Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Myanmar junta forces including pro-regime militia have burned down more than 55,000 civilian houses nationwide since the 2021 coup, said Data For Myanmar, an independent research group.
In total, 55,484 homes across the country’s 14 states and regions were torched as part of the military regime’s arson campaign between February 1, 2021 and the end of January 2023.
Resistance stronghold Sagaing Region suffered the most arson attacks, with 43,292 houses burned, followed by 8,863 in Magwe Region and 1,484 in Chin State, according to Data For Myanmar’s report.
The research group said that it used reports from the media, rights groups and refugee organizations to calculate the number of homes destroyed.
However, the actual number of houses torched may be higher than the reported figure, as many regime arson attacks have yet to be verified and recent data from Kayah State is currently not available.
Several resistance strongholds have experienced a recent escalation in junta arson attacks, following the regime’s imposition of martial law in 37 townships in Sagaing, Magwe and Bago regions and Chin and Kayah states.
The Myanmar military has ignored calls from the international community to end all violence and release political prisoners.
Instead, it has continued to commit atrocities including burning people alive, the arbitrary torture and killing of civilians, extrajudicial killings of resistance detainees, using civilian detainees as human shields, artillery and airstrikes on residential areas, looting and burning houses and acts of sexual violence.
Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the junta has killed at least 2,989 people and arrested more than 19,000, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group that monitors deaths and arrests by regime forces..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-15
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Military History, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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The 2-day campaign targeted a township hit hard by arson attacks this year.
Description:
"More than 2,000 villagers in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region fled ahead of two days of junta raids, the Kyunhla-Kanbalu Activists Group told RFA on Tuesday
A spokesman, who didn’t want to be named, said a column of troops entered five villages in Kanbalu township over the weekend.
“Before the troops entered Pon Nar Gyi village, they fired heavy artillery and a man in the village was hit by shell fragments,” he said. “The residents of nearby villages also had to flee because the troops were getting close.”
After raiding Pon Nar Gyi on Saturday troops moved on to nearby Chat Lel. The following day they moved on to three other villages, including Pi Tauk Pin which has more than 100 homes, burning 12 of the houses there, the activists’ group said.
Locals told RFA the military column comprised about 120 troops from junta Infantry Battalion 368 and the junta aligned Pyu Saw Htee militia.
Calls to Sagaing region junta spokesman Aye Hlaing went unanswered Tuesday. In the past he told RFA he is not able to comment on security issues.
Last month troops burned down 274 houses in Kanbalu and Kyunhla townships, according to the Kyunhla-Kanbalu Activists Group. It said seven people were burned to death.
The military has stepped up a scorched earth campaign in Sagaing region this year, torching 4,271 houses in January and killing 17 civilians, Myanmar’s ousted National Unity Government said last week.
In the last five months of 2022, the number of people in Sagaing region fleeing fighting and arson attacks rose 17% to 616,500 the Market Analysis Unit said on Jan. 29. That accounts for half of the newly displaced persons nationwide between August and December, according to the unit of the Myanmar Information Management Unit, which supplies data to the humanitarian and development community..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-07
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"(Chiang Mai, Thailand) The Karenni Human Rights Group, the Kayan Women’s Organization, the Karenni National Women’s Organization, and the Kayah State Peace Monitoring Network today released a new report, “How can we survive in the future?”: Atrocity Crimes in Karenni State. The report documents human rights violations amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by junta forces in Burma’s Karenni State and surrounding areas between May 2021 and September 2022.
The serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law committed by junta forces include both indiscriminate and targeted attacks on Karenni civilian populations, murder and mass killings, widespread destruction of civilian property, forced displacement on a massive scale, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and cruel treatment, sexual violence, and using Karenni civilians as forced labor and human shields.
“The Burmese Army continues to conduct militarized activities, including the use of heavy artillery against civilians in Karenni State. Women and children are the most vulnerable in conflict. Civilians across the country, including Karenni State, have been forced to flee their homes and move to the jungle. The situation has become increasingly unstable due to armed clashes,” said Mie Mie, Chairperson of the Karenni National Women’s Organization.
1,190 homes in 87 Karenni towns, wards and villages have been either heavily damaged or completely destroyed by junta forces. At least 180,000 Karenni people have been forcibly displaced, which is more than 40 percent of the estimated total Karenni population. Up to 70 percent of internally displaced people (IDP) are women and children. Some families have been displaced multiple times, as IDP sites come under attack by junta forces.
An internally displaced woman interviewed for the report whose home was destroyed by the regime’s mortar shelling said, “I lost everything. I don’t know where to take my children to stay and hide. I am really afraid and I don’t know where we can keep running safely.”
The report also documents the arbitrary arrests of at least 260 Karenni civilians including 33 women by junta forces throughout Karenni State and neighboring areas. 115 Karenni civilians were documented to have been unlawfully killed while in Burmese military custody over the reporting period, including in three mass killing events.
Based on legal analysis of the data collected, the report finds that members of the Burmese military have committed the war crimes of attacking civilians, attacking protected objects, pillaging, murder, torture, cruel treatment, and displacing civilians in Karenni State. The conduct likely also amounts to the crimes against humanity of imprisonment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, murder, torture, enslavement, other inhumane acts, and forced displacement.
The four Karenni organizations urged the international community to pursue justice and accountability to end the cycle of impunity for the Burmese military. This should include referral of the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court, which would provide a pathway to justice and reparations for the thousands of Karenni victims. They also renewed calls for the international community to take concrete steps beyond ‘statement diplomacy’ to protect the thousands of civilians who live with the daily threat of being murdered by the military regime. These steps should include imposing a coordinated global arms embargo on the Burmese military and sanctioning aviation fuel supply in a bid to end deadly air strikes..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Human Rights Group, Kayan Women’s Organization, Karenni National Women’s Organization, Kayah State Peace Monitoring Network
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, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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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
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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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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
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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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"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
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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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"Executive Summary: The Myanmar Interim Arrangements Research Project (MIARP)
was funded by the Joint Peace Fund (JPF)1
, and implemented
between October 2017 and October 2018. Researchers spoke
to more than 450 people in Shan, Karen/Kayin and Mon States,
Tanintharyi Region, Naypyidaw, Yangon and Thailand, including confict-affected communities, representatives of Myanmar government and Army, leaders and members of Ethnic
Armed Organisations (EAOs), civil society organisations (CSOs),
political parties, diplomats and donors, and international aid
workers and analysts.
The term “Interim Arrangements” (ၾကားကာလအတြ߾္းေࠀာ߾္ရြက္ရ
မည့္အ߿ီအ߿ဥ္မ်ား) is a contested concept, meaning different
things to different stakeholders. The MIARP adopted the following working defnition of Interim Arrangements:
“Service delivery and governance in confictaffected areas, including the relationship
between EAOs and government systems, during
the period between initial ceasefres and a
comprehensive political settlement.”
Interim Arrangement refers to EAOs’ governance functions,
administrative authority and service delivery systems. The issue of which geographic areas are covered by Interim Arrangements is problematic. The Myanmar Army has pressed to
restrict EAOs’ service delivery and governance functions to
areas under armed groups’ exclusive control (which in most
cases have not yet been demarcated); on the ground however,
EAOs’ infuence and delivery of services and governance functions extend into areas where political and military authority
is mixed, and contested with the government and Tatmadaw.
In principle, the “interim” period extends until a comprehensive political settlement has been implemented, which given
recent setbacks in the peace process may take many years to
achieve. In the meantime, recognition of Interim Arrangements
refects the government’s acknowledgement of key EAOs’ political legitimacy and administrative responsibilities - at least,
for those groups which have signed the Nationwide Ceasefre
Agreement (NCA). One of the key recommendations of this
report is to support EAOs to exercise governance and administrative authority in a responsible and accountable manner.
The only offcial text referring to Interim Arrangements is
the October 2015 NCA. However, Interim Arrangements are
relevant in areas where EAOs have not signed the NCA, and
furthermore the NCA text fails to cover the full range of
meanings associated with the term.
Although Interim Arrangements are about more than the
NCA, Chapter 6 (Article 25) of this agreement does recognize
the roles of signatory EAOs in the felds of health, education, development, environmental conservation and natural
resource management, preservation and promotion of ethnic
cultures and languages, security and the rule of law, and illicit
drug eradication. The NCA allows EAOs to receive international aid, in coordination with the government. However, with
no agreed mechanism for addressing these goals through the
peace process architecture, the NCA has had limited impacts
on improving confict-affected communities’ access to equitable and effective governance and services. Furthermore,
on the ground in southeast Myanmar, government offcials
seem to regard EAOs primarily as service delivery actors, and/
or private companies, rather than legitimate governance and
administrative actors.
For many years, Myanmar’s larger EAOs have taken on governance and administration roles in their areas of control, often
delivering a wide range of services in partnership with CSOs.
In the southeast, groups like the Restoration Council of Shan
State (RCSS), Karen National Union (KNU) and New Mon State
Party (NMSP) are de-facto governments in relatively small pockets of territory. They also have infuence and provide some
services in wider areas of “mixed administration”, where EAO
authority overlaps with that of the government and Myanmar
Army. Between them for example, these three EAOs administer or support more than 2,000 schools, providing ethnic
language teaching to vulnerable children who would otherwise often be denied an education. They also work with local
partners to provide health services, access to justice and other
public goods.2
Similar arrangements exist in other parts of the country, both
in ceasefre areas where EAOs have not signed the NCA, and
in areas of on-going armed confict. For example, across much
of Kachin and northern Shan States, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and other EAOs provide elements of
governance, and life-saving if under resourced services to Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and other highly vulnerable
communities.
There are three principal rationales for supporting Interim Arrangements:
1. Effective Interim Arrangements will provide the best outcomes for vulnerable and marginalised communities in
confict-affected areas. Rather than reinventing the wheel,
existing EAO and CSO service delivery systems should
be supported on a case-by-case basis, recognising best
practice (an “appreciative inquiry” approach). Meeting the
government’s targets for school enrolment and universal
health coverage for example, will depend on the work
of EAOs and affliated civil society actors, who should be
seen as partners in meeting critical needs and achieving
development goals. Chapter 3 explores how these issues
play out in relation to specifc sectors and issues.
2. Several of Myanmar’s EAOs (including NCA signatory and
non-signatory groups) enjoy long-standing political legitimacy among the communities they seek to represent.
Supporting EAO governance regimes will counter perceptions of the peace process as a vehicle for state penetration
into previously autonomous areas, displacing existing EAO
authorities and services, without consulting local stakeholders. In order to be confict-sensitive, aid should be delivered in ways that do not undermine systems associated with
EAOs, to the beneft of the government (which is a party to
the confict). Timely peace dividends can best be provided
to vulnerable and marginalized communities by working
with existing and trusted local service delivery systems.
3. Interim Arrangements could be a key element in building “federalism from below” in Myanmar, supporting
effective local governance through equitable practices of
self-determination. The administrative functions and services provided by key EAOs (and their civil society partners) should be regarded as the building blocks of federalism in Myanmar - a political solution to decades of armed
confict which key stakeholders have endorsed.
It will be very diffcult for confict-affected parts of Myanmar
to move from the current mixture of service delivery systems
and governance regimes towards a formalized (federal) system, without better coordination, and substantial political
and technical negotiations. However, given the slow pace of
the peace process since 2016, Interim Arrangements have
been given relatively little attention.
Given that the Political Dialogue element of the peace process
appears stalled, it could be useful to identify a small number of
political priorities, to help deliver on ethnic stakeholders’ key
aims. These could be negotiated by EAOs (and political parties)
in a „fast track“ manner, resulting in a Union Peace Accord
that benefts both the government and ethnic stakeholders.
Areas for possible progress include education and language
policy (recognition of and funding for EAOs’ extensive school
systems; “mother tongue” teaching in government schools);
land issues (recognition of land title documents provided by
EAOs; revision of unjust land laws; compensation and restitution for people who have had their land unfairly taken); equitable natural resource management; and addressing forced
displacement – i.e. Interim Arrangements. This would not
prevent ethnic stakeholders from continuing to campaign for
federalism, including changes to the 2008 Constitution..."
Source/publisher:
Joint Peace Fund and Covenant Consult
Date of entry/update:
2022-12-11
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Political History, Military History, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
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Sub-title:
Banned Weapons Kill, Maim Civilians for Decades
Description:
"“I lost my leg and my cow.”
Aoung Gya Thowai Tanchangya, 22, was grazing his cattle along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on September 16. “Sometimes our cattle cross into Myanmar so we have to go bring them back,” he said. “I didn’t realize there could be mines planted. When I stepped onto the mine, it exploded. I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I saw that my left leg was gone. I still feel pain.”
In 2022, 25 years since the international Mine Ban Treaty was adopted, only two countries actively use antipersonnel landmines: Russia and Myanmar. Myanmar’s forces have used landmines since 1999, but new use by the junta has surged since the February 2021 coup, according to the Landmine Monitor Report 2022, released last week.
The report analyzed photographs of hundreds of landmines manufactured by the junta and planted across the country.
From February 2021 to September 2022, 157 civilians were killed and 395 injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war in Myanmar. About one-third of the casualties were children. The military has placed landmines in homes, village pathways, church compounds, and farms. Military units have continued to force civilians to act as “human shields,” walking ahead of troops to detonate any mines.
In August, as fighting spread across Rakhine State, the ethnic armed group Arakan Army located dozens of military-manufactured mines. Casualties are rising from landmines laid along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, where civilians like Tanchangya collect firewood, farm, and graze cattle. Witnesses reported activity by Myanmar soldiers near border posts in the days before recent mine blasts.
Myanmar’s military has long been implicated in numerous serious violations of the laws of war, many amounting to war crimes, in armed conflicts in ethnic minority areas. Since the coup, junta authorities have blocked lifesaving aid and ordered healthcare workers to refuse treatment for mine injuries. For the 1.4 million people displaced across Myanmar, the risk of landmines can hinder their ability to return home.
The Monitor report also cited use of mines by non-state armed groups.
The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty prohibits antipersonnel mines and requires their clearance, destruction of stocks, and victim assistance. Although Myanmar is not a party to the treaty, the junta’s use remains unlawful: Landmines do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. They kill and maim long after they are placed.
At the 20th meeting of states parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, opening this week in Geneva, governments should condemn Myanmar’s use of antipersonnel landmines, while strengthening efforts to cut off the junta from the revenue underwriting its use of these devastating weapons..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-11-20
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Responding to the news that Myanmar military air strikes reportedly killed dozens of people including civilians at a concert in Kachin State on Sunday night, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Hana Young said:
“Singers, artists and other civilians are among those reported killed in last night’s air strikes. We fear this attack is part of a pattern of unlawful aerial attacks by the military which have killed and injured civilians in areas controlled by armed groups.
“The military has shown ruthless disregard for civilian lives in its escalating campaign against opponents. It is difficult to believe the military did not know of a significant civilian presence at the site of this attack. The military must immediately grant access to medics and humanitarian assistance to those affected by these air strikes and other civilians in need.
“Myanmar’s military has been committing widespread atrocities since the 2021 coup, including unlawfully killing, arbitrarily detaining, torturing and forcibly displacing civilians. It has been able to carry out these crimes in the face of an ineffective international response to a human rights crisis that is only worsening.
“As officials and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations prepare to host high-level meetings in the coming weeks, this attack highlights the need to overhaul the approach to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN has to step up and formulate a more robust course of action so that military leaders end this escalating repression.”
Background:
On 23 October, the Myanmar military launched air strikes on a musical performance near A Nan Pa village in Hpakant Township, Kachin State, in the north of the country.
The attack reportedly killed dozens of people, but Amnesty could not independently confirm the figures. Among those injured and killed were civilians including prominent artists who were performing at the event. The performance was held as part of celebrations for the 62nd anniversary of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).
The KIO is the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army, which controls the area and has clashed with the Myanmar military for decades.
The military has increasingly relied on air power as it struggles to retain control of the country since seizing power in a coup on 1 February 2021.
In a July report, “Bullets rained from the sky”: War crimes and displacement in eastern Myanmar, Amnesty International found that Myanmar’s military has subjected Karen and Karenni civilians to collective punishment via widespread aerial and ground attacks, arbitrary detentions, often including torture or extrajudicial executions, and the systematic looting and burning of villages..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-24
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Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History
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"Last week in the East Asia Pacific region, civilians were killed during a clash between the Myanmar military and a local resistance group near a Buddhist religious site in Myanmar's Mon state. The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) attacked and occupied a border guard police outpost in Rakhine state, while the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S) clashed with the Pa-Oh National Liberation Organization/Pa-Oh National Liberation Army (PNLO/PNLA) in southern Shan state. North Korea carried out another series of missile tests. In the Philippines, fighting between the communist New People's Army (NPA) and state forces intensified. Meanwhile, police shot three militant detainees dead after they took a detained former senator hostage during an attempted jailbreak.
In Myanmar, a local resistance group attacked a military checkpoint at the foot of the Kyaiktiyo Golden Rock Pagoda, a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site, in Mon state on 12 October. Three women pilgrims were killed in the crossfire. Eighteen others, including a police officer, were injured. The resistance group and military accused each other of killing the civilians (Myanmar Now, 13 October 2022).
Elsewhere, in Rakhine state, the ULA/AA attacked and occupied the Lait-ya border guard police outpost in Maungdaw township on 10 October, inflicting police casualties and seizing weapons and ammunition (Irrawaddy, 11 October 2022). One ULA/AA member was killed in the fighting (Narinjara, 10 October 2022). Members of another border guard police outpost in nearby Kyein Chaung village fired artillery at the ULA/AA during the clash. The ULA/AA claimed the Lait-ya border guard police outpost had been responsible for artillery attacks on civilians (Narinjara, 11 October 2022). Fighting between the two groups has intensified over the past few months. These trends contribute to the 717% increase in average weekly violent events in Rakhine state in the past month relative to the weekly average for the preceding year flagged by ACLED's Subnational Threat Tracker. The Subnational Tracker also warned of increased violence in Rakhine state during the preceding four weeks.
In southern Shan state, fighting broke out between the RCSS/SSA-S, an ethnic Shan armed group, and the PNLO/PNLA, an ethnic Pa-Oh armed group, on 11 October in the reportedly PNLO/PNLA-controlled Ka Du Gyi area of Mawkmai township. The PNLO/PNLA claimed that the clash resulted from the RCSS/SSA-S's failure to inform them of troop movements, as required by the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (Shan Herald Agency for News, 13 October 2022). The clash came after the RCSS/SSA-S invited ethnic armed organizations operating in Shan state and other areas to meet to ease tensions and to discuss potential cooperation (Thanlwin Times, 11 October 2022). ACLED's Subnational Surge Tracker warned of increased violence in southern Shan state during the preceding four weeks. Violence in southern Shan state is both common and highly volatile; it is considered an area of 'extreme risk' by ACLED's Volatility and Risk Predictability Index.
North Korea continued to carry out missile tests last week. On 9 October, North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the country's east coast, before test-firing two long-range cruise missiles into the sea off its west coast on 12 October. On 14 October, North Korea flew 10 warplanes close to the border with South Korea, before launching a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast and firing hundreds of artillery shells into a maritime buffer zone surrounding the Northern Limit Line (AP, 14 October 2022). These activities came after North Korea's defense ministry criticized the recent redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula (YNA, 6 October 2022).
Last week in the Philippines, fighting between NPA rebels and the military intensified, with clashes reported in Bicol and Soccsksargen, as well as Central, Western, and Eastern Visayas. These trends contribute to a 75% increase in violent events in the Philippines over the past week relative to the weekly average for the preceding month, as flagged by ACLED's Conflict Change Map. In Western Visayas, Himamaylan city saw fierce clashes on 8, 10, and 12 October, leaving a suspected high-ranking NPA leader, Romeo Nanta (also known as Juanito Magbanua), dead. The NPA claimed that Nanta was not killed in the clash, but rather, captured and summarily executed (Rappler, 11 October 2022). Human rights group Karapatan condemned alleged military abuses against civilians during the clashes, including allegedly indiscriminate artillery fire and aerial bombing (Karapatan, 12 October 2022). As a result of the clashes, the military implemented lockdowns in several affected barangays, and the city government declared a state of calamity (Manila Bulletin, 12 October 2022). Around 15,000 villagers were also evacuated from the area (Panay News, 12 October 2022).
Meanwhile, a high-profile jailbreak attempt led to the deaths of three detained Islamist militants in Quezon City last week. On 9 October, three militant detainees -- alleged members of Abu Sayyaf and Dawlah Islamiyah -- attempted to escape from the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, wounding a police officer with an improvised knife and taking detained former Senator Leila de Lima hostage during the attempt. Responding police officers shot the militant detainees dead and freed de Lima, who was lightly wounded. The incident led to renewed calls for the release of de Lima, a prominent critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte. De Lima has been held in police custody since February 2017 on drug-related charges, which human rights organizations and opposition groups view as politically motivated (HRW, 4 May 2022; Manila Bulletin, 9 October 2022).
Note: This dashboard automatically updates to cover the latest four weeks of data released by ACLED. Use the date filters to view data for the one-week period covered by this Regional Overview..."
Source/publisher:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-20
[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, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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pdf
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103.65 KB
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"On this International Day of the Girl Child, we bring your attention to the difficulties faced by girls in Kawthoolei (Karen State, Southeast Burma). Obstacles to growing up in peace, to securing food, to obtaining education, to accessing healthcare, and to attaining justice. The challenge for girls in Burma to remain children; sheltered in a safe environment where they can develop in a wholesome manner. On this 11th October, the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) and the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) call the international community to take concrete action to end violence in Burma, which is harming all girl children in the country.
Violations of girls’ rights
Since the 2021 military coup, over 350,000 people have been displaced by the violence and military attacks committed by the State Administrative Council (SAC; or Burma Army) in Kawthoolei. Displacement disproportionately impacts women and children: almost half of all displaced people are children and half of those are girls. Both KHRG and KWO have received numerous reports of women fleeing while pregnant, or right after giving birth. While displaced, people must live in very poor conditions, moving suddenly and often, escaping SAC soldiers and their weapons, constantly at risk of injury or death from landmines, air strikes, and artillery shelling. There is little access to clean water and food, to education, sanitary facilities, and health services, including maternal and paediatric health care.[1]
Women and girls who remain in their villages are also particularly vulnerable to threats and attacks from Burma Army soldiers since many local men are forced to flee to escape systematic arrest and torture by the junta. In one case reported to KHRG, SAC soldiers tortured the wife and child of a villager in order to obtain information about his whereabouts following a nearby bomb explosion.[2] Gross human rights violations are being committed by the military junta against girls in Burma, including forced labour, use of human shields, air strikes and shelling, trafficking in human beings, and sexual violence. Girls’ basic rights are being violated in Karen State every minute of every day, including today.
Protection challenges and justice
Under previous military regimes, violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual violence and gang rape, committed by Burma Army soldiers was taking place on a wide scale, particularly in conjunction with forced portering.[3] These military leaders and soldiers enjoyed total impunity for their crimes, and still do to this day. Lack of jurisdiction over Burma Army personnel by the civilian justice systems remains one of the biggest challenges in combatting sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the country. Since the 2021 military coup, villagers in Karen State have reported sending young women and girls to hiding sites to protect them whenever the Burma military enters their village or sets up nearby camps.[4]
Crimes of sexual nature committed by the Burma Army soldiers do not get reported, as impunity prevails. Since the coup, SGBV crimes reported in Karen areas are those perpetrated by community and family members, which are prosecuted through local community procedures which are still functioning, albeit with even fewer resources and less security. The current situation of conflict hinders the legislation and justice mechanisms in place, that already fell short of ensuring adequate protection for survivors. Stigma placed by the community on survivors of SGBV diminish reporting, justice-seeking processes, and the welfare of women and girls. Girl victims of sexual violence do not expect to get justice; it is not something we can celebrate today.
Call to action
In the current situation in the country, girls in Southeast Burma are increasingly exposed to violence and insecurity. KWO and KHRG urge the international community to:
Put pressure on the military junta and its army to stop killing and injuring children, and eradicate all violence against girl children. Stop selling weapons, ammunition, aircrafts, and jet fuel to the military junta, and sanction those companies and individuals responsible for arms deals. Make violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, a stand-alone designation criterion for sanctions where possible, and include it as a criterion in more sanction regimes. Direct funding earmarked for protection services for victims of SGBV and other forms of violence to local existing CSO/CBOs (in Burma and neighbouring countries) already operating on the ground so that they can expand and develop support programmes and services, including child protection services. Prioritise and strengthen methods of humanitarian aid delivery that are cross border and organised by local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers that have the networks for local implementation of support programmes. Do not act in any way to legitimise the SAC. Do not collaborate with the SAC to implement any development or humanitarian programs. Take immediate action to bring military leaders in Burma who permitted and perpetuated systematic and widespread child abuse, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) to justice in international courts and tribunals..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Women's rights, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
189.37 KB
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Description:
"ယနေ့ကျရောက်သော နိုင်ငံတကာမိန်းကလေးများနေ့တွင် မြန်မာပြည်အရှေ့တောင်ပိုင်းရှိ အမျိုသမီး ငယ်လေးများ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသော အခက်အခဲများကို မီးမောင်းထိုးပြလိုပါသည်။ ၎င်းတို့အတွက် ငြိမ်း ချမ်းစွာ အသက်ရှင်နေထိုင်နိုင်ရန်၊ အစားအစာလုံလောက်ရန်၊ ပညာသင်ယူခွင့် ရရှိရန်၊ ကျန်းမာရေး လက်လှမ်းမီနိုင်ရန် နှင့် တရားမျှတမှုရရှိရန် အခက်အခဲများစွာ ရှိပါသည်။ ၎င်းတို့မှ ကလေးသူငယ် များကဲ့သို့ အသက်ရှင်ပြီး လုံခြုံသည့်ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်တွင်ကြီးထွားလာရန် အခက်အခဲများစွာရှိနေပါ သည်။ ယနေ့ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သော နိုင်ငံတကာ မိန်းကလေးများနေ့တွင် ကရင်လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့နှင့် ကရင်အမျိုးသမီးအစည်းအရုံးတို့မှ မိန်းကလေးများအား အကြပ်အ တည်းထဲသို့ တွန်းပို့စေသည့် မြန်မာပြည်အတွင်းဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသော အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကိုရပ်တန့်နိုင်ရန် အတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအား လုပ်ဆောင်သင့်သည့် အရာများကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန် တိုက်တွန်းလိုပါသည်။
မိန်းကလေးများအပေါ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက်ပိုင်း စစ်ကောင်စီ၏အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့် ထိုးစစ်ဆင်မှုများ ကြောင့် ကရင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်း ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်ရသူ ၃၅၀၀၀၀ ကျော်ရှိလာသည်။ အမျိုးသမီး များသည် နေရပ်ရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေထိုင်ရမှုများကို မတူကွဲပြားစွာ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရပြီး ထွက်ပြေး တိမ်းရှောင် နေရသူထက်ဝက်သည် ကလေးသူငယ်များဖြစ်နေပါသည်။ ထိုကလေးငယ်များ ထက်ဝက် သည် မိန်းကလေးများဖြစ်ကြသည်။ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေရသူများသည် ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာ ရရှိမှု၊ မြေမြှုပ် မိုင်းပေါက်ကွဲမှု၊ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုနှင့် လက်နက်ကြီး အန္တရာယ်များကို ရင်ဆိုင်ကြရသည်။ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေရချိန်တွင်လည်း ဆင်းရဲကြမ်းတမ်းမှုများအတွင်း နေထိုင်ကြရပြီး စစ်ကောင်စီ စစ်သားများနှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ ပစ်ခတ်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကို ရှောင်ရှားရန် မကြာခဏနှင့် အလျှင်အမြန်ရှောင် တိမ်း ကြရသည်။ ၎င်းတို့သည် သောက်ရေသန့်၊ အစားအစာ၊ ပညာရေး၊ ရေဆိုးစနစ်နှင့် မိခင်နှင့်က လေးကျန်းမာရေး ကဲ့သို့သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှု စသည်များကို လက်လှမ်းမီနိုင်ခြင်း မရှိကြ ပါ။[1]
စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ဖမ်းဆီးမှုနှင့် ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများကို အမျိုးသားများမှ ရှောင်ရှားနေချိန်တွင် ကျေး ရွာများအတွင်း ရှိနေသေးသော အမျိုးသမီးများနှင့် မိန်းကလေးငယ်များသည် စစ်ကောင်စီ စစ်သား များ၏ ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုနှင့် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုအန္တရာယ်များကို ရင်ဆိုင်ကြရသည်။ ကရင်လူ့အခွင့်အရေး အဖွဲ၏ အစီရင်ခံစာတစ်ခုထဲတွင် ဗုံးပေါက်ကွဲမှုဖြစ်ပွားပြီးနောက် သံသယရှိသူ အမျိုးသား၏ အ ကြောင်းကိုသိရှိရန် စစ်ကောင်စီစစ်သားများမှ ထိုအမျိုးသား၏ ဇနီးနှင့် ကလေးကို ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက် ခဲ့ပါသည်။[2] မြန်မာပြည်အတွင်း မိန်းကလေးများအပေါ် အဓ္ဓမခိုင်းစေမှု၊ လူသားဒိုင်း အဖြစ်အသုံးပြုမှု၊ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုနှင့် လက်နက်ကြီးပစ်ခတ်မှု၊ လူကုန်ကူးမှု၊နှင့် လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ အကြမ်းဖက်မှု စသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှု အများကို စစ်ကောင်စီမှ ချိုးဖောက်နေပါသည်။ ကရင်ပြည်နယ် အတွင်းတွင် မိန်းကလေးငယ်များ၏ အခွင့်အရေးများသည် နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ ချိုးဖောက်ခံနေရပါသည်။
အကာအကွယ်ရရှိမှုဆိုင်ရာ စိန်ခေါ်မှုများနှင့် တရားမျှတမှု
လွန်ခဲ့သည့်စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်မှုများ အောက်တွင် အထူးသဖြင့် ပေါ်တာထမ်းခိုင်းမှုများနှင့်ဆက်စပ်ပြီး စစ် သားများသည် အမျိုးသမီးများနှင့် မိန်းကလေးများအပေါ် လိင်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ၊ အုပ်စုလိုက် မုဒိန်း ကျင့်မှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့်ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထိုကျူးလွန်သူစစ်ခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် စစ် သားများသည် ၎င်းတို့ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သောပြစ်မှုများအတွက် ပြစ်ဒဏ်ကင်းလွတ်ခွင့် အပြည့်အဝ ရရှိခဲ့ကြ သည်။ မြန်မာပြည်၏ အရပ်သားတရားရေးစနစ်မှ စစ်တပ်အပေါ် လွမ်းမိုးနိုင်မှုမရှိခြင်းသည် ကျား၊မ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ကာကွယ်တားဆီးရန် အဓိကစိန်ခေါ်မှုတစ်ခုဖြစ်cခဲ့သည်။ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ် စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုဖြစ်စဉ် ပြီးနောက်ပိုင်းတွင် ကရင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိရွာသားများသည် စစ်ကောင်စီ စစ်သားများ ရွာအတွင်း သို့မဟုတ် ရွာအနီးတွင်စခန်းချသောအခါ အမျိုးသမီးငယ်များကို ပုန်းခိုသည့် နေရာများသို့ပို့ ဆောင်ကြကြောင်းတင်ပြခဲ့ကြပါသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီစစ်သားများကျူးလွန်သော လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့်ဆက်စပ်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများသည် ပြစ်ဒဏ် ကင်းလွတ်ခွင့် အလေ့အထ ရှိနေသောကြောင့် ကျူးလွန်ခံရသူများအနေဖြင့် တိုင်ကြားခြင်းမပြုကြပါ။ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းကတည်းက ကရင်ဒေသအတွင်း တိုင်ကြားခဲ့ကြသော ကျား၊မ အခြေပြုလိင်အကြမ်း ဖက်မှုများသည် လူမှုအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအတွင်းနှင့် မိသားစုဝင်များ ကျူးလွန်သော ပြစ်မှုများသာ ဖြစ်ကြ သည်။ ဒေသတွင်းရှိနေသော တရားရေးစနစ်များသည် အရင်းအမြစ်နှင့် လုံခြုံရေး အားနည်းသော် လည်း ထိုပြစ်မှုများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းပေးနေကြရသည်။ ယခုဖြစ်ပွားနေသော ပဋိပက္ခများသည် ဥပဒေပြုရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတမှုယန္တရားများကို နှောင့်နှေးစေပါသည်။ လူမှုအသိုက်အဝန်းမှ လိင်အ ကြမ်းဖက်မှု ကျူးလွန်ခံရသူများအား အပြစ်တင်ဝေဖန်မှုပြုခြင်းသည်လည်း လိင်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုနှင့် ပတ်သက်သည့် တိုင်ကြားမှု၊ တရားမျှတမှုဆိုင်ရာ ရှာဖွေရေးလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များနှင့် ကျူးလွန်ခံရသူများ၏ ကိုယ်စိတ်ကျန်းမာရေး နှင့်လုံခြုံရေးများကို ထိခိုက်စေပါသည်။ လိင်အကြမ်းဖက်မှု ကျူးလွန်ခံရသည့် မိန်းကလေးငယ်များသည် ယခုလက်ရှိအချိန်တွင် တရားမျှတမှုရရှိရန် မျှော်လင့်ချက် နည်းနေသေး သောကြောင့် ဤနေ့သည်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အတွက် လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ အကြမ်းအဖက်မှုအတွက် တရားမျှတမှု ရရှိနိုင်သည့်နေ့တစ်နေ့မဟုတ်သေးပါ။
လုပ်ဆောင်ရန်ဖိတ်ခေါ်ခြင်း
မြန်မာပြည်၏လက်ရှိအခြေအနေတွင် မြန်မာပြည်အရှေ့တောင်ပိုင်းရှိ မိန်းကလေးငယ်များသည် အ ကြမ်းဖက်မှုနှင့် မလုံခြုံမှုများကိုပို၍ ရင်ဆိုင်လာရပါသည်။ ကရင်အမျိုးသမီးအစည်းအရုံးနှင့် ကရင်လူ့ အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့တို့မှ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းကိုအောက်ပါအတိုင်းတိုက်တွန်းလိုပါသည်။
မိန်းကလေးများကို သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများ၊ ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရစေခြင်းများနှင့် မိန်းကလေးများ အ ပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ ရပ်တန့်သွားစေရန် စစ်ကောင်စီအပေါ် ဖိအားများ ပေးရန်။ စစ်ကောင်စီအား စစ်လက်နက်၊ လက်နက်ခဲယမ်းများ၊ လေယဉ်များနှင့် လေယဉ်ဆီများ ရောင်းချခြင်းများကို ရပ်တန့်ပြီး စစ်ကောင်စီအား လက်နက်ရောင်းချရာတွင်ပါဝင်သည့် ကုမ္ပဏီများနှင့် လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များကို စီးပွားရေးပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ ပြုလုပ်ရန်။ လိင်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုအပါအဝင် အမျိုးသမီးများနှင့် မိန်းကလေးငယ်များအပေါ်ကျူးလွန်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ဖြစ်နိုင်လျှင် ပိတ်ဆို့အရေးယူမှုအတွက် သတ်မှတ်ချက်တစ်ခုအဖြစ် ထားရှိပြီး နောက်ထပ်ပြုလုပ်မည့် ပိတ်ဆို့အရေးယူမှုများတွင်ထည့်သွင်းသွားရန်။ ကျား၊မ အခြေပြုလိ င်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုကျူးလွန်ခံရသူများအား အကာအကွယ်ပေး နိုင်ရန်အ တွက် ငွေကြေးထောက်ပံ့မှုများထားရှိပြီး မြေပြင်တွင်လှုပ်ရှားလုပ်ကိုင်နေသော အရပ်ဖက်နှင့် လူထုအခြေပြုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများသို့ ထောက်ပံ့မှုများအားတိုက်ရိုက်ပေးသွားရန်။ သို့မှသာလျှင် ၎င်းတို့မှ ကလေးသူငယ်များအတွက် အကာအကွယ်ပေးရေး ဝန်ဆောင်မှုအပါအဝင် ထောက် ပံ့မှုအစီအစဉ်များနှင့် ဝန်ဆောင်မှုများကို ချဲ့ထွင်လုပ်ဆောင် နိုင်မည်။ ဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပေးဆောင်ရာတွင် ဒေသခံများနှင့်ပုံမှန်ထိတွေ့မှုရှိပြီး ၎င်းတို့၏ ယုံကြည်မှုကို ရရှိထားသော စွမ်းရည်နှင့်ကွန်ယက်ရှိပြီးသား ဒေသခံ CSO/CBO များနှင့် ဝန်ဆောင်မှုပေး သည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို ဦးစားပေးရန်နှင့် ထိုအစုအဖွဲ့များ၏ ဝန်ဆောင်မှုပေး သည့် နည်းလမ်းများကို အားဖြည့်လုပ်ဆောင်ပေးရန်။ စစ်ကောင်စီကို အသိအမှတ်ပြုစေမည့်အရာများကို မပြုလုပ်ရန်။ စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့်ပူးပေါင်းပြီး မည့်သည့်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးနှင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုလုပ်ငန်းများကို မပြုလုပ်ရ။ ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများနှင့် ကျား၊မအခြေပြု လိင်အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ အား ခွင့်ပြုခဲ့ပြီး စနစ်တကျကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော စစ်ခေါင်းဆောင်များကို နိုင်ငံတကာ ခုံရုံးများတွင် အရေးယူလုပ်ဆောင်မှုများ ချက်ချင်းလုပ်ဆောင်ရန်။..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Women's rights, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
145.64 KB
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Sub-title:
Sequel Report: Civilians, including children, were allegedly hit with artillery in different incidents
Description:
"Since the military attacked M’dat (မဒပ်) village with artillery shells in May 2022, leading to a 10-year-old boy and his mother being seriously injured (Child Injured in M’dat Village, Mindat Township), it has been alleged that villages in Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်) have suffered from further artillery shelling, the destruction of houses and the killing of civilians.
In one such case, the older brother of the child originally reported on by Myanmar Witness was allegedly killed by artillery fire a little over a month after the original incident.
In this report, Myanmar Witness has investigated reports of civilian damage and deaths in Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်) as a result of artillery fire from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 274 military base. This included:
reports of homes destroyed and villagers killed in Mui Tui (မွီတွီ) village on 16 June;
the reported death of the older brother of the child whose injuries were investigated in a previous report on M’dat village, on 29 June 2022; and,
the destruction of homes in Kyam Ain Nu (ကာအိမ်း) village, also on 29 June 2022.
These villages are all located within a 7 or 8km firing range from the LIB 274 military base, located in Mindat Town (မင်းတပ်). Myanmar Witness was able to previously verify the location of the LIB 274 base in Mindat Town (မင်းတပ်), Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်), Chin State (ချင်းြပည်နယ်).
On 16 June 2022, there were reports of villagers killed by artillery fire in Mui Tui (မွီတွီ) village, in Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်). No user-generated content (UGC) could be verified of the dead individuals in Mui Tui (မွီတွီ), but their images match those described to have died and
Myanmar Witness geolocated other images of destruction to the village.
On the morning of 29 June 2022, the Chindwin News Agency, reported that the 274th Light Infantry Battalion in Mindat fired medium artillery mortar rounds at civilian areas in Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်), Chin State (ချင်းြပည်နယ်) killing a 13 year old boy in M’dat village (မဒပ်).
The boy was reportedly the elder brother of a 10-year-old boy who was seriously injured, also by artillery fire, along with his mother on 23 May 2022. This event has been described in more detail in Myanmar Witness’ report Child Injured in M’dat Village, Mindat Township.
Myanmar Witness was not able to thoroughly verify images of the dead child, but analysed images of a deceased child alleged to be the child in question, with wounds consistent with those described in eye-witness reports provided to Myanmar Witness by a partner.
There was no verifiable footage of the attack itself, meaning it was not possible for Myanmar
Witness to independently verify how the child was killed. However, Myanmar Witness has
geolocated images alleged to be of the child’s home in M’dat (မဒပ်) village. The hole in the wooden wall and the inside structure of the house, as well as some damaged foliage close to the home all indicate a strike of some sort that had caused this destruction. This was the same house geolocated by Myanmar Witness in the incident involving the child’s brother (see: Child Injured in M’dat Village, Mindat Township).
Images of ammunition reportedly found in M’dat (မဒပ်) village after the attack are consistent with locally produced 120mm mortar rounds known to be used by the Myanmar military. Myanmar Witness verified the presence of a military base within firing range of the village and identified a mortar present at the base in our last report, although it was not possible to verify whether it was a model capable of firing the particular rounds alleged. Attribution is difficult without verified UGC to confirm the munitions were found in M’dat (မဒပ်), their origin, or images of the deceased child.
While Myanmar Witness was able to identify a likely location for images of a destroyed home in Kyam Ain Nu consistent with media reporting, it was not possible to confirm this with 100% certainty or independently verify that the home was destroyed on 29 June 2022.
These collective incidents in Mindat Township (မင်းတပ်မိနယ်) are some of many monitored and analysed by Myanmar Witness documenting alleged indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas in Myanmar since the coup which has - in this case - allegedly led to the deaths of civilians.
To read the full report download the PDF.
[Warning: Graphic] has been inserted ahead of links to sources that show graphic and distressing images of injured or dead persons..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Witness
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-04
[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, Chin State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
8.88 MB (Original version) - 27 pages
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Sub-title:
Inflation is Contributing to Rising Levels of Poverty in Southeastern Burma as Civilians Struggle to Cope Amid Worsening Uncertainty
Description:
"Throughout the month of September, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) reported on the challenges being faced by civilians in Southeastern Burma. Amid increasing clashes and worsening conflict, the military junta has also weaponized the law to work in their favor. Despite being an international human right, those abducted, detained and charged by the Burma Army are being denied their right to a free and fair trial. The regime continues to deny family members any information about loved ones and has continued to fabricate charges in sham trials.
In addition to the junta making a mockery of the rule of law, they continue to deploy strategies and activities which terrorize local populations. Across HURFOM’s target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region, people of all ages and backgrounds are being targeted. On 2 September 2022, four young nursing students were arrested, and one of them was sent to a notorious camp known as the “MI detention center.”
A witness described that these four young men were beaten and arrested by junta soldiers while the troops raided the hostels: “They came with no arrest warrants but complete lists of who they wanted and arrested four of these students.” They are still under investigation, according to friends and families. Another local civilian from Painnae Taw confirmed that in the last two days, junta forces have been checking the families’ registration lists and guest checks in some wards in Dawei downtown.
Students, including young children, also continue to have education prospects threatened and undermined by the military’s presence in Burma. Parents are extremely worried about the uncertainties their children face at school given the heightened presence of the military junta. As a result, some University students in Mon State who have already passed their matriculation exam have chosen to put their studies on hold due to unsettled political agreements and security concerns.
Top universities including the University of Medicine, Economics, Computer Studies and the Education Degree College institute are located in Yangon, Mandalay and Magway. As these institutions are located in cities that are very far from Mon State, parents worry: “Our child has a high enough score to join the University of Economics. However, it is scary to go to Yangon because it’s not peaceful there. I dare not send my child there. The current situation creates too much fear for me to send my child away,” said one parent from Mudon Township. A lack of alternatives means these students often attend local universities such as the one in Mawlamyine.
Despite this uncertainty, the junta is putting pressure on schools to open despite security concerns. Approximately ten government schools in Kyaing Seiki Township, Karen State were forced to reopen despite security concerns. Due to the armed conflicts in the villages, most villagers have closed the schools since June 2022: “Even though armed clashes are ongoing, the junta council is pressuring our village head and school officials to open government schools in Nan Tie Tun, Pha Yar Ngar Zu and Daung De village of Kha Lae – Da Gon Dai area.”
The junta issued the order to open schools, but the teachers, the parents, and the village administrators held a discussion. The security situation here remains unstable, so most teachers are afraid of teaching. “No one can guarantee the safety of students,” said a villager.
Parents told HURFOM that they could not send their children to area schools due to the instability and fighting in the area with armed forces: “If we send our children to school, we have to worry about them for the whole day. We don’t even dare go to work for our own livelihoods. If something happens, we would have to rush to school to pick up our children. Can the military guarantee the security of the children? If not, we will never send our children to school,” said a woman from Daung De village.
The junta forces have established bases at the Da Gon Dai Police Station and at nearby schools. A local news source also reported the Junta army placed active landmines on the school premises and put a ground-based artillery weapon in front of the school.
The insecurity across Burma is widespread. It extends to all social and economic sectors which the military has completely obliterated. In all of these circumstances, it is the people who continue to suffer the most. Those who have fled Burma for their safety, including human rights defenders, are still facing challenges in neighboring countries. HURFOM Program Director, Nai Aue Mon, spoke to Southeast Asia Globe on the security risks faced by activists who are living in exile stating: “The situation on the ground is still horrible, everyday people are living in unstable circumstances.”
Forced recruitment has also become a concerning issue across the region. More than sixty villagers were forced to flee their villages in Yebyu, Dawei fearing they would be abducted and forced to fight. Now, they are unable to return as the junta’s naval command seeks to expand their forces through advertising false promises of high pay and security. The military battalion conducting the forced recruitment is known as ‘Maw-Ra-Waddy-Naval Command,’ and operates under the management of Coastal Regiment Command in Ohn-Pin-Kwin, Yebyu, Dawei.
Further, as another month passes, it is also a reminder of the inaction of the international community. Rather than take steps to hold the Myanmar military accountable, numerous United Nations bodies have instead signed multiple Memorandum of understanding with the regime. It is disappointing to see such a contradictory approach to human rights from bodies who have set international standards that they are failing to oblige by. HURFOM reiterates the calls of our networks and members in condemning the atrocities taking place and calling for urgent action.
Situation Overview in Target Areas
Karen State
Locals in Karen State have reported worsening offensives between the military junta and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Troops from the Light Infantry Battalion No. 545, led by Captain Soe Min Thu and the Police Officer, Tun Thin Oo, have committed human rights violations against civilians: “Since mid-September, we have been facing lots of movement restrictions which directly impact us. We have no chance of working outside the village. There is extortion and sexual harassment against young women in the village,” a villager from Taung-Kyarinn village, Kawkareik said. “It appears like the junta is generating money under the name of security,” he added. They have extorted many young villagers. In some cases, the villagers’ motorcycles have been confiscated and forced to pay 200,000 MMK to be returned.
On September 13, troops indiscriminately fired artillery shells at the village. At least 14 houses were damaged, including a Buddhist monastery. Four villagers were injured. Among them, one Buddhist Monk was included: One of the village committee members said that: “Meanwhile, the Junta Army (LIB No. 545, 546, 310 and IB 22) deployed more troops to southern Kawkareik Township to conduct offensive against the KNLA B.6 and People Defense Forces. These militarization acts negatively affect the local inhabitants, including forced village sentry duties, unpaid labor, commandeering vehicles for their transportation, and porter services, looting,” a 25-year-old villager from Taung-Kyar-Inn, Kawkareik Township, told the reporters
In addition, concerns over landmines planted in civilian areas pose serious threats to local livelihoods. At the moment, no one dares to go and work in their own village. Residents said a drone flew over a military base in Hpa-An, Karen State, and then the junta opened fire and abducted at least two innocent civilians nearby, according to eyewitnesses on September 16th.
It was 8:00 PM and a drone flew over the LIB No. Armor Repair Unit. (151), which operated under the Military Council Division No. (22) in Hpa-an city Karen. Several indiscriminate gunshots were fired as the junta attempted to shoot down the drones. A source near the shooting described the arbitrary arrests: “An estimated 20 troops with guns pointed at the residents and grabbed two young men by accusing them of using drones and attempted to attack them. These young locals were ordinary civilians, and they were innocent.”
Mon State
Civilians in Mon State continue to live with the uncertainty surrounding the military’s midnight checks and raids. A group of approximately 30 members of the junta and militia groups, including members of the junta-backed village administration, have been conducting midnight searches in Ka Mar Mole village, in the Chaung Zone Township, Mon State. Villagers said they are worried about their safety.
“We don’t know when they will come to search our houses. They’ve said they’ll search for drugs, but we’re afraid that they will give us an irrational reason to arrest us,” said one villager. The military has presented unsubstantiated claims to justify the night searches. The junta forces are alleging that members of the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) are hiding in Ka Mar Mole village. They also claim that a Ka Mar Mole resident who is the biggest drug dealer in the village is supporting them. The military junta has also established many checkpoints where passengers traveling by car or motorbike are stopped and subjected to rigorous security checks.
The hardships in Burma are even taking a toll on the soldiers of the military who are serving on the front lines, and are being exploited by upper military officials. The primary way this takes place is through loans attached with high interest rates, according to one source. Family members of the junta soldiers are dependent on the military salaries, which are not sufficient to cover the rising costs of basic commodities. Family members then have to borrow money from senior military officials who are charging high interest rates: “My husband is on the front lines and my family lives in the battalion. His salary isn’t enough for us, so we have to borrow money from captains. Then we are in debt. It keeps going round in circles,” said the wife of a private soldier.
Meanwhile, the junta continues to abuse their power by extorting civilians for their money, property and possessions and even their time. Locals reported that in some villages in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State, the junta is forcing them to serve as sentries to protect their Administration Offices, schools and other community perimeters from attack. Although village security falls under the junta troops’ authority, the area’s ongoing conflicts have resulted in the soldiers forcing the local civilians to guard the villages and the junta-related departments and buildings: “They have been forcing us to take sentry duties for almost a year and a half. They ordered us to work for free. This is a form of forced labor.” said a civilian, age 45 who wished to remain anonymous.
Inflation has made every day decisions impossible as villagers must consider whether or not they will risk their lives to leave their homes and try to generate an income amid the fighting and possibility of being arrested and detained: “We are scared of being stuck between the two sides who are fighting. During this time, I cannot find enough income to support my family,” said a local resident. Villagers living in not only part of the eastern Kyaikmayaw Township, but also in some villages located along the side of Attaran River have been forced to guard their towns for the junta.
Indiscriminate firing and attacks are also threatening civilian security. On September 23 2022, at 2:00 in the morning, a young man from Kaloh village was shot and killed by the junta security troops in the village, Ye Township. Residents who witnessed the incident reported that the shooting happened during the curfew decree, which has increased fears. The deceased is 35-year-old U Naing Oo, a resident of Kaloh Village, who was shot while leaving his home: “When he was walking and crossing that road, he was shot dead by the deployed army” said another witness. He died on the spot due to the shooting. Naing Oo’s body was brought in a car and left at the village entrance. “Another case of losing a villager that will end like this without getting any justice.” a young villager expressed.
These attacks are mounting and further indicators of the miscarriages of justice that are ongoing in Mon State. Victims are entitled to reparations and accountability.
Tanintharyi Region
The situation in the Tanintharyi region is continuing to deteriorate. In the last six months alone, the junta-backed courts have imposed orders on approximately 42 political prisoners in Dawei Prison, according to the sources from Dawei Political Prisoners Network. At least 30 are still facing sham, closed-door trials. Most of those imprisoned in Dawei have been unlawfully charged under sections 505 A and B of Penal Code
Junta forces have been relentlessly arbitrarily arresting people. On 4 September 2022, three young people were driving a car in Nyang Yangtaung Ward, Dawei. According to the local witnesses, a group of police forces and soldiers were conducting a security check on a car and three people were arrested. The second source also confirmed that the junta checked and arrested the Honda Fit car driver and pointed the guns at the three men, forced them to kneel on the street and started beating them: “They were likely included in the list of arrest warrants, and that was why the three young men were taken. Their names and addresses are still being investigated,” a 50 year old man who talked to the reporters said. According to the HURFOM field research, there were about (19) civilians arrested in Dawei within a week, and only about (11) people were released by paying ransoms.
The junta forces have also carried out their campaign of deliberately destroying civilian properties. In Kyun-Su Town, Myeik District, troops destroyed 14 houses and seized land plots: “They destroyed and took the land with no compensation. They justified it by saying that it was for building the electricity department compound and office.” The director of the General Administration Department and the person in charge of the electricity department were the ones who gave the orders for confiscating the land and removing the houses. The dates this occurred was between September 3 and 6 at Ward no.3, Kyun-Su Town.
Reporters tried to contact one of the landowners, and she said most of the male heads of households living in these homes are currently working in the fishing boats. Some of them lived as day laborers in the plantation and orchards, and the rest of the family members found it difficult to move during the rainy season. The incidents happened while their husbands were away. A member of the destroyed family confided that there was no life security, no food, and now there was no place to live.
The growing military presence has made villagers fearful to leave their homes. The junta forces have been patrolling around the villages with approximately 200 soldiers in the Kanbauk village, Ka Laing Aung township, Dawei. Villagers dare not travel or go to the plantations. At least five villages have been under the control of the junta. More than 200 soldiers are based there. Locals are worried.
On September 9 at 9:30 PM, the joint forces of pro-junta militias and military forces (approximately 40 troops ) entered the Nyaung Zin village, Thayetchaung Township, Dawei, and fired discriminately at the civilians’ houses and harmed at least three women villagers. Three of them were shot in the shoulder and arm.
Ma Thin Myint, Daw Moe, and Daw Aye Shin were wounded by the indiscriminate gunfire. The junta and militias illegally burglarized villagers’ locked homes by kicking them in. They kicked the door and forced it open. Homeowners were taken out at gunpoint. Nyaung Zin villagers have kept organizing silent strikes and threatened not to go on any more strikes, and if they went out again, they threatened to burn down the whole village. In the case of terrorist attacks and lootings, the militias and soldiers mainly enter houses with shops and take valuable things such as phones and gold items by force.
Later that night at 3:30 a.m., a junta military council of Light Infantry Battalion #406, a convoy with 17 military trucks, entered Wa-kone village in Dawei Township by indiscriminately firing heavy weapons. Seven homes were destroyed. Villagers had to flee because of the attacks. The junta spent a night in the villages, destroyed things and stole the villagers’ belongings, including the motorbikes and valuable items.
Released political prisoners are also being targeted. A previously detained activist in Dawei Prison was re-arrested at around 2:30PM on 12 September 2022, according to his colleagues close to him. Ko Myo Minn Oo, age 22 a student at Dawei University of Technology, was arrested when he came to his work in Khon-Win-Dyt Ward, Dawei. This is the second time he was arrested: “the first time was in May last year,” his neighbor said. “He spent about 6 months in prison in October 2021, but then he was freed and released.” On September 11, one of his colleagues, Ko Aung Wayan Tun, a student at Dawei University of Technology, was also abducted by junta security forces during a midnight raid in Dawei downtown. It is not yet known why they were arrested.
The junta continues to violently abuse, beat, arbitrarily arrest, and destroy properties, and confiscate goods in Bawapin village, according to the villagers who are fleeing parts of Tanintharyi region regularly. A 50-year-old female villager, who fled with three children, said junta soldiers and their allied militias continue to commit illegal confiscation and destruction of villagers’ property. “Approximately 70 soldiers with full-armed forces and the local militias raided the village. After that, they arrested seven men and beat them. The villagers who escaped could not take anything with them. The soldiers picked up the remaining items they wanted and destroyed what they could not carry. It’s like a real battlefield.”
Young men continue to be accused of being affiliated with local resistance forces. At least five young civilians were abducted for having alleged ties with the People’s Defense Forces in Dawei
according to their friends, on the evening of September 22, 2022. Two detainees Maung Maung Lwin and Ko Thet, were natives of Yebyu township, and three originally from Dawei. These arbitrary arrests happened when a group of 10 junta troops and local pro-junta militias, raided Painnae-Taw Ward, Dawei: “Their motorcycles have been confiscated and the troops brought all five men to unknown places,” said a 45 year old witness.
Nonetheless, young brave activists in Dawei are still pursuing peaceful protests despite the grave danger and numerous challenges in their areas. “We must continue raising our voices as the revolution is longer than we predicted. We are worried that the movement’s momentum will slow down.”
Key Findings
Inflation across all target areas has had a devastating toll on civilians who are unable to have their most basic needs met.
Clashes have led to forced internal displacement in Burma as instability and tensions force people from their homes.
Concerns have spread as the military junta begins to make decisions which would bar competing, democratic parties from the next election in Burma. The military junta has been trying to change/manipulate the numbers of constituencies.
Motorcycles, mobile devices, and money are regularly confiscated and extorted from civilians at checkpoints stationed by the junta deliberately along key-routes. Civilians were forced to pay excessive bribes to retrieve their possessions. However, very few were able to afford the high costs.
Torture remains rampant in Burma, and across target areas where innocent civilians are subjected to grueling, horrifying acts by the junta to extract information.
The international community including UN bodies and ASEAN are not responding swiftly enough to the situation on the ground in Burma, which demands urgent attention and consequences for the junta.
Military impunity remains deeply ingrained into the institutions representing the Tatmadaw, which only emboldens the junta to continue perpetrating human rights violations.
Children have been targeted by the military junta, and deprived of their basic needs including medical attention, food, education and the right to live safely.
The arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention by the junta are ongoing, as are warrantless raids and indiscriminate firing into civilian areas.
Recommendations
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland immediately calls for the following:
● A referral of the situation on the ground in Burma made immediately by the United Nations Security Council to the International Criminal Court
● Concerted and coordinated action by global actors for an urgently mandated global arms embargo which would prevent the free flow of weapons into the hands of the murderous junta
● Aviation fuel sanctions to put an effective end to the airstrikes in Burma which have contributed to significant loss of life, particularly among innocent civilians
● Targeted sanctions on military junta officials, as well as their families, which puts holds on their financial assets and possessions and undercuts their ability to do corrupt business dealings abroad..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
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Sub-title:
Country’s military has deployed brutal violence to crush dissent since taking power in a 2021 coup but resistance is growing
Description:
"On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military took power in a coup, abruptly halting the country’s fragile transition towards democracy.
It justified the coup by alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election – which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won by a landslide. Independent observers have rejected such claims.
In the weeks following the coup, huge numbers of people took to the streets for mass protests. The military responded with deadly violence and imposed a campaign of terror, raiding homes and arresting anyone suspected of supporting democracy.
More than 15,500 people have been arrested as of September 2022 – a number that continues to rise. Reports of torture in prisons are common.
Many resorted to taking up arms to oppose the military, forming people’s defence forces. In some cases anti-coup groups are supported by established ethnic armed organisations that have fought against the military for decades.
Faced with defiant and widespread resistance, the military has been unable to consolidate its control of the country. It has deployed increasing brutal violence to try to crush dissent.
The UN’s human rights office said earlier this year that the military’s actions might amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Almost 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict since the coup, meaning more than 1.2 million are currently displaced. The economy is in crisis, and public services have collapsed.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Further cases against her, which could lead to decades more prison time, are ongoing..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-19
[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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Description:
"Eleven children were killed in junta air strikes in Let Yet Kone Village in Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region on Friday, after which junta soldiers cremated most of their bodies in Ye-U, about 11 km away, in an attempt to remove any trace of the killings, according to local sources.
Two regime Mi-35 helicopters attacked a monastic school in Let Yet Kone Village at 1 p.m. on Friday. Seven children were killed immediately, and 17 other people—three teachers and 14 students—were injured. Two more children died when ground troops raided the village.
Regime forces took the bodies of the seven children who were killed in the initial airstrike, and those who were injured, to a traditional medicine hospital in Ye-U overnight, and cremated their bodies at Ye-U cemetery the following day. They cremated two more bodies at the cemetery around 4 p.m. that day. Locals suggested those two might have been among the students taken for medical treatment at Ye-U traditional medicine hospital.
“Some of the children taken with the vehicle had their lower body parts or limbs severed. A [dismembered] child was wrapped and put in a bamboo basket [used as backpacks by Myanmar military troops]. There were pools of blood inside the school. Pieces of flesh were scattered all over the place, on fans, on the walls and on the ceiling,” said a villager who went to see the monastic school after the air strikes.
Another resident of Let Yet Kone said: “Parents of two children came to search for their children, but all that was left was the clothes of their children. The junta soldiers did not leave a single body part, so parents could not hold funerals.”
The bodies of four boys and two girls, along with a sack of body parts believed to be those of another victim, were cremated at Ye-U cemetery at around 6 a.m. on Saturday, and two more boys were cremated at 4 p.m., according to the Ye-U Township People’s Defense Force (PDF).
Junta troops forced a Let Yet Kone villager to drive the three injured teachers and 14 injured children as well as the bodies of the dead children to Ye-U on Friday evening.
A Ye-U resident who is familiar with the matter said: “The regime forces returned to Ye-U, carrying both the dead and injured children in a vehicle that they forcibly took from Let Yet Kone. The driver thought the bodies were of soldiers. He was shocked when he opened the sacks and found children.”
The injured people are being kept at the traditional medicine hospital in Ye-U, where junta troops have made their base in the town. Some children were seriously injured and had lost limbs.
It is not clear which battalions are responsible for the killings, but local resistance groups believe they belong to Light Infantry Battalion 701 based in Yangon’s Hmawbi, which is under Yangon Command, and Division 33 based in Sagaing.
Apart from the young children, seven other villagers including two teenagers aged 13 and 16 were killed. The five other victims included a woman and were aged 22, 31, 34, 37 and 49.
Junta troops carried out the air raid alleging that resistance fighters were at the village monastery, residents said.
The junta’s Myawady TV said in a newscast on Saturday, “The Myanmar military made checks in response to a tip-off that the Kachin Independence Army [KIA] and PDFs were planning to transport weapons via Let Yet Kone, and the village monastery was a hideout for National League for Democracy supporters and PDF members who extort money from locals and travelers.”
It added: “Civilians were killed as the KIA and PDFs used them as human shields in the exchange of fire.” However, local residents said it was a one-sided attack by junta soldiers.
Similar incidents involving child casualties occurred on Thursday and Saturday. Two displaced sisters aged 7 and 12 taking shelter at a monastery in Moebye on the Shan-Kayah border were killed in a junta artillery strike on the monastery on Thursday.
A 5-year-old boy was shot dead by junta soldiers in Kantbalu Township in Sagaing Region on Saturday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar military troops killed nearly 30 civilians in the east of Kantbalu Township and the west of Kyunhla Township in Kantbalu district, Sagaing Region over the past two weeks amid escalating fighting with resistance groups, local defense forces and residents said.
The clashes between junta troops and defense forces broke out in the last week of August, with the Myanmar military launching both air and ground attacks against villages.
On Aug. 24, the military started launching air strikes on some villages in the border area where Kantbalu, Kawlin and Kyunhla townships meet, leaving villagers dead, including a 6-year-old boy and a pregnant woman from Thit Saint Kone Village, Kantbalu Township.
On Sept. 2, at least two dozen bodies were found at the monastery in Tal Pin Seik Village, Kyunhla Township, according to residents, and local defense forces confirmed the victims were the same people who were arrested by the military between Aug. 25 and Aug. 28, said a member of the Red Eagle Kanbalu People’s Defense Force (PDF).
The military launched further air attacks on Aung Chan Thar, Lat Khote Pin and Koe Htaung Bo village tracts, and deployed army columns in the area. During these operations military troops torched several villages, he added.
Local PDF groups said the death toll could increase as bodies are usually found for several days after the military leaves an area it has controlled. They said they had heard reports of additional casualties, but could not yet confirm them.
The PDFs fought back, however, arresting two captains and a lieutenant from the junta’s military on Aug. 28. Within two weeks, the junta’s military had suffered at least 40 casualties in clashes with local resistance forces.
This did not prevent the Myanmar military from targeting civilian areas, however. About 200 houses were torched in Kyunhla Township alone in just four days, from Sept. 1-4, according to the Kyunhla Activists Group.
U Nay Zin Latt, the elected MP for Kantbalu Township and a member of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which was formed after last year’s coup by ousted lawmakers, said such murders by the Myanmar military were totally unacceptable.
He said that even the PDF groups, which were organized very recently, can distinguish a legitimate military target from a civilian area, but the military was targeting civilian areas that should not be considered combat zones.
“There were some operation plans that we have avoided even though we would have had a competitive edge over the enemy. But the military is killing civilians deliberately,” U Nay Zin Latt, who now also serves as an operations commander of Kant Balu Battalion 2, a local PDF in Kantbalu district.
At least three military columns are now deployed in Kantbalu district. They have arrested at least 100 civilians and taken them as prisoners of war, according to the local PDFs.
At least 10 villages were torched in Kantbalu district alone during the two-week period and more than 40,000 people in total have fled the area, residents said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-06
[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
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"At least 1,000 people from Paletwa Township on the border of Chin and Rakhine states in western Myanmar have been forced to flee their homes, following fighting between the ethnic Rakhine armed organization the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military, according to residents and local aid groups.
Fighting broke out near Ah Baung Thar, Hna Maung Dar and Ree Ma Wa villages on August 21. Clashes were still ongoing as of 30 August, with regime forces calling in artillery strikes.
Some 1,000 people from around 190 households fled their homes in the three villages on August 24 because of the fighting. The majority are staying with relatives and friends. But around 300 of those forced to flee are staying at a cyclone shelter in Paletwa Town, said residents of the town.
The largest number of refugees is from Ah Baung Thar Village, where 120 households fled. Another 70 households left Hna Maung Dar and Ree Ma Wa villages, according to the Raiki Community Development Foundation (RCDF), a local NGO.
With no one left in the villages, there are fears that the refugees will go hungry as they are now unable to harvest their crops.
“This is the time for people in the township to harvest their crops of yam, peanuts, sesame and rice,” said Salai Kyaw Shun, founder of RCDF.
“But as they [AA and junta forces] keep fighting and the conflict area gets larger, the people are going to face starvation. We have no idea what we will do if the fighting intensifies,” he said.
With transportation routes into Paletwa blocked by the military regime, the price of all goods has gone up and stocks are running low, said locals.
“We no longer have any place to run away to. If the fighting gets heavier, we are going to starve,” said a 62-year-old man from Ah Baung Thar Village, who is now staying in Paletwa Town’s cyclone shelter.
Before last year’s coup, fighting between the AA and the Myanmar military in Paletwa displaced some 5,000 people and was ongoing until November 2020, when an informal ceasefire was agreed.
Now more and more clashes are taking place in the township, with civilians being killed or displaced.
On August 24, a 40-year-old mother of three was killed in a landmine blast near Ah Baung Thar Village.
Paletwa Township is of strategic importance to both the AA and the Myanmar military. Currently, junta forces still control Paletwa, with Light Infantry Battalion 289 deployed along the banks of the Kaladan River, the major waterway connecting Chin and Rakhine states..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Internal displacement/forced migration in Chin State, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"This Short Update describes events that occurred in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District during the period between May and the first week of June 2022. It covers activities of the State Administration Council (SAC) Infantry Battalion (IB) #403 under Military Operation Command (MOC) #8 and Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1011 in the area between Meh Pree and Na Kyee army camps. The SAC and BGF troops committed human rights violations including the arrest of local villagers for use as human shields, torture and killing. SAC and BGF troop movement caused fighting and the local Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) planted landmines to defend their territory. Two of the landmines exploded, killing a villager’s goats. The villager relies on these goats for the family’s livelihood.[1]
Since the coup, State Administration Council (SAC)[2] troops under Military Operations Command (MOC)[3] #8[4] and Border Guard Force (BGF)[5] Battalion #1011 [formerly Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)[6] Battalion #333] in Na Kyee and Meh Pree army camps, Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District, have increased military activity and movement between their army camps. During patrols, these SAC and BGF troops passed villages including Aee Soo Hkee, Kloo Htaw Law (Kwee Htaw Law) and Wah K’Teh villages in Aee Soo Hkee village tract[7], and Wah Hkaw Pwa, K’Hser Hpoe and Meh Pree Hkee villages in Meh Pree Hkee village tract, in Bilin Township. Moreover, fighting sometimes broke out close to the villages when the SAC and BGF encountered local troops from the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO)[8]. Sometimes the local KNDO troop attacked them, while these SAC and BGF troops patrolled Karen National Union (KNU)[9]-controlled territory. During fighting, the SAC and BGF frequently conducted indiscriminate shelling close to villages. This shelling placed villagers’ lives at high risk and destroyed livestock and property. [Details of the fighting and shelling cannot be confirmed.]
As a result of the fighting and the SAC and BGF activities during the period between the beginning of May and June 3rd 2022, villagers were in danger of being hit by bullets and shrapnel, arrested for portering, used as human shields, as well as tortured and killed.
Killing
On about May 10th 2022 [the specific date cannot be determined], SAC troops [unknown battalion number] under MOC #8 and BGF troops from Battalion #1011, led by Battalion Deputy Commander Hennery, transported one of their injured soldiers from Meh Pree army camp to Na Kyee army camp for treatment. They stopped at Na Kyee army camp for about one week and then returned to Aee Soo Hkee army camp on May 18th 2022. When they arrived at W--- village, Aee Soo Hkee village tract [on their return to Aee Soo Hkee army camp on May 18th,] they shot at a villager [and a KNDO soldier] beside the village. Both died [immediately from the shooting].
The incident happened when the villager was going to buy food. The KNDO soldier had ordered him to buy food for the local KNDO troops. The villager and KNDO soldier had planned to meet along a path beside the village to exchange the food. The SAC and BGF shot them dead [as soon as they arrived at the meeting place]. Therefore, [villagers suspect that the] BGF and SAC were waiting [in secret] to shoot at them [the villager and KNDO soldier] beside the path since before they arrived. Then, the SAC and BGF troops headed back to Aee Soo Hkee army camp. During the night, other SAC and BGF troops [unknown battalions] passed through Kwee Htaw Law village from Aee Soo Hkee army camp back to Na Kyee army camp, which created a high security risk for civilians. The victims’ family could only get the corpses for the funeral the following day on May 19th 2022, after the local KNDO troop had made sure that there were no landmines around the incident place.
The name of the [civilian] victim is Saw[10] H---. He was 34 years old and leaves behind his five young children and his wife. Saw H--- had three sons and two daughters, and his youngest child is only around one year old. As he [Saw H---] was the only breadwinner for his family, it is a big loss for their family’s wellbeing and livelihood. His widow is now deeply concerned about the future education, wellbeing and livelihood of her five children. Even though her four older children could go to school last year, it is uncertain if they will be able to go to school this year or in the future. A family member expressed that, “Everything is a challenge for her [the victim’s wife] because she lost the breadwinner of the family. How can she raise the group of children without her husband? […] Now his children and wife are crying a lot and we cannot do anything now.” Villagers and village leaders from Aee Soo Hkee village tract provided 100,000 kyats [USD 54.01][11] to the victim’s family, but they have not received any compensation or support from any authorities or armed groups.
Use of human shields
Whenever the SAC and BGF who are based in Na Kyee and Meh Pree army camps patrolled the area between their army camps, they arrested any villagers they saw on their way to use as navigators and human shields. On May 3rd 2022, the SAC Infantry Battalion (IB)[12] #403[13] and BGF Battalion #1011 arrested a number of villagers [the total number cannot be confirmed] as human shields, including four villagers from Aee Soo Hkee village and four villagers from Wah K’Teh village, and released those villagers when they arrived at the next place [the exact location cannot be confirmed].
Physical assault
Moreover, one villager named Saw L--- from B--- village, was also physically assaulted by being slapped across the face while standing beside his house, without being given a reason. Saw L---’s face became swollen and it was painful. The incident happened in the afternoon of May 3rd 2022, and was perpetrated by a soldier from SAC Infantry Battalion (IB) #403 under MOC #8 and BGF Battalion #1011 under Bo[14] Henry, when the troops arrived at B--- village while patrolling between Meh Pree army camp and Na Kyee army camp.
Landmine incident
In May 2022 [specific dates are unknown], two landmine incidents happened near Kwee Htaw Law village, Aee Soo Hkee village tract, Bilin Township. The exploded landmines were planted by a local KNDO battalion, to defend their territory following fighting with the SAC and BGF. One of the incidents happened in a place just outside of Kwee Htaw Law village and the explosion killed three goats. The other landmine exploded in Chaw K’Lee Hta area, beside the Bu Law Kloe River and the explosion killed seven goats. The 10 goats were all owned by one villager from Kwee Htaw Law village. Moreover, the presence of landmines near the community farms [located outside of the villages] also created a high security risk for the nearby villagers [who had to travel to and work on their farms].
From early June 2022, the SAC and BGF stopped patrolling the area between their army camps, so the situation in Aee Soo Hkee village went back to normal and villagers did not have to face armed conflict, arrest, torture and the fear of human rights violations by armed actors. Therefore, villagers are now preparing their farms to start planting paddy for their livelihoods. However, fighting can happen when the SAC and BGF resume their troop movements. Just recently, villagers received information about the SAC and BGF resuming their military activities. So once again they fear conflict and other abuses so need to be cautious.
Further background reading on human rights violations in Doo Tha Htoo District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:
“Doo Tha Htoo District Short Update: SAC troops arbitrarily detain seven villagers, March 2022”, June 2022. “Doo Tha Htoo District Short Update: Deliberate SAC shelling at religious event results in civilian deaths, injuries and property damage in Tha Htoo Township, March 2022”, April 2022. “Doo Tha Htoo District Short Update: Ongoing fighting in Bilin Township leads to more than 2,000 IDPs, as well as injury and property damage, December 21st 2021 to January 11th 2022”, March 2022.
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in June 2022. It was provided by a community member in Doo Tha Htoo District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.
[2] The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup.
[3] Military Operations Command (MOC) is comprised of ten battalions for offensive operations. Most MOCs have three Tactical Operations Commands (TOCs) made up of three battalions each.
[4] This information was taken from the KNU Doo Tha Htoo News Facebook page, from a post dated May 5th 2022.
[5] Border Guard Force (BGF) battalions of the Tatmadaw were established in 2010, and they are composed mostly of soldiers from former non-state armed groups, such as older constellations of the DKBA, which have formalised ceasefire agreements with the Burma/Myanmar government and agreed to transform into battalions within the Tatmadaw.
[6] The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) was originally formed in 1994 as a breakaway group from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Since its separation from the KNLA in 1994, it was known to frequently cooperate with and support the Tatmadaw in its conflict with the KNLA. The original group underwent major change in 2010 as the majority of the original DKBA was transformed into the Border Guard Force (BGF), under the control of the Burma/Myanmar government.
[7] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large
village.
[8] The Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) was formed in 1947 by the Karen National Union and is the precursor to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Today the KNDO refers to a militia force of local volunteers trained and equipped by the KNLA and incorporated into its battalion and command structure; its members wear uniforms and typically commit to two-year terms of service.
[9] The Karen National Union (KNU) is the main Karen political organisation. It was established in 1947 and has been in conflict with the Burma/Myanmar government since 1949. The KNU wields power across large areas of Southeast Burma and has been calling for the creation of a democratic federal system since 1976. Although it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, relations with the government remain tense.
[10] Saw is a S’gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[11] All conversion estimates for the kyat are based on the July 5th 2022 mid-market exchange rate of 1,000 kyats to USD 0.54 (taken from https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/mmk-to-usd-rate).
[12] An Infantry Battalion (IB) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Yet up to date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. They are primarily used for garrison duty but are sometimes used in offensive operations.
[13] This information (battalion information) was taken from the KNU Doo Tha Htoo News Facebook page, from a post dated May 5th 2022.
[14] Bo is a Burmese title meaning 'officer'..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-22
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Anti-Personnel Landmines - Standards and mechanisms
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The fires also burned stashes of rice and forced more than 4,000 residents to flee.
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"Myanmar junta forces and members of an affiliated militia group torched most of the homes in a village in the central Magway region, another display of the regime’s reliance on arson in its fight to hold onto power 18 months after removing the democratically elected government in a coup.
Area residents on Thursday reported the arson to RFA Burmese, a day after Noeleen Heyzer, the U.N.’s special envoy for Myanmnar, called for an immediate end to violence in the Southeast Asian country and asked to see ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a meeting with the junta leaders.
Soldiers along with members of the Pyu Saw Htee militias supporting the regime began setting fire to more than 400 of the 500 houses in Ngatayaw village in Magway’s Yesagyo township on Wednesday morning, forcing more than 4,000 residents to flee, locals told RFA.
Some of the remaining houses were set ablaze on Thursday morning, said an Ngatayaw village resident who did not want to be named for safety reasons.
“The fires went out last night because it rained heavily at about 10 p.m.,” he said. “They started the fires again today at 8 a.m. until now. We can see the smoke billowing all the way up from here.”
Villagers watched from a distance as their town burned while soldiers randomly fired their weapons, he said.
Other residents said they fled to safety when Myanmar troops entered the community on Wednesday, adding that soldiers previously had raided their village four times, including on Aug. 10 when they set fire to 14 motorcycles.
“This is the fifth time we’ve had to run,” said one woman. “There is so much trouble that it’s terrible. They set fire to several houses the last time they came here. Now, the whole village is almost gone. I had to run with some stuff and the cows. I only have the clothes on my back.”
'House has gone to ashes'
Elderly, sick and disabled residents who could not run away remained in Ngatayaw on Wednesday amid the wreckage, villagers said.
Up to 200 or 300 baskets of rice that had been stored in some of the burned homes are now gone, they added.
Another woman from the village said she was lucky to get a lift out of the community on a motorcycle when soldiers began raiding homes.
“In the past, we had gotten through very, very hard times, but now our whole house has gone to ashes,” she said. “I’m 63 years old now, and I have never seen anything like this.”
The military has not yet issued any information about the burning of Ngatayaw village. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun previously told RFA that army columns did not enter villages or commit arson. He blamed the arson on the anti-junta People’s Defense Forces.
A member of the Yesagyo township’s People’s Defense Forces, a militia group fighting the regime, told RFA that an army column entered the Ngatayaw after a 15-minute clash with the local defense groups near the village around 9 a.m. Wednesday.
“There was a small clash between them and some local groups yesterday just before they entered the village,” he said. “There were Pyu Saw Htee members from their area along with them. They have been deployed in Minywa village for the past 12 days, and later about half of them launched the attack.”
The 150-member army column has been in the Yay Lei Kyun area, comprising more than 40 villages, since July 26, locals said.
At least 5,000 local residents have been forced to flee their homes because military troops have been active in several villages in the area, including Ngatayaw, Hlay Khoke, Minywa, Pauktaw, Nan U, Nay Yin, since last week, they said.
Junta soldiers burned the village of Hlay Khoke three times in the past few days, destroying more than 200 of the community’s 400 houses, they said.
The army has torched thousands of civilian homes in Magway and Sagaing region in northwestern Myanmar, where it has faced fierce opposition from local PDFs..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-18
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"The lack of technical details and progress of the peace talks amid ongoing land and air incursions in the borderlands has drawn criticism that the negotiations are superficial and hollow.
The Tatmadaw’s outreach to Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) in Myanmar for peace talks has drawn much domestic and international attention. The rare conciliatory tone towards rebel groups could be driven by growing international pressure to focus reconciliation efforts as constant fighting with these groups has resulted in heavy losses. Although many resistance groups adopted a wait-and-watch approach after the military takeover in 2021, the junta has managed to convince 10 out of 21 EAOs (both signatories and non-signatories to the 2015 nationwide ceasefire agreement) to enter into a ceasefire—mostly those that are not in a direct conflict with the regime.
Both SSA and UWSP have sought to further consolidate their positions in the Shan state amidst the ongoing competition amongst the EAOs there.
The Tatmadaw’s engagement with the EAOs is more on an individual basis rather than on a group level. The country’s Army General Min Aung Hlaing held individual meetings in May 2022 with leaders of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), and the United Wa State Party (UWSP). Both SSA and UWSP have sought to further consolidate their positions in the Shan state amidst the ongoing competition amongst the EAOs there. While the SSA is facing resistance from other rebel groups in the state, the UWSP has a stronghold in areas under its command, supported by Beijing across the border. Meeting the EAOs individually is easier for the junta to attend to their separate and unique demands.
However, some EAOs including the Karen National Union (KNU), Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Chin National Army (CNA), which have engaged in violent clashes with the regime in recent months, have refused to join the latest round of peace talks. They have said that the negotiations lack inclusion given that the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) and People’s Defence Force (PDF) were not invited. The junta has denounced the PDF, NUG, and Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) as terrorist groups and refused to include them in the peace talks. The recent round of military operations in Karen State in June 2022 could also play a role in dissuading the KNU from reciprocating the peace overtures. The Arakan Army (AA) has also expressed cynicism about the talks given that the Tatmadaw has waged offensives, occupied religious buildings, and set up military posts in public spaces in Rakhine.
The EAOs adopted divergent reactions to the February 2021 coup, only some expressed willingness in joining forces with the NUG to fight the Tatmadaw while a few ended up switching sides.
Historically, most EAOs have played a minimal role in anti-coup movements given that they have neither had a loyalty to the Tatmadaw nor the National League for Democracy (NLD). Many rebel groups felt that the NLD deprioritised their interests and well-being when they entered into a power-sharing arrangement with the junta in 2015. Therefore, the EAOs adopted divergent reactions to the February 2021 coup, only some expressed willingness in joining forces with the NUG to fight the Tatmadaw while a few ended up switching sides. For instance, although the SSA-S supported the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the coup in 2021, it has now changed its position and was the first EAO to accept the junta’s recent ceasefire offer. EAOs will likely continue their strategy of hedging for individual mileage.
Figure 1: A map of Myanmar showing key areas contested by Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs)
Superficial engagement rather than a genuine outreach
The lack of technical details and progress of the peace talks amidst ongoing land and air incursions in the borderlands has drawn criticism that the negotiations are superficial and hollow. There are three possible reasons for the peace overtures. First, the reconciliation efforts appear to be a smokescreen to conceal the junta’s real intent of continuing their brutal crackdown against those directly and indirectly affiliated with the resistance—from the PDF soldiers to political dissidents to anti-regime netizens. Second, it could be a ruse to sow discord amongst the groups and find ways to dissuade the EAOs from aligning with the NUG. It could also be a “divide and rule” policy to delegitimise and instigate conflict given that some of these EAOs continue to have a factitious relationship with one another. It could also be a distraction to prevent them from aligning with the NUG. Third, the ongoing land and aerial attacks could be a strategy for the junta to come to the negotiating table from a position of power and strength. It may be using its military aggression against rebel fighters and civilians to have an upper hand at these talks.
The negotiations are unlikely to lead to a new and lasting ceasefire agreement given the junta’s tendency of not sticking to its own commitments in the past and the lack of group unity during these peace talks.
Accepting the junta’s offer for peace talks, however, not only legitimises the regime but also serves as a reminder that rebel groups do not have much agency in Centre-peripheral relations. The regime’s vision for nation-building and national unity resulted in processes of discrimination and subordination of minority groups. It remains to be seen what roles would play in the coming years, and whether they will receive more autonomy in the country. After all, the Tatmadaw perceives itself as guardians of the unitary state and strongly opposes efforts toward federalism or equal distribution of power between the Centre and the peripheries. It is also uncertain whether the junta will continue its conciliatory and accommodating stance toward the EAOs once it has consolidated more power across the country. The negotiations are unlikely to lead to a new and lasting ceasefire agreement given the junta’s tendency of not sticking to its own commitments in the past and the lack of group unity during these peace talks.
The recent developments do not bode well for the NUG which wants EAOs to play ball with them, either through an alliance or by remaining neutral. Efforts by the ousted government to encourage rebel groups to align with them appear to be challenging given the trust deficit between the two sides. Several “peace conferences” in recent years have done little to overcome the deep resentment and distrust between Bamar and ethnic groups. The KIO’s efforts to encourage EAOs who do not want to join the peace talks to side with the NUG and PDF have had limited success as well. The lack of positive engagement with the NUG raises the question of how far the ousted government will go to keep its legitimacy intact on the domestic and international levels. At the moment, some Burmese still think that the NUG is their legitimate government and a few western countries continue to engage with them informally. There are also concerns about whether the international community has provided sufficient support to these pro-democracy forces to ensure that Myanmar does not slide into the zone of neglect, indifference, and silence given the disproportionate attention given to the Ukraine crisis..."
Source/publisher:
Observer Research Foundation
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-16
[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:
A Myanmar Commentary by Kyaw Lynn
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"Tensions are rising in Arakan (Rakhine State) where a ceasefire exists between the Myanmar military government and Arakan Army. On the surface, the relative stability contrasts with the chaos that has enveloped many other parts of the country following last year’s coup. In this commentary, Kyaw Lynn analyses the changing landscape highlighting that, while confrontations are occurring, neither side appears yet ready to return to open warfare. “Retaliatory” actions, though, are increasing.
Twenty months after an informal ceasefire between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA), social and political stability in Arakan (Rakhine State) are deteriorating, leading many local people to worry about the future. Many changes have taken place in the country since the introduction of this de facto ceasefire, not least the coup by the military State Administrative Council (SAC) in February 2021. And it now seems that both parties to the agreement – the Myanmar military and AA – are starting to recalculate their military strategies and political interests. Tit for tat actions have become commonplace. This was highlighted on 22 June, when SAC troops arrested 30 local Rakhine people in response to the AA arresting three government staff from the “Intelligence and Investigation Department” in Mrauk-U, the ancient capital of Arakan and one of the most conflict-sensitive townships in Rakhine State.
Before this event, tensions were visibly growing between the SAC and the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the AA. In the preceding weeks, the AA had arrested military and police force members in Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun and Tin Nyo, Mrauk-U township, as well as Ramree in southern Rakhine State. As an explanation, the ULA-AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha told a party press conference on 14 June that they had been arrested in response to the growing number of ULA and AA members being seized by the SAC authorities in different parts of the state. “Hostage exchange” is possible, he said, if the SAC is willing. In the ULA-AA’s defence, he argued that the arrests were an “equivalent retaliation” for the SAC’s breaking the promises of the informal ceasefire not to arrest unarmed and non-uniformed members on both sides. Khaing Thu Kha also had sobering words of warning. During the press briefing, he repeatedly stated that the outbreak of “another war” could happen at any time and that mediation through third parties was not working.
The people continue to watch the situation closely. But the past month has not shown any notable improvements, and it seems that the spate of arrests are just the tip of the iceberg in revealing deeper reasons for the changing trends in Arakan politics. A critical time is approaching.
A ceasefire of distrust
When the informal ceasefire was initiated in November 2020, it caused surprise for many people both inside and outside of the country. Coming in the aftermath of the 2020 general election, the timing seemed odd, and for many observers the real intentions of the leaders of the Myanmar military for accepting such a ceasefire were only revealed when they staged their coup on 1 February 2021. Until the ceasefire turning-point, it was Myanmar’s military leaders who had always refused to recognise the ULA-AA’s existence in Arakan and insisted that they would eradicate the movement by military means in line with their “black and white” definitions of combatting opponents. In essence, “white” areas are those that the government is perceived to control and “black” are under armed opposition which, military leaders say, must be destroyed.
Certainly, in the months following the coup the SAC leaders sought to take advantage in Arakan by a combination of different measures. On the political front, the SAC attempted to build on the rivalry between the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Rakhine political parties – the Arakan National Party (ANP) and Arakan Front Party (AFP) – in the electoral space. To try and achieve legitimacy for the SAC, a number of ANP members were included in SAC administrative structures and Dr. Aye Maung, the AFP chair and a former ANP leader, was released from prison. Such gestures appeared more profitable for the SAC in Rakhine State where, given the electoral opposition to the NLD in many constituencies (especially in the north and centre of the state), the regime faced less protest reaction in urban areas when compared to other parts of the country following the coup.
During these difficult months, the AA ceasefire further added to a lessening in security and political challenges faced by the regime after the SAC’s assumption of power – both in Arakan and Myanmar at large. For several months the security situation appeared more stable in Arakan in contrast to the chaos that had enveloped other parts of the country following the coup. This meant that, at the union level, the SAC military no longer needed to provide intensive operational attention to Rakhine State which, until the AA ceasefire, had been the most active conflict region in Myanmar. In line with this new strategy, the SAC leadership sought to contain ULA-AA activities on the one hand while taking profits from political stability and economic extraction on the other. Located on the country’s western seaboard, Rakhine State is an important source of revenue to the regime, including oil and gas pipelines that run to Yunnan Province in China.
Containing the ULA-AA, however, did not prove a simple option after several years of warfare. To implement this policy, a raft of activities was laid out. These included re-building military and police apparatus across the state and adjoining Paletwa township in Chin State where the ULA-AA is also based; increasing intelligence surveillance; re-organising broken administrative structures by forcing village-tract leaders not to cooperate with the ULA authorities; and threatening ULA administrative and judiciary activities in territories that the SAC regards as its exclusive sphere of influence.
The main focus of these pressures was generally in urban areas of northern Rakhine State as well as southern townships, such as Kyaukpyu, Ramree and Taungup, where there had been no strong AA movement during the previous round of conflict. At the same time, the SAC military presence was reinforced by the maintenance of trade and travel sanctions inside and along the borders of Rakhine State. In essence, although the truce was sustained, many people experienced a more difficult economic and security situation following the 2020 ceasefire.
Inevitably, such behaviour proved unacceptable to the ULA-AA leadership. After several months of ceasefire initiation, the ULA-AA chief, Gen. Twan Mrat Naing, declared the movement’s policy of “state-building” and “nation-building” as the fundamental task of the Arakan people on 10 April 2021 on the 12th anniversary of the Arakan Army’s foundation. ULA-AA leaders also called for faster action to support progress on the ground in the ceasefire aftermath. After three years of intense conflict and deepening poverty, the ULA-AA wanted to prioritise reconstruction, resettle displaced peoples, build new infrastructure and promote socio-economic development for the general population while securing political stability in Rakhine State.
For this reason, Yohei Sasakawa, Japan’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Welfare of the National Races in Myanmar and Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, had been welcomed to play a visible role in the initiation of the Arakan ceasefire. However, within months of the SAC coup, it quickly became clear that the situation was not developing as the ULA leadership had desired. While trying to crack down on the expansion of ULA administrative and judiciary systems in southern Rakhine State, the SAC was continuing to impose trade and travel restrictions on local communities across the territory.
The ULA-AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha spoke openly of deepening concerns at the party press conference in June this year:
“We, the ULA-AA, are waiting and watching such aggressive and inhospitable actions of the SAC authority as we want more freedom and better socio-economic conditions for our people while maintaining political stability in Rakhine State. However, if their actions are becoming more aggressive than we can tolerate, we want to warn that it could lead to an even greater deterioration in relations.”
As tensions continue to deepen, many people are asking the same question: “What do we actually get from a de facto ceasefire like this?”
Ceasefire in Arakan but fighting in other areas
In his 2021 address on the 12th anniversary of the AA’s foundation, Gen. Twan Mrat Naing stated that the ULA-AA does not want the Civilian Disobedience Movement and other anti-military or pro-democracy movements to become active in Arakan because the organisation has its own “Way of Rakhita” philosophy to bring about social and political change. Since this time, many people in Arakan and outside became interested in what the “Way of Rakhita” means and how it can guide the civil and political movements in Rakhine State in the face of the complex political landscape that exists countrywide.
There is, in fact, no official definition or document about the “Way of Rakhita”. But based on interviews and speeches by the ULA-AA leadership, it is usually summarised as a “way of thinking which is solely based on the national interest of Arakan people rather than any other philosophical or political values and principles.” In line with this philosophy, the ULA-AA leadership started to re-shape the politics of Arakan in new ways following the SAC coup. At the time, they thought this strategy would be better following the ceasefire in pursuit of their political goals and interests.
In Gen. Twan Mrat Naing’s most recent speech, however, there was a very different tone. Speaking two months ago on the 13th anniversary of the AA founding, he said: “Comrades, be ready to fight when ordered!”
It was an occasion that attracted attention. On the same day, the rival National Unity Government (NUG) and more than a dozen armed opposition groups, including the (Kokang) Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army, sent their own “congratulatory statements” in solidarity with the ULA-AA. Notably, a number of these movements are newly established since the coup and are engaged in anti-SAC military activities in other parts of the country. New groups include the Burma People`s Liberation Army, Student Armed Force, People’s Revolutionary Alliance (Magway), Karenni National Defence Force, Asho Chin Defence Force, Mara Defense Force and Chin Defence Force (Mindat). In some of their statements, they mentioned the support of the ULA-AA in terms of military training and equipment.
This is not the only link that exists between the ULA-AA and anti-SAC movements. News has continued to emerge about AA soldiers fighting – or being present – in conflict frontline areas in Kachin and northern Shan States alongside other ethnic armed organisations since the SAC coup. In a recent example, six AA soldiers were killed in an air raid in Karen State in early July where they were stationed in territory administered by the Karen National Union (KNU). Technically, the KNU also has a ceasefire with the Myanmar military (initiated in 2012), and the air strike was considered a hostile act. But it is generally safe to argue that the AA, outside of Arakan, has not truly been under a ceasefire following the SAC takeover.
Against this backdrop, relations between the SAC and ULA-AA leaderships have been stalling. A lower-level ULA political team attended the 73rd anniversary of Union Day, held by the SAC at Nay Pyi Taw in February, where they argued for the release of their members who have been arrested. But ULA-AA leaders declined a peace talk invitation by the SAC Chairman, Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in May this year. Although two key ULA-AA allies in the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee – the United Wa State Army and National Democratic Alliance Army – chose to participate in the talks, the ULA-AA did not release an official statement explaining their refusal. But one informal response by the ULA Secretary Dr. Nyo Twan Awng appeared on social media: “The SAC still does not change its policy about ethnic rights for the peace talks.” Reflecting the deepening divide, the NUG then declared its recognition of the “Arakan People’s Government”, which is led by the ULA, at the end of May following an online meeting between NUG and ULA leaders.
All such events are raising speculation in Arakan politics. During the past two years, changes have happened rapidly, and the path that the ULA-AA is following is sure to make the SAC leadership angry. However it is still too early to say that the ULA is totally on the side of the NUG against the SAC, and it will mostly like not want to choose one “government” over another in the struggle between the two camps: the SAC and NUG. In explanation of this ambiguity, the strategy of ULA leaders cannot be understood on the basis of dialectical thinking between the SAC or NUG but only realised through the “Way of Rakhita” philosophy, which is centred upon the “Arakan National Interest” and not subject to any outside political domain.
The Rohingya crisis: old challenges and new questions
Adding to the complexity of pressures, the question of the Rohingya community in Arakan is also becoming more difficult to answer. On 21 June, the ULA released a statement warning the people to avoid a recurrence of communal violence in Rakhine State due to a series of incidents that were causing tensions to rise and accused the SAC of being involved. These included the kidnapping of two ethnic Rakhine teachers in Maungdaw township, who were released one week later in exchange for 5 million takas on the Bangladesh side of the border, and the bullying and beating of a young Rohingya man in Pauktaw township. Subsequently, the ULA-AA leader Gen. Twan Mrat Naing accused the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army of being the culprit behind the kidnappings, stating that this was a grave disservice to efforts for social cohesion and trust-building among communities in Arakan as well as to Rohingya refugees who want to come back to their homes.
The situation, however, is much changed since the first round of communal violence in 2012. Large segments among both communities today believe that they cannot allow another outbreak of violence in Rakhine State and, if this happened, it would only prove beneficial to the SAC which prefers the tactics of “divide and rule” to cause disharmony among different peoples and communities. At the same time, it needs to be recognised that community reconciliation in Rakhine State is not an all-finished task, and there is still no common vision about the future of Arakan.
This theme was taken up in a recent International Crisis Group (ICG) report about the political situation in Arakan, which made a number of points suggesting the formalization of the informal ceasefire with the initiation of a Rohingya repatriation process.* The ICG recommendations, which are based on achieving tripartite relations between SAC, ULA and Bangladesh government, are quite welcoming on a peace and repatriation process. There are, however, still many challenges in implementing such a sensitive programme due to the rise in political instability and lack of common understanding between the different actors and communities that need to become involved.
Despite the desire to avoid any repetition of communal violence, many different opinions still exist on the ground. For example, there has been a significant change in perceptions among the ethnic Bamar majority since the SAC coup as well as a NUG policy declaration towards addressing the Rohingya crisis. But these views cannot be regarded as the same as those of ULA-AA leaders nor the Rakhine majority population in Arakan. Similarly, while there is competition between SAC and NUG leaders over gaining international recognition for their governments in handling the Rohingya issue, the ULA-AA is much more focused on building local and international support for the achievement of an Arakan State as part of any process of resolving the Rohingya and other socio-political challenges. The SAC, NUG and ULA see the Rohingya crisis with very different priorities and perspectives.
In summary, collaboration will be needed among different actors to solve the Rohingya crisis, and this will mean mediation among competing interests. But, at present, this will not be an easy task at all.
The possibility of another war in Arakan
For the moment, it is difficult to estimate the possibility of a resumption of armed conflict in Arakan, and how this might come about. Politics aside, there are other strategic interests that both parties to the ceasefire have to consider. Two, in particular, stand out: intention and capability. Both play important roles in the power competition between the two sides, with the expansion of either party – and hence its capacity – making the other doubtful about their rival’s intentions and vice-versa. As such, an increase in capability has the potential to change the intention of one side or the other at any time. Such is the state of play in Arakan.
For this reason, one of the key factors hindering another outbreak of armed conflict in Arakan is the lack of a clear “war mission” for both parties. The current situation, both in Arakan and the country more generally, encourages both parties to keep to the ceasefire status quo and be generally defensive about developing and implementing another war strategy due to their limited capacities on the ground. It is also very difficult to relate the post-coup combat involving new People’s Defence Forces and other anti-SAC movements in other parts of the country, where there are no ceasefires, to the particular challenges in Arakan. In essence, both SAC and ULA-AA leaders may feel that they have more to lose than gain by returning to open conflict in Arakan at this time.
If fighting breaks out, for example, the ULA-AA would be expected to try and “conquer and control” some of the urban areas and key communication channels in northern Rakhine State at the least, while the SAC would return to the familiar tactics of the Myanmar military in launching “regional clearance” operations against AA strongholds in rural and mountain areas. In the present impasse, however, both parties appear to have limited capability to carry these objectives out. For the ULA-AA gaining control of new areas requires new technology, human resource training and supplies of military equipment. In contrast, attempts at SAC “domination” will also face logistical challenges and strong resistance because the regime cannot provide enough soldiers or open new battlefronts due to the scale of fighting in other parts of the country.
Such realities indicate that the return to war in Arakan may ultimately be determined by the changing military pendulum between the SAC and anti-SAC forces in central Myanmar and the different ethnic states around other international borders. The country is presently in a deep state of civil war in which Arakan has, in many respects, been an exception until now. But this does not mean that there will be no armed clashes between SAC and ULA-AA forces in the meantime. Conditions of what can be termed “limited war” still exist in areas like Paletwa township and other disputed areas where both sides have strategic objectives. Many lives could still be lost and properties destroyed, similar to the intense fighting between 2018-20, and this time the battlefields will be even closer to the major towns and villages, especially in northern Rakhine State.
Until the present day, the AA is arresting military and police members in several front-line areas, while the SAC is apprehending civilians suspected of supporting the ULA-AA in such nationalist strongholds as Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships. Currently, more than 30 local people have been charged by the SAC authority under Article 505 of the Penal Code, accused of incitement or state defamation, although some have been released. Occasional clashes are still being reported, most recently in Maungdaw township where it was reported this week that 14 police and troops were captured and a number killed in a “retaliatory” AA attack for the air raid that killed six members in Karen State. And causing growing anger in local communities, the Rakhine Ethnic Congress reported in early July that six civilians had been killed and eleven wounded during the previous two months in explosions caused by landmines which the SAC military is planting outside its bases. All such incidents are putting pressure on the ULA leadership to fight back against the SAC.
Many fear that, whether it suits the SAC or ULA-AA or not, the clock towards a return to open warfare is now ticking. In the international community, there is only one country which can seek to manage the unpredictable and changing dynamics in Arakan: that is China. With strategic and economic interests, Chinese officials have relationships with all sides on Myanmar’s political divides.
The situation is different for Western governments. But there are still many things that they can try in order to prevent the outbreak of war in Arakan. They know that Western engagement with the SAC risks legitimatization of the regime which is an outcome that all wish to avoid. Instead, they can prepare in providing emergency and humanitarian assistance through different channels, including trans-border through the Bangladesh and India borders. There is also potential, as the ICG has suggested, that reaching a formal ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army might – at some stage in the future – prevent a further humanitarian disaster and provide the chance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to return to Arakan.
This is not, however, the time for naivety nor failure to understand the complexity of challenges in Arakan and Myanmar at large. The aspirations, needs and perceptions of the people must come first. And, in this respect, the current trends in national politics are loading more weight into negative directions where the future of Arakan is concerned..."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Inherently indiscriminate landmines kill and injure civilians
Military laid landmines in homes, on farming lands and on church grounds
Myanmar increasingly isolated globally in its use of antipersonnel landmines
The Myanmar military is committing war crimes by laying antipersonnel landmines on a massive scale in and around villages in Kayah (Karenni) State, Amnesty International said today after an on-the-ground investigation in conflict-affected parts of the state.
Antipersonnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate and their use is internationally banned. The landmines laid by the Myanmar military have killed and seriously injured civilians and will have significant long-term consequences, including on displaced people’s ability to return home and to farm their lands.
“The Myanmar military’s use of landmines is abhorrent and cruel. At a time when the world has overwhelmingly banned these inherently indiscriminate weapons, the military has placed them in people’s yards, homes, and even stairwells, as well as around a church,” said Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director – Thematic Issues.
The Myanmar military’s use of landmines is abhorrent and cruel.
Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director – Thematic Issues
“The world must urgently respond to the military’s atrocities against civilians across Myanmar. Countries around the world must cut off the flow of weapons to Myanmar and support all efforts to ensure those responsible for war crimes face justice.”
From 25 June to 8 July, Amnesty International researchers interviewed 43 people in Kayah State’s Demoso, Hpruso, and Loikaw Townships. These areas have been at the centre of fighting between the military and Karenni armed groups since May 2021, when conflict in Kayah State re-ignited following the military coup.
The organization interviewed landmine survivors and other witnesses, as well as health professionals who treated landmine injuries and people who had discovered and deactivated landmines in villages. It also visited several recently demined villages.
The Myanmar military is laying several types of landmines that it manufactures itself. These include the M-14, which typically blows off the victim’s foot at the ankle, and the more powerful MM-2, which often blows off the victim’s leg at the knee and causes injuries to other parts of the person’s body, with severe risk of death due to blood loss.
Antipersonnel landmines, including the M-14 and MM-2, are inherently indiscriminate and their use is banned under customary international humanitarian law, as well as the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which 164 states have joined. According to Landmine Monitor, Myanmar’s military is the only state armed forces confirmed to have used antipersonnel landmines in 2020-21.
Civilians killed and injured
Lu Reh, 62, and his family were displaced from Daw Thea village in Demoso Township in late February 2022 after a Myanmar military air strike killed two people in a neighbouring village. On 10 June, he and others returned to collect things from their property.
As he walked along a dirt path to collect jah fruit, Lu Reh stepped on a landmine that ripped off his right leg just below the knee, leaving the bone exposed at the calf. According to a witness and another person with direct knowledge of the incident, it also wounded his left leg and right hand and caused significant blood loss. Lu Reh died on the way to the hospital.
The Myanmar military has controlled that area since February 2022 and soldiers from the 66th Light Infantry Division (LID) have based themselves out of several nearby villages.
The Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG) has documented at least 20 civilians killed or seriously injured by landmines in Kayah State since June 2021. According to activists, local aid workers, and people without formal training who have tried to demine villages, the military’s use of landmines there has soared in recent months, especially as they retreat from certain areas.
In early April 2022, Rosie, 52, and her daughter Ma Thein Yar Lin, 17, were trying to return to their home in Loikaw town after being displaced by fighting in January. Rosie parked their motorbike near a rocky path, and Ma Thein Yar Lin walked a short distance away to go to the bathroom.
I heard the explosion, then I looked and saw a lot of smoke. I heard my daughter yelling, ‘Mama, Mama,’ and I went to look and saw her lying on the ground…my daughter had no leg anymore.
Rosie, whose daughter was injured in a landmine incident
“I heard the explosion, then I looked and saw a lot of smoke,” Rosie recalled. “I heard my daughter yelling, ‘Mama, Mama,’ and I went to look and saw her lying on the ground.”
“I noticed that my daughter had no leg anymore… I went searching for [her leg], but the man who [was passing by and stopped] to help us said, ‘Stop! There will be another landmine. The most important thing is to stop the bleeding.’”
Ma Thein Yar Lin lost her right leg from the mid-calf down and had landmine fragments throughout her left leg. She now uses a wheelchair donated by a friend. She and her mother cannot return to their home partly because the house and bathroom are not accessible.
She told Amnesty International that she wants to continue her studies; she had reached Grade 11 before the Covid-19 pandemic and the coup stopped her schooling. She said she also wants to ensure her leg recovers so that she can be fitted with a quality prosthetic.
Attack on a church
On 27 June 2022, Amnesty International researchers visited St Matthew’s church in Daw Ngay Khu village in Hpruso Township. The military had planted at least eight landmines on church grounds in mid-June, when there was fighting in the area.
Amnesty International photographed areas where landmines had been removed, including along the main entrance path and behind the church. People involved in demining the church believed there were more landmines there that had yet to be discovered.
On the afternoon of 15 June, soldiers also burned down the church and the priest’s house next door. When Amnesty International researchers visited 12 days later, the grain stored in the priest’s house was still smouldering.
A 41-year-old woman from Daw Ngay Khu told Amnesty International: “That church was the centre of our village. We worried about our things [when the military started coming], so we brought them to the church to keep [them] there. We thought the Myanmar military would not attack the church, that it was a hallowed place.”
Researchers saw a discarded uniform of the 66th LID on the church grounds, along with bullet casings and a used round from a 40mm grenade launcher.
Amnesty International previously implicated the 66th LID in war crimes and likely crimes against humanity in Kayah State, in a report published in June 2022.
In addition to the church, Myanmar soldiers laid landmines in and near homes in Daw Ngay Khu village, according to six people who lived there as well as people who had demined parts of the village. Other areas of Daw Ngay Khu likely remain contaminated.
Widespread displacement and fear
Amnesty International received credible information that the Myanmar military has laid landmines in at least 20 villages in Hpruso, Demoso, and Loikaw Townships in recent months. There are likely many more contaminated villages across Kayah and southern Shan States.
The military appears to be systematically laying landmines near where it is based as well as in areas from which it retreats. The region along the main road between Moe Bye in southern Shan State and Hpruso town in Kayah State is particularly contaminated. The military systematically burned homes in the same area from February to April 2022, as Amnesty International reported previously.
Soldiers have placed landmines in people’s yards, at the entrance of homes, and outside toilets. In at least one documented case, soldiers boobytrapped a house stairwell with a trip-wire improvised explosive device (IED). They have also placed landmines on paths to rice fields, and credible evidence indicates that at least one civilian was seriously injured recently from stepping on a landmine when going to their field.
Displaced civilians across these areas of Kayah State told Amnesty International that fighters from ethnic armed groups had warned them about the military’s use of landmines in their villages and said they should not go back. The warnings have helped to limit civilian casualties so far, but many people are desperate to see their property and to work their fields during the planting season.
Paulina, 20, a teacher from Daw Ngay Khu village, said her house was damaged by a military mortar during fighting and that soldiers then based themselves in the village. She said:
“Last year we could move back and forth and get things from our village. But this year we dare not go back… We are worried about landmines, because they plant them anywhere.”
Limited demining is overwhelmingly being undertaken by members of armed groups, who do it by hand with only rudimentary equipment and without any professional training. Contamination remains widespread.
The threat to lives and livelihoods posed by landmine contamination remains an issue in other parts of Myanmar where the military has engaged in conflict with armed groups. In 2017, Amnesty International documented several incidents of landmines injuring Rohingya women, men and children along the border of Myanmar’s Rakhine State and Bangladesh.
The military’s depraved use of landmines in homes and villages will continue to have devastating effects on civilians in Kayah State for years to come.
Rawya Rageh, Senior Crisis Adviser at Amnesty International
“The military’s depraved use of landmines in homes and villages will continue to have devastating effects on civilians in Kayah State for years to come. We know from bitter experience that civilian deaths and injuries will mount over time, and the widespread contamination is already blocking people from returning to their homes and farmland,” said Rawya Rageh, Senior Crisis Adviser at Amnesty International.
“Myanmar’s military leadership should immediately end its use of landmines and join the majority of the world in supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, which includes provisions for demining and victim assistance. “There is an urgent need for a scaled-up humanitarian response that addresses rising food insecurity and ensures proper rehabilitative, psychosocial, and other needed care for landmine survivors, as well as adequate planning for and resourcing of post-conflict demining operations to clear contaminated areas.”..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Anti-Personnel Landmines - Specialist organisations and commentary, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"Since late 2021, fierce fighting has raged between the SAC regime and Karen resistance forces in Dooplaya District (KNU’s 6th
Brigade) on both sides of the Dawna Range, south of the Asia Highway, Burma’s main trade route to Thailand. Heavy shelling
and airstrikes by SAC forces have killed or injured 71 civilians and displaced over 86,000, many of whom are sheltering in makeshift
IDP camps along the Thai border.
This briefing paper describes the unfolding of conflict, instigated by the regime’s incursions into KNU ceasefire territories, and
fueled by mobilization of thousands of SAC troops, including from bases across Dooplaya which were never withdrawn despite
the KNU’s 2012 ceasefire.
A key flashpoint has been the Lay Kay Kaw "Peace Town”, south of Myawaddy, funded by Japan for returning refugees. This flagship
peace project now lies deserted and bomb-scarred, its over 3,000 residents once again fleeing for their lives. This must serve as a
lesson for Japan, not only against premature funding of refugee return, but also provision of billions of dollars in development aid
to the Naypyidaw government without benchmarks of progress towards genuine peace. Japanese ODA has not only subsidized
Naypyidaw’s war machine, but also funded strategic infrastructure projects such as the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) which
have facilitated quick deployment of the regime’s troops into conflict areas.
As the SAC’s atrocities mount across the country, KPSN calls for stronger economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime, and
urges Japan to suspend all ongoing ODA projects, including bridge building along the EWEC. KPSN also urges foreign donors to
provide increased cross-border humanitarian aid to IDPs.....Post-coup eruption of
conflict in Dooplaya...For nearly ten years after the KNU's 2012
bilateral ceasefire, there was little armed
conflict in Dooplaya. However, as the
regime began cracking down on anti-coup
protesters in the months following the
coup on February 1, 2021, tensions began
to rise between the regime’s forces and
the KNU in the KNU’s 6th Brigade, where
anti-regime activists were sheltering. SAC
troops set up new checkpoints along roads
and carried out random searches in villages.
In September, the SAC sent armed patrols
into KNU territories south of Kawkareik,
in violation of ceasefire protocols. On
September 30, KNU troops resisted, and
the ensuing fighting spread into six villages,
causing thousands to flee their homes.
At the same time, KNU troops sought to
block the SAC from sending reinforcements
along the road from Thanbyuzayat to 3
Pagodas Pass, and on October 11, the SAC
attacked and seized the KNU’s Lu Shah
checkpoint, 20 kilometers southeast of
Thanbyuzayat. The fighting displaced four
villages in the area.....Fighting erupts in Lay Kay Kaw "Peace Town", spreads
southwards along Thai border...The “Peace Town” of Lay Kay Kaw south of Myawaddy, funded by Japan for returning
refugees after the KNU ceasefire, was one of the areas suspected of harbouring
anti-regime activists. At the end of September 2021, SAC troops from LIB 560, under
Tanintharyi-based Military Operations Command (MOC) 13, deployed to Dooplaya
before the November 2020 election, started carrying out house-to-house searches in
Lay Kay Kaw, but did not initially make any arrests.
However, on December 13, 2021, Brigadier General Myint Htun Naing, the MOC 13
commander, arrived at the SAC artillery base just south of Lay Kay Kaw and on December
14 led over 150 troops into Lay Kay Kaw, forcibly entering houses and arresting suspected
activists. On December 15, the troops returned at 10 am, beating and carrying out further
arrests. In total 22 men were arrested, tied up and taken to Myawaddy for interrogation,
including two former NLD MPs. The fate of those arrested remains unknown.
Local KNU officials immediately protested the arrests, but SAC
troops ignored this, and continued searching through Lay Kay Kaw,
causing the KNLA to open fire. Heavy fighting ensued, with SAC
shelling indiscriminately into Lay Kay Kaw from nearby “Artillery
Hill”, causing the town residents to flee in terror.
Over the next few weeks, fighting between SAC and Karen
resistance forces spread east and south along the Thai border,
displacing thousands more villagers. On December 23, SAC started
launching airstrikes over Lay Kay Kaw to try to dislodge the KNLA.
During early 2022, fighting continued to spread southwards. On
March 21, KNLA temporarily seized the SAC base at Maw Khee,
50 kilometers south of Lay Kay Kaw, and carried out successful
ambushes of SAC troop reinforcements from Myawaddy,
prompting further retaliatory airstrikes.
On May 18, 2022, KNLA forces managed to seize the SAC base at
Thay Baw Boe on the Thai border, 30 kilometers south of Lay Kay
Kaw, despite multiple airstrikes by SAC fighter jets and helicopters..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Peace Support Network
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
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"Over the past month, violence against civilians in Southeast Burma reached new heights as the State Administration Council (SAC) escalated its military offensives. Already engaged in heavy assaults to cripple resistance and cut off resources and humanitarian support since the 2021 coup, the military junta continues to perpetrate gross human rights violations throughout Karen State, including arbitrary arrest and torture, the burning down of entire villages, the use of human shields, and relentless air strikes and shelling. Forced displacements continue to rise, as do the number of civilian deaths and grave injuries.
The SAC is intentionally targeting civilian areas in its air and ground attacks, thus forcing villagers to flee; destroying civilians’ homes, farmlands and livestock, local schools, and medical clinics; and placing villagers in constant fear of life. Since the 2021 coup, there have been more than 60 SAC air strikes in Karen State, almost all centred on villages. At least 32 civilians have been killed by these air strikes.[1] Unexploded ordnance from these air attacks have landed inside villages or in villagers’ farmlands creating additional risks and insecurity, as does the planting of new landmines. In some areas, indiscriminate shelling into and near villages is taking place on a near daily basis. The estimated number of displacements in Karen State since February 2021 is now over 200,000.
Despite the international community’s condemnation of the military junta and its assault on the people of Burma, little concrete action has been taken to end the violence. The ongoing intensification of attacks and human rights violations is proof that current efforts are insufficient. One villager in Karen State, after being interrogated and tortured by SAC soldiers in March 2022,[2] asked: “Is the international community just going to watch while civilians have to go through things like this? Is there no longer anything they can do to help us?”
The SAC’s actions are in breach of international humanitarian law, and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. KHRG condemns these heinous acts, and calls on the international community to take actions that show the people of Burma that there is still reason to trust in the UN, international human rights and justice mechanisms, and the principles that underlie international humanitarian action.
Use of human shields, and burning of houses in Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District
Human rights violations perpetrated by the SAC and affiliated forces have significantly increased in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo District since August 2021. Reports of forced labour, including the use of civilians as human shields, looting, and direct threats against villagers have multiplied. On May 1st, two air strikes were conducted, and as a result, 10 houses in Lay Kay village, Bilin Township, were burned down and another 66 were seriously damaged. SAC troops at Lay Kay army camp have continued to fire mortars into surrounding villages, injuring a woman with a 2-month-old baby on June 22nd. In May 2022, over 150 villagers in T’Kaw Hpoe and Weh Pyar village tracts, Hpa-an Township, were arrested and forced to act as human shields and porters. Many were detained for around 2 weeks.
Beginning June 1st, SAC troops from Artillery Unit #9 conducted heavy artillery fire into Waw Ray village tract, Tha Htoo (Thaton) Township, for six days straight after an SAC company commander and military medic were captured by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). As a result, more than 3,000 villagers in the area were forced to displace. An SAC officer from Artillery Unit #9 also threatened to burn everything between Hton Bo Gyi and Hton Bo Lay villages in Waw Ray village tract. On June 25th, the SAC set fire to Hton Bo Lay village, after looting homes, the school and monastery, and taking villagers’ livestock. At least 66 houses and 30 thatch huts were completely burned to the ground.
Increased fighting and indiscriminate shelling in Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District
Since June 2022, ground attacks have escalated in Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. From June 10th to 13th, and June 25th to July 2nd, SAC troops along with the Phyu Saw Htee (a pro-junta militia group), fired into different villages in Ain Net village tract, resulting in the displacement of 1,489 villagers from six villages. Five villagers were also injured. On June 12th, SAC troops also fired into Lian Pin Wen village, Lian Pin Wen village tract, displacing an additional 1,184 villagers (259 households).
On July 2nd 2022, SAC troops entered into Ler Muh Per village, Ler Muh Per village tract, Ler Doh Township and shot dead four villagers and injured another. SAC soldiers looted villagers’ homes and set fire to the village, destroying 12 houses and several vehicles. In response to the capture of four SAC army camps by the KNLA on July 2nd, the SAC conducted air strikes and heavy shelling in nearby villages in Moo (Mone) Township, killing four villagers and injuring one. These offensives resulted in the displacement of at least 3,202 villagers from 81 villages in Moo Township. Following the air strike and shelling, the SAC entered multiple villages and arrested and tortured 16 villagers.
Air and ground attacks, fighting and displacement in Mu Traw (Hpapun) District
Villages in Mu Traw District, particularly in areas near Hpapun Town and Kamamaung Town, have experienced ongoing attacks. There have been at least 28 air strikes in Mu Traw District alone since the 2021 coup, with the first attack taking place in late March 2021. Most villagers have been forced to flee, seeking refuge in the jungle or along riverbanks, with little access to humanitarian support.
The most recent attack occurred on July 4th 2022, when two SAC aircraft bombed an Arakan Army (AA) camp located near the Thai-Burma border, in a Karen National Union (KNU)-controlled area. The attack destroyed multiple buildings including a clinic. Afterward, one of the SAC’s jets entered into Thai airspace, over Phop Phra area of Tak Province, leading local residents to take shelter in bunkers and evacuate the schools. Yet Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha referred to the incursion as “not a big deal”.
Relentless air strikes in Dooplaya District
The SAC launched 17 air strikes in Dooplaya District, primarily Kaw T’Ree (Kawkareik) Township, between December 2021 and May 2022. On June 27th 2022, SAC resumed its bombardment of Kaw T’Ree Township, first sending three fighter jets into Au Kree Hta village, Choo Kalee village tract. The attacks in the area continued for six consecutive days, with bombs also being dropped in nearby Thay Baw Boh village tract. The July 1st air attack on Thay Baw Boh village killed two villagers and injured three more. One of the bombs did not explode and remains in the village. The next day, the SAC conducted air strikes in Lay Ghaw village, Thay Baw Boh village tract, injuring four villagers, including an 11-year-old boy. Due to these attacks and ongoing indiscriminate shelling, about 1,000 local villagers fled once again to the Thai-Burma border. Most villagers continue to be pushed back by Thai authorities.
KHRG makes the following recommendations:
Since the pursuit of justice is one of the most visible forms of accountability and will show that human rights violations and impunity for these acts will no longer be tolerated, there is an immediate need to prosecute military leaders for their past and present crimes. The international community should:
Support current investigations and proceedings by intervening in the genocide case at the ICJ, and pushing for an ICC referral and acceptance of the NUG’s declaration delegating jurisdiction of the court to investigate and prosecute mass atrocity crimes that occurred in Burma since 2002. Seek out all additional opportunities (through hybrid courts, ad hoc tribunals, universal jurisdiction and other existing mechanisms) to hold the Burma military accountable for its vast array of crimes committed against Karen peoples, as well as other ethnic and religious minorities. Develop and support International Accountability Platforms, and increase support for human rights organisations operating on the ground.
Meanwhile, it is imperative that adequate humanitarian assistance and protection for ethnic populations who are facing violence and atrocities at the hands of the Burma military be ensured. The international community should:
Consult and sign MoUs with the NUG and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), rather than the SAC, to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis across the country. Urge neighbouring countries to ensure that their authorities do not deny entry to people crossing the border seeking refuge. Prioritise and strengthen methods of service delivery and communication that rely on local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers that have the ability and networks (due to consistent access and trust from the community) for local implementation of support programmes. Include local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers in decision-making processes since these actors have already worked for decades to provide support and services to local communities, and are the most knowledgeable about current needs and challenges..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
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Sub-title:
Ruling junta’s talk of peace is desperate political necrophilia and ultimately just cover for more war
Description:
"Myanmar is in conflict freefall, as the State Administration Council (SAC) junta regime fights a myriad of proliferating resistance groups on fronts across the country, many galvanized to arms by the military’s democracy-toppling February 2021 coup.
Fighting in western regions such as Sagaing, Magwe and Chin State has surged in recent months, as scores of People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) ambush military columns and battle pro-SAC militias.
The military, in turn, has pulverized civilian villages with air strikes, heavy artillery and army columns in expeditionary arson campaigns that have destroyed close to 20,000 houses, by some estimates. Internal displacement in the country, meanwhile, has surpassed one million.
Despite the desperation of the humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, many analysts estimate that the military has been seriously degraded by armed resistance to the coup. That’s been led by PDFs and many established ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) such as the Karen National Union (KNU), some of which have forged alliances with or otherwise pledge loyalty to the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration formed after the coup.
So what does the SAC leadership do when faced with such unprecedented and geographically spread resistance? Logically, it calls for peace talks, the tried and true escape hatch for military repression in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by eight mostly small organizations in 2015 (another two signed in 2018), but despite incessant talks and secretive mediation, the agreement was moribund by October 2018.
The military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the current dictator who staged the 2021 coup, announced a “Ceasefire for Eternal Peace” in December 2018, extending it every few months for years through the Covid-19 pandemic right up to the coup, even as fighting raged with EAOs in many parts of the country.
The call for new peace talks in April this year conforms to a consistent pattern of perfidy over peace talks. Using a motley crew of desperate or insignificant NCA signatories is for the SAC desperate political necrophilia.
The first round of “talks” in May was with Chairman Yawd Serk of the insurgent Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) resulted in a number of agreements related to the “Union Accords”, which were negotiated for several years in a pre-coup process.
The RCSS’s eagerness can be largely explained by its strategic missteps since late 2015. It used the cover of signing the 2015 NCA as a pretext to expand operations in northern Shan state, triggering a multi-sided conflict for control of territory and commodities between various EAOs, especially the ethnic Ta’ang armed group and the RCSS parent organization the Shan State Army (SSA) formed in 1964.
This conflict displaced thousands of civilians, many for several times a year, disrupting livelihoods and trade and exacerbating intercommunal tensions amid aid restrictions by the military and previous government. The RCSS has decided to sit out the post-coup resistance and prioritize its own survival now that it has been restricted to territory closer to the Thailand border.
The arrival of Saw Mra Razar Lin of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) at the junta’s peace talks was particularly surreal. The only senior woman leader of an EAO to attend peace talks for several years, she commands few troops, most of which are based on the Thailand-Myanmar border far away.
The ALP and its armed wing are meaningless compared to the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army (AA), which is estimated to field more than 8,000 troops. In heavy fighting between 2019 to the end of 2020, AA fought the Myanmar military to a standstill, inflicting hundreds if not thousands of casualties during a conflict that displaced some 200,000 civilians.
An uneasy ceasefire has allowed space for the AA to expand its own judicial and taxation system on an estimated 60% of western Rakhine state, incorporating Rohingya Muslim representatives of the Arakan People’s Authority (APA).
The AA suffered a blow on July 4 when an air strike killed six of its soldiers in a base in Kayin state close to the Thailand border, raising new questions about the durability of their uneasy post-coup ceasefire.
Other groups that attended the talks included the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the New Mon State Party and the Pa-O Nationalities Liberation Organization (PNLO).
These groups could potentially muster several hundred troops combined among them, but they have essentially been artificially inflated by Western donors to the peace process for several years. They are now ornamental bit-part actors in the SAC’s shoddy process.
The largest EAO in Myanmar, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), controls its own autonomous region on the Chinese border with an estimated 30,000 troops and sophisticated weaponry, and didn’t really need to attend the peace talks.
It dispatched a nominally senior official of no real significance in the hierarchy, and released a statement following the talks which basically stated that the Wa had their own autonomy and this was a Burman problem they wanted nothing to do with.
Planned talks with the Shan State Progress Party, or SSA, have not been held as fighting continues between their forces and the SAC’s army in northern Shan State.
In another indication of renewed bellicosity, well-known Myanmar model and actress Thin Zar Wint Kyaw has reportedly been arrested after wearing an SSA military uniform at a recent wedding ceremony close to the EAO’s headquarters at Wan Hai, after traveling to the area to endorse business initiatives. The SAC is making enemies of everyone, even as it supposedly cultivates peace.
Further adorning the pretense of peace talks, the SAC has called for PDF members, or people involved in the civil disobedience movement (CDM), to defect from the “terrorist” NUG and return to the “legal fold”, a euphemism for the peace process of the 1990s which resulted in reduced conflict fighting but no conflict resolution.
The SAC in recent days has even pledged to open “reception centers” for resistance actors to surrender along the borders, another indication of the junta’s underlying desperation.
The subterfuge of peace talks extends to efforts at mediation by the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn visited Myanmar recently and was instructed to only meet with EAOs who had attended the SAC talks.
This clearly violates the terms of the Five Point Consensus the SAC’s leader reached with ASEAN in April 2021: “constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.”
ASEAN is further compromised by the role of the ASEAN Humanitarian Center (AHA), which is conducting a needs assessment essentially as cover for the United Nations to operate in SAC-controlled areas and not areas of armed conflict where belligerents who are not part of the peace talks operate, and where civilian communities and aid workers are not represented and rely on cross border assistance not covered by the AHA or the UN.
The NUG and main EAOs fighting the SAC issued a bitter statement condemning the role of ASEAN in humanitarian aid delivery in May, as the exercise was seen as clearly pro-SAC.
Myanmar’s military leaders may lack sophistication but they possess the cunning to checkmate rule-bound international aid actors, consistent with the past decade during the previous peace process.
A serious danger is that peace talks, alongside SAC announced plans for a nationwide election in 2023 with an entirely new electoral system that will likely ban the coup-ousted National League for Democracy’s participation, provide the bare minimum of a lifeline for the international community, especially the UN and international aid agencies, to justify their continued presence.
It is perilous to promote fake peace while a conflict is raging elsewhere. The only accurate gauge of the SAC’s true intent is its behavior on the ground, seen in the thousands of civilian casualties, burning villages and interdiction of humanitarian assistance. In Myanmar, talk of peace is often cover for just more war..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-07
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Around 5,000 residents from over 10 villages in Sagaing Region’s Tabayin Township have been forced to flee their homes after the Myanmar military airlifted reinforcements into the area.
On Monday at around 4.30pm three helicopters carrying over 50 junta soldiers landed in a Tabayin village, forcing the residents to flee the same evening, according to local sources.
A volunteer helping the displaced people said on Tuesday: “It was not convenient for travel as it rained the whole night. The temporary camps are crowded. People continued to flee their homes until midnight. People fleeing in their cars, motorbikes and motorized trailers formed a long line. There were unspeakable troubles.”
Junta forces carried out airstrikes on July 2 after a memorial to mark the one-year anniversary of fighting in Tabayin’s Set Pyar Kyin Village which left over 20 resistance fighters dead. Regime troops have since been raiding villages in Tabayin.
Clouds of smoke were seen in Kyauntawlay and Inpin villages on Tuesday. It was unclear how many houses were torched by military regime forces as villagers still can’t return home, said a resident.
Regime troops stationed in Set Pyar Kyin and Boke villages reportedly used heavy weapons to attack resistance fighters advancing to the villages, according to a local resistance member.
One resident said: “As they kill not only children but also elderly persons by burning them alive, slitting their throats and shooting them in their heads, people dare not let the soldiers see them. They flee as soon as they hear soldiers are heading to their villages.”
Over 340,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Sagaing Region, as well as some 110,000 people in neighboring Magwe Region, according to the Institute of Strategy and Policy Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-06
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"Myanmar’s military regime reportedly carried out 125 airstrikes within five days to defend its strategic outpost in Karen State near the Thai border while it was being attacked by resistance forces.
The armed wings of the Karen National Union, the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), and other resistance forces assaulted the Ukayit Hta outpost on a strategically important road near Waw Lay in Myawaddy Township on June 26.
Fighting continued for nearly a week. Witnesses said the battle for Ukayit Hta is the fiercest they have seen since last year.
A source said last Tuesday that shells landed every three seconds.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told a press conference on Friday that the outpost is still in junta control with the support of airstrikes and artillery.
Drone pictures released by the Cobra Column, one of the resistance groups, show heavy destruction at the outpost and the bodies of junta troops on the ground after an attack. The resistance forces have reported casualties because of junta airstrikes and artillery.
Cobra Column said from June 27 to July 1 the junta conducted 125 attacks with YAK jets and a MIG-29 jet. It said the group suffered no casualties in the airstrikes.
It said junta reinforcements were sent 12 times by helicopter from Mawlamyine.
Reinforcements were attacked and a Cobra Column video shows a junta corporal captured by the group saying at least 20 soldiers (of his group) were killed in an attack. The corporal was shown being treated for his injuries.
He said his commander fled during the attack so he ran away and was captured later.
The KNDO said on Thursday it attacked Light Infantry Division 44 reinforcements, killing at least seven soldiers and seizing weapons.
The casualties on both sides are unknown.
More than 300 Waw Lay residents have fled across the Moei River to Thailand.
On Friday and Saturday junta airstrikes killed two civilians and injured seven others, including children, in two Karen villages..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-05
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"The boy screamed in agony as the landmine exploded, ripping his foot off. Behind him, the church burned. What was once a peaceful Karenni village has now been torn apart by the marauding Burma Army. Troops from Division 66 have been attacking this village all week. The villagers are hiding in the mountains behind the village and we have come to know them well over the last several days. Each day they pray their village is not burned. Each day they hear the sounds of shooting and shelling and watch helplessly as their homes are burned in the valley below. The local Karenni forces are made up of volunteers who have banded together to try to push the Burma Army out before they burn all the homes. One of the volunteers was a Karenni boy, 16 years old, who wanted his home back.
The Burma Army has been burning villages and killing villagers at a speed and a force we have not seen before. Here in the village of Daw Nye Ku, all the villagers have fled but the Burma Army is burning homes and on June 15, they burned the new church. We watched from a distance, unable to get close as the Burma Army fired all around. Local volunteers, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), and the Karenni Army tried to push the Burma Army out and save the town. We had set up a forward casualty collection point and went closer to the front line to find a route so we could help if people were wounded. On the way we came under intense machine gun, rifle, RPG, and M-79 grenade fire. None of us were hit and the Karenni forces were able to push the Burma Army back out of the village temporarily. We entered and saw the church on fire. It gave me a sick feeling to watch the beautiful church that had just been built, now burning. The roof collapsed and flames licked around what remained of the doors. We knew the Burma Army placed land mines in villages they occupied so we were watching our feet as we went in to film the burning church.
As we got close to the church I saw that they had also shot up a cross just outside the church. I stopped looking for landmines in the ground and took a step forward to take a photo. One of our Ranger teammates, nicknamed Cobra, stepped up behind me and passed me on the side. When he turned to come back to me, a villager who was with us shouted, ”Stop! Landmine!” He pointed down and there I could see the mine clearly, about a foot away from where I had just stepped, and less than an inch away from the heel print of Cobra’s boot as he stepped over it. The villager had also stepped over it without seeing it but when he turned around he saw it.
His alertness saved our legs and maybe our lives. We reinforced to everyone: “Watch out, there are landmines here.” We took photos of the M-14 Burma Army anti-personnel mine, marked it with a branch, and warned away the Karenni volunteers. We then carefully retraced our steps out of the church compound and told everybody where the landmine was and said there were probably more. We reassembled our team in the road and told the commander that we had found a mine and we thought there were more. We then started to walk back to our CCP. Just as we started to walk away we heard an explosion, then a scream of pain and anguish. We went back to the church and there are on the ground was a young Karenni volunteer, 16 years old. His foot was completely gone and his lower leg was a mangled mess. He moaned and I could hear in his voice not just pain but the anguished realization that he had lost his foot forever. He had stepped an a different mine than the one we had seen and we again realized that the Burma Army had seeded this yard with destruction.
Our medic Peter, and team member Klo Law La Say, and one of the friends of the boy moved carefully forward as Cobra and I followed. Medic Peter and Klo Law La Say put on a tourniquet and begin to work on his leg. I moved carefully, checking for more mines and worked on his other leg which was intact but also injured. I held his hand before I bandaged him and prayed with him. I asked him his name he said his name was David. I told him that wasmy name too. I prayed for him and then went to work on his leg and helped Peter and Klo Law Law Say bandage the stump. We asked the commander to send a vehicle and then carried the boy out. We carefully retraced our steps by the burning church and out of the compound. We loaded the boy onto the commander’s vehicle and he sent them to our casualty collection point. Burma Army mortars came in but they were not close. We walked back to our casualty collection point but by the time we got there, the boy had been treated and sent on to a field hospital in the jungle.
The fighting intensified again as the Burma Army counterattacked to drive the Karenni out of their village. The fighting is going on as I make this report. I’m grateful for the villager who saved Cobra and me. I’m grateful for the bravery of our team as they went through the minefield to save this boy. I am grateful for our team back at the casualty collection point who took care of this boy and sent him on to the hospital. I’m grateful for all of your prayers and help. I’m grateful that we have a chance to help this boy and we will do our best to get him a good prosthesis and support any decision he wants to make for his future. I’m grateful for you all who care about people being killed, maimed, chased, their churches burned and homes destroyed. We thank God that they and we are not alone in this..."
Source/publisher:
Free Burma Rangers
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"Myanmar’s junta committed almost 2,800 war crimes across the country in the last six months, according to the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG).
The NUG’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration said that from December 1 to May 31, regime forces committed 2,778 war crimes including arbitrary killings, extrajudicial executions, the use of torture, using civilians as human shields, air and artillery strikes on civilian targets, the looting and burning of houses and the use of sexual violence.
Some 12,719 houses and religious building have been destroyed by junta forces, causing estimated losses of 241 million kyats (US$6.9 million).
Last Friday, the ministry also said that the regime had conducted 910 arrests and carried out 479 arson attacks, 346 murders, 336 attacks, 226 robberies and 101 cases of torture in the same six month period.
Regime forces also committed 10 cases of sexual violence, as well as 27 instances of using civilian detainees as human shields to deter attacks by resistance groups.
Sagaing Region, a stronghold of the resistance movement, suffered the most recording a total of 1,178 war crimes, followed by Magwe Region with 537 cases and Mandalay with 234.
Junta arson attacks also targeted Sagaing the most, with some 8,933 houses being lost, followed by Magwe with 2,168 and Chin State with 1,332, according to the NUG’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration.
The ministry said it has collected evidence of the military regime’s war crimes and that its priority is to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes.
People are being urged to report junta war crimes to police forces and People’s Administration Groups operating under the NUG, which is working with local and international organizations to hold the regime responsible for its atrocities.
“Everyone who committed war crimes must be held to account whatever the situation,” said the NUG.
In early June, authorities in Turkey initiated a preliminary investigation into members of the regime, including coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, concerning a criminal complaint filed by the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), a UK-based nongovernmental organization.
In late March, MAP filed a criminal case with the public prosecutor’s office in Istanbul, Turkey against junta leaders over the use of torture in the military interrogation center in Yangon.
As of June 10, over 1,900 people have been killed by regime forces and more than 14,000 people, including democratically-elected lawmakers, have been arrested or detained since last year’s coup, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-13
[field_licence]
Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Last week in the East Asia Pacific region, fighting between the military and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and local resistance groups continued in Myanmar. North Korea conducted its 17th missile test in 2022. In the Philippines, there was an increase in violence related to ongoing Islamist and communist rebel insurgencies. In Thailand, military forces clashed with Malay Muslim Separatists in the Deep South after a lull in violence during Ramadan. In Indonesia, a protest against a same-sex couple was recorded in West Java amid parliamentary discussion on a bill potentially outlawing homosexuality. In South Korea, disability advocates protested throughout last week to demand improvements to mobility and disability rights. New Zealand extended the deployment of military personnel in the Solomon Islands to support the country’s security. In China**,** student demonstrations increased in universities opposing COVID-19 restrictions.
In Myanmar, fighting between the military and EAOs and local resistance groups continued across multiple parts of the country last week, including Mon, Shan, Kachin, and Chin states. In Mon state, a combined force of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), the People’s Defense Force (PDF), and the Kyaikhto Revolution Force (KRF) simultaneously attacked the central police station and the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 207 base in Thein Za Yat town, Kyaikto township. The combined force fired artillery shells and killed a military sergeant in the fighting (Myanmar Now, 26 May 2022). ACLED’s Subnational Surge Tracker first warned of increased violence to come in Mon in the past month.
In southern Shan state, the military fired artillery and conducted clearance operations targeting EAOs and local resistance groups in the hills near eastern Pekon Lake and the surrounding villages last week. In response, a combined force of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA), Pekon PDF, and Southern Shan Revolution Youth (SSRY) attacked and occupied the Hsee Mi Lawt village military base in southern Pekon Lake on 24 May. Military offensives began in the area after a combined force of the KNDF, KNPP/KA, Pekon PDF, Inle PDF, and SSRY overran a military outpost in Nyaungshwe township on 12 May. Violence in Shan-South is both common and highly volatile; it is considered an area of ‘extreme risk’ by ACLED’s Volatility and Risk Predictability Index.
In Kachin state, the Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) launched multiple mine attacks against a military convoy last week. Attacks were reported near Hway Hkar and Hseng Taung villages of Hpakant Township and near Tanja village of Puta-O township between 22 and 27 May, causing military casualties (Kachinland News, 23 May 2022). The attacks came as the military increased movements in areas controlled by the KIA’s 6th Battalion, 9th Brigade, transporting reinforcements, weapons, and ammunition over the last week (Kachinland News, 23 May 2022).
Elsewhere, in southern Chin state, the military clashed with the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) in Paletwa township on 26 May. Following the clash, the military council issued a curfew, restricting locals from traveling between 6pm and 6am (Radio Free Asia, 27 May 2022).
North Korea conducted its 17th test missile launch in 2022 last week. On 25 May, a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and two shorter-range missiles were test-fired from waters in Sunan, Pyongyang, towards the ocean off the country’s east coast (AP, 25 May 2022). The test came hours after US President Joe Biden completed a trip to South Korea and Japan, where he agreed to new measures to deter North Korea (Channel News Asia, 25 May 2022).
Last week in the Philippines, the military carried out a major ground assault with air and artillery support against the Dawlah Islamiyah-Toraife Group in Datu Salibo town, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Two militants were killed, while 17 militants – including the group’s leader, Abu Toraife – were reportedly wounded. Following the clash, the rebels detonated two IEDs in Soccsksargen. No casualties were reported. A number of militant Islamist groups in the southern Philippines have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Dawlah Islamiyah is believed to be an umbrella group for many of these IS-inspired groups (International Crisis Group, 27 June 2019). These trends contribute to the 300% increase in violence in BARMM last month relative to the past year flagged by ACLED’s Subnational Threat Tracker. The Subnational Tracker first warned of increased violence to come in BARMM in the past month.
Elsewhere, several clashes between the government and the communist New People’s Army (NPA) also occurred last week, including in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Davao region, and Eastern Visayas. Violence associated with the NPA and Islamist militant insurgencies contributed to the 53% increase in violence in the Philippines last month relative to the past year flagged by ACLED’s Conflict Change Map, which first warned of increased violence to come in the country in the past month.
In Thailand, military forces clashed with Malay Muslim separatists in Narathiwat last week. On 25 May, Malay Muslim separatists opened fire and threw bombs at an army base near the Thailand-Malaysia border, injuring three soldiers. The attack comes after a lull in violence in recent weeks, coinciding with a temporary truce between the Thai government and Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu (BRN) during Ramadan, from 3 April to 14 May.
In Indonesia, a group of villagers protested in front of a same-sex couple’s home in Cugenang district, Cianjur regency, West Java, on 22 May, demanding the couple leave the neighborhood. This event comes as the Indonesian parliament discusses a bill that would outlaw homosexuality (Benar News, 24 May 2022). Meanwhile, on 23 May, the Indonesian government summoned a British diplomat after the UK embassy in Jakarta displayed a rainbow flag in support of the LGBT+ community. Such incidents have been criticized by human rights activists as potentially increasing the likelihood of violence and discrimination against minorities (Benar News, 24 May 2022).
In South Korea, disability advocates took to the streets last week, calling for policies to improve the basic rights of people with disabilities. On 26 May, hundreds of protesters affiliated with the Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities (KPNPD) held a protest march (News1, 26 May 2022), demanding a state-run support system for families of people with developmental disabilities. On 27 May, members of eight disability advocacy organizations picketed in front of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office, calling for better access to polling stations ahead of local elections on 1 June (YNA, 27 May 2022). Meanwhile, Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) staged subway-riding protests throughout the week, urging the government to improve mobility rights, including demands for greater accessibility on public transportation.
Meanwhile, on 25 May, the New Zealand government announced that it would extend the deployment of New Zealand Defense Force troops in the Solomon Islands until at least May 2023, to continue providing support to the country’s security apparatus (RNZ, 27 May 2022). This follows a recent security agreement between Beijing and Honiara in April (Reuters, 25 May 2022), amid competition in the Pacific between China and the US, Australia, and New Zealand (CNN, 21 April 2022).
In China, university students continued to rally against COVID-19 restrictions last week. At China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing Normal University, and Tianjin University, students demanded the right to return to their hometowns amid ongoing restrictions. In Tianjin, students had been confined to their dorms, studying online since January (RFA, 27 May 2022). Following the protests, university students in Beijing were allowed to return home, ahead of the upcoming anniversary of the 4 June Tiananmen Square protests (SCMP, 25 May 2022)..."
Source/publisher:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-01
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"Executive Summary:
Rakhine State has avoided the violence that has engulfed the rest of Myanmar since the February 2021 coup. The quiet owes in part to an informal ceasefire, which ended two years of fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, a pro-Rakhine ethnic armed group, and which came into force a few months before the military seized power in Naypyitaw. The Arakan Army has spurned the growing de facto alliance between the National Unity Government (NUG)-led opposition and other ethnic armed groups, focusing on getting control of much of Rakhine State. Until recently, the military has been too distracted to try loosening the Arakan Army’s grip, but tensions have started rising. The parties could soon find themselves back in conflict. While each side has reason to be leery of a formal ceasefire, both would also have reason to welcome the breathing space it would create. Most importantly, Rakhine’s people would benefit. In parallel, the Arakan Army should rein in demands on humanitarian actors, which should coordinate their interaction with it, and Dhaka and Naypyitaw should engage the group on Rohingya repatriation.
The two-year war that engulfed Rakhine State between late 2018 and 2020 significantly eroded Naypyitaw’s control of the region. Police and many other civil servants were often reluctant to leave major towns during the conflict due to the risk of attack or abduction and they remain wary of venturing into the countryside. Many local administrators resigned during this period due to threats either from the armed group or from the Myanmar military, which suspected them of collaborating with the enemy. The Arakan Army has since either replaced them with its own administrators in the areas it controls or co-opted the new appointees that the military regime has sent since the coup. As a result, the Arakan Army now directly or indirectly controls most rural areas in the centre and north of the state, while exerting significant influence in urban areas; it has also begun expanding farther south, as well as north toward the border with Bangladesh.
Over the past year, the Arakan Army has further consolidated its control by rolling out a suite of public services through its administrative branch, the Arakan People’s Authority. These include a judicial system and police force, which operate parallel to the state’s, and some health-care services (including the provision of COVID-19 vaccines). As a result, many residents are turning to Arakan Army mechanisms, rather than those run by Naypyitaw, for basic services and to resolve disputes. The service provision strategy has deepened public support for the group and its governance, but it is not without risk: it could be a major drain on the armed group’s resources, harm its popularity if the services do not live up to expectations and attract pushback from Naypyitaw.
The impact of these developments in Rakhine State has not been limited to the ethnic Rakhine community. The rise of the Arakan Army has brought positive changes for some hitherto ostracised Rohingya. While the overall situation for the Rohingya remains dire, some communities have improved access to public services and some are enjoying greater freedom of movement because of the Arakan Army’s non-enforcement of restrictions imposed by Naypyitaw. These testimonials should be considered in context, however; although Rohingya sources Crisis Group spoke to largely praised the Arakan Army and its administration, the community as a whole remains vulnerable and its members are generally not in a position to criticise the group for fear of reprisal.
Myanmar’s military regime … made only token efforts to counter the Arakan Army’s expanding control.
Myanmar’s military regime, which calls itself the State Administration Council, is focused on subduing resistance to the coup elsewhere in Myanmar and until recently made only token efforts to counter the Arakan Army’s expanding control. Part of the reason may be that locally based government and military officials, hunkered down in large towns, have little choice but to accept the facts on the ground. As a measure of the group’s growing influence, many state-run schools, which are still nominally under Naypyitaw’s control, have started playing an Arakan Army-written Rakhine anthem instead of the national anthem. There are even examples of active collaboration, such as Naypyitaw-controlled police working with the Arakan Army to resolve crimes and administrators from the two sides holding regular informal consultations.
But cooperation is certainly not the state’s default posture. The junta has in some instances sought to scare both Rakhine and Rohingya communities away from working with Arakan Army mechanisms and institutions. Recently, it has adopted more aggressive tactics, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles, reinforcing troops, increasing patrols and detaining people it suspects of supporting the group.
The military is still too stretched to give much attention to Rakhine State, but there is a clear risk of a return to conflict. If the Arakan Army seeks to expand its influence consistent with its ambitious political aspirations – for example, into border areas or in southern Rakhine – it risks provoking the Myanmar military, which refers to itself as the Tatmadaw, into action. Similarly, a partnership with the NUG-led opposition – something many in Myanmar would welcome – could spark a return to war. While it would be difficult for the Tatmadaw to win this fight, the collateral effects of renewed conflict could be terrible for Rakhine State’s population, which is already reeling from neglect, a poor economy, communal violence and the earlier two-year war.
Although there is no clear path toward peace and stability for Rakhine State, one step that could offer both the parties and the region an extended respite from fighting might be to formalise the informal ceasefire that has largely kept the peace for the past eighteen months. Such an arrangement would focus primarily on maintaining the peace, in particular by demarcating territory and establishing formal communication channels to help de-escalate in the event that tensions begin to build once again.
Both the government and the Arakan Army have reason to be wary of such a step in that it would give the other party a chance to gather strength and prepare for renewed confrontation down the road. But each also has reason to embrace it. The military is preoccupied with the spiralling consequences of the coup that it launched over a year ago; a formal ceasefire would be a measure of insurance that it will not face another conflict that will stretch it further. As for the Arakan Army, such an arrangement could allow it to further consolidate its authority over the territories already under its control and gain recognition from outside actors, including both humanitarian organisations and neighbouring Bangladesh. While the extended respite could give the parties the chance to fortify themselves for further clashes, it would also create the possibility of a durable, peaceful solution emerging in the future – something outside actors could encourage.
If the parties agree to solidify the current ceasefire into a formal agreement, it will also be important to improve certain other ad hoc arrangements with implications for people in Rakhine. For example, humanitarian organisations are increasingly concerned that they may soon face parallel sets of requirements to operate in Rakhine State – some imposed by Naypyitaw and others by the Arakan Army – which could create both administrative burdens and operational difficulties. The group should work to ensure that those in need are not cut off from humanitarian assistance because of paralysing new rules and humanitarian organisations should come together to present a united front should such rules become overly burdensome. Dhaka and Naypyitaw should additionally engage with the Arakan Army on the possible return of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.
While a formal ceasefire would offer neither party precisely what it wants, there would be enough in it for both sides that it could conceivably work. That in turn would allow Rakhine State residents to get what they need most: a continued break from violence and the corresponding opportunity to build toward a more peaceful future, one in which Rakhine and Rohingya can live in relative safety side by side..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
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Description:
"Since the February 1st, 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, the country has become engulfed in a rapidly
escalating civil war as the pro-democracy movement picked up arms in conjunction with several
longstanding ethnic armed organizations to challenge the military junta’s control over the country. In
little over a year, the conflict has spread across half a dozen distinct theaters, destabilizing military
rule in many places, and resulted in widespread violence and devastation in Myanmar as the junta
deployed indiscriminate violence against its opponents. Yet, the determined anti-junta resistance gained
substantial momentum and now fields an impressive number of enthusiastic volunteers that stand
poised to continue fighting indefinitely. Challenges remain, however, most notably in the pro-democracy
forces’ lack of centralized command and equipment..."
Source/publisher:
Wilson Center, Asia Program and Tagaung Institute of Political Studies
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-01
[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, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"Post-coup military assault in Kayin and Kayah States includes war crimes and likely crimes against humanity
More than 150,000 displaced, with entire villages emptied and burned
Amnesty International interviewed almost 100 people and visited border area
Myanmar’s military has been systematically committing widespread atrocities in recent months, including unlawfully killing, arbitrarily detaining and forcibly displacing civilians in two eastern states, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
The report, “Bullets rained from the sky”: War crimes and displacement in eastern Myanmar, found that Myanmar’s military has subjected Karen and Karenni civilians to collective punishment via widespread aerial and ground attacks, arbitrary detentions that often result in torture or extrajudicial executions, and the systematic looting and burning of villages.
The violence in Kayin and Kayah States reignited in the wake of last year’s military coup and escalated from December 2021 to March 2022, killing hundreds of civilians and displacing more than 150,000 people.
“The world’s attention may have moved away from Myanmar since last year’s coup, but civilians continue to pay a high price. The military’s ongoing assault on civilians in eastern Myanmar has been widespread and systematic, likely amounting to crimes against humanity,” said Rawya Rageh, Senior Crisis Adviser at Amnesty International.
“Alarm bells should be ringing: the ongoing killing, looting and burning bear all the hallmarks of the military’s signature tactic of collective punishment, which it has repeatedly used against ethnic minorities across the country.”
Alarm bells should be ringing: the ongoing killing, looting and burning bear all the hallmarks of the military’s signature tactic of collective punishment, which it has repeatedly used against ethnic minorities across the country.
Rawya Rageh, Senior Crisis Adviser at Amnesty International
Post-coup surge in violence
For decades, ethnic armed organizations in Myanmar, including in Kayin and Kayah States, have been engaged in struggles for greater rights and autonomy. Fragile ceasefires in place in both states since 2012 broke down after the February 2021 coup, and new armed groups have emerged. In its operations, the military has relentlessly attacked civilians.
Some attacks appear to have directly targeted civilians as a form of collective punishment against those perceived to support an armed group or the wider post-coup uprising. In other cases, the military has fired indiscriminately into civilian areas where there are also military targets. Direct attacks on civilians, collective punishment, and indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.
Attacks on a civilian population must be widespread or systematic to amount to crimes against humanity; in Kayin and Kayah States, they are both, for crimes including murder, torture, forcible transfer, and persecution on ethnic grounds.
Unlawful strikes
In its ongoing operations, Myanmar’s military has repeatedly fired explosive weapons with wide-area effects into populated civilian areas. Dozens of witnesses told Amnesty International about barrages that lasted days at a time. The organization documented 24 attacks by artillery or mortars between December 2021 and March 2022 that killed or injured civilians or that caused destruction to civilian homes, schools, health facilities, churches, and monasteries.
For example, on 5 March 2022, as families were at dinner, the military shelled Ka Law Day village, Hpapun Township, Kayin State, killing seven people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant. A close family member of four of the people who were killed said he had to sit in his house all night looking at the bodies, for fear of being injured by further shelling, before burying them in the morning.
Many people described the military’s use of fighter jets and attack helicopters as particularly terrifying. Witnesses described not being able to sleep at night out of fear of air strikes, or fleeing to seek shelter in bunkers and caves.
Amnesty International documented eight air strikes on villages and an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in eastern Myanmar in the first three months of 2022. The attacks, which killed nine civilians and injured at least nine more, destroyed civilian homes and religious buildings. In almost all documented attacks, only civilians appear to have been present.
In one case, at around 6pm on 23 February 2022, a fighter jet fired on Dung Ka Mee village, Demoso Township, Kayah State, killing two civilian men and injuring several others. Amnesty International interviewed two witnesses and a relative of one of the deceased as well as an aid worker who responded after the attack. They said there was no fighting that evening and that the nearest armed group base was a mile or more away.
A local resident, a 46-year-old farmer who witnessed the attack, said the military aircraft made three passes, firing guns and a rocket:
“When that fighter jet was flying toward us in a nose-down position, I was numb… When they fired the rocket, I got myself together and realized I had to run [to a bunker]… We were shocked to see the dust and debris come towards us… There is a two-story building… The family lives upstairs and the downstairs is a mobile phone store. This building collapsed and it was also on fire.”
Another witness, a 40-year-old farmer, saw the remains of a neighbour’s body:
“We couldn’t even put them in a coffin, we put them in a plastic bag and buried them. People had to pick up the body pieces and put them in a bag.” In another incident, the military carried out an air strike on Ree Khee Bu IDP camp at around 1am on 17 January 2022, killing a man in his 50s as well as 15- and 12-year-old sisters.
We couldn’t even put them in a coffin, we put them in a plastic bag and buried them. People had to pick up the body pieces and put them in a bag.”
A 40-year-old farmer who witnessed an air strike.
Extrajudicial executions
The report documents how Myanmar’s military carried out arbitrary detentions of civilians on the basis of their ethnicity or because they were suspected of supporting the anti-coup movement. Often, detainees were tortured, forcibly disappeared or extrajudicially executed.
In one of many cases where soldiers extrajudicially executed civilians who ventured out from displacement sites to collect food or belongings, three farmers from San Pya 6 Mile village in Kayah State went missing in January 2022. Their decomposed bodies were found in a pit latrine around two weeks later.
The brother of one of the victims said he identified the men by their clothes and the state of their teeth. Soldiers fired on him and others as they tried to retrieve the bodies; they could only return to finish the burial a month later.
In a massacre that prompted rare international condemnation, soldiers near Mo So village in Kayah State’s Hpruso Township reportedly stopped at least 35 women, men and children in multiple vehicles on 24 December 2021, and then proceeded to kill them and burn their bodies. Doctors who examined the bodies reportedly said many of the victims had been tied up and gagged, bearing wounds suggesting they were shot or stabbed.
Amnesty International maintains that the incident must be investigated as a case of extrajudicial executions. Such killings in armed conflict constitute war crimes.
Witnesses also described Myanmar’s military shooting at civilians, including those attempting to flee across a river along the border with Thailand.
Looting and burning
Following a pattern from past military operations, soldiers have systematically looted and burned large sections of villages in Kayin and Kayah States. Witnesses from six villages reported having items including jewellery, cash, vehicles and livestock stolen, before homes and other buildings were burned.
Four men who fled Wari Suplai village, on the border of Shan and Kayah States, said they watched from nearby farmland as houses went up in flames after most villagers fled on 18 February 2022. They told Amnesty International that the burning went on for days, destroying well over two-thirds of the houses there.
“It’s not a house anymore. It’s all ashes — black and charcoal… It’s my life’s savings. It was destroyed within minutes,” said a 38-year-old farmer and father of two young children.
Amnesty International’s analysis of fire data and satellite imagery shows how villages were burned, some of them multiple times, in parts of Kayah State. The burning directly tracks military operations from village to village in February and March 2022.
A defector from the military’s 66th Light Infantry Division, who was involved in operations in Kayah State until October 2021, told Amnesty International that he witnessed soldiers looting and burning homes: “They don’t have any particular reason [for burning a specific house]. They just want to put the fear in the civilians that ‘This is what we’ll do if you support [the resistance fighters].’ And another thing is to stop the supply and logistics for the local resistance forces… [Soldiers] took everything they could [from a village] and then they burned the rest.”
They don’t have any particular reason [for burning a specific house]. They just want to put the fear in the civilians that ‘This is what we’ll do if you support [the resistance fighters].’…[Soldiers] took everything they could [from a village] and then they burned the rest.
A defector from the military’s 66th Light Infantry Division.
The violence has caused the mass displacement of more than 150,000 people, including between a third and a half of Kayah State’s entire population. In some cases, entire villages have been emptied of their populations; at times, civilians have had to flee repeatedly in recent months.
Displaced people are enduring dire conditions amid food insecurity, scant health care — including for the conflict’s enormous psychosocial impact — and ongoing efforts by the military to obstruct humanitarian aid provision. Aid workers spoke of growing malnutrition and increasing difficulties in reaching displaced people due to the ongoing violence and military restrictions.
“Donors and humanitarian organizations must significantly scale up aid to civilians in eastern Myanmar, and the military must halt all restrictions on aid delivery,” said Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director – Thematic Issues.
“The military’s ongoing crimes against civilians in eastern Myanmar reflect decades-long patterns of abuse and flagrant impunity. The international community — including ASEAN and UN member states — must tackle this festering crisis now. The UN Security Council must impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and refer the situation there to the International Criminal Court.”
“The military’s ongoing crimes against civilians in eastern Myanmar reflect decades-long patterns of abuse and flagrant impunity. The international community — including ASEAN and UN member states — must tackle this festering crisis now. The UN Security Council must impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and refer the situation there to the International Criminal Court.
Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director – Thematic Issues
Methodology
The report is based on research carried out in March and April 2022, including two weeks on the Thailand-Myanmar border. Amnesty International interviewed 99 people, including dozens of witnesses or survivors of attacks and three defectors from Myanmar’s military.
The organization also analysed more than 100 photographs and videos related to human rights violations — showing injuries, destruction and weapon use — in addition to satellite imagery, fire data, and open-source military aircraft flight data..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-05-31
[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, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar
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"More Myanmar junta victims have been found around Mone Taing Ping village in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region, with the death toll rising to 36, according to residents.
Most of the victims were found in torched houses and bore signs of torture, they said.
Some corpses were dumped in wells. “We found the bodies while clearing debris from the fire. The bodies were disfigured. We found six bodies in a house where only two old women lived. There were pools of blood covered by shoveled earth,” said a villager.
Around 200 junta soldiers from Taze Township in the region arrived in the village on May 10. Two resistance fighters who were preparing to plant mines were shot dead and a clash followed at the bridge leading to the village.
Some villagers were shot dead by regime troops and others were abducted from neighboring villages, according to witnesses.
Villagers and people’s defense forces (PDF) fighters returned to Mone Taing Ping after junta troops left.
“Only bones were left from some bodies. Some had their hands tied,” said another resident.
Villagers said they could not identify many of the victims.
Junta troops torched 29 houses in Mone Taing Ping, which had 300 households.
“They did not torch the entire village. They only torched houses of PDF members and supporters. Military informants showed them the houses. Junta troops put the dead bodies in those houses. They held detainees overnight and killed them the next day,” said a villager.
Since May 10, junta troops have raided villages in Ye-U and Khin-U townships, torching houses and killing civilians.
An estimated 11,417 houses were razed in arson attacks by the military regime and allied militias by April 30, according to Data for Myanmar, an independent research group documenting junta atrocities..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Long fighting for its own independence, the Karen National Union is providing protection and training to those opposed to the military.
Description:
"When the Myanmar military seized power on February 1 last year, the country’s oldest major ethnic armed group, the Karen National Union, was also one of the first to condemn the coup.
“We cannot accept the military taking power and detaining the country’s leaders. This is a massive obstacle and challenge in transitioning to democracy,” the KNU said in a statement the day after the power grab, accusing the military of violating its own 2008 constitution.
Soon afterwards, troops from the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, were seen providing security to protesters in Karen state, which lies along Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Elsewhere in the country, there was no such protection. The military embarked on a campaign of brutal violence against unarmed protesters, killing hundreds of people.
A year later, those images of the KNU protecting protesters have become symbolic of its role as the backbone of Myanmar’s new age of resistance. The group has provided military training to newly formed anti-coup armed groups, protection to political dissidents and safe passage for fugitives fleeing military-controlled areas.
“KNU people are very kind and very good at guerrilla warfare,” said Htet*, a 34-year-old resistance fighter who joined a network of armed groups in Yangon known as Urban Guerillas or UGs.
Htet and all other sources interviewed for this story spoke to Al Jazeera in person from an undisclosed location.
Last year, Htet travelled from Yangon to KNU territory to receive training after watching soldiers shoot down unarmed, peaceful protesters. “The military arrested everyone and shot everyone. I needed to know how to fight back,” he said.
KNU spokesman Taw Nee says the new generation of resistance fighters are “very active and want revenge”. While he praises their motivation, he also says it has sometimes been difficult for the KNU to manage the massive influx of inexperienced fighters hailing from a hodgepodge of disorganised, nascent armed groups.
Taw Nee said that had led to some problems, like resistance fighters posting videos of battles on social media, accidentally exposing sensitive information, or doctors insisting on fighting on the front lines when they would be more useful as field medics.
“But they’ve improved a lot,” Taw Nee said, grinning like a proud father. “They have a lot of experience within a few months.”
Htet took that experience and put it to use when he returned to Yangon.
“There were 10 soldiers driving. We knew the route they usually took so we planted two bombs. After that, we heard a lot of screaming and then they start bang bang bang,” he said, describing a pipe bomb attack in Yangon’s Insein township.
In another incident, they planted multiple bombs in Hlegu township, killing about eight soldiers in the first blast. When two more came to investigate, they detonated a second, killing them as well.
When asked if he ever feels bad about killing soldiers, Htet shakes his head emphatically. “They are very bad people,” he insisted.
Protecting peaceful resistance
The KNU does not only support armed resistance but also provides support, protection and safe passage to peaceful political dissidents.
A police officer from Yangon, who deserted when ordered to use violence against protesters, told Al Jazeera that the KNU also welcomed him, despite his decision not to join the fighting.
The 25-year-old, who joined the police force when he was just 19, said he deserted on March 6 of last year as violent crackdowns began to escalate. “They ordered me to crack down on protesters and arrest people. My superior officer said to use rubber bullets and then to use real bullets,” he said.
He praised the KNU for providing him with food and a safe house, but said there were still some close calls. “The military attacked our camp and we had to run away,” he said, explaining that a few other dissidents were captured during the raid.
Prominent activist Thet Swe Win fled Yangon in March 2021, sheltering in KNU territory for about seven months. “I know myself, I wouldn’t be a good soldier, but I respect the armed struggle as a key component of the revolution,” he told Al Jazeera.
The tattoos that cover Thet Swe Win’s arms tell the story of peace but also resistance: block letters spelling HAKUNA MATATA [Swahili for ‘no trouble’ and popularised in the film The Lion King] a peace sign, a man with a hammer smashing a Nazi swastika.
Despite being one of the most vocal advocates for minority rights in Myanmar, even Thet Swe Win was not fully prepared for the reality of life for Karen people. “Our understanding before was too shallow,” he said.
Thet Swe Win says while there is a mutual animosity between the Bamar majority and the Karen, the ethnic minority are the ones who are oppressed. “The only Burmese they see are the soldiers. The ones who kill and loot and rape and burn their houses,” he said.
Thet Swe Win says in many rural areas, there are no schools or hospitals. He saw one pregnant woman being carried in a hammock up mountains through the jungle to the nearest clinic to give birth.
“Many have no proper houses, just bamboo shelters, because the soldiers always raid and burn their villages,” he said.
Karen state at war
Fighting exploded across Karen state in December of last year, when the military raided Lay Kay Kaw town. Soldiers arrested dozens of dissidents in hiding, including two elected lawmakers from the National League for Democracy, which secured a landslide victory in the country’s last elections in November 2020.
The military has cited unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in the poll in an attempt to justify its coup, but for the elected lawmakers their emphatic win is the source of their legitimacy.
They set up their own administration called the National Unity Government soon after being forced from office and a representative of the civilian government continues to hold Myanmar’s seat at the United Nations. The military, meanwhile, has declared the NUG and its anti-coup armed groups, known as People’s Defence Forces (PDFs), as “terrorist” organisations.
Since the raid on Lay Kay Kaw, fighting has spread to many other parts of the state. Taw Nee says there are clashes nearly every day, with tens of thousands of civilians displaced.
Taw Nee says morale within the Myanmar military is “very, very low” and claims fighting would be over soon if the military did not have air support.
Taw Nee says most of the PDFs operating in Karen State have been brought under the umbrella of the KNLA with a mixed command structure. There’s a “joint coalition committee at every brigade level” and if a unit includes PDF soldiers, the commander comes from the KNLA while the deputy is from the PDF.
“They wear KNLA uniforms, but they don’t speak Karen,” he said, laughing.
While there was an anti-military uprising in 1988, with some choosing the path of armed resistance, it was not nearly as successful as today’s revolution. Taw Nee says back then most people accepted the military’s promise of an election in 1990 and “calmed down quickly”.
“In 2021, it was not like that, it was totally different,” he said, noting that young people have had “a lot of experience over the last 10 years in an open society” and aren’t willing to go back.
History repeats itself
But Taw Nee also worries that history could repeat itself in other ways.
After the military refused to recognise the NLD’s landslide election victory in 1990, the KNU allied itself with a similar parallel administration known as the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.
“Then when The Lady was released from house arrest, they changed everything,” he said.
The Lady is Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s overthrown civilian leader, whose reputation was tarnished internationally after she defended the military’s atrocities against the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
Many ethnic armed groups also felt that once Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2016, she sided with the military against them in peace negotiations. She is currently in military custody in an unknown location, but there is concern within the KNU that her release could create divisions within the multi-ethnic resistance.
“If the Lady is released, will you [the NUG] change your mind? They couldn’t answer right away with this,” Taw Nee said.
For now, he says the NUG and KNU are “all together” and he remains optimistic about the future. “The mind has changed a lot towards ethnic people,” since the coup, he said.
Htet, the resistance fighter, says the new generation of revolutionaries has greater respect for the KNU, which has trained them, supported them and fought by their side.
He still sees the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar and has joined them in a civilian capacity since being forced to flee Yangon. But he says the parallel government needs to do more.
“If [the NUG] gave us more guns, more weapons, we will win faster,” he said, claiming most weapons come from the KNU or donations from the general population.
Even with limited support, Htet remains confident the revolution will succeed.
“We are more and more powerful now. We can make better weapons and bombs. A lot of PDFs and UGs are learning to liberate their towns.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-05-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
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Description:
" The Burmese military junta’s systematic and widespread escalation of violence
following its attempt to seize power on 1 February 2021, has created a humanitarian
crisis that poses a grave threat to regional human security.
During 1 Feb 2021 – 15 Apr 2022, there were 10,786 armed clashes and attacks on
civilians, more than in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, or Afghanistan in the same period. The
junta has killed at least 2,146 and arrested at least 13,282 civilians. Those killed
and/or detained include elected MPs, journalists, humanitarian workers, civil
society members, and students. In the first 41⁄2 months of 2022 alone (1 Jan - 15
Apr), there were 3,134 such incidents involving air strikes, artillery shelling and
other battlefield tactics, in every State/Region and the capital territory.
The systematic targeting of civilians, in addition to intensifying the humanitarian
crisis, also amount to atrocity crimes that continue to drive up the number of
internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees from Burma. According to UNHCR,
614,000 people have been displaced since the coup attempt, adding to over one
million people displaced by pre-existing armed conflict and abuses. These
populations, further affected by ongoing attacks and blocks on humanitarian aid,
are in desperate need of protection, shelter, food, water, medicine, and other aid.
Humanitarian need is greatest in border regions in Burma’s southeast and west,
where conflict is particularly high relative to the population size, where the junta
continues to block or destroy aid from others.
It is imperative for ASEAN members to facilitate cross-border aid, partnering with
like-minded countries and organizations, in the interests of regional human security
and its own credibility.
The Burma military has a long history of violence
against, displacement of, and disregard for the
humanitarian needs of ethnic minority populations,
particularly at the country’s borders. This was shown
clearly in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic
during 2020, when the military continued its
widespread violence, gave minimal aid or blocked aid
to border regions, and destroyed ethnic health
checkpoints for detecting COVID.
On 1 February 2021, the military attempted to launch
a coup. It locked hundreds of parliamentarians—set to
convene parliament that day—in their lodgings; put
others under house arrest; and took others to jail. Since
that time it has only increased its detentions and other
targeting of politicians. It also responded to
nationwide peaceful resistance with shocking
violence, escalating attacks that have resulted in
nationwide conflict.
The intensity of conflict and attacks on civilians is not uniform. Although junta troops have torched
villages and towns in central Burma, raided them, and arrested civilians there, the humanitarian
implications of its onslaught have been worse in areas traditionally targeted by the military. The
following maps show (1) raw conflict numbers by State/Region and (2) adjusted for population, mindful
that the border zones already suffer a legacy of decades-long conflict and deprivation prior to the coup.
Intensifying the humanitarian emergency and impeding humanitarian assistance
The junta’s violence has had terrible consequences for Burma’s civilian population. According to the
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of 4 Apr 2022 there were 561,000 internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in Burma and 53,000 refugees from Burma who had been displaced after 1 Feb 2021, in addition
to hundreds of thousands of people previously displaced. In other words, as of 4 Apr, there were at least
1.89 million displaced persons in Burma and just across its borders in neighboring countries.1
These
numbers are likely significant underestimates, based on local reporting.
The junta has worked to prevent others from
providing humanitarian aid or healthcare to
vulnerable populations. In June 2021, junta
troops blocked aid for Karenni IDPs, and
destroyed an ambulance bringing humanitarian
aid to Moebye Township (Shan State). The
ambulance reportedly contained 80 sacks of rice,
medicine, and medical equipment.2
In July 2021,
the junta reportedly allowed only around 450kg
of rice to enter Mindat (Chin State) each day—
not enough to feed residents—despite a ceasefire
and humanitarian agreement.3
Junta troops have arrested volunteers for
assisting IDPs in Chin, Karen, Karenni, Shan,
Mandalay, and Sagaing States/Regions. 4
International NGOs have alerted the world that
the junta was blocking aid and using systematic
efforts to starve people and prevent them from
accessing healthcare.5
Junta troops have particularly targeted Burma’s
healthcare sector: As of 10 Jan 2022, there had
been at least 415 attacks and threats against
health workers, facilities, and transports; 30
health workers killed; 286 arrested or detained;
and 128 attacks on healthcare facilities. This
focus on the health workers stems from the
perception that they began the civil disobedience
movement.6
Junta troops have also targeted IDP camps and
their populations, killing those in need and
further preventing others from being able to
help. In January 2022 in Karenni State, staff and
patients fled a Loikaw hospital amid clashes and
junta-imposed electricity blackouts;7
and junta
planes bombed two IDP camps, killing at least
six IDPs.8
Amid conflict in Karen State, junta
planes bombed a hospital for the second time in
January, and attacked refugee camps.9
Activists and vulnerable communities from urban areas and central Burma have also fled to border
areas, where they seek refuge from the junta’s terror. These populations join those in need in border
areas, and their presence has also served as a pretext for further junta military attacks, such as those in
Lay Kay Kaw, Karen State,10 which have displaced over 10,000 people.
The scope of need – up by 1,300%
As a result of these actions, along with the junta’s mishandling of the economy and the COVID-19
pandemic, millions of people are living hand to mouth, in intense insecurity. In December 2021, the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 14.4 million people in
Burma would need humanitarian assistance in 2022, a 1,300% increase from its prediction for 2021.11
While need is high nationwide, the severity of need is highest in border regions. According to OCHA,
by December 2021 there were 526,000 IDPs in “extreme” need, across the southeast (Southern Shan,
Karenni, Eastern Bago, Karen, Mon, and Tanintharyi), northwest (Chin, Sagaing), northeast (Kachin,
Northern Shan), as well as in Magway and Rakhine. Since that time, over 5,000 people have crossed
the border into Thailand, and many have sought shelter on either side of the Moei river, which divides
the two countries;12 the UNHCR and Thai officials estimated in April 2022 that 17,000 people had
crossed into Thailand since February 2021.13 Furthermore, the enormous number of people in need even
in areas fully under junta control demonstrates that the junta is either unwilling or unable to meet
people’s basic needs.
Numerous challenges prevent delivery of humanitarian aid within Burma. From the OCHA report:
While international and local humanitarian organizations [...] have stayed and delivered
during the recent crises, attacks on health workers and severe access constraints (particularly
in conflict areas) are resulting in unmet needs with a multiplier effect into 2022. A number of
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and International Non-Government Organizations
(INGOs) ...had their offices raided, materials confiscated and leaders arrested. Disregard for
human rights and international humanitarian law by parties to the conflict is becoming
increasingly common, and the operating environment for humanitarian workers has worsened
with continued attacks on health and education facilities and personnel [...].14
Community-based and border-based organizations part of the solution
Non-governmental health organizations already have infrastructure for healthcare delivery, and have
ably provided healthcare in border areas for decades, including emergency public health responses to
displaced persons during the pandemic. They coordinate through the Ethnic Health Committee (EHC),
comprised of independent Community-Based Health Organizations (CBHOs) and Ethnic Health
Organizations (EHOs) under the structure of ethnic organizations such as the Karen National Union
(KNU), Karenni National Peoples’ Party (KNPP), New Mon State Party (NMSP), Shan State-based,
and Burmese groups.
Ethnic health providers have already played a key role in responding to the pandemic, and are now
organizing vaccine distribution in ethnic areas. The Chin National Front started administering
Covishield vaccines on 15 Aug 2021. The New Mon State Party opened five temporary medical centers
and 18 checkpoints in the areas it controls, and is reportedly conducting a vaccination campaign. With
the help of the Chinese Red Cross, the Kachin Independence Organization has vaccinated at least 20,000
people, and the Shan State Progress Party has similarly vaccinated over 3,000 people.
Civilian and humanitarian aid groups have shown they are serious about combating COVID-19, as well
as poor healthcare generally, and could make significant progress with additional funds. The National
Unity Government (NUG)—Myanmar’s civilian government—has created a National Health
Committee and a National-Level Commission on COVID-19, and established itself as a willing liaison
between foreign donors and local communities.
ASEAN can lead the way in facilitating aid, but this must involve cross-border assistance. Otherwise,
the bloc risks undermining a multi-stakeholder approach and making its intervention dangerously
political and one-sided – aligned with the junta which has been the root cause of this threat to regional
human security.
Cross-border aid essential
In light of the desperate humanitarian situation in and outside of Burma, and conflict-related and other
junta-imposed impediments to providing in-country assistance, it is critical that foreign states and
organizations facilitate the flow of cross-border aid.
Furthermore, sole reliance on cooperation with the junta would be misguided and inexpedient, and
would exacerbate pre-existing humanitarian gaps in Burma. The military has proven time and again
that it is not a responsible steward of humanitarian aid or any other assistance for the people of Burma.
Its presence, even alongside foreign aid providers, is likely to frighten communities, and the junta is
liable to use aid as a means to further securitization and commission of atrocity crimes.15
It is notable that Adelina Kamal, former Executive Director of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance
(AHA) Centre, is among the loudest voices calling for ASEAN, Burma’s neighbors, the UN Special
Envoy on Myanmar, and other international actors to support humanitarian aid that goes through non-
state actors in Burma, such as community-based health organizations.16
Funding already exists for cross-border aid. On 10 Aug, the US Department of State announced an aid
package of more than US 50 million to provide life-saving protections, food and shelter, health care,
WASH, and support to people being persecuted and displaced in Burma.17 On 12 Aug, US Ambassador
to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield met virtually with Dr Cynthia Maung—head of the NUG’s
COVID-19 Task Force—to discuss US contributions to the COVID-19 relief effort.18
In October 2021, 397 local and allied groups co-signed a letter, calling on International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) to repurpose hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen Burma aid to support effective
COVID-19 assistance for border-based ethnic communities and prisoners in Burma.19
The first step forward towards a sustainable solution to strengthen community resilience and
significantly mitigate the crisis’ destabilizing impacts on the ASEAN region, would be to restart and
scale up cross-border aid programs that were present on that Thai-Burmese border in the 1980s – 2000s.
It is imperative that the management and implementation of such efforts be organized with the inclusion
of and implementation by community-based organizations that already have the trust and cooperation
of affected communities on the ground..."
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-BURMA
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Human Rights and international relations, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma
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"One year on, since adopting the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its member states have not achieved any progress in addressing the human rights and humanitarian crisis perpetrated by the military junta.
We, the undersigned organisations, condemn the inaction of ASEAN and urge the regional bloc to move beyond the Consensus and align its efforts with the international community to immediately and meaningfully address the dire situation in Myanmar.
The ASEAN Five-Point Consensus (FPC), agreed upon by nine ASEAN Member states and the junta’s leader Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing, on 24 April 2021, stipulated the commitment of the regional bloc to make efforts to stop the violence in the country immediately and for all parties to exercise utmost restraint, foster constructive dialogue and to provide humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. Disappointingly, none of these action points has been meaningfully achieved.
In the past year, the brutal regime in Myanmar has actively undermined the spirit and content of the FPC and continued its systematic violations that amount to atrocity crimes, leading to more than 1700 killings while more than ten thousand political prisoners have been arbitrarily arrested and detained. The junta leader has also refused to cooperate with the regional bloc after the ASEAN leaders disinvited the Myanmar delegation from the ASEAN Summit in October 2021. We note that ASEAN has failed to take further, comprehensive actions and continues to allow junta representatives to attend scores of other ASEAN meetings, thus undermining the important political stand to exclude them from the Summit.
It has been one year since the FPC was adopted, but our organisations have observed no significant progress in improving the human rights situation on the ground. Hanging on to the FPC absent significant progress only prolongs the daily terror and deprivation civilians suffer in Myanmar while eroding ASEAN’s credibility and legitimacy.
Despite the commitment to engage with all stakeholders, ASEAN has shown ongoing reluctance to engage with the de-facto government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government. On the contrary, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, in his position as the current ASEAN Chair, together with the current ASEAN Envoy to Myanmar, Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn, visited the junta chief Ming Aung Hlaing in Myanmar in January 2022 – a move that was undertaken without agreement from other ASEAN leaders. Civil society in the region condemned the action as ‘rogue diplomacy’, dramatically weakening ASEAN’s collective leverage to solve the Myanmar crisis. The delegation did not engage with the NUG and detained President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the civil disobedience movement, and ethnic armed groups during the visit. On 27 April 2022, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was once again sentenced to five years in prison on trumped-up corruption charges, further confirming ASEAN’s ineptitude in resolving the crisis in Myanmar.
During a speech on 28 March 2022, Ming Aung Hlaing called on ethnic armed groups not to engage with ‘terrorist groups’ – referring to the NUG, which had been branded as a terrorist organisation by the junta in 2021 and whose staff are facing arrest warrants. The junta also has deliberately weaponised humanitarian aid to obtain legitimacy from the regional bloc and international community.
As the junta has shown no commitment to respect the FPC, our organisations urge ASEAN leaders to move beyond it and explore alternative solutions to address the crisis in Myanmar meaningfully. One year of inaction is more than enough. The regional bloc, together with the international community, must ensure that any alternative solution should not delay the implementation of concrete action against the junta as demanded by civil society globally, including increasing sanctions, imposing an arms embargo and ensuring accountability..."
Source/publisher:
Civicus (Johannesburg)
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations
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"The number of Myanmar people displaced by fighting between resistance forces and the Myanmar military in anti-regime strongholds in the west and northwest of the country has exceeded 300,000 ‘for the first time’ since last year’s coup.
The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest humanitarian update on Myanmar that, as of April 11, 346,000 of the 566,100 people displaced since the military takeover are from Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions in the west and northwest of Myanmar.
“For the first time, displacement in the northwest has exceeded 300,000 people,” the OCHA report said.
Since mid-2021, resistance groups have flourished in Chin, Sagaing and Magwe, inflicting severe casualties on military regime forces.
The junta continues to struggle to control those regions, with several dozen People’s Defense Forces attacking military outposts, convoys, police stations and collaborators on a daily basis.
In response, regime troops have torched villages, accusing their residents of sheltering resistance fighters. At least 8,262 houses and other civilian properties, including churches, monasteries, schools and markets have reportedly been either burned down or destroyed, mainly in Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin and Kayah states, the report said.
OCHA added that the regime’s use of heavy weapons, including airstrikes and artillery, as well as landmines and the presence of unexploded ordinance, continues to claim lives and pose risks to the safety and security of the civilian population.
“Since the military takeover, at least 1,600 people, including over 100 children, have been killed, and thousands injured or maimed,” the report stated.
Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have fled their homes for safety since the February 2021 coup, with many of them forced to move multiple times, exposing them to grave protection risks.
As of 11 April, 2022, the total number of displaced people in Myanmar reached 912,700, according to UN figures.
In addition, it is estimated that 34,500 Myanmar people are displaced in India and another 1,600 are displaced in Thailand..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"At the end of March 2022, over 100 villagers from Nawng Hee tract in Namzarng township, southern Shan State, were forced by SAC troops to build a new military outpost, about one mile from a large new coal mining operation planned by a subsidiary of Mandalay-based Ngwe Yi Pale company.
On March 29 and 30, 106 residents of Nam Mo village went to build the outpost north of Koong Di village in Nawng Hee tract, about 15 miles northeast of Namzarng town. The villagers were forced to dig bunkers, cut bamboo and erect fencing.
The outpost has been built on farmland belonging to a Nam Mo villager called Loong Hsa. He was not informed in advance that his land would be seized, and has received no compensation.
On March 23, about 35 SAC troops from LIB 553, based in Mong Karn, under the Triangle Regional Command in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, came from the Kho Lam-Namzarng main road and entered Koon Hsai village in Nawng Hee tract. The troops camped at Koon Hsai school for several nights, then moved to Tue Leng village, where they spent one night before arriving in Nam Mo village on March 28. The SAC troops camped in Nam Mo temple and that evening at 6 pm summoned the village head and asked to see the village household list. There are 63 households in Nam Mo village, and the troops ordered one person from each household to go and build the outpost for three days, but the villagers decided to send 106 people each day in order to finish the work in two days.
On March 31, the SAC troops moved from Nam Mo temple to stay at the new outpost, which is located about 20 miles from the SAC’s Central Eastern Region Command headquarters at Kho Lam. Local villagers fear that this new military expansion will worsen the human rights situation in their area.
In the list of countrywide mining permits released by the SAC Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) in November 2021, there are five coal mining concessions in Nawng Hee tract of Namzarng, totalling 500 acres. All have been granted to Mandalay Distribution and Mining Company, a subsidiary of Ngwe Yi Pale.
According to local villagers, company representatives informed Namzarng township authorities last month that coal surveying would begin soon in Nawng Hee.
This is a source of great concern for local farmers, as the planned coal mining area is located on lands where they plant corn as their main source of income.
According to the SAC MONREC website, Ngwe Yi Pale is currently the largest producer of coal in northern Shan State, where its mines in Hsipaw, Tangyan and Mong Yai have caused serious damage to the environment, health and livelihoods of local communities.
Mandalay Distribution and Mining Company currently operates another coal mine in Lawksawk in southern Shan State..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"၂၀၂၂ ခုနစ် မတ်လကုန်ပိုင်းတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်တောင်ပိုင်းနမ့်စန်မြို့နယ် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုမှ ဒေသခံပြည်သူ တစ်ရာကျော်တို့ကို စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများက ကင်းတပ်စခန်းအသစ် တည်ဆောက်ပေးရန်အဓမ္မခိုင်းစေခဲ့သည်။ထိုတပ်စခန်းအသစ်တည်နေရာမှာ မန္တလေးအခြေစိုက်ငွေရည်ပုလဲကုမ္ပဏီ၏ လက်အောက်ခံကုမ္ပဏီမှ အသစ်တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့်ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းကြီးနှင့် ၁ မိုင်ခန့်သာကွာ၀ေးသည်။
မတ်လ ၂၉ ရက် ၃၀ ရက်များတွင် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာမှ ကျေးရွာသူရွာသား ၁၀၆ ဦးတို့သည် နမ့်စန်မြို့အရှေ့မြောက်ဘက်မှ ၁၅ မိုင်ခန့်ကွာ၀ေးသော နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုကုန်းတီးရွာမြောက်ဘက်တွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ ကင်းစခန်းအသစ်ကိုသွားဆောက်ပေးခဲ့ရသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် ကျေးရွာသူရွာသားများအားကတုတ်ကျင်းတူးခြင်း၊သစ်၀ါးများခုတ်ခြင်း၊ ခြံစည်းရိုးကာစခြင်း အစရှိသည် တို့ကိုအဓမ္မခိုင်းစေခဲ့ကြသည်။
အဆိုပါကင်းတပ်စခန်းသည် နမ့်မိုဒေသခံပြည်သူလုံးဆာ၏ ယာမြေပေါ်တွင် သွားရောက်တည်ဆောက်ထားခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး ထိုသို့သွားဆောက်ရာတွင် လည်းကြိုတင်အသိပေးခွင့်တောင်းခဲ့ခြင်းမရှိသည့်အပြင် မည်သည့်လျော်ကြေး ငွေကိုမှလဲပေးအပ်ခဲ့ခြင်းမရှိပေ။
မတ်လ ၂၃ ရက်နေ့တွင် ရှမ်းပြည်အရှေ့ပိုင်း ကျိုင်းတုံရွှေတြိဂံတိုင်စစ်ဌာနချုပ်လက်အောက်ခံ မိုင်းကန်းမြို့နယ် အခြေစိုက် ခလရ ၅၅၃ တပ်မှအင်အား ၃၅ ဦး ခန့်ပါရှိသောစစ်ကြောင်းသည် နမ့်စန်-ခိုလမ်ကားလမ်းမကြီးမှတစ်ဆင့် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စု ကွန်ဆိုင်း ကျေးရွာသို့ရောက်လာပြီး ကွန်ဆိုင်းကျေးရွာစာသင်ကျောင်းတွင် ညပေါင်းများစွာ ညအိပ်ရပ်နားပြီးနောက် တိလင်ကျေးရွာတွင် ၁ ညအိပ်ကာ မတ်လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာ သို့ရောက်ရှိလာခဲ့သည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာ ဘုန်းကြီးကျောင်းတွင် ညအိပ်ပြီး ထိုနေ့ည ၆ နာရီတွင် ကျေးရွာသူကြီးကိုခေါ်ယူ၍ နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာတွင်ရှိသော အိမ်ထောင်စုစာရင်းများကိုမေးမြန်းခဲ့သည်။ နမ့်မို ရွာ တွင်အိမ်ထောင်စု ၆၃ စုရှိရာ အိမ်ထောင်စုတစ်စုလျှင် တစ်ဦးကျ မဖြစ်မနေ၄င်းတို့တပ်စခန်းကိုသုံးရက် အ တွင်း တည်ဆောက်ပေးရန် ခိုင်းစေခဲ့သည်။သို့သော် ရွာသူရွာသားများမှ နှစ်ရက်အတွင်းလူ ၁၀၆ ဦးဖြင့် အပြီးလုပ်ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့ကျသည်။
မတ်လ ၃၁ ရက်တွင် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာဘုန်းကြီးကျောင်းမှ တပ်စခန်းအသစ် သို့ ပြောင်း ရွေ့ခဲ့ကျသည်။ အဆိုပါတပ်စခန်းသည်ခိုလမ်မြို့ရှိ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ အရှေ့အလယ်ပိုင်းတိုင်း စစ်ဌာနချုပ်နှင့် မိုင် နှစ်ဆယ်ခန့်သာကွာ၀ေးပြီး ယခုကဲ့သို့ စစ်ရေးတိုးချဲ့မှုအသစ်များကြောင့် ၄င်းတို့ဒေသတွင်း လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်ခံရမှုများပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာမည်ကိုစိုးရိမ်နေကြသည်။
၂၀၂၁ ခုနစ်နို၀င်ဘာလတွင်ထုတ်ပြန်သော စစ်ကောင်စီ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေး၀န်ကြီး ဌာန၏ တစ်နိုင်လုံးသယံဇာတတူးဖော်မှုခွင့်ပြုစာရင်းတွင် နမ့်စန်မြို့နယ် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုတွင် တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့် စုစုပေါင်းဧက ၅၀၀ကျော် ကျယ်၀န်းသည့် ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်း ၅ခုလည်းပါ၀င်သည်။ အဆိုပါကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းအားလုံးသည် ငွေရည်ပုလဲ ကုမ္ပဏီ၏ လက်အောက်ခံ မန္တလေးဖြန့်ချီရေးနှင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်ရေး ကုမ္ပဏီမှတူးဖော်ရန်ခွင့်ပြုချက်ရရှိထားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။
ဒေသခံများ၏ပြောကြားချက်အရ ပြီးခဲ့သည့်လတွင် ကုမ္ပဏီတာ၀န်ရှိသူများက နမ့်စန်မြို့အာဏာပိုင်များအား ကျောက် မီးသွေးစမ်းသပ်မှုများကိုမကြာမှီစတင်တော့မည်ဟုအကြောင်း ကြားခဲ့ကြောင်းသိရသည်။
အသစ်တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့် ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းဧရိယာသည် ဒေသခံတောင်သူလယ်သမားများ ၏အဓိက ၀င်ငွေဖြစ်သောပြောင်းစိုက်ပျိုးရာယာမြေပေါ်တွင်တည်ရှိနေရာ ၄င်းတို့အတွက်အထူးစိုးရိမ် စိတ်များဖြစ်လာစေသောရင်း မြစ်ဖြစ်နေသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေး ဦးစီးဌာန၏ ၀က်ဆိုက်၏ဖော်ပြချက်များအရ ငွေရည်ပုလဲသည် လက်ရှိတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်မြောက်ပိုင်း၏ အကြီးဆုံးကျောက်မီးသွေးတူးဖော်ထုတ်လုပ်သူဖြစ်ပြီး ၄င်းတို့၏ သီပေါ၊တန့်ယန်းနှင့် မိုင်းရယ်မြို့များရှိကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းများသည် သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင်နှင့် ဒေသခံများ၏ ကျန်းမာရေးနှင့်လူနေမှုဘ၀ကိုပြင်းထန်စွာထိခိုက်ဖျက်ဆီးလျက်ရှိသည်။
မန္တလေးဖြန့်ချီရေးနှင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်ရေး ကုမ္ပဏီသည် လက်ရှိတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်တောင်ပိုင်းရပ်စောက်မြို့တွင်လည်း အခြားကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းတခုကို တူးဖော်နေသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-19
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Individual Documents
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Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Shan
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"Statement by The International Karen Organisation
The International Karen Organisation condemns the Burmese military’s airstrikes and heavy artillery strikes in Kawthoolei (Karen State) on Myanmar Armed Forces Day (also known as Burma Revolution Day) on 27th March. The airstrikes took place once in Mutraw and twice in Dooplaya Districts.
On Sunday 27 March 2022, at around 2am, 2 fighter jets from the Burmese military dropped 4 bombs in Day Bu Noh village, Lu Thaw Township, Mutraw District damaging some houses and buildings. This is the same village that faced Burmese military airstrikes on the same day last year, which were the first airstrikes in Karen State in 25 years.
On the same day, the Burmese military conducted 2 rounds of airstrikes in Dooplaya at around 1:30pm and 5:10pm, around Bler Doh village near Thay Baw Boe, in Kawtaree (Kawkareik) Township. The day before, the Burmese military launched airstrikes in Oo Gray Kee area, destroying villagers’ houses. The Burmese military is also using heavy artillery and indiscriminately bombing civilian villages in the area, causing more displacement and a humanitarian crisis.
The Burmese military’s indiscriminate bombings of civilian targets are violations of international law, constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and there must be accountability for their international crimes.
Currently, we estimate there are around 150,000 displaced civilians in Karen State alone and they are in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter. The majority are displaced because of airstrikes or can’t return home because of the threat of airstrikes.
We appeal to the international community to provide more humanitarian aid for the displaced civilians and for international NGOs to work with local Karen organisations for aid delivery through cross-border assistance, and to relax unreasonable sourcing and reporting requirements, which are impossible to meet when delivering cross border aid to a conflict zone.
We welcome new sanctions targeting the Burmese air force imposed last week by the UK, USA and Canada. We call on them and the European Union to help stop Burmese military airstrikes by imposing sanctions to stop aviation fuel supplies to Burma. If the jets can’t fly, they can’t bomb.
We are also calling for sanctions on Burmese companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military and sanctions to stop international companies being involved in any aspect of the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military. Those companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military are complicit in the bombing of civilians and violations of international law.
We call on the Royal Thai government to stop pushing refugees back to conflict zones in Burma and allow them to stay in Thailand until it is safe for them to return home..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Armed opposition to Myanmar’s coup is spreading, leading the junta to mobilise civilian militias that, in turn, have set off a spate of reprisals. For now, informal justice meted out by local leaders is the best means of stopping the pattern from becoming self-sustaining.
Description:
"What’s new? As anti-coup forces grow stronger in central Myanmar, the military has increasingly relied upon pro-regime networks of armed civilians commonly known as Pyusawhti. This strategy has largely failed, with the Pyusawhti facing stiff resistance and getting limited protection from overstretched security forces.
Why does it matter? Although the Pyusawhti have gained little traction, they have received military training, making them more lethal. Their involvement in regime atrocities has put them in the crosshairs of resistance groups, leading to tit-for-tat killings that risk unleashing long-term cycles of communal violence.
What should be done? With no hope of quickly restoring law and order, informal justice mechanisms may, despite obvious limitations, be the best hope for constraining escalatory communal violence and providing non-violent means of redress for victims. Preserving the possibility of international accountability through the UN-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar will also help.
I.
Overview
Following the Myanmar military’s February 2021 coup d’état, various forms of armed resistance have emerged, alongside peaceful responses. Some of the most persistent and tactically innovative cells are battling soldiers in what is called the Dry Zone, to the west of Mandalay in the Burman Buddhist heartland. In an attempt to quash them, the security forces have turned to networks of pro-military civilians, widely referred to as Pyusawhti, for reinforcements, intelligence and knowledge of the terrain. But this strategy has failed to constrain the resistance movements, instead bringing a wave of attacks on those suspected of pro-regime sentiments or activities, leading to Pyusawhti reprisals. The danger is that this cycle of violence becomes self-sustaining. With no hope of reversing the coup in the near or medium term, informal community justice mechanisms might be the most promising means for preventing the increasingly gruesome tit-for-tat killings by giving victims non-violent means of redress. International justice mechanisms also help by threatening future accountability for atrocities.
The Myanmar military, or Defence Services, has a long history of raising militias as part of its counter-insurgency operations, particularly in Myanmar’s uplands, where it has been fighting ethnic armed groups for more than 70 years. Over the decades, it has also mobilised irregular forces – bands of thugs whom it has recruited ad hoc and paid daily wages – to crack down on protesters and political opponents.
Following the coup, the junta attempted to use this modus operandi to quell the nationwide resistance movements. But the generals learned early on that the coup’s unpopularity made ad hoc recruiting difficult, and so the military changed its approach. In the Dry Zone and other parts of the Burman Buddhist heartland where they face stubborn and effective armed resistance, the security forces turned to pro-military Pyusawhti networks for back-up, intelligence and knowledge of local geography.
The original Pyusawhti groups arose out of a government militia-forming strategy in the 1950s, and were named after a semi-mythical warrior-king from the Burmese chronicles. The emergence of Pyusawhti militias today, however, appears to have a different backstory. Today’s groups evolved out of pre-existing local networks consisting of individuals who are ideologically pro-regime, as well as others – such as members of the military-established Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) – who fear being targeted by the resistance, whether or not they actively support the junta. Security forces are providing these networks with basic training and rudimentary weapons. While the military is stretched too thin to protect them from retaliation, it regularly launches revenge attacks when anti-coup resistance cells hit Pyusawhti groups.
The military’s attempt to use the Pyusawhti against anti-coup forces has foundered, however, due to the strength of anti-regime sentiment, the risk of reprisal against those who do sign up has increased. The pro-regime militias, if anything, may have deepened popular hatred of the regime with their involvement in reported atrocities and their campaign against the resistance. That victims of violence on both sides have neither effective state protection nor legal recourse augments their inclination to take matters into their own hands, leading to tit-for-tat reprisals and the potential for greater escalation. Myanmar’s judicial system independence was badly compromised to begin with, and following the coup broke down completely, depriving individuals of what protection they had beforehand.
Responsibility for this sad state of affairs lies squarely with the regime, not only for mounting the coup and dispensing with what existed of the rule of law, but also for unleashing horrific violence on civilians thereafter. Nonetheless, resistance forces must also take responsibility for the actions of their members, some of whom have also committed what appear to be crimes. The National Unity Government, a parallel administration created by ousted lawmakers after the coup, has issued guidance and rules of engagement for resistance fighters, but it cannot hope to police the behaviour of the many different groups spread across the country.
The best remedy for the situation – to reverse the coup and restore a modicum of law and order across the country – is not on the cards for the foreseeable future. Against this backdrop, outside actors should continue to focus on denying political legitimacy to the junta, targeting sanctions at the military and its business interests, preventing the flow of arms to the regime, and engaging closely with the National Unity Government and other legitimate representatives of Myanmar’s peoples, including the Rohingya.
Informal justice mechanisms ... which rely on the authority of community elders and religious figures, have an important role in dispute resolution and conflict mitigation in Myanmar.
As for Pyusawhti-related violence, the bodies within Myanmar that may be best positioned to make inroads are informal justice mechanisms. These structures, which rely on the authority of community elders and religious figures, have an important role in dispute resolution and conflict mitigation in Myanmar, and could help provide victims with non-violent means of redress and thus help stop cycles of revenge from spinning out of control. The turbulent post-coup environment has tended to limit the ability of these figures to constrain violence, but over time they could regain their traditional influence. International bodies such as the UN-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar can also assist by looking into post-coup atrocities and collecting information that enables future efforts to hold perpetrators to account.
II.
History of Irregular Forces in Myanmar
A.
Dealing with Post-independence Chaos
The Myanmar army has made use of irregular forces throughout its decades-long fight with numerous insurgencies, as well as for the purposes of protecting individual political leaders. The practice dates back to the Burma army’s earliest years, during World War II, and continued after independence from Britain in 1948. Myanmar was in tumult at the time, with three quarters of towns having fallen to various rebel groups, half of the government’s troops having mutinied and the 2,000 soldiers who remained barely able to control the capital, Yangon. The large quantity of weapons left over from World War II added to the disorder, with politicians, parliamentarians, business owners and black marketeers all raising their own teams of gunmen, known as “pocket armies”. Over the course of the 1950s, the beleaguered government authorised formation of militias across the country, known variously as “levies”, “volunteer defence forces” and “special reserves”, though these initiatives mostly just gave legal cover to the pocket armies.
One of these initiatives was the formation in 1955 of the original Pyusawhti militias. The name refers to a semi-mythical early king of Bagan, from a dynasty that began in 849 C.E. and that, at its height (around 1200 C.E.), was the first to incorporate most of what is now Myanmar. The Burmese chronicles say that Pyusawhti was a fearsome warrior, who vanquished four dangerous beasts (a giant bird, boar, tiger and flying squirrel) that were terrorising the local people. In the 1950s, the War Office (a precursor to the defence ministry) pitched the Pyusawhti militias as local forces that would similarly protect the people from the predation of insurgents and armed robbers. Authorities raised these militias in places across the country, placing them under the oversight of army field commanders in their respective areas of responsibility, with the intention that they would free the army from tedious routine security functions. In practice, the Pyusawhti, like other irregulars, were often partisan – loyal to local ruling-party politicians – and the army attempted to disarm and disband them after its 1958 coup, with mixed success.
B.
Subcontracting Conflict Management
Despite the patchy record of militias in the post-independence years, the Myanmar military continued to make use of irregulars to perform local security functions and keep insurgencies in check. Separate from the Pyusawhti, from the 1960s onward, the Defence Services offered insurgents across the country the chance to convert into military-aligned Ka Kwe Ye [“defensive”] militias, later called Border Guard Forces, allowing them to keep their arms and giving them a free hand to engage in (often illicit) business in exchange for their loyalty. The military also established hundreds of new village-level militias in insecure areas – mostly small, poorly trained and lightly armed pyithusit, or “people’s forces” – which the army used as patrolmen and in particular as informants.
These militias created by the military government, which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011, were nearly all established in the uplands, where the regime confronted insurgencies fighting for self-rule for various ethnic minorities. Such counter-insurgency tactics were not needed in the Burman-majority lowlands, where the security forces established firm control, at least in recent decades.
C.
Organised Political Violence
The military periodically mobilised irregulars in the Burman heartland as well, however, to intimidate its political opponents and crack down on protesters. These networks were known by various names, the most widely used of which was swan ar shin [literally, “masters of force”]. Members were reportedly thugs recruited by local authorities in poor peri-urban areas and paid by the day; they wore civilian clothes so that they would not be easily identifiable. The previous military regime deployed them most notoriously for the attack on the convoy escorting Aung San Suu Kyi, the dissident who became leader of Myanmar’s democratically elected government (and whom the coup deposed), through Dipeyin (Tabayin) township in 2003, as well as during the Saffron Revolution of 2007. Occasionally, swan ar shin networks were referred to as Pyusawhti groups in the Myanmar media, likely a nod to the role played by the pro-military militias in the 1950s.
In many places, it was common knowledge who had been recruited to these forces, to the extent that members were openly transported in police trucks and conducted morning drills in public areas. On occasion, they wore distinct items of clothing so that the security forces could tell them from protesters. In 2015, for example, poorly trained swan ar shin wearing red armbands were widely photographed breaking up student protests in downtown Yangon. Military authorities, however, did not publicly acknowledge that these forces existed or admit to supporting them, and the individuals involved did not usually identify themselves or disclose how they had been recruited.
The militias’ involvement in violence – and their connection to the Defence Services – is sometimes clear and sometimes not. The swan ar shin were blamed for several violent episodes, leaving the impression that they were a standing paramilitary force rather than an ad hoc mob. But many such reports were based on conjecture. For example, commentators suggested that swan ar shin instigated the wave of anti-Muslim violence that swept through Myanmar in 2012 and 2013. Yet no evidence for this assertion came to light, and contemporaneous Crisis Group investigations cast doubt on their involvement in some of the most serious violent incidents. By contrast, there did appear to be military collusion with, if not outright support for, Rakhine vigilantes who attacked Rohingya villages in October 2012. The connivance was obvious during the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in 2016-2017, when such vigilantes carried out killings, rapes, looting and arson with impunity, including within sight of foreign journalists. Unlike the swan ar shin, these vigilante groups formed organically but then received military support.
III.
Evolution of the Pyusawhti
A.
Tactical Challenges
In the coup’s immediate aftermath, the regime returned to its old tactics, mobilising thugs to scatter demonstrators, but these efforts mostly failed. On 25 February 2021, three days after a national strike and with protests swelling across the country, a pro-military mob of hundreds attacked demonstrators and residents in downtown Yangon with clubs and slingshots. Residents captured at least 22 of the attackers and detained them for most of the day, in a tense standoff with police that ended when residents eventually handed them over. So strong was public opposition to the coup that security forces were not easily able to protect their hired thugs anywhere in the country. In many cases, members of these mobs faced stiff resistance even in their own poor neighbourhoods, where the vast majority of residents supported the anti-regime protests.
As the regime cracked down with increasing brutality ... the security forces faced increasing difficulties recruiting non-uniformed assistance.
As the regime cracked down with increasing brutality, and demonstrations gave way to determined armed resistance, the security forces faced increasing difficulties recruiting non-uniformed assistance. While raising militias has been part and parcel of the military’s standard strategy for decades in fighting insurgencies, doing so in a context where anti-military sentiment is so widely held has been much more difficult. People who had pro-military leanings – or who thought others would suspect them of having such sympathies – were isolated to the degree that they feared being targeted by resistance forces.
Consequently, pro-military civilians began organising themselves into what were initially loose self-protection networks that the military subsequently used for its own purposes. Early reports of such mobilisation came from Mingin township in Sagaing Region, where the USDP enjoys significant support, and soon thereafter the phenomenon spread to other parts of the Dry Zone, as well as elsewhere in Myanmar.
Thus, unlike with the swan ar shin and the original Pyusawhti militias in the 1950s, the security forces do not appear to have rolled out a comprehensive militia-formation strategy after the coup. Rather, the first pro-regime militias seem to have evolved in the manner of the anti-Muslim vigilantes active in 2012-2013, or those who attacked the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017, in the sense that they formed organically, often out of pre-existing local networks, but with the tacit acceptance – and later, active support – of the security forces. These networks included Buddhist nationalists, USDP members and army veterans who had come together ahead of the November 2020 elections in the hope of defeating Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
B.
Local Pyusawhti Mobilisation
Some pro-regime networks self-identify as Pyusawhti, but others do not, and the resistance movement and Myanmar independent media are using the term to refer to any group of civilians providing support to regime forces – or those with political affiliations that make them suspect, such as USDP members, nationalists or military veterans whether or not they belong to such a group. The term’s prevalence can give the impression that the Pyusawhti is a larger, more coherent organisation or group of organisations than is actually the case. Rather than a national military-established body with local branches, the Pyusawhti is more accurately described as a loosely connected set of village-level networks across the country, having widely varying characteristics and capabilities.
As suggested above, members of these networks include people who are ideologically pro-regime, as well as those – such as some USDP members, for example – who fear that the resistance will target them, whether or not they are actively backing the junta. But not all individuals assumed to be in Pyusawhti are in fact affiliated with such a network. Indeed, in some cases, USDP members have reportedly made contact with the resistance in an attempt to avoid assassination, by providing support or giving assurances that they will not oppose resistance forces or act as informants against them.
Pyusawhti militias in [the Dry Zone] area evolved out of pro-military demonstrations following the coup.
Crisis Group research in Magway Region – a resistance stronghold in the Dry Zone – indicates that Pyusawhti militias in this area evolved out of pro-military demonstrations following the coup. Those demonstrations, in March 2021, were composed mostly of USDP members and militant Buddhist nationalists, who had already come together for electoral campaigns ahead of the November 2020 polls. The USDP, which suffered an embarrassing defeat in those elections, supported the coup, echoing the military’s justification by claiming that the balloting had been marred by fraud. For their part, Buddhist nationalists have been increasingly active over the last decade, backing the USDP and strongly opposing the NLD out of fear that political reforms and modernisation threatened the traditional place of Buddhism in society.
By May 2021, some of those who had participated in the earlier pro-military demonstrations had organised themselves into village-based militias. At this time, resistance groups were arming themselves more systematically, in response to the military’s atrocities, and beginning to assassinate perceived regime sympathisers.
At first, pro-regime networks appeared confident that military backing would give them power and impunity. According to a resistance leader in Pauk township, in May 2021, members of a nascent militia circulated a pamphlet in the name of the Pyusawhti listing the names of 21 local anti-regime figures that they would capture “dead or alive”, including herself. But instead the pamphlet incurred the wrath of resistance forces, who began targeting Pyusawhti members as a priority. One pro-regime militia leader in the area told Crisis Group that the resistance tried to assassinate him at home on 12 June 2021, failing because he managed to escape through a back door.
The regime thus faces two broad challenges in rolling out a militia strategy for combating the rise of anti-coup resistance forces. First, the strength of anti-regime sentiment across much of Myanmar is such that pro-regime militias often become targets for resistance forces rather than a tool for the security forces to project power. Resistance forces have assassinated more than 1,000 allegedly pro-regime individuals since mid-2021, including almost 200 known or rumoured to be involved with pro-regime militias. The majority of these killings were in the Dry Zone and adjacent townships; resistance forces have also killed groups of militia members in clashes. In several cases, they have captured and disarmed such militias, who complain of a lack of support from the police and military.
Secondly, the military and police are overstretched in the Dry Zone theatre and face constant attacks by the resistance when on the move, particularly in rural areas. Resistance forces also hit smaller fixed bases, especially poorly-defended police stations. The security forces are thus constrained in their ability to protect or provide backup to pro-regime militias, leaving them very exposed. According to militia members and other well-informed sources, the Pyusawhti are poorly equipped, often by police who give them confiscated tumi flintlock guns and other old or unreliable weapons. Tumi guns seized from pro-regime militias by the resistance bear police markings. While police stations have limited supplies, the military has the capacity to provide more effective weaponry. Tellingly, it does not: lacking a clear understanding of who is who on the ground, it fears inadvertently arming its opponents. Weapons given to weak militias are also easily captured by resistance forces.
The parallel emergence of pro- and anti-regime armed groups of civilians has led to deep divisions in many communities.
The parallel emergence of pro- and anti-regime armed groups of civilians has led to deep divisions in many communities. In rural Myanmar, the village is the fundamental unit of social organisation. Villages are typically mono-religious and mono-ethnic, bound together by religious institutions, practices and ceremonies as well as cultural traditions. Where villages are diverse, residents will typically self-segregate along ethno-religious lines (with “upper”, “lower”, “east”, “west” or some other designator appended to the village name to distinguish the areas). But this tendency to homogeneity did not, until recently, extend to politics. Before the coup, it was not uncommon for residents of the same village to support different political parties – for example, the NLD and USDP.
That is changing. In places where the armed resistance is strongest, particularly in the northern and central parts of the Dry Zone to the west of Mandalay (see map in Appendix B), the post-coup level of distrust and violence is such that political diversity within villages is no longer viable. Most villages support the resistance. Only a small number of pro-regime villages have emerged. These are either places where most residents supported the NLD’s political opponents – for example, USDP supporters or militant nationalists – or places where the army houses veterans and their families. Everywhere, people with minority loyalties have had to go along with the majority, flee or face assassination.
It is this reality, rather than any strategy, that accounts for the emergence of most Pyusawhti-type militias. These groups, and often the villages where they operate, look to the security forces for back-up, training and equipment, and the security forces have in turn come to rely on them for intelligence, local knowledge and additional manpower. Thus, while there are reports of Pyusawhti groups forming in many parts of Myanmar, it is in the Dry Zone, where the resistance poses the greatest threat to the individuals concerned, that they have mostly taken root. This region is also the place where the military has had the biggest problems trying to consolidate control, and therefore has the greatest need for the support the Pyusawhti can provide, and the greatest incentive to back them in return. There are also multiple reports of people being pressured by the junta and its allies into joining Pyusawhti groups.
C.
The Military’s Use of Pyusawhti
In the Dry Zone, the Myanmar military has found itself fighting a very different kind of conflict than it is used to, and one that it is not well equipped for. Unlike in the ethnic areas, where the army has been battling insurgents continuously since independence, there has been no rebellion in the Burman-majority central lowlands for decades, which means that the military does not have the bases, territorial familiarity, operational intelligence or supply networks in place to support offensive operations in these areas. The Dry Zone has also long been a key recruiting ground for the military, meaning that many rank-and-file soldiers and non-commissioned officers are fighting in their native regions. As a result, morale is reportedly low, producing a steady trickle of desertions and defections.
The military is also more overstretched than it has been in decades, fighting on numerous fronts against adversaries, new and old, in Chin State, the Dry Zone and adjacent areas, parts of Shan State and Kayah State, as well as engaging in sporadic but heavy clashes elsewhere. Unlike in the past, it must also maintain sizeable forces in the main cities, where resistance groups regularly assassinate regime figures and attack patrols.
The Dry Zone Pyusawhti are … a useful ally for the regime, as their members can provide valuable intelligence.
The Dry Zone Pyusawhti are thus a useful ally for the regime, as their members can provide valuable intelligence, act as local guides or take the point position in operations, as well as serve as reinforcements. Many reports of military operations in central Myanmar indicate that armed men in civilian clothes, assumed to be Pyusawhti members, accompanied the troops. Pyusawhti members are also reported to ride along with police on missions to arrest or kill dissidents. The regime has at various points denied having any role in forming Pyusawhti groups, but it also distributes leaflets in the Dry Zone declaring that it has organised an overwhelming force of pro-regime fighters, and the Sagaing Region chief minister has reportedly claimed that the authorities have raised 77 such militias and provided them with some 2,000 weapons.
The military has sometimes given temporary shelter on its bases to people who fear being targeted by resistance forces, such as regime-appointed administrators and members of Pyusawhti networks. It has also been providing two-week military training courses to such people on an ad hoc basis, as well as to spouses of soldiers. But while these initiatives may have made Pyusawhti members better fighters, they have not altered the strategic equation on the ground, especially since the military is not arming these groups in any significant way. Rather, by bringing these civilians more clearly under its wing, the military is putting them at greater risk of resistance attack, especially since as noted above it cannot provide them reliable protection. For example, resistance forces have repeatedly attacked a village in Sagaing Region’s Pale township that has been hosting Pyusawhti training courses.
D.
Risks of Escalation
The vast majority of violence is being committed by junta troops, including the most notorious incident to be reported in the Dry Zone, when soldiers allegedly killed and incinerated eleven people, including six teenagers, in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi township on 7 December 2021, with indications that some were burned alive. At the same time, however, pro-regime militias’ proactive targeting of resistance forces has increasingly led the latter to take an eye for an eye. Militias are also embroiled in some of the regime forces’ reported atrocities, deepening the public’s hatred and ratcheting up retaliatory violence. Regime, militia and resistance forces alike engage in reprisals. Examples include the following:
In May 2021, resistance forces reportedly assassinated two perceived regime sympathisers in Pauk township: a USDP organiser, killed on 25 May, and a local government clerk, five days later. Allegedly, the military and local police, accompanied by suspected Pyusawhti members and seeking revenge for these killings, torched most of the 250 homes in a nearby village that they suspected of supporting the local resistance group, killing two elderly residents who were unable to flee and were burned alive in their homes.
A group of Pyusawhti members accompanied by three police officers allegedly abducted, tortured and killed a resistance leader in Pauk township on 14 September 2021. In response, resistance forces allegedly snatched, blindfolded and tortured a 23-year-old man accused of participating in the killing. His brutal interrogation, in which he confessed to his involvement in that murder and other violent incidents, was filmed by his captors and posted on social media.
Resistance forces reportedly killed a family in Sagaing Region’s Taze township on 22 September 2021, including an alleged Pyusawhti leader, his wife, son, one of his daughters and her five-year-old child. In apparent revenge for the killings, the man’s other daughter and her husband, both police officers, reportedly led a raid by security forces on the village the following day, burning down fifteen houses belonging to NLD members.
Tit-for-tat killings could unleash an even more dangerous cycle of vendettas in some areas.
As these incidents demonstrate, and with emotions running high given the trauma triggered by the coup and subsequent violence, tit-for-tat killings could unleash an even more dangerous cycle of vendettas in some areas. The risk that local violence will escalate has increased because the military has trained the Pyusawhti and other pro-regime militias in the use of weapons. The Pyusawhti networks’ violent and partisan actions could lead to a situation where resistance forces step up the killing of USDP members and military veterans who are not members of such networks or engaged in anti-resistance activities.
There have also been reports of cases of mistaken identity or settling of personal grudges as part of the tit-for-tat killings. For example, on 3 February 2022, a resistance group in Sagaing Region’s Ayadaw township killed a poet and prominent pro-democracy activist in front of his children, in what appears to have been an error or a crime unrelated to politics. The local group that claimed responsibility for the killing, insisted despite all evidence to the contrary that the individual was helping the regime. That group has faced sharp criticism for its actions, with sixteen local organisations, including the NLD’s township chapter, calling for the perpetrators to stand trial “when the country is back in the hands of the people”.
IV.
Conclusion: Possible Responses
The Myanmar military has unleashed brutal violence across large parts of the country as it attempts to impose its rule on a population in revolt. Determined armed resistance has emerged in many areas, including the central Dry Zone and other parts of Burman-majority heartland that have not seen conflict in decades. The military has turned to the Pyusawhti as a check on resistance forces in these areas, but its reliance on these groups has instead helped perpetuate a vicious cycle of revenge killings. The post-coup breakdown in law and order in much of Myanmar, and the lack of trust in justice systems even where they still exist, are further aggravating factors as they deprive individuals of protection and victims of formal recourse. Victims frustrated by this state of affairs may opt to take matters into their own hands as vigilantes.
Unfortunately, there is little to suggest that the situation will change dramatically in the near term. Most importantly, the military shows no sign of reversing the coup, which would be the only reliable way to put an end to the violence and restore law and order. But even if these efforts are likely to be frustrated for the foreseeable future, outside actors should continue to work toward that objective, including by denying political legitimacy to the junta, targeting sanctions at the military and its businesses, taking steps to prevent the flow of arms to the junta, and engaging closely with the National Unity Government and other legitimate representatives of Myanmar’s peoples.
Informal justice mechanisms can help prevent escalation of violence and provide non-violent means of redress.
As for the violence involving Pyusawhti militias and local resistance groups, the greatest hope for restraining it may – at least over the medium term – lie with informal community justice mechanisms. While obviously limited, informal justice mechanisms can help prevent escalation of violence and provide non-violent means of redress. These mechanisms, which rely on the authority of community elders and religious leaders, have always been important in local dispute resolution and conflict mitigation in Myanmar. They have, however, not yet fully adapted to post-coup conditions, and Crisis Group’s enquiries over the last six months suggest that many armed actors are operating beyond the constraints that elders and religious figures might normally impose. That is likely to change over time however, as society adjusts to the new realities and traditional community structures start to reassert themselves.
While responsibility for the breakdown of law and order lies squarely with the regime, resistance movements must also work harder to police their members’ actions. The National Unity Government has issued guidance and rules of engagement for resistance forces, and recently established a mechanism to investigate violations, but its influence is meagre, as even if many groups have pledged political allegiance to the parallel authorities, most remain independent. The response by local organisations to the killing of the pro-democracy activist in Ayadaw township (see above) is encouraging, but this case is extreme and the reaction unusual; other mistaken or unwarranted killings have received little pushback or attention. The National Unity Government should more decisively distance itself from such acts by resistance forces, which some local civil society groups have been quietly pushing it to do, and which international partners can also urge.
International mechanisms also play an important role in reminding local actors that there may be accountability for the various alleged crimes of international concern being committed across Myanmar, which a recent UN report says may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. While the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over crimes in Myanmar at present, other than those arising out of the anti-Rohingya rampages with a sufficient nexus to Bangladesh (an ICC party), that could change in the future and international accountability under some countries’ universal jurisdiction provisions is possible. Outside actors should therefore continue to support the UN-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, a body set up to collect and collate evidence of international crimes in Myanmar that is also now looking into atrocities committed since the military seized power.
The February 2021 coup has been a disaster for Myanmar, terminating its halting transition to democracy, depressing its economy, awakening dormant insurgencies, reinvigorating active ones and causing ever larger parts of the population to suffer. Even as popular resistance spreads, both peaceful and armed, the junta seems determined to stick to its hard line, of which the Pyusawhti militias are the latest manifestation. International justice may one day be of help, but in the meantime the customary dispute resolution methods of Myanmar society may well emerge as the best way to prevent Pyusawhti actions from triggering persistent cycles of communal violence..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-06
[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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"On March 29, 2022, after a bomb explosion in Kyaukme town, SAC troops stopped two villagers riding a motorcycle and beat them so severely that one of them died of his injuries.
The explosion, caused by a hand-made bomb, occurred at the Kyaukme municipal office at about 4 pm. The roof of the municipal office was slightly damaged by the blast.
At that time, the two men, Sai Bee, age 43, and his nephew Sai Aung Kyaw Oo, age 28, were riding a motorcycle to buy some food in Quarter 9 after buying a smart phone in Quarter 6 of Kyaukme town. After buying food, they were on their way back to Nawng Bing village, when they were stopped by over 20 SAC troops at a traffic light in Quarter 6. Sai Aung Kyaw Oo was driving the motorcycle, and Sai Bee was sitting behind him.
The troops interrogated the men about the bomb blast, beating and pushing them to the ground. They kicked them multiple times in the head and chest until both of them fell unconscious. The troops then put them into an army car, and took Sai Aung Kyaw Oo to the Kyaukme police station and took Sai Bee to the Kyaukme hospital. A soldier drove their motorcycle to the police station.
After about an hour, the troops phoned the police to inform them that Sai Bee had been certified dead by the hospital. The police then released Sai Aung Kyaw Oo, returned his motorbike key, and told him he could go to the hospital.
Sai Aung Kyaw Oo did not go to see his uncle’s body that evening, but phoned his relatives to come from Pong Wo village to collect the dead body from the hospital.
On March 30, 2022, at about 1 pm, his relatives from Pong Wo came to the hospital. They had to pay 50,000 kyat for the autopsy, and then took the dead body to be buried at the Kyaukme cemetery at about 2 pm.
The cost of the funeral was over 500,000 kyat, but the military did not provide any compensation for his family or for the funeral ceremony. Sai Bee was a widower who stayed with his elder sister. He had five sisters in his family, and was the youngest brother. He worked at a car workshop in Kyaukme.
Sai Aung Kyaw Oo told his family what had happened to them: “We were riding a motorcycle from the phone shop, where we had bought a smart phone. While we were riding past the municipal office, we heard the sound of an explosion, but we just kept driving. We rode our motorbike to go and buy some food at a place nearby. When we came back, we met a group of SAC soldiers on the road. They stopped us, and then beat and kicked us.”
When Sai Aung Kyaw Oo was arrested, the troops took about 45,000 kyat and his ID card from his wallet. About 700,000 kyat was taken from Sai Bee, who had come to Kyaukme to make a new ID card. He was staying in Nawng Bing village and had called his nephew to bring him some household documents for the ID application. Sai Aung Kyaw Oo had left Pong Wo on the morning of March 29 to come to Kyaukme.
On March 30, 2022, after the burial of Sai Bee, the Nam Khong charity group went to the police station to ask for Sai Aung Kyaw Oo’s ID card and the confiscated money. The police replied that they had not seen any money. They said that the only item handed over by the soldiers at the police station was Sai Aung Kyaw Oo’s motorbike.
Sai Aung Kyaw Oo is still suffering physically and mentally from being beaten by the SAC troops.
The previous month, on February 3, a 44-year-old displaced farmer called Sai Tun Win was similarly beaten and kicked to death in Kyaukme town by SAC military intelligence officers, who falsely accused him of being a drug dealer and a PDF member. His family have received no compensation until now, even though the SAC authorities admitted his arrest was a “mistake”..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Internal displacement/forced migration of Shan. Palaung and Wa villagers
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Sub-title:
Coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing vows to ‘annihilate’ anti-military resistance forces, snuffing out any hopes for dialog
Description:
" If anyone had thought that there could, as the UN and the outside world advocate, be a dialogue between Myanmar’s junta and the democratic opposition, those hopes were effectively dashed when the country’s military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, gave a fiery speech on Armed Forces Day, March 27.
On the occasion, the coup leader vowed to “annihilate to the end” want he described as “terrorist groups” and also “urged” Myanmar’s many ethnic armed organizations not to support those “terrorist groups” and, instead, “live within a legal framework” (sic), which analysts interpret as sticking to a now-collapsed National Ceasefire Agreement that the military concluded with a limited number of ethnic rebel armies in 2015.
Equally important was the show of unity the armed forces displayed on March 27, dispelling all persistent but misguided notions of “power struggles” between hardliners in the military and “reformists” supposedly represented by Thein Sein, who served as president from 2011 to 2016.
No less than 25 former officers who have served in various military-appointed governments since the bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 were at the parade and other functions at the capital Naypyidaw. Among them was Thein Sein, who reportedly gave “words of advice” to Min Aung Hlaing who, in return, bowed in a show of respect to the ex-president.
It was not the first time Thein Sein had shown his true colors. In December last year, the ex-general once dubbed “Myanmar’s Gorbachev” by some Western observers for his supposedly “reformist agenda”, made donations to families of people who had been killed or wounded on suspicion of acting as military informants.
Needless to say, Thein Sein has never donated any money to the many families whose loved ones have been gunned down by the military and the police for demonstrating peacefully against last year’s coup.
According to the independent advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,723 unarmed protesters have been killed or tortured to death in various detention centers since the coup. More than 13,000 people, including activists, local politicians, journalists and health workers who supported the anti-junta movement have been jailed.
Those figures do not include the thousands of villagers who have been killed in airstrikes and artillery bombardment in ethnic areas, where resistance to the coup has grown strong over the past year. According to an announcement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on February 11, the number of Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar has doubled since last year’s coup, now crossing the 800,000-mark.
While the world’s attention is now almost entirely focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another massive tragedy is playing out in Myanmar, and very little is being done about it by the international community.
Foreign powers, among them the European Union, in a statement in October last year appear to have outsourced the Myanmar issue to ASEAN: “The European Union calls on Myanmar to engage constructively with the ASEAN Special Envoy to implement fully and completely the ASEAN Five Point Consensus. It stresses the need for the military to facilitate regular visits to Myanmar by the ASEAN Special Envoy, and for him to be able to engage freely with all he wishes to meet.”
The “five-point consensus”, which was adopted when Min Aung Hlaing paid a brief visit to Jakarta on April 24 last year, called for a cessation of violence and “a constructive dialog between all parties concerned.”
The EU statement was remarkable in the sense that the “Five Point Agreement” was already dead when the Europeans issued it. No envoys from ASEAN have been allowed to meet anybody except junta officials and the word “dialog” has never been uttered by Min Aung Hlaing and his cohorts.
During the most recent such ASEAN visit, by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn in late March, all that the junta had to offer him was a meeting with Su Su Lwin, the wife of Htin Kyaw, president from 2016-2018 and a member of the coup-ousted National League for Democracy (NLD). Su Su Lwin, however, declined to meet the ASEAN envoy, citing “health issues.”
But that did not prevent Noeleen Hayzer, UN Secretary-General’s special envoy to Myanmar, from teaming up with not only Prak Sokonn but also Cambodia’s authoritarian ruler Hun Sen, whose country is this year’s ASEAN rotational chair.
On April 1 — and it was apparently not an April Fool’s joke — Hayzer’s office issued a statement referring to the “robust ASEAN-UN umbrella” and that “ASEAN and the broader international community have a responsibility to amplify and support the will of the people.”
Critics would say that she seems to have conveniently forgotten that ASEAN is a gathering of ten mostly undemocratic nations which has never during its now almost 55-year-long history helped solve a single problem in member states or bilateral disputes between them.
Such issues range from the conflict in East Timor and border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, cross-border insurgencies between Thailand and Malaysia, and, perhaps most crucially, a common stand on the South China Sea as China asserts its wide-reaching claims to the strategic waterway.
In fact, ASEAN’s two guiding principles — consensus and non-interference — make the bloc impotent when it comes to regional security or the promotion of peace and democracy. The only things that ASEAN can show as progress would be some trade agreements and visa exemption rules for citizens of member states.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar military is pushing ahead its brutal campaign to wipe out resistance forces and secure control over the country. Elections may or may not be held in 2023, as Mun Aung Hlaing once stated, but before that happens the military will make sure that the NLD is emasculated politically and organizationally.
The NLD has scored massive landslide victories in all the elections it has contested, first in 1990 to for a National Assembly that was never convened but replaced by the military with a constitution-drafting body that consisted of no more than 100 of 492 MPs elects and then up to 600 delegates appointed by the military.
Then, in 2015 after which the NLD was allowed to form a government and, finally, in 2020, when the military seized power before the elected assembly could meet. The generals are now busy preparing for the selection of its own election commissioners while all NLD leaders, among them President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, remain in military custody.
Since the tanks rolled into Yangon and Naypyidaw, and the protests were met with gunfire, thousands of activists have fled to the border areas where ethnic rebels have territories or organized their own resistance in parts of central Myanmar that have not seen insurgency since the 1970s.
Those forces have shown remarkable resilience and fighting spirit, but the abundance of local resistance groups, loosely lumped together as People’s Defense Forces, do not appear to coordinate their activities under a central command. There are frequent ambushes and skirmishes in various parts of the country, but no coherent strategy seems to have been developed for the anti-junta struggle.
Nor do they currently have enough weaponry to seriously challenge the mighty firepower of the Myanmar military. At the same time, junta forces are stretched thin on many fronts, making it impossible for Min Aung Hlaing to “annihilate” the resistance, as he has pledged.
With the outside world now doing next to nothing, there can only be one conclusion: The Myanmar tragedy is bound to continue for the foreseeable future with more internal turmoil, refugee flows to neighboring countries and repression of any dissent under unflinching generals for whom notions of compromise, dialog and listening to public opinion do not exist..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2022-04-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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"Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is pleased to announce the release of its latest field report, Southeast Burma Field Report: Intensification of armed conflict, air and ground attacks, and widespread human rights violations, July to December 2021.
The reporting period was marked by increased armed conflict and attacks, which spread to locations in KHRG’s operational area that had reported little to no fighting or shelling during the initial five months following the February 1st 2021 military coup.
A surge of armed conflict and attacks, including airstrikes, took place in the Lay Kay Kaw area of Dooplaya District in December 2021 after State Administration Council (SAC) and Border Guard Force (BGF) troops entered the area and conducted raids and arrests while searching for Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) participants and People’s Defence Force (PDF) members. Over 10,000 people were displaced in just over a week. Possibilities for seeking refuge in Thailand remain extremely limited. Most displaced villagers were either pushed back by Thai authorities or forced to set up temporary encampments along the river.
Mu Traw (Hpapun) District had been the target of major offensives, including airstrikes, during the first five months of the coup. Although there were no further airstrikes in Mu Traw District from July to December 2021, most parts of the district continued to experience heavy conflict and military activities, with some areas experiencing fighting and shelling on a near daily basis. Many villagers continue to face displacement, while those who have remained in their villages have endured repeated threats by SAC soldiers, including battalion commanders, who seek to punish civilians for the activities of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
The reporting period was also marked by an increase in human rights violations, including forced labour, the use of human shields, torture, killings, theft and looting, and the planting of landmines.
Incidents of forced labour, including the use of civilians as human shields, have become more widespread and systematic because tied to the movement of SAC and BGF troops through KNU-controlled areas while rotating troops or bringing food rations, supplies and ammunition to more remote army camps. In many cases, these acts were combined with other rights violations like beatings or torture, the deprivation of food and water, and various threats, including threat to life.
Theft and looting, particularly of food items, crops and livestock, also became more systematic as the presence of SAC soldiers in rural areas, including KNU territory, spread. Theft and looting often took place after villagers were forced to flee their homes, and in some cases included the destruction of property.
As the SAC continued to target anyone seen as opposing the military regime, it undertook violence, including torture and beatings, against civilians while searching for people whom they suspected of having an affiliation with the PDF and CDM. There has also been an increase in intentional killings of civilians by SAC security forces.
The situation of rural villagers in Karen State has grown more critical, with many villagers now facing severe food insecurity and health issues, including the spread of COVID-19, with little access to external support.
KHRG hopes that this field report will allow national and international stakeholders to gain a better understanding the impact of SAC atrocities in Southeast Burma. It includes a number of recommendations on how national and international stakeholders can develop more inclusive support schemes that ensure the protection and well-being of rural villagers.
Recommendations
Neighbouring states must allow for the legal provision of cross-border humanitarian aid through non-state actors and local service providers. The UN, donors and other international actors must support and increase the legitimacy of the CSOs, CBOs and ethnic health and aid providers operating on the ground because they have the most direct and best access to affected populations and understand their needs. A comprehensive global arms embargo against the Burma military must be imposed. Military “No Fly Zones” need to be established and enforced; and sanctions must be placed on supplying aviation fuel to the Burma military. Civilian safe zones need to be created, whether in Burma or across the border, and the protection of civilian safe zones must be internationally guaranteed. UN agencies in Burma must take a clear and strong position in responding to the situation on the ground, and to use all possible resources to limit the human rights abuses and violations undertaken by the SAC..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Children and armed conflict, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Introduction
This Field Report presents and analyses information collected by KHRG field researchers and covers the period between July and December 2021.[1]
The reporting period was marked by increased armed conflict and attacks, which spread to locations in KHRG’s operational area that had reported little to no fighting or shelling during the initial five months following the February 1st 2021 military coup[2]. It was also marked by an increase in human rights violations, including forced labour, the use of human shields, torture, killings, theft and looting, and the planting of landmines.
Burma (Myanmar)[3] is party to several human rights treaties and is bound by principles of customary international human rights law prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of life; torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. During the current reporting period, KHRG documented multiple cases of forced labour and the use of civilians as human shields. In most cases, villagers were forced to serve as both porters and human shields as State Administration Council (SAC)[4] and Border Guard Force (BGF)[5] troops engaged in troop rotation and the transport of rations and ammunition between army camps in areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU)[6]. Both forced labour and the use of human shields constitute violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and other human rights conventions. In many cases, these acts have been combined with other rights violations like beatings or torture, the deprivation of food and water, and various threats, including threat to life. In Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District, villagers living between Lay Kay and Yoh Klah army camps were subjected to repeated demands for forced labour and ‘navigation’ over the course of several months. In particular, skirmishes and ambush by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[7], due to SAC and BGF trespass while travelling between their camps, systematically led SAC and BGF troops to round up any villagers they found along the way to protect themselves from further attack. At times, skirmishes and ambushes took place while villagers were forced to porter or navigate, putting them in grave danger. Villagers also experienced looting and other security threats as SAC and BGF soldiers camped in or near their villages while traveling between their army camps.
A surge of armed conflict and attacks, including airstrikes, took place in the Lay Kay Kaw area of Dooplaya District in December 2021 after SAC and BGF troops entered the area and conducted raids and arrests while searching for Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)[8] participants and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[9] members. Established at the time of the earlier ceasefire agreements to welcome back former refugees and IDPs to their country, Lay Kay Kaw New Town was supposed to serve as the symbol of a new era of peace and unity. Instead, the former refugees and IDPs who live there found themselves fleeing once again for their lives as fighting erupted throughout the area. Over 10,000 people were displaced in just over a week. Possibilities for seeking refuge in Thailand remain extremely limited. Most displaced villagers were either pushed back by Thai authorities or forced to set up temporary encampments along the river.
Mu Traw (Hpapun) District had been the target of major offensives, including airstrikes, during the first five months of the coup. Although there were no further airstrikes in Mu Traw District from July to December 2021, most parts of the district continued to experience heavy conflict and military activities. In some areas, fighting and shelling took place on a near daily basis during the current reporting period, thus many villagers continue to face displacement. Those who have remained in their villages have endured repeated threats by SAC soldiers, including battalion commanders, who seek to punish civilians for the activities of the KNLA. Such acts are in clear violation of international humanitarian law, which forbids reprisals against civilian persons and objects.
Fighting continued in Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District, leading to some displacement. While no fighting or shelling was reported for Taw Oo (Toungoo), Mergui-Tavoy and Hpa-an districts prior to July 2021, during the current reporting period, KHRG documented the emergence of fighting in both Taw Oo and Mergui-Tavoy districts. In the case of Mergui-Tavoy District, the fighting occurred between the SAC and a local group of PDF fighters.
Military activity, like troop rotation and reinforcement, sending rations and ammunition, and patrolling, continued to increase throughout all districts, except Hpa-an District (for which KHRG received no reports). These activities often included or took place alongside other activities, such as the increased use of checkpoints, direct threats against local villagers, arbitrary arrests, and opening fire while in villages, that led to heightened insecurity for local villagers.
Theft and looting, particularly of food items, crops and livestock, became more systematic as the presence of SAC soldiers in rural areas, including KNU territory, spread. Most of the theft and looting during the current reporting period occurred while SAC and BGF troops passed through villages or were temporarily camped in the area. Theft and looting have often taken place after villagers have been forced to flee their homes, and in some cases have been combined with the destruction of property. Looting and the destruction of property are prohibited under various components of international humanitarian law, including Additional Protocol II (Article 14) concerning the protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, like foodstuffs, crops and livestock.[10]
Other serious human rights violations like torture and killings took place during the current reporting period. As the SAC continued to target anyone seen as opposing the military regime, it undertook violence against civilians while searching for people whom they suspected of having an affiliation with the PDF and CDM. On multiple occasions, SAC soldiers tortured and beat local civilians following bomb explosions in the area. SAC soldiers intentionally shot at civilians, killing three. In one of the killing cases, local villagers believe the victim was also tortured by the SAC prior to being killed.
Landmine contamination and the planting of new landmines continued to be a serious problem, with landmines being placed in civilian areas, along transportation routes and near critical infrastructure, as well as in areas that villagers depend on for their livelihood. Two deaths and injury to eight villagers, including one child, were reported for the current reporting period. All reported incidents took place in Mu Traw District. Villagers were often not made aware of the landmine contamination in their area. KHRG also received reports of time bomb explosions.
In July 2021, Burma was hit with a third wave of COVID-19 infections, this time reaching rural areas in KHRG’s operational area. Often whole villages reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but due to lack of testing facilities, there was no way to confirm that all of these were positive COVID-19 cases. However, in Mergui-Tavoy District, where the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) actively engaged in testing, positive cases were found in every township of the district. The spread of the virus has been particularly worrisome in situations of displacement with reports of the virus spreading among groups who have displaced, since many are unaware that they are infected. Displaced villagers may also find themselves crowded together in hiding places, making the likelihood of infection greater. Access to healthcare services in general continued to be an issue due to restrictions on movement, brought about both by efforts to contain the spread of the virus and by increased military activities and armed conflict.
Access to education also continued to be an issue due to widespread school closures tied to the spread of COVID-19, the CDM and refusals by students to attend SAC-run schools since the military takeover. Most Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11] schools remained open and experienced increased enrolments as students who previously attended government schools sought to continue their studies in KECD schools. The additional enrolments have placed heavy strain on KECD schools, and some have begun requiring parents to pay educational fees or rice (for the teachers) to keep the schools running.
The livelihood situation of villagers has grown more critical. Villagers reported being unable to work on their farms or plantations or travel to access work as day labourers. A number of factors have prevented villagers from carrying out their regular livelihood activities: displacement, conflict, ongoing military activity, landmine contamination, travel restrictions tied to COVID-19, increased checkpoints and security concerns while traveling, and fears of being apprehended to serve as forced porters or human shields. Many villagers are also now facing severe food insecurity as a result..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.71 MB (Original version) - 61 pages
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Description:
"1. The Ministry of Defence of the National Unity Government is doing its utmost to establish the military chain of command between the People’s Defence Force and Regional People’s Defence Organisations and to establish a People’s Defence Force that fights for the security and justice of the people and that codes of conduct and rules of engagement are adhered to all the time while undertaking the people’s defensive revolution.
2. The Ministry of Defence is in the process of educating and issuing directives to the People’s Defence Force to avoid targeting the public and mitigate harm by following the code of conduct and rules of engagement and to treat suspects and prisoners humanely and interrogations done lawfully.
3. On 26th November 2021, 6 villagers from La Poh, including Ko Htike Maung and four others were wrongfully executed by members of the Yinmabin People’s Defence Force (YMB-PDF) led by Bo Thanmani. This was reported to the Ministry of Defence as a missing person incident.
4. On 3rd December 2021, the Ministry of Defence decided to form an investigation committee to probe into the Yinmabin missing person incident and a preliminary inquiry was initiated. Then together with specialists in law from the Ministry of Justice, the investigative central committee was expanded to establish a War Crime Investigative Central Commission. This investigative central commission is in the process of investigating not only the Yinmabin case, but all other related incidents and war crimes. Despite difficulties in communication, all efforts are being made to examine all related cases so that those responsible are brought to justice and justice recompensed to those affected.
5. The War Crime Investigative Central Commission filed an interim report to the National Unity Government on 17th March 2022, after a fact-finding official inquiry into Bo Thanmani, leader of the Yinmabin-PDF, 11 members of the families affected and eighth witnesses. The investigation is to continue with further examination of other witnesses and suspects.
6. Facts from the interim report:
(A) Ko Htike Maung and six other villagers from La Poh village were wrongfully killed. The six villagers were from the Hero Tiger PDF group.
(B) The investigation also found that in addition to the 6 villagers, 2 firemen, 1 driver and one young male, who were there to help a wounded fireman were also killed.
(C) The crimes were committed by certain members of the village defence force under the leadership of Yinmabin PDF Bo Thamani.
(D) The preliminary findings are that the incident took place as a result of misunderstanding and grudges held between the two groups.
7. As soon as the investigation is completed by the War Crime Investigative Central Commission, the National Unity Government will take appropriate action upon those who committed the crime. The NUG will not allow any other judgement to the findings of this incident.
8. The National Unity Government supports the essence of the people’s defensive revolution and in so doing will safeguard the security and safety of the people and justice will be brought to bear upon any person or organisation causing harm to the public in accordance with the law.
9. All the People’s Defence Force have a duty to abide by the codes of conduct, rules of engagement and a soldier’s oath of office. They are also all duty bound to avoid harming the citizens..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political History
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
90.79 KB 471.65 KB
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Sub-title:
အလေးထားရမည့် အကြောင်းအချက်များ အမှတ် – ၁၀
Description:
"၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင် ၁ ရက် ကနေ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ မတ် ၂၀ ရက်အထိ ရှစ်လတာကာလအကြား တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်တပ်ဖွဲ့တွေ (EAOs) ရဲ့ နယ်မြေတွေမှာ စစ်ကောင်စီနဲ့ EAOs တွေရဲ့ အကြားတိုက်ပွဲ အကြိမ်ရေ ၂,၁၉၃ ကြိမ်ထက်မနည်း ဖြစ်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ တိုက်ပွဲတွေက ကရင်ပြည်နယ်၊ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်၊ ကယားပြည်နယ်နဲ့ ချင်းပြည်နယ်အတွင်းက EAOs နယ်မြေ တွေမှာ ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့တာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အဲဒီအထဲကမှ ကရင်အမျိုးသားအစည်းအရုံး (KNU) ရဲ့ နယ်မြေ အတွင်းမှာတော့ ၁,၇၇၅ ကြိမ်ထက်မနည်း တိုက်ပွဲတွေ ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့ပါတယ်။ မတ် ၁၉ ရက်နေ့ကလည်း KNU တပ်မဟာ ၃ ထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေထဲက ကွီးလားကျေးရွာနဲ့ တကက်ပူကျေးရွာတို့ကို စစ်ကောင်စီက လေကြောင်းနဲ့ ဗုံး ၄ လုံး ကြဲချခဲ့တာကြောင့် စစ်ရေးတင်းမာနေတဲ့ အခြေအနေတွေ ရှိနေပါတယ်။
တဆက်တည်းမှာပဲ တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ် ဒေသအသီးသီးမှာ စစ်ကောင်စီနဲ့ ဒေသခံကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့ (PDF/LDF/CDF/CNDF/KNDF)တို့ အကြား တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားမှုတွေကလည်း ပိုမိုကျယ်ပြန့်လာပါတယ်။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင် ၁ ရက်နေ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ မတ် ၂၀ ရက်ထိ ကိုးလတာအတွင်း စစ်ကောင်စီနဲ့ ဒေသခံကာကွယ်ရေး တပ်ဖွဲ့တွေအကြား တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားမှု ၇၆၈ ကြိမ်ထက်မနည်း ရှိခဲ့ပါတယ်။ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းမှာ တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားမှု အများဆုံး ဖြစ်ခဲ့ပြီး ၂၉၃ ကြိမ်ထက်မနည်း ရှိခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ဒါဟာ သတင်းမီဒီယာတွေနဲ့ လွတ်လပ်သော အဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေက ဖော်ပြထားတဲ့ တရားဝင် အချက်အလက်တွေ ကို စုစည်းပြီး ကောက်ယူထားတာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ မြေပြင်အခြေအနေမှာတော့ အခုဖော်ပြတဲ့ ကိန်းဂဏန်း တွေထက် ပိုများနိုင်ပါတယ်။
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင် ၁ ရက်ကနေ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၂၈ ရက်အထိ ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် အတွင်းမှာလည်း မြောက်ပိုင်းမဟာမိတ်တပ်ဖွဲ့တွေနဲ့ သျှမ်းပြည်ပြန်လည်ထူထောင်ရေးကောင်စီ (RCSS/SSA) တို့အကြား တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားမှုတွေရှိခဲ့ပြီး လက်ရှိအချိန်မှာတော့ ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် တောင်ပိုင်း ရပ်စောက်မြို့နယ်နဲ့ ပင်လုံမြို့နယ်တို့မှာ အခြေအနေတွေ တင်းမာနေဆဲ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ထူးခြားချက်အနေနဲ့ကတော့ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် မတ် ၁ ရက်ကနေ ၂၀ ရက်အတွင်း တိုင်းရင်းသား လက်နက်ကိုင်တပ်ဖွဲ့တွေအကြား ထိပ်တိုက်ရင်ဆိုင်တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားနှုန်းကတော့ သိသိသာသာကို လျော့နည်းလာခဲ့ပါတယ်။
∎ ဘာကြောင့်အလေးထားသင့်သလဲ
စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက်ပိုင်း ဖြစ်ပွားလာတဲ့ တိုက်ပွဲ အခြေအနေ တွေကို လေ့လာခြင်းအားဖြင့်လည်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရဲ့ ရှိရင်းစွဲ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးဖြစ်စဉ် (Peace Process) အခင်းအကျင်း ပြောင်းလဲမှု ရှိ၊ မရှိ အပေါ် သုတေသနပြု ဖော်ထုတ်နိုင်မှာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ဒါ့အပြင် ပဋိပက္ခနဲ့ တိုက်ပွဲတွေကို စောင့်ကြည့်ပြီး ပဋိပက္ခနဲ့ တိုက်ပွဲတွေအတွင်း သေဆုံး၊ ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ရတဲ့ အရပ်သားပြည်သူ အရေအတွက်၊ သေဆုံး ဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့ပုံ ဖြစ်စဉ်တွေနဲ့ စစ်ဘေး တိမ်းရှောင်နေရတဲ့ ဒုက္ခသည်ပမာဏကို လေ့လာခြင်း အားဖြင့် လက်နက်ကိုင် တပ်ဖွဲ့တွေရဲ့ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှု ကျူးလွန်တာတွေ ရှိ၊ မရှိဆိုတဲ့အပေါ် အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းမှု ဆိုင်ရာ တရားမျှတမှု ရှုထောင့် (Transitional Justice) ကနေ သုတေသနပြုနိုင်မှာ ဖြစ်တဲ့အတွက် အလေးထား သင့်သော ဒေတာ အချက်အလက်များပဲ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
∎ တွဲဖက်လေ့လာသင့်သည်များ
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက်ပိုင်း ဖြစ်ပွားလာတဲ့ တိုက်ပွဲအခြေအနေနဲ့ အကျိုးဆက်တွေ အပါအဝင် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသတွေမှာ ဖြစ်ပွားနေတဲ့ တိုက်ပွဲတွေ၊ အရပ်သား ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးမှုတွေနဲ့ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ဒုက္ခသည် အခြေအနေတွေကို လွတ်လပ်တဲ့ သတင်းမီဒီယာတွေ၊ အထူးသဖြင့် တိုင်းရင်းသား သတင်းဌာနတွေရဲ့ မြေပြင် အခြေအနေ ဖော်ပြချက်တွေအပြင်၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူသားချင်းစာနာမှုဆိုင်ရာ ညှိနှိုင်းရေးရုံး (UNOCHA Myanmar) လို ကုလသမဂ္ဂဆိုင်ရာ အဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေ၊ အခြား လွတ်လပ်သော ပြည်တွင်း ပြည်ပအဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေရဲ့ မှတ်တမ်း၊ အစီရင်ခံစာ စတာတွေနဲ့လည်း တွဲဖက် လေ့လာနိုင်ပါတယ်။..."
Source/publisher:
Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
895.56 KB
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Description:
"March 24 is observed as the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, marking the day Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador was assassinated on March 24th, 1980 for denouncing violations of human rights.
The military coup in Myanmar/Burma on February 1st, 2021 exacerbated the number and intensity of gross human rights violation across the country. Since the military seized power, civilians have become victims of arbitrary arrest, torture, targeted and indiscriminate killing, airstrikes, shelling and other violent abuses at the hands of the Burma Army. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,687 civilians have already been killed since the coup, though the number is likely much higher. Across the country, over 800,000 civilians are displaced and living under constant threat to their physical security and mental health[1]. Those who have become victims still await justice, while their perpetrators are yet to be punished and continue to commit further human rights violations. On the other hand, State Administration Council is continuing to commit human rights violation with impunity and there is no accountability from any perpetrator.
In Southeast Burma where armed conflict has been happening for more than seven decades, local communities are subjected to widespread human rights violations, especially by armed actors. The ethnic minorities in Southeast Burma has been systematically targeted and attacked by the Burma Army. According to KHRG’s documentation, the majority of the victims of human rights violations or their families have never received remediation for what they have suffered due to the culture of impunity within armed groups, especially within the Burma Army. The Burma Army has been committing forced disappearance, rape, murder, torture, the deliberate destruction of civilian property, and other forms of human rights abuses without facing any repercussions, whereas the victims and families of the victims have had to endure the long-lasting impacts of the abuses.
Since the coup, conflict has escalated again in Southeast Burma and dozens of villagers have been killed by airstrikes, shelling, landmine explosions, and other forms of violent attacks, including while being used as human shields. Civilians have also been systematically used as forced labour by the Burma Army. While accountability for past abuses has not been realised, further abuses are being committed by the Burma Army. KHRG calls upon the international community to take resolute action against the Burma Army, its military-owned businesses, and any entity that works with the Burma Army in an effort in diminish human rights abuses in Burma, end military impunity, restore accountability and justice, and assist victims of gross human rights abuses.
The countless victims of human rights violations and their families deserve and have the right to know the truth, receive justice, and be able to live their lives with dignity. The penetrators must be held accountable for the violations they have committed during both times of war and peace. It is the responsibilities of all to ensure the right to the truth concerning gross human rights violations and the dignity of victims.
KHRG would like to acknowledge those who have suffered human rights violations and victims who continue to wait for justice. KHRG also pays tribute to those who have suffered or lost their lives while striving to raise awareness to human rights violations in Burma..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Format :
pdf
Size:
134.47 KB
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Description:
"In Myanmar, landmines and other explosive remnants of war shatter lives. Hundreds of people are killed or injured every year. Last year, we supported 160 people affected by incidents involving landmines and other explosive ordinances. With Myanmar in ongoing crisis, the risks continue to rise. Even after the fighting, explosive remnants of war remain -- continuing to endanger lives.
U Maung Thein Htay from Rakhine State's Ann Township is one of the many civilians whose life was disrupted by a landmine injury. Early in 2021, he was on his way to gather raw material to make traditional handmade hats and fans. He wasn't far from the highway when he stepped on something and heard a deafening blast.
"The place was covered with leaves, so I didn't spot anything out of ordinary on the ground. Also, I had never seen explosive devices in my life to be able to identify them," he said. U Maung Thein Htay was rushed to Kan Htaung Gyi Hospital in Myaebon Township and was later transferred to Sittwe General Hospital for further treatment. That's where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team first met him while assessing the best form of support that could be given to victims of landmine accidents.
"I was devastated at losing my leg and I worried that I wouldn't be able to make enough money to feed my family," U Maung Thein Htay said. As a father of three children and the breadwinner of the family, he felt depressed sitting at home all day, relying entirely on his wife and children to even get about the house for his own needs.
In October 2021, U Maung Thein Htay arrived at the ICRC's Sittwe physical rehabilitation workshop to get new prosthesis fitted and undergo physiotherapy. ''Now that I've got my prosthetic leg, I feel like my old self again. It feels like I lost my leg, then got it back. I'll be able to work again and provide for my family," he said with a smile. Thinking of the future, U Maung Thein Htay said he would like to open a small grocery store at his home in Ann Township. "I hope it will cover some of the daily expenses of my family," he added.
To strengthen rehabilitation services in Rakhine State, the ICRC partners with The Leprosy Mission Myanmar (TLMM) and provides mobile prosthetic-orthotic services particularly to those living with physical disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and children in communities displaced by armed conflict. These services include counselling, medical referrals and support for those in need of prosthesis, mobility aids and wheelchairs..."
Source/publisher:
International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Karen State: 7 Killed and 4 Injured by Burmese Military Heavy Artillery
Description:
"Seven people were killed and four injured when the Burmese military fired heavy artillery at Klaw Day Village, Mae Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township in Mu Traw District, Kawtholei, (Karen State) on 5th March.
Among those killed are three children, all girls, aged 2, 5 and 14. A 3 year-old boy and a 17 year old girl were among those injured. A pregnant woman was also killed.
The Burmese military knew the location of the village and that it was a civilian village. They deliberately targeted the village. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity. The attack came at 7.20pm, a time when the Burmese military know people are likely to be in their homes.
The Burmese military have been using long range heavy artillery based in Papun to attack civilians in Mu Traw.
Those killed are:
1. Naw Htoo Paw (5 yrs old)
2. Saw Day Poe ( 19yrs old)
3. Saw Kay (40 yrs old)
4. Naw Paw Wah (32 yrs old)
5. Naw Eh Moo (22 yrs old)
6. Naw Tin Ne La Win (14 yrs old)
7.Naw Ta Lu (2 yrs old)
Those injured are:
1. Saw Nyut Htoo(28 yrs old)
2. Naw Kri Hser (28 yrs old)
3 Naw S'baw (17 yrs old)
4. Saw kyaw Bi (3 yrs old)
The Burmese military attacks and kills our people using weapons bought internationally and which are paid for in part by international companies doing business with the military.
The Karen Peace Support Network calls for increased pressure on countries involved in supplying arms and equipment to the Burmese military, including on Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, India and Singapore.
The Karen Peace Support Network calls for targeted economic sanctions to be imposed at a much faster rate to cut the revenue to the military. Companies in business with the Burmese military are complicit in the international crimes being committed against us.
The Karen Peace Support Network calls for sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to Burma. The majority of displaced people in Karen State are displaced by airstrikes or the threat of airstrikes, creating a humanitarian crisis. The Burmese military are using drones to identify targets such a villages and IDP camps, which they later attack using airstrikes or heavy artillery..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Peace Support Network
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
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46.83 KB 249.27 KB 117.68 KB
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Description:
"1. All People’s Defence Forces must be particularly mindful of the protection of children under 18, who are our future, and the alleviation of any and all potential physical and mental sufferings they may endure during this people’s resistance against the military council.
2. The Ministry of Defence under the National Unity Government has therefore published the following Code of Conduct and regulations to protect children under 18 during the people’s armed resistance.
(a) Protect and provide necessary support to all vulnerable groups including children, disabled people, women, and the elderly (Article 6, Code of Conduct for Civilian Relations)
(b) Ensure an absolute prohibition of any sexual act or violence against minors (Article 2, Code of Conduct regarding women and children)
(c) Never target and attack schools, hospitals, religious buildings cultural monuments, and public places (Article 3, Designation of Military Targets)
3. Moreover, the People’s Defence Forces need to ensure that they do not commit any of the six grave violations that are often committed against children under 18 during armed conflicts. These violations are as follows:
a) Killing and maiming of children;
b) Recruitment and use of children;
c) Sexual violence against children;
d) Abduction of children;
e) Attacks against on schools or and hospitals;
f) Denial of humanitarian access for children.
4. The People’s Defence Forces must be determined to avoid any occurrence of these six grave violations. They must take necessary measures to protect children from such breaches.
5. The People’s Defence Force and other armed groups under the Ministry of Defence of the National Unity Government are honourable security forces that follow international norms, laws and treaties. Thus, conscription of those 18 and over as members of security forces must follow the policy guidelines of the Ministry of Defence. If children under 18 are already in different stations for whatever circumstance, measures in accordance with additional guidelines must be carried out to protect them..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
55.14 KB 270.44 KB
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Sub-title:
စားနပ်ရိက္ခာဆိုင်ရာစီမံမှု အထူးပန်ကြားလွှာ။
Description:
"A total of at least 170,000 people have been displaced by the military engagements between
22 May 2022 and 20 February 2022 in Karenni State, and they are taking refuge within the state
or in other states and regions. Most of the displaced people have had to flee immediately from
their villages, and they could only bring a small amount of food and household utensils. Most
of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in makeshift camps with limited access to
food, medicine and drinking water. It is very much appreciated that people are helping each
other for such an extended period of time. Yet currently, the humanitarian coverage is less than
before and the assistance is "decreasing" in the early stages of 2022.
Therefore, we the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) would like to urge and
request the people to pay special attention and adhere to the following recommendations for
food security.
i) Make a list of different kinds of food and systematically collect and store rice, corn
and different kinds of beans.
ii) Collect and pack rice, cooking oil and salt, as well as basic medicine, for family
members for three days.
iii) Share food and help each other to overcome the initial food shortage.
iv) If you are facing a shortage of food, please immediately inform to relevant village
committee and IDP camp committees.
v) Prioritize the elderly, sick, children under 16, pregnant women and breast-feeding
women.
vi) Stop breeding animals and making snack productions which use a lot of rice or
paddy..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni State Consultative Council
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
23.22 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Regime forces killed at least nine people during raids in upper Myanmar villages and detained over 80 primary schoolchildren as potential human shields.
The children, who were released on Monday, were detained for around 36 hours at a Buddhist monastery in Chin Pone Village in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township, after the village and adjacent area were targeted by junta soldiers airlifted by helicopter and indiscriminate airstrikes.
During the raid, the children, who were all under the age of 12 with many around five to seven-years-old, were detained while attending a kindergarten at the monastery.
An adult who was detained with the children told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they tried to evacuate the children to the basement of the monastery when the helicopters landed, but were detained by junta forces.
“They pointed guns at us. We had to beg them not to shoot kids,” said the adult.
Villagers and local People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighters said the regime troops took the children hostage so they could be used as human shields in case of attacks by PDFs.
Some villagers were also arrested during the raid. They were interrogated and beaten by the junta soldiers, who asked them about local resistance fighters.
At least nine people were killed in the raid and some villagers reportedly remain under arrest.
One local said that they found six bodies near a primary school, one near the monastery and two more on the outskirts of the village.
“Almost all were killed by one shot to the head,” he said.
Only one of the victims has been confirmed to be a Chin Pone villager, he added.
Junta forces reportedly threatened to burn down Chin Pone Village during the raid if the villagers who had fled didn’t return.
Some parents have yet to be reunited with their children, despite them being released. Regime troops are suspected of taking four villagers when they left the village on Monday afternoon.
“We are still looking for the children who are missing,” a PDF member said.
Nearby Thapyayaye Village was attacked with airstrikes on Monday.
In a statement released on Monday, the parallel civilian National Unity Government’s Ministry of Women, Youths and Children said they condemned in the strongest possible terms taking children hostage, as well as teachers and their parents.
“Children have a primary claim to protection under international law, and their abduction and hostage-taking comprises a grave violation,” the ministry said.
Since last year’s coup, military regime forces have killed at least 1,582 innocent civilians and arrested over 12,000 people..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Military History
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"KNG spoke to one of the 5,000 civilians forced to flee recent fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), backed by a People’s Defence Force (PDF), in Putao Township, where many people now live in jungle camps in northern Kachin State.
Can you provide an update about the internally displaced persons (IDP) who fled the clashes near Lon Shar Yang, village-tract and around N’se Yang and Hpert Mar villages?
The Burma Army (BA) has launched an offensive against the KIA and the PDF in Putao area using heavy weapons and flying airstrikes in the area. Shelling has landed near civilian villages. Because of this, some people have sought refuge in Putao town, but many have fled into the jungle. Some people have also fled to Myitkyina to seek shelter. Some people have returned to their village to check their homes and then return to their jungle camp.
How many people are sleeping in the jungle? How many days have y’all been there?
Most of the IDPs are senior citizens and children. We live in a bamboo hut with a plastic roof. A few people go to check the situation in the village and then return to the jungle camp. They go to get food from our village. When it rains, it’s very difficult living here. It was very hard running away from our village; we didn’t have any time to prepare to leave. Some elderly people couldn’t walk that long. We asked for help, however, nobody could pick us up because the price of petrol in Putao has soured. We feel desperate and broken. And we’ve lost hope for our future.
Can you tell us what’s going to happen? What’s the current situation on the ground? Do you expect that it’ll get worse?
I think the clashes will continue in our area because the the BA column is still present in our area. I heard they’ve already installed artillery and mortars in Hpert Mar village. We’ve padlocked our house and left our animals inside. Both armies are very close to each other and we worry about fighting happen inside of our village.
What kind of assistance do the IDPs need?
We need tarps and dried food. Although, we can get rice from our village, we still cannot send it to the mill. We mainly need food rations, tarps and medicine.
How many have fled to the jungle and how many to Putao town?
The Lisu have gone to Putao. And there’s about 100 IDPs in our jungle camp, mainly elderly, women and children.
How many villages in Putao have fled?
All the people from Hpert Mar village have fled to Putao. There are more than 800 houses in the Lon Shar Yang village area. People from Mazup Yang, Tang Ja Yang, Wadat, Masuam Zup, Sumpyi Yang, Madi Yang, N’seng Yang and Dindu Yang villages have all fled the fighting. I think there’s more than 5,000 people living in the jungle. In Sumpyi Yang and Madi Yang, there’s no one left.
The fighting has been going on for three weeks now. Do you know how many clashes and deaths there have been?
Until 22 February, I think there have already been more than ten clashes but can’t say for sure. I’ve heard that nearly 100 BA soldiers were killed in the clashes. I don’t know how many KIA and PDF soldiers have died. I also heard that soldiers were wounded during the clashes. About 200 BA soldiers are stationed in Sumpyi and Hpert Mar villages.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We’re worried about our security and that the BA will target our IDP leaders. If these leaders run away, the other villagers will be very upset. It’s difficult to send rice to the rice mill in our area and the road between Putao and Myitkyina is closed so we’re worried about food shortages soon..."
Source/publisher:
Kachin News Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Kachin, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Kachin State - displacement and the humanitarian situation
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar's military deployed ground troops and launched air and artillery strikes against rebel forces in the country's east, witnesses, local media and an aid group said on Thursday, prompting thousands of people to flee.
Bombardments were carried out for a second day in Nan Mei Khon village in Kayah, a state bordering Thailand where soldiers have met months of resistance from the Karenni National Defence Force (KNDF), one of several militia groups that is challenging the junta's rule.
Myanmar's military council could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday, and state media outlets have not mentioned the fighting.
The Free Burma Rangers, a relief organization operating in the area, shared footage from a day earlier of houses ablaze in the village with the sound of artillery exploding nearby.
"Bombing again today on 24 February 2022. Also mortar attacks and infantry assault in this area. Thousands fleeing again," the group's founder, David Eubank, said in a text message.
Eubank said two people were killed and three were wounded on Wednesday. The Myanmar Now news site reported three were killed in another village attacked by a jet on Wednesday.
A KNDF representative was unable to confirm reports of casualties but said heavy fighting had taken place since Wednesday. Reuters was unable to independently verify the information.
The military ruled Myanmar for five decades until 2011 but is struggling to consolidate power this time as it faces protests in cities, armed conflict on several fronts and sanctions imposed to isolate generals who overthrew a democratically elected government last year.
At least 90,000 people have since been displaced by fighting in Kayah state, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency, which estimates 441,000 people have fled unrest in Myanmar since the coup.
Human rights groups have accused the military of using disproportionate force in civilian areas. The military says it is fighting "terrorists."
A rescue worker, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, told Reuters that heavy bombardment was complicating efforts to move civilians to relief camps.
"Thousands of people are stuck," the rescue worker said.
"We weren't able to get them out of the area yet... They are attacking the people by air, by land and also with heavy weapons."..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The military fires on local defence forces by helicopter, hours after the resistance groups had cornered a Myanmar army column travelling through Tedim
Description:
"The military carried out airstrikes during battles with the resistance near a Tedim Township village in northern Chin State on Saturday, defence forces in the area said.
A Chin alliance attacked a junta convoy of more than 150 soldiers near Hiangzing village, some 20 miles west of Kalay, at around 8am, with multiple military casualties suspected.
The defence forces involved included the Chin National Front, Chin Nationalities Defence Force, Zoland People’s Defence Force (PDF), Civic Defence Militia, People Defence Army and the Zogarm Army.
Representatives of the groups said their geographical knowledge of the area proved to be an advantage, and estimated that at least 10 junta troops were killed by explosives set up by the resistance.
“We started attacking them after they stopped their cars as soon as the explosives detonated,” a member of the Civic Defence Militia told Myanmar Now.
Myanmar army soldiers stationed on the Kalay University campus in neighbouring Sagaing Region started firing heavy artillery towards the battle site in Chin State at around noon, four hours after fighting began, the spokesperson for the Zoland People’s Defence Force (PDF) said.
By 2pm, two helicopters had arrived at the scene and opened fire on the resistance forces, he added.
“We managed to successfully defend against the junta convoy in the morning,” the spokesperson said. “They probably started sending military jets in the afternoon because they had faced a lot of losses.”
Seven members of the resistance were reportedly injured in the clash, with two in critical condition after being struck by artillery and the helicopter gunfire.
Representatives of the defence forces speculated that fighting could escalate in the area as more junta troops were expected to travel south in Chin State, and pass nearby Saturday’s battle site.
The military convoy involved in the clash had left Kalay on January 12, shielding themselves by travelling with civilian vehicles, and reached Hiangzing after being ambushed by defence forces near another village on the route, Theizan.
The military has been escalating attacks on Chin State as part of an offensive known as “Operation Anawrahta” since October of last year, sending massive reinforcements to the area and launching air attacks on the resistance.
The military council has not mentioned the recent battles in Chin State during their press conferences, nor have their spokesperson answered Myanmar Now’s repeated calls for comment..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political, Chin (Zo) discussion groups
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Background: An airstrike struck a displacement camp sheltering hundreds of people in Myanmar’s Kayah State yesterday reportedly killing at least three people, including two children. Fighting has intensified in southeastern Kayah and Kayin states since December. Some 162,000 people, including women and children, remain displaced in the two states after fleeing their homes since May 2021. More than 650 houses, monasteries, churches and schools have reportedly been burnt or destroyed in Kayah State alone.
“We are deeply worried about the new wave of violence and fighting targeting civilians in southeast Myanmar. We condemn yesterday’s airstrike which affected hundreds of people. These were communities that had already been forced to flee their homes because of violence, and sheltered at the displacement site in search of protection and safety. This indiscriminate targeting and killing of civilians must end.
“The fighting is causing death, more displacement and disrupting access to critical services and humanitarian aid. The de facto authorities are responsible under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians, and we call on them to do their duty.”..."
Source/publisher:
Norwegian Refugee Council
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Up to 170,000 people are thought to have left homes in Myanmar’s Kayah state due to intensified fighting
Description:
"Nan and her family had just one hour to gather their belongings and prepare to flee their home. A charity had offered to drive them away from Loikaw, the capital of eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state, to relative safety. She considered staying behind, with the plants, dogs and pigs that she had raised, but knew she had to leave.
Since last week, Loikaw has seen intense fighting between groups opposed to last year’s military coup and the armed forces, which have launched airstrikes and fired artillery. An artillery shell had dropped near Nan’s fence, terrifying her cousin’s children, who ran to hide under their bed. “It was so loud,” she said. “My grandma was shocked and sweating, we had to give her medication to calm her down.” Other homes in Nan’s neighbourhood have been hit.
The UN estimates that half the population of Loikaw have been forced to leave their homes, and that almost 90,000 people from Kayah state, formerly known as Karenni state, are displaced. Estimates by local media and a rights group are far higher, suggesting up to 170,000 people in Kayah, more than half of its population, have left their homes.
Almost one year since the military seized power in Myanmar, the junta faces widespread and defiant opposition to its rule, and to the heinous violence it has inflicted on the public. Alongside a peaceful protest movement, people across the country have resorted to taking up arms, sometimes with support from established ethnic armed organisations.
The military is now battling armed groups on multiple fronts. This includes in Kayah state, where it has been met with strong opposition, and has in turn launched brutal crackdowns. In December, more than 30 people, including children, were killed and their bodies burned in a massacre on Christmas Eve.
On 7 January, a day after fighting intensified, Nan, 26, left her home along with her grandmother – who was in ill health – her parents, cousins and their children.
The drive to Shan state, where they sought refuge, would normally take three and a half hours. Instead, it took the family three days. Fighting forced them to stop and take shelter on the way, only for the attacks to then become so close that there was no option to move again. “They continuously launched behind us as we moved forward,” she said.
Ba Nyar, a spokesperson from Karenni Human Rights Group, said the situation was the most severe he had seen in the state and that 170,000 people are displaced. Many had sought refuge in Buddhist temple compounds, schools and community halls, he said. But people were struggling to access food or basics such as blankets or makeshift roofs to provide shelter at night, he added.
After the recent escalation in fighting, the military has stopped all trucks coming in and out of Loikaw, cutting off supplies, said a volunteer at a refugee camp where about 100 families are sheltering. According to a report by the independent outlet Myanmar Now, the military has also cut off electricity to several areas of Loikaw, halting water supplies and wifi coverage.
More than 650 houses and other civilian properties, including churches, monasteries and schools have been burned down or destroyed in Kayah state since May 2021, according to reports cited by the UN.
This week, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called on the junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, to “immediately halt the air and ground attacks that junta forces have unleashed on Loikaw”, to lift the blockade of those seeking to escape and allow access for those seeking to provide aid and shelter.
The UN’s children’s agency, Unicef, said it was gravely concerned by the escalating conflict and condemned the killing of at least four children across the country, and the maiming of others over the past week. Among those injured are a 12-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy from Loikaw, who were hit by heavy weaponry “following intense airstrikes and mortar attacks”, according to Unicef.
Phil Robertson, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the military had “clearly decided to make an example of Loikaw, hitting it with indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment that puts civilians at serious risk of grievous harm”.
“Humanitarian assistance is urgently needed, and NGOs, UN agencies and donors should bend over backwards to get assistance to displaced persons who require it,” he said.
Few remain in Loikaw. One resident who is still in the city said there was shooting on Wednesday evening until 9pm, and that three military helicopters were seen in the sky. “I have to stay very quiet inside my house for my safety and eat what I have,” he said. “I gave everything else to my family.”
He stayed in the city to watch over the family home, but will leave if fighting worsens. “I think we can still leave, but there are many military soldiers hiding on the roads,” he said.
Nan’s family were stopped twice at checkpoints before they eventually reached relative safety in Shan state. Her grandmother, who had heart problems, died before they arrived. Nan believes it was the shock and trauma caused by the sound of the firing of artillery shells.
Even as the family tried to pause their journey to hold a funeral for her at a nearby town, they were again forced to leave immediately due to worsening violence. Residents from the area were also forced to flee.
Nan has considered returning home. As she drove past the mountains at the back of a truck, she longed to go back. “If my parents are safe, I’d like to go back there even if I have to move from one place to another when fighting takes place in the town,” she said. “I miss home so much.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Armed conflict in Karenni State, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Many had already fled the area after 11 people were massacred and burned in the village last month
Description:
"More than 7,000 people have fled their homes in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin and Salingyi townships since Saturday in fear of attacks from junta soldiers, a local relief group has told Myanmar Now.
Residents of about 10 villages along the road connecting the regional capital Monywa to Pathein in southern Myanmar are now sheltering in schools and monasteries in other villages or in surrounding forests, said a member of the Pyithu Hma Pyithu group.
They have fled villages including Aung Moe, Mya Pin Si, Mya Shwe Si, Bein Nwe Chaung, and Done Taw, where 11 unarmed men and boys were apparently burned to death by junta soldiers last month.
Many villagers from around Done Taw had already fled their homes following last month’s massacre, local aid groups said.
The presence of soldiers in the area, as well as recent clashes with resistance fighters in nearby Pale township, led villagers to fear further attacks over the weekend and flee their homes.
A day after residents fled Kyay Sar Kya, junta soldiers attacked the village with artillery and looted and burned houses, a local who fled told Myanmar Now.
“Around five houses were torched, the roofs of some houses were destroyed during the shelling,” the villager said. “The houses on the side of the road had their furniture stolen as well. They lost so much valuable furniture and appliances including televisions, refrigerators and rice cookers.”
There were no casualties as the village had been abandoned the day before, he said.
Pyithu Hma Pyithu, or From the People to the People, has sent food supplies to the displaced villagers.
“Some are facing a lot of hardship as they have to stay in the forests,” said the member of the group. “It can’t be good for their health if they have to stay there for a long time.”
Several Kyay Sar Kya locals said that on Monday morning they saw three helicopters above the area where they were sheltering and the aircraft hovered around for several hours..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s military regime launched air strikes on Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, on Saturday and Sunday, forcing thousands of local residents to flee their homes.
Fierce clashes broke out between resistance groups and junta troops in the town on Friday. Residents of at least three of 13 wards in Loikaw have fled since Saturday and more are fleeing, according to humanitarian groups helping the displaced people.
“Around 2,000 people were evacuated on Saturday and Sunday. We evacuated them together with the Red Cross Society. Nearly half of the town has fled the fighting. Though the fighting took place in Mong Lone, Pan Kan and Ywa Tan Shae, people from the other parts of the town have also fled out of fear,” a charity worker told The Irrawaddy on Sunday.
People who remain in the town are staying in their homes, and businesses have also closed, he said. While his group is helping to evacuate displaced people to churches, many others have also fled the town on their own, he said.
“People don’t go out because helicopters were hovering. The town is deserted. Those who were not able to flee in time remain in their homes. But we are evacuating people at their request. We pick them up at their homes when they phone us,” he added.
Six civilians were killed in Friday’s fighting as junta troops attacked civilian targets, said the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). The following day, the regime shelled several wards in Loikaw as junta jets dropped bombs.
Some residents have fled to Shan State, Mandalay, Naypyitaw and other towns, but some are only taking shelter at local churches in Kayah.
Local administrators in Nyaungshwe in southern Shan State at the border of Kayah State have warned locals not to shelter displaced persons from Kayah, and displaced people were also not allowed to enter Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, according to the Shan State-based news agency Shan Herald.
Junta troops and local People’s Defense Force (PDF) members clashed in Loikaw, and junta helicopters were hovering over the town on Sunday morning.
“Many people remain in the town, though others are fleeing. We have not yet fled. We have packed things up, and got the car ready to flee. If the situation is OK, we will move tomorrow. But we heard gunfire today, and choppers were hovering,” a resident of Mong Lone ward told The Irrawaddy on Sunday.
More than half of Kayah State’s 300,000 population have already been displaced by fighting following the February coup, and the majority of Loikaw’s some 150,000 residents are fleeing the junta’s weekend aerial attacks, according to locals.
A Loikaw resident told The Irrawaddy on Monday that “the town is deserted and many more, including my family, are planning to leave today and tomorrow.”
Junta attacks from the air were also heard in Demoso, Shardaw and Moebye and Pekhon towns. Helicopters could be heard hovering above Hpasawng Township, said the Loikaw resident.
At least 30 junta soldiers including a lieutenant died and many more were injured in Saturday’s fighting, according to the KNDF. The group said it shot down a gunship and destroyed an armored vehicle in the fighting, and also seized weapons and ammunition from the regime.
Junta troops also clashed with resistance groups in Demoso on Sunday, and at least 10 junta soldiers died in the fighting despite air support.
“Some 20 junta soldiers are believed to have been injured, and at least 10 are thought to have died. The regime fired artillery and also carried out aerial attacks. One of our comrades died and three were injured. One of them had to have one of his kidneys removed. He is stable now,” a KPDF spokesman told The Irrawaddy.
Some civilian houses were damaged in the junta shelling and air strikes and junta troops also deliberately set some houses on fire to cremate their colleagues’ bodies, said the spokesman.
“Junta troops burnt the bodies of their fellows in civilian houses. We have found three charred bodies of junta soldiers,” he said.
The KPDF said it had also seized weapons and communications devices from the regime in the Demoso fighting. The military regime, according to Loikaw residents, has intensified its attacks in Loikaw, deploying helicopters to regain road access to other parts of Kayah State via Loikaw. Resistance groups have blocked road access since last month, preventing the regime from sending reinforcements and food supplies..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Within the 11 months, from the military coup on February 1 till December 31, 2021, the Myanmar junta troops killed 163 Chin people.
Among the deaths were 87 civilians (including 13 women) and 76 members from Chin resistance forces. Among them, three were killed by landmines planted by the Tatmadaw and the bodies of eight civilians were not recovered. Seven were either burned to death or killed in a fire caused by the troops.
Some victims were killed when the Myanmar junta troops violently attacked on peaceful protesters and others lost their lives when the Military Council deployed heavy artillery and airstrikes indiscriminately against innocent civilians. Some were arbitrarily arrested and tortured to death, some even burned to death. In addition to killing innocent civilians without any reason, the junta troops carried arson attacks, planted landmines, and fired heavy weapons into civilian neighbourhoods. The Tatmadaw clearly appears to target the Chin civilians intentionally to create fear among the population.
The Myanmar Military Council’s systematic attacks and killings of civilians are clearly crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Myanmar Military Council must be held accountable for its crimes.
The ICA urges the Tatmadaw to immediately cease targeting civilians, their houses, and belongings, and to cease killing innocent people, particularly women and children and to refrain from indiscriminate firing and using heavy artillery against the civilian population.
The ICA also calls on the international community to intervene and increase pressure on the Myanmar junta to cease its military operations and human rights violations against the Chin People.
Media Contact: [email protected], +919362634715.....
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၃၁) ရက်နေ့အထိ (၁၁) လ တာ ကာလအတွင်း စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၃) ဦးအား သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
သေဆုံးသူများတွင် အမျိုးသမီး (၁၃) ဦး အပါအဝင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၈၇) ဦးနှင့် ချင်းတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များမှ (၇၆) ဦး အထိ ရှိပါသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးသူ (၇) ဦး၊ အလောင်းပြန် မရသည့် အရပ်သား (၈) ဦး နှင့် မိုင်းထိ၍ သေဆုံးသူ အရပ်သား (၃) ဦးထိ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မှ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့်အရပ်သားများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးမှုနှင့် စစ်ကြောရေးအတွင်း ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ လူနေအိမ် များနှင့် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းနှင့် လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးကြရခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအား အကြောင်းမဲ့ သတ်ဖြတ်သည့်အပြင် ကျေးရွာလူနေအိမ်များအတွင်း လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းသန်းပစ်ခတ် မီးရှို့ခြင်းနှင့် လူနေရပ်ကွက်များ၊ အရပ်သားများကျင်လည်ကျက်စားရာနေရာများတွင် မိုင်းထောင်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တို့ကို ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်လျက် ရှိသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စနစ်တကျ တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းတို့သည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်နေကြောင်း ထင်ရှားနေပေသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ၎င်းကျူးလွန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများအတွက် တာဝန်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း နှင့် အရပ်သား ပြည်သူ များ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်အပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း တို့အား ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်မှ အလေးအနက် တိုက်တွန်းသည်။
ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းအား စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စစ်ဆင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေမှုနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ အား ရပ်တန့်စေမည့် ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် ထပ်မံတောင်းဆိုသည်။
ဆက်သွယ်ရန်: [email protected], +919362634715..."
Source/publisher:
Institute of Chin Affairs
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Political History, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"Over 160 Chins were killed
January 6, 2022
Within the 11 months, from the military coup on February 1 till December 31, 2021, the Myanmar junta troops killed 163 Chin people.
Among the deaths were 87 civilians (including 13 women) and 76 members from Chin resistance forces. Among them, three were killed by landmines planted by the Tatmadaw and the bodies of eight civilians were not recovered. Seven were either burned to death or killed in a fire caused by the troops.
Some victims were killed when the Myanmar junta troops violently attacked on peaceful protesters and others lost their lives when the Military Council deployed heavy artillery and airstrikes indiscriminately against innocent civilians. Some were arbitrarily arrested and tortured to death, some even burned to death. In addition to killing innocent civilians without any reason, the junta troops carried arson attacks, planted landmines, and fired heavy weapons into civilian neighbourhoods. The Tatmadaw clearly appears to target the Chin civilians intentionally to create fear among the population.
The Myanmar Military Council’s systematic attacks and killings of civilians are clearly crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Myanmar Military Council must be held accountable for its crimes.
The ICA urges the Tatmadaw to immediately cease targeting civilians, their houses, and belongings, and to cease killing innocent people, particularly women and children and to refrain from indiscriminate firing and using heavy artillery against the civilian population.
The ICA also calls on the international community to intervene and increase pressure on the Myanmar junta to cease its military operations and human rights violations against the Chin People.....၁၁ လအတွင်းချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၀) ကျော် အသတ်ခံရ
၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလ ( ၆ ) ရက်
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၃၁) ရက်နေ့အထိ (၁၁) လ တာ ကာလအတွင်း စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသား (၁၆၃) ဦးအား သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
သေဆုံးသူများတွင် အမျိုးသမီး (၁၃) ဦး အပါအဝင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၈၇) ဦးနှင့် ချင်းတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များမှ (၇၆) ဦး အထိ ရှိပါသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးသူ (၇) ဦး၊ အလောင်းပြန် မရသည့် အရပ်သား (၈) ဦး နှင့် မိုင်းထိ၍ သေဆုံးသူ အရပ်သား (၃) ဦးထိ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မှ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့်အရပ်သားများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးမှုနှင့် စစ်ကြောရေးအတွင်း ညှင်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ လူနေအိမ် များနှင့် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းနှင့် လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးကြရခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအား အကြောင်းမဲ့ သတ်ဖြတ်သည့်အပြင် ကျေးရွာလူနေအိမ်များအတွင်း လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းသန်းပစ်ခတ် မီးရှို့ခြင်းနှင့် လူနေရပ်ကွက်များ၊ အရပ်သားများကျင်လည်ကျက်စားရာနေရာများတွင် မိုင်းထောင်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တို့ကို ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်လျက် ရှိသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စနစ်တကျ တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းတို့သည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့်ပြစ်မှုနှင့် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်နေကြောင်း ထင်ရှားနေပေသည်။
စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သည် ၎င်းကျူးလွန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများအတွက် တာဝန်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း နှင့် အရပ်သား ပြည်သူ များ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်အပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း တို့အား ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်မှ အလေးအနက် တိုက်တွန်းသည်။
ချင်းရေးရာအဖွဲ့ချုပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းအား စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ ချင်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားကာ စစ်ဆင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေမှုနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ အား ရပ်တန့်စေမည့် ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် ထပ်မံတောင်းဆိုသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Institute of Chin Affairs - ICA
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
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Size:
22.85 KB 239.53 KB
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Source/publisher:
NCA-S EAO
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political History, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
239.34 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Ministry o f Human Rights (MOHR) of the National Unity Government o f the Republic
o f the Union o f Myanmar expresses its outrage at the military junta’s Christmas Eve
Massacre o f civilians in Hpruso Township o f Karenni State. The MOHR extends its heartfelt
condolences to the families o f the victims and to the Karenni community at large.
On 24 December 2021, members o f Light Infantry Division 66 forced an unconfirmed
number o f civilians from their vehicles in Hpruso Township o f Karenni State. After binding
their hands, the junta troops shot, stabbed or set the civilians on fire, burning many alive.
Four Border Guard Force Battalion members who attempted to negotiate the release o f the
civilians were also bound, tortured and shot dead by the junta troops.
As many as 42 civilians were murdered in the massacre. Preliminary medical analysis has
thus far identified 26 males, including a man with a disability and two humanitarian workers,1
and five females including a girl. While identification efforts are continuing, some bodies
were so badly destroyed by fire that they are impossible to identify or to distinguish from the
incinerated remains o f other victims. Five children are among the missing.
The MOHR welcomes the United Nations (UN) Security Council’s swift condemnation o f
the incident and its call for accountability.2 It similarly welcomes the statements issued by
UNICEF and by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency
Relief Coordinator, each expressing outrage.3
The military junta in its own public response offered no denial o f the massacre and admitted
to having set fire to the vehicles.4 While it claims that the civilians were "terrorists", this
makes no account for the presence or slaughter o f women, children, and humanitarian
workers. Furthermore, the fact that victims were immobilised and bound before being
murdered proves that these killings were war crimes.
The Christmas Eve Massacre is just the latest in a chain o f acts o f terror. With its attempted
coup d ’etat o f 1 February 2021 broadly regarded to have failed, the military junta is
escalating the scale and nature o f its atrocity crimes to provoke terror. Burning people alive is
one such tactic. In a similar incident in Salingyi Township o f Sagaing Region on 7
December, 11 male villagers including five children were rounded up by junta troops, tied up,
then set on fire.
An earlier act of terror and collective punishment was the junta’s torture and mass killing of
at least 40 men and boys in Kan i Township of Sagaing Region during July 2021.5 Another
still is its use o f military vehicles to target and mow down peaceful protestors, as it did in
Kyimyindaing Township o f Yangon on 5 December, killing at least five civilians, injuring
several more, and drawing UN condemnation.6
These terrorist acts are part o f a widespread and systematic strategy in place across Myanmar
and directed by the junta at the highest levels. Min Aung Hlaing and other senior junta
members must be held personally responsible and brought to justice for their crimes.
The Security Council, acting on its call for accountability, must hold an immediate plenary
meeting on Myanmar and adopt a resolution that blocks the flow o f arms and cash to the
junta and that refers the junta’s atrocity crimes to the International Criminal Court. The
Security Council must also take immediate steps to list the military junta for what it is - a
terrorist organisation.7..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
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100.37 KB 327.61 KB 594.53 KB
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Description:
"Summary of Human Rights Violations by the Military Council in Karenni State..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Format :
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Size:
551.88 KB
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Description:
"Statement from the Ministry of Justice on the Christmas Eve Massacre
We are shocked and appalled by the latest act of barbarism by Myanmar’s terrorist military.
On Christmas Eve in Kayah (Karenni) State, they killed at least thirty-five unarmed civilians, including children, burning the bodies.
Two of those murdered were Save the Children staff members, on their way back from their humanitarian work in a nearby village.
We wish to convey our deepest condolences to the families of all those who died in this atrocity. We are profoundly sad to hear that the staff members of Save the Children were new fathers, with a ten-month-old son and a three-month-old daughter, respectively.
We deeply appreciate Save the Children and their staff for their consistent and courageous support for vulnerable children and families in Myanmar.
This tragic Christmas Eve massacre is part of the military’s brutal, countrywide campaign of terror against the people and anyone who would assist them.
Committing mass murders and burning of bodies has become a Standard Operating Procedure for the Myanmar military to instill terror in the people. On Christmas day, the junta used fighter jets bombing the civilians in Karen State, killing more than 10 innocent people. Just this month the military rounded up 11 civilians, including children, in Sagaing Region, executed them and burned their bodies.
Myanmar’s military is currently acting with impunity, in clear and persistent violation of international law. This recent incident sadly serves to underscore the urgency of holding accountable all of the perpetrators of terrorist acts and the chain of command that guides them.
We call on the United Nations and International Community to act without further delay to protect civilians from attacks by Myanmar’s military. Essential measures include prohibition on airstrikes against civilians across the country, arms embargos, more severe financial sanctions on the military and all of its enablers, protection for humanitarian workers and energetic action to bring perpetrators of these crimes to justice..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Justice
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
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"၁။ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) ၏ မှတ်တမ်းပြုချက်များ အရ (၂၄-၁၂-၂၀၂၁) ရက်နေ့အထိ စစ်အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေးကာလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လက်ချက်ကြောင့် ကျဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ စုစုပေါင်း (၁,၃၇၅) ဦး ရှိပါသည်။ အပြစ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူစုစုပေါင်း (၈,၂၅၄) ဦး ဖမ်းဆီးချုပ်နှောင်ခံထားရပြီး ယင်းအနက် (၁၈) နှစ်အောက် ကလေး (၂) ဦးအပါအဝင် (၃၉) ဦးမှာ သေဒဏ်ချမှတ်ခံထားရပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ဖမ်းဝရမ်းထုတ်ခံရသောကြောင့် တိမ်းရှောင်နေရသူ (၁,၉၆၄) ဦး ရှိပါသည်။ အမှန်တကယ်အရေအတွက်များမှာ ယခုထက် ပိုမိုများပြားနိုင်ပါသည်။
၂။ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၂၄) ရက်နေ့၊ နံနက်ပိုင်းကလည်း ကယားပြည်နယ်၊ ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်တွင် ကလေးငယ်များ၊ အမျိုးသမီးများအပါအဝင် စစ်ဘေးရှောင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၃၈) ဦး ထက်မနည်းကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ပြီး မော်တော်ယာဉ်များနှင့်အတူ ရက်ရက်စက်စက် မီးရှို့ သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြောင်း သိရှိရပါသည်။ Save the Children in Myanmar ဝန်ထမ်းနှစ်ဦးသည်လည်း အနီးအနားရှိ ရပ်ရွာများတွင် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ငန်းများ ဆောင်ရွက်အပြီး တာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင်ရာ ရုံးသို့ ပြန်နေစဉ် ယင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုအဖြစ်အပျက်နှင့် ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ခဲ့ရပြီး ပျောက်ဆုံးလျက်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် ယင်းဝန်ထမ်းများ စီးနင်းလာသော မော်တော်ယာဉ်မှာလည်း မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခံခဲ့ရကြောင်း အတည်ပြုချက်ရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။
၃။ ထို့အပြင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ကရင်ပြည်နယ်၊ လေးကေကော်ဒေသအပါအဝင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအနှံ့အပြားတွင် ပြည်သူကို ရန်သူသဖွယ်ဆက်ဆံပြီး မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ လုယက်ဓားပြတိုက်ခြင်း၊ ဖမ်းဆီးနှိပ်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ လက်နက်ကြီးများ ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းနှင့် လေကြောင်းဖြင့် ဗုံးကြဲပစ်ခတ်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းတို့ကြောင့် ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးမှုများစွာ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လျက်ရှိပြီး အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများစွာ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ၍ တိမ်းရှောင်နေရလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ယခုကဲ့သို့ လုပ်ဆောင်မှုများသည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုများအပေါ် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနအနေဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေးကာလအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လူမဆန်စွာ နှိပ်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများကြောင့် ကျဆုံးခဲ့ရသော ပြည်သူများ၏ မိသားစုများနှင့်ထပ်တူ ကြေကွဲဝမ်းနည်းရပါကြောင်း၊ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အဆိုပါအကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များကို ပြင်းထန်စွာ ပြစ်တင်ကန့်ကွက်ရှုတ်ချ ကြောင်းနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အပြီးတိုင် ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီရရှိရေးတို့အတွက် အစွမ်းကုန် ဆက်လက်ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း အလေးအနက်ထား၍ ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Health, National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
450.57 KB
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Description:
"1. We, the KNPP. strongly condemn the SAC troops' burning alive of over 35
Karenni civilians; including women, children, and an INGO staff members;
who had managed to escape from nearby fighting. On December 24, 2021,
after arresting and beating the civilians, the SAC troops from LIB No. 108
under command of Division 66 splashed them with gasoline and burned
them alive on trucks near Mosoe Village, Pruhso Township. They also
burned the Chilians' vehicles.
2. Additionally, four men from the Border Guard Force of Karenni
Nationalities Peoples' Liberation Front, who jumped in to negotiate for
releasing the civilians, were tied with their hands behind their backs and
shot in their heads by the SAC's gunmen.
3. Both cases obviously prove that the SAC's army is both violating the
international norms in war and also intentionally committing crimes
against humanity.
4. Therefore, we urge the international governments and communities,
including the United Nations, to abruptly isolate the SAC by taking strong
actions against them without delay..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni National Progressive Party
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
24.57 KB 55.88 KB
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Description:
"The Karen Women's Organization [KWO] strongly condemns the attacks by the Burma
Army in Hrpuso township, Karenni State in which at least 30 refugees, including women
and children, were burned alive. Deeply disturbing images of scorched bodies and charred
remains on trucks that were set ablaze on Christmas Eve. Even during this holiday time of
Christmas and New Year's, the people of Burma are being denied peace and safety in their
homelands.
In the regime's attempts to squander People's Defense Forces, innocent civilians are
routinely and unjustly being taken as hostages and killed. KWO has witnessed similar
assaults in Karen State including ongoing ground and air strikes.
KWO extends our solidarity and support to the victims and their families in Karenni State.
Our ethnic brothers and sisters are all too familiar with the brutality that the Burma Army
is capable of. The people of Karen State continue to be forced to endure the oppression of
the junta. Thousands of our people are stranded, and in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
We have seen similar attacks being launched across the country which are routinely taking
place with deeply ingrained impunity.
Accountability for the atrocities being committed by the Burma Army are long overdue.
The violence they are perpetuating is in violation of international law and constitute war
crimes and crimes against humanity. Therefore, it is with utmost urgency that KWO calls
for a global arms embargo and diplomatic pressure to ensure a referral of the junta to the
International Criminal Court. International condemnation for the human rights violations is
not enough. There must be concrete action to protect the lives of thousands who still
remain in danger in Burma..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Women's Organisation
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
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Size:
21.82 KB
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Description:
"1. The National Unity Government (NUG) of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar received reports of a new civilian massacre by junta forces in Karenni State on 24 December 2021 (Christmas Eve). The NUG expresses its deepest condolences to families, people of the Karenni State and the people who suffered and suffering from inhumane violence of terrorist military group as the Karenni State home to majority Christian population witnessed such a heinous terrorist act in Christmas.
2. On the morning of 24 December 2021, the terrorist military group conducted Special Clearance Operation near Moso village in Hpruso Township. Light Infantry Battalion 108 under Light Infantry Division 66 blocked the road, subsequently detained an unconfirmed number of these villagers and travelers and destroyed their properties. Four members of Border Guard Force Battalion (1004) who attempted to negotiate the release of the civilians were also reportedly executed by junta forces with close-range headshots. According to source information, between 35-40 villagers were bound and burnt to death together with 11 vehicles.
3. The terrorist military junta have exercised extreme terror tactics against the Myanmar people by arresting, killing and burning people alive. A villager from Than Pho village in Kale Township in Sagaing Region was detained by junta troops on 4 December 2021 and his remains were found burnt on 7 December 2021. On On 7 December 2021, at least 11 villagers including five children were burnt alive by terrorist military group in Salingyi Township in Sagaing regio. On 12 December 2021, five villagers including one person with disabilities were killed and burnt in Gaaung Kwe village in Myaing Township in Sagaing Region.
4. As the world celebrates Christmas and its message of peace, the NUG repeats its demand on the international community to act immediately and decisively to end the military junta’s escalating war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Myanmar people..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
73.3 KB 297.29 KB
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Description:
"၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကရင်နီပြည်နယ်၊ ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ မိုဆိုကျေးရွာတွင် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မ (၆၆)၊ ခမရ(၁၀၈)ဉီးဆောင်သောတပ်များက အင်အားအလွန်အကျွံသုံး၍ စစ်ဆင်ရေးပြုလုပ်ကာ အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားတို့၏ နေအိမ်များနှင့် ပစ္စည်းများကို ဖျက်ဆီးခဲ့ပြီး ကလေးသူငယ်နှင့် အမျိုးသမီးများ အပါအဝင် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သား (၃၅) ဦးကျော်အား ကြိုးတုပ် ဖမ်းဆီးခေါ်ဆောင်သွားပြီး ဒန်ပါကား (၃)စီး၊ ကားငယ်(၄)စီး၊ ထော်လာဂျီနှင့် ဆိုင်ကယ်(၅)စီးတို့နှင့် အတူ လက်စဖျောက် မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့မှုအပေါ် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ အနေဖြင့် ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် ရှုတ်ချလိုက်သည်။
၂။ ထိုသို့ ဖျက်ဆီးမှုများနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို တားဆီးရန်ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့သော နယ်ခြားစောင့် တပ်ရင်း(၁၀၀၄)မှ တပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင် (၄) ဦးကိုလည်း ဖမ်းဆီးကာ ဦးခေါင်းကို သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်သတ် ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ယခုကဲ့သို့လုပ်ဆောင်မှုများသည် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူး လွန်သည့် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုဖြစ်ပြီး ယခင်နှစ်ပေါင်း ၇၀ ကျော် အချိန်မှစ၍ ယခုအချိန်တိုင် ပြည်သူတို့အပေါ်၌ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များက ကျူးလွန်နေသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်နေမှုများ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၃။ ခရစ်ယာန်လူမျိုးတို့၏ နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ်ဖြစ်သည့် ခရစ္စမတ်ပွဲတော်ကျင်းပသည့် ကာလ၌ပင် ယခုကဲ့သို့ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့၀င်များက ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ် များသည် မတရားလုယူထားသည့် ၎င်းတို့၏ အာဏာတည်မြဲရေးနှင့် အကျိုးစီးပွား မထိခိုက်ရေး နိုင်ငံတ၀ှမ်းရှိ လူနည်းစုတိုင်းရင်းသားများအပါအ၀င် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူပြည်သားများအပေါ်၌ ပိုမို ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များကို ဆက်လက်လုပ်ဆောင်မည့် သဘောထားပင် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီသည် ပြည်တွင်း ဥပဒေများ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ဥပဒေများနှင့် ကျင့်၀တ် များကိုသာမက အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာလူ့အခွင့်အရေး ကြေညာစာတမ်းပါအချက်များကိုပါ ပြောင်ပြောင် တင်းတင်း ချိုးဖောက်လျက်ရှိပြီး ပြည်သူတို့အပေါ်၌ အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များ စနစ်တကျ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ဆက်လက်လုပ်ဆောင်နေခြင်းကြောင့် ကမ္ဘာ့နိုင်ငံများနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုက် အ၀န်းက မြန်မာပြည်သူတို့၏ အသက်ရှင်သန်ခွင့်နှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးတို့အတွက် ကာကွယ်ပေးရန် အမြန်ဆုံးနှင့် အရေးတကြီး လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် လိုအပ်ပါသည်။
၅။ ထိတ်လန့်ဖွယ် ဖမ်းဆီးသတ်ဖြတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများနှင့် မိသားစုတို့အတွက် များစွာ ထိခိုက်ကြေကွဲရပြီး စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့များက ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရာဇ၀တ်မှုများအတွက် ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူမှုများ ပြုလုပ်သွားနိုင်ရေး ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ အနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အ၀န်းနှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
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Type:
Individual Documents
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Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
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Source/publisher:
Progressive Karenni People Force - Information Center
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah)
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Source/publisher:
Karenni State Consultative Council
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-26
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Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karenni State
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"In Myanmar, the terrorist military overthrew the civilian government and staged a coup d’e tat in February. The people’s mass protests have been viciously cracked down by the terrorist military, injuring and killing many people.
At present, the people of Burma, with the rights to defend ourselves, are revolting all throughout the country against the military which has been ruling with violence for more than 70 years by means of arms. Ethnic organizations which have been fighting against oppression for years are now facilitating the revolution as well.
Currently, the terrorist military is committing severe violations of human rights and crimes against humanity, such as arresting and torturing innocent civilians in villages and towns all over the country; using them as prisoners of war; making them into human shields; looting and destroying the properties of people; burning down entire villages and towns; torturing, carrying out mass killings and burying groups of innocent people; burning people to death; raping women and so on.
Moreover, across the country, the terrorist military is continuously conducting aerial bombing attacks on places resided by innocent civilians. On the day before yesterday, the terrorist military council attacked with aerial bombings on innocent civilians in Kale, Sagaing Division and in Lay Kay Kaw Myothit, Karen State.
Therefore, we, the Students’ Unions, support the following demands in order to stop the terrorist military from killing innocent people, committing crimes and violating human rights.
1. We, the Students' Unions, support the statement of the KNU (the Karen National Union) issued on December 20. We also call for the United Nations to quickly respond to the request numbered 5(b) in the KNU’s statement.
2. At present, because of the military’s excessive use of air strikes, lots of innocent people are losing their lives and are suffering the agony of war. In addition, many homes of the people are being destroyed. Accordingly, we urgently request for the nationwide designation of No-fly Zone in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
227 Students' Unions in Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security
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"မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ၌ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ ဒီမိုကရေစီအစိုးရကို ဖြုတ်ချအာဏာသိမ်းယူခဲ့ပါသည်။ ပြည်သူများတခဲနက်ဆန့်ကျင်ဆန္ဒပြမှုများကိုလည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ ရက်စက်စွာအကြမ်းဖက်ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့၍ လူပေါင်းများစွာဒဏ်ရာရအသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ပါသည်။
ယခုလက်ရှိတွင် မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် နိုင်ငံအနှံအပြားတွင် နှစ်ပေါင်း(၇၀)ကျော်ကြာ လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်အုပ်ချုပ်ခဲ့သောစစ်တပ်အား မိမိကိုယ်ကိုခုခံကာကွယ်ခွင့်ဖြင့် တော်လှန်နေကြရပါသည်။ နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာဖိနှိပ်အနိုင်ကျင့်မှုကိုတွန်းလှန်နေသော တိုင်းရင်းသားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများမှလည်း တော်လှန်ရေးတွင် ပူးပေါင်းကူညီပါဝင်နေကြပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။
လက်ရှိတွင်လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် နိုင်ငံအနှံ့ရှိရွာများ၊ မြို့များတွင် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများကို မတရားဖမ်းဆီးနှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ စစ်သုံ့ပန်းအဖြစ်အသုံးချခြင်း၊ လူသားတံတိုင်းပြုလုပ်ခြင်း၊ ပြည်သူ့ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများ ခိုးယူဖျက်စီးခြင်း၊ ရွာလုံးကျွတ်မြို့လုံးကျွတ်မီးရှို့ခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူအုပ်စုလိုက်အား နှိပ်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်မြေမြှုပ်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ အမျိုးသမီးများကိုအဓမ္မပြုကျင့်ခြင်း စသည့် ဆိုးဝါးပြင်းထန်သော လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများနှင့် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်အပေါ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
ထို့ပြင် နိုင်ငံအနှံ့အပြားတွင်လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများနေထိုင်သည့်နေရာများကို ဝေဟင်မှ ဗုံးကြဲတိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းများကိုလည်း ဆက်တိုက်ပြုလုပ်နေပါသည်။ယမန်နေ့၌ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကလေးမြို့နှင့် ကရင်ပြည်နယ် လေးကေ့ကော်မြို့သစ်တို့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီမှ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအပေါ် ဝေဟင်မှ ဗုံးကြဲတိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းတို့ပြုလုပ်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများအပေါ် သတ်ဖြတ်မှု၊ ရာဇဝတ်မှုများနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ မပြုလုပ်နိုင်စေရန်အတွက် အောက်ပါအချက်များအား ထောက်ခံတောင်းဆိုပါသည်။
၁။ ဒီဇင်ဘာ(၂၀)ရက်နေ့ ကေအဲန်ယူ-ကရင်အမျိုးသားအစည်းအရုံးမှ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေငြာချက်အား ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများမှ ထောက်ခံပါသည်။ တောင်းဆိုချက်(ခ)ပါအချက်အား လည်း ကုလသမဂ္ဂအဖွဲ့ချုပ်မှ အမြန်ဆုံးဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန် တောင်းဆိုပါသည်။
၂။ ယခုအချိန်တွင် မြန်မာတစ်နိုင်ငံလုံးနီးပါး စစ်တပ်၏ အကြမ်းဖက်ထိုးစစ်ဆင်မှုများတွင် လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများအလွန်အသုံးပြုေသာကြောင့် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများစွာ အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခြင်း၊ စစ်ဘေးဒုက္ခရောက်ခြင်းတို့ ခံစားနေရပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ပြည်သူ့အိုးအိမ်များစွာ အဖျက်ဆီးခံရပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ မြန်မာတစ်နိုင်ငံလုံးအတိုင်းအတာအနေဖြင့် စစ်ဘက်ဆိုင်ရာလေကြောင်းပျံသန်းမှုကင်းမဲ့ဇုန်အဖြစ်သတ်မှတ်ပေးရန် တောင်းဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
227 Students' Unions in Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security
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"We reiterate our condemnation of the serious human rights violations committed by the military regime across the country.
The recent attacks on civilians in Karen State, including the shelling of villages, are a violation of International Humanitarian Law and must stop. The attacks have resulted in thousands of people being displaced, who are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
We call on the regime to immediately cease its indiscriminate attacks in Karen State and throughout the country, and to ensure the safety of all civilians in line with international law.
We echo the UN Security Council’s Press Statement from 10 November, calling for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need, and for the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel....စစ်အာဏာရှင်၏ နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝန်း ကျူးလွန်ထားသော ပြင်းထန်ဆိုးရွားသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများကို မိမိတို့ ရှုတ်ချကြောင်း ထပ်မံအသိပေးပြောကြားလိုသည်။
မကြာသေးမီက ကရင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ကျေးရွာများကို လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့်ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်း အပါအဝင် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများသည် နိုင်ငံတကာ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာ ဥပဒေကို ချိုးဖောက်နေခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး ယင်းလုပ်ရပ်ကို ရပ်တန့်ရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ အဆိုပါ တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် ထောင်နှင့်ချီသောပြည်သူများ အိုးအိမ်စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးနေကြရပြီး ယခုအခါ ၄င်းတို့အတွက် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုအကူအညီများ အရေးပေါ် လိုအပ်လျက်ရှိသည်။
စစ်အာဏာရှင်အနေဖြင့် ကရင်ပြည်နယ်နှင့် နိုင်ငံတလွှားက အဆင်အခြင်မဲ့တိုက်ခိုက်ခံရမှုများ ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန်နှင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူအားလုံးကို နိုင်ငံတကာဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ ဘေးကင်းလုံခြုံစွာထားရှိရန် မိမိတို့ တောင်းဆိုသည်။
ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ၏ နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၁၀ ရက်နေ့ သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက်အရ အကူအညီလိုအပ်နေသည့် ပြည်သူအားလုံး လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှု အထောက်အပံ့ အပြည့်အစုံကို ဘေးကင်းလုံခြုံပြီး အတားအဆီးအဟန့်အတားမရှိဘဲ လက်လှမ်းမီရရှိစေရေးနှင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုနှင့် ဆေးဘက်ဆိုင်ရာဝန်ထမ်းများကို အပြည့်အ၀ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ပေးပြီး ဘေးကင်းလုံခြုံမှုရှိစေရေးအတွက် မိမိတို့ကလည်း ထပ်တူတောင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
The Ambassadors, Chargés d’Affaires, and Heads of Mission from Australia, Canada, the Delegation of the EU and European Union Member States with presence in Myanmar: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden;
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security
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Description:
"The International Karen Organisation today called for the urgent implementation of new
targeted strategic sanctions on the Burmese military in response to escalating attacks
against civilians in Karen State.
Simultaneous attacks by the Burmese military are taking place in different parts of Karen
State, in Sagaing Region, Kachin State, Chin State and many other ethnic states, at the
same time as the military continue to make mass arrests of political leaders, peaceful
protesters and PDF members across the country. This demonstrates that the international
community is moving much too slowly to cut the flow of arms and revenue to the military,
and reduce their capacity to attack and oppress the people of Burma.
Sanctions need to be applied on the supply of aviation fuel, arms, and on gas revenue and
other sources of revenue for the Burmese military. Funding for cross border aid needs to
be increased without placing unnecessary reporting burdens on local civil society
organisations which are impossible to meet, and effectively act to block life-saving aid to
those in need.
The Burmese military appear to be targeting hundreds of Burmese democracy activists
who have taken shelter in Lay Kay Kaw, a town in Karen State under the control of the
Karen National Union (KNU). In the process, they are indiscriminately using heavy artillery
and gunfire against civilian areas, forcing thousands of Karen villagers to flee as well as
the democracy activists. This is a war crime. It is a violation of international law.
On 14th December the Burmese military raided the town of Lay Kay Kaw, in the KNU
controlled Dooplya District, in southern Karen State, bordering Thailand. They arrested
around 30 activists who had taken refuge in the town. Hundreds of Burmese democracy
activists were sheltering in Lay Kay Kaw.
On 15th December the Burmese military escalated attacks, using heavy artillery in
surrounding areas and forcing more than 1,000 local civilians to flee. In the following days
these attacks continued and expanded. On 19th December the Burmese military began
attacking Palu and other nearby villages where many people who had fled attacks against
Lay Kay Kaw had taken shelter.
As of the morning of 20th December, the number of people displaced by these attacks was
estimated at 4000. With numerous attacks taking place, numbers of displaced people are
constantly changing.
At the same time, the Burmese military has increased shelling against civilian villages in
Doo Tha Htu (Thaton) District in Karen State, as more Burmese military troops move into
KNU areas.
In both areas the Karen National Liberation Army is defending civilians against attacks and
encroachment by the Burmese military.
On 18th December around 30 Burmese military vehicles, including armoured personnel
carriers of the type supplied by China and Ukraine, and military transport vehicles, brought
reinforcements through Myawaddy travelling towards Dooplaya.
There are increased jets and drones flying over the areas, increasing fear of indiscriminate
aerial bombing of the kind that happened in March and April this year. Before the new
attacks this December there were already more than 80,000 people internally displaced,
mostly because of bombings and the threat of bombings. Jets and drones have continued
to fly over the area, preventing villagers from returning home and stopping them from
growing this year’s crops, creating a humanitarian crisis on top of the COVID pandemic.
Around 2,000 Karen villagers crossed into Thailand this week and around 600 have been
pushed back by the Thai authority.
We call on the government of Thailand not to keep pushing refugees back into a war zone
as they have done so many times in the past. We call on the USA, EU, UK, Canada,
Australia and sympathetic governments, and on the United Nations Secretary General, to
make representations to the Royal Thai Government not to force refugees to return
against their will.
The Burmese military are attacking our people with much more sophisticated weaponry
than they used before the so-called reform process began. They have used the past ten
years with sanctions lifted and more business opportunities to increase income and buy
more modern and deadly equipment. They have more heavy artillery, more jets and new
drones which they are using against civilians.
It is absolutely vital that more sanctions are rapidly imposed on the Burmese military in
order to reduce their military capacity.
The international community must:
Sanction aviation fuel
The majority of people in Karen State have been displaced by air strikes and are unable to
return because of the threat of airstrikes. These air strikes have killed and maimed
innocent civilians and have created a humanitarian crisis. The international community
must impose sanctions to stop aviation fuel reaching the military. Companies which supply
the military with aviation fuel should be sanctioned and evidence collected for future
prosecutions for complicity in violations of international law.
Expand the arms embargo
The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo. With Russia and
China blocking a potential resolution on an arms embargo, countries should impose
unilateral arms embargoes. Only around 40 of 193 UN members have imposed arms
embargoes against the Burmese military, despite recommendations from the United
Nations Fact-Finding Commission on Myanmar, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
human rights in Myanmar, and a UN General Assembly Resolution in June this year. We
call on all countries to impose unilateral arms embargoes.
More targeted economic sanctions, including gas revenue
Almost a year on from the military coup, the Burmese military is earning up to $1.4bn in
gas revenues. This money is being used to kill our people. Even countries which claim to
support human rights and democracy in Burma have not stopped gas revenue, with
hundreds of millions of dollars being given to the military from a gas project run by
American and European Union companies Chevron and Total. We call on American
President Biden and French President Macron to stop blocking sanctions on gas revenue
and impose gas revenue sanctions. The European Union cannot sanction gas revenue as
long as President Macron keeps blocking it.
It makes no sense to us that President Biden and President Macron have arms embargoes
against the Burmese military but are still allowing their companies to give money to the
military which they can then use to buy arms from Russia, China, India, Serbia, Ukraine
and other countries. They won’t sell arms, but they help fund the purchase of arms.
The international community has long failed to take action against the Burmese military for
violations of international law committed against the Karen people. This decades long
impunity has contributed to the crisis in Burma today. We hope that the international
community will now finally learn lessons from past mistakes and take effective action
immediately..."
Source/publisher:
International Karen Organisation
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - the human rights situation, Sanctions, Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
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Description:
"1. The KNU in Lay Kay Kaw, Dooplaya District has, on humanitarian grounds, offered
temporary shelter and protection to politicians, activists, and non-violent protesters, who
have fled from the military council's killing and torture of those holding different political
opinions.
2. Recent armed clashes that took place on 15th December are a result of self-defense
response by the KNU against Myanmar military council's arrest of individuals temporary
sheltering at Lay Kay Kaw, destructions of their homes, and deployment of military forces
against the KNU troops.
3. We thank the Thai government and Thai people for providing temporary shelter for 3,000
displaced people in accordance with humanitarian principles. We also would like to thank
the Thai government for allowing additional 2,000 displaced people who fled more armed
clashes that took place on December 19, 2021 to cross the borderline and hope that Thai
authorities will arrange proper accommodations for these people.
4. We urge all Karen living outside of Burma, citizens of Burma, domestic and international
organizations to provide food, medicine, and temporary shelter toward people fleeing the
war.
5. KNU further requests the international community to take the following immediate actions
a. We urge the Thai government to allow international organizations to meet and
assist war victims and displaced peoples.
b. There is a high possibility that Lay Kay Kaw will be attacked by the military council's
airstrike and will cause serious damages and destructions on unarmed civilians,
which is a severe violation of human rights. We urge the United Nations to identify
the 'No Fly Zone' by calling an emergency meeting with the UN Security Council,
and international community.
c. We ask the military council to withdraw its troops to save its already damaged
reputation.
d. We encourage the officers and commanders from the military council to join with
the people in order to save Burma from falling into a 'Failed State'.
e. KNU declares that the military's withdrawal from politics, and the building a
genuine federal democratic union are the only solutions to end over 70 years' long
civil war..."
Source/publisher:
Karen National Union
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
59.69 KB 378.8 KB 371.29 KB
Local URL:
2021-12-20-Statement-on-the-military-council’s-excessive-use-of-force-against-Lay-Kay-Kaw-tu-en.pdf- 2021-12-20-Statement-on-the-military-council’s-excessive-use-of-force-against-Lay-Kay-Kaw-pio-bu.pdf
- 2021-12-20-Statement-on-the-military-council’s-excessive-use-of-force-against-Lay-Kay-Kaw-pio-karen.pdf
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Description:
" At least 2,500 people including hundreds of children have fled a flare-up in fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic minority rebels and have taken refuge across the border in Thailand, Thai authorities and an aid group said.
Those displaced had poured into the Thai town of Mae Sot after fighting in the past few days between the Karen National Union (KNU) and Myanmar's army, Somchai Kitcharoenrungroj, deputy governor of western Tak province, told a news conference.
Myanmar was plunged into turmoil when the military ousted a civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, triggering protests in cities and sporadic clashes in the countryside between anti-junta militia and the army.
There has also been intensified fighting at times between the army and ethnic minority insurgents in border areas, like the KNU, Myanmar's oldest rebel force.
Somchai put the number of displaced on the Thai side of the border at 2,503. Ye Min, an official at the Aid Alliance Committee, a Thai-based Myanmar migrants group, said that total included 545 children.
"We are providing food assistance working together with Thai authorities," Ye Min said by telephone, adding most of the displaced were from Lay Kay Kaw and other villages.
The KNU has been seeking self-determination in a region of about 1.6 million people.
The KNU said in a social media post said four Myanmar soldiers were killed and four wounded during the fighting on Wednesday.
A report by Public Voice Television, which is backed by Myanmar's shadow government, posted photographs it said showed seized weapons and eight captured members of the Myanmar security forces.
It said 18 government soldiers had been killed.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims and a spokesman for Myanmar's military junta did not answer a call seeking comment.
Tak provincial authorities said there was a clash between the army and the KNU on Thursday about 500 metres (550 yards) from the Thai border.
It said a shell had fallen on the Thai side of the border though had not caused harm or damage, and Thai forces had intensified patrols in the area..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar junta troops sustained heavy losses this week in fighting in Lay Kay Kaw in Karen State’s Myawaddy, where they encountered a combined force of troops from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) civilian resistance groups from Wednesday.
As of Thursday, 18 junta soldiers had died and eight others had been captured during the fighting, the National Unity Government (NUG) said.
The Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA, condemned the regime’s attack as a “violation of human rights” and “destroying peace” in a statement on Thursday, adding that four junta troops—a captain and three sergeants—were killed during the clashes on Wednesday and it was still verifying Thursday’s causalities. On Friday, the KNU released pictures of eight soldiers arrested during the fighting. Among them, two were members of the Karen Border Guard Force, which is backed by the military and joined forces with the junta soldiers.
Military tensions rose this week when some 200 junta soldiers raided the area on Tuesday, alleging that democracy activists and members of People’s Defense Force (PDF) civilian resistance groups were hiding there. Two MPs-elect from the National League for Democracy (NLD), U Wai Lin Aung and Dr. Pyae Phyo, were among around 90 people detained by the junta on that day.
The raids and clashes followed the junta’s accusation that the KNU, Myanmar’s oldest revolutionary force, was supporting and sheltering striking civil servants and anti-regime armed resistance groups.
Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, the vice chairman of the Karen National Union, told The Irrawaddy that the group “will respond with all-out defense to stop the junta’s incursion.”
The military tensions began due to the junta troops’ incursions into territory in which the KNU/KNLA operates, said the vice chairman. He explained that various groups control different parts of Lay Kay Kaw, and permission is required to pass through certain areas.
Following the military engagement in Lay Kay Kaw, clashes were also reported in nearby areas in Myawaddy, Kawkareik and Kyar Inn Seik Gyi townships.
The junta claimed that brigades 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the KNLA offered training and gave shelter to those evading arrest by the regime and supplied arms to groups engaged in urban guerrilla warfare in a number of cities and towns in the country.
This month, fighting has been frequent in areas in Mon and Karen states, and Tanintharyi Region, which host KNU brigades 1, 5, 6 and 4.
In the Brigade 5 area alone, the KNU’s Mutraw (Papun district) news outlet said on Thursday that 54 junta soldiers were killed and 39 injured during 111 clashes with KNLA troops between Dec. 1 and 16, in Papun, Karen State. The military retaliated with artillery and more than 100 shells struck civilian residences. The KNLA said it lost one soldier and six were injured.
Meanwhile, more than 2,500 locals are now seeking shelter in Thailand and about one third of them are children. Some 1,000 residents of Lay Kay Kaw are still internally displaced, according to relief workers.
Regarding the refugee situation, the NUG appealed to the Thai government “to allow the IDPs fleeing Lay Kay Kaw and seeking refuge to cross the border safely as soon as possible.”
The shadow government also urged the international community to provide urgent humanitarian and emergency assistance to the IDPs affected.
It also urged the international community “to strongly call for a de-escalation of violence.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tatmadaw (Burma Army), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Since June 2021, Burma Army troops have intensified shelling and persecution of civilians in Mutraw (Hpapun) District of
northern Karen State, in retaliation for increased KNU guerrilla attacks, which are blocking the regime’s supply routes
and eroding their pockets of control in this mountainous border area.
Most of the shelling has taken place in southern Mutraw, along the main access road from Kamamaung on the Salween
River to Hpapun town, where the regime’s bases are centred. Shelling was heaviest in September, with dozens of shells fired
nearly every day. Shells were fired indiscriminately into villages and fields, causing civilian injuries and damage to property,
but failing to hit any military targets.
Unable to retaliate directly against their guerrilla assailants, regime troops have increasingly targeted villagers for collective
punishment: looting and destroying property, arbitrarily arresting men and women, and using them as porters and human
shields.
The regime’s shelling and terror tactics have caused new displacement in southern Mutraw, bringing IDP totals to over 82,000
in the district – almost the entire rural population. Most of the IDPs remain sheltering in the jungle, not daring return home
in case of renewed airstrikes after the rains. Unable to plant their rice-fields this year, they are in urgent need of food aid.
Yet the regime’s areas of control are shrinking. KNU blockades and attacks have forced the Burma Army to abandon eleven
of their camps in Mutraw since the coup. Morale is low and dozens of the regime’s troops have recently deserted. Deserters
interviewed by KPSN say most troops want to leave the army, and are no longer obeying orders.
At this critical time, with resistance mounting across the country, KPSN urges the international community to stand with
the people of Burma, and cut off all diplomatic and economic support for the illegitimate coup regime. KPSN also urges
foreign donors to immediately scale up cross-border humanitarian aid to IDPs in Karen State and other conflict-affected
areas of Burma.
Burma Army steps up shelling in response to increased
KNU guerrilla attacks
In KPSN’s May 2021 briefer “Terror from the Skies”, we provided a background of the Burma Army’s decades-long attempts
to crush the KNU in Mutraw District. Even after the KNU’s 2012 ceasefire, the Burma Army set up new bases in Mutraw, and
started building new access roads for quick deployment of troops and military supplies. In 2020, the Burma Army stepped up
artillery attacks, causing the Karen National
Liberation Army to issue an ultimatum
on December 1, 2020, for the Burma
Army to withdraw all its bases from
KNU-controlled areas and dismantle all
camps set up since the NCA by the end of
2020. When the ultimatum was ignored,
the KNU tightened its blockade of access
routes into Mutraw, and in March 2021,
after the military coup, began attacking
and capturing Burma Army camps. The
Burma Army retaliated not only with
renewed shelling, but with airstrikes –
the first in the area for over 25 years.
This caused mass displacement of over
70,000 villagers, mostly into the jungle.
Thousands fled across the Salween River
to Thailand, but were pushed back within
days by the Thai authorities.
The regime’s fierce air and ground
assaults only galvanized the KNU to step
up guerrilla attacks against Burma Army
bases and supply lines in Mutraw. Since
June, the KNU has mainly targeted the
main access road leading from Kamamaung
in the south to Hpapun town, where the
regime’s bases are centred.
In an attempt to deter the KNU attacks,
the Burma Army has fired hundreds of
artillery shells and sprayed gunfire from
its bases into surrounding civilian areas.
Shells landed in villages and surrounding
farmlands, damaging houses, property
and livestock, and injuring at least eight
villagers, including a monk. Gunfire also
killed one villager. However, the shelling
failed to hit any KNU military targets.
Increased Burma Army looting and
vandalizing of villagers’ property
Since June 2021, KPSN has documented numerous incidents of looting across
Mutraw by Burma Army troops, mainly of villagers’ livestock and food supplies,
but also clothes, tools, phones, solar panels and cash.
One likely factor for the frequent looting is food shortages caused by the KNU
blockade of supply lines. In a well-publicized incident on October 12, 2021, twelve
Burma Army soldiers from LIB 404, based at Kyauk Nyat on the Salween river,
looted food from a Thai boat transporting goods along the river. Kyauk Nyat is
one of the last remaining military outposts on Mutraw’s northeast river border
and the troops there had apparently run out of rice rations. The troops fired shots
to force the boat to stop, and demanded rice. As the boat was not carrying rice,
the troops instead looted chickens, vegetables and dried noodles.
However, another factor is clearly retaliation for losses inflicted by the KNU, as
Burma Army troops have not only looted, but also deliberately vandalized and
destroyed villagers’ property. For example, after suffering heavy casualties in early
September during clashes around Mae Wai, on the main supply route to Hpapun
town, the regime troops looted and vandalized all the villagers’ property in Khaw
Poe Khee, Mae Wai tract.
A woman from Khaw Poe Khee interviewed by KPSN, who had fled during the
fighting, described the damage she found when she returned home a month later.
“Things were scattered all over the house. There were holes made in some pots and
some were thrown to different places. They took all my rice and cooking oil. After
cooking and eating in the house, they defecated in the pots and plates. They used our
blankets, mosquito nets and clothes for cleaning, then threw them in the pond and mud.”
Arbitrary arrest, torture, use of human shields
Another form of collective punishment used by the Burma Army troops has been
arbitrary arrest and torture of villagers, and use of men and women as human shields.
On August 12, troops from LIB 407 based at Ma Htaw, on the main road south of
Hpapun, arrested three male villagers from Ma Htaw, aged 25, 34 and 45, and beat
them with guns. On August 19, troops from LIB 341 and LIB 401, entered Ter Kee
Koh village, northeast of Hpapun, and arrested three elderly male villagers, aged
42, 56 and 65, who were on their way to their farms. They were kicked and hit in
the head, and then forced to porter and serve as human shields for the troops..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Peace Support Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
4.7 MB 6.65 MB
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Sub-title:
Attacks on a number of villages in the Sagaing Region township are believed to have left at least six civilians dead
Description:
"Air raids and shelling forced thousands of people from at least nine villages in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township to flee over the weekend, according to local sources.
The latest attacks, carried out on Saturday, come as Myanmar’s junta steps up its use of military aircraft to crush anti-regime forces in Sagaing.
Earlier this month, around 100 soldiers raided three villages in Depayin and torched homes after being transported to the area by helicopter.
On Saturday, attack helicopters were used to carry out airstrikes on Nyaung Hla, a resident of the village, located near the Muu River about 16km southeast of the town of Depayin, told Myanmar Now.
The attack, which also included artillery shelling, forced most of the village’s roughly 5,000 inhabitants to flee, he said.
“We could hear guns and artillery. Some of the elderly who couldn’t run didn’t get out,” said the man, who identified himself by the alias Nyi Naung.
He added that smoke could be seen rising from the village.
“They say the military set motorcycles parked at the monastery on fire. That’s where most people left their motorcycles,” he said, citing reports from other village residents.
Other sources claimed that at least six people were killed in the attack, although this could not be confirmed at the time of reporting.
Another villager who called himself Zero said that a military unit stationed at a nearby bridge fired on the village continuously during the assault.
“They fired artillery at the houses and shot up the village non-stop. We don’t know who was still in the village or who was killed,” he said.
Local residents said that four of the five helicopters used in the attacks were carrying soldiers. These troops were dropped off near Nyaung Hla on Saturday evening, before the attacks began, they said.
The affected villages were Nyaung Hla, Segyitaw, Thayetdaw, Mukatwin, Me Oe, Letyetkone, Weagyi and Yinkyin, local sources reported.
Residents said there hasn’t been any recent fighting in the area, so they didn’t know why their villages were being targeted.
“There haven’t been any clashes around here,” said Zero, who speculated that reinforcements were probably sent because troops based in the area thought they were surrounded by resistance forces.
“I think they were also too afraid of landmines to go out,” he added.
On Sunday morning, the Depayin People’s Defence Force issued a statement warning residents not to gather in groups in open fields or cover their vehicles with waterproof sheets, to avoid being mistaken for regime troops.
Regime officials could not be reached for comment..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"Since the February 1st 2021 military coup, the human rights situation in Myanmar has seriously deteriorated. The State Administration Council (SAC) headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has engaged in systematic violence against civilians and stripped away the few key civil and political protections that the already problematic 2008 Constitution was supposed to guarantee, further opening the door for widespread human rights violations. The SAC’s treatment of citizens as enemies of the state and its unrelenting efforts to crush all opposition have resulted in widespread violence and the loss of lives during this first six months of the coup. The SAC has shot and killed peaceful protesters, bombed rural villages forcing thousands to flee, deprived people of access to health services and information, and turned the law against the people of Myanmar to arrest, detain, and torture at will.
As future returnees could potentially face similar In highlighting the human rights violations that have occurred since the February 1st coup, this report presents the degrading security situation and humanitarian crisis that civilians in Southeast Myanmar are currently facing. It also presents the hopes and struggles of rural villagers and civilians, to show how, despite the increased insecurity that they face, they continue to seek out ways to counter a military regime they know to be both illegal and unjust. Most importantly, this report seeks to ensure that the experiences and concerns of rural ethnic villagers are not just heard but addressed.
Overview
Interviews conducted by KHRG reveal the level of violence that the SAC undertook against protesters, and the ways in which protesters have continued to voice their opposition to the coup in the face of increasing brutality and repression by the state military. Protesters recounted stories of fear and insecurity as they encountered the ruthless response of the SAC to civilian opposition, yet equally expressed a strong sense of hope and an unwavering commitment to upholding the fight for democracy and freedom from oppression through to the very end. These interviews also highlight the efforts of civilians to support and sustain each other as protesters and those engaged in civil disobedience sought refuge and protection.
This report also presents the escalation of insecurity in rural ethnic areas, where the Myanmar military has long used violence against civilian villagers as a key strategy in waging war against ethnic armed actors. Although conflict and attacks had been ongoing in certain parts of Southeast Myanmar even prior to the coup, the shifts currently taking place reflect a complete disregard for human rights and signal a return to a “four cuts” approach that, as independent researcher Kim Joliffe has highlighted, “treats civilians not just as ‘collateral damage’ but as a central resource in the battlefield”. Although some areas in Southeast Myanmar have experienced little to no fighting, others have endured an ongoing onslaught of attacks and fighting since the coup. It is estimated that, as of June 23rd, close to 177,000 villagers in Southeast Myanmar, including 50,000 in Kayin State, have been displaced since the February 1st coup (with over 140,000 still experiencing displacement as of August 23rd). KHRG also received a growing number of reports of direct attacks on civilians, including targeted killings, forced labour, looting and confiscation. That, combined with the SAC’s use of the COVID-19 pandemic as an additional weapon of war, has left rural villagers at-risk from multiple forms of attack.
What is evident in both rural and urban areas is not just the increase in acts of violence since the coup, but that the SAC has sought to legitimise its own abusive actions and inscribe in law the deprivation of fundamental human rights. The Myanmar military, in ousting the newly elected civilian government, not only illegally seized power by making unsubstantiated claims about election fraud, but also set about instituting legislative changes that would effectively legalize state-based repression and its own use of excessive force against civilians.
Similarly, the SAC is using the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and calls for ceasefire to then give itself permission to undertake whatever measures it deems necessary to “keep the peace”. Although the SAC announced a unilateral ceasefire on its part since April 2021, it also stipulated that it would continue to respond to “actions that disrupt government security and administration”, thus authorizing its own military offensives. Since the coup, it has repeatedly accused other armed actors of failing to honor peace commitments, and to label any groups that oppose the SAC as terrorists.
From the outset, it has also used the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the Natural Disaster Management Law, to justify arrests. It has limited access to information about the health crisis, and more recently to vital medical care, using the pandemic as a political weapon against the public as well as ethnic armed groups.
With ongoing displacements, a worsening COVID-19 pandemic, and the SAC blocking national and international aid organisations’ access to critical areas, the humanitarian crisis has become dire, placing many in life-threatening situations.
Methodology
This report is based on interviews conducted with rural villagers as well as with participants in the protests and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) who fled to KNU-controlled areas for their safety. KHRG began conducting interviews shortly after the February 1st coup, through the first week of June 2021. A total of 133 interviews were conducted, covering a wide range of topics related to the coup. Forty-nine of those interviews were with people who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, many of whom had either fled to their home village in Southeast Myanmar or been provided refuge in a KNU-controlled area.
This report also draws on raw data reports prepared by KHRG researchers working in local communities within KHRG’s operational area. The raw data for this report covers the period from the beginning of February through the end of July, thus the first six months of the coup. Over 100 raw data submissions were used for this report.
Key Findings
Chapter 1: Protests
After the February 1st coup, protests erupted throughout Myanmar in both urban and rural areas, often drawing tens of thousands of people in large cities, and/or uniting hundreds of villages in rural areas, all voicing their opposition to the coup and military dictatorship. Although peacefully engaging in the right to freedom of expression, civilian protesters became the target of repression and violence at the hands of the military regime.
Since the military overthrew the civilian government on February 1st 2021 and declared a state of emergency allowing for the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial power to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services, it has also instituted laws and policies that restrict or suspend the fundamental rights of citizens. In particular, it has enacted legislative changes that undermine freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to privacy. Although in contravention of international law, these legislative reforms, along with the declaration of a state of emergency, are specifically being used to silence and criminalise any and all forms of dissent. Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, SAC security forces cracked down on the protests using excessive violence, including brutally beating and torturing protesters as well as shooting at them using both rubber and live bullets. Hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands more injured as a direct result of violence by SAC security forces.
“In joining the protests in Yangon and Mandalay, it is like we pick straws over who will die in the street [joining the protests is like a deadly game of chance]. They [police] can shoot people at any time if they want. In fact, they shot people. Many people have already died. They [police] never gave a warning to people before cracking down on the protests.” --Maung E---, a university student in Yangon
KHRG conducted interviews with a number of SAC soldiers and police officers who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, and who confirmed the use of excessive force and violence by security forces during the protests. In some cases, this was violence that they had witnessed, but in other cases, it was violence that they were ordered to undertake as part of their security activities surrounding the protests.
“When there was a protest in Hledan, Yangon we would break up the mass gathering. There was a total of 50 of us. Six of us had real guns [machine guns] including me. We had to fire live rounds [against protesters]. Our bullets are not meant for shooting innocent civilians.” --A police officer based in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo District
As the SAC responded to the protests with increased violence, the protesters adopted more varied protest strategies and also developed self-protection strategies in an attempt to make themselves less vulnerable to injury, violence and arrest by security forces. SAC security forces have also engaged in arrests without providing the reason for the arrest and without allowing access to legal counsel or communication with family members. Likewise, family members and friends of detainees have often been unable to access information about why they were arrested, where they are detained, how they are doing, whether they are alive or dead and other critical information about court proceedings.
“Laws are from their mouth [decided solely by the SAC] because whatever they say is considered law [toward the civilians]; they can kill, they can arrest, they can detain and they can do whatever they want [by the order of SAC authorities]. There is no rule of law. Every action they have been practicing is against the civilians.” --A young teacher from Hpa-an Town
Chapter 2: The Civil Disobedience Movement
On February 2nd 2021, healthcare workers across Myanmar walked off their jobs to express their opposition to the military coup. This form of protest quickly spread to other branches of public service, eventually turning into a nationwide, large-scale Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
While CDM participants in general spoke of the desire for democracy, a return to civilian government, and the hope of undermining the SAC by shutting down the wheels of government, SAC security forces (police and military) who joined the CDM also cited unjust and unlawful orders as motivating factors. The CDM participants with whom KHRG conducted interviews faced major barriers to joining the movement, making it clear that a decision to join could have life-threatening consequences. Since joining the CDM, participants have experienced livelihood issues, increased risks and restrictions, as well as threats of arrest and attack by the SAC against themselves and their family members, leading many to go into hiding.
“I also worry for my family’s security because of the actions that the Burmese military has done. If they cannot arrest me, they will target my family. I heard that they will threaten my wife. I heard that they will harm my family.” --A CSO worker from Ayeyarwady Region
KNU local leaders have been attempting to provide security and necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing for CDM participants who have reached KNU-controlled territory, leading CDM members, protesters and human rights activists to flee to KNU territory seeking protection. Informal networks and local community support have also been particularly strong, with some civilians seeing this as their best way to contribute to the movement.
“Ordinary people like us do not need to participate in the CDM. We just have to support those who do participate in the CDM. The situation happening now is not right, so we have to support them. We have to care for them and we have to give them food, and support them in what they need. They are working for us as well.” --Saw Y--- from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District
Chapter 3: Militarisation and a return to violence
The security situation in rural areas of Southeast Myanmar rapidly degraded during the first six months following the military’s seizure of power. Since the military coup, human rights violations have steadily increased, as have displacements and threats of injury and death to civilians in rural areas. Just the news of the military takeover led many villagers to begin preparing for the possibility of fighting, and thus displacement, and for the re-emergence of the kind of human rights abuses that they had suffered in the past.
“Some people dare not to stay at home anymore. They go to stay at their huts. Those who are living close to the road dare not to sleep at their houses. They heard that Tatmadaw soldiers will patrol so they are afraid and go to sleep in other places. Then, they come back to their houses in the morning. Some people hide food in the jungle. If anything happens, they can go and hide there and they will have food.” --A missionary in Dooplaya District
Increased ground attacks in some areas began shortly following the military takeover but the airstrikes in Karen State, which began on March 27th, marked a pivotal moment in the escalation of fighting and attacks, and have contributed to a growing climate of insecurity that recalls earlier periods of military abuse. t is extremely difficult to estimate the total number of displacements due to conflict since the February 1st military coup. UNHCR, which is working on relief operations, estimated 47,700 in Kayin State, and another 1,100 in Mon State. The figures are likely much higher given the poor access to IDP sites and displacement information in many areas, and the variable nature of displacements, which can be recurring or extended, and can vary from several days to several months or longer. One of the biggest problems continues to be access to aid. Due to both COVID-19 and increased insecurity following the coup, many international stakeholders are no longer operating on the ground in some areas. Even attempts by local stakeholders to provide support to IDPs have met with opposition by the SAC.
“We will be shot dead so no boats dare to run. We dare not go to send rations for the IDPs. The supplies are accumulating on the Thai side. The boats from the Thai side do not go to the Myanmar side because they are afraid they will be shot by SAC soldiers.” --A boat driver interviewed by KIC
While airstrikes and fighting have led to large-scale displacements and a growing humanitarian crisis, the human rights situation has also degraded with an increase in abuses (like forced labour, targeted killings, looting and arbitrary arrest) that had curtailed following the NCA. Areas that have faced less fighting and attacks have still been heavily affected by the overall climate of insecurity. Aside from witnessing the movement of troops and reinforcement of troops and supplies in their region, many villagers noted increased patrolling by armed soldiers.
Another cause of concern for villagers in some areas has come from the emergence of various militia groups. Since the coup, the SAC has been appointing new members who are former Tatmadaw soldiers. They are rotating between different areas within the village tract, and have been appointed specifically to monitor the activity of villagers and the local KNU.
“We only dare to criticise the military coup secretly within our family because there are many junta spies that [report] people who criticise and disagree with the military government to the police.” --An interviewee from Dooplaya District
Since the coup, there has been renewed insecurity and threats to freedom of movement for villagers. The military has been checking travelers and making arrests, which has increased fear surrounding travel. KHRG has received an increasing number of reports about landmine accidents since the military coup. Despite ongoing calls on the Myanmar government and all ethnic armed groups to halt the use of landmines and to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty, the planting of new landmines continues to take place.
Chapter 4: COVID-19 since the coup
The lack of testing and reporting by the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) has not been able to conceal the fact that, as of early July, COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed and Myanmar is facing a serious humanitarian crisis.
Since the announcement of the coup, KHRG has received multiple reports that most of the prevention measures that had been set up to protect villagers from the spread of the virus to rural areas were no longer being adhered to. The lack of accurate information about COVID-19 since the SAC took power has contributed to the sense that COVID-19 was no longer something villagers needed to be concerned about.
“Since the military coup, even in our village and at the national level, people didn’t continue thinking about COVID-19 anymore. I myself didn’t continue thinking about it anymore.” --A village secretary in Noh T’Kaw Township, Dooplaya District
The SAC has not only continued to provide inaccurate information, it has also restricted access to resources and services, and prevented other key actors from helping manage the spread of the virus and address the health needs of the people of Myanmar. Prior to the coup, the NLD government had been working to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, and began making plans for rolling out vaccinations. Because it is now the military government taking over this process, rural villagers are refusing the vaccination due to distrust of the military.
“[W]e worry that the Myanmar military will mix something into the vaccine. […] So no one dares to get the vaccine.” --A villager from T’ Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District
Chapter 5: Challenges to peace, democracy, and development
The coup has had devastating effects on all aspects of daily life in Myanmar, creating impacts as individualised as lack of access to the internet and as widespread as a downturn in the national economy. By eroding possibilities for peace, democracy and development, these problems have touched the lives of all civilians, but have impacted rural villagers in particular ways.
The coup involved not just a wider shift from elected civilian government to military dictatorship but also a replacement of local administrators with SAC-selected individuals. Replacing elected leaders with military-appointed ones not only serves to further undermine the democratic process, it erodes relationships of trust between local communities and the administrators that are supposed to serve and represent them.
“Everything depends on the village administrator, because no matter how much you protect your village, if the village administrator works under the military government you can’t do anything. He will simply send information to the SAC.” --A villager from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District
The coup has had harsh impacts on Myanmar’s economy, at both the individual and national levels. Civilians across Southeast Myanmar are experiencing job loss, higher prices on necessities, restrictions on travel, and loss of access to telecommunication systems, all of which are increasing food and livelihood insecurity. The CDM has had a large impact on education in Southeast Myanmar. After the SAC seized power, many teachers in government schools joined the CDM, so most of the government schools have had to close. Even when the SAC reopened some government schools on June 1st 2021, there was a shortage of both teachers and students. There have also been heavy impacts on access to healthcare. There are approximately 30,000 physicians in Myanmar, and about 20,000 work for the government hospitals. As a response to the coup, approximately 75 percent of those working in government facilities have joined the CDM and refused to work.
“If people need to go for an operation and they are not allowed to go […] they will just die.” --Naw O--- from Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District
The coup has also had an impact on access to information, through telecommunication interruptions and SAC control of news and media outlets. Telecommunication interruptions are particularly serious in rural areas where information is already limited to what people can access through their phone.
Chapter 6: Moving forward
Although there may have been early confidence that the Spring Revolution would be successful, there have been increasing divides regarding how the fight should go on. Many stressed the importance of continuing the fight until the end, and the need for more government staff to join the CDM. Others noted the lives already sacrificed.
“People from Myanmar have died many times already. Therefore, we must not feel hesitation to die this time [for this cause]. If we are afraid to die this time [for this cause] and just do nothing about it [military dictatorship], our lives will be dead forever.” --An interviewee from Kawkareik Town
For some, the coup has served as an awakening since it highlighted the oppression that ethnic minorities have faced at the hands of the military, as well as the level of violence the Myanmar military is capable of. In the eyes of many, a political solution involving negotiation with the military regime is not possible. Despite the sense that negotiation would not benefit civilians, some believe that the way forward is still through peaceful means. Others spoke of the necessity for well-planned self-defense and carefully executed offensives involving the collaboration of both the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and EAOs. Several interviewees highlighted the need for full inclusion of minority voices in any strategies and plans for moving forward. A strong emphasis was also placed on the need for a federal democracy that allows for self-determination as the only means of ensuring ethnic minority rights and equality.
“I protested for my country to be free from military dictatorship, for my country to become a real federal democracy and for the ethnic minorities to receive equal rights. If we don’t have equal rights in this country while we are living in this country, there is no reason we could consider ourselves citizens of Myanmar.” --A KECD teacher in Dooplaya District
Conclusion
Information continues to pour in regarding incidents of violence, with increasing stories of torture, forced labour and killings in rural Southeast Myanmar. Fighting and attacks continue and are becoming more widespread. Many facing displacement are still not receiving support, and some have reported having little left to eat. Displacements are ongoing and the possibility of seeking refuge across the border in Thailand remains limited. Reports of illness-related deaths are being submitted, yet villagers are unsure whether this is due to COVID-19 or some other illness, since there is little availability of testing or medical care.
Ethnic minorities want their voices to finally be heard, but also to be supported as they stand up for their own rights and for equality and justice.
“We have had [in the past] to solve whatever we face in our own way and suffer it by ourselves. Therefore, people think no one will stand with or for them when they have any problems or face anything. […] [I]t is critical that civilians feel that they are being supported by others, that they are not alone in this fight. They need others to stand with them and beside them.” --An interviewee in Kawkareik Town
Recommendations
To the State Administration Council (SAC)
Immediately step down and hand over power to the National Unity Government (NUG). End the crackdown, arrests and targeted attacks on protesters and CDM participants. Cease the halting and seizure of medical and humanitarian supplies intended to alleviate the COVID-19 and other humanitarian crises in Southeast Myanmar. Reverse the suspension of Sections 5, 7 and 8 of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of the Citizens (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 5/ 2017). Revoke amendments to the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law, the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (SAC Law Nos 3/2021, 5/2021 and 6/2021). End interruptions to communication services and the suppression of media freedom since this is a violation of the right to access information. Cease attacks on civilian areas, as well as patrols and military transports through, in or near villages or livelihood areas; demilitarise areas close to villages and farms by removing troops and camps. Stop all forms of forced labour, including using villagers as human shields, porters, and navigators; and refrain from making arbitrary demands on local communities such as demanding the use of their vehicles, boats or other property for military purposes. End arbitrary and illegal taxation practices, as well as the confiscation of civilian property for military and personal use. Ensure compliance with international humanitarian standards and human rights law; and end impunity by ensuring that any armed actor who has violated the rights of any person is held accountable for abuses in fair and transparent investigations and judicial processes in independent and impartial civilian courts. Put an end to clearance operations, as well as activities, commonly termed the “four cuts strategy”, that prevent civilian access to food, communication, aid and other basic necessities.
To international organisations, NGOs, funding agencies, and foreign governments
Refrain from giving any legitimacy to the military junta and from recognising them in any international forum. Exclude the SAC as a partner for the distribution of aid. Urge UN agencies in Myanmar to take a clear and strong position in responding to the situation on the ground, and to use all possible resources to limit the human rights abuses and violations undertaken by the SAC. Provide financial and technical support as needed for the NUG, including on international human rights laws and standards and other matters of governance. Consult and sign MoUs with the NUG and EAOs to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis across the country. Support a UN Security Council resolution on a global arms embargo. Diversify international funding distribution so that more funding is made directly available to non-state actors, particularly ethnic service providers and civil society organisations, regardless of their registration status. Prioritise methods of service delivery and communication that rely on local CSOs/CBOs and ethnic service providers that have the ability and networks (due to consistent access and trust from the community) for local implementation of support programmes. Recognize the complex logistics of service delivery and be willing to contribute to solutions proposed by local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers. Mitigate the impacts of displacement, armed conflict and insecurity on livelihood through increased support and initiatives that reduce the vulnerability of small farmers and day labourers. Support EHOs and other non-state health actors, both regarding COVID-19 prevention and treatment (including screening/testing and the running of quarantine facilities), and the provision of other essential health services in rural areas. Urge Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure that their authorities do not deny entry to people crossing the border seeking refuge; and encourage them to work with cross border organisations to develop support and protection services for those seeking refuge. Provide neighboring countries with the necessary resources and technical assistance to provide humanitarian aid, including for COVID-19, for the people from Myanmar who are fleeing the military violence. Engage with Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure the passage of aid to Myanmar, in particular through cross border aid organizations and local civil society organizations already operating in the area. Advocate for the release of political prisoners, including political actors, protesters, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and their family members. Insist that the Security Council refer Myanmar to the ICC or set up an ad hoc tribunal to ensure all perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass atrocities are prosecuted and that justice is attained for victims and survivors.
To the SAC and EAOs/EAGs
Put an immediate halt to the planting of landmines and ban all further use of landmines; mark all areas contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and inform the local communities of these locations for their safety. Comply with international humanitarian standards and human rights law, particularly with regard to the protection and safety of civilians..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Full-Report-en.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Full-Report-bu.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Briefer-Karen.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Briefer-en.pdf
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"For Immediate Release
DATE: 24 November 2021
Civilians in Myanmar have unjustly been subjected to systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the military junta for decades. A new briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma), “Democracy Derailed in Myanmar,” details how the junta has curtailed attempts for democratic reform in Myanmar.
A failed attempt at seizing control of the country by the Myanmar military on 1 February 2021 has left the country in desperate need of humanitarian assistance alongside worsening economic and social crises. With over 3 million civilians lacking critical life-saving materials including food, water and shelter in the midst of raging internal conflict, the Myanmar Generals have effectively left the most vulnerable in oblivion. Villages under martial-law, amid sweeping restrictions on movement and access to information, has made basic survival a daily challenge.
Among ND-Burma’s findings, ongoing conflict in urban and rural areas, as well as the suppression of fundamental freedoms, including that of the press, and the mishandled COVID-19 response has led to the conclusion that the junta is on a war-path which includes the destruction and annihilation of anyone or anything that stands in their way. Using evidence collected by ND-Burma members including the Chin Human Rights Organization and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, and desk-research, it is abundantly clear that long held impunity is emboldening the junta to commit state-wide atrocities.
Any government which uses violence to suppress basic rights and freedoms must be condemned in the harshest possible terms. It is unacceptable that civilians are fearing for their lives in the midst of a brutal, militarized civil war. Longstanding calls for their protection must be heard, and freedom of expression must not be used to derail civilian rights.
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Women's rights, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
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"၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့
ဆယ်စုနှစ်များနှင့်ချီ၍ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ စနစ်တကျ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ကို မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် လက်မခံဘဲ ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) (ND-Burma) မှ ထုတ်ပြန်သည့် “ဒီမိုကရေစီလမ်းကြောင်းပေါ်မှ လမ်းချော်ခဲ့သောမြန် မာ” အစီရင်ခံစာတွင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုက မြန်မာ့ဒီမိုကရေစီ အကူးအပြောင်းအား မည်သို့ ဟန့် တားနှောင့်ယှက်နေသည်ကို တင်ပြထားသည်။
မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ရက်တွင် အာဏာသိမ်း၍ တိုင်းပြည်အာဏာကို မတ ရား ရယူပြီးနောက် အလွန်စိုးရိမ်ဖွယ် လူသားချင်းစာနာသည့် အရေးပေါ်အကူအညီများ လိုအပ်ခြင်း နှင့်အတူ လူမှုရေး စီးပွားရေး ချွတ်ခြုံချ ဆိုးရွားလာသည်။ ပြင်းထန်သည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူ ၃ သန်းခန့်မှာ စားရေ ရိက္ခာ၊ ရေနှင့် နေထိုင်စရာ အပါအဝင် လူ့ဘဝအသက်ရှင်သန်ရေး အ တွက် လိုအပ်သည့်အထောက်အကူပစ္စည်းများ ကင်းမဲ့ ချို့တဲ့လျှက်ရှိပြီး စစ်ဗိုလ်ချုပ်ကြီးများသည် ထိခိုက်နစ်နာ အလွယ်ဆုံးသူများအားလည်း မေ့လျော့ပစ်ထားကြသည်။
စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးဥပဒေအောက်ရှိ ရွာသားများမှာ ခရီးသွားလာခွင့်နှင့် သတင်းအချက်အလက်ရရှိမှု အပေါ် တင်းကြပ် ကန့်သတ်ခံရခြင်းကြောင့် နေ့စဥ် အသက်ဆက် ရှင်သန်ရေးအတွက် အခက်အခဲ များနှင့် ကြုံတွေ့ရသည်။
ND-Burma မှ တွေ့ရှိချက်အရက် ကျေးလက်နှင့် မြို့ပြများတွင် ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသည့် တိုက်ပွဲများ၊ သတင်းလွတ်လပ်မှုအပါအဝင် အခြေခံလွတ်လွပ်ခွင့်များကို ဖိနှိပ်ခြင်းနှင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါကို ထိရောက်စွာ မကိုင်တွယ် မဖြေရှင်းနိုင်တို့က စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့သည် ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး ၄င်းတို့ရပ်တည်မှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သည့် မည်သူ့ကိုမဆို သုတ်သင်ချေမှုန်း ဖျက်ဆီးမည်ကို ပြသ နေသည်။ မွန်ပြည်လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဖောင်ဒေးရှင်းနှင့် ချင်းလူ့အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့အပါအဝင် ND-Burma အဖွဲ့ဝင်များမှ သက်သေအထောက်အထားများ မှတ်တမ်းတင် စုဆောင်းမှုအရ စစ်တပ်သည် ကာလကြာရှည် အသုံးပြုနေသည့် အပြစ်ရှိသူများအပေါ် အပြစ်ပေး အရေးယူခြင်းမရှိမှုကြောင့် နိုင်ငံနှင့်ချီ၍ ကျယ်ပြန့်သည့် ကြမ်းကြုတ်ရက်စက်မှုများကို ဆက်လက်ကျူးလွန်နေသည်မှာ ထင်ရှားသည်။
မည်သည့်အစိုးရမဆို အခြေခံအခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်များအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် ချိုးဖောက် လာပါက အပြင်းထန်ဆုံး စကားလုံးများဖြင့် ပစ်တင်ရှုံ့ချရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး စစ်အင်အား တိုးချဲ့ချထား တပ်လွှမ်းမိုးသည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူများသည် ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ ဘေးကင်း လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်နေရသည်မှာ လက်ခံနိုင်စရာ အကြောင်းမရှိပေ။ ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် ကာလကြာရှည် တောင်းဆိုနေမှုကို မဖြစ်မနေ နားထောင်ရ မည်ဖြစ်ပြီး လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်မှာလည်း နိုင်ငံသားအခွင့်အရေးမှ လမ်းချော်သွားရမည် မဟုတ်ပေ။..."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Women's rights, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
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Sub-title:
Fears for the safety of nine medics captured by regime forces last week have grown amid evidence that three others detained at the same time were tortured to death
Description:
"Regime forces who captured 12 members of the Kalay People’s Defence Force (PDF) during a raid last week tortured three of them to death and used the other nine as human shields, according to a member of the group.
The bodies of two men found dead at a base that was overrun by junta troops last Tuesday had multiple face injuries, while a woman believed to have been killed the day after the raid had a bullet wound in her forehead, Kalay PDF member Victor said.
“The injuries on one of the male bodies suggest that his face was beaten with a rock until he died,” said Victor, who added that the bodies were recovered two days after the raid.
The male victims were identified as Cher Thang Puia, 27, and Ram Mawia, 26. The 23-year-old female victim, Baik Rem Chin (aka Chin Chin), was providing medical training at the base, located in southwestern Kalay Township, when it was raided.
Yati Ohn, a friend of the murdered woman, expressed concern for the safety of nine other young women captured at the Kalay PDF Battalion 3 base the same day.
“I am very worried for the lives of those girls. The military council has no regard for human rights standards or international laws and may subject them to psychological and physical torture,” said Yati Ohn, who leads a team of medics.
“I would like to request help from both international and local organizations,” she added.
A coalition of local resistance forces that clashed with the soldiers following the raid said that they later retreated to avoid harming the hostages, who they said were being used as human shields.
It is believed that the women, whose photos went viral after they were posted online by the junta last week, are currently being held at the headquarters of the military’s Kalay Regional Operations Command (ROC).
“We heard that all nine were taken to Kalay and then to the ROC headquarters,” said Victor.
According to the Kalay PDF, nearly 30 junta soldiers were killed during three days of fighting early last week. Two of its members were also injured by shelling, but remain in stable condition, the group said.
The base that was raided was the closest one to Kalay, according to PDF member Victor, who said that it was easily captured because there were few troops there at the time of the raid.
“The security at the base was lowered as several of our troops had been sent to the frontlines,” he said. He added that the regime failed to obtain any sensitive information.
Residents of Kalay reported a number of clashes late at night last Thursday.
“There was an explosion at around 11pm and then it got worse. We heard consecutive gunshots. There was also a clash at the Kalay police station. Gunshots could be heard all over town. It only stopped after midnight,” said a local man.
Myanmar Now was unable to determine which group the military was fighting that night.
On Friday, the Kalay PDF released a statement warning civilians to avoid using the Kalay-Gangaw road.
The military has dramatically increased its presence in Sagaing Region and Chin State since mid-October, when it launched a new offensive, dubbed Operation Anawrahta, to crush resistance to the regime that seized power in February..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political History
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Description:
"Since the deadly military coup d’état in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military junta has killed, tortured, and otherwise persecuted civilians, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands nationwide. In Karenni State—also known as Kayah State—rather than ensure humanitarian aid reached civilians in need, the junta arbitrarily arrested aid workers, destroyed civilian food stocks and non-military objects, prevented the delivery of food and medical supplies at military checkpoints, and delayed or denied administrative approvals for local, national, and international aid organizations. This flash report finds that these ongoing acts may constitute war crimes.
While military-led attacks on civilians increase and impunity for atrocity crimes is further entrenched, the military junta continues to deny any wrongdoing.
To ensure lifesaving aid for an increasing number of civilians forcibly displaced in the country, this report recommends that Thailand, India, China, and Bangladesh authorize agencies to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Myanmar, directly as well as through community-based partners.
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-10
[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, Armed conflict in Karenni State
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Description:
"Earlier today, I received a direct and urgent appeal from Dr. Sasa, spokesperson for Myanmar’s
National Unity Government:
“The military is escalating its attacks against innocent civilians in Chin State. They are
using heavy battlefi eld weapons to destroy homes and churches... "
"The worst days are yet to come fo r the people o f Chin State. I urge you to everything
possible to prevent further bloodshed. We must not wait for another genocide to
happen. "
The scale and ferocity of military offensives are ominously reminiscent of the genocidal attacks
against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017. There is now a real possibility that
the people of Chin State will suffer the same fate as the Rohingya.
I have visited Chin State many times and I greatly appreciate the people who are inherently
peaceable and deeply committed to maintaining their culture. The escalation of attacks throws
the future of the State - along with its rich culture, history and many different customs and
traditions - into turbulence. As Dr. Sasa, himself an ethnic Chin, told me earlier today: “The
military seeks to reduce our brave people and beautiful country to ashes. "
While the UK Government rightly condemns ongoing atrocities, we urge you to take more
effective and urgent action - to fulfil our duty as a signatory to the 1948 convention on the
crime of genocide to prevent, to punish and to protect.
The UK must do everything it can to prevent another genocide..."
Source/publisher:
The Baroness Cox of Queensbury of London
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Size:
30.07 KB 137.2 KB
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Description:
"1. The terrorist State Administration Council (SAC) is ruthlessly attempting to install military
rule through nationwide military offensives which purposefully target civilians and their
properties. This signifies utmost violation of international human rights conventions.
2. It is heartbreaking to see several churches and civilian homes in Thantlang, Chin State,
destroyed by indiscriminate artillery shelling of the military junta on October 29, 2021.
3. These incidents are irrefutable evidence of purposeful violation of international
humanitarian laws and crimes against humanity.
4. We urge international communities to closely monitor SAC’s violation of international
humanitarian laws and Geneva Convention, to urge SAC to end its inhumane crime
against the civilians, and to stand by the SAC-victimized people.
5. We express our deepest sympathies with grieving people of Thantland, and affirm that, in
solidarity with the oppressed people of the country, we will continue fighting against the
fascist dictatorship..."
Source/publisher:
Kachin Political Interim Coordination Team - KPICT
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History
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20.45 KB 200.56 KB
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Description:
"The United States is gravely concerned by reports of gross violations of human rights that Burmese security forces have perpetuated in Chin State, including reports that forces have set fire to and destroyed more than 100 residences as well as Christian churches. We condemn such brutal actions by the Burmese regime against people, their homes, and places of worship, which lays bare the regime’s complete disregard for the lives and welfare of the people of Burma. These abhorrent attacks underscore the urgent need for the international community to hold the Burmese military accountable and take action to prevent gross violations and abuses of human rights, including by preventing the transfer of arms to the military.
We are also deeply concerned over the Burmese security forces’ intensification of military operations in various parts of the country, including in Chin State and the Sagaing Region. We call on the regime to immediately cease the violence, release all those unjustly detained, and restore Burma’s path to inclusive democracy.
We will continue to promote accountability for the horrific violence that has been and continues to be perpetrated by the regime against the people of Burma. We will continue to support the people of Burma and all those working toward a restoration of Burma’s democratic path and a peaceful resolution to the crisis..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Chin (Zo) discussion groups
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Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Two of Thantlang’s churches also caught fire, and some 20 children are feared to be trapped in an orphanage in the besieged town
Description:
"Amid an escalation of both armed resistance to military rule and reprisals from the junta forces, Myanmar army troops shelled the largely deserted western Chin State town of Thantlang on Friday, causing fires that destroyed more than 160 of the town’s 2,000 homes.
The attack came after a junta soldier was shot dead at 9:30am by the Chinland Defence Force (CDF)—which has been monitoring the situation in Thantlang—after members of the local resistance group said they saw him looting a shop.
In retaliation for the killing, the junta’s armed forces occupying the area shot at least 10 rounds of artillery into the town, which started fires upon exploding. Within an hour, several troops had arrived at the location at which the soldier was killed and also began torching houses “for no reason,” a CDF spokesperson said.
“They walked into the town at around 10:30am and torched the houses at random,” the spokesperson from the CDF’s Thantlang chapter told Myanmar Now.
By 5pm, at least 40 houses had burnt down, with the fires continuing to burn throughout the night, he said.
A man who lives near Thantlang told Myanmar Now that there was “still smoke coming out” of the town on Friday evening.
By 9am Saturday morning, the fire had died down but homes were still smoldering, according to the Zalen news outlet.
The Thantlang CDF took note of the estimated 160 houses that were destroyed and at the time of reporting were still notifying the homeowners, the group’s spokesperson said.
The Church on the Rock, the Presbyterian church, and a building attached to the Thantlang Baptist Church—the town’s largest congregation—also caught fire in the shelling, the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) said in a statement on Friday night.
International non-profit organisation Save the Children also reported that their local office in Thantlang was destroyed in the fire.
Nearly all of Thantlang’s 8,000 residents fled following military assaults that destroyed 18 homes and a government building in September. This too was seen as a retaliation against the public and the resistance after an attack by the CDF and the Chin National Army on a junta base reportedly killed some 30 soldiers.
Thousands of the civilians displaced from Thantlang have been taking shelter in villages along the India-Myanmar border, with others crossing into India’s Mizoram State.
At least three people, including two elderly women, were known to have stayed behind in Thantlang after others had fled. Myanmar Now was unable to contact them on Friday after the military shelling.
In their Friday statement, CHRO reported that more than 20 children and their teachers had stayed behind in an orphanage located at the entrance to Thantlang and remained trapped.
“The extensive destruction of civilian property, carried out wantonly and not justified by any military necessity, represent war crimes and grave breaches of international humanitarian law,” CHRO’s Salai Za Uk Ling said in the statement. .
Salai Issac Khen, a former municipal minister of Chin State under the National League for Democracy administration ousted in Myanmar’s February 1 coup, condemned the shelling on Friday in a Facebook post blaming the military for the destruction after rumours circulated that the residents of Thantlang were somehow responsible for the blaze.
“It is not easy to build a house in the Chin hills. The Chin people do not have any reason to torch their own homes,” he wrote.
On Sunday, junta mouthpiece the Global New Light of Myanmar accused the PDF burning the homes in Thantlang and committing “terrorist acts.” Military council spokesperson Gen Zaw Min Tun also said in a statement on Sunday that the local PDF—encouraged by the shadow National Unity Government and living “under the cover of [the] people”—had started the fire and that the military was unable to extinguish it.
In September 2017, following a scorched earth military campaign against the Rohingya population of Rakhine State—south of Chin State—the Myanmar army and government infamously accused the fleeing Rohingya of burning down their own homes. The claim was widely dismissed by the refugees themselves, human rights groups and the international community, and later submitted to a UN court as evidence of genocide.
“The military council will go down in history as responsible for this fire in Thantlang today,” Salai Issac Khen wrote, and urged all ethnic Chin members of the military council to “immediately resign.”
Around 200 troops from the military’s Light Infantry Division 11 and Light Infantry Battalion 269 based in the Chin State capital of Hakha have been stationed on a hill overlooking Thantlang, according to the CDF.
“We will take our town back,” the Thantlang CDF spokesperson said.
The Myanmar military deployed thousands of troops to northwestern Myanmar, including Chin State and Sagaing and Magway regions, earlier this month. The move appears to be preparation for a concerted push to crush the resistance movement that has inflicted heavy casualties on the junta’s army.
Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun said on Friday in an address to the Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session that “decisive timely action” by the UN on the country’s situation was “well overdue,” and highlighted the most recent military assault on Thantlang as evidence of the deteriorating conditions in Myanmar.
“All people, I repeat all people in Myanmar, are suffering every day, every hour, every minute from atrocities, crimes against humanity committed by the military and some even brutally killed,” Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said.
“Your serious attention to basic rights of all people and your action to prevent all people from such atrocities is seriously needed,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on October 31 to include reference to the junta’s report and their spokesperson’s statement on the fire..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ
ရက်စွဲ။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ အောက်တိုဘာလ (၃၀) ရက်
ချင်းပြည်နယ်၊ ထန်တလန်မြို့၌ အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ၏ အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ်များနှင့် စပ်လျဉ်း၍ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်
၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၂၉ ရက်နေ့မှစ၍ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ၏ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်မှုများ၊ မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးမှုများကြောင့် ချင်းပြည်နယ်၊ ထန်တလန်မြို့ရှိ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ၏ နေအိမ် ၁၅၀ ကျော်နှင့် ဘာသာရေးအဆောက်အအုံများ မီးလောင် ပျက်စီး သွားကြောင်း သိရှိပါသည်။
၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များသည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ၏ နေအိမ်များကို မီးရှို့ ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ ငွေကြေးနှင့် အဖိုးတန်ပစ္စည်းများကို ခိုးယူလုယက်ခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ အရပ်သားများကို ဖမ်းဆီးနှိပ်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများကို ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျူးလွန်လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။
၃။ ချင်းပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ၊ အမျိုးသမီးနှင့် ကလေးသူများသည် စစ်ဘေး ဒဏ်ပြင်းထန်စွာခံစားရလျက်ရှိပြီး အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ၏ အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ်များ နှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုများကို ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် ရှုံ့ချပြီး အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များကို ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ရန် အသိပေးအပ်သည်။
၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် လိုအပ်သည့် အရေးယူဆောင် ရွက်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရေး ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းလုပ်ဆောင်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ပြီး နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းနှင့် ချင်းပြည်နယ်ရှိ စစ်ဘေးသင့် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ဝိုင်းဝန်းကူညီပေးကြပါရန် တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။.."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Military History, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာန
စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များ နှင့် စပ်လျဥ်းသော ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်
၁၃၈၃ ခုနှစ်၊ သီတင်းကျွတ်လပြည့်ကျော် ၁၀ ရက်
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် အောက်တိုဘာလ ၃၀ ရက်
၁။ ချင်းပြည်နယ်၊ ထန်တလန်မြို့ရှိ ပြည်သူများ၏ နေအိမ်အဆောက်အဦးများ၊ ဘာသာရေး အဆောက်အအုံများ အား အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီ ၏ တပ်များမှ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၂၉ ရက်နေ့တွင် မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် ထန်တလန်မြို့ရှိ နေအိမ် ၁၅၀ ကျော်နှင့် ဘာသာရေး အဆောက်အအုံများ ပျက်စီးဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည် ဟုသိရှိရပါသည်။
၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက ယခုကဲ့သို့ မြို့လုံးကျွတ် မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ ငွေကြေးနှင့် အဖိုးတန်ပစ္စည်းများကို ခိုးယူလုယက်ခြင်း၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ အရပ်သားများကို လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် ဖမ်းဆီးနှိပ်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများ စသည့် လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများအား ပြင်းထန်စွာ မိမိတို့ အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာနအနေဖြင့် ကန့်ကွက်ရှုတ်ချ ပါသည်။
၃။ ယခုကဲ့သို့ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လူမဆန်သော ရက်စက် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီ အနေဖြင့် တာဝန်ယူရမည် ဖြစ်ပြီး မိမိတို့ အလုပ်သမား ဝန်ကြီးဌာနနှင့် အလုပ်သမားထု တစ်ရပ်လုံးက ချင်းပြည်နယ် ထန်တလန်မြို့၊ မြို့လုံးကျွတ် မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခံရခြင်းအတွက် များစွာ စိတ်မချမ်းမြေ့ဖြစ်ရပါကြောင်း နှင့် အချိန်နှင့် တစ်ပြေးညီ အပြစ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူများအား ဝိုင်းဝန်း ကူညီပေးကြပါရန် လေးစားစွာ တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Labour - National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Military History
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Format :
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121.72 KB
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Description:
"Myanmar junta forces used 19 detained civilians as human shields during a raid on a village in Pekon Township, Shan State on Wednesday, according to local civilian armed forces.
After sustaining heavy casualties in ambushes and mine attacks by civilian resistance forces, the military regime’s forces are using arrested civilians as human shields in their operations in Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin and Kayah states.
Junta forces are also using civilian vehicles and ambulances while traveling and conducting operations against People’s Defense Forces to deter ambushes and landmine attacks.
Previously, 30 people were used as human shields by junta troops while marching in
Demoso, Hpruso and Bawlakeh in Kayah State and Pekon Township in southern Shan State in late August.
On Friday, a leaked photo went viral online showing more than a dozen civilians, blindfolded and tied together with a rope, being forced to march in front of a military column in a village in Pekon Township, Shan State.
The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force of Pekon confirmed that all the arrested people are from Shwe Pyi Aye Village, which was bombarded by military regime forces early on Wednesday morning.
The KNDF-Pekon shared a list of the detainees’ names on Friday and said some of them had yet to be released.
Junta forces shelled a civilian area in Shwe Pyi Aye Village at around 3 a.m. on Wednesday. The shelling occurred after the regime forces, who were deployed on a hill, engaged in an intense firefight with a joint force of Pekon People’s Defense Force fighters and other Karenni armed forces on Tuesday afternoon. After the clash, three civilians were also injured by random junta attacks on residential areas, according to the Pekon PDF.
Due to the junta bombardment, more than 500 residents of Shwe Pyi Aye Village had to flee into the forests.
An official of the Free Burma Rangers, an armed group assisting the fleeing villagers, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the 19 villagers including some aged between 50 and 60, were arrested by junta soldiers while returning to their homes.
KNDF-Pekon said that military regime forces destroyed property belonging to the fleeing villagers, as well as looting houses and stealing vehicles during the raid on the village on Wednesday.
Currently, around 3,500 residents from several villages and wards of Mobye and Pekon, Shan State have fled their homes due to junta raids and artillery strikes on civilian areas following the clashes with civilian resistance forces.
On Friday morning, two people including a woman were killed and three people including a 6-year-old-boy were injured when military regime forces attacked civilian areas of Mobye using artillery shells.
On Sunday, one civilian was also killed and five others including a 3-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were injured when the junta shelled residential areas of Mobye.
In early October, junta soldiers also used 15 detained villagers as human shields while marching through the north of Gangaw Township, Magwe Region, where many dozens of junta troops had been killed in landmine attacks by local PDFs.
While marching to locations in Chin State recently, junta forces reportedly forced civilian vehicles including private buses and passenger buses to accompany their military convoy in order to deter ambushes by the Chinland Defense Force, according to the armed group.
Junta forces also used local civilians in Mindat as human shields while raiding the mountainous town in Chin State in mid-May.
Regime forces have continued to commit atrocities including raiding and burning down villages, bombarding residential areas of towns and arbitrarily killing civilians, especially in Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin and Kayah states.
With the exception of Rakhine State, military regime forces nationwide are facing a growing number of attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed forces..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Junta soldiers’ scorched-earth operations force villagers to flee to the jungle.
Description:
"Myanmar junta troops have laid waste to more than 60 civilian homes and a church in months of scorched-earth operations in Chin state, a western region where fighting between the junta and ethnic armed organizations has raged on since the Feb. 1 coup, RFA statistics showed.
The military rampaged through Chin’s Thantlang township, on Sept. 18, destroying 19 houses. Between Oct. 13 and Oct. 25, junta soldiers torched 42 houses and one church in nearby Falam township, in parts of Talang Ron and Tal villages, and the entire village of Rialti.
Witnesses said they saw the military not only burning homes, but also looting them and killing farm animals. About 900 residents from seven villages fled to the deep forest to escape the onslaught.
“It costs more than 10 million kyat (U.S. $5,572) to build a house. We put everything, all our savings, in building a house according to our Chin traditions, so it will be very difficult to rebuild when we are fleeing war, have no money, and not enough food to eat,” a resident who fled Tal village told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Now we have no house in the village because of the fire. Do we have to just live in our forest hut? I don’t know what to do anymore. Everyone is in tears,” the Tal villager said.
Though the military has denied carrying out the arson attacks, sources told RFA that the junta soldiers were the only possible culprit.
“They were the only ones in our village as everyone had already fled. If they didn’t burn the houses, who did?” a resident of Talang Rong village, who declined to be named for security reasons, told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“It is unforgivable that they set fire to the village and stayed in our houses and ate our food… They did whatever they wanted. They killed our animals for the sake of killing them. There are so many cases like that,” the Talang Rong resident said.
The October arson attacks happened just after major military reinforcements to the region on Oct. 9, as soldiers opened fire on every village along the Kalemyo-Falam-Hakha road, a highway that connects that part of Chin state with the southern part of the Sagaing region.
Both Chin and Sagaing have been hotbeds of armed resistance by local militias against the troops that overthrew Myanmar’s elected government nine months ago.
RFA attempted to contact military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for commen,t but calls went unanswered. On Oct. 14 he denied to RFA that the military burnt the 12 houses and church in Rialti village.
The military in Chin state has violated international law, Salai Za Op Lin, executive director the India-based Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), told RFA.
“Almost the entire town of Thantlang was burned to the ground,” said Salai Za Op Lin.
“We are carefully recording and documenting what is going on. We will keep this information and will one day publish it,” he said.
According to CHRO statistics, about 30,000 people have fled across the Myanmar-India border to India’s Mizoram state. Another 30,000 people are displaced within Chin state.
CHRO said about 30,000 people have fled to Mizoram, India, due to the ongoing fighting in Chin State, and another 30,000 people have been displaced in Chin State.
Since August, military troops set fire to 300 homes in the state, the CHRO said.
Myanmar’s military has been conducting combat operations against armed ethnic groups in areas close to its border for decades. Many of the groups who signed cease-fire agreements with the democratically elected government declared those agreements invalid after the coup.
As of Thursday, the junta has killed 1219 people since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political
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"၁။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ မြောက်ပိုင်းနှင့် အနောက်မြောက်ဒေသ တခုလုံးအား ကြီးမားသည့်ထိုးစစ်ဆင်ဖို့အတွက်
မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် “အနော်ရထာစစ်ဆင်ရေး”1 ဟုခေါ်ဆိုသော စစ်ဆင်ရေးတရပ်ကို ပြင်ဆင်ဆောင်ရွက်
နေသည်ကို တွေ့ရသည်။2 ဤစစ်ဆင်ရေးကြောင့် ယင်းဒေသအတွင်းနေထိုင်သည့် လူထုများအနေဖြင့်
ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာအဆင့်ရှိပြစ်မှုကြီးများ (လူသားဖြစ်မှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သောပြစ်မှု၊ လူမျိုးတုံး
သတ်ဖြတ်မှု၊ စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှု) မလွှဲမသွေ ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ လာရနိုင်ဖွယ်ရှိသည်။
၂။ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ စစ်ရေးမဟာဗျူဟာအရ ဒေသတခုခုအား စစ်ဆင်ရေးနယ်မြေ
အဖြစ်သတ်မှတ်သည့်အခါ အခြားဒေသများ၌ စစ်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှု၊ တိုက်ပွဲဖော်ဆောင်မှုများကို လုံးဝနီးပါး
သို့မဟုတ် လုံးဝ ဆိုင်းငံ့ထားပြီး စစ်ဆင်ရေးများကို ဖော်ဆောင်လေ့ရှိသည်။3 ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ပွင့်လင်းရာသီ၌
1 ဒေသကာကွယ်ရေးတပ် PDF တွေ ကြုံလာရမယ့် အနော်ရထာ စစ်ဆင်ရေး။ အောက်တိုဘာ ၁၉ BBC သတင်းဌာန။
https://www.bbc.com/burmese/burma-58976376?fbclid=IwAR1dbUcKxa1Ztxl629naJ5a6Nagam7ErrRGesUa5xwKq-
1nlue3m_nyn80
2 ပလက်ဝဘက်မှ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ ကန်ပက်လက်၊ မင်းတပ်နှင့် စစ်ကိုင်တိုင်းဘက်သို့ ရေ့ေွှ ပြာင်း။ ပလက်ဝမြို့တွင ်
ယာယီတပ်စွဲထားသည့် တပ်မ (၁၁) ၊ (၅၅) နှင့် (၇၇) မှ လက်အောက်ခံတပ်ရင်းတချို့ စက်တင်ဘာလ (၁၉) ရက်က
စစ်ကားအစီး ၃၀ ကျော်ဖြင့် ပလက်ဝမြို့ ကင်းချောင်းဝမှတဆင့် ဆမိးလမ်းကြောင်း အတိုင်း ကန်ပက်လက် မြို့ဘက်ခြမ်းသို့
တက်သွားကြသည်။ Mizzima သတင်းဌာန။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ၊ စက်တင်ဘာ ၂၁ရက်။
https://www.facebook.com/216265185075061/posts/4793130514055149/?sfnsn=mo
Myanmar: UN expert fears spike in atrocities amid reports of troops massing in north
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?LangID=E&NewsID=27693
3 ၁၉၈၀ ကာလနောက်ပိုင်း မြန်မာစစ်တပ်က ဗကပကို အမြစ်ပြတ်တိုက်ခိုက်ချေမှုန်းဖို့အတွက် ကေအိုင်အိုအပါအဝင်
မြန်မာပြည် တောင်ပိုင်းအခြေပြုလှုပ်ရှားသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့များနှင့် ဆွေးနွေးပွဲအတုများ ပြုလုပ် ကျင်းပခဲ့ပြီး
စစ်ရှိန်လျော့ချခဲ့သည်။ ၁၉၈၉ ခုနှစ် ဗကပ ပြိုကွဲသွားပြီးနောက်၊ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်က မြန်မာပြည်မြောက်ပိုင်းရှိ
တိုင်းရင်းသားခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့များနှင့် တဖွဲ့ပြီးတဖွဲ့ အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲမှုများပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ပြီး မြန်မာပြည်တောင်ပိုင်း အခြေစိုက်
တိုင်းရင်းသားခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့များအား အပြင်းအထန် ထိုးစစ်ဆင်တိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သည်။ ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ် ကချင်ပြည်နယ် နှင့်
ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်မြောက်ပိုင်း၌ ကေအိုင်အိုနှင့် တကျော့ပြန် စစ်ပွဲဖြစ်သည့်အခါ မြန်မာပြည်တောင်ပိုင်းရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသား
ခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့များနှင့် ပြည်နယ်အဆင့် အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲမှုများပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည်။ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် ၂၀၁၈ ခုနှစ် နောက်ပိုင်း
မြန်မာပြည် အနောက်ဘက် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်း ရခိုင့်တပ်တော် (အေအေ) အား အပြင်းအထန် ထိုးစစ်ဆင်နွှဲသည့်အခါ
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ မြောက်ပိုင်းနှင့် အနောက်မြောက်ပိုင်းဒေသအား ကြီးမားသည့် အနော်ရထာစစ်ဆင်ရေး မစတင်မှီ
မြန်မာပြည်ရဲ့ အရှေ့မြောက်ဖျားဒေသ၊ အနောက်ဘက်ဒေသများ၌ အခြေပြုလှုပ်ရှားသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသား
ခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့တချို့နှင့်တွေ့ဆုံပြီး4 စစ်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှု လုံးဝနီးပါး ဆိုင်းငံ့ထားနိုင်ခဲ့သည်။5 ဤသည်မှာ
ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံမှုအခြေခံကနေ ဖိနှိပ်တဲ့ စစ်ဆင်ရေးများကို ဖော်ဆောင်နေခြင်းသာ ဖြစ်သည်။
၃။ နိုင်ငံတကာစစ်ဥပဒေ (ဂျီနီဗာကွန်ဗင်းရှင်း) ကို ဆန့်ကျင်ပြီး သာလွန်စစ်အင်းအားအသုံးပြု6၍
အရပ်သားလူထုအပေါ် သိမ်းကျုံးတိုက်ခိုက်7 လာနိုင်သည့် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ အနော်ရထာစစ်ဆင်ရေးအား
ဥပဒေအထောက်အကူပြုကွန်ရက် အနေဖြင့် အပြင်းအထန်ကန့်ကွက်လိုက်သည်။
၄။ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ စစ်ဆင်ရေးကြောင့် ယင်းဒေသအတွင်းနေထိုင်သော ဒေသခံပြည်သူလူထုများက
ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာအဆင့်ရှိပြစ်မှုကြီးများမလွှဲမသွေ ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ လာရနိုင်သည်။
ယင်းသို့သော အခြေအနေဆိုးများမှ ကြိုတင်ကာကွယ်မှု ပေးနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အင်အားစု အသီးသီးထံသို့
အောက်ပါအတိုင်း တိုက်တွန်းတောင်းဆိုပါသည်။
(က) လက်နက်ကိုင်တပ်ဖွဲ့များအနေဖြင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခအတွင်း လိုက်နာရမည့် ဂျီနီဗာကွန်းဗင်းရှင်း
အား အပြည့်အဝလေးစားလိုက်နာဖို့ တိုက်တွန်းတောင်းဆိုပါသည်။
(ခ) စစ်ဆင်ရေးဒေသအတွင်းနေထိုင်သည့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများရဲ့ အသက်လုံခြုံမှုနှင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာ
ထောက်ထားမှုအကူအညီများရရှိနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အမျိုးသားညီညွှတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အပါအဝင် ဒေသ
အုပ်ချုပ်ရေး အာဏာပိုင်အဖွဲ့များနှင့် လူမှုကယ်ဆယ်ရေးအသင်းအဖွဲ့များအနေဖြင့် ကြိုတင်ပြင်ဆင်
ဆောင်ရွက်ထားနိုင်ဖို့ တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။
(ဂ) နိုင်ငံတကာအဆင့် ဆိုးဝါးပြင်းထန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုကြီးများအား ကျူးလွန်သူများကို ပြည်တွင်းနှင့်
နိုင်ငံတကာအဆင့်တရားရုံးများ၌ ထိရောက်စွာအပြစ်ပေး အရေးယူနိုင်ရေးအတွက် ပြည်တွင်း ပြည်ပ
ဥပဒေအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ လူထုအသင်းအဖွဲ့များ၊ သတင်း မီဒီယာများနှင့် အင်းအားစုအသီးသီးတို့
မြန်မာပြည် တောင်ပိုင်းတွင် လုံးဝ အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲထားနိုင်ပြီး မြန်မာပြည်မြောက်ပိုင်းအား ပစ်ခတ်တိုက်ခိုက်မှု
အရှိန်လျော့ချထားနိုင်ခဲ့သည်။
4 အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက် ဧပြီလ (၇) (၈) ရက်နေ့တွင် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် မြန်မာပြည်အရှေ့မြောက်ဖျားဒေသရှိ
အင်းအားကြီး လက်နက်ကိုင်အဖွဲ့ ဖြစ်သည့် ဝသပ နှင့် ရှမ်းပြည်တိုးတက်ရေးပါတီ SSPP တို့နှင့်တွေ့ဆုံခဲ့ကြသည်။
အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီအုပ်စုသည် ဝ အပါအဝင် မြောက်ပိုင်းမဟာမိတ်တပ်ဖွဲ့နှင့် ဆက်တိုက်တွေ့ဆုံ။
5 မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် မြန်ပြည်အရှေ့မြောက်ဖျားဒေသရှိ အင်းအားကြီးတိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်များနှင့် လွန်ခဲ့သည့်
နှစ်ပေါင်း သုံးဆယ်ကျော် ကတည်းက အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲထားနိုင်ခဲ့သည့်အပြင် မြန်မာပြည်အနောက်ဘက်ခြမ်း၌ ၎င်းတို့အား
စစ်ရေးအရ ခြိမ်းခြောက်နိုင်သည့် ရက္ခိုင့်အမျိုးသားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်/ ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်တော်နှင့်လည်း ၂၀၂၀ နှစ်ကုန်းပိုင်း မှစပြီး
အပစ်အခတ် ရပ်စဲထားနိုင်ခဲ့သည်။
6 The principle of proportionality in attack.
7 Indiscriminate attack.
အနေဖြင့် လိုအပ်သောစီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများကို ချမှတ်ဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်ဖို့ တိုက်တွန်း တောင်းဆို
အပ်ပါသည်။
(ဃ) တိုင်းရင်းသားခုခံစစ်ဆင်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များအနေဖြင့် ခေတ်
အဆက်ဆက် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံမှုအခြေခံကနေ ဖော်ဆောင်နေသည့် ဖိနှိပ်သော
မဟာဗျူဟာစစ်ဆင်ရေးအား တညီတညွှတ်တည်း ခုခံတွန်းလှန်ကြဖို့ တိုက်တွန်းတောင်းဆို အပ်ပါ
သည်။
(င) မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အား ဘဏ္ဍာရေး၊ စစ်လက်နက်၊ နည်းပညာ နှင့် သံတမန်ရေးအရ တနည်းတဖုံဖြင့်
ထောက်ပံ့ပေးနေသည့် နိုင်ငံများ၊ ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ အစုအဖွဲ့များ နှင့် လူပုဂ္ဂိိုလ်များ
အနေဖြင့် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်နှင့် လုံးဝ အဆက်အသွယ်မပြုလုပ်ကြဖို့ တိုက်တွန်းသည်။
ဥပဒေအထောက်အကူပြုကွန်ရက်..."
Source/publisher:
Legal Aid Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Other laws impacting on civil and political rights, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political History
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"The British Foreign Office is ‘in discussion’ with UN Security Council members regarding the escalating crisis in North-Western Burma, according to a Foreign Office Minister today. Amanda Milling MP, Minister of State for Asia, made the statement in answer to written questions in the British Parliament today.
“We are very pleased to see this kind of international leadership by the British government,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The British government is right to be taking this threat seriously and sounding out UN Security Council members about a meeting”.
Questions regarding whether the British government was seeking a UN Security Council discussion regarding the North-Western Burma situation were asked by Stephen Kinnock, Shadow Secretary of State for Asia, and by Lyn Brown MP, following a media release from Burma Campaign UK on 20th October warning of a possible large scale military offensive, and calling for a UN Security Council meeting. The media release from Burma Campaign UK is available here.
Amanda Milling MP stated in response to both questions:
“The UK is deeply concerned about the situation in Chin and Sagaing States, particularly the significant troop movements by the Myanmar Armed Forces and reports of multiple civilian casualties. Current clashes have created mass displacement, with thousands of people now fleeing across the Indian border into Manipur and Mizoram state. This not only exacerbates the crisis in Myanmar but causes further regional instability. On 15 October the British Embassy in Yangon released a statement urging the military to end their campaign of violence and flagging our concern for communities, their livelihoods, property and places of worship. We are monitoring developments closely and are in discussion with our international partners in the UN Security Council.”
The questions and answers are available here:
In response to Stephen Kinnock MP:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-20/59806
In response to Lyn Brown MP:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-20/59747
Since Burma Campaign UK made the urgent call for a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday 20th October, more organisations and individuals have been sounding the alarm, including Chin civil society organisations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews.
The statement from Chin Civil Society Organisations in available here:
United Nations Security Council: Convene an Emergency Meeting to Address The Impending Crisis in Chin State and Northwestern Burma/Myanmar
United Nations media release regarding the Special Rapporteur’s presentation to the UN General Assembly is available here:
Myanmar: UN expert fears spike in atrocities amid reports of troops massing in north
“It is vital that UN Security Council members agree to a meeting and send the strongest possible warning to the Burmese military that there will be serious consequences if the military continue to escalate attacks against civilians in North-Western Burma,” said Anna Roberts..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Human Rights and international relations, UN Security Council
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"We, the 92 undersigned organizations representing civil society across Chin State, Myanmar/Burma, and the Chin diaspora, call upon the UN Security Council to urgently convene a meeting on the escalating military attacks and troop build-up in Chin State, Sagaing Region and Magwe, North-Western Burma.
On Friday 22 October, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews told the General Assembly of the United Nations that the people in Chin State and North-West Burma/Myanmar were on the eve of yet another catastrophe, “there is global responsibility to address this crisis, and it is insufficient to pass it off to those who lack the will or the capacity to take the requisite action, particularly given the scope of the atrocities that are ongoing.”
The statement is available here
Under “Operation Anawratha” six new Light Infantry Divisions have been sent to Chin State using the two main highways, organized in two columns from the south to Matupi Tactical Command Headquarters, and to the Tactical Command 2 Headquarters in Hakha from Monywa via Kalaymyo in Sagaing, adding to the existing six Light Infantry Battalions and one Light Infantry Division (LID 66) currently stationed in Chin State.
“Fighter jets have been patrolling the skies in both southern and northern Chin State in the last three weeks. Operation Anawrahta reflects an invasion to re-establish strategic dominance in Western Burma as the monsoon season comes to a close. In the last few days soldiers moving through Falam Township have already burned 3 villages to the ground and also set Churches ablaze,” said Salai Za Uk Ling of the Chin Human Rights Organisation.
Last Thursday, Christine Schraner Burgener, the outgoing U.N. special envoy on Myanmar signaled that time was running out in Myanmar “the opportunity to help put Myanmar back on the path to democracy, democratic reform, is narrowing and therefore I urge the member states to act."
As a penholder on Burma at the UN Security Council, the main responsibility for convening a meeting falls to the British government. We call upon Liz Truss MP, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council..."
Source/publisher:
Chin Human Rights Organization
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political, UN Security Council, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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