu Kyi's party, although the accusations were dismissed by the former electoral body.
In another challenge for the authorities, Myanmar reported a daily record of 2,318 COVID-19 cases on Sunday. The state health system has foundered after it was deserted by doctors and other health workers in protest at the military takeover..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ နိုင်ငံတကာ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုလုပ်ငန်းများအတွက် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ သဘောထားရပ်တည်ချက် မြန်မာ ဘာသာပြန် အပြည့်အစုံ
လူသားချင်းစာနာမှု အကူအညီများ ပေးအပ်လျက်ရှိသော နိုင်ငံတကာ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအတွက် အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့်ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနနှင့် လာရောက်ထိတွေ့ ပူးပေါင်း ညှိနှိုင်း ဆောင်ရွက်ကာ ပိုမိုထိရောက်သော လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေး နည်းလမ်းများအားဖော်ထုတ်အကောင်အထည်ဖော်နိုင်ရေး ကို ဦးတည်လျက် ဤသဘောထားရပ်တည်ချက်ကို ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။
(ထုတ်ပြန်ချက် အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ ဘာသာ နှစ်မျိုးစလုံးကို ဝန်ကြီးဌာန website https://mohadm.nugmyanmar.org တွင် ရယူနိုင်မည် ဖြစ်ပြီး pdf file လိုအပ်ပါက email မှ တဆင့် ဆက်သွယ်တောင်းခံနိုင်ပါသည်။)..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.69 MB
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Description:
"Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 22 individuals connected to Burma’s military regime.
Among the individuals sanctioned today are seven key members of Burma’s military, which continues to repress the pro-democracy movement in the country and use lethal force against the people of Burma, including children and members of ethnic minority groups. The other 15 individuals are the spouses or adult children of previously designated senior Burmese military officials whose financial networks have contributed to military officials’ ill-gotten gains. OFAC designated all these individuals pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014, “Blocking Property with Respect to the Situation in Burma.” These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma.
“The military’s suppression of democracy and campaign of brutal violence against the people of Burma are unacceptable,” said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Today’s action demonstrates that the United States will continue to impose increasing costs on Burma’s military and promote accountability for those responsible for the military coup and ongoing violence, including by targeting sources of revenue for the military and its leaders.”
These measures complement new restrictions announced today by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on four entities that have provided support to Burma’s military. Effective July 2, BIS added the following four entities to the Department of Commerce Entity List set forth in Supp. No. 4 to Part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR Parts 730-774 (EAR): King Royal Technologies Co., Ltd., a telecommunications company providing satellite communication services to Burma’s military, as well as Wanbao Mining and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper, Ltd. and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper, Ltd., copper mining companies that provide support to Burma’s military through revenue-sharing arrangements with Myanma Economic Holdings Limited, which Treasury designated on March 25, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014. As a consequence of their addition to the Entity List, a license requirement applies to all items subject to the EAR that are destined for the four entities, and BIS will review any license applications under a review policy of a presumption of denial.
As part of today’s action, the following seven individuals, who are members of Burma’s military regime, are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021:
Saw Daniel, Banyar Aung Moe, and Aye Nu Sein are members of the State Administrative Council (SAC), the body created by the military on February 2, 2021 to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government, and which Treasury designated on May 17, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014;
Chit Naing is the Minister for Information;
Aung Naing Oo is the Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations;
Myint Kyaing is the Minister for Labor, Immigration, and Population; and
Thet Thet Khine is the Minister of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement.
In addition to the individuals identified above, the following 15 individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a spouse or adult child of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14014.
Kyu Kyu Hla is the spouse of SAC Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Than Than Nwe is the spouse of SAC Vice Chairman Vice Senior General Soe Win, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Thet Thet Aung is the spouse of SAC member General Mya Tun Oo, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Than Than Aye is the spouse of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Aung Mar Myint is the spouse of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021;
Khaing Pa Pa Chit is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021;
Moe Htet Htet Tun is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Khaing Moe Myint is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Yadanar Moe Myint is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Daw Nilar is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Theit Thinzar Ye is the adult child of Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo;
Ohn Mar Myint is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Shwe Ye Phu Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe;
Hlaing Bwar Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe; and
Phyo Arkar Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe.
As a result of today’s OFAC action, all property and interests in property of the persons named above that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of the Treasury (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the third
month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire
country in armed conflict. It has escalated military attacks on urban-based
movements and border-based ethnic communities.
Security forces, including notorious units that committed genocidal atrocities
against Rohingya people, unleashed lethal battlefield tactics in towns and cities,
launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, and shelled villages in Chin,
Kachin, Karen, Shan, and Sagaing States/Regions.
During April alone, security forces killed at least 288 civilians and displaced over
27,000. The junta sentenced 26 civilians to death in military tribunals.
In total, it has killed at least 845 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over
47,000 ethnic community members, and detained at least 4,537 politicians, activists,
journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.
The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., the elected
parliament) formed an ethnically diverse National Unity Government (NUG).
ASEAN leaders invited junta leader Min Aung Hlaing—who illegally grabbed power
on 1 February—to a meeting, rather than Burma’s legitimate civilian government.
The meeting resolution contained “Five Points of Consensus,” including peaceful
negotiation and cessation of violence in Burma, but not including the release of
political detainees. The junta preceded the meeting by criminalizing the NUG, and
followed the meeting by continuing its violence throughout the country.
The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the
economy, potentially dragging it back by 15 years. The UN projects that by 2022,
48% of the country will be in poverty.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o The UN Security Council must work
with ASEAN, to ensure it complies with
UNSC resolutions on the protection of
civilians, the Geneva Conventions, and
international human rights standards;
o The UN, foreign states, and
international finance institutions (IFIs)
must sanction and stop assisting the
junta; and
o These actors must engage with the NUG
as the legitimate government of Burma,
rather than the junta.....CONTENTS: 2 Burma movement demands
2 Democratic government
4 De jure and de facto authority
5 Air strikes and a new civil war
7 Offensives cross international lines
7 Attempts to stop defections
8 Junta’s violent crackdown
9 Bago massacre, Sagaing attacks
9 Tactics of fear and repression
10 Civilians sentenced to death
11 Media/information restrictions
12 Protests continue despite dangers
13 ASEAN meeting
14 International reactions, sanctions
18 Corporations pick sides
19 Coup continues to destroy economy..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
762.46 KB
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Description:
"CONTENTS: 2 Trials for NLD leaders
2 NUG and CRPH
5 COVID-19 surge
5 Conflict and displacement
6 Ceasefires
6 Displacement
7 Fighting by region
9 Protests and violent crackdowns
12 Resistance bites
12 Women continue to lead, and to
suffer disproportionately
13 International reactions, sanctions
15 ASEAN engagement
15 ASEAN-China meeting
17 UN General Assembly
17 G7 Summit
17 Effects on foreign business
18 Foreign links identified
18 Economy continues to sink
19 Junta continues to enrich itself.....Junta seeks to bolster coup narrative: Since April, the junta has published at least three
propaganda books that omitted its killing of over 800
pro-democracy protesters. The books focused on the
myth that the military had to take over due to
widespread electoral fraud by the NLD in the 2020
elections. According to the books’ prefaces: “Although
Myanmar’s democracy foundation shaped by the
Tatmadaw since 1988 is making certain progress, the
democratic journey is delayed by voter-list errors and
poor transparency in the 2020 election and the failure
to handle the Tatmadaw’s statements on the election.”
On 10 June, the Ministry of Information reported that
the junta’s Union Election Commission had found
evidence of electoral fraud by the NLD after examining
the voter lists and voting conditions in 49 townships in
Shan State. It declared that NLD candidates violated
the Hluttaw Election Law, as well as COVID-19
prevention and control guidelines during the campaign
and on polling day. The Commission added that the
NLD had “arranged to seize power in advance”, and
concluded that the election was not free and fair. This
was one in a months-long series of examinations by
location since February.
During the ASEAN-Russian Federation Summit on
Security on 28 June, junta representative Lt-Gen Yar
Pyae said that electoral fraud by the NLD had led to a
loss of trust in democracy and the election system. He
claimed that the Tatmadaw had no choice but to take
power to maintain stability. Yar Pyae also accused the
NLD of banning “the rights of democracy, including
media freedom” during its first term in office, and
blamed the kyat’s drop in value and increased
commodity prices on their “wrong” economic policies.
Irrawaddy (24 Jun 2021) Myanmar Junta Propaganda Books
Hope to Rewrite History; SAC (10 Jun 2021) Announcement
of Union Election Commission; SAC (29 Jun 2021) Union
Minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae joins virtual ASEAN-Russian
Federation Summit on Security Affairs.....Junta’s “perfect information”: In light of widespread condemnation by independent
media, the NUG, and foreign governments, the junta
sought to dispute the facts about its military actions.
On 7 June, it denied that its troops initiated a 5 June
shootout with villagers armed with homemade guns
in Kyonpyaw Township (Ayeyarwady Region). This
contradicted news reports that the Tatmadaw fired
first. The junta also alleged that three villagers were
killed, compared to 20 in other sources.
On 19 June, it criticized CNN and Reuters for their
“wrong news without media ethics” after they
reported, on 17 June, that junta forces had burned
down 80% of homes in Kinma Village, Pauk
Township (Magway Region). It alleged that a local
PDF and insurgents from Chin State set fire to the
house of a USDP member during a clash with
security forces on June 15, leading to more fires.
Also on 19 June, it published a press release on the
incident, accusing the CRPH, NUG, PDF, extremist
NLD members and followers of spreading rumours
on social networks to cause instability. On 20 June,
it alleged that the PDF had deliberately set fire to
Kinma to raise funds through Facebook donations,
tarnish the image of the government, and draw
international condemnation.
On 21 June, the (reconstituted) Myanmar Press
Council released a statement that unlicensed local
media outlets, international news agencies, and
foreign embassies had spread fake news regarding
the events in Kinma to help international
organizations interfere with the country’s internal
affairs. It said it would not be responsible for further
disputes that occur if media workers contact and
provide information to news outlets whose licenses
were revoked by the junta. The next day, the junta
said official news media had already provided “the
perfect information” and urged news agencies to
follow international media ethics.
SAC (7 Jun 2021) Exaggeration of media on attack in
Ayeyawady Region; Myanmar Now (5 Jun 2021) Junta
troops kill three civilians in shootout over arrest of local
villager; Guardian (6 Jun 2021) Myanmar junta forces
reportedly kill 20 civilians in fresh clashes; SAC (19 Jun
2021) CNN, Reuters news agencies presenting news
without media ethics need to post correct news; SAC (19
Jun 2021) Public information released not to believe fake
and false news on social networks; SAC (20 Jun 2021)
Statement strongly condemns media outlets and
organizations spreading false information on Kinma fire
case; SAC (22 Jun 2021) Media council releases
statement urging to follow journalism ethics; SAC (26 Jun
2021) Myanmar Press Council – Announcement 5/2021.....Latest information control measure: whitelists: In June, internet providers in Burma confirmed that
the junta plans to allow access only to approved
(“whitelisted”) websites/platforms, whereas before
the internet was open except for blacklisted sites.
From February, the junta instructed internet
providers to ban platforms like Facebook and
Twitter, and continued to add other websites, often
via twice-weekly directives. A senior official at
Burma telecommunications company MPT said the
junta gave the company hundreds of thousands of
IP addresses to blacklist, including news websites.
For nearly 50 days, there were only around 500,000
internet connections in a country of 54
million. Website/platform bans and internet
blackouts disrupted even the most basic functions of
the banking, education, transportation, and
healthcare sectors.
The junta restored access to the internet over mobile
data in May. Popular websites and platforms like
Facebook and Twitter remain inaccessible without a
VPN, but some mobile banking applications became
usable again. An IT professional said that while the
junta could not ban some Cloudflare VPNs, most
VPNs could be shut down as whitelisting begins.
All internet users in Burma will likely eventually be
affected by whitelisting, but so far the whitelist only
seems to be affecting mobile internet. The ministry
has sent its lists of over 1,000 websites and
applications to be whitelisted, and mandated that
mobile operators and internet service providers
follow the whitelist plan.
MPT was also recently required to begin monitoring
calls and the most frequently visited websites.
Senior official said they could not view emails and
chats, but were monitoring the highest traffic
websites from local IP addresses.
Frontier Myanmar (30 Jun 2021) Whitelisted internet
takes Myanmar back to a ‘dark age’..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
836.38 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the second
month of its power grab, has escalated military offensives on both the democracy
movement and border-based ethnic communities.
Security forces have unleashed lethal battlefield tactics and weapons on civilians
throughout the country, killing scores in the towns and cities of Ayeyarwaddy,
Bago, Kachin, Mandalay, Mon, Sagaing, Shan, Thanitharyi, and Yangon States and
Regions.
The junta has launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, in apparent
retaliation for opposition to the coup.
The junta has already killed at least 536 civilians, injured hundreds more, and
detained at least 2,729 politicians, activists, journalists and others, in attacks
against the democracy movement. It has also killed at least 23 and displaced over
20,000 in attacks on ethnic communities.
o During March alone, the junta killed at least 513, and displaced over 18,000.
Despite being threatened with the death penalty for “treason,” the Committee
Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., representing the national
parliament) abolished the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, paving the way for the
establishment of a national unity government with ethnic organizations.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o Foreign states and bodies enact targeted
sanctions on the military (Tatmadaw),
Tatmadaw-affiliated companies and
partners, including a global arms embargo;
o All International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
immediately freeze existing loans, recall
prior loans and reassess the post-coup
situation; and
o The UN Security Council immediately send
a delegation to prevent further violence and
ensure the situation is peacefully resolved.
The Tatmadaw has sought to weaken popular opposition by reintroducing the death
penalty, and enforcing a string of oppressive legal amendments and orders that
violate human rights of anybody the junta perceives as an enemy. It enumerated 23
laws or causes of action that would subject civilians to prosecution by court-martial.
Millions of civilians continue to protest nationwide—in almost every township in
Burma—despite military intimidation and brutal violence.....CONTENTS: 2 Coup timeline
2 Committee Representing
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
3 Nationwide peaceful protest
3 Illegal junta’s violent crackdown
4 Junta “apologizes” and then ramps
up violence
6 Attacks on ethnic communities
7 Desperate junta orders
8 International condemnation and
sanctions
10 Corporations pull back
10 Coup destabilizes economy..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
519.67 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial, or economic control in the fourth
month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire
country in armed conflict.
Security forces created battlefields in more towns and cities, expanded airstrikes
on Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Sagaing States/Regions, and shelled villages
in all of these places as well as in Shan State.
During May alone, security forces killed at least 125 civilians and displaced over
150,000. There were 530 violent attacks that either targeted or failed to protect
civilians in the first three weeks of May, and a total 2,098 incidents 1 Feb–21 May.
In total, they have killed over 1,000 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over
200,000 mainly ethnic minority people, and detained at least 5,554 politicians,
activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.
The National Unity Government (NUG) formed an interim armed force, began a
constitutional reform process, and took other democratic, inclusive governance
measures. It suggested granting ICC jurisdiction over events since 1 February.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing snubbed ASEAN’s 5-point consensus by escalating
violence and discarding commitments without consequences—ASEAN members
instead moved to remove the call for an arms embargo at the UN General Assembly.
The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the
economy. The value of the Kyat fell by 20% since January, inflating costs for people
already impacted by the crippling economic impacts of the coup and COVID-19.
Junta leaders, secure in their access to foreign currency through oil, gas, and
natural resource exploitation, seem willing to accept destruction of the domestic
economy as the price of territorial control.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o The UN, foreign states, and international
finance institutions (IFIs) must expand
sanctions;
o These actors must engage with the NUG
as the legitimate government of Burma,
rather than the junta; and
o The UN Security Council must take a
more active role, in the face of ASEAN’s
weakness and the junta’s intransigence.....CONTENTS: 2 NUG fights for democracy
5 Air strikes, artillery, and attacks
on towns
10 Violent crackdowns on resistance
13 Resistance bites
14 Protests continue despite dangers
15 Women continue to lead, and
continue to be targeted
16 International reactions, sanctions
18 More corporations depart
19 Economy continues to sink
20 Junta focuses on extractives for
personal enrichment..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
779.14 KB
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Description:
"From tomorrow onwards, AAPP will not publish a briefing, detention, and fatality lists on Sunday’s.
As of 3 July, (890) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region 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 July 3, a total of (5၀86) people are currently under detention. (233) people have been sentenced in person, of them 26 have been sentenced to death (incl. 2 children). 1964 are evading arrest warrants. 118 people have been sentenced in absentia, of them 39 sentenced to death in absentia.
Total 65 sentenced to death in person and absentia. We are also continuing to verify the recently released detainees.
On the night of July 2 at Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region, Moe Hein, a high school teacher at a private school, and his wife Su Su Hlaing, both were former executive members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myingyan Township, were shot to death by a pro-junta group called “Pyu Saw Htee”
Pwint Wai, a nurse, from Shan Inn Village in Sagaing Region’s Kalaywa Township, who is involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), was arrested by junta police in the evening of July 2. Nyein Chan Wai from Bago Weekly Journal, who was charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, was also charged under Section 124(a) of the Penal Code. He was arrested at his home in Bago Region’s Letpadan Township on the night of May 14.
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 entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.24 MB 4.68 MB
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Description:
"Announcement for Illegal permits and projects (related to exploration, extraction and
trading of minerals, gems, peart, timber and other resources) approved by the Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation under the control of the terrorist
military council considered null and void by the National Unity Government
1. It is reportedly learnt that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation under the control of the terrorist State Administration Council (SAC) has
been attempting to cam revenue for the SAC through exploring, extracting, and
trading of minerals, gems, pearl, timber and other natural resources, and granting the
exploration permits, gems/mineral mining permits, and granting new licenses and
renewal of old licenses for sales of gems and jewelry has been earned out by this
ministry of the SAC. Furthermore, it is also observed that this Ministry is making efforts
to gather revenue for the SAC by collecting the different taxes related to gems, and
minerals including land leases, exploration royalty, commercial tax, and special goods
tax. auction selling of Myanma gems, jades, and pearls in the Emporium, exporting
finished jade products through One Stop Service (OSS), tender selling of extracted
logs, transport of logs, and trading and exporting the finished timber products.
2. The Ministry of the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation under the
National Unity Government has, by issuing the Announcement (1/2021), already
requested all entrepreneurs and companies not to get involved in any acts including
business activities conducted by the SAC, and has warned that the punishment shall
be taken against those who are found to be in ties with the SAC.
3. The National Unity Government (NUG) has also declared, through the announcement
(3/2021) issued by the Ministry of Planning. Finance and Investment of the NUG. that
the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) of the SAC shall not be recognized as legal
body, and all the investments and projects approved by the MIC be considered null and void. It has already announced that all sponsors of and those involved in such
projects will be held criminally liable for any violations of the existing legal
frameworks.
4. It is reportedly learnt that the Ministry under the control of the SAC is planning to
issue new permits and licenses for artisanal extraction, small scale, and medium scale
extraction for gems, jade and minerals as the current ones will soon be expired.
Therefore, the Ministry of the NUG hereby urges all entrepreneurs and companies not
to renew permits and licenses.
5. The Ministry also urges all entrepreneurs and companies who are conducting the
extraction of minerals, gem, pearl, timber and other resources not to get involved
directly or indirectly in any cooperation or ties with the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environmental Conservation under the control of the SAC.
6. The Ministry of the NUG hereby warns that all entrepreneurs and companies who are
in ties with the Ministry of the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation
under the control of the SAC will be blacklisted, and such information will be publicly
disclosed, and if necessary, legal measures will be taken against them in accordance
with the existing laws. The Ministry of the NUG also reiterates our warning that we,
the MONRE-NUG, shall not recognize any permits and licenses for exploration,
extracting, and trading of minerals, gem, pearl, timber and other natural resources,
warning that all staff who lead and get involved in the process of granting permits and
licenses will be recorded and plausible measures will be taken against them
accordingly.
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation
National Unity Government..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
43.53 KB
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Description:
"As of 2 July, (888) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. oup. AAPP compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. These (3) fallen heroes from Monywa Township in Sagaing Region, Pyay Township and Shwedaung Township in Bago Region were killed on 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 July 2, a total of (5173) people are currently under detention. (233) people have been sentenced in person, of them 26 have been sentenced to death (incl. 2 children). 1964 are evading arrest warrants. 118 people have been sentenced in absentia, of them 39 sentenced to death in absentia.
Total 65 sentenced to death in person and absentia. We are also continuing to verify the recently released detainees.
A youth named Thiha Zaw a.k.a. Nge Lay, who helped people injured during a bomb blast at a factory in Monywa Industry Zone, Sagaing Region, was arrested on the afternoon of July 1. Thiha Zaw’s body was returned on the evening of July 1.
The family was informed on July 1 that a civilian named Soe Min from Bago Region’s Pyay Township, who was arrested on the night of June 29 due to a junta informer who alleged Soe Min destroyed Mya Village School. The body of Soe Min was found with injuries consistent with torture, including bruises over his thigh and body, and electric shock wounds.
In addition to this, Aung Aung Lwin, a 19-year-old, arrested on the night of June 28 due to a junta informer in Shwedaung Township, Bago Region, was tortured to death in interrogation. His body was cremated by the junta on July 1 without being allowed to be seen by the family.
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 entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
1.22 MB 1.16 MB 4.78 MB
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Sub-title:
Wrongful Prosecutions Violate Rights to Counsel, Fair Trial of Accused
Description:
" Myanmar’s security forces have recently arbitrarily arrested at least six lawyers defending political prisoners, violating both the lawyers’ rights and those of their clients, Human Rights Watch said today. The arrests deprive defendants of their counsel of choice and the right to a fair trial and undermine the principle of the independence of the legal profession.
“The Myanmar junta’s wrongful arrest and prosecution of lawyers sends a chilling message that defending those arrested since the February 1 coup may lead to criminal prosecution,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal advisor. “Lawyers should be permitted to do their jobs without fear of arrest and intimidation.”
At least three of the lawyers have been arrested while attending court:
On May 24, 2021, security forces arrested Thein Hlaing Tun, a lawyer defending the deposed Naypyitaw council head Dr. Myo Aung, after a court hearing in the case in Naypyitaw.
On May 27, security forces arrested Ayar Linn Htut while she was defending a political prisoner at Hinthada District Court, in Ayeyarwady Region.
On June 2, security forces arrested Thet Tun Oo as he tried to attend a trial for one of his clients in Myitkyina. Thet Tun Oo is defending more than 120 political prisoners in Kachin State.
The authorities have arrested other lawyers at home, on the street, or as they sought to leave the country. Security forces beat and arrested May Zun Ko, a lawyer providing pro bono legal services for detainees, as she walked down the street in Mandalay on May 1. On June 10, security forces arrested Nilar and Hpone Myat Thu, part of the defense team for the deposed Kayin state chief minister, as they tried to leave the country after learning of outstanding warrants for their arrest.
Some of the lawyers have been charged with violating section 505A of the Penal Code, a new provision put in place by the junta that makes it a criminal offense to make 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 by up to three years in prison.
Targeting lawyers for their work defending political prisoners contravenes the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, Human Rights Watch said. Under the Basic Principles, lawyers must be permitted to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, or improper interference, and should not be subject to civil or criminal penalties for good faith statements made in defense of their clients.
The clients of the arbitrarily arrested lawyers who themselves are in custody are being denied their right to be represented by counsel of their choice and to have a fair trial, Human Rights Watch said.
“Arresting defense lawyers makes it abundantly clear that Myanmar’s junta has no interest in providing a fair trial for pro-democracy activists and that justice under military rule is an illusion,” Lakhdhir said. “The United Nations and concerned governments should demand the immediate release of the six lawyers, along with all of those arbitrarily detained since the coup.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"1. The National Unity Government (NUG) held a virtual press conference (2/2021) for Burmese
language media on 25 June and for English language media on 28 June.
2. The Ministry of Labour of the NUG released statement 2/2021 on 26 June to confirm that the
announcement made by the military junta’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population
on 1 March 2021 was not in accordance with the law.
The junta Ministry outlawed sixteen labour organisations, including federations of trade
unions, and called their activities illegal. The junta threatened to take actions against such
activities under existing laws.
The NUG Ministry of Labour points out that Myanmar is a party to the ILO Convention
concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Therefore, every
worker has the right to establish and organise to promote labour interests. The NUG also
points to Myanmar’s Labour Organisation Law (2011) concerning registration.
The junta has neither the right nor the authority to designate labour organisations that register
under this law as unlawful organisations.
The Ministry of Labour of the NUG states therefore that the announcement made by the army
council violates the Geneva Convention and that the sixteen labour organisations mentioned
in the junta’s announcement have the right to exist and to continue their work.
3. The web page for the Ministry of Education https://moe.nugmyanmar.org/ was launched on
27 June 2021. Biographies of Ministers, activities and the organisation of the department,
announcements and contact emails are published on this page.
Also included is information on how to join interim education programmes for primary and
secondary levels and vocational training that are part of NUG’s Continuing Education
programme.
The NUG offers courses and lectures on the constitution, federalism, and human rights
provided as part of its Federal Education Programme, available in Burmese and English.
4. The Ministry of Defence of the NUG has published the People’s Defence Periodical,
Volume 1, No. 1. The periodical includes valuable information for local People’s Defence
Forces such as Rules of Engagement, the Law of Armed Conflict, rules for members of the
underground resistance network, defence and gender, the Code of Conduct for the People’s
Defence Force, and the four-point oath of allegiance o f the People’s Defence Force.
5. A high-level open debate on Children and Armed Conflict under the Presidency of Estonia
took place via video conference on 28 June 2021. Members of the United Nations that are not
part of the UN Security Council sent statements to the event. Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun,
Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations, sent a written statement
expressing Myanmar’s ' deep concern about grave violations that affected the children in
armed conflict'.
His statement included these words:
We are particularly alarmed by the trends o f increased attacks on schools. ...The
protection of children needs to be ensured first and foremost by a legal framework
that guarantees their rights and wellbeing.
Regarding Myanmar, he highlighted that,
Despite constitutional constraints with regard to armed conflicts, the elected civilian
government led by President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, showed its strong commitment in implementing a number o f significant initiatives
to enhance child protection capacity.
He also confirmed that:
Given the widely known brutality and inhumane acts o f the military and its total
disregard for human life, the military has been relisted under Section B o f annex I o f
this annual report o f the Secretary-General fo r the recruitment and use o f children.
Since the illegal military coup on 1 February 2021, the military has destroyed our
nascent democratic transition and has ruined the rule o f law. Justice has been taken
out of reach. Violence and atrocities have been perpetrated by the military security
forces on a daily basis.
Nearly 900 people were ruthlessly murdered by the military. According to UNICEF,
as o f 21 June, at least 60 children have been killed since February.
The security forces continue to occupy many schools and hospitals throughout the
country, making it impossible in enabling a safe environment fo r learning and health
care.
Permanent Representative U Kyaw Moe Tun appealed to the Security Council, the Security
Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and the to Secretary-General and
his Special Representative as follows:
• Prevent further grave violations by military forces of killing and maiming children
and rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in Myanmar.
• Ensure that the military forces stop indiscriminate and excessive use of force and
comply with the obligations under international law, including international
humanitarian and human rights law.
• End impunity and hold the perpetrators of grave violations against children
accountable.
• Ensure that the country task force on monitoring and reporting receives sufficient
support and strengthens its monitoring, reporting, prevention and response efforts
regarding all violations and abuses against children in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
196.13 KB
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Description:
"အပတ်စဉ် သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက် (၆/၂၀၂၁)
၂ ဇူလိုင် ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်
၁။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ သတင်းစာရှင်းလင်းပွဲ အမှတ် (၂/၂၀၂၁) ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန် ၂၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် မြန်မာ့ဘာသာဖြင့်ထုတ်လွှင့်သော မီဒီယာများဖြင့် လည်းကောင်း၊ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် နိုင်ငံခြားဘာသာဖြင့် ထုတ်လွှင့်သော နိုင်ငံတကာမီဒီယာများဖြင့် လည်းကောင်း Online Conferencing စနစ်ဖြင့် တွေ့ဆုံ၍ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
၂။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာန ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ၂/၂၀၂၁ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ (၂၆)ရက်နေ့စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး အဆိုပါ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်တွင် ၂၀၂၁ မတ်လ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံ အလုပ်သမား၊ လူဝန်မှုကြီးကြပ်ရေးနှင့် ပြည်သူ့အင်အား ဝန်ကြီးဌာနက အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်များနှင့် အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့အား တရားဝင် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများမဟုတ်ကြောင်း၊ ယင်းတို့၏လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်မှုများသည်လည်း ဥပဒေနှင့် ညီညွတ်မှုမရှိကြောင်း ဆက်လက်လှုပ်ရှား ဆောင်ရွက်ပါက တည်ဆဲဥပဒေများနှင့်အညီ ထိရောက်စွာအရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်းကြေညာခဲ့ခြင်းသည် တရားဝင်မှုမရှိကြောင်း၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာအလုပ်သမား အဖွဲ့ချုပ်(ILO)၏ လွတ်လပ်စွာသင်းပင်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် Freedom of Association Convention 87 ကို လက်မှတ်ထိုးထားသော နိုင်ငံတနိုင်ငံဖြစ်ပြီး အလုပ်သမားတိုင်းသည် မိမိတို့ အလုပ်သမားအရေး ဆောင်ရွက်ရန် အလို့ငှါ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာစည်းရုံး ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိကြောင်း၊ ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ် အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် ဥပဒေသည် မှတ်ပုံတင်ဥပဒေသာဖြစ်ပြီး အဆိုပါ ဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ မှတ်ပုံမတင်သော အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို တရားမဝင်အဖွဲ့များအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ခွင့်မရှိကြောင်း၊ ယခုလို အရပ်သားအစိုးရထံမှ မတရားအာဏာလုယူထားသော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်သည် ဂျီနီဗာ ကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းကို ဖောက်ဖျက်ရာရောက်ကြောင်းနှင့် အဆိုပါ အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့သည် မိမိတို့၏ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် မိမိတို့၏ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ အလုပ်သမားရေးရာ လုပ်ငန်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆောက်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိကြောင်းတို့ ဖော်ပြပါရှိသည်။
၃။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်အစိုးရ ပညာရေး၀န်ကြီးဌာန၏ အင်တာနက် စာမျက်နှာဖြစ်သည့် https://moe.nugmyanmar.org/ ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထုတ်လွှင့်လိုက်သည်။ အဆိုပါ Website တွင် ဝန်ကြီးများ၏ ကိုယ်ရေးအချက်အလက်များ၊ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်တာများ၊ ဌာန ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံ၊ အမိန့်ကြေငြာချက်များ၊ ဆက်သွယ်နိုင်မည့် အီးမေးလ်များကို ပြည်သူလူထုသိရှိစေရန် ဖော်ပြထားသည့်အပြင် စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ်ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍတွင်လည်း ကြားကာလပညာရေး အခြေခံ၊ အဆင့်မြင့်နှင့် သက်မွေးပညာရေး အစီအစဉ်များအားလည်းကောင်း၊ ဖက်ဒရယ်ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍတွင်လည်း ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်စနစ် သင်တန်း အခြေခံလူ့အခွင့်အရေး သင်တန်းများအားလည်းကောင်း မည်သို့တက်ရောက် သင်ကြားနိုင်ကြောင်းတို့ကို အသီးသီး ဖော်ပြထားသည်။ ထိုသို့ဖော်ပြရာတွင် မြန်မာပြည်သူပြည်သားများသာမက ကမ္ဘာ့နိုင်ငံအသီးသီးမှလည်း ဝင်ရောက်လေ့လာနိုင်ရန် မြန်မာ၊ အင်္ဂလိပ်နှစ်ဘာသာဖြင့် ဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။
၄။ စစ်ပွဲနှင့်တိုက်ပွဲ၊ ထိတွေ့မှုဆိုင်ရာ စည်းမျဉ်းစည်းကမ်းများ(Rule of Engagement) နှင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခဆိုင်ရာ (သို့) စစ်ဥပဒေများ၊ မြေအောက်ယူဂျီရဲဘော် ဆောင်ရန် ရှောင်ရန်၊ Gender နှင့်တိုင်းပြည်ကာကွယ်ရေး၊ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်မတော်၏ စစ်ဘက်ဆိုင်ရာ ကျင့်ဝတ်များ၊ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်မတော်၏ သစ္စာအဓိဌာန် (၄) ချက် စသည့် အနယ်နယ်အရပ်ရပ်မှ ဒေသခံ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးအဖွဲ့များ သိသင့်သိထိုက်သည်များပါဝင်သည့် ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးစာစဉ် အတွဲ(၁) အမှတ်(၁)၂ ကို အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ထုတ်ဝေခဲ့သည်။
၅။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် အက်စတိုးနီးယားနိုင်ငံ သမ္မတက သဘာပတိအဖြစ် ဆောင်ရွက်၍ လက်နက်ကိုင် ပဋိပက္ခအတွင်း ကလေးသူငယ်များအရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ အဆင့်မြင့် တံခါးဖွင့်အစည်းအဝေး (UN Security Council High-Level Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict) ကို virtual ကျင်းပခဲ့ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ အစည်းအဝေးသို့ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ အဖွဲ့ဝင်မဟုတ်သော အခြား ကုလသမဂ္ဂနိုင်ငံများနည်းတူ ကုလသမဂ္ဂဆိုင်ရာ မြန်မာ အမြဲတမ်း ကိုယ်စားလှယ် သံအမတ်ကြီး ဦးကျော်မိုးထွန်းက မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ကိုယ်စားပြုပေးပို့သော မိန့်ခွန်း (Written Statement) တစ်ရပ်ကို ပေးပို့ခဲ့ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ မိန့်ခွန်းတွင် ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်မှုများ၊ စာသင်ကျောင်းများအပေါ် ဉီးတည်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများအတွက် လွန်စွာစိုးရိမ်မှု ရှိသည့်ကိစ္စ၊ ကလေးသူငယ်များအား ဥပဒေကြောင်းအရ ကာကွယ်ပေးနိုင်မှု၏ အရေးပါမှုကိစ္စ၊ အပြစ်ကျူးလွန်သူများအားလုံး အရေးယူရန် အရေးကြီးမှု၊ အရွေးချယ်ခံအရပ်သားအစိုးရလက်ထက်တွင် ကလေးသူငယ်များကို အကာအကွယ်ပေးနိုင်ရေး အတွက် အလေးထားဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည့်ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်အနေဖြင့် ပြည်သူများအပေါ် လူမဆန့်သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုများဆက်လက်ရှိနေ၍ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ်၏ အစီရင်ခံစာ၏ ချိုးဖောက်မှုရှိသည့် နောက်ဆက်တွဲ စာရင်းတွင် တပ်မတော်ကြည်း အား ပြန်လည်ထည့်သွင်းခဲ့သည့်ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်တပ်က မတရား အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး နေ့စဉ် လူမဆန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများ မတရား သတ်ဖြတ်မှု၊ ဖမ်းဆီးမှု၊ နှိပ်စက်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်နေသည့်ကိစ္စ၊ ကလေးငယ် (၆၀) ကျော်အပေါ်၊ လူပေါင်း (၉၀၀) နည်းပါး အသတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည့် ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်တပ် အနေဖြင့် စာသင်ကျောင်း၊ ဆေးရုံးများ ကို တပ်ဆွဲထားသည့်ကိစ္စများ ကို ဖော်ပြထားပြီး၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ် တို့အနေဖြင့် ကလေးသူငယ်များ အပေါ် လူမဆန်စွာ ကျူးလွန်များ ထပ်မံ မဖြစ်ပေါ်ရေးအတွက် ကာကွယ်ပေးရေး၊ ခွဲခြားမှု မရှိဘဲ အင်အားအလွန်အကျွံ အသုံးမပြုရေး၊ ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူများအား အရေးယူရေး၊ စောင့်ကြည့် အစီရင်ခံသည့်အဖွဲ့ အနေဖြင့် ပံ့ပိုးမှု ပိုမိုရရှိရေး၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာမှု အကူအညီများ အတားအဆီးမရှိ ပေးအပ်နိုင်ရေး၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ နှင့် အလှူရှင်များ အနေဖြင့် အမျိုးသားစည်းလုံးညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ နှင့် ထိတွေ့ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေး၊ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်အနေဖြင့် စာသင်ကျောင်း နှင့် ဆေးရုံးများ အသုံးမပြုရေး၊ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှု ချက်ချင်းရပ်စဲ၍ ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်လည်ရရှိရေး တို့အတွက် ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန် မေတ္တာရပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ပြည်သူတွေနှင့် အတူ အမျိုးသား စည်းလုံး ညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရအနေဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင် အပြီးပြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေး၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်း ဖယ်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံ တည်ထောင်ရေးအတွက် လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သည့်ကိစ္စ အားလုံးကို ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း တို့ကိုဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။
၆။ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေး ဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ၏ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများကြောင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အနှံ့အပြားရှိ အတိဒုက္ခရောက်နေကြရသော ပြည်သူများအတွက် ထောက်ပံ့မှုများကို အခက်အခဲများ ကြားမှ အမြန်ဆုံး ရောက်ရှိနိုင်ရေး ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပရှိ မြန်မာပြည်သူများနှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ လှူဒါန်းမှုများဖြင့် ၂၀၂၁ ဇွန်လ ၆ရက်နေ့မှ ဇွန်လ ၂၈ရက်နေ့ အတွင်း
-ကရင် ပြည်နယ် ဖလူး ဒေသ စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် ရှစ်ဆယ့်တစ်သိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် အဝတ်အထည်များ နှင့် ငွေကျပ် ကိုးဆယ့်ခုနစ်သိန်းလေးသောင်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ကရင်ပြည်နယ် အခြားဒေသများရှိ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်စခန်းများသို့ ငွေကျပ် သိန်းတစ်ရာ့ငါးဆယ်ခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် အဝတ်အထည်များကိုလည်းကောင်း၊
-ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် တောင်ပိုင်း ဖယ်ခုံမြို့ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်များအတွက် ငွေကျပ် နှစ်ရာ့ကိုးသိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် ထောက်ပံ့ရေး ပစ္စည်းများကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ကယား ပြည်နယ် စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် သုံးရာနှစ့်ဆယ့်ငါးသိန်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ချင်းပြည်နယ် စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် လေးရာ့ခြောက်ဆယ့်ရှစ်သိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် ထောက်ပံ့ရေး ပစ္စည်းများ နှင့် ငွေကျပ် တစ်ဆယ်သိန်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ပြည်တွင်း ဒေသအသီးသီးရှိ ထိခိုက်လွယ်မိသားစုများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် ကိုးဆယ့်နှစ်သိန်း တစ်သောင်းငါးထောင်ကို လည်းကောင်း ထောက်ပံ့ပေးပို့နိုင်ခဲ့သည်။ လုံခြုံရေးအခြေအနေများကြောင့် ထောက်ပံ့မှုသတင်းများကို အချိန်နှင့် တပြေးညီ မထုတ်ပြန်သည်ကို နားလည်ပေးပါရန် မေတ္တာရပ်ခံအပ်ပါသည်။
၆။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သော တတိယအကြိမ်ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ဒုတိယပုံမှန်အစည်းအဝေးတွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ပြည်ထောင်စု ဝန်ကြီးချုပ်က အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီးဌာနအသီးသီး၏ (၂) လတာ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက် နေမှုများကို အစီရင်ခံစာတင်သွင်းခဲ့ပြီး ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်မှ မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားရှိခဲ့သည်။
၇။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင်လ ၁ ရက် အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် ၀၁/၂၀၂၁ ၃ ဖြင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်တုံ့ပြန်ရေးကော်မရှင် (Commission for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) ကိုဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါ ကော်မရှင်တွင် ယာယီသမ္မတက ဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၊ ပြည်ထောင်စု ဝန်ကြီးချုပ်က ဒုတိယဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေး ဝန်ကြီးဌာန ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီးက အတွင်းရေးမှူးအဖြစ်ဆောင်ရွက်ပြီး လုပ်ငန်းနှင့်သက်ဆိုင်သော ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများမှ ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး (၁၁) ဦးတို့ အဖွဲ့ဝင်အဖြစ်ပါဝင်သည်။ ..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar’s junta continues to detain the 7-year-old son of the former head of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program, despite recently releasing more than 2,200 political detainees including 5-year-old Ma Su Thet Wyne, the country’s youngest detainee at the time of her release.
Maung Aung Thukhamein Lin, 7, was arrested by junta forces along with his mother, Daw Htar Htar Lin, the national immunization director at the Ministry of Health and Sports, and father, U Nyi Nyi Aung, at their home in Yangon on June 10.
During the arrest, Dr. Aye Aye Nyein, who is a friend of the national immunization director, and her daughter were also taken into custody.
On June 12, junta-controlled media said Dr. Htar Htar Lin formed the Civil Disobedience Movement’s (CDM) core group and assisted the National Unity Government (NUG), which has been designated a terrorist group by the junta.
The junta also said the doctor would be prosecuted under Article 17 of the Unlawful Association Act and Article 505(a) of the Penal Code for communicating with the “terrorist organization” and working with Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, who is in hiding and serves as the acting health minister in the NUG.
The military regime on Wednesday released more than 2,200 political detainees including Ma Su Thet Wyne, who was detained with her mother and sister as hostages after junta forces failed to find her father, Ko Soe Htay, a leader of anti-regime protests in Mandalay Region’s Mogoke town.
However, the whereabouts of Dr. Htar Htar Lin’s family and her friend’s family are still unknown. The 7-year-old son of the doctor has not been released yet.
A doctor who is close with Dr. Htar Htar Lin said, “The boy is very clever. His pet dog is also detained with him. This is unacceptable, as it has been 21 days. I pray for the urgent release of the boy.”
Another friend of Dr. Htar Htar Lin said, “Detaining the innocent boy means that the military regime is committing a worse crime. Please, speak out for the immediate release of the boy.”
The friend added, “He has been in custody for three weeks. How many of this child’s rights have been violated? We don’t dare imagine the boy’s trauma.”
Meanwhile, the youngest detainee, Ma Su Htet Wyne, who was released on Wednesday, has been traumatized by her arrest, her father Ko Soe Htay said on his Facebook account on Thursday.
On Thursday, the girl and her father had to move to another location as the junta’s forces are hunting them.
Ko Soe Htay said, “She told me she had not had enough meals in custody and that she had to bathe in toilet water.”
The 5-year-old girl was detained for more than two weeks with her mother and sister.
Junta forces abducted them as hostages after failing to find Ko Soe Htay at their home.
The father is on a list of those for whom arrest warrants have been issued by the junta on incitement charges for organizing anti-regime demonstrations..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Since the coup in Burma, even lawyers struggle to access justice. Despite being the representatives of the law, they continue to fall victim to unlawful threats and intimidation.
Thousands of civilians, including monks, children, and women have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured, and killed by the brutal junta on a daily basis since the coup, when power was seized from the people for a third time. Lawyers are also faced with military atrocities. Lawyers standing up for justice are suffering from unlawful threats and arrests as a consequence of the coup.
According to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 17 lawyers have been detained since the coup. They have been arrested and taken to prison for participating in anti-military protests, during home raids, and while assisting detainees who have faced arbitrary arrest and unfair trials. Lawyers have also been taken as hostages by the junta.
Daw Ayeyar Lin Htut, an attorney representing political prisoners from Hinthada District, Ayeyarwady Region, was arrested by so-called police on the evening of May 27 during a court hearing at Hinthada District Court. She was taken to Hinthada Prison and charged under Penal Code Section 505(a).
Recently, lawyer and mother Daw Wai Wai Khine, along with eight family members were abducted by the military junta as hostages in North Okkalapa Township, Yangon Division after her son, a judge involved in the CDM movement, was not found during a search.
U Thein Hlaing Tun, a lawyer defending Chairman U Myo Aung from Naypyidaw Council, was arrested by the junta on May 24 after the trial when he was
The junta has continued to enforce a series of arbitrary arrests and unlawful prosecutions against civilians across the country. They then threaten lawyers who have then been assisting these innocent detainees. The intensity of arrests carried out by this terrorist junta is so high that lawyers have been unable, in some areas, to represent detainees at all.
Lawyers who have been defending the cases of political prisoners have been burdened with long waits to receive court hearing dates, without the precise time being given alongside them. The creation of special courts in prison has further decreased the ability to receive justice, as these courts are not public hearings. These courts also limit the ability to interact with the client and have restricted the questioning of clients.
Additionally, some clients have been beaten, tortured, and forced to make confessions before the hearing, making it near impossible for lawyers to obtain a fair trial. The ability to conduct a fair trial is a huge challenge for lawyers, as these courts are kept under constant watch by the junta judiciary and so-called police.
There has been a lack of coherent collaboration between the so-called police, who should be partly responsible for the rule of law, judges and prison staff. In addition to this, lawyers face clear biases against their clients, with case statements being only partially, or incorrectly presented. More importantly, the detainees’ human rights and defendants’ rights are being challenged, without any legal protection to defend themselves.In some cases, lawyers have been threatened with arrest, detention and prosecution under Penal Code Section 505(a). Many individuals who have been detained have completely lost contact with their families since the military seized power. Lawyers are vital for access to justice and in many cases are the only way the voices of those detained in horrific conditions in prisons can be heard. Even lawyers are being abducted and facing violence when trying to give essential legal services, a clear and damming violation to the rule of law.
A proper trial and defence are enshrined in the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Geneva Convention. The pinnacle of international law. Then there is the ‘Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers’ passed by the UN Congress in 1990, which explicitly lays out the right of detainees to access lawyers and legal services. A right systematically denied by the junta. Lawyers are unable to see their clients, charges filed, evidence before court, or set dates for trial.
One of the few international instruments which cover the legal profession, it is an adopted norm which entails obligations for a state. The junta has abrogated responsibility as a member of the international community.
The Spring Revolution is supported by the entire population, and everyday civilians are being terrorized. But a methodological suppression of lawyers, teachers, and doctors, students must be understood. Lawyers fulfil an essential function in any society. AAPP believes this junta is trying to detain, torture, and kill critical thought, just as other genocidal dictatorships have done. A junta engaged in these crimes cannot be considered for a seat at the UN General Assembly in the coming session..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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160.82 KB 95.69 KB
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"Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.
UNILATERAL CEASEFIRE IN WAR-TORN TIGRAY, BUT ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ATROCITIES
After almost eight months of armed conflict and atrocities in the northern Tigray region, the Ethiopian government announced a unilateral ceasefire on 28 June and plans to allow wider delivery of humanitarian aid. The announcement was made after a week-long intensification of fighting and major territorial gains by the opposition Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). On Monday, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) hastily retreated from the regional capital of Mekelle, as TDF forces marched into the city. Eritrean forces, who are allied with the ENDF and have also been occupying parts of Tigray, also appear to be retreating and have left the towns of Shire, Aksum and Adwa.
Despite the Ethiopian government claiming for several months that armed combat in Tigray was over, there has been a rise in clashes as well as a growing number of violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law. On 22 June at least 64 people were killed when a government airstrike hit a bustling market in Togoga. Health officials claim soldiers repeatedly blocked medical personnel from reaching the location of the airstrike. A doctor, who was traveling in a Red Cross ambulance, reported that the vehicle was shot at by the ENDF who then briefly detained the ambulance because “whoever goes, they are helping the troops of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.” The Ethiopian government’s military spokesperson denied that any civilians were harmed in the airstrike.
The recent escalation of fighting has also impeded the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid to 5.2 million people – 91 percent of Tigray’s population – many of whom are at severe risk of famine. Aid workers have also continued to face harassment, intimidation and detention while attempting to carry out their duties. On 24 June three Médecins Sans Frontières staff were murdered during an attack on their vehicle. The Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, also reported that ENDF soldiers entered a UNICEF office and dismantled the VSAT communications equipment, violating IHL.
Deliberate attacks on humanitarian workers and medical personnel constitute war crimes under international law.
The Global Centre’s Communications and Digital Media Officer, Sarah Hunter, said, “while this ceasefire will hopefully provide desperately needed relief for civilians in Tigray, it in no way resolves the conflict. The African Union and UN Security Council have largely ignored the enormity of the crisis in Tigray. They must utilize this opportunity to push for a negotiated political solution and enable an international, independent investigation of all potential war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since last November.”
MYANMAR JUNTA STRENGTHENS MILITARY TIES WITH RUSSIA
On 22 June Myanmar’s military, or Tatmadaw, raided a “People’s Defense Force” (PDF) base in Mandalay – the country’s second largest city – firing rocket-propelled grenades in a civilian area and exchanging gunfire with PDF fighters. This marked the first time that significant armed clashes have occurred in a major urban area between the Tatmadaw and civilian resistance forces that have been formed in response to the military coup on 1 February. Casualties were reported on both sides.
Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw and leader of Myanmar’s military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, attended an international conference last week in Moscow, Russia, where he reiterated the unsubstantiated claim that the previous civilian government rigged the November 2020 election. General Min Aung Hlaing rejected international criticism of the coup, stating that, “some countries are constantly trying to influence other political systems and ideologies … they also want to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states on the pretext of democracy and human rights.” The trip included a meeting with Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, who emphasized the growing military cooperation between Myanmar and Russia.
At least 884 people have been killed by Myanmar’s security forces since the coup and more than 5,210 people remain detained according to the Association for Political Prisoners. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has also reported that an estimated 230,000 people have been displaced this year inside the country and require humanitarian assistance.
In response to the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation inside the country, on 18 June the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that “calls upon all Member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” The resolution also called on the military to “fully cooperate with and immediately facilitate a visit by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar” and for “the immediate release of all those detained arbitrarily.”
In response to the vote in the UN General Assembly, Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director at the Global Centre, said that, “General Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly perpetrated atrocities against the people of Myanmar, including a genocide against the Rohingya, and he orchestrated the 1 February coup. The junta he leads should not be legitimized or recognized by any country. The UN Security Council has received a clear mandate from the General Assembly and it should urgently impose an arms embargo. Not one more bullet or bayonet should be sold to the Tatmadaw.”
MASSACRE IN BURKINA FASO CARRIED OUT BY CHILD SOLDIERS
Earlier this month, on 5 June, an armed group perpetrated the deadliest attack in Burkina Faso in years, when more than 130 people, including children, were killed in Solhan village. The Solhan massacre also forced 7,000 families to flee the area. According to the Burkinabé government spokesman, Ousseni Tamboura, the attack was primarily carried out by child soldiers who were between the ages of 12 and 14 and who belonged to an armed group affiliated with the so-called Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, JNIM).
On 24 June the UN Children’s Fund Representative in Burkina Faso, Sandra Lattouf, stated that “we strongly condemn the recruitment of children and adolescents by non-state armed groups. This is a grave violation of their fundamental rights. We recall that civilian populations should never be victims or targets of attacks. Families and children should be protected everywhere and at all times.”
The recruitment and use of children is one of the UN’s six “grave violations” against children and, according to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, enlisting, conscripting and using children under the age of 15 in an armed conflict constitutes a war crime.
The UN Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, released on 21 June, included information on Burkina Faso for the first time, documenting a rising number of violations against children. During 2020 the UN verified 171 grave violations against 83 children – including killing and maiming – with most violations occurring in the East, Central North and Sahel regions. An estimated ten percent of the country’s schools are also now closed, depriving more than 300,000 children of education. The risk of human trafficking and recruitment into armed groups, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, is particularly acute when children are deprived of access to education.
On 29 June the Burkina Faso government announced that two suspected members of JNIM have been detained over the Solhan massacre.
It is crucial that the authorities in Burkina Faso relentlessly pursue legal accountability for all those who perpetrate abuses against children, provide reparations and support to victims, and increase meaningful protection for those most at risk. The Burkinabé government should also implement its protocol on the release and handover of children associated with armed groups..."
Source/publisher:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As of 1 July, (885) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. oup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) fallen hero from Wundwin Township in Mandalay Region was killed on a 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 July 1, a total of (5195) people are currently under detention; of them (233) are sentenced. 1965 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. The names of released detainees have not been immediately available to compile, we will continue to add the released names when confirmed.
Soe San, NLD member in Talsu Village of Wundwin Township, Mandalay Region, who was arrested on June 29, died on June 30. It was informed that he died from COVID-19, however, Soe San had been beaten by the soldiers stationed at the Pintale Hospital.
Assistant surgeon Wutt Yi Aung from Pyay Township, Bago Region, who is involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), was arrested in the morning of July 1. Ko Htike a.k.a Kyaw Linn Htike, who is a member of the Thukha Kar Yi Charity Association and a township Red Cross member in Bago Region’s Nattalin Township, was arrested on the night of June 29 after returning from sending back the patient. In addition to this, Maung Sein, Township NLD Information Committee Member of Taungtha Township in Mandalay Region, who was evading arrest, was arrested on the night of June 29 in Taungtha Township.
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 entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Format :
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Size:
1.21 MB 4.8 MB 1.14 MB
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"အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့်
ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် ၀၁/၂၀၂၁
၁၃၈၃ခုနှစ်၊ နယုန်လပြည့်ကျော် ၇ ရက်
(၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင်လ ၁ ရက်)
လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်တုံ့ပြန်ရေးကော်မရှင် ဖွဲ့စည်းခြင်း
(Forming of Commission for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response)
ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်၊ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အတွင်း ဘေးအန္တရာယ်အမျိုးမျိုး ကျရောက်ချိန်များတွင် ကူညီကယ်ဆယ်ရေး၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာမှု အထောက်အပံ့များ ပေးအပ်ရေးနှင့် အရေးပေါ်တုံ့ပြန်ရေးတို့အတွက် လိုအပ်သည့် စီမံခန့်ခွဲမှုကိစ္စရပ် များကို ကြီးကြပ်လမ်းညွှန် ပေးနိုင်ရန် လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်တုံ့ပြန်ရေး ကော်မရှင်ကို အောက်ပါ ပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များဖြင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းလိုက်သည်။ အဆိုပါကော်မရှင်အတွက် လိုအပ်ပါက အဖွဲ့ဝင်များ တိုးချဲ့ခြင်းနှင့် လုပ်ငန်းကော်မတီများ ထပ်မံ ဖွဲ့စည်းခြင်းတို့ကို ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
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"At least 12 LGBTIQ community members have been killed by regime forces and another 73 arrested or charged since the junta’s coup for fighting against dictatorship and striving for equality, according to a report from the National Unity Government (NUG).
On Wednesday, the NUG’s Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children’s Affairs released the situation report of the LGBTIQs after the military coup in Myanmar, in celebration of Pride Month which recognizes the valuable contributions made by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people.
LGBTIQ groups in Myanmar have actively participated in anti-regime protests since the start of the pro-democracy movement in February. The most visible sign of their participation are the rainbow flags that have been waved among the crowds at anti-coup demonstrations nationwide.
As crackdowns, violence and torture against pro-democracy activists and civilians has intensified in the past few months, many LGBTIQ people across Myanmar have faced severe human rights violations, with some killed, tortured or detained by the military regime.
Between Feb. 1 and June 20, at least 12 LGBTIQ people from Myitkyina, Myingyan, Monywa, Mawlamyine, Yangon, Kyaukpadaung, and Mandalay were shot dead by junta forces while participating in peaceful protests and defending protesters from military violence, the report stated.
Three gay men and one transgender woman from Myingyan and Bago were also seriously injured by junta forces, according to the report.
Of the 73 LGBTIQ people arrested, 65 are still being detained. Another 28 are in hiding to avoid arrest, the report stated.
The NUG report noted that transgender people who have been arrested have experienced different forms of sexual harassment while in police custody, or being held in detention by regime forces, because of their visible identity as LGBTIQ people.
It quoted a 50-year transgender woman in Yangon who was arrested and severely tortured by junta forces.
The woman was beaten on their back, shoulders and head, stripped naked and forced to kneel down all the time. Their nipples were also burned with the tips of burning cigarettes and had paper clips attached to them, while a bottle was inserted into their anus.
“After they were happy with burning my nipples and inserting a bottle in my anus, and when they were about to sleep, they made me leapfrog. The compound is very wide and I could do that and they made me hold my two hands between my thighs and made me twist around and I was kept the whole day with dust and mud on me,” the woman was quoted as saying.
Those injuries took a month to heal, the transgender woman said.
In addition, many of the gay and transgender detainees who are being treated for HIV with antiretroviral therapy are unable to access their medication as they are scared about revealing their health status to the officials detaining them, the report said.
Civil society organizations representing LGBTIQ groups stressed that members of the LGBTIQ community actively participating in the anti-regime movement faced harsh retaliation and transphobic attacks from junta forces.
However, the groups vowed that they will never give up contributing to the revolution in acquiring equality for all.
The NUG has called on the international community to put pressure on the Myanmar military to immediately end the violence against all civilians, including LGBTIQ people, as well as calling for the release of all detainees and for the provision of the necessary psycho-social support upon their release.
It also urged the international community to support and engage with their work on the protection and promotion of human rights for all people, including the LGBTIQ community..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor (TEL.OL) is exploring the sale of its Myanmar unit, industry publication TMT Finance reported on Thursday, and has hired Citi to sell the business, with non-binding bids due in the coming weeks.
A Telenor spokesperson said the company does not "comment on market rumours". Citi declined to comment.
Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar operation in May in light of the deteriorating security and human rights situation in the country, where its mobile business remains severely restricted following the Feb. 1 military coup.
Some Chinese buyers are also being invited to bid, TMT Finance said, which would likely not be subject to international sanctions faced by other international telecom companies.
TMT said the other foreign operator in Myanmar, Qatar's Ooredoo (ORDS.QA), had shown interest in buying its market peer and was looking to find a financial adviser for the forthcoming process.
Ooredoo was not immediately available for comment.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that the detail of the TMT Finance report was accurate.
Telenor has around 18 million customers in Myanmar, serving a third of its 54 million population. It is one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, which it entered in 2014.
Myanmar accounted for 7% of Telenor's earnings last year..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Urgent call for responsible and ethical humanitarian assistance
The NUG calls for rapid and expanded humanitarian assistance to save the lives of all people
in Myanmar. The recent military coup and ongoing atrocity crimes committed by the junta
have yet again plunged our people into a complex political and humanitarian emergency.
The NUG’s humanitarian policy is led by the needs of our people on the ground. These needs
are acute, and are the direct result of the unlawful actions of the military. Since 1 February
2021, the military has killed more than 900 individuals, including many children; it has
unlawfully detained thousands, subjecting many to torture; and it has precipitated a banking
crisis and rising food insecurity, with the World Food Program estimating that an additional
3.4 million people will now go hungry. This adds to the military’s decades of misrule and
criminal behavior, which are the reason why Myanmar has required such high levels of
international assistance. More than half a million people are now internally displaced.
People across Myanmar require urgent assistance. The military is ill-equipped to manage the
economy and meet the needs of our people. This same military is impeding access and
recourse for life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar. The military
continues to target the general public as well as healthcare and humanitarian workers.
Humanitarian assistance should prioritize the immediate needs currently called for by
communities. There are serious needs across all sectors. We echo calls for an emphasis on
basic needs: food, water, medicine, and shelter, and/or direct financial support.
The NUG respects and supports the basic values of humanity and impartiality in
humanitarian aid, which seek to protect life and health, and ensure respect for human beings
on the basis of need alone. The NUG and the people of Myanmar are struggling to free our
country from military dictatorship and establish a peaceful federal democratic union. As
such, we expect humanitarian agencies to respect the fundamental rights of Myanmar's
citizens to determine their own political future, and to recognize and support us as we do so.
The NUG also calls for all international humanitarian actors to agree to certain guiding
principles to ensure that their activities do as much good as possible and avoid the risk of
benefiting the military in its campaign to control the country through mass violence.....Goal: The NUG calls on all international humanitarian aid to be provided in a way that meets the
needs of people most in need and is rooted in a localization approach that respects the
people's democratic right to organize the delivery of their own relief.....Guiding Principles: 1. International humanitarian assistance should be provided to all those in need, without
discrimination and be designed to reach the specific needs of the most vulnerable.
2. International assistance must reflect the needs and will of the local public.
3. International humanitarian assistance programs must be designed and implemented to
ensure they are not used to promote or benefit the political or financial interests of the
military junta.
4. International humanitarian assistance should be coordinated with and empower
existing governance structures supported by the people in all parts of Myanmar,
including NUG-aligned administrative bodies and CSOs/CBOs in ethnic-administered
areas, for a localized humanitarian response to needs on the ground.
Principles for international humanitarian assistance in Myanmar/Burma:
Strong principles and conditions are required to ensure that humanitarian work does not in
practice serve the harmful interests of the military. Assistance must reach those most in need
and must not in any way legitimize the junta that is the cause of the people’s suffering.
We urge international humanitarian actors to collectively agree to the following principles
when considering the provision of assistance to areas controlled by the junta:
1 . Avoid substitution policies or undermining the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)
The people of Myanmar are using their agency to peacefully oppose the unjust military coup.
This involves making difficult sacrifices, including not participating in the military
administration. The people do not want international actors to undermine this peaceful
resistance strategy. Respect their decisions. It would be unethical to substitute international
provision of services, such as healthcare, education, or others, where the CDM is actively
choosing to not provide these services through the military administration.
Instead, resources should be provided directly to local actors who can flexibly and creatively
provide these services in ways that do not legitimize or otherwise support the military junta.
By resourcing established civil society organizations and ethnic administrations, depending
on the location and including to provide services through CDM professionals, international
assistance can help ensure that needs are met without causing greater harm..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Format :
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Size:
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Description:
"As of 30 June, (884) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) fallen hero from Pyigyidagun Township in Mandalay Region was killed on a 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 June 30, a total of (5210) people are currently under detention; of them (222) are sentenced. 1965 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
The terrorist junta announced that on June 30, they will release over 2000 students and civilians who were arbitrarily detained and charged in prisons across the country after the coup. The names of today’s released detainees have not been immediately available to compile, we will continue to add the released names when confirmed.
In the morning of June 28, a civilian named Wai Phyo Aung was shot dead on spot by the terrorist junta when he went to look at a dispute over land in Pyigyidagun Township, Mandalay Region. His body was taken by the junta and his family was only shown a photo.
On the morning of June 29 in Yangon Region’s North Okkalapa Township, eight family members including lawyer Wai Wai Khaing were arrested when the terrorists did not find his son, a judge who is involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), when they came and searched to arrest him at home. Police Sub-Lieutenant Jorny a.k.a Thura from Chanayethazan Township Police Station in Mandalay Region, who was arrested for his involvement in CDM, was sentenced to three years imprisonment on June 7.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Size:
1.21 MB 4.66 MB 1.08 MB
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Description:
"Bonjour!
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dear respected members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of
Defenses and Armed Forces of the Senate, the Parliament of France, I cannot thank you
enough for giving me this great opportunity again to represent my people and country of
Myanmar before the French Parliamentarians. I am so moved by seeing and hearing the
strong support from the People, Parliament and Government of France for the liberation and
freedom of the people of Myanmar from the hands of the military junta and for the building
of an inclusive Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar for All of the people of Myanmar
regardless of race, religion, gender, culture, background and ethnicities.
The brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly
appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of the French Republic for your solidarity
with us at this darkest of hours in the history of our country. I once again would like to
reiterate our sincere gratitude for your leadership in the EU, UN and at G7 on behalf of the
people of Myanmar. Thank you for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as representing the
voices of the people of Myanmar and thank you for joining countries that have imposed an
arms embargo in solidarity against the ruthless military junta in Myanmar. While the future
of Myanmar is in the hands of the brave people of Myanmar, we need the strong and
continued support, friendship and recognition from the people, Parliamentarians, and
Government of France and its international alliance. Your support and recognition are
absolutely crucial in stopping the crimes against humanity in Myanmar and ending the
military General’s reign of terror against the innocent people of Myanmar who’s only 'crime'
is expressing their fundamental rights as human beings. The defense and armed forces are
established in the countries around the world to protect their people and to defend freedom
and democracy, but the defense and armed forces in Myanmar are doing the opposite. They
are using their battlefield weapons to destroy our freedom and democracy by killing the
innocent people of Myanmar and bringing destruction to civilian homes, villages, towns and
cities across the Nation of Myanmar.
Under the hands of terrorist-turned-armed forces leader, Min Aung Hlaing and his military
junta gang, the innocent people of Myanmar have been facing the crises of crimes against
humanity, Covid-19 and a great humanitarian catastrophe. Under the brutality of the military
junta in Myanmar, Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly and out of control - the country is quickly
becoming a failed state; the economy is collapsing along with the healthcare system,
education system, and all basic services in the country are failing quickly. Food insecurity is
rising sharply, violence and killing continues day and night. The 54 million people of
Myanmar are facing the darkness of crimes against humanity, death and destruction which
are becoming both systematic and widespread.
Since the failed coup was instigated on the 1st of February 2021 in Myanmar, the military
junta forces have murdered over 915 people, including 72 children, unlawfully arrested and
detained more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people including our elected leaders, our State
Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr. President U Win Myint and dozens of brave journalists,
hunting down more than 2,000 innocent civilians and forcing them to flee from illegal arrest
warrants. All these charges are a farce which has nothing to do with rule of law but has
everything to do with the destruction of our freedom, democracy and prolonging of the
military junta reign of terror in Myanmar.
On the 16th of June 2021, the military junta committed another crime against humanity by
burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes) and burning elderly people to
death who were trapped inside their homes. This is not a first, however, as this military junta
is guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the Rohinga
our brothers and sisters, the people of Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, Chin
States which account for over 40% of the population of Myanmar. We have made our policy
and position strong and clear to bring justice for our Rohingya brothers and sisters and to
hold the military generals accountable for the crimes against humanity that they have
committed against the people of Myanmar. There shall never again be impunity for these
criminals.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta’s reign of terror.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is predicting that over half of the
population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a
year. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million
people in Myanmar are going to face starvation by the end of October 2021. We cannot
allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar people being violently forced to flee from
their homes because of a military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation; we cannot allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of military Generals in Myanmar.
The brutal military junta forces are attacking civilian homes, properties, villages, towns and
cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied churches,
schools, community halls and hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots. These junta
forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns and bullets;
replacing Bibles and hymnals with intimidation, oppression, mortars and bombs; and
replacing life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of torture, destruction and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is crashing due to this military reign of terror..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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230.65 KB
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Description:
"In celebration of the Pride Month, The Ministry of Women, Youth and Children Affairs and
Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government today releases the Situation
Report of the LGBTIQs after the Military Coup in Myanmar. This report draws attention to the
situation of LGBTIQ activists who are killed, arrested and tortured for their participation in
the peaceful protests and some of the challenges the LGBTIQ people are facing under the
ongoing violence by the military.
This report is based on the first-hand testimonies the LGBTIQs as well as information
provided by many sources. Since the beginning of the coup in Myanmar, LGBTIQ people have
been actively participating in anti-coup protests, demonstrations and civil disobedience
movement (CDM). LGBTIQ groups throughout Myanmar actively participated under rainbow
flags as front-liners at every stage of the revolution. The visibility of the community leads to
highlighting the diversity and inclusivity of the people against the coup. As crackdowns,
violence against and torture of pro-democracy activists and civilians intensified within the
past few months, many LGBTIQs across Myanmar faced severe human rights violations. The
situation has severely deteriorated for the human rights defenders and activists Including
LGBTIQs.
Reports from LGBTIQ civil society organizations corroborate that there are (12) cases of
LGBTIQ fatalities, with (73) being arrested and/or charged under 505 (a), (65) still being
detained, and (28) either in hiding or having fled to non-SAC controlled areas. Reliable
sources indicate that gay people and transgender women are predominantly at the top of the
chart of most cases of human rights abuses and violations committed against the LGBTIQ.
This report also emphasizes the barriers and challenges faced by the LGBTIQs under military
rule. Documented challenges include access to justice by some LGBTIQs in areas outside of
cities, access to health care, particularly Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) during detention, and
shortage or cessation of service of HIV healthcare services and facilities across the country.
The military coup has unreservedly shrunk civic space for most civil society organizations to
operate. Despite previously existing laws not prescribing mandatory requirements of legal
registrations of non-governmental organizations, LGBTIQ human rights organizations cannot
conduct activities freely at all national and sub-national levels.
The National Unity Government calls on governments and UN human rights mechanisms to
support and engage with the NUG and recognize their work on protection and promotion of
human rights for the people inclusive of the LGBTIQ community. The NUG also calls on these
actors to keep amplifying the voices from Myanmar and to keep the struggle visible in the UN
human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council, UN General Assembly, and
the UN Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Further, the NUG calls on governments to support a call to referral of the Myanmar situation
to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to establish a coordinated arms embargo
against the Myanmar military, as well as targeted sanction against the military's businesses.
Support for Myanmar LGBTIQs is also needed; we call for support in monitoring, documenting
and reporting of human rights violations and gender-based violence of LGBTIQ people in
Myanmar and support for general funding and technical assistance to LGBTIQ groups.....Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs
National Unity Government
Dated 30 June 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs National Unity Government
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
36.31 KB
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၂၁/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ(၂၁) ရက်
ပြည်ထောင်စုတိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးများဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးတက္ကသိုလ်၊ ပြည်ထောင်စုတိုင်းရင်းသားလူငယ်များစွမ်းရည်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးဒီဂရီကောလိပ်များ နှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ကြေညာချက်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education, National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
174.03 KB
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၂၂/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ (၃၀) ရက်
ကြားကာလယာယီကောင်စီများကို အသိအမှတ်ပြုကြောင်းကြေညာခြင်း..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education, National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
244.98 KB
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Description:
"Three separate hearings on criminal charges brought against deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi took place Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told journalists the first hearing involved two witnesses testifying on charges she violated the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law for breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary election.
In the second hearing, Khin Maung Zaw said the court sustained an objection to the defense team’s cross-examination of a police officer in the case against Suu Kyi under the Communications Law on the grounds the question may affect the court’s verdict.
The final hearing involved charges she violated the country’s Export-Import Law.
Khin Maung Zaw said the hearings have been adjourned until next Monday, July 5.
The 76-year-old Suu Kyi has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide electoral victory. Along with violating the COVID-19 restrictions, she has been accused of illegally possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies, breaching the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest, misusing land for her charitable foundation, and accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold.
Ousted President Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung are being tried alongside Suu Kyi.
Electoral fraud allegation
The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis in that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes among several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"As of 29 June, (883) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. Today there were no confirmed fallen heroes. 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 June 29, a total of (5224) people are currently under detention; of them (222) are sentenced. 1988 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
On the afternoon of June 28 in Puta-O Township, Kachin State, Yinn Htan Htal Yam, brother-in-law of a youth the junta police and soldiers came to detain, was arrested as hostage when they did not find the youth they were looking for due to reporting by a pro-junta informer. In addition to this, in the morning of June 28, Aye Aye Myint, wife of, and Hnin Ei Ei San, 14-year-old daughter of a civilian named Tun Wai were arrested as hostage when terrorist junta did not find Tun Wai at his home at Htauk Kyant Village in Kale Township, Sagaing Region.
Aung Soe, a technology student, charged under Section 505(a) and (c) of Penal Code, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the special court in Dawei Prison, Tanintharyi Region on June 28.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Under the watch of Min Aung Hlaing’s failed coup and his military junta regime in Myanmar,
Covid 19 cases are rising hugely hourly and is out of control- the country is quickly becoming
a failed state; the economy is collapsing along with the healthcare system, education
system, and all basic services in the country are failing quickly. Food insecurity is rising
sharply, violence and killing continues day and night, and humanitarian catastrophe is
becoming widespread. Normalization of crimes against humanity and war crimes are being
attempted by the oppressive and brutal military junta that the 54 million people of Myanmar
are facing. This is the darkest moment in the history of Myanmar. The people of Myanmar
are facing the real darkness of crimes against humanity, death and destruction which are
both systematic and widespread.
Since the failed coup started on the 1st of February 2021, in Myanmar, the military junta
forces have murdered over 915 people, including 72 children (52 cases have been verified).
The brave people of Myanmar will never allow the normalization of the murder of innocent
civilians, and it is a matter of justice and accountability. The illegal military junta forces have
unlawfully arrested and detained more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people without cause,
including our elected leaders, our State Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr. President U Win
Myint and dozens of brave journalists. The military junta has been hunting down more than
2,000 innocent civilians and forcing them to flee from illegal arrest warrants, for the mere
'CRIME' of expressing their fundamental and universal human rights.
The illegal military junta committed another crime against humanity on the 16th of June,
2021 by burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes), in Sagaing Region of
Myanmar, and burning elderly people to death who were trapped inside their homes. This is
not a first, however, as this military junta is guilty of war crimes, genocide, crimes against
humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the people of Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Shan, Mon,
Rakhine, Chin States, our Rohinga brothers and sisters who account for over 40% of the
population of Myanmar.
This violence we are seeing instigated by the military junta in Myanmar is both systematic
and widespread. The brutal junta forces are attacking civilians’ homes, properties, villages,
towns and cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied
churches, schools, community halls and hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots.
These junta forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns
and bullets; replacing Bibles and hymnals with intimidations, oppressions, mortars and bombs; and replacing life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of tortures, destruction
and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
hospitals, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is crashing due to this military reign of
terror. It is not normal that our teachers, tutors, professors, doctors, nurses, midwives,
engineers, scholars and civil servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their
peaceful movement of CDM which is more powerful than all the military junta’s acts of
terrorism against the people of Myanmar.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta’s reign of terror.
There is nothing normal about 1.2 million innocent civilians in Myanmar being forced to flee
their homes due to this oppressive military junta.The United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) is predicting that over half of the population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million
people) will be living in poverty within a year. There is nothing normal about 27 million
innocent civilians in Myanmar facing harsh poverty. The United Nations World Food Program
(WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million people in Myanmar are going to face starvation
by the end of October 2021. There is nothing normal about 6.4 million innocent civilians
dying from starvation and thirst. It will be heart breaking to count the number of deaths
caused by not only the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and
hunger that has begun directly because of the terroristic actions of this brutal military junta
in Myanmar.
We cannot allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar people being violently forced to
flee from their homes because of a military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation, nor can we allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of a few old generals.
The military junta’s brutality and cruelties against the doctors, nurses, health workers,
teachers and civil servants who are simply expressing their fundamental rights by joining the
peaceful movement of civil disobedience - CDM - have been increasing. We, the NUG again
denounce and condemn this illegal and illegitimate military junta and their acts of terrorism
against this most peaceful CDM movement. This unacceptable reign of terror, harassment,
tortures, intimidations and violence against the peaceful movement of CDM must be
stopped at once. The legal and legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity
Government (NUG) has now successfully established 16 Ministries with responsible
Ministers, and out of these 16 Ministries of NUG, 11 Ministries have built websites and pages
in order to serve the best interest of our people for whom and by whom the NUG was elected
and formed.
The NUG is looking out for the best interest of the people of Myanmar, and in doing so we
have waived all land fees and charges for all rented lands in the areas of Myanmar's natural resources. These attempts are to cut off all revenue belonging to the people of Myanmar
from going into the hands of this illegitimate military regime 'SAC'. At the same time, I want
to take this opportunity to appeal to the International Communities that the people of
Myanmar have put strong sanctions against the military junta on the ground. They are
putting themselves in harsh conditions, for they know that these harsh conditions are
temporary, and that freedom and federal democracy means everlasting peace, prosperity,
and stability. Therefore, it’s time for the International Communities to sanction all stateowned
enterprises such as Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE) and other revenue
streams which are the main income sources for the military junta to buy more weapons in
order to kill more innocent people in Myanmar.
We have produced very important leaflets on how to prepare emergency kits for families
and individuals, and these are made available to all the public. We have done this because
of the increase of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a direct result of the military junta
forces acts of terrorism against the peaceful and innocent people of Myanmar. We are doing
everything we can to relief our people who have suffered so much for far too long.
The acts of terrorism against Mandalay City, the second largest and most populated city in
Myanmar, and the crimes against humanity and war crimes we have seen in Kinma, village
of Pauk Township, Pakokhu District, Sagaing Division, Demoso and other places in Kayah
State, and Mindat and other parts of Chin State have shown strong evidence that the military
junta in Myanmar is openly committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the
civilian population in Myanmar. The acts of terrorism by the military junta in Myanmar are
leading the whole Nation into a civil bloodbath, a great civil war and another genocide. Day
after day, these nationwide peaceful protests, boycotts and strikes which are completely
non-violent have been cracked down on by the oppressive military junta with bloodstained
heavy battlefield weapons that have been secured from China, Russia and other countries
with the money that has been stolen from the same gas and oil enterprise and our natural
resources..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"Nearly five months since Myanmar’s military took control of the country, the “Spring Revolution” has sparked nationwide demonstrations and a crackdown that’s cost hundreds of lives.
But the armed forces haven’t limited themselves to smashing protesters. They’ve gone after journalists reporting on them, too.
Mratt Kyaw Thu, 31, is one who managed to escape. Mratt Kyaw Thu fled to Madrid after months on the run. An open critic of the junta, he is one of thousands who are wanted by the armed forces.
Now he finds the continued crackdown hard to watch.
“I’m feeling so depressed. I’ve been crying all day, I don’t know what to do,” he told VOA in a June phone interview.
Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, has used the country’s penal code law to target anyone who interferes with government operations. Those found guilty face years in jail.
Mratt Kyaw Thu said that the threat of jail never concerned him. But the fear of being picked up and tortured in detention was too much.
“It’s really common for military to torture overnight and call the family member to take the dead body in the morning,” he told VOA.
The military has detained thousands since the February 1 coup, including multiple members of the media. Freed U.S. editor Nathan Maung recently spoke of his ordeal – including being beaten, interrogated and deprived of food and water – while U.S. journalist Danny Fenster remains in Yangon’s Insein Prison.
Mratt Kyaw Thu decided to leave Myanmar after he saw grotesque images of a National League for Democracy (NLD) politician who had been tortured and killed.
“[In] the pictures, the military tortured him, they even poured hot water down his throat … his tongue and his eyes come out from his face. That picture shocked me a lot,” he said.
The freelancer has been a journalist for over a decade. Mratt Kyaw Thu won Agency France Press’s Kate Webb Award in 2017 for his coverage of the Rohingya genocide.
After the military shut down the internet, he worked to report factual information undistorted by pro-military groups. But the junta, officially the State Administrative Council (SAC), quickly denounced his work.
“I think February 12 they announced my name as fake news,” he said.
His name came further to attention of the junta following a March interview he conducted with a general who had defected and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a pro-democracy campaign that has seen thousands of workers go on strike.
An altercation during protests in Yangon chilled him.
“Two policemen just emerged, appeared in front of me, pointed with their guns [and said], ‘If you are not a protester just go away, I don’t want to shoot you.’ This is the moment I was very distraught, very fearful.”
“They were ready to shoot someone against them. It was a terrible, horrible, experience,” he said.
In another incident, Mratt Kyaw Thu said he was inside a friend’s apartment when “even sound grenades and gunfire hit my wall.” He said he risked being shot were he to observe from the balcony.
At one point, the Myanmar military's 77th Light Infantry Division (LID) – known for violence during previous uprisings in the country – showed up on the street where he lived. Human Rights Watch accused the division of firing at protesters in 2007.
Mratt Kyaw Thu eventually left Yangon after hiding in an “escape area” with rebel ethnic armed groups. On April 5, the military announced an arrest warrant for the then-on-the-run journalist. Mratt Kyaw Thu had been hiding in villages near the border while dodging nearby airstrikes.
“The whole village had to move, had to flee into the forest. They have to leave their houses, and it was a very tragic event for them,” he said.
Mratt Kyaw Thu was able to obtain a visa for Spain. He first tried for asylum in Germany at a stopover in Frankfurt. But he was refused entry under European Union regulations governing asylum seekers.
For 38 days, Mratt Kyaw Thu was kept within a Frankfurt Airport detention center with little to do and no contact with the outside world.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, “I couldn’t even talk to people,” he said. Mratt Kyaw Thu finally was released and arrived in Spain on June 1.
Although safe, Mratt Kyaw Thu admits he’s struggling to adapt. And there are regrets.
“I can have coffee, go out shopping. At the same time, a lot of people are dying in my country, risking their lives. I’m sitting doing nothing; I feel so guilty,” he said.
Mratt Kyaw Thu continues to fact-check and report about Myanmar’s dire situation on his social media accounts. On Facebook, he has a following of more than 495,000 followers combined.
He’s under no illusions about the prospect of returning.
“As long as the dictator, Min Aung Hlaing, is in the chair, in power, I cannot go back,” Mratt Kyaw Thu said. “I’m a fugitive forever.”
General Min Aung Hlaing has led the Tatmadaw for a decade and is de facto ruler since disputing election results in November 2020 and jailing members of the government, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
The general has been sanctioned in recent years by the United States and Britain for abuses of ethnic minorities in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Opinion and Expression - tools for change in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"In a beige stone townhouse on a leafy New York street, a political coup thousands of miles away has split an office in two.
Downstairs in the dimly lit building, staffers at Myanmar's Permanent Mission to the United Nations receive orders from the military junta, which overthrew the country's elected government on February 1.
Upstairs, charismatic ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun is leading what is effectively an underground diplomatic corps, part of an attempt to wrestle back control of the country. His conference room is decorated with portraits of a long line of his military-aligned predecessors, reminders of what he's up against.
Staffers at Myanmar's dozens of diplomatic posts around the world have been faced with a predicament since the coup.
Stay in their roles and be forced to represent the military junta that has killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters and locked up the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Speak out and risk being fired and placing themselves and their families in Myanmar in danger.
At least 21 staffers across multiple regions -- including Kyaw Moe Tun -- have decided they won't cooperate with the military-controlled foreign ministry. Instead, they are quietly using their connections and relative safety abroad to counter messaging from Myanmar's military.
To many of their former colleagues, they are defectors -- people who have turned their backs on duty and the chain of command. Several diplomats who spoke to CNN insisted they are actually loyalists to the democratic government that was overthrown in February.
The issue is getting other countries to see them that way.
They have already had a win -- the United Nations has allowed Kyaw Moe Tun to retain his seat and rejected a military-approved replacement. That makes him the only openly anti-coup Myanmar diplomat to remain in office.
That alone won't be enough. Myanmar's military rulers could try again to replace him at any time -- and the longer the military remains in power, the harder it will be for underground diplomats to secure international recognition.
A military coup
In Berlin, Chaw Kalyar, 49, had stayed up late to watch Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) government be sworn in.
The NLD had been reelected in a landslide vote last year and February 1 was meant to be the day parliament opened. Instead, the country woke up to find men in green military uniform swarming the capital Naypyidaw. Television channels went black. In the days to come, members of Suu Kyi's government would be hunted down or arrested.
It was heartbreaking, said Chaw Kalyar, third secretary at the Berlin Embassy. As a 16-year-old, she had joined the country's historic 1988 protests against military rule, and seen friends killed in the ensuing government crackdown. She joined the foreign ministry more than 23 years ago, when Myanmar was under another brutal military dictatorship. When February's coup unfolded, Chaw Kalyar immediately knew she could not cooperate with the military junta -- she remembered how much people had suffered. "We could not just sit by this time," she said.
As she talked with other embassy staffers in Berlin about publicly supporting the burgeoning civil disobedience movement, Chaw Kalyar was cautious that others in the embassy may support the military.
Many of the country's career diplomats took roles in the foreign service during Myanmar's half century of military rule, which plunged Myanmar -- then called Burma -- into poverty, isolationism and civil war.
Just over a decade ago, the military chiefs put in place a plan that would permit the country to hold elections, liberalize the economy, and transition into a semi-democracy while still maintaining their authority. Suu Kyi's NLD election win in 2020 was only the second democratic election held since direct military rule ended. The party appeared to be leading the country, but in reality the military remained a powerful force.
The diplomats and embassy staff who denounced the coup were resisting a return to past repression.
Chaw Kalyar knew that if she spoke out against the coup, and the movement against the junta was unsuccessful, she would likely never be able to go home. Despite the risks, she decided to act.
"It's like all our life has endured this military dictatorship," she said. "We have to join this movement, and we think this movement can bring down this military coup, and we can finally eradicate this military brutality."
Thet Htar Mya Yee San, 29, a junior diplomat at the Myanmar embassy in Washington, remembers an emotional conversation with like-minded diplomats in two European cities. Although she was on her first foreign assignment, she and other young diplomats decided they should "give up everything" to support the civil disobedience movement or CDM, which has seen people across Myanmar stop going to work to prevent the country from operating as normal under its new de facto rulers.
But isolated in foreign countries, fearful for their families at home and uncertain of what would come next, they didn't take action immediately. That would come after a key moment a few weeks later..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက် (၂/၂၀၂၁)..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Format :
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Size:
733.56 KB
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"Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will return to court next week after two hearings on criminal charges brought against her by the military junta.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told journalists Tuesday that she and her two co-defendants, former president Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung, heard witnesses testify on charges of sedition in the first hearing. The second hearing involved charges that she violated the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law by breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary election.
Khin Maung Zaw said the hearings have been adjourned until Monday, July 5.
The 76-year-old Suu Kyi has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide electoral victory. Along with violating COVID-19 restrictions, she has been accused of illegally possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies, breaching the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest, misusing land for her charitable foundation, and accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold.
Ousted president Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung are being tried alongside Suu Kyi.
Electoral fraud allegation
The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes among several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar's military junta is using torture to extract information from detainees on the whereabouts of senior opposition members and activist leaders, according to an American citizen and journalist who was recently released from a Yangon prison.
Nathan Maung, 44, was detained for more than three months in Myanmar before being deported to the United States on June 15. During that time, he said he endured two weeks in a secretive military-run interrogation center in the country's biggest city Yangon.
Speaking to CNN Business on Wednesday from Washington, DC, Nathan Maung described his time in the facility as "hell" and said he prepared himself to die there, believing the soldiers would kill him.
He is one of more than 6,200 people arrested since Myanmar's military, led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, seized power in a coup on February 1, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and embarked on a bloody crackdown on dissent and on any perceived opposition to its rule. Mass street protests have been suppressed with deadly force.
Former inmates, lawyers and family members of those held have previously told CNN the detainees have been subjected to torture during interrogation and held out of contact from loved ones. Some — including members of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) Party — have died while in custody, their bodies showing signs of brutal torture.
CNN Business has reached out to Myanmar's military for comment.
Despite months of escalating violence, the junta has said it is using restraint against what it called "riotous protesters," who it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
Nathan Maung is co-founder and editor in chief of the Myanmar online news site Kamayut Media. He was arrested on March 9 alongside co-founder and news producer Hanthar Nyein, 39, as security forces raided their office.
Though now living in the United States, Nathan Maung said he is "not happy" and feels an overwhelming guilt he was released because of his American citizenship, while his friend and colleague Hanthar Nyein, a Myanmar national, remains incarcerated in the notorious Insein Prison.
"We've been through the hell together. So, we should be released together," Nathan Maung said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I really want him to know that we are not forgetting him. He's not alone."
Danny Fenster, another American journalist who was prevented from boarding a flight out of Myanmar on May 24, remains in detention, also in Insein Prison.
Weeks of 'hell'
Nathan Maung knew something was wrong when a convoy of military trucks full of soldiers pulled up outside Kamayut Media's office in Yangon. Security forces barged through the door and raided the office, seizing equipment and taking Nathan Maung and Hanthar Nyein with them as they left.
"They sent us to the interrogation center in Mingaladon," he said, referring to a suburb of Yangon.
There, Nathan Maung said they were beaten, denied water for two days and food for three. They were handcuffed and blindfolded nearly the entire two weeks they were there, he said.
"They started with a blindfold and handcuffs and then started questioning. They kicked our face, hands and shoulder, all the time. For every answer, they beat us. Whatever we answered — whether correctly or incorrectly — they beat us. For three days, non-stop," he said.
Nathan Maung said the facility had five houses and one big office. Within the buildings, he said, there were four interrogation cells. He said his blindfold was removed on his final day there so he got a look at the room and the buildings.
"In the room there is a CCTV camera, there's no bed, only a small table and a chair so you sit all day and night," he said. "You are blindfolded and there is no time to sleep. They won't let you. They put the handcuffs in front so you can try and sleep like that, but every five minutes they show up and start the questioning."
This torture carried on for eight days, during which the detainees would be moved between the houses and cells.
His colleague Hanthar Nyein bore the brunt of the torture, Nathan Maung said.
"Hanthar was badly treated because he was Burmese national. He had to kneel down on the ground for like two days. His skin was burnt with a cigarette," he said.
Nathan Maung believes the soldiers were pressuring Hanthar Nyein to hand over his phone password, which would give them access to his encrypted communications and phone records with high profile opposition and activist leaders.
For days, Hanthar Nyein held out from revealing the password, offering them false numbers in the hope his phone would automatically lock anyone out of using it. But the final straw came when the guards threatened to rape him.
"Hanthar couldn't stand for this and so he surrendered his password and they stopped beating," Nathan Maung said.
Nathan Maung's phone broke during the arrest. The beatings stopped for him on the fourth day, he said, when the soldiers discovered he was a US citizen.
"They stopped beating me and started asking questions about why the US government sent me and were giving me US funding, if I was working for the CIA — those kind of stupid questions," he said. "I said no, I'm a journalist, no one gave me money."
So, the line of interrogation focused instead on his media company Kamayut Media. He said the soldiers asked about budgets and finances. "They are looking for any fundraising or where we got it," he said..."
Source/publisher:
CNN Business
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Myanmar has entered a Great Depression. It must be spelled with a capital G and D, reflecting the real mood of the people of this country.
This Great Depression began with the coup staged by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 1, which in turn triggered political, social and economic upheavals that continue to this day. This Myanmar version of the Great Depression differs from the severe worldwide economic depression of the 1930s, though.
The trauma of a coup d’état—or even the prospect of one—is familiar to the people of Myanmar, who suffered through three previous coups, and the total breakdowns in order that resulted, over the past six decades, in 1958, 1962 and 1988.
However, the latest coup has been a particularly serious blow, not only politically, socially and economically, but also psychologically, for the whole population.
Since the coup, all people in the country—rich and poor, educated and uneducated, employers and employees, civil servants and private company staff, parents and children, adults and kids, teachers and students, men and women, doctors and patients, villagers and city dwellers, farmers and traders, Buddhists and Christians, Hindus and Muslims, members of the ethnic majority and minorities, locals and foreigners—have been plunged into misery.
Almost everyone I meet and speak to these days has shared with me their deep despair, anger and fear, without even being asked. They all feel lost, and we can all relate to this feeling; there is no need to elaborate.
I tend to express my own feelings back to them with this observation: “This is the era in which everyone in our country, from beggars to the president, are experiencing the worst kind of suffering.”
Shattered expectations
One especially cruel aspect of this Great Depression was that it was thrust upon the country at a time when people had such great expectations. The people were in a delighted mood after November’s election, in which the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory, and were waiting to witness the rare spectacle of an elected government returning to power in order to entrench the country’s fledgling democracy, building on the freedoms, rights and economic opportunities that had been initiated over the previous decade.
Actually, their great expectations were largely confined to practical improvements in their lives; they were not overly concerned with idealistic notions, given their country’s complex political situation, in which the military already enjoyed undemocratic privileges.
But one man alone—an unprofessional general greedy for power—destroyed at a stroke their expectations and dreams of a brighter future. Because of his greed, the entire population now exists in this Great Depression.
Since the coup, the country has endured four months of grief. Not a single day has passed without arbitrary killings, arrests or abductions in one place or another in Myanmar.
So far, the regime’s forces have killed about 880 people, including many children, and have detained more than 5,000 protesters across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs over the past few months. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has warned that up to 3.4 million citizens could go hungry this year amid rising food prices and the loss of manufacturing, construction and service jobs. The coup has driven the economy into a state of rapid deterioration, and it is only expected to worsen in the near future.
A third wave of COVID-19 infections has recently hit the country, but the regime’s response to the deadly virus has been to do almost nothing. Many people recall the systematic measures implemented by the previous civilian government to handle the first and second waves of COVID-19 last year.
These are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems we face in this depression era. The whole situation on the ground is an indescribable catastrophe created by the coup leader and his regime. Min Aung Hlaing’s persecution of hundreds of doctors, teachers and striking civil servants has resulted in family separations as those on the wanted list have either gone into hiding or fled the country. His soldiers’ indiscriminate response to civilian resistance fighters in some urban areas has taken a great toll on people there. In Kayah State, residents returned to their homes to see they had been burned to ashes. Parents mourn their children who have died from pneumonia in rain-soaked forests after being forced to flee heavy-handed raids on their villages by thuggish soldiers.
But this is not the first time for Myanmar. In this country, every generation has its own dark memories. The generations of our fathers and grandfathers suffered similar feelings of despair under successive generals whose decisions destroyed their dreams and their lives too. The older generation felt this despair under the rule of the late dictator General Ne Win for 26 years from 1962 to 1988, while the younger generation felt it under Ne Win’s successors, senior generals Saw Maung and Than Shwe, for the next 23 years from 1988 to 2011. These periods under military dictatorship were an ordeal—earlier examples of the Great Depression endured by the people of Myanmar.
Dragged into a dark past
In the past, however, when Ne Win staged a coup and introduced his autocratic rule to the country, authoritarianism was not peculiar to Myanmar. During the Cold War it was somewhat of a global political trend, existing in countries in Africa, Latin America, East Asia and the Middle East. Myanmar and its neighboring countries in Southeast Asia were not exceptional in this.
In reality, it is not surprising that the rule of such great sinners should bring this kind of Great Depression. One only has to look at the world around us.
Other countries have encountered worse experiences. Just look at the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically killed some 6 million Jews—two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe—during World War II. Think about the feelings of Jewish communities across the world; Myanmar people can’t compare their current situation to those Jewish victims.
Cambodia, one of Myanmar’s neighboring countries, suffered such a Great Depression when the Khmer people endured the Khmer Rouge regime’s persecution of its perceived opponents, as well as minorities, causing up to 2 million deaths in the 1970s.
They all suffered deeply, experiencing their own forms of Great Depression during such terrible periods. It is a phenomenon that has afflicted the whole world throughout human history with inexpressible suffering. But all those that experienced it had to overcome these ordeals.
Nowadays, however, far fewer countries find themselves in this situation—for most nations, the most recent examples occurred decades ago. That’s why this latest coup in Myanmar feels so much worse to people than previous military takeovers.
But it shall be overcome. How? One simple and fundamental quality is enough: simply, the will to never give up. In previous Great Depression eras, the people of Myanmar didn’t give up; each time, they continued to struggle until they were able to bounce back. That’s what they are doing now, and every single person needs to keep doing their part through their respective callings. That’s why we’re seeing so many people in Myanmar rejecting the coup in so many different ways, to restore the democracy they expected..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, WFP (World Food Programme), Political History, Military History, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"As of 28 June, (883) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. Today there were no confirmed fallen heroes. 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 June 28, a total of (5202) people are currently under detention; of them (221) are sentenced. 1966 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Zaw Moe Naing, a policeman of Pauk Myoma Police Station of Pakokku District of Magway Region, and Naing Naing Toe a.k.a Yan Naing Toe, a policeman of Min Ywa Police Outpost in Gangaw Township, who are involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), were beaten and arrested on June 26 by the terrorist junta. On June 24, Pe Tin, a protest leader and NLD member of Kokkar Village of Gangaw Township in Magway Region, was arrested at home by junta troops because of a military informer.
At Mogok Township in Mandalay Region, a wife and two daughters including four years old daughter of protest leader Soe Htay were arrested as hostage on June 13 when the junta did not find Soe Htay. They are currently detained at the Mogok Detention Center. An arrest warrant has been issued against Soe Htay.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-28
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Type:
Individual Documents
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Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Before the coup, mental health was a neglected issue in Myanmar. Now, the situation is even worse. In this article, I look at the financial, legislative, structural and cultural challenges that have limited the provision of mental health services in Myanmar in the past – and how the coup continues to create shocks within this landscape.
Mental health in Myanmar is a critical issue. It is an unstable country, both in terms of political and economic factors. Decades of protracted conflict – the longest-running civil war in the world – combined, more recently with the economic impact of COVID-19, which according to a study in October 2020, saw the proportion of the population living in poverty rising from 16% to 63% over the past 8 months.
Moreover, since the February 2021 coup, violent crackdowns have already had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on citizens’ mental wellbeing. Senior UN officials warn of an ‘impending humanitarian crisis’ and have also argued that ‘Myanmar is spiralling into becoming something like a failed state’ with ‘potentially massive humanitarian ramifications’.
As Myanmar continues to exhibit more characteristics of a failed state, there will be serious ramifications for its population’s mental wellbeing. These ramifications can be seen in other conflict afflicted countries. According to a global WHO synthesis of 129 studies done in numerous conflict-affected contexts, ‘one in five people in conflict-affected populations have mental health conditions’. Conditions identified among these populations include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The report concludes that, ‘given the large numbers of people in need and the humanitarian imperative to reduce suffering, there is an urgent need to implement scalable mental health interventions to address this burden.’
In Myanmar, the mental health burden is being placed on an extremely strained system. A 2019 HelpAge International study further demonstrated the seriousness of mental health issues in Myanmar with the following findings: legally, ‘There is, [effectively], no mental health policy in Myanmar; preventing access to professional support through the primary healthcare system.’ While, as we shall see, some care is given through the private sector, this is limited in scope. Regarding state mental health provision, including funding, staff and infrastructure, the HelpAge study found that ‘staff are not adequately trained and there is little infrastructure to facilitate these services, particularly in rural areas’. As we shall see, much of this stems from a chronic lack of sufficient funding. Finally, the study pointed out that stigma and cultural understanding are also key issues: ‘while there is no data in Myanmar on how stigma impacts mental health, studies from other, similar countries suggest it has serious consequences.’
Going forward, the key challenges facing Myanmar’s mental health landscape are a lack of legislative support, a lack of funding, and misunderstandings about the nature of mental health. I shall explore these issues below.....
Legislation and funding:
Myanmar’s mental health legislation is outdated, to say the least. The nation’s mental health policy — I’m not making this up — is legislated by The Lunacy Act, dating from 1912. Violate this law at your peril – you’ll face a fine of 50 Indian rupees – a currency that has been obsolete since 1952. That Myanmar’s current mental health law focuses on criminalising ‘lunatics’ who pose a danger to society through incarceration at asylums goes a long way to explain the stigma that mental health currently has in the country, as we shall see later. To give an interesting parallel example, The Lunacy Act was also used in India, yet was replaced in 1987 by the Mental Health Act (where, among other changes, lunatics were referred to as mentally ill persons, and asylums as psychiatric hospitals), and then again in 2017 by the Mental Healthcare Act, which explicitly stated the need to implement ‘programmes to reduce stigma associated with mental illness’, along with more generally empowering those affected by mental health issues – which it was felt that the 1987 act failed to do. In Myanmar, a new bill has ‘been discussed by relevant ministries and agencies [The Ministry of Health and the WHO] since 2013 but has not reached parliament,’ according to the Myanmar Times.
Myanmar’s mental health landscape is also shaped by its Mental Health Policy, which is part of its National Health Policy. Last revised in 2006, the National Health Policy sees 0.3%of total health care expenditures spent on mental health, versus a global median of 2% – in other words, mental health in Myanmar is woefully underfunded. Especially once you consider that up until 2012, Myanmar had one of the lowest rates of healthcare spending in the world. While spending since then has risen significantly, Myanmar’s national healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP is the lowest in the ASEAN region, and outside of Africa, remains one of the lowest in the world. Furthermore, one has to keep in mind how badly funded and managed healthcare was in Myanmar for so many years. According to DFID: ‘even with the increase, a much larger injection of funds is necessary to reverse decades of neglect and mismanagement.’
How the ongoing Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and the junta’s approach to healthcare governance will affect the healthcare system is yet to be seen, though it the impact of these shocks is unlikely to be positive. As we have seen, military rule in the past has coincided with chronic government underspending on healthcare, and their recent behaviour against any health workers who are deemed to be threatening the stability of the government does not bode well. As of early May, at least 97 healthcare workers have been arrested and 10 killed since the coup, while arrest warrants have been issued for 400 health workers participating in CDM. Thousands continue to strike, bringing the country’s public health system – which accounts for 80% of the hospitals and clinics in the country – to its knees. Striking doctors have set up their own clandestine clinics, yet these are overloaded and face the risk of arrest if discovered.
‘The public health system is near collapse,’ Dr Mitchell Sangma, who is on the ground for humanitarian organisation Medicins San Frontiers told the BBC. “It’s a grim situation”. Those who cannot afford private care, simply are going without any healthcare. Though no research is currently available, given how limited the public provision of mental health support is at the best of times, now, when even life-saving care is unavailable, it must be close to non-existent.....
(Mis)understandings of mental health:
Public understandings of mental health are also an issue of concern. I recently spoke to Nay Chi Soe (pseudonym), a student who graduated with a BA in Psychology from East Yangon University a few years ago, about mental health. Two things stood out. Firstly, how unpopular the course was: of approximately 4,000 students who graduated from the university in her year, she had three other course mates. It was the least popular course in her year. Even Library and Information Studies had around 10 students, while more popular courses such as Engineering and Law had hundreds of graduates.
The second thing that stood out from our conversation was the reaction from friends, extended family members and even fellow students when she told them what she studied; ‘Oh do you want to go to a Ywa Thar Gyii?’ (Yangon mental hospital).’ ‘So can you tell me, were the crows black or white originally?’ (a Burmese equivalent of whether the chicken or the egg came first). These comments go some way to show how misunderstood the subject is. Indeed the crow comment is a philosophical question: the chicken/egg or white crow/black crow is a philosophical paradox about the nature of causality that has nothing to do with psychology at all. And even when people don’t confuse psychology with another subject, they tend to associate psychology with extreme mental illness. The subject is deeply misunderstood.....
Promising signs:
There are, however, more promising signs, most notably in the private sector provision of mental health. One of the most active groups in the mental health field in Myanmar is the Yangon-based, UNFPA-funded Mental Health Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Working Group, which has half a dozen suppliers in its list of available services.
Aung Min Thein, the founder of Counselling Corner, a private mental health CSO based in Yangon, explained how they address the problems facing the provision of mental health services in Myanmar.
According to him, ‘we have found that Myanmar people are not very familiar with counselling and generally don’t want to burden the system. This is the result of two main factors, the lack of information and stigma that mental health currently has in the country, and arr nar dal – the feeling of not wanting to impose oneself. It is therefore vital that we take a pro-active approach to mental health provision – while passive techniques have an important role to play, real results require real and meaningful interaction between the target groups and mental healthcare professionals. We have found that interactive workshops offer the best environment for therapy as they encourage people to talk freely in small groups about themselves – often realising that they share the same emotions, feelings and experiences.....
Mental health in the wake of the coup:
Looking forward, addressing these financial, legislative, structural, and cultural changes will take time, particularly given the current political situation. The junta government has made it clear that it will not accept any criticism of its rule, which causes a problem for any mental health campaign. While mental health was certainly an issue in Myanmar before, it is an issue that has wholly been exacerbated by the military coup and the subsequent, and ongoing, destruction that has followed. Even for those who have not directly experienced extreme traumatic experiences (like being imprisoned, physically attacked etc.), anyone with a Facebook account will have been exposed to content that poses severe mental health risks. Factor in stresses related to the severe economic implications of the coup, such as mass unemployment and financial insecurity, may also act as triggers on top of the previous existing challenges caused by Covid-19, past traumas, or even the normal difficulties in a person’s life.
The coup puts mental health at an impasse: many of the mental health issues people will be experiencing will be caused directly by the coup, yet any treatment likely cannot explore these issues or place any blame, lest they run the risk of censorship – or worse. However, as Aung Min Thein tells me, the importance of therapy is not about placing the blame on somebody or something, rather about working on one’s own issues. His approach is to focus on the feelings of the individuals rather than the stimuli that caused them. This strategy does not legitimise the coup, but rather a recognition that the resilience people require to resist the regime depends on their mental wellbeing.
While the situation seems bleak, the first step at least is clear: we need to deal with the stigma associated with mental health in Myanmar, and to help people realise that asking for mental health support is both completely normal and healthy. Only then can mental health issues in Myanmar be truly addressed.....
Resources:
A number of both national and international volunteer-based counselling groups have sprung up since the coup. Readers may also refer to MHPSS’s list of available services.
Charlie moved to Yangon in 2014 to work at UNODC. After winning the war on drugs, he worked at BRAC. Then he realised he didn’t like working for INGOs and started running music events. Fast-forward 2 years, he started a record label with local artists. Now, he works with celebrities and influencers in social media campaigns that communicate socially beneficial messages. He speaks pretty good Burmese. He also runs a watch company. Charlie has written on Microfinance and the Ultra-poor, the War on Drugs , Suu Kyi and Islamophobia, and the hip hop scene in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Tea Circle (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Mental health, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"It is hardly surprising that the ethnic rebellions in states like those inhabited by the Kachin and Karen have flared anew since the military seized absolute power in Myanmar on Feb. 1, and that Bamar dissidents from cities and towns have sought refuge in areas controlled by ethnic rebels in the north and east. That happened after the military crushed a nationwide uprising for democracy in 1988 as well. But this time, the sound of gunfire and bomb blasts can be heard in Yangon, Mandalay and other cities and towns in the country’s heartland. And, in the ethnic areas, some of the heaviest fighting has raged in Chin and Kayah states, which for decades have not seen any widespread insurgencies.
Even there, it is a new type of rebellion. Myanmar’s older ethnic rebel armies, who have been battling for self-rule and autonomy for decades, are dressed up in uniforms with insignia, the officers have ranks, they are based in camps and are organized along the lines of regular armies anywhere in the world. The “new rebels” in Chin and Kayah states have none of that, and, unlike the ethnic rebel armies, are not equipped with automatic rifles but hunting guns, homemade weapons and bombs they have assembled themselves.
Even so, if reports on social media sites are to be believed, they have managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw. Dozens of soldiers have been killed in ambushes and by roadside bombs—which, in turn, has provoked a massive and brutal response from the Tatmadaw. Heavy artillery and airpower have been used, but since the Tatmadaw is facing a largely invisible enemy, the firing into villages suspected of harboring the rebels has been indiscriminate, houses have been torched and even places of worship, like churches in predominantly Christian areas of Kayah State, have been damaged.
As a result, according to a June 24 statement by Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary General António Guterres, “an estimated 230,000 people have been displaced because of violence, fights and insecurity.” According to local sources in Demoso, Kayah State quoted by The Irrawaddy, Tatmadaw troops have also looted shops and entered homes and taken whatever they feel like. With all of that comes widespread anger at central military authorities—and the possibility of strengthening older, centrifugal forces on the periphery, which would be a challenge to anyone who wants to keep the country together.
Kayah State is inhabited by several ethnic groups of whom the Karenni, or Kayah, are the predominant among the state’s population of approximately 286,000. Originally Animist, many of them were converted to Christianity, mainly by Baptist missionaries, in the 19th century. But the Mong Pai (Mobye in Burmese) area on the Shan State border—where more than a dozen Tatmadaw soldiers were killed by local rebels in May—is where the Kayan, or Padaung, people live. They are predominantly Roman Catholic and their women are famous for wearing brass neck rings, which make their necks seem longer.
There is an old rebel army in Kayah State, the Karenni Army (KA), which is the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) but has been engaged only in sporadic fighting since it was formed in the 1970s. But Kayah State has a very different administrative history from other Myanmar states. Although Animist or Christian, its people adopted at an early stage in history Shan political culture and established their own principalities. Following the advent of British colonial power in the 19th century, central Burma, as it was then called, became a colony, while the 40-or-so Shan states achieved a status similar to that of being protectorates.
The Karenni states, on the other hand, were recognized as “independent” under an agreement signed in 1875 by T.D. Forsyth for the British crown and Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung, the representative of the king in Mandalay: “It is hereby agreed that the Burmese and British Governments that the states of Western Karenni shall remain separate and independent and that no sovereignty or governing authority of any description shall be claimed or exercised over that State.” Consequently, the Karenni states of Kyebogyi, Kantarawaddy and Bawlake were marked as “independent” on maps throughout the colonial era although, in reality, they enjoyed the same status as the Shan principalities. But British presence was light, and there was little interference in the internal affairs of the Karenni states.
The Karenni and Shan states were the only states which, according to the 1947 constitution, had the right to secede from the then proposed Union of Burma after 10 years of independence. The Kachin and Karen states, which were to be formed after independence, did not have that right. But the Karenni rose in rebellion as early as 1946 in anticipation of the formation of the Union. The United Karenni Independent States were proclaimed to safeguard the “independence” of the area. An armed wing called the United Karenni States Independence Army was formed in 1948 but the rebellion petered out after the arrest of the main leader, Saw Maw Reh, in 1949. He was released in 1953 and was among those who formed the KNPP in 1957. The KA was set up in 1974, but like its mother organization the KNPP, it was based mainly on the Thai border opposite Mae Hong Son, where it benefited from the black-market trade between the two countries. A smaller faction broke away and formed an alliance with the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), but its presence in Kayah State was very limited. When Saw Maw Reh died in 1994, the KNPP/KA lost most of its remaining strength and the movement slipped more or less into oblivion—until now.
The Kayan formed their own organization called the Kayan Newland Party (KNLP). Set up in 1964, it was for years led by Shwe Aye, aka Naing Hlu Ta, a former university student, who allied the movement with the CPB. In 1994, the KNLP was one of many rebel groups that made peace with the then military government. Local conflicts with rival groups and government demands for total surrender have decimated the group and it is now no longer active. The recent surge of fighting in Kayah State, therefore, appears to be unconnected with older insurrections.
The Chin, like the other hill peoples, including their distant relatives the Kachin, were also Animists before the arrival of the Christian missionaries. But unlike the Kachin they never managed to establish a formidable rebel army. One reason is that—again unlike the Kachin, among whom the Jinghpaw dialect became the lingua franca—the Chin remained divided by more than 30 (according to some counts, 44) different, mutually unintelligible dialects. In the 1970s, the Kachin Independence Army made an attempt to raise an allied force in Chin State—the Chin Independence Army, with the unfortunate abbreviation of CIA—but it soon vanished from the scene.
The Chin are more closely related to the Mizo (or Lushai, as they were called during the colonial era) of northeastern India, and cross-border contacts have always been strong and frequent. The establishment of Mizoram, a separate state for the Mizo, in India in 1987 also had repercussions in Chin State. Much to the embarrassment of the Indian government, the Indian flag was hoisted in several towns in Chin State in 1988. It was followed by a demand by local leaders that Chin State should secede from Myanmar and join newly formed Mizoram.
A smaller rebel group called the Chin National Front (CNF) with the Chin National Army (CNA) as its armed wing was formed when a number of Chin students went underground after the 1988 uprising. They did get some support from across the border in India, where the Research and Analysis Wing (India’s external intelligence agency) used them to collect intelligence. They were also unofficially allowed to set up a base in a remote part of southern Mizoram. It was known as the Victoria Camp and named after Mount Victoria (Nat Ma Taung in Burmese), the highest mountain in Chin State. But it was abandoned in 2005 and the CNF remained an insignificant group—until ex-general U Thein Sein launched his so-called “peace process” after assuming the presidency in 2011.
In 2015 the CNF became one of the eight original signatories of U Thein Sein’s “Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement”, but it was then so small and insignificant that it was awarded an area in Chin State where it could set up a headquarters, also called Victoria Camp. It was seen as important that the so-called “signatories” were credible forces, although only two of them, the Restoration Council of Shan State and the Karen National Union, had any actual armed forces. Photos of uniformed CNA troops began to appear on social media sites, but their weaponry seems to consist almost exclusively of wooden cutouts.
The CNA does not appear to have taken an active role in the recent fighting in Chin State, where in May a local force calling itself the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) seized control of a town called Mindat and, according to local sources, killed more than 30 Tatmadaw soldiers before being forced out after heavy bombardment from the air and by artillery fire. The CDF has also launched attacks near the Chin State capital Hakha and other places in the area. But on May 28, the CNF, perhaps because it did not want to be overtaken by events, declared that it had forged an alliance with the National Unity Government (NUG), which consists of elected MPs who were ousted on Feb. 1 and other pro-democracy individuals. It is also worth noting that the main spokesman of the NUG, Dr. Sasa, is a Chin who is among the thousands of Chin who fled to India after the coup and the subsequent flare-up of fighting in the home areas. Some sources put the number of refugees in India at more than 20,000, nearly all of them from Chin State and adjacent lowland areas. A smaller number of refugees are in Manipur, the Indian state north of Mizoram.
It is too early to say whether the new rebellions that the coup has ignited will have any significant, long-term impact. The initial success of their ambushes could not have been carried out without widespread popular support, but in order to fight an insurgency, they would need more sophisticated weaponry than they presently have at their disposal. In the past, Thailand had a huge gray weapons market where many Myanmar rebel armies bought their guns. But that is no longer the case and China, the only other possible source of military hardware, would provide only the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and, indirectly, the allied forces of that group with weapons. None of the new rebel armies would fall into that category. The UWSA has also shown through its inactivity that it wants to be aloof of the post-coup anti-Tatmadaw movement, and will remain uninvolved.
It is also not possible that the new rebels will have access to safe havens in neighboring countries, which they would need in order to survive and expand. The Thais are not even willing to let the thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Myanmar cross the border, and those who did manage to escape to Mizoram can, at most, expect humanitarian assistance from their fellow Mizo.
And then there is the issue of ethnic identity. Is there any coordination between the new rebel groups in ethnic areas and urban guerrillas carrying out attacks in cities and towns? Will the new armies in ethnic areas, in the end, join kindred rebels fighting for autonomy or, in some cases, secession from an oppressive, Bamar-dominated central power? The only thing that can be said with certainty is that junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing probably had no idea of the forces he and his henchmen would unleash when, nearly five months ago, they decided to launch a coup, a move that has thrown the country into turmoil, causing immense suffering and tearing the country apart..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political, The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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A new brand of militant is throwing bombs, torching targets and killing junta officials in the name of restoring democracy
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"Five months after the military coup in Myanmar, resistance to the anti-democratic takeover is evolving and intensifying.
In the old capital Yangon, groups of mostly young people appear for brief moments in the streets, shouting slogans and flashing the three-finger salute, the symbol of the pro-democratic struggle. They then disperse as quickly as they had appeared to avoid arrest.
Upcountry, people are also showing their anger at Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s power grab, with most protests taking place in Mandalay, Sagaing and Tanintharyi Regions. Demonstrators from across the country have expressed solidarity with each other.
When clashes occurred between protesters and security forces in urban areas in Mandalay in early June, people in Yangon staged a demonstration chanting “Stay strong Mandalay, we, Yangon will be with you.”
More militant elements have taken to throwing low-grade bombs and grenades at government buildings on a near-daily basis, while police, suspected military informants and leading members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party are being targeted for assassination.
Moreover, a loose alliance of local resistance forces known as the People’s Defense Force (PDF) was formed in May in response to the coup. Officially, it is the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG), which is made up of MPs who were deposed in the February 1 coup and other anti-junta activists.
The evident aim is to topple Min Aung Hlaing’s government by military means.
Judging from what happened in February, when millions of people in virtually every city, town and major village across the country marched against the coup, it is plausible to assume the NUG and PDF may have widespread popular support and getting recruits would not be a major problem.
But more than that will be needed in order to wage a successful armed struggle. The first would be access to weapons, then fall-back areas and, preferable, safe havens across the borders of a neighboring nation from where supplies could be sent to forces inside the country. It will also need money to sustain its activities.
On the surface, the PDF doesn’t appear to have any of the above.
According to a May 23 Myanmar-language NUG announcement, the PDF is made up of five divisions, each having at least three brigades. Each brigade consists of five battalions which, in turn, are divided into four companies, the announcement said.
That sounds like a formidable military force but, in reality, it’s so far only on paper. Groups of urban dissidents have taken refuge in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Karen National Union (KNU) ethnic armed organizations.
Reports from inside sources indicate that the urban guerrilla warfare that Myanmar is now experiencing is an outcome of that alliance. Indeed, the well-planned attacks have been daring and dramatic.
On June 18, for instance, an army truck with regime soldiers on board was blown up in Yangon’s Tamwe township. The Irrawaddy cited witnesses who said they saw soldiers on board the truck, which was parked outside an office of the USDP. The blast also occurred within walking distance of the township’s police station, the Irrawaddy reported.
Both the KIA and elements of the KNU, which disagree with their leaders’ signing of an earlier, ineffectual Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), have since the coup also carried out widespread attacks in their areas of operation. The KIA in particular has hit Tatmadaw targets all over Kachin state.
But elsewhere in Myanmar, armed resistance appears to have been launched by local groups which may or may not have any links to the NUG and the PDF. That is especially true in now restive Chin and Kayah states, parts of the country that have not seen any large-scale insurgency for decades.
The PDF’s prospects look initially bleak. Decades of experience show that neither side in Myanmar’s many, mainly ethnicity-based civil wars can win solely by military means.
The Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, has been unable to defeat the rebels and none of the ethnic armed groups has had enough strength to force any central government to agree to their demands for self-rule or autonomy.
The International Crisis Group sums it up as such in a June 28 report on Myanmar’s new emerging armed struggle:
“The resistance has taken on an increasingly revolutionary character, with most dissidents no longer aiming for restoration of the status quo ante, but for the Tatmadaw’s disbandment and its replacement by a new armed force that is not dominated by the Burman ethnic majority.”
That, the ICG concludes, would require the “Tatmadaw’s defeat or capitulation” – a remote possibility in today’s Myanmar.
The most recent attempt at finding an alternative, political solution to the civil wars was made by Thein Sein, a former Tatmadaw general, shortly after his appointment as president in 2011.
Talks between his government, the Tatmadaw and a variety of ethnic armed groups were held and resulted in eight of them signing the NCA in October 2015.
The problem, however, was that only two of those groups — the KNU and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) — had any armed forces to be reckoned with. The rest were tiny, largely irrelevant groups whose signatures were required to solidity the credibility of the NCA.
None of the major groups, among them the KIA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army or the United Wa State Army (UWSA) which, along with their respective allies, represent more than 80% of all armed rebels in the country.
The PDF will add to the Tatmadaw’s troubles. Unable to identify the new rebels, who unlike other ethnic insurgents are not dressed in uniforms with insignia showing the name of their army and their ranks, the Tatmadaw has resorted to firing indiscriminately into villages, causing widespread destruction of civilian homes and properties.
As a result, an estimated 230,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar because of violence, fights and insecurity, according to a June 24 statement by Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Myanmar’s “new rebels”, with or without collaboration with older, ethnic armies, may be able to inflict heavy casualties on the Tatmadaw. But even the older armies are facing similar problems as the new ones.
In the past, Thailand’s grey weapons market was a treasure trove for any group looking for weapons, but, as relations between the Thai military and Tatmadaw have improved, that is no longer the case.
Informed sources say they are struggling to keep even their own soldiers with guns and sufficient ammunition. And Myanmar’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed group, the UWSA, has shown no interest in arming or even sheltering urban dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.
That could be explained in the context of the UWSA’s close relationship with China’s security services on the other side of the border. While democratic countries all over the world have condemned the coup, China, along with Russia, have come out in support of Min Aung Hlaing’s junta.
The future for Myanmar thus looks bleak, with only a split within the Tatmadaw likely able to bring about fundamental change. But there are no signs yet of that happening as Myanmar’s resistance shifts from peaceful protests to more violent means.
The most the “new rebels”, alone or together with ethnic allies, may be able to achieve would be to disrupt its efforts to consolidate its grip on the country. In other words, Myanmar is back to square one in the history of its decades-long civil wars where neither side can win.
That can only mean more suffering for the people with villages being torched and civilians killed — and refugees gathering in the jungles and mountains or trying to escape to neighboring countries. Myanmar will remain a source of instability in an otherwise relatively prosperous part of the world..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, National Unity Government (NUG), Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Across Myanmar, militias are forming to counter deadly repression of demonstrations against the 1 February coup. In response, the military has deliberately targeted civilians, displacing tens of thousands. Outside actors should press the regime to respect international law and allow humanitarian aid to the displaced.
Description:
"What’s new? Following Myanmar’s 1 February coup, newly organised militias have launched attacks in several parts of the country in response to regime killings of demonstrators. These lightly armed bands have inflicted significant casualties on the security forces, who have struck back with heavy weapons and bombardment of residential areas.
Why does it matter? The regime’s heavy-handed, indiscriminate retaliation has displaced tens of thousands of men, women and children. Local networks and humanitarian agencies are unable to adequately assist these people, due to security and access restrictions, including military arrests, confiscation of supplies, and killings of those trying to deliver aid.
What should be done? International actors – including in the UN Security Council – should press Myanmar’s regime to respect its legal obligations regarding the principles of proportionality and distinction, which its counter-insurgency strategy deliberately violates, and allow humanitarian access to all displaced people. Newly created militias must also refrain from abuses, particularly killing detainees..."
I.
Overview
The Myanmar junta’s crackdown on protesters and the broader civilian population after the 1 February coup d’état has triggered violent resistance, including the formation of militias in parts of the country. Some such militias, armed with hunting rifles and other makeshift weapons, have used their numbers and knowledge of local terrain to inflict serious casualties on Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw. Security forces have responded with indiscriminate attacks on populated areas, using artillery, airstrikes and helicopter gunships. Tens of thousands of men, women and children have fled to the forest, with the regime blocking relief from reaching them. The Tatmadaw must meet its international obligations to respect the proportional use of force, distinguish between combatants and civilians, and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to those displaced. Outside actors have a responsibility, including in the UN Security Council, to ensure the regime faces consequences for international law violations. The militias, for their part, should not take the Tatmadaw’s grave abuses as an excuse to commit their own.
Citizens in many parts of Myanmar watched in dismay as the regime unleashed deadly violence against protesters and residents in major cities from late February. Determined to continue demonstrating against the coup, but also concerned that they faced the same threat from security forces, they began forming militias to defend themselves. Such groups have emerged in several areas of the country, responding to the security forces’ attacks with determined campaigns of armed resistance. They have been most effective in places with existing militias or ethnic armed groups, or strong traditions of hunting – where many men have access to weapons and know the terrain intimately. Many of these areas have seen no active conflict in years or decades, meaning the Tatmadaw has little established military and intelligence capability there.
With ground troops proving to be easy targets for ambushes, [the military] has unleashed long-range artillery, airstrikes and airborne assaults on populated areas.
Facing rising casualties, the military has responded with overwhelming force. With ground troops proving to be easy targets for ambushes, it has unleashed long-range artillery, airstrikes and airborne assaults on populated areas, such as the towns of Mindat (in Chin State) and Demoso (in Kayah State). The Tatmadaw is using its long-established “four cuts” counter-insurgency strategy in these areas, a cruel approach that deliberately targets civilians in an effort to deprive insurgents of food, funds, recruits and intelligence on troop movements (hence the four cuts). Attacks on populated areas are an integral part of this strategy, along with the looting of food stores and denial of relief supplies, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The fast emergence of these militias, and their capacity to evolve from loosely coordinated groups of local people into more structured, better armed and sustainably funded forces, likely marks a new phase of Myanmar’s decades-old civil war. Given the deep grievances in areas such as Chin and Kayah States – about the coup, but also over decades of neglect, ethnic discrimination and denial of rights – these militias are unlikely to simply disband or quickly fade away. They constitute new fronts for the Tatmadaw, which will probably keep blindly lashing out at civilians, as it has done repeatedly in the past when fighting many of the country’s ethnic armed groups. While these militias generally express support for the National Unity Government (NUG), the civilian body that has emerged to contest the junta’s claim to rule, they are not under its command or control.
In a context of national economic collapse and local penury, these new militias will have privileged access to resources and rent-seeking opportunities, such as other armed actors in the political economy of Myanmar’s conflict have long secured. Experience from other parts of the country shows that such groups can provide protection for residents but can also become a source of insecurity for them, as well as an economic burden.
Addressing these conflict dynamics and their impact on non-combatants is difficult without a return to more democratic and accountable civilian government, which the regime appears determined to prevent. Nevertheless, some steps can be taken now that would help meaningfully improve the situation:
The Tatmadaw must cease attacks on civilians in line with its international legal obligation to respect the principles of proportionality and distinction. The security forces must also stop impeding humanitarian access to displaced populations.
Outside actors should do what they can to ensure that the regime is held accountable for its violations of international law. UN Security Council members inclined to act could request that the UN secretary-general report in more detail on the extent of violence and any obstruction of aid in Myanmar, thus ensuring that the Council discusses these issues. All countries should stop the supply of weapons to the regime.
Humanitarian agencies and donors should use all available channels to press the regime for timely access to displaced people. Asian countries, which are likely to have the most influence, should also advocate for expeditious humanitarian aid as a matter of priority.
The militias likewise have an obligation to refrain from committing abuses, including killing of detainees and attacks on civilians and civilian property. All parts of the resistance must refrain in particular from targeting schools and medical facilities.
Even if it does not have command and control of these groups, the NUG should take steps to strengthen and further disseminate its military code of conduct, continue to publicly signal the priority it gives to this code and press all elements of the resistance to adhere to the provisions.
II.
Opposition to the Coup Takes a Revolutionary Turn
The military regime has responded to the anti-coup resistance with extreme violence, killing more than 870 people and detaining more than 6,000. The dead include protesters – many of whom were shot in the head – bystanders, random civilians shot in their houses and others tortured during interrogations. The crackdown has been effective in clearing the streets of the mass protests seen in the coup’s immediate aftermath, but it has provoked greater anger toward the regime. Mass protests have been replaced with flash mobs, which disperse before security forces can intervene, and strikes, boycotts and other forms of civil disobedience continue on a large scale.
The anti-regime resistance as a whole is diverse, organic and organised locally by professional groups (such as medical workers, engineers and teachers), pre-existing civil society networks, labour unions and others. Some of the members of parliament elected in the November 2020 polls, who were due to take their seats on the day of the coup, have come together to form a legislative body, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH). It is composed mainly of members of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) who are now in hiding, either in areas of the country controlled by ethnic armed groups or in exile. On 16 April, the CRPH established an executive body, the National Unity Government, with a diverse ethnic composition, especially at the deputy minister level.
The resistance has taken on an increasingly revolutionary character, with most dissidents no longer aiming for restoration of the status quo ante, but for the Tatmadaw’s disbandment and its replacement by a new armed force that is not dominated by the Burman ethnic majority. The CRPH/NUG has articulated its wish to create a “federal army”, under civilian control, with a more diverse ethnic composition and without the Tatmadaw’s institutional culture of violence against civilians. On 1 March, the CRPH went as far as to declare the regime a terrorist group, and the NUG did the same on 7 June.
This revolutionary agenda requires the Tatmadaw’s defeat or capitulation. The NUG first endorsed violent self-defence on 14 March and then announced the formation of its own armed wing, the People’s Defence Force (PDF), on 5 May. This step represents a decisive break with the policy of non-violence that the NLD adopted in its long years of opposition to military rule (1988-2011), which was a defining principle espoused by Aung San Suu Kyi herself. The regime responded on 8 May by declaring the CRPH, NUG and PDF to be “terrorist groups” under the Counter-terrorism Law.
The PDF is still a work in progress, with an aspirational structure on paper. Some young people, whom the NUG hopes to bring under its command, are being trained by ethnic fighters and some Tatmadaw deserters in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups. So far, three separate strands have emerged in the efforts at armed resistance:
First, the NUG attempted to convince existing ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar to join forces to fight the Tatmadaw under the banner of a new federal army. While several armed groups have expressed their support for the resistance and NUG, and in some cases provided sanctuary to fleeing dissidents, none has so far been willing to enter into a military alliance.
Secondly, the NUG announced the PDF, a tacit acknowledgement that it had been unable to form an alliance with ethnic armed groups and would instead form its own fighting force de novo. The challenges involved are enormous, however. The NUG does not control territory, and it is unlikely that ethnic armed groups would allow it to operate autonomously from places they control – for chain-of-command reasons, and because of likely regime retaliation; the Kachin Independence Organisation, for instance, has already said it will not do so. Although ethnic armed groups are providing military training to hundreds of young dissidents who have fled to areas under their control for sanctuary, these groups are not organised by the NUG and are not under its command, although they may share its objectives.
Thirdly, locally organised militias have been forming spontaneously in many places across Myanmar, in response to Tatmadaw violence. Groups such as the Chinland Defence Force (in Chin State), Kalay Civil Army (in Sagaing Region) and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (in Kayah State) have clashed with the security forces – both repelling Tatmadaw attacks and going on the offensive to take control of towns or rural areas. The NUG’s announcement of the PDF was intended in part to unify these various local groups under its umbrella. But while many of them are supportive of the NUG and some have pledged allegiance to it, they are not under its command. Some of the largest groups have had no contact at all with the NUG (see Section III.C below).
In addition to organised militias, networks of civilians have responded to the regime’s use of brutal violence with asymmetric attacks on government and other targets in Yangon, Mandalay and elsewhere – including with improvised explosive devices, arson and killings of administrative officials and suspected regime informants. These networks include some people who have been trained in ethnic armed group areas and have subsequently returned to the cities. Since early April, there have been hundreds of explosions in various parts of the country, with the largest concentration in Yangon.
Bomb and arson attacks have struck educational institutions, local administration offices, the homes of regime-appointed officials, police and military personnel and installations, and banks. Schools have been particularly hard-hit, with dozens across the country targeted in an apparent effort to deter parents from registering their children ahead of the new school year starting 1 June, which anti-coup forces have called upon the population to boycott. On 26 May, the NUG issued a set of ethical rules for resistance forces, inter alia prohibiting attacks on schools, medical facilities and other civilian targets. Since then, attacks on schools have declined but not stopped.
III.
The New Armed Resistance
As the regime began to use increasingly deadly violence against protesters and the broader civilian population from late February, city residents began to take measures to protect themselves from the security forces and deter their night-time raids. They barricaded access roads, appointed nightwatchmen to give early warning of the security forces’ incursions and formed defence groups made up of mostly young men and women armed with makeshift weapons and shields.
As the military deployed front-line troops to force residents of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns to remove these roadblocks over the month of March, many members of these improvised defence forces either went underground or fled to ethnic armed group-controlled areas seeking weapons and training. Some of these underground cells, and networks of people who have now returned to the cities after receiving limited training, have begun carrying out opportunistic attacks, including bombings.
In other parts of the country, the situation has evolved differently. With the regime focused on quashing dissent in the main cities, people in many provincial towns and rural areas were able to continue demonstrating without facing violent crackdowns. As they saw the death toll mounting in other areas, however, some of these communities began organising themselves to resist the security forces. When protesters began to be arrested or shot in their areas, they were ready to retaliate.
A.
The Battle for Mindat
On 4 April, resistance cells from all nine townships of Chin State came together to form the Chinland Defence Force (CDF). Located in the country’s north west, bordering India, the mountainous state is Myanmar’s poorest. On 24 April, CDF members in the southern town of Mindat clashed with the security forces for the first time, after officers refused to release seven people, three men and four women, detained for putting up anti-regime stickers in town. Residents said the detentions violated an informal agreement between security forces and the townspeople that troops would take no action against protesters as long as they remained peaceful. Protesters had gathered in the town centre to demand the detainees’ release, and when a police officer fired into the crowd, the defence force retaliated, reportedly shooting dead three members of the security forces.
The situation escalated rapidly from there. The army attempted to bring in troops by road to reinforce the overwhelmed local battalion in Mindat. On 26 and 27 April, CDF fighters ambushed military convoys on the roads leading to the town, reportedly killing more than 30 troops, destroying army trucks and looting weapons. Although the CDF fighters were only lightly armed with traditional flintlock rifles, they were experienced at using these for hunting, had intimate knowledge of the terrain and outnumbered their targets – amassing hundreds of fighters to strike the convoys.
Seemingly taken aback by the level of resistance it was facing, on 27 April the military initially tried to negotiate with Mindat town elders, seeking an agreement that attacks on troops would end in return for the release of detained demonstrators; the truce broke down after a few hours when the security forces failed to release all the seven detainees. Further negotiations were held on 1 May and 9 May, aiming to reach agreement on the withdrawal of fighters from both sides from the downtown area, the withdrawal of troops from outside medical facilities and banks, permission for CDF fighters to return home with no retaliation, and the release of five remaining detainees. Discussions broke down on 12 May, with the military still refusing to release one of the detainees.
The military was able, however, to negotiate safe passage for a convoy of troops through Mindat, on 7 May, in order to resupply its bases in Paletwa township further south. Paletwa had been the site of some of the most intense conflict between government forces and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine rebel force, from January 2019 until the informal ceasefire in November 2020. Chin people were caught in the crossfire of that conflict, and were at times targeted by the Arakan Army, so the CDF may have had some interest in allowing the convoy to proceed.
After negotiations collapsed on 12 May, CDF fighters attacked soldiers posted outside a bank in the downtown area. The following day, the regime declared martial law in Mindat and began shelling the town. On 13 and 14 May, the military sent two convoys of reinforcements, which were again ambushed by the CDF. Tatmadaw troops fled, and CDF fighters seized large quantities of weapons from the trucks before destroying nine of them.
With the CDF controlling all roads into Mindat, on 15 May the military launched an airborne offensive, first shelling the town, then flying in several hundred troops by helicopter to seize control. The CDF retreated into the surrounding hills, and most townspeople also fled; thousands remain in makeshift settlements in the forest. The military now controls the town, but clashes continue in the surrounding areas, including Tatmadaw attacks in areas that civilians have fled to. The CDF told Crisis Group it is regrouping and preparing for new attacks, but in order to protect civilians, it will no longer base itself in urban areas..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"As of 27 June, (883) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Kale Township and Monywa Township in Sagaing Region were killed on 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 June 27, a total of (5183) people are currently under detention; of them (221) are sentenced. 1966 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Zaw Htet, was arrested with his father in the evening of June 25 at Kale Township in Sagaing Region by junta troops, his family was informed on June 26 he died from COVID-19. Zaw Htet was in good health, he was killed from torture according to his friends. On June 25 at 9 pm, Naing Win Oo was shot dead by the terrorist junta without question while he went back to collect a garage key he had forgotten.
In the evening of June 26, Saw Pyae Chan Thar, a reporter from Sagaing City, was arrested by junta troops. On the night of June 25, San Lwin, an engineer, and his son Linn Latt Aung were arrested and beaten on the false information they were carrying explosive materials.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-27
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Dear friends, brothers and sisters, thank you for having me!
On behalf of the people of Myanmar, I want to say a warm thank you for giving me this
opportunity to present the plight of the people of Myanmar and appeal for your prayers and
support in this darkest hour in the history of Myanmar. The National Unity Government of
Myanmar and the brave people of Myanmar greatly appreciate you all for your prayers, your
support and for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. This is the most pivotal
moment in the history of Myanmar. While the fate and future of Myanmar hangs in the
balance, the strong and continued support and prayers from you all are absolutely crucial in
stopping this reign of terror. More so than ever, the 54 million courageous citizens of
Myanmar need the continued strong friendship, coordinated support and prayer from you
all in fulfilling our hopes, aspirations, and dreams. The people of Myanmar have suffered so
much for far too long under the hands of the brutal and cruel military generals and their
regimes.
I want to take this opportunity to appeal to you all for your prayers, support and action:
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta's reign of terror.
There is nothing normal about 1.2 million innocent civilians in Myanmar being forced to flee
their homes due to this oppressive military junta.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is predicting that over half of the
population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a
year. There is nothing normal about 27 million innocent civilians in Myanmar facing this harsh
poverty.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million
people in Myanmar are going to face starvation by the end of October of this year. There is
nothing normal about 6.4 million innocent civilians dying from starvation and thirst. It will be
heart breaking to count the number of deaths caused by not only the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and hunger that has begun directly as a result
of the terroristic actions of this brutal military junta in Myanmar.
We cannot allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar People being violently forced to
flee from their homes because of a Military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation, nor can we allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of a few old generals.
Injustice cannot be made into justice. Since the failed coup in Myanmar on the first of
February 2021:
There can be no justification whatsoever for the brutal murder of over 915 people, including
72 children, by the military junta forces. We will never allow the normalization of the murder
of innocent civilians, and it is a matter of justice and accountability. There is no justification
whatsoever for illegally arresting and detaining more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people
without cause, including our elected officials, our State Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr.
President U Win Myint and dozens of brave journalists, by the illegal military junta. There is
no justification whatsoever for the torture and intimidation by the military junta of innocent
civilians and forcing over 2,000 of them to flee from illegal arrest warrants, for the mere
'CRIME' of expressing their fundamental and universal Human Rights.
The illegal military junta committed another crime against Humanity on the 16th of June 2021
by burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes), in Sagaing Region of
Myanmar, and burning elderly people to death who were trapped inside their homes. This is
not a first, however, as this military junta is guilty of war crimes, genocide, crimes against
Humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people and the people of Karen,
Kachin, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, and Chin States, which account for over 40% of the population
of Myanmar.
This violence we are seeing instigated by the military junta in Myanmar is both systematic
and widespread. The brutal junta forces are attacking Churches, Schools, Villages, Towns
and Cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied Churches,
Schools, Community halls and Hospitals nationwide to use as Barracks and Supply Depots.
These junta forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with guns and bullets; replacing
Bibles and Hymnals with Mortars and bombs; and replacing live-saving Hospital equipment
with weapons of destruction and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
Pastors, Monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
Hospitals, Colleges, Universities, Banks, and Economy is crashing due to this military reign
of terror. It is not normal that our Teachers, Tutors, Professors, Doctors, Nurses, Midwives,
Engineers, Scholars and Civil Servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their
peaceful movement of CDM which is more powerful than the military junta’s acts of terrorism
against the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The pro-democracy protests continued across the country in different townships despite the continuing lethal attacks by the junta forces and arrested of protests and the youth. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) figures showed that as of 9 May, 780 people have been killed by the junta, 3,826 are currently under detention while 84 were sentenced. 1,540 arrest warrants have been issued and among them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment.
The military junta also said that it would not agree to a visit by a Southeast Asian envoy until it could establish stability. Maj. Kaung Htet San, a spokesperson for the junta’s State Administration Council said in an online news conference: "Whether we will follow the suggestions of ASEAN or not will depend on the situation of the country."
Explosions and killings have been reported in several states and regions including Yangon in the past week while growing numbers of clashes between the military and the civilian defense forces are also reported in Chin State state, Magway and Sagaing regions. Four administrators appointed by the junta were killed in Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing regions, while a NLD MP and four other people were killed in the explosion of a parcel bomb in Bago region.
Local media also reported the fighting between the military and the KNLA and KIA in Kachin and Kayah States and the military air raids in those areas left dozens of civilians injured. It is also reported more than 7,000 people in Papun district in Karen State are hiding as their villages are being attacked while more than 3,000 fled into Thailand. People of Salween River Basin Network, a civil rights group based in Mae Hong Son, urged the Thai government not to push the refugees back. The CSOs also repeatedly requested humanitarian organisations and relief agencies to take part in the distribution. In addition, more than 200 local and the international NGOs called on the UN to impose Myanmar arms embargo.
The junta also banned three media outlets including Myitkyina Journal, The 74 Media based in Kachin state and Tachileik News Agency from Shan state, totaling up to 8 abolished media outlets since the coup. The detained Japanese journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, was charged for spreading “fake news”.
The National Unity Government (NUG) set up a “people’s defence force” to protect civilians and outlined 35-point basic principles for its defense ministry, after the junta announced that the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), National Unity Government (NUG) and People Defense Force (PDF) are terrorist organizations..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The protests continued for the 10th week that protesters have used different methods to express their resistance towards the military coup such as “bleeding dye strike”, “marching shoes strike”, “flash strike” while the internet shutdown also continued at night time and all the wireless and broadband services were shut down since last week throughout the country.
In Bago region, more than 80 protesters have been killed by the junta with use of heavy weapons on 9 April and the residents in Bago also fled their homes following the attacks. On the other hand, 19 people have been sentenced to death at courts under the martial law declared by the junta.
There are a high number of Myanmar people displaced from their villages to ethnic army areas and Thai-Myanmar border. Currently, there are shortages of basic necessities, food, shelter, medicine in the displaced persons communities.
UN’s special envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener has arrived in Thailand to start a tour in Asian countries to step up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. However, it was reported that Myanmar's military has turned down her request to visit Myanmar.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners 706 people have been killed by the junta as of 11 April and 3059 people are currently under detention, 64 are sentenced and 657 arrest warrants have been issued targeting pro-democracy activists, political party leaders, government officials, celebrities and social media influencers..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"As the people of Myanmar continue the civil disobedience movement including nationwide street protests, the total number of deaths has doubled to at least 126 in the past week. The anti-coup protests saw another record-breaking surge in deaths on 14 March alone when at least 38 civilians were killed by security forces. The exact number could be higher as many casualties are yet to be confirmed.
After several Chinese-owned factories were burnt and a large number of deaths were reported in clashes between civilians and security forces in Yangon on 14 March, the military junta imposed martial law in Yangon’s Hlaing Thar Yar and Shwe Pyi Thar townships.
In the past week, the military junta also raided the offices of three independent news outlets and detained two media personnel following the ban of five news outlets. In addition, six journalists who were detained while covering anti-coup protests were charged for incitement.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a total of 2,156 people have been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the military coup of February 1. Three of them were convicted, 73 have been charged with a warrant and are evading arrest, 319 were released..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"One hundred days after the coup, the junta has pushed the region’s fastest-growing economy into an economic and humanitarian disaster. The World Bank forecast shows that Myanmar's economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2021, a sharp difference from the previous prediction of 5.9% growth in October 2020. There is a possible banking crisis which leads to cash shortages, limited access to social welfare payments and international remittances. Last week, Myanmar Kyat hit one of its lowest compared to the USD.
The World Food Program also estimates that up to 3.4 million more people, particularly those in urban areas, will face hunger during the next six months. Price rises, hurting the poor and causing shortages of some essentials, including the costs of fuel and medicine.
The junta called to reopen colleges, universities and schools soon but many students and educators are boycotting. As a result, around 13,000 staff had been suspended by May 8. The junta also announced job vacancies for educational positions to replace striking staff.
Across Myanmar, the ordinary citizens have taken up any weapons available from air guns to traditional firearms and homemade bombs and arms have spread in Chin state, Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions. Mindat township in Chin State reported more intensified fights between the civil resistance groups and the Myanmar military while clashes were reported in Myingyan township, Mandalay region and Tamu township, Sagaing region.
According to our information, at least 43 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week and many of them were in Yangon’s townships. It was reported that two people died and at least 21 people were injured.
Media reported the junta continued to conduct air strikes across the villages in Kachin, Kayin, and Shan states, leading to thousands of people fleeing their villages. The Ethnic Health Organizations (EHOs) called on the international community to provide direct support to the ethnic areas as international aid sent through central Myanmar was unable to reach EHOs. The media also reported that the IDPs in Momauk township, Kachin State are in desperate need for emergency support.
CSOs based in Thai-Myanmar border called authorities to consider measures for refugees on humanitarian principles and make an effort to monitor, assess the situation closely while consistently upholding both national security and humanitarian principles. They also urge Thai authorities to assess the situation comprehensively based on correct information and reliable sources.
A DVB reporter, Min Nyo was sentenced by a military court to three years in prison for his reporting. Three reporters from Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation. CSOs and foreign correspondents in Thailand urged the Thai authorities not to deport them back to Myanmar.
Thai prime minister and Foreign Minister met with the UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener to discuss the situation in Myanmar. The PM said he will not force those fleeing violence back to Myanmar. The National Unity Government also called for foreign countries to introduce and expand sanctions against the overseas relatives of Myanmar’s military council members.
As of May 16, a total of 3,998 people are currently under detention and among 92 are sentenced. 1,679 have been issued arrest warrants. Twenty were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment.
UEC member U Khin Maung Oo informed that there will be a coordination meeting with all the 91 political parties on 21 May and the main topic to discuss is about the use of the PR system. After the coup, the junta appointed UEC requested political parties to send the proposals on the PR system and some of the major parties such as NLD and SNLD rejected the proposal.
World religious leaders are giving special attention to Myanmar, Pope Francis offered a special mass for the people of Myanmar on Sunday, 16 May 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, WFP (World Food Programme), Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The protests continued for the 11th week despite the brutal crackdown by the junta forces. Ko Wai Moe Naing, a prominent leader of the pro-democracy protest movement in Monywa, Sagaing region, was beaten and dragged away after a vehicle hit his motorbike. 26 citizens were killed by the junta forces during the Thingyan period, habitually the country’s most joyful and auspicious holidays.
Mobile data was cut in Myanmar for the 35th consecutive day according to Netblocks while nighttime internet blocking continues. Wireless and broadband services were also shut down throughout the country. Youth are fighting the junta's internet shutdown and information suppression with underground printed newsletters such as Molotov, The Voice of Spring, and The Milestone of Spring that they are secretly distributing across communities in Yangon and other cities.
This week, pro-democracy politicians, including the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) announced a shadow National Unity Government (NUG) formed under the terms of the Federal Democracy Charter. Mahn Win Khaing Than, an ethnic Karen and former House Speaker was appointed as the prime minister, while Duwa Lashi La, president of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly is the vice president. President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi retain their positions.
The special ASEAN summit on Myanmar is scheduled to take place on 24 April in Jakarta and Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend the summit as his first known foreign trip since he staged the coup. The National Unity Government officials responded that ASEAN has to negotiate with the newly formed legitimate government if they want to help resolve the current situation. They also urged ASEAN to provide a seat at the summit for the NUG and not to recognize the junta as the legitimate representative of Myanmar.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 737 people have been killed by the junta as of 18 April and 3,229 people are currently under detention. 75 have been sentenced and 930 arrest warrants have been issued targeting pro-democracy activists, political party leaders, government officials, medical officers, celebrities and social media influencers.
An art and culture concert called “Myanmar Spring”, to be held on 24 April at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. The charity event is organized by Myanmar students in Thailand, in the hope of raising awareness and raising funds in support of the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), internally displaced individuals, and families of those who have lost their lives in the conflict in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Size:
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Description:
"In the past week, the military junta shut down mobile internet and wireless broadband internet (except for fibre internet) indefinitely. Crackdowns against the media were also intensified, with three journalists arrested in a week. Since the military’s Feb. 1 coup, a total of 40 journalists have been arrested by the junta, with 22 of the 40 had been released and 18 still under detention as of March 19. The closure of The Standard Time following The Myanmar Times, The Voice, 7Day News and Eleven also marked the end of independent print media in the country.
As of March 21, at least 250 people are now confirmed killed by Myanmar’s police and military. A total of 2,665 people have been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the military coup on February 1, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Of them, 15 were convicted; 109 have been charged with a warrant and are evading arrest, 375 were released. A total of 2,290 are still under detention or have outstanding charges/evading arrest, including the 15 sentenced..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The protests continued for the 12th week across the country despite the brutal crackdown. After a weeks-long absence, protesters returned to the streets in downtown Yangon ahead of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting. The media also reported that more than 110 people, many of them student activists and youth protesters, were abducted by the junta. Some of the protest leaders’ houses were raided while some of them fled to avoid the arrests.
The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting was held on 24 April in Jakarta, Indonesia and was represented by junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing despite strong objection from the people of Myanmar and both local and international CSOs. The calls to invite the National Unity Government (NUG) to the meeting in order to address the issue of Myanmar were not fulfilled. The meeting ended with the issue of a “Five Points of Consensus”, which was criticised for not including the call for the release of political detainees in Myanmar. Deadly crackdowns on the protesters and the attacks on ethnic communities by the junta continued even during the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.
The World Bank forecast the Myanmar economy will decline by 10 percent this year due to the impact of the military coup. Around 200,000 workers in the garment industry have lost their jobs and nearly a third of the garment industry jobs have been wiped out with many other industries. The World Food Program (WFP) analysis also shows up to 3.4 million or more people will struggle to afford food in coming months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices are in rise.
As air raids and the continuing fights between the Myanmar military led thousands of people to cross the border to Thailand and India. The humanitarian organizations also stressed the importance of unfettered access to everyone fleeing Myanmar to provide lifesaving aid and other services, including healthcare, food and water.
There are nearly 250,000 displaced persons inside Myanmar or neighbouring countries like Thailand, India. However, there is no proper humanitarian assistance for these victims and it was discussed in many CSOs forums for immediate actions, specially from the Thai government, UN and other international relief groups.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures show that as of 25 April, 751 people are confirmed killed by this junta. 3,431 are currently under detention while 79 are sentenced. 1,159 arrest warrants have been issued. 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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pdf
Size:
222.47 KB
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Description:
"As the Tatmadaw marked the Myanmar Armed Forces Day on March 27, at least 114 people were killed by the military junta, the bloodiest day so far since the military coup on February 1. The mass killings came a day after the military junta warned the protesters that they will face the risk of getting shot through state owned television.
As of 28 March, at least 459 people have been confirmed killed by the junta. Among them, at least 38 were children. A total of 2,559 people have been detained since the coup, of which 37 of them are sentenced and 119 have been issued arrest warrants.
Internet shutdown also continued in the past week including mobile internet and wireless broadband internet (except fibre internet). Crackdown targeting the media also continued, leading to more than 50 journalists being detained so far. The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), meanwhile, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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250.62 KB
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Description:
"The pro-democracy protests continued across the country while the Myanmar community outside of the country also conducted the protests in places such as London, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul. The protests started again in Yangon last week just before the ASEAN summit after a few weeks of absence. Some flashmobs were also witnessed in townships such as Kyauktada, Sanchaung, Ahlone, Hlaing, Kamayut, Dawbon, Thaketa, Tamwe, Insein and Hlaing Tharyar townships in Yangon.
A series of small-scale explosions also reported in Yangon in the past week. On 2 May alone, explosions were reported at least in six townships including Insein, Hlaing Thar Yar, Tamwe, North Dagon, South Dagon and Thaketa.
The junta lifted the nightly fibre internet cut off while mobile data and wireless broadband remain blocked, except for some selected business and banking apps. Social media, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, are still banned in the country.
Despite the call for immediate cessation of violence through ASEAN summit by the ASEAN leaders which was joined by the junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, deadly crackdowns, human rights violations, raids and arrests have continued in days and nights. The junta also announced that stability is the current priority of the regime including maintaining law and order and restoring community peace and tranquility. The junta also announced it will only consider the ASEAN leaders’ recommended five-point consensus after the situation stabilizes in the country.
Suppression of media and arrest of journalists also continued. More than 70 journalists have been arrested since the coup and of them, 40 are still under detention and another 22 journalists face arrest warrants on incitement charges. It was also reported last week the junta has terminated the license of Myitkyina News Journal, a local media based in Kachin State.
In the past week, tension between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) intensified. The military launched more airstrikes in the conflict areas, causing more residents to flee across the Thailand border.
There is also a trend that pro-democracy activists express their support towards the ethnic armed organizations and receive military training from ethnic armies in Myanmar's borderlands. Thousands of young people including students, doctors and engineers have joined the training in Karen and Kachin States.
The UNDP has reported that nearly half of Myanmar’s population could be forced into poverty by 2022 due to the impacts of military rule and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures showed that as of 2 May, 765 people have been killed by the junta, 3,555 are currently under detention while 82 were sentenced. 1,396 arrest warrants have been issued and among them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonmen..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
181.11 KB
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Description:
"Protests continued over the past week across the towns and cities in Myanmar despite the strong crackdown by the military and the police. The people of Myanmar protested using innovative ways, such as “garbage strikes”, “flower strikes” and “Easter egg strikes” throughout the week.
Due to the air strikes in the Kayin state and severe crackdowns nationwide, thousands of civilians flee to Thailand and India to seek refuge. However, the Thai authorities reportedly blocked them at the border and India’s border state of Manipur issued an order to turn away refugees crossing over from Myanmar (the order was withdrawn later).
Nightly internet shutdown continues along with the nationwide mobile internet cut. The media reported that the military junta ordered internet service providers on 1 April 2021 to shut down all the wireless services and telecommunications which started on 2 April 2021. Only fiber connections are functioning at the moment.
In the past week, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CPRH) declared the abolishment of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar and replaced it with the Federal Democracy Charter as the Federal Democracy Interim Constitution. The move was supported by the ten ethnic armed groups who signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement.
As of 4 April 2021, 564 people have been killed by the junta since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Save the Children reported that among those killed at least 43 are children. There are 2,667 people currently under detention and 38 among them have been sentenced. The junta has issued 425 arrest warrants including the recent list of at least 60 celebrities and social media influencers..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
215.07 KB
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Description:
"As of 25 June, (881) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) fallen hero from Kale Township in Sagaing Region was killed on 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 June 25, a total of (5156) people are currently under detention; of them (218) are sentenced. 1965 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 24 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Mai Nuam Za Thiang, 19 years old, died on June 23 at around 10pm after she was arrested with a left thigh injury shot by terrorist junta’s soldiers on June 23 at around 9pm at Kale Township in Sagaing Region. Her family was informed in the morning of June 24 that she died due to COVID-19. It is reported that lots of blood was found on her body.
On June 23, Kyaw Htwe, Dawei Protest Leader in Dawei Township in Tanintharyi Region, was sentenced to (2) years and (4) months imprisonment under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and Export and Import Law by the special court in Dawei Prison. Likewise Kyaw Htwe, Aung Waiyan Kyaw, a protest leader from Dawei, was sentenced to (4) years imprisonment on June 21.
On the night of June 23, three youths named Kyaw Tayzar Oo, Kaung Kyaw Htet and a youth from Padeegone Town in Bago Region’s Thegon Township, were arrested at their homes by the terrorist junta’s troops for sharing a post of the Thegon People’s Defence Force (PDF). Moreover, La Chake Lwan Nwal, head of nursing in Kachin State, who is involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), was arrested at her home in Chipwi Town on the night of June 23.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
1.21 MB 4.68 MB 1.18 MB
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Description:
"As of 26 June, (881) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. Today there were no confirmed fallen heroes. 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 June 26, a total of (5174) people are currently under detention; of them (221) are sentenced. 1966 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 40 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 25 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, 1 to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
In the morning of June 26, De Myat Nyein, reporter at Zeyar Times News Agency based in Sagaing City, was arrested at his home. On the night of June 25, seven youths named Hein Thant Zin, Thiha Tun, Hein Min Oo, Sabel Htoo, Aung Paing, Wai Phyo Aung and Aung Htet were arrested by soldiers and police pretending to check overnight guest registration in North Okkalapa Township, Yangon Region. On the night of June 24, Than Than Aye, NLD Chairman of the ward and village in Aye Thar Yar Town in Shan State’s Taunggyi Township, was arrested by soldiers. Kyaw Swar Win, former Major in the military, who had previously been sentenced to two years imprisonment for signing a constitutional amendment, was arrested at his home in Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region on June 22.
On June 25, Thaw Gyi, NLD executive member of Thazi Township, was sentenced to three years imprisonment under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code by the court in Meiktila Prison in Mandalay Region.
Over 60 people, who have been sentenced under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code in Myeik Prison in Tanintharyi Region, are being forced labor for 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday, 10 hours across Saturday and Sunday.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
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Size:
1.21 MB 5.56 MB 1002.58 KB
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Sub-title:
The Burma Military's use of torture is an international crime - it must be stopped!
Description:
"On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we call for an immediate end to the brutal torture of
civilians in Burma, and for perpetrators to be brought to justice.
To mark this important day, we created a video series called "Stop Torture", showing how the Burma military is
using various forms of torture against its own people following the 1 February coup. The video links are available
on AJAR's YouTube channel (click here) and on the website/Facebook pages of AAPP, ND-Burma and Women's
League of Burma.
The post-coup repression shows how the Burma military will not shy away from using its decades-old patterns of
cruel treatment of civilians in a widespread manner, as a mean to terrorize and subjugate the population into
obedience.
While people all over the country continue to defy the military junta through courageous acts of resistance, mostly
peacefully, security forces respond with ruthless and nasty force. At least 880 people, including children and youth,
have been killed by security forces since the coup. Almost 6,300 have been arrested, with 5,104 currently in
detention as of June 24th, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The crackdown
targets any perceived opponent to the coup, including politicians, peaceful protesters, journalists, celebrities,
striking workers, and even children and bystanders. Many of those arrested are subject to various forms of torture
and ill treatment.
There are reports of widespread and systematic mistreatment in detention, including beatings, sleep deprivation,
and being denied the use of a bathroom. During interrogation, detainees are being blindfolded with their hands
tied behind them and forced to kneel on a concrete floor or to lie on their belly, and then beaten repeatedly with
the goal to extract information or forced confessions. Some report being beaten with dangerous objects such as
cables, the butts of guns, and glass bottles. Particularly concerning is the differential treatment of women during
interrogation and detention, in the form of sexual and gender-based violence, sexism and misogyny. There are
reports of sexual abuses behind bars, including beatings on genitals and sexual threats.
Some detainees do not survive. Civilians arrested after being shot by security forces are often denied medical
treatment and subsequently die from their injuries. There are reports of people tortured to deaths in custody,
their bodies returned to their families with a fabricated story as to the cause of death, but with obvious signs of
torture and mutilation. Some bear the marks of organs removal. Others are returned to their families alive, only
to die a few hours later from their injuries. The AAPP has accounted for at least 24 of such deaths following
torture.
These vicious tactics employed by the Burma military are meant to install fear among the public and create an
environment of terror, in order to suppress popular resistance to the coup and maintain their control over the
country. The use of torture, however, is not new to the recent political developments. As long documented by
civil society groups, torture has always been commonplace during interrogation and imprisonment in Burma. This
included also mistreatment of LGBTIQ. people in police detention. In ethnic areas, torture and other forms of illtreatment
were used against civilians to obtain information or confessions regarding the activities of ethnic armed
organizations, or as punishment for perceived sympathy for the Tatmadaw's opponents.
In its reports to the United Nations, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar ("FFM")
concluded that " the manner in which torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, occurred often indicated
the dehumanisation of ethnic minorities in Kachin and Shan States, with Tatmadaw soldiers verbally denigrating
their religions and ethnicities". Indeed, the FFM found that the targeting of civilians, including through torture and
ill-treatment, was a hallmark of Tatmadaw operations in at least Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan States.
Torture has profound, long-lasting consequences for survivors and their families. While they struggle with physical
injuries, psychological trauma, social exclusion and economic hardships, access to basic support services is largely
lacking in Burma, in particular in the current context. Torture survivors and their families require access to health
and medical care, psycho-social support, legal assistance and livelihood opportunities. Plans need to be made to
address their immediate as well as long-term needs, which should also include acknowledgement of survivors'
experience and efforts to ensure non-repetition.
The use of torture by security forces is a violation of international law, as well as Myanmar domestic laws. In some
circumstances, torture can be considered a crime against humanity when it is part of a widespread and systematic
attack against the civilian population. As we have repeatedly stated in the past, decades of impunity have
emboldened the Burma military to continue perpetrating these heinous crimes without any accountability. This
must stop. The time for justice has come. The Burma military must immediately end violence against civilians and
bring perpetrators of torture to justice.
We therefore make the following recommendations:
To the international community:
• Do not recognize the junta's State Administration Council (SAC) and put pressure on the Burma military
to immediately end violence against civilians and respect the Geneva Conventions
• Make a referral of the Burma situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
• Strengthen the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM)
• Establish a coordinated arms embargo against Myanmar
• Issue further targeted sanctions against the Burma military's businesses
• Participate in providing acknowledgment and recognition to victims of torture
• Support victims of torture and their families, including human rights defenders, through programs aimed
at providing material, medical and psycho-social assistance, in order to address both immediate and longterm
needs
• Provide cross-border humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the violence
To the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN):
• Issue a timeframe for the implementation of its "five-point consensus" on Burma and hold the Burma
military accountable to it in an effective and transparent manner
• Call for the immediate release of political prisoners
• Support the establishment of an arms embargo by the international community
To the National Unity Government (NUG):
• Document the use of torture by security forces
• Cooperate with the IIMM
• Commit to bringing perpetrators to justice, including by acceding to the ICC Rome Statute and making a
declaration accepting ICC jurisdiction for past crimes
• Commit to signing and ratifying the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT)
• Commit to preventing torture by providing awareness trainings to security forces under NUG's authority
• Commit to establishing meaningful transitional justice mechanisms to address victim's rights to truth and
reparations, in particular rehabilitation programs for survivors
1. Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
2. Women's League of Burma (WLB)
3. Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma)
4. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
5. All Arakan Student's and Youth Congress (AASYC)
6. Ta'ang Civil Society Organization (TCSO)
7. Burma Civil War Museum (BCM)
8. Union Of Karenni State Youth (UKSY)..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) , Women's League of Burma (WLB) , Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma) , Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) , All Arakan Student's and Youth Congress (AASYC) , Ta'ang Civil Society
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Preface
The purpose of publishing this information sheet is to increase the awareness of people over the Crimes Against Humanity committed by the military junta terrorists on a daily basis and to keep record of their brutal acts for future reference and proceedings. Committed crimes are selectively stated in this information sheet due to space limitations.
Arbitrary Detentions and Enforced Disappearance
As the terrorists junta in Myanmar continue to arrest and shoot at unarmed civilians baselessly and unlawfully, one university student named Maung Chit Thae was shot dead on the scene while passing through the front of Yenangyaung Government Technical Institute (GTI) on 10th of June, 2021, and another man was shot twice at his chest and eventually died on the spot when help pushing a pick-up truck. On the next day, a man was shot dead while bringing food back to his village from a displaced camp in Demoso Towndship in Kayah State.
Besides, a photographer and a filmmaker were arrested at home and while leaving their houses respectively. On 11th June, an Obstetrician-Gynecologist from Myingyan Hospital was also arrested. But most of all, the military junta has also been arresting lawyers in Karen State, especially if they found out lawyers tried to represent political detainees. In an instant case, two lawyers representing the Karen State Chief Minister Nan Khin Htwe Myint were filled for a lawsuit under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. Adding their atrocities, terrorists junta have also been arresting people charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, including monks and disabled person.
Systemic and targeted attacks on the civilians
On evening of 14th June, 2021, a man named Aung San from the Boke Village in Depayin Township was shot dead in the chest, and the village also suffered from the open fires of the terrorist junta. Their actions mainly came after the incident when the two daughters of a coup council-appointed village Administrator in Kyi Village, Depayin Township were stabbed to death.
The heaviest destruction took place on 15th June in Kingma Village, Magway Region. As the village was almost completely burnt down by the forces of the terrorist junta, many villagers, including elderly, ninety children under the age of 5 and 27 breastfeeding babies, people suffering from pre-existing severe health conditions, either had to flee or hide in the forests. They are all now in desperate need for medical supplies and other household supplies as basic household goods were destroyed along with the fire set by the junta forces.
It is clear from both incidents in Depayin and Kingma that the actions of the terrorists consists a sense of retaliation for their losses and casualties during the clashes with the people. They have never been help maintaining peace in the country since the beginning, but instead, creating more instabilities and damages to its own people. The widespread and systematic murdering of the civilian population in Myanmar by the military shows no signs of stopping. In fact, it is evident that attacks against peaceful protesters across Myanmar have progressively intensified.
State sponsored crimes
A full-blown conflict was developed in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region when USDP, armed members of the military junta, openly carried guns, sticks and knives kinds of harmful and life threatening weapons to the NLD party’s office in Yi Dway village. According to the local sources, houses of pro-NLD were destroyed under fire, and polices responsible for the region have not been taking any effective measures or searching for perpetrators.
Violations on Freedom of Speech and Fundamental Human Rights
Up to this date, the inhumane terrorist junta has not only been committing atrocities, but also sentencing youths and reporters to imprisonment. On 16th June, 2021, a university student from Magway University was sentenced to 3-year imprisonment with hard labour, and a freelance reporter also faced the same sentence under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. According to the local sources, many young student activists including Wai Yan Phyo Moe, Aung Hpone Maw, Lay Pyay Soe Moe, Thuta Soe, and Hpone Htet Naung are now facing charges of incitement under Section 505(a) simply because of their participation in the anti-coup protests. In addition, they have been seriously mistreated in the prisons. Based on the sayings of their relatives, unlike political prisoners, these groups of students and reporters are mistreated as criminals, being drained mentally and physically.
U Lwin Maung Maung, who would have represented the Meiktila Constituency 1 if not for the military coup which took place on February 1, 2021, was arrested on Aril 28th, 2021. He is now sentenced to three years imprisonment by the terrorist junta. During his detention, it was said that his family members were barred from visiting him in the prison located in Meiktila, and latest supplies for him were made on last May 12th, 2021. While detaining of this lawmaker found no legal basis, the terrorist junta even failed to state the charges against U Lwin Maung Maung and yet, put him into prison. When media outlets contacted the terrorist junta’s information department for detailed explanation and comment, no single response were made by the junta.
The Myanmar military is violating fundamental and peremptory norms of international law on a daily basis. In carrying out these atrocities, the military’s conduct confirms that it does not and has no intention of abiding by its international law obligations. Though, United Nations and International organizations call Myanmar military for end of violence and immediate release of the political prisoners, the junta always fails to listen and respect accordingly. In this case, only a proper collaborative and immediate international intervention can save the lives of innocent civilians in Myanmar.
Ref : Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
: Myanmar Now..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"I am writing to you again to apprise you o f the current deteriorating situation in
Myanmar. More than 144 days after the unlawful coup, there is no sign o f easing the brutal
crackdown and the violence committed by the military against its own people. As o f 20
June 2021, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total
o f 6.219 people has been arrested whereas 5,033 people are still under detention, 1,950
people been issued with warrants and 871 people ruthlessly murdered by the military since
1 February 2021.
I wish to reiterate that the brutality, inhumane acts, arbitrary arrests, and tortures
committed by the military are clearly amounting to serious human rights violations and
crimes against humanity. A six-day-old baby has reportedly died o f cold due to lack o f
shelter, blankets, and medical supplies at a camp for displaced people in Pekhon in Shan
State. The people o f Myanmar are facing humanitarian crisis and the State Administration
Council (SAC) continues ignoring the calls from the international community to ease the
violence and committing further atrocities. Those displaced in the remote areas are also
short o f shelters, medicine and drinking water. On 11 June 2021, it is reported that soldiers
set fire to food rations, medical supplies, an ambulance and a vehicle in Lwal Yin village
where people have fied.
Taking this opportunity. I wish to again draw your kind attention to this continued
disturbing situation in Myanmar, particularly in Demoso and Loikaw o f Kayah State.
Because o f the irrational tortures and inhumane treatments o f the military, the Karenni
People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Kayah Slate has been triggering the armed resistance
with homemade guns. Since then, the military has been responding with heavy artillery
and airstrikes onto the residential areas, which has led to the displacement o f around 1
million o f local people. This is evidently a systematic brutal attack against civilians using
weapons o f war in order to hold onto power and control. The situation in my country has
not gotten better and regretfully even getting worse.
The situation in Myanmar can only be addressed through multilateral efforts, and to
stop killing o f innocent civilians, the urgent and decisive action from the international
community is more than critical ever.
Allow me to underline the facts mentioned in the General Assembly Resolution
"The situation in Myanmar" adopted on 18 June 2021 at the Seventy-fift h session o f the
United Nations General Assembly. The resolution clearly urged to respect the will o f the
people and to allow the sustained democratic transition o f Myanmar, to immediately
release all detainees including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and to stop all violence. And it also calls upon the member states to prevent
the flow o f arms into Myanmar and calls for unhindered humanitarian access. The United
Nations and the international community must minutely monitor the implementation o f the
adopted resolution by all member states to ensure the restoration o f democracy in
Myanmar.
On my personal note, I hereby, wish to appeal again the international community
and the United Nations, by pursuing the principle o f responsibility to protect, to take a
decisive action against the military without further delay. As usual. I enclose herewith the
weekly information update on current situation in Myanmar o f 18 June and the legal
perspective information sheet issued on 20 June for your kind attention.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances o f my highest consideration..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် ၂/၂၀၂၁
၁၃၈၃ ခုနှစ်၊ နယုန်လပြည့်ကျော် (၂)ရက်
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ၊ (၂၆)ရက်
၁။ အရပ်သားအစိုးရထံမှ မတရားအာဏာသိမ်းယူထားသော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံ အလုပ်သမား၊ လူဝန်မှုကြီးကြပ်ရေးနှင့် ပြည်သူ့အင်အားဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်များနှင့် အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့အား တရားဝင်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများမဟုတ်ကြောင်း၊ ယင်းတို့၏လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်မှုများသည်လည်း ဥပဒေနှင့် ညီညွတ်မှုမရှိကြောင်း ဆက်လက်လှုပ်ရှား ဆောင်ရွက်ပါက တည်ဆဲဥပဒေများနှင့်အညီ ထိရောက်စွာအရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ( ၁၊ ၀၃၊ ၂၀၂၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် ကြေငြာခဲ့သည်။
(၁) ဗမာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာအလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်(ABFTU)၊
(၂) အလုပ်သမားအချင်းချင်း ရိုင်းပင်းကူညီရေးအဖွဲ့
(၃) အနာဂါတ် အလင်းတန်းဆုံမှတ်အဖွဲ့
(၄) Action Labor Rights
(၅) All Myanmar Trade Union’s Network
(၆) Agriculture Freedom of Myanmar
(၇) Association for Labour Development(ALD)
(၈) Federation of General Workers Myanmar
(၉)Freedom and Labour Action Group
(၁၀) Labour Power Group
(၁၁) We Generation Network
(၁၂) ရောင်ခြည်ဦးအလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့၊
(၁၃) သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်သောသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်(မြန်မာ)STUM
(၁၄) အလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေးကော်မတီ(Cooperation Committee of Trade Unions-CCTU)
(၁၅) မြန်မာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာ ရေနံအလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်
(၁၆) စက်မှုလုပ်ငန်းဆိုင်ရာအမျိုးသမီးအလုပ်သမားများအစည်းအရုံး(Industrial Woman Worker Organization-IWWO)
၂။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာအလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်(ILO)၏ လွတ်လပ်စွာသင်းပင်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် Freedom of Association Convention 87 ကို လက်မှတ်ထိုးထားသော နိုင်ငံတနိုင်ငံဖြစ်သည်။ အလုပ်သမားတိုင်းသည် မိမိတို့ အလုပ်သမားအရေး ဆောင်ရွက်ရန် အလို့ငှါ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာစည်းရုံး ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိသည်။ ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ် အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် ဥပဒေသည် မှတ်ပုံတင်ဥပဒေသာဖြစ်သည်။ အဆိုပါ ဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ မှတ်ပုံမတင်သော အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို တရားမဝင်အဖွဲ့များအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ခွင့်မရှိပါ။ ယခုလို အရပ်သားအစိုးရထံမှ မတရားအာဏာလုယူထားသော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်သည် ဂျီနီဗာ ကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းကို ဖောက်ဖျက်ရာလည်း ရောက်နေပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ရာ အထက်ပါ အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့သည် မိမိတို့၏ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် မိမိတို့၏ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ အလုပ်သမားရေးရာ လုပ်ငန်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆောက်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိကြောင်း ကြေငြာလိုက်သည်။.....
ပုံ
နိုင်သုဝဏ္ဏ
ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး
အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာန
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Labour
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"Despite the fact that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever can be invoked to justify torture
under international law, Myanmar’s military and security forces continue to torture and commit
degrading and inhuman treatment against its people every day.
Since its coup in February, the military regime has increasingly tortured anti-regime protesters and
those opposing th e ju n ta However, it is not a new crime; torture is one o f its cruel tactics
Myanmar’s military has carried out against ethnic people in armed conflicts over the past five
decades. Ethnic people were subject to detention on suspicion o f having ties to ethnic armed
organizations, torture during interrogation, forced confession and wrongful imprisonment.
Evidence showed that the junta unnecessarily displayed force and beat the people including youths
and women in their arrests and tortured them during interrogation. At least 22 civilians were
tortured to death during military custody since February coup.
On this International Day in Support o f Victims o f Torture, the Ministry o f Human Rights strongly
condemns the State Administrative Council, which is how the junta describes itself, and its security
forces for their acts. The ministry here reiterates that it is trying to hold those responsible for torture
accountable both under national and international laws. According to international conventions, not
only those who carry out but also those who authorize torture are responsible for torture. The
ministry will ensure those who authorized torture also receive fitting punishments.
The ministry will ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Convention
Against Torture as soon as possible to prevent torture against innocent civilians in the future. It will
continue its efforts to prevent Myanmar civilians from torture and to bring those responsible for
torture to justice..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Atrocities Against Groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
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Size:
22.54 KB 238.63 KB
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Sub-title:
Junta to reopen COVID-19 checkpoints shuttered in the aftermath of Feb. 1 coup.
Description:
"More than 3,000 people in Myanmar have died after contracting COVID-19 as infections from the third wave of the pandemic increased the strife-torn country’s total confirmed caseload to nearly 150,000, the military government announced this week.
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 2020, 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.
After the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1, many of these containment policies were abandoned as the junta focused on containing the protests that erupted across the country of 54 million.
But now, cities are resuming stay-at-home arrangements and authorities are reactivating COVID-19 checkpoints.
The junta’s ministry of health said in a statement Wednesday that in the 24-hour period ending Tuesday, it confirmed 630 new cases among 5,090 people screened.
Authorities imposed a lockdown on the city of Falam in western Chin state on the border with India due to a particularly high rate of infection.
“It’s like nine out of 12 people tested were found to be positive,” a volunteer in the city told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Due to the high rate of infection the number of infected people could actually be much higher if we had more testing. That’s why they are locking everything down,” said the volunteer, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Currently, 74 people in the city have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 13 have died at the Falam Civil Hospital, hospital officials told RFA.
In nearby Tiddim, which was the first town in Myanmar where COVID-19 was detected, 348 people have tested positive and five have died, according to local sources. The border town of Tunzang, meanwhile, has 478 confirmed cases and 13 deaths as of Wednesday.
In the northwestern Sagaing region town of Kalay, the scene of heavy fighting between the junta and local militias in April and May, about 80 people died of COVID-19 related complications, an aid worker there told RFA.
“The COVID outbreak is getting worse and worse each day. It’s like it’s happening all over the whole township over the past two weeks. As far as I know, there are infections in Kalay and the surrounding villages,” the aid worker said.
“There are also cases in villages a little farther away. We have more than 200 testing centers now, and some people are undergoing treatment at home. The work of the health sector was not satisfactory at all,” said the aid worker.
Kalay’s COVID center houses more than 200 infected people, but aid workers told RFA that the hospital is staffed by only two nurses and two volunteers.
The Ministry of Health and Sports has imposed stay-at-home-orders in Tiddim, Tunzang, Falam, Hakha and Htantlang in Chin State and Kalay and Tamu in Sagaing Region.
Rakhine infections
In nearby Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, the cities of Sittwe and Maungdaw have confirmed cases in the double digits.
“We have found 79 positive cases already. Most of these people were doing trade across the border,” Soe Win Paing, the assistant director of Rakhine State Public Health Department, told RFA.
“As for the local infections, one person was found positive in Sittwe and another in Maungdaw yesterday. Those who returned from Bangladesh are kept in quarantine. Most of the time, the positive cases were from this group. We also take swabs of people we suspect to be infected,” said Soe Win Paing, adding that the people should take the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Sports seriously.
In the country’s second largest city Mandalay, rising numbers of infections have forced members of the Parahita Min Gaung Charity Group to return to hospitals and intensive care units, the group’s chairman Khin Maung Tint told RFA.
"Right now, everyone who is having doubts is coming in for tests. We administered tests at Kandaw Nadi Hospital. Those who we confirmed as positive were sent to nearby government hospitals,” he said.
“Those patients whose oxygen levels are very low are being kept in the General Hospital as directed by the Regional Health authorities. The situation is just like the time we had the second wave,” he said.
The chairman acknowledged that many of the city’s doctors are not working because they have joined in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in opposition of the military government, but he said he was unsure if the hospitals or COVID centers were adequately staffed.
In southeastern coastal Mon state, seven people tested positive at the Aung Mingalar Railway Police Compound on June 22, according to Ba Min of the Aung Mingalar Youth Charity.
"They are rail workers. One of their senior officials had a loss of smell and took a test in Moulmein. Consequently 14 people, including a police officer on duty at the Aung Mingalar Railway Police Station, were given tests and 7 were found positive,” Ba Min said.
“They are now at Mawlamyaing People's Hospital. At the moment, things are not going well. We have to work really hard as most doctors are gone,” said Ba Min, adding that their family members are now no longer allowed to travel.
The Health Department announced that testing sites will reopen in in the Ayeyawaddy, Yangon and Bago regions and in Rakhine state.
In townships with stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions will be extended for 11 days. People can take tests with their own money if in doubt, the department said.
The junta reported June 15 that three variants of the virus had been detected among the positive cases so far.
As of Thursday, Myanmar has confirmed a total of 149,927 cases with 3,269 deaths according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
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Sub-title:
Deaths and Arbitrary Arrests
Description:
"As of 20 June 2021, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total of 6,219 people have been arrested whereas 5,033 people are still under detention, 1,950 people been issued with warrants and 871 people ruthlessly murdered by the military since 1 February 2021 when the military unleashed systematic and targeted attacks and violence against innocent civilians.
Nearly 140 days have passed since the coup, the military terrorist group has not stopped its inhumane acts and arbitrary arrests against the unarmed civilians until today.
Military’s Unstoppable Brutal Actions
Violent Crackdowns in Kinma village: The terrorist military forces set on fire Kinma Village in Pauk Township of Magway Region on 15 June 2021, whereby the entire village was burned to the ground. The incident broke out when the plate number of the motorbike of a suspect involved during the shooting at the house of the junta-allied administrator of Deedotekwin village on 12 June 2021. According to the witnesses, 88-year-old U Mya Maung and 82-year-old Daw Kyee Hmain were perished in the fire, 80 percent of the homes in the village were burnt down and the residents fled their homes in order to avoid the raid of the military.
According to the credible reports, there are five pregnant women, two of whom are close to giving birth, are among the hundreds hiding in the forest after burning down Kinma Village by the military. Moreover, there are also about 90 children under the age of five and 27 breastfeeding babies. The fleeing villagers have to sleep roughly under the trees or in tents and they are in desperate need of foods and medical supplies.
Open Fire in Depayin: In Depayin Township in Sagaing Region, it is reported that after a former local administrator and the daughters of a current junta’s administrator were killed by unknowns on 13 June 2021, the military forces stormed and opened fire on residents in Satpyarkyin and Boke villages on 14 June 2021. A 21-year-old man was shot dead and another 22-year-old man was seriously injured due to the violence. Hundreds of soldiers also reportedly stormed the villages Kyi, Inpin, Nyaung Hla and Yin Kyay and shot at locals. According to the information received, there were clashes between military forces and local People’s Defence Force (PDF). On 15 June 2021, around 300 military forces in 22 military trucks reportedly opened fire in Nyang Hla village in Depayin township.
Military’s Inhumane Destruction against Humanitarian Actions
On 13 June 2021, the military and security forces set fire to and destroyed an ambulance and a supply of humanitarian aid in Moe Byae Township, between Southern Shan and Karenni States. Eighty rice bags and medicines, and medical supplies, which were contributed by the people all over the country for internally displaced people, were destroyed. The military forces have been terrorizing and arresting community organizations and individuals who have been providing aid and support to internally displaced people and those affected by the conflict.
During the last week, a six-day-old baby has reportedly died of cold due to a lack of shelter, blankets, and medical supplies at a camp for displaced people in Pekhon in Shan State. The family of the baby was relocated from the Sacred Heart church in Pekhon when it was attacked by the military with artillery shells late last month that led people to seek shelter elsewhere. According to a witness who was among those displaced, other IDP camps in the state are also short of shelters, medicine and drinking water. On 11 June 2021, it is reported that soldiers set fire to food rations, medical supplies, an ambulance and a vehicle in Lwal Yin village where people have fled.
More than 100,000 have already been displaced in Kayah and southern Shan State in recent months and the military has repeatedly attacked civilians in those areas.
Military’s Continuous Arrests
Since the military coup happened on 1 February 2021, the military have never ceased arresting those who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, and taken charges to those who defied the coup and involved in pro-democracy movements.
Targeted to Medical Personnel: On 10 June 2021, Dr. Htar Htar Lin, Director of National Programme on Immunization, together with her husband and her seven-year-old son were arrested. She joined the Civil Disobedience Movement following the coup and was charged under Article 505 (a) of the Penal Code. Dr. Htar Htar Lin was the head of the country’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout and before she joined the CDM, it is reported that there was about 100,000 USD (161 million kyats) allocated for the immunization effort in a government account. She set about distributing the funds to local health departments across the country so that the money would not be in the hands of the military groups. Since then, she was one of the most wanted people by the junta.
Following the arrests of Dr. Htar Htar Lin and her family, the military-controlled newspaper announced on 13 and 14 of June 2021 that 26 doctors including her were charged with high treason for colluding with an illegal organization. The announcement also stated that she failed to clear 161 million kyats balance for COVID-19 vaccine immunization rollout and 22 of the doctors on the list had evaded arrest. It also stressed that she led the Public Health Team on behalf of Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, the Health Minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), drafted plans for the NUG’s health policy, and helped Dr. Zaw Wai Soe.
Similarly, Dr. Maung Maung Nyein Tun, a professor at Mandalay Medical University and his wife Dr. Swe Zin Oo from Mandalay General Hospital who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement were arrested in Mandalay on 13 June 2021. After the arrests, the military-controlled newspaper published a picture of him with bruises on his face.
On 10 June, two lawyers who are representing political detainees including Karen State Chief Minister Nan Khin Htwe Myint, were arrested in Myawaddy township in Karen State under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.
On 11 June 2021, Ms. Mar Mar Khaing, MP for No.2 constituency in Thaton Township, Mon State and her husband Mr. Nyan Tun, Executive Committee member of NLD of Kyaikmaraw Township, under detention in Kyaikmaraw Prison, were charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.
Unstoppable Anti-Military Resistance Movement
More than 130 days after the military coup, protests and demonstrations against the military throughout the whole country are continuing despite the brutal crackdowns.
On 19 June 2021, pro-democracy supporters across the country wearing flowers to mark the 76th birthday of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is still detained. Flower is a significant style of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and in Burmese saying “still wearing flowers” means to be defiant in the face of adversity.
Announcement by the National Unity Government on the incident in Kinma
The National Unity Government released an announcement on the incident in Kinma Village. It condemned in the strongest ways of the arson committed by the military and local police against the residents of the village on 15 June 2021. It stressed that the junta forces continue to ignore the law, violate human rights and commit crimes against humanity and urged local, national and international stakeholders to continue recording the crimes committed by the junta forces.
International Pressure on the Illegitimate Military Group
On 11 June 2021, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a strong warning that further escalation of violence in Myanmar must be halted to prevent even greater loss of life and a deepening humanitarian emergency. For the immediate cessation of violence and ongoing human rights violations, the High Commissioner encouraged the intensification of regional diplomacy, including by ASEAN and other influential States, and remarked that dialogue is urgently needed with the National Unity Government and civil society stakeholders.
In the statement by the Group of Seven (G 7) issued on 13 June 2021, the leaders of G 7 condemned in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar and violence by the security forces of Myanmar and called for the immediate release of those detained arbitrarily, as well as urged the swift implementation for Five Point Consensus of ASEAN. G 7 member states also expressed concern for the devastating humanitarian situation and called for humanitarian access to vulnerable and displaced people.
On 17 June 2021, the United Nations in Myanmar issued the statement, expressing alarm over the recent acts of violence and serious human rights violations in Myanmar, particularly in Myawaddy Township in Kayin State and Kinma Village in Pauk Township of Magway Region. The UN in Myanmar reiterates its call on all actors to respect international human rights norms and standards, and calls for those responsible for human rights violations to be held accountable.
At the 83rd Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on 18 June 2021, the Assembly adopted a resolution that calls on the military junta of Myanmar to end the state of emergency, respect all human rights of the people, allow the sustained democratic transition and immediately and unconditionally release all detainees, as well as calls on all member states “to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar”. The resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 119 in favour to 1 against (Belarus), with 36 abstentions.
The Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations expressed his sincere thanks to cosponsors of the resolution and to those delegations who supported the resolutions. He viewed that the resolution will to some extent contribute to put pressure on the military to their inhumane acts against the people and to further consolidate the people’s efforts for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar.
*****
Date: 20 June 2021
Permanent Mission of Myanmar, New York..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
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Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Most were arrested in townships in the former capital Yangon, where martial law was declared following the army’s coup against the elected civilian government on Feb. 1, 2021.
Description:
"At least 64 Myanmar citizens detained in protests against the country’s Feb. 1 military coup have been sentenced to death by junta courts, with the condemned list including two boys below the age of 18, according to sources in the country.
Most were arrested in townships in the former capital Yangon, where martial law was declared following the army’s takeover on Feb. 1, sources say. None of those sentenced are believed to have been executed, though, with no death sentences known to have been carried out in Myanmar since 1998.
Writing in a letter to his mother sent from prison, one of those condemned—17-year-old Nyein Kyaw Thein, formerly a student at the Thanlyin Youth Training School—denied his guilt in the case of a coup supporter, Zaw Min, who was murdered and set on fire in Yangon’s South Dagon township at the end of March.
“They have called me a killer, but it isn’t true. I didn’t kill anyone,” Nyein Kyaw Thein said, asking his mother to stay strong and look after herself and his father. “Everything’s fine with me. I’ve made you miserable, Mom, and I’d like to make it up to you when I come back, I promise,” he added.
Speaking to RFA, Nyein Kyaw Thein’s mother said she was surprised when soldiers came to arrest her son on April 17, a little more than two weeks after Zaw Min was killed.
“I asked him if he had been involved, and he said he didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “There had been a lot of shooting that day, and the boys went into hiding that night, but we were able to keep in touch by telephone.”
Arrested that same day, 15-year-old Min Thu, a 7th grade student in the school attended by Nyein Kyaw Thein, turned himself in to authorities after being told that his brother-in-law had been detained to force his surrender, his sister said.
“I asked my brother if he had been involved in the killing, and he denied it,” the young woman said. “But someone told him that the police had arrested my husband because they couldn’t find him, and so he gave himself up.”
“He’s a good boy, not a bad kid at all,” she said. “He tells us that [the police] have stopped beating him now, but he’s still being abused by others,” she added.
Four brothers who were working on security duty in their ward of the city on the night of the killing were later taken away from their home at gunpoint after they went to see the murder scene out of curiosity, their mother said, also speaking to RFA.
“At the time, I couldn’t say anything, but it was heartbreaking to see my boys taken from their home in handcuffs,” she said. “We heard nothing about them after that, but later learned that they had been sentenced to death.”
“How am I supposed to take that?” she asked.
“If they had been given prison terms, I would know at least that I would see them again some day after their release, and I could still have some hope for the future,” she said. “But now I can’t do anything but pray every night for their safety.”
“It’s unbearable that they’re in this situation now without having done anything wrong.”
Of the 18 defendants sentenced to death in the Zaw Min case, 11 are now in prison and seven were sentenced in absentia, sources say.
'I suffered in silence'
Bo Bo Thu, sentenced to death in a separate case involving the killing of two soldiers in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township, has now had his sentence commuted to life, his mother told RFA, saying “At least he’s lucky not to be on death row.”
When her son was first sentenced she couldn’t eat or sleep, and would not tell her husband what had happened, she said. “I just kept it in my heart and suffered in silence.”
“I prayed and prayed that my son would not end up on death row—and not only him, but everyone else who had been arrested,” she said.
Myanmar defendants sentenced to death can appeal their sentences within 15 days, but only prison officials are allowed to submit their appeals, lawyers say, with one lawyer telling RFA that officials assigned by prison authorities to submit the documents prepare them according to statements made by the prisoners themselves.
“And we don’t know whether what they’ve written is in accord with the law or not,” he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a spokesperson for the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said the death sentences imposed by military courts in Myanmar have been handed down “out of resentment.”
“People don’t support their coup and are opposing it in any way they can. And amid all the arbitrary arrests and beatings, the people are fighting back in self-defense. The military then holds a grudge against the people, and they are handing down these death sentences out of resentment,” he said.
Nickey Diamond, a human rights specialist with the Southeast Asian rights group Fortify Rights, said that in recent years death sentences formerly imposed in Myanmar were changed under new laws to sentences of life in prison.
“But there are fears now that the [ruling] Military Council might ignore this fact.”
“These [death sentences] are the junta’s attempt to intimidate those who are opposing the dictatorship and to make them afraid,” he said.
According to data gathered by AAPP and RFA, of the 64 persons sentenced to death in Yangon since the Feb. 1 coup, 20 were sentenced in North Okkalapa, 18 in South Dagon, five in Shwepyithar, seven in Hlaing Thar Yar, and 14 in Shwe Paukkan Myothit..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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" Former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged his successor on Monday to engage directly with Myanmar's military to prevent an increase in post-coup violence and said southeast Asian countries should not dismiss the turmoil as an internal issue for Myanmar.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has communicated with the military since it ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, but the army has not allowed her to visit.
"Given the gravity and urgency of the situation, I believe the secretary-general himself should use his good offices to engage directly with the Myanmar military, to prevent an escalation of violence," Ban, secretary-general from 2007 to 2016, told a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Guterres is "very actively involved" on Myanmar and "has been for a long time," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: "His good offices, along with his special envoy, are always available. We all want to see an end to the violence."
Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that a "robust international response grounded on a unified regional effort" was needed, urging "regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe."
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the violence tearing at fellow member Myanmar. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend an ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24.
"ASEAN must make it clear to the Myanmar military that the current situation is so grave that it cannot be regarded only as an internal matter," said Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister who is now a member of The Elders global leaders group.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
"The military's use of lethal force and the gross violations of human rights being perpetrated against the civilians are not compatible with the ASEAN Charter," he said. "These actions are clear violations of international law, and constitute a threat to the peace, security and stability of the region."
Ban also urged the Security Council to move beyond statements to collective action. However, some diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger action..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The UN and Burma - news and commentary, ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, and former Myanmar Special Envoy to the United Nations addressed the Parliamentarians of the French Republic at the hearing on the Myanmar crisis organized by the French National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee.
23 June 2021
Bonjour!
Dear Mr. Chairman and respected members of the French National Assembly, members of the France Parliament, on behalf of myself and on the behalf of the people of Myanmar, I wanted to say thank you to you for giving me this opportunity to represent the people of Myanmar. The brave people and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of the French Republic for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. This is the darkest of hours and the most pivotal moment in the history of Myanmar. While the fate and future of Myanmar hangs in the balance, the strong and continued support from the people, Parliamentarians, and Government of France and its international alliance are absolutely crucial in stopping this reign of terror. More so than ever, the 54 million courageous citizens of Myanmar need the continued strong friendship, coordinated support and recognition from the people, Parliamentarians and Government of France in fulfilling the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of those who have suffered so much for far too long under the hands of the brutal and cruel military generals and their regime..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
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National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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JOINT NORDIC STATEMENT by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
Description:
"Thank you, Mr. President,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country Denmark.
We thank the Special Envoy, Ms. Christine Schraner Burgener, for her important work. We reiterate our firm support for her mandate and stress the importance of UN-ASEAN collaboration.
We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar on 1 February 2021 and the ensuing use of violence by the military and police against peaceful demonstrators.
We are deeply concerned about reports of escalating violence unfolding across Myanmar and a deepening humanitarian emergency. We are worried about the particular impact on women and girls and their protection needs, especially against sexual and gender-based violence. We urge the military to fully cooperate with all relevant UN mechanisms and mandates and to immediately grant them full and safe humanitarian access to the entire country, in particular to areas with internally displaced persons.
We call for an immediate end to all acts of violence, to exercise utmost restraint and respect international law, including human rights, and to return peacefully to Myanmar’s democratic path.
We urge the military to release immediately and without preconditions, all those arbitrarily detained in connection with the coup, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
We, the Nordic countries, continue to strive for and support affirmative action in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and other relevant fora, and we will continue to engage with relevant organisations, such as the ASEAN, to exercise influence on the military.
We reiterate the importance of creating safe spaces where pro-democracy groups, such as the National Unity Government, can speak up and be heard. We strongly believe that the only way forward is for all stakeholders to engage in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue to get Myanmar back on the path to democracy. The international community at large must refrain from any measures or actions that risk lending legitimacy to the military regime.
The Nordic countries will continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and support a peaceful transition to respect for human rights, democratic governance and rule of law..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in New York
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Atrocities Against Groups, Collected resolutions of the GA on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Villagers say Zeyar Lin was not involved in with any guerilla groups, but he may have been singled out because of his tattoo of the detained leader
Description:
"A man died in regime custody earlier this week after troops raided his village in Sagaing Region and detained him on suspicion of starting a fire at a local school.
Zeyar Lin, 33, was among six men arrested in the raid on Lelzin village in Monywa Township on Monday.
The others were Kyaw Nanda, Aung Aung, Kyaw Myo Htwe, San Min Htet, and Ba Chit, who also goes by the name Chit Tun Naing. Their whereabouts and condition is unknown.
On Tuesday, volunteers from the morgue at the Monywa Public Hospital told Zeyar Lin’s wife to come and retrieve his body, which bore signs of torture.
“The back of his head was split open. There were about three inches of bruises all over his cheeks, chin and forehead,” a Lelzin villager who is now in hiding told Myanmar Now.
The roughly fifty soldiers who came to the village also viciously beat about 15 people who they saw in the street, according to locals.
“Their hands were bruised. One person… had bruises all over his back and it was pretty bad. He couldn’t even sleep laying on his back,” another Lelzin local said.
Several villagers said the fire that prompted the soldiers’ arrival was accidental. “The snitches in our village called them even though it was just a small fire. We didn’t even see the flames,” the second villager said.
Unidentified attackers have targeted schools across the country in recent weeks with arson and bomb attacks, in what may be attempts by anti-regime groups to bolster a nationwide boycott of the junta’s education system.
But villagers said Zeyar Lin, who leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, had not taken part in any guerilla activity.
“The guy killed was not involved in anything. But he had tattoos of Amay Suu and Bogyoke Aung San,” the first villager told Myanmar Now, referring to the detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, the independence hero of the Bamar majority.
Zeyar Lin’s wife, Ohnmar Khine, said hospital staff told her that the body arrived in a military truck at around 3am on Tuesday.
Her husband was arrested while on his way to visit his mother, who lives near the school where the fire broke out, she added.
The military council announced in several newspapers on Wednesday that security forces arrested six men in relation to the fire and also seized weapons.
The report was accompanied by a photograph of the men, including Zeyar Lin, after their arrest. He did not appear to have any life-threatening injuries in the picture and the report did not mention that he later died.
On Wednesday, a local guerrilla group responded to the raid by shooting at the home of an alleged informant in the village. The target was not injured but his daughter was killed, according to several Lelzin locals. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm the details.
The attack led to another raid by the military, during which four more people were arrested as soldiers fired their guns repeatedly.
The village now lies virtually abandoned, with only those who support the military left behind. “They opened fire so many times at the entrance to the village,” said the second villager. “Everyone in the village fled.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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More than 80 percent of IDPs come back to the Chin State town, but few are expected to stay beyond the two-week ceasefire
Description:
"Locals who had fled fighting in Mindat, Chin State returned home after a ceasefire was agreed to between the regime military and the local People’s Defence Force (PDF), according to a committee working with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the township.
After one week of negotiations involving local leaders and religious figures, the two forces agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday. The agreement is only valid until July 4.
More than 20,000 locals have been displaced from Mindat since mid-May by clashes. More than 80 percent have returned home in recent days, the Mindat Township IDP Management Committee has stated.
They had been taking shelter in 80 villages in the region, according to Lawrence, a representative of the committee.
“There’s only a little more than 1,000 IDPs left in the villages,” Lawrence told Myanmar Now.
The majority of the IDPs returned to check on the condition of their homes, many of which were raided when the junta’s armed forces took over Mindat town.
Lawrence noted that this is the season in which Mindat farmers typically cultivate konjac, and the displacement has interrupted their livelihoods and food security.
A member of the anti-coup Mindat Township People’s Administration Team said that while the majority of IDPs have returned following the temporary ceasefire, only a few are expected to stay.
After three consecutive days of clashes in April, the military asked the local defence group to meet with them for negotiations, but the two sides were not able to come to an agreement. Clashes resumed on the night of May 12.
On May 13, the military council imposed martial law in Mindat, and began carrying out raids. They officially seized the town on May 15.
The military council’s armed forces attacked villages sheltering IDPs, including firing heavy artillery at an IDP camp despite the display of a white flag. They also blocked routes through which rations and medical supplies could be sent to the displaced persons.
According to information provided by Mindat’s IDP management committee, by the third week of June, seven people, including a six-day-old baby, a seven-month-old baby, a 13-year-old child, a pregnant woman, and three other adults had died due to a lack of healthcare during their displacement.
A local man who was involved in the negotiations between the regime’s armed forces and the PDF said that the temporary ceasefire was made with these conditions in mind.
“The elderly are struggling a lot. So are the sick and disabled,” he told Myanmar Now.
“Unidentified thieves were destroying the town and people’s homes. People are losing their homes and livelihoods. The entire town became a ghost town. So religious figures from all backgrounds joined hands to pray and plan to bring the town back to life.”
For the period of the ceasefire, both the Mindat PDF and the military agreed to stop carrying out armed searches of people, shooting weapons, pressuring or threatening departmental staff or those involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement, and to allow vehicles carrying aid to IDPs to pass through the town.
Military vehicles stationed on the town’s two main roads—Shwe Aung Thar and Htin Chaung—have since retreated, and some trucks have come to the town to provide supplies, locals said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration in Chin State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar security forces on Thursday arrested one of the main leaders of the campaign against military rule after ramming him with a car as he led a motorbike protest rally, friends and colleagues said.
Opponents of the Feb. 1 coup that ousted an elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi have kept up their campaign against the military this traditional New Year week with marches and various other shows of defiance.
"Our brother Wai Moe Naing was arrested. His motorbike was hit by an unmarked police car," Win Zaw Khiang, a member of a protest organising group, said on social media.
Wai Moe Naing, a 25-year-old Muslim, has emerged as one of the most high-profile leaders of opposition to the coup.
Earlier, Reuters spoke to him by telephone as he was setting off to lead the rally in the central town of Monywa, about 700 km (435 miles) north of the main city of Yangon.
Video posted on social media showed an oncoming car swerving into a group of motorbikes.
A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment.
Monywa has been one of main centres of the pro-democracy campaign with big rallies day after day and repeated crackdowns by the security forces.
Some colleagues said they feared for Wai Moe Naing's safety.
The Swedish embassy said it was following his case and urged that all detainees be allowed proper health care and their human rights be respected.
The U.S. Embassy also condemned the reported incident.
"This appalling act further demonstrates why the people of Myanmar do not accept the military regime," the embassy said in a post on Twitter.
PROTESTING MEDICS
In Yangon, security forces detained Myo Aye, director of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar, activist Ei Thinzar Maung said on Facebook. Myo Aye has also played a major role in organising the protests.
State media said a famous actor, Zin Wine, and singer Po Po, both known for their support of the democracy movement, had also been arrested.
The coup has plunged Myanmar into crisis after 10 years of tentative steps toward democracy, with, in addition to the daily protests, strikes by workers in many sectors that have brought the economy to a standstill.
An activist group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, says the security forces have killed 715 protesters since the overthrow of Suu Kyi's government.
Earlier on Thursday, soldiers opened fire in the city of Mandalay to disperse protesting medical workers and one man was killed and several wounded when security forces fired in a nearby neighbourhood, media reported.
Some medical workers have been at the forefront of the campaign against the coup, which for many people has dashed hopes of a more open society after tentative steps towards democracy since the military initiated reforms a decade ago.
State television announced that 20 doctors were among 40 people wanted under a law that makes it illegal to encourage mutiny or dereliction of duty in the security forces. Some 200 people are now wanted under the charge.
The military says the protests are dwindling but thousands joined protests marches and motorbike rallies in several towns, according to pictures posted by media outlets.
The United States and other Western countries have imposed limited sanctions focused on the military and called for the release of Suu Kyi and others detained by the new authorities.
Leaders of Southeast Asian neighbours, which have been trying to encourage talks between the rival Myanmar sides, are due to met in Indonesia on April 24 to discuss the situation, Thai PBS World reported.
Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend, the broadcaster said, on what would be his first known trip abroad and contact with foreign leaders since he seized power..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Anti-coup campaigns, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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A pregnant woman, two infants and three elderly refugees died from lack of medical access, sources say.
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"At least six civilians displaced by conflict in Chin state—a pregnant woman, two infants, and three elderly people—have died from lack of access to medical care since fighting erupted between Myanmar’s military and the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) militia two months ago, sources said Thursday.
The deaths come as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting and violence this year and efforts to assist them is being hampered by armed clashes and insecurity.
More than 20,000 people were sheltering at 100 displacement areas in Chin state bordering India, while 177,000 people were displaced in Kayah state bordering Thailand, according to OCHA.
A refugee from the war-torn township of Mindat, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the six had died in the jungle while fleeing a junta offensive in the area.
“At least six people have died in the jungle due to lack of medicine,” the source said, adding that he was unsure of their names.
“The babies were just a few days old. There are old people [who died]. Some fell from the narrow mountain roads while escaping the fighting. Others died because they could not secure their usual medicine.”
Clashes between the military and the CDF have been raging in the remote township of southern Chin state in Myanmar’s northwest since April 26 and have forced more than 30,000 people to flee to safety, according to aid groups.
A five-point bilateral agreement was reached between the two sides Wednesday to ban armed surveillance and the targeting of civilians in Mindat, end the disruption of government services, cease the use of intimidation or coercion to force Civil Disobedience Movement participants protesting the military’s Feb. 1 coup d’état into returning to work, and lift a blockade of the Kyauktaw-Mindat-Matupi Road to allow the delivery of relief.
A member of the CDF, who also declined to be named, said his group agreed to a ceasefire to alleviate the suffering of those in need of food and medicine, while the military “does not care about the plight of people fleeing the war.”
“I don’t think they did it to show compassion to the people,” he said, adding that the military’s decision to enter the agreement likely stemmed from heavy losses it sustained in nearby Chaungzon township.
“They suffered many casualties around Chaungzon and sent in around 60 more men as reinforcements. I don't know whether they came in to quell riots in other areas or to pressure us, but I’m sure they didn’t call for a ceasefire because they care about the people.”
A CDF spokesman said military troops in the region had been told not to disturb residents or make arrests, adding that he was “monitoring the situation.”
Some of the refugees who were hiding in the jungle to avoid the conflict began returning home in the days leading up to the agreement, relief workers told RFA.
However, they said, access to food and medicine remains a challenge, and many refugees are suffering from illnesses, including seasonal flu and diarrhea, and supplies are desperately needed.
“[The military] questioned people who returned to town and some were arrested,” the worker said, adding that the situation remains tenuous.
“It is still unclear at this time what they will do to people after this. There are no guarantees. And there still is a need for food and medicine for the refugees.”
When transporting supplies for refugees, he said, trucks are required to submit to inspections at multiple checkpoints throughout the area.....Ordering refugees home: On Feb. 1, Myanmar’s military staged a coup, seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), rejecting its landslide victory in November 2020 general elections as the result of voter fraud. The junta has provided no evidence to back up its claims and citizens from all walks of life have protested the takeover.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military has killed at least 880 people, while some 5,104 people have been detained, charged, or sentenced in the five months since the coup.
Amid nationwide turmoil, the military has stepped up offensives in remote parts of the country of 54 million that have led to fierce battles with a plethora of People’s Defense Force (PDF) militias formed to protect residents from troops loyal to the junta. Ethnic armies in other parts of the nation have used the instability to encroach on one another’s territory.
Sources in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state told RFA Thursday that the military has been ordering refugees from Demoso township—where fighting between junta troops and a branch of the People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia broke out on May 20—to return home, but that most have relocated to other areas because they fear for their safety.
One person living in a makeshift camp outside of the township told RFA that soldiers had come to the area and told refugees to return to Demoso and that they would only be given protection if they agreed to do so.
“Some villagers moved elsewhere instead of going back,” he said, adding that the others had no plan to return any time soon.
“Even if we want to return, where would we stay? All our houses have been destroyed, totally or in part. [Troops] are still stationed in the villages. They are even stationed in the refugee camp’s medical center and are forcing people in the camps to cook for them.”
Other sources said that a brave few have returned to villages near to the suburbs of Demoso, but only temporarily because of the need to cultivate their fields, noting that even the state capital Loikaw remains dangerous.....Few willing to return:At least 100,000 people have been displaced throughout Kayah state since fighting broke out more than a month ago in Demoso. They account for the lion’s share of the more than a quarter million civilians in seven regions of Myanmar that the United Nations estimates have fled clashes between the military and militias or conflict between ethnic armies in the four months since the junta overthrew the country’s democratically elected government.
The 226,000 displaced in 2021 join more 500,000 refugees from decades of conflict between the government military and ethnic armies who were already counted as internally displaced persons at the end of 2020, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, a Norwegian NGO.
Palan, a social worker based in Demoso, told RFA that only around less than one-third of the 100,000 displaced in Kayah state have gone home, while others refuse because they fear the military or have no dwelling to return to.
“I think about 30,000 have returned at present,” he said.
“The main problem is that most of them are now homeless. Almost all the residents of Demoso and about 50 percent of those from Loikaw have no homes now. There are still a lot of soldiers in the villages, as well as in Ngwedaung and Demoso [townships]. That’s why it isn’t easy to go back.”
Bringing rice to Kayah state from neighboring Thailand to help feed the displaced is also nearly impossible because the military has blocked the supply routes, Palan added..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration in Chin State, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"An estimated 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Myanmar and need assistance, the United Nations said on Thursday, as a major armed ethnic group expressed concern about military force, civilian deaths and a widening of the conflict.
Myanmar has been in crisis since a Feb. 1 coup ousted an elected government, prompting nationwide anger that has led to protests, killings and bombings, and battles on several fronts between troops and newly formed civilian armies.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said relief operations were ongoing but were being hindered by armed clashes, violence and insecurity in the country.
It said 177,000 people were displaced in Karen state bordering Thailand, 103,000 in the past month, while more than 20,000 people were sheltering at 100 displacement areas after fighting between People's Defence Forces and the army in Chin State bordering India.
Several thousand people had fled fighting in northern Kachin and Shan States, regions with established ethnic minority armies with a long history of hostilities with the military.
The Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic minority groups, said it was worried about the military's excessive use of force and the loss of innocent civilian lives as fighting intensifies all over the country.
"The KNU will continue to fight against military dictatorship and provide as much protection as possible to people and unarmed civilians," it said in a statement.
The military says it seized power to protect democracy because its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party were ignored.....PROTESTS: Anti-junta protests took place in Kachin State, Dawei, Sagaing Region and the commercial capital Yangon on Thursday, with demonstrators carrying banners and making three-finger gestures of defiance.
Some showed support for those resisting military rule in Mandalay, the second-biggest city, where a firefight took place between the army and a newly formed guerrilla group on Tuesday, the first sign of armed clashes in a major urban centre since the coup.
The military-owned Myawaddy Television said four members of the militia were arrested on Thursday, describing them as "terrorists".
At least 877 people have been killed by security forces and more than 6,000 arrested since the coup, according to the Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group which the junta has declared an illegal organisation.
A diplomatic effort by Southeast Asian countries to halt the violence and initiate dialogue between all sides has stalled and the generals say they will stick to their plan of restoring order and holding elections in two years.
In its nightly news bulletin, state-run MRTV reported on the visit of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to Russia, where a military university named him an honorary professor.
Unlike most global powers, Russia has embraced the junta and the country has long been a key source of Myanmar's weaponry. His visit comes amid international pressure on countries not to sell arms to the military or do business with its vast network of companies.
State media on Thursday carried excerpts from a speech in Russia by Min Aung Hlaing in which he said it was necessary for countries to avoid encroaching on another country's sovereignty.
"Myanmar is striving for restoring political peace and stability," it quoted him saying. "The current government is focusing on the reappearance of honesty over democracy."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Posts ranging from wanted posters to death threats remain online for months, breaching platform’s own standards
Description:
"Facebook is promoting content that incites violence against Myanmar’s coup protesters and amplifies junta misinformation, despite promising to clamp down on the misuse of its platform, according to a study.
An investigation by the rights group Global Witness found that Facebook’s recommendation algorithm continues to invite users to view content that breaches its own policies. After liking a Myanmar military fan page, which did not contain recent posts violating Facebook’s policies, the rights group found that Facebook suggested several pro-military pages that contained abusive content.
Among the posts featured on one of the pages was an image of a “wanted” poster offering a $10m bounty for the capture “dead or alive” of a young woman. The post claimed she was among protesters who had burned down a factory following a military crackdown. Images of the woman’s face and a screenshot of what appeared to be her Facebook profile were posted alongside a caption reading: “This girl is the one who committed arson in Hlaing Tharyar. Her account has been deactivated. But she cannot run.”
Global Witness said that its report demonstrated that self-regulation by Facebook was not working, and called for Facebook’s recommendation algorithm to be subject to independent audit.
Other posts identified by Global Witness included a death threat, the glorification of military violence and misinformation, such as the incorrect claims that Isis is present in Myanmar, and that the military had seized power due to “voter fraud”. The military has accused Aung San Suu Kyi’s party of vote rigging in last year’s election in order to justify February’s coup – a suggestion that has been discredited by observers, including by the independent monitoring group Asian Network for Free Elections.
Facebook said in February that it would remove false claims of widespread fraud or foreign interference in Myanmar’s November election from its site. It also said it had banned military-controlled state and media entities, and introduced a specific policy for Myanmar “to remove praise, support and advocacy of violence by Myanmar security forces and protestors”. Content that supported the arrests of civilians by the military and security forces in Myanmar would be removed under this policy.
A spokesperson for Facebook said its staff “closely monitor” the situation in Myanmar in real time and has taken action on any posts, pages or groups that break its rules.
However, content identified by Global Witness has remained online for months, according to the rights group.
Separate analysis by the Guardian found numerous recent examples of posts that also appeared to breach Facebook’s standards:
In one post from 19 June, which received more than 500 likes, an image showed a man with a bloodied face and rope tied around his neck. The caption states: “This is how you should arrest them”, referring to protesters.
Posts often mock and encourage violence against protesters. One post, also from 19 June referred to a recent flower strike, where protesters wore flowers to mark Aung San Suu Kyi’s 76th birthday, stating: “Every single one of the real men that wore the flowers in public today must be killed … Trash. They all need to be killed so that the children will not have the wrong role models.” The post was liked 175 times.
Another post, from 1 June, targeted children. It showed an image of students outside their school, with a sign that states: “We are students and we will go to school. You are criminals, and you will go to prison.” Many children have not returned to school, despite orders to do so by the junta. The post had been liked more than 4,300 times.
Posts often share misinformation, for example, blaming pro-democracy politicians for leading “terrorists”. A post states “only real news outlets in this country are MOI, MRTV and MWD and other state-run news”, referring to military-controlled channels.
Facebook has previously acknowledged that its platform has been misused in Myanmar, where it is hugely popular and influential. The site is used by almost half the population and, for many, it is the primary way of accessing the internet.
In 2018, following the massacre of Rohingya Muslims by the military, Facebook admitted that its platform had been used to “foment division and incite offline violence”. A UN fact-finding mission drew similar conclusions the same year, stating that Facebook had been “a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate” and that the response of the company had been “slow and ineffective”.
In February, Facebook said its staff were working around the clock to keep its platform safe. The coup greatly increased the likelihood “that online threats could lead to offline harm”, Facebook said at the time.
The Global Witness report also called for Facebook to further investigate other types of content it hosted, including the circulation of forced confession videos by political prisoners, military adverts, and posts that amplified military propaganda – such as the claims that the army is acting in a measured way.
In a statement, Facebook said: “We proactively detect 99% of the hate speech removed from Facebook in Myanmar, and our ban of the Tatmadaw [military] and repeated disruption of coordinated inauthentic behaviour has made it harder for people to misuse our services to spread harm. This is a highly adversarial issue and we continue to take action on content that violates our policies to help keep people safe.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Opinion and Expression - tools for change in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Anti-coup campaigns, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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The overwhelming rejection of state education since the coup has spawned the emergence of learning alternatives, including plans for both physical and virtual universities.
Description:
"In keeping with the motto embraced in state media, “national discipline starts from the school,” Tatmadaw soldiers began occupying school campuses in March. But unlike after the national uprising in 1988 and student protests in 1996, when the military closed universities or dispersed students to far-flung campuses, it is now trying to force students to return to school.
Although government schools re-opened in June, as few as 10 percent of students returned to their classrooms amid boycotts and demonstrations. Thousands of university professors – some sources say half of all academic staff – have been suspended for participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement or for refusing to return to work.
Although the CDM is saying “no” to government education, many students are saying “yes” to educational alternatives that have emerged since February. The National Unity Government, teachers’ and students’ unions, the education departments of ethnic nationalities, non-profit organisations and other groups all plan to offer new educational programmes.
If the military’s hold on power is prolonged, these emerging institutions may become part of a parallel education system that offers content contrary to that provided in state schools. Another possible scenario, under which democratic forces regain control of the country, is that some of these organisations become the basis for a reimagined education system that is more consistent with democratic than authoritarian principles.
This struggle over education in Myanmar – who controls it, what it contains and how it is delivered – is not new. These alternatives to government education are the latest effort to counter the status quo, and are likely to provide a sharp and positive contrast to the pro-military nationalism that the State Administration Council is offering in government schools.
Progress, interrupted
In January, the future of education in Myanmar appeared to be navigable, if not smooth sailing. The Ministry of Education was poised to release the second phase of the National Education Strategic Plan, or “NESP 2,” which would have charted a course for the next 10 years of reform.
As part of the NESP 1, from 2016 to 2021, the ministry released revised curricula for most primary and some secondary grades. I have argued elsewhere that the new textbooks missed opportunities to build pluralistic and democratic values, but they were of higher quality and more inclusive than those they replaced.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party and National League for Democracy governments had also made gestures toward decentralisation, including considering coordination with what are called Ethnic Basic Education Providers (educational entities affiliated with ethnic armed groups such as the Karen National Union and Kachin Independence Organization). Although student unions had been quite critical of the National Education Law, the ministry had at least promised greater autonomy to higher education institutions.
The reform process was far from perfect, and I and other researchers and practitioners criticised its products and processes, but the lively debate about education contrasted sharply with the constrained discussions that occurred under military rule.
Reforms stopped on February 1. Organisations including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank paused funding on all projects, including those related to education. The SAC’s Ministry of Education announced that there would be no change to the curriculum for the coming school year. While the ministry presented this as a positive – that education reforms would not be reversed – it also interrupted the scheduled release of new textbooks.
The impact of the halt to reforms may not be immediately apparent, because so few students are attending school. Amid the bombings of schools and education offices, concern about the COVID-19 pandemic, and objections to the SAC’s ideology and practices, schools are running far below capacity. A look at Myanmar’s history helps to understand why.
Echoes of the past
Student and teacher activism since the coup is rooted in a long history of politicisation of schooling in Myanmar. CDM participants are well aware of these historical connections, which inspired the description of the SAC’s school system as “military slave education” (စစ်ကျွန်ပညာရေး). This phrase harks back to the 1920 student protests against the British colonial “slave education” system that helped spark the Burmese nationalist movement. At that time, students demanded “national schools” with Burmese as the medium of instruction, as a counter to a British education system they regarded as elitist and pro-imperial.
A new generation of students continued this tradition of activism later in the 20th century, and were among the first to protest against the 1962 coup. When the dictator Ne Win demolished the Rangoon University Student Union building with explosives in July that year, it illustrated that not only colonial but also Burmese rulers were determined to use education as a tool for social control.
For decades, the military junta used school curricula as propaganda for its rule, but the key role students played in the uprisings of 1988 and 1996 showed that these attempts at indoctrination were not entirely successful. Those in power continued to target students as potential troublemakers and feared their ability to organise resistance and to collaborate with other groups.
It is not surprising, then, that CDM-affiliated student leaders regard their current boycott as a symbolic act, and also a practical matter of self-preservation that allows them to avoid the danger and trauma of attending schools run by the SAC. However, students are not only boycotting classes, they are also participating in new endeavours that could transform the educational landscape.....The rise of alternatives: Although the coup may have paused the reform process, some observers say the disruption to the education system offers a chance to revolutionise outdated models and content. Dr Thein Lwin of the Thinking Classroom Foundation says that despite restrictions, students have been finding ways to learn together and independently while participating in the CDM, including by using the internet to connect in creative ways.
Generation Z seems to be seeking out alternatives to traditional schooling, with its “one right answer” rote learning model and suppression of dissent. The combined resistance of students and teachers is an intergenerational collaboration in which younger activists can benefit from the wisdom of older peers.
In fact, there may be an opportunity to expand the category “students” in productive ways. Can workers be students? Can grandmothers be students? Can students be teachers? Opposition to the SAC has transformed social relationships in unexpected ways, and education is no different.
Nonetheless, there is an educational gap to be filled, and several groups are attempting to address it by offering classes that allow CDM participants to continue to develop their skills while boycotting school or work. These groups share the common aim of providing education to support democracy. However, they differ in their platforms, target audiences, principles, and approaches, which may make it difficult for students to navigate the options.
First, the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Education plans to create a parallel education system for basic and higher education. NUG deputy education minister Daw Ja Htoi Pan has mentioned “homeschooling” as the best option for basic education, and the NUG is soliciting university-level content from professors inside and outside the country via Moodle. It also hopes to establish a physical campus for a planned Federal University.
Confusingly, the establishment of another physical Federal University is also the goal of a coalition of groups including the Thinking Classroom Foundation, university teachers’ unions, migrant education organisations, church-based education groups, and Mon, Karenni, Karen and Shan education centres. The proposed university might be built in an area under the control of an armed ethnic group.
This Federal University aims to be autonomous and to provide free education in line with the principles of federalism and self-determination. It would prioritise admitting students who have attended schools run by ethnic armed groups, as well as church-based schools, and migrant schools. In the past, the qualifications of students who attended these schools were not recognised. The university could also accept students who had attended government schools.
A virtual option is Spring University Myanmar, which plans to offer online courses in preparing for university study, as well as in disciplines such as law, economics, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, federalism, peace studies, arts and sciences, and (most uniquely) ethnic languages.
The university’s goals include opposing the SAC’s “slave education” system while building capacity and providing part-time jobs for people involved in the CDM. Applications were recently sought for a range of positions, including a graphic designer, content writers, and a scholarship coordinator.
Courses are being offered for a fee of about US$100, and profits will be used to grow the organisation or to support the CDM. Scholarships are also available. SUM uses Telegram and Facebook to communicate with students.
Another online option is the Virtual Federal University, which was started by student union leaders seeking free, critical education to support a federal political model while building grassroots participation. In cooperation with scholars and practitioners from abroad, VFU offers short audio lectures organised into larger courses, which can be downloaded from its website and, in the future, maybe broadcast by radio, TV or both.
VFU is also partnering with international institutions. It has arranged for Princeton University’s EdX program to offer a synchronous global history course that can be audited or for which students can be granted a certificate of completion. (Disclosure: I am involved with VFU, and will be offering a short course called “Lies My Teacher Told Me: Top 5 Myths About Myanmar’s History” in the coming months.).....
Challenges and opportunities:
More educational ventures are being started all the time, but obstacles abound. The first concerns funding, which is scarce in a situation complicated by the difficulty of getting money in and out of Myanmar. Providing financial aid to striking teachers and supporting students who are boycotting classes is a key priority of several groups, but the mechanics are difficult.
Second, security is a worry for many students and teachers at a time when even an indirect association with CDM-affiliated or foreign organisations can be dangerous. It remains unclear how institutions mentioned above will be able to protect their students from harassment by the SAC.
Finally, it is difficult to plan and execute any kind of educational endeavour under the current circumstances. Unreliable communications, violence perpetrated by the military, the trauma, displacement, and upheaval that many students have experienced, and uncertainty about the future all make schooling – whether virtual or in-person – rife with challenges. Maintaining education quality is difficult in any circumstances, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, military rule, and escalating civil conflict, it is an even more daunting task.
Despite the challenges, students and alternative education providers seem determined to proceed. SUM and VFU each have thousands of followers on Facebook. The NUG’s Ministry of Education is initiating its university program. There seems to be considerable enthusiasm over these developments among many of the nation’s youth.
For now, the diversity of alternative educational initiatives appears to be both a strength and a weakness. Although the range of organisations, formats and platforms may be able to meet the needs of students, there is a lack of consistency and parity among the various options. Some offer certificates, some don’t, some charge fees but others are free, some are affiliated with political groups and others are not. It is not yet certain which institutions will outlast the coup and which may become redundant or merge with others.
It is clear that the future of education in Myanmar depends to some extent on political developments linked to the coup. However, it is also important to remember that political developments may also depend at least in part on education. With the ambitious plans of these alternative providers, education in Myanmar could become not only a response to change but also a driver of it.
In other words, the educational arena can be seen as a microcosm of the larger society. If students can manage to learn together across ethnic, political, religious, economic and regional divides, it will bode well for the country’s future..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The military coup in Myanmar in February has reversed or put at risk a decade of gradual economic progress. In the last decade, the Myanmar economy benefited from significant economic and political reforms, achieving above 7 per cent annual growth, reduced poverty and a significant increase in international investment.
These gains are being unwound by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and, more so, by the coup, with the World Bank forecasting a 10 per cent contraction in GDP in 2021 and the UNDP warning of a possible doubling of the poverty rate.
While there has been attention in the international media on the potential economic impact and effectiveness of international trade sanctions, the biggest economic impacts so far have been driven by internal factors. The anti-coup civil disobedience movement (CDM) drew in millions of public and private sector workers who refused to work until democracy is restored. In doing so they effectively shut down most sectors of the domestic economy.
Transport and internet services have been disrupted. The participation of port workers, truck drivers and officers from various government agencies in the CDM has had a crippling effect on international trade. The military government has imposed periodic shutdowns and limits on internet connections to try to stifle political opposition, which has led to operational difficulties for businesses, as well as grave concerns about human rights.
When banks closed at the height of the CDM, most households and businesses experienced cash shortages. This problem remains even after banks were forced to reopen by the military government. Retail and service-based businesses either shut or drastically reduced their hours of operation because of the CDM, but even businesses that have now reopened find it difficult to access cash to pay wages and suppliers. There are serious risks to the stability of the banking and finance sector. Chief among these is a widely shared loss of trust in the integrity and management of the banking system under military rule. Consumers have rushed to withdraw deposits to purchase US dollars and gold, leading to a rapid depreciation of the Kyat.
With many factories closed and business activities down, employment opportunities and incomes have reduced. In some major industrial zones which have been sites of public protests and violent military repression, hundreds of thousands of workers fled to their homes in rural areas out of fear for their own safety and a lack of jobs and income. Some of these workers have returned but only to eke out a meagre income from insecure and poorly paid daily wage work. Overall, the viability of manufacturing is threatened by the crisis, especially in industries like garment manufacturing, where some global fashion brand buyers suspended orders from Myanmar.
Boycotts have affected military owned or controlled conglomerates across a variety of industries, facilitated by a smartphone app that helps consumers avoid military-linked businesses. Consumers have also boycotted Chinese made goods because of the perception that China backs the junta. There is a lack of reliable data on the impact of the consumer boycotts, but some reports have indicated that sales of Myanmar beer — a dominant military owned beer brand — have declined by somewhere between 80 and 90 per cent since the coup.
For all of its impact, there is now an open question as to whether the CDM can be sustained in the face of pressure from the military to force employees to return to work and businesses to reopen. Many of the movement’s participants are unable to access solidarity income support and are being gradually ground down by economic hardship and the coercion of the military regime.
Yet even if the military succeeds to some degree in normalising economic activity, the economic damage done will be profound and lasting. The destabilisation of politics and governance is also likely to play out in unpredictable and unforeseen ways — including the likelihood of ongoing urban violence and safety risks — and so Myanmar will be a volatile and difficult business environment. Many international businesses will reconsider their investments in the country. Development and infrastructure project funding from donor countries will also be adversely impacted, although the regime may hope that China will fill the void.
The trade sanctions announced by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have thus far targeted military owned enterprises. Meanwhile, the National Unity Government, a parallel government in exile comprised mainly of deposed elected parliamentarians, has asked foreign investors not to pay tax to the military regime government until democracy is restored.
If the military regime prevails and consolidates its rule, Myanmar will almost certainly revert to its historic status as a relatively isolated, underdeveloped and impoverished economy that benefits only a small military elite and their crony business associates. Inevitably, this will mean that the economy and the people will continue to suffer. In a sea of sadness and despair one of the poignant aspects of this crisis is the sense of lost hope — felt most keenly by young people — in a once promising economic future..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
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Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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"The Myanmar military regime has organized a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
The regime’s order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.
The panel has eight members. Among them are two former military officers—U Wunna Maung Lwin, who will serve as chairman; and the regime’s planning, finance and industry minister, U Win Shein—and two serving lieutenant generals: Yar Pyae and Adjutant General Myo Zaw Thein.
The other members of the panel are the junta’s minister for international cooperation, U Ko Ko Hlaing, as vice chairman; its new union attorney general, Daw Thida Oo; its deputy foreign minister, U Kyaw Myo Htut; and Daw Khin Oo Hlaing, who is said to be an international criminal law expert and also a member of a seven-member advisory board to the regime.
After a brutal military crackdown in the western state of Rakhine in 2017 that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to neighboring Bangladesh, the African nation of Gambia in November 2019 brought a case at the ICJ—which is an organ of the UN and is also known as the World Court—accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya. State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi defended the country against the charge in December 2019.
Gambia’s legal team submitted a list of the Myanmar military’s atrocities against the minority Muslim group in northern Rakhine state. These included mass rapes, the burning of families in their homes and the killing of dozens of Rohingya children. As the case could take years, Gambia asked the ICJ to order Myanmar to take “provisional measures” to prevent more violations.
Going further than the measures requested by Gambia, the ICJ ordered Myanmar on Jan. 23 to report on its compliance with the provisional measures in four months and then every six months thereafter. The Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government submitted two reports prior to its ouster by the military in a coup on Feb. 1.
The deputy foreign minister for Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), U Moe Zaw Oo, said during an online press conference on June 4 that the civilian government would no longer offer a defense in the case. It vowed to work with the ICJ and said it would accept the court’s decision in the case.
The NUG also said it is considering accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by a separate international court, the International Criminal Court, over the killings, torture and other crimes against civilians committed by the Myanmar junta since the coup on Feb. 1. The Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy government, detained civilian leaders and abolished the new Parliament on the day it was scheduled to convene.
Since the coup, the Myanmar regime has killed at least 877 people and arrested more than 6,200, of whom 5,088 remain in detention, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
At least 25 civilians have been tortured to death after being arrested by regime forces since the military takeover..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Myanmar's junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing that Moscow is committed to strengthening military ties with it, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Rights activists have accused Moscow of legitimising the junta, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, by continuing bilateral visits and arms deals.
"We are determined to continue our efforts to strengthen bilateral ties based on the mutual understanding, respect and trust that have been established between our countries," RIA quoted Shoigu as saying at a meeting on Tuesday.
Min Aung Hlaing was in the Russian capital to attend a security conference and had earlier met Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council. read more
Defence ties between the two countries have grown in recent years with Moscow providing army training and university scholarships to thousands of soldiers, as well as selling arms to a military blacklisted by several Western countries.
Little light was shed on how cooperation between Russia and Myanmar may develop and whether Moscow would be willing to sell more military equipment there.
Since the army seized power and removed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, troops have put down pro-democracy demonstrations and strikes and killed or arrested hundreds of protesters.
Addressing a Moscow conference on Wednesday, Min Aung Hlaing repeated that the army took power by force because Suu Kyi's party won the election through fraud - an accusation rejected by the previous election commission and international monitors.
With Myanmar being one of the traditional export markets for the Russian weaponry, rising tensions there provide Moscow with a good chance to increase military sales, Alexey Kirichenko, Associate Professor at the Institute of Asian and African Countries at the Moscow State University, said.
"This makes it possible for Russia to conclude lucrative contracts... The situation in the country is very difficult, and the Burmese military needs to build up their military potential," he said.
On Tuesday, Myanmar security forces backed by armoured vehicles clashed with a newly formed guerrilla group in the second biggest city Mandalay, resulting in at least two casualties. read more
Russia said in March it was deeply concerned by the rising number of civilian deaths in Myanmar. President Vladimir Putin does not plan to meet Min Aung Hlaing on his visit to Moscow, Kremlin has said..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
When the Myanmar military started killing peaceful protesters in remote Chin State in the wake of the 1 February coup, local youths armed themselves with handmade rifles and started shooting back. They say they have killed at least 165 soldiers.
Description:
"One evening in late April, a group of young men crouched in the wooded hills overlooking a narrow mountain road outside the town of Mindat, in Myanmar’s Chin State, waiting for the enemy to arrive. As expected, a large truck and three smaller vehicles rumbled up the road carrying soldiers and military equipment. As soon as they came into striking distance, the men in the hills opened fire.
“We attacked them with bombs first, and we shot them with handmade rifles,” says Salai*, a leader of the Chinland Defence Force. The militia formed in the wake of Myanmar’s 1 February coup to protect the residents of Chin State—a mountainous, underdeveloped region bordering India and Bangladesh—from military violence.
Amid the explosions and gunfire, Salai says he heard the Myanmar soldiers shout: “These men are really doing it! Attack them back!”
The battle continued into the night. Eventually, Salai and his comrades decided they had inflicted enough damage and fled back into the hills. They stayed awake and kept watch until morning in case of a counter-attack. They were relieved when they realised every CDF member had come back alive, and they learned later that they had killed three Myanmar soldiers and wounded seven.
“That [battle] was a first for all of us,” Salai says. “We didn’t have much experience before, but we did it. We became confident.”
In the weeks since, the CDF have mounted several more attacks against the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, in Mindat and throughout Chin State, scoring further victories but also suffering heavy losses. Vastly outgunned, their continued operations show the lengths many Myanmar civilians are willing to go to resist military rule.
“I think their actions show the desperation of the people in Chin State, and all over Myanmar, who have suffered for many years at the hand of the Myanmar military,” says Steve Gumaer, president of Partners Relief & Development, which has been providing emergency supplies to displaced civilians in Chin State.
“Reports that we have heard are that many people feel like they tried peaceful protests, and in response, many have been killed, so now they are taking up arms to fight for their freedom.”.....Childhood War Games: In the immediate aftermath of the coup, Salai had no intention of taking up arms against the military. A husband and father of two children, he previously worked in the development sector in Chin State, whose predominantly Christian, ethnic Chin population have long resisted pressures to assimilate into Myanmar’s Buddhist, ethnic Bamar majority. Like many other Mindat residents, Salai spent the weeks following the coup joining peaceful protests against military rule.
But after Tatmadaw soldiers began shooting protesters in Mindat in mid-February, he and other locals—students, workers, farmers and hunters—started making plans to form a group to protect their families and neighbours from violence and detention. They officially established the Chinland Defence Force on 4 April and established chapters in all nine of Chin State’s townships.
On 24 April, Tatmadaw forces arrested seven young protesters in Mindat who were demonstrating in support of the National Unity Government, a government in exile formed by deposed lawmakers. CDF members reached out to military authorities to try to negotiate the detainees’ release.
“We urged the junta forces to release our peaceful civilian protesters. They promised at first to release them back to us, but they did not keep their promise and kept detaining them. So we fought their forces,” Salai says.
News of the CDF’s modest victory against the Tatmadaw spread on social media, earning praise among anti-coup activists across the country, some of whom have formed local “people’s defence forces” in their own neighbourhoods.
The CDF mounted several more guerilla attacks on the Tatmadaw over the following weeks. On 26 April, they allegedly attacked a police convoy near a golf course outside Mindat, killing one security officer and injuring three, according to Myanmar state media. Despite being less well armed than the state security forces stationed across Chin State, the CDF have a few key advantages: knowledge of the rugged terrain, local hunting traditions and access to small explosives and handmade rifles known as tumi, both of which are commonly used for hunting in Chin State.
“When we were young, we used to pretend to fight the enemies in this mountainous terrain,” says Pau Pu*, a musician from northern Chin State whose friends and relatives have joined the CDF. “These battles are very similar to our childhood play scenarios.”
“[The junta forces] could potentially attack our towns at any time, but the CDF can surely attack them in the jungles, where they have to pass to reach the towns,” Pau Pu says..."
Source/publisher:
New Naratif
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin history, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Australia must do more to support Burmese journalists who have been forced to flee Myanmar following the military coup in February.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has urged Foreign Minister Marise Payne to issue a stronger condemnation of the military junta’s attacks on freedom of expression, and to provide safe haven to journalists fearing persecution.
Since the junta seized power journalists have been beaten and shot, at least 85 have been arrested, more than 40 detained and several jailed for up to three years. Independent media outlets have been stripped of their licences to operate, and dozens of warrants have been issued for the arrest of other journalists.
Burmese journalists are in hiding not only in Myanmar but elsewhere in the region, seeking safety from persecution and violence. However, Thailand has just sentenced three Burmese journalists to seven months jail and fined them for entering the country.
“The situation for Burmese journalists is desperate,” said MEAA Media Federal President Marcus Strom.
“They face daily risks of arrest or worse both in Myanmar and Thailand, yet they continue to bravely do their work so the rest of the world knows the situation following the coup.
“Australia must use its moral authority to condemn the junta’s attacks on press freedom, and our government should be supporting and protecting Burmese journalists where it is needed.”
MEAA has asked the Australian Government to:
• Issue a statement urging Thailand to provide stronger condemnations of the attacks on freedom of expression in Myanmar and support the safe relocation of journalists under threat in their territory.
• Hold private demarches and otherwise engage with local authorities to underscore their obligation to human rights standards and encourage protective action.
• Provide safe haven, security and support for journalists facing immediate threats in Thailand, including facilitating their relocation to Australia if sought.
• Identify and send case referrals to emergency assistance programs.
• Work with and support local and regional civil society organisations located in India and Thailand in aiding journalists facing threatening situations or otherwise struggling to conduct their work, including funding, technical and material assistance, and by fostering effective support networks.
MEAA is encouraging donations to the Media Safety and Solidarity Fund which will organise for emergency assistance to be distributed to Burmese journalists in Thailand through the Foreign Correspondents Club there..."
Source/publisher:
"Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
164.23 KB
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Description:
"The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the union and professional association for
Australia’s journalists, is deeply concerned for our colleagues in Myanmar (Burma) as the
crackdown by the military junta that began in February has all but completely silenced
independent media in the country.
Journalists have been beaten and shot. You would know that at least 85 journalists in
Myanmar have been arrested and more than 40 continue to be detained. Some have been
jailed for three years for spreading “misinformation” under section 505A of Myanmar’s
Penal Code. Independent media outlets have been stripped of their licences to operate, and
dozens of warrants have been issued for the arrest of other journalists.
Despite this harassment and persecution, Burmese journalists courageously continue to
work underground at great personal risk, informing the rest of the world about the crimes of
the junta.
Burmese journalists are in hiding not only in Myanmar but elsewhere in the region, seeking
safety from persecution and violence. However, Thailand has just sentenced three Burmese
journalists to seven months jail and fined them for entering the country.
Minister, we urge you to take action on behalf of our persecuted colleagues who are in
danger in their own country as well as abroad. We ask you to:
Issue a statement urging Thailand to provide stronger condemnations of the attacks
on freedom of expression in Myanmar and support the safe relocation of journalists
under threat in their territory.
Hold private demarches and otherwise engage with local authorities to underscore
their obligation to human rights standards and encourage protective action.
Provide safe haven, security and support for journalists facing immediate threats in
Thailand, including facilitating their relocation to Australia if sought.
Identify and send case referrals to emergency assistance programs (e.g. the
Journalists in Distress Network).
Work with and support local and regional civil society organisations located in India
and Thailand in aiding journalists facing threatening situations or otherwise
struggling to conduct their work, including funding, technical and material
assistance, and by fostering effective support networks.
We would welcome the opportunity to further talk about this issue with you as the need is
particularly urgent..."
Source/publisher:
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
126.09 KB
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Description:
"As of 23 June, (877) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Monywa Township in Sagaing Region and Kyaingtong Township in Shan State 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 June 23, a total of (5088) people are currently under detention; of them (210) are sentenced. 1950 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 31 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, 39 to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour and 18 to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Zayar Linn from Lalzin Sanpya Village in Monywa Township’s Sagaing Region was arrested and beaten on the night of June 21. His family was informed on the morning of June 22 that he died. He was found with wounds consistent with torture, one large on the back of his head and all over his body.
In addition to this, on the night of June 19 at Kyaingtong Town in Shan State, Than Soe Aung, a local, was injured and his one year and six month old daughter was killed when they were hit by a car driven by Deputy Officer of the General Administration Department (GAD) in Kyaingtong Township. This was after Than Soe Aung did not stop when told by the junta forces when riding his motorcycle to go to a clinic for his ill daughter. Moreover, Than Soe Aung is being detained at the Kyaingtong Myoma Police Station and has been charged with two lawsuits against him at the station.
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 entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
1.2 MB 4.54 MB 1000.71 KB
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Description:
"The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener today in Washington, D.C. Deputy Secretary Sherman and Special Envoy Burgener discussed the international community’s efforts to help bring an end to the Burmese military’s violence and repression, including by urging ASEAN to hold the Burmese military accountable to the five-point consensus and supporting the people of Burma in their efforts to return Burma to the path of democracy. They also discussed efforts to ensure access to vital humanitarian aid for vulnerable populations inside Burma and to encourage countries in the region to provide assistance and safe haven to refugees and asylum seekers..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Former student activist Kyaw San Oo was shot in the head at close range when he wasn’t able to flee police following a shootout
Description:
"A leader of a resistance group based in Magwe Region’s Gangaw Township was killed during a clash with regime forces on Sunday, according to family members.
Kyaw San Oo, a 24-year-old former member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), was shot dead during the clash near the village of Bawpyin in Gangaw.
“We were told that he was fatally shot in the head after getting injured in the thigh. When he was no longer able to run due to his injury, a member of the regime’s police force shot him in the temple at close range,” said a relative of Kyaw San Oo.
Regime forces attacked the Gangaw People’s Defence Force (PDF) after their location was revealed by an informant. Two PDF fighters, including Kyaw San Oo, and two regime troops were killed in the shootout, according to Gangaw locals.
Regime police took the body of Kyaw San Oo after the clash and told his family on Monday afternoon to retrieve it from the Gangaw Hospital, the relative said.
“We had to go get his body right away and had it cremated at around 4pm at a village cemetery,” he added.
Further information about the other person killed in the clash was not available at the time of reporting.
Executing an injured enemy at close range violates the code of conduct for soldiers, said army defector Tun Myat Aung, who was a captain before leaving the military.
“We can’t kill prisoners of war and detainees. It’s part of the code of ethics for soldiers regarding treatment of their enemies,” he said.
The regime has not released a statement regarding the clash or the death of Kyaw San Oo.
Kyaw San Oo was an active member of the Pakokku University Student Union and participated in the ABFSU’s activities from 2012 to 2019, said Min Htet Myat, who is also a student activist from Meikhtila.
“He regularly led the organisation’s activities. He did many things for the Gangaw region even after he finished university,” Min Htet Myat told Myanmar Now.
“It is such a great loss of a comrade and a good friend. I am really sorry that he died halfway through the journey, even though he could do so much more,” he added.
Kyaw San Oo’s family said they were proud of him and his firm political stance.
“We wish 10 more people like him could emerge even though he was killed,” said one relative.
According to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 875 people have been killed by regime forces since the military seized power in a coup on February 1.
The vast majority have been unarmed protesters and bystanders killed in crackdowns and raids..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s ousted State Councilor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi faced her second in-person court hearing on 7 June in Naypyitaw that court announced the charges filed against her will finish within 180 days. Media also reported on Thursday the junta charged her under the anti-corruption law, bringing to seven the number of legal cases brought against her since the military coup on 1 February, 2021.
UNDP estimates that the poverty level is increasing rapidly which is 48.2% at present, and assumes reasons were COVID19 pandemic and the military takeover. This was not seen since 2005. Almost a quarter of all factories in the Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Yangon have suspended operations amid post-coup turmoil.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar despite the brutal crackdown by the military junta and the unsettled situation continued even in the fifth month after the coup. The clashes between military and the civilian resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Bago, Magway, Shan, Mandalay, Sagaing and Yangon States/Regions.
Three Indian states including Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland are currently sheltering around 16,000 people from Myanmar, civil society groups and government officials estimate, with the number expected to rise in coming months as the situation in Chin state has not improved over the last couple of months.
Five DVB journalists who were charged and convicted for illegal entry to Thailand were reported to have arrived in a “third country” to seek asylum.
There were intense fighting reported in Demoso, Loikaw and Hpruso townships during this week. The Junta has carried out airstrikes on civilian resistance fighters and used artillery on civilian areas. It has also brought hundreds of reinforcements into Kayah State. The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), which is over 60 years old, is backing the civilian resistance of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and People’s Defense Force (PDF). According to Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), 50 civilians were killed from March 19 to June 11 in Kayah State following the coup
According to the aid groups, more than a quarter of a million civilians in seven regions of Myanmar have been displaced by clashes between the military and militias or fighting between ethnic armies. IDPs in Kayah and Chin States are in shortage of food supplies and medicines as the junta blocked all the routes to Kayah and Mindat of Chin State, destroying supplies of rice and medicine intended for IDPs.
The United Nations calls on the security forces in Myanmar to allow safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel and to facilitate the direct provision of relief assistance by the UN and its partners to all those in need in Kayah, as well as other states and regions across the country where there are urgent humanitarian needs while the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated this week that credible reports indicate that security forces have used civilians as human shields, shelled civilian homes and churches in Loikaw, Phekon and Demoso in Kayah state and blocked humanitarian access.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 37 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 9 people were injured.
The most high-profile interaction between the Myanmar military and China took place this week during talks in Chongqing, China between Southeast Asian foreign ministers and China. Junta’s appointed foreign affairs point person Wunna Maung Lwin attended the meeting involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and also the meeting with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group, the body that China and the five Southeast Asian countries part of co-chaired by China and Myanmar.
Following the G8 Summit last week, the Myanmar community across the world has increased the number of protests in different parts of the world calling from the world leaders for their support to fight against the military junta that staged the coup on 1 February. Around 400 Myanmar people who live in the UK joined a protest against the Myanmar coup in Cornwall where the G7 summit is being held and some more were held in USA, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Australia, Netherland, Canada, Finland, Norway, Ireland and Czech Republic on 12th and 13th of June. The Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival, which features more than 30 films from or about Myanmar, will run until June 20 aiming to draw attention to Myanmar’s political crisis while raising money for groups inside the country striving to restore democracy and alleviate hardship.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 13 June, 863 people were killed by the junta. 4,863 people are currently under detention and 178 are sentenced. 1,936 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 5 people to 7 years imprisonment. There were at least 21 deaths after bodies were returned to families bearing the marks of torture, although the exact number is unknown. Among them were active members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), election officials, pro-democracy activists and young people..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, UNDP - Burma/Myanmar, Other Special Economic Zones, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
307.9 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Nearly five months after the coup, the junta has begun the trial of the leaders of NLD. Ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a special court in Naypyitaw on 14 June to hear three cases for possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies, violations of the Telecommunications Law and Natural Disaster Management Law.
Furthermore, the junta has charged Ye Min Oo, a former Naypyitaw Mayor with article 409 of Penal Code (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and violation of the Anti-Corruption law as he allegedly misused his power to allow the “La Yaung Taw” project of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under Daw Khin Kyi’s foundation. A detained Mandalay region MP from the National League for Democracy (NLD) also has been sentenced to three years in prison by the junta without a trial according to his family members that media reported this week.
UNHCR reported that more than 680,000 people are currently internally displaced in Myanmar, including more than 200,000 in the last four months. Most of the recent IDPs are from the states of Kayah and Kayin, where ethnic groups and the Myanmar military engaged in fighting. The reports also revealed more than 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Kayah State, with Demoso Township having the highest number of IDPs. It also mentioned that food and medicines run out faster. Dry food, medicine, and water are the major needs. IDPs in southern Shan State also reported due to the heavy fighting between The Shan Nationalities Progressive Party (SSPP/SSA) and the Shan State Reconstruction Council (RCSS/SSA). People are in dire need of emergency medical treatment, according to a relief team.
Strong winds destroyed around 600 houses in refugee camps in Rakhine state making it more difficult for refugees to live, according to the Rakhine Nationalities Association. People face food shortages and international organizations are no longer able to provide assistance due to political instability. More than 100,000 refugees are still reluctant to return to their homes although no fighting in Rakhine for about eight months.
The junta-controlled Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) announced that three “highly transmissible and more severe” coronavirus variants have been detected in Myanmar. With more than 600 COVID-19 cases reported in Yangon in the last two weeks, the second highest coronavirus hotspot after Sagaing Region. The junta has been struggling to maintain COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment as thousands of government medical staff and numerous volunteers have refused to work for the junta.
Two elderly civilians were burned to death alive after junta troops set the whole Kin Ma village on fire and burnt it to ashes in Pauk Township of Magway Region. On June 20, the junta condemned the actions of local/foreign media outlets and organizations spreading false information on the Kinma Village fire case that further the state media accused People Defense Forces (PDF) for setting fire to the house of U Kyaw Htay, who did not support the PDF which spread to other houses due to the wind.
The junta’s propaganda newspapers published an article on neighboring Thailand’s proportional representation (PR) system of elections and parliaments crafted by the Thai military after the 2014 coup, an indicator that the Myanmar junta is considering enacting a similar system in future elections.
Frontier Myanmar’s managing editor arrested by the junta at the Yangon International Airport is facing a charge under section 505-A of Penal Code, which carries a potential three-year prison term while a DVB reporter, was sentenced to 3-year imprisonment with 505-A of Penal Code in Minhla, Bago Region. There are four reporters arrested by the junta in the Bago region, and among them two have been sentenced to 3-year imprisonment. Ye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief of the DVB in Burma is selected for the International Press Freedom Award for 2021.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution with the support of 119 countries to call for a stop to the flow of arms to Myanmar and urge the junta to respect November election results & release political detainees, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Belarus requested the text be put to a vote and was the only country to oppose it, while 36 abstained, including China and Russia with Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos from the ASEAN regional block.
The junta chief arrived in Moscow on 20 June by a special international Myanmar Airlines flight to attend a security conference, marking his second known trip abroad since he seized power in a coup. Junta appointed Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade U Than Aung Kyaw, Nay Pyi Taw Council chairman Dr Maung Maung Naing, Directors-General from various government departments and senior military officers joined the trip.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar despite the crackdown by the junta. The clashes between the junta forces and the civil resistance fighters or Ethnic Armed Organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Mandalay, Magway and Yangon States/Regions.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 56 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 19 people were injured and at least 4 died.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 20 June, 872 people were killed by the junta. 5,033 people are currently under detention and 196 are sentenced. 1,950 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 18 people to 7 years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Human Rights and international relations
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