2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar’s economy has seen a dramatic downturn in the aftermath of the 2021 coup, with figures suggesting a contraction of at least 30%. Yet, even as households return to a state of “everyday economic survival,” to borrow a phrase from political scientist Ardeth Thawnghmung—with news outlets reporting rising unemployment and starvation—Myanmar’s real estate market has surged in both popularity and pricing. Industry reporting and coverage in national media suggest that market rates for land and property have doubled, and even tripled, in some areas—a statistic that underscores what has long been true in Myanmar: for many, land is the most reliable စုဗူး or savings jar.
Since the coup, the instability of other assets has buttressed peoples’ beliefs in the stability of investments in land. The value of the Myanmar kyat has fallen by nearly half, even as the junta has effectively banned foreign currency. Gold prices spiked to a record high of over 3.5 million kyats per tical last August. Investments in cars, another established asset in Myanmar, have dropped off, mirroring global trends that reflect pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and, more recently, sky-high gas prices. But, if land remains one of a very few ways to store value in Myanmar’s unfolding crises, important issues linger: Who buys land, who sells land, and how? These questions are perennial insofar as they intersect with historical dynamics of property and inequality. Yet, the current context also demands understanding how and why the land market—like Myanmar’s population more broadly—has increasingly migrated online.
Since 2019, we have conducted in situ and digital ethnography to trace shifts in land transactions as they moved onto social media. While brokers have, historically, swapped land documents, contracts, and cash around tables in teashops or in front of township land registration offices, during COVID-19 lockdowns, many began to advertise online. While the actors brokering land deals remain largely the same, their methods have transformed. Facebook—Myanmar’s dominant social media platform—has become especially popular as a tool for buying and selling land. We followed brokers, sellers, and buyers as they created or joined new pages and groups devoted to the sale of land. We reviewed dozens of rapidly growing public groups across Myanmar, many hosting tens of thousands of members, focusing on real estate groups that specialized in land sold in peri-urban Yangon, where plots of all sizes were in high demand as investments in proposed “new city” areas. Through close analysis of the advertisements and commentary in these groups, as well as interviews with group members, we charted the booms and busts of an unruly online property market. Our open-access article, recently published by Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, shows that these digital activities have remade Myanmar’s land market in four significant ways.
First, Facebook activity drove shifts in how land is used and valued. While land has always been bought, sold, and traded in Myanmar, it used to be a slow, intimate, and illicit affair, conducted on the black market in the context of close, trusted relationships and largely for livelihood purposes. As Stephen Huard has explained, in Myanmar, land is conventionally tied up in personal relations of inheritance, obligation, and stewardship, above and beyond the law. Ownership was rooted in the responsibility to maintain land as a source of ongoing security—a task which usually involved maintaining its capacity for agriculture. On Facebook, however, advertisements rarely discussed the land’s suitability for farming; instead, and especially in the coming “new city,” plots were promoted to far-flung businessmen and investors who, as one commenter asserted, “will never farm there.” Rather than noting soil quality, access to water, or elevation, Facebook’s land brokers instead highlighted details such as the distance to special economic zones, deep seaports, and other nearby projects, assuring potential buyers that soon-to-be developed, peri-urban areas were sure sites of profitable investment. Such transformations are in line with larger patterns of speculative urbanization across Asia, but we demonstrate how Facebook posts, photos, and real-time interactions accelerated the transformation of rice paddies into real estate.
Second, Facebook expanded the scope of the land market, drawing in more people, in more places. Historically, research on brokerage in Myanmar has underscored the personal form of guarantee central to brokers’ work. Trusting a broker has long required clients have confidence in an individuals’ dependability and expertise in navigating a poorly regulated real estate market, rife with false documentation. One-to-one brokerage relationships were epitomized by bonds of trust, developed within close-knit familial, social, and geographic contexts. Yet, on Facebook, we observed that these intimate ties have splintered into a series of broader and more depersonalized online associations, what social media scholar danah boyd calls “networked publics.” On Facebook, middle-class, often first-time, buyers can browse listings for investment in peri-urban Yangon or a cool weather retirement in Pyin Oo Lwin. They look not only to brokers for assurance; instead, they rely on a collective perspective shared by Facebook group members that certifies the prudence of a purchase, posting queries about proper procedures and lucrative parcels. Meanwhile, brokers post images of sellers’ legal documents and piles of cash as evidence of legitimate and successful sales, branding their businesses to ever-expanding publics.
Third, brokers’ activity on Facebook amplified the urgency and speed of transactions. Price was no longer primarily based on the labor of a particular broker working to flip a single plot, but rather on a frenzy of hurried, online interactions. Increasingly, those we interviewed—buyers, sellers, and brokers, alike—struggled to “keep up” as more and more land was exchanged, at higher and higher prices. As one real estate agent we interviewed put it: “At the very beginning, there was a lot of land and a lot of people wanted to sell and cash out, and at that time, the price was cheap. And then, they started doing this on Facebook, and the price went up super high.” By January 2021, the month prior to the coup, many brokers we interviewed wished the land market would slow back down. Combined with land’s transformation into an asset and the expansion of brokerage, these rapid transactions enact what we call “networks of speculation.”
This brings us to a final, and perhaps the most significant, shift; Facebook intensified risk for those with the most to lose. Over the course of our research, we watched as farmers and other precarious landowners, first-time investors, and petty brokers all sought to weather the land market’s booms and busts, as land that would have barely garnered US$2,000 in 2018 had was suddenly selling for US$25,000 in 2020. Sellers rushed to liquidate to avoid missing out; brokers found that the speed and intensity of the Facebook land market was too much; buyers worried prices would crash before they could resell the high-value plots they had amassed. Ultimately, we found that the volatility of unregulated transactions intensified danger for all but the wealthiest investors involved in these Facebook-based markets. While Myanmar’s unregulated and often illicit land market has always been risky, Facebook raised the stakes for those unable to “wait out” the market’s booms and busts, and the reach of the platform enlisted a larger and less well-resourced subset of the population into sales that stretched far beyond trusted contacts.
This final point is all-the-more critical in the wake of Myanmar’s 2021 coup and the resulting economic collapse, which, together, have set off a real estate boom driven by fear, specifically the lack of confidence in Myanmar’s military-led financial institutions. Frontier has reported that after banks eased restrictions on withdrawals, many in Myanmar chose to redirect their savings from bank accounts and into land holdings. For those without established relationships with a trusted broker, or with little confidence in their ability to navigate the land market on their own, Facebook has become the predominant platform for seeking out available plots as well as experts who can guide new investors’ purchases. Our current work is tracking the rise of scams in Facebook-mediated land markets.
This inadvertent manifestation of platform power presents a new twist on generic global stories about digital transformations in property, which tend to focus on sites explicitly designed for renting, buying and selling (think Zillow or Airbnb). Crucially, and for the reasons our article underscores, brokers’ creative re-appropriation of the platform for buying and selling land exposes users to greater and more far-reaching risks. How Facebook’s role in Myanmar’s land market could be shifted to ensure—rather than undercut—forms of stability being sought by Myanmar’s majority is a critical political question for platforms and for their users, in and beyond the country. As the resistance seeks to shatter the military’s hold on land and resource wealth and most people struggle to stay afloat, online buying, selling, and speculating is shifting the ground beneath their feet.
The research upon which this article and Tea Circle post is based was conducted with the support of multiple collaborators based in Myanmar, who prefer to remain anonymous at this time. We are very grateful for their time and insights.
Courtney T. Wittekind is a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University’s Program in Agrarian Studies, where she researches new forms of real estate speculation emerging in Myanmar and, particularly, in peri-urban Yangon..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-06
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"Two years ago, in February 2021, Myanmar’s military carried out a coup, overthrowing a democratically elected government and detaining many of its leaders. Since then the junta’s security forces have engaged in a broad crackdown against opposition to military rule, committing numerous crimes against humanity and war crimes across the country, widely documented by Human Rights Watch and other groups.
France and the European Union have been vocal in condemning the military’s atrocities. The French government supported the United Nations General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council in 2021 in adopting resolutions calling on the military to end abuses and restore civilian rule. France also backed several rounds of EU economic sanctions and travel bans on senior military leaders and military-owned conglomerates that fund the military’s rule.
More recently, on December 21, France supported a UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar, denouncing the military’s rights violations since the coup. The resolution fell short of imposing a global arms embargo, but its adoption reflects the junta’s growing international isolation. The fact that Russia and China abstained instead of vetoing the resolution signals that even the junta’s few friends are losing interest in defending them.
None of this, however, has been enough to change the junta’s conduct or calculations. The military has continued to carry out mass killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, and military attacks on civilians in conflict areas. Since the coup, the military has detained at least 17,000 anti-coup protesters and killed over 2,800 demonstrators and bystanders. The military still blocks humanitarian aid from reaching millions of displaced people and others at risk, and in Rakhine State—where the ethnic Rohingya have faced years of crimes against humanity, including apartheid—security forces have imposed new restrictions on movement and aid, making food and water shortages worse and paving the way for increased preventable diseases and severe malnutrition.
The junta’s leaders may appear dismissive about their international reputation, but they may be more sensitive to an increased focus on their potential criminal liability. UN members should more stridently raise the prospect of jurisdiction over crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Thus far, such calls have been inadequate to press the Security Council to vote for an ICC referral.
Another way to get the Myanmar junta’s attention would be for key governments to more effectively target the military’s economic lifeblood, in particular, foreign currency revenues that the military obtains from exports like natural gas, metals, gemstones, and timber—funds it uses to purchase weapons, military equipment, and fuel.
The economic sanctions imposed so far by the US, EU, and UK, which were meant to curtail these revenue streams, haven’t been tough enough—or been enforced enough—to meaningfully impact the junta. Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan that could help enforce these sanctions through anti-money laundering laws, have not done so. The junta evidently has not felt compelled to change its conduct.
In the most egregious example, banks continue to process and send to military-controlled entities US dollar revenues from natural gas exports to Thailand and China. This is due in part to the fact that the US and UK have not matched EU sanctions on the natural gas revenues—which are paid in USD, not Euros. France, Germany, and other EU members need to press the US and UK to impose matching sanctions.
Enforcement also needs to be ramped up. EU and Asian banks processing US dollar and Euro transactions continue to make payments to sanctioned entities. The US and EU continue to allow imports of valuable teak wood auctioned off by sanctioned entities. Meanwhile, several Japanese, Korean, and Singaporean companies and banks—many of them with multinational operations that place them in part under US and EU legal jurisdictions—have continued to do business with military-owned entities.
France and others often point to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a means for resolving the crisis in Myanmar, even though the bloc has little power or cohesion. In April 2021, ASEAN did manage to negotiate a Five-Point Consensus with the Myanmar military, meant to lead to dialogue and de-escalation. But the military repudiated it within days and the abuses only increased. Since then, ASEAN has been unable to meaningfully impact the military’s decision making. When the junta executed four political prisoners in July 2022—Myanmar’s first use of the death penalty in over three decades—one ASEAN leader, Malaysia, called the executions a “mockery” of ASEAN’s efforts.
As China and Russia continue to shamefully block more robust multilateral action, France, together with other EU member states, should redouble efforts to coordinate with the US, EU at large and other Western and Asian parnters to ensure that sanctions are strengthened and enforced effectively. Tougher actions can stem the flow of foreign funding and curb the military’s ability to buy weapons and sustain its operations, and help ASEAN and other intermediaries convince them that they need to move away from brutality and start taking steps toward restoring democratic rule.
The status quo approach is not working. France and its European partners need to do more to stem the junta’s brutality and help the people of Myanmar, who continue to call for the international community to help..."
Source/publisher:
Mediapart via "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-06
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"It has been two years since the Myanmar military coup on February 1, 2021. Yet Australia still has not sanctioned a single member of Myanmar's military or any of their business interests for widespread human rights violations since the coup.
Australia is now an outlier among like-minded countries including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada, which have imposed a total of hundreds of sanctions on individuals and entities in response to the junta's abuses.
Repeated calls for Australia to follow the lead of its traditional allies have not exactly fallen on deaf ears, rather we are told targeted sanctions are still under "active" consideration. While many human rights activists and civil society groups accepted this position while the junta was holding the Australian economist Sean Turnell, this excuse no longer carries any weight following his release in November.
Myanmar's junta has been responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, widely documented by human rights groups including Human Rights Watch. The military and police are implicated in mass killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians in conflict areas including indiscriminate ground and air attacks. At least 17,000 anti-coup protesters have been arbitrarily arrested and over 2,800 killed, although the real figures are most likely much higher.
The junta has blocked desperately needed humanitarian aid from reaching millions of displaced people and others at risk, in violation of international humanitarian law. Across the country, security forces have imposed new travel restrictions and have attacked aid workers, blocked access to roads and aid convoys, destroyed non-military supplies and shut down telecommunications services. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 17.6 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Fighting since the coup has displaced more than one million people internally, while another 70,000 refugees have fled into neighbouring countries.
In Myanmar's Rakhine State, new restrictions on movement and aid affecting ethnic Rohingya camps and villages have made food and water shortages worse, increasing cases of preventable diseases and severe malnutrition. Escalating hostilities between the Arakan Army armed group and the Myanmar military have resulted in Rohingya and Rakhine civilian deaths, arbitrary arrests, and displacement.
Myanmar is gripped by fear and violence. The military's execution of four political prisoners in July 2022 after egregiously unfair trials was Myanmar's first use of the death penalty in over three decades. The civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is serving a 33-year sentence after sham military trials for corruption, incitement, breaching the Official Secrets Act, and other politically motivated charges. Every day, it becomes more dangerous for dissenters to speak out for fear of imprisonment, torture, or death.
On December 21, 2022, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Myanmar, denouncing the military's rights violations since the coup. The resolution fell short of calls for a global arms embargo, but the fact that it passed reflects the junta's growing isolation. Russia, China, and India notably abstained, signalling that even the junta's few friends have lost interest in defending the intransigent military.
Throughout all this, people in Myanmar have remained defiant in opposing the military's abusive grip on the country. But there remains the elephant in the room: Why have some democratic countries such as Australia, which have expressed sympathy for the plight of Myanmar's people, not taken meaningful action?
In December, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced new targeted sanctions against Russia and Iran for grave human rights violations. But Myanmar was conspicuously absent from the list.
Australia's reluctance to impose targeted sanctions on Myanmar seems to reflect an unwillingness to upset the regional status quo. No member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has imposed measures on Myanmar, and Australia does not appear willing to go out on a limb as it seeks to improve relations with its Asian neighbours. But two years after the coup, Australia's risk-averse human rights foreign policy is doing nothing to protect Myanmar people's lives.
Instead, Australia should take the regional lead in imposing concrete measures to curtail the junta's abuses. It should coordinate with ASEAN member states to impose targeted sanctions on senior military officials and their major revenue streams.
Revenue from Myanmar's business interests pays for the military's crimes. Imposing sanctions on key individuals and entities can stop the flow of foreign funding, curbing the military's ability to buy weapons and sustain its operations. Ending the junta's widespread abuses needs a global commitment, including from Australia, to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
The Canberra Times (Canberra) via Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"Republic of the Union of Myanmar
National Unity Government
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Special Issue To Commemorate Second Anniversary Myanmar Spring Revolution..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
[field_licence]
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National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"ကောဇာသက္ကရာဇ် ၁၃၈၄ ခုနှစ်၊ တပို့တွဲလပြည့်ကျော် (၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သည့် မွန်အမျိုးသားနေ့ အခါသမယတွင် ကိုယ်စိတ်နှစ်ဖြာ ကျန်းမာချမ်းသာကြပါစေကြောင်း ဆုမွန်ကောင်း တောင်းအပ်ပါသည်။
သာသနာသက္ကရာဇ် ၁၁၁၆ ခုနှစ်၊ တပို့တွဲလပြည့်ကျော် (၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် မွန်အမျိုးသား ညီနောင်နှစ်ပါးဖြစ်သည့် သမလမင်းနှင့် ဝိမလမင်းတို့က မျက်မှောက်ခေတ် ပဲခူးမြို့နေရာဒေသတွင် မွန်မျိုးနွယ်စုတို့အား ဦးဆောင်ကာ ပထမဟံသာဝတီ မွန်နေပြည်တော်ကို ထူထောင်ခဲ့သည်။ ယင်းနေ့ ကို မွန်အမျိုးသားနေ့အဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်လိုက်ခြင်းဖြင့် လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ပထမထောင်စုနှစ် ကာလကတည်း ကပင် မွန်လူမျိုးတို့၏ ကြီးမြတ်သော သမိုင်းနှင့် ယဉ်ကျေးမှု အဆင့်အတန်း မြင့်မားစွာ တည်ရှိနေခဲ့ ခြင်းကို အသိအမှတ်ပြု မှတ်တမ်းတင် ဖော်ပြခြင်းပင်ဖြစ်သည်။
ရာမညဒေသဟု အမည်တွင်သည့် လက်ရှိ ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ တောင်ပိုင်းဒေသတွင် မွန်လူမျိုးတို့သည် ဗုဒ္ဓသာသနာ ထွန်းကားရေးအတွက် စေတီပုထိုးကျောင်းကန်များ တည်ဆောက် ခြင်း၊ မြို့ပြရပ်ရွာများ ထူထောင်ခြင်း၊ အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများနှင့် ကူးလူးဆက်ဆံရောင်းဝယ် ဖောက်ကား ခြင်းများ ရှိခဲ့သည်သာမက အရှေ့တောင်အာရှဒေသတွင် ဗုဒ္ဓသာသနာတော်ပြန့်ပွားရေး အတွက် ပါဝင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည့် လူမျိုးတစ်မျိုးဖြစ်ကြောင်း သမိုင်းမှတ်တမ်းများတွင် အထင်အရှားတွေ့ရှိရပေ သည်။
ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့် အပြည့်အဝကျင့်သုံးခဲ့ကြသည့် မွန်လူမျိုးတို့သည် ဗြိတိသျှကိုလိုနီလက်အောက်သို့ အခြားတိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးများနည်းတူ ရောက်ရှိခဲ့ရသည်။ ထို့အတူ ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ အခြားတိုင်းရင်းသားများနည်းတူ ဗြိတိသျှနှင့် ဂျပန်တို့အား ဆန့်ကျင် တော်လှန်ရာတွင် တက်ကြွစွာပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ သို့ရာတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံလွတ်လပ်ရေး ရရှိပြီးနောက် ဖဆပလခေါင်းဆောင်များထံ မွန်ပြည်နယ်သတ်မှတ်ပေးရန် အရေးဆိုသည့်အခါ ဖဆပလခေါင်းဆောင် များက ငြင်းပယ်ခဲ့သဖြင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးကို မလွှဲမရှောင်သာ ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ကြသည်။
မွန်အမျိုးသားများသည် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး၊ အမျိုးသားတန်းတူရေးနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့် ရရှိရေးအတွက် ခိုင်မာပြတ်သားသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များဖြင့် ပါဝင်ဆောင် ရွက်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထို့အတူ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တွင် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုထူထောင်ရေးအတွက် အခြားသော တိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကို၊မောင်နှမများနှင့်အတူ လက်တွဲကာ ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင် ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည်။
ယခုအချိန်သည် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အာဏာရှင်က နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာကို လုယူသိမ်းပိုက်ခဲ့ပြီး နိုင်ငံသူ နိုင်ငံသားများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက်နှိမ်နင်းခြင်းများကို နေ့စဉ်ရက်ဆက် ကျုးလွန်နေသော ကြောင့် ပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံးက ရရာနည်းလမ်းဖြင့် ခုခံတော်လှန်နေကြချိန်ဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုကဲ့သို့သော အချိန်အခါတွင် မွန်အမျိုးသားနိုင်ငံရေးအင်အားစုများသည် အခြားသော တိုင်းရင်းသား ပြည်သူများ နှင့် တစ်စိတ်တစ်ဝမ်းတည်းဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေး၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး၊ တန်းတူ ညီမျှမှုရှိရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေး စသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးဦးတည်ချက်များဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ပြည်သူ့ဘဝလွတ်မြောက်ရေး အတွက် စုစည်းလက်တွဲပြီး ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိသည်ကို တွေ့ရပါသည်။
ယနေ့ကျရောက်သော မွန်အမျိုးသားနေ့တွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး၊ စစ်မှန်သော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် နှစ်ပေါင်း(၇၀)ကျော် အသက်သွေး ချွေးပေးအပ်ပြီး တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည့် မွန်လူမျိုးတို့အား ဦးညွှတ်ဂုဏ်ပြုပါကြောင်းနှင့် နွေဦးတော် လှန်ရေးတွင် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီအရေးအတွက် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည့် မွန်ပြည်သူ ပြည်သားများ၊ မွန်အမျိုးသမီးများ၊ မွန်လူငယ်များ၊ မွန်ကျောင်းသား ကျောင်းသူများအား အထူးပင် လေးစားဂုဏ်ပြု ပါကြောင်းနှင့် (၇၆)နှစ်မြောက် မွန်အမျိုးသားနေ့ကို ကြိုဆိုကြောင်း ဖော်ပြရင်း ဤသဝဏ်လွှာကို ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Format :
pdf
Size:
555.67 KB
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Description:
"တရားရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေးနှင့်အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းရေးကာလ တရားမျှတမှု ဆိုင်ရာဦးစီးဌာနသည် စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုဖြစ်စဉ်အတွင်း ဖြစ်ပွားနေသည့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ၊ လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ်ကျူးလွန်သည့်အမှုများ၊လူမျိုးတုံးသတ် ဖြတ်မှုများ၊ အပါအဝင် အရပ်ရပ်သော ဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာ ချိုးဖောက်မှုများကို စာရင်းကောက်ယူ မှတ်တမ်းပြုစုလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
ကျူးလွန်မှုများ၊ ချိုးဖောက်မှုများအပေါ် အမှန်တရားရှာဖွေဖော်ထုတ်ခြင်း၊ တရားမျှတမှု ရရှိအောင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်း၊ ပြန်လည်ကုစားပေးခြင်း၊ ဖြစ်ရပ်ဆိုးများထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအတွက် အဖွဲ့အစည်းဆိုင်ရာပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲခြင်း စသည့် လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များကို ဆောင်ရွက်ရန်စီမံ လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
ပြည်သူများအနေဖြင့်လည်းကောင်း၊ တော်လှန်ရေးအစုအဖွဲ့များအနေဖြင့်လည်းကောင်း၊ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအနေဖြင့်လည်းကောင်း အာဏာသိမ်းဖြစ်စဉ်အတွင်း ဖြစ်ပွားနေသည့် ပြစ်မှု ကျူးလွန်မှုများ၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ၏ သတင်းအချက်အလက် မှတ်တမ်းများကို ပေးပို့ကြပါရန်နှင့် ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင်ပေးကြပါရန် ဖိတ်ခေါ်အပ်ပါသည်။
၂၀၂၃ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုလုပ်ရပ်ကြောင့် ထိခိုက်သေဆုံး နစ်နာခဲ့ရသောစာရင်းနှင့် မီးလောင်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသော အိုးအိမ်များစာရင်းကို အများပြည်သူသို့ တင်ပြအစီရင်ခံအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Justice - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Military History, Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
185.81 KB
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Description:
"၁။ ယနေ့ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၅) ရက်နေ့သည် ကချင်တမျိုးသားလုံး ဂုဏ်ယူတန်ဖိုးထားရသည့် (၆၂) နှစ်မြောက် ကချင်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ဖြစ်သည်။ မိမိတို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အနေဖြင့်လည်း (၆၂) နှစ်မြောက် ကချင်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ကို ကချင်ပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံးနှင့် ထပ်တူထပ်မျှ လေးစား ဂုဏ်ယူတန်ဖိုးထားပါကြောင်း ဦးစွာဖော်ပြအပ်ပါသည်။
၂။ လွတ်လပ်ပြီး တရားမျှတသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုတွင် အေးအတူပူအမျှ အတူတကွ ယှဉ်တွဲနေထိုင်ရန် မျှော်ရည်ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့သော်လည်း အာဏာရှင်အဆက်ဆက်မှ ပင်လုံစာချုပ်ပါ ကတိကဝတ် များကို ချိုးဖောက်ခဲ့သောကြောင့် ပြည်ထောင်စု၏ စံတန်ဖိုးများ ပျောက်ဆုံးခဲ့ရပြီး တိုင်းရင်းသား လူမျိုးများ၏ ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့်၊ ကိုယ့်ကံကြမ္မာကိုယ်ဖန်တီးနိုင်ခွင့် အစရှိသည့် ရသင့်ရထိုက်သည့် အခွင့်အရေးများ လက်လွတ် ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရပြီး များစွာ ထိခိုက်နစ်နာခဲ့ရသည်။
၃။ ထို့ကြောင့် ၁၉၆၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၅) ရက်နေ့တွင် ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်(Kachin Independence Army-KIA) ကို ဖွဲ့စည်းတည်ထောင်ခဲ့ပြီး ကချင်အမျိုးသားတို့၏ လက်နက်ကိုင်ခုခံ တွန်းလှန် စစ်ကို စတင်ခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါနေ့ကို အစွဲပြု၍ ကချင်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ဟု ဂုဏ်ယူစွာ သတ်မှတ် ကျင်းပခဲ့သည်မှာ ယနေ့တိုင်ပင် ဖြစ်သည်။
၄။ (၆၂) နှစ်တာ ကချင့်တော်လှန်ရေးခရီးအတွင်း အသက်၊ အိုးအိမ်၊ စည်းစိမ်ကို ရင်းနှီးပေးဆပ်ပြီး စွန့်လွှတ် အနစ်နာခံ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့သည့် ကချင့်အာဇာနည်ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ၊ သူရဲကောင်းများနှင့် ကချင်ပြည်သူလူထု တရပ်လုံးကိုလည်း လေးနက်စွာ အောက်မေ့ဦးညွှတ်အပ်ပါသည်။
၅။ နယ်ချဲ့ဖက်ဆစ်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးမှစ၍ အဆက်ဆက်သော အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေးများတွင်သာမက ယနေ့ တတိုင်းပြည်လုံး၏ ဘုံရန်သူဖြစ်သည့် အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီအား ခုခံတွန်းလှန်နေသော ပြည်သူ့ တော်လှန်ရေးကြီးတွင် ကချင်အမျိုးသား ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ၏ ခိုင်မာပြတ်သားသည့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်များနှင့် ကချင်ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အရင်းအနှီးကြီးမားစွာ ပေးဆပ်ပါဝင်မှုများကို လေးစားတန်ဖိုးထားပြီး သမိုင်းမှတ် ကျောက်တင်ရမည် ဖြစ်သည်။
၆။ ယနေ့မျက်မှောက်အချိန်အခါသည် ပြည်ထောင်စုတဝှမ်း လှည်းနေလှေအောင်း၊မြင်းဇောင်းမကျန် တိုင်းရင်းသား ပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး “တသံတည်းညီ တချီတည်းရုန်း” လျက် ဘုံရန်သူ အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်အား ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံခုခံတွန်းလှန်နေသော အဆုံးအဖြတ်နှစ် ဖြစ်သည်နှင့်အညီ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ မျှော်မှန်းတောင့်တချက်ဖြစ်သော စစ်ဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ဖြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုသစ်ကို တွဲလက်ညီညာစွာဖြင့် ဆက်လက်ချီတက် အောင်မြင်နိုင်ပါစေကြောင်း ဆုမွန်ကောင်းတောင်းလျက် ယနေ့ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၅) ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သည့် ကချင် တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ ဂုဏ်ပြုသဝဏ်လွှာအား လေးစားဂုဏ်ယူစွာဖြင့် ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
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"၁။ ၁၉၆၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၅) ရက်နေ့မှ စတင်၍ ဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့သည့် ကချင် လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်မတော် (KIA) သည် ယနေ့တွင် (၆၂) နှစ် ပြည့်မြောက်ခဲ့ပြီ ဖြစ်ပြီး ဂုဏ်ရောင်ထွန်းလင်းသော ကချင်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့အခမ်းအနားသို့ မိမိတို့မှ သဝဏ်လွှာ ပေးပို့ခွင့်ရသည်ကို လွန်စွာ ဝမ်းမြောက်ဂုဏ်ယူရပါကြောင်း ဦးစွာဖော်ပြလိုပါသည်။
၂။ ကချင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများသည် စစ်အာဏာရှင်အဆက်ဆက်အား နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ကြာ တော်လှန်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည့်အပြင် စစ်ဘေးစစ်ဒဏ်ကို ကြံ့ကြံ့ခံခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ ယခု နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင်လည်း မတရားမှုကိုလက်မခံဘဲ အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းကာ တိုင်းရင်းသားအားလုံး တန်းတူညီမျှမှုအတွက် အခြားညီနောင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့်အတူ ဦးဆောင်ကဏ္ဍမှ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေသည်မှာ ဂုဏ်ယူလေးစားဖွယ်ကောင်းလှပါသည်။ တော်လှန်ရေးအဆက်ဆက်တွင် ဦးဆောင်ပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြပါသော ကချင်အမျိုးသားခေါင်းဆောင် များနှင့် ကချင်အာဇာနည်သူရဲကောင်းအပေါင်းတို့အား ဂုဏ်ယူဦးညွှတ်ပါကြောင်း ဤ သဝဏ်လွှာမှတစ်ဆင့် အလေးအနက် မှတ်တမ်းတင်ဖော်ပြအပ်ပါသည်။
၃။ တော်လှန်ရေးတွင်ပါဝင်နေကြသည့် မိမိတို့ တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများ က စစ်အာဏာရှင်အားအရှုံးမပေးဘဲ သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်စွာ အတူဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်နေ ကြသည့်အတွက် ဤနွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကြီး မုချအောင်မြင်မည်ဆိုသည်ကို လုံးဝယုံကြည် ပါသည်။ ယခုထက်ပိုမိုသော ညီညွတ်မှုတို့ကို ဖော်ဆောင်ရန် သဘောထားကြီးစွာ အပြန် အလှန်လေးစားယုံကြည်မှုတို့ကို တည်ဆောက်လျက် မိမိတို့၏ ရည်မှန်းချက် ပန်းတိုင်ဆီ အောင်မြင်စွာလျှောက်လှမ်းနိုင်ရေး မိမိတို့ တိုင်းရင်းသား တော်လှန်ရေး အင်အားစုများက ဆက်လက်ကြိုးပမ်းသွားရမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးများအားလုံးအနေဖြင့် အနာဂတ်တွင် စစ်ပွဲများ ကင်းစင်သော၊ တရားမျှတခြင်း၊ လွတ်လပ်ခြင်းနှင့် ညီမျှခြင်းတည်းဟူသော လောကပါလ တရားများ ထွန်းကားသော ဖက်ဒရယ်ပြည်ထောင်စုကြီးကို မျှော်ရည်လျက် ကချင် တိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အခြားတိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများ၊ တော်လှန်ရေး အင်အားစုများနှင့်အတူ ခိုင်မာစွာရပ်တည်လျက် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ဤ (၆၂) နှစ်မြောက် ကချင်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာအား လေးစားစွာ ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Kachin history
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"The Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) welcomes the new sanctions imposed by the governments of Australia, Canada, UK and USA on members of the illegal Myanmar military junta, its businesses, and jet fuel suppliers to mark the second anniversary of the military’s attempted coup.
“Governments worldwide should urgently deny the illegal junta weapons, funds, and legitimacy. For two years, the junta has continued to commit genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity with complete impunity,” said Kyaw Win Executive Director of BHRN. “The international community must act immediately to cut all resources to this terrorist regime and hold them accountable for their crimes.”
Over the last two years, the people of Burma have bravely resisted the junta’s violent attempt to take total control of the country. In the face of mass, unwavering public resistance, the junta continues to increase its campaign of brutality and savagery as it carries out killings, torture, forced disappearances, sexual violence, and daily airstrikes against the civilian population throughout the country. The junta’s continued commission of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, has been enabled by the supply of funds, arms, and jet fuel.
The steps taken by the Australia, Canada, UK and USA shows solidarity with the people of Burma in their fight to topple the dictatorship. The sanctions announced by Canada on January 31 prohibit the export, sale, supply, or shipment of aviation fuel to Myanmar, making Canada the first jurisdiction in the world to ban the supply of jet fuel to the junta.
Meanwhile, the measures taken by the UK targeted two Myanmar companies and two individuals who have played an essential role in importing, handling, and transporting aviation fuel to the junta’s air force. Complementing these efforts, the US imposed new sanctions targeting the senior leadership of Myanmar’s ministry of energy, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), its air force, as well as an arms dealer and a family member of a previously designated business associates of the military. The US also sanctioned the Union Election Commission. Australia, which has been slow to impose sanctions on the junta has finally announced measures against 16 people, including the head of the junta, senior general Min Aung Hlaing as well as the military owned Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd.
Together, these new measures are a positive step in cutting the junta’s access to resources and deterrent to their ongoing crimes. However, immediate and coordinated action is still needed from the international community to systematically target the junta’s sources of revenue, arms, and jet fuel.
BHRN calls on:
Governments worldwide to urgently sanction the junta, its businesses, and arms brokers and impose a coordinated global arms embargo.
The US, UK, EU, and Australia to follow Canada’s lead in imposing a complete ban on the supply of jet fuel to the junta.
The US, UK, Canada, and Australia to follow in the EU’s footsteps and sanction MOGE, which finances the junta.
Organisation’s Background
BHRN is based in London and operates across Burma/Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in the country. BHRN has played a crucial role in advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-04
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Type:
Individual Documents
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန
https://moe.nugmyanmar.org
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၄/၂၀၂၃)
၁၃၈၄ ခုနှစ်၊ တပို့တွဲလပြည့်နေ့
( ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၄ ရက် )
ကြားကာလအခြေခံပညာပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျောင်းများအဖြစ်
အသိအမှတ်ပြုကြောင်း ကြေညာချက်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general
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Sub-title:
The military believes that time is on its side in its high-stakes struggle with the National Unity Government.
Description:
"Feb. 1 marked the second anniversary of the coup d’etat that ousted the democratically elected National League for Democracy government in Myanmar. Since then the country has descended into a multi-front civil war and lost over a decade’s worth of sustained economic growth. Over half of the population is living in poverty, driving people back into opium production, which saw 88 percent growth in 2022.
The military junta has failed to provide either security or basic social services. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,890 people have been killed – but that doesn’t include casualties in the border areas where fighting is fiercer. The military has detained nearly 17,500 since the 2021 coup, emptying jails of convicts to make room for political prisoners.
On the anniversary Wednesday, the military defied the constitution, and refused to hand over power to a civilian care-taker government after two extensions of its emergency decree, instead extending emergency rule for another six months. Constitutional niceties are a low priority for a blood thirsty military regime hell-bent on establishing a monopoly of power.
That they don’t have sufficient security to hand over power is telling. The opposition National Unity Government (NUG) has out-performed by every measure. The civil disobedience movement continues to stage demonstrations and flash mobs every day across the country.
The NUG led a second Feb. 1 “silent strike” to humiliate the regime. The shadow government has hundreds of affiliated people’s defense forces (PDFs), which have tied the military down. They have done so with courage and technical innovation.
The generals in Naypyidaw should be very frustrated that they have not been able to terrorize the population into submission. The NUG clearly has legitimacy that they will never enjoy.
Nonetheless, the State Administrative Council, as the junta is formally known, has a five-part theory of victory, and believes that time is on its side.
First, the military will continue to wage a violent campaign across multiple fronts to wear down opposition forces through a war of attrition.
The violence will be excessive and intentionally target civilians. We have seen this play out most ferociously in Sagaing and Magway, where ethnic Bamar resistance is both new and threatens the military’s long and vulnerable supply lines.
They will take advantage of the fact that the PDFs got over-extended in the rainy season, and have gone on the offensive with superior fire power now that the dry season has arrived.
Ramping up airstrikes
The junta will increasingly rely on artillery and air power. For the latter, the regime has increased their acquisitions, including buying five FTC-2000G and the first two of six SU-30s from China and Russia, respectively.
There’s been over 360 percent increase in airstrikes over the previous year. Mostly the regime has targeted civilian communities, but recently there was an escalatory attack on Camp Victoria, the headquarters of the Chin National Front that killed five
New howitzers and multiple rocket launched systems imported from China will give the junta the ability to hit the NUG and its ethnic allies from a distance.
And of course the junta will try to terrorize the population into submission: nearly 40,000 homes have been set on fire throughout the country, 27,000 in Sagaing alone.
Second, the junta will assiduously target the shadow government’s funding and logistics.
The National Unity Government takes great pride that they have raised over $100 million through online sales of military-owned properties and crypto-bond offerings. They have used crypto currencies, tethered to the U.S. dollar to move money, and created digital wallets.
The junta has put officers in all banks to monitor any transaction over 100,000 kyat ($45), hampered mobile payments platforms, and at a more primitive level, physically inspects phones to see if they have the NUG Pay app. They have sentenced people to a decade for making token donations to the shadow government or its affiliated militias.
Third, the military will focus on the opposition’s center of gravity: their alliance with key Ethnic Resistance Organizations. This is both the shadow government’s greatest strength and greatest vulnerability. No Bamar-led government has had better ties with the ethnic forces than the NUG, whom they see as offering the best hope of establishing a democratic federal republic.
While some ethnic armies have supported the shadow government from the start, including arming and training their militias, many more have taken a wait-and-see approach. Some, particularly those in Shan State, such as the United Wa State Army, have benefitted from the status quo as they churn out record amounts of illicit narcotics.
The junta is determined to prevent more from joining the shadow government, and thereby opening up a new front. While there have been skirmishes with the Arakan Army, an all out war seemed to have been avoided, as the latter realized it gained more autonomy by not fighting.
Going after urban guerillas
Though the junta invites ethnic armies to Naypyidaw to resume the National Ceasefire talks, there are fewer takers. But this remains a line of effort. The military regime assumes that, at one point, historical mistrust will cause rifts between the NUG and the ethnic armies. Until then, it seeks to deter and induce the ethnic armies to withhold support for the National Unity Government.
Fourth, the junta will focus on decimating the urban guerrilla forces. The military was not surprised to be fighting a multifront war against the ethnic armies, even if the proliferation of people’s defense forces caught them off guard. But the attacks by the Yangon and Mandalay urban guerrillas undermined their claim to have the situation under control in the eyes of the urban middle class, whom they desperately need to win over.
Urban guerrilla groups waged a systematic campaign in 2022, but their targets were often symbolic. There were only two operations that had real importance: the attempted assassination of the then-deputy head of the Central Bank of Myanmar and the killing of the CFO of MyTel, the largest and not coincidentally military-owned telecoms firm in the country.
But their attacks proved to be costly, with the importation of Chinese CCTVs and facial recognition software.
Fifth, the junta will hold “elections” by August, in an effort to legitimize their rule, taking a page out of the playbook written by Thailand’s generals in 2019.
They have announced the establishment of proportional representation, and the military will still receive 25 percent of parliamentary seats. Districts are being gerrymandered and the military controls the voter lists. The Union Election Commission has been purged of all pro-National League for Democracy figures, and is fully controlled by the military.
Over 1,100 NLD officials are imprisoned and many have been tortured to death.
The newly announced election law cripples the political opposition and allows the Union Election Commission to dissolve parties if it is declared unlawful or it has communications with “terrorist” organizations, doesn’t have offices or run candidates in 50 percent of the 330 townships; or compete in by elections, isn’t registered and has 100,000 listed members, or doesn’t deposit 100 million kyat ($43,727) at the military-owned Myanma Economic Bank.
While not everyone in the junta is convinced about the utility of elections, including Soe Win, Min Aung Hlaing believes they are the source of the regime’s legitimacy, especially in the eyes of the international community, many of whom will view even shambolic elections as “good enough”.
The military believes that time is on its side, and given the lack of concrete international support for the National Unity Government, and they might be right. The stakes are high for both sides, as we enter year three of a conflict that continues to drag Myanmar back to amongst the poorest and most unstable countries in the world..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
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2023-02-02
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"၁.၂.၂၀၂၃ရက်နေ့၊ ၁၀၀၀နာရီတွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဉ္စမ အကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေး(ဒုတိယနေ့)၌ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်သို့ ဖတ်ကြားတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် လုံခြုံရေးနှင့် ကာကွယ်ရေးဆိုင်ရာကော်မတီ၏အစီရင်ခံစာအား မိဘပြည်သူများ ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ရန် အောက်ပါအတိုင်း လေးစားစွာ အသိပေးထုတ်ပြန်အပ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-02
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Individual Documents
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"၂-၂-၂၀၂၃ ရက်နေ့၊ ၁၀၀၀ နာရီတွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဉ္စမ အကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေး၊ တတိယနေ့၌ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်သို့ ဖတ်ကြားတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ရေးရာကော်မတီ၏ အစီရင်ခံစာအား မိဘပြည်သူများ ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ရန် အောက်ပါအတိုင်း လေးစားစွာ အသိပေးထုတ်ပြန်အပ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-02
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Individual Documents
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Federalism, ethnic conflict and the politics of national reconciliation - general studies and sources
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"အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနမှ အခြေခံပညာပြီးမြောက်ကြောင်း စစ်ဆေးအကဲဖြတ်ခြင်းကို ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလမှ ဧပြီလအထိ ပထမအကြိမ်နှင့် ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဩဂုတ်လမှ အောက်တိုဘာလအထိ ဒုတိယအကြိမ် ကျင်းပမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာခဲ့ပြီး ဖြစ်သည်နှင့်အညီ
၁။ အွန်လိုင်း (Online) ဖြင့် ဖြေဆိုရန် လျှောက်ထားခဲ့ကြသည့် သတ်မှတ်ချက်နှင့် ကိုက်ညီသော ကျောင်းသား၊ ကျောင်းသူများသည် ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၂) ရက်နေ့မှ စတင် ဖြေဆိုနိုင်ပြီဖြစ်ကြောင်းနှင့် ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဧပြီလ (၃၀) ရက်နေ့တွင် ပထမအကြိမ်ဖြေဆိုခြင်း ပြီးစီးမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။
၂။ မြေပြင် (On-ground) တွင် ဖြေဆိုရန် လျှောက်ထားခဲ့ကြသည့် ကျောင်းသား၊ ကျောင်းသူများ သည် မိမိတို့ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ မြို့နယ်၊ စာဖြေဌာနများ၏ သတ်မှတ်ရက်တွင် စတင်ဖြေဆိုနိုင်ပြီ ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-02
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National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general
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"A Justice For Myanmar investigation using open source and leaked documents has identified 22 international oilfield services companies active in Myanmar since the military’s illegal attempted coup.
The oil and gas sector in Myanmar is illegally controlled by the junta and is its biggest source of foreign revenue, bankrolling the military’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These oilfield services companies provide critical support and equipment to the sector, from drilling to maintenance to supply. By doing so, they help to keep the gas revenues flowing to the junta, making them complicit in its international crimes.
8 of the companies identified are either fully or partially based in the USA, including the biggest companies in the sector: Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, which have branch offices in Myanmar that remain active.
Tax filings for the first year of the military’s coup attempt, provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets, show earnings in the millions of US dollars.
The activities of US oilfield services companies have been encouraged by the failure of the US government to sanction Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), an agency illegally controlled by the junta.
MOGE regulates the sector and acts as both a state revenue collector and commercial partner in oil and gas projects, ensuring the junta gets lucrative tax and royalty payments, as well as a vast share of profits.
Concerningly, the continued presence of US companies has been encouraged by the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, which lists the oil and gas industry in Myanmar as a “best prospect industry” and encourages US companies to seek opportunities, including applying for junta tenders.
With the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law in December, the US must act now and impose sanction on MOGE, in coordination with its allies the UK, Canada and Australia.
Oilfield services companies outside the EU, where sanctions on MOGE are already in place, must uphold their international law and due diligence responsibilities and stop their activities in Myanmar unless the projects they are working on suspend payments to the junta, and withhold them in protected accounts.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Oilfield services companies in Myanmar have blood on their hands for operating in an industry that bankrolls the illegal Myanmar military junta, as it wages a campaign of terror against the people.
“It is deplorable that giants such as Halliburton, Diamond Offshore Drilling and Schlumberger that are listed on US stock exchanges have maintained operations in Myanmar, helping to keep oil and gas revenue flowing to the junta. Their business has helped the junta purchase the bullets, bombs and jet fuel that it needs for its indiscriminate attacks.
“These companies have breached their international legal responsibilities and are complicit in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity by knowingly servicing oil and gas projects that fund the junta’s atrocities.
“We call on all oilfield services companies to suspend operations on projects that are funding the junta.
“The activities of US oilfield services companies following the military’s coup attempt demonstrates a failure of the US Government to take decisive action against the junta and its terror campaign by sanctioning MOGE.
“The Biden Administration’s contradictory approach to Myanmar has allowed US oil and gas corporations to continue business as usual in Myanmar, enabling the junta’s international crimes.
“While the Department of State has warned that dealing with MOGE risks money laundering, furthering corruption and contributing to serious human rights violations, the US Department of Commerce is advising US companies to seek profits in the oil and gas sectors in Myanmar and to compete for MOGE tenders.
“We call on the US and its allies Australia, Canada and the UK to stand with the people of Myanmar by imposing sanctions on MOGE and helping to cut the flow of funds to the junta.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"On the anniversary of the Myanmar military’s brutal coup on 1 February 2021 and two years of violence inflicted on the people of Myanmar, Myanmar Campaign Network welcomes the announcement by the Australian government to introduce sanctions against 16 senior military and political leaders, and against two military owned entities.
Australia now joins our democratic allies in sanctioning military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanma Economic Holdings LTD (MEHL). We must join the international community in sanctioning the extractive and natural resource sectors by targeting Myanmar Mining Enterprises No.1 and No.2, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise (MPE) among others.
The UK, US, EU and Canada have issued 543 sanctions on 185 individuals and 180 entities in response to the atrocity crimes against the Rohingya in Rakhine state and since the coup. Sanctions announced today by the US, UK and Canada target human rights abusers, state-owned enterprises, aviation fuel suppliers and the military-appointed Union Election Commission.
Australian sanctions constitute only 4% of the international sanctions response on human rights abuses in Myanmar. The Myanmar Campaign Network encourages the Australian government to continue urgent consideration of further sanctions in line with its international allies.
Daw Zin Mar Aung, Foreign Minister, National Unity Government of Myanmar, said, “As the military has been using its resources to perpetuate the dictatorship, especially killing and suppressing the people, it is necessary for us to cut off the military council’s every way of making money.”
Charles Santiago, Chairperson, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights said, “Many of us have been highly frustrated with the passivity shown by Australia in dealing with the Myanmar crisis over the last two years, but this new round of sanctions is a step in the right direction and, hopefully, it heralds a new approach by the Albanese administration. The sanctions on the military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) are particularly welcome, as they could serve to obstruct the money flows for the junta.
Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States have also imposed new rounds of sanctions on the Myanmar junta coinciding with the second anniversary of the attempted coup staged by Min Aung Hlaing and his men. But much more needs to be done and now these countries should improve their coordination in putting pressure on the junta, beginning with sanctioning the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Only the European Union has done so at the moment, and Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US should follow suit.
Yet isolating the junta is not enough. Australia and like-minded democratic countries should also recognize the National Unity Government (NUG), as the legitimate authority in Myanmar, and provide all their support they can, including funding and capacity building initiatives; increase their humanitarian assistance to Myanmar, and open its doors to refugees fleeing the country.”
Clancy Moore, CEO of Transparency International Australia said, “The sanctions on with military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanma Economic Holdings LTD (MEHL) are good first step as they provide large sources of revenue to the military. Other countries have also sanctioned state-owned enterprises in the lucrative resources sector, including Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) which lines the pockets of the military generals to the tune of more than 1 billion US dollars every year.”
Tasneem Roc, Campaign Manager, Myanmar Campaign Network said, “The junta forcibly prevented the democratically elected government from fulfilling its mandate, and looks for international legitimacy by holding sham elections later this year. Australia must further show its support for the democratic process and the will of the people by continuing to assess and introduce further sanctions.
Since the coup the death toll of those murdered by the military has risen to over 2,940 people and over 17,572 people have been unlawfully arrested. Over 38,000 civilian properties including places of worship have been destroyed by attacks by the Myanmar military. There are 128 cases of rape and gang rape by military personnel since the coup being investigated by the National Unity Government Ministry of Women Youths and Childrens Affairs..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Campaign Network
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"Washington, DC – The International Republican Institute (IRI) released the following statement on the second anniversary of the military coup in Burma.
“Today, IRI recognizes the bravery and resilience of the Burmese people who continue to struggle for freedom and democracy despite grave risks to their safety and livelihoods. Their dedication to democratic values and building a government that respects human dignity is truly inspiring.
“IRI strongly condemns the military regime’s brutal tactics and ongoing human rights abuses as it conducts an indiscriminate and violent campaign against its citizens. This includes torturing civilians, burning villages and homes, and committing sexual and gender-based violence which only pushes the country deeper into a political and economic crisis.
“It’s time for the military junta to immediately stop these attacks and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to vulnerable populations. Further, the regime’s attempt to legitimize its grip on power through a sham elections process later this year is nothing more than a smokescreen and should be firmly rejected by the international community.
“IRI remains steadfast in supporting Burma’s pro-democracy movement and their desire for a free and democratic future.”..."
Source/publisher:
International Republican Institute
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"We, the undersigned organizations specializing in election observation, electoral and democracy assistance, committed to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation1 and to upholding the integrity and credibility of such endeavours, denounce and distance ourselves from the sham “election” that the illegal and illegitimate military junta of Myanmar, the State Administrative Council (SAC), and the illegitimate “Union Election Commission” it has established, are currently planning for later this year.
We also express an urgent request to the international community to deny the SAC any technical, material, or symbolic support for such sham elections. We encourage UN Member States to join us and make their opposition to the junta’s electoral exercise widely known, including through individual and joint statements, and resolutions at the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Human Rights Council.
The Myanmar junta has been systematically and massively violating the human rights of the people to such a degree that the free expression of their will cannot be ensured. It is impossible to hold a genuine election under current conditions in Myanmar, which include the arrest, detention, torture, and execution of leaders of the most widely supported political party and other politicians and civic activists; as well as the harassment, jailing and torture of journalists. Those who criticize the coup and the military junta and protect the internationally recognized valid elections of 2020 are considered criminals and are persecuted. It should also be noted that 21 officials from the legitimate Union Election Commission are still being held in detention following the coup as a result of their involvement in the 2020 elections.2 Genuine democratic elections cannot be achieved unless human rights and fundamental freedoms can be exercised, including freedom of expression, assembly, and association, as was largely the case in 2020. The evidence is overwhelming that the SAC denies the exercise of any of these freedoms.
Genuine democratic elections are an expression of sovereignty, which belongs to the people of a country, the free expression of whose will provides the basis for the authority and legitimacy of government. The SAC can make no claim to democratic legitimacy, i.e., representing the will of the people as expressed through elections.
Our organizations are committed to conducting systematic, comprehensive, and accurate gathering of information concerning the laws, processes and institutions related to the conduct of elections. We assess factors concerning the overall electoral environment. We analyze this information impartially and draw conclusions about the character of electoral processes based on the highest standards for accuracy of information and impartiality of analysis. Where possible, we offer recommendations for improving the integrity and effectiveness of electoral processes. No recommendations that we could offer on this sham “election” could cure the falsity of the process other than for the SAC to follow the call of the United Nations General Assembly to “to respect the will of the people as freely expressed by the results of the general election of 8 November 2020, to end the state of emergency, to respect all human rights of all the people of Myanmar and to allow the sustained democratic transition of Myanmar.” The implementation of a sham “election” will not bring stability in Myanmar. It will only contribute to increasing violence and polarization, worsen the crisis caused by the military coup, and further threats to regional and international stability and security..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific
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"Today marks two years since the attempted military coup in Burma. Over the last two years, the people of Burma have bravely resisted the junta’s violent attempt to take total control of the country. In the face of mass, unwavering public resistance, the junta continues to increase its campaign of brutality and savagery as it carries out killings, torture, forced disappearances, sexual violence, and airstrikes against the civilian population throughout the country.
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) has so far documented from 1st February 2021 to 31stDecember 2022. According to the documentation, the total number of civilians killed by the junta reached 3160 people. There were 363 people who were tortured and killed within 24 hours of their arrest by the junta. Arson attacks by the junta forces on civilian properties across the country destroyed 46,350 houses. Sagaing Division has the largest rates of all the above-mentioned crimes committed by the junta. Freedom of religion and belief was also significantly violated during the period, with hundreds of religious buildings burned and destroyed, including Churches, Buddhist monasteries, and Mosques.
While these events have garnered international attention, other forms of structural violence and human rights violations of Burma’s Muslim minorities has continued to occur largely under the radar, with particularly severe violations against the Rohingya people. Since the coup, Rohingya and other Muslim minorities have been subjected to tightened restrictions on their fundamental freedoms and are increasingly at risk of being subjected to further atrocity crimes.
Since the coup, the junta has imposed new movement restrictions and aid blockages on Rohingya camps and villages. The junta has arrested thousands of Muslims, hundreds of them children, for ‘unauthorized’ travel. Those arrested face a maximum of five years in prison. According to the Burma Human Rights Network’s (BHRN) documentation from 1 February 2021 to December 2022, at least 2,840 Rohingya were arrested and detained for traveling outside their communities without getting prior permission showing a sharp uptick in the number of arrests since the coup. BHRN has also documented 70 cases of other Muslim minorities being arbitrarily arrested.
The junta and its supporters continue to use divisive and hateful rhetoric targeting non-Buddhist religious groups to divide the resistance and deflect and divert attention from the coup. While religious oppression has been a longstanding issue in Burma, the coup emboldened the junta to further persecute, marginalize, and incite violence against the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities throughout the country. From 1 February 2021 until January 2023, BHRN has documented over 539 incidents of hate-speech targeting Muslims by junta supporters on social media including Facebook, Telegram, and junta-backed journals.
BHRN and other human rights groups have also documented cases of the junta looting, burning and destroying properties, shops, and places of worship of Muslim communities. BHRN documentation shows that more than 770 houses in Muslim villages were burned down by the junta in Sagaing region since the start of the coup. BHRN documentation shows the junta has killed at least 81 Muslims since 1 February 2021.
“Amidst all this violence and brutality, the international response to the coup has proceeded in a slow and fragmented manner, falling short of the Burma people’s expectations. The longer the international community waits to act, the more emboldened the junta will become as it continues to commit atrocities. The situation in Myanmar requires an immediate and cohesive international response”, said Kyaw Win, Executive Director of BHRN.
The Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) calls on governments worldwide to:
Redouble efforts to pursue international legal action against the junta, including by joining the Gambia’s case at the International Court of Justice and by actively pursuing investigations and prosecutions under the principle of universal jurisdiction like those in Turkey, Argentina, and Germany.
Work together to strengthen international sanctions to cut off the Burma military from the revenue funding its abusive operations.
Increase engagement and recognize the National Unity Government, ethnic resistance organizations, and leaders of the civil disobedience movement.
Additionally, BHRN calls on:
ASEAN to coordinate strong action against the junta, block the junta from all its meetings, and support UN member states in enforcing sanctions and a global arms embargo against the junta.
Neighbouring countries, including India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, to devise a comprehensive regional response to the refugee crisis, provide protection, support, and humanitarian and legal aid to all refugees fleeing Burma, and to authorize emergency cross-border aid to internally displaced persons in Burma.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) to end its inaction and refer the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court or establish a separate criminal tribunal to investigate and prosecute the full spectrum of atrocity crimes in Burma. The UNSC should also impose a binding global arms embargo including a prohibition on security assistance, the sale and transfer of arms, dual-use technology, and suspend the supply of aviation fuel.
The international community to not recognise the pseudo-election that the junta plans to conduct in August this year. There must be recognition that the same junta that overthrew a Democratically elected government does not have any credibility to conduct the election.
Organisation’s Background
BHRN is based in London and operates across Burma/Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in the country. BHRN has played a crucial role in advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"US oil major Chevon is selling its 41.1% stake in the Yadana Gas Project to a subsidiary of the Canadian oil company MTI Energy. Chevron first disclosed the deal to the Guardian.
Yadana is the biggest gas project in Myanmar, within an industry that is the largest source of foreign revenue for the illegal military junta. Gas revenue bankrolls the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Yadana project was formerly operated by TotalEnergies, which withdrew in 2022, increasing Chevron’s stake to 41.1%, the largest in the consortium. Other stakeholders in the project are PTTEP, the current operator, and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state agency illegally controlled by the junta.
Through the sale, MTI Energy and Chevron will ensure funds continue to flow to the junta, making them complicit in the junta’s international crimes.
Who is MTI Energy?
MTI Energy Inc, based in Edmonton, Alberta, is an offshoot of oilfield equipment manufacturer Mitey Titan Industries and located at the same address. MTI Energy CEO Mehtab (Tab) Khehra has been described as heading “a whole galaxy of service companies active in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and especially Nigeria.”
An Alberta registry search shows that the company has four directors, including Toronto corporate lawyer, Ralph Lean, and Adewale Olorunsola (AKA Wale Sola), who heads the Nigerian-Canadian merchant bank, Rein Capital. Rein Capital subsidiary, Rein Energy, is a shareholder in MTI subsidiaries Shibah Energy and Caxes Energy, according to data from the Dutch corporate registry.
In 2021, Shibah Energy and Caxes Energy took over Chevron’s stake in Brazil’s Papa-Terra field. MTI Energy also secured four blocks in 2021 in Angola.
MTI Energy is registered as having no shareholders and it is unclear who the company’s profits are distributed to.
MTI Energy is purchasing Chevron’s stake through its Bermuda subsidiary, Et Martem Holdings. Bermuda is a tax haven and secrecy jurisdiction.
As a UK overseas territory, Bermuda has implemented UK sanctions on Myanmar under the territory’s International Sanctions Regulations 2013.
However, with MOGE unsanctioned in either jurisdiction, Canadian and UK sanctions appear insufficient in preventing the transaction.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Chevron’s irresponsible sale of its stake in the Yadana Project to MTI Energy will ensure that gas funds keep flowing to the illegal Myanmar junta, bankrolling their campaign of terror in response to two years of mass resistance that has prevented the junta from gaining control of Myanmar.
“MTI Energy’s investment will make the company complicit in the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We condemn MTI Energy’s total disregard for the lives and democratic will of the people of Myanmar, and its blatant breach of the company’s obligations under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“This sale is the result of failures of the Canadian and UK governments to sanction Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
“Is the Canadian government willing to stand by while a Canadian company takes over the largest stake in such a significant gas project that enriches the murderous, illegal junta?
“We call on the Canadian and UK governments to immediately sanction MOGE and prevent companies in their territories from financing the junta’s international crimes."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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118.16 KB
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"1 February 2023: Two years after launching the attempted coup, the Myanmar military junta has failed to impose its political agenda on Myanmar. The international community must now step-up support for the federal democracy movement as the only way forward for Myanmar, said the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
SAC-M hosted a press conference yesterday, on Tuesday 31 January 2023, to mark the two-year anniversary of the start of the military coup in Myanmar. The members of SAC-M commented on the growing regional crisis caused by the military in Myanmar, as well as recent developments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and United Nations (UN) relevant to Myanmar.
SAC-M founding member Yanghee Lee spoke about the outright refusal of the Myanmar people to accept the military coup. “The junta cannot succeed,” said Lee. “This time the old playbook won’t work – the movement has come too far, and the people have had enough. The only path to peace and stability in Myanmar now, is through finally realising the people’s will and long-held aspirations for a genuine federal democracy.”
SAC-M founding member Marzuki Darusman discussed the challenges facing Indonesia as chair of ASEAN in 2023. “Indonesia will need to push ASEAN to finally come to terms with the reality that the situation in Myanmar is a political conflict between the junta and the democracy movement,” said Darusman. “As ASEAN Chair for one very short year, Indonesia should try to lay down the groundwork for a realistic, sound and durable political solution. It is imperative that Indonesia acknowledges the reality of the NUG and works with it, as a party to the conflict, to find a solution.”
Chris Sidoti, also a founding member of SAC-M, commented on the recent developments in the UN and international system, including the adoption of the Security Council’s first resolution on Myanmar, the continued rejection of the military junta by the General Assembly, and the ongoing investigations at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court in relation to the Rohingya genocide. However, Sidoti explained, these steps have all been inadequate.
“We, the international system, are challenged, as we go into the third year of this attempted coup. We are challenged to respond far more adequately, far more effectively and far more actively than we have done in the past,” said Sidoti.
All three members of SAC-M dismissed the junta’s stated plan to hold elections in 2023 as yet another attempt to gain power that fails to comply even with the military’s own constitution. “The international community must recognise that whatever the military in Myanmar is doing right now has no constitutional basis,” said Lee.
However, the members of SAC-M concurred that a non-violent solution to the conflict must be found, but that the nature of that solution is not yet clear, and with Min Aung Hlaing leading the military, appears unlikely.
As the coup, and the terrible toll it is taking on the people of Myanmar, enters its third year, SAC-M calls on the international community to close in on accountability by establishing an ad hoc tribunal for Myanmar, and to finally step up, and recognise Myanmar’s National Unity Government..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar are holding a "silent strike" to mark two years since a military coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi from power.
Streets in many cities fell quiet after protesters urged people to stay indoors and asked businesses to close.
Meanwhile, the military administration in the country has extended a state of emergency for six months.
The UK, US, Canada and Australia have announced fresh sanctions against army-linked firms.
Large parts of Myanmar descended into chaos after the government's overthrow two years ago, displacing more than a million people.
The army had made allegations of widespread fraud in a vote held months earlier, in November 2020, which Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won with more than 80% of the vote.
The military's claims have been dismissed as baseless by the vast majority of the international community, and plans to hold new elections to cement junta rule have been dismissed as a "sham", including by the UN.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a pro-democracy activist, said resistance against the military was continuing, particularly in rural areas.
"The main message of the silent strike is to honour the fallen heroes and heroines and to reclaim the public space as our own," she told the BBC, adding that the aim was to send a clear message that the military "shall never rule us".
Protesters also gathered outside Myanmar's embassies in Thailand and Japan, chanting anti-military slogans and holding portraits of Ms Suu Kyi.
A small pro-military demonstration took place in Yangon, where an estimated 200 supporters marched through the city centre escorted part of the way by soldiers, AFP news agency reported.
In-depth: Devastation from the air in Myanmar's brutal civil war
Two years after the coup, which catastrophically misread the public mood in Myanmar, the statistics tell their own, dismal story.
More than 2,900 people have been killed during the junta's crackdown on dissent, according to monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
One-and-a-half million people have been displaced, 40,000 homes have been burned down, eight million children are no longer in school, and 15 million people are judged by the UN to be dangerously short of food.
Much of the country is caught up in a brutal civil war. Yet the military is still refusing to negotiate with its opponents, as it promised to do in a meeting with neighbouring countries shortly after the coup.
Instead, it has plans for an election which would almost certainly exclude Ms Suu Kyi, who resoundingly won the last election, and much of her party, the NLD.
Those loyal to her are calling on citizens to boycott any poll organised by the military, arguing it would be illegitimate and impractical. The UN says these would be "sham elections".
The military's acknowledgement this week that it had failed to normalise the situation may force it to postpone the election - originally scheduled for August this year - having now extended the state of emergency, prolonging the grim stalemate in which Myanmar is trapped.
Western nations used Wednesday's anniversary to coordinate new rounds of sanctions against the military and its supporters.
The UK targeted, among others, companies supplying aviation fuel to the military, which it said were "enabling its barbaric air-raiding campaign in an attempt to maintain power".
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the sanctions were aimed at "reducing the military's access to finance, fuel, arms and equipment".
Australia announced its first sanctions against the military, aimed at 16 individuals "responsible for egregious human rights abuses", as well as two major military-controlled conglomerates, which dominate the country's economy.
Sanctions by the US targeted the military-approved election commission, which "the regime has deployed to advance its plans for deeply flawed elections".
The National Unity Government - a parallel administration that leads opposition to the military - welcomed the sanctions, calling them "significant measures" to tackle the conflict, particularly air strikes by the military.
It called on countries to place further "aggressive, targeted sanctions" on the military regime and those who supported and supplied it.
Amnesty International's Montse Ferrer told the BBC that moves to stop the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military were "an important step" but that more needed to be done.
"Other states should follow Canada's lead in suspending the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer - including transit, trans-shipment and brokering - of aviation fuel to Myanmar," she said..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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Today marks the second anniversary of the murderous coup by the Myanmar military, which has killed nearly 3,000 people including dozens of children.
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"In a statement released yesterday, the Council of Global Unions has called for renewed global efforts to restore democracy and for official recognition of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG). Following the vicious military coup, the NUG was formed by members of Myanmar’s elected government to coordinate international opposition to the military coup.
The brutal repression carried out by the junta since the coup has included the killing and the arbitrary detention of trade union representatives, as highlighted in last year’s ITUC Global Rights Index.
Along with economic and diplomatic pressure on the junta itself, a key focus must be placed on the involvement of global multinational companies that continue to do business with the junta, including through supply chain inputs that feed the military’s domestic arms industry.
“This corrupt and brutal junta must feel the full weight of international pressure. The people of Myanmar need international solidarity, and the ITUC and the entire global trade union movement will continue to stand with them and their national trade union centre, the CTUM,” said ITUC Deputy General Secretary Owen Tudor.
Source/publisher:
International Trade Union Confederation
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"To commend and laud all the heroes of the People and the Nation, who have resolutely and steadfastly taken part in Civil Disobedience Movement and stood on the side of justice and righteousness with nationalistic fervour against the illegal putsch on 1st February 2021, the following events will take place.
1. All the People’s heroes who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement will be awarded National Badges of Honour in the post-revolutionary period.
2. All the Civil Servants who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement will be promoted to the next higher grade from the posts held just prior to the day of the coup d’etat. This directive is to take effect from 1st February 2023.
3. All those Civil Servants who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement and were on part-time contracts or daily wage contract will be all given permanent full time contracts, effective from 1st February 2023.
4. All those Civil Servants who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement and were denied access to their rightful income and bonuses from the time of the coup by the terrorist military group will be reimbursed fully in lump sums during the post-revolutionary era..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"1st February 2023 marks the second anniversary of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution. For two years, the people of Myanmar have stood together, their heads held high, and steadfastly resisted Min Aung Hlaing and the Myanmar military’s attempt to overthrow the elected Government.
In staging a coup, the military misread our people. Myanmar has already suffered more than seventy years of military rule. We refuse to return to the dark days of the past. Over the past two years the determination, courage, and tenacity of our people has prevented the military from imposing its rule on Myanmar. Against the odds, the people of Myanmar have financed, organized, and sustained the Spring Revolution. Now, after two years, we have the initiative. Our political momentum cannot be overturned.
The National Unity Government together with our ethnic allies, who have opposed the military for decades, will end the military’s illegal power grab. We will seek justice for the atrocities committed by them against innocent civilians. We will build a federal democracy and bring an end to Myanmar’s 70 years of political crisis. On this common ground, with this common goal, we will end the dictatorship of the terrorist army once and for all.
The National Unity Government and civil society organizations have documented the atrocities of the Myanmar military in its attempt to crush civilian resistance. These include “2,894” dead, including “279” children, “447” women and “70” healthcare workers. “62,399” of houses and dwellings have been torched by the fascist army that also included “163” religious buildings that were destroyed. Targeting of innocent civilians have also resulted in 1.5 million people internally displaced. In this two-year period of the Spring Revolution, there has been “654” air raids by the terrorist fascist army that has resulted in “288” number of innocent civilians killed and “377” injured.
On 2021 March 1, the Committee Representing Pyihtaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) declared the Myanmar military a terrorist organisation based on its perpetration of mass killings and other crimes against humanity. The terrorist military council’s attempt to hold a sham election is to hold onto power illegally. As Myanmar’s lawful government, the National Unity Government will make every effort to ensure that all perpetrators, guilty of treason, are brought to justice and that those who have suffered at their hands are legally recompensed.
In addition, the National Unity Government reaffirms its commitment to the people’s ultimate goal of building a Federal Democratic Union, as declared in our joint New Year statement. The National Unity Consultative Council and National Unity Government, together with all other revolutionary forces, have pledged themselves to follow together the political Road Map laid out in the Federal Democracy Charter.
Myanmar’s Spring Revolution is not to satisfy the immediate needs of the country. Brought on by the courage and participation of the whole population, it is a systematic, unified struggle for our future. Our people are determined to build a Myanmar free of the military dictatorship which has oppressed our country for generations. The Spring Revolution is the springboard for future political change in Myanmar. We appeal to all and urge that by understanding the true nature and aim of the Spring Revolution together with the decisive public opinion, we can undoubtedly stand steadfast as the unified front..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"1. NUG calls for sanctions on aviation fuel to save Myanmar people 23/01/2023...2. NUG conveys lunar new year greetings to PRC...3. NUG anticipates more cooperation with India as a future nation...4. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun urges it is a high time for UN to raise a single voice to take actions against the terrorist SAC...5. NUG recognizes 33 online schools as interim basic education schools
23/01/2023...6. SAC atrocities in Mindat Township resulted in 4 civilian injuries, 2 religious and 10 houses destroyed 25/01/2023...7. People Security Body arrests drugs brokers and users in Depayin Township 24/01/2023...8. NUG establishes E-Police Service 20/01/2023...9. Defendant named in NLD office murder case 21/01/2023..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government marks 1 February 2023 as the
second anniversary of the people’s revolution against the illegal military junta’s failed power grab.
For two years, the people of Myanmar have shown remarkable unity and resolve. We have refused
to surrender our democracy, rights and freedoms to thugs with guns.
Today, we honour our martyrs and their family members for their unimaginable sacrifices. We
honour our sisters and brothers in unlawful junta detention who have given their liberty to defend
our own. We honour our ethnic partners, our civil disobedience movement and strike committees,
our youth and civil society, our medical workers and human rights defenders, our People’s and
Local Defence Forces, and every other person protecting our communities and defying the terrorist
junta.
We also extend sincere gratitude to our friends around the world standing in solidarity with us,
particularly those of you who today announced sharpened sanctions against the junta.
The people of Myanmar are winning the fight, but our revolution has come with terrible costs. The
junta, terrified of the people’s will and frustrated by its failure to seize control of the levers of power,
has unleashed murder, torture, arson, starvation and mass displacement. It is waging war on the
people and on the peace and security of our entire region.
The National Unity Government with its ethnic partners continues to lead from inside Myanmar,
exercising the democratic mandate given to us in general elections independently determined to
have been free and fair. We stand for unity, stability, equality, progress and civilian rule. The junta
seeks to rule through death and devastation. The choice is clear: freedom or terror, justice or
impunity, democracy or dictatorship.
Now is the moment for the international community to harden its charge and to tip the balance for
the people.
2
The National Unity Government calls on the United Nations, our ASEAN partners and on the
international community to support our legitimate democratic mandate and to block all attempts by
the junta to trade its bloody military fatigues for civilian suits through sham elections. Work with
us, ethnic communities and civil society to secure the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to
all in need and to protect Myanmar asylum-seekers and refugees. Help us hold perpetrators to
account and to deliver justice to victims and their family members including the Rohingya and other
minorities.
Today’s anniversary must mark the moment that the international community says no more to
impunity, to atrocities, to regional instability and to an aspiring dictator. A hammer must be dropped
on the junta and the Myanmar military must finally and permanently be brought under effective
civilian control..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"Two years ago today, the Burma Army made clear their sinister intentions for the country’s future. Despite an overwhelming victory in the 2020 election for the National League for Democracy, the junta’s coup was a desperate bid for legitimacy. It declared fraud without evidence while hijacking the systems in place that permitted a free and fair election to take place. Their failed coup has brought nothing but destruction while making a mockery of the rule of law. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) rejects the junta’s tyranny and calls for immediate international intervention to hold the military Generals accountable for their mass crimes.
In Southeastern Burma, in particular, Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region, the Burma Army has committed murder, torture, sexual assault and rape, arbitrary arrests and destruction of property, and many others. Innocent people have been killed in their homes, while others have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, and tortured. The regime has replaced judges with those willing to abide by its totalitarian, militarized agenda. The atrocities perpetrated are ongoing. They are systematic, widespread, and take place with impunity. Without action, the junta-backed battalions are encouraged to continue their campaign of terror.
The world must not forget about the plight of the people in Burma. Every day has become one of survival. Livelihood opportunities have been forcibly put on hold as fighting in civilian areas makes it unsafe, if not impossible, to resume their daily work. Landmines litter their villages and farms. Children are also forced to continue their learning in the jungle as the junta targets schools in air and ground strikes. Women and young girls detained in military custody are not safe. HURFOM has observed an escalation of conflict-related sexual violence since 1 February 2021. The chaos and fear-fueled environment created by the junta has led to over 100,000 civilians fleeing their homes in Southeastern Burma alone. Country-wide, there are over one million who are internally displaced.
With so much injustice regularly being enforced, the international community must intervene. A global arms embargo would end weapon access for the Burma Army, who carelessly fire their guns into villages. Sanctions on aviation fuel would stop the air strikes that killed children in their schools. Finally, a long overdue referral of the Burma Army to the International Criminal Court would set an important precedent that no one is above the law.
The military Generals and their soldiers have blood on their hands. The future of Burma belongs to those who believe that everyone is equal and deserving of their fundamental human rights. The global community must use their platforms and diplomatic will to change the course of history. This begins with measures and concrete steps that prosecute Min Aung Hlaing and end his legacy of tyranny..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"Dear President von der Leyen,
Dear HR/VP Borrell,
Dear President Michel,
Dear President Metsola,
On the occasion of the second anniversary of the coup d’état in Myanmar, we, the undersigned Myanmar diaspora organizations and organizations based in Europe that support democracy and federalism in Myanmar, call on the European Union and EU Member States to significantly increase their response to the human rights and humanitarian crisis being caused by one of the worst military regimes in the world.
The EU and its Member States have rightly shown remarkable unity, agility and resolute determination to support Ukraine against the criminal Russian aggression, as well as readiness to support Belarus’ democratic movement after stolen elections and a brutal crackdown.
We expect and hope that the EU and its Member States can take a clear position towards the similar scale of suffering and equally heroic resistance by the people of Myanmar. While the EU and some Member States have taken important measures thus far, the military’s atrocities and war of terror against the people of Myanmar deserve a more urgent response than is currently taken in the EU. That is why we call on the EU to take a stronger and more proactive position and to become more active in addressing the crisis in Myanmar.
The junta has failed to consolidate power and is gradually losing control to the determined and constantly growing resistance. In a very similar manner to Putin in Ukraine, the regime is primarily relying on violence, terror and the intentional targeting of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. The military’s two other strategies – to try to divide the anti-junta alliance through sham “peace talks”; and win legitimacy through manipulated fake elections – will not work either. However, every single additional month that the junta is able to continue this highly destructive and futile effort to seize power is causing deep economic and social damage that will be increasingly difficult to repair.
The EU has previously shown great support for the “democratic transition” in the decade prior to the coup, with hundreds of millions of Euros being invested in supporting the capacity of governance institutions, civil society and the peace process and in education reform, justice sector reform, and much more. Yet, after the coup, almost all of the support was suspended, instead of continuing this critical support to the legitimate authorities of the country, currently represented by the CRPH, NUCC and NUG.
Despite having called for the results of the 2020 elections to be respected, the EU and its Member States have failed to properly engage and support the National Unity Government (NUG), the government appointed by the parliament elected in those very elections. The NUG, the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and its allies including EROs and CSOs are the ones who are currently driving all the reforms of the country the EU has previously supported: democratisation, education, justice, health care, inclusion and an actual peace process with the first serious debates about federalism in the country since the military coup of 1962.
We therefore call upon the EU and its Member States:
– To engage, cooperate with and fund the NUG, CRPH, NUCC, ethnic states’ consultative councils and other political representative bodies of the EROs to enable them to build their capacity. The broad alliance that stands behind the Federal Democratic Charter is the only grouping in Myanmar that, with support, can end both the current conflict and the decades of civil war and must be a key policy goal for the EU.
– We welcome recent higher level public meetings between the EU and EU Member States representatives and NUG representatives. However, in order to send a strong message to the Myanmar military and send a strong message of solidarity to the people of Myanmar, such meetings should now take place at Prime Ministerial and Presidential level.
– Fund the NUG’s and EROs’ public services. They have proven to be committed to providing services – health care, education, judiciary and more – that the military is intentionally denying and destroying. Significant EU funding will help consolidate these critically important services and go a long way to prevent an otherwise rapidly deepening state collapse.
– Fund the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) because it is another pillar on which the revival of essential public services can and should be built. The junta is chasing, arresting, harassing and even torturing, imprisoning and killing members of the CDM, who are essential professionals needed for the reconstruction of the public sector.
– Convene an emergency meeting of all Member States that support human rights in Myanmar, as suggested by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews, to launch a focused, coordinated, and strategic initiative to deprive the military of the weapons, finances, and legitimacy it utilizes to sustain its campaign of violence and the suppression of the democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar.
– Fund humanitarian aid through cross-border mechanisms and local humanitarian and community-based organisations and remove stifling bureaucratic requirements that overburden local CSOs. Current over-reliance on the multi-lateral funding mechanisms administered through UNOPS and INGOs is failing to reach the most vulnerable segments of the population in the most urgent need. By massively scaling up aid to and through non-registered civil society organisations and cross border mechanisms, the EU will be able to reach millions of the most in need in the country.
– Deny legitimacy; make sure that the representatives of the illegal regime are not invited to official events funded or organized by EU and European states’ bodies (e.g. International Peace and the Rule of Law project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office).
– Send a clear message refuting the junta’s electoral deception; engage other partners, particularly in ASEAN, not to endorse or support the sham elections. The “electoral performance” will not fulfill the definition of a free and fair election since the representatives of political parties opposing the regime are being imprisoned, persecuted, exiled or killed. At the same time, any support for the elections is a violation of the ‘do no harm’ imperative since there has already been an increase in violence across the country to resist voter registration.
– Support efforts in the UN Security Council to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), or establish an independent Ad-hoc Tribunal on Myanmar.
– Call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accept the declaration lodged by the NUG, under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, accepting the Court’s jurisdiction with respect to international crimes committed within Myanmar territory.
– Continue to support the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case of Gambia against Myanmar in order to achieve full accountability for the crime of genocide against the Rohingya.
– EU and Member States must do all they can to sanction aviation fuel. Indiscriminate air attacks by helicopters and jets on the civilian population has resulted in thousands of deaths, countless more made homeless and has created a human rights and humanitarian crisis.
– Increase the monitoring and enforcement of existing sanctions. Continue the existing policy of regular new rounds of sanctions targeting sources of revenue and arms to the Myanmar military but significantly increase the pace of implementation. New sanction targets should be identified in cooperation with US and UK partners, and seek to persuade Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan to join the EU in new sanctions rounds.
– Sanction Russian, Chinese, Indian and Pakistani companies supplying the Myanmar military with arms and begin high level dialogue with India and Pakistan to persuade them to stop supplying arms to the Myanmar military.
– Introduce programs to assist democracy activists, journalists, and CSO actors who are persecuted by the junta and have fled to neighbouring countries where they have no safety. Such programs, including simplified visa granting, relocations and humanitarian help should be thoroughly aimed, selective, coordinated and flexible.
– EU and its Member States urgently need to prepare a coordinated policy on how to provide, in case of necessity, protection to Myanmar passport holders who are currently in the territory of the EU, particularly to those who are studying. There are clear signs that military embassies may soon deny Myanmar citizens abroad, who are only permitted two-year passports, the possibility of renewing their passports. This will pressure citizens of Myanmar into an involuntary and risky return to the country.
– Open a channel of communication and consult with Myanmar diaspora organizations based in Europe and European solidarity organizations, such as the ones undersigned in this letter.
We are aware that on many of these requests there has already been some welcome steps in the right direction, but these efforts need to be scaled up and sped up. Lessons learned from the appeasement of Putin and the current crisis in Ukraine should be applied to the crisis in Myanmar.
As these demands show, there is much the EU and its Member States can do to actively support the people of Myanmar in their struggle. While they will determine the future of their country, outside support can help tip the balance in their favour. The EU Parliament has already shown support for many of these demands – it is now up to the EU and its Member States to show similar determination. The fight against authoritarianism is global; a federal, democratic Myanmar instead of a dictatorship sponsored by Putin is in the EU’s vital interests.
If the EU and its Member States apply just a small proportion of the determination they have shown in Ukraine to Myanmar as well, it would have a significant positive impact. The people of Myanmar, who have shown so much resilience and courage in their struggle for democracy, deserve it..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"On the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar of February 1, 2021, the Open Society Foundations are calling on the international community to step up pressure on Myanmar’s military rulers to bring about a rapid and peaceful return to civilian rule.
In particular, Open Society is urging Indonesia to draw on its own experience of transitioning from decades under military rule to democracy in the late 1990s to help negotiate a political resolution in Myanmar. As the new Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is uniquely placed to lead a diplomatic response in 2023 and encourage other leaders in the region to take meaningful action.
This must include making it clear to the ruling State Administration Council junta that a planned military-run election in August will in no way legitimize its illegal rule—given the exclusion and continued imprisonment of the civilian leaders overwhelmingly endorsed in the November 2020 general election, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint of the National League for Democracy.
Open Society notes that it has previously urged Myanmar’s regional and international partners:
To impose a full arms embargo on the Myanmar armed forces—against the background of human rights and humanitarian law abuses including repeated attacks on civilians in ethnic minority areas; arbitrary arrests and executions; and the suppression of peaceful protests
To expand sanctions targeting senior military leaders
To recognize the civilian National Unity Government, formed by elected lawmakers in exile in April 2021, as the legitimate representative of Myanmar
To support the work of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar established by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018 and other efforts to ensure accountability for abuses
To increase support for the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to all areas of Myanmar
Open Society began supporting Myanmar’s democracy movement in exile in the 1990s and established a presence in the country in 2017 after the transition to civilian rule. Before the 2021 military coup, Open Society Myanmar worked with government and civil society groups on issues that included: expanding inclusive education and access to health care; supporting drug policy reform; protecting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities; and supporting democratic institutions..."
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Open Society Foundations
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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"Today marks the second anniversary of the brutal failed coup which gave birth to the Myanmar People’s Spring Revolution against the genocidal military dictatorship. Despite the many atrocities, horrific war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed by the junta, the people of Myanmar have continued to resist bravely and stand in solidarity with their heads held high. Our people’s commitment to human rights and federal democracy remains unshakeable, as does our unwavering love of freedom and peace. It is this very struggle for freedom and peace that has been the rallying cry of every generation since independence. For over seventy years, the military generals have committed every act of terrorism in the most inhumane and barbaric ways imaginable against our people. Even just yesterday our brave Karen people marked 74 years in their fight for freedom and federal democracy against the terror of military dictatorships. In the last 2 years alone, over nine thousand terror attacks carried out against innocent Myanmar people by the terrorist military forces have been recorded, with more than 3,000 civilians brutally murdered. Our people have faced horrible beatings, rape, torture, murder and even mass immolation. Leading pro-democracy leaders and activists have been most cruelly executed, and upwards of 20,000 innocent civilians have been arrested and held in the most deplorable conditions. From the brave citizens who took to the streets in protest against the failed coup, to our President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and democratically elected members of parliament - whose only crime was daring to take the seats to which the people of Myanmar elected them, these all face unwarranted and illegal incarceration.
Homes, schools, churches and religious buildings - over 36,000 and counting, have been destroyed, leaving over 1.5 million people homeless. Forced to take shelter in the unforgiving jungles, squalid IDP shelters. and over-crowded refugee camps, many have fled to neighbouring countries in which they may also face arrest and forced deportation back to Myanmar, where imprisonment or even execution often awaits them. Moreover, the brutal junta in Myanmar, in yet another barbaric move, has escalated its campaign of terror by weaponising humanitarian assistance and even international aide itself against the more than 17 million Myanmar people who so desperately need it. The junta is forcing international donors and aid workers to channel their assistance through military controlled networks, where this aide is then seized, sold off, and the proceeds going to fund further war crimes against the very people it was designated to help. This terrorist junta has all but completely destroyed Myanmar’s economy through its terrible policies, restrictions, workforce terrorism and destruction of labour rights, forcing over half the population of 54 million into extreme poverty. Additionally, illegal activity, such as opium production, has more than doubled since the coup according to the UNODC, further adding to the afflictions of our people and neighbours.
Thus, it is important always to bear in mind that these military generals, responsible for annulling the 1990 elections, instigating the fraudulent 2008 referendum, rigging the 2010 elections, and staging a failed coup after their spectacular loss in the truly free and fair 2020 elections, have announced yet again their plans to hold an illegal sham election, the likes of which will only bring about increased violence, bloodshed, and a prolonged reign-of-terror against the people of Myanmar. The junta’s proposed sham election is a slap in the face not only to the people of Myanmar, but to democracy on an international level, and an electoral process run by the military could never be free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic. It is therefore imperative that the international community spare no efforts to condemn, denounce, and thoroughly reject this proposed illegal, fraudulent and illegitimate sham of an election. The deaths, destruction, and national instability must not be allowed to continue or to be legitimised by this husk of a sham election. Instead of accepting this farce, the international community must do everything in their power to hold the junta accountable for all of its crimes, atrocities, and genocide, and work hand- in-hand with the National Unity Government (NUG) to ensure the democratic and peaceful future of Myanmar, and stability of the region.
We, the people of Myanmar, are absolutely committed to obtaining freedom and federal democracy. We have no future under the iron fists of a genocidal military dictatorship. Our future rests with true federal democracy, and that is the future the collective “we” must give to the people of Myanmar. Every act of terrorism and attempt by the genocidal military to crush us will always be in vain, such is the strong will of the people who have once tasted the budding of freedom and democracy. Our desire for peace and freedom far outweighs the tyrannical greed of the brutal military generals, and we will never give up our right to this freedom and peace. Together we will defeat this tyranny, these loathsome oppressors, and put an end to dictatorship on our blood soaked soil once and for all. We will restore our nation and eradicate atrocities, genocides, and juntas. Together, we will thrive and flourish, and bring our best and brightest to the world stage in the pursuit of justice. Mark my words; a new Myanmar is coming - a Myanmar that will stand strong for every one of its citizens regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender or background; a Myanmar that will join the march to global peace and security..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Spring Revolution
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"February 1st marks the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. As of 23 January 2023 (UNHCR), the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) reached to 1.2 million since the coup – it previously was 330,000. The ongoing crisis has disrupted access to safe, inclusive, and quality education for children and youth with the potential of creating a lost generation.
The Universal Declaration for Human Rights outlines 30 rights and freedoms that belong to all people including the right to education. Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is committed to ensuring that children who are forced to flee their homes and communities are not deprived of their right to education and their path to a hopeful and productive future. Education provides stability and a sense of normalcy; it engenders hope while preparing refugees to meet future challenges.
Today, children in Myanmar cannot access basic learning, let alone higher education, due to the current conflict. Education is disrupted, schools are attacked, and many are closed. Children are forced to flee from one place to another making it nearly impossible to go to school. Without the ability to exercise their basic rights and fundamental freedoms, they will not be able to determine their own future.
The Story of Tinwin: The Transformative Power of the Storybook
Tinwin, a seven-year-old boy, lives in a temporary site fleeing from the life-threatening violence occurring in his hometown. While the temporary site is called “temporary”, he has no idea how long this momentariness of fear and displacement would last. He and his family have been living in this temporary shelter for already a year.
After he arrived at the temporary site, he did not want to go to school because he was afraid that his family would run away. When a child has no idea what’s going to happen to their life and family tomorrow, it is very difficult to trust that everything will be fine. He also really missed his home and his friends in the neighborhood.
Amidst the distress, what could calm Tinwin down is the storybook. The colorful book with images could bring him to another fantasy world. A place where there is no fear. Tinwin usually asks his mother to read out the stories for him. The storybook is what makes him smile.
“He will ask me to read books, and if he likes the story, he asks me to read again and again, and I have to read it repeatedly,” says his mother.
Over time, his mother has observed positive changes in him. He’s no longer afraid to go to school and sometimes brings friends home to read books together.
He will ask me to read books, and if he likes the story, he asks me to read again and again.
TINWIN'S MOTHER
The mother, a person who read the storybook for Tinwin, observed a big change in Tinwin’s mind. Every time they are exploring the imaginary world, Tinwin is calm, happy, and has no worries. The storybook is not only important for Tinwin himself but also for his family, who really love and care about his feelings. Tinwin started to bring friends home to read the storybook and play. It is difficult for a child to think of the future when there is no sense of safety and certainty. However, Tinwin has a strong belief in his dream. Tinwin wants to be a doctor.
“I want to put medicines to the wound like a medic.”
The story of Tinwin reflects how much education can impact the life of a child and why education should not be under attack in times of conflict. Rather, investments in school materials, infrastructure, and teachers are critical for the people of Myanmar and all children and youth affected by conflict and crisis.
JRS calls for displaced children inside and outside Myanmar to have access to humanitarian assistance including safe, inclusive, uninterrupted, and quality education programs. The shooting, shelling, and bombing of schools and community buildings must cease immediately. The lack of attention from the international community has prolonged this crisis and an immediate solution through peaceful political mechanisms must be achieved.
After two years of violence and destruction, the people of Myanmar deserve more and must not be forgotten..."
Source/publisher:
Jesuit Refugee Service
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"Today marks the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar that took place on 1 February 2021. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) continues to stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Myanmar who have suffered greatly under the brutal regime and condemns the junta’s plan for a sham election.
We remember those who have lost their lives or freedoms in pursuit of democracy. We continue to vehemently condemn the military junta’s flagrant violations of human rights, including the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, the arbitrary imprisonment of political leaders, activists, government officials and journalists, the infringement of fundamental freedoms, and the atrocities committed against civilians.
As the junta plans to hold a sham election this year to legitimize its rule, we categorically denounce this so-called election as illegal and illegitimate. Genuine, free, and fair democratic elections cannot take place in Myanmar unless fundamental human rights and freedoms are upheld, which is currently not the case in Myanmar. The junta holds no legitimate position nor rightful authority to conduct any elections, and any outcome from such an exercise will not represent the will of the people.
The new Political Parties Registration Law introduced by the junta in late January makes it virtually impossible for most parties to stand any chance in the sham election. All parties must re-register within two months or face immediate dissolution, and those intending to contest nationwide must recruit 100,000 members within 90 days, establish offices in at least half of the country’s 330 townships and be able to contest in half of all constituencies. It is now even more evident that the draconian conditions eliminate all chances of a democratic election.
The international community must acknowledge that any election held by the junta is nothing but a sham, and will be illegitimate and invalid. It is imperative that the international community takes further measures to restore democracy in Myanmar if no positive progress is achieved. The plight of the people in Myanmar demands the collective efforts of the international community, including ASEAN and its new chair Indonesia, to guarantee that they are able to enjoy their democratic rights and liberties without fear of repression..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific
Language:
Local URL:
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"n the period from the coup on 1 February 2021 to 30 September 2022, 671 incidents of violence against health care were reported in Myanmar. During this time at least 750 health workers were arrested, hospitals were raided on 140 occasions, and at least 56 health workers were killed. Between April and September 2022, 111 incidents affecting health care were reported, highlighting the extent to which the Myanmar health system remains under attack despite a small overall decrease of reported incidents. This report focuses on these 111 incidents (previous reports covered the periods 1 February 2021 to 10 January 2022 and 1 January to 31 March 2022)..."
Source/publisher:
Insecurity Insight via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Format :
pdf
Size:
2.19 MB
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"၃၁.၁.၂၀၂၃ရက်နေ့၊ ၁၀၀၀ နာရီတွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဉ္စမအကြိမ် အစည်းအဝေး၌ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်သို့ အစီရင်ခံတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ၏ နိုင်ငံတကာလွှတ်တော်အသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် ဆက်ဆံရေး ခိုင်မာအားကောင်းလာစေရေး ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များနှင့် တိုးတက်ဖြစ်ထွန်းမှုများအား မိဘပြည်သူများ ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ရန် အောက်ပါအတိုင်း လေးစားစွာ အသိပေးထုတ်ပြန်အပ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.31 MB
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Description:
"၁.၂.၂၀၂၃ရက်နေ့၊ ၁၀၀၀နာရီတွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဉ္စမ အကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေး၌ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်သို့ ဖတ်ကြားတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် ပြည်သူ့ ရေးရာကော်မတီ၏အစီရင်ခံစာအား မိဘပြည်သူများ ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ရန် အောက်ပါအတိုင်း လေးစားစွာ အသိပေး ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.31 MB
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Description:
"၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာကို မတရား သဖြင့် အဓမ္မသိမ်းယူခဲ့စဉ်မှ စတင်ပြီး ယနေ့ထက်တိုင် အမှန်တရားနှင့်ဓမ္မဘက်မှရပ်တည်၍ ရဲရဲဝံ့ဝံ့ ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံ ခိုင်မာသော နိုင်ငံချစ်၊ ပြည်သူချစ် စိတ်ဓာတ်ဖြင့် တော်လှန်ရေး၏ ထောက်တိုင်တစ်ခု ဖြစ်သည့် အကြမ်းမဖက် အာဏာဖီဆန်ရေး (CDM) လှုပ်ရှားမှုများဖြင့် တော်လှန်ရေးတွင် ပါဝင်လျက် ရှိသော ပြည်သူ့သူရဲကောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံ့သူရဲကောင်း CDM ဝန်ထမ်းများအား ဂုဏ်ပြုချီးမြှင့်ခြင်းများကို အောက်ပါအတိုင်း ပြုလုပ်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာလိုက်သည်။
၁။ ပြည်သူ့သူရဲကောင်း CDM များ အားလုံးကို တော်လှန်ရေးအလွန်ကာလတွင် နိုင်ငံတော်အဆင့် ဂုဏ်ထူးဆောင်ဘွဲ့တံဆိပ်များ ချီးမြှင့်ပေးအပ်မည်ဖြစ်သည်။
၂။ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM သူရဲကောင်းများ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှ အာဏာသိမ်းခြင်းနေ့ရက် မတိုင်ခင် အချိန်ထိ ထမ်းဆောင်ခဲ့သော ရာထူးတာဝန်များမှနေ၍ ရာထူးတစ်ဆင့် တိုးမြှင့်ခန့်အပ်သွားမည် ဖြစ်သည်။ အဆိုပါ ရာထူးတိုးမြှင့်ခြင်းအမိန့်သည် ယခု ကြေညာချက် ထုတ်ပြန်သည့် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့၊ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်မှစတင်၍ အကျိုးသက်ရောက်မှုရှိမည် ဖြစ်သည်။
၃။ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM သူရဲကောင်းများဖြစ်သည့် နေ့စားဝန်ထမ်းများ (အချိန်ပိုင်းနည်းပြ၊ သရုပ်ပြများ အပါအဝင်) ကို ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့၊ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် မှစတင်ကာ အမြဲတမ်းဝန်ထမ်းများ အဖြစ် အတည်ပြုခန့်ထားလိုက်သည်။
၄။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက အာဏာသိမ်းရန်ကြိုးစားသည့် အချိန်မှ စတင်၍ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM သူရဲကောင်းများ ထုတ်ယူခြင်း မရှိခဲ့သော လုပ်ခလစာငွေများနှင့် ချီးမြှင့်ငွေများ အားလုံးကို တော်လှန်ရေး အလွန်ကာလတွင် တစ်လုံးတစ်ခဲတည်း ပြန်လည်ပေးအပ်သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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pdf
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356.01 KB
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"မင်းအောင်လှိုင်ဦးဆောင်သောအကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက ပြည်သူ့ဆန္ဒအမှန်ဖြစ်သော ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ ရလဒ်ကို လက်မခံဘဲ ပြည်သူ့အာဏာကို လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အနိုင်ကျင့်လုယူရန်ကြိုးစားမှုအား ပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ် လုံးက ခေါင်းငုံ့မခံဘဲ ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ပြည်သူ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးသည် ယနေ့ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် (၂) နှစ်ပြည့်မြောက်ခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်သည်။
ပြည်သူ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး၏ (၂) နှစ်တာကာလအတွင်း ပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံး၏ ပြတ်သားသော စိတ်ပိုင်းဖြတ်မှု၊ စွန့်လွှတ်စွန့်စားမှု၊ ရဲစွမ်းသတ္တိနှင့် တစိုက်မတ်မတ် ကြိုးစားအားထုတ်မှုများကို အရင်းတည်၍ တော်လှန်ရေးအုတ်မြစ်သည် အခြေခိုင်ခဲ့ကာ လက်ရှိအချိန်တွင် မည်သူမျှ ဖြိုလှဲ ဖျက်ဆီးပစ်၍ မရနိုင်သော ခိုင်မာအားကောင်းမှုတစ်ခုဖြင့် ရှေ့ဆက်နေပြီဖြစ်သည်။
ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်ခဲ့သော စစ်အာဏာရှင်အဆက်ဆက်ကို နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ အလံမလှဲစတမ်း ဆန့်ကျင်တွန်းလှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားမဟာမိတ်အင်အားစုများနှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အာဏာ လုယူမှုကို တိုက်ဖျက်ကာ စစ်မှန်သော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုကို တည်ထောင်ခြင်းအားဖြင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အနှစ် (၇၀) ကျော်ခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်သော နိုင်ငံရေးပြဿနာကို အပြီးတိုင်ဖြေရှင်းကြမည်ဟူသည့် တူညီသော ဘုံရည်မှန်းချက်တစ်ခုဖြင့် စုစည်းမိနေကြပြီဖြစ်ပြီး အဆိုပါ စုစည်းမှုအင်အားနှင့် ပြည်သူ့အင်အားတို့ စုပေါင်းကာ ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်ကို အမြစ်ဖြတ်ကြရန် သန္နိဌာန် ပြုခဲ့ကြပြီးပြီလည်းဖြစ်သည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများ၊ အရပ်ဘက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများက လေ့လာကောက်ခံထားသည့် စာရင်းများအရ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး ၂ နှစ်တာ ကာလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ နည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် ရက်စက်စွာ ညှင်းပမ်းနှိပ်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ ပြည်သူစုစုပေါင်း (၂,၈၉၄) ဦးရှိခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်ပြီး ၎င်းတို့အနက်တွင် အသက် ၁၈နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ် (၂၇၉) ဦး၊ အမျိုးသမီး (၄၄၇) ဦး၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်း (၇၀) ပါဝင်ပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးမှု ခံရသော နေအိမ် (၆၂,၃၉၉) လုံးရှိပြီး၊ ဘာသာရေးအဆောက်အုံ (၁၆၃) လုံး သည်လည်း နည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် ဖျက်ဆီးခံခဲ့ရပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ အရပ်သားများအားပစ်မှတ်ထား တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ ထွက်ပြေးနေ ကြရသော စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ဦးရေမှာလည်း (၁,၅၇၄,၄၀၀) ဦးရှိနေပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ တော်လှန်ရေး ၂ နှစ်တာကာလ အတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ လေကြောင်းမှတိုက်ခိုက်မှု အကြိမ်အရေအတွက် (၆၅၄) ကြိမ်ရှိခဲ့ကာ အဆိုပါ တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများအတွင်း ပြည်သူ (၂၈၈) ဦး သေဆုံးကာ (၃၇၇) ဦး ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့ကြရပါသည်။
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ (၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက အကြမ်းဖက် အုပ်စုအဖြစ် ကြေညာထားပြီးဖြစ်သော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် အထက်တွင် ဖော်ပြခဲ့သည့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ၊ လူအစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများ၊ လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ ကျူးလွန်ဆဲ ဖြစ်ပြီး ယင်းပြစ်မှုများမှ ကင်းလွတ်ခွင့်ရရန်အတွက် တရားမဝင် အတုအယောင် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲတစ်ရပ်ကို ဆင်နွှဲရန် ကြိုးစားလျက်ရှိပေသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ တရားမဝင် အတုအယောင်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲအပါအဝင် အခြားသော ခြေလှမ်းတိုင်း၊ လုပ်ရပ်တိုင်းသည် ပြည်သူ့ အချုပ်အခြာ အာဏာကို မတရားရယူရန် ကြိုးစားသည့် အာဏာဖီဆန်မှုမြောက်သော ဥပဒေချိုးဖောက်မှု များသာ ဖြစ်ပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ တရားဝင် အစိုးရတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သော အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် အဆိုပါ ဥပဒေချိုးဖောက်မှုများတွင် တာဝန်ရှိသူများအားလုံးကို တရားဥပဒေရှေ့မှောက်သို့ ပို့ဆောင်ပြီး ထိခိုက်နစ်နာခဲ့ရသူအားလုံးအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုကို ရယူပေးနိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားသွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း သိစေအပ်ပါသည်။
ထို့အပြင် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် “ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပဋိဉာဉ်ပါ မျှော်ရည်ချက်နှင့် စံတန်ဖိုးများကို အလေးအနက်ခံယူလျက် အားလုံး သဘောတူ ချမှတ်ထားသော “နိုင်ငံရေးလမ်းပြမြေပုံ”ကို တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများက စုပေါင်းခေါင်းဆောင်မှု၊ စုပေါင်းတာဝန်ယူမှု၊ ခိုင်မာသော ကတိကဝတ်ပြုမှုများဖြင့် တညီတညွတ်တည်း လက်တွဲပူးပေါင်း အကောင်အထည်ဖော် ဆောင်ရွက်ကြရန် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ သန္နိဋ္ဌာန်ချမှတ်ထားပြီးဖြစ်သည်” ဟူသည့် ပြည်သူ့တော်လှန်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ နှစ်သစ်ကူး ပူးတွဲထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာစာတမ်းပါ သဘောထားအတိုင်း ပြည်သူလူထုလိုလားတောင့်တသော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု ပန်းတိုင်ဆီသို့ မယိမ်းမယိုင် ဆက်လက် ဦးတည်ချီတက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံး ပါဝင်ဆင်နွှဲနေသော မြန်မာ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးသည် မကျေနပ်မှုများ အတွက် စိတ်ကျေနပ်မှုရှာဖွေရုံ တော်လှန်ပုန်ကန်နေကြခြင်းမျိုးမဟုတ်၊ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် အမြစ်တွယ်နေခဲ့သော အာဏာရှင်သရုပ်သကန်ကို မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ အပြီးအပိုင် ချေဖျက်မောင်းထုတ်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် ပြင်းပြသော စိတ်အားသတ္တိကို စနစ်ကျသော စုဖွဲ့မှု၊ ပြင်ဆင်မှု၊ စုစည်းညီညွတ်မှုတို့ဖြင့် ပေါင်းစပ်မွမ်းမံကာ ခိုင်မာအားကောင်းစွာ တည်ဆောက်တွန်းလှန်နေသော တော်လှန်ရေးဖြစ်ပေသည်။ ထို့အပြင် မြန်မာ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အနာဂတ်အတွက် လွန်စွာအရေးပါသော ခေတ်ပြောင်း စနစ်ပြောင်း တော်လှန်ရေး တစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သည်ကို နားလည်သိမှတ်ထားကြရန် အရေးကြီးသည်။ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ စဉ်းစား ဆင်ခြင် ဝေဖန်ပိုင်းခြားနိုင်စွမ်း၊ မြဲမြံခိုင်ခန့်သည့် သန္နိဌာန်၊ ပိုင်းဖြတ်ပြီးဖြစ်သော ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက် တို့နှင့် အတူ မြန်မာ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး၏ အသွင်သဏ္ဍာန် အစစ်အမှန် ကို သေချာစွာ သိမြင်နားလည်နိုင်ရေး ကြိုးစားကြရန်နှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် အတူ ရပ်တည်ပေးကြရန် အားလုံးကို တောင်းဆိုသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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pdf
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791.79 KB
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"အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ နိုင်ငံခြားရေး၀န်ကြီးဌာနသည် ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက် နေ့အား တရားမဝင်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မအောင်မြင်ခဲ့သည့် နိုင်ငံတော် အာဏာသိမ်းယူမှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သည့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ပြည်သူ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး ဒုတိယမြောက် နှစ်ပတ်လည်နေ့အဖြစ် သတ်မှတ် ပါသည်။ မြန်မာပြည်သူများအနေဖြင့် ပြီးခဲ့သည့် နှစ်နှစ်တာကာလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ် တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးအပေါ် ၎င်းတို့၏ သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်မှုနှင့် ခိုင်မာသည့်ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်တို့အား ထုတ်ဖော် ပြသခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်သည်။ မိမိတို့၏ ဒီမိုကရေစီ၊ ရပိုင်ခွင့်များနှင့် လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်များကို အကြမ်းဖက် လူရမ်းကားများ၏ သေနတ်အောက်တွင် လက်မြှောက်အရှုံးပေးမည် မဟုတ်ကြောင်းကိုလည်း အတိအလင်း ကြေညာထားပြီးဖြစ်သည်။
ယနေ့တွင် မိမိတို့အနေဖြင့် အာဇာနည်သူရဲကောင်းများနှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ မိသားစုဝင်များအား ၎င်းတို့ ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့သော စိတ်ကူးရန်ပင် မလွယ်ကူလှသည့် စွန့်လွှတ်အနစ်နာခံမှုများအပေါ် မှတ်တမ်းတင် ဂုဏ်ပြုပါသည်။ တရားမ၀င် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မတရားသဖြင့် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံထားရသော ညီအကိုမောင်နှမများကိုလည်း မှတ်တမ်းတင်ဂုဏ်ပြုပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် မိမိတို့၏ တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများ၊ အကြမ်းမဖက် အာဏာဖီဆန်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှု (CDM) နှင့် သပိတ်ကော်မတီအဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၊ လူငယ်နှင့် အရပ်ဘက်လူမှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ ဆေးဘက်ဆိုင်ရာ လုပ်ဖော်ကိုင်ဖက်များနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ကာကွယ်သူများ၊ ပြည်သူ့နှင့် ဒေသန္တရ ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များနှင့် မိမိတို့၏ လူမှုအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းကို ကာကွယ်ရန်နှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုကို ဖီဆန်သော လူတစ်ဦးတစ်ယောက်စီတိုင်းကို မှတ်တမ်းတင် ဂုဏ်ပြုပါသည်။
ယနေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုအပေါ် ပြတ်သားသော ဒဏ်ခတ်ပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ ထုတ်ပြန် ကြေညာခဲ့သည့် မိမိတို့နှင့် တညီတညွတ်တည်း ရပ်တည်လျက်ရှိသည်ကို ပြသခဲ့သော ကမ္ဘာတဝှမ်းရှိ မိတ်ဆွေများကိုလည်း အထူးပင် ကျေးဇူးတင်ရှိပါသည်။
မြန်မာပြည်သူများအနေဖြင့် ပြည်သူ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် အောင်မြင်မှုရရှိနေပြီး အခြား တစ်ဖက်တွင် လည်း ပြည်သူများ၏ ပေးဆပ်အနစ်နာခံထားရမှုများသည် ထုထည်ကြီးမားလှပါသည်။ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ပြင်းထန်သော စိတ်ဆန္ဒကို ကြောက်ရွံ့ပြီး နိုင်ငံတော်၏အာဏာကိုချုပ်ကိုင်ရန် ရှုံးနိမ့်နေသော အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အုပ်စုသည် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအပေါ် လူသတ်မှု၊ ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှု၊ ပြည်သူ့အိုးအိမ်များ အား မီးရှို့မှု၊ ငတ်မွတ်ခေါင်းပါးစေမှုနှင့် အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် အိုးအိမ်မဲ့ဖြစ်စေမှုများကို အတားအဆီးမဲ့ ဆက်တိုက် ကျူးလွန်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် ၎င်းတို့သည် ပြည်သူများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ပွဲများ ဆင်နွှဲကာ နိုင်ငံတဝန်းလုံးရှိ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနဲ့ လုံခြုံရေးအပေါ် ခြိမ်းခြောက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် မိမိတို့၏ တိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများနှင့်အတူ လွတ်လပ်၍ တရားမျှတမှုရရှိစေရေးအတွက် အထွေထွေရွေးကောက်ပွဲများမှတဆင့် ပြည်သူများမှ ပေးအပ်ခဲ့သော ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းကျ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို လက်ကိုင်ကျင့်သုံးလျက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းမှပင် ဆက်လက် ဦးဆောင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ မိမိတို့သည် စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှု၊ တည်ငြိမ်အေးချမ်းမှု၊ တန်းတူ ညီမျှမှု၊ တိုးတက်ပြောင်းလဲမှုနှင့် အရပ်သားအုပ်ချုပ်မှုတို့အတွက် ရပ်တည်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ တစ်ဖက်တွင် လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် သေခြင်းတရားနှင့် ကြီးမားသောဖျက်ဆီးခြင်းနည်းလမ်းများကို ဆုပ်ကိုင်ကာ နိုင်ငံအား အုပ်ချုပ်ရန် ကြိုးစားလျက်ရှိသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ မိမိတို့အနေဖြင့် လွတ်မြောက်ခြင်း သို့မဟုတ် အကြောက်တရား၊ တရားမျှတမှု သို့မဟုတ် အပြစ်ပေးခံရမှု၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီ သို့မဟုတ် အာဏာရှင်စနစ် တို့အပေါ် ထင်ရှားပြတ်သားစွာ ရွေးချယ်ရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းအနေဖြင့် ယခုအချိန်သည် ၎င်းတို့၏ ပိုမိုခိုင်မာသော သဘောထားနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများအတွက် ရပ်တည်မှုချိန်ခွင်လျှာတို့ကို ပြတ်သားစွာ ဖော်ထုတ်ညွှန်ပြရမည့်အချိန် ကာလ လည်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ၊ အာဆီယံ မိတ်ဖက်နိုင်ငံများနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုက်အဝန်းတို့အား မိမိတို့၏ တရားဝင် ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းကျကျလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို ထောက်ခံအားပေးရန်နှင့် အတုအယောင် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲများမှတဆင့် သွေးစွန်းနေသော စစ်ယူနီဖောင်းများမှ အရပ်သားပုံစံ အသွင်ယူပြောင်းလဲအုပ်ချုပ်ရန် ကြိုးစားလျက်ရှိသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ဆောင်ရွက်မှုအားလုံးကို တားဆီးပိတ်ဆို့ရန် တောင်းဆိုပါသည်။
ထို့ပြင် လိုအပ်နေသူများအားလုံးထံ လူသားချင်းစာနာ ထောက်ထားမှု အကူအညီများ အရေးပေါ်ပို့ဆောင်နိုင်ရေးနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှ နိုင်ငံရေးခိုလှုံခွင့် တောင်းခံသူ များနှင့် ဒုက္ခသည်များကို အကာအကွယ်ပေးနိုင်ရေးတို့အတွက် မိမိတို့အပါအဝင် တိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အရပ်ဘက် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ အားလုံးနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် တိုက်တွန်းပါသည်။ ရိုဟင်ဂျာများနှင့် အခြားလူနည်းစုများ အပါအဝင် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများနှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ မိသားစုဝင်များအား တရားမျှတမှု ဖော်ဆောင်ရေးအတွက် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူခဲ့များအပေါ် တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိစေရန် မိမိတို့၏ ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများကို အကူအညီပေးစေလိုပါသည်။
ယနေ့ကျရောက်သော ပြည်သူ့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး၏ ဒုတိယမြောက် နှစ်ပတ်လည်နေ့သည် ရက်စက် ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများနှင့် ဒေသတွင်း မတည်ငြိမ်မှုများကိုသာ လိုလားတောင့်တနေသော စစ်အာဏာရှင် တစ်ဦးအတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်း၏ ပြစ်ဒဏ်မှ ထပ်မံမျက်ကွယ်ပြုထားခြင်း မရှိတော့သည့် အခိုက်အတန့်ဖြစ်စေရန် ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုအပေါ် ပြင်းထန်သည့် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုပြုလုပ်ရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး နောက်ဆုံးတွင် အကြမ်းဖက်မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အား ထိရောက် သော အရပ်သားထိန်းချုပ်မှုအောက်သို့ အပြီးအပိုင် ယူဆောင်လာရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Spring Revolution, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Description:
"National Unity Government Weekly Press Update No.5/2023..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.3 MB
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Description:
"Feb. 1 has become one of the most fateful days in Myanmar’s political calendar since the early-hours coup on that day in 2021. The country has never been the same since, becoming mired in social and political turmoil sparked by the takeover.
Two years on, Myanmar is still reeling from the coup. On the positive side, the popular resistance against the regime remains unwavering and has spread despite the junta’s ongoing atrocities against civilians.
To mark the second anniversary of the coup on Wednesday, The Irrawaddy spoke to democracy activists, resistance leaders and observers to get their thoughts on Myanmar’s two-year struggle under military rule, and the way ahead.
Ko Bo Kyi
Joint secretary, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
“Myanmar after two years under military rule is a disaster due to the coup, which shouldn’t have happened in the first place. It has also pushed the country onto a revolutionary path. It’s a huge blow for the country as we have lost educated young people in the fight against the regime. The takeover brings nothing good to the country.
“On the other hand, after two years, the fight against the regime is gaining momentum and will only get bloodier. There is no hope for the junta. It’s hopeful for the people of Myanmar and the revolutionary forces.
“Among the positive things the revolution has brought over the past two years are an understanding of ethnic people and a mindfulness of federal democracy. Such things are big steps forward for the country’s national reconciliation.”
U Kyaw Zaw
Spokesperson, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG)
“During the two years of our fight against the regime, the NUG has made significant developments in many sectors including militarily, and in international relations and politics. We now have control over more than half of the country after our coordinated attacks with ethnic armed organizations on junta targets.
“As more areas come under our control, we are providing education and health services there, as well as administrative and judicial services. We have opened more than 4,000 schools and 55 hospitals on the ground in those areas. The NUG administration is in effect in 80 townships and we are expanding to the district level. The judicial system will follow.
“As the NUG has vowed that 2023 will be a decisive year in the fight against the junta, we are trying hard to bring change. We believe we will be victorious. At the same time, you will see more systematic administration and rule of law in 2023.”
Scot Marciel
Former US ambassador to Myanmar
“The military has reversed virtually all of the previous decade’s reforms and is waging war in a brutal, indiscriminate fashion against the Myanmar people, all to hold onto power. The Myanmar people have responded in heroic fashion, rising up against the military with incredible courage and resilience and insisting that they will not accept the military’s desire to turn the country back to the dark days of the past.
“The future is uncertain, but what is promising is that people from many different communities are now working together to defeat the coup, and in that process they are also tackling decades-old prejudices and taking important steps to build trust among themselves.
“I understand that many of you are frustrated by the lack of international attention to your plight and inadequate support you have received from the international community. All I can say is that there are many people around the world who have been inspired by your struggle and who are looking for ways every day to generate more attention and support for your effort.”
Phado Saw Taw Nee
Karen National Union communications chief
“Over the two years, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has tried to gain legitimacy but he has failed, as there is no space for him even at the regional level, in ASEAN [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. He is a loser on all fronts, locally and internationally.
“The revolution against him is occurring not only in Karen State but across the whole country. It has now far passed the infantry stage. The resistance groups are now able to collaborate with each other [to lauch attacks on the junta]. That’s the most remarkable thing; we haven’t seen such a thing in the history of Myanmar’s 70 years of armed struggle.
“Min Aung Hlaing will try desperate moves, including holding an election, this year as he is running out of options. Our priority has to be how to get rid of them from this Earth! I dare to say there will be changes this year militarily and politically.”
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd
Professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies
“The country was left with both economic and political uncertainties following the coup. A growing dissatisfaction and defiance of the military by the general public only further added uncertainty to the economy.
“As long as the military continues to stay in power, it is almost impossible for many sectors of the economy to become fully productive again. It is imperative that the international community continue to put pressure on the junta to restore democracy so that the civilian-led democratic government can do its part in reversing current economic woes.
“In order for the Myanmar resistance coalition to reach tipping point, faster the coalition is able to come together, faster they will be able to reach tipping point. The coalition also needs to prioritize and adequately resource intel operations and the strategic communication line of effort.”
Khun Be Du
Chairperson of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF)
“Since its formation following the coup, the KNDF has become battle-hardened. Fighting continues against regime troops in Kayah State.
“Over the two years, we have been able to collaborate with other ethnic armed groups and People’s Defense Force [PDF] groups in other areas.
“On the political front, we have decided to join other forces to build a federal union in Myanmar. We will work hard for it in 2023 either by armed struggle or popular support.”
Ma Nilar Thein
Veteran democracy activist and widow of activist Ko Jimmy, who was hanged by the regime
“It has been two years since the Myanmar military seized control of the country. The past two years saw an important shift in our country. The Civil Disobedience Movement [CDM] and Generation-Z played powerful roles to applause from the international community. The CDM proved [able] to stall junta mechanisms, and Generation-Z provided a leadership role [in the resistance movement against the regime]. People’s Defense Forces emerged as people sought to defend themselves after the Myanmar military carried out brutal crackdowns on peaceful rallies.
“Our citizens at home and abroad demonstrated strong solidarity against military rule with their hearts linked together. International diplomatic circles have not only expressed concern but started to take action regarding the Myanmar issue. So, I think if all forces are unified, things will take shape in 2023. It is crucial that democracy and federalism forces and all the ethnicities join hands in this fight.
“I vow to turn the sorrow from the deaths of all of our comrades—including Ko Jimmy and those who died behind closed doors in interrogation centers, in arson attacks on villages, and in clashes in forests—to strength and continue to fight until this revolution wins.”
Dr. Tayzar San
Anti-regime protest leader
“The military mistakenly believed their coup would succeed as they have guns. They underestimated the people. Now, two years on, they still can’t control the country as the revolution against them is in full swing. Politically, now is a time of national unity unlike any we have seen before, as the various forces against the regime have become one. I have to say it’s a very remarkable result. At the same time, the regime is losing control day by day—take Upper Myanmar for example.
“We have to work harder, as the regime won’t step down easily. We already and firmly believe we will win. The world also needs to believe it. To earn their trust, we have to be unified in voice and action in our fight against the regime in 2023.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
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Title: JFM welcomes targeted sanctions imposed on Myanmar junta two years after illegal coup attempt
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"Justice For Myanmar welcomes sanctions imposed by Australia, Canada, the UK and USA on members of the terrorist Myanmar military junta, its businesses and jet fuel suppliers to mark the second anniversary of the military’s illegal coup attempt.
The new sanctions come as the people of Myanmar continue to courageously resist the junta in the face of its nationwide campaign of terror, ensuring its attempted coup is failing.
The junta’s response to mass resistance has been the continued commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, murdering over 2,900 people, arbitrarily arresting over 17,000 more, displacing 1.1 million people and carrying out indiscriminate air strikes across Myanmar, enabled by the supply of funds, arms and jet fuel.
Canada and the UK have both responded to a grassroots and international campaign to stop jet fuel sales to the military.
Canada is the first jurisdiction in the world to ban the supply of jet fuel to the junta, while the UK has sanctioned crony companies Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Company Limited, both part of Asia Sun Group, which broker the supply of jet fuel to the junta and stand complicit in its international crimes.
In November, Amnesty International released Deadly Cargo, a report into the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain with research supported by Justice For Myanmar. The report named Asia Sun Trading and Cargo Link.
At the time, Justice For Myanmar also published a list of Asia Sun Group companies, directors and shareholder for targeted sanctions.
The US has sanctioned the illegal junta’s energy minister and the managing director and deputy managing director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), responsible for the junta’s biggest source of foreign revenue. But the US has disappointingly failed to sanction MOGE.
The US has also sanctioned Mining Enterprise No. 1 and Mining Enterprise No. 2, lucrative state agencies illegally controlled by the junta.
Australia has sanctioned military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and 16 junta members, including war criminals Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win, after refusing to sanction them in response to their role in the military’s genocide against the Rohingya.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of sanctions from Australia, Canada, the UK and USA, which target military conglomerates, state-owned enterprises illegally controlled by the junta, and the military’s jet fuel supply chain.
“The people of Myanmar have sustained mass resistance to the military’s brutal and illegal coup attempt and its campaign of terror, ensuring that the coup and the junta’s sham so-called ‘elections’ will not succeed.
“The military junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity are enabled by the flow of funds, arms and jet fuel.
“While these latest sanctions are a positive step in cutting the junta’s access to resources, far more needs to be done to coordinate sanctions that systematically target the junta’s sources of revenue, arms and jet fuel.
“So far, only the EU has sanctioned MOGE, which bankrolls the junta. We call on the US, UK, Canada and Australia to follow the EU and also sanction MOGE.
“We call on the US, UK, EU and Australia to follow Canada in imposing a complete ban on the supply of jet fuel to the junta.
“Democracies in the region, including Japan, South Korea and India, must also urgently step up and sanction the junta, its businesses and arms brokers.
“The international community must take concerted action against the junta, a terrorist organisation, hold perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to account, and stand with the people of Myanmar.
“The Spring Revolution will prevail.”..."
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Justice For Myanmar
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2023-01-31
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"January 31, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
On the eve of the second anniversary of the coup d’état by the Myanmar military, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations against six individuals and a new prohibition on the export, sale, supply or shipment of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military regime.
Within two years, the regime has completely reversed a decade of democratic progress, plunging the country into political, economic and humanitarian crises, killing thousands of men, women, and children, detaining many thousands more, and forcing the displacement of over one million. The worsening crises in Myanmar continue to undermine peace, prosperity, and stability for the country’s neighbours and the broader region.
The sanctions announced today, in coordination with our international partners, including the United Kingdom and the United States, respond to the ongoing repression of the people of Myanmar by the military. Canada’s measures are in direct response to worsening armed conflict, in particular the increased use of aerial attacks against civilians, in contravention of international humanitarian law. They also respond to deeply concerning reports of serious violations of international human rights law by the military regime.
These latest measures are complementary to broader ASEAN efforts and its Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. These sanctions are in line with Canada’s commitments under its Indo-Pacific Strategy, including promoting peace, resilience and security, and upholding democracy and human rights.
On the second anniversary of the Myanmar coup, Canada reiterates continued support for the people of Myanmar and their aspirations for an inclusive and democratic society, and for the range of pro-democracy actors advancing a peaceful return to a democratic, peaceful and inclusive Myanmar..."
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Government of Canada
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2023-01-31
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"A joint statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union, and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, the Federated States of Micronesia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States, on the two year anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar:
“On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup d’état and seized power against the will of the people, plunging the country into a deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis.
“Over the last two years, the people of Myanmar have courageously demonstrated their commitment to a democratic country, demanding respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and showing determined resilience in the face of unspeakable atrocities.
“Since the coup, the military regime has violently cracked down on any form of opposition, including peaceful protests. Credible reports indicate that thousands of civilians, including children, have been jailed, tortured and killed.
“There are mounting reports that air strikes, bombardments and the mass burning of villages and places of worship have targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. Reports of torture and sexual violence by the security forces are widespread. The prolonged conflict has seen thousands of civilian casualties, over 17 million people in need and 1.5 million people displaced from their homes.
“We welcome and support the central role of ASEAN in addressing the crisis in Myanmar, including the efforts of the ASEAN Chair and ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar.
“We welcome the UN Security Council Resolution 2669 (2022) on the situation in Myanmar which calls for the immediate cessation of violence and the upholding of universal human rights, the provision of full and unhindered humanitarian access and the protection of civilians. It calls on the military regime to effectively and fully implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, and to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. It reaffirms our support for the ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar and the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar and encourages their close coordination. It also urges all parties in Myanmar to work constructively with both Envoys to commence dialogue to seek a peaceful solution.
“The military overruled the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar as expressed in the November 2020 General Election, when they seized power on 1 February 2021. We reiterate our call for the return of Myanmar to a democratic path. The military regime must end violence and create space for meaningful and inclusive dialogue to allow for any democratic process to resume.
“We once again call on all members of the international community to support all efforts to hold those responsible for human rights violations and abuses to account; to cease the sale and transfer of arms and equipment which facilitate atrocities; and to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of Myanmar’s people, including its most vulnerable communities.
“We remain resolute in our support for all those working peacefully towards an inclusive and democratic future for the people of Myanmar.”..."
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Government of Canada
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2023-01-31
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Foreign Governments Should Target Military Junta’s Main Revenue Sources
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"(Bangkok) – Myanmar’s junta, in the two years since the military coup, has expanded its use of deadly force and repressive measures to squelch all dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. Foreign governments should coordinate increased pressure on the junta to establish fundamental freedoms and democratic civilian rule.
On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military detained the country’s elected civilian officials, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the junta has brutally cracked down on any opposition and severely restricted freedoms of speech, association, and assembly. At least 17,000 protesters and activists have been arrested and 2,900 killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nongovernmental group. The security forces have carried out arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, mass killings, and other abuses that amount to crimes against humanity.
“Myanmar’s military junta has spent the two years since the coup engaged in a worsening spiral of atrocities against the people of Myanmar that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of proceeding with inevitably bogus ‘elections’ in August, Myanmar’s generals should be facing international consequences for their crimes.”
During expanded military operations, junta forces have been responsible for attacks on civilians that amount to war crimes against ethnic minority populations in Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Shan States. The military has used “scorched earth” tactics, burning villages in Magway and Sagaing Regions.
The junta has blocked humanitarian aid from reaching millions of displaced people and others at risk in conflict areas. In Rakhine State – where Rohingya have long faced systematic abuse and discrimination that amount to crimes against humanity, including persecution and apartheid – security forces have imposed new restrictions on movement and aid. The restrictions have worsened food and water shortages and increased the risk of preventable diseases and severe malnutrition.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that at least 17.6 million people in Myanmar are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Fighting since the coup has displaced over 1 million people internally, while another 70,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring countries.
On December 21, 2022, a landmark UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar denounced the military’s rights violations since the coup but fell short of imposing a global arms embargo or referring the country situation to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China abstained from the vote, signalling the junta’s growing international isolation. Council members should pursue follow-up action by imposing an arms embargo as well as targeted sanctions on junta leadership and military-owned companies.
Concerned governments should more effectively target the military’s main revenue sources, particularly foreign currency revenues that the military obtains from exports like natural gas, metals, gemstones, and timber and uses to purchase weapons, military equipment, and fuel, Human Rights Watch said.
Targeted economic sanctions imposed by Canada, the European Union, United Kingdom, and United States have been limited in effectiveness because of poor enforcement. Other key governments such as Australia, Japan, and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have failed to enact any targeted sanctions since the coup.
ASEAN leaders have barred Myanmar military leaders from attending high-level ASEAN meetings. In 2022, some ASEAN leaders began to criticize the junta publicly, noting the junta’s failure to implement the Five-Point Consensus plan that the junta and ASEAN agreed upon in April 2021.
In 2023, Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN will be in part measured by its ability to press the junta on its ongoing human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said. At the February 3-4 meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Jakarta, Indonesia should propose an April 2023 deadline for the junta’s progress in meeting the commitments of the Five-Point Consensus. If the junta leaders maintain their inaction on the consensus, ASEAN member countries should commit to concrete engagement with other governments and the UN to hold the junta accountable for its grave abuses.
The junta has slated fraudulent “elections” for August, passing the Parties Registration Law on January 27. The law provides for restrictions on any party that refuses to “cooperate” with the junta. Any individual or party that the junta deems to be an “insurgent,” “terrorist,” or “unlawful” association is prohibited from participating, effectively barring the shadow civilian National Unity Government and many ethnic minority parties. Foreign governments should not treat the proposed elections as legitimate, such as by sending election monitors or providing technical assistance.
“Myanmar’s junta is trying to establish a veneer of credibility by going through the motions of holding ‘elections,’ but the international community shouldn’t be fooled or browbeaten into recognizing this sham,” Pearson said. “You can’t hold a free and fair election when you deny every basic right to your people and lock up or disqualify political opponents.”
EU member states, the US, and UK should improve coordination to strengthen sanctions against senior officials and military-owned companies. Tougher actions could help stem the flow of foreign funding, curb the military’s ability to buy weapons and materials, and help ASEAN and other intermediaries press the junta to end rampant rights violations and establish civilian democratic rule.
“Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in particular should signal to the US and EU that they will support strengthening and enforcing existing sanctions against the junta,” Pearson said. “Without stronger targeted sanctions, the Myanmar military will only tighten its brutal grip on the population.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
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"Myanmar’s junta—the State Administration Council (SAC)—is illegal and illegitimate, the UN human rights expert on Myanmar said today. He called for the international community to deny the SAC legitimacy, create a coalition of member states to enforce strong, coordinated sanctions against the SAC, and support the National Unity Government which has a stronger claim to legitimacy.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar which deposed the democratically elected government, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews, issued a new report that lays bare the junta’s flawed claims to be the legitimate government of Myanmar.
“Two years ago, the military deposed a democratically elected government in an unconstitutional coup. The unrelenting violence that it unleashed on the people of Myannar has created a widespread human rights, humanitarian, and economic crisis and galvanised nationwide opposition,” the Special Rapporteur said.
“The conclusion is clear – the SAC’s military coup was illegal and its claim as Myanmar’s government is illegitimate and a new, coordinated international response to the crisis is imperative,” Andrews said.
In “Illegal and Illegitimate: Examining the Myanmar Military’s Claim as the Government of Myanmar and the International Response,” Andrews demonstrates why, under international standards, the junta is not a legitimate government and must not be recognised or engaged with by the international community.
Andrews warned that the junta was planning to seek legitimacy in 2023 by orchestrating a sham “election.” He urged member States, international organisations and election monitoring groups not to provide technical support to the SAC in its efforts to appear legitimate. “Instead they should explicitly denounce what will be a farcical exercise designed to perpetuate military control of Myanmar’s political system,” the UN expert said.
Andrews’ report also examines Member States’ interactions with the SAC, highlighting actions that have delegitimised or withheld recognition to the SAC, and actions by Member States that have created the appearance of legitimacy.
“Importantly, the international community has, by and large, refused to accept the SAC’s claim to be the legitimate government of Myanmar,” said Andrews.
However, the expert pointed to a small minority of States, including Belarus, China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Sri Lanka, that have implicitly supported the junta’s claim as the government of Myanmar by taking actions that are tantamount to recognition. “These actions include presenting diplomatic credentials to SAC leadership, strengthening economic and military relations with the SAC, and—in the case of at least Belarus and India—publicly engaging with the SAC on its plans to hold sham elections,” Andrews said.
“Even governments that have engaged the SAC, however, recognise the plain truth—the junta lacks legitimacy,” the Special Rapporteur said. For example, during consultations for the report, Vietnam told the Special Rapporteur, "[C]ontact, exchange and cooperation activities with Myanmar within bilateral settings or ASEAN frameworks should not be interpreted as or equated with a recognition of the military government or the State Administration Council.”
Addressing ASEAN Member States separately in his report, the UN Special Rapporteur noted that the regional grouping was divided on policy vis-à-vis Myanmar’s junta.
“Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore have reduced diplomatic engagement with the SAC and rejected its claims of legitimacy. Some of these Member States have also engaged with the National Unity Government. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam have chosen to engage with the SAC,” Andrews said.
“ASEAN States must distance themselves from the SAC, condemn its actions and support enforcement of international sanctions in their jurisdictions, while increasing engagement with the National Unity Government,” he said. “I urge all Member States, but particularly those that have already imposed costs on the junta, to initiate a strategic approach to strengthen, coordinate and enforce economic sanctions and an arms embargo on the SAC and provide more robust humanitarian aid to the millions in desperate need,” the UN expert urged.
“Governments that recognise or support to the SAC are propping up a brutal junta that operates in flagrant violation of international human rights law,” he said.
Andrews urged Member States to provide recognition to the NUG as the legitimate representative of the people of Myanmar and begin providing appropriate support to help ensure its sustainability.
“The SAC is seeking to turn back the clock, close the door on Myanmar’s democratic opening, and through violence and force, destroy the advancements in human rights and economic opportunities that Myanmar’s people began to enjoy over the past decade,” the Special Rapporteur said. “For the sake of the human rights of the people of Myanmar, the SAC must not be allowed to achieve this outcome.”..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
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2023-01-31
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"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new UK sanctions targeting suppliers of aviation fuel to the Burmese military. Limiting the ability of the Burmese military to carry out airstrikes is one of the single most effective steps the international community can do to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Burma.
The British government today announced sanctions on:
Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Company Limited both part of what is known as the Asia Sun group which dominates the aviation fuel sector in Myanmar and are involved in the transfer of aviation fuel to the Myanmar Air Force.
Zaw Min Tun: Director and sole shareholder of Asia Sun Trading.
Win Kyaw Kyaw Aung: former Director and shareholder of Asia Sun Trading.
The British government statement is here.
“The British government is spot on, targeting suppliers of aviation fuel to the military, but they need to go further and faster to cut supplies to Burma, as the military seize civilian supplies of aviation fuel,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK.
However, Burma Campaign UK is extremely disappointed by the incredibly slow pace of the implementation of sanctions.
“Two years on from the attempted coup starting there are still numerous sources of revenue and arms which have yet to be sanctioned,” said Anna Roberts. “The snail’s pace of sanctions implementation allows the military to access more revenue and arms. Foreign Office ministers need to devote more resources to the speedy implementation of sanctions.”
As the military fails to consolidate its coup in the face of growing resistance, it is using increasingly desperate tactics, including daily airstrikes and artillery strikes against civilians, displacing more than a million people.
Last year Amnesty International published a report exposing aviation fuel suppliers to Burma: The report is available here...https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2022/11/myanmar-the-supply-chain-fueling-war-crimes/..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
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"To mark the anniversary of the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, The Irrawaddy offers a review of developments in Myanmar’s political, economic and military spheres, as well as its international relations, over the past two years.....
Politics...
Firstly, the 2008 Constitution was nullified by the putsch. Myanmar’s people had no trust in the constitution from the beginning, fully aware that it was drafted by the military to cement its political power.
However, following unexpected reforms under the quasi-civilian government that took power in 2011, people had hoped that the constitution would provide a less bloody political solution to the country’s civil war. They also hoped it would become a blueprint for the military’s gradual retreat from politics.
When power was handed over to the National League for Democracy (NLD) after it won the 2015 election, people began to believe the constitution would pave the way for full democracy. But they were wrong. The supreme law was always a tool of the military, to bend or stretch for its own interests.
In 2021, the military ignored Section 402 of the constitution which says the Union Election Commission’s decision on election results is final. It spuriously claimed widespread fraud in the 2020 general elections as an excuse to stage a coup. The military said its takeover was in line with the constitution; in fact, it was an illegal power seizure by force of arms.
The putsch also put an end to the national reconciliation process. And when the military launched a bloody crackdown on peaceful anti-coup protesters, people lost faith in political means to solve problems. Armed conflicts quickly erupted across the country. Efforts toward national reconciliation were replaced by destruction.
Viewpoints have also changed. Between 2011 and 2020, the popular view at home and abroad was that the Myanmar military, as the strongest institution in the country, could not be excluded from politics.
That view has changed since the coup. People now view that Myanmar cannot enjoy peace, stability or development while the military is active in politics. In other words, it is impossible to negotiate with the military for reform or power-sharing.
The military regime is holding so-called peace talks with some of the country’s many ethnic armed organizations. But it is obvious that the regime is holding talks only to relieve battlefield pressure, and negotiations will lead nowhere. Over the past two years, the political landscape has changed from national reconciliation to annihilation.
On the ground, thousands of democracy supporters have been detained. Hundreds have been sentenced to death, and many more have been given long prison terms. The regime publicly hanged four democracy activists in July last year. Another 300 or so have died in military custody at interrogation centers.
Meanwhile thousands have been killed in anti-coup protests and battlegrounds.
And more than 40,000 buildings including homes, religious buildings, healthcare facilities, and schools have been torched by the junta.
On the other hand, over 500 members or supporters of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, junta-appointed administrators, militias and alleged informants were killed by anti-regime forces. Government buildings including around 500 telecom masts have been destroyed and damaged.
The crisis has gone beyond the point of negotiation. As such, calls for annihilation will continue to grow. The military is entrenched, having rejected negotiations with civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG).....Economy...The coup came as a serious blow to Myanmar’s economy, which was already plagued by COVID-19. Military rule has sent it spiraling out of control with volatile economic and financial policies. Myanmar’s post-coup economic status can be encapsulated in 10 points:
Foreign firms have pulled out; foreign investments have declined, and sizeable planned investments have stalled.
International loans are suspended.
Inflation has soared over 100 percent and the cost of living including food has doubled.
A black market emerged after the regime introduced a fixed exchange rate in place of floating rates. Prices of imported goods including essentials like fuel and pharmaceuticals have surged due to tight controls on US dollar supply. Though fuel prices are high around the world, in Myanmar the price is double what it should be due to inflation and junta mismanagement.
Wealth, capital and savings are flowing quickly out of the country due to instability and inflation.
Manufacturing has been hit by power outages.
The regime is planning to resume stated-owned factories suspended for making losses.
Human capital is declining as people leave the country for better economic prospects overseas.
The hotels and tourism industry has been hit hard by post-coup turmoil as international visitors stay away.
Myanmar’s economy is barely surviving on revenues from oil, gas and agricultural exports.
The price of gold, dollars and food skyrocketed around August before subsiding in September. However, they began rising again in early January.
So, the past two years have been characterized by economic downturn, a decline in tax revenues, soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, and a budget deficit caused by heavy military expenditures and other factors. This trend looks set to continue this year.
The economic crisis will have serious impacts on Myanmar people, as well as the regime. Oil, gas, and agricultural produce are the only sources of foreign currency for the regime.....International relations...The international community is playing a significant role in Myanmar’s crisis, but ultimately it is Myanmar’s people who will decide the fate of their country.
The regime is undoubtedly losing on the diplomatic front. It has been snubbed by the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The regime is under increasing pressure to abide by ASEAN’s five-point consensus for peace, which it has so far ignored. A UN resolution adopted in December, the first on Myanmar in more than 70 years, is also a headache for the junta. China and Russia, which the regime thought it could count on as allies, chose not to veto the resolution. On the world stage, the regime is fast running out of friends.
The US’s Burma Act, passed in December, was another hammer blow to the junta. The act commits the US to helping restore civilian governance for Myanmar and to pursuing accountability for human rights violations. Notably, it also green-lights non-military assistance for anti-junta forces including ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
The US decision to directly engage with EAOs, PDFs and the NUG is a significant departure from its previous reform push, which was centered on the Myanmar military. This decision demonstrates that Washington no longer believes negotiation with the junta is a practical solution. Further actions on top of the Burma Act can now be expected from the US.
In yet another serious diplomatic blow, China has distanced itself from the junta in a departure from its usually close relations with Myanmar military regimes.
Beijing has reduced high-level relations with the junta over the past two years, while also suspending planned large-scale investments. Tellingly, China snubbed the junta’s invitation to the second Lancang-Mekong Cooperation meeting.
Beijing decided not to veto the UN resolution after it became clear that the regime is unable to stabilize the country, has tarnished its international reputation by committing atrocities against its own people, and has become too close to Russia. And China is well aware of the extent of the armed uprising in Myanmar.
The change in stance of its most powerful ally is putting pressure on the regime. China has suggested that regime leaders hold talks with civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a way out of the political crisis. But the junta has refused to do so.
Min Aung Hlaing’s regime does appear to retain good ties with its neighbor Thailand. But this is hardly surprising given the fact that Thailand avoided the ravages of World War II by engaging both warring sides. Today, it carries out joint military drills with both the US and China.
Similarly, Thailand provides shelter for Myanmar’s democracy forces while also maintaining friendly relations with Myanmar’s military. Bangkok’s foreign policy is a balancing act. It is unlikely to upset that delicate balance by going against the US and ASEAN over the Myanmar crisis.
Among the few countries that currently offer support to the regime are Russia, Belarus, India and Japan.
Russia and Belarus engage with the regime mainly to sell weapons. They are unlikely to make massive investments in Myanmar. And politically, Russia is likely to heed Beijing’s opinion when the UN Security Council makes decisions on Myanmar.
India and Japan cooperate more openly with the regime. Delhi has dispatched high-level delegations to Myanmar. It also turned a blind eye recently when the regime used India’s airspace to attack the headquarters of the revolutionary Chin National Front near the Indian border, resulting in bombs landing on Indian soil.
Japan is cooperating with the regime via Nippon Foundation chairman Yohei Sasakwa and former Japanese MP Hideo Watanabe, who have influence in Japanese government circles.
The main intention of both Indian and Japan, however, is to offset China’s political and economic influence in Myanmar. But the two countries have neither a veto at the UN Security Council nor influence over ASEAN. And they have only relatively small investments in military-ruled Myanmar. So, the regime can’t expect much from the two.
On the diplomatic front, democratic forces are gaining the upper hand and the regime is struggling for a foothold on the world stage.....Military...This is the deciding factor for the future of Myanmar. The 2021 coup was followed by anti-coup protests that soon expanded to a nationwide armed struggle after the military’s bloody crackdown on peaceful rallies.
The fighting has been most intense in Kachin, Chin, Kayah (Karenni), Karen and Mon states as well as in Sagaing and Magwe regions. While the pre-coup armed struggle was limited to border zones of ethnic states and rural areas, Myanmar’s military is now facing attacks in urban areas including major cities like Yangon and Mandalay.
The scale of the ongoing armed revolution is unprecedented in Myanmar. Regime forces are overstretched and exhausted, fighting on multiple fronts across the country. The military is often unable to send reinforcements when a base comes under attack. Instead, it has increasingly relied on artillery and air attacks, part of a scorched-earth strategy against civilians to dent their faith in revolution.
Over the past two years, junta forces have torched more than 40,000 buildings across the country, or an average of 55 per day. The arson campaign against civilian communities has severely tarnished the already unenviable reputation of Myanmar’s military.
Over 8,000 clashes of various size have also been recorded since the coup. That’s an average of 11 clashes per day. Hardly a day goes by without the Myanmar military suffering casualties. Unsurprisingly, it is now struggling to recruit new soldiers.
Daily clashes, casualties and exhaustion have sapped morale within the military. On the other hand, morale is rising within resistance forces.
The armed struggle that started in 2021 differs from past crises, such as the 1948 turmoil that led to civil war. In the past, armed struggle has been launched by a particular party or organization after careful preparation.
In contrast, the uprising after the 2021 coup was a popular and spontaneous movement, unexpected and unplanned. People were pushed into the war after they, their relatives or their friends were met with military firepower during street protests.
It was only after people rose up against the regime that the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG), and its People’s Defense Force (PDFs) armed wing emerged to unify the scattered resistance. The NUG is rallying revolutionary forces and also establishing alliances with EAOs.
The NUG has so far established about 300 battalions and has links with some 400 local PDFs. A PDF battalion has around 200 troops, meaning the NUG has mustered an army of around 60,000 resistance fighters, excluding local PDFs.
Though the NUG has yet to unify all resistance forces under a single command, it has made impressive progress developing a nationwide network of resistance forces over the past two years.
Many of those resistance fighters have undergone basic military training and have gained combat experience. But arming all of its battalions, not to mention local PDFs, remains a challenge for the NUG.
However, the mob that fought the Myanmar military with rudimentary hunting rifles and homemade weapons has evolved into a regimented armed force equipped with modern automatic rifles and drones.
Its fighting force is bolstered by battle-hardened troops of EAOs, including the Kachin Independence Army, Karen National Union, Chin National Front, Chinland Defense Force, Karenni National Progressive Party, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, and the All Burma Students Democratic Front. Their combined forces of 45,000 troops are cooperating fully with the pro-democracy Spring Revolution to topple the regime.
Although the Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army have engaged in fewer clashes with junta troops, the three groups are understood to be supporting Spring Revolution forces with weapons or equipment. They also pose a serious threat to the regime as clashes between junta troops and the three EAOs, with a combined strength of some 45,000 troops, could erupt at any time.
Three other EAOs with a combined force of about 45,000 – the United Wa State Army, National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Shan State Progress Party – barely engage with the country’s resistance forces. But neither will they fight for the regime, preferring the role of self-interested onlookers.
Two other groups, the Restoration Council of Shan State and the New Mon State Party, with a combined force of around 10,000 troops, have adopted a neutral position in the fighting but are also making deals with the regime.
Signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, namely the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Council-Peace Council, Palaung National Liberation Organization, Arakan Liberation Party, and the Lahu Democratic Union, are under the control of the regime. But they are unlikely to join the regime-friendly Border Guard Force and militias in fighting alongside junta forces.
So, it is fair to say the majority of EAOs have sided with the anti-regime forces. Revolutionary forces still have certain weaknesses, though. They are not yet fully armed, they have few weapons to counter airstrikes, they lack artillery and they are not yet under a single chain of command needed to conduct synchronized attacks.
Despite this, Myanmar’s military is in no position to crush Spring Revolution forces and their EAO allies. On the other hand, it is unlikely that revolutionary forces can oust the regime this year. More certain, though, is that Spring Revolution forces have emerged as a formidable army over the past two years..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Spring Revolution
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"From January to December 2022, the junta troops violated numerous human rights abuses and committed international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in various parts of Myanmar. National Unity
Government, Ministry of Human Rights collaborated with Network for Human Rights Documentation (Burma) – ND-Burma, Equality Myanmar and Spring Archive to provide summary review on the military regime’s human rights violations.....Regions where most human rights violations reported: The region where the junta troops committed the most human rights violations was the Sagaing Region, with 783 cases, followed by Magway Region with 311 and
Yangon Region where the country’s commercial hub is located with 171.
Most human rights violations were reported in Sagaing Region’s Kalay, KhinU and Yinmarbin Township. 81 human rights violations were recorded in Kalay, 61 in KhinU and 57 in Yinmarbin Township. There were 30 types of human rights violations in these three townships.
Among the states, Rakhine State has the highest number of human rights violations with 138 cases. Kyauktaw Township has the highest number of human rights
abuses with 24 cases. Junta soldiers have committed 18 types of human rights violations in Rakhine State.....The most common forms of human rights violations: Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary arrest are the most common violations of human rights, followed by the burning of public housing and property. Firing heavy weapons into civilian areas is the third most common violation committed by the junta troops.
One of the most serious human rights violations by the military regime is the execution of anti-authoritarian activists, students, and civil servants who joined the
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). The second human rights violation is the extrajudicial killing of detainees in the military's notorious interrogation centers, and the third is the inhumane dismemberment and dumping of bodies in rural areas.....General review: The military regime had not been able to suppress the people’s resistance against
the military coup by ground force alone in 2022. Junta troops launched attacks on antiregime forces’ camps across the country with the support of aerial bombings and
artillery strikes. The junta troops have repeatedly fired at villages, homes and schools that are not military targets.
With the aim of destroying the local people’s strong support for the People’s Defence Forces, the regime armed the pro-regime militias called “Pyu Saw Htee”
through the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) members
and extreme Buddhist nationalists. Pyu Saw Htee members have targeted killings of local people and National League for Democracy party members, and the military columns have repeatedly raided and torched villages where the anti-dictatorship revolutionary movement is strong, systematically and extensively..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Spring Revolution, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"Action Taken in Coordination with the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada
WASHINGTON – Today, on the day before the two-year anniversary of the brutal military coup d’état that deposed Burma’s democratically elected government, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating six individuals and three entities connected to Burma’s military regime pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014. This action will occur in conjunction with actions taken by both the United Kingdom and Canada.
On February 1, 2021, Burma’s military overthrew the democratically elected government and removed the civilian government leaders from power, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past two years, the military has continued to use violence and oppression to deny the people of Burma the ability to choose their own leaders. Burma’s military regime has used its military aircraft to conduct aerial bombings and other attacks against pro-democracy forces, killing and displacing countless civilians.
“Two years after Burma’s military forcibly overthrew the democratically elected government of Burma, the United States, along with partner nations like the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, continue to stand with the people of Burma as they seek freedom and democracy,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who provide financial and material support to, and directly enable, the violent suppression of democracy in Burma.”
BURMESE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
Following the 2021 coup, Burma’s military regime appointed new members to the UNION ELECTION COMMISSION (UEC) — including Thein Soe, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on April 21, 2021 — to oversee a post-coup do-over vote after rejecting the results of the November 2020 democratic election. The UEC is the constitutionally mandated body that is responsible for election-related procedures and activities, including organizing, verifying, and announcing election results.
Additionally, the regime has continued to control and benefit from the extraction and export of natural resources of Burma and has utilized various state-owned entities (SOEs) that are fully owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) to act as joint venture partners, as well as regulators and policymakers. MINING ENTERPRISE NO 1, which was previously designated by the European Union on February 21, 2022, and MINING ENTERPRISE NO 2 are two such SOEs that play a dominant role in Burma’s mineral sector.
The UEC, Mining Enterprise No 1, and Mining Enterprise No 2 are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma.
BURMESE ENERGY OFFICIALS
Since the 2021 coup, Burma’s military regime has continued to benefit from the substantial revenue provided by the production and export of oil and gas, which generates over $1 billion in revenue annually and is the single largest source of foreign currency revenue for the regime. Burma’s Ministry of Energy is controlled by the State Administration Council, which was designated on April 21, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014; manages the energy sector; and controls the SOEs involved in the production of oil and gas, including the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Myo Myint Oo is the Union Minister of Energy. The Union Minister of Energy represents the Government of Burma in international and domestic energy sector engagements, while also managing the state-owned entities involved in the production and export of oil and gas.
Aung Min is the Managing Director and Than Min is the Deputy Managing Director of MOGE. As managing director and deputy managing director, both individuals are directly involved in the day-to-day operations and management of the regime’s single largest revenue generating SOE.
Myo Myint Oo, Aung Min, and Than Min are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being or having been leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021.
FORMER AND CURRENT BURMESE MILITARY OFFICIALS
Additionally, despite the international condemnation of the collateral damage caused by aerial attacks, Burma’s Air Force has continued to launch airstrikes against pro-democracy forces that have killed civilians and caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people. General Maung Maung Kyaw, who was previously the head of Burma’s Air Force and was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on February 22, 2021, was replaced by Htun Aung, who was previously the Air Force’s Chief of Staff, on January 12, 2022.
Htun Aung is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being or having been a leader or official of the military or security forces of Burma.
Hla Swe is an ex-military official and a former lawmaker under the military-associated Union Solidarity and Development Party who has admitted to helping to provide training and secure arms for pro-regime militias. Hla Swe is considered the man behind a pro-regime publication that regularly publishes death threats against members of minority groups.
Hla Swe is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Burma.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO BURMA’S MILITARY REGIME
Htoo Htwe Tay Za is the adult daughter of Tay Za, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on January 31, 2022. The Tay Za family, including Htoo Htwe Tay Za, are directors and shareholders of numerous subsidiaries and associated companies of Htoo Group of Companies, which was designated pursuant to E.O 14014 on March 25, 2022, including at least one subsidiary developing properties on land leased from the Burmese military.
Htoo Htwe Tay Za is being designated for being an adult child of Tay Za, a person whose property and interest in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14014.
On January 26, 2022, the U.S. government issued a business advisory to inform the public of the heightened risks associated with doing business in Burma, “Risks and Considerations for Businesses and Individuals with Exposure to Entities Responsible for Undermining Democratic Processes, Facilitating Corruption, and Committing Human Rights Abuses in Burma (Myanmar).”
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
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, 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, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit 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. 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.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please refer to OFAC’s website..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of the Treasury (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Sub-title:
The UK announced sanctions to increase pressure on the Myanmar military junta, coinciding with the 2-year anniversary of the coup that ousted an elected government.
Description:
"UK announces further round of sanctions to ratchet up pressure on Myanmar military junta
announced ahead of 2-year anniversary of 1 February coup
sanctions target enablers of air force bombing campaign and repression of the civilian population
Companies supplying the Myanmar Air Force with the aviation fuel to carry out its relentless bombing campaign against innocent people have been targeted by the UK in the latest round of sanctions, announced to coincide with the second anniversary of the brutal coup that ousted Myanmar’s elected government.
Two companies and 2 individuals, all associated with what is known as the Asia Sun group, and integral to the aviation fuel industry in Myanmar, have been sanctioned. The group supplies fuel to the Myanmar Air Force enabling its barbaric air raiding campaign in an attempt to maintain power, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands of Myanmar’s people in the process.
The first of February 2023 marks 2 years since the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically-elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and installed a military regime. Since then, they have used violence and atrocities to maintain power and supress any opposition voices.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:
Our sanctions are meticulously targeted to deliver maximum impact, reducing the military’s access to finance, fuel, arms and equipment.
The junta must be held to account for their brutal crackdown on opposition voices, terrorising air raids and brazen human rights violations.
The UK has led a strong, coordinated international response to support the people of Myanmar, their democratic demands and right to fundamental freedoms.
The UK has worked with partners including Canada, the United States and the European Union since the coup to impose coordinated and targeted sanctions against the military regime, its business interests and those who facilitate and profit from its brutal campaign.
Since the coup, the UK has now sanctioned 18 individuals and 30 entities, targeting those responsible for the coup, the subsequent violence, and those facilitating it. These sanctions raise the cost for those aligned with and supporting the regime’s campaign of terror. The UK will continue to use economic statecraft to restrict the military’s access to finance and arms and increase the pressure on them to engage with calls for a return to democracy.
As part of its commitment to a free and open Indo Pacific, the UK has led the international community’s work to support a peaceful resolution in Myanmar and a return to democracy; and pushing for progress towards accountability and justice. It has also played a key role in calling on countries around the world to end the sale and transfer of arms and equipment which facilitate the military’s atrocities.
At the United Nations, the UK successfully passed a Security Council Resolution on the crisis, the first of its kind, to apply further pressure on the military junta to end its violence. It also strongly supports ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus, which demands the military immediately ceases its violence and engages in constructive dialogue with all parties..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"၃၁.၁.၂၀၂၃ရက်နေ့၊ ၁၀၀၀နာရီတွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဉ္စမ အကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေး၌ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်သို့ ဖတ်ကြားတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ၏လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက်ချက်အစီရင်ခံစာအား မိဘပြည်သူများ ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ရန် အောက်ပါအတိုင်း လေးစားစွာ အသိပေးထုတ်ပြန်အပ်သည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ
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ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပဥ္စမအကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေးသို့ တင်သွင်းသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ၏ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက်ချက်အစီရင်ခံစာ
ရက်စွဲ။ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလ ၃၁ ရက်
နိဒါန်း
၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ(၁)ရက်နေ့တွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တစ်စုက လက်နက်အားကိုး၍ တရားမဝင်ဥပဒေမဲ့အာဏာသိမ်းယူရန် ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့ပြီးနောက် လွှတ်တော်ကြီးအား အင်အားအလုံး အရင်းဖြင့် ပိတ်ဆို့ထားခဲ့ပြီး မိမိတို့ ရွေးကောက်ခံလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များကိုလည်း ဥပဒေမဲ့ ဖမ်းဆီးရန်အပါအဝင် လွှတ်တော်၏လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်များ မထမ်းဆောင်စေရန် နည်းလမ်းအမျိုးအမျိုးဖြင့် ခြိမ်းခြောက်တားဆီးနိုင်ရန် ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့ပါသည်။ သို့သော် မိမိတို့ ရွေးကောက်ခံလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် များဟာ ပြည်သူလူထုက ယုံကြည်အားကိုးစွာဖြင့် ဆန္ဒမဲပေး ရွေးချယ်ခံရသူများပီပီ ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် ပြတ်ပြတ်သားသားရပ်တည်၍ စစ်တပ်၏ ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံနှင့်မညီသော အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ကန့်ကွက်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
၂။ ထို့ပြင် စစ်တပ်၏ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုအန္တရာယ်အမျိုးမျိုးကြားမှပင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ပထမအကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေးအား အရေးပေါ်ခေါ်ယူကျင်းပ၍ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြု ကော်မတီအား လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ၈၀ ရာခိုင်နှုန်းကျော်၏ ထောက်ခံချက်ဖြင့် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ၊ (၅)ရက်နေ့တွင် စတင်ဖွဲ့စည်းနိုင်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြု ကော်မတီအား ၂၀၂၀ ပြည့်နှစ်၊ ပါတီစုံဒီမိုကရေစီ ရွေးကောက်ပွဲမှာ အနိုင်ရရှိခဲ့သော ပါတီ (၄) ရပ်မှ လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များဖြင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းထားပြီး ချမှတ်ထားသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးရည်မှန်းချက်များနှင့် သက်ဝင်ပီပြင်သော လွှတ်တော်တစ်ရပ်၏လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်များကို အောင်မြင်စွာ ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရေး လွှတ်တော်ရေးရာ ကော်မတီ(၁၂) ခုကို ဖွဲ့စည်းထားရှိပြီးဖြစ်ပါသည်။
ရေးရာကော်မတီများ၏လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်များ
၃။ ယခုအခါ ရေးရာကော်မတီများအနေဖြင့် သက်ဆိုင်ရာကော်မတီအလိုက် လုပ်ငန်း လမ်းညွှန်များနှင့်အညီ ကော်မတီများ၏လုပ်ငန်းများကို ဟန်ချက်ညီညီ ဆောင်ရွက်နေလျက် ရှိပါသည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် ကော်မတီနှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရတို့၏ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များကို လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်တော်ကြီးများနှင့် အများ ပြည်သူများသို့ အစီရင်ခံတင်ပြနိုင်ရန် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ဒုတိယအကြိမ်အစည်းအဝေးအားလည်းကောင်း၊ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် တတိယ အကြိမ် အစည်းအဝေးအားလည်းကောင်း၊ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ဧပြီလ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့ စတုတ္ထအကြိမ် အစည်းအဝေး ကိုလည်းကောင်း ခေါ်ယူကျင်းပပေးခဲ့ပြီး ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်၏ လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်များကို တာဝန်ခံဆောင်ရွက်ရာတွင် ဥပဒေပြုရေး၊ ကိုယ်စားပြုရေးနှင့် အစိုးရအား ထိန်းကျောင်းစောင့်ကြည့်ခြင်းတို့ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်နေသကဲ့သို့ လက်ရှိနိုင်ငံရေးပဋိပက္ခအား အမြန်ဆုံးဖြေရှင်းနိုင်ရေးအတွက် ပြည်တွင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား မဟာမိတ်အင်အားစုများနှင့် ဆက်ဆံရေး တည်ဆောက်ခြင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းတို့ ခိုင်မာ အားကောင်းလာစေရန်လည်း ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါတယ်။ ထို့ပြင် မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံ၌ အနာဂတ် နိုင်ငံရေးရည်မှန်းချက်များကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ဆောင်ရွက်ရာတွင် တိုင်းရင်းသားအားလုံး ပါဝင်သော နိုင်ငံရေးလမ်းကြောင်းကို ဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် ရှင်းလင်းသောမူဝါဒ၊ လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်များ ချမှတ်ပြင်ဆင်နိုင်ရေးကိုလည်း ကျွမ်းကျင်ပညာရှင်များနှင့် ဆွေးနွေးပွဲများ ပြုလုပ်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက် ရှိပါသည်။
၅။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် ပေးအပ်ထားသည့် လွှတ်တော် ၏ လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်များအတိုင်း ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပဋိညာဥ်အရ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ အစိုးရအဖွဲ့ဝင်များ ခန့်အပ်တာဝန်ပေးခြင်းတို့ကို ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ပြီး ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့မှာ ဒေါက်တာငိုင်းတမ်မောင်းအား လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ် ဆိုင်ရာ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ ဒုတိယဝန်ကြီး အဖြစ်လည်းကောင်း၊ နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၆ ရက်နေ့မှာ ဒေးဗစ်ဂွမ်အောင်အား အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ ဒုတိယဝန်ကြီး အဖြစ်လည်းကောင်း ခန့်အပ်တာဝန် ပေးအပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် အစိုးရအဖွဲ့နှင့် လုပ်ငန်းများအပေါ် ထိန်းကြောင်းခြင်းနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုတို့ တိုးမြှင့်လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်ရန် တစ်လလျှင် နှစ်ကြိမ် ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများအား ဖိတ်ခေါ်၍ ကြားနာဆွေးနွေးမှုများကို ပြုလုပ်နေသကဲ့သို့ မေးမြန်းလိုသည်များ ရှိပါကလည်း သက်ဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနများနှင့် အလျဥ်းသင့်သလို ခေါ်ယူဆွေးနွေးမှုများ ပြုလုပ်လျက် ရှိပါသည်။
၆။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် လက်ရှိအချိန်ထိ ဥပဒေ (၈) ခု ကို ပြဋ္ဌာန်းခဲ့ပြီး ဒီမိုကရေစီနှုန်းများနှင့်မညီညွတ်သည့် ၂၀၀၈ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေကို တရားဝင် အပြီးတိုင်ဖျက်သိမ်းခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်ပါသည်။ လက်ရှိကာလတွင် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီစံနှုန်းများနှင့် ကိုက်ညီမှုမရှိသည့် ဥပဒေများ ဖျက်သိမ်းရေး၊ ခိုင်မာအားကောင်းသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်နှင့် ဒီမိုကရေစီ စနစ်အား မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံတွင် တည်ဆောက်သွားနိုင်ရေးလိုအပ်လာမည့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံ ဥပဒေ၊ အခြားဥပဒေနှင့်မူဝါဒများကို ဥပဒေရေးရာကော်မတီ၊ ဖက်ဒရယ်ရေးရာကော်မတီနှင့် အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအတိုင်ပင်ခံကောင်စီရေးရာ ကော်မတီတို့က ဦးဆောင်လျက် လေ့လာသုံးသပ် ဆွေးနွေး ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၇။ ပြည်သူလူထုက ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ထားသည့် မိမိတို့ လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် များအနေဖြင့် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်တပ်၏ တရားမဝင်အာဏာသိမ်းယူမှုအပေါ် ဆန့်ကျင်ခြင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံ တစ်ဝှမ်း အကြမ်းဖက်ဖိနှိပ်မှုများကြောင့် အခက်အခဲကြုံတွေ့နေရသည့် အကြမ်းမဖက် အာဏာ ဖီဆန်မှုတွင် အတူတကွ ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြသော ပြည်သူ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM သူရဲကောင်းများ၊ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ပြည်သူများ၊ အမျိုးသမီးနှင့်ကလေးသူငယ်များ၊ စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးမှု များကြောင့် ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများဆုံးရှုံးသွားရသူများ၊ ပဋိပက္ခကြောင့် ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရရှိသူများနှင့် အကျဥ်းကျခံနေရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးသမားများ၏မိသားစုဝင်များအား ပံ့ပိုးကူညီနိုင်ရေးအတွက် ပြည်သူ့ ရေးရာကော်မတီ၊ အမျိုးသမီး၊ လူငယ်နှင့်ကလေးသူငယ်ရေးရာကော်မတီ၊ ပညာရေးကော်မတီ တို့က တာဝန်ယူဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ကော်မတီများအနေဖြင့် ပံ့ပိုးကူညီမှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ် ပြန့်ပြန့် ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရေးတွက် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ သက်ဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနများ၊ ပြည်ထောင်စု၊ ပြည်နယ်နှင့် တိုင်းဒေသကြီး ရွေးကောက်ခံလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၊ ပြင်ပ အဖွဲ့အစည်းအများ၊ အလှူရှင်များနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်၍ ဝန်ဆောင်မှုပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၈။ ထို့ပြင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီသည် မိမိတို့နိုင်င်ငံ၌ ဖြစ်ပေါ် နေသည့် လက်ရှိပဋိပက္ခအား အဆုံးသတ်ရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်း၏ လက်တွေ့ကျသော ပံ့ပိုးကူညီမှုများရရှိနိုင်ရန် နိုင်ငံတကာလွှတ်တော်အသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်ပူးပေါင်းမှု အားကောင်း စေရေးကိုလည်း မဟာဗျူဟာချမှတ်၍ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ထို့သို့ ဆောင်ရွက် ရာတွင် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအတိုင်ပင်ခံကောင်စီတို့နှင့်လည်း လက်တွဲကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၉။ သက်ဆိုင်ရာကဏ္ဍအလိုက် ဖွဲ့စည်းထားရှိသည့် ရေးရာကော်မတီများအနေဖြင့် ရွေးကောက်ခံလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၏ ရပိုင်ခွင့်နှင့်အခွင့်အရေးများအတွက် ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်း၊ ၎င်းတို့၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်ခံရမှုများ၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံရခြင်းများ၊ နေအိမ် အဆောက်အဦများအား မတရားဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ သိမ်းယူခြင်း၊ လေလံတင် ရောင်းချခံရခြင်းတို့နှင့် စပ်လျဥ်း၍ အချက်အလက်များပြုစုသိမ်းဆည်းထားရှိကာ နောင်တချိန်တွင် ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပ တရား ဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ ခုခံကာကွယ်ပေးသွားနိုင် ရေးတို့ကိုလည်း ကြိုးစားပြင်ဆင်ထားရှိပါသည်။
၁၀။ ယခုကဲ့သို့အချက်အလက်များ ပြုစုထားရှိမှုတွင် ရွေးကောက်ခံပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားလှယ် (၄၇၆) ဦးရှိရာ အဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၄၀) ဦး၊ ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက်သူ (၉) ဦး၊ လက်ရှိအချိန်ထိ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံနေရသော လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် (၃၁) ဦး၊ ကွယ်လွန်သူ (၅) ဦးနှင့် ဆက်သွယ်၍ မရသူ (၉၀) ဦး ရှိပါသည်။ တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ပြည်နယ်လွှတ်တော် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် (၆၁၃) ဦးတွင် အဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၈၅) ဦး၊ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရနေရစဥ်အတွင်း ဆေးကုသခွင့်မရသဖြင့် ကွယ်လွန်သူ (၂) ဦးနှင့် ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက်သူ (၂၆) ဦးရှိပြီး လက်ရှိ အချိန်ထိ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံနေရသော လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် (၅၇) ဦး၊ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရပြီး ဆေးကုသခွင့်မရသဖြင့် ကွယ်လွန်သူ (၂) ဦး၊ ရှောင်တိမ်းရင်း ကွယ်လွန်သူ (၈) ဦး၊ စုစုပေါင်း ကွယ်လွန်သူ (၁၀) ဦးရှိကြောင်း တွေ့ရှိရပါသည်။
၁၁။ ဘဏ္ဍာငွေကြေးဆိုင်ရာကိစ္စရပ်များနှင့်စပ်လျဥ်း၍ လက်ရှိတော်လှန်ရေးကာလအတွင်း ပြည်သူလူထုက ထည့်ဝင်လှူဒါန်းထားသည့် ရန်ပုံငွေများကို အလေအလွင့်အနည်းဆုံးနှင့် စနစ်ကျသောဘဏ္ဍာရေးစည်းမျဥ်းများနှင့်အညီ ခွဲဝေသုံးစွဲရေးနှင့် ပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာပြီး တာဝန်ခံမှု ပြည့်ဝသည့် ဘဏ္ဍာငွေသုံးစွဲနိုင်ရေးအတွက် စာရင်းများ စစ်ဆေးဆောင်ရွက်သွားနိုင်စေရန် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ပြည်ထောင်စုစာရင်းစစ်ချုပ်ရုံးနှင့် ဆက်သွယ်ချိတ်ဆက်လျက် စာရင်းဇယားများ ပြုစုပေးပို့၍ စနစ်တကျ စီမံခန့်ခွဲ ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၁၂။ လုံခြုံရေးနှင့်ကာကွယ်ရေးဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ငန်းများတွင် နိုင်ငံတကာဥပဒေများနှင့် စံနှုန်းများကို လေးစားလိုက်နာသော ခေတ်မီပြည်သူ့တပ်မတော်တစ်ရပ် ပေါ်ပေါက်စေရန် လိုအပ်မည့် ဥပဒေ၊ မူဝါဒ အကြံပြုချက်များနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုများပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရန်၊ ဒေသခံပြည်သူ့ ကာကွယ်ရေးအဖွဲ့များအကြား ကြားခံဆက်သွယ်နိုင်ရန်သာမက ဘတ်ဂျက်ခွဲဝေသုံးစွဲမှုဆိုင်ရာ ကိစ္စရပ် များအပေါ် စောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာနိုင်ရန် သက်ဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနတို့နှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်ဆွေးနွေးမှုများ ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၁၃။ ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာမှ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ၏ ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များအား အချိန်နှင့်တပြေးညီ ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် သိရှိနိုင်စေရန် CRPH ၏ ကြေညာ ချက်များ၊ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်များ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာဆက်ဆံရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကိစ္စများ၊ CRPH ဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၏ နိုင်ငံခြားခရီးစဥ်များနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာမှကျင်းပသည့်ပွဲများသို့ တက်ရောက်ဆွေးနွေးသည့် မြန်မာ့ အရေး ဆွေးနွေးချက်များ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား၊ လူမျိုးအသီးသီး၏ နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ်များနှင့် နှစ်ပတ်လည် အထိမ်းအမှတ်ပွဲများသို့ ပေးပို့သည့်သဝဏ်လွှာများနှင့် တွေ့ဆုံဆွေးနွေးသည့် သတင်းများကို သတင်းမီဒီယာ Platforms တို့တွင် အချိန်နှင့်တစ်ပြေးညီ အစီရင်ခံ တင်ပြလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း၊ ဒီပဲယင်းမြို့နယ်၊ လက်ယက်ကုန်းကျေးရွာရှိ စာသင်ကျောင်း၊ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်၊ အနန့်ပါစခန်းတို့အား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက လေကြောင်းသုံး တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ အပါအဝင် အခြားသော လူမဆန်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များအပေါ် အချိန်နှင့်တစ်ပြေးညီ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်များ ထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာက သိရှိ၍ တုံ့ပြန်ပေးရေးတို့အတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာလွှတ်တော် အသိုက်အဝန်း အပါအဝင် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ၊ အာဆီယံတို့ထံ တိုက်ရိုက်ပေးပို့ခြင်းများကိုလည်း ဆောင်ရွက်လျက် ရှိပါသည်။
၁၄။ ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍတွင် မြေပြင်မှတင်ပြလာသည့် လိုအပ်ချက်များနှင့် တောင်းဆိုချက်များ အား ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်၍ ညှိနှိုင်းဆောင်ရွက်ပေးလျက်ရှိပြီး ဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်များ ပိုမိုအားကောင်းလျင်မြန်စေရန် သက်ဆိုင်ရာ လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၏ ဆွေးနွေးအကြံပြုချက်များနှင့်အတူ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၁၅။ ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပအလုပ်သမားရေးရာကဏ္ဍတွင် ပြည်တွင်းအလုပ်သမားများ၏ အခွင့် အရေး ချိုးဖောက်ခံရခြင်းကိစ္စရပ်များ၊ ရွှေ့ပြောင်းအလုပ်သမားများ၏ အခက်အခဲများကို စုံစမ်း မေးမြန်း၍ လိုအပ်သည့် ဥပဒေရေးရာအကူအညီများ ပံ့ပိုးကူညီနိုင်ရေးနှင့် အလုပ်သမား အေဂျင်စီ များ၏ ဥပဒေချိုးဖောက်မှုကိစ္စရပ်များနှင့်စပ်လျဥ်း၍ အရေးယူနိုင်ရန် သက်ဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရေး ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိပြီး ပြည်တွင်းအလုပ်သမား ဥပဒေများအား လေ့လာသုံးသပ်ရေးအဖွဲ့နှင့် ပြည်ပအလုပ်သမားဥပဒေများအား လေ့လာသုံးသပ်ရေး အဖွဲ့ ဟူ၍ အဖွဲ့ (၂) ခုခွဲကာ အလုပ်သမား ဥပဒေများအား လေ့လာသုံးသပ်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
နိဂုံး
၁၆။ နိဂုံးချုပ်အနေဖြင့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီသည် ရှင်သန်လှုပ်ရှား နေသော လွှတ်တော်တစ်ရပ်အဖြစ် ပြည်သူများက အပ်နှင်းလိုက်သော ပြည်သူ့အာဏာအား အကျိုးရှိရှိအသုံးပြု၍ နိုင်ငံတော်၏အာဏာအား ပြည်သူ့ထံ ပြန်လည်အပ်နှင်းပြီး အနာဂတ် နိုင်ငံရေး ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုများနှင့် တည်ဆောက်ရေးလုပ်ငန်းများတွင် ပြည်သူလူထုက ကိုယ်တိုင် ပါဝင် ဆုံးဖြတ်ပေးနိုင်ရန် အခွင့်အရေးများ ရရှိခံစားနိုင်ရေးကို ဦးထိပ်ပန်ဆင်လျက် ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီ နိုင်ငံတော်ကြီး တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရေး စွမ်းစွမ်းတမံ ကြိုးစားထမ်းဆောင်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကတိသစ္စာပြုလျက် ဤအစီရင်ခံစာအား ဖတ်ကြား တင်သွင်းအပ်ပါသည်။ ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.3 MB
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Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
871.03 KB
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Description:
"၁။ ၁၉၄၉ ခုနှစ်မှ စတင်၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင် အဆက်ဆက်ကို ခုခံတွန်းလှန်ခဲ့သော ကရင့် တော်လှန်ရေးသည် ယနေ့တွင် (၇၄) နှစ်တိုင်တိုင် ပြည့်မြောက်ခဲ့ပြီ ဖြစ်သည်။
၂။ ကရင်အမျိုးသားပြည်သူလုထုတရပ်လုံး လေးစားဂုဏ်ယူတန်ဖိုးထားရသည့် နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ် ဖြစ်သည်နှင့် အညီ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရ၊ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အနေဖြင့် (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ကို ကရင်အမျိုးသားများနှင့် ထပ်တူ ဂုဏ်ပြုဦိးညွှတ် ကြိုဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။
၃။ (၇၄) နှစ်တာ ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးခရီးအတွင်း ကရင်ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ် စည်းစိမ်များကို ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ရင်း အသက်၊ကိုယ်လက်အင်္ဂါ စွန့်လွှတ်ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့ရသည့် ကရင့်အာဇာနည် ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ၊ ကရင့်သူရဲကောင်းများနှင့် ကရင်ပြည်သူများကိုလည်း လေးနက်စွာ အောက်မေ့ဦးညွှတ် ဂုဏ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။
၄။ ယနေ့အချိန်အခါသည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများနှင့်အတူ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး ကြုံတွေ့ခံစားနေရသည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ဆိုးသွမ်းယုတ်မာသော လုပ်ရပ်များကို ကျော်လွှားနိုင်ရန် တစ်တိုင်းပြည်လုံး အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီအား ဟန်ချက်ညီစွာဖြင့် ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံ ခုခံတွန်းလှန်နေသော ကာလလည်းဖြစ်သည်။
၅။ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး၏ ဘုံရည်မှန်းချက်ပန်းတိုင်ဖြစ်သော စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ဆိုးကို အပြီးတိုင် ဖြုတ်ချပြီး ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့်၊ တန်းတူရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတမှုတို့ကို အပြည့်အဝ အာမခံသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုကို ထူထောင်နိုင်ရန် အတူတကွ လက်တွဲညီစွာဖြင့် ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်နိုင်လိမ့်မည်ဟု အလေးအနက် ယုံကြည်လျက် (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာကို ဂုဏ်ယူစွာဖြင့် ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Karen (cultural, historical, political)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
175.49 KB
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Description:
"၁။ ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့်(၇၄)နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အမျိုးသားတော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ အချိန်အခါ သမယတွင် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအားလုံးနှင့်တကွ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံး ဘေး အန္တရာယ်အပေါင်းမှ ကင်းဝေး၍ ကောင်းကျိုးလိုအင်ဆန္ဒများ ပြည့်ဝကြပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်း မေတ္တာ ပို့သအပ်ပါသည်။
၂။ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တိုင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့၏ မတရားမှု၊ ဖိနှိပ်မှု၊ အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ် များအား ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအနေဖြင့် ရဲရဲဝင့်ဝင့် ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြပြီး ယနေ့နွေဦး တော်လှန်ရေး အဆုံးသတ်တိုက်ပွဲတွင်လည်း ကရင်အမျိုးသားခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် ညီနောင် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားအပေါင်းတို့သည် နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းမှ တိုင်းရင်းသားညီနောင်များနှင့်အတူ ဖက်စစ် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးအား မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ အမြစ်ပြတ် တိုက်ထုတ်ရာတွင် ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံ တိုက်ပွဲ ဝင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရင်း ကျဆုံးသွားခဲ့ကြသော ကရင် တိုင်းရင်းသားအာဇာနည် သူရဲကောင်းများအား မိမိတို့အနေဖြင့် အစဥ်လေးစား ဂုဏ်ယူလျက် ရှိပါသည်။
၃။ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကာလတလျောက်တွင် ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ကြရသော အခက်အခဲ စိန်ခေါ် မှုများအား ဉာဏ်အမြော်အမြင်ကြီးစွာဖြင့် ကျော်ဖြတ်ကာ မိမိနိုင်ငံနှင့် မိမိလူမျိုးအတွက် လွတ်လပ်၍ တရားမျှတသော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံသစ်ဆီသို့ တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစု အားလုံး စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်စွာ ရှေ့ဆက်ချီတက်နိုင်ခဲ့ကြသည်မှာ မိမိတို့ပြည်သူလူထု၏ စည်းလုံး ညီညွတ်မှုအင်အားကြောင့်သာဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထိုစည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုအင်အားကိုလည်း မည်သည့် အာဏာရှင်ကမျှ သွေးခွဲသပ်လျှိုပြုလုပ်နိုင်မည်မဟုတ်ဘဲ နိုင်ငံတကာကပင် တန်ဖိုးထား လေးစား လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၄။ နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာကြာ ကရင်အမျိုးသား တော်လှန်ရေးခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ မျှော်လင့် တောင့်တခဲ့ကြသော အရောင်အသွေးစုံလင်သည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံသစ် အမြန်ဆုံး ပေါ်ပေါက်ရေး တူညီသောခံယူချက်သဘောထားများဖြင့် ရှေ့ဆက်လျှောက်လှမ်း၍ မိမိတို့ အားလုံး လက်တွဲကြိုးပမ်းသွားနိုင်စေရန် အလေးအနက် ဆန္ဒပြုလျက် ဤ (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင် အမျိုးသားတော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာ အား ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Karen (cultural, historical, political)
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"To mark two years since the February 1, 2021 coup by the military junta in Myanmar, Refugees International Director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East Daniel P. Sullivan released the following statement:
“The two years of upheaval following the attempted takeover of the country by Myanmar’s military junta has left a path of devastation across the country. Myanmar’s unprecedented displacement and humanitarian need stemming from the coup is yet to plateau. Rather, as the UN predicts, fully one-third of the population is set to be in need of humanitarian assistance, and the numbers of people forced to flee their homes is set to rise precipitously from the current 1.5 million people displaced to more than 2.4 million in the year ahead. This does not count the million Rohingya refugees who were forced to flee the genocide that preceded the coup at the hands of the very same military leaders.
Two years into this nightmare, the United States and likeminded countries must step up pressure on the military junta, including through coordinated targeted sanctions on the junta and those supporting it, whether in the form of weapons, aviation fuel, or proceeds from the oil and gas sectors.
More immediately, to stem the tide of suffering unleashed by Myanmar’s military junta, it is essential that the United States and other donor countries press the junta for unfettered humanitarian access and support the local groups best placed to deliver aid throughout the country, including, vitally, across borders.
Without these measures, the people of Myanmar will be condemned to even more suffering at the hands of this regime.”..."
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"1 February marks second anniversary of Myanmar’s brutal military regime
Nearly 3,000 people killed, 1.5 million internally displaced, more than 13,000 detained in inhumane conditions, and at least 100 sentenced to death
‘Solidarity has never been more important….The international community cannot let another day pass before taking additional effective steps to stop the military’s atrocities ’ – Ming Yu Hah
The Myanmar military continues to arbitrarily arrest, torture and murder people with impunity two years after it seized power, Amnesty International said today, as it called for increased global action and solidarity ahead of the anniversary on 1 February.
Since the 2021 coup, nearly 3,000 people have been killed, 1.5 million have been internally displaced, more than 13,000 are still detained in inhumane conditions, and four people are known to have been executed, while at least 100 have been sentenced to death. In addition to this, 7.8 million children are not in school.
The military’s onslaught against anyone who is suspected to oppose its rule has caused widespread fear and led to grave human rights violations - including the use of air and ground attacks against civilians.
Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, said:
“There is no denying that the military is able to carry out its nationwide assault on human rights because of the shockingly inadequate global response to this crisis, which risks being forgotten - we can’t let that happen.
“This anniversary should highlight the need for urgent global action from countries around the world, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations needs to protect the people of Myanmar who remain under daily siege from the military.
“Speaking up for those in Myanmar who risk lengthy jail sentences, torture and death in custody for expressing peaceful defiance is not a trivial gesture. Solidarity has never been more important, as it can raise people’s spirits and show them they are not alone in their darkest hour.
“While many governments have heeded calls to action, it is not yet enough to stop the military’s grave violations. The international community cannot let another day pass, let alone another two years, before taking additional effective steps to stop the military’s atrocities.”
Resistance continues
Despite grave danger and persecution, brave individuals within Myanmar have continued to pursue peaceful protests. In the lead up to and on the day of the anniversary, Amnesty is participating in solidarity protests, vigils and events in cities around the world, including in Bangkok and Seoul.
But the United Nations as well as governments around the world must do more than send messages of support. The recent historic UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar was welcome progress, but much more is needed from those in power, who must urgently apply pressure on the military to release all those arbitrarily detained for peacefully exercising their human rights.
The UN Security Council must also refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and impose a comprehensive global arms embargo that covers all weapons, munitions, dual-use technology, as well as other military and security equipment, training and any additional forms of assistance.
Stop aviation fuel supply
Countries and companies need to suspend the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer - including transit, trans-shipment and brokering - of aviation fuel to Myanmar until effective mechanisms are in place to ensure it will not be used to carry out devastating air strikes and commit serious violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law.
Last November, Amnesty launched a campaign calling for a suspension of the supply of aviation fuel to prevent the Myanmar military from carrying out unlawful air strikes. The investigation also identified companies involved across the supply chain.
Since the coup on 1 February 2021, Amnesty has documented widespread human rights violations, including war crimes and possible crimes against humanity as part of the military’s crackdown on the opposition across the country. See Amnesty’s Myanmar page for more information..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, International Criminal Court (Myanmar)
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"Ever since the military first seized power in a coup in March 1962, Myanmar has been plagued by a vicious cycle of popular protests and violent repression—and, every time the people have risen up against the dictatorship, the men in green have managed to cling on to power. The question in 2023 is whether the ruling generals will succeed this time as well. What speaks for it is the remarkable unity that the military has always managed to maintain. There have been purges among the leaders of the armed forces and signs of dissent within the ranks, but, in the end, everyone in the military down to the private soldier has carried out the orders they have been given, no matter how brutal and inhumane.
The argument that it might be different this time is based on the sheer incompetence of coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and those around him. Two years after they sent their tanks and troops into Yangon, Naypyitaw, Mandalay and other major cities and towns, they have yet to establish a functioning administration to replace the one they ousted. Ambushes of army convoys, bombings of public buildings, and assassinations of suspected military informants have become daily occurrences not only in the traditonally strife-torn frontier areas, but also, for the first time since the 1970s, even in the Myanmar heartland involving the majority Burmese population.
The situation has been exacerbated by a collapsing economy marked by a deteriorating exchange rate for the kyat, shortages of goods, rising prices of daily commodities—and the flight of capital to other countries. Owners of small and medium-sized businesses are transferring their assets to Thailand while the country’s immensely wealthy cronies are placing their money in financial institutions in Singapore and Dubai. No one wants to take the risk of having to depend on the erratic economic policies of an inept military regime, and whatever new, poorly thought out rules the generals may force upon the country’s own banks, which are untrustworthy even at the best of times. Compared to previous crises, it is clearly different this time. The situation has never been as bad as now, and, therefore, the final outcome of the power games that are being played out inside Myanmar is far more difficult to predict.
In March 1962, a 17-member junta called the Revolutionary Council (RC) led by General Ne Win seized power, but it was not until July that massive protests against the coup took place. At first, many people believed that it would be no different from 1958, when the military intervened and formed a caretaker government pending new elections. But as it became evident that this time the military was there to stay, thousands of Rangoon University students demonstrated—and were shot at by the military. Officially, 15 students were killed while eyewitnesses and independent observers put the total number of deaths at several hundred. And, in the early hours of July 8, Rangoon residents were awakened by an explosion that reverberated through the city. The military had dynamited the historic Students’ Union building, where the nationalists had gathered during the anti-colonial struggle in the 1930s, reducing it to rubble.
Disagreements over Ne Win’s new, disastrous socialist policies, which had turned the country into an economic wreck, and the role the military should play in politics, led a year after the coup to the resignation from the junta of Brigadier General Aung Gyi and the dismissal of Colonel Kyi Maung, who both became prominent actors in the 1988 pro-democracy movement. Two other junta members, Colonel Chit Myaing and Colonel Khin Nyo, were dismissed in 1964 and 1965. Many student activists took to the jungles and the mountains to join the insurgent Communist Party of Burma or, if they came from the country’s many non-Burmese nationalities, their respective ethnic rebel army. But Ne Win managed to consolidate his grip on power, and in 1974 an ostensibly civilian government led by the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) and dominated by former military officers was formed after holding a fraudulent referendum on a new constitution.
Not even renewed student protests followed by labor strikes in the mid-1970s—and more massacres of civilians—had any impact on how Myanmar was being run: it remained a dictatorship with Ne Win at the helm. The regime’s brutality, however, led to an abortive coup attempt initiated by Ohn Kyaw Myint, a young captain who had managed to gather some dissenting officers around him. But plans of the plot were leaked to the military authorities, and Ohn Kyaw Myint was arrested and executed in July 1977. What became known as “the Ohn Kyaw Myint affair” led to a massive purge within the military. Real and imagined accomplices were arrested, and among those sentenced to prison was General Tin Oo, a popular former army chief and defense minister. He got seven years of hard labor, accused of having had prior knowledge of the coup attempt. That was never proven, and the charge was no doubt politically motivated; protesters had shouted “Long live General Tin Oo!” when they demonstrated against Ne Win’s iron-fisted rule. Hundreds of mostly young people were killed when the soldiers opened fire on them, and, apart from Tin Oo, several other high-ranking officers were arrested and imprisoned. Tin Oo was released during a 1980 general amnesty and became a leader of the 1988 uprising and later chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
A far-reaching purge also occurred in 1983 when another officer, also called Tin Oo but no relation to the former army chief, was arrested. This Tin Oo, who had been trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the US-held island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean, began his career as a powerful military intelligence chief and was once considered Ne Win’s heir apparent. Several other former intelligence officers, among them Colonel Bo Ni, who had been trained on Saipan as the same time as Tin Oo, were also purged. Ne Win is said to have believed that “MI Tin Oo”, as he was called, and his henchmen were building up a state within a state, and as such could pose a threat to the supreme leadership. MI Tin Oo was transferred from Insein Jail to Ye Kyi Aing top-security prison during the 1988 uprising. After it had been quelled, he was moved back to Insein and released in October 1989.
No uprising has been as widespread as the one in August-September 1988, and it was also put down with unprecedented brutality. Thousands—not hundreds as some academics and historians claim—were gunned down when the military sprayed automatic rifle fire into crowds of demonstrators. On Sept. 18, the BSPP government was replaced with a new junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), but the military didn’t actually stage a coup to seize power, which it already had. It felt it had to intervene forcefully to shore up a bankrupt regime overwhelmed by popular protest. Thousands of pro-democracy activists fled to the borders with Thailand, China and India, where an armed resistance was organized. Exiled politicians, including some who had won seats in a May 1990 general election but were never allowed to assume office as the outcome of that election was ignored, formed the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). But an effective armed uprising never really materialized and the NCGUB was never recognized by any foreign power.
In 1997, the SLORC assumed the more palatable name of State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)—and, despite all the challenges it faced, the military remained remarkably united and continued to rule the country with impunity. The military’s staying power depended to a large extent on the activities of its secret police, by this time called the Directorate of the Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI), which had spies and informants all over the country. Anyone suspected of having contacts with the opposition was likely to be arrested and tortured while in custody. The DDSI also kept a watchful eye on military officers who could be suspected of not toeing the military’s political line, and on the many Myanmar exiles who were living in Thailand, Europe, North America and Australia. The head of the DDSI from 1983 to 2004, General Khin Nyunt, became known for his willingness to use extreme brutality when dealing with political prisoners, and his close DDSI associate, Air Force Colonel Thein Swe, was appointed defense attaché at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. While there, he sent thugs to beat up exiled pro-democracy activists and, it is alleged, also ordered murders of persons deemed to be “enemies of the state”.
But, like MI Tin Oo and his men before him, Khin Nyunt and the coterie around him also became too powerful for their own good. In August 2003 he was appointed prime minister in the SPDC-led government and began to amass wealth, while also trying to raise his regional profile by becoming more of a public figure. In October 2004, he was “permitted to retire on health grounds”, the usual euphemism in the special lingo of the Myanmar military for being sacked. He was placed under house arrest and his right-hand man Thein Swe was sent to jail along with scores of former and serving DDSI officers. They were eventually released after his successor as Secretary-1 of the SPDC and later junta prime minister General Thein Sein became president in 2011. The DDSI was subsequently disbanded and replaced by the Office of Chief of Military Security Affairs, commonly referred to by its Burmese acronym sa ya pha, an entity more directly under the control of the military’s supreme command.
Meanwhile, the first SLORC chairman, General Saw Maung, had resigned in April 1992 and been replaced by General Than Shwe. But that purge was not really political in nature. Saw Maung had become increasingly erratic, some would argue he had gone insane. His public speeches were incoherent and rambling, covering subjects such as dying tomorrow and sightings of Jesus in Tibet. He had also been seen at a military golf course in Yangon screaming “I am King Kyansittha!” in a reference to one of the rulers of the ancient Bagan empire whose name means “the remaining soldier” or “the one who was left behind.” Saw Maung died in oblivion and obscurity in July 1997.
Having got rid of Saw Maung and Khin Nyunt, Than Shwe was far more successful in building up a new military leadership. The old dictator, Ne Win, had died in 2002, mourned by no one, not even the military officers whose godfather he once was. Seeking to avoid the fate of his predecessors Ne Win and Saw Maung, Than Shwe decided to appoint not one, but three successors: his prime minister, Thein Sein, would become president after a sham election that was planned for November 2010, and another general, Shwe Mann, would head the military’s own political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was formed 12 years after the 1988 uprising and the subsequent collapse of the BSPP. A weak and less-than-competent general, Min Aung Hlaing, was designated to take over as head of the military. But the plan failed when Shwe Mann went his own way and began to reach out to the NLD and its de facto leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He was removed as head of the USDP in August 2015 and, in April 2016, was sacked from the party along with 17 senior party members. Thein Sein, for his part, after becoming president in 2011 took a number of initiatives that led to a more open society, but he never became as popular as the military top brass had expected. He and the USDP lost the 2015 and 2020 elections to the NLD in landslides that the military failed to predict. In 2016, a new government took over most duties—except the crucial ministries of Defense, Home Affairs and Border Affairs, which remained in the sole hands of the military. And so did the military itself, an autonomous entity beyond any kind of parliamentary control or even oversight.
The NLD’s second successive election victory in November 2020 led to the February 2021 coup and, once again, the military misjudged the situation. A new, politically active and aware civil society had emerged during the 2011-2021 period of relative openness. People had also had enough of direct or indirect military rule, which had been the case from the 1962 coup to the 2015 election, and hence the NLD’s massive electoral victories. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had refrained from challenging the military’s political and economic power during her first term from 2016 to 2021, but the NLD’s overwhelming election win in November 2020 gave her a strong mandate to push for real democratic change. That could, in turn, have led to the generals’ risking retribution for the many crimes they committed during their decades in power. All army officers know where the skeletons of past atrocities are buried, both in the frontier areas and also in the urban centers, home to an emerging and growing middle class. Min Aung Hlaing is widely loathed across the population for his ruthless post-coup clampdown and killings, and he and his ilk know all too well that they either maintain power at any price or land in prison—or worse. As the saying goes, if they don’t hang together they fear they will hang separately. It is a combination of those fears and deeply entrenched economic interests that hold the military so tightly together and not, as some Western analysts have suggested, some underlying sense of patriotism or because officers have been hardened through battles in the field. And that also explains why, so far, no cracks have emerged within the military despite the violent, irrational and seemingly self-defeating orders being handed down by officers and carried out by seemingly unswervingly obedient foot soldiers.
At the same time, despite the similarities, what we are seeing today is not a repeat of 1962, 1976 or 1988. The military is suffering extraordinary losses on the battlefield, and soldiers are being killed not by some ethnic rebels but by their own Burmese countrymen. Their own relatives may also be part of the resistance, or have taken part in the Civil Disobedience Movement immediately after the coup. Will they remain forever loyal? And for how much longer will the cronies, on whose support the military depends, be willing to prop up a regime that is ruining their businesses? The exact amount of money leaving the country is not known, but is believed to be massive, and that kind of capital flight is not what the business community wants. Before the coup, Myanmar’s economic potential was substantial and there were hopes of serious economic development. Foreign companies were investing in Myanmar; now many of them are gone and there are no new investors. Min Aung Hlaing and his family may be doing just fine and even be willing to associate themselves with criminals in order to preserve their lavish lifestyles. It is now widely known that they have ties to Tun Min Latt, a drug trafficker who was arrested in Thailand in September last year. On the other hand, there are many others, even within the officer corps, who are not benefiting from the post-coup order and may, in exchange for promises of amnesty, be willing to assume the roles of Ohn Kyaw Myint and his comrades. But such a development also depends on the policies and actions of the anti-junta resistance, which is unlikely to become strong enough to defeat the military on the battlefield. Without a credible amnesty policy, few if any officers would be willing to turn against Min Aung Hlaing and his cohorts. The alternative, sadly, is that Myanmar will descend further into an economic, social and political abyss from which there is no way out..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History
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Sub-title:
Rebels say drones are effective, safe, accurate and require little manpower to operate.
Description:
"Two years into Myanmar’s civil conflict, civilian drones refitted to drop explosives on junta troops are helping turn the tide against the country’s better-equipped military, rebel groups say.
Drones were once used exclusively by the army to detect and crack down on pro-democracy protests on the streets of Myanmar’s largest city of Yangon in the days after the Feb. 1, 2021, takeover.
When the anti-junta People’s Defense Force first formed in the months following the coup, its members were forced to fight Southeast Asia’s second-largest army using only slingshots and the same crude flintlock “Tumee” rifles their forefathers used to fight British colonizers in the 1880s.
The rebel groups started using homemade landmines to target their enemy’s convoys, and about a year ago added drones to their arsenal. They have proved effective, safe, accurate and require little manpower to operate during clashes, the fighters say.
“To tell you the truth, drone strikes could end up being a decisive tool in some areas,” said a member of the Wings of the Irrawaddy, the PDF’s drone unit. “In 2023, the junta troops will be hurt [by this weapon] even more. Junta soldiers are extremely scared of our drone attacks. When they see drones coming their way, they run for cover.”
Statements recently issued by three drone units operating against the military said they had carried out a total of 642 drone attacks in Sagaing and Magway regions and in Kayin and Kayah states last year.....Difficult to defend...Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers, acknowledged the threat PDF drones pose and said the military is deploying technologies to defend against the attacks.
“We can limit the number of drones entering our areas and shoot some down as well ... [using] drone guns and [frequency] jammers,” he said.
“Some of our weapons can shoot them down from a distance of 700-1,000 meters (2,300-3,300 feet),” he said. “There are many ways to defend against them.”
But Zay Thu Aung, a former Air Force captain in the military who defected to the armed resistance, told RFA that while the junta can purchase equipment to defend against drone attacks, it requires a high learning curve and is difficult to deploy effectively.
“The junta has unlimited financial resources and since some developed countries are supporting them with technology, they can buy drone protection systems,” he said.
“But its ground troops are not educated enough to operate such high-tech equipment and it’s too hard to deploy these to all the frontline battlefields throughout the country.”
The drone fleets have allowed the PDF to achieve a degree of air superiority, even without the helicopters and fighter jets available to the military, he added.....Drawbacks...Despite the success the rebel drone units had enjoyed against the military, there are still drawbacks to the equipment they have available, said the Wings of the Irrawaddy fighter.
It requires a significant number of parts to upgrade a commercial drone used to record video into an attack drone and the cost of producing one is still higher than that of one automatic rifle, he said. Other PDF members acknowledged to RFA in September that drones are also susceptible to being shot out of the sky.
PDF drone units are also limited in their operations by daylight, the Wings of the Irrawaddy fighter said, adding that the units plan to equip their aircraft with night vision cameras in 2023.
Kyaw Zaw, the spokesperson for the office of shadow National Unity Government President Duwa Lashi La, told RFA that it plans to add additional funding in 2023 for drone units through a program initiated through its ministry of defense named Project Skywalk.A Jan. 4 report released by the Falcon Wings – a PDF drone unit which operates from within territory controlled by the anti-junta ethnic Karen National Union in Kayin state – claimed that it had carried out 437 attacks in 2022, killing about 200 military soldiers.
On Jan. 9, a Falcon Wings PDF drone unit in Kayah’s Loikaw township reported that it carried out 125 drone attacks in 2022, although it did not provide numbers of military casualties.
The Wings of the Irrawaddy group claims to have carried out about 80 drone attacks last year, killing about 80-100 junta troops.
RFA was unable to independently verify the casualty numbers claimed by the drone units.
“With the resources that we have, we are working to make more high-tech drones,” he said.
“We have not yet been able to supply the full range of drones and weapons [for drones]. But you will see that we will be able to destroy the junta’s tanks as we can supply a certain number of weapons.”
A Jan. 4 report released by the Falcon Wings – a PDF drone unit which operates from within territory controlled by the anti-junta ethnic Karen National Union in Kayin state – claimed that it had carried out 437 attacks in 2022, killing about 200 military soldiers.
On Jan. 9, a Falcon Wings PDF drone unit in Kayah’s Loikaw township reported that it carried out 125 drone attacks in 2022, although it did not provide numbers of military casualties.
The Wings of the Irrawaddy group claims to have carried out about 80 drone attacks last year, killing about 80-100 junta troops.
RFA was unable to independently verify the casualty numbers claimed by the drone units.
A PDF official in Kayin state said that not only are drones effective in attacking the military, they can be relied upon as air support for paramilitaries on the ground.
“Drones have served as air support for our ground troops and are a huge threat to our enemy as well,” said the official, adding that they allow the PDF to “completely dominate the air of the enemy camp.”..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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‘Amay Kyi,’ as her activist son’s friends called her, was a mother to many caught up in the deadly cycle of violence set in motion by Myanmar’s military
Description:
"Early one morning in October of last year, Kyi Kyi Myint, 55, found herself packed in among several other women at Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. With a bag slung over her shoulder, she was waiting to drop off some food for her son, 37-year-old activist Lin Htet Naing, including a special treat of noodles in coconut milk.
It was far from the first time she had made such a delivery. Although it had been only four months since her son’s arrest, this was just his latest stint behind bars. The first was a decade and a half ago, when he was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Then came two six-month sentences, both for opposing a new education law, in 2015 and 2020—with the latter ending just days before the military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021.
So Kyi Kyi Myint was no stranger to Myanmar’s penal system. But as the mother of a prominent activist—better known to his comrades as James—she took it all in stride and did what she could to make the ordeal more bearable for her son.
This prison visit was to be her last, however. At around 9:30am on October 19, a series of blasts triggered an even deadlier barrage of bullets, killing eight people, including the woman known to her son’s activist friends as “Amay Kyi,” or Mother Kyi.
It is unclear whether Kyi Kyi Myint was killed by one of the two parcel bombs that went off inside the prison’s delivery reception area that morning, or by gunshots fired by panicked guards. What is known, however, is that an anti-junta guerrilla group calling itself the Special Task Agency of Burma claimed responsibility for the incident, which other regime opponents were quick to denounce. Some even expressed doubts about the professed identity of the group.
The perpetrators claimed that they were targeting prison officials; instead, they killed guards and civilian visitors. Even in a country exposed to nearly two years of endless bloodshed, many were shocked by the sheer senselessness of the attack.....
A maternal presence...
For James, the loss of his loving mother under these horrific circumstances was nothing less than devastating. After he learned that she was among the dead, he immediately sought permission to attend her funeral.
“The prison authorities denied his request because they said they couldn’t provide security for him,” said Min Thway Thit, a fellow activist and one of James’ closest friends.
In fact, no one from the family was able to pay their final respects to Kyi Kyi Myint. Her husband had died in 2015, and her younger son had fled the country in the wake of the coup. And soon after James was arrested, his wife Phyoe Phyoe Aung, who is also a well-known activist, left Yangon for a liberated area under the control of an ethnic armed group.
It was a sad end, then, for a woman who had always been there for her son and others dedicated to the cause of ending military oppression in Myanmar.
“She always followed her son no matter how far away they sent him,” recalled Phyoe Phyoe Aung, who added that her mother-in-law was not particularly political, but had great faith in James’ determination to do what was right for the country.
Although it was never easy for Kyi Kyi Myint to see her son become a prisoner for his convictions, his latest incarceration was the hardest for her, according to Phyoe Phyoe Aung.
“His last arrest left her heartbroken, because she heard from the activist community about how he was treated while he was being interrogated and after he was imprisoned,” she said.
For years, members of this community had found a rare refuge in the small restaurant that Kyi Kyi Myint opened in 2006 to help support her family. It was where many went for snacks, and for the comfort of her maternal presence.
“We always took pickled bean sprouts from Amay Kyi’s shop to eat at home,” said Min Thway Thit, recalling how the shop had become a popular meeting place for politically active young people.
In the end, however, it became yet another casualty of the coup, closing soon after a power grab that has thrown the entire country into a crisis that continues to spin out of control.....The taste of love...James lost his father when he was in prison in 2015, and was separated from his wife when she was pregnant with their second child in 2020. Both times, Kyi Kyi Myint attended not only to her son’s needs, but also to those of his closest loved ones. But none who knew her ever heard her complain about the burden of having to care for others.
When James was arrested again last year after being charged with incitement for speaking out against the coup, his two-year-old son was with him. The terrified toddler was also taken into custody by the soldiers who came for his father. It took Kyi Kyi Myint two days of pleading with the authorities to win her grandson’s release. It was a relief, and a small victory, to have him back in her arms, but she still grieved for her own adult son, whose life seemed more at risk now than ever before.
Others also worried about Kyi Kyi Myint’s safety. James’s friends urged her to leave Yangon for the border, where many others had gone to escape a regime that was becoming increasingly indiscriminate in its targeting of civilians.
“At first, she said she would consider it, but in the end she decided to stay. She said she wanted to be there for her son,” said Min Thway Thit.
“The incident at the prison happened a week after she made that decision,” he added.
It was love, and not the revolution, that kept Kyi Kyi Myint in Yangon. But ultimately, it was the misguided actions of a group that took her away from those who loved her.
The bitter irony of this fact will stay with James for the rest of his life. But while he will never again taste his mother’s cooking, he will always have the memory of her noodles in coconut milk to remind him of her belief in him, and in his generation’s struggle to finally free his country from military tyranny..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-29
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, Political History
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"PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA —
As Indonesia assumes the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for 2023, pressure is mounting on Jakarta to formalize an appropriate response to member Myanmar’s military – the Tatmadaw – which seized power from an elected government two years ago.
Analysts said the descent into civil war had effectively annulled a much-touted ASEAN peace plan, known as the five-point consensus, but added that it had paved the way for Indonesian President Joko Widido to take a new, much stronger line against Tatmadaw chief General Min Aung Hlaing.
Ross Milosevic, director of Phnom Penh-based Risk Analysis & Resources International, said Myanmar had sorely tested the remaining nine ASEAN countries and the group’s response, led by two of the association’s smaller members – Brunei and Cambodia – since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, had fallen short of expectations.
“ASEAN has always had that noninterference landscape in their policy, but facts are facts, and this plan has been a disaster. I don’t think ASEAN has handled the situation in a correct way,” he said.
Charles Santiago, from the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, agreed, saying there had been no dialogue, as stressed under the consensus, and after two years the plan has “been dead for a long time, it’s over, it’s dead, it’s completely buried.”
Myanmar was banned from annual ASEAN summits when Brunei held the chair in 2021 and again by Cambodia last year.
But both countries failed to negotiate with the opposition National Unity Government, or NUG, or its armed People’s Defense Force, or PDF.
Phnom Penh even attempted to normalize relations between the Tatmadaw and ASEAN, which outraged many but ultimately failed amid atrocities that have claimed at least 2,700 lives. Another 13,600 people are under detention and more than 1 million civilians have been displaced.
Santiago said a decision by the junta to call “promised elections” possibly for August would prove farcical because laws governing the polls would make it impossible for the NUG and other political parties to compete. It would also risk cementing a stark divide inside ASEAN.
Within ASEAN, Santiago said Thailand, Cambodia and Laos would support any result legitimizing the military’s control of a civilian government while outside the bloc Myanmar’s ruling junta leader Min Aung Hlaing could also count on support from China, Russia and India.
“Indonesia should talk to Malaysia, to Singapore and possibly Philippines and if Brunei is on the same page, to say that this election cannot go on though because it will make a fool of ASEAN and ASEAN will look like a pariah region for all over the world,” he told VOA.
Vietnam was too difficult to read given the current leadership shakeup, he added.
Indonesia, by geography, population and economic clout is the ASEAN powerhouse. It is the world’s third-largest democracy, has solid ties with the West and is part of an Islamic troika within ASEAN, alongside Brunei and Malaysia.
Jakarta has begun laying the groundwork for its year at the ASEAN helm. Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Panjaitan told Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the recent World Economic Forum that the Tatmadaw should “let someone else who is qualified manage this country.”
At the same time, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi announced she will establish an office of ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar to engage with all parties involved.
That prompted a terse statement from the junta, warning ASEAN not to “engage with any terrorist groups and unlawful associations [recognized] by the Government of Myanmar.”
Analysts said Jakarta’s options could go much further and include handing the NUG Myanmar’s seat in ASEAN, freezing all ties with the junta, global sanctions on military-owned companies, and an absolute arms embargo.
That would include aviation fuel, a no-fly zone, designated safe zones for those fleeing the conflict, and the provision of humanitarian aid that failed to materialize under the five-point consensus.
“It [Indonesia] is an effective country in the sense of the economy and it has a high engagement with the rest of the world – and this will put an incredible amount of pressure on Myanmar and the Tatmadaw,” Milosevic told VOA, adding: “This is a civil war.”
A September briefing paper by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a prodemocracy group of experts, claimed Min Aung Hlaing and the military do not have sufficient effective control of the country to warrant engagement with the outside world.
The paper applied international standards in determining which side in the conflict best meets the criteria used to establish control of a state and found the NUG and resistance groups had “effective control” over 52% of the country.
It found the Tatmadaw is being actively contested by the PDF and other resistance forces across 23% of Myanmar’s countryside and that the military can only claim to hold stable control over 17% of the country.
There are 135 distinct ethnic groups in Myanmar. Of them, 14 alliances make up the PDF, which Milosevic said were using hit-and-run, guerrilla-type tactics used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War and had pushed the conflict from the jungles to provincial towns.
“The PDF are taking the fight to the Tatmadaw and they’re winning on the ground but the Tatmadaw are using their airpower and making it very difficult for the PDF and the ethnic tribes and it’s going to get worse.
“The dry season has just started and the PDF, they are forcibly changing the whole strategy of the Tatmadaw – they’re being ambushed on a daily basis – and this is an effective way just like the Viet Cong did during the Vietnam War,” he said.
Santiago said Myanmar was expected to be the priority when Indonesia hosts a foreign ministers retreat on Feb. 3-4 amid “frank and open” discussions to be held behind closed doors to establish ASEAN’s foreign policy agenda for the year.
“The next meeting of the foreign ministers is going to be a very difficult one because the purpose of that meeting is supposed to iron out the mandate given to them by the heads of government in order to help facilitate the five-point consensus that was established two years ago.
“But I think recent developments have overtaken the need for such a discussion,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"A 12-year-old girl was killed and her brother injured in Myanmar regime shelling in Katha Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday.
A junta base at Aung Myay Tharsi monastery opened fire on adjacent Kyaut Htone Gyi village although no clashes had been reported in the area.
The girl was killed instantly by a shell and her 13-year-old brother was injured in the hand and leg.
Angella of the Moe Tar People’s Defense Force told The Irrawaddy: “The junta targets civilians. Ground troops seize civilians as human shields and there is frequent shelling.”
She urged civilians to avoid regime forces where possible.
In late October, a 12-year-old girl in Katha Township was killed by regime artillery while another child was seriously injured.
Clashes have broken out around Moe Tar in Katha Township, according to resistance groups.
Regime troops reportedly torched Nan Sam village houses on Saturday morning after fighting with resistance groups.
“There were clashes for two days and 15 Nan Sam houses were burned,” Angella told The Irrawaddy.
Nam Sam had more than 200 houses and all the villagers have fled.
Katha Township borders Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army and its resistance allies are fighting the junta..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Myanmar’s pro-democracy forces called on the public to stage a silent strike on Wednesday to mark the second anniversary of the military takeover.
“With loud voices of silence, we have repeatedly shaken the dictator,” the General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB) said on Friday, referring to previous silent strikes.
The junta claims life has returned to normal under military rule but by staying at home, shutting businesses and emptying streets, the movement aims to show mass discontent.
“We will again stage the silent strike on February 1 to remind the world that our people continue to fight in every way despite the cruel oppression of the terrorist regime…and make it clear that we won’t accept the planned illegal election,” the GSCB said.
The GSCB, which includes over 30 strike committees in Myanmar, urged the public to remain indoors from 10am to 3pm on Wednesday.
Prominent anti-regime leader Tayzar San wrote that the coup anniversary is the day when a state of emergency declared by the “terrorist” military will expire and it is important to show continued opposition to the junta on that day.
“I urge the whole country to stage the silent strike unanimously,” he wrote.
Silent strikes were held last year on February 1, on Human Rights Day and on March 24 despite junta threats of businesses seizures, arrests and prosecution. The junta usually staged pro-military rallies to counter the campaigns.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,890 people have been killed and more than 17,400 detained since the 2021 coup.
Two years ago the military locked up much of the elected leadership, including State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, declaring a state of emergency..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup campaigns, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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Sub-title:
To comply, the NLD would need to declare that it is in no way associated with the CRPH or NUG, and dismiss jailed officials including Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint
Description:
"While Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint serve decades-long jail sentences meted out in farcical court proceedings that followed a military coup in early 2021, their National League for Democracy (NLD)—the country’s largest and most popular party—is in disarray.
Hundreds of NLD officials have been incarcerated, some even tortured to death in military interrogation centres. The party’s headquarters in Yangon and its offices throughout the country have been repeatedly vandalised by individuals presumed to be affiliated with the military.
On Thursday, the military published a legal statute seen as a final blow to the party. The Political Parties Registration Law, enacted under the order of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, requires all of Myanmar’s existing political parties to re-register with the military-appointed election commission within a period of 60 days. Those who fail to do so will be abolished, and the party’s assets confiscated.
The NLD’s leadership has already declared that they will not re-register with the junta’s electoral body, which is headed by a former military official who chaired the same commission under a previous dictator, Than Shwe.
However, even if the NLD chooses to re-register, it would likely make no difference: the junta law states that no political party may have as its members individuals who are serving jail terms or who are affiliated with entities designated by the military as “unlawful associations.”
Many NLD MPs elected in 2020 formed the parliamentary body known as Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), and others hold positions in the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG). Both have been declared as “terrorist groups” by the junta.
In order to comply with the coup regime’s party membership requirements, the NLD would need to declare that the party is in no way associated with the CRPH or the NUG, and dismiss Suu Kyi, Win Myint and many other jailed officials from its ranks.
It is not a new condition, and was once featured in an older party registration law enacted in 2010 under the rule of former military ruler Than Shwe.
At that time, Suu Kyi was under house arrest and the country was on the brink of a military-orchestrated transition to a “discipline-flourishing” democracy after decades of army rule. The NLD’s senior leadership opted not to dismiss Suu Kyi and other jailed party members and refused to re-register the party, resulting in an automatic boycott of the general election in the country.
It also led some of the top party leaders to leave and establish a breakaway group called the National Democratic Force (NDF). Two prominent NDF figures, Khin Maung Swe and Thein Nyunt, are now members of the junta.
This controversial clause in the party registration law was obviously designed to prevent the NLD from contesting the election in November 2010; the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by former army generals, unsurprisingly declared a landslide victory.
After Suu Kyi was released from house arrest one week after the 2010 vote, ex-general Thein Sein—who had become the President in the USDP-led administration—removed the controversial requirement from the electoral law. The gesture followed a highly publicised meeting with Suu Kyi in August 2011—part of an effort to demonstrate to both domestic and international audiences that the country’s political transition was genuine and substantive.
The change in the law paved the way for Suu Kyi to re-register the NLD as a party and contest the parliamentary by-elections in 2012. It was a move for which she and the NLD faced objections from some senior colleagues and civil society organisations for seemingly legitimising a political system guided by the undemocratic and military-drafted 2008 Constitution.
Thursday’s newly-enacted law by Min Aung Hlaing restores the old clause that once kept the NLD at bay. It serves as a conclusion to an incident of historical rapprochement between the military establishment and the country’s main political opposition dating back more than a decade, and which formed the basis of Myanmar’s short-lived political liberalisation.
Speaking to the BBC’s Burmese language service, military council spokesperson Zaw Min Tun denied that the law was designed to persecute the NLD.
“We don’t have the intention of targeting any particular party,” he said. The fate of the NLD, he added, “is mainly in its own hands.”
NLD spokesperson Tun Myint, now in exile, explained that he remains positive about the future of the party, even when asked by Myanmar Now about the junta law that again disqualifies them from governing. He noted that the NLD had overcome several challenges since its establishment following the democratic uprising in 1988.
“Our party’s survival relies on public support. Since we will continue to reflect the will of the public, we have every confidence that we will survive,” he said.
One party rule
If the NLD is abolished, the USDP—headed by Khin Yi, a former police chief who recently served as the junta’s immigration minister—will be the dominant party in the country.
Myanmar Now previously reported that Khin Yi was assigned by Min Aung Hlaing to take on the party’s chairmanship role in order to quell internal tension between the junta chief and the USDP’s former leadership. The move was seen as a step toward ensuring that Min Aung Hlaing would be able to rely on the party to support his political ambitions.
In this increasingly restrictive context, ethnic political parties may also find themselves marginalised, barred from contesting the elections at a national level. A clause in the junta’s new law requires parties which intend to run in more than one state or region to enlist at least 100,000 members within 90 days of registering with the military-appointed election commission or face de-registration.
Opting to register as “regional parties” allows these entities to mobilise just 1,000 members, but then limits them to running in constituencies in one chosen state or region.
One of the largest and most prominent ethnic political parties, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), has its largest support base in Shan State, but also traditionally contests in other areas with sizable ethnic Shan populations, such as Kachin State.
SNLD general secretary Sai Leik said that his party’s central executive committee members would need to convene a meeting in order to decide whether to re-register the party under the military council’s terms.
He pointed out that the junta’s electoral law would ensure that the Union parliament would be dominated by the USDP, as well as the military itself, which holds 25 percent of seats in all legislatures in accordance with the 2008 Constitution it drafted.
“The new law will merely intensify the competition between regional parties for a greater number of seats [in the state and regional parliaments], while our representation at the Union level will be seriously weakened,” Sai Leik said. “Only the military, the USDP and a few other parties backed by the military will remain significant in the Union parliament.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Articles and reports about the NLD, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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Sub-title:
Statement on International Jurisdiction
Description:
"1. The Ministry of Human Rights (MOHR) of the National Unity Government welcomes the growing number of criminal cases around the world brought against members of Myanmar's failed military junta under the exercise of universal jurisdiction.
2. Universal jurisdiction allows nationals courts to prosecute atrocity crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed on foreign soil by foreign nationals. In the case of Myanmar, this enables countries with universal jurisdiction to use their courts to bring junta members to justice, including for their atrocity crimes against the Rohingya.
3. An ethnically diverse group of survivors and witnesses supported by Fortify Rights recently requested German authorities to open an investigation into military atrocity crimes in Myanmar, including genocide against the Rohingya as well as subsequent crimes committed by the junta since its failed coup. The National Unity Government urges German authorities to act on this request.
4. The Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) has also launched a case in Turkey accusing the
military junta of crimes against humanity including torture. MAP is also supporting legal proceedings
in Indonesia aimed at opening the possibility of trials there under the universal jurisdiction, and it will
soon announce legal action against the illegal junta in the Philippines.
5. Furthermore, Argentine courts have accepted a case brought by the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) against the Myanmar security forces for genocide against the Rohingya people.
6. In pledging its support for these efforts, the National Unity Government extends its deep appreciation to all associated national authorities and rights groups for their commitment to justice and
accountability in Myanmar. 7. We call upon all United Nations member states to extend similar support to accountability efforts,
particularly those that exercise universal jurisdiction.
8. Myanmar is experiencing a tidal wave of criminal violence and atrocities at a level and scale not seen in the region since Pol Pot unleashed the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror on Cambodia in the 1970s.
9. The people of Myanmar look to international courts and accountability mechanisms for support in ending the impunity, in holding perpetrators to account, and in delivering justice to victims and their families. The gravity of situation in Myanmar demands action now..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-27
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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"GENEVA (27 January 2023) – Two years after the Myanmar military launched a coup against the democratically-elected government, the country has sunk deeper than ever into crisis and has undergone a wholesale regression in human rights, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said today.
“By nearly every feasible measurement, and in every area of human rights – economic, social and cultural, as much as civil and political – Myanmar has profoundly regressed,” he said, reflecting on the spiralling crisis since the attempted coup of 1 February 2021.
“Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been consistent disregard for the related rules of international law. Far from being spared, civilians have been the actual targets of attacks – victims of targeted and indiscriminate artillery barrages and air strikes, extrajudicial executions, the use of torture, and the burning of whole villages.”
“At this somber time, I want to acknowledge the courage of all those whose lives have been lost in the struggle for freedom and dignity in Myanmar, and the continuing pain and suffering of their families and loved ones.”
According to credible sources at least 2,890 people have died at the hands of the military and others working with them, of whom at least 767 were initially taken into custody. This is almost certainly an underestimation of the number of civilians killed as a result of military action. A staggering further 1.2 million people have been internally displaced, and over 70,000 have left the country - joining over one million others, including the bulk of the country’s Rohingya Muslim population, who fled sustained persecution and attacks over the past decades.
Credible information indicates that over 34,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been burned over the past two years. Myanmar’s economy has collapsed with nearly half of the population now living below the poverty line.
Since the coup was launched, the military has imprisoned the democratically elected leadership of the country and, in subsequent months, detained over 16,000 others – most of whom face specious charges in military-controlled courts, in flagrant breach of due process and fair trial rights, linked to their refusal to accept the military’s actions.
“There must be a way out of this catastrophic situation, which sees only deepening human suffering and rights violations on a daily basis,” said Türk. “Regional leaders, who engaged the military leadership through ASEAN, agreed a Five-Point Consensus that Myanmar’s generals have treated with disdain.”
“Two of the critical conditions that were agreed - to cease all violence and to allow humanitarian access - have not been met. In fact, we have seen the opposite. Violence has spiralled out of control and humanitarian access has been severely restricted.”
The High Commissioner pointed to other measures that would be crucial to a political foundation for resolving the crisis: the release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, as called for by the UN Security Council; inclusive dialogue with all parties -- involving both the ASEAN Chair and the UN Special Envoy; and allowing the UN Human Rights Office meaningful access to the country to monitor the situation independently and impartially.
“Restoring respect for human rights is a key to ending this crisis, to end this situation where Myanmar’s generals are trying to prop up through brute force a decades-old system in which they answer to no-one but themselves,” said Türk.
“Those responsible for the daily attacks against civilians and the human rights violations must be held accountable. The military needs to be brought under real, effective civilian oversight. This will be difficult to achieve, but these elements are critical to restoring any semblance of democratic rule, security and stability to the country.”
In its first year of independence, Myanmar was among the first Member States of the United Nations to vote in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sadly, as we mark 75 years since the Declaration’s adoption, the military is actively engaged in violating its fundamental values, principles and rights enshrined in it,” the High Commissioner said.
“How can a military that purports to defend the country have brought their own people – from all parts of Myanmar’s rich and diverse society – to such a point of desperation?”
“Last month, the Security Council united to adopt a path-breaking resolution that demanded an immediate end to the violence, among other urgent steps. Now it is time for the world to come together to take common actions to stop the killing, protect the people of Myanmar, and ensure respect for their universal human rights.”..."
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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
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2023-01-27
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations
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နိုင်ငံတကာ တရားစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့်ဆိုင်ရာ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်
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"၁။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် ရှံးနိမ့်နေပြီဖြစ်သော အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စု အဖွဲ့ဝင်များက ပိုမိုတိုးမြင့် ကျူးလွန်လျှက်ရှိသည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအား နိုင်ငံတကာတရားစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့် စည်းမျဉ်းမူဘောင်များအပေါ်အခြေခံ၍ အရေးယူနိုင်ရန် ကမ္ဘာတဝှမ်းတွင် ကြိုးပမ်းနေမှုများ တိုးပွားလာနေသည့်အပေါ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာန အနေဖြင့် ကြိုဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။
၂။ လူသားမျိုးနွယ်ပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှု ၊ စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှု နှင့် လူမျိုးတုန်းသတ်ဖြတ်မှု အစရှိသော ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူများကို မည်သည့်နေရာတွင် ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပါစေ ပြည်တွင်းတရားစီရင်ရေး အခွင့်အာဏာအား အသုံးပြု၍ စစ်ဆေးစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို ကမ္ဘာတဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်တွင်း တရားရုံးများအား နိုင်ငံတကာတရားစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့်က ခွင့်ပြုပေးအပ်ထားသည်။
၃။ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုက ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရိုဟင်ဂျာလူမျိုးတုန်း သတ်ဖြတ်မှုနှင့် အာဏာသိမ်းရန် ကြိုးပမ်းချိန်မှစ၍ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို စတင်စစ်ဆေး နိုင်စေရန်အတွက် မတူကွဲပြားသော တိုင်းရင်းသားအုပ်စုများမှ လွတ်မြောက်ကျန်ရစ်သူများနှင့် သက်သေများက Fortify Rights ၏ ထောက်ပံ့ကူညီမှုဖြင့် ဂျာမဏီအာဏာပိုင်များထံသို့ မကြာသေးမီကပင် တောင်းဆိုတင်ပြခဲ့ပါသည်။ ဂျာမဏီအာဏာပိုင်များအနေဖြင့် ထိုကိစ္စအား အထူးအလေးထား ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးပါရန် မိမိတို့အနေဖြင့် တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။
၄။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတာဝန်ရှိမှုပရောဂျက် (Myanmar Accountability Project) သည် နှိပ်စက်ညှဥ်းပမ်းမှု အပါအဝင် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအား ကျူးလွန်သည်ဟု စွပ်စွဲခံနေရသည့် စစ်တပ်ကို အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်စေရန်အတွက် တူရကီနိုင်ငံတွင် တရားစွဲဆိုမှုစတင်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် အင်ဒိုနီးရှားနိုင်ငံတွင် နိုင်ငံတကာတရားစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို အသုံးပြု၍ တရားစွဲဆိုနိုင်စေရန် တရားရေးဆိုင်ရာ စည်းမျဥ်းများကို ပံ့ပိုးပေးနေသည့်အပြင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုအား ဖိလစ်ပိုင်နိုင်ငံတွင် အလားတူ ဥပဒေအရအရေးယူနိုင်ရန် ဆောင်ရွက်နေလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၅။ ထို့အပြင် ယူကေနိုင်ငံရှိ ဗမာ့ရိုဟင်ဂျာအဖွဲ့အစည်း (BROUK) က တင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် မြန်မာ့လုံခြုံရေးအဖွဲ့များက ရိုဟင်လူမျိုးများအပေါ် ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုနှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့် တိုင်ကြားမှုကို အာဂျင်တီ’နားနိုင်ငံရှိ တရားရုံးက လက်ခံခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၆။ ဤမူဘောင်များအား ကျင့်သုံး၍ တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် တာဝန်ခံမှုများ အားကောင်းလာစေရန် ဆောင်ရွက်နေသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ပြည်တွင်း အာဏာပိုင်များ ပိုမိုတိုးပွားလာသည်ကို တွေ့မြင်ရခြင်းမှာ အလွန်စိတ်အားတက်စရာပင်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၇။ ကမ္ဘာ့ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများအားလုံး အထူးသဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာတရားစီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့် စည်းမျဉ်းမူဘောင်ကို ကျင့်သုံးပိုင်ခွင့်ရှိသော နိုင်ငံများအနေဖြင့် အလားတူပံ့ပိုးပေးမှုများ ဆောင်ရွက်ရန် တောင်းဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။
၈။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ၁၉၇၀ ခုနှစ် ကမ္ဘောဒီယားနိုင်ငံတွင် Pol Pot ခေါင်းဆောင်သည့် ခမာနီအကြမ်းဖက် အုပ်စိုးမှုကို ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့ချိန်မှစ၍ အရှေ့အာရှတွင် မမြင်တွေ့ဖူးသော အလွန်မြင့်မားသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှု လှိုင်းလုံးကြီးနှင့် ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့နေရလျက်ရှိသည်။
၉။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံပြည်သူများအနေဖြင့် အပြစ်ရှိသူအား အပြစ်ပေးမှုမှကင်းလွတ်နေခြင်းအား ရပ်တန့်ပြီး ကျူးလွန်သူများကို တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိစေခြင်း၊ ကျူးလွန်ခံရသူများနှင့် ၎င်းတို့မိသားစုဝင်များအတွက် တရားဥပဒေဖော်ဆောင်မှုများ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာမည်ဟု မျှော်လင့်အပ်ပါသည်။ တနေ့တခြား ပိုမိုဆိုးဝါးလာနေသည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အခြေအနေများကို ထိုအရာများကို ချက်ချင်းလုပ်ဆောင်ပေးရန် တောင်းဆိုနေလျက်ရှိပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-27
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"Your Excellency,
On the occasion of India's 74th Republic Day today, I would like to express my warmest wishes for
a great day to the people of India and the Republic of India.
We, as a neighboring country, are exceptionally delighted and proud that this wonderful day has
been successfully maintained for more than 74 years. I convey our wishes that you continue to
achieve success for many more years to come.
Our Myanmar and India are neighboring countries that are connected by historical traditions,
cultural heritage, faith and customary practices. We have travelled through the turning points of
history together and shared the good and bad impacts of history together. Therefore, we, the people
of Myanmar, are incredibly proud of the fact that India has emerged as a powerful country in the
region in the past decades.
We also hope that India will understand the struggle of the Myanmar people to end the military
dictatorship once and for all, just as we have gone through the ups and downs of history together.
Our National Unity government and the people of Myanmar, we understand the importance of India
in the region. The new Federal Democratic Union that we are envisioning can only spread stability
and peace in the region and will make the interests and economic projects of India more productive.
We expect more cooperation with India in the form of future nation.
India is one of the world's largest democracies and it is also a democratic state that our people of
Myanmar aspire to in the Asian region. We express our wishes that the democratic torch of the
Republic of India to shine on the people of Myanmar who are fighting to end the military
dictatorship.
Peace be upon the people of India. Long live the Republic of India.
H.E Zin Mar Aung
Union Minister
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
National Unity Government..."
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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"While conflict continues in Myanmar in the aftermath of the military coup, the political crisis in Rakhine State is often overlooked. Here the Rohingya emergency shows no sign of ending, but the growing strength of the United League of Army/Arakan Army is changing the landscape on the ground. In the aftermath of a ‘humanitarian’ ceasefire, Kyaw Lynn analyses political trends in this commentary, examining why the ULA/AA has become an influential actor in any likely resolution of the Rohingya crisis. Inter-community approaches and understandings will be key.
While the question of Rohingya repatriation remains under grave challenge, the movement and exodus of the Rohingya population from inside and outside of Arakan (Rakhine State) has lately been increasing. According to the October report of the Burma Human Rights Network, the number of Rohingya arrested for travelling without official permission during 2022 is 2,075, which is higher than the previous year. In recent weeks, it was also reported that around 250 Rohingya people on two boats attempting to approach Malaysia were trapped in the Malacca Straits due to engine failure. The reports said that there was another boat carrying around 180 people but still missing.
The implications are clear. For Rohingya people who seek to migrate to a foreign country the dangerous sea route has become a critical alternative because they are more likely to be arrested through land routes by car or train inside Myanmar. Meanwhile the process intended to protect the rights of the Rohingya people continues at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. But this is doing little to alleviate the situation of Rohingya communities inside Arakan or in the refugee camps in Bangladesh who find less hope for their future. International actions appear to be at an impasse.
As these crises continue, new questions have arisen during the past year in finding solutions to the Rohingya crisis with the emergence of a new actor, the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), in the politics of Arakan. This is especially the case in northern parts of Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh where the majority of the Rohingya population lives.
To put the situation in context: the ULA is the political wing of the Arakan Army, which was established in April 2009 under the leadership of Gen. Twan Mrat Naing in an area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) along the China border. Since this time, the group has been consistently training and arming new members while joining the armed struggle with allied forces, notably the KIO, (Kokang) Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army, against the Myanmar military, mostly in Kachin and northern Shan states. The group is also said to have a military base in territories controlled by the Karen National Union near the Thailand border, which is mainly used for logistics and new recruitment.
While the first arrival of AA soldiers into the Arakan battlefield is difficult to exactly date, many observers have noted that, since 2015, AA soldiers with arms and military equipment can be found in forest areas of Paletwa township, Chin State, and bordering areas with Bangladesh and India. Subsequently, intensive and more frequent clashes against the Myanmar military in Rakhine State began in mid-2018, reaching a peak in 2019 and ending in late 2020 with a ‘de facto’ or ‘informal’ ceasefire just after the 2020 general election. The ULA/AA had emerged as a major force, with consequences that are still developing.
This ‘first’ ULA/AA ceasefire brought new changes not just in Arakan politics but also to Myanmar as a whole. For nationwide politics, it means that the armed conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organisations is no longer confined to the China and Thailand borders. The ceasefire also demonstrated the de facto acceptance by Myanmar military leaders of the existence of the AA in Arakan, a position that they had previously rejected. Equally important, the truce caused a change in the gravity of the political centre from electoral political parties to armed groups, notably the ULA/AA, which controls executive functions and administers the judiciary in large swathes of territory in rural areas of the northern and central townships in Rakhine State.
The scale of this build-up, in turn, increased tensions with an older but small, and less popular, Rakhine armed group known as the ‘Arakan Liberation Party/Army’ (ALP/ALA). A signatory of the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, the ALP/ALA is mostly perceived as a force supporting the military State Administration Council (SAC) by both the ULA/AA leadership and the majority Rakhine population. In the past, there were attempts to merge the two movements together, but there have also been confrontations, including clashes on the Bangladesh and India borders. As a sign of the worsening situation, the ULA arrested at least ten ALP members during the past year, accusing them of collaborating with the SAC in surveillance activities and arresting civilians and ULA/AA members.
In the latest incident on the evening of 4 January, the ALP/ALA’s military chief and two junior colleagues were assassinated in a car in the state capital Sittwe. The ALP accused the ULA, charges which the ULA denied. Instead, the party spokesperson pointed to internal divisions within the ALP leadership or the possibility of political manipulation by a third party (possibly the SAC) which wanted to further complicate relations between them. To date, however, neither side has provided effective evidence to support their positions, while the SAC has remained surprisingly silent about these deaths.
As these events testify, Rakhine State today has ceasefires but it does not have peace. As in the rest of the country, new approaches are essential if lasting peace and justice are to be achieved.
RELATED
The Nature of Parallel Governance and Its Impact on Arakan Politics
A Myanmar Commentary by Kyaw Lynn
POST-ELECTION CRISIS IN POLITICAL TRANSITION MYANMAR COMMENTARY
Article by Kyaw Lynn
Publication date:
24 February 2022
The ‘de facto’ or ‘informal’ ceasefire
For the moment, the Sittwe assassinations are dominating the media headlines. But it has not detracted attention in Arakan from the ULA/AA’s emergence as a potential actor in solving the Rohingya crisis. In particular, a state-building and nation-building agenda, announced by the ULA Chairman Gen. Twan Mrat Naing in April 2021, raised questions about how the ULA leadership intend to handle the role of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State. This is a question that became ever more pertinent during the first 20 months of ‘informal’ ceasefire following its 2020 inception.
During this time, the ULA claimed to include the local Rohingya community in its military, judiciary and administrative sectors. The situation on the ground remained very difficult, exacerbated by the SAC coup in February 2021. But whether relations by the ULA towards the local Rohingya community were satisfying or not, some positive changes could be seen when it came to social cohesion and political inclusion with the ULA authorities in the field. This marked a new climate in inter-community affairs.
A more challenging phase, however, began when armed clashes broke out between the Myanmar military and AA near Rohingya villages in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships between August and November 2022. Unlike previous rounds of conflict, the negative impact of the fighting visibly affected not just the local Rakhine population but also the Rohingya and other minority communities. Negative consequences ranged from the blockage of trade, travel and humanitarian assistance to the displacement of villagers, civilian casualties and human rights violations.
The ULA/AA was now visibly in the front-line of the Rohingya crisis in northern Rakhine State, a position that became even clearer when a new ‘humanitarian’ ceasefire was agreed with the SAC in late November. This resulted in affirming the AA’s ground control over many parts of Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. In consequence, as 2023 begins, the ULA appears as one of the most responsible and visible stakeholders in any process of refugee repatriation from Bangladesh. Clearly, relations with the Rohingya community have approached a critical time. But the future path will not be easy, and there will be yet more complex scenarios ahead.
Engagement by the ULA towards the Rohingya issue
For the present, approaches by the ULA towards the Rohingya issue need to be analyzed based upon two key issues: its policy stand on the question of a repatriation process, and its governance policy toward the Rohingya community inside Arakan.
On 19 September 2022, for the first time since the 2017 ‘regional clearance’ operations by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya population in north Arakan, the ULA/AA spokesperson stated the movement’s position on refugee repatriation from Bangladesh:
"Some people consider the ULA has a responsibility for the resolution of the Rohingya crisis. If it is to be so, there shall be two things. First, the international community and Bangladesh should recognize the ULA/AA as the main stakeholder in the resolution of this crisis. Secondly, Bangladesh and other Great Powers, including the United Nations, should give full support and stand together with us."
To date, there have been few visible responses from the Rohingya population or international community on the ULA’s position. But this policy statement can be seen as a more active move by the ULA leadership regarding refugee repatriation and resolution of the Rohingya crisis as a whole. In a highly difficult landscape, ULA leaders have always regarded the issue as a political suicide that could bring them into the ‘enemy’s trap’ – a reference to the political ‘divide-and-rule’ games played by the Myanmar military.
Indeed, after the ULA statement, there were rumours of political plots in Rakhine State by the SAC involved from behind. These included the secret distribution during the night of pamphlets in markets and houses in urban areas of Mrauk-U and Sittwe asking: "Why are there Bengali people in the AA if they march in line with the “Way of Rakhita?" and ‘Do you know that the AA is supported by the OIC and Muslim countries?’ At the same time, some pro-SAC media also started to raise provocative questions like ‘Why did the AA say to receive back Bengali refugees if they are really fighting for the Rakhine people?’
As history has shown, there are no easy answers for those seeking to accelerate the finding of just solutions. The Rohingya crisis has become a complex admixture of various components, including the protection of human rights, the rights to citizenship, international investigations by the ICJ and International Criminal Court, grievances over communal violence, competing historical narratives, and perceived threats of political extremism. The outcome is a highly polarized environment and different opinions among the various actors, including between the majority Rakhine population and the Western international community, which has empathetically stood on the side of the Rohingya community regarding the rights to citizenship and human rights issues for most of the time.
Despite these difficulties, it seems that the ULA leadership have decided they have to consider their stand on the two issues of repatriation and governance policy toward the Rohingya population as a matter of necessity rather than of choice. They cannot afford to disappoint the different sides if their key political destinations are to be achieved with tangible results. Currently, the ULA leadership appears to believe that building better relations with the remaining Rohingya population inside Arakan is fundamental and more pragmatic in showing their political will in inter-community relations not just to international observers but also to the rest of the Rohingya population outside of the state.
Promoting reconciliation among the members of various communities in Arakan, as well as inclusion of Rohingya communities within local administration, are clearly essential. In this regard, the ULA authorities have been conducting two critical ‘missions’ to support the involvement of the Rohingya community in the state.
The first mission is mainly implemented through the participation of various community members in the celebration of events like football matches, traditional wrestling ‘Krin’ festivals and music ‘live-show performances’ on culturally-important days in ULA-controlled rural areas. Rohingya community, religious, and youth leaders have been invited by ULA officials and media agencies allowed to publicize these gatherings with news and photos. Following a football event in January 2022 in Kyauktaw township, a Rohingya community leader said:
"I believe that the essence of the football match held by the ULA is to achieve social cohesion and community reconciliation among the diverse groups, and we were also allowed to discuss and participate in it from the beginning."
Through these activities, it is safe to argue that social interaction between Rohingya and Rakhine communities in ULA-controlled rural areas is comparatively higher than that in SAC-controlled urban and suburban areas.
In the second mission to promote inter-community understanding, ULA governing bodies have included the local Rohingya population in various departments, including the military, police, administration, taxation and judiciary. In a well-publicized example, the ULA released a video in May 2020 in which a Rohingya soldier serving in the AA questioned some Rohingya locals in Buthidaung township regarding a criminal case in their own language. Similar confirmation can be found in the administrative sector in an interview with the Chairman of Minbya township Muslim Council who said:
"The local ULA officers recognize and respect our organization. When they make a decision, they first consult and negotiate with the village administrators, including us, and there is very little corruption. As the ULA governance came to exist in my area, there are fewer crimes like theft, murder, and criminal gang activities."
Despite these developments, there are still open questions over the extent to which the ULA leadership tolerates inclusion of the Rohingya community in decision-making processes and political representation in the longer-term. In addition, there have been accusations against AA soldiers over human rights violations during the recent clashes with the Myanmar military in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. In some cases, the ULA authorities investigated the cases and imprisoned the perpetrators with what were considered to be appropriate punishments. But challenges remain, and different perceptions continue.
The ULA leadership and Rakhine community, for example, believe that conflict negatively impacts not only on the Rohingya but also Rakhine and other nationalities who are struggling for the sake of a better future for all people of Arakan. In contrast, a large segment of the Rohingya community might still consider their situation as between a rock and a hard place where they are still uncertain of gaining tangible benefits as political instability continues in the country.
For community understandings to develop in Arakan, it is thus necessary that this difference in views over the reasons and consequences for armed struggle are reconciled with the formation of shared communication platforms in the different layers of society. Despite the current ceasefire, there are no roadmaps to peace in the territory today.
The matrix of Arakan Politics
Despite coming from various ideologies, parties and personal backgrounds, almost all the key Rakhine political leaders and actors agree on one crucial opinion when it comes to the priorities in Arakan politics. That is, they believe that the first and most fundamental issue is the lack of political self-determination; the second is the question of the Rohingya crisis; and the third is the issue of foreign investments in Arakan, especially from China and India, including resource and revenue sharing. In their thoughts, achieving the first political demand is critical for the resolution of the second and third issues. Thus, in their perception, it is essential to approach challenges from this structural perspective to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
Moving forward from this viewpoint is difficult. In a more comprehensive framework in political conceptions, the Rohingya crisis can also be viewed as the negative consequence of having ill relations between three edges of a triangle: the Myanmar State, the Rakhine community and the Rohingya community in which they have very different perceptions. Although many observers analyze the root causes of the problem based on bilateral relations between the Rohingya community and Myanmar State (or ‘Burmese’ state/community in a broader sense), further factors include the hostile relations between the central state and Rakhine community as well as the ways in which the interests of the Rakhine and Rohingya communities have historically been marginalized or downplayed. Rakhine and Rohingya relations are of vital importance.
Against this backdrop, there are two key reasons why the different dimensions to these relationships must be addressed as part of any solution to the Rohingya crisis. First, any critical development on the Rohingya issue that fails to accommodate the differences in opinion and strategy between the Myanmar State and leading Rakhine political organizations, such as the ULA/AA, will not be sustainable or achievable. In the current political climate, both the SAC and rival National Unity Government represent substitutes for the Myanmar State and, in future politics, one might endure as the only political entity. But, unlike other parts of the country, even a de facto or de jure peace agreement between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army will not be sustainable if they have disagreements or a lack of understanding regarding resolution of the Rohingya crisis.
Equally important, inter-community relations must be addressed to bring lasting peace. This leads to the second reason for promoting reconciliation and shared objectives between the different communities. Although Rakhine and Rohingya populations presently seem to have more understanding and sympathy due to common sufferings (humanitarian crises and human rights violations) and a common enemy (Myanmar military), a shared vision regarding their respective places in future Arakan society is still needed. This situation is also analyzed in a recent report conducted by the Institute for Peace and Governance, an Arakan-based non-governmental organization.*
As experiences around the world have shown, community reconciliation in a divided land like Arakan is a long-term process. It cannot be accessed without ‘forgiveness’ regarding past crimes among members of the communities in the first place. And it is also a process that includes five key steps: developing a shared vision of an interdependent and fair society; acknowledging and dealing with the past; building positive relationships; facilitating significant cultural and attitudinal change; and, finally, enabling meaningful social, economic and political change.
For the moment, politics in Arakan have not reached such a stage. Currently, the state of reconciliation among the members of different communities varies on the basis of socio-economic interactions, political environment and existing relationships in a particular area. In general, inter-community interaction in central Arakan townships, such as Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw and Minbya, is comparatively higher than in the northernmost townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung.
Promoting community reconciliation will therefore be essential for the smooth implementation of a refugee repatriation process, and the success of this process will be the measurement of the state of reconciliation between the two communities. Equally important, recent developments in Arakan demonstrate that the role of the ULA/AA, which has both competitive power relations with the Nay Pyi Taw government as well as authority and influence over the Rakhine population, will be critical in bringing productive changes in the resolution of the Rohingya crisis.
RELATED
Arakan (Rakhine State): A Land in Conflict on Myanmar’s Western Frontier
LAND POLICY IN MYANMAR ETHNIC CONFLICT IN MYANMAR
Report by Martin Smith
Publication date:
18 December 2019
Conclusion
The Rohingya crisis remains challenging for all domestic and international actors, and there is no simple way of finding a magic solution. The political crisis in the country has deepened more and more since the February 2021 coup. The possibility of refugee repatriation from Bangladesh and the broader scope of resolving the Rohingya emergency are less hopeful. And the emergence of the ULA as a new actor in Arakan politics creates new questions about old problems in resolving the Rohingya crisis.
Presently, the role of the ULA in addressing the Rohingya crisis is becoming more visible. This is especially apparent after the second round of armed clashes between the Myanmar military and AA since the 2020 ceasefire recently ended, resulting in de facto control by the ULA/AA of territories along the border with Bangladesh and rural areas in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. These areas are inhabited by a majority of the Rohingya population and are the places where repatriated refugees are to be rehabilitated. Thus relations between the ULA authorities and Rohingya community will have impact not only on the lives of the local people but the wishes of the refugee population in Bangladesh.
In general, it can be summarized that there are two basic – and opposite – hypothetical viewpoints that can be taken regarding the emerging role of the ULA in addressing the Rohingya crisis. The first and more pessimistic position is that the appearance of the ULA/AA as a new actor in Arakan politics can be seen as an arming of Rakhine ethno-nationalism which is a challenge for the Rohingya people in Arakan and will only make the process of solving the crisis more complex. But the second and more optimistic view is that the emergence of the ULA as a more potent and visionary political actor – different from other Rakhine parties that seek to mobilize the people on the basis of ethno-nationalism to challenge the central government – will produce a more united landscape for all marginalized groups to work together. If this is the case, it is trusted that the new political dynamics will bring light for reconciliation between the different communities against common sufferings and the common enemy.
Important shifts in the Arakan landscape are currently underway. While challenges lie ahead in relations between the ULA and Rohingya population, there have been positive developments, especially in inter-community relations and political inclusion. For this reason, a balanced viewpoint should be taken regarding current ULA-Rohingya relations. It is still early to be too optimistic. But it is also too late to be a pessimist..."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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"On this special occasion of the 74th Republic Day of India, we extend our best wishes and
prayers to the largest democratic country in the world and to the people of India. On this very
day the largest democratic country in the world adopted a constitution based on federal
democratic principle and which guarantees justice, freedom, and equality to all its citizens.
Therefore we are inspired and motivated by the great achievements India has made under this
federal democratic constitution which was adopted 74 years ago. We would also like to take
this opportunity to congratulate each and every one of you who have made great strides under
the light of federal democracy. Over the last 74 years, you have achieved great things not only
for a country but for the whole region and indeed the world.
This very federal democracy that has shone on the lives of the 1.4 billion people of India is
what the people of Myanmar have been struggling for for the last 74 years. So many of our
brave heroes have given their lives for freedom and democracy in the last three quarters of a
century. We hope and pray that our brave Myanmar people will end the genocidal military
dictatorship as soon as possible so that we can stand side by side with our neighbour India,
shining the light of freedom and federal democracy and holding the front for all those who
struggle to have the same, not only in our two nations but in the whole region and whole world.
In fact India and Myanmar share more than a large border. We share much of our great history,
culture, hope, and beliefs but more than that, our two nations share common values and
principles, founded on the ideals of federal democracy which have proven themselves the best
ideology to make this World a better place for all.
Now is the time that the brave people of Myanmar once again need help from the brave people
of India, who share our pain and our struggle. With the help of our great and proud neighbour,
we hope and pray that the brave people of Myanmar will soon see the light of Federal
Democracy start shining in our Motherland and end this brutal genocidal military dictatorship
once and for all..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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"1. Prime Minister oversees PDF training completion ceremony17/01/2023...2. NUG calls on neighbours to block terrorist SAC’s use of their airspace for its atrocities 17/01/2023...3. NUG welcomes establishment of ASEAN Special Envoy Office to Myanmar13/01/2023...4. NUG sends documentation and evidence of the SAC’s atrocities
to international organisations and media
18/01/2023...5. 5 civilians killed in SAC arson attacks
17/01/2023...6. 27 SAC staff joined CDM
16/01/2023...7. NUG collects 3 million MMK in controlled areas through interim tax policy16/01/2023..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia urge the Thai government to stop engaging with the Myanmar junta, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, as it continues committing all sorts of atrocities against its own population in order to cement its power after the failed coup d’état in February 2021. They also petition the Thai authorities to provide help to refugees and asylum seekers fleeing persecution and military attacks from the neighboring country.
The call to disengage the junta comes after a meeting between the top leaders of the Myanmar and Thai armed forces in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. The Chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, General Chalermphon Srisawasdi, and Min Aung Hlaing met on 20 January with the aim of “further cementing mutual trust, mutual understanding and friendly ties between the two armed forces,” according to media controlled by the Myanmar junta.
As the high-level meeting was taking place, the Myanmar military was launching indiscriminate airstrikes in a village located in Sagaing region, killing at least seven villagers and injuring over thirty. On several occasions, stray shells have landed in Thai territory when the Myanmar military was conducting aerial attacks in neighboring Karen and Karenni states.
“By engaging with the junta, the Thai military and government are turning into enablers of the crimes against humanity that it is perpetrating on a daily basis. No geopolitical interests can justify that. The junta has also shown utter disrespect to ASEAN, of which Thailand is also a member, by disregarding the Five Point Consensus it signed three months after the coup. No ASEAN member state should have ‘friendly ties’ with a military that has turned Myanmar into a center of instability which is threatening the whole region,” said Charles Santiago, former Member of Parliament in Malaysia, and Co-Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
The Five Point Consensus was signed by the ASEAN member states and the Myanmar junta in April 2021 to put an end to the violence, seek a negotiated solution to the conflict and address the humanitarian crisis. As APHR has repeatedly stated, Min Aung Hlaing has not shown any willingness to comply with its terms from the beginning. The report of the International Parliamentary Inquiry into the global response to the crisis in Myanmar (IPI), organized by APHR, urged ASEAN to abandon the Five Point Consensus in its present form, as it has clearly failed.
“As we demanded in our IPI report, ASEAN should engage the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, as the legitimate authority of the country, and re-negotiate a new consensus with it and aligned ethnic organizations. ASEAN decided early on not to invite representatives of the junta to high-level meetings, and countries like Malaysia and its current Chair, Indonesia, have shown willingness to engage the NUG. By meeting Ming Aung Hlaing, Thailand is undermining those efforts and furthering divisions within the regional group,” said Santiago.
In this vein, Thailand hosted a meeting in December to discuss the crisis in Myanmar, attended by the foreign ministers of the Myanmar junta, Laos and Cambodia, as well as the deputy foreign minister of Vietnam. Significantly, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore did not attend.
Thailand and Myanmar share a border of over 2,400 kilometers, and the attacks by the junta have displaced hundreds of thousands. Yet Thailand refuses to accept refugees fleeing the onslaught of the Myanmar military on the other side of the border, often pushing back those who cross it after a few days or even a few hours, as human rights organizations have often denounced in the last two years. Asylum seekers from the neighboring country do not fare much better in Thailand, where they have no legal protection and live in constant fear of deportation.
“Thailand has a history of welcoming refugees from Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam since the 20th century wars in Indochina. The government should open its borders to the refugees fleeing war in the Myanmar ethnic states along its borders, and provide legal protections to those who seek political asylum, including defectors from the Myanmar military. It should also facilitate cross-border aid by local civil society organizations and international NGOs. Once again, on these issues the main interlocutors the Thai government should engage with in Myanmar are the NUG, aligned ethnic organizations, and the vibrant civil society, not a criminal military completely unable to solve the crisis it has created,” said Santiago..."
Source/publisher:
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Human Rights and international relations
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"အဆွေတော်
ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့် အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံ၏ (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် အမျိုးသားနေ့အခမ်းအနားတွင် အိန္ဒိယပြည်သူများနှင့် အိန္ဒိယသမ္မတနိုင်ငံတို့ ကောင်းမြတ်သော နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ်ဖြစ်ပါစေကြောင်း ဆုမွန်ကောင်း တောင်းအပ်ပါသည်။
ယခုကဲ့သို့ ထူးမြတ်လှသည့် နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ်ကို (၇၄) နှစ် ကျော်ကျော်တိုင် အောင်မြင်စွာတည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲခဲ့ သည့်အတွက် မိမိတို့အနေနှင့် အိမ်နီးနားချင်းနိုင်ငံတခုအနေနှင့် အထူးပင် ဝမ်းမြောက်ဂုဏ်ယူမိပါသည်။ နောင်နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာတိုင်လည်း အောင်မြင်မှုများ ဆက်လက်ရရှိပိုင်ဆိုင်နိုင်ပါစေကြောင်း ဆုမွန်ကောင်း တောင်းအပ်ပါသည်။
မိမိတို့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့် အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံတို့သည် သမိုင်းအစဥ်အလာ၊ ယဥ်ကျေးမှု အမွေအနှစ်၊ ယုံကြည်မှုဓလေ့ တို့ ဆက်နွယ်နေကြသည့် အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများ ဖြစ်ကြပါသည်။ သမိုင်း၏အချိုးအကွေ့များကို အတူတကွ ဖြတ်ကျော်ခဲ့ကြပြီး သမိုင်း၏ အကောင်းအဆိုးများကို အတူတကွ မျှဝေခံစားခဲ့ကြသူများဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့်ပင် မိမိတို့ မြန်မာပြည်သူများ အနေနှင့် အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံ၏ လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ဆယ်စုနှစ် ကာလများ အတွင်း ဒေသတွင်း အင်အားကြီးနိုင်ငံတခုအနေနှင့် ထွက်ပေါ်လာခဲ့မှုကို များစွာ ဂုဏ်ယူမိပါသည်။
သမိုင်း၏ အကောင်းအဆိုးကို အတူတကွ ဖြတ်ကျော်ခဲ့ကြဖူးသည့်နည်းတူ ယခုမြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ် အပြီးတိုင်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးအတွက် ရုန်းကန် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေမှုကိုလည်း အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံမှ နားလည် သဘောပေါက်လိမ့်မည်ဟုလည်း မျှော်လင့်မိပါသည်။ မိမိတို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများအနေနှင့် အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံ၏ ဒေသတွင်း အရေးပါမှုကို နားလည်သဘောပေါက်ထားပါသည်။ မိမိတို့ မျှော်မှန်းထားသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ နိုင်ငံတော်သစ်သည် ဒေသတွင်းတည်ငြိမ်အေးချမ်းရေးကို ဖြန့်ကျက်စေနိုင်ပြီး အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံ၏ အကျိုးစီးပွား၊ စီးပွားရေးစီမံကိန်းများကို ပိုမို၍ အကျိုးဖြစ်ထွန်း စေမည်သာ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အနာဂတ်နိုင်ငံတော်သစ်တွင် အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံနှင့် ပိုမိုပူးပေါင်း ဆောင်ရွက်ရေးကိုသာ မိမိတို့ မျှော်မှန်းထားပါသည်။
အိန္ဒိယနိုင်ငံသည် ကမ္ဘာ့အကြီးဆုံး ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံတခုဖြစ်ပြီး အာရှဒေသတွင်းတွင်လည်း မိမိတို့ မြန်မာပြည်သူများ အားကျအတုယူရသည့် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံတခုလည်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အိန္ဒိယသမ္မတနိုင်ငံတော်၏ ဒီမိုကရေစီမီးရှုးတန်ဆောင်သည် စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးအတွက် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေကြသည့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ အပေါ်တွင်လည်း ထွန်းလင်းနိုင်ပါစေကြောင်း ဆုမွန်ကောင်းတောင်း အပ်ပါသည်။
အိန္ဒိယပြည်သူအများ ငြိမ်းချမ်းသာယာရှိပါစေ၊ အိန္ဒိယသမ္မတနိုင်ငံတော် အဓွန့်ရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲပါစေ။ ..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
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"National Unity Government Weekly Press Update (4/2023)..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"Since the Myanmar military’s attempted coup in February 2021, over 60 foreign governments and international organisations (including United Nations entities) have provided support for the illegal military junta, directly and indirectly supporting its campaign of terror.
The report, titled Developing a Dictatorship: How governments and international organisations are supporting the illegal Myanmar military junta - and what must be done to stop this, provides details of the organisations and the forms of support they have provided.
Key findings include:
22 foreign governments;
26 intergovernmental organisations (including 14 United Nations entities);
8 foreign financial institutions; and
8 other international organisations are implicated.
The report covers four main types of support for the military junta:
political support through diplomatic relations and actions that legitimise and enable the junta to take decisions on behalf of Myanmar in international forums;
technical cooperation that enables the transfer of knowledge and skills to the junta and those who serve their interests;
financial support that may flow through development initiatives, loan disbursements, direct purchases from, or indirect business dealings with, companies and other entities controlled by the junta, as well as the development of infrastructure that may serve the junta financially and strategically; and
renting property such as hotel rooms, office spaces and residences from military-linked businesses.
The report includes 18 detailed case studies and provides clear recommendations for what must be done to prevent the illegal military junta from gaining further funds, resources and power.
It also provides an analysis of the legal considerations and consequences for international organisations found to be supporting the military junta.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It has been two years since the Myanmar military’s attempted coup. Over 2,700 people have been killed and more than 13,600 people are still detained.
“The junta is waging a scorched earth campaign against the people of Myanmar, carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, and has caused a humanitarian catastrophe with more than 1.1 million displaced.
“So far, the international community has taken insufficient action to end the flow of funds and resources that enables the military junta’s campaign of terror.
“It’s clear that some foreign governments and international organisations are not only neglecting to help the people of Myanmar, but they are also actively supporting the military junta that is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people.
“All forms of support for the military junta are unacceptable – from inviting the military junta to represent Myanmar at international meetings to providing training to junta members and spending millions of dollars at military-linked hotels.
“The National Unity Government as the legitimate government of Myanmar needs to be invited to international meetings on behalf of Myanmar.
“All financial ties to the Myanmar military must be cut, and targeted sanctions must be imposed.
“We call on foreign governments and international organisations to take immediate action to end all forms of support for the military junta.”
Among the organisations named in the report, 13 have recently taken action towards ending their support for the military junta..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations
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"Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.
MYANMAR MILITARY CONTINUES ASSAULT ON SAGAING, DISPLACING THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS
In recent days Myanmar’s (Burma) military has continued to launch airstrikes and raids throughout the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region in northern Myanmar, perpetrating likely war crimes and crimes against humanity. Following three days of intense clashes with local resistance groups and airstrikes on civilian targets, between 22-23 January junta forces burned houses in Moetar village, Katha Township. More than 15,000 residents from 10 villages across Katha Township fled their homes as a result of the attacks. Over 7,000 civilians were also forced to flee on 23-24 January after military soldiers raided and torched villages along the border of Depayin and Ye-U townships in Sagaing Region.
Myanmar’s military – the Tatmadaw – has consistently perpetrated airstrikes and raids in the nearly two years since the coup in order to invoke terror, maintain control and quell dissent. In December 2022 junta soldiers conducted arson attacks on 30 villages in Depayin Township alone, destroying over 3,000 houses and five monasteries. According to the independent rights group Data for Myanmar, junta forces had burned an estimated 36,500 houses in Sagaing Region as of December. In a statement during December, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said, “The systematic gross human rights violations — amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity — being perpetrated daily on the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta requires strong, coordinated action… and accountability for crimes the military has committed to date.”
As the airstrikes and raids against Sagaing continue, civil society has recently taken an important step to advance justice and accountability for the military’s past and current atrocities. On 24 January human rights group Fortify Rights and 16 people from Myanmar filed a criminal complaint in Germany under the principle of universal jurisdiction against Myanmar’s military generals and others. The complaint accuses the Tatmadaw of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during its so-called “clearance operations” against the Rohingya in 2017 and since the coup.
August 2022 marked the five-year anniversary of the clearance operations against the Rohingya, and 1 February will mark the second anniversary of the deadly coup. Liam Scott, Myanmar expert at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said, “Although there are a series of ongoing accountability initiatives and mechanisms, the military has enjoyed impunity for its atrocities for too long. This lack of accountability has emboldened the military to continue perpetrating abuses throughout Myanmar, such as the scorched earth campaign and airstrikes in Sagaing. It is time to ensure that the victims and survivors receive the justice they deserve.” German authorities should take up the complaint and open an investigation to help ensure that those responsible for these grave crimes are held to account.
INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
On Friday, 27 January, the international community will commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, honoring the millions of victims of the Holocaust, and the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The systematic persecution and extermination of more than six million Jews, including more than a million murdered within the confines of Auschwitz, remains one of the darkest chapters in human history.
In addition to commemorating victims, International Holocaust Remembrance Day also recognizes the role of educational programs in teaching about the Holocaust in order to educate future generations on the tools to prevent genocides. This year’s theme, “Home and Belonging,” highlights the humanity of Holocaust victims and survivors, as well as the dangers of hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial and prejudice. In recent years the hatred and antisemitism that begat the Holocaust is experiencing a resurgence around the world, with a worrying rise in neo-Nazism, hate speech and Holocaust denial. Despite the Holocaust being one of the most well documented mass atrocities in history, Holocaust denial and distortion has been amplified on social media platforms with ease.
By systematically negating the facts of history, genocide deniers manufacture doubt, seed discord and mistrust, strengthen contested narratives about the past, present and future, and create conditions that may lead to the recurrence of atrocities. Genocide denial is not only an attempt to minimize or redefine the scale and severity of the crimes committed, but it also often contributes to the dehumanization of survivors and victims.
Savita Pawnday, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said, “On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Global Centre stands with and honors all of the victims of the Holocaust and of Nazism. Auschwitz-Birkenau is a warning from history of the consequences of indifference and inaction in the face of mass atrocities. If we do not resist those who deny the humanity of others, we risk repeating the horrors of the past.”
As history has taught us, genocide does not happen overnight. Genocide is preventable if warning signs – such as hate speech and systemic discrimination and marginalization – are taken seriously and followed by early action. Member states should institute education curriculums that inculcate values and behaviors that counter hate and prejudice. States should also incorporate modules on preventing and responding to atrocity crimes in their education system, including modules on how to prevent and to resist incitement.
VENEZUELAN HUMAN RIGHTS CHAMPION FELICIANO REYNA NAMED MARTIN ENNALS LAUREATE
On 19 January Venezuelan human rights activist Feliciano Reyna Ganteaume was selected as Laureate for the prestigious Martin Ennals Award, which honors individuals and organizations who have shown exceptional commitment to defending and promoting human rights. Laureates are selected by a jury of 10 of the world’s leading human rights organizations. The jury also selected Delphine Djiraibé from Chad and Khurram Parvez from Kashmir for the 2023 Award, emphasizing that each Laureate has “dedicated over 30 years of their lives to building movements which brought about justice for victims or delivered medicines to the marginalized.”
In 1995 Reyna founded Acción Solidaria – an organization pioneering the provision of medication and treatment to Venezuelans living with HIV/AIDS. Since then, he has worked tirelessly as a highly respected human rights activist and has been at the forefront of efforts to respond to the ongoing multidimensional crisis in Venezuela, which has led more than 7 million people to leave the country since 2014. Reyna, together with a large coalition of Venezuelan human rights defenders, has been instrumental in mobilizing the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism into alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela. Elisabeth Pramendorfer, Venezuela expert and Geneva Representative of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, emphasized that, “The overwhelming celebration to this announcement is a testament to Feliciano’s legacy, integrity and his impact on vulnerable communities in Venezuela. The jury’s decision also honors civil society organizations across Venezuela that have emerged as the primary actors in providing humanitarian assistance and supporting victims of state-led violence.”
The announcement comes at a time when human rights defenders in Venezuela continue to face systematic repression by the government. In February 2021 the Global Centre joined 11 international organizations in condemning the targeted harassment, reprisals and restrictions against Venezuelan civil society partners. Since then, the government has continued its crackdown on civic space. In a preliminary discussion on 24 January, the Venezuelan National Assembly provisionally approved draft legislation aimed at restricting international support – and essentially criminalizing – the work of civil society organizations. At the time of writing, Javier Tarazona, Director of the Venezuelan human rights group FundaRedes, has spent 573 days in arbitrary detention for documenting egregious abuses along Venezuela’s border areas.
The Global Centre honors the three Martin Ennals Laureates, whose recognition highlights the tireless work of human rights defenders around the world who fight for the rights of victims often at immense personal risk. We call on all states and UN bodies and agencies to actively support and protect human rights defenders and civil society organizations, as well as promote safe and open civic space..."
Source/publisher:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"New report exposes 60+ foreign governments & international organisations supporting military junta
Our new report, Developing a Dictatorship, details over 60 foreign governments, intergovernmental organisations (including UN entities), foreign financial institutions and other international organisations providing support for the military junta.
The report includes 18 detailed case studies illustrating these forms of support and outlines the ways in which the military junta stands to benefit politically and financially through inclusion in international decision-making forums, development assistance, technical cooperation, loans, infrastructure projects and more.
It provides clear recommendations for what must be done to prevent the illegal military junta from gaining further funds, resources and power.
Among the organisations named in the report, 13 have recently taken action towards ending their support for the military junta..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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5.31 MB 583.81 KB 237.54 KB
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"Myanmar’s oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), was founded in 1947. Its armed wings, the Karen National Liberation Army and Karen National Defense Organization, are fighting the junta in Karen and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions.
Since the regime slaughtered hundreds of peaceful anti-coup demonstrators nationwide in 2021, the KNU has given military training and armed several thousand activists to fight the junta.
The KNU has revived its military campaign alongside newly formed resistance groups, including several people’s defense forces.
It says has engaged the regime more than 7,000 times, killing an estimated 5,500 regime troops and injuring around 5,000. It has reported hundreds of resistance deaths.
This month the KNU has stepped up raids on military headquarters and junta offices.
Meanwhile, it is working with the National Unity Consultative Council, a political coalition opposing the junta, and the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) to establish a federal union.
The KNU’s communications chief Padoh Saw Taw Nee recently told The Irrawaddy about his hopes for 2023.
Following the coup, we displayed our clear resistance while some groups didn’t. But other groups still refuse to accept the regime in many ways.
We have no other option but to fight.
It becomes more clear with time that there is no alternative.
We are happy that other EAOs vowed in their New Year’s speeches to uproot the regime. This is welcome.
We have been openly fighting the regime.
We have engaged in more than 7,000 clashes over two years. We can’t de-escalate our revolution.
We must keep going until we win and increase efforts across military and political spheres.
What improvements can you report?
As we became used to the guerrilla tactics, there were ambushes, sniper attacks and some raids occupying junta outposts.
Now we are conducting more urban raids, like in Kawkareik.
This shows our growing confidence. We raided a military headquarters. We have never done this before. We raided three battalions at the same time. We could not do that before.
More raids like that will follow as our revolution grows in every sector.
How have you managed to conduct raids like that?
This regime and its predecessors have prepared poorly for many years. For the first time, we are receiving international support and broad domestic backing. In the past, the Bamar majority stayed away from politics and did not help.
Now people have become one flesh and blood as junta atrocities occur across the country. That is why our revolution has strengthened quickly.
Fighting is not the only way to demolish military institutions that have monopolized power for 70 years.
The institutions must be broken.
Many soldiers have joined us and there are many others inside the military who secretly support the people’s revolution in many ways.
This revolution is very different from previous movements.
We hear attacks in upper Myanmar were led by the KNU. Have you expanded beyond your traditional territory?
The dictatorship must be uprooted across the country, not just in our state. We have plans to connect with other resistance groups. There will be more joint operations.
The junta is using more airstrikes. How can you defend yourselves?
The terrorist regime is now committing unacceptable airstrikes on civilian targets. The junta is committing war crimes.
It shows the regime’s desperation.
We lack air-defense weapons so we must be aware of the threat from the air.
The terrorist junta regards both resistance forces and civilians as their enemy so we all must be alert all the time. We all need to dig bunkers.
We hope the international community will provide air-defense weapons. We are asking other countries to cut off supplies of aviation fuel for the regime.
We need anti-aircraft weapons and they need to arrive soon.
Will junta atrocities increase?
We can’t estimate how many more atrocities the junta will carry out.
[Junta leader] Min Aung Hlaing targets civilians as he has no choice. He regards the people as his enemy and he believes his enemies will be defeated if the people are destroyed.
We cannot predict how much more we will lose. We will never step away from the fight. Victory gets closer with every atrocity.
Freedom does not come for free.
Do you have a policy on the junta’s election plans?
Min Aung Hlaing has no room politically. He has failed to gain international recognition.
As a final attempt to win legitimacy, he will hold an illegal election. At that point, we will fight openly. We totally reject his fake general election.
The people must fight. No one will collaborate in his election and he won’t be able to raise his head if he can’t implement it. That is why his election must be defeated.
Does the KNU have an action plan against the election?
We announced at our public meeting on November 11 that we would oppose the junta’s election. There were Karen political parties at the meeting. This is a serious matter. Those who fail to follow our policy must be held accountable.
How much control does the KNU have in its territory?
Following the coup, the junta totally lost all administrative mechanisms in our territory.
The junta’s administrators struggle to survive in the towns.
Due to the civil disobedience movement of government employees, the regime cannot run rural schools and hospitals.
The junta can only respond militarily.
We need to consider our plans for governing after the revolution.
Has the revolution been successful?
It is hard to say how successful we have been. We can do many things politically, diplomatically and economically against the regime that we have never done in the past. We only have to strengthen our military connectivity with other groups.
Do you have a message for the people?
We have to keep pushing our revolution forward. We must remember that you get nothing for free.
Freedom comes with great difficulty and costs.
Rather than asking when we will succeed, we must think deeply about how we can all contribute to the revolution.
If we work hard together, we will succeed quickly.
I am very pleased with the people’s contribution and thank them.
We are pleased with the continuous support from our people amid suffering and crises. We will keep trying hard..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History
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Sub-title:
Survivors of alleged abuses at hands of military unite in universal jurisdiction case over atrocities they say amount to genocide
Description:
"A criminal complaint against individuals linked to Myanmar’s military has been filed in Germany by survivors from ethnic groups across Myanmar, in what activists say is a show of unity that once seemed unthinkable.
Sixteen survivors and witnesses of military abuses joined NGO Fortify Rights to file a criminal complaint with the federal public prosecutor general of Germany under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of mass atrocities in one country, even if they happened elsewhere.
“We deserve to have access to justice. We all know the impunity the military has been enjoying for so many years. This is the time to [end] the impunity,” said Nickey Diamond, a complainant in the case and a member of the board of directors at Fortify Rights.
The document is not publicly accessible, however senior Myanmar military figures are accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, according to Fortify Rights. The complaint also requests that the German authorities open a “structural investigation” into the situation in Myanmar, which could lead to the documentation of further allegations not covered by the complaint.
There are various legal cases against Myanmar’s military including one in the international court of justice case genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, an investigation by the international criminal court, and separate universal jurisdiction cases filed in Argentina and Turkey.
Activists say the complaint filed in Germany is unique because of the diverse range of ethnicities represented, and because it seeks accountability both for the military’s brutal crackdown against Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, and for alleged crimes perpetrated by the military in other regions across the country after it ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
“This will be the first universal jurisdiction complaint which will talk about crimes against many ethnic groups and that is what makes this a really unique effort towards justice and accountability,” said Pavani Nagaraja Bhat, a human rights associate with Fortify Rights.
“The Myanmar military has been violating rights across the country and the evidence that we have been able to collect shows that there is a pattern of abuse and violations that have been perpetrated by the junta systematically against civilians on a very large scale,” she said of allegations in the complaint.
The complaint also reflects shifted attitudes among different ethnic groups, said Diamond. In the past there was little sympathy towards the Rohingya people among the Bamar majority, with many believing the military’s claim that it was fighting terrorism, but now there is far greater unity against the junta. “The people have truly seen [the military’s] true colour and true face,” he said.
Over the past two years the military has unleashed a campaign of terror in an attempt to crush widespread opposition to the coup, launching airstrikes, torching villages and arresting more than 17,000 people.
The complainants, who filed their case on 20 January, want the German prosecutor to open an investigation, collect and preserve evidence, and issue arrest warrants.
The complainants range from students and scholars, to farmers, human rights defenders, business peoples, former village heads and homemakers. They represent several ethnicities including Arakanese (Rakhine), Bamar, Chin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, and Rohingya, according to Fortify Rights. “This type of ethnic unity would have been totally unthinkable before the coup,” said the group’s director, John Quinley III.
According to the group, the complaint alleges that some members of the Myanmar military systematically killed, raped, tortured, imprisoned, disappeared, persecuted, and committed other acts that amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It includes “substantial evidence” indicating that some military figures knew about their subordinates’ actions but did not attempt to stop them, or to punish perpetrators of such crimes.
The federal prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether to proceed with the complaint, did not respond to a request for comment by Associated Press. Any resulting court case could be a lengthy process..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
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Sub-title:
Raid appears to breach ceasefire between group and military
Description:
"Myanmar’s junta jets dropped bombs over the weekend on the home of the leader of an ethnic Karen group that has not been fighting the military, appearing to violate an 8-year-old ceasefire, local residents told Radio Free Asia.
The strike destroyed the home of Major Saw A Wan, commander of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army’s, or DKBA, Tactical Operation Command, but he and his family were away at the time. It also destroyed a nearby guest house, high school and two employee quarters, the residents added.
No one was killed in the early Saturday bombing, but one DKBA soldier was reportedly injured.
The strike comes despite the group being a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, signed under the previous military government of Thein Sein in 2015 with various ethnic armed rebel armies.
Colonel Saw Sein Win, chief of staff at the DKBA, told RFA that his group is neutral and hasn’t been involved in helping resistance to junta rule since the February 2021 coup.
"We are neutral. We maintain a close relationship with the military. On the other hand, we have occasional contact with the Karen National Union,” the colonel said, alluding to one of the major Karen rebel groups in Myanmar. “Despite our close ties and all the diplomacy, this (attack) happened, and we were surprised.``
He also suggested that the attack could have been carried out by a separatist faction from the DKBA, saying the group saw fighters defecting to the military last year.
“They still have all the DKBA uniforms. They were fighting with the military wearing our uniforms, we would normally be accused of being involved in anti-junta activities,” he said. “Arm badges can also be bought at shops as well.”
The DKBA was one of the groups that responded to the military’s peace talks invitation in the coup’s aftermath, with DKBA Commander-in-Chief General Saw Steel personally attending the talks with coup leader and Myanmar’s de facto leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Analysts told RFA that the attack was a unilateral breach of peace between the ruling military and the DKBA.
One eyewitness close to the DKBA said that the attack lasted almost 15 minutes.
“All I could see was the light. I could not see the jets nor did I hear their sound. The guest house, which was about a hundred feet away from his house, collapsed and was destroyed,” the witness said. “The bomb didn’t hit his home directly but its stairs and handrails were cut in half just by blisters of the bombs.”
Since the coup, the military has been frequently conducting airstrikes on areas where ethnic armed groups and anti-junta People’s Defense Force militias are located.
Military spokesperson General Zaw Min Tun did not respond to RFA’s telephone request for comments on the attack today, and neither the junta nor the DKBA have released official information on the strike..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Sub-title:
Yokogawa Bridge Corp. Should Cut Ties to Myanmar’s Military
Description:
"(Tokyo) – Japan’s Yokogawa Bridge Corp. apparently transferred over US$1 million in 2022 to Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is owned by Myanmar’s abusive military, for a Japanese government development aid project, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Japanese government should suspend all ongoing non-humanitarian aid benefitting Myanmar’s junta, which has committed widespread and systematic crimes since the February 2021 military coup. The Japanese government should also ensure that Japanese companies, including Yokogawa Bridge Corp., end their business relationships with entities owned or controlled by Myanmar’s military.
“Through Yokogawa Bridge Corp.’s business dealings with MEC, the Japanese government has effectively helped fund junta atrocities,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. “The Japanese government should ensure that it is no longer providing non-humanitarian development assistance to Myanmar’s junta.”
Human Rights Watch analyzed financial transactions that show that Yokogawa Bridge Corp. paid MEC about $1.3 million from July to November, 2022, for the Bago River Bridge Construction Project in Yangon. The funds were transferred in a series of payments from Yokogawa Bridge Corp. through Japan’s Mizuho Bank, Ltd. to MEC’s account in Myanmar’s Myanma Foreign Trade Bank.
The Bago River Bridge Construction Project, approved in 2016 as part of the Japanese government’s official development assistance to Myanmar, includes a ¥31 billion (US$240 million) loan from Japan’s aid agency, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In March 2019, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. signed a contract to build the bridge.
In response to a Human Rights Watch letter about the issue, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said the construction of the bridge resumed on April 1, 2022. The official added that the Japanese government is “not in a position to explain” Yokogawa Bridge Corp.’s payments to MEC as they are transactions “between private companies.”
In response to a letter from Human Rights Watch summarizing information about these financial transactions and seeking their comment, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. declined to comment on “individual cases.” Mizuho Bank also declined to comment.
The US, United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada have sanctioned MEC and Myanmar’s other military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, for their role in generating significant revenues that help fund the military. Since the coup, Myanmar’s military has been responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians that may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Junta security forces have killed over 2,700 people, including at least 277 children, and have arbitrarily arrested over 17,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The Bago River Bridge Construction Project’s ties to MEC came to light when a local media outlet, Myanmar Now, reported in March 2021 that a steel mill, the corporation owned in Hmawbi, Yangon, had been making substantial profits by supplying steel for two-thirds of the bridge’s construction. JICA subsequently confirmed to Human Rights Watch that Yokogawa Bridge Corp. finalized a contract with MEC and its affiliate in November 2019. In April 2021, Yokogawa Bridge Holdings Corp., which wholly owns Yokogawa Bridge Corp., stated that construction of the bridge had been halted due to the “situation on the ground,” and that it would “conduct business that respects human rights.”
As previously documented by Human Rights Watch, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. and MEC had ties prior to the bridge project. In March 2014, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MEC, according to a 2015 earnings document. The document says that Yokogawa Bridge Corp. has aimed to “build a relationship through technical cooperation,” while “cultivating” MEC into an “amicable steel fabricator.”
The Myanmar military owns MEC, which generates vast revenue through businesses in sectors including manufacturing, mining, and telecommunications, according to a 2019 report by the United Nations-backed Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The fact-finding mission concluded that “any foreign business activity” involving Myanmar’s military and its conglomerates, including MEC pose, “a high risk of contributing to or being linked to, violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.” It added that “at a minimum, these foreign companies are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw’s [military’s] financial capacity.”
In September 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a follow-up report to the 2019 Fact-Finding Mission report, saying that not enough had been done to cut off the junta’s access to revenue, and urging the international community to “step up efforts to support the people of Myanmar and to ensure the military’s financial isolation in a coordinated fashion.”
The UN human rights office also said that governments should “ensure their humanitarian and development assistance programs do not benefit the SAC [State Administration Council junta] or military-owned companies,” citing the Bago River Bridge Construction project, and recommended that “business enterprises active in Myanmar or trading with or investing in businesses in Myanmar, including supply chain operations, should undertake due diligence to ensure they do not enter into or remain in a business relationship of any kind with the Tatmadaw, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them (including subsidiaries) or their individual members.”
On May 12, 2021, the UN Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises stated that: “Businesses must uphold their human rights responsibilities and put pressure on the military junta to halt grave human rights violations.” Specifically, the Working Group 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.”
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights states that companies should “avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur,” and “seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.”
Japan, which has not coordinated with allied governments in taking concrete action to press the Myanmar military to end its abuses, should impose targeted sanctions on junta leaders and military-owned entities, and ensure compliance by Japanese companies such as Yokogawa Bridge Corp..
“The Japanese government should stop providing funds to the Myanmar military and instead act on behalf of the people of Myanmar,” Kasai said. “Japan should not be enablers of the junta’s atrocity crimes.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
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Sub-title:
Myanmar’s junta has deployed Russian arms to lethal effect in an escalating civil war but is highly vulnerable to a disruption of those supplies
Description:
"CHIANG MAI – When Myanmar’s military regime drops bombs and launches air strikes on civilian populations, a rising component of its intensifying war against anti-coup and ethnic rebel groups, the aerial assaults owe largely to Russia.
In recent months, Myanmar’s Air Force has used Russia-made Yak-130 jets and Mi-35 helicopters to drop munitions in areas where resistance fighters are known to be active but that have also often hit civilian populations, indiscriminate attacks that rights groups say are tantamount to war crimes.
Myanmar is believed to have at least 20 Yak-130 jets, two-seaters designed to train pilots but commonly used for counterinsurgency operations, including six it received in December 2021.
In October, Janes Information Group reported it had received imagery showing a Russian Kamov KA-29TB assault transport helicopter in operation in the northern Sagaing region, apparently one of five of the gunships Myanmar’s military agreed to buy earlier this year.
In a more recent November delivery, Myanmar received either four or six – reports vary – Russia-made Sukhoi Su-30 multi-role fighters replete with Russian trainers and technicians. Russian military instructors have also been spotted at airfields in Myanmar, presumably to help maintain their attack helicopters but also possibly for targeting advice.
But as Myanmar’s military regime, known as the State Administration Council (SAC), escalates its air war against rebel forces highly vulnerable to aerial attacks, its dependence on Moscow for its arms, supplies and assistance is both a source of strength and weakness that could have a significant bearing on the future course of the civil war.
Russia’s war against Ukraine, by any honest measure, has been a military disaster, with Moscow losing more men and materiel than in any armed conflict since World War II. As the losses mount and conflict intensifies, it is questionable whether Russia will have enough surplus military hardware and parts for export to far-flung customers like Myanmar.
Myanmar’s junta sought to enhance its alliance with Moscow last year, seen in its frequent expressions of support for its invasion of Ukraine. On February 25, SAC spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun said that Russia’s military had “carried out what is justified for the sustainability of their country’s sovereignty” and that the war proved Moscow’s “position as a world power.”
Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia at least three times since seizing power in a February 1, 2021 coup. He reportedly told Russia’s defense minister in June of that year that “thanks to Russia, our army has become one of the strongest in the region.”
During Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Moscow in September last year, the general met with President Vladimir Putin and toured a plant producing fighter jets. Moscow, meanwhile, has backed the democracy-suspending junta’s bid to be recognized as Myanmar’s legitimate government by officially referring to Min Aung Hlaing as “prime minister.”
Myanmar’s special relationship with Russia began nearly three decades ago when the ruling generals sought to mitigate their heavy dependence on China for military hardware. Then, Beijing filled the gap when the country was placed under Western sanctions following the bloody suppression of a nationwide uprising for democracy in 1988.
The first contacts were forged in the 1990s when Russian dignitaries began visiting the country. Moscow sold its first consignment of four MiG-29 jet fighters to Myanmar in 2001, which was followed by another ten MiGs the following year.
Russia has since sold Myanmar’s generals Hind Mi-35 helicopter gunships, Mi-17 transport helicopters, Yak-130 ground attack aircraft, light armored vehicles as well as heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.
As many as 5,000 Myanmar soldiers and scientists have studied at Russian military schools since the early 1990s, more than from any other Southeast Asian country including old Cold War ally Vietnam.
In 2007, Russia also signed an agreement to build a nuclear research reactor in Myanmar but construction was delayed due to costs and the controversial project was not apparently any longer on the drawing board before the February 2021 democracy-suspending coup.
However, Alexey Likhachev, director of the state-owned Russian firm Rosatom, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with junta science and technology minister Myo Thein Kyaw in July last year covering “cooperation in training and skills development in the field of nuclear energy and shaping positive public opinion on nuclear energy in Myanmar.”
In September, Likhachev met Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok where the two agreed to strengthen atomic energy cooperation including through the possible construction of a modular nuclear reactor in Myanmar.
Despite such big bang pronouncements, no doubt calculated to raise antenna in the West, betting on Russia rather than China as its closest security partner may not turn out as Min Aung Hlaing and his SAC members hope and expect.
If Moscow starts to falter in its military deliveries to Naypyidaw, as some analysts see as likely, Myanmar’s generals may soon be forced to swallow their pride and again go hat in hand to Beijing for military arms and related assistance in yet another hour of sanctions-induced need.
Russia, for its part, has vowed to honor arms deals signed before the coup in Myanmar, including for missile defense systems and fighter jets, but that was before the war in Ukraine took such a heavy toll on Russia’s weapons supplies.
It is no secret that Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to restore the erstwhile Soviet Union’s old glory, a drive seen in his expansionist war in Ukraine and search for new strategic allies such as Myanmar.
While China has vital strategic interests in Myanmar as the only neighboring country that provides Beijing with direct access to the Indian Ocean, Russia has always been more interested in making money from its arms sales and other commercial engagements with Myanmar.
To be sure, Myanmar is not the only Southeast Asian country to buy military equipment from Russia – others include Vietnam, Indonesia and even Malaysia – but the relationship between Moscow and Myanmar’s generals goes way beyond lucrative arms deals.
Putin’s autocracy and Myanmar’s junta share a similar disdain for Western democracies, human rights and civil liberties. Russia is trying to bomb Ukraine to literal smithereens while junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and his cohorts are doing the same in their own country.
They are, as one Asian analyst who requested anonymity put it, “birds of a feather.” Xi’s China may be in the same autocratic league but China is perceived by the generals as too close for comfort and Russia never supported the once-powerful Communist Party of Burma, which waged a bloody civil war against the government then in Yangon.
The generals have not likely forgotten that the communist rulers in Beijing provided massive military aid and support to their then-ideological comrades in Myanmar during the decade spanning 1968-78.
Moscow has been able to leverage that lingering distrust, despite its comparative lack of commercial offerings. In August last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Myanmar to discuss what the official news agency Tass described as “security and economic issues.”
That was followed in November by a visit to Moscow by SAC minister for transport and communications, Admiral Tin Aung San, where several new cooperative agreements were concluded.
Among them, Russia vaguely pledged to help develop Myanmar’s railroads, an infrastructure area where Beijing is active through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Less strategically, the two sides announced that Myanmar International Airways will as of “early 2023” operate direct flights between Yangon and the three Far East Russian cities of Vladivostok, Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk.
It is hard to imagine that there will anytime soon be an influx of tourists to Myanmar from Siberia, where those cities are located, or that Myanmar vacationers would want to spend their holidays in such frigid locales.
However, there are important military installations and training facilities in the far-flung Russian cities, meaning the flight agreement is likely more militarily than commercially motivated..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
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Sub-title:
Call for Sanctions on Aviation Fuel to Save the Lives of Myanmar People
Description:
"The military junta is continuing to conduct airstrikes against civilians throughout Myanmar.
Hundreds of people have been killed in these airstrikes. Pilots and commanders are targeting
schools and hospitals in offensive and unwarranted actions that constitute clear war crimes and
amount to crimes against humanity.
In its Resolution 2669 of December 2022, the United Nations Security Council expressed its deep
concern at "violent attacks undertaken by the vicious junta against civilians and civilian
infrastructure, including educational, health and energy infrastructure and facilities, and attacks on
businesses and public properties." The Council demanded “an immediate end to all forms of
violence."
We welcome the Resolution.
The National Unity Government, on behalf of the people of Myanmar, now calls for immediate and
effective sectoral sanctions on aviation fuel to halt the supply of aviation fuel to the military. This
is an urgent and necessary step that potentially will save thousands of lives.
Members of the Security Council and international sanctions regimes must act decisively to halt this trade
in aviation fuel, for the sake of Myanmar and its people.
The Myanmar military must be cut off from the resources which enable their bloody atrocities against their
own people..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"More than 15,000 residents from 10 villages in Katha Township, Sagaing Region have fled their homes as regime troops torch houses after conducting airstrikes on civilian targets.
Junta forces burned houses in Moetar village, Tike Kone ward on Sunday and Monday after three days of intense clashes with local resistance forces nearby, according to local residents.
“Regime forces entered Tike Kone ward on Sunday, a day after resistance forces retreated following clashes. They continued to burn house until this morning,” a representative of Katha People’s Administration Group told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
Thousands of residents have fled to Katha town while many others are thought to be sheltering in forest and farmland, he said.
Heavy fighting erupted 3 to 5 kilometers from Moetar village on Wednesday when a combined unit of the Katha-People Defense Force and All Burma Student’s Front (ABSDF) ambushed a military detachment of around 100 troops from Kachin State heading to the village.
After suffering heavy losses in the clash, regime forces sent two fighter jets from the airbase in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina to bomb both resistance fighters and civilian targets in Moetar.
The airstrikes killed eight villagers, mostly women, and injured 30 others.
The lethal attacks prompted several thousand residents of Moetar and surrounding villages to flee their homes.
The fierce clashes continued until Friday when regime forces deployed fighter jets and helicopter gunships to attack the resistance fighters while dropping reinforcements by helicopter.
Regime aircraft bombed the villages of Moetar and Nant San, which were also targeted by a junta artillery unit based in Katha town.
The combined attack left a father and child seriously injured, according to the Katha township People Administrative Group. The airstrikes also damaged the Nant San village school.
Thirty regime personnel including a military strategist were killed in the three-day battle, according to local media, citing resistance forces that took part in the fighting.
One resistance fighter was reportedly killed and three others wounded.
The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the reports.
The Myohla PDF local resistance group last Thursday released video showing its members using grenade launchers and mortar shells in an intense clash.
Junta jets also attacked Moetar Village a year ago on January 12, killing or severely injuring five civilians including children, and damaging six houses..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Sub-title:
Cognyte’s technology has allegedly helped the junta target rebel groups and civilians.
Description:
"Human rights groups are criticizing a reported deal between Myanmar’s military and an Israeli tech firm for intercept spyware, accusing the company of aiding and abetting the junta in crimes against humanity.
Israel’s Cognyte Software won a tender to sell the intercept spyware to Myanmar shortly before the February 2021 coup, when the military ousted the democratically elected government, documents obtained by activist group Justice for Myanmar showed.
Intercept spyware allows governments to listen to telephone calls, read text messages and emails, and determine the whereabouts of internet users without having to go through internet and telecommunications companies.
These documents, which detailed the Myanmar military’s plan to install “lawful interception” tools on telecommunications networks, were the basis of a legal complaint in Israel, and a letter associated with the documents called for the country to ban Cognyte’s marketing and export license.
“The term ‘lawful interception’ creates a false impression of normalcy that obscures the fact that Israelis are once again aiding and abetting crimes against humanity,” Israeli human rights leader Eitay Mack, who led the effort to file the complaint.
Such a deal would violate a 2017 ban imposed by Israel's Supreme Court on defense transfers to Myanmar, the campaign for which was also headed by Mack.
Used to violate human rights
Rights groups, observers, and the shadow National Unity Government say that the junta has been using the technology to violate its citizens’ human rights.
“We can say that Israel is one of the top countries in surveillance tech. That’s why the technical support that the Myanmar military received from [Cognyte] must be really sophisticated and effective,” Kyaw Saw Han, a security analyst, told Radio Free Asia’s Burmese Service.
He said the intercept spyware will have a negative impact on civilians by further depriving them of their freedom to communicate. The junta has already imposed draconian restrictions on the internet in some parts of the country, and has blocked access to Facebook.
With the spyware, the military could listen in on people’s private conversations or even record them, Kyaw Saw Han said.
“It will especially hurt the resistance forces that are operating in this political situation,” he said, referring to armed groups opposed to the junta, many of which sprung up after the coup.
Rebel groups believe they have been compromised by the intercept technology, although they don’t have proof, Khun Daniel of the Karenni National Progressive Party told RFA.
“Their ground activities, food transportation and guerrilla operations have been hindered and many members have been arrested because of the information insecurity caused by the military’s use of such equipment,” he said.
But the technology empowers the junta not only against armed enemies. It can also use the tech against civilians, said Yadanar Maung, a Justice for Myanmar spokesperson.
Call for Israeli government to take action
He said the military can eavesdrop and intercept the phone calls of political activists, journalists and civilians that can lead to arrests, torture and even killings.
That is why Justice for Myanmar has requested that the Israeli government take action against those responsible for the reported deal between Cognyte and the military.
“If a company provides equipment to assist an organization in aggressively and cruelly torture and kill innocent civilians, or if such support is found, they are also partially complicit in these crimes, according to legal and literal point of view,” Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a political analyst, told RFA.
But Thein Tun Oo, the executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers, told RFA that the technology is very effective in helping them with “counter-terrorism threats” – addressing security threats to the military and government leaders.
“It is no longer uncommon to violate and eavesdrop on the personal information of individuals. There have been many cases when we can prevent certain security-related threats just by such interception,” he said. “If this system can actually run at full power, it would be very beneficial.”
Thein Tun Oo said that although human rights groups are urging countries to impose an arms embargo against Myanmar, it will not be effective because large international arms companies tend to prioritize their economic interests.
RFA attempted to contact Cognyte and a spokesperson for the junta for comment on Friday, but received no reply as of Monday.
13 countries fingered, including US
According to a Jan. 16 report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of independent experts working to support human rights efforts in the country, the Myanmar military is using weapons technologies and raw materials for producing weapons from companies in 13 countries including the United States, France, Australia, Japan, Germany, India, Singapore, China and Ukraine.
Kyaw Zaw, the spokesman for the president’s office of the shadow National Unity Government, told RFA that the world must stop providing the junta with military tools.
“The NUG government wants to request that governments, including Israel, order an injunction to prevent any equipment, whether it's non-weapons technology, or communication technology or any technology that supports violence, from being sold to the Myanmar military, because it is committing inhumane violence in Myanmar.”
He said that the United Nations and the international community need to sanction companies that cooperate with the Myanmar military junta.
Although the UN Security Council passed a resolution on the crisis in Myanmar on Dec. 21, the decision does not yet include a ban on arms sales to the Myanmar military. Russia and China–key suppliers of weaponry to the junta–would have veto power over such a proposal.
Yanghee Lee, a member of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, said “Foreign companies are enabling Myanmar’s military to produce weapons it uses to commit daily rights atrocities against the Myanmar people.”
In order to protect the people of Myanmar, the council in its report urged UN member countries to block the support that the Myanmar military receives, including taking targeted action against arms dealers and those responsible for supplying weapons factories..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"၁။ မင်းအောင်လှိုင်ဦးဆောင်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ၂၀၂၀ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၈ ရက် နေ့တွင် ကျင်းပခဲ့သော အထွေထွေရွေးကောက်ပွဲရလဒ်ကို ဆင်ခြင်ဉာဏ်မရှိသော အကြောင်းအမျိုးမျိုးပြ၍ ကန့်ကွက်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့်အပြင် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် မတရား အာဏာသိမ်းရန် ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့သည်။ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး၏ လိုအင်ဆန္ဒကို စိုးစဉ်းမျှ အလေးထားမှုမရှိဘဲ ၎င်းတို့၏ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အာဏာနှင့် လူတစု၏ စည်းစိမ်ဥစ္စာကို ကာကွယ်ရန်အတွက် လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် လူမဆန်ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာမဲ့သော အကြမ်းဖက်မှုပေါင်းစုံ ကျူးလွန်လာခဲ့သည်မှာ ကမ္ဘာအသိပင်ဖြစ်သည်။
၂။ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် လက်နက်အားကိုး ဗိုလ်ကျစိုးမိုးခဲ့သော စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို အပြီးတိုင် အမြစ်ဖြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေးအတွက် ယခုနွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကြီးကို ၂၀၂၀ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလတွင် ကျင်းပခဲ့သော အထွေထွေရွေးကောက်ပွဲကြီး၌ ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ခံရသည့် ပြည်သူ့ဘက်တော်သား လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များနှင့်အတူ တိုင်းရင်းသားတော်လှန်ရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများ အားလုံးစုပေါင်းလက်တွဲ၍ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး၏ အားပေးထောက်ခံမှုဖြင့် ဆင်နွှဲလျက်ရှိသည်။
၃။ ယခုအချိန်တွင် စိတ်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ၊ ရုပ်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ အဖက်ဖက်မှ ယိုယွင်းပျက်စီးနေပြီဖြစ်သည့် မင်းအောင်လှိုင်ဦးဆောင်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ၎င်းတို့၏ နိုင်ငံရေးထွက်ပေါက် ရရှိရန်အလို့ငှာ အတုအယောင်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ ကျင်းပနိုင်ရေးအတွက် နည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် အပူတပြင်း ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိသည်။
၄။ မိမိတို့နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကြီး၏ အခြေခံလမ်းညွှန်ဖြစ်သော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပဋိဉာဉ် အစိတ်အပိုင်း (၁)၊ နိုင်ငံရေးလမ်းပြမြေပုံ အဆင့် (၁၁) အရ အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းရေးကာလအတွင်းတွင် တိုင်းပြုပြည်ပြုညီလာခံကြီးကိုကျင်းပကာ ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံ ဥပဒေကို ရေးဆွဲအတည်ပြုပြဋ္ဌာန်းပြီး ထိုဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေတွင် ပြဋ္ဌာန်းထားသည့်အတိုင်း ပြည်ထောင်စုအဆင့် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲများကို ကျင်းပသွားရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ တချိန်တည်းတွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုအဖွဲ့ဝင်ပြည်နယ်များ၌လည်း သက်ဆိုင်ရာ ပြည်နယ်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ အသီးသီးနှင့်အညီ ပြည်နယ်အဆင့်၊ ဒေသန္တရအဆင့် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲများကို ကျင်းပသွားရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှ တနိုင်ငံလုံးရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတရပ်လုံးအား အကြမ်းဖက် ဖမ်းဆီးသတ်ဖြတ် မီးရှို့နေချိန်၊ လေကြောင်းဖြင့် ပြင်းထန်စွာ ဗုံးကြဲတိုက်ခိုက်နေချိန်တွင် ၎င်းတို့ နိုင်ငံရေးထွက်ပေါက်အတွက် ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိသည် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲသည် နိုင်ငံရေးအရသော်လည်းကောင်း၊ ဥပဒေကြောင်းအရသော်လည်းကောင်း တရားဝင်မှုမရှိသည့်အပြင် လွတ်လပ်၍ တရားမျှတသော ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ၏ စံတန်ဖိုးများနှင့် ညီညွတ်မှုမရှိကြောင်း သိစေအပ်ပါသည်။
၆။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ အဖွဲ့အစည်းအသီးသီး၊ အင်အားစုအသီးသီးနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထု တရပ်လုံးအနေဖြင့် မင်းအောင်လှိုင်ဦးဆောင်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အတုအယောင် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲအတွက် ပြင်ဆင်မှုလုပ်ငန်းများတွင် ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင်ခြင်းမပြုဘဲ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ဖြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေးအတွက် စုစည်းညီညွတ်စွာဖြင့် လက်တွဲဆောင်ရွက်သွားကြရန် ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Federal Union Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
433.02 KB
more
Sub-title:
မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်များကို ကာကွယ်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် လေယာဥ်ဆီများ ကန့်သတ်ပိတ်ဆို့အရေးယူနိုင်ရန် တောင်းဆိုမှု
Description:
"အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ပြည်သူများအား ဦးတည်ချက်ထားသည့် လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကို မြန်မာပြည်အနှံ့ အပြားတွင် ကျူးလွန်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ စစ်လေယာဥ်မှူးများနှင့် ၎င်းတို့ကို ညွှန်ကြားစေခိုင်းသည့်စစ်အရာရှိများသည်စာသင်ကျောင်းများနှင့် ဆေးရုံများကို ဦးတည်ချက်ထား ရမ်းကားပြီးကြောင်းကျိုးဆီလျော်မှုမရှိသည့်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကိုကျူးလွန်နေခြင်းသည်သိသာထင်ရှားသောစစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများနှင့်လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ်ကျူးလွန်နေသည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
ကုလသမဂ္ဂလုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ ၏ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာတွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက် အမှတ် (၂၆၆၉) တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု အနေဖြင့် ပြည်သူလူထု နှင့် ပြည်သူပိုင် အဆောက်အအုံများ (ပညာရေး၊ကျန်းမာရေး၊လျှပ်စစ်ဓာတ်အားဖြန့်ချိရေးဆိုင်ရာ အဆောက်အအုံများ နှင့် ဆက်စပ် အဆောက် အအုံများ)နှင့်စီးပွားရေးနှင့်အများပြည်သူပိုင် အဆောက် အအုံများ အပေါ်တွင် ကျူးလွန် လျက်ရှိ သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများအားအထူးစိုးရိမ်မိကြောင်း ဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုနည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံကိုလည်း ချက်ခြင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် တောင်းဆိုထားပါသည်။
မိမိတို့ အနေနှင့် အဆိုပါဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်အား ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။
စစ်အုပ်စု၏ စစ်လေယာဥ်ဆီများဝယ်ယူရရှိနေခြင်းကို တားဆီးပိတ်ပင်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် ထိရောက်မှုရှိသော အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ ပြုလုပ်ပေးပါရန် အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရမှ မြန်မာပြည်သူများကိုယ်စား တောင်းဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါအရေးယူမှုသည် မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထု၏ ထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာသော အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်ကို ကာကွယ်ပေးနိုင်လိမ့်မည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လေယာဥ်ဆီများ ဝယ်ယူရရှိနေမှုကို ထိထိရောက်ရောက်တားဆီး ပိတ်ပင်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်ရေး အား ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီအဖွဲ့ဝင် နိုင်ငံများနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ ပိတ်ဆို့အရေးယူရေးအဖွဲ့များ အနေဖြင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထု အတွက် မဖြစ်မနေ ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးသင့်ပါသည်။
အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု ၏ ပြည်သူလူထုအပေါ် သွေးချောင်းစီးသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရက်များကို ဆက်လက် လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်နေစေသည့် အရင်းအမြစ်များအား မဖြစ်မနေ ဖြတ်တောက် အရေးယူရမည် ဖြစ်ပါ သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
472.67 KB
more
Sub-title:
ကြားကာလအခြေခံပညာပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျောင်းများအဖြစ် အသိအမှတ်ပြုကြောင်း ကြေညာချက်
Description:
"၁။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် ... ပညာသင်ယူခွင့်ဆုံးရှုံးနေသော ကျောင်းသား၊ ကျောင်းသူများအတွက် ကြားကာလ ပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျောင်းများ ဖွင့်လှစ်ကာ စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ် ပညာသင်ကြားရေးကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော် ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၂။ ပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျောင်း အသိအမှတ်ပြုမူဝါဒ (၁၁)ချက်နှင့် Information and Technology Security Guideline များကို လိုက်နာဆောင်ရွက်ပါမည်ဟု... ဝန်ခံကတိပြုထားသည့် အောက်ဖော်ပြပါ Online ကျောင်းများကို “ကြားကာလအခြေခံပညာ ပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျောင်း” အဖြစ် အသိအမှတ်ပြုကြောင်း ကြေညာလိုက်သည်။
(၁) Federal School of Aung Myay Thar Zan (FSOAZ)
(၂) Essential Education Center (EEC)
(၃) Lighting For Future (LFF) Online School
(၄) Magway Federal School
(၅Federal Education Of Yankin Online School
(၆) Interim Basic Education School (Thingangyun)
(၇) Spring Education Taunggyi - SET
(၈) Yarmanya Federal Education School (YFES)
(၉) ACADEMY FEDERAL SCHOOL (ACFS)
(၁၀) Free Interim Education Organisation Pyay (FIEOP)
NMF-DLS9-17, [1/24/2023 12:21 PM]
(၁၁) Board of Bahan (BOB)
(၁၂) ရေစကြိုဖက်ဒရယ်အထက်တန်းကျောင်း (Yesagyo Federal High School, YFHS)
(၁၃) New Myanmar Education (NME) (၁၄) Yadanabon Federal School
(၁၅) နွေဦးဖက်ဒရယ်အထက်တန်းကျောင်း
(၁၆) Sinbaungwe Federal School & New Dawn Education (SBW & NDE)
(၁၇) Taungoo District Federal School - TDFS
(၁၈) Phan Khar Myay Federal School
(၁၉) NaypyiTaw Freedom Education (NFE)
(၂၀) Myeik Education Free Online School (MEFOS)
(၂၁) Pakokku Federal School
(၂၂) Federal Democracy School (၂၃) ဘုရားသုံးဆူ ဖက်ဒရယ်ကျောင်း
(၂၄) Kyaukpadaung Federal School
(၂၅) Home Based Learning (Htantabin)
(၂၆) Sagaing Federal School
(၂၇) တံတားနီအခြေခံပညာမူလတန်းကျောင်း
(၂၈) မန္တလေးဖက်ဒရယ်ကျောင်း
(JC) True Sunshine for Future Dawei School
(၃၀) Free Online Education School Pathein (FOESP) (၃၁) Yephyu Education Family Online School (YEFOS)
(၃၂) Home-Based Learning Hlaing Thayar Township Online Class
(၃၃) Thanlyin Home Based Learning School
၃။ စိစစ်ဆဲ Online ကျောင်းများကိုလည်း အသိအမှတ်ပြုကြောင်း ဆက်လက်ထုတ်ပြန် ကြေညာ ထုတ်ပေးရေးကိစ္စများကိုလည်း ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ မြေပြင်ပြည်သူ့ပညာရေးကျာင်းများအား အသိအမှတ်ပြုလက်မှတ်ပေးသွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Education, National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-23
[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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"Your Excellency,
On the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2023, firstly, we would like to wish the people of China and People’s Republic of China with peace and prosperity.
The past year of 2022 has been a flourishing period of success for the people of China, Communist Party of China and People’s Republic of China. China has illustrated its importance not only in successfully convening the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China but also in regional affairs. The people of Myanmar and National Unity Government of Republic of Myanmar are very proud of such various achievements.
We would reiterate our warm welcome to the third term of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mr. Qin Gang's appointment as Foreign Minister.
Moreover, we, National Unity Government, would like to express our deep gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for their support for the return of power to the people by Myanmar and people of Myanmar.
We are exceptionally grateful for China's support and standing for the people of Myanmar in the international arena especially in the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). By showing that the People’s Republic of China does not stand with the military junta that is violently oppressing our people of Myanmar, it is a proof of the good neighborliness of the People's Republic of China to the people of Myanmar and the people of Myanmar will always remember the People’s Republic of China's stand.
In addition, we can confidently assure that the fruits of the revolution that the people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government are currently contesting will not harm the interests and the long-term stable development of the regional countries, including the interests of the People's Republic of China.
The new Federal Nation envisioned by our National Unity Government and the people of Myanmar will only bring fruitful impacts to the neighboring countries and the People’s Republic of China.
In conclusion, we believe that our two countries with the tradition of great friendship for many years, will be able to have closer relations in the coming year of the Rabbit). We convey our earnest wishes that the new year will promote and strengthen genuine Pauk Phaw relations for the people of both China and Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
38.79 KB
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Description:
"ယခု ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် တွင်ကျရောက်သည့် တရုတ်နှစ်သစ်ကူး အခါသမယတွင် တရုတ်ပြည်သူများနှင့် တရုတ်ပြည်သူ့ သမ္မတနိုင် ငံငြိမ်း ချမ်း သာယာပါ စေကြောင်း ဦးစွာ နှုတ်ခွန်း ဆက်သအပ်ပါသည်။
ကုန်လွန်ခဲ့သည့် (၂၀၂၂) ခုနှစ်ကာလသည် တရုတ်ပြည်သူများ၊ တရုတ်ကွန်မြူနစ် ပါတီနှင့် တရုတ်ပြည်သူ့သမ္မတနိုင်ငံတော် တို့ အတွက် အောင်မြင်မှု အသီးအပွင့်များ စွာ ရရှိခဲ့သည့် ကာလတခုဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အကြိမ် ၂၀ မြောက် တရုတ်ကွန်မြူနစ် ပါတီ ကွန်ဂရက်ကို အောင်မြင်စွာ ကျင်းပနိုင်ခဲ့သလို ဒေသတွင်း ကိစ္စရပ်များ တွင်လည်း တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ၏ အရေးပါမှုကို ပြသနိုင်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့သော အောင်မြင်မှုများစွာအတွက် လည်း မိမိတို့ မြန်မာပြည်သူများနှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေနှင့် များစွာဂုဏ်ယူမိပါသည်။
တရုတ်သမ္မတ Xi Jinping ၏ တတိယသက်တမ်း ထမ်းဆောင်ခွင့် ရရှိမှုနှင့် အဆွေတော် Mr. Qin Gang ၏ နိုင်ငံခြားရေးဝန်ကြီးအဖြစ် ရွေးချယ်ခံခဲ့ရမှုကို မိမိတို့ အနေနှင့် လှိုက်လှဲစွာကြိုဆိုကြောင်း ထပ်လောင်း ဖေါ်ပြလိုပါသည်။
ထို့အတူ မိမိတို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ် ရေးအစိုးရ အနေနှင့် တရုတ်ပြည် သူ့သမ္မတနိုင်ငံ၏ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ ပြည်သူ့အာဏာ ပြည်သူ့ထံပြန်လည်အပ်နှံ့နိုင်ရေး အတွက် ရပ်တည်ခဲ့မှုများကို အထူးပင်ကျေးဇူးတင်ရှိ အပ်ပါသည်။
နိုင်ငံတကာ မျက်နှာစာ၊ အထူး သဖြင့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ နဲ့ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမျက်နှာစာ တို့တွင် ထောက်ခံ ကူညီပေးနေသည့် အတွက် အထူးပင် ကျေးဇူးတင်ရှိအပ်ပါသည်။ မိမိတို့မြန်မာပြည်သူများအပေါ်အကြမ်းဖက် ဖိနှိပ်နေသည့် စစ်အုပ်စုနှင့် အတူ မရပ်တည်ကြောင်း ပြသလိုက်ခြင်း သည် တရုတ်ပြည်သူ့သမ္မတနိုင်ငံ၏ မြန်မာပြည်သူများအပေါ် အိမ်နီးချင်း ကောင်းပီသကြောင်းသက်သေထူပြလိုက်ခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ၏ အဆိုပါရပ်တည်မှုအတွက် မြန်မာပြည်သူများမှ အမြဲ အမှတ်တရ ရှိနေမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
ထို့အပြင် မြန်မာပြည်သူများနှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရတို့ လက်ရှိဆင်နွှဲနေသည့် တော်လှန်ရေး၏ အောင်မြင်မှု အသီးအပွင့်များသည် တရုတ်ပြည်သူ့သမ္မတနိုင်ငံ၏ အကျိုးစီးပွါးအပါအဝင် ဒေသတွင်းနိုင်ငံများ၏ အကျိုးစီးပွါးနှင့် ရေရှည် တည်ငြိမ်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေး အတွက် မည်သည့် နည်းနှင့် မျှထိခိုက်မှုရှိစေလိမ့်မည် မဟုတ်ဘဲ ပိုမိုအကျိုးရှိစေလိမ့်မည်သာဖြစ်ကြောင်း မိမိ တို့ ယုံကြည်စွာအာမခံနိုင်ပါ သည်။
မိမိတို့အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရနှင့်မြန်မာပြည်သူများ မျှော်မှန်းထားသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်နိုင်ငံတော်သစ်သည် အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများနှင့် တရုတ်ပြည် သူ့သမ္မတ နိုင်ငံသို့ ကောင်းကျိုး အသီးအပွင့်များသာ ယူဆောင် လာလိမ့် မည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
နိဂုံးချုပ်အနေနှင့် နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာချစ်ကြည် ရင်းနှီးသော အစဥ်အလာရှိသည့် မိမိတို့နှစ်နိုင်ငံအနေနှင့် လာမည့် (ယုန်နှစ်) နှစ်သစ်တွင်လည်း ပိုမိုရင်းနှီးစွာဆက်ဆံလာနိုင်မည်ကို မိမိတို့အနေနှင့် ယုံကြည်လျက် ရှိပါသည်။ တရုတ်မြန်မာ နှစ်နိုင်ငံပြည်သူများ အတွက် စစ်မှန်သည့် ဆွေမျိုးပေါက်ဖော် ဆက်ဆံရေး ပိုမိုခိုင်မာစွာ တည်ထောင်နိုင်မည့် နှစ်တနှစ် ဖြစ်ပါစေကြောင်း နှစ်သစ်ဆုမွန် ကောင်း တောင်းအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
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470.77 KB
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"The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) – composed of former UN officials – released a 76-page report on 16 January 2023, entitled “Fatal Business: Supplying the Myanmar Military’s Weapon Production.” The report highlights that at least 13 countries in the European Union, Asia, and North America have been found to be providing support for the production of armaments by the Myanmar military council, which has been perpetrating brutal human rights abuses in Myanmar.
This issue of Burma News International (BNI) – Myanmar Peace Monitor (MPM) Weekly News Review looks at the SAC-M report and other points to ponder..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Peace Monitor
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
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7.41 MB 7.4 MB
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"Summary: On 5 January 2023, according to the Irrawaddy, PDF 3 Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) (under the control of Sagaing PDF 8 Light Infantry Division (LID)) alongside the Da Pa Yin Kwe PDF attacked Kywei Pon village where SAC and Pyu Saw Htee forces were camped. During the attack one Pyu Saw Htee member was shot and killed by the PDF.
Following this, SAC armed forces (reportedly the 33 LID) allegedly raided the village of Da Pa Yin Kwe (တပုရင်းကွဲ/ဒီပဲယင်းကွဲ). According to Khit Thit, from 0500 on 6 January 2023, there was a continuous exchange of fire and the use of heavy weapons by the joint Pyu Saw Htee and SAC armed forces. The SAC allegedly shot and killed four people, including Ashin Gandhasara (အရှင် ဂန္ဓသာရ), a Buddhist monk and graduate of Thitagu Buddhist University, and Ma Khaing Su Mon (မခိုင်စုမွန်), a teacher who was allegedly associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Ashin Gandhasara had reportedly travelled from Mandalay to Da Pa Yin Kwe village on the evening of 5 January and was staying at the Shwe Gugyi monastery.....Myanmar Witness has been able to verify: Myanmar Witness geolocated user-generated content (UGC) showing the deceased monk and teacher to the basement of the Da Pa Yin Kwe village monastery.
Using NASA’s FIRMS and Sentinel Hub, Myanmar Witness was able to verify that a fire took place on 6 January 2023 in Da Pa Yin Kwe village.....Background: Sagaing Township, in Sagaing State, has been the site of an ongoing conflict between the PDF, the SAC, and the pro-SAC Pyu Saw Htee. Da Pa Yin Kwe is reportedly a pro-democracy village, while Kwei Pon, only 1.5 kilometres away, is a pro-SAC village.
Notable clashes have occurred between the villages. In July 2022, Mandalay Free Press reported that the SAC armed forces raided Da Pa Yin Kwe Village, allegedly setting five houses on fire. They also claimed that one individual, 37-year-old Ko Zaw Lin (ကိုဇော်လင်း), was arrested, tortured, and burnt to death. Clashes also reportedly broke out in December 2022, according to Sagaing Township True News. The events between the 5-6 January 2023, which were investigated by Myanmar Witness, represent the latest round of conflict between pro-democracy forces and the SAC and Pyu Saw Htee in this location..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Witness
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.68 MB
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"၁။ ၂.၅.၂၀၂၂ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်မှ ဥပဒေအမှတ် (၂/၂၀၂၂) ဖြင့် ပြည်သူ့ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ဥပဒေအား အတည်ပြုပြဌာန်းခဲ့ပါသည်။ ၇.၆.၂၀၂၂ ရက်နေ့တွင် နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတရုံး၏ အမိန့်ကြေငြာစာအမှတ် (၁၂/၂၀၂၂) ဖြင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရ ၊ ပြည်ထဲရေးနှင့် လူဝင်မှုကြီးကြပ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ လက်အောက်ရှိ ပြည်သူ့ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ ကို စတင်ဖွဲ့စည်း၍ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ စိုးမိုးထိန်းချုပ် နယ်မြေများတွင် လုံခြုံရေးနှင့်တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေးလုပ်ငန်းများအား ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၂။ ယခုအခါတွင် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ စိုးမိုးထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေများတွင် သာမကပဲ နိုင်ငံတဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့်လက်အောက်ခံများမှ ကျူးလွန် သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများနှင့် ပြည်သူအချင်းချင်းကျူးလွန်သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအား မှတ်တမ်း တင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရန်နှင့် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူ တရားခံများအား တရားဥပဒေ၏ ရှေ့မှောက် သို့ပို့ဆောင်ရန် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်များဖြင့် ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ပြည်သူ့ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ ဥပဒေပုဒ်မ ၁၄ (ခ)အရ ပြည်သူ့ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ လက်အောက်တွင် E police station အား ဖွဲ့စည်းလိုက်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
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"Ever since Hnin Si Hlaing joined the armed revolution against the military regime, she said she would do anything she could to kill the junta soldiers she referred to as “military dogs”.
The 20-year-old member of the logistic group of Kawlin Township’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Sagaing Region proved her words on January 7, when she and her comrade blew themselves up when confronted by regime troops.
The two women were riding a motorcycle and transporting homemade bombs for the resistance when they unexpectedly encountered a regime column patrolling in Kawlin Township, one of the strongholds of the resistance to the military dictatorship.
Rather than surrender and face brutal interrogation which might have led them to give up information about their comrades, the women blew themselves up as the soldiers approached them.
A number of soldiers were injured in the bombing, while the remains of the two women have yet to be returned to their families, according to local PDF the Kawlin Revolution Team (KRT).
Hnin Si Hlaing worked as a sales clerk in a Kawlin store and was preparing to take the parallel National Unity Government’s (NUG) matriculation exam, while also serving in the Kawlin PDF.
Her comrade who died alongside her was Daw Su Su Yee. The 45-year-old is survived by her 20-year-old son and 70-year-old mother. Before the coup, Daw Su Su Yee worked as a betel nut seller in Kawlin Township.
But after the military takeover, she took part in anti-junta protests and then became a member of the Kawlin PDF logistics group, as well as acting as a scout for the KRT.
Daw Su Su Yee said she felt sorry for young comrades who gave their lives for the revolution, saying she would rather die instead of them, according to KRT.
Her house was sealed off by the regime the day after she died. Her son and mother are now under the protection of the Kawlin People’s Administrative Body, the NUG’s administration in the township.
The PDF said in a statement that Daw Su Su Yee and Hnin Si Hlaing had sacrificed their lives for the revolution and honoured them as heroes.
The attack by the two women stands out as the latest example of the fighting spirit of the revolutionary forces battling to restore democracy to Myanmar.
But there are other resistance fighters who have also sacrificed their lives for their comrades and the revolution. These are some of them.
Ko Moe, Yesagyo Revolution Group (YRG)
Ko Moe attacked regime soldiers by blowing himself up with hand grenades in Magwe Region’s Yesagyo Township in early July last year.
The father of two was a member of local PDF the Yesagyo Revolution Group (YRG) and a village defense force volunteer. The 45-year old encountered junta troops near Thae Taw Village monastery on the border of Yesagyo and Pakokku townships on July 8. Ko Moe did not know that nearly 80 Myanmar military soldiers were deployed at the monastery.
After being shot and injured by regime troops near the monastery, he fell off his motorcycle. As the soldiers approached him, Ko Moe exploded three hand grenades, killing seven soldiers instantly. Another eight troops died later in hospital, according to YRG.
“He wasn’t a combatant. He was in the supply force, but he always carried three grenades. He always said that he would rather die than be captured,” said Ko Zero, a YRG spokesperson.
YRG leader Ko Pathay told The Irrawaddy that Ko Moe helped scout for the PDF when it laid mines to ambush junta forces.
“We have all thought about how to kill as many soldiers as possible if we were captured by them,” he said.....
Eze, Moe Nyo Revolution Force: Eze, 19, a student who passed the matriculation exam with two distinctions, joined the Moe Nyo Revolution Force in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region last year in order to topple the military dictatorship.
He wanted to be an engineer and his parents intended him to go and work in Japan. But he said that he would go to Japan only after the revolution succeeded, said Ko Tay Zar, a spokesperson for the Moe Nyo Revolution Force.
“He said that he would never surrender as long as the revolution is ongoing. He refused to return home when his parents asked him to come back,” said Ko Tay Zar.
Eze was a mine technician and led the mine attacks on the Sagaing-Myinmu Road. He died in late October 2022 while he was covering his comrades during a clash with junta forces. He and four other comrades were surrounded as they prepared to detonate a mine to attack a column of 150 regime soldiers.
After being hit in the thigh, he refused attempts from his comrades to rescue him and instead told them to retreat and to leave him. His friends left him a homemade shotgun with five bullets. Just one bullet was left when his body was found.
“He might have been captured alive, but he didn’t let himself be interrogated,” said Ko Tay Zar, who told The Irrawaddy the resistance group wasn’t raided after the attack.
Eze’s corpse was found the day after the attack far away from where he was captured. Three gunshot wounds were found in his chest and heads, while his legs were torn from being dragged by the soldiers.
“He told us that if he was arrested by the military dogs, he would not talk to them but only spit in their faces,” recalled Ko Tay Zar.
His fellow fighters remember Eze as a young man with a good attitude who always smiled, and as someone who sacrificed his life in order to save his comrades.
“People like Eze are a rare breed. Although he was young, he was also mature,” Ko Tay Zar told The Irrawaddy.....Bo Thanmani, Shwebo Defense Force (SBDF): Bo Thanmani sacrificed his life to save his comrades during a clash last June in Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township.
The 49-year-old founder of the Shwebo Defense Force (SBDF) was killed in action along with a fellow fighter. More than two dozen junta soldiers opened fire on Bo Thanmani and his troop of 15 fighters. Bo Thanmani and fellow fighter Ko Soe Paing were injured.
With the regime troops just 20 feet away, Bo Thanmani ordered his comrades to retreat while he and Ko Soe Paing covered them, according to Ko Yan Gyi, the commander of Battalion 23 of the SBDF.
“If Sayar [Bo Thanmani] and Ko Soe Paing hadn’t covered us, we wouldn’t be alive now,” Ko Yan Gyi told The Irrawaddy.
The pair were found dead and holding hands. Bo Thanmani had been shot twice, once in the heart and again in the head.
“The death of Sayar [Bo Thanmani] is an irreplaceable loss for us,” Ko Yan Gyi told The Irrawaddy.
Bo Thanmani treated his SBDF comrades like his own children. His fighters wanted him to command them from their base camp, but he insisted on leading missions from the front.
“He thought about his comrades until his last breath and he gave his life for us,” said Ko Yan Gyi.
Along with his comrades, Bo Thanmani resisted the regime forces with only MA-1 rifles and homemade weapons.
A lack of sufficient arms is one of the reasons why resistance fighters are dying in battle. Ko Yan Gyi urged the NUG, which is responsible for arming the over 300 PDF battalions currently operating, to provide them with more weapons as soon as possible.
He explained that if SBDF had had around 10 automatic weapons, the group would have been able to defeat the junta soldiers and save the life of their leader Bo Thanmani.
Ko Tay Zar of the Moe Nyo Revolution Force in Myinmu Township also called for more and better arms. “If we had automatic rifles, our comrades like Eze might not have died,” he said.
The NUG has admitted that while it can’t supply the resistance with all its needs, it is trying to support them as much as possible.
“We will have to give more lives until we get better weapons,” said Ko Tay Zar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"JCC-CDM တွင် အတည်ပြုပြီး ပေးပို့တင်ပြထားသော နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM မူဝါဒစာတမ်းကို အခြေပြု၍ အောက်ပါ မူဝါဒလေးရပ်ကို ချမှတ်သည်။
၁။ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM များသည် တိုင်းပြည်ပြောင်းလဲရေးအတွက် တော်လှန်ရေး၏ အရေးပါသည့် အင်အားစုတစ်ရပ် ဖြစ်သည်ကို NUCC အနေဖြင့် မှတ်တမ်းတင်ဂုဏ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။
၂။ CDM နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းများနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းရေးဆိုင်ရာ တရားမျှတမှု ပြန်လည် ရှာဖွေဖော်ထုတ်ခြင်းတွင် အသိအမှတ်ပြု မှတ်တမ်းတင်ခြင်း၊ ဂုဏ်ပြုချီးမြှင့်ခြင်း၊ အမှန်တရားနှင့် တရားမျှတမှု ရှာဖွေခြင်း၊ နစ်နာမှုများကို ပြန်လည်ကုစား ပေးခြင်းတို့ ပါဝင်သည်။
၃။ JCC-CDM တွင် အတည်ပြုပြီး ပေးပို့တင်ပြထားသော နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM မူဝါဒစာတမ်းကို အခြေပြု၍ လိုအပ်သော ဥပဒေ၊ နည်းဥပဒေနှင့် လုပ်ထုံးလုပ်နည်းများကို ဆက်လက်ရေးဆွဲသွားရန် ဖြစ်သည်။
၄။ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM များအပါအဝင် ပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံးအပေါ် အာဏာရှင် ထောက်တိုင်များ ဖြစ်ကြသည့် Non-CDM များက လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှု၊ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ၊ ရာဇ၀တ်မှုများကို ကျူးလွန်နေကြောင်း သက်သေအထောက်အထားများ တွေ့ရှိပါက သက်ဆိုင်ရာ ဒေသအသီးသီးမှ တရားဝင်အတည်ပြုထားသော သက်ဆိုင်ရာဒေသ ဥပဒေဖြင့် အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Consultative Council
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"WASHINGTON —
The United States believes there is no chance that proposed elections in Myanmar will be free and fair, according to Derek Chollet, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Myanmar and other issues.
In an interview at the State Department on Thursday with Khin Soe Win, acting chief of VOA’s Burmese Service, Chollet also discussed the recently passed Burma Act, which provides for humanitarian assistance and civil society support to pro-democracy factions in Myanmar and imposes targeted sanctions on elements of the ruling junta accused of human rights abuses.
Other issues discussed included Russian support for the military junta that seized power in Myanmar, also known as Burma, in February 2021, and U.S. efforts to build support for Myanmar opposition forces such as the National Unity Government and People’s Defense Forces, and among Myanmar’s neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
VOA: President Biden recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the Burma Act, which is welcomed most Burmese people, particularly the resistance groups, as well as the National Unity Government and People’s Defense Force. But how effectively and how soon can you deliver this assistance to the targeted groups?
Derek Chollet, senior adviser to Secretary of State Antony Blinken: Well, first of all, we're already working — and we have been working over the last several years — to provide nonlethal assistance to the pro-democracy opposition inside Burma. We've been very engaged with the National Unity Government as well as some of the ethnic groups within Burma, talking to them about ways we could be most helpful in their efforts to put Burma back on the path to democracy. The Burma Act that was recently signed into law is something we in the Biden administration strongly support. We worked very closely with the Congress in the development of the Burma Act. It's something we welcome, and the fact that that was put into law in a bipartisan basis with both Democrats and Republicans working together shows the depth of support here in the United States for the people of Burma. [It also shows] the strong position we have against what the junta has done.
VOA: Yes, it's about $136 million. But compared to the U.S. assistance to Ukraine, it's just peanuts. But this is an encouragement for the resistance group as well as the moral support for the Burmese people who are under the military suppression.
Chollet: Yes, absolutely. And I think it's important to note the Burma Act is not the sum total of everything we are doing for Burma. Since 2017, the United States has provided nearly $2 billion in support to Burma, Bangladesh, the areas ... afflicted by this conflict. And we're going to continue to try to find ways that we can support the people of Burma and the pro-democracy opposition there.
VOA: The junta seems not to be winning in the fight against the People's Defense Forces and ethnic armed groups on the ground and focusing on air power. There are reports of some calling to impose a no-fly zone. Is it possible for the U.S. to coordinate with the U.N. Security Council on a no-fly zone?
Chollet: Well, that's not something we're considering now. What we're trying to find is a way that we can peacefully resolve the situation inside Burma. We strongly condemn what the junta has done and is doing every day. We fully support the efforts by ASEAN in particular to stick to the five-point consensus to ensure that Burma and the junta remain isolated within ASEAN and not being able to enjoy the benefits of membership in certain ways — certainly by not having political representation at key ASEAN meetings. When we held the U.S.-ASEAN summit here in Washington and President Biden met with nine leaders of ASEAN, there was an empty chair. And that was because Burma was not welcome at a political level at that meeting.
VOA: Back to NDAA and assistance for Burma, including the nonlethal assistance for armed resistance groups. Russia might retaliate against the U.S. because the Burmese junta was the very first to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Do you think Russia might react?
Chollet: We have seen over the last several years that the relationship between the junta and Moscow has only grown stronger. Russia is the biggest military supporter of the junta. It has been backing the junta in very significant ways. It's something we strongly condemn. And Russia is at a point right now where it's got very few friends in the international community, and it's found that the junta is one of the more reliable friends. That said, we were able to work with our partners in the U.N. Security Council to have a significant resolution passed, the first time the U.N. Security Council had spoken to the issue of Burma since the coup. Russia allowed that Security Council resolution to go forward. And so, we've shown that we can get some things done. But the reality is Russia and the junta are very, very close. I expect they'll remain that way. But that will only cause us to redouble our efforts to support the people of Burma, to work with our like-minded allies in the region and beyond to try to bring about a resolution to this crisis.
VOA: Neighboring countries are crucial for Burma. The military leader Min Aung Hlaing today met with the Thai army chief in the beach resort in Rakhine state. Thailand's role in the Burma crisis is critical because of the exodus of migrants to Thailand. When you visited Thailand together with Secretary Blinken last year, representatives of the National Unity Government and various armed ethnic organizations were not able to meet you because they feared Thai intelligence would find their location. So how do you assess Thailand's role in this conflict?
Chollet: Thailand shares a very, very long border with Burma and is quite concerned about the spillover effects of the instability. We fully understand that Thailand has been a critical partner of us for many, many years, and working to deal with the refugee crisis in Burma and all of its manifestations over decades. Now, we are very close partners and Thailand is an ally of the United States. Thailand is a key partner within ASEAN. So we're working very hard to stay close to our Thai partners as we're working together to try to resolve the situation inside Burma. It's something that we're doing also with our other ASEAN partners, because there's many countries with a lot at stake in Burma's future. And I think the one thing we have been able to accomplish in the years since the coup is by maintaining the strong unity — seeing the unity within ASEAN and then building unity between ASEAN and countries like the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and others with an interest in a secure and peaceful and democratic Burma.
VOA: Secretary Blinken urged the international community to reject the sham elections that the junta is going to hold. And then yesterday the military spokesperson confirmed they are going to hold a National Security Council meeting at the end of this month, and they are going to set the election date. I don’t know how they are going to do it, because the military regime’s state of emergency expires at the end of this month.
Chollet: Look, our position hasn't changed. These elections have no chance of being free and fair. It's a transparent attempt to try to legitimize what the junta has done and try to create an offramp somehow for its coup. Our view is very simple. There was an election that was deemed free and fair. It was in November of 2020. The junta did not like the outcome of that election, which is why they did what they did on February 1, 2021. They don't control up to 50% of the territory right now. It's unclear how they could even hold elections. You can't have a free and fair election when you're jailing every significant opposition, when you're committing atrocities, when you're shutting down a free press. So, we should drop any pretense that if they were to hold an election— and they probably will try to hold one — that it would be free and fair..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, International Bill of Human Rights
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"Resistance attacks on regime targets in Myanmar’s southern, eastern and central regions are likely to increase in the coming months as the country’s oldest rebel group has vowed to step up operations while saying fighting is only one way to end military rule.
“We need to speed up in both military and political affairs,” KNU communications chief Padoh Saw Taw Nee told The Irrawaddy.
The KNU was founded in 1947 and its armed wings, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Karen National Defense Organization, are fighting the junta in Karen and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions. They are the most powerful ethnic armed organizations near the Thai border.
Fighting has already increased this year.
The KNLA and allied resistance groups attacked Battalions 32, 283 and 284 near the town of Kyainseikgyi in Karen State on January 4, while the junta was marking Myanmar’s Independence Day.
A battalion headquarters was seized and an infantry barracks, some officer’s quarters and vehicles were torched before junta airstrikes forced a retreat.
Karen forces claimed that 45 junta soldiers, including a battalion commander, were killed or wounded in the raids. Seven resistance troops were killed and 13 injured.
The KNLA and its allies raided Border Guard Force outposts along the Phayathonsu road in Kyainseikgyi Township in early January. Two outposts were seized, 90 regime soldiers died while nine resistance fighters were killed and 15 injured, the group said.
The attacks prompted junta shelling and airstrikes on civilian and resistance targets.
Since the 2021 coup and the subsequent killing of peaceful demonstrators nationwide, the KNU has trained and armed several thousand volunteers to fight the regime.
Its troops have also fought alongside newly formed resistance groups and coordinated with the civilian National Unity Government.
An estimated 5,500 regime soldiers have been killed and around 5,000 have been injured while hundreds of resistance fighters have died, Padoh Saw Taw Nee said.
Near-daily coordinated attacks by KNU forces and their resistance allies are reported across Karen, Mon, Bago and Tanintharyi.
“We need to uproot the military dictatorship not only in our state but across the country so we have plans to connect with other resistance groups,” Padoh Saw Taw Nee said.
In December the KNLA led attacked junta targets, including a district police office and an administrative office in Kawkareik. It claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties and seized weapons and ammunition.
Padoh Saw Taw Nee said: “There will be more urban attacks. We have said we will attack in various arenas.”
The KNU is also looking further afield.
The KNLA and Magwe resistance allies attacked a key junta airbase in Magwe Township using three improvised rockets.
Padoh Saw Taw Nee said at the time that three military aircraft were destroyed and at least eight regime troops killed.
Resistance fighters trained and assigned by the KNU are fighting with other groups across Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing regions.
Meanwhile, the regime continues to kill civilians, loot and burn houses and attack civilian areas with shells and airstrikes and commit acts of sexual violence.
Since early January the regime has been escalating airstrikes in Sagaing Region and Chin, Kachin and Karen states, possibly in response to New Year’s speeches by ethnic armed organizations’ leaders vowing to uproot the dictatorship during 2023..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History
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Local URL:
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"JCC-CDM က ရေးသားပြုစုထားသော နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်း CDM မူဝါဒစာတမ်းကို အများပြည်သူလေ့လာနိုင်စေရန်အတွက် ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Consultative Council
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.83 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"1. NUG urges neighbours to take serious action on SACs for using air space to massacre civilians.....2. NUG Prime Minister pledges to implement justice for the case of torturing in Pathein prison....3. NUG condemns airstrike campaign targeting civilians 12/01/2023.....4. Village defense forces and village administration committees established in over 80% of the villages in Pale Township11/01/2023.....5. SAC have murdered over a thousand of youths during spring
revolution7/01/2023.....6. SAC’s capital punishment violates UN’s Peace and Security Efforts11/01/2023..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.07 MB
more