2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Individual Documents
Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the Government of Canada for designating 16 individuals and 10 entities with strict sanctions who are supporting the killing of innocent civilians nationwide, most recently in Mindat, Chin State.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People and Government of Canada for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the Canadian Government on coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MEC, MGE and MEHL together
with the United States and Great Britain. Additionally, I would like to further thank the Government of Canada for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. The official press release is as follows:
May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
“The Honourable Marc Gameau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions against 16 individuals and 10 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the military’s ongoing brutal repression of the people of Myanmar and their refusal to take steps to restore democracy.
These actions are taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, and align with measures recently imposed by the European Union. They are also consistent with our G7 commitment to continue to take action should the Tatmadaw fail to reverse its course. This latest step demonstrates our unwavering determination to hold the Tatmadaw accountable and help restore democracy as
demanded by the people of Myanmar. Canada will continue to take additional actions, in coordination with our partners, should the Tatmadaw refuse to reverse course. Canada urges other countries to impose similar measures, including arms embargos. For more than 100 days, the people of Myanmar have demonstrated
impressive resilience and determination in the face of a violent military regime. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their desire for a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future.
We acknowledge and appreciate the central role of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in responding to the crisis in Myanmar. Canada is ready to work with ASEAN to advance the swift implementation of the 5-point consensus. We urge the Tatmadaw to cooperate unconditionally and immediately with ASEAN and the UN.
“Despite numerous international calls for the Tatmadaw to end its violence against its own people in Myanmar, it is clearly showing its unwillingness to change its course of action. Canada stands ready to lend our support to ASEAN and UN efforts to initiate an inclusive political dialogue to end the crisis and restore democratic, civilian governance. Canada stands with the people of Myanmar as they
continue to fight to restore democracy and freedom in their country and we will not hesitate to take further action.” - Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs” We urge the international communities to help us put more financial pressure on the junta. Ideally, this would come through coordinated international action following
passage of a strong resolution by the UNSC. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen, so it is critical for all the nations of the world who stand with us to band together in a coordinated campaign of further sanctions that would cut the flow of revenue and weapons sales to this murderous regime. If stricter and tougher sanctions are not imposed right away, it won’t be long before strife and bloodshed break out across this nation as the tatmadaw terrorist forces unleash more inhumane cruelty against innocent and defenseless citizens. We
once again appeal to the International Communities which have the power to end this nightmare - this reign of terror, especially all like-minded free and democratic countries around the world to come together to put targeted, coordinated, stronger sanctions on the murderous regime of the terrorist junta in Myanmar. I am therefore
asking the Government of Canada and the International communities to place sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas and all state-owned enterprises as quickly as possible. We once again urge all children and families of the terrorist junta 'SAC' to help end your parent's reign of terror on the 54 million people of Myanmar. Nearly 800
National Heroes, including 52 children have been murdered by your parents. H.E. Dr. Sasa Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation & NUG Spokesperson.."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Canada-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Summary:
"U Maung had hoped to be vaccinated before Thingyan, the traditional Myanmar New Year’s festival in mid-April.
A month later, however, the 69-year-old resident of Myingyan in Mandalay Region...
Sub-title:
As efforts to vaccinate the public fall dangerously far behind, most focus on fighting a different scourge
Description:
"U Maung had hoped to be vaccinated before Thingyan, the traditional Myanmar New Year’s festival in mid-April.
A month later, however, the 69-year-old resident of Myingyan in Mandalay Region still hasn’t received the Covid-19 vaccine that the government started making available in late January.
The reason is that Myanmar no longer has a government. Instead, it is ruled by a dictatorship that has dedicated most of its energy since seizing power on February 1 to crushing anti-coup protests.
The vaccine rollout hasn’t ground to a complete halt, but it has been thrown into disarray, leaving millions exposed to the impact of a power struggle that pits the military against the majority of the country’s population.
For his part, U Maung has decided to take his chances with a virus that has killed millions of people globally over the past year, rather than submit to the ministrations of a regime that has murdered hundreds of civilians in the past three months.
“I have no desire whatsoever to get vaccinated if they’re the ones administering it. I don’t trust them at all,” he said, echoing a sentiment expressed by many around the country.....Fighting on two fronts: A nationwide vaccination program was just getting underway when the junta upended it by overthrowing the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
The NLD program, which aimed to cut the infection rate in a country that ranked fourth in Southeast Asia for the number of confirmed cases per capita, relied on the India-produced Covishield vaccine to protect the most vulnerable.
Starting with 1.5 million doses gifted by India, the NLD government had also ordered another 30 million doses as part of an ambitious program to control the spread of the virus.
Among the first to receive the vaccine were healthcare workers, public servants, and members of parliament. Vaccinations for the general public were due to begin by the first week of February.
But before that could happen, the NLD government was ousted, and the nation faced a new crisis in the form of a return to military rule.
After nearly a year on the frontlines of the battle against Covid-19, healthcare workers soon found themselves at the forefront of a very different struggle. Within days of the coup, medical professionals launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the newly formed junta.
To counter the regime’s efforts to consolidate its control over the state, they abandoned their jobs at public hospitals and began offering their services through charity and private clinics.
They were later joined by tens of thousands of other civil servants. According to the website CDM2021.org, there are over 200,000 public employees taking part in the CDM, of whom more than 17,000 are healthcare workers.
But the loss of much of its medical workforce didn’t prevent the regime from resuming the vaccination program, which has become a key part of its bid to bolster its claims to legitimacy.
However, its efforts to date have done little to inspire confidence. Observers have noted that propaganda images of people being vaccinated betray a slipshod approach that suggests a lack of proper training.
“From the way they hold two or three needles at a time, instead of taking them out one by one, to the way they have the same person both filling the syringes and giving the shot, there are just so many things wrong with how they’re handling this,” said Khine Khine, a nurse from Mandalay.
Specially trained to take part in the mass vaccination program, Khine Khine was forced to choose between fighting the virus and resisting the regime. In February she left her job because she decided the junta represented the greater threat.....A politicized pandemic response: More than three months after the coup, Myanmar has fallen dangerously far behind in its efforts to combat Covid-19.
Instead of receiving 30 million doses of the Covishield vaccine, it has acquired just 3.5 million. Meanwhile, according to the junta’s own figures, as of April 21, just 1.54 million people had received their first shot, while only 340,000 had returned for their second dose after the prescribed four-week interval.
Most of those who are at least partly inoculated belong to the first cohort vaccinated in January. Ironically, that means that CDM workers and MPs in detention or on the run are among the tiny handful of people in the country with some degree of protection from Covid-19.
But it is this same group that is now among the least likely to become fully vaccinated. The vaccination program has become so highly politicized since the coup that rejecting it is seen by many as a way of defying the regime—which has, in turn, weaponized it against its opponents.
Dr Thiha Kyaw, a doctor from Yangon who has joined the CDM, made no secret of his contempt for the generals who are now running the program.
“It’s just a way to defy and oppose those rebels,” he said of his decision to refuse a second shot. “I don’t want to support what they’re doing. I’m being faithful to my country and my people.”
But while this attitude may seem incompatible with his better judgment as a doctor, it also reflects the fact that the junta has made a point of making access to the vaccine contingent on acceptance of its rule.
In Hpa-an, the capital of Karen State, only public servants who have not joined the CDM are eligible to receive the vaccine, according to a local source who spoke to Myanmar Now.
The source, who is close to healthcare workers and teachers participating in the CDM, cited the example of two junior doctors from the city’s general hospital who were vaccinated in January and were later urged to quit the CDM so they could get a second shot. They refused and went into hiding when it became clear that they had come under scrutiny from senior officials.
“The head of the hospital made an announcement that any staff who came back to work would be vaccinated as planned,” the source said, adding that the same offer was made to teachers who abandoned the CDM.....Plagued by distrust: Apart from those deliberately excluded from the vaccination program, there are many others who choose not to participate, either for political reasons or simply out of a lack of trust in the junta’s capacity to implement public-health measures.
Political opposition to the regime reaches far beyond the ranks of CDM workers. Millions have come out around the country to demand the restoration of civilian rule, braving crackdowns that have so far killed more than 800 civilians.
For many, then, the idea of giving the military an opportunity to portray itself as a saver of lives is difficult to stomach. This is why much of the country has shunned its vaccination efforts.
There are also others, however, who take a more pragmatic view.
Maung Shwe, a 58-year-old native of the Kayah State capital Loikaw who has received two shots, said that those who refuse to accept the vaccine from the military are “being extreme”.
Noting that both the general hospital and the military hospital in Loikaw were offering the vaccine at the end of April, he insisted that he really didn’t care where it came from, as long as it worked.
“Whether it’s from the military or the general hospital, you just have to get the vaccine. The military has it and the public hospital has it. They’re both very convenient. We should be grateful,” he said.
This is, of course, exactly what the junta wants to hear. In an article published by state-run media on May 10, the military said it had sent medical teams in response to “the requests of workers and locals in regions facing difficulty.”
It added: “The locals were extremely grateful and satisfied with the healthcare they received.”
The reality, however, is that many remain wary of the regime’s professed commitment to protecting the health of the country’s citizens.
“It is a controversial issue among the public, regarding how much they trust the vaccines” provided by the junta, remarked one observer who has closely followed the vaccine rollout.
One cause of concern is that the regime has started using vaccines sourced from China. In early May, it received a shipment of half a million doses of Vero Cell, a vaccine backed by the Chinese military.
In a country where anti-Chinese sentiment runs strong, this was seen by some as further evidence of Beijing’s self-interested role in perpetuating the Myanmar military’s grip on power.
More generally, however, there is a feeling that the regime can’t be trusted to store and distribute any vaccine properly without the cooperation of trained medical professionals.
“I know the vaccines need to be kept in specific conditions. But most doctors are now involved in the CDM, so I’m concerned the vaccines won’t be handled appropriately,” said Phoe Htoo, a 70-year-old resident of Yinmabin in Sagaing who said he was unsure about getting the vaccine.....A clear and present danger: Perhaps the most compelling reason that most are lukewarm about receiving the vaccine is the inescapable fact that Myanmar is a nation under siege, where the invisible menace of the coronavirus is eclipsed by the threat of a military run amok.
This fact was underlined on May 6, when regime soldiers shot and killed a woman who had just been vaccinated while she was sitting in a car parked in front of a Mandalay hospital.
By comparison with such atrocities, which have become a regular feature of life under the current regime, Covid-19 seems like a relatively minor concern to many.
“You can protect yourself from infection, and not every case results in death. But with this dictatorship, you’re not even safe in your own home. You’re not safe anywhere. It’s a constant mental torture,” said a 20-year-old man in Tamu, a town in Sagaing Region that has seen major clashes between locals and junta forces.
U Maung, the Myingyan native who refused to get the vaccine despite being in a high-risk age group, expressed the difference even more starkly.
“If the dictatorship falls, the lives of all 50 million people in Myanmar will be better. Covid-19 won’t kill us all,” he said.
Meanwhile, neighbouring India and Thailand, which have both seen surges in the number of new cases, serve as reminders that the pandemic is far from over.
It is difficult to gauge the extent of the spread of the disease in Myanmar because testing has been reduced to just a tenth of what it was before the coup.
More than 60% of the cases diagnosed before February were asymptomatic, so it is likely that the number of new cases reported by the regime—just a dozen or so per day since mid-April, based on an average of about a thousand tests a day—greatly understates the magnitude of the problem.
So far, more than 140,000 have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, of whom 3,212 have died, according to official figures.
While a more accurate measure of the scale of the disaster may prove elusive, one thing is clear—that most would rather rely on their own vigilance than on the mismanaged efforts of a despised regime to protect them from harm.
“It’s not a problem to not be vaccinated right now, for the country or its people. Just wear your masks and wash your hands often,” said Dr Thiha Kyaw..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Min Nyo, a reporter at Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was sentenced to three years in jail under Section 505(a) of Myanmar's Penal Code on May 12. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges Myanmar’s military to release Min Nyo immediately.
Nyo was arrested on March 3 while covering anti-military demonstrations in the town of Pyay. He was then “taken into custody and brutally beaten by police” according to a statement from DVB.
He is the first journalist to be sentenced under section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, a new provision that has been created since the military coup began. The provision makes it a crime to publish a ‘statement rumour or report with intent to cause, any officer, soldier, sailor or airman, in the Army, Navy or Air Force to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such’.
IFJ reporting can reveal that from the start of military coup began on February 1, 86 journalists have been arrested, 44 have been detained and 44 have been prosecuted. At least eight of these prosecutions have been made under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. Only one out of 86 journalists has been released.
Journalists are facing an existential threat in Myanmar as they are required to hide their identities or be attacked by Myanmar’s military. This comes at a time when ASEAN is facing increasing pressure to quell the humanitarian and democratic crisis erupting in Myanmar.
The IFJ said: “We call upon Myanmar’s military to release Min Nyo immediately. The repressive Section 505(a) of the Penal Code must be repealed and journalists must be allowed to operate and move freely within Myanmar. Press freedom is paramount in Myanmar as the world needs to know what is happening on the ground.”..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation of Journalists
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[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, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Summary:
"Myanmar’s striking educators and administrative staff are continuing their anti-regime action despite pressure from the regime to return to work and reopen universities and schools.
The junta has...
Description:
"Myanmar’s striking educators and administrative staff are continuing their anti-regime action despite pressure from the regime to return to work and reopen universities and schools.
The junta has recently targeted striking educators and administrative staff who refused to serve under military rule with arrests, warrants and suspensions from their jobs.
Since the last week of April, the regime has been issuing arrest warrants against teachers and education staff who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) on charges of incitement.
As of Tuesday, 220 teachers, including professors, headmasters and headmistresses, education officers and officials, have been put on the list.
A number of teachers who went on the strike were recently arrested, charged or sentenced. Announcements of suspensions from their jobs were also issued.
Regardless of the growing threats, many striking educators and staff carry on their resistance against the junta.
Myanmar Teachers’ Federations said about 60 percent of the academics at universities and colleges resisted the junta’s reopening of campuses. The junta announced the reopening on May 5 of universities and colleges that had been closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those striking academics, more than 19,000 out of a total of 35,000 teachers in universities, colleges, have been suspended from their jobs for carrying on their strike against the regime.
And in public schools for basic education, more than 100,000 teachers and education staff out of a total of 450,000 [that is around 27 percent] joined the CDM, according to an initial announcement by the Ministry of Education on April 23.
Starting on May 7, the junta has issued suspension orders to striking teachers and education staff at public schools nationwide. Among those who have been suspended are custodial staff, security officers at schools, lab technicians, teachers, principals and officials under the basic education department of Ministry of Education.
“The reopening of the schools is just to show the country is well under the control of the military rather than concern for disrupted education,” an official from the teachers’ federation, who asked to be anonymous, told The Irrawaddy.
He said that though some CDM teachers relented and returned to work in fear of being arrested after the junta ramped up detention, many of them would carry on the strike until the military regime collapses.
“We are determined to continue the fight until the fall of the dictatorship and return of a civilian government elected by the people,” said the official, who himself was recently suspended from one of Yangon universities.
A teacher from Yangon Region who was recently suspended from her job said she is proud to stand against injustice even though it meant she had to give up of a job she adored.
“I will only return to work under our elected civilian government,” she added.
Facing a shortage of educators, the military regime is recruiting lecturers and is planning to give promotions to non-CDM professors to replace striking academics. In public schools, the regime is calling for daily wage teachers to substitute for teachers on strike.
Meanwhile, the regime continues to pressure striking educators to give in. In some cases, the junta has arrested the relatives of teachers, holding them as hostages to force teachers to return to work.
Students boycott against ‘military’s slave education’
It is not only teachers, but also students who are boycotting the “military’s slave education.” Student protesters said they won’t attend or enroll the classes under the regime whose forces have killed hundreds of youths including high school students and children.
The teachers’ federation predicted about 80 to 90 percent of university students boycotted classes by refusing to attend or enroll.
The junta also plans to open public schools on June 1, but many students have expressed that they don’t want education under the dictatorship.
Parents have also expressed concern for the safety of their children due to the likelihood of violence amid the regime forces’ continuing brutal actions against civilians.
Making matters worse, a number of schools across the country were set on fire or bombed with homemade grenades by unknown attackers. The regime claimed that school attacks were carried out by “rioters,” using its label for anti-regime protesters. The Irrawaddy can’t independently verify the junta’s claims. Despite the attacks on schools, the regime still insists it will open schools as scheduled on June 1. During a press conference last week, a regime spokesperson said the regime would provide enough security for schools but refused to reveal any details, citing security matters.
Meanwhile risk of contracting COVID-19 is also another cause of concern as Myanmar still detects a dozen cases daily. The regime has said it would deliver facial masks and shields to students free of charge.
A high school student said he and his friends wouldn’t return to school until the revolution prevails. “We will go to school only when Grandma Suu [State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who was put under detention at the time of the Feb. 1 coup] is released.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"At the launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, the United States announced nearly $155 million in new assistance to sustain critical efforts to support Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya and other affected people in Burma. Our assistance will help meet the immediate needs of the nearly 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh who fled from horrific violence in Burma’s Rakhine State, including women and children.
As the leading contributor of assistance in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, the United States is helping to support the victims of atrocities and other vulnerable people in need. With this new funding, our total humanitarian aid for those affected by the crisis in Burma, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region since the brutal violence by the Burmese military in August 2017 is more than $1.3 billion, including more than $1.1 billion for programs inside Bangladesh. Given the tremendous funding needs for this crisis, we welcome the contributions that some member states have made to this humanitarian response in recent months. We encourage the broader international community to do more and urge other countries and stakeholders to contribute as well.
The United States recognizes the cost and responsibility that the response has placed on host countries, especially Bangladesh. We will continue to support all countries in the region that prioritize protection of Rohingya refugees. In the aftermath of the February 1 military coup and the brutal military crackdown in Burma, we remain committed to addressing the Rohingya crisis, recognizing that the coup leaders are many of the same individuals responsible for previous human rights abuses, including atrocities against Rohingya. We continue to work with international partners to support justice and accountability for all those responsible for the coup and human rights abuses.
We continue to advocate for the rights of Rohingya and urge their inclusion in discussions about their future. We also continue to underscore the need for unhindered humanitarian access to all people requiring assistance in Burma. We urge Bangladesh to take steps to protect refugees, particularly at this time of increased risk to them, and not create conditions that would force them to return to a country where they could face persecution and violence.
The United States is committed to promoting peace, security, and respect for the human rights and human dignity of all people in Burma, including Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Humanitarian assistance, international standards and principles, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"This briefing looks at the gap between the words
and the actions of the British government when it
comes to action on accountability.
At the same time as making repeated statements
about holding the Burmese military to account for
their crimes, British Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab is refusing to publicly support referring Burma
to the International Criminal Court, and refusing to
join the Rohingya genocide case at the International
Court of Justice.
One of many examples of a British Government
Minister talking about accountability since the
military coup on 1st February 2021 came on
Saturday 27th March.
Following the killing of more than 120 people by
the Burmese military, Dominic Raab once again
Tweeted about holding the military to account.
He stated:
“Today’s killing of unarmed civilians, including
children, marks a new low. We will work with our
international partners to end this senseless violence,
hold those responsible to account, and secure a
path back to democracy.”.....At the same time Dominic Raab: Refuses to publicly support the UN Security
Council referring Burma to the International
Criminal Court.
• Refuses to join the Rohingya genocide case
at the International Court of Justice.
• Repeatedly blocked amendments to
bills in the British Parliament to enable
determinations of genocide to be made
and more action to be taken in response to
genocide.....Impunity has encouraged further human
rights abuses: As has been well documented, the Burmese military
has been violating international law for decades.
It has done so with impunity at a domestic and
international level. This impunity encourages further
violations of international law and further horrific
human rights violations.
During the past ten years, as the British government
heralded a so-called democratic transition in Burma,
human rights violations against ethnic minorities, so
serious that they violate international law, actually
increased..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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426.2 KB
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Description:
"I wrote the following piece after 3 March 2021, on which 38 people died from the crackdown. Now the protest is over 100 days, and 782 people (as of 10 May), including children, have been killed. Over 3,740 people are in detention. Ordinary people all over Burma are living on edge due to the random acts of violence by “security forces.”
When I got up on 1 February, I heard about the coup in Burma, my country. I tried to identify an assortment of feelings: anger, despair, distress, sadness, hopelessness. None of them seemed to fit precisely what I felt. Since I am not in Burma, I rely on Facebook, the communication channel most Burmese use for information, to stay informed. With those unnamable feelings in my chest, I started checking Facebook almost hourly to catch up with the ongoing situation. When a 19-year-old girl died, the first death of the protest, I could finally name the assortment of emotions I was feeling – trauma. A few years ago, a former political prisoner told me the whole country was experiencing trauma because of the violent suppression of resistance over five decades. Her words now came back to me as I tried to understand the emotions running through me.
We are re-experiencing the collective trauma of living under the grip of the military. Every day the violence against protesters escalates and reminds those of us who lived and grew up under the military regime and who witnessed many violent crackdowns since 1962, of “the dark times.”
I was born two years after the coup in 1962. I remember talking with my friends about politics and rumours we heard from adults, when we were about ten years old. Had Ne Win died? How much we children and the adults around us wanted him to be gone, the former dictator. My overriding memories of growing up in Burma under the military dictatorship involve a sense of lacking – of lacking necessities, and above all lacking rights and freedom. Economic struggles, censorship, martial laws, fear of the military and people associated with them; these were a big part of our everyday life. In the backdrop, there were ongoing wars with various ethnic groups. I can still recall watching tanks drive through our township to suppress the student demonstrations in 1974. The next day, we heard many young people had been killed or arrested. The atmosphere was full of fear and suppression, and it was suffocating. Then in 1988, the military killed thousands of people during a massive popular uprising for democracy. My mother went into depression in 1988 at the loss of life she witnessed. This is etched deeply in my memory.
History has shown us again and again that it is always the young people who fight back, and now like before, they can be killed, beaten, tortured, raped. Still, these young people go on and take the front line. Now in 2021, Burma is a different country, but it is still beset by endless political, social and economic problems. Despite these problems, people have some freedom and hope, and communication with the outside world. There is also the widespread use of social media, which we didn’t have access to in 1988. Hence today’s young people, Generation Z, live in a very different political, social, and economic context. However, like many generations before them, they are the ones who dare to start the fight back and sacrifice their lives. The pain, sadness, anger, and anxiety of the families of those young people killed and arrested are unfathomable.
Many people are saying that the revolution is close to victory. I want to believe that the people will win in the end, but at this point, it is not easy to see how the whole debacle is going to unfold. How do you fight an institution that does not hesitate or express remorse about using any weapon available to kill their own people—who are simply asking for their rights to be respected?
People, especially Generation Z, persist despite the violence. On 3 March, Burma mourned the death of Kyal Sin, a 19-year-old girl who got shot in the back of her head. The words on her T-shirt said “Everything will be OK.” She left a note asking for her organs to be donated if it were not possible to resuscitate her.
I felt devastated at the death of Kyal Sin and other youths on 3 March. However, it was seeing an emotional video posted on Facebook by a young woman, and recognising her own trauma, that led me to write this piece. In the video, the young woman films herself narrating her experiences of helping protesters on the frontline. This first-hand account is a plea for others to understand the violence that protesters face every day.
This young woman has been helping protestors to flee from police violence. She repeatedly saw young people being brutally beaten up by the police. She had been using her car to block the road to delay the police vehicles so that she could assist the protesters to safety. It had been getting more and more difficult for her to do this because fewer people were turning up for the protests. The increasing use of tear gas, stun grenades, and live bullets emptied some of the main streets, and it was easier for the police vehicles to get through quickly to attack the protesters. Sometimes the makeshift roadblocks put up to deter police forces or police cars from passing through accidentally blocked her from reaching protesters. Other times people taking videos of the protests ignored her request to let her car pass through. Not being able to get through to the people she intended to help, and seeing police beat up her colleagues brought her to breaking point that day. She repeatedly said, “They asked the kids (protestors) to put up their hands on the heads and then they relentlessly beat them on their backs.” This broke her heart more than anything else.
This woman knows she might die helping them, but she puts herself at risk to rescue the core young protestors. She wants more people to participate in protests to fight against the military and shield the front-line protestors. Since 1 February, she has hardly slept and has only eaten one meal a day because she is too tired. For her, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) is not helping unless everybody participates in the protests. Like most young people, her fear of losing out to the military is far greater than her fear of dying. Her emotional response on Facebook to those criticizing young protestors for confronting the police instead of having small protests near their places of residence, and her plea to people, gave me a glimpse of what young protestors are going through.
There are good days and terrible days in the over-a-month-long ongoing protests. On good days, most protestors get away unscathed, inspired, hopeful, and with renewed aspirations. On terrible days, some get killed, wounded, arrested, but the people do not give up. Every day, they come out to protest the coup. They are determined to make sure the military goes down. That’s when you can see the best of Burmese people, their resilience. The younger generation fights with creativity, resilience, and humour that keeps them going even though they are putting their lives on the line. You can see messages or posts on Facebook that encourage unity, such as “we can have different opinions but we are not divided.” People set aside religious and ethnic tensions to fight the common enemy – the military, and, by doing so, they have more compassion and understanding of years of atrocity and violence directed at ethnic groups, including the Rohingya.
I have learned from a good friend of mine, a survivor of violence, that post-traumatic growth and resilience emerge in the aftermath of violence. Dealing with trauma is not a walk in the park. There are good days and bad days. Bad days can take you to the edge, but resilience can bring you back to embracing life. Sometimes it comes from inside. And sometimes the help from outside is necessary to keep on going.
More than ever, people in Burma need every possible form of assistance from the international community to continue their long struggle. The UN, ASEAN, China, Russia, India, Japan, and other countries need to take action. Every country can take action if they take their mind off trade, regional competition, and geopolitical influence. The Burmese people have shown their spirit and resilience in the face of the violent suppression by the military. Day by day, people in Burma realize they cannot depend on outside help, not even the UN. Regardless, they are determined to continue their revolt against the military. The protests have grown so large and spread across the country that they have become transformed into revolution. Even if the international community fails to help Burma, the “Early Summer Revolution” (named by the protestors) will go on.
People of Burma have experienced collective trauma, but they have tremendous resilience, and the world needs to stand by them.
The following is an English translation of a post by a poet that was shared on Facebook:[1]
I am afraid of mornings.
When he wakes up, he goes straight to the bathroom, has a shower, changes his clothes, picks up his bag, and gets ready to go out of the door.
He doesn’t even notice the breakfast I prepared for him.
I ask, Where are you going today?
He used to tell me whether he was going to Hledan, Sule, Sanchaung, or Bargyar.
Now he only says where the protest is.
I warn him they are going to shoot today.
He said they are shooting every day. Don’t spread that kind of talk. Instead of 100 people, only 50 will come to protest. Don’t make me afraid. It’s not the time for fear.
Looking thin and sunburned, no gun, no bullet, just a backpack and the three fingers salute.
He: Don’t keep calling me.
He goes, and I go. I can exhale when everybody comes back home in the evening.
Exhausting days since the coup.
I have absolute empathy for the fallen heroes and their families. Salute to them!..."
Source/publisher:
Tea Circle (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
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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, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History, Political History, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"As of 19 May, (807) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Bago City and Pyay Town in Bago Region were killed in previous days and have been documented today. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 19, a total of (4174) people are currently under detention; of them (94) are sentenced. 1742 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Despite the junta’s relentless oppression, people across Burma continue to protest in various ways, to oppose this military dictatorship. This morning in Thaketa township, Yangon Region, the so-called police used motorbikes to crack down on civilians as they gathered for a university student protest. Three civilians were arrested.
The indiscriminate shooting of civilians by these terrorists are worsening every day. Last night, in Pyay Township, Bago Region, a man was shot and taken away by junta forces with his injuries. This morning, his family were told to collect the dead body. In a similar case, on May 17, a young man was shot and detained with his wounds as junta forces raided a restaurant. His family were notified five hours later that he was dead.
Families of those injured are often not notified of the victim’s arrest, or of any injuries and are often only contacted after the victim’s death. This shows this junta’s dishonesty. It also remains unknown whether victims are given access to medical treatment. Junta forces treat detainees in cruel ways which violate human rights and human dignity. Many other detainees have faced various atrocities whilst under detention.
Junta forces use fraud, bribery and extortion to deceive and opress civilians. Parents of detained children have been made to pay more than 5 million kyats (USD$3037) to the junta for the release of their child, yet after paying, these children have still not been released. There have also been reports that artists and other wealthy civilians have been requested to pay 20 million kyats in order to have their names removed from the warrant list. Specific confirmation of this is yet to be verified. Only releasing detainees after receiving payment is extortion and a form of abduction. These actions clearly show the criminal nature of this junta regime.
Junta terrorists have been attempting to divert civilian’s interest away from participation in politics. In states, regions and villages across Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Saging and Irrawaddy Regions, the junta has officially allowed gambling. This terrorist group is leading Burma down a path of destruction in order to maintain power. This illegitimate group is committing illegal acts, pushing the country further into instability day by day.
Under junta control, children have also been severely oppressed. Last night in Bago City, Bago Region, two 14-year-old children and an 18-year-old young man were beaten and arrested. According to AAPP’s documentation, as of today, a total of 73 children have been detained and a total of 53 children have been killed. This is an extremely concerning situation for all of Burma’s children. Since the coup, children have not been granted access to protection in any way. Even though Burma is one of the countries which has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the junta is an illegal terrorist group, it is unsurprising that these rights are not respected.
LGBTIQ communities have also faced oppression, without any protection, throughout the coup. An activist from the LGBTIQ community was arrested at gunpoint yesterday evening in Mingalardon Township, Yangon Region. This terrorist group uses acts of violence that severely violate human dignity against civilians during their interrogations. This stresses concern for the safety of this LGBTIQ detainee, who inevitably can be deprived of their basic rights.
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:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"As of 18 May, (805) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. These (3) fallen heroes from Mindat Township in Chin State, South Dagon Township in Yangon Region and Daik-U Township in Bago Region were killed on previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not confirmed any fallen heroes today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 18, a total of (4146) people are currently under detention; of them (92) are sentenced. 1722 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today, people continued to protest against the military dictatorship in various strikes across Burma. The junta’s brutal shooting however, continues to worsen. Last night, a civilian was shot dead in Daik-U Township, Bago Region. The people of Burma experience constant insecurity on a daily basis, as this terrorist group continues threatening civilians with its use of armed forces and weapons.
The junta regime has been using many different forms of oppression on any regions that fight back against them. Last night, they cut off the supply of drinking water in Mindat Township, Chin State. This is one of the most vicious tactics that the military has exercised throughout all its operations. It is a clear expression of the hatred the military has for innocent civilians.
Junta terrorists have also been destroying state-owned, public, and private properties, both day and night. Yesterday, junta troops stormed local shops in Ka Myaing village, Thayet Chaung Township in Tanintharyi Region, threatening to shoot. They also destroyed materials inside the IELTS English training school in Muse Township in Shan State on May 16 after they were unable to find a wanted individual. Due to this violent destruction, civilians live in constant fear for their property and security, which they have been left to protect on their own.
Raids and arrests by junta terrorists in Thalin village, Kani Township, in Sagaing Region have forced the whole village to begin fleeing since yesterday afternoon. The same situation occurred to locals in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State, where the military has expanded its forces. The junta regime uses various methods to suppress civilians in areas which oppose them, in order to weaken local defence forces and prevent further resistance. Similar oppressions will be seen in both urban and rural areas, for as long as the dictatorship lasts.
Acts of vandalism and destruction have been occurring across Burma. The Basic Education no.14 Post-Primary School in South Dagon Township, Yangon Region was set on fire last night, and one of the nine teachers involved in CDM was arrested following accusations from the school principal. According to locals, the junta terrorists have been committing various kinds of oppression, which include the arrest of those involved in CDM and this arson attack. Arson is a method which is frequently used by the junta against the people.
It has been more than 100 days since the junta coup. The international community, including ASEAN, has been extremely slow to respond and take action for Burma. The meeting scheduled on May 18 to draft a resolution on Burma at the UN General Assembly, has been postponed. It is the people who will continue to experience brutal human rights abuses of this seemingly endless terrorist regime.
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:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 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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"Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to reverse cuts in international aid, and to protect the aid budget for Burma in light of the military coup and growing humanitarian crisis in the country.
No announcement has yet been made on expected cuts in the Burma aid budget. The 2020-2021 aid budget for Burma was £88 million.
The humanitarian situation in Burma was already dire, with hundreds of thousands of people homeless because of attacks and human rights violations by the military, and millions living in poverty.
Since the military coup in February the situation has got much worse. More than half the population is living in poverty and another 60,000 people have fled their homes because of bombing attacks by the military. It is highly likely that conflict will escalate and the humanitarian crisis will get worse.
“Aid to Burma needs to be increased, but instead it’s going to be cut at a time when the need has never been greater,” said Karin Valtersson, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “The aid budget for Burma must be protected. Aid should be given to local civil society organisations who know best how to help their own communities.”
Following the coup, the British government was right to stop development aid in cooperation with the government, as the military controls the machinery of government. However, stopping these projects should not be seen as an easy way to cut money from the aid budget. Instead the money should be redirected to the most vulnerable in the country.
As a result of successful campaigns by Burma Campaign UK, there were already strict rules in place to prevent aid reaching the military.
In particular Burma Campaign UK is asking for aid to be prioritised for:
Internally displaced people (IDPs), and refugees from Burma. The support for these groups was already underfunded before the coup.
Increasing cross-border aid, which is often the only way to reach the most vulnerable people in ethnic states.
To channel support to and through local, grassroots organisations, which have real knowledge about the needs on the ground. These groups have always been underfunded and are playing a crucial role right now in supporting activists fleeing central Burma to hide from the military in the jungle, as well as providing food and shelter for the increasing numbers of IDPs.
To support local grassroots organisations documenting human rights abuses.
“Dominic Raab’s aid cuts coming on top of the military coup, and the human rights violations and economic damage which has followed, would be a cruel blow to the people of Burma and a betrayal by the British government,” said Karin Valtersson..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
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"Thousands of residents of a hill town in northwest Myanmar were hiding in jungles, villages and valleys on Monday after fleeing an assault by state troops, witnesses said, as the army advanced into the town after days battling local militias.
Mindat, about 100 km (60 miles) from the Indian border in Chin state, has seen some of the most intense fighting since a Feb. 1 coup that has led to the emergence of ragtag local armies that are stifling the junta's bid to consolidate power.
Martial law was declared in Mindat on Thursday before the army launched its assault, using artillery and helicopters against a newly formed Chinland Defence Force, a militia armed mainly with hunting rifles, which said it had pulled back to spare civilians from being caught in the crossfire.
Several residents reached by Reuters said food was in short supply and estimated as many as 5,000 to 8,000 people had fled the town, with roads blocked and the presence of troops in the streets preventing their return.
"Almost everyone left the city," said a volunteer fighter who said she was in a jungle. "Most of them are in hiding."
A representative of the local people's administrative group of Mindat said he was among some 200 people, including women and children, who had trekked across rocky roads and hills carrying blankets, rice and cooking pots.
He said the group was attacked with heavy weapons when troops spotted smoke from their cooking fires.
"We have to move from one place to another. We cannot settle in a place in the jungle," he told Reuters by phone.
"Some men were arrested as they went into town to get more food for us. We cannot get into town currently. We are going to starve in few days."
The Chinland Defence Forces in a statement on Monday said it had killed five government troops in Hakha, another town in Chin State.
The United Nations children's fund UNICEF in a tweet urged security forces to ensure safety of children in Mindat, the latest international call for restraint after human rights groups, the United States and Britain condemned the use of war weapons against civilians.
MULTIPLE FRONTS
The United States, Britain and Canada on Monday announced more sanctions against businesses and individuals tied to the junta. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged more countries to follow suit. read more
Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, with the military battling armed and peaceful resistance on multiple fronts, adding to concerns about economic collapse and a humanitarian crisis from old conflicts reigniting in border regions.
The fighters in Chin State say they are part of the People's Defence Forces of the shadow government, which has called on the international community for help.
In an effort to coordinate the anti-junta forces, the shadow government on Monday issued a list of instructions to all the civilian armies, which it said must operate under its command and control.
Aid groups in direct contact with residents of Mindat made urgent calls on social media on Monday for donations or food, clothing and medicine.
Salai, 24, who has been organising an emergency response, said she had spoken to people hiding in a valley and on farmland who had fled the advance of soldiers.
"They looted people's property. They burned down people's houses. It is really upsetting," said Salai.
"Some in the town were injured by gunshots, including a young girl. She cannot get medical treatment."
A military spokesman did not answer calls or messages seeking comment.
In its nightly news bulletin, state-run MRTV said security forces returned fire after coming under attack from insurgents in Mindat, who fled, and that government troops had been attacked elsewhere in Chin State.
So far, 790 people have been killed in the junta's crackdown on its opponents, according to the activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The military disputes that figure. Reuters cannot independently verify arrests and casualty numbers.
The military says it intervened after its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party were ignored.
An international monitoring group on Monday said the results of that election "were, by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar"..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions - general, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"In the months before the Myanmar military's Feb. 1 coup, the country's telecom and internet service providers were ordered to install intercept spyware that would allow the army to eavesdrop on the communications of citizens, sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters.
The technology gives the military the power to listen in on calls, view text messages and web traffic including emails, and track the locations of users without the assistance of the telecom and internet firms, the sources said.
The directives are part of a sweeping effort by the army to deploy electronic surveillance systems and exert control over the internet with the aim of keeping tabs on political opponents, squashing protests and cutting off channels for any future dissent, they added.
Decision makers at the civilian Ministry of Transport and Communications that delivered the orders were ex-military officials, according to one industry executive with direct knowledge of the plans and another briefed on the matter.
"They presented it as coming from the civilian government, but we knew the army would have control and were told you could not refuse," the executive with direct knowledge said, adding that officials from the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs also sat in on the meetings.
More than a dozen people with knowledge of the intercept spyware used in Myanmar have been interviewed by Reuters. All asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of retribution from the military junta.
Neither representatives for the junta nor representatives for politicians attempting to form a new civilian government responded to Reuters requests for comment.
Budget documents from 2019 and 2020 for the previous government led by Aung San Suu Kyi that were not disclosed publicly contain details of a planned $4 million in purchases of intercept spyware products and parts as well as sophisticated data extraction and phone hacking technology. The documents were provided by activist group Justice for Myanmar and were independently verified by Reuters.
Reuters was not able to establish to what extent senior non-military people in Suu Kyi's government had been involved in the order to install the intercept.
The idea of a so-called 'lawful intercept' was first floated by Myanmar authorities to the telecommunications sector in late 2019 but pressure to install such technology came only in late 2020, several sources said, adding that they were warned not to talk about it.
The intercept plans were flagged publicly by Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL) in an annual update on its Myanmar business, which is one of the country's biggest telecom firms with 18 million customers out of a population of 54 million.
Telenor said in the Dec. 3 briefing and statement posted on its websites that it was concerned about Myanmar authorities' plans for a lawful intercept able to "directly access each operator and ISP's systems without case-by-case approval" as Myanmar did not have sufficient laws and regulations to protect customers' rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
In addition to Telenor, the affected companies include three other telecom firms in Myanmar: MPT, a large state-backed operator, Mytel, a venture between Myanmar's army and Viettel which is owned by Vietnam's defence ministry, and Qatar's Ooredoo (ORDS.QA). MPT and Mytel are now under the full control of the junta, the sources said. There are about a dozen internet service providers.
Telenor declined to respond to questions from Reuters for this article, citing unspecified security concerns for its employees.
MPT, Mytel and Ooredoo did not respond to requests for comment. Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp (8053.T), which together with wireless carrier KDDI Corp (9433.T) announced in 2014 planned investment of $2 billion in MPT, declined to comment. KDDI and Viettel did not respond to requests for comment.
Many governments allow for what are commonly called 'lawful intercepts' to be used by law enforcement agencies to catch criminals. But in most democratic countries and even some authoritarian regimes, such technology is not ordinarily employed without any kind of legal process, cybersecurity experts say. The Myanmar military, in contrast, is directly operating invasive telecoms spyware without legal or regulatory safeguards to protect human rights in place, according to industry executives and activists.
Even before the coup, Myanmar's military wielded outsized influence in the democratically elected civilian government led by Suu Kyi. It had an unelected quota of 25% of parliamentary seats and the constitution gave it control of several key ministries. It also had extensive sway at the communications and other ministries through the appointment of former army officers. That has become total control since the coup.....TRACINGS AND INTERCEPTIONS: According to three sources at firms with knowledge of the surveillance system, not every telecom firm and internet service provider has installed the full intercept spyware. Reuters was not able to establish how broadly it has been installed and deployed.
But military and intelligence agencies are conducting some tracing of SIM cards and interception of calls, two of those sources said. One source said calls being redirected to other numbers and connecting without a dial tone were among the signs of interception.
A legal source with knowledge of cases against people involved in the protests also said there was evidence of monitoring spyware being used to prosecute them. Reuters has not seen any documents supporting the claim.
A senior civil servant who is aiding ousted politicians seeking to form a parallel government also said their group has been warned by people working for the junta but sympathetic to protesters that phone numbers are being traced.
"We have to change SIM cards all the time," the senior civil servant said.
According to Amnesty International's Security Lab and three other tech experts, the intercept products outlined in the government budget documents would enable the bulk collection of phone metadata - data on who users call, when they call and for how long - as well as targeted content interception.....CABLES CUT, ACTIVISTS' PHONES BLOCKED: Among the military's first actions on Feb. 1 was to direct armed soldiers to break into data centres nationwide at midnight and slash internet cables, according to employees at three firms who showed Reuters photos of severed cables.
At one data centre where employees resisted, soldiers held them at gunpoint and also smashed monitors to threaten them, said one source briefed on the matter.
Though the internet was mostly restored with hours, the army began shutting it down nightly. Within days, the army had secretly ordered telecom firms to block the phone numbers of activists, junta opponents and human rights lawyers, providing the firms with lists, according to three industry sources briefed on the matter. Those orders have not been previously reported.
The sources added that operators are required by law to share customer lists with authorities.
The army also directed the blocking of specific websites. Facebook (FB.O), which was used by half the country and quickly became crucial to protest organisers, was among the first to be banned, followed by news sites and other social media platforms. read more
When opposition grew in March, the military cut access to mobile data altogether, leaving most in Myanmar without access to the internet.
"Firms have to obey the orders," one industry source said. "Everyone knows that if you don't, they can just come in with guns and cut the wires. That's even more effective than any intercept."
Telenor and Ooredoo executives who protested were told to stay quiet or the companies would face losing their licences, four sources said.....THE ARMY'S TIGHTENING GRIP: Under previous juntas that ruled between 1963 and 2011, activists and journalists were routinely wiretapped and smartphones were scarce.
As Myanmar opened up, it became a telecoms success story with a thriving, if nascent, digital economy. Mobile phone penetration, in 2011 the second-lowest in the world after North Korea at 6.9%, soared to stand at 126% in 2020.
The civilian government's first known move towards nationwide surveillance came in 2018, with the establishment of a social media monitoring system it said was aimed at preventing the influence of foreign forces. It followed that with a biometric SIM card registration drive last year, saying multiple SIM card use was undesirable and a central database was necessary.
Authorities are now seeking still more power over telecommunications.
The communications ministry proposed a new law on Feb. 10 that states internet and telecom firms will be required to keep a broad range of user data for up to three years and remove or block any content deemed to be disrupting "unity, stabilisation, and peace", with possible jail terms for those who don't comply.
In late April, the junta began ordering telecom operators to unblock certain websites and apps, starting with the apps of local banks, said three people briefed on the development. Microsoft Office, Google's Gmail, Google Drive and YouTube have also since been unblocked.
Asked about the unblocking, a Microsoft representative said the company had not engaged with officials in Myanmar. Google did not respond to requests for comment.
Industry sources and activists believe these moves are part of an attempt by the junta to establish its version of the internet, akin to what China has done with the "Great Firewall".
"The military wants to control the internet so it will be a safe zone but only for them," said one industry executive. "We've gone back five years in time."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[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 opinion and expression: standards and mechanisms, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The number of people from Myanmar seeking shelter in India has swelled to more than 15,000, with more likely to cross over as fighting intensifies in parts Myanmar following a coup, an Indian government official said on Tuesday.
The influx into the small, northeast Indian state of Mizoram, which shares a porous, mountainous border with Myanmar, began in late February as policemen fled to avoid having to take orders from a junta trying to suppress opposition to the Feb. 1 coup.
By April, about 1,800 people from Myanmar - including several lawmakers - had crossed the border but the number has recently grown to more than 15,400, according to the vice chairman of Mizoram's State Planning Board, H. Rammawi.
"It is increasing day by day," Rammawi told Reuters by telephone, adding that many people from Myanmar were going to the homes of relatives making it difficult to track numbers.
Communities in Mizoram and some parts of Myanmar have close ethnic ties, with extended families often strung across both sides of the border.
About 6,000 of the people from Myanmar are in Mizoram's capital of Aizawl with others scattered in five districts, according to data shared by Rammawi.
Rammawi said that residents and non-government organisations were taking care of the people but the state government had sought assistance from federal authorities.
"Medical aid and their rations are very important," he said, adding that some people from Myanmar had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
With fighting intensifying in northwest Myanmar's Chin State, opposite Mizoram, Rammawi said he expected the numbers seeking refuge in India to increase.
The Myanmar hill town of Mindat, about 100 km (60 miles) from the border, has seen some of the most intense fighting since the coup after a militia took up arms against the junta. read more Thousands have since fled from the town.
"More people will be coming," Rammawi said.
Several thousand villagers have fled from fighting in eastern Myanmar into Thailand since the coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, India-Burma relations, Internal displacement/forced migration - global and regional, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Michael Lidauer explores electoral politics in Myanmar: The Tatmadaw sought to legitimise the 1 February 2021 coup d’état – which occurred hours before the newly elected parliament was about to convene – with one key narrative: that the November 2020 elections were marred by widespread fraud.[1] To counter this argument, twelve civil society organisations released a statement four days prior to the coup, declaring that “the elections were credible and reflected the will of the majority voters” (PACE 2021). Indeed, no evidence has become available that any electoral materials were tampered with.....The electoral narrative of the coup: The Tatmadaw has commented on weaknesses in the electoral process at several times before and even more so after the elections, referring inter alia to the question of organising elections under the conditions of Covid-19 and inconsistencies in the voter lists. Before the electoral campaign period, in August 2020, the Commander-in-Chief discussed with a delegation of political parties their concerns (The Irrawaddy, 15 August 2020). Although accepting the election results immediately after election day, the military fielded numerous objections regarding the elections and rejected the results during the weeks leading to the coup, and recapitulate this in their public communications (cf. Tea Circle Oxford, 9 March 2021). It ultimately blamed the government, not only the election administration, for shortcomings.[2]
Apart from the President, the State Counsellor and other governmental protagonists, the Union Election Commission (UEC) Chairman and members were arrested, and a new commission was appointed few days after the coup. In fact, the UEC became the single-most targeted institution with arrests and interrogations (AAPP 2021). Since then, the newly appointed UEC – headed by the same Chairman who was in charge of organising the 2010 elections – appears to build a body of evidence to substantiate the military’s claims of electoral fraud with publications about voter list data and ballots used in the 2020 elections in the Global New Light of Myanmar which yet await a closer analysis.
Given the unfolding dramatic events of civilian resistance, heavy-handed responses by the security apparatus, and the struggle for international recognition of legitimate actors, this appears of a lesser significance in the current situation. However, the underlying electoral narrative is likely to become reinvigorated if the Tatmadaw keeps to the idea of organising fresh elections, as announced in the Five-Point Road Map of the State Administration Council, coupled with proposals to change the electoral system.
This article seeks to look beyond claims of manipulation and provide more nuanced perspectives. While the elections have generated credible results, there were nevertheless a number of challenges related to long-standing weaknesses in the legal framework, political competition, and the dynamics generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which are important to keep in mind for a more comprehensive understanding of the recent electoral process.
What is more, the organisation of elections reveals frictions in civil-military relations among Burmese elites from which ethnic minorities suffer as a consequence. As Myanmar people on all fronts oppose a new military regime and as the armed forces exercise their powers against the population, this article aims to recollect some elements of the electoral process preceding the coup, in the hopes of contributing to an understanding of the ongoing situation and of gathering lessons learned for times when elections in Myanmar will again be under scrutiny.
One such element is the cancellation of elections in parts of the country, a complex phenomenon that defies a simplistic explanation. Its analysis helps to understand majority-minority as well as civil-military relations even beyond the electoral process. Ahead of election day, on 8 November 2020, the polls were locally cancelled in many more locations than during previous elections, which resulted in disenfranchisement, political controversies, and diminished trust in the election administration (cf. ANFREL 2021: 45-51). However, while disenfranchisement was much debated, it was not a new phenomenon.....Varieties of disenfranchisement: In Myanmar, electoral disenfranchisement pertains to multiple processes of exclusion from the ballot, affecting people in various ways. These systemic deficiencies have been part of the electoral legal framework since long and were no novelty to the 2020 elections. Disenfranchisement extends inter alia to voters who are not at their place of residence at the time of the elections but elsewhere in the country or abroad. This may concern the diaspora, refugees, migrant workers, students or other travellers, although procedures exist for those who are temporarily registered at a new place and could therefore “transfer” their ballot. Persons who are forcibly displaced by conflict (namely internally displaced persons, or IDPs) often cannot take part in the polls, as authorities repeatedly failed to develop and implement a consistent and effective policy for IDP inclusion at the ballot box.
Voting for IDPs was discussed ahead of the 2015 general elections, but was largely overlooked by national and international audiences, whose attention focused on the overall success of the election and its result, leading to a peaceful transition of power to a government led by the National League for Democracy. More debated – but not significantly tainting the perceptions of an overall well-run process at that time either – was the legal disenfranchisement of predominantly Muslim voters and candidates, preceding the mass exodus of the Rohingya to Bangladesh in 2017. The highly contentious Rakhine State politics during the last term ultimately altered how Myanmar was seen in the world.
The recently published article “Boundary Making in Myanmar’s Electoral Process: Where elections do not take place” discusses both the processes of “legal denial” for Muslim voters and candidates as well as the lack of voting opportunities for IDPs during the 2015 elections. It is part of the forthcoming Modern Asian Studies Special Issue on “Border Governance: Reframing Political Transition in Myanmar and Beyond”, edited by Kirsten McConnachie, Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho and Helene Kyed. The article also discusses election cancellations, which occurred ahead of the general elections in 2010 and 2015, but did not stir much controversy at that time. Despite affecting approximately half a million voters in 2015 – the phenomenon of election cancellations remained little understood. However, without further specifications in the legal framework and without transparent criteria for cancelling or postponing the polls, election cancellations occurred again in 2020, but this time attracted much more attention and controversial debates.....Election cancellations in 2020: Myanmar’s legislation allows for localised election postponements due to risk of violence or natural disasters. While such decisions are usually informed by state institutions in the security sector and by election sub-commissions, the ultimate authority to cancel and postpone elections lies with the Union Election Commission.[3] The UEC is the constitutionally mandated body tasked with organising and overseeing elections. The UEC Chairperson and commissioners are appointed by the President. In addition to a permanent secretariat in Nay Pyi Taw, there are sub-commissions at state/region, district and township level. At the local level, the UEC relies strongly on personnel from other state institutions including from the General Administration Department (GAD) which until 2019 was under the authority of the military-led Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and only then became part of the Ministry of the Union Government under civilian administration (cf. Lidauer and Saphy 2014; Renshaw and Lidauer forthcoming).
The cancellation or postponement of elections has different electoral consequences, depending on the size of the administrative unit concerned. Vacant seats in the legislature occur only where elections are cancelled for entire constituencies; in this case the need for by-elections arises. Conversely, the partial cancellation of elections in a number of wards or village tracts smaller than a constituency does not translate into vacant seats, but leads to the disenfranchisement of voters residing in the cancelled areas, as the election goes ahead regardless of their participation (Lidauer 2021). Vacant seats in the hluttaws at national level proportionally increase the voting powers of military representatives for whom 25 per cent of the seats are reserved.[4]
On 16 October, the UEC announced the cancellation of elections in a number of electoral constituencies where “free and fair elections cannot be held” (UEC Announcement 192/2020). While this timing and reasoning followed the pattern of similar announcements in 2015, the scale of these cancellations was unprecedented. Elections were cancelled for nine entire townships in Rakhine State and six entire townships in Shan State, as well as for 581 additional wards and village tracts in these States together with Kachin, Kayin and Mon States and Bago Region.[5]
The cancellations resulted in 15 vacant seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw (nine in Rakhine, six in Shan), seven vacant seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw (all Rakhine), as well as 32 vacant seats in states’ legislatures (20 in Rakhine, 12 in Shan). Based on data shared by the UEC, over 1.2 to 1.3 million voters did not have the opportunity to vote as a result of the cancellations, and 189 candidates (who had already started campaigning) lost the possibility to contest these elections.....Reasons and reactions: These decisions caused strong reactions among political parties and civil society organisations, with allegations of gerrymandering in Rakhine State. Several parties questioned the UEC’s impartiality in this process, demanded more transparency and consultations, called for ethnic voting rights to be protected, and for the decisions to be reconsidered. On 27 October, eleven days after the first announcement, the UEC made further cancellations public, notably for Paletwa township in Chin State[6] – raising the overall number of constituencies without elections to 54 – and revoked some of the earlier decisions. These additional announcements did not help to improve perceptions and trust in the UEC, but hardened the belief that its decisions would favour the incumbent.
The UEC decisions were criticised both for cancelling elections in some areas and for going ahead in others. In various areas, elections were in fact cancelled for different reasons, although on the same legal basis. The cancellation of four entire townships that form part of the Wa Self-administered Zone, and its ally in Mongla township – resulting in five vacant Pyithu Hluttaw seats and ten vacant State Hluttaw seats respectively – had been expected, as elections did also not take place there in 2010 and 2015. These are areas without any Myanmar governmental administration to prepare for elections, where a voter list had not been established, and no candidates had been enlisted.
The cancelled areas in Kachin State, Karen State and Eastern Bago Region (including one village tract of Mon State) followed a similar logic, as all these areas pertained to ceasefire areas under full or mixed control of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and have changed little since 2015, but did not result in vacant seats in any hluttaw. In Kachin State, elections were cancelled in fewer village tracts than in 2015 in a number of townships. In Kayin State, unlike in 2015, no elections were cancelled in Hlaingbwe township, and the cancelled areas were significantly reduced in Kyainseikgyi township. This was reportedly a result of negotiations between candidates and the election administration.
Partial election cancellations also occurred across Shan State. In southern Shan State, elections were cancelled entirely for Mongkaing township, where several EAOs are present. In northern Shan State, partial cancellations coincided with locations where armed conflict or tensions between the Tatmadaw, EAOs, and local militia had occurred. Kyaukme and Tangyan townships stood out with new cancelled areas while others were similar to 2015. In eastern Shan State, the cancelled areas corresponded to territories where the government has historically a weak presence.
In Rakhine State, where election cancellations were new, they were all argued for on the basis of security threats resulting from ongoing armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA). This included entire townships that ethnic parties and candidates considered safe, such as Pauktaw and Ponnagyun, and partial cancellations in other townships where only voters in small urban areas remained eligible to elect their respective representatives, such as in Taungup, Kyauk Phyu and Ann townships.[7] Widely held assumptions that all these cancellations would result in electoral outcomes favouring the NLD proved incorrect; in fact, ethnic parties secured the majority of elected seats in the Rakhine State Hluttaw despite the cancellations. The partial election cancellations in Paletwa township in Chin State, affecting a total of five electoral constituencies,[8] were also contentious.....High-level public disputes over the election cancellations: The UEC’s decision-making process regarding the election cancellations became a public point of controversy at a high political level, involving the Office of the President and the Tatmadaw, and resulting in mutual accusations of shortcomings between the military and civilian leadership. The UEC stated that several governmental offices, including MoHA and the Ministry of Defence, were consulted to arrive at the decisions where elections should be postponed. The Tatmadaw, while maintaining that the UEC is the only authority to decide whether to hold elections or not, outlined that the UEC’s announcements did not reflect the military’s advice (Eleven, 20 October 2020).
In fact, this issue – touching upon civilian administrative authority but also upon questions of security, the Tatmadaw’s domain – was not the first point in time that saw military discontent with the electoral process, but brought tensions between the civilian government and the armed forces in particular to the fore. These discussions exacerbated ethnic parties’ frustrations about the exclusion of their voters from the elections.....Impact on Rakhine State: In the immediate aftermath of the elections, the AA and Tatmadaw became unlikely allies in demanding that the cancelled polls should take place before the formation of the new hluttaws. In mid-December, this demand was supported by the President, and the Rakhine State sub-commission reportedly started preparations for by-elections (Radio Free Asia, 15 December 2020). For the AA, this was an opportunity to broaden their bargaining powers and increase their legitimacy. On the side of the Tatmadaw, the push for elections in Rakhine State was also interpreted as part of larger efforts to discredit the overall electoral process (The Irrawaddy, 20 January 2021). It was nevertheless unlikely that these elections would have taken place in the immediate aftermath, since, following amendments to the electoral laws in 2016 and 2019, by-elections for vacant seats cannot take place one year after and one year before general elections. In that context, by-elections seemed unlikely to happen before April-May 2022.
In the interim, the postponement of elections in Rakhine State appeared to generate an unexpected opportunity for a truce between the Tatmadaw and the AA (ICG, 23 December 2020); fighting ceased and tens of thousands were reportedly able to return home. In mid-January, the Rakhine State Hluttaw passed a proposal to urge the government to remove the “terrorist” designation of the AA. This designation, in place since March 2020, had been seen as an impediment to ceasefire negotiations. With an unusual expression of solidarity, Rakhine and Rohingya communities issued a joint declaration of mutual respect that emphasized not only elections for those areas where they were cancelled, but also for the Rohingya (Rohingya Today, 18 January 2021).....Reflecting on the elections in the light of the coup: All interpretations about reasons for the cancellations and effects of vacant seats as well as speculations about early by-elections and any opportunities that may have come from this situation were overtaken by the coup d’état of 1 February. Portraying itself as the guardian of electoral democracy, the military leadership deployed a narrative of electoral fraud to justify its takeover. The public controversies around the election cancellations were one element in a longer process of discrediting the 2020 elections.
The issue of election cancellations demonstrates that the 2020 electoral process has seen a number of challenges, inter alia related to decision making process in the state administration. Although the final decision about election cancellations remains with the UEC, sub-national offices charged with informing these decisions were reporting within different hierarchies in the context of electoral security, turning decisions on localised election cancellations into an area of civil-military co-ownership and co-dependency. The process of election cancellations in 2020 illustrates the problematic nature of this co-ownership, which did not occur as such in 2015 when the leadership of the election management body had more direct communication channels with the security apparatus. As a consequence, the situation resulted in opportunities to criticize the UEC, despite the fact that similar cancellations had occurred in previous elections albeit at different scale.
The cancellations shed light on loopholes in the system – here, the lack of clear procedures for postponing the polls – that were present both in the 2015 and the 2020 elections, and show how weaknesses in the regulatory framework for elections amplified the opposition between the civilian and military parts of the State ahead of the coup d’état, with detrimental effects on ethnic minorities.
Now is not the time to strive for electoral reforms, but debates about elections and suffrage rights in Myanmar are essential and will eventually return. At that time, the transparency and process of any necessary election cancellations should be enhanced with clear communications and consistent criteria for such decisions, alongside other issues pertaining to electoral integrity, accountability and inclusion that will be important to address..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
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The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Several Groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Various groups, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Myanmar's peaceful protests are morphing into a hit-and-run resistance movement against military rule
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"Another military airbase has come under rocket attack in central Myanmar, a shadowy but strategic assault that even tightly censored, military-controlled media felt compelled to report.
On May 15, three 107mm rockets were fired at Toungoo airbase, situated just 95 kilometers from the capital Naypyitaw, according to the state mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar. The rocket attack follows similar assaults on air bases at Magwe and Meiktila in late April.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they come after recent Tatmadaw aerial bombardments in Kayin and Kachin states, where ethnic armies are battling the military and anti-coup protesters have recently taken refuge from rising, lethal military violence in urban areas.
Myanmar’s civil wars, until now confined mainly to relatively remote ethnic frontier regions, are now spreading to the country’s heartland and urban areas. Rather than ethnic army fighters, recent attacks have more likely been launched by new-age militants from the ethnic Bamar majority.
Shadowy attacks on military soft and hard targets are mounting. On May 18, a local junta-appointed official was assassinated in Yangon’s Lanmadaw district after two bomb blasts at his office. According to Yangon-based sources, the official was known to be a key military informant and his actions had led to the arrest of several pro-democracy protesters.
Bombs have also detonated in various towns in Sagaing and Mandalay Regions and in Shan, Mon and Chin states. When the coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, visited Sagaing City on May 18 a bomb exploded even there despite tight security.
A clear example of this new resistance to military rule was recently seen in Mindat, a town in Chin State but close to the border with the central region of Magwe. The Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a newly formed local militia, took over the town and retreated only after heavily armed Tatmadaw units counterattacked with artillery and helicopter gunfire.
Before those reinforcements arrived, local militants armed with only hunting rifles and homemade bombs killed several Tatmadaw soldiers. Until now, Chin state is the only ethnic state in Myanmar that has not seen widespread insurgency. (The ceasefire Chin National Front was never a formidable force.)
What began as peaceful, even joyful demonstrations against coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s democracy-suspending February 1 coup is now morphing into shadowy armed resistance across the country. The list of anti-military counterattacks is growing by the day.
For instance, a bomb exploded at the Daik-U township’s education office in the Bago Region on May 16. That same day, another bomb detonated at the Mogok township general administrator’s office in the Mandalay Region.
On May 17, the Htone Bo Ward administration office in Sagaing township was burned down. On May 18, a truck carrying food supplies for Myanmar army soldiers was torched on the Mogaung-Tanai Ledo road in Kachin State.
The shift from peaceful to violent protest came only after demonstrators were violently and lethally attacked by soldiers and police, with snipers shooting teenagers and even killing children as young as five, according to news reports.
Nearly 800 people have been killed by the police and Tatmadaw since Min Aung Hlaing seized power from an elected government. Close to 5,000 have been arrested, including politicians, journalists, lawyers and community workers. An unknown number are now in hiding or have fled to border areas or across the border into exile.
Yangon residents say the persistent unrest appears to be taking a toll on the mental health of front-line police and soldiers who are ordered by their superiors to use lethal force against the general population.
“They are staying inside hospitals, schools, police stations and secluded compounds and when they venture out of those, local activists inform their comrades in other parts of Yangon,” one Yangon-based source said.
Three and a half months after the coup, anti-coup demonstrators are still marching in the streets in defiance. Many others, sources say, are getting ready for more violent action.
They say the assassination of the official in Lanmadaw is probably only the beginning of what could quickly turn into urban warfare scenarios in major cities nationwide. According to some reports, automatic weapons and grenades have already been sent to activists in Yangon.
Myanmar may not become a full-blown failed state — much of the economy is and has always been run underground and thus not measured in official statistics — but the nation is definitely now a failing state.
Tens of thousands of health workers and teachers have been fired for taking part in the so-called Civil Disobedience Movement. Banks are reportedly running out of cash as people — if they are lucky — withdraw their savings. Many have imposed fees of 8%-9% to withdraw funds or imposed outright limits on the amount that can be taken out.
A brain drain has also begun as many well-educated people have leveraged various channels to leave the country. What happens next is not clear, but Min Aung Hlaing’s power-grab is measuring up as perhaps the most unsuccessful military coup in modern Asian history.
To be sure United States (US) and European Union (EU) sanctions have so far had no deterrent effect on the military’s onslaught. The severest action that can be taken by the United Nations (UN) would be a resolution calling for an “immediate suspension” of weapons transfers to the junta.
Although recently introduced by the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein, which is not an EU member, and supported by the EU, UK and US, it will inevitably be vetoed at the UN Security Council by permanent members China and Russia.
What is clear, however, is that Min Aung Hlaing has ruined his chance of becoming a credible political leader. As military commander-in-chief, he traveled more widely than any of his predecessors on what the Tatmadaw called “goodwill missions.”
According to a study compiled by the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies, a Yangon-based think tank, his trips took him to China, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Belarus, Serbia, Brunei, Pakistan and even Belgium, Austria, Germany and Italy.
He won’t likely be welcome again in many of those countries. His future standing in Myanmar is also on shaky ground, with critics and commentators saying he has single-handedly destroyed his legacy as an armed forces commander while making the military even more an object of contempt in the public’s eye.
But even if the Tatmadaw moved to oust him from his positions of power in a face-saving counter-coup – for now, more wishful thinking than likely scenario – there is no guarantee that his military successors would be in favor of the kind of openness Myanmar enjoyed from 2011 until this year’s disastrous coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Men in embattled town of Mindat flee to the hills as military steps up crack down on resistance to February 1 coup.
Description:
"On May 15, Biak Thang hastily said goodbye to his wife and two children, grabbed a few days’ worth of food and supplies and ran to the forest.
“We heard that [military forces] are arresting men, so most of the men are escaping and only women and children are left,” said Biak Thang, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons.
“I don’t feel safe. I only heard about war-displaced people in the media, but we are war-displaced people now,” he said from the wooded hills on the outskirts of Mindat, a town in Myanmar’s Chin State.
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has warned that the military, which seized power in a February 1 coup, may have committed war crimes and “grave breaches of the Geneva Convention” in Mindat, a town of 46,000 people located 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the border with India.
Since imposing martial law there on May 13, the military has used local youth as human shields, occupied schools and hospitals, destroyed property and conducted heavy-weapon attacks by air and land, according to the CHRO and local media reports.
The military, also known as the Tatmadaw, has described the violence in Mindat as a response to “armed terrorists,” referring to civilian defence forces, which have taken up arms in recent weeks, and said its forces returned fire after coming under attack.. While the military has reportedly used artillery fire, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic machine guns, the civilian forces are armed largely with homemade hunting rifles and makeshift explosives.
Worn down by bloody crackdowns and arbitrary arrests, Mindat’s fighters are among growing numbers of people across the country turning to armed resistance to overthrow military rule.
Since the coup, millions have taken to the streets in peaceful protest, while a Civil Disobedience Movement has shut down infrastructure and public services. The military, meanwhile, has killed more than 800 civilians and more than 4,000 people remain in custody, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which is tracking arrests throughout the country......
‘Big machine weapons’:
Chin, a rural and mountainous state in Myanmar’s northwest which is among the country’s least developed, has become among the fiercest battlegrounds of resistance, along with Sagaing region to its north.
Beginning in late March, a group of civilians armed with hunting rifles and homemade weapons maintained a protest camp for more than 10 days in Sagaing’s town of Kalay, where it successfully negotiated a prisoner swap before the military attacked the camp with grenades and machine guns on April 7, killing 11 people.
In Mindat, fighting erupted on April 24, after the military refused to release seven detained youth. Two days later, civilian defence forces ambushed six military trucks carrying reinforcement troops and weapons; the military responded by firing rocket launchers and artillery into the town.
“The attacks started from the outskirts of Mindat. A few days later, they entered the town using big machine weapons. The situation intensified because they attacked indiscriminately, even in residential areas,” a local volunteer medic told Al Jazeera. She requested her name be withheld for her security.
By April 27, Mindat’s civilian defence forces claimed to have killed more than 30 military soldiers.
After the military released the seven detainees, the fighting paused for 10 days but resumed on May 12 when the military refused to release five more detainees. The next day, the military declared martial law over the town, after which it brought in troops and arms by land and air and attacked with heavy weapons during a three-day siege.
On the morning of May 15, soldiers stormed Mindat, firing into streets and arresting young men from their homes. According to the CHRO, soldiers used at least 15 of the young people they had arrested as human shields.
“These are ordinary youths who were trying to get outside of Mindat to avoid indiscriminate bombardment,” the CHRO’s Deputy Director Salai Za Uk Ling told Al Jazeera. “We are extremely concerned about their wellbeing as they are most likely to be mistreated and tortured under custody.”
Since the coup, the bodies of numerous detainees across the country have been returned to families bearing signs of torture.....
Community in fear:
The Tatmadaw’s power grab, which brought to an end a hesitant transition to democracy, has rekindled unresolved armed conflicts between the military and several ethnic armed organisations, which have been fighting for political autonomy in the country’s borderlands for decades. City dwellers have also begun travelling to the territories held by ethnic armed groups to seek training to fight against the military government, while grassroots civilian defence forces have sprung up in areas that had not previously seen fighting.
In March, a group of overthrown legislators and ethnic leaders serving as a parallel government in exile endorsed the public’s right to self-defence.
On May 5, the shadow government announced the formation of a People’s Defence Force to protect the public’s “safety, property and wellbeing” and fight for the establishment of a federal democratic union. The People’s Defence Force is considered a step towards the creation of a federal army that could unite the country’s ethnic armed organisations and civilian defence forces under a single cause.
Biak Thang, the Mindat resident who fled the town on May 15, told Al Jazeera that the community has been living in fear since the Tatmadaw imposed martial law there.
“Civilians cannot move around freely,” he said. “We cannot go out to buy food or supplies. We are just depending on what we have stored.”
He estimates about 70 percent of local people are hiding in small groups in the forest, and there is a risk of food shortages. Local media have also reported an urgent need for food and medical supplies for those who fled.
The volunteer medic told Al Jazeera that she and her team are shifting to different locations in the forest to avoid arrest, while still attempting to care for the wounded.
“When we are moving from place to place, even we uninjured people get really exhausted,” she said. “The patients should be resting, but instead, they have to run … It added so much time for their injuries to heal.”
She is concerned that a lack of nutritious food will further hinder their recovery.
By the time civilian defence forces retreated on May 15, allegedly to prevent further harm to civilians, seven members had been killed, according to local media reports. The military-run TV channel reported that some of its own troops had been killed and were missing but did not give a number.
The US and UK embassies have condemned the military’s violence against civilians in Mindat, as has the National Unity Government, Myanmar’s government-in-exile.
The National Unity Government also expressed its support for the people’s right to self-defence and called for a no-fly zone over Myanmar as well as international action to end the violence and protect the people.....
Women left vulnerable:
With most men having fled Mindat, rights groups now warn the women and children left behind are increasingly vulnerable.
Soldiers have been looting property and burning down homes since taking over the town, while some residents have been unable to get medical assistance after being shot, a Mindat resident told Reuters news agency.
In the wake of the attacks, the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs said in a statement that it had received verified claims of sexual violence in Mindat. Al Jazeera was unable to reach the Deputy Minister for comment.
The secretary of the Chin Women Organization Hakha, who requested her name be withheld as she is currently in hiding, told Al Jazeera that she was “worried that the military could use sexual assault and rape as weapons as they have that history … As the military has occupied Mindat, the lives of Chin women and young girls, and all women in Mindat, are not safe anymore,” she said.
In August 2019, a UN Fact-Finding Mission reported that Myanmar military soldiers “routinely and systematically” employed rape and sexual violence and that sexual violence perpetrated by the military was “part of a deliberate, well-planned strategy to intimidate, terrorise and punish a civilian population.”
During a campaign of violence in Rakhine State in 2017, sexual violence was a factor indicating the military’s “genocidal intent to destroy the Rohingya population,” according to the UN report.
Salai Za Uk Ling of the CHRO told Al Jazeera that due to the stigma and sensitivity of the issue, his organisation was not releasing detailed information about alleged sexual violence in Mindat, but he shared concerns that incidents of sexual violence could happen.
He also warned that patterns of violence seen in Mindat could spread to other parts of the country, leading to more displacement as the rainy season approaches. With neighbouring India so far refusing to offer asylum to those crossing the border, Salai Za Uk Ling worries that the displaced will be left with no safe place to go.
Although the civilian defence forces have retreated in Mindat, fighting is already spreading to other parts of the state.
The civilian defence forces claim to have killed five military soldiers in Hakha township, where a member of civilian defence forces was also killed on May 16. Clashes in Tedim township left four military soldiers and two unarmed civilians dead, according to local media reports. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the information.
“The junta’s actions in Mindat demonstrate how far they are willing to go in trying to put the population under control. Mindat is only the beginning,” said Salai Za Uk Ling. “We are now basically witnessing a humanitarian disaster in the making..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) released the final comprehensive report of its international election observation mission to the 2020 Myanmar General Elections on 17 May 2021.
The 2020 Myanmar polls encountered several challenges including restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the observed shortcomings, the outcome of the elections were deemed to reflect the true will of the electorate.
The members of the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house of Myanmar's national Parliament) were scheduled to convene for their swearing-in ceremony on 1 February 2021, but, the Myanmar military staged a coup and seized power from the civilian government alleging electoral fraud. Several key political figures and activists including President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the chair of the Union Election Commission (UEC) U Hla Thein, were arrested. The country was placed under state of emergency.
The people of Myanmar continue to resist military rule through peaceful protests across the country but such efforts have been met with violent crackdowns by the military arresting thousands and killing hundreds of people.
ANFREL recognizes the voice of the people of Myanmar and hopes this report illustrates the progress achieved by Myanmar as a democracy prior to the coup. ANFREL wishes that the country may soon return on the rightful path to an elected civilian government.
ANFREL deployed 13 long-term observers for 24 days, eight short-term observers for eight days, three Election Day observers, a core team based in Yangon, and four electoral analysts, one in Yangon and the rest working remotely. The observers were deployed in 13 out of 14 states and regions in Myanmar.
ANFREL's international election observation efforts follow a methodology based on international principles contained in documents such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Bangkok Declaration for Free and Fair Elections, and the Dili Indicators of Democratic Elections. ANFREL is a signatory of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations, Political History
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Description:
"Myanmar’s Miss Universe contestant, Thuzar Wint Lwin, used the pageant on Sunday to urge the world to speak out against the military junta, whose security forces have killed hundreds of opponents since it seized power in a Feb. 1 coup.
"Our people are dying and being shot by the military every day," she said in a video message for the competition, where she was appearing in the finals at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
"I would like to urge everyone to speak about Myanmar. As Miss Universe Myanmar since the coup, I have been speaking out as much as I can," she said.
Myanmar's junta spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment.
Thuzar Wint Lwin is among dozens of Myanmar celebrities, actors, social media influencers and sports people who have voiced opposition to the coup, in which elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown and detained.
At least 790 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group. It says over 5,000 people have been arrested, with some 4,000 still detained - including several celebrities.
Thuzar Wint Lwin did not make it to the last round of the Miss Universe competition, but she won the award for Best National Costume, which was based on the ethnic costume of her Chin people from northwestern Myanmar, where fighting has raged in recent days between the army and anti-junta militia fighters.
As she paraded with her national costume, she held up a placard that said “Pray for Myanmar”..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As of 17 May, (802) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (6) fallen heroes today. These (6) fallen heroes from Mindat, Hakha, Tedim and Tamu Townships in Chin State, Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region and South Dagon Township in Yangon Region were killed in previous days and have been 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.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 17, a total of (4120) people are currently under detention; of them (92) are sentenced. 1699 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today, people across Burma continued to protest against the oppressive military dictatorship. In Tanintharyi Region today, a protest in Dawei was violently cracked down on by junta forces using civilian vehicles to crash into protesters, leaving many injured. In this crackdown, seven civilians were arrested and one was shot with a rubber bullet. Junta forces are now using this brutal method of suppressing protests by crashing into civilians with cars on a daily basis. This is a clear expression of hostility towards civilians, and shows the junta will use any means to inflict harm on the people.
The junta terrorists used heavy artillery and live ammunition last night across Mindat Town, Chin State, following massive raids on Mindat Town yesterday. Similar shooting occured today, destroying houses. A 10 year-old girl who was hiding inside a house was shot and remains in a critical condition. Junta troops have been violently damaging houses and shops, and looting goods. In addition to this, displaced civilians who have been hiding in the jungles are in desperate need of food, shelter, and medical supplies.
The use of such violent force against a small town warns any other town that resists against the junta, that they will face the same brutality. The people of Burma however, have shown they are not afraid of junta threats, and will continue to fight to defeat the military dictatorship. The people will not accept any negotiations, and will only accept solutions which hold the junta fully accountable for the deaths of over 800 civilians.
Last night, junta forces opened fire in Tedim Town, Chin State. Two youths from Tedim Town were killed. The death of one of the two victims is still under investigation; if it is confirmed, the death will be added to the AAPP fatality list. Yesterday evening in Hakha township, Chin state there was a clash between the Chin State Defense Force (Hakha) (CDF-Hakha), and the junta terrorists, which resulted in the death of a young man from the CDF-Hakha.
This terrorist group continues its daily shooting and the number of civilian deaths are rising, yet no effective action has been taken to bring down the Junta. The country is unstable and the rule of law has ceased.
In South Dagon Township, Yangon Region, the junta returned the rotting body of a man who was arrested on May 14. In order to get permission to cremate his body, medical papers had to be signed which stated he died from pre-existing health conditions. His body was returned displaying many wounds consistent with torture. His face was badly bruised, with his entire mouth swollen, and his teeth appeared to be broken. The junta closely followed the funeral, ensuring no photos were taken.
Torture is extremely cruel and inhumane, yet the terrorists continue to use such brutal methods to intimidate the people of Burma, and prevent them from opposing. They also continue to force victims’ family members to sign false medical records, in an attempt to cover up deaths caused by their torutre, and destroy evidence of their brutality. If this military dictatorship ends and democracy is restored, the junta will be held accountable for each and every one of their actions, regardless of their attempts to hide them.
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:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, 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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Size:
1.04 MB 3.7 MB 928.45 KB
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Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the Government of the United Kingdom for designating Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE) with strict sanctions as a company that is directly supporting the killing of innocent civilians by supplying huge revenue streams to the terrorist regime forces.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People, Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the UK on coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw
linked companies and enterprises such as MEC and MEHL, and for providing extra funding to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. Additionally, I would like to further thank the UK government for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition
of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation.
The UK has announced additional measures targeting the Myanmar regime today (17 May), with new sanctions imposed against Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE). These latest sanctions aim to cut off a key source of funding for the military junta, which is responsible for serious human rights violations against the people of Myanmar, including the killing of children. Foreign Secretary of UK, Dominic Raab, said:
“The military junta in Myanmar continues to crush democracy and attack its own people with brutal ferocity. We are working with our allies to impose sanctions that hit the junta’s access to finance, and deliver a return to democracy.” The asset freeze imposed by the sanctions prevents anyone from dealing with funds
or economic resources which are owned or controlled by MGE and held in the UK. It also blocks others from providing funds or economic resources to MGE..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, UK-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Gems - mining and trade, Gems, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
Format :
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Size:
58.94 KB
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Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for designating 16 individuals and one entity (the 'SAC') with strict sanctions who are supporting the killing of innocent
civilians nationwide, most recently in Mindat, Chin State.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People and Government of the United States of America for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the U.S. on
coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MEC, MGE and MEHL. Additionally, I would like to further thank the United States government for taking a strong leadership role in
the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. The official press release is as follows:
"WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 16 individuals and one entity connected to Burma’s military regime. Thirteen of the individuals sanctioned today are key members of Burma’s military
regime, which is violently repressing the pro-democracy movement in the country and is responsible for the ongoing violent and lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children. The other three individuals are adult children
of previously designated senior Burmese military officials. The entity is the State Administration Council (SAC), the body created by the military to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government. These designations today are made 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. In concurrent actions, the U.K. and Canada also sanctioned persons and/or entities in relation to the on-going coup in Burma. “Burma’s military continues to commit human rights abuses and oppress the people of Burma. Today’s action demonstrates the United States' commitment to work with
our international partners to press the Burmese military and promote accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence," said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. As a part of today’s action, the State Administrative Council (SAC) is designated for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma. The SAC, which is the official name of the military government in Burma, was
formed by Burma’s military on February 2, 2021. It is largely made up of military officials and led by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014. The following four individuals 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: Mahn Nyein Maung is a member of the SAC;
Thein Nyunt is a member of the SAC; • Sai Lone Saing is a member of the SAC; and Khin Maung Swe is a member of the SAC.
The following nine individuals, who are members of the military regime, are designated pursuant to E.0.14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021: Ko Ko Hlaing is the Minister of International Cooperation; Tun Aung Myint is the Minister for Ethnic Affairs; • Tun Tun Naung is the Minister of Border Affairs;
• Than Nyein is the governor of the Central Bank of Burma;
• Pwint San is the Minister of Commerce; Win Shein is the Minister for Planning, Finance, and Industry; Thein Soe is the chairman of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, the regime’s electoral body; Thet Khaing Win is the Minister of Health and Sports; and
• Khin Maung Yi is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. In addition to the individuals identified above, the following three 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.
• Hein Htet is the adult child of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014; Kaung Htet is also an adult child of General Maung Maung Kyaw; and Yin Min Thu is the adult child of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), USA-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Chin State, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
72.93 KB
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Sub-title:
Independent observers have rejected claims of voter fraud in Myanmar's 2020 election, three months after the military took power in a coup.
Description:
"The Asian Network for Free Elections said the outcome of the vote was "by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar".
The military has justified its February coup by alleging massive voter fraud, but provided no evidence.
The vote was won by Aung Sang Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
Ms Suu Kyi and other elected officials were arrested on 1 February in a series of early morning military raids. She has only been seen by video link since.
The election observers' report described the military's decision to ignore the election results as "indefensible" .
Myanmar's military has yet to respond to the report. It has previously said it will hold new elections within two years.
The Asian Network for Free Elections, which had observers at more than 400 polling stations during November's vote, did acknowledge a number of "irregularities" in how the vote was held - but the said they were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of conflicts in the country at the time.
It also said those irregularities meant the election was not as free and fair as the previous vote in 2015.
But the outcome did represent the will of the people, the report concluded, and showed Myanmar's democracy was making progress.
"Despite the raging Covid-19 pandemic, 27.5 million people voted thanks to the hard work of polling staff and election or health officials; their voices cannot be silenced," the report said..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ANNOUNCEMENT: On Friday. 14th of May 2021, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (“Myanmar"), acting through the parliamentary-designated National Unity Government (the “NUG"), instructed its legal counsel at the public international law firm Volterra Fietta to make a further series of communications to different international human rights bodies of
the United Nations ("UN") in relation to the atrocities that have been committed by the military since 1 February 2021 against the people of Myanmar and their legitimate, democratically-elected representatives. These communications conveyed to the relevant UN bodies evidence of widespread and systematic human rights abuses targeting the civilian population by the military, including torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. as well as violations of the freedoms of opinion and expression. Following the first round of communications to the UN bodies in early April, on the
7th of April 2021, a meeting took place between the legal representatives of Myanmar (acting through the NUG) and the head of the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar ("IIMM"). This meeting discussed the modalities of dialogue
and co operation between Myanmar (acting through the NUG) and the IIMM in relation to the atrocities committed by the military on 1 February 2021 and thereafter. Further meetings with the IIMM were held throughout April, where the issues being discussed were advanced further. Another meeting between Myanmar (acting
through the NUG) and the IIMM will take place this week to finalize the transfer of evidence to the IIMM of the widespread and systematic human rights abuses committed by the military.....H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation & NUG Spokesperson..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
62.38 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 16 individuals and one entity connected to Burma’s military regime.
Thirteen of the individuals sanctioned today are key members of Burma’s military regime, which is violently repressing the pro-democracy movement in the country and is responsible for the ongoing violent and lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children. The other three individuals are adult children of previously designated senior Burmese military officials. The entity is the State Administration Council (SAC), the body created by the military to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government. These designations today are made 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. In concurrent actions, the U.K. and Canada also sanctioned persons and/or entities in relation to the on-going coup in Burma.
“Burma’s military continues to commit human rights abuses and oppress the people of Burma. Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to work with our international partners to press the Burmese military and promote accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence,” said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
As a part of today’s action, the State Administrative Council (SAC) is designated for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma. The SAC, which is the official name of the military government in Burma, was formed by Burma’s military on February 2, 2021. It is largely made up of military officials and led by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014.
The following four individuals 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:
Mahn Nyein Maung is a member of the SAC;
Thein Nyunt is a member of the SAC;
Sai Lone Saing is a member of the SAC; and
Khin Maung Swe is a member of the SAC.
The following nine individuals, who are members of the 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:
Ko Ko Hlaing is the Minister of International Cooperation;
Tun Aung Myint is the Minister for Ethnic Affairs;
Tun Tun Naung is the Minister of Border Affairs;
Than Nyein is the governor of the Central Bank of Burma;
Pwint San is the Minister of Commerce;
Win Shein is the Minister for Planning, Finance, and Industry;
Thein Soe is the chairman of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, the regime’s electoral body;
Thet Khaing Win is the Minister of Health and Sports; and
Khin Maung Yi is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.
In addition to the individuals identified above, the following three 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.
Hein Htet is the adult child of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014;
Kaung Htet is also an adult child of General Maung Maung Kyaw; and
Yin Min Thu is the adult child of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014.
As a result of today’s 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:
2021-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ( ၂၈/၂၀၂၁ )
===================
၁၃၈၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ကဆုန်လဆန်း ၆ ရက်
မေလ (၁၆)ရက်၊ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်။
---------------------------
၁။ ချင်းပြည်နယ် မင်းတပ်မြို့တွင် ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ အပြစ်မဲ့ အရပ်သား ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် လူသားမဆန်စွာ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း၊ တိုက်ခိုက်ရေးရဟတ်ယာဉ်များ အသုံးပြု၍ ပြင်းထန်စွာ တိုက်ခိုက်ဖြိုခွင်းမှုများအပေါ် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (CRPH) အနေဖြင့် ပြင်းထန်စွာ ရှုတ်ချလိုက်သည်။
၂။ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထား တိုက်ခိုက်မှု များသည် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ဖြစ်သဖြင့် ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန်နှင့် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ် ကျူးလွန် သော ရာဇဝတ်ပြစ်မှုများအတွက်လည်း စစ်ကောင်စီက တာဝန်ခံရမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ပြင်းထန်စွာသတိပေး လိုက်သည်။
၃။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအနေဖြင့်လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်သတ်ဖြတ် တိုက်ခိုက်နေ သော အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီကို ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူမှုများ အမြန်ဆုံးဆောင်ရွက်ရန် တိုက်တွန်းသည်။
၄။ ပြည်သူလူထုမှ အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက် ပြုကျင့်မှုများကို လက်မခံနိုင်ပဲ ရရာလက်နက်စွဲ ကိုင် တော်လှန်နေသော မင်းတပ်ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ရဲစွမ်းသတ္တိနှင့် တွန်းလှန်နေမှုကို ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် အသိအမှတ်ပြု ဂုဏ်ပြုသည့်အပြင် ထိခိုက်ကျဆုံးခဲ့ရသော မင်းတပ်ပြည်သူလူထု နှင့် တစ်သားတည်း ဝမ်းနည်းခံစားရပါကြောင်း၊ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရနှင့် ပေါင်းစပ်ညှိနှိုင်းကာ လိုအပ် သောအကူအညီများ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာလိုက်သည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Chin State, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, 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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"As of 16 May, (796) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (6) fallen heroes today. These (6) fallen heroes from Mindat Township in Chin State were killed the previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 16, a total of (3998) people are currently under detention; of them (92) are sentenced. 1679 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today, anti-military protests continued across Burma, in Innwa town, Mandalay Region the Mandalay Sanga Union protest was suppressed, though no-one was injured or arrested. In Myitkyina Township, Kachin State, four people were arrested as the protest was scattered. Police used civilian cars to chase the protesters. Last night in Waingmaw town, Kachin State, a young man was arrested and four others injured in an intentional car crash. Such barbaric atrocities are now becoming a predominant tactic of the junta.
Yesterday in Mindat town, Chin State, the junta used excessive force against the entire city. This morning, civilians who fled were ambushed on their way. The terrorist group has been using violence to oppress rural areas. Nyaw Pyin Village, Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region and Monpin Village, Sintgaing Township, Mandalay Region were raided by large numbers of junta troops this morning. During the raid, at least four villagers from Nyaw Pyin village were arrested, every single door in Monpin village was smashed, and their belongings and money looted. Aside from this, three houses, including the house of the NLD village chairman, were destroyed yesterday evening in Kan Thar Yar village, Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, bags of rice and 700,000 kyats were looted.
The terrorist crimes of armed robbery, wrecking and raiding continue unabated due to impunity. The terrorist group allows police and soldiers to do whatever they want to maintain power. As long as the terrorist group is in power, such acts will continue to be committed on a daily basis.
On 15 May, in Kho Yaung Village, Tangyan Township, Shan State, the Hsipaw Township NLD parliamentary candidate Sai Kan Nyunt was beaten to death, he was found dead with stab wounds. NLD members are being persecuted on a daily basis, the deaths are beyond doubt the junta’s doing.
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:
2021-05-17
[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, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"As of 15 May, (790) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Mandalay City in Mandalay Region and Mindat Town in Chin State were killed the previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 15, a total of (3989) people are currently under detention; of them (92) are sentenced. 1659 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Civilian’s security is deteriorating day after day, the junta’s violence has reached utter ruthlessness, they are shooting, killing, arbitrarily charging, robbing , looting , destroying and vandalism, there has been no reduction by the junta.
This morning in Taunggyi Town, Shan State, the junta crackdown on protests and 4 youths were arrested. In Yangon the junta crackdown in Yankin Township after a protest had finished, the police chased them with the motorbikes, and 7 youths were arrested.
In Mindat Town , Chin State, the situation is getting worse due to resistance against the terrorist group, there is intense fighting and clashes every day. The junta group brought in nearly a thousand further troops and repeatedly fired heavy artillery shells. The junta troops entered the town and opened fire on civilians. Civilians were injured including children, they have not been able to get medical treatment. More than 15 youths were taken hostage and used as human shields when the junta came into the city. They are arresting all the men who are living in Mindat town. Their doors are being broken into, they are being beaten in the houses and arrested.
This disproportionate use of brutal force is believed to be the terrorist aim for eradicating the People’s Defense Forces (PDF). The use of human shields is a “war crime” and impunity for these attacks are a failure to humanity.
The terrorist group is carrying out unprovoked and intentional shootings, acts such as torture are perpetrated on a daily basis. In Monywa , Sagaing Region, Sein Win, a poet, philanthropist and veteran politician was collecting donations for IDP’s and he was at a friend’s house talking. Then an unidentified man arrived and poured gasoline on him and set him on fire. Such atrocities are being repeatedly perpetrated by the terrorist group who has become even more hostile to people against the coup.
In Aungmyethazan Township, Mandalay, a Burmese teacher who was shot in the leg during a protest rally on May 2 died at Pyin Oo Lwin Military Hospital, his family was not allowed to bury his body and they did not say how he died. The lack of cause of their death indicates what truly happened, since the coup the terrorists have tortured many people to death. They are the only group which commits these crimes.
The junta is also vandalizing and looting on a daily basis. Last night in Sagaing Region, Shwe Bo Market was set on fire during curfew time, locals say it was linked to the junta’s action. In Myitkyina, Kachin State, the junta threatened whoever passed by on the road with their guns, demanding money and saying they would shoot the people if they did not give money. A similar crime was reported in Mogaung Township, clearly showing the junta is a criminal robber.
Last night, the junta raided Zivita Dana Sangha Hospital and arrested a patient who was seriously injured, a doctor, intern, two volunteers, and a paramedic. A total of six people were arrested. They even abuse people’s rights in places that should be most protected, clear violations of the Geneva Convention.
Despite all these atrocities, no effective action is being taken against the terrorist group. Burma gets general agreement statements from the five ASEAN statements, but no action – just silence.
This is encouraging the military dictatorship and delaying democracy.
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:
2021-05-17
[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, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"As of 14 May, (788) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has not yet confirmed any fallen heroes today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 14, a total of (3971) people are currently under detention; of them (92) are sentenced. 1639 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today people across Burma continue to protest against the dictatorship, and from some Townships in Chin State, Magway Region, and Sagaing Region people remain resistant to the intensified terrorist attacks. In Kyaukme, Shan State, the protest was crackdown by the junta but the protesters continued to gather.
The junta cracks down on protests daily, they are searching and arresting, for not only protest leaders but also ordinary demonstrators. On 13 May Nabule Area, Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region, a dawn protest was crackdown by the junta group. The junta searched and followed the protest, more than 30 protestors including CDM teachers were forced to flee their homes and now are experiencing a shortage of water and food. The junta group has made a series of arrests and crackdown on protesters to bring the demonstrations to an end and prevent them from gathering.
Civilians are persecuted daily, on 13 May, in Mel Thel Kyo Kwin village tract, Chaung Oo Township in Sagaing Division, the junta raided a Gen Z’ Camp, two youths who tried to flee got shot in the leg and beaten in the head. They were kicked in the abdomen and ribs with boots, they were brutally beaten and their faces were swollen, the junta tortured the two youths so much they could not even identify their faces. As a result of this inhumanity, two young men are in a critical condition and reportedly dead. During the raid, weapons were confiscated, and several motorcycles from that camp set on fire.
Torture is a serious crime, in Burma the perpetrators are granted impunity. This is why persecution is becoming more brutal, and they are free to commit crimes against humanity against civilians. Only when dictatorship is over will we have the right to live with dignity and security, but the crimes must be held accountable.
Since the coup, journalists have been detained for providing timely updates and information on the terrorist group’s repression. Journalists are increasingly being arrested, sentenced, and forced to evade warrants. On 12 May, a reporter from Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was sentenced to three years in prison. On 13 May in Yenangyaung Town, Magway Region, A journalist formerly with the Tomorrow Journal was arrested. The terrorist group is cutting off the freedom of the press because the people seeing this information frightens the junta. The only way is to promote local media and help fight back against the terrorist group and restore democracy in Burma.
AAPP will continue to keep you informed of verified daily arrests, charges, sentences and fatalities in relation to the attempted coup, and update our lists to the details of these alleged offences. If you receive any information about detentions of, or charges against CSO leaders, activists, journalists, CDM workers, other civilians and fallen heroes in relation to the military and police crackdown on dissent. Please submit to the following addresses..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"(၇၆)နှစ်မြောက် ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာ
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၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မတ်လ ၂၇ ရက်
================
၁။ ယနေ့ မတ်လ (၂၇) ရက်နေ့သည် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်မှု စုပေါင်းအင်အားဖြင့် မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ ဖက်ဆစ် သောင်းကျန်းသူများအား တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ထုတ်ခဲ့သော (၇၆) နှစ်မြောက် အခါသမယဖြစ်၏။
၂။ ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးအတွင်း အသက်နှင့်ခန္ဓာပေးလှူခဲ့သော တပ်မတော်သားများ၊ ပျောက်ကြားများ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၊ မဟာမိတ်နိုင်ငံများမှ ရဲဘော်များအားလုံးကို ယနေ့ အထူးအောက်မေ့သတိရလျက် ဦးညွတ် အလေးပြုပါသည်။
၃။ ယခုအချိန်တွင်လည်း မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်တွင် တစ်ကြော့ပြန်သောင်းကျန်လျက်ရှိသည့် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အာဏာရှင် များအား ကျောင်းသားများ၊ လူငယ်များ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူများက နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကို ဆင်နွှဲလျက် နည်းလမ်း ပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် ခုခံဆန့်ကျင်လျက်ရှိကြသည်။
၄။ ဤ တော်လှန်ရေးအောင်နိုင်လျှင် မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို အပြီးတိုင် ရှင်းလင်း ဖယ်ရှား နိုင်မည်သာမက ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုကို တည်ထောင်လျက် လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်းမှုနှင့် သာယာ၀ပြောမှုကို ဖန်တီးနိုင်မည် ဖြစ်သည်။
၅။ သို့ပါ၍ လွန်ခဲ့သော(၇၆)နှစ် ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးကာလ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်မှုကောင်းမွေကို ဆက်ခံလျက် တိုင်းရင်းသား ပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံး၏ စုစည်းညီညွတ်မှုဖြင့် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အာဏာရှင်အား တခဲနက် ဆန့်ကျင်တိုက် ဖျက်ကြပါစို့ဟု တိုက်တွန်းနှိုးဆော်လိုက်ပါသည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin hopes to use her international platform as a pageant contestant to criticize the country’s military coup and support the pro-democracy movement.
Description:
"As a girl, Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin would watch the Miss Universe pageant and wish that she could be the one onstage representing her country, Myanmar. She entered her first two contests last year, nervous and excited about what to expect. But she ultimately walked away crowned Miss Universe Myanmar, and this week is competing at the global pageant in Florida.
But now representing her country has new meaning. With the military seizing power in a Feb. 1 coup and killing hundreds of protesters, she hopes to use her platform to call attention to Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement and to appeal for international help in freeing elected leaders who have been detained.
“They are killing our people like animals,” she said in an interview before leaving Myanmar for the competition. “Where is the humanity? Please help us. We are helpless here.”
In a dramatic moment on Thursday during the pageant’s national costume show, she walked to the front of the stage and held up a sign saying, “Pray for Myanmar.” The final competition will be held on Sunday.
The military takeover in Myanmar sparked widespread protests with millions of people taking to the streets and a civil disobedience movement and general strike that have largely shut down the economy. The Tatmadaw, as the military is known, has responded with a brutal crackdown, killing more than 780 people and detaining more than 3,900, according to a rights group that tracks political prisoners.
In the early weeks of the protest movement, Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin, 22, joined the demonstrations, where she held signs with slogans such as “We do not want military government,” and called for the release of the country’s civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since the coup.
She handed out water bottles to protesters in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and donated her savings to families whose loved ones were killed. She also expressed her opposition to the junta on Facebook, posting black-and-white photos of herself blindfolded, with tape over her mouth and her hands bound.
The military’s onslaught has left the country living in fear, she said.
“The soldiers patrol the city every day and sometimes they set up roadblocks to harass the people coming through,” said Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin, who also goes by the name Candy. “In some cases, they fire without hesitation. We are scared of our own soldiers. Whenever we see one, all we feel is anger and fear.”
Every evening on television, the military announces new arrest warrants for celebrities and others who have been critical of the regime. Some of those named have been people Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin knows.
Before leaving for the United States, she watched anxiously to see if her name had ended up on the military’s wanted list. She saw reports of well-known people being detained as they tried to leave the country, so she decided to wear a hoodie and glasses to keep from being recognized at the Yangon airport. “I had to pass through immigration and I was so scared,” she said in an interview from Florida.
In criticizing the junta from outside her country, Miss Universe Myanmar is not alone.
U Win Htet Oo, one of the country’s best swimmers, said from Australia that he was giving up his dream of going to the Olympics and would not compete under the Myanmar flag until the regime’s leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was removed from power. And the mixed martial arts fighter U Aung La Nsang, an American citizen and one of Myanmar’s most famous athletes, has urged President Biden to help end the suffering of Myanmar’s people.
Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin says she believes that it will not be safe for her to return to Myanmar after speaking out against the regime; she does not know where she will go after the pageant ends.
An English major at East Yangon University, her path to the pro-democracy movement can perhaps be traced back to her childhood. She grew up in a middle-class household. Like many parents, her father, a businessman, and her mother, a housewife, dared not discuss the military government that was then in power.
One of her early memories was walking with her mother near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon in 2007, when monks led nationwide protests against military rule. She was 7. As they neared the pagoda, soldiers broke up the protest by shooting their guns in the air. People started running. She and her mother ran, too.
“We were very scared,” she recalled. “We went to a stranger’s house and we were hiding.”
Soon after, the military crushed that protest movement by shooting dozens of people. But by 2011, the military began sharing power with civilian leaders and opening the country, allowing cellphones and affordable internet access to flood in.
Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin is part of the first generation in Myanmar to grow up fully connected to the outside world, and for whom a free society seemed normal. In 2015, the country seated democratically elected officials for the first time in more than half a century. “We have been living in freedom for five years,” she said. “Do not take us back. We know all about the world. We have the internet.”
November was the first time she was old enough to vote, and she cast her ballot for the National League for Democracy, the party of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, which won in a landslide only to have the military overturn the results by seizing power.
Before the coup, Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin’s biggest ordeal came when she was 19 and had surgery to remove precancerous tumors from each breast, leaving permanent scars. She decided against having laser treatment to improve their appearance as a reminder of her success in preventing cancer.
“It’s just a scar and I’m still me,” she wrote in a recent post with photographs of the scars. “I met self-acceptance realizing nothing changed who I am and the values I set for myself. Now, when I see those scars, I feel empowered.”
She began modeling when she was in high school and, after her father’s retirement, helped support the family. She is one of fewer than a dozen contestants from Myanmar ever to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, which was founded in 1952. During the period from 1962 to 2011, when the Tatmadaw first ruled, Myanmar sent no contestants at all.
When Ms. Thuzar Wint Lwin arrived in Florida on May 7, she was told the suitcase with her outfits for the competition had been lost by the airline. Most contestants had already arrived and were busy rehearsing, making videos and having photo shoots. As the week wore on, the bag still hadn’t arrived, but the pageant organizers were helping her with her gown, and other contestants were lending her outfits.
Her national costume was among the missing items. People from Myanmar who live in the United States provided her with a stunning replacement of ethnic Chin origin. She wore it on Thursday to the applause of many in the crowd.
Soon after landing in Florida, she posted an autobiographical video on Facebook that would be unusual for any beauty pageant contestant: It shows her wearing formal gowns mixed with scenes of people fleeing tear gas and a soldier shooting a man who rode by on a motorbike.
“Myanmar deserves democracy,” she says in the video. “We will keep fighting and I also hope that international communities will give us help that we desperately need.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The New York Times" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, International Relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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605.16 KB
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Description:
"CRPH - CDM Supporting Team..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
502.56 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"ပြည်သူလူထုထံသို့ ပေးပို့သည့်သဝဏ်လွှာ
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ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
နိုင်ငံတော် ခေတ္တဒုတိယသမ္မတ မန်းဝင်းခိုင်သန်းထံမှ
(၇၆) နှစ်မြောက် ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ အထိမ်းအမှတ်
(၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ ၂၇ ရက်)
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လေးစားရပါသော သွေးရင်းညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမ နိုင်ငံသူ နိုင်ငံသားအပေါင်းတို့ခင်ဗျား
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ၁၉၄၂ ခုနှစ်မှ ၁၉၄၅ ခုနှစ်အထိ ဖက်ဆစ်စနစ်ဆိုး၏ လက်အောက်တွင် ကျရောက်ခဲ့ ရပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံးသည် ဖက်ဆစ်တို့၏ နည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ရက်ရက်စက်စက် ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်း၊ ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ ဥစ္စာပစ္စည်းများကို လုယူခြင်းစသည့် ဒဏ်ကို အလူးအလဲ ခံစားခဲ့ကြရပါသည်။ လွန်ခဲ့သော (၇၆) နှစ်၊ ၁၉၄၅ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့တွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသား လူထုလူတန်းစား အသီးသီးတို့သည် ဖက်ဆစ်စနစ်ဆိုးကို မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ် က ပျောက်ကွယ်သွားစေရေးအတွက် ဖက်ဆစ်တို့ကို ရရာလက်နက်စွဲကိုင်၍ ရဲရဲဝံ့ဝံ့ တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြပါသည်။
ဖဆပလအဖွဲ့ချုပ်ကြီး၏ ဦးဆောင်မှုအောက်တွင် ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အောင်ဆန်းဦးဆောင်သည့် ဗမာ့တပ်မတော်သည် ပြည်သူ့တပ်မတော်ဟူသည့် အမည်ကိုခံယူလျက် နိုင်ငံရေးအင်အားစုများ၊ အလုပ်သမား၊ လယ်သမား၊ ကျောင်းသား၊ လူထုလူတန်းစားအသီးသီးနှင့်အတူ လက်တွဲကာ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်စွာဖြင့် ဖက်ဆစ်စနစ်ဆိုးကို တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ထုတ်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ယင်းသို့ ဖက်ဆစ်ကို တော်လှန်ရေးစတင်သော ၁၉၄၅ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့ ကို ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့အဖြစ်သတ်မှတ်၍ နှစ်စဉ်နှစ်တိုင်း ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ အခမ်းအနားကို ဆင်နွှဲခဲ့ကြပါသည်။
ထိုအချိန်က ဖက်ဆစ်ဂျပန်ကို တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ထုတ်၍ ဖက်ဆစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးကို မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ မောင်းထုတ်နိုင်ခဲ့သော်လည်း နိုင်ငံတော်တွင် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုကို အောင်မြင်စွာမတည် ဆောက်နိုင်သေးသဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်၏ ဖိနှိပ်မှုကို နိုင်ငံတွင်းမှီတင်းနေထိုင်ကြသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများအားလုံး ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ဆက်လက်ခံစားခဲ့ရပါသည်။
ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ဖိစီးနှိပ်စက်ခဲ့သည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးကို အပြီးတိုင်တိုက်ဖျက်၍ ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုကြီးကို ဖော်ဆောင်ရန် တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံး၏ ဝိုင်းဝန်း ကြိုးပမ်းမှုကြောင့် ဒီမိုကရေစီရောင်ခြည် သန်းခါစအချိန်သို့ ရောက်ရှိလာခဲ့ပါသည်။ သို့ရာတွင် အာဏာ လောဘရမ္မက်ကြီးသူ တစ်စုက တပ်မတော်နှင့် ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ကို ၎င်းတို့၏ လက်ကိုင်တုတ်သဖွယ်အသုံးပြု၍ ပြည်သူလူထု ရွေးကောက်တင် မြှောက်ထားသည့် ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရထံမှ နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာကို မတရားသဖြင့် သိမ်းယူခဲ့မှုကြောင့် ယခုအချိန်တွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ဆိုးဝါးပြင်းထန်လှသည့် စစ်အာဏာ ရှင်တို့၏ ရက်ရက်စက်စက်အကြမ်းဖက် ဖိနှိပ်မှု အောက်သို့ တစ်ဖန်ပြန်လည်၍ ကျရောက်ခဲ့ရပြန်ပါသည်။ ယခုကဲ့သို့ ပြည်သူ့ဆန္ဒကို မျက်ကွယ်ပြုလျက် စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ကို ထာ၀ရ တည်တံ့သွားစေရန် လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့်ကြိုးပမ်းနေသည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်လူတစ်စု၏ လုပ်ရပ်ကို မည်သို့မျှ လက်မခံ နိုင်ကြဘဲ ပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံးသည် မိမိတို့ကျရာကဏ္ဍမှ ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင်လျက် အာဏာရှင် နှင့် အာဏာရှင်လက်ပါးစေတို့ကို နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်နေကြသည်ကို အားတက် ဖွယ်ရာ တွေ့မြင်ကြားသိနေရပါသည်။
မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်တွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် ကာလတာရှည်အမြစ်တွယ်နေနိုင်ခြင်း၏ အဓိက အကြောင်းရင်း တစ်ရပ်မှာ တပ်မတော်ကို စစ်အာဏာရှင်လူတစ်စု၏ လက်ကိုင်တုတ်သဖွယ် အသုံးချနေနိုင်ခြင်းဖြစ်ကြောင်း သုံးသပ်မိပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ရာ တိုင်းရင်သားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမ များအတူလက်တွဲလျက် ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အသက် အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်ကို ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ပေးနိုင်မည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ပြည်ထောင်စုတပ်မတော်ကြီးကို အမြန်ဆုံး တည်ထောင်ဖွဲ့စည်းနိုင်ရန် အထူးလိုအပ်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ယခုအခါ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (CRPH) နှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားညီနောင် အစုအဖွဲ့အသီးသီးတို့သည် မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အပြီးတိုင် ချုပ်ငြိမ်းသွားစေရေးအတွက် စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ် ဆွေးနွေးညှိနှိုင်းလျက်ရှိကာ မကြာမီအချိန်အတွင်း ပြည်သူလူထု လိုလားတောင့်တ နေသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားပေါင်းစုံပါဝင်သော အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရတစ်ရပ် ပေါ်ပေါက်လာတော့မည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
သို့ဖြစ်ရာ သွေးချင်းညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံးအနေဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ဆိုးကို အမြစ်ပြတ်ချေမှုန်းသည့် ဖက်ဆစ်အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေးတစ်ရပ်ကို မလျော့သော ဇွဲလုံ့လ ဝီရိယ တို့ဖြင့် အားထုတ်ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်သွားကြရန် ယခုကဲ့သို့ တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ် အခါသမယတွင် အလေးအနက် တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။
မိမိအနေဖြင့်လည်း တိုင်းရင်းသားညီနောင်များအချင်းချင်း ချစ်ကြည်ရင်းနှီးစွာ အတူယှဉ်တွဲ နေထိုင်သွား နိုင်မည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံတော်သစ်ကြီး ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသည်အထိ ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် အတူလက်တွဲကာ အစွမ်းကုန်ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ပါကြောင်း အလေးအနက် ကတိသစ္စာပြုလျက် သဝဏ်လွှာပေးပို့ အပ်ပါသည်။
မန်းဝင်းခိုင်သန်း
ခေတ္တဒုတိယသမ္မတ
ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
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"I am delighted and grateful to learn today that the USA and UK have once again shown strong global leadership targeting coordinated sanctions on the illegitimate military regime in Myanmar.
The military regime has stolen democracy and freedom from our people and then poured out atrocities against innocent civilians. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the USA and UK, who have taken a stand for the people of Myanmar who have suffered so much and for so long. These sanctions target the source of wealth and income of military Generals who have killed innocent people and committed ethnic cleansing against the Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, Chin and Rohingya. These same Generals are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have repeatedly committed these crimes over many years. Specifically, in 1988 and 1997 when they killed hundreds of innocent unarmed students. In 2007 when they stood against peace-loving Buddhist monks during the Saffron revolution. In 2017 against the Rohingya population and now again in 2021, where they have killed more than 300 on the streets of Myanmar and illegally detained more than 2500 including democratically elected leaders, our State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and our President, U Win Myint.
These same military Generals have stolen both our country's wealth and our freedom by their smoking guns. These two holding companies, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) have for many years been the means by which the military Generals have plundered our nation's riches and wealth for their own advantage. They continue to use this wealth to kill, destroy and wipe out the people of Myanmar.
We have been calling on the world to take targeted coordinated tougher sanctions, both economically and diplomatically. Without these, the military Generals will never understand what they have done. They have no regard for the sanctity of life, human rights, democracy, justice and international law. They have turned the military into a project to protect themselves rather than the people. They have used the armed forces to keep themselves in power at the expense of the people. They are content to live in a nation where they can murder people on the streets, and as long as they are in power, my people, the people of Myanmar, have no future.
The international community must continue to use all the power it has to weaken and stop the Tatmadaw military Generals, whose illegitimate actions cannot be allowed to be repeated again and again in the history of Myanmar. The threat to their personal finances, to the world and to their income, matters more to them than the freedom of our people, peaceful and courageous people of Myanmar
Through stronger, tougher, coordinated, targeted sanctions, the military Generals, their families and their supporters will finally start to bear some of the consequences of their crimes.
I therefore, urge all heads of governments and states around the world, to please follow the leadership of the USA and the UK, cooperating together and imposing targeted, stronger and tougher sanctions against the illegitimate military regime, the individuals in charge, the military companies and their subsidiaries, including sanctions on their business on financial , insurance services, oil and gas, timber and Jemstone..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Sanctions - general, USA-Burma relations, UK-Burma relations, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. While the fate of our country is in the hands of our people, strong and continued support from the UK Government
and the international community is absolutely crucial to our success. Now, more than ever, the people of Myanmar need your continued friendship and support. First of all, I would like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People, Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice
for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the UK on coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MEC and MEHL, and for providing extra funding to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. Additionally, I
would like to further thank the UK government for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. Truly we are the voice
of over 54 million brave people who stand in solidarity against the cruel and ruthless junta. Thank you also for lending protection and support to Ambassador Kyaw Zraw Minn since he was illegally removed from office by the junta.
I previously had the wonderful privilege of meeting with Minister H.E. Nigel Adams and other British Parliamentarians who reassured me that the People and Government of the UK are strongly committed and supportive of the brave people of Myanmar in our peaceful movement for freedom and democracy against the junta reign of terror. I am also looking forward very much to appearing before the British
Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on the Myanmar military coup hearing. I am proud to serve as the Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson for the National Unity Government. It is my job to provide you with the information and assistance that you need to support the people of Myanmar. I am always at your
service. The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining
without cause the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar on a daily and hourly basis. The people of Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists. It has been 104 days since Min Aung Hlaing and his gunmen instigated this illegal coup d’etat and took the nation hostage.
Since that day:
• Nearly 800 civilians have been murdered, including at least 52 children;
• Approximately 5,000 civilians have been detained with roughly 4,000 still
remaining in detention;
• Over 1,500 are being hunted by junta forces, evading arrest warrants.
• Continually bombing villages in ethnic States;
• The junta continues using the ASEAN Summit as a propaganda tool;
• I myself am personally wanted for high treason, as are my colleagues;
• Daily raids on private homes continue unabated. In a raid last week of the
home of an opposition leader, for example, authorities abducted his wife
and 20 day old infant when they could not find him.
• There is significant evidence of the torture of those captured, including the poet Khat Thi who was detained last week and murdered within 24 hours.
• They continue to try and stop the truth from getting out:
o They have shutdown Internet access for weeks now,
o Abolished all free media outlets,
o illegitimately made free association illegal, and
o they have harassed and imprisoned journalists. More than 40
journalists remain in detention in Myanmar including an international
Journalist from Japan.
• The violence we are seeing by the junta is both systematic and widespread. It is clear that they are engaging in crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar.
• Myanmar is quickly becoming a failed state:
o Nearly a quarter million people have become displaced.
o Food insecurity is rising sharply..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Human Rights and international relations, UK-Burma relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Food Security and displacement in Burma, Public Health, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Khet Thi, who captured the unflinching determination of the Myanmar public, was the third poet to be killed by the military since the coup
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"His words captured the unflinching determination of the Myanmar public in the face of military brutality: “They shoot in the head, but they don’t know revolution dwells in the heart.”
The poet Khet Thi was taken from his home in Shwebo, in the Sagaing region, last Saturday. The next day, his wife collected his body from a hospital. His organs had been removed, she told BBC Burmese.
The military has tried to crush any form of dissent over recent months, including writers or celebrities whose words have the power to inspire hope and rebellion.
“Poetry, charisma and courage are a deadly blend against any tyranny,” said Ko Ko Thett, a poet, translator and anthologist of contemporary Burmese poetry, who is based in the UK.
At least 32 writers and poets are in detention, according to PEN International, a global association of writers which has been tracking arrests. Others have fallen victim to military violence on the frontlines of rallies. Two poets – K Za Win and Myint Myint Zin – were shot dead when the military opened fire on protesters in March
On Friday, U Sein Win, a poet, politician and philanthropist, was doused in petrol and burned to death in an attack by an unknown perpetrator. He is the fourth poet to be killed in recent months.
Myanmar’s rich poetic heritage is deeply intertwined with politics. Poets used verse to resist British colonial rule, as well as the previous military regime, which censored and imprisoned writers. Poets would meet in tea shops to discuss their works, and use coded language to bypass censorship.
When Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was elected to power in 2015’s historic election – a breakthrough for democracy after decades of direct military rule – 11 poets were among the candidates who won seats.
Though there were still limitations on expression under Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, poets were able to write and publish far more freely.
Khet Thi quit his job as an engineer in 2012 to pursue poetry, selling cakes and ice-creams on the side to support himself. He grew up in Pale township in Monywa, where his parents operated a peanut oil press, and first began writing poetry while at school.
“His poems have always been special and unique because they came from his heart,” said a close friend. They had not been able to meet since the coup, and had avoided discussing the political situation on the phone, in case they were being monitored. Many poets were in hiding, fearing arrest, he said.
“Khet Thi’s virtue was that he only wanted to be friends with people who see people as people [who do not discriminate]. He was a revolutionary with strong beliefs and someone who never steps back,” the friend added.
Khet Thi was possibly the only prominent poet from Myanmar’s Bamar majority who wrote about the 2017 Gu Dar Pyin massacre, said Ko Ko Thett. Discussion of such attacks, where hundreds of Rohingya were killed by security forces and buried in mass graves, was highly sensitive.
Before the coup, he would sell printed copies of his books, but over recent months his words were shared mainly on Facebook. He addressed rallies, telling crowds at a march on 27 March that every protester in Myanmar was a Nobel peace prize winner. “Who does the power belong to?” he shouted into a microphone. “The people!” protesters replied.
Though critical of the NLD, K Za Win also appeared at the front line of protests that swept the country in the wake of the coup, defending the party’s election victory and right to govern. He grew up in Letpadaung near Monywa, and spoke out about land rights after his family lost their land to a mining project pursued jointly by a Chinese and Myanmar military-backed company.
K Za Win was a Buddhist monk but left the sangha, said Ko Ko Thett, because he believed there was little point in being recognised as a learned monk by the military state.
He spent more than one year in prison after he was arrested for taking part in a rally for education reform in 2015. After his release, he published his most famous work, a collection called My Reply to Ramon.
Prior to his death, K Za Win had written on Facebook: “Though I have different views than you, I’ll lay down my life for you all.” Myint Myint Zin and K Za Wi were among 38 people killed during crackdowns on protesters on 3 March.
The poets expressed the emotions that were felt by the people, said May, a professor in Japan. “This revolution is led by all of our sheer will power and we need literary people who speak for us.”
The Burmese language already has a poetic quality, said Ko Ko Thett. “It features euphonies and rhymes frequently. Most Burmese slogans, by the regime or anti-regime groups, are couplets.”
But the verses written by Khet Thi and others are far more than a literary exercise. Security forces have killed 790 people since the coup, according to an advocacy group, including protesters, bystanders and dozens of children. Thousands have been arrested, and are often held in unknown locations. Reports of torture of widespread.
“For many people on the ground in Myanmar, lines such as ‘with what grief I will grieve for you, my martyred son’ by [the poet] A Phaw Khaing have become daily reality. People who are at a loss for words tend to find answers in poetry,” he said.
Many will remember Khet Thi by one of his famous lines, written in response to military violence: “You try so hard to bury us underground, because you don’t know that we are the seeds.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Since the military coup on 1 February, more than 700 people have been killed by security forces and thousands have been imprisoned.
Elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party have also been detained.
There have since been multiple reports of detainees being tortured while in custody, with some dying from their injuries.
Myanmar's military has justified the February takeover by alleging there had been widespread fraud during a general election late last year.
Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), National Unity Government (NUG)
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The victim was a longstanding supporter of the National League for Democracy who had taken part in anti-coup protests
Description:
"A pro-democracy activist in the Sagaing Region town of Monywa was murdered on Friday after being set on fire in an unprovoked attack, according to a witness to the incident.
Factory manager Taing Aung said that he was talking to the victim, 60-year-old Sein Win, on Friday morning when a factory worker poured gasoline over his head and set him alight.
“I saw him pour the gasoline and then immediately set him on fire. I shouted and tried to put out the fire on Ko Sein Win,” said Taing Aung, who was a friend of the victim.
“He poured the gasoline on him just like we do with water during the Thingyan water festival,” he told Myanmar Now.
Sein Win was immediately admitted to the Monywa General Hospital, but died at around 11pm on Friday, he added.
“He had severe burns on his legs, hands, and head—almost his entire body. His face was burned black. The skin on his legs and hands peeled off,” said Taing Aung.
The assailant was identified as Aung Ko, a resident of Monywa’s Myawaddy ward. At the time of reporting, he was still at large.
Officials at the Monywa police station could not be reached for comment when contacted by Myanmar Now on Saturday.
Sein Win’s family will hold a funeral for him on Sunday afternoon.
A longtime supporter of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Sein Win had been active in politics since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and campaigned for the party in the 1990 election.
According to his daughter Thin Thin Nwe, his political activism often made life difficult for him and his family, including his three adult children.
“None of us ever applied for jobs that required documents or references from ward administrators or the police,” she said, explaining that the regime actively discriminated against those known to oppose its rule.
She added, however, that she understood her father’s position because he shared his political beliefs with his children and educated them about the nature of the dictatorship.
As a veteran pro-democracy activist, Sein Win joined anti-regime protests in Monywa soon after the military seized power on February 1. He was also close to youth activists and supported the anti-coup activities of Generation Z protesters in the town.
“He believed this revolution would win. He saw rays of hope, and so do we. I am very sad that my father will no longer be able to see our victory,” Thin Thin Nwe said.
Sein Win was also a charity worker and a lover of poetry whose poems have been published in a number of magazines.
A fellow poet in Monywa who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity said that it was unlikely that the motive for the attack was personal.
“He was an honest and active charity worker and political activist,” he said.
At least nine civilians, including poet Kay Za Win and writer Kyi Lin Aye, have been murdered in brutal crackdowns on anti-coup protesters in Monywa.
Monywa-based poet Khet Thi died last week in the regime's custody a day after he was arrested in Shwebo, another town in Sagaing about 100km from Monywa..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 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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Description:
"Myanmar is on the brink of collapse. Its armed forces are continuing a brutal crackdown—arresting, torturing and killing protesters—as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de-facto leader, is detained. Our experts answer your questions..."
Source/publisher:
The Economist
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, China-Burma-India relations, Russia-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Political History, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Spring Revolution
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Title: Myanmar Crisis - Siege and bombardment of Mindat Town in Chin State, Myanmar - happening now.
Description:
"Dear: I am sorry to disturb you again so soon after my last correspondence, but another major crisis has emerged that requires urgent
attention. In the last few days, attacks by the military junta in Myanmar have seriously escalated with indiscriminate shelling and bombing of
50,000 civilians in the town of Mindat in Chin State. The town is under siege by 1000 troops and is being bombed by helicopter
gunships and heavy artillery, including tanks.
I attach an urgent statement from Dr. Sasa, spokesperson of the National Unity Government. A few days ago, 20 young men were arrested by the military in the town. Their screams of torture, heard by residents, led to protests that, as elsewhere throughout Myanmar, have been violently suppressed. The military personnel in the first convoy that approached the town, after talking with courageous local inhabitants, abandoned their vehicles and their weapons, presumably
because they did not wish to participate in the killing of the civilian population. However, the military subsequently heavily
reinforced their presence and are now bombarding the town. The military are arresting anyone who tries to help wounded civilians
and those they have arrested, including medical personnel, are being used as human shields by the military. In the last 48 hours, 5
civilians have been killed and 14 injured. Meanwhile, homes are being destroyed by tanks and helicopter gunships. Mindat is an important town for the Chin people and a gateway to Chin State. It is a centre for Chin culture and its Buddhist and Christian population. This could be one reason why it has been targeted by the military junta, which habitually targets ethnic communities. (Such attacks are also being carried out against the Kachin, Karen and Rohingya people). It is likely that the Junta wish to 'make an example' of Mindat, to spread fear across Chin State and the rest of Myanmar.
I have visited Mindat and have received gracious, generous hospitality from the people and the community leaders there. They are
a peace-loving people who do not deserve to be victims of such violence and have few resources to defend themselves. It is
poignant that they destroyed rather than kept the weapons abandoned by the soldiers in the first convoy.
I have visited Mindat and have received gracious, generous hospitality from the people and the community leaders there. They are
a peace-loving people who do not deserve to be victims of such violence and have few resources to defend themselves. It is
poignant that they destroyed rather than kept the weapons abandoned by the soldiers in the first convoy.
Since the military coup on 1 February, nearly 800 civilians (including 52 children) have been killed and 5000 civilians detained by
the military junta.
Today, the elected Minister of International Cooperation and International Spokesperson for the newly-formed National Unity
Government (NUG), Dr. Sasa, said: “The international community must support the courageous people of Myanmar to end this
reign of terror once and for all. The military forces must be stopped. If delays in the recognition of NUG as the legitimate
government of Myanmar continue, the risks of a full blown of civil war are very high.”
I call upon the British government and the UN Security Council:
• To call upon the junta to end the siege of Mindat.
• To immediately sanction the military regime in Myanmar with the suspension of all military trade deals; dealings with stateowned
companies; and trade in oil and gas.
• To recognise the democratically elected National Unity Government;
• and to urge all other nations to do likewise.
Yours sincerely, Caroline - The Baroness Cox House of Lords London SW1A0PW..."
Source/publisher:
House of Lords via Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Human Rights and international relations, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Several Groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"An arrested Japanese reporter returned home Friday after being released by Myanmar’s ruling junta in what it called a gesture of friendship to Japan.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Yuki Kitazumi was released after efforts by Japanese diplomats and others. The reporter boarded a plane at Yangon’s airport and landed in Japan on Friday night.
Kitazumi, a freelance journalist and former reporter for Japan’s Nikkei business news, said in brief comments at the airport that he learned of his release the night before and was told to pack his bag in 10 minutes.
“As a journalist I wanted to stay in Yangon and keep reporting, but I had to come back, and that is my regret,” he said. He said he hopes to keep telling the world about what’s happening in Myanmar.
The military seized power on Feb. 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It has faced large, constant popular opposition, which it has tried to suppress by using force that has cost hundreds of lives and by muzzling the news media.
Myanmar’s army-run Myawaddy TV said Kitazumi was arrested on April 18 for “inciting” anti-military civil disobedience and riots.
“Although the journalist is a lawbreaker, the case will be closed and he will be released at the request of the Special Envoy of the Japanese Government for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, in view of the close ties and future relations between Myanmar and Japan,” the junta said in a statement read on TV.
Japan has criticized the military government’s deadly crackdown on opposition but has taken a milder approach than the United States and some other countries that imposed sanctions against members of the junta.
Kitazumi was also charged with violating visa regulations. He was the first foreign journalist to be charged under a statute which the state press has described as aiming at “fake news.”
He has posted reports and views about developments in Myanmar on Facebook. Hours before his arrest, he posted a video showing Myanmar citizens gathering at a Tokyo temple to pay tribute to people killed by Myanmar security forces trying to quell protests.
Kitazumi had been detained briefly by police in late February while covering pro-democracy protests in Myanmar.
The announcement that he had been granted clemency came a day after a military court sentenced a Myanmar journalist, Min Nyo, to three years in prison on similar charges.
Min Nyo is a correspondent for the Democratic Voice of Burma, an online and broadcast news agency which has continued to operate despite being banned by the junta.
A statement issued by DVB said Min Nyo was covering a March 3 anti-junta protest in the town of Pyay, 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of Yangon, when he was arrested and severely beaten by police.
About 80 journalists have been arrested since the military’s takeover. Roughly half are still detained and most of them are being held under charges similar to the one for which Min Nyo was convicted, as are many activists opposed to the military regime.
Rights group Amnesty International said Min Nyo’s case showed the ruthlessness of the junta and the risks faced by journalists reporting on the junta’s abuses.
“Min Nyo’s conviction must be quashed, and he should be released immediately -– along with all other journalists, activists and human rights defenders imprisoned and detained solely for their peaceful opposition to the military coup,” the group’s deputy regional director, Emerlynne Gil, said in a statement. ___
This story was first published on May 14, 2021. It was updated on May 15, 2021 to correct the name of the journalist on first reference. He is Yuki Kitazumi, not Yuki Kigazumi..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[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, Japan-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"It's been a hundred days since the military in Myanmar staged a coup and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The time since has been marked by protests, violence and uncertainty.
Myanmar's junta has designated the rival National Unity Government (NUG) a terrorist group, blaming it for killings, bombings and arson, state media said on Saturday. After Myanmar's February 1 coup, a group of ousted lawmakers — many of them previously part of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party — formed a shadow government.
State-controlled television slammed the NUG as a terror group, as well as the affiliated Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) group..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"More than 750 people have been killed since the Myanmar military seized power three months ago. Thousands of people have been detained, including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The borders are closed and the internet effectively blocked, but people are documenting their ongoing resistance to the coup.
In Yangon, a musician and his sister have, for the last two months, been filming for the BBC..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Summary:
"Poet Khet Thi was arrested by some 100 junta troops on the evening of May 8. The following day, he was dead. His wife reportedly had to ask the authorities for permission to collect his body, whose...
Description:
"Poet Khet Thi was arrested by some 100 junta troops on the evening of May 8. The following day, he was dead. His wife reportedly had to ask the authorities for permission to collect his body, whose internal organs had been removed for autopsy, from Monywa Hospital.
The 45-year-old poet was arrested for alleged possession of explosives, but no evidence was found at his home. He was the third poet to be killed by junta forces in Sagaing Region’s Monywa in just two months. Poets K Za Win, 39, and Kyi Lin Aye, 36, were shot dead in crackdowns in March.
Poet U Yee Mon, the poet-turned-defense-minister in the National Unity Government (NUG) formed to rival the military regime, wrote on his Facebook page: “Khet Thi and K Za Win, two Monywa poets have fallen. I am sad. I am committed to fight until we win.”
More than a dozen poets who have shown solidarity with the people against the military regime have also been detained in Yangon, Ayeyawady’s Pathein and Taninthayi’s Myeik.
In Myanmar’s long history of revolution, poets have fought injustice with the power of art.
After Myanmar’s last monarch King Thibaw was dethroned and sent into exile, renowned poets from the royal capital Mandalay, including Saya Pe, Sebunni Sayadaw, U Kyawt and Maunghtaung U Kyaw Hla, wrote poems intended to promote nationalism and patriotism. Saya Pe was not content fighting with the pen and went to Shan State to take up the sword. He died there. Maunghtaung U Kyaw Hla was also the first poet to be arrested under colonial rule for his anti-colonialist poems.
The most famous poet laureate in the colonial period was Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing, also known as Maung Lun, who said he would fight with poems for the independence of the country.
His pen proved to be mighty in instilling nationalism and patriotism in Myanmar’s people.
In 1941, his reputation as an anti-colonial nationalist and patron of Doh Bamar Asiayon (the We Burmans Association) earned him a place on the British authorities’ “Burma List,” making him an “enemy of the state.” The association played an important part in Myanmar’s independence struggle, bringing together nationalist elements and fresh political ideals while raising political consciousness.
In the time of the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League government after independence, poets Daung Nwe Swe, Ne Thway Ni, Maung Yin Mon and others were known for their works supporting the movements of students, workers and farmers as well as anti-war poems and satirical works critical of bureaucrats.
However, draconian censorship was imposed after General Ne Win seized power in 1962. Poet Min Yu Wai was sacked as the chief editor of military-run Myawady Magazine after he wrote a poem deemed to be critical of the dictator.
Poet Win Latt and editor Win Khet of ‘Perspective’ Journal were sentenced to two years in prison for publishing a satirical poem about Ne Win and his wife Khin May Than.
Many poets were put behind bars under the rule of Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) as they took part in every movement against the repressive regime.
In 1970s, poet Lay Maung from Mandalay, who was serving his time as a political prisoner in Coco Islands, staged a hunger strike together with other prisoners. They called for abolishing the island prison, which was dubbed as a Burmese “Devil’s Island.” He died in prison after staging a hunger strike for more than 50 days. Thanks to the sacrifices of the poet and seven others, BSPP transferred all the prisoners to Yangon’s Insein Prison, marking a significant event in the history of Myanmar’s correctional system.
Poets were united with the people in the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 that toppled the single-party dictatorship of Ne Win. U Min Ko Naing, one of the prominent student leaders in 1988, is also a poet.
Student leader Shwe Phone Lu, who would later become a best-selling author-cum-poet under the pen name Taryar Min Wai, wrote a poem asking the students to boycott education as the military regime re-opened universities and schools after the uprising. He was jailed for five years for that poem.
Famous writer-cum-poet Min Lu was also arrested in 1989 for his satirical poem “What has happened?” criticizing coup leader General Saw Maung and Myanmar’s military. Both he and the publisher were given five years in prison as the poem became a phenomenon.
Poet Min Thu Wun, father of the 9th president of Myanmar and the first president of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, U Htin Kyaw, had also had his poems banned by the military regime after the NLD won the 1990 general elections because he took an active part in the party’s campaigns.
Poet Tin Moe, a prominent figure of the NLD, was also jailed for five years because he wrote poems and gave talks across the country for the cause of democracy. He was forced into exile after his release and died abroad in 2007.
In 2008, poet Saw Wai was arrested for his Valentine’s Day poem with a coded message, ridiculing the then-dictator Senior General Than Shwe. The first words of each line of the poem read, “power-crazed Snr-Gen Than Shwe.”
Over past 136 years since King Thibaw was dethroned in 1885 to military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s seizure of power on Feb. 1, 2021, poets have shown solidarity with the ordinary people and have been at the frontline in every revolution in Myanmar. Khet Thi’s following poem is a testimony to that.
“In heads, they shoot
Never do they know
Revolution lies in hearts.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Abstracts, bibliographies, scholarly journals, libraries, institutes, universities, other research tools, Political History, 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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247.43 KB
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Sub-title:
‘I believe he died during his interrogation,’ a relative of 21-year-old Zin Ko Tun said, noting that the young man’s body had wounds and burn marks
Description:
"A 21-year-old resistance fighter from Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Township is believed to have been tortured to death in regime custody earlier this week after fighting to defend a village under junta attack.
Family members who retrieved the body of Zin Ko Tun from Myingan Hospital on Thursday afternoon said there were clear signs of torture to the young man, including several blisters on his left arm and a wound on his chest.
He had been arrested in Talokemyo village one day earlier, a resistance stronghold around 15km from Myingan town on the east side of the Irrawaddy River.
Preceding his arrest were clashes between local resistance forces and the junta’s armed forces, Zin Ko Tun’s friends and relatives told Myanmar Now. During this outbreak of fighting, he had suffered a bullet wound near his left elbow.
“I believe he died during his interrogation after getting arrested with an injury. We were unable to find out anything about his situation after his arrest,” one of Zin Ko Tun’s relatives said, requesting not to be identified.
The 21-year-old was a member of the local resistance group known as the Myingyan People’s Defence Force (PDF). He had volunteered to help locals in Talokemyo hold back junta soldiers who were trying to crush anti-regime resistance in the village on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The 20-hour siege on Talokemyo ended on Wednesday with most resistance fighters forced to retreat. Six men, including Zin Ko Tun, were arrested after the military surrounded the village.
On Wednesday night, a military-run TV program announced that the regime forces had arrested six individuals in Talokemyo, but showed a photo of only five young men in captivity—all except Zin Ko Tun.
After the photo went viral on social media, Zin Ko Tun’s family members feared it was an indication that he had already been killed in regime custody.
At around 9am on Thursday, a police officer from Myingyan informed Zin Ko Tun’s family members through an intermediary that they needed to collect his body from Myingan Hospital, the relative told Myanmar Now.
“The man told us that there was a body at the Myingyan Hospital and no one was claiming it. When I arrived at the hospital, I saw a mark on that body which confirmed it was him. So we claimed the body,” the relative said.
The mark in question was a tattoo of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) flag that Zin Ko Tun had inked on his right arm. It appeared to have been burnt off with a hot iron, the relative added.
Zin Ko Tun was a member of the ABFSU as well as the Myingyan Technological College’s the student union, where he was a first-year IT student.
He was the eighth of nine children and a native of Nyaungto village, on the Irrawaddy’s eastern bank in Myingyan Township.
His body was transported to Nyaungto on Thursday and family members held a funeral for him on Friday morning.
Since the February 1 military coup, many civilians in Myanmar have been killed during interrogation shortly after being taken into regime custody.
Two of the most high-profile cases occurred in March, when two officials from the National League for Democracy (NLD) died soon after their arrest.
Khin Maung Latt, a ward chair for the NLD in Yangon’s Pabedan Township, died on March 7 after soldiers and police took him from his home during a night raid the day before.
The following day, Zaw Myat Lin, an NLD member who ran the Suu Vocational Institute in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township, was also arrested by soldiers during a night raid. One day later, township police informed his family of his death and told his wife to go to the Mingaladon military hospital to identify his body. His body, which showed signs of torture, was returned to his family.
Another victim was Marlar Win, a mother of three who was arrested after being shot while taking part in an anti-coup protest in Pakokku, in Magwe Region. Her family was told to retrieve her body one day after her arrest.
More than 780 people have been killed by the junta’s armed forces since the coup. The regime has dismissed this death toll as inaccurate and made false claims about the murders of some protesters by its police and soldiers, instead attributing their deaths to pre-existing health problems or violence within the resistance movement..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၁၁/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မေလ (၁၅) ရက်
တက္ကသိုလ်၊ ဒီကရီကောလိပ်၊ သိပ္ပံများသို့ ပထမနှစ်တက်ရောက်ကြမည့် ကျောင်းသား၊ ကျောင်းသူ အနာဂတ်ဦးဆောင်မည့်လူငယ်မောင်မယ်များသို့ အသိပေးတင်ပြချက်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၁၂/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မေလ (၁၅) ရက်
ကြားကာလအခြေခံပညာသင်ကြားရေးအတွက် မြို့နယ်အလိုက်ပညာရေးဘုတ်အဖွဲ့များ ဖွဲ့စည်းဆောင်ရွက်ကြပါရန်တိုက်တွန်းခြင်း..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Dozens of vehicles are blocking key roads across Myanmar's main city Yangon, in what appears to be a new tactic employed by protesters.
It comes as tens of thousands of people gather downtown, in what organisers hope will be the biggest protest yet.
The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, also known as Burma, has warned of potential violence.
Demonstrators are demanding the release of their elected leaders following a 1 Feb military coup - Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders have been detained by the military..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၁၀/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မေလ (၁၅) ရက်
စီးပွားရေးလုပ်ငန်းရှင်များ၊ စက်ရုံအလုပ်ရုံလုပ်ငန်းရှင်များသို့ မေတ္တာရပ်ခံပန်ကြားချက်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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129.09 KB
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"Australia has been criticised for not doing enough in reaction to Myanmar’s coup. It has been urged to impose targeted sanctions and be more active in its diplomacy through face-to-face meetings and shuttle diplomacy. It has been described as weak, slow and ineffective and accused of prioritising trade over human rights.
But does this criticism match the reality of what Australia has done?
Australia has put its name on statements condemning the coup in international bodies including the United Nations. Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne has issued six formal statements on Myanmar since the start of February, including unequivocal language calling for the National Assembly to reconvene consistent with election results. She has spoken to more than 20 counterparts about the situation in Myanmar. Defence cooperation has been suspended (Australia already has an arms embargo on Myanmar) and development aid has been redirected to immediate humanitarian needs. As the situation has worsened, with the military using violence to suppress protests, additional humanitarian aid has been pledged.
Australia has not minced its words. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: ‘We have been a longstanding supporter of Myanmar’s democratic transition, including the election in November … We all hope for what I know the Myanmar people want to achieve’. Australia’s most senior diplomat Frances Adamson has called the military coup ‘catastrophic’.
There is no doubt about Australia’s position on the coup. Australia believes that a well-governed and stable Myanmar is in the interests of Australia and the region. Other countervailing interests are not significant enough for Australia to prioritise them over human rights concerns. Trade is unlikely to have an impact given Myanmar only just makes it into Australia’s top 50 export destinations. The situation of detained Australian Professor Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, has not stopped Australia from speaking out despite fears it might be affected by hostage diplomacy.
The question for Australia is a tactical one: what is most likely to improve the situation for the people of Myanmar? Given that Australia’s reaction has been clear and unequivocal from day one, further condemnation is unlikely to have any greater effect. There are three areas where criticism seems justified.
First, while Australia already has some targeted sanctions on Myanmar, it would have been useful to have the option to be able to impose more. Unfortunately, Australia cannot do so easily or quickly under its current system. In this, Australia lags behind, as was shown recently when it could not coordinate with other countries in imposing sanctions relating to human rights abuses in Xinjiang. A parliamentary inquiry recently recommended Australia change this by introducing new Magnitsky-style laws, and draft legislation is expected to be tabled this year.
Second, while Australia’s long-term policy is to recognise states, not governments, this is no bar to communicating with the parallel Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) government, as other countries have reportedly done.
Third, Australia should have immediately extended the visas of Myanmar students who fear to return. While students were reportedly being assessed on a case-by-case basis, there would have been no downside to announcing a blanket extension as an interim measure, as finally happened in early May.
Australia has decided the best tactical approach is to work with ASEAN. A number of ASEAN states are putting pressure on Myanmar, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. In a departure from its usual diplomatic style, the bloc convened a special summit to deal with the Myanmar issue, with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo staking political capital on its success. The summit came up with a five-point plan including the immediate cessation of violence, ASEAN provision of humanitarian assistance and a visit by an ASEAN special envoy to meet all parties and facilitate mediation of a dialogue process. In these circumstances, it is reasonable for Australia to frame the question as how it can support ASEAN’s efforts.
What is striking in the case of Myanmar’s coup is that nobody thinks it is a good idea: not ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, the EU nor the G7. Some, like Russia and India, have chosen not to condemn, but there is nothing to suggest they welcome the coup. In this case, there is no conflict between those who focus on human rights and democracy and those who focus on stability and development, all of which have been jeopardised.
Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing is friendless in his attempts to maintain power by trashing Myanmar’s constitution. But it has been hard for any external forces to have influence given limited leverage. If a regime does not care about international condemnation, it can brazen it out.
Myanmar’s coup is a reminder of the limits of any external influence, not just Australia’s. This should be kept in mind through any consideration of the impact Australia could have..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Australia-Burma relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the International Communities from around the world, and especially our ASEAN brothers and sisters for standing with us at this critical moment in the history of Myanmar.
While the fate of our country is in the hands of our people, strong and sustained support from the international community is absolutely crucial to our success. Now, more than ever, the people of Myanmar need your continued friendship and support. I am proud to serve as the Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson for the
National Unity Government, as I was when previously serving as Myanmar's Special Envoy to the United Nations. It is my job to provide you with the information and assistance that you need to support the people of Myanmar. I am always at your service. The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the
command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining without cause the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar on a daily and hourly basis. The people of
Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists. It has been over 102 days since Min Aung Hlaing and his gunmen instigated this illegal coup d ’etat and took the nation hostage. Since that day..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations, International Relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"If you need cash in Myanmar, you have to get up early. Queues start forming outside banks at 4 a.m., where the first 15 or 30 customers are given a plastic token that will allow them to enter the bank when it opens at 9:30 a.m. and withdraw cash, according to more than a dozen people who spoke to Reuters.
If you do not get a token, you either have to queue for hours for the few functioning cash dispensing machines outside or go to black-market brokers who charge big commissions.
The cash crisis is one of the most pressing problems for the people of Myanmar after the Feb. 1 military coup. The central bank, now run by a junta appointee, has not returned some of the reserves it holds for private banks, without giving any reason, leaving the banks short of cash.
The banks themselves have been closed or open only intermittently as many staff have gone on strike to protest against the coup. Meanwhile, internet outages make online transactions difficult and international transfers have largely stopped working.
That presents problems for Burmese people and small businesses as they try to navigate an economy rapidly crumbling under the country’s new leaders and the collapse of tourism, one of Myanmar’s fastest-growing sectors. The Burmese kyat has dropped some 20% in value since the coup.
“It’s now very difficult to operate a business,” said Hnin Hnin, an entrepreneur in her mid-20s who supplies shampoo and bedsheets to high-end hotels. “Traders don’t accept bank transfers now. They want cash. So we need to find the cash.”
As a result, Hnin Hnin, who agreed to be identified only by a part of her name to discuss sensitive matters, has been one of the thousands of people queuing daily in front of the few functioning cash machines in major cities. Some people band together in groups of five, she said, so one person can take out money for the whole group.
She has also been forced to figure out ways to pay her suppliers overseas, by making an agreement to swap money with a partner holding cash in an account in Thailand. Under the agreement, the partner gives Hnin Hnin access to her Thai baht account, so she can pay suppliers in Thailand, and Hnin Hnin pays her back with physical kyat notes in Myanmar.
The central bank and the junta did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters put questions to Myanmar’s four largest private banks, including Kanbawza Bank and CB Bank. They also declined to respond.
It is now almost impossible to get hold of U.S. dollars or other overseas currency at regular exchange centres in Yangon, a dozen people told Reuters. Black-market traders will take online transfers in exchange for physical notes in various currencies, they said, but add a commission of up to 10%.
Myanmar's private banks were in trouble long before this year’s coup, at least partly because of their habit of lending money to well-connected customers who rarely bothered to pay them back, at least four bankers, including then-deputy central bank governor, told Reuters in 2017.
The coup and the protests against it now mean there is no functional banking system, according to Richard Horsey, an independent political analyst specializing in Myanmar.
“You have a three-pronged hit to the banking system,” said Horsey. “The pre-existing problems with the banks, which will be all the more difficult to resolve now; you have the economic impact of the coup which has produced a virtual hard stop to the economy without any kind of ability by the regime to manage that or inject stimulus; and then you have the banking sector strike itself.”
People want to withdraw cash now to buy food and other essentials, said Horsey, and also because they fear the banking system will collapse.
POVERTY RATE COULD DOUBLE
The cash crisis is the most immediate sign of much deeper economic problems facing Myanmar, some experts said.
Financial research firm Fitch Solutions said in April it expected Myanmar's gross domestic product to shrink 20% in 2021.
The United Nations Development Programme said last month that Myanmar faces economic collapse due to the combined effect of the new coronavirus and the coup, which in its worst-case analysis could put nearly half the country’s 54 million people into poverty, compared to about a quarter in 2017.
“If the situation on the ground persists, the poverty rate could double by the beginning of 2022,” said UNDP in its report. "By then, the shock from the crisis will have resulted in significant losses of wages and income, particularly from small businesses, and a drop in access to food, basic services and social protection."
Millions are expected to go hungry in the coming months, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said in an analysis published in April.
Some workers have trickled back to resume their jobs at banks in the past few weeks, but financial analysts see no immediate alleviation of the cash shortage.
In Yangon, the country’s commercial capital, an egg and cooking oil trader who identified herself as Khin told Reuters the flow of eggs, oil and other agricultural commodities had slowed substantially and was no longer sufficient, forcing her to raise prices by 25%.
While groceries are available in markets and in shops, some country analysts said they worry that farmers will not have access to seeds or credit to buy them before the monsoon planting season around June.
“Farming in rural areas has already slowed down and the impact will be huge in the next season," said Khin. "Beans suppliers and chicken farm owners aren't sure if they can start another cycle."
The commercial chain has been grinding to a halt, a major rice trader who works with hundreds of Myanmar farmers told Reuters. That trader said he lacks the cash to buy rice from farmers, which means in turn the farmers do not have money to buy equipment or pay workers to produce the rice.
Many of the private banks’ loans were collateralised against real estate in Yangon, where property prices have collapsed since the coup, according to Myanmar economy analysts.
Private banks in Myanmar are required to deposit a certain percentage of their customers’ money with the country’s central bank, as a way of protecting savings. Two bankers told Reuters their banks had deposited more than is required, but were denied permission by the central bank to withdraw any surplus, leaving them short of cash to dispense to customers.
A banker at a major Myanmar bank said the closure of branches in the first two months after the coup prevented a run on the banking system with a rush to withdraw savings. “It was a good thing that the branches haven’t been open,” said the executive. “If the branches were open, we wouldn’t have enough cash to pay out..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Banking, Economic History, The Burmese military's role in the economy, WFP (World Food Programme), UNDP - Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Mindat Chin State of Myanmar under intensive terrorist attacks
by the junta 'SAC' forces: 15 May 2021 - In the last 72 hours, murderer-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and his terrorist henchmen have been directing their cruel reign o f terror specifically against fifty thousand Chin civilians o f the town of Mindat in Southern Chin State. These terrorists have been constantly attacking the civilians
in Mindat by shelling, heavy battlefield weapons, and by using 7 Helicopter gunships with 1000 plus terrorist reinforcement forces from the central terrorist regime command. Five civilians have been killed in Mindat in the last 48 hours by these terrorists, and 14 civilians injured.
Civilian homes are being destroyed by helicopter gunships and bombing. These Junta terrorist forces are using Mindat civilians as human-shields to protect themselves and arresting local
medical personnel who are saving their fellow wounded Mindat civilians. The terrorist 'SAC' forces under the command of murderer-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing's reign of terror in Mindat must be stopped immediately! A no-fly-zone must be imposed above Myanmar urgently! These terrorists must their siege against the citizens o f Mindat, end their occupation, and leave Chin State at once! Those responsible for and participating in these cruel atrocities and war crimes
against the brave and innocent civilians o f Chin State who are trying to protect themselves, will surely be held accountable and brought to justice to pay for their crimes. All the Nations and International Communities must stand, support, and fight together with the brave and courageous people of Myanmar to end this reign of terror and nightmare once and for all. There is no room in today's world for this brutal and murderous criminal regime. Together, we will
win! - Dr. Sasa
Union Minister o f Ministry of International Cooperation and Spokesperson
National Unity Government Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Chin State, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
အမျိုးသမီး၊ လူငယ်နှင့် ကလေးသူငယ်ရေးရာ ဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၂/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မေလ (၁၅) ရက်
၁။ ယနေ့နံနက်မှစ၍အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မြေပြင်နှင့်ဝေဟင် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် မင်းတပ်မြို့သည် စစ်မြေပြင်ကဲ့သို့ ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိပြီး စစ်ကောင်စီအနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာဥပဒေများကို ချိုးဖောက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသည့် ပြည်သူလူထုအား လူသားဒိုင်းအဖြစ်အသုံးပြု၍ ပြင်းထန်စွာ ထိုးစစ်ဆင်နေကြောင်း သိရသည်။
၂။ မင်းတပ်မြို့ရှိ တိုက်ပွဲများကြားတွင် ပိတ်မိနေသော အရွယ်မရောက်သေးသည့် ကလေးသူငယ်များ၊ အမျိုးသမီးများနှင့် သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုများ အတွက် အထူးစိုးရိမ်မိပါသည်။
၃။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ဖမ်းဆီးခံအမျိုးသမီးများကို လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ အကြမ်းဖက် ကျူးလွန်မှုများ ရှိနေကြောင်းလည်း သက်သေအချက်အလက်များဖြင့် တိုင်ကြားမှုများ ရှိနေပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီ အနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် အာဆီယံ၏ တောင်းဆိုချက်များအပေါ် လိုက်နာရန်၊ မင်းတပ်မြို့ရှိ ပြည်သူလူထုအား ဝေဟင်စစ်ကြောင်း၊ မြေပြင်စစ်ကြောင်းများဖြင့် အင်အား အလွန်အကျွံသုံးပြီး တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကိုရပ်တန့်ရန်၊ ဒေသခံလူထုများအပေါ် ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် အသုံးချခြင်း၊ လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာအကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ ကျုးလွန်နေခြင်းတို့ကို ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် ထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်သည်။
၄။ ဝန်ကြီးဌာနအနေဖြင့် မင်းတပ်မြို့ရှိ ပြည်သူများ တရားမျှတမှုရရှိစေရန်အတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာ စစ်ခုံရုံးများတွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ကျူးလွန်မှုများကို တိုင်ကြားသွားမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် မင်းတပ်မြို့လူထုအတွက် လူသားချင်း စာနာထောက် ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာ အရေးပေါ်အကူအညီများ အလျင်အမြန် ရရှိနိုင်ရန်လည်း ကူညီသွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်သည်။
အမျိုးသမီး၊ လူငယ်နှင့် ကလေးသူငယ်ရေးရာဝန်ကြီးဌာန
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Chin State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Chin State, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၉/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မေလ(၁၅) ရက်
အမည်ပျက်စာရင်းကြေညာခြင်း..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Format :
pdf
Size:
444.66 KB (4 pages)
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Description:
"The Republic of the Union of Myanmar
National Unity Government
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Announcement (3/2021)
May 15, 2021
“Calling Immediate Attention on Mindat”
1. After the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) staged the coup d’etat, it killed over 800 people and arrested over four thousand people. Due to the acts of terror committed by the Myanmar military, it was declared as the terrorist organization by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH).
2. The Myanmar military failed to end all forms of violence against the innocent people. It instead accelerated acts of terrorism in many places across Myanmar.
3. Due to the Tatmadaw’s terrorist actions against the innocent people of Mindat, Chin State, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), by exercising the right to self-defense, has been defending the defenseless people of Mindat, Chin State.
4. Since yesterday, the Tatmadaw has been sending more forces to the areas near Mindat while the attack helicopters are hovering above the houses of the people in Mindat. The military is shooting inside the town with heavy artilleries.
5. There have been 5 innocent people who were killed by the military actions against the civilian population and 10 people were injured. Many more are potentially under the threat of fatalities and serious injuries. The military arrested the health workers who are volunteering to provide healthcare assistance to the injured people.
6. Within the next 48 hours, Mindat can potentially become a battleground and thousands of people are facing the danger of being displaced.
7. Therefore, we would like to urge the international community to take
immediate actions to end all violence of the Tatmadaw and protect the defenseless people of Mindat, Chin State..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Chin State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
36.96 KB 44.24 KB
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Sub-title:
Dictatorship must be resisted, but that’s not enough. Solving the country’s economic crisis could transform society
Description:
"Myanmar is facing an economic and humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. There is an urgent need to protect the poorest and most vulnerable and provide assistance in a way that doesn’t entrench dictatorship. Equally important is to use this crisis to transform Myanmar’s incredibly unequal and singularly exploitative political economy. It’s the key to democratic change. It’s also the key to creating a fairer, as well as a freer and more prosperous, society.
The army’s coup d’état in February has been followed by strikes and protests, and intense repression. The army has not been able to consolidate its coup and has instead unwittingly unleashed revolutionary movements determined to end the military’s role in politics once and for all. Years of turbulence lie ahead.
Meanwhile, the economy has collapsed, with tens of millions of people descending fast into extreme poverty and the World Food Programme estimating that 3.4 million people will be unable to feed themselves properly within the next six months. The healthcare system has also collapsed, jeopardising the lives of many more, including the several hundred thousand people dependent on TB and HIV drugs and the 950,000 infants normally inoculated each year against measles, polio and other diseases. There is now next to no Covid-19 testing and no possibility of large-scale vaccination.
The proximate cause of the unfolding catastrophe is the coup and its aftermath but understanding the history of Myanmar’s political economy is critical for thinking about what may come next.
Myanmar’s economy under British rule was based on the immigration of Indian labourers and the export of primary commodities. After independence in 1948, politics was dominated by the left and efforts to overturn the colonial legacies. But in the late 1980s a new army junta ended the “Burmese way to socialism”, creating new markets, in particular around extractive industries tied to China’s industrial revolution next door. Taxation and social services were practically non-existent. Inequality skyrocketed and a mix of climate change and massive land confiscations drove millions to Thailand in search of work. In the uplands, alongside a patchwork of army battalions, militia and ethnic minority forces, were money-making networks far richer than even the men with guns, including a methamphetamine racket said by the UN to be worth billions.
The political reforms of the past 10 years were not accompanied by any structural change to the economy. The army took a big step back from business, and liberalisation led to more foreign competition as well as growth in a few sectors such as tourism, property and telecoms. A small middle class emerged but most Myanmar people continued to live on the edge of violence and extreme poverty, including the most vulnerable: upland farmers, landless villagers, new urban slum-dwellers, people of South Asian descent and other minorities. The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in 2017 was unmatched in scale and brutality. But the Myanmar state has long failed many of its peoples.
With the pandemic came an economic shock that sent an already fragile economy into a tailspin, the result of lockdowns and disruptions to foreign trade. The garment sector, the country’s one promising manufacturing industry, was brought to its knees. An international study last October found that income poverty (people making less than $1.90 (£1.36) a day) had risen from 16% to 63% of the population. There was almost no state support.
Now in the aftermath of the coup, the economy is at a virtual standstill. A general strike coupled with the army’s internet blockages have shut down much of the financial system, disrupting business and payroll payments worth the equivalent of billions of US dollars a month. With confidence plummeting and the central bank unwilling or unable to provide needed liquidity, families are hoarding as much cash as possible. It’s difficult to imagine how ordinary people will survive these coming months, especially the rural poor, most of whom are landless and entirely dependent on casual work.
However, the army regime is likely to survive any economic downturn because Myanmar’s system has never veered far from the one that grew up under past juntas and under the toughest possible western sanctions. The new businesses of the past decade, such as manufacturing, will wither, old ones, such as timber and mining, will gain renewed ground, and illicit ones in the uplands, from narcotics to money-laundering and wildlife trafficking will flourish in the protracted instability to come.
Whatever happens, the international priority should be to ensure that Myanmar’s poor and vulnerable communities are able to receive the assistance needed to stay alive, with special attention paid to children’s inoculations. But this must be done with political skill, so as not to undermine chances for the radical political changes to government that the vast majority of people desperately want.
Today’s revolutionary movements aim to cut revenues to the junta and are willing to pay a high economic cost. But a successful transition will come over years, not months, and it’s important to identify the economic landscape best suited for democratic change. Measures to weaken the junta that inadvertently strengthen the hand of transnational criminal networks may lead not to state collapse but a mutated political order, one that will take generations to unwind.
Dictatorship must be resisted but democracy is not enough. Over recent months, a new generation of leaders have come to the fore and many have rejected the ethno-nationalism at the heart of Myanmar politics, seeking fresh alliances across racial, ethnic and religious divides. This is not only welcome but essential for any future success. But there should also be a focus on issues of inequality and underdevelopment, protecting the vulnerable now, while reimagining and mobilising around a fairer political economy of tomorrow..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, WFP (World Food Programme), Human Rights and international relations, Public Health, Anti-coup protesters, Economic History - general, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"A university student was tortured to death in military custody after being detained during a raid by junta forces on Talokmyo Village-tract in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday,...
Description:
"A university student was tortured to death in military custody after being detained during a raid by junta forces on Talokmyo Village-tract in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday, according to sources close to him.
Family members were told on Thursday morning to collect the body of Ko Zin Ko Tun, who was arrested with five other students during the raid on Talokmyo on Wednesday afternoon.
“He was struck by a bullet in Talokmyo and arrested. And he died in military custody,” a source said.
Ko Zin Ko Tun, a first-year IT student from Myingyan, had only an arm wound when he was taken away by the junta forces. “He was still alive when he was arrested. All six were beaten with rifle butts as junta forces arrested them. He died during interrogation. Another one who was hit in the leg also reportedly had his leg amputated,” said a source close to Ko Zin Ko Tun.
Junta forces planted weapons on the six when photographing them immediately after their arrest to make the crime look more serious. When the military’s mouthpiece, Myawaddy TV, reported the news, Ko Zin Ko Tun was not shown, and more arms and ammunition were displayed instead.
“In the first photo, they [junta forces] intentionally added their weapons. And more weapons were added in the photo published by Myawaddy. They are attempting to make it appear as if a more serious crime occurred,” a source close to Ko Zin Ko Tun said.
“The pictures published by Myawaddy intend to make the crime look more serious. It was unnecessarily cruel of the junta forces to use more than 400 troops to launch a violent crackdown on unarmed civilians,” a Talokmyo resident said.
Of the six, five including a woman are university students from Myingyan. The identity of the sixth is still unknown.
They were in Talokmyo to help villagers with their resistance movement against the military regime.
Junta troops detained between 50 and 100 civilians in the raid Wednesday morning in Talokmyo. The clash began on Tuesday afternoon when more than 100 regime troops attempted to enter Talokmyo. Faced with unexpected resistance from the villagers, some 400 more soldiers were brought in on Wednesday morning to attack the village-tract.
Two junta troops were killed and three injured in the shootout. Three civilians were injured. Locals have fled their villages following the raid, but junta forces are searching for them in nearby forests.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) is deeply troubled and strongly condemns the torture and death of two Chin civilians by Tatmadaw soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 266 operating under the Tactical Operations Command based in Hakha, Chin State. CHRO is calling for a thorough and independent investigation into the deaths of the two individuals while in custody, as well as all allegations of systematic torture practices currently being used against civilian detainees at the LIB 266 military base detention centre located on Mount Rung.
Tler Ling, a 54-year-old local farmer was arrested by Tatmadaw soldiers on Sunday, 9 May having been accused of harboring members of the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) and for alleged possession of a traditional hunting rifle at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Hakha Town. A second victim, 27-year-old, Kham Bawi who had just arrived from his village and was staying with relatives in Hakha, was arrested separately on the same day. Both were taken to the Tactical Operations Command Center on Mount Rung where they were tortured and later died.
Initially the Tactical Operations Commander, Colonel Saw Tun told community and religious leaders that the two had succumbed to injuries sustained during their interrogations while on the way to Kalay Myo (approx. 200 kilometres away from Hakha) having been transported there for urgent medical treatment. This differed from accounts provided within the Monday edition of the state-run daily newspaper Myanmar Alin, which stated that the two had succumbed to heart disease. When community leaders pressed for the bodies to be returned to the families for proper burial according to Chin customary traditions, Colonel Saw Tun informed community members that the bodies had been cremated as 54-year-old, Tler Ling was discovered to have contracted COVID-19.
CHRO has raised grave concerns regarding the treatment of detainees and allegations of torture practices used by the Tatmadaw during interrogations and has documented serious bodily and psychological injuries inflicted on civilian detainees suspected of being involved in anti-junta activities since the February 1 coup d’etat:
“Accountability for such heinous crimes must go to the top of the chain of command. As the two highest-ranking army officials in Chin State, we hold Tactical Operations Commander Colonel Saw Tun, and Brigadier-General Myo Htut Hlaing, Deputy Commander of the Northwestern Regional Command as culpable for the deaths of Tler Ling and Khamh Bawi,” said Salai Za Uk Ling, Deputy Executive Director of CHRO.
For more information please contact:
[email protected]
Tel: +91 873 104 6827..."
Source/publisher:
Chin Human Rights Organization
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
36.63 KB
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Description:
"The Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of National Unity Government of Myanmar H.E. Dr. Sasa’s address the People and Government of the United States of America- USA..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), USA-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Public Health, Education rights: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.76 MB
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Description:
"ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ( ၁၆/၂၀၂၁ )
၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်
မတ်လ (၂၇)ရက်၊ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်။
================
၁။ ယနေ့ ကျရောက်သည့် ၇၆ နှစ်မြောက် ဖက်ဆစ်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ နှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ လက်နက်ကိုင်သောင်းကျန်းသူများသည် ဖက်ဆစ်များကဲ့သို့ပင် ပြုမူပြီး နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်သူများ အား ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြသည်။
၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ နှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ လက်နက်ကိုင်သောင်းကျန်းသူများ၏ ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ်မှု အတွင်း လူပေါင်းများစွာ အသက်သေဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး၊ ရာပေါင်းများစွာ ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့ကြသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ကလေးငယ်များကိုပင် ထောက်ထားညှာတာခြင်းမရှိဘဲ နေအိမ်များအတွင်း နေထိုင်လျက်ရှိ သည့် ကလေးငယ်များကို သေနတ်ဖြင့် ရက်ရက်စက်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ခြင်းသည် ဖက်ဆစ်စနစ် မြန်မာ့မြေ ပေါ်တွင် ဆက်လက်တည်ရှိနေသေးကြောင်း ထင်ရှားသည့် သက်သေတစ်ခုပင် ဖြစ်သည်။
၃။ စစ်ပွဲများအတွင်း၌ပင် ရှောင်ရှားရမည့် အပြုအမူများကို လက်နက်မဲ့ ပြည်သူများအပေါ် ဆက်တိုက်ကျူးလွန် လျက်ရှိသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လုပ်ရပ်များသည် သူရဲဘောကြောင်ရုံမျှမက လူသားစိတ်ကင်းမဲ့လျက် ရှိသည်ကိုတွေ့ရသည်။
၄။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တွင် တိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးစုဒေသများတွင် ဆိုးရွားရက်စက် သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပြီး၊ ယနေ့ထက်တိုင်လည်း ယင်းရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျေးလက်၊ မြို့ ပြနေရာ မကျန် ကျူးလွန်နေသော်လည်း ၎င်းတို့၏ လူသားမဆန်ဆုံးသော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအတွက် အပြစ်ပေးခံရခြင်းမှ လွတ်မြောက်လျက် ရှိသည်မှာ ယဉ်ကျေးသော လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းကို ပြောင်ပြောင်တင်းတင်းစိန်ခေါ်နေသည့် ဖြစ်ရပ် ပင်ဖြစ်သည်။
၅။ သို့ဖြစ်၍ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ နှင့် အကြမ်းဖက် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျူးလွန်ရာတွင် တာဝန်ရှိသူအားလုံးကို အပြစ်ပေးအရေးယူနိုင်ရေး နှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုမျိုးစုံကို ခံစားကြရသည့် ပြည်သူများအားလုံးအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုရရှိရေး အဆုံးတိုင် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
330.18 KB
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Description:
"ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ( ၁၇/၂၀၂၁ )
၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်ကျော် ၃ ရက်
မတ်လ (၃၀)ရက်၊ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်။
================
၁။ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထု၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်များကို အကြမ်းဖက်တိုက်ခိုက်လျက်ရှိသည့် အာဏာ သိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ နှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ လက်ပါးစေ လက်နက်ကိုင်အကြမ်းဖက်သောင်းကျန်းသူများ၏ ရက်စက်မှုများ ကြောင့် နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်း၌ ပြည်သူအများ နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ အတိဒုက္ခရောက်နေကြရသည်။
၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများကို ရှုတ်ချပြီး ပြည်သူများနှင့်အတူ တိုက်ပွဲဝင် လျက်ရှိ သည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ ခိုင်မာသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များ၊ ကူညီပံ့ပိုး မှုများကို မြင်တွေ့ ကြားသိ နေရပါသည်။
၃။ ညီနောင်မဟာမိတ် (၃) ဖွဲ့ ဖြစ်သော ကိုးကန့် (MNTJP/MNDAA)၊
တအောင်း (PSLF/TNLA) နှင့် ရခိုင် (ULA/AA) တို့က ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ (၃၀) ရက်စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာသည့် မြန်မာ့တပ်မတော်မှ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း လက်ရှိဖြစ်ပျက်နေသော ပြည်တွင်း ပဋိပက္ခများနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်ကို ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက ကြိုဆိုပါကြောင်းနှင့် မြန်မာ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး အောင်မြင်ရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ထောင်ရေးတို့အတွက် အတူလက်တွဲ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်သွားရန် ဖိတ်ခေါ်ပါကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Several Groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ( ၁၈/၂၀၂၁ )
၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်ကျော် ၃ ရက်
မတ်လ (၃၀)ရက်၊ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်။
==============
၁။ နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာကို လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အနိုင်ကျင့်သိမ်းယူခဲ့သော စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ အကြမ်းဖက်သောင်းကျန်းသူများသည် နိုင်ငံအဝှမ်းရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံး ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်များကို နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ ဖျက်ဆီးနှောင့်ယှက်လျက်ရှိသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လူမဆန်သော လုပ်ရပ်များကြောင့် ပြည်သူများသည် ကျေးလက်မြို့ ပြမကျန် ကြီးစွာသော ဆင်းရဲဒုက္ခရောက် နေကြရသည်။
၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားအစည်းအရုံး (KNU)၊ ကချင်လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်မတော် (KIA) အစရှိသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ နယ်မြေများတွင်လည်း စစ်ဆင်ရေးများပြုလုပ်နေပြီး၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများနေထိုင်သည့် ကျေးရွာများအား လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်နေခြင်းကြောင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားနယ်မြေများမှ အကာအကွယ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူများသည် အိုးအိမ်စွန့်ခွာ၍ တစ်ဖက် နိုင်ငံသို့ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။
၃။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ အကြမ်းဖက်သောင်းကျန်းသူများသည် တိုင်းရင်းသား ဒေသများတွင် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပြီး၊ ယခုတွင်လည်း သာလွန်အင်အား၊ လေ ကြောင်းအင်အားများဖြင့် အပြစ်မဲ့တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်နေသည့် လုပ်ရပ်များသည် လူသား ဆန်မှုကင်းမဲ့လျက်ရှိသည်။ ယင်းလုပ်ရပ်များကို ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက အပြင်းထန် ဆုံး ရှုတ်ချသည်။
၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသများရှိ ပြည်သူများ နှင့်တကွ နိုင်ငံတော်တစ်ဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ ပြည်သူများ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ် စည်းစိမ်များအား အကာအကွယ်ပေးနိုင်ရေး နှင့် လူသား ချင်းစာနာမှုဆိုင်ရာ အထောက်အကူများ ရရှိနိုင်ရေး နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံအသုံးပြု၍ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက် သွားမည်ဖြစ် ကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်အစိုးရ
သမ္မတရုံးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
အမိန့်ကြေညာစာအမှတ် (၅/၂၀၂၁)
၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်ကျော် ၄ ရက်
(၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ မတ်လ ၃၁ ရက်)
=================
CDM ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်နှင့် စပ်လျဉ်း၍ အသိပေးကြေညာခြင်း။
(၁) CDM (Civil Disobedience Movement) သည် စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဖြုတ်ချရေးတွင် အထူးပင်ထိရောက် သော လက်နက်တစ်ခုအဖြစ် အောင်မြင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
(၂) ယနေ့ မတ်လ (၃၁) ရက် ည (၁၂) နာရီ အချိန်သည် CDM ပြုလုပ်မည့်သူများ CDM ပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရန် နောက်ဆုံးသတ်မှတ်ထားသောအချိန် ဖြစ်သည်။
(၃) ဧပြီလ ပထမပတ်အတွင်း ညီညွတ်သော ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
(၄) စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ အောက်တွင် အလုပ်မလုပ်လိုသဖြင့် အလုပ်ထွက်လာသူ၊ နှုတ်ထွက်စာတင်ပြီး အလုပ် ဆက်မလုပ်သူများကိုလည်း CDM အဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်မည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
(၅) ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာချိန်တွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်နှင့် ဆက်လက်ပူးပေါင်းနေသူများ၊ စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ အစေခံများ၊ CDM မပြုလုပ်သူများသည် ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရကို ဆန့်ကျင်ပုန်ကန်သူများအဖြစ် မှတ်ယူမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
(၆) အဆိုပါ CDM မပြုလုပ်သူများ၊ စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ လက်ပါးစေများ၊ စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ လက်ကိုင်တုတ်များ၊ စစ်အာဏာရှင်နှင့် ပူးပေါင်းသူများကို ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရ သက်ဆိုင်ရာဒေသ ပြည်သူ့အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးအဖွဲ့များက ပြင်းထန် စွာ အရေးယူသွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း အသိပေးအပ်ပါသည်။
(၇) ဒေသဆိုင်ရာ CDM အောင်မြင်ရေးအဖွဲ့အနေဖြင့် ဆက်လက် အကောင်အထည်ဖော် ဆောင်ရွက်သွား မည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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238.66 KB
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Ministry of Education, General Strike Committee for Basic Education Workers, National Unity Government,The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, sends recommendation to the Ministry of Education, National Unity Government - (Unofficial English translation)
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health via National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
197.09 KB
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Description:
Ministry of Education: Order No.2/2021 - ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အမိန့်အမှတ် ၂/၂၀၂၁
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Human rights and education, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
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290.48 KB
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Description:
"As of 13 May, (788) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (3) fallen heroes today. (1) from Mindat Town in Chin State died on 13 May. (2) from Talote Town, in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region and Hakha Town in Chin 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 May 13, a total of (3936) people are currently under detention; of them (90) are sentenced. 1619 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today, people across Burma continued to fight to defeat the military dictatorship. Early this morning in Nabule Region, Dawei Township in Tanintharyi Region, junta forces cracked down on protests, arresting four civilians who were not participating in the protests. Yesterday evening, the junta suppressed a protest taking place in Nanat Taw Ward, Loikaw Township in Kayah State using unmarked cars and military vehicles and fired real bullets into houses. During this crackdown 10 civilians, and three children were arrested, including a 12-year-old child. In recent days, junta forces have carried out a series of arrests upon children during crackdowns.
The people of Burma continue to defend themselves, using any weapon they can find, particularly in areas which junta forces have used excessive force against locals – using artillery on civilians. Early this morning, Mel Thel Kyo Kwin Village in Chaung U Township, Sagaing Region was attacked by junta forces. Villagers tried to defend themselves, but were later surrounded by the military, who opened fire on them, forcing them to flee from their village. At this time, junta forces were also shooting in Chaung U Town. Since last night, fighting between the military and the Mindat People’s Defence Force has resumed in Mindat Town, Chin State, where the junta has been shelling the town with heavy artillery. This violence resulted in the death of a member of the Mindat People’s Defense Force, and injury to four other civilians.
This extremist terrorist group despises and oppresses civilians, people are given no protection, and these villagers and other civilians have been left to fight for themselves.
This morning, junta forces raided Myay Taw Village in Yezakyo Township, Magway Region, searching for civilians who had fled from other areas. They searched houses, destroying property and beat any civilians they found.
The junta has been torturing and killing people on a daily basis. After they murder civilians, they threaten their families and force them to sign false death certificates, so they can release fake news about the death. Some families have been told that if these certificates are not signed, the body will not be returned to them. This occurs daily, allowing the junta to attempt to cover up their atrocities and make deaths seem unrelated to junta activities.
Yesterday in Talote Town, Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region, a Technology College student, who was shot and detained whilst defending against the military, died at the interrogation center. Interrogation under this terrorist regime is known to be severe, so it is assumed this student died after being tortured, and from a lack of medical attention after his gunshot wound.
In addition, on May 9, in Hakha in Chin State, two locals were detained. The junta later announced they both died due to health conditions. Both men were severely beaten, and could not walk properly before their death. The junta did not return their bodies to their families, and the bodies were instead burned. These kinds of atrocities are frequently committed by this terrorist group, whose crimes worsen as they continue to treat civilians as their enemies.
The junta have been oppressing detainees, especially young people, and have been making false allegations about them. On May 10, the terrorist group cracked down on protesters in Bom Mar Ward, Tanintharyi Region in Dawei Town, arresting some civilians. The junta claimed they were seized with weapons. On May 11, two youths arrested in Muse Town in Shan State were alleged to have been carrying weapons. Junta forces make these accusations under sections of the law which hold long prison sentences to ensure protesters are kept in jail for a long time. They do this to intimidate civilians, and threaten that this could happen to anyone who protests against them.
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:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 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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1.02 MB 3.77 MB 927.67 KB
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Sub-title:
Myanmar Beer boycott hitting generals’ pockets with sales down 46% YoY
Description:
"May 12, 2021, Myanmar: Kirin’s 1Q 2021 financial results show a 46% decline in Myanmar Brewery year on year sales volume, providing new evidence of the impact of the popular boycott against Myanmar Beer following the illegal and brutal Feb. 1 attempted coup by the Myanmar military. According to Kirin, Myanmar Brewery’s normalised operating profit is down 49.6% compared to 1Q 2020, a difference of JP¥2.5 billion (32 billion MMK) with a 46.7% fall in revenue, a difference of JP¥5 billion (66 billion MMK).
Myanmar Brewery is a joint venture between Kirin Holdings and military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). On Nov. 11, 2020, Kirin announced a suspension of dividend payments to the military and on Feb. 5, 2021, Kirin announced that they are terminating their joint venture partnership with (MEHL), although they have not yet provided details or a timeline. We call on Kirin to disclose the steps they are taking to end their relationship with the Myanmar military and their timeframe.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Kirin’s latest financial results provide clear evidence that the mass boycott of military products by the people of Myanmar is working, causing a direct hit to the hip pockets of the corrupt war criminals that led the February 1 attempted coup. Kirin’s figures show yet again that the people of Myanmar reject military rule and demand that democracy is restored. Kirin has attempted to explain the figures as a result of Covid and “political upheaval” but we know that it is evidence of a mass rejection of their abhorrent business model in Myanmar, which finances these killers. We call on Kirin to urgently disclose the steps they are taking to cut ties with their criminal business partners. Kirin must immediately stop supporting the operations of Myanmar Brewery, which aids the Myanmar military’s continued crimes against humanity that has involved the murder of 783 people and the arrest and detention of nearly 5000 in the first 100 days since the attempted coup..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"As powerful actors in the current fragile and deteriorating context in Myanmar, businesses must uphold their human rights responsibilities and put pressure on the military junta to halt grave human rights violations, UN experts* said today.
The coup of 1 February has placed businesses with operations or business relations in Myanmar in a challenging situation. While some businesses have reiterated their public support for the rule of law and human rights, and cut ties with the junta, many continue to engage in business with the military as if nothing has happened, they said.
As the military junta is intensifying its campaign of repression against its own people in Myanmar, the experts urged companies to act in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to avoid contributing to human rights violations, or becoming complicit in crimes if they continue to operate in Myanmar.
“Because the risk of gross human rights violations has greatly increased in Myanmar, action by States and human rights due diligence by business, and investors, should be rapidly and proportionately heightened,” said Surya Deva, Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
“Businesses, both individually and collectively, should exert the maximum leverage on the military in Myanmar to halt what the High Commissioner for Human Rights has said may amount to crimes against humanity,” added the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews.
Information suggests that the military’s economic interests, including access to arms and technology, remain largely untouched and unchallenged by other States, and businesses operating in the country.
“The revenues that the military earns from domestic and foreign businesses substantially enhances its ability and capacity to carry out these grave violations,” Andrews said.
The UN experts noted that measures taken by businesses, such as suspension of payments and financial flows that may aid the perpetration of widespread and systematic human rights violations, should target the military and have the minimum possible negative impact on the rights of employees and the general population.
In 2019, the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar concluded that no business should enter into an economic or financial relationship with the security forces of Myanmar, in particular the military, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them or their individual members, until and unless they are restructured and transformed.
The experts also endorsed the Human Rights Council’s call for home States of businesses investing in, or with supply chains in Myanmar to take appropriate measures so that those businesses actively conduct heightened human rights due diligence and ensure their activities do not cause or contribute to any human rights violations.
They added that States should also urge international financial and development institutions to exercise heightened due diligence and cut ties with the military.
“There may come a point at which businesses might need to suspend operations or even consider exit from the country if risks of involvement in human rights abuse cannot be reasonably managed, while doing so in a manner to safeguard the well-being of workers and affected communities,” Deva said.
Businesses which continue to operate in Myanmar should take all possible measures to protect their employees, support the exercise of all human rights by the people of Myanmar, including the right to peaceful protests, and speak up to preserve civic space and the independence of the media.
All States, including leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and G20 countries, should take strong, decisive and coordinated action, and encourage their businesses operating in Myanmar to prevent further human rights violations, the experts added.
The Working Group has addressed the topic of heightened action and human rights due diligence in its recent report to the General Assembly: Business and Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Regions: Towards heightened Action..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Business and the Military, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Thai government instructed authorities to block refugees from Myanmar
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"The Government of Thailand should protect refugees from Myanmar from being forcibly returned and establish protection mechanisms in line with international human rights law, Fortify Rights said today. On March 19, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed government agencies to prevent “illegal immigration” from Myanmar, according to government meeting minutes. In line with this order, a Thai provincial official confirmed to Fortify Rights that Thai authorities this week returned to Myanmar at least 2,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Karen State.
“The Thai government should be preparing to protect refugees rather than prevent border crossings,” said Amy Smith, Executive Director at Fortify Rights. “Thailand has made positive commitments and taken steps to establish procedures to recognize and protect refugees during the past several years. Now is the time for Thailand to put those commitments into action to protect refugees fleeing the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.”
According to meeting minutes of the Thai Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), dated March 19, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed the Ministry of Interior, CCSA, and other concerned agencies to “monitor and prevent illegal immigration” along the Thailand-Myanmar border and instructed the Immigration Bureau to “enforce strict inspection of border crossings.” The government has also deployed Royal Thai Army troops and patrol boats to “monitor illegal entry along the western borders both by land and sea,” according to the meeting minutes.
The Thai Government does not recognize refugees and considers undocumented or unauthorized entry or stay in Thailand as “illegal immigration.”
A Thai government official speaking on the condition of anonymity told Fortify Rights that the Ministry of Defense is responsible for coordinating the government’s response to refugees from Myanmar. Among those responsible for this coordination is the Naresuan Force of the Royal Thai Army. The Naresuan Force is a special unit designated to protect the borders of Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces by “interception, retaliation and pushing back foreign forces deemed to violate Thai sovereignty.”
The Naresuan Force held more than 2,100 refugees in makeshift shelters in Mae Sariang District of Mae Hong Son Province after they crossed into Thailand last week to flee attacks in Myanmar. Less than 100 remain in Thailand as of May 11, according to a Thai provincial official.
Civil society actors in Karen State told Fortify Rights that Thai authorities also forced back to Myanmar most of the 5,000 refugees who crossed into Thailand in March and April.
The official also confirmed that the army continues to restrict humanitarian organizations and U.N. agencies, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), from accessing groups of newly arriving refugees from Myanmar, citing security and COVID-19 health concerns.
“Ensuring protections for refugees is first and foremost a humanitarian issue that demands an appropriate response from the Thai authorities to prevent the loss of life,” said Amy Smith. “Public health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and national security can be addressed and managed through proper screening mechanisms. Rather than restrict and sideline U.N. and humanitarian organizations who are ready to assist, Thai authorities should draw on their technical expertise and resources to facilitate a coordinated response.”
According to the Thai government’s meeting minutes, the prime minister called for “effort” to be made to “prepare an area to host the influx of migrants into Thailand, quarantine facilities and field hospitals.” However, the Thai authorities have yet to announce the construction of facilities for refugees or that refugees will be provided access to quarantine or medical facilities.
On May 6, Thai officials, including Mae Hong Son Governor Sithichai Jindaluang, the Commander of the Special Unit 7thInfantry Regiment, Colonel Sujin Subsin, and Permanent Secretary of Mae Hong Son Province Chanathip Semyam met with UNHCR-Thailand to discuss potential refugee influxes into Thailand and responses. At the time of writing, Thai authorities have yet to approve UNHCR operations to assist new refugees from Myanmar.
UNHCR’s Key Legal Considerations on Access to Territory for Persons in Need of International Protection in the Context of the COVID-19 Response provides that “[d]enial of access to territory without safeguards to protect against refoulement cannot be justified on the grounds of any health risk.”
Myanmar military attacks on civilian areas and clashes between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups have displaced more than 55,000 people in Kachin, Karen, and Shan states in Myanmar since February 1 , according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Myanmar. A majority of the displaced, approximately 40,000, were forcibly displaced following renewed clashes between the Myanmar military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), as well as airstrikes, “indiscriminate attacks,” and “shelling of civilian areas” by the Myanmar military, according to OCHA Myanmar.
Since taking power in a military coup d’état on February 1, the Myanmar junta has continued to kill, arbitrarily arrest, and commit other crimes against political leaders, human rights defenders, peaceful protesters, and others in Myanmar. In a document seen by Fortify Rights and provided by the Myanmar junta to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ahead of a controversial summit to discuss Myanmar last month, the junta claimed that it detained 9,848 persons, released 4,511, and charged 5,070 between February 1 and April 15.
Forcing refugees back to Myanmar violates the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the “rejection at the frontier, interception and indirect refoulement” of individuals at risk of persecution. While Thailand has not ratified the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol, the principle of non-refoulement is part of customary international law and is therefore binding on all states. Under this principle, all countries are obligated to protect people from being returned to where they face danger or persecution, including through informal returns.
The Thai government has repeatedly expressed a commitment to protect refugees, including by adopting the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration and endorsing the Global Compact on Refugees during the U.N. General Assembly in December 2018. The Thai government also affirmed a commitment to “humanitarianism and to take care of various groups of irregular migrants” during the U.N. Human Rights Committee review of Thailand’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in March 2017.
On December 24, 2019, the Thai Cabinet endorsed regulations to establish a national screening mechanism to identify and potentially protect refugees. However, the mechanism has yet to be implemented and has come under criticism from human rights groups for failing to meet international standards.
Thailand currently hosts more than 100,000 refugees, most of whom are protracted refugees from Myanmar living in temporary shelters along the Thailand-Myanmar border, as well as refugees from various countries living in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. All refugees in Thailand lack formal legal status and are at risk of arbitrary detention and being forcibly returned to countries where they may face persecution.
“Thailand still views refugees primarily through a national security lens, but the only real threat to regional peace and security is the Myanmar junta,” said Amy Smith. “If Thailand wants to protect its own security, it should protect the people of Myanmar and work with the international community to deprive the junta of its weapons and financial resources..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Thailand-Burma relations, UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN System humanitarian assistance, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar had the privilege of meeting with the United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, H.E. Sung Yong Kim, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, H.E. Atul Keshap, and
other senior US Government officials, and had the privilege of making the following address to the people and Government of the United States of America on behalf of the people of Myanmar and the people's elected National Unity Government of Myanmar. II
The brave people of Myanmar and the people’s National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People and Government of the United States of America for its strong
leadership and action against the illegal military junta since the very first day of the military coup on February 1st, 2021.
I am proud to serve as Minister of International Cooperation and spokesperson for the National Unity Government. It is my job to provide you with the information and assistance that you
need to support the people of Myanmar. I am here at your service.
Thank you again for your continued support of the people of Myanmar. While the fate of our country is in the hands of our people, strong and sustained support from the international community, specially from the United States of America is crucial. We are deeply grateful to
all who are standing with us through this horrific ordeal. Now, more than ever, the people of Myanmar need your cooperation, friendship and support. It has been exactly 100 days since the terrorist regime headed by Min Aung Hlaing and his henchmen stole the results of our democratic election and authority from the elected government officials of the people of Myanmar. Like many people in Myanmar, I fear for my
life, but I have survived unscathed till this day. Sadly, however, many of our brave citizens have not been as fortunate as me. Since that horrible day, the coup instigators and 'SAC' forces have murdered nearly 800 civilian heroes of Myanmar, and illegally detained and
imprisoned nearly 5000 of my brave fellow citizens.
The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining without cause the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar on a daily and hourly basis. The people of Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists. Without cause, without explanation, and without even a hearing these terrorists are detaining, beating, raping, torturing, shooting, and murdering innocent civilians and civil servants participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement both openly on the streets and secretly in confinement. This
should come as no surprise, however, as the terrorist tatmadaw organization has been weaponizing rape and murder in atrocities, crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing against ethnic nationalities such as the Kachin, Karen, Shan, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine,
Chin, Rohingya and many, many more..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Public Health, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, USA-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson, The National Unity Government of Myanmar Address to the German Parliamentarian Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Needs
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Germany-Burma relations, International Relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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1.47 MB
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"As of 12 May, (785) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Kani Township in Sagaing Region and Hakha Town in Chin State were killed the previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 12, a total of (3885) people are currently under detention; of them (86) are sentenced. 1600 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today, people from all over Burma continued to protest against the military dictatorship. Junta forces use various forms of bullying and violence to intimidate civilians, yet the people continue to fight back, using anything they can find as a weapon.
Today in Pyigyidagun Township, in Mandalay City the junta violently suppressed the Mandalay Coalition Strike. Many of the protesters were arrested and beaten. At least three teachers were arrested and 30 motorbikes were stolen. After more than three months since the coup, the junta has shown their lack of administrative power and inability to govern. Because of this, they use numerous forms of violence instead to suppress the people. They are now cracking down on protests before they even start.
This terrorist group continues to torture and murder civilians. On 9 May, a local farmer from Hakha Town in Chin State was detained and tortured by the junta. He later died on 11 May. Brutal oppression and torture have been systematically used by the junta in all previous military dictatorships, and they are continuing this practise in the current coup in order to intimidate and coerce civilians into obedience. This junta treats civilians as their enemies. The only way to free the people from these persecutions is to end the dictatorship.
On the night of May 10 in Kale Town in Sagaing Region, a woman died after junta shootings in the community caused her to have a heart attack soon after giving birth. As well as this, last night in Thamin Chan Villang, Kani Township in Sagaing Region junta forces shot dead a mentlly ill man in his own home because he insulted military forces who were camped in that village. The junta’s hostile behaviour and unprovoked shootings are worsening, and they are now even targeting those with mental illnesses.
Remote areas in Burma have been severely targeted in recent days. Today, in Zee Pin Dwin Village, Kanai Township in Sagaing Region, locals were forced to flee their homes as junta forces entered the village and were arresting anyone they could find. In Magway Region, Taungdwingyi Township, junta forces who were camped in many local villages destroyed people’s homes and other properties.
In addition, these terrorists have staged severe crackdowns on civilians who resist them. In Talot town, Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region, there were clashes between the People’s Defense Forces and the junta. Early this morning, the junta fired heavy artillery and raided the town, arresting more than 100 locals, including women, children and the elderly. Young people were beaten, arrested and interrogated. Only by overthrowing this dictatorship will these violent attacks, which turn villages and towns into war zones end.
The junta, which seized power by force is now suppressing, arresting and suing children. They openly violate domestic law, international law and international human rights treaties. In South Okkalapa Township in Yangon Region, nine young people have been arrested since 30 April. Among these are four young people under the age of 17 who have not yet been released. This case not only shows a direct violation of domestic children’s rights, but also shows a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by Myanmar. It is clear this terrorist group will not obey or respect any law because they illegitimately seized power.
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:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
One hundred days since the Myanmar military takeover that has left hundreds of civilians killed and included numerous arbitrary arrests and other human rights violations, the Secretary-General renews his call on the country's military to respect the will of the people and act in the greater interest of peace and stability in the country.
The Secretary-General also encourages the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to swiftly follow through on its own commitments, and the international community to support regional efforts, to bring an end to the repression by the military. He also calls on the international community to respond to the increased humanitarian needs.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, is in the region and continues to engage intensively with a range of key stakeholders, including in light of the broader ramifications of the crisis. She continues to promote coherent international action.
The Secretary-General will continue to stand with the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations ( New York )
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[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, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, UN System humanitarian assistance, UN Secretary-General's statements on Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Today marks the 100th day our country comes under a military coup. The military council continues to commit human rights violations daily ignoring 100 days of demands from the people of Myanmar to return
to democracy and ignoring international condemnation against the coup. Giving no respect to the people of Myanmar and disregarding the election results, taking the country's power by coup means an insult to human rights wherein "the people have the rights to the government of their choosing". Since the coup, the military shows nothing but disrespect to people's basic human rights by continuing to oppress violently, murdering innocent protesters and civilians, torturing the whole public, and use various forms of threats to quash the people's voices. The innocent civilians and peaceful protesters are not only met with extreme force but also are targeted and
shot at even in their own homes by the military which uses arms and weapons with an intent to slain them.Worse is that some families are
asked to pick up their loved ones who were arrested the previous day but they are picking up their loved ones' lifeless bodies and these dead bodies told the story of inhumane treatment and brute force that they endured during their detention. Moreover, there is verifiable news of women, girls, and persons of LGBTIQA+ being sexually assaulted and raped while under the military's detention. At the same time, the military continues to commit human rights abuses and violations against ethnic nationalities in ethnic areas. In addition to the enduring wreck of nearly a century-old civil wars, ethnic nationalities again become internally displaced people (IDPs) due to airstrikes carried out by the military. In several ethnic nationality areas, humanitarian aid is urgently needed now for children, women, and elderly people. All these violation and atrocity certainly are the crime against humanity by the international humanitarian and human rights standards.
I would like to say I am very proud to see people's unwavering protests against the coup amid terrible oppressions and heroes of the Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) and I am deeply humbled by all of these. I would like to express my gratitude to those supporters of our Spring Revolution from the international communities and those who voice their unity and solidarity to our movement even though they are in refugee and IDP camps after fleeing the military's brutal crackdown and offensive attacks. The military council is not only violating the basic human rights described in international human rights
principles and standards but also committing crimes against humanity. The Ministry of Human Rights (MOHR) is determined to work our utmost best in bringing accountability to those who perpetrate these
violations and atrocities by employing different ways and methods through diplomatic channels and the international legal system. Only by doing so, we will be able to transform our country and eliminate the longexisted culture of impunity and dictators who think they are above the law. However, we must warn that NOW is a time to stop abuses and violations of human rights, to stop terrorising the public, and to stop giving excuses that they are just following the order. All of us need to understand that no matter which role and capacity you are in, if you perpetrate human rights abuses and violations, you will be brought to justice and you will be held accountable for your actions and inactions, it is crucial time to answer the questions of would you be on the peoples' side or are prepared to appear before
the international criminal court systems by continuing human rights abuses and violations. Our invitation is extended to the Army, Navy, Air Force personnel including those from Myanmar Police
Force, that it is still a good time to side with justice and the people if you do not want to be charged and punished in the criminal justice system and if you do not want to be recorded in history as criminals..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, International Criminal Court, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Anti-coup protesters, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Humanitarian assistance, international standards and principles, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"A high-end office block in Myanmar linked to the country's military leaders is seeing an exodus of international organisations.
Coca-Cola, the World Bank and McKinsey have told the BBC they have moved out or are reviewing their leases at the Sule Square complex in Yangon.
The United Nations said the complex was built on land owned by the military.
Myanmar's military seized power from the democratically elected government in February.
It has been 100 days since the early morning coup, sparking mass protests across the country in which hundreds have died.
How Myanmar coup caused its healthcare to vanish
Could sanctions on Myanmar's military ever work?
Myanmar coup: What is happening and why?.
However, even before they took power on 1 February, Myanmar's military - which initially ruled the country for almost half a century after seizing power in 1962 - owned large areas of land and controlled companies involved in everything from mining to banking.
The land on which the building stands was leased from the military, according to a 2019 United Nations fact-finding mission report.
Last month, activist group Justice for Myanmar called on 18 tenants of the complex of offices and shops in the heart of Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon to stop indirectly supporting the army.
"Sule Square has big-name tenants that continue to lease office space in the building, indirectly supporting the army," Justice for Myanmar said in a report.
According to news agency Reuters, six of the companies have said they have moved out or were reviewing their plans, but only one mentioned the military link. Other firms cited various reasons, including business prospects.
In a statement via email, Coca-Cola told the BBC that it would not renew its lease when it ends in the middle of next month due to "changing business requirements".
"Our office-based employees at Coca-Cola Limited (Myanmar) will continue to work from home for the rest of 2021 as part of overall safety measures. We will be communicating our new office location at a later date," it added.
In a statement sent to the BBC, consultancy McKinsey & Company said: "We no longer have space in a serviced office leased in Sule Square. We terminated our lease in early 2021."
Reuters said it is not currently using its Sule Square office and was reviewing its tenancy.
A spokesperson for the World Bank Group, which also has an office in the complex, told the BBC that it was "assessing the situation in Myanmar, according to internal policies and procedures".
Norway's state-owned telecoms operator Telenor said it had known that the military owned the land Sule Square is built on before it moved in but it had picked the location due to a number of reasons, including safety. Telenor has not said whether or not it plans to move out of the building.
Sule Square, which is close to the historic Sule Pagoda in Yangon, opened in 2017. It was developed by a local affiliate of Hong Kong listed Shangri-La Asia, which also manages the building and a neighbouring hotel.
Shangri-La said in 2017 that it had invested $125m (£88.5m) in the development.
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, International Relations, Business and the Military, World Bank Group - Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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A six-year-old girl has been shot dead in Myanmar, becoming the youngest known victim in the crackdown following last month's military coup.
Description:
"Khin Myo Chit's family told the BBC she was killed by police while she ran towards her father, during a raid on their home in the city of Mandalay.
Myanmar's military has been increasing its use of force as protests continue.
Rights group Save the Children says more than 20 children are among dozens of people who have been killed.
In total, the military says 164 people have been killed in protests, while the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group puts the death toll at at least 261.
The military on Tuesday expressed sadness at the death of protesters, while blaming them for bringing anarchy and violence to the country.
But security forces have used live rounds against protesters, and there have been multiple eyewitness reports of people being beaten and sometimes shot as the military conducts house raids to arrest activists and protesters.....'Then they shot her': Khin Myo Chit's older sister told the BBC police officers had been searching all the houses in their neighbourhood in Mandalay on Tuesday afternoon, when they eventually entered their place to search for weapons and make arrests.
"They kicked the door to open it," 25-year-old May Thu Sumaya said. "When the door was open, they asked my father whether there were any other people in the house."
When he said no, they accused him of lying and began searching the house, she said.
That was the moment when Khin Myo Chit ran over to their father to sit on his lap. "Then they shot and hit her," May Thu Sumaya said.
In a separate interview with community media outlet Myanmar Muslim Media, their father U Maung Ko Hashin Bai described his child's last words. "She said, 'I can't Father, it's too painful'."
He said she died just half an hour later while she was rushed away in a car to seek medical treatment. Police also beat and arrested his 19-year-old son.
The military has yet to comment on the death.
In a statement, Save the Children said it was "horrified" by the girl's death, which came a day after a 14-year-old boy was reportedly shot dead in Mandalay.
"The death of these children is especially concerning given that they reportedly were killed while being at home, where they should have been safe from harm. The fact that so many children are being killed on an almost daily basis now shows a complete disregard for human life by security forces," the group said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, authorities released around 600 detainees held at Insein prison in Yangon (Rangoon), many of them university students.
Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw was among those freed. He and other journalists had been held covering a protest last month.
The AAPP says at least 2,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown so far.
Protesters have planned for a silent strike with many businesses to close and people to stay at home. There are also plans for more candle-lit vigils overnight, both in Yangon and elsewhere.....Myanmar profile: Myanmar, also known as Burma, became independent from Britain in 1948. For much of its modern history, it has been under military rule
Restrictions began loosening from 2010 onwards, leading to free elections in 2015 and the installation of a government headed by veteran opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the following year
In 2017, Myanmar's army responded to attacks on police by Rohingya militants with a deadly crackdown, driving more than half a million Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh in what the UN later called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".....Country profile: Correction 1 April 2021: An earlier version of this article gave Khin Myo Chit's age as seven years old. While in Myanmar's counting tradition this is correct, as the BBC uses Western conventions for age we have amended the article to describe her as a six-year-old girl..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: standards and mechanisms, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Protesters rallied in towns and cities around Myanmar on Tuesday to denounce its military rulers, 100 days after the generals' overthrow of an elected government pitched the country into its biggest crisis in decades.
Demonstrators took part in marches, motorcycle convoys and flash protests to evade security forces, some making three-finger gestures of defiance as anti-coup groups renewed calls for the toppling of a junta that has been condemned around the world for killing hundreds of civilians.
The junta has struggled to govern Myanmar since seizing power on Feb. 1. Protests, strikes and a civil disobedience campaign have crippled businesses and the bureaucracy in an overwhelming public rejection of the return of military rule.
Protesters in the biggest city Yangon carried a banner saying "Yangon strikes for complete removal of the enemy", while demonstrators in Hpakant in Kachin State marched chanting "the revolution must prevail".
Demonstrators in Hpakant, the Saigang region and elsewhere held signs in support of a National Unity Government (NUG), an anti-junta coalition that has declared itself Myanmar's legitimate authority. Last week the NUG announced the formation of a "People's Defence Force".
The NUG's spokesman Dr. Sasa, said in a tweet he and other ministers of the parallel government would meet with a U.S. assistant secretary of state on Tuesday to discuss how the United States and its allies "can work together to end this reign of terror". He did not elaborate on the meeting.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the meeting.
The military arrested elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi hours before the coup. It said its takeover was to protect Myanmar's fledgling democracy after a November election that it said was marred by fraud. Suu Kyi's party says its landslide win was legitimate.....INTERNATIONAL CRIMES: In a statement on Tuesday, the NUG said rank-and-file members of the military should recognise that they were responsible for committing international crimes.
"It is time to answer the question clearly whether you will stand on the side of human rights and fairness, or you will continue to violate human rights by committing violence and then face the international court," it said.
Despite the imposition of limited economic sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others, the junta has shown no sign of compromise. It has the tacit support of neighbouring China, a major investor and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Tuesday's protests took place amid sporadic violence in the country that has included deadly attacks on military-appointed administrators and weeks of small explosions involving homemade bombs, which the junta says is the work of the ousted government.
The NUG has said the military has orchestrated such attacks as a pretext for its crackdown.
In its nightly news bulletin, state-run MRTV said two members of the security forces were killed and three others wounded on Monday evening in an attack by "terrorists" in the Sagaing region.
A group calling itself the Sagaing People Defence Force, in a statement earlier on Tuesday, claimed responsibility for an attack on security personnel around the same time in the same area, which it said killed three people.
News reporting and information flow inside Myanmar has been severely impacted since the coup, with restrictions on internet access, a ban on foreign broadcasts and some news organisations ordered to close, accused by authorities of inciting rebellion.
Security forces have killed 781 people since the coup, including 52 children, and 3,843 people are in detention, according to the Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group, whose figures are being used by the United Nations.
The U.N. human rights body said on Tuesday the military was showing no let-up in its efforts to consolidate power and its human rights violations went far beyond killings.
"It is clear that there needs to be greater international involvement to prevent the human rights situation in Myanmar from deteriorating further," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, General Strike, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၇/၂၀၂၁) ထုတ်ပြန်..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
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National Unity Government (NUG), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Responding to news of the arrest of five individuals from Myanmar, including three journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) news outlet, by the Thai authorities in Chiang Mai on 9 May, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, Ming Yu Hah, said:
“It is imperative that the Thai authorities do not forcibly return these individuals to Myanmar. To do so would place them at real risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, and death.
“It would also put Thailand in breach of its obligations under the principle of non-refoulement under international law.
“There have long been credible reports of torture and other ill-treatment in detention in Myanmar. These have intensified since the coup. Several people detained in recent weeks have died in detention in unexplained circumstances.
“For years DVB has been a leading, outspoken outlet holding the authorities to account. If returned to Myanmar, these journalists will be at exceptionally grave risk.
“Thailand has long played host to displaced and exiled communities from Myanmar. Whether they are targeted for their brave journalism work, escaping air strikes or evading other forms of attacks by the military, people in Myanmar are fleeing again today. We urge the Thai authorities to give sanctuary to those seeking safety, in line with international law.”.....Background: According to a statement from DVB’s Editor-in-Chief, Aye Chan Naing, three senior DVB journalist and two activists were arrested by Thai police on Sunday 9 May in Chiang Mai (Thailand). They were reporting the anti-coup protests in Myanmar until 8 March, the day the military authorities revoked DVB’s TV license. Amnesty International has confirmed that the five are currently in police custody.
Since the military coup on 1 February, the Myanmar military has also revoked media licenses of several other media outlets and dozens of journalists are currently in arbitrary detention, facing charges or fearing arrest. Many more have gone into hiding.
Amnesty International opposes refoulement, which is prohibited under international law, in all cases without exception. Non-refoulement is an international legal principle that prohibits the transfer of individuals to another country or jurisdiction where they would face a real risk of serious human rights violations or abuses. It is part of customary international law, making it binding upon all states regardless of whether they ratified the relevant treaties..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights Defenders, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Thailand-Burma relations, International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Myanmar poet Khet Thi, who wrote that the revolution against Myanmar's military junta 'is in the heart,' dies under torture at the hands of his interrogators.
Description:
"A Myanmar poet known for writing verse supporting the resistance movement against the ruling military junta died less than 24 hours after his arrest, and his body was returned with organs including his heart removed, his wife and supporters said Tuesday.
Khet Thi, also known as Zaw Tun, was taken into custody on Saturday for questioning at a detention center in Sagaing, a region in northwestern Myanmar that has been the scene of heavy protests against military rule.
When Khet Thi’s body was retrieved by family members Sunday at a hospital in the Sagaing capital Monywa, it was badly discolored and stitching indicated that at least some internal organs had been removed, said his family.
His family was told by the army that the 45-year-old poet had died of a heart attack, they said.
Speaking on Monday in a panel discussion held by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, Richard Horsey—a Myanmar adviser for the International Crisis Group—noted that Khet Thi had penned a line, now widely quoted, saying “They shoot us in the head, but they don’t know that the revolution is in the heart.”
When Khet Thi’s body was returned, his heart was gone, and authorities said that he had died of a heart attack, Horsey said.
“I think the message was pretty clear. He wrote that line, and he lost his heart.”
His death makes three poets from Sagaing to be killed for working to oppose the junta, sources say. The first was Chan Win, a poet from Monywa whose real name was Chan Thar Swe. The second was Kyi Lin Aye. Both were shot dead on March 3 in Monywa.
Khet Thi’s wife Chaw Su, a worker for the Telecommunications Department who was active in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) of work stoppages in opposition to military rule, had also been interrogated, but was released on Saturday and allowed to return home, sources said.....Simple, transparent poems: “When [Khet Thi] wrote poems, they were not just literary. They were about ideas,” another poet and protest veteran in Monywa told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “And his ideas were motivated by politics.”
“The difference between his poems and the work of others was that his poems were not subtle. They were simple and transparent,” he said.
Another poet, Yoe Khat, called Khet Thi’s death a loss to the world of poetry, and said he would continue to be honored by those resisting military rule in Myanmar, where a democratically elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted by the military on Feb. 1.
“From time immemorial, poets have fought back with their hearts and with their minds,” Yoe Khan said, adding that Khet Thi had been doing this “since the beginning of the revolution.”
“He inspired the people to revolution by imparting knowledge. This is a great loss to the world of poetry, and we will continue to honor him,” he said.
Khet Thi’s funeral Monday evening in his hometown Pale was closely watched by plainclothes police and singing was banned, though many in the crowd could be seen raising the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance to junta rule, family members told RFA.
“He was a good man. He was loved by all his friends, and at home he would always cook for his family,” one family member said. “Now, when I wake up in the morning, I feel so empty and yet I cannot cry.”
“There is no turning back time, though. He will never be forgotten.”
Khet Thi, who had been married only two years, had made a living in Pale by making and selling cakes and ice cream. His brother is now under arrest in Monywa Prison for taking part in anti-junta protests, with family members keeping the news a secret from his mother.
Attempts by RFA to reach Myanmar’s Deputy Information Minister Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment this week were unsuccessful..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[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, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Dr Tu Khaung sent thank you letter to the CDM heroes under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation - Unofficial English translation
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Natural Resource Use, Burma/Myanmar - policy and law, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"On Friday 2 April 2021, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar ("Myanmar" ), acting through
the legitimate parliamentary-designated Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
("CRPH")) directed its international legal counsel at the law firm of Volterra Fietta to make a
series of communications to different International Human Rights bodies of the United
Nations, in relation to the atrocities that have been committed by the military since 1
February 2021 against the people of Myanmar and their legitimate, democratically-elected
representatives. On 7 April 2021, there will be a meeting between the legal representatives
of Myanmar (acting through CRPH) and the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism
for Myanmar ("IIMM"). This meeting is intended to discuss the modalities of dialogue and
co-operation between Myanmar (acting through CRPH) and the IIMM in relation to the
atrocities committed by the military on 1 February 2021 and thereafter.
CRPH has received 180,000 items of evidence. This evidence shows widescale abuses of
human rights by the military:
1. More than 540 extra-judicial executions
2. More than 10 deaths in custody of political prisoners
3. Torture of prisoners
4. Widespread use of lethal force and other disproportionate responses on peaceful
protestors and other breaches of the right to peaceful assembly
5. Widespread illegal detentions
6. Targeting and arresting journalists, media companies and photographers
7. Restricting access to the internet and other actions to limit free speech on the
internet
DrS asa
6th April 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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25.41 KB 71.77 KB 111.75 KB
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"Three senior reporters who fled Myanmar for Thailand after the brutal military coup "face certain arrest and persecution" if they are deported following their arrest in Chiang Mai on Sunday, journalist groups say.
The three are prominent journalists with the independent Burmese news agency Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and were detained in the northern Thai city after a random police search, their editor said in a statement Monday.
They, along with two unnamed activists, have been charged with illegally entering the country.
The case could be the biggest test yet for how Thailand decides to treat those fleeing persecution from Myanmar in the wake of the coup.
"DVB strongly urges the Thai authorities to not deport them back to Burma, as their life will be in serious danger if they were to return," said Aye Chan Naing, executive director and chief editor of DVB, who used another name for Myanmar.
"They have been covering the demonstrations in Burma until March 8 — the day the military authority revoked DVB's TV license and banned DVB from doing any kind of media work."
Thailand Police Captain Duangrit Wannarit, who filed the charges, told CNN Business the five arrested were Burmese passport holders and had not gone through the immigration system.
On Tuesday, a Chiang Mai court adjourned the case until May 17 so the five could seek legal representation, Duangrit said. They will be held at the San Sai district police station until the hearing.
As well as being charged for allegedly entering the country illegally, Duangrit said the "prosecutor will consider if they have also breached the communicable disease act."
Duangrit declined to give more details, saying it was a "highly sensitive" case. However, he told CNN Business the five would not be sent back to Myanmar immediately after the court proceedings, and would remain in the custody of immigration police.
Thailand's foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a tweet Tuesday "Thai authorities concerned are coordinating to find humanitarian solution(s) to the recent case of journalists from Myanmar."
In this photo released by the San Sai District Administrative Office, a Thai officer checks the temperature of journalists working for Democratic Voice of Burma, at San Sai District in Chiang Mai province north of Thailand Sunday, May 9, 2021.....100 days since coup: Tuesday marks 100 days since Myanmar's military seized power in a coup on February 1, ousting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Since then, the military junta has brutally cracked down on any perceived opposition to its rule. Mass street protests have been suppressed with deadly force, with more than 780 people killed by security forces and almost 5,000 arrested, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The junta, led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has attempted to silence independent media. Journalists across the country have been attacked and detained merely for doing their jobs. More than 80 reporters have been arrested since the coup, with more than half of those still in detention as of May 3, according to a statement from Western embassies in Myanmar.
The military has also revoked the licenses of prominent independent broadcasters, online news outlets and newspapers, including DVB, so working for them is considered illegal. On May 4, the junta banned the use of satellite dishes — an order aimed at DVB and banned independent news agency Mizzima, which continued to broadcast by satellite into the country.
Offices of newspapers and online media have been raided, and a nightly news bulletin on state TV broadcasts the names and images of those sought by the junta, including journalists.
Many are being held on charges under section 505a of Myanmar's Penal Code — a law amended by the military that makes it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison for publishing or circulating comments that "cause fear" or spread "false news."
There are fears if the five are deported to Myanmar, they will face certain arrest and the possibility of torture. Media and rights groups are calling on Thailand to ensure they remain in the country on humanitarian grounds.
"Thai authorities should uphold the country's proud history as a sanctuary for journalists fleeing military repression in Myanmar, and on humanitarian grounds should not deport three Democratic Voice of Burma journalists recently arrested for alleged illegal entry," said Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"Myanmar's military regime has repeatedly abused and detained journalists, and Thai authorities should not force these members of the press to face potentially severe retaliation for their work.".....Big test for Thailand's position on coup: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) said in a statement it was "seriously concerned" about the arrests.
"These five individuals would face certain arrest and persecution, if not worse, for their work and association with the DVB, and under no circumstances should they be deported back to Myanmar," the statement read.
"Rather, the DVB journalists and their associates should be released from detention, urgently offered protection, and granted the right to remain temporarily in Thailand."
DVB's Aye Chan Naing also urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok "to intervene to help guard their safety."
"We request the international community to help call the Thai authorities to waive their deportation," he said.
For years, Thai authorities allowed exiled Burmese media organizations like DVB to operate within its borders.
Thailand has also hosted tens of thousands of refugees in nine main camps along its border with Myanmar for three decades, following armed conflicts, human rights abuses and persecution of ethnic minorities by the Myanmar military. Thailand, however, has not ratified the UN refugee convention.
Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha also seized power in a coup in 2014, and held onto his leadership following 2019 elections that opponents said were not free or fair. His government has arrested dozens of pro-democracy protesters who turned out on masse demanding his resignation and accusing him of engineering the election. Prayut has denied the election was flawed and allegations of interference.
Prayut has previously declined to make a strong statement on the situation in Myanmar. Last month, the international community had hoped Southeast Asian leaders would be able to reach a breakthrough on stopping the violence in Myanmar at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, but Prayut had skipped the summit, sending his deputy prime minister in his place.
"Regarding the situation in Myanmar, it is a highly complex issue," he had said at that time. "The government is currently working at various channels in order to find peaceful solution, as a duty of being member state to AESAN."
Thailand has agreed to support the plan that emerged from the ASEAN meeting, which includes ending violence in Myanmar and a constructive dialogue among all parties.
The FCCT warned "the world is watching" how Thailand proceeds, adding it was an "important case for press freedom in Myanmar and the region, and for the protection of those fleeing the junta's brutal crackdown on independent media and civil society."..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Thailand-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"On 7 April 2021, the international legal counsel of The Republic of the Union of Myanmar ("Myanmar"), acting through the legitimate parliamentary-designated Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ("CRPH"), the law firm of Volterra Fietta, met with the head
of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar ("IIMM") and his senior staff. At the meeting, the IIMM and Myanmar's legal representatives discussed the modalities of dialogue and co-operation between Myanmar (acting through CRPH) and the IIMM in relation
to the atrocities committed by the military on 1 February 2021 and thereafter. This was the first such meeting and the dialogue will continue, with meetings planned in the days ahead.
This follows the series of communications that Myanmar (acting through CRPH) directed its legal representatives to make on Friday 2 April 2021 to different International Human Rights
dies of the United Nations, in relation to the atrocities that have been committed by the military since 1 February 2021 against the people of Myanmar and their legitimate, democratically elected representatives.
To date, the CRPH has received more than 272,209 items of evidence. This evidence shows wide scale, systematic and targeted attacks against the civilian population by the military.
Dr. Sasa
7th April 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ကြေညာချက်အမှတ်(၇/၂၀၂၁)
၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်ကျော် ၁၃ ရက်
(၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဧပြီလ ၉ ရက်)
နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းရွေးချယ်လေ့ကျင့်ခန့်ထားခြင်းဆိုင်ရာ လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များအားလုံး ရပ်ဆိုင်းထားကြောင်း ကြေညာချက်
ရည်ညွှန်းချက်။ ။ ဒုတိယသမ္မတဦးဆောင်ကျင်းပသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုအစိုးရအဖွဲ့ အစည်းအဝေးအမှတ်စဉ် ၃/၂၀၂၁ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်။
၁။ ယခုအချိန်သည် တရားမဝင်အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီမှ နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာအား လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်လုယူထားသည့် အချိန်ဖြစ်သည့်အတွက် နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းကောင်း အရာထမ်း၊ အမှုထမ်းများသည် ပြည်သူ့အာဏာဖီဆန်မှုလုပ်ငန်းစဉ် (CDM) ဖြင့် ရဲဝံ့ စွန့်စားစွာ အာခံတော်လှန်နေသည့် အခါသမယဖြစ်သည်။
၂။ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းကောင်း အာဇာနည်များ၏ ထိရောက်အောင်မြင်သည့် ပြည်သူ့အာဏာဖီဆန်မှုလုပ်ငန်းစဉ် (CDM) ကြောင့် တရားမဝင်အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီသည် နိုင်ငံ့အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးယန္တရားအား ပုံမှန်လည်ပတ်နိုင်ခြင်း မရှိဘဲ အကျပ်အတည်းဆိုက် အထိနာလျက်ရှိပါသည်။..."
၃။ တရားမဝင်အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီသည် ၎င်းတို့အာဏာတည်မြဲရေးအတွက် (CDM) လှုပ်ရှားမှု ဆောင်ရွက် နေသည့် ဝန်ထမ်းများအား လုပ်ငန်းခွင်သို့ ပြန်လည်ဝင်ရောက်တာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင်ရန် နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ဖိအားပေး ခြိမ်းခြောက် အရေးယူနေသော်လည်း ထိရောက်အောင်မြင်မှုမရှိသည့်အတွက် ဝန်ထမ်းသစ်များ ရွေးချယ်လေ့ကျင့် ခန့်ထားနိုင်ရန် အလုပ်လျှောက်လွှာများခေါ်ယူ၍ အပူတပြင်း ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိကြောင်း တွေ့ရှိရသည်။
၄။ မိမိတို့ ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီမှ တရားမဝင်အာဏာလုယူလိုက်သည့် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့ မှစ၍ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းရွေးချယ်လေ့ကျင့်ခန့်ထားခြင်း ဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များ အားလုံးကို ခြွင်းချက်မရှိ ရပ်ဆိုင်းထားကြောင်း အသိပေးအပ်ပါသည်။
၅။ သို့ပါ၍ ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရအနေဖြင့် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့မှစ၍ စစ်အုပ်စုဩဇာခံ ပြည်ထောင်စု ရာထူးဝန်အဖွဲ့နှင့် သက်ဆိုင်ရာ ဝန်ကြီးဌာန^အကြီးအကဲများက ရွေးချယ်ခန့်အပ်သော မည်သူကိုမျှ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းအဖြစ် အသိအမှတ်မပြုသည့်အပြင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အပေါင်းပါများအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်၍ အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာလိုက်သည်။
(ပုံ) တင်ထွန်းနိုင်
ခေတ္တပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး
စီမံကိန်း၊ ဘဏ္ဍာရေးနှင့် စက်မှုဝန်ကြီးဌာန
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"As of 11 May, (783) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (2) fallen heroes today. These (2) fallen heroes from Nanmati and Hopin Towns in Kachin State were killed the previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 11, a total of (3859) people are currently under detention; of them (86) are sentenced. 1581 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are continuing to verify the recently released detainees.
Today marks the 100th day under military rule. This terrorist group unlawfully seized power and since then has used varied forms of violence and torture upon civilians. Their constant acts of brutality and persecution have allowed them to clearly stand out as a terrorist organisation. The junta’s non-compliance with internationally agreed military rules and regulations is damaging the reputation of armies globally.
Currently in Burma, political, social, business and health sectors are all on the verge of collapse. Health services which were already overburdened due to covid, have been particularly affected. Civilians have been unable to access healthcare and covid tracing has ceased, putting the population at risk of facing a third wave of covid. During these 100 days, civilians have been exposed to various forms of persecution and have had their properties looted, robbed and destroyed on a daily basis. As well as this, there has been intense conflict in the ethnic states, resulting in the displacement of thousands of people, as they are forced to flee to jungles. Despite these dire circumstances, civilians have affirmed that neither pressure from this terrorist group, nor inadequate ASEAN soft resolutions will be effective. It appears that these civilians have been left to defend themselves and end this dictatorship on their own.
On 11 May, across Burma civilians continued to protest against the military dictatorship. This morning in Phone Maw ward, Dawei city in Tanintharyi Region as civilians were preparing to protest, junta forces in unmarked vehicles opened fire on the protesters, injuring one civilian. After this crackdown, junta forces followed civilians into their houses, shooting and arresting them. More than 10 civilians, including one woman have been arrested. The terror of the junta is highlighted through their use of unmarked cars and motorbikes.
Junta force’s unprovoked shooting is worsening day by day, killing a rising number of civilians. Last night in Namti town, Kachin State junta shooting left one young man dead, and a further three wounded. One of the men injured sustained a serious injury after being shot in the arm. The other two injured are on the run, evading arrest.
On the night of May 8, veterinarian Dr. Sai Aik Kwan, living in Hopin town, Mohnyin Township in Kachin State was arrested by soldiers as he passed by Infantry Battalion 389 based in Hopin. The soldiers tied him up, shot him in the head and left his body next to a drain. His family recovered the dead body, but on the day of the funeral the junta took the body back, looted it and returned it with the head dismembered. On the death certificate, they claimed he died of a drug overdose. It is clear that Dr. Sai Aik Kwan was unjustly murdered. The same situation occurred with the death of poet Khat Thi, where his wife was forced to sign a false death certificate to cover up their crimes and destroy evidence. This terrorist group is responsible for each and every crime they have committed. There must be accountability.
Junta forces continue to severely oppress public servants involved in the CDM. It is because of the civil disobedience movement that the juntas operating mechanisms have been completely cut off. Yesterday, in Letpan village, Waw Township in Bago Region four CDM education officers were arrested by the junta, and released on bail by their appointed village administrator. This was done to create the impression that junta forces saved them by releasing them. It is possible that in the future they will be made to pay for their freedom. We can see that this terrorist group is now using tactics to gain political advantage and create a widespread system of bribes.
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:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Children in Myanmar urgently need support now
Description:
"The crisis following the military takeover on 1 February this year is having a catastrophic toll on the physical and mental wellbeing of children in Myanmar. Children are being killed, wounded, detained and exposed to tear gas and stun grenades and are witnessing terrifying scenes of violence. In some areas, thousands of people have been displaced, cutting children off from their relatives, friends, communities and their traditional means of support.
Even before the current crisis, children in Myanmar were experiencing huge challenges due to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict in several parts of the country. Over one million people, including an estimated 450,000 children, were already affected by Myanmar’s conflict and vulnerable to gender-based violence, exploitation, abuse, detention, family separation, displacement and trafficking,[1] and about 34 per cent of the country’s 17 million children lived below the poverty line. In addition, almost 33 per cent of the population living just above the poverty line were in a state of extreme vulnerability and are now at great risk of falling back into poverty due to economic disruptions resulting from the current crisis[2]......A generation in peril: The compounding impacts of the current crisis threaten the lives and wellbeing of millions of children, putting an entire generation in peril. The ongoing loss of access to key services, combined with economic contraction, will push many more into poverty, potentially creating an entire generation of children and young people who will suffer profound physical, psychological, educational and economic impacts from this crisis and be denied a healthy, prosperous future.
Hard-won gains in the area of child rights are now being wiped out, threatening children’s lives, wellbeing and prosperity. This represents a serious failure by duty bearers to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of children, as required by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Myanmar is a State Party, and the Myanmar Child Rights Law, issued in 2019.....UNICEF’s response: UNICEF is committed to children in Myanmar, to upholding children’s rights and to providing the services critical for children’s survival and wellbeing. UNICEF is adapting the way it works and taking advantage of its extensive and diverse network of partners, including national and international non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and private sector partners, striving to ensure continuity of access to critical services at scale.
Drawing on its 70 years of experience in Myanmar, delivering for children including in times of conflict and crisis, UNICEF is able to continue to reach children in need even in the most challenging situations. UNICEF brings strong capacity to mobilize and deliver at scale, coordinating the efforts of multiple partners to achieve coherent approaches that span across the country. In addition to its coordinating role, UNICEF brings strong capacities in direct implementation of programming and efficient and cost-effective procurement and transport of commodities and supply.
As always, UNICEF’s focus is particularly on reaching the most vulnerable children including the poorest children, children with disabilities, children living in camps for displaced people, migrant and refugee children and those in hard-to-reach areas, now including areas of key cities, including Yangon and Mandalay, which are under martial law.....Keeping children safe: Before the current crisis, it was already a major challenge to keep children safe from violence, abuse and exploitation in Myanmar. Between January and September 2020, 49 children were killed and 134 maimed as a direct result of conflict. During the current crisis, many more children have been killed, seriously injured, arbitrarily detained without access to legal counsel or forced to flee their houses and communities. On top of the loss of innocent lives, the daily exposure to scenes of horrific violence will have long-lasting impacts on children’s mental and emotional well-being.....How UNICEF is responding: Working with legal aid providers, UNICEF supports children and young people’s access to justice across the country. UNICEF has supported children and young people in contact with the law to access quality legal aid, including legal advice, legal consultation, and legal representation. Since February 1, UNICEF has supported 62 children and 176 young people to access quality legal aid.
Working with partners, UNICEF is establishing a nationwide toll-free justice hotline, expanding on already existing helpline numbers operated by several partners to ensure children and young people have timely access to quality legal advice.
We are also producing informational materials for children and young people to know about their rights when dealing with the law enforcement and how to access free legal assistance in both English and Myanmar languages. Materials are being disseminated widely in collaboration with Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) members.
UNICEF is working with national organizations to support a nationwide mental health and psychosocial support helpline, ensuring children are able to access counselling and mental health support in several local languages. UNICEF also support referrals of child survivors of abuse and violence to mental health experts for individual counselling and therapy sessions. UNICEF is currently working on setting up psychosocial peer-support groups for adolescents and young people.
UNICEF is supporting efforts to monitor and report grave child rights violations and reporting these violations to United Nations and other bodies that pursue justice.....Keeping children out of extreme poverty: A UNICEF study carried out before the military takeover estimated that COVID-19 could push a further one third of children into poverty on top of the almost one third of children already living in poor households. The current crisis has the potential to force millions more children into poverty, denying them the ability to access basic services, depriving them of opportunities to fulfil their potential, and putting them at even greater risk of abuse and exploitation.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF has established mechanisms to monitor how the current crisis is impacting children, particularly children in families which have lost their income, whose caregivers are detained and those who are unable to access learning or healthcare. Data and evidence generated through this monitoring work will inform UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from the worst impacts of poverty.
UNICEF is coordinating with relevant partners to design, establish and roll out a national child cash grant scheme, through which families with children between the ages of 2-5 and children aged under 5 with disabilities will receive unconditional cash grants, which can be used to supplement family incomes and pay for access to key services.
UNICEF is working with Common Health, a private company, to roll out mobile-based health micro-insurance, ensuring that all children in Myanmar under the age of 6 have are covered by health insurance and are able to access health care.....Keeping children learning: COVID-19 had already disrupted the learning of almost 12 million children and young people. With the ongoing closure of schools due to COVID-19 preventive measures, children are still being denied access to learning, destroying their aspirations and hopes for a better future. Many will never be able to catch up or get another chance.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF is working with national and international NGOs to scale up home-based learning using high quality educational materials.
We are supporting young children’s readiness for learning and language development by training civil society organization partners, including ethnic language teachers, and developing and printing storybooks in ethnic languages.
UNICEF is working with national and international NGOs to provide alternative learning opportunities for primary and middle-school-age children. Support includes providing learning materials and assisting children with learning and language development, while also offering mental health and psychosocial support.
We are working with national and international NGOs to deliver non-formal education for children who were out of the formal education system even prior to the COVID pandemic.....Keeping children healthy: Since the military takeover, health workers have experienced threats, intimidation and violence, putting them in danger and further increasing their reluctance to provide services. With health services seriously disrupted, children are missing out: almost 1 million children are missing out on routine immunization; almost 5 million children are missing out on vitamin A supplementation, putting them at risk of infections and blindness. There is a risk that the spread of COVID-19 will accelerate.
In addition, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services are facing disruptions due to limited availability of supplies, disruption of transportation and banking channels. Across the country, more than three million children lack access to a safe water supply at home, threatening a large-scale outbreak of diarrhoea which could be fatal, particularly for children under the age of 5.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF is working with partners to support emergency care through supply of first aid kits and essential medicines for children most in need of medical care
While routine immunization has been suspended in the largest part of the country, in Non-Government Controlled areas UNICEF is working with partners to carry out routine vaccinations to prevent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, such as measles, diphtheria and polio.
We are developing smartphone apps to train health workers on provision of trauma and emergency care for women and children.
UNICEF is providing pregnant women, new mothers, newborns, children and adolescents with healthcare services and procuring essential medicines and supplies to save lives and treat diseases.
We are working with partners and the private sector to coordinate and explore options for delivery of clean drinking water to vulnerable households in urban areas.
We are also coordinating with communities in Shan and Magway to deliver supplies for community managed water supply.....Keeping children nourished: Before the current crisis, many children in Myanmar were already experiencing malnutrition, with almost 30 per cent pre-school children experiencing stunting (being too short for their age), 7 percent of pre-school children (In Rakhine 14 percent) experiencing wasting (being seriously low for their height) and 57 percent pregnant women experiencing anaemia. Loss of access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, which can lead to diarrhoeal disease, will further exacerbate the situation. The situation is particularly severe for young children under the age of 2, who are at risk of death or irreversible physical and cognitive delays if they suffer undernutrition for an extended period. The impacts – for the children, their families, communities and the country as a whole – may be devastating.....How UNICEF is responding: In Kachin, Rakhine and northern Shan states,
UNICEF is working with partners to screen and treat children with severe acute malnutrition.
We are providing lifesaving micro-nutrient supplements to children and pregnant women.
UNICEF is working with local NGOs to provide mothers advice on infant and young child feeding.
In all these efforts, UNICEF and its partners are determined not to let down the children of Myanmar at this critical time, when their lives, wellbeing and future are at stake..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Education rights: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
One hundred days since the Myanmar military seized power, the "brutal" repression of protesters has continued, despite all international efforts to end the violence, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.
Description:
"“The military authorities are showing no sign of letting up in their brutal crackdown on opponents in a bid to consolidate their hold on power”, spokesperson Rupert Colville told journalists at a media briefing.
According to credible reports, as of 10 May, at least 782 people have been killed as security forces used unnecessary, disproportionate and lethal force, to suppress demonstrations and other forms of public participation, since the military coup on 1 February.
“While much of the world’s attention has been on the number of peaceful protesters and bystanders killed by the security forces, the authorities continue to commit other gross human rights violations against the people of Myanmar”, added Mr. Colville.
The OHCHR spokesperson called for greater international involvement to prevent the human rights situation there from deteriorating further.
In particular, he urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “react quickly and to intensify its actions” to ensure Myanmar’s military leadership adheres to the commitments it made in the five-point plan agreed at the regional bloc’s meeting of leaders on 24 April, in Jakarta.
The five-point consensus agreed to an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and that dialogue should be held among all parties to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.....‘Daily raids’ on homes and offices: Mr. Colville went on to note that there are daily raids on private homes and offices, with more than 3,740 people currently in detention, including many in situations that may amount to enforced disappearances.
“Of those in custody, the vast majority have not been brought before a judge, while most of the 86 people prosecuted thus far have been tried in secret, with limited or no access to any form of legal counsel”, he said.
“Military tribunals and courts martial have been established in several townships in which martial law was declared. At least 25 individuals have received the death sentence to date – some 20 of whom were tried in absentia.”.....Military ‘taking relatives’: Over the past month, the military leadership has issued more than 1,561 arrest warrants against civil society activists, trade unionists, journalists, academics, public personalities and online voices, driving the vast majority of them underground.
“To intensify pressure, the military authorities have resorted to taking relatives of wanted people into custody to force them to turn themselves in to the police”, Mr. Colville said, adding that there is also increasing pressure on civil servants to go back to work.
In recent weeks, more than 3,000 civil servants – nearly 70 per cent women – have been dismissed, removed, or suspended by the coup leadership. Those suspended also include 990 university professors, researchers and assistants.
In addition, there are reports that up to 11,000 more workers in the education sector were suspended on Monday.....‘Deeply concerned’ for those fleeing persecution: The OHCHR spokesperson also voiced “deep concerns” for the people fleeing persecution, especially human rights defenders and journalists.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), several hundred people from Myanmar have crossed into Thailand and India in recent weeks.
The people seeking safety outside Myanmar must receive such protection and support from Myanmar’s neighbours, Mr. Colville urged, adding that while it can take time to decide whether an individual fleeing the country is a refugee or not, “at the very least they should be treated as an asylum seeker and not forced to go back”.
“This is particularly important for people with jobs as sensitive as journalists and those active in the civil disobedience movement, opposing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military).”..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Three reporters and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation, the reporters' news organisation and local police said on Tuesday.
Broadcaster DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) said the five were arrested on Sunday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and it appealed to Thai authorities not to deport them to Myanmar, where the news organisation has been banned by the junta.
"Their life will be in serious danger if they were to return," said Aye Chan Naing, DVB's executive director, in a statement, which also appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for help.
The statement said they had fled the army crackdown in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, during which dozens of journalists have been among thousands of people arrested. DVB and several other independent media organisations had their licences revoked.
Thapanapong Chairangsri, the head of police in the San Sai district outside Chiang Mai, told Reuters that five Myanmar citizens had been arrested for entering the country illegally and would be brought to court on Tuesday.
He said they would be deported in accordance with the law, but added that because of the coronavirus outbreak they would be held in detention for 14 days before being handed to immigration authorities..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Thailand-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to attend her next court hearing in person, her chief lawyer said on Monday, after weeks of stalled virtual proceedings over charges her supporters say are fabricated.
Since her arrest hours before a Feb. 1 military coup, Suu Kyi has been held at her residence in Naypyitaw and faces numerous, mostly minor charges filed in two courts, the most serious under a colonial-era official secrets act, punishable by 14 years in prison.
"The presiding judge declared that by the instruction of the Union Supreme Court, the cases were to be heard in person, not virtually by video conferencing," her legal team head, Khin Maung Zaw, said in a text message, referring to Monday's hearing.
He said the judge "told us that the problem will eventually be solved", and that Suu Kyi asked what the judge meant by "eventually".
Suu Kyi, 75, has been permitted to speak with lawyers only via a video link in the presence of security personnel. Her co-defendant is Win Myint, the ousted president.
Her lawyers have said they have discussed with Suu Kyi only her legal case and do not know the extent to which she is aware of the crisis in her country.
Khin Maung Zaw said his team was seeking access to Suu Kyi before the next hearing on May 24, without interference of others.
He said he reminded the judge "that it is the undeniable right of the defendants to meet and give instructions to the defence counsel in a private meeting"...."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women's rights, Other laws impacting on civil and political rights, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Myanmar nationals continue ‘social punishment’ campaigns and lobby lawmakers abroad to blacklist the adult children of junta members
Description:
"The National Unity Government (NUG) is planning to work with foreign countries to introduce and expand sanctions against the overseas relatives of Myanmar’s coup council members, according to the NUG’s human rights minister.
The NUG is the interim government formed in late April by lawmakers ousted in Myanmar’s February 1 coup.
“We will coordinate with foreign affairs and immigration departments to sanction the [adult] children of those who are blacklisted,” NUG’s Minister of Human Rights Aung Myo Min said.
Aung Myo Min was a prominent rights activist before taking a Cabinet position within the NUG.
Following widespread killings of protesters by the regime’s armed forces, the US and European Union (EU) are among the international actors who imposed sanctions on members of the military junta and those related to them.
Since the coup, the US has announced sanctions against key junta leaders, the members of two Light Infantry Divisions, and two adult children of military chief Min Aung Hlaing. They are banned from the country, their American assets have been frozen and American citizens are prohibited from working with them.
The EU has imposed similar sanctions against 35 people in Myanmar, including members of the military, its council, and collaborating civilian politicians.
The Myanmar public both at home and abroad have been carrying out “social punishment” campaigns, identifying and exposing the family members of junta members and supporters online. The campaigns call for these individuals to be ostracised from the Myanmar community.
Myanmar nationals held protests in front of Japan’s Toyo University in March calling for the “social punishment” of Nan Lin Lae Oo, a student at Toyo and the daughter of Lt-Gen Kyaw Swar Lin, head of the Myanmar military’s Central Command.
Kyaw Swar Lin is accused of ordering soldiers to open fire on anti-regime protesters in Mandalay. The resulting crackdowns killed several civilians in February and March.
Nan Lin Lae Oo reportedly left Japan following the protests outside her university.
“We were told that Kyaw Swar Lin’s daughter has returned to Myanmar. We do not know exactly how, but she is no longer at the school,” Myat Thu Aung, who is working in Japan, told Myanmar Now.
He said that other Myanmar nationals in the country are lobbying Japanese lawmakers to back sanctions against family members of those behind the coup.
“Our message has arrived inside the Japanese parliament. There are some discussions going on among parliament members who are deciding what to do about those individuals,” Myat Thu Aung said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in early May that the Australian government’s department of home affairs had launched investigations into 22 relatives of Myanmar’s military council living in Australia, “amid concerns they are either harbouring assets or receiving financial support in the wake of the military coup.”
In the US, Myanmar activists are coordinating with state governments and representatives to gather information about the family members of the coup council members and their American finances.
“There are many steps left regarding action that can be taken by the US government. We are currently working with lawyers and lawmakers,” US-based Myanmar national Nay Tin Myint told Myanmar Now.
The NUG’s human rights minister Aung Myo Min said that his cabinet is also documenting the violence perpetrated by the junta with the aim of filing complaints against military members at the International Criminal Court.
“The consequences would have an impact on many future generations,” he said of an international prosecution.
The military’s armed forces have killed at least 781 people since it seized power from the elected civilian government in a coup on February 1, according to a tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)...."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Sanctions - general, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville
Description:
"More than 100 days after the coup in Myanmar, the military authorities are showing no sign of letting up in their brutal crackdown on opponents in a bid to consolidate their hold on power. At the same time, there is no weakening of the resolve of the civil disobedience movement and other facets of opposition to the coup leaders.
As of 10 May, credible sources indicate that the security forces, using unnecessary, disproportionate and lethal force to suppress demonstrations and other forms of public participation, have killed at least 782 individuals since the coup on 1 February. While much of the world's attention has been on the number of peaceful protesters and bystanders killed by the security forces, the authorities continue to commit other gross human rights violations against the people of Myanmar.
There are daily raids on private homes and offices, and more than 3,740 people are currently in detention. We are deeply alarmed that the whereabouts and fate of hundreds of these individuals are unknown. These are situations that may amount to enforced disappearances.
Of those in custody, the vast majority have not been brought before a judge, while most of the 86 people prosecuted thus far have been tried in secret, with limited or no access to any form of legal counsel. Military tribunals and courts martial have been established in several townships in which martial law was declared. At least 25 individuals have received the death sentence to date – some 20 of whom were tried in absentia.
Over the past month, the military leadership has issued over 1,561 arrest warrants targeting civil society activists, trade unionists, journalists, academics, public personalities and online voices, so driving the vast majority of them underground. To intensify pressure, the military authorities have resorted to taking relatives of wanted people into custody to force them to turn themselves in to the police.
The military authorities are also stepping up their efforts to pressure civil servants back to work. In recent weeks, the coup leadership has dismissed, removed, or suspended more than 3,000 civil servants – nearly 70 per cent of those targeted have been women. Those suspended include 990 university professors, researchers and assistants who in the last few days have been suspended for failing to report to work. There are reports that up to 11,000 more educational workers were suspended on Monday.
We are also deeply concerned about the situation of people fleeing persecution, especially human rights defenders and journalists.
As the armed conflicts between the Tatmadaw and some of the ethnic armed organizations, particularly in Kachin and Kayin states, have intensified, people seeking protection are being forced to consider seeking safety outside the country. When they do so, they should receive such protection and support from Myanmar's neighbours.
It is clear that there needs to be greater international involvement to prevent the human rights situation in Myanmar from deteriorating further. Despite the five-point plan agreed at the ASEAN leaders' meeting on 24 April, the Myanmar military leadership has shown no sign of abiding by it. We call on ASEAN to react quickly and to intensify its actions to ensure the military keeps to these commitments and to hold them accountable for failing to do so..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Various groups, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the illegitimate State Administrative Council (SAC) of Myanmar suspended the Myanmar diplomats who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Washington D.C. and Geneva on 22 and 23 April
2021 respectively.
2. On 23 April 2021, the diplomatic passports of the CDM diplomats and their family members from Geneva, Washington D.C., Tel Aviv and Ottawa were declared null and void.
3. Improperly, the passports of the CDM diplomats in Geneva and Washington D.C. have been revoked before the dismissal. Unethically, the passports of the CDM diplomats in Tel Aviv and Ottawa were declared null and void while they are not even suspended from their work yet.
4. Likewise, the passports of the CDM diplomats in Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles and their family members had been declared null and void immediately after being dismissed during March 2021. Similarly, the passports of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of Myamnar to the United Nations and his family
members were also declared null and void in early March 2021.
5. The National Unity Government of Myanmar wishes to reaffirm that the State Administrative Council (SAC) of Myanmar is an illegal terrorist group, and their announcements are also illegal.
6. In this light, the NUG urges the respective host governments not to acknowledge the SAC's announcement of revoking the diplomatic passports of those Myanmar diplomats and family members..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, International Relations, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"On Feb. 1, 2021, the Myanmar military – the Tatmadaw – shattered the all too brief effort to transition to democracy in Myanmar. Over the past two and a half months, the Tatmadaw has continued its illegitimate effort to undermine the democratic elections from last year and prevent the elected government from taking power. In the face of mass popular opposition and international condemnation, the military has only escalated its use of violence against its own population – systematically stripping away rights and violently attacking protestors and dissidents, reportedly killing over 700 civilians as of Apr. 20, 2021, and detaining more than 3,000.
Despite the continued threats and extreme violence, the people of Myanmar have stood their ground and refused to be silenced. On Apr. 16, opponents of the coup from across the political spectrum announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) to resist the military. Just as importantly, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a grassroots movement aimed at disrupting state functions and crippling the economy in order to undermine the military’s attempt to rule, has been hugely successful in galvanizing collective action since early February. In addition to the tens of thousands of CDM participants walking out of their private and public sector positions, protests across the country have seen massive youth engagement on a scale not seen in a generation. The organizing power has been impressive. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok have been used to spread awareness and coordinate protests, strikes, and other forms of peaceful resistance. The military has taken notice of the CDM’s power, issuing threats against young people protesting and shooting indiscriminately at protestors of all ages, including children. Parallel movements have arisen in areas like neighboring Thailand, with Thai youth protesting their own authoritarian government in solidarity with activists from Myanmar.
Today we launch a Just Security series that will take a deep dive into the situation in Myanmar. The series will provide insights that put the coup and civilian response into historical and modern context, deepen unexplored angles on the current crises, and survey possibilities and ways forward over the next six months to a year. This series also aims to elevate policy discussions on a number of issues, ranging from peace and accountability to religion and democracy, asking: What is happening now and why?
Within the series, contributions from authors from Myanmar and others working closely on the situation will explore topics such as youth leadership in the CDM and protests, domestic and international solidarity, environmental concerns, the dissolution of rule of law in Myanmar, and what the coup means for ongoing international accountability efforts. Below, we offer an overview of the major themes of the series, along with a timeline of the struggle for democracy in Myanmar. The current uprising against military rule must be understood in the context of these decades-long struggles for peace, democracy, accountability, and justice..."
Source/publisher:
Just Security (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, International Criminal Court, Several Groups, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Various groups, Political History, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Description:
"Madam Chairperson,
Your Excellencies,
Thank you all so much for giving me floor to share the message from inside Burma/Myanmar to the world.
• On February 1, the Myanmar Military led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing unleashed an attack of systematic and targeted violence against the citizens of Myanmar. This orchestrated program of armed
violence has brought suffering and devastation to civilians across my entire country. From north to south, from east to west, this choreographed dance of death planned by the Myanmar Military has also caused human, political, economic, and social chaos. The military has murdered at least 600 individuals just for peacefully protesting against the military’s misconduct. It is important to highlight the excessive use of force and violence by the security forces against the non-violence pro-democracy movement (also known as/ Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)). Thousands of my fellow countrymen and women are still unlawfully detained, incommunicado and without any due process rights. This includes civilian political leaders.
• Today, before this session starts, the military forces used lethal force, live munitions and even RPGs to attack the civilian population in Bago Township. The ambulances are not allowed to enter to the area
even though there have been dozens of civilian fatalities.
• In the last two weeks, the Tatmadaw has also escalated its armed violence, in different ethnic states including Karen, Shan, and Kachin. The military also used airstrike in such ethnic area. Additionally,
the Tatmadaw also redeployed forces to Rakhine state after the Brotherhood Alliance including Arakan
Army (AA) issued a statement criticizing the killing of peaceful civilian protesters.
• Aside from the systematic violent attacks by the military that target ordinary people, the military high command overseeing this carnage - now trying to whitewash itself by using the name Tatmadaw’s
State Administration Council (SAC) - has been implementing aggressive tactics such as cutting off internet connection, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Various groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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96.07 KB 101.46 KB
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Title - Staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who are participating in the CDM movement with the loyalty of the State and its citizens Officers; We sincerely commend all the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for participating in the CDM in defiance of unjust orders by the coup d'état - Unofficial English translation
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
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159.45 KB
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Description:
"As of 10 May, (781) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (1) fallen hero today. This (1) fallen hero from Thanlyin Township in Yangon Region was killed yesterday and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 10, a total of (3843) people are currently under detention; of them (86) are sentenced. 1561 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Today civilians continued to protest against the junta in different ways, such as participating in the White Shirt Campaign. Early this morning, in Meiktila town, Mandalay Region, a protest was cracked down on and 15 people were arrested.
In recent days, the terrorists have made a series of arrests, particularly targeting individuals leading forms of opposition against junta forces. Yesterday afternoon so-called police raided the Star City Home in Building B5, Thanlyin Township, Yangon where they arrested and blindfolded 14 people. During this brutal crackdown, it was reported that a medical university graduate died after falling from a building. Although initial reports state he fell, some media have since reported that he was pushed by so-called police and soldiers. This inhumane act again shows that junta forces do not value the lives of civilians. Since the coup, civilians have faced various forms of torture during their arrest.
This junta group displayed its inhumanity when they forced the family member of a clearly tortured victim to sign a death certificate stating they had simply died of a disease. Poet Khet Thi who died yesterday was found with wounds consistent with torture, yet his wife had to sign a confession stating he died due to his pre-existing health conditions in order to recover his dead body. Forcing civilians to sign these confessions allows the junta forces to cover up their atrocities and destroys the evidence of their crimes. They use this to claim their actions are lawful. Action must be taken to ensure those who commit these crimes take full responsibility.
The junta has attempted in various ways to deprive the people of “democratic” freedom. Since the coup, the freedom of the people has been stripped and the essence of democracy has faded. Last night in Bago City, Bago Region, terrorist groups destroyed the Democracy Monument, which celebrated the martyrs of the 8888 Uprising and its successors. Yesterday in the early morning, two youths were arrested on the road in Mingaladon Township while they were painting the slogan “We Want Democracy”. Their families have not yet been able to contact them. The people of Burma are fighting against junta forces that have ruled Burma for almost half of a century, to restore democracy and peace. To reinstate Burma’s democracy, the international community and ASEAN must address the current situation with urgency and importance.
This junta group was already detaining women and children, now they are even targeting people with disabilities. Yesterday afternoon in Chanmyathazi Township in Mandalay City, Sai Hla Min, a disabled man who had regularly attended the Mandalay Monk Union Strike was arrested and not released on bail. Although Burma has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), it is clear that in an illegal coup, these kinds of human rights are not respected.
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:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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1023.88 KB 3.71 MB 916.23 KB
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Description:
"As of 9 May, (780) people are now confirmed killed by this junta coup. AAPP compiled and documented (4) fallen heroes today. (2) from Shwebo and Myinmu Townships in Sagaing Region died on 9 May. (2) from Kani Township in Sagaing Region were killed on previous days and documented today. This is the number verified by AAPP, the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. We will continue adding as and when.
As of May 9, a total of (3826) people are currently under detention; of them (84) are sentenced. 1540 have been issued arrest warrants; of them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment with hard labour, who are evading arrest. We are verifying the recently released detainees and continuing to document.
Protests continue across Burma today, this morning in Meiktila Town, Mandalay Region, a motorcycle protest was repressed with slingshot fire, leaving several people injured. Three civilians were beaten with gunstock and arrested, and around 10 motorcycles were seized. This morning in Pyigyidagun Township, Mandalay City, a group of Yadanarbon University students on their way home after a protest were chased and shot by a civilian car, one car was hit by a bullet. Nowadays the junta are using civilian cars instead of police or military vehicles. They are finding it easier to arrest and crackdown on protests. These covert acts are showing the reality of the terrorist groups barbarity.
Unprovoked shooting and atrocities against civilians are increasing in rural areas. This morning in Kani Township, Sagaing Region, in the Chindwin river, junta troops arrived in a boat and opened fire on civilians, no one was injured. This morning in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region, they cracked down on the meeting point of a protest, arresting two protesters. When the people demanded their release, the junta opened fire, one civilian was shot on the waist, and one civilian shot dead.
On 8 May in Thamyar village , Natmauk Township, Magway Region, the junta used tear gas and rubber bullets, two locals were injured and seven arrested. Although arbitrary shootings continue on a daily basis, the international community has not taken effective action – so the junta lawlessness is getting worse. Civilians are insecure, lives are constantly in danger. Last night in Shwebo town, Sagaing Region, poet Khet Thi (a.k.a U Zaw Tun) was arrested, he died at the hospital after being tortured in the interrogation center. Khat Thi was arrested along with his wife who is taking part in the CDM, and another house member.
To create a society that guarantees everyone’s right to life and freedom from persecution, we must uproot dictatorship. The terrorist group loots on a daily basis. Last night in Zee Pin Dwin village, Kani Township, Sagaing Region, they raided a village and destroyed homes and property, looting gold, money.
In Bhamo town, Kachin State, on the night of 7 May, the junta raided a motorcycle showroom and stole a tricycle and over 200 motorcycles. Looting and searches were carried out in Myitkyina, Mohnyin and Mogaung Townships taking old and fresh motorbikes from civilians. Since the coup there has been no rule of law, there is a state of panic because civilians lives and private property can be destroyed and looted at any time by armed thugs.
Conflict continues in Kachin State, a woman was shot dead in her head in a clash between the junta and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near War Shawng village, Wine Maw Township, Kachin State. The peace process has been wrecked by the tyrancial junta, ethnic people once again feeling the brunt of the civil war.
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:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက (၂၁) ကြိမ်မြောက် ကယန်းအမျိုးသားနေ့ သို့ ပေးပို့သည့် သဝဏ်လွှာ
=======================
၁။ ယနေ့သည် ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား ကယန်းအမျိုးသားများ၏ (၂၁) ကြိမ်မြောက် အမျိုးသားနေ့ဖြစ်ပေသည်။ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားနေ့ကို ကယန်းတိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများအားလုံး နှင့် အတူတကွ ဂုဏ်ပြု ကြိုဆိုလိုက်ပါသည်။
၂။ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားတို့သည် သမိုင်းစဉ်တစ်လျှောက်တွင် အာဏာရှင်တို့ကို ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား တိုင်းရင်း သားများနှင့်အတူတကွ လက်တွဲ၍ တွန်းလှန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။
၃။ ယနေ့အချိန်အခါသည် ပြည်ထောင်စုတွင်း မှီတင်းနေထိုင်ကြသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများ အားလုံးက အာဏာရှင်ကို နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေကြသည်ဖြစ်ရာ၊ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားတို့အနေ ဖြင့်လည်း ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွားတိုင်းရင်းသားများအားလုံးနှင့် အတူတကွ လက်တွဲတိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေသည်ဟု ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။
၄။ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ တရားမျှတမှု နှင့် တန်းတူညီမျှမှုတည်းဟူသော လောကပါလ တရားတို့ ထွန်းကား၍ တန်းတူရေးနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဋ္ဌာန်းခွင့်ကို ဖော်ဆောင်ပေးနိုင်မည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုကြီး တည်ထောင်ရေး အတွက် ကယန်းအမျိုးသားများအပါအဝင် ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများ အားလုံး အတူတကွ လက်တွဲကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်ကြပါစို့ဟု အလေးအနက်တိုက်တွန်းရင်း သဝဏ်လွှာ ပါးအပ်ပါသည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karenni (Kayah) State, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
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151.14 KB
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"Myanmar poet Khet Thi, whose works declare resistance to the ruling junta, died in detention overnight and his body was returned with the organs removed, his family said on Sunday.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls to request comment on the death of Khet Thi, who had penned the line "They shoot in the head, but they don't know the revolution is in the heart." His Facebook page said he was 45.
Khet Thi's wife said both of them were taken for interrogation on Saturday by armed soldiers and police in the central town of Shwebo, in the Sagaing region - a centre of resistance to the coup in which elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted.
"I was interrogated. So was he. They said he was at the interrogation centre. But he didn't come back, only his body," his wife Chaw Su told BBC Burmese language news in tears from Monywa, around 100 km (60 miles) away by road.
"They called me in the morning and told me to meet him at the hospital in Monywa. I thought it was just for a broken arm or something ... But when I arrived here, he was at the morgue and his internal organs were taken out," she said.
She had been told at the hospital he had a heart problem, but had not bothered to read the death certificate because she was sure it would not be true, Chaw Su said. Reuters was unable to reach the hospital for comment.
Chaw Su said the army had planned to bury him but that she pleaded with them for the body. She did not say how she knew her husband's organs had been removed.
"He died at the hospital after being tortured in the interrogation centre," the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said in a bulletin that put the toll of civilians killed since the coup at 780.
The group, which monitors details of killings, did not identify the source of its information.
OTHER POETS DIED
Khet Thi was at least the third poet to die during protests since the Feb. 1 coup.
Khet Thi had been a friend of K Za Win, 39, a poet who was shot dead during a protest in Monywa in early March.
Cultural figures and celebrities have been prominent supporters of opposition to the coup with protests daily in different parts of the Southeast Asian country in spite of the killings and thousands of arrests.
Khet Thi had been an engineer before quitting his job in 2012 to focus on his poetry and to support himself by making and selling ice cream and cakes.
"I don't want to be a hero, I don't want to be a martyr, I don't want to be a weakling, I don't want to be a fool," he wrote two weeks after the coup. "I don't want to support injustice. If I have only a minute to live, I want my conscience to be clean for that minute."
More recently, he wrote that he was a guitar player, a cake baker and a poet - not someone who could fire a gun. But he implied his attitude was changing.
"My people are being shot and I can only throw back poems," he wrote. "But when you are sure your voice is not enough, then you need to choose a gun carefully. I will shoot..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 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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