Human Rights and international relations
Individual Documents
Description:
"FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
• Mixed start of 2021 monsoon season
• Rice exports in 2021 forecast to contract
• Persistent conflicts severely affect large numbers of people
Mixed start of 2021 monsoon season
Planting of the predominantly rainfed main season paddy crop, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the annual production, is nearing completion. Since its start in May, the monsoon season has been characterized by average to above‑average precipitation amounts in the northern and southern main producing areas, benefitting planting activities and germination of crops. By contrast, in central rice producing areas, including Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing regions and Shan State, well below‑average rainfall amounts may have delayed planting operations and affected early crop development. Moisture deficits resulted in below‑average vegetation conditions in June, raising concerns regarding crop yields. Farmers are reportedly planting more drought‑resistant crops, such as oil seeds, in the areas affected by scarce precipitation. A further factor that has weighed on the production outlook this year is the political instability, which began on 1 February with the change of regime. The instability has caused disruptions to key supply chains and critical support services, including the banking system, and these impacts could curb production. The performance of the monsoon rains until the end of the season in October will be crucial for the final outcome.
Planting of the 2021 main maize crop started in June and is expected to finalize in August. Some delays have been reported in the central producing areas due to below‑average rainfall amounts. Strong demand by the domestic feed industry and export markets, including China (mainland) and Thailand, are expected to encourage farmers to maintain an area planted that is above the five‑year average.
Persistent conflicts severely affect large numbers of people
Following the military take-over on 1 February 2021, increased tension and unrest are affecting the country. The current uncertain political conditions may further compromise the fragile situation of the vulnerable households already affected by COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Armed conflict between the military and non-State armed groups led to population displacements, disrupted agricultural activities and limited access for humanitarian support especially in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah and Shan states. According to the latest data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in June 2021, an estimated 177 500 people had been forced to flee their homes in southern parts of the country due to conflicts since February. Most of the internally displaced people are suffer high levels of food insecurity as the conflict is hampering the delivery of adequate humanitarian assistance and impending the restoration of local livelihoods. Income losses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have already had a severe and adverse impact on the food security situation of the vulnerable households. In addition, the monsoon season, with recurrent heavy downpours or flooding, adds another layer of risk. Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
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Sub-title:
Fifteen countries stand in solidarity with victims of attacks by the Myanmar security forces and condemn attacks on places of worship.
Description:
"Statement from the 15 countries signed up to the International Religious Freedom of Belief Alliance:
We stand in solidarity with the victims of human rights violations and abuses by the Myanmar security forces. People of all faiths and beliefs have come together to condemn the military’s actions since the 1 February 2021 coup.
Faith actors have played prominent roles in the anti-coup movement, including by supporting human rights defenders and vulnerable communities. As a result, some have been subjected to inhumane treatment by the military regime. We remember those who have been killed and call for the release of all those unjustly detained.
We echo the previous calls of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo to protect religious buildings, as well as hospitals, schools and other civilian structures during the ongoing violence. We condemn attacks on all those seeking refuge or protection. We condemn any violence against buildings that are at the very centres of communities, such as the Sacred Heart Church in Loikaw, Katkyaw Monastery in Bago, and Sule Mosque in Mandalay among others.
We condemn any attack on places of worship in Myanmar and support all who pursue peace and human rights in Myanmar. We commend the role of faith actors in responding to COVID-19 in Myanmar as well as civil society organisations who are working in challenging circumstances, and remember all those who have died as a result of the pandemic.
Co-signatories: Albania, Australia, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, US and the UK..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-05
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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"The people of Myanmar face an unparalleled national three Cs (coup, COVID and climate change) crisis today as we confront a failed military coup, catastrophic third COVID-19 wave, and natural disasters engineered by changes in the climate. As the third wave of COVID-19 spreads rampantly throughout Myanmar, it is possible that the next COVID-19 variant could arise out of Myanmar; this is a major threat to regional and global public health security, a threat that must be immediately addressed by ASEAN and Myanmar’s neighboring countries as well as the international community.
For six months, the military junta has robbed the people of Myanmar of their sense of security and dignity. The military has murdered 940 people, including over 70 children as young as 6 years old. They have arbitrarily detained over 5,400 people. Of those, 19 percent are women who have been at the forefront of leading anti-junta protests on the streets. The Ministry of Women, Youths and Children’s Affairs has reported rape and sexual violence against girls and women in detention. Along with peaceful LGBTIQ protesters, they have been sexually assaulted and harassed, made to conduct humiliating and degrading acts that amount to torture in detention.
Meanwhile, food insecurity is growing, the banking sector is in crisis, and the economy is collapsing with the World Bank forecasting Myanmar’s economy to shrink by 18 percent, and the World Food Program estimating that an additional 3.4 million people will now go hungry. This adds to the decades of military rule, and the mismanagement of essential administration, including in the health sector. Instead of funding education and health, the military focused on stealing wealth from the people of Myanmar to fund their decades-long civil war against ethnic communities, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic areas and genocide against the Rohingya with impunity. As a result, more than half a million people are now internally displaced in Myanmar. This is the reason why Myanmar requires such dire levels of international assistance today.
In the face of these challenges, the people of Myanmar, and the National Unity Government (NUG) have repeatedly called on ASEAN and the international community for rapid and expanded humanitarian aid intervention. We welcome the generous support that has been provided by the regional and international community in response to the humanitarian crisis so far, particularly in dialogue with the NUG and NUG-aligned administrative bodies, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), but the needs are far greater and require a more robust and coordinated intervention.
Responsibility for this human rights and humanitarian crisis rests squarely with the military junta, which, rather than tackling these issues to the benefit of the people of Myanmar, continues to weaponize COVID-19 and humanitarian aid for its own political gain.
It is vital that humanitarian assistance programs be designed and implemented in a way that ensures that they are not being used to promote or benefit the political or financial interests of the military junta.
ASEAN and the wider international community must coordinate with and empower existing governance structures that are supported by the people in all parts of Myanmar, particularly through NUG-aligned administrative bodies and CSOs/CBOs in ethnic-administered areas for localized humanitarian response to needs on the ground.
The NUG’s people-centered response to humanitarian aid prioritizes the immediate needs of the people of Myanmar. The “People First” approach places the people’s well-being and health services as our first priority, as we endeavor to work with all UN agencies and development partners to bring equitable access to healthcare and COVID-19 vaccination for all people of Myanmar in accordance with international standards, including those laid out by the WHO and UNICEF.
We urge ASEAN, and its humanitarian assistance through the AHA Center, to adhere to certain principles in provision of humanitarian aid. While the people in Myanmar are in desperate need of assistance, support must reach those most in need in a way that does not legitimize the junta, which is the cause of the people’s suffering.
While recognizing that communication with the military may be unavoidable in some instances in providing humanitarian aid, all ASEAN, UN and international partners are strongly urged to avoid communications with the military junta, which will imply or provide it with legitimacy or recognition. To this end, we strongly urge ASEAN to have regular, meaningful and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders as set out in its five point consensus, in particular by holding dialogue with the NUG and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) as well as ethnic armed organizations.
By AUNG MYO MIN 5 August 2021
The people of Myanmar face an unparalleled national three Cs (coup, COVID and climate change) crisis today as we confront a failed military coup, catastrophic third COVID-19 wave, and natural disasters engineered by changes in the climate. As the third wave of COVID-19 spreads rampantly throughout Myanmar, it is possible that the next COVID-19 variant could arise out of Myanmar; this is a major threat to regional and global public health security, a threat that must be immediately addressed by ASEAN and Myanmar’s neighboring countries as well as the international community.
For six months, the military junta has robbed the people of Myanmar of their sense of security and dignity. The military has murdered 940 people, including over 70 children as young as 6 years old. They have arbitrarily detained over 5,400 people. Of those, 19 percent are women who have been at the forefront of leading anti-junta protests on the streets. The Ministry of Women, Youths and Children’s Affairs has reported rape and sexual violence against girls and women in detention. Along with peaceful LGBTIQ protesters, they have been sexually assaulted and harassed, made to conduct humiliating and degrading acts that amount to torture in detention.
Meanwhile, food insecurity is growing, the banking sector is in crisis, and the economy is collapsing with the World Bank forecasting Myanmar’s economy to shrink by 18 percent, and the World Food Program estimating that an additional 3.4 million people will now go hungry. This adds to the decades of military rule, and the mismanagement of essential administration, including in the health sector. Instead of funding education and health, the military focused on stealing wealth from the people of Myanmar to fund their decades-long civil war against ethnic communities, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic areas and genocide against the Rohingya with impunity. As a result, more than half a million people are now internally displaced in Myanmar. This is the reason why Myanmar requires such dire levels of international assistance today.
In the face of these challenges, the people of Myanmar, and the National Unity Government (NUG) have repeatedly called on ASEAN and the international community for rapid and expanded humanitarian aid intervention. We welcome the generous support that has been provided by the regional and international community in response to the humanitarian crisis so far, particularly in dialogue with the NUG and NUG-aligned administrative bodies, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), but the needs are far greater and require a more robust and coordinated intervention.
Responsibility for this human rights and humanitarian crisis rests squarely with the military junta, which, rather than tackling these issues to the benefit of the people of Myanmar, continues to weaponize COVID-19 and humanitarian aid for its own political gain.
It is vital that humanitarian assistance programs be designed and implemented in a way that ensures that they are not being used to promote or benefit the political or financial interests of the military junta.
ASEAN and the wider international community must coordinate with and empower existing governance structures that are supported by the people in all parts of Myanmar, particularly through NUG-aligned administrative bodies and CSOs/CBOs in ethnic-administered areas for localized humanitarian response to needs on the ground.
The NUG’s people-centered response to humanitarian aid prioritizes the immediate needs of the people of Myanmar. The “People First” approach places the people’s well-being and health services as our first priority, as we endeavor to work with all UN agencies and development partners to bring equitable access to healthcare and COVID-19 vaccination for all people of Myanmar in accordance with international standards, including those laid out by the WHO and UNICEF.
We urge ASEAN, and its humanitarian assistance through the AHA Center, to adhere to certain principles in provision of humanitarian aid. While the people in Myanmar are in desperate need of assistance, support must reach those most in need in a way that does not legitimize the junta, which is the cause of the people’s suffering.
While recognizing that communication with the military may be unavoidable in some instances in providing humanitarian aid, all ASEAN, UN and international partners are strongly urged to avoid communications with the military junta, which will imply or provide it with legitimacy or recognition. To this end, we strongly urge ASEAN to have regular, meaningful and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders as set out in its five point consensus, in particular by holding dialogue with the NUG and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) as well as ethnic armed organizations.
It is crucial that resources be provided directly to local actors who can flexibly and creatively meet the needs on the ground in a way that does not legitimize or otherwise support the military junta. By resourcing CSOs, CBOs, ethnic administrations, and in some circumstances services through CDM health professionals, ASEAN and international support can meet the needs of the people without causing greater harm. This can also ensure that COVID-19 support and vaccinations are not used as a weapon against the people and those participating in the CDM.
Commitment to providing cross-border assistance is key to meeting the urgent needs of the people of Myanmar. Cross-border aid can be delivered through CSOs and CBOs with decades of experience in provision of essential services, particularly in ethnic administrations. The COVID-19 Task Force set up by the Ministry of Health, NUG and ethnic health organizations is central to such provision of assistance at this time.
Decentralized and localized aid is reflective of the emerging federal democratic union that we aspire to build and cross-border aid is currently essential in the realization of inclusive and equitable provision of aid.
These above positions of the NUG in regards to humanitarian aid are clearly laid out in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management position paper issued on June 19. On July 18, reiterating these calls, the NUG sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, requesting a robust and well-designed intervention from the international community.
Every day that passes without ASEAN and the international community’s urgent action is a day that we lose more lives. The military exists to serve its own interests and has demonstrated over the past six months that it will not act in the best interest of the people of Myanmar. Rather, it serves to perpetuate its own status quo, which will only be further emboldened by the inaction of ASEAN and the wider international community.
The attempted coup has failed. It is the people of Myanmar, despite the immense challenges and against all odds, who are keeping the future of Myanmar from falling into decades-long military rule once again. But we require immediate support.
ASEAN must act, and it must act NOW. Not only for the sake of the people of Myanmar but for the sake of ASEAN. Their continuing insistence on working through the junta is an affront to its own founding Charter, with its declaration of “adhering to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
History is repeating itself once again. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is an aspiring dictator, a third-generation military chief who is following in the footsteps of previous dictators, appointing himself as the “caretaker” of Myanmar. This is a threat to global stability and security, and while ASEAN has an important role to play, the world must no longer wait for ASEAN to act. The current human rights, humanitarian and COVID crisis requires robust and immediate action by the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council. Their immediate action is needed to save lives.
Aung Myo Min is Minister of Human Rights in the National Unity Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Southeast Asian parliamentarians have responded warily to the decision by ASEAN to appoint Brunei’s Foreign Affairs Minister II Erywan Yusof as its special envoy to Myanmar, urging him to take immediate and decisive action to put an end to the military’s bloodshed and chaos.
“While we are satisfied that ASEAN has, at last, appointed a special envoy, there are legitimate concerns with the appointment of Erywan Yusof. Let us not forget that the Minister, as the representative of ASEAN’s Chair, has led the bloc’s ineffective response so far, including a delegation to Myanmar in June, during which he not only met solely with the junta, but also pushed their narrative that elections could take place,” said Kasit Piromya, a Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and former Thai Member of Parliament (MP). “It is also unnerving that a Minister of an absolute monarchy that does not abide by international human rights standards has been tasked with convincing a murderous army to respect these principles.”
This week, Erywan Yusof, Brunei’s second minister for foreign affairs, was appointed as ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar, following several months of negotiations between the bloc and the Myanmar military junta. The role was agreed at the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in Jakarta in April, during which Member States reached a Five-Point Consensus, which has seen little progress until this point.
“Until now, ASEAN’s response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar has been deeply, deeply disappointing. With this appointment ASEAN cannot hide behind the excuse of not having a Special Envoy anymore,” Piromya said. “The bloc must ensure that the new Envoy finally gives the bloc the leadership we have so desperately craved in this crisis. Not only do the Myanmar people depend on it, but so does ASEAN’s entire reputation.”
“The Envoy must act promptly, and show skillful diplomacy to ensure he does not become a pawn in the junta’s game to pretend it is taking action, all while maintaining its grip on power and subjecting the people more and more to its oppressive rule. He cannot play into Min Aung Hlaing’s game of using ASEAN to gain international and regional legitimacy anymore, but instead must secure solutions that help the people of Myanmar reach the democracy they have spent the last six months showing the world they so desperately crave,” Piromya said.
The new Special Envoy for Myanmar must change ASEAN’s course of action, and immediately step up action to end violence; secure the release of all political prisoners in the country; immediately meet with Myanmar’s National Unity Government and Ethnic Armed Organization; as well as work with the UN Special Envoy and its international partners to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance to Myanmar, not through its AHA Centre nor the junta, but through independent humanitarian organisations already operating in the country, as well as ethnic health organizations and local health providers, said APHR..."
Source/publisher:
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Local URL:
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Description:
"Aug. 4, 2021, Myanmar: US/Luxembourg satellite company Intelsat is continuing to lease transponder capacity to Myanmar’s brutal military junta via a UK subsidiary. Intelsat confirmed to Justice For Myanmar that they do not know how the capacity is being utilised. Intelsat would not answer questions regarding their compliance with sanctions in the EU and UK, which restrict the sale of technology to Myanmar that can be used for internal repression.
Myanmar’s agreement to lease capacity on Intelsat 39, branded Myanmarsat-2, was signed in 2018 and the Maxar Technologies-built satellite was launched in 2019. The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, under the National League for Democracy-led government. However, it was overseen by a steering committee headed by military appointed Vice President Lt Gen Myint Swe. Committee members included the ministers of defence and home affairs, who are also military appointees, raising serious concerns over Intelsat’s human rights due diligence following the military’s genocide against the Rohingya.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We call on Intelsat to act immediately to prevent the illegal and murderous Myanmar junta from using satellite capacity for military purposes. The Myanmarsat-2 agreement was signed under the National League for Democracy-led government and Intelsat must now consult with the National Unity Government over their continued business in Myanmar, not the illegal junta. We also call on the UK, Luxembourg, and US governments to ensure Intelsat is in compliance with sanctions and protecting human rights in Myanmar. The military has been widening its nationwide terror campaign against the Myanmar people and has murdered over 940 civilians, including children. More than 5,400 have been arrested, facing torture. We have grave concerns that satellite communications now under junta control can be used to support their violent attacks against the Myanmar people.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Genocide, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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214.47 KB
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"Southeast Asia's top diplomats are meeting to discuss the ongoing violence in Myanmar. The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are also hoping to finalize an emergency plan to help control the pandemic there. On Sunday Myanmar's military leader declared himself prime minister and extended military rule until August 2023. As we report, some protesters are determined to keep fighting back despite the risks. A warning to our viewers - you may find some of the footage in this report disturbing.
Big protests have become too risky. In their place, flash mobs - often lasting only a few minutes - have been breaking out in Yangon and other cities.
They yell "Down with the dictatorship, we must overcome" - a brief battle cry before they disappear into the back streets. Six months after the coup, Myanmar has become a full-fledged military state.
Its leader and self-declared Prime Minister, Min Aung Hlaing has extended the state of emergency, and pushed back long-promised elections until August 2023.
Likely to be missing from the list of candidates: Aung San Suu Kyi. The deposed leader is facing a slew of charges in what many observers are calling a sham trial.
Adding to the political and economic turmoil, the country is seeing a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases -
pushing the health care system closer to the brink of collapse, as people wait in line to get oxygen.
With many medics part of the civil disobedience movement, they've become a target of violent abuse by the military. Human rights organizations are calling on the international community to act.
Activists say they will never be able to trust the military. That's a sentiment echoed by many around the country.
Six months after the coup, Myanmar increasingly looks like a tinderbox waiting to explode..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[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, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations
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"The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the rest of the international community must provide humanitarian assistance through the COVID-19 Task Force set up by the Ministry of Health under interim government of Myanmar – the National Unity Government (NUG) – and Ethnic Health Organizations, as well as through cross-border channels, local humanitarian networks, ethnic service providers, and community-based organizations, said Progressive Voice and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in a joint statement today.
One hundred days have passed since ASEAN leaders and Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing reached the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar during the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting on 24 April 2021, yet little progress has been made by ASEAN towards the realization of the consensus.
The consensus placed the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) as the main vehicle through which ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. However, civil society are concerned about the capacity and independence of AHA Centre, as its Governing Board is currently represented by the Myanmar junta’s delegation, which would allow the junta to dictate the terms under which AHA Centre operates. This adds to the on-going criticism on the AHA Centre’s failures in regards the situation of Rohingya in Rakhine State after 2017. A solution beyond AHA Centre is needed.
“The AHA Centre’s operations are marred by its response to the genocide against Rohingya in Rakhine State. The AHA Centre failed to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the Myanmar military and their negligence entrenched the apartheid conditions that Rohingya continue to suffer today,” said Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice.
“The AHA Centre do not have mandate nor capacity to deliver aid to the people of Myanmar in a way that does not lend tactical and political advantage to the junta. The people of Myanmar are in dire need of support from the regional and international community, but tackling the current crisis through the AHA Centre is to allow the military junta, perpetrator of this humanitarian crisis, to control funding and channel the assistance as they please to their political advantage.”
In a new briefing paper Great Expectations: Analysis of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, FORUM-ASIA and Progressive Voice examined the dire humanitarian crisis created by the Myanmar military since the coup on 1 February, and analyzed the role of the AHA Centre, exploring the humanitarian implications for ASEAN and the wider international community.
The paper found that not only is the AHA Centre ill-equipped to handle a so-called “man-made” disaster in Myanmar, its Standard Operating Procedure allows the Myanmar junta to “exercise the overall direction, control, coordination and supervision of the assistance within its territory.” As ASEAN has continued to engage with the brutal and illegitimate junta, refusing to meet with other stakeholders in affront to its own Five Point Consensus, it is likely that ASEAN will work with the junta in provision of humanitarian aid as outlined by the AHA Centre’s procedures.
According to the paper, providing humanitarian aid through the AHA Centre would risk strengthening the junta’s position regionally and internationally and emboldening the junta that have so far killed at least 945 people, arrested 7,026, detained or sentenced 5,474 and displaced at least 230,000 ethnic minorities by aerial bombing and artillery shelling since 1 February.
The human rights and humanitarian disasters have been further compounded by the third wave of COVID-19 and recent flooding, incidences which have been weaponized by the junta for their own political gain, including by calling on the international community to support their relief efforts in a ploy to gain legitimacy. On the ground, the junta has continued to arrest healthcare workers, detain those with expertise on COVID-19 and vaccine rollout, and attack medical facilities.
“It is essential to ensure that the junta does not weaponize the access to humanitarian aid to seek legitimacy from the international community. Civil society, the international community, and particularly ASEAN must recognize and cooperate with NUG, and collectively ensure direct access to people in need without junta’s intervention,” said Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
“ASEAN and the international community must recognize and engage with the NUG, and disengage with the junta in provision of humanitarian assistance to prevent them from weaponizing humanitarian aid. We also call on ASEAN to work with the UN and international community to ensure that independent humanitarian organizations and agencies can deliver medical and humanitarian assistance, especially much needed COVID-19 related health support including personal protective equipment, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and vaccines doses,” said the rights groups..."
Source/publisher:
FORUM-ASIA and Progressive Voice
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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208.05 KB 607.73 KB
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"Today, six months and a day since the Myanmar military launched its coup d’etat, 462 civil society organisations (CSOs) made formal submissions to the E.U., U.K., U.S. and Australia demanding sanctions on the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Sanctions should allow gas production to continue but require revenues to be paid into protected accounts until a legitimate, democratic government is in power.
State-owned MOGE currently provides around 50% of Myanmar’s foreign revenue, estimated to be USD 1.54 billion per year. Companies like Total, Chevron, Posco and PTTEP keep making and facilitating payments into MOGE accounts that are now controlled by the illegal regime, even as it commits atrocities, from air strikes on communities in ethnic areas to detaining and torturing peaceful protesters and journalists, while the devastating impact of a third Covid-19 wave rips across the country.
“The military junta has used gas revenues to purchase weapons ever since the first revenue from the Total-operated gas field started in the late 1990s. They will continue to use these gas revenues to purchase arms to continue its terror campaign against the population and further suppress the democracy movement,” said Ko Ye, a Myanmar activist who is part of the submission.
“People are struggling with no help, under this illegitimate and brutal junta that is carrying out hundreds of attacks on human rights defenders, democracy activists and medical personnel and facilities, arresting doctors and confiscating oxygen. If the funds keep flowing unchecked, this hell will continue. The military junta of Myanmar has an ugly track record of stealing gas revenues,” said Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of Advisory Board of Progressive Voice.
Citizens are refusing to pay electricity bills to avoid bankrolling the junta’s abuses. The U.S. government froze a billion dollars in assets of the Central Bank of Myanmar to stop the military misappropriating them. Meanwhile, governments have sanctioned state-owned enterprises in the timber, gems and jade sectors because they fund the junta, but MOGE operates unchecked, with no sanctions and bringing in larger revenues.
Myanmar’s elected lawmakers and civil society, who have lived under military rule, have assessed that the humanitarian impacts of funding the junta are far worse than the risk of power cuts if revenues are stopped. However, Total has publicly cited humanitarian concerns, dismissing the voice of Myanmar’s people. Total has even claimed that Myanmar gas is vital to keeping the lights on in Thailand, the destination for 80% of the gas is produces, despite Thailand having a massive energy surplus.
Gas companies are then privately lobbying with their governments claiming they will be quickly replaced by less ethical actors, and that ‘leverage’ would be lost. Yet with revenues from gas projects still flowing, either companies have no real leverage or they are not using it.
“Ultimately, our priority is to stop these revenues reaching the junta. If this cannot be achieved, either through sanctions that allow production to continue or through companies taking action directly, the companies must divest rather than lining the pockets of the junta, undermining the efforts of the Myanmar people who are striving for restoration of democracy and for a peaceful future,” said Khin Ohmar..."
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
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69.87 KB
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"Statement on the 100th day of the ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus on Myanmar
We, activists, organizers, and allied organizations of the Milk Tea Alliance - who have kindled,
supported, and mobilized recent and emergent protest movements against authoritarian rule
and oppression across Asia and beyond - releases this statement to strongly condemn ASEAN
for its utter incompetence in responding to the current humanitarian and political crisis in
Myanmar.
ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus, which was announced exactly 100 days ago, has proven to be
futile. The consensus was weak in addressing issues critical to de-escalating the crisis - such
as release of the political prisoners. Yet, despite the low bar it set, not a single point on the
consensus has been implemented thus far. Myanmar military has continued to repress,
threaten, and murder innocent civilians with impunity and is now weaponzing the pandemic
against its own people. Overall, the consensus only undermined the struggle of the people of
Myanmar, rather than deliver the promises it claimed it would serve.
Moreover, it is obvious that the bloc itself is disinclined to take any tangible and effective
measure to deter the military in Myanmar. Not only has the ASEAN been unhelpful in resolving
the crisis, it has been an obstacle. It has shielded the Myanmar military from a more
comprehensive international resposne, even giving a veil of international legitimacy by engaging
with them.
In this regard, we urge the wider international community to stop centering ASEAN for a
resolution of the crisis in Myanmar and instead to step up with stronger, more effective
measures against the military themselves..."
Source/publisher:
Milk Tea Alliance via Progressive Voice
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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The Writer Says That Asean Must Deliver Humanitarian Aid Directly To The People Of Myanmar Without Waiting For The Junta's Consent.
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"Three months have passed since Asean agreed to a five-point consensus plan on how to respond to the crisis in Myanmar. During this time, the situation in Myanmar has drastically deteriorated.
Yet, the five-point plan remains little more than a piece of paper, with few signs to date of any steps towards implementation.
Meanwhile, the bodies are still, quite literally, piling up on the streets of Myanmar. Earlier this year, the police and soldiers massacred hundreds who joined peaceful protests against the military coup. These days, it is the junta's deadly weaponising of a third wave of the coronavirus that is filling up morgues and causing untold destruction.
The pandemic is wreaking havoc across the country. Acute oxygen shortages and a collapsed healthcare system mean that very few people are getting the treatment they need. The five-point consensus included an agreement that Asean would provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. That has still not materialised, even as the need for life-saving aid has become ever-more desperate.
This week, Brunei will host the 54th Asean Foreign Minister's Meeting. It is expected that the long-overdue appointment of the Asean special envoy to Myanmar - also agreed to as part of the five-point consensus - will be announced.
But the announcement of the special envoy, meant to lead regional efforts to end the crisis, will be irrelevant if there is still no clear idea of what Asean will do next.
What should happen next? The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, of which I am a founding member, has outlined a way forward. Supply lines must be opened across Myanmar's borders to allow life-saving assistance into the country. Asean plays a key political role in this, with Asean member states neighbouring Myanmar.
Asean must engage with local health and other service providers already on the ground. The National Unity Government has established a joint Covid-19 task force with Ethnic Health Organisations.
It is led by highly respected humanitarian leaders who have decades of experience getting emergency services to people fleeing from the Myanmar military. They know how to deliver assistance safely and securely, and Asean must support them.
There is no more time to waste. With every day that passes, Asean's complacency moves closer to complicity in the junta's brutal assault on the people of Myanmar.
The leader of the junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, stated last week that he is seeking the release of Covid-19 funds from Asean, making a mockery of regional efforts to combat the virus.
After launching his coup in February, he abandoned Myanmar's testing and vaccination programme and decimated the country's healthcare system, his soldiers are using hospitals as military bases and targeting medical professionals, forcing thousands into hiding.
In recent weeks, his forces have opened fire on crowds of people anxiously waiting to refill oxygen cylinders, and then seized what scarce supplies of oxygen there are left. They have looted and destroyed medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, and continued to abduct doctors and nurses who are working undercover to treat patients, all the while in fear for their own lives.
Asean member states would be fools to give Covid-19 relief money to the junta. As I stated in 2018 as chair of a United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission on Myanmar, General Min Aung Hlaing should be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the Myanmar people is for it to be delivered directly to them. In 1948, the Berlin Airlift overcame a Soviet blockade to see food, water and medicine reach the people of besieged West Berlin. There are no excuses.
It is unacceptable for Asean to wait for the junta's consent to begin implementing any part of the five-point consensus. If the special envoy cannot be appointed, the Asean chair and secretary-general must take the lead.
At this week's ministerial meeting, Asean must finally start acting in the interest of the principles enshrined in the Asean Charter; respect for fundamental freedoms, promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice, as well as peace, security and stability in the region.
People in Myanmar are struggling to breathe. But in the struggle for relevancy, this could be Asean's last gasp.
The writer is a founding member of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
South Asia Monitor
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-03
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Human Rights and international relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma
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"In the sixth month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, the junta’s oppressive acts to secure political, territorial, or economic control have escalated conflict and the deadliness of a third wave of COVID-19. COVID-19 ripped ferociously through Burma, where a weakened health system and junta restrictions on treatment measures contributed to untold deaths. As the junta brought testing closer to pre-coup levels, it saw COVID-19 positivity rates up to 40%.
During July alone, security forces killed at least 56 civilians. There were 348 violent attacks that either targeted or failed to protect civilians during 1–23 Jul, and a total 3,446 incidents 1 Feb–23 Jul..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-03
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Type:
Individual Documents
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COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Flooding in Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar should return to a democratically elected government, Britain said on Monday, after military ruler Min Aung Hlaing took on the role of prime minister in a caretaker administration six months after the army seized power.
"The decision by the military to extend the so-called state of emergency in Myanmar is unjustifiable and a blatant attempt to solidify their undemocratic power grab," foreign minister Dominic Raab wrote on Twitter.
"The junta must hand back control to an elected government and respect the democratic will of the people of Myanmar," Raab wrote..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-03
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"Summary of major revisions made to emergency plan of action:
Revision of disaster preparedness stock (NFI) in order to meet the growing needs of the crisis affected population, and to enable MRCS to be response ready in a situation where, due to the civil unrest has disrupted the supply chain of the country. In view of this, having pre-positioned stock in country has becomes an increasing priority. Implications on the current operating context include reduced access to other means of rapid humanitarian assistance, including cash grants as well as limited scope for timely transport of items to locations affected by disaster.
Originally, these items were planned for in-country procurement and pre-positioning. Due to the current procurement challenges in local market affected by the political crisis, and restriction on both banking and commercial imports, it is now amended to mobilize the supplies through international channel with the support of the IFRC Global Humanitarian Services & Supply Chain – Asia Pacific (GHS&SCM-AP) Unit.
The revision involves increase in quantities of specific items (Tarpaulins, Mosquito Nets and Blanket), revision in budgeting based on international mobilisation including freight and logistics costs.
An approximate increase of budget by CHF 203,847 (4.53 per cent to the EA funding needs). Based on current donor response only 23 per cent of the total NFI needs could be covered, IFRC has accordingly launched a Mobilization Table in July 2021 seeking for in-kind donations from the partners. Considering the complicated importation process, and challenges in the freights (air, sea & road) context, the MRCS and IFRC team are streamlining the logistics mobilization of the goods into Myanmar. As far as feasible, IFRC GHS&SCM-AP Unit will coordinate the mobilization of the in-kind donation contributions from donors via a single consignment dispatch from IFRC regional warehouse’s stocks in Kuala Lumpur.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
Since 1 February 2021, Myanmar has been undergoing a political crisis with civil unrest precipitating a humanitarian crisis affecting populations across many parts of the country. The civil unrest has constrained the collective humanitarian response capacity currently.
Adding to the political situation, the intensified third wave of COVID-19 infections, and seasonal monsoon related natural disasters has affected thousands of families across several states and regions.
This operation update notes the significant rise in the displacement of civil unrest affected population across different hotspots since the launch of civil unrest emergency appeal, approximately 211,000 people have now been displaced internally1 . This includes 176,900 IDPs in Southeast Myanmar and Shan (South). The recent monsoon rains and floods have severely impacted several displacement and settlement sites across country with increased health risk for IDPs currently living under temporary shelters.
With disruption in public health sector there is an Increased risk for people with chronic illness outbreak of vaccine - preventable diseases. This is compounded by the third wave of the COVID–19 pandemic is spreading across Myanmar. The Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) reported 148,022 confirmed cases, 3,262 confirmed deaths and 133,606 recovered cases as of 20 June 2021. Alpha and Delta variants of concern (VOC) and Kappa variant of interest (VOI) were detected in Myanmar as per information from the Ministry of Health and Sports as of 15 June 2021. The MRCS, with IFRC support, is leading on a parallel coordinated COVID-19 response..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-02
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Human Rights and international relations, Health, right to: standards and mechanisms, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Joint statement from 16 aid agencies warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Myanmar.
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"Six months since the military’s seizure of power, aid agencies are warning of a spiralling humanitarian catastrophe in Myanmar triggered by skyrocketing Covid-19 cases and widespread violence in the country. Over 60 per cent of reported deaths from Covid-19 in Myanmar have occurred in the past month alone, with the number of confirmed cases doubling in the last two months.
While the country is still reeling from the shockwaves of the military takeover, communities in Kayah State and the eastern Bago region – which have witnessed mass displacement in recent months – must now contend with hundreds of Covid-19 cases a day. Healthcare facilities from Kachin to Mandalay to Yangon remain shuttered as healthcare workers face violence and threats. More than 400 doctors and 180 nurses have been given arrest warrants since the military takeover in February 2021.
“The communities we work with are desperate and dying. A third wave of Covid-19 is crashing down on Myanmar, unleashing yet another trauma for its people. The population needs safe and fair access to humanitarian aid and healthcare now,” said Laura Marshall, Country Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Myanmar.
Lockdown measures, travel restrictions, bureaucratic impediments and insecurity are hampering humanitarian service delivery. Humanitarian workers and their families have themselves fallen gravely ill as aid agencies are forced to operate at reduced capacity.
The failure to stop the spread of this deadly disease threatens to drive millions of already at-risk families into further need. Pregnant women and other vulnerable groups face new obstacles in reaching essential care and basic services. Cases of food insecurity and indebtedness are expected to climb significantly in the coming months, especially given rising food prices, job losses and currency depreciation.
While humanitarian assistance and medical care is urgently needed to save lives today, a rapidly expanded vaccination programme is required to move the country out of this crisis. Unfortunately, only 3.6 million vaccine doses are expected to be allocated through COVAX, a drop in the ocean for the country’s population of 54.4 million.
As aid agencies operating in Myanmar, we call on political leaders to do everything possible to assist the people of Myanmar in their hour of need. Their actions should include the immediate implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus, agreed in April, to rapidly scale up aid and vaccination for all across Myanmar. In addition, we call for an end to attacks on healthcare and for all parties to engage in dialogue which allows for urgent access to assistance to those who require it..."
Source/publisher:
Norwegian Refugee Council
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Health, right to: standards and mechanisms, Human Rights and international relations
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It’s been six months since the military coup in Myanmar where there’s grave concern over the widening impact of the deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis affecting the country’s people.
Description:
"Speaking to UN News, the organisation’s top aid official in Myanmar, Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta’s power grab on 1 February.
“The situation in the country is characterized now by instability and a deteriorating socio-economic and security situation and to add to that we have a raging third wave of COVID-19,” said Mr. Balakrishnan in an exclusive interview.
Highlighting the ongoing nature of armed resistance to State security forces “in several ethnic minority areas” including in the states of Shan, Chin and Kachin, the UN official said that more than 200,000 people had been uprooted from their homes there to date.
Displacement swelling
In Rakhine state before the coup, the UN Humanitarian Response Plan pointed to some one million people including internally displaced people in need of urgent assistance, but “this number has only swelled”, Mr. Balakrishnan insisted.
More widely, “following the coup, an additional two million were identified as those in urgent need of humanitarian aid, and those were largely in the urban areas of Yangon and Mandalay”, he said, adding that the intensification of clashes and the worsening socio-economic situation was pushing “tens of thousands of people” into a humanitarian space” every day.
Echoing concerns over rights abuses by UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and others, Mr. Balakrishnan condemned the ongoing and widespread use of lethal force by the military against civilian protesters.
Rising hunger
Looking ahead, the UN’s priorities include ensuring that millions of people do not fall further into hunger, the aid official said. “There has been an increase in the price of basic commodities for many people…this has also resulted in a reduction of the nutrition value of the food basket that people usually take as they substitute their regular food with cheaper, more readily available items.”
Turning to Myanmar’s health system, which is facing extreme pressure because of the coronavirus crisis, as well as attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Myanmar - and a civil disobedience movement by some health professionals - Mr. Balakrishnan warned that even basic services had been disrupted across the country.
Standing with Myanmar’s people
In a message of solidarity, the top aid official insisted that the UN remained committed to respecting the will of the country’s people.
This was despite limited access to parts of the country linked to security concerns and disruption to the banking system, which limited the UN’s ability to transfer funds to humanitarian partners responsible for delivering aid.
“The UN will continue to call out human rights violations and is committed to stay and deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, in addition to sending in the COVID-19 response,” Mr. Balakrishnan said..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-31
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Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
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"With coronavirus deaths rising in Myanmar, allegations are growing from residents and human rights activists that the military government, which seized control in February, is using the pandemic to consolidate power and crush opposition.
In the last week, the per capita death rate in Myanmar surpassed those of Indonesia and Malaysia to become the worst in Southeast Asia. The country’s crippled health care system has rapidly become overwhelmed with new patients sick with COVID-19.
Supplies of medical oxygen are running low, and the government has restricted its private sale in many places, saying it is trying to prevent hoarding. But that has led to widespread allegations that the stocks are being directed to government supporters and military-run hospitals.
At the same time, medical workers have been targeted after spearheading a civil disobedience movement that urged professionals and civil servants not to cooperate with the government, known as the State Administrative Council.
“They have stopped distributing personal protection equipment and masks, and they will not let civilians who they suspect are supporting the democracy movement be treated in hospitals, and they’re arresting doctors who support the civil disobedience movement,” said Yanghee Lee, the U.N.’s former Myanmar human rights expert and a founding member of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar.
“With the oxygen, they have banned sales to civilians or people who are not supported by the SAC, so they’re using something that can save the people against the people,” she said. “The military is weaponizing COVID.”
Myanmar’s Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun did not respond to questions about the allegations, but with growing internal and external pressure to get the pandemic under control, the leadership has been on a public relations offensive.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC
– Ravages of COVID surge evident inside Missouri hospital
– Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 if I'm vaccinated?
– EXPLAINER: Detailing Japan's new COVID state of emergency
In the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper this week, several articles highlighted the government’s efforts, including what it called a push to resume vaccinations and increase oxygen supplies.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the military commander who heads the SAC, was cited as saying that efforts were also being made to seek support from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and unspecified “friendly countries.”
“Efforts must be made for ensuring better health of the State and the people,” he was quoted as saying.
Myanmar reported another 342 deaths Thursday, and 5,234 new infections. Its 7-day rolling average of deaths per 1 million people rose to 6.29 — more than double the rate of 3.04 in India at the peak of its crisis in May. The figures in Myanmar are thought to be a drastic undercount due to lack of testing and reporting.
“There is a big difference between the actual death toll from COVID-19 of the Military Council and reality,” a physician from the Mawlamyine General Hospital in Myanmar’s fourth-largest city told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal. “There are a lot of people in the community who have died of the disease and cannot be counted.”
Videos proliferate on social media showing apparent virus victims dead in their homes for lack of treatment and long lines of people waiting for what oxygen supplies are still available. The government denies reports that cemeteries in Yangon have been overwhelmed but announced Tuesday they were building new facilities that could cremate up to 3,000 bodies per day.
“By letting COVID-19 run out of control, the military junta is failing the Burmese people as well as the wider region and world, which can be threatened by new variants fueled by unchecked spread of the disease in places like Myanmar,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “The problem is the junta cares more about holding on to power than stopping the pandemic.”
Myanmar is one of the region’s poorest countries and already was in a vulnerable position when the military seized power, triggering a violent political struggle.
Under the civilian former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar had weathered a coronavirus surge last year by severely restricting travel and sealing off Yangon. Vaccines were secured from India and China, but Suu Kyi’s government was ousted less than a week after the first shots were given.
As civil disobedience grew after Suu Kyi’s removal, public hospitals were basically closed as doctors and other staff refused to work under the new administration, instead running makeshift clinics for which they faced arrest, if caught.
Some have returned to public hospitals, but the Mawlamyine doctor interviewed by AP said it was too dangerous.
“I could be arrested by the junta anytime if I returned to the hospital,” added the doctor, who was part of the disobedience movement and has been treating patients with supplies he has scrounged.
According to Tom Andrews, the U.N. Human Rights Council’s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, government forces have engaged in at least 260 attacks on medical personnel and facilities, killing 18. At least 67 health care professionals had been detained and another 600 are being sought.
Military hospitals kept operating after Suu Kyi’s ouster but were shunned by many people and the vaccination program slowed to a crawl before apparently fizzling out completely until this week. There are no solid figures on vaccinations, but it’s believed that about 3% of the population could have received two shots.
The rapid rise in COVID -19 illnesses is “extremely concerning, particularly with limited availability of health services and oxygen supplies,” said Joy Singhal, head of the Red Cross’ Myanmar delegation.
“There is an urgent need for greater testing, contact tracing and COVID-19 vaccinations to help curb the pandemic,” he told AP. “This latest surge is a bitter blow to millions of people in Myanmar already coping with worsening economic and social hardships.”
Earlier this week, Andrews urged the U.N. Security Council and member states to push for a “COVID cease-fire.”
“The United Nations cannot afford to be complacent while the junta ruthlessly attacks medical personnel as COVID-19 spreads unchecked,” he said. “They must act to end this violence so that doctors and nurses can provide lifesaving care and international organizations can help deliver vaccinations and related medical care.”
After a long lull in humanitarian aid, China recently began delivering vaccines. It sent 736,000 doses to Yangon this month, the first of 2 million being donated, and reportedly more than 10,000 to the Kachin Independence Army, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in a northern border area where the virus has spilled over into China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to comment directly earlier this week on the report of the delivery to the KIA, noting instead “the epidemic is a common enemy to all mankind.”
The Global New Light reported Myanmar received another 1 million doses purchased from China.
COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported as widespread in Myanmar’s prisons. On Wednesday, state-run MRTV television showed what it said were 610 prisoners from Yangon’s Insein Prison being vaccinated. The report was met with skepticism and derision on social media.
Lee said if the government is trying to use vaccines and other aid to its advantage by positioning itself as the solution to the pandemic, it’s too late.
“The people know now and it’s been too long,” she said. “COVID was not manmade but it got out of proportion because of complicity and deliberate blockage of services — there’s no going back.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma
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" Myanmar's military ruler is looking for greater cooperation with the international community to contain the coronavirus, state media reported on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country struggles with a surging wave of infections.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called in a speech for more cooperation on prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19, including with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and "friendly countries", the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with regular protests and fighting between the army and newly formed militias. Various countries including the United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on Myanmar's military rulers over the coup and the repression of pro-democracy protests in which hundreds have been killed.
The junta leader said vaccinations needed to be increased, through both donated doses and by developing domestic production, aided by Russia, the newspaper said, adding Myanmar would seek the release of funds from an ASEAN COVID-19 fund.
Myanmar recently received two million more Chinese vaccines, but it was believed to have only vaccinated about 3.2% of its population, according to a Reuters tracker. A drive to vaccinate some 40,000 inmates in densely packed prisons, which have seen major virus outbreaks recently, started on Wednesday, state-run MRTV reported.
The military has appeared wary of outside help in past disasters, forcing Myanmar's people to help each other, though a previous junta did allow in aid via ASEAN after a devastating cyclone in 2008.
There have been desperate efforts by people to find oxygen in many parts of the country. The Myanmar Now news portal, citing witnesses, reported that at least eight people died in a Yangon hospital at the weekend after a piped oxygen system failed.
A medical staff wearing a protective suit stands near an ambulance, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Yangon, Myanmar, September 27, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin/File Photo/File Photo
Reuters could not independently confirm the report and the North Okkalapa General Hospital and a health ministry spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Infections in Myanmar have surged since June, with 4,980 cases and 365 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to health ministry data cited in media. Medics and funeral services put the toll much higher.
Last week, prisoners in Yangon staged a protest over what activists said was a major COVID-19 outbreak in the colonial-era Insein jail, where many pro-democracy protesters are being held.
Vaccinations began at Insein and a prison in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday and would be extended to inmates countrywide, MRTV reported, citing the prisons department.
Efforts to tackle the outbreak have been further hampered by some of the worst flooding in years in eastern Myanmar.
Despite Min Aung Hlaing agreeing to an ASEAN peace plan reached in April, the military has shown little sign of following through on it and has instead reiterated its own, entirely different plan to restore order and democracy.
The military justified its coup by accusing Suu Kyi's party of manipulating votes in a November general election to secure a landslide victory. The electoral commission at the time and outside observers rejected the complaints.
But in a further sign of the junta's tightening grip on power, the military-appointed election commission this week officially annulled the November results, saying the vote was not in line with the constitution and electoral laws, and was not "free and fair", MRTV reported..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Since the 1 February 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has clamped down on internet use in the country. What repressive tactics did the coup regime use, and did they succeed? How can tech companies and donors respond to emerging digital cultures in post-coup Myanmar? This commentary sums up arguments made by three panellists at RightsCon 2021 on the coup regime’s use of the Internet and key areas of civil society resistance. The panel was hosted by the SecDev Foundation, a Canadian non-profit that supports digital safety research, training, and outreach in support of better digital futures for all.
‘The military knew perfectly well that the Internet is vital to their struggle for legitimacy,’ said Alex Aung Khant, a researcher and independent consultant. Alex was speaking alongside Myo Min Aung, a digital rights activist and a former programme manager of the Myanmar ICT [Information and Communication Technology] for Development Organisation (MIDO), and Saijai Liangpunsakul, a tech organizer who worked at a Yangon-based technology hub before the coup.
The three panellists gathered online on 9 June 2021 at RightsCon, an annual global conference on human rights in the digital age. They discussed the ways in which the State Administration Council (SAC, the title assumed by the military coup party), protesters, and the private sector are dealing with Myanmar’s evolving digital landscape following the 1st February coup. The panel made clear that Myanmar has developed a vibrant, post-coup digital culture that contests the SAC’s repressive tactics. However, the anti-coup movement remains constrained by knowledge gaps pertaining to the military’s surveillance capacity. The panellists also called on tech companies and donors to consider their role in maintaining citizens’ access to the internet.[1]
Digital repression and the SAC
Internet shutdowns are the best-known of the SAC’s digital repression strategies. Shortly after the coup, the military blocked access to the Internet. Thereafter, nightly internet blackouts occurred for at least seventy consecutive nights. By April 2021, the SAC had blocked all means of accessing the internet apart from those using fiber optic cable. This means that most of Myanmar’s population—who rely on less costly mobile networks and broadband connections—can no longer access the Internet. Fiber optic cables have also been working at greatly reduced speeds.
While panellists called attention to the internet shutdowns, they nuanced the narrative that the SAC had gained sudden and complete control over Myanmar’s cyberspace. For one, Myo highlighted that internet blackouts did not begin with the coup. Between June 2019 and February 2021, the NLD government imposed them in nine townships in Rakhine and Chin State amid intense armed conflict. MIDO and Phandeeyar, among other organisations, lobbied for an end to the shutdown, which only ceased a day after the coup. It was likely that the military had been ‘practising’ for the coup in Rakhine State, Myo said. In November 2020, Phyu Phyu Kyaw, an Information Controls Fellow of the Open Technology Fund, had already unveiled substantial levels of online censorship and surveillance during NLD rule. Repression strategies documented in this research prefigure numerous strategies used en masse in the post-coup period, such as the seizure of digital devices and targeted website blocks.[2]
Panellists also highlighted the substantial resources that had been poured into digital repression before the coup. Alex discussed the Tatmadaw’s investments in surveillance technologies, likely to have been imported from China, Europe, and the US. He was particularly concerned about the installation of Chinese facial recognition technologoy in public spaces, which were to be rolled out in Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Yangon between 2020 and 2021—the three cities associated with the most vibrant protests and the harshest crackdowns. Citing the aforementioned research by Phyu Phyu Kyaw, Myo also stated that the NLD government had spent USD 4.6 million on social media monitoring tools in 2017. He also stated that despite approximately USD 4 million allocated to implement a lawful interception system between 2019-2020, such a system still does not exist. Lawful interception refers to legal frameworks that delimit the extent to which governments have access to private communications between citizens, usually to solve criminal cases. In Myanmar, the absence of such safeguards gives the SAC free rein to spy on citizens without any legal repercussions. In all, there was little doubt among the panellists that the SAC’s anxieties over the Internet were practiced and premeditated.
However, Myo added that a narrow focus on Internet shutdowns diverts attention from other kinds of digital repression. At checkpoints, SAC officials check peoples’ digital devices to identify whether they pose a threat to the coup regime. ‘The first thing they check is Facebook, then [photo] galleries and Messenger,’ Myo said, ‘they search every possible kind of content. If these officials see anything offensive to the military coup, they arrest [the device’s owner].’ Youths travelling in groups through checkpoints are at particular risk of being harassed in this way, as the SAC presumes that younger people are protesters. Saijai added that phone checks conducted by the SAC are one of the key concerns of activists and journalists. ‘This technique has created fear among the people,’ she said—not only among high-level protesters, but also for regular civilians who are concerned that their phones may incriminate them.
Is the SAC’s digital repression complete?
The panellists concurred that digital repression in Myanmar was incomplete, highlighting two challenges that the military faces in imposing complete controls over the internet. Firstly, the SAC is caught in what Stephen Feldstein calls the “dictator’s digital dilemma”: an authoritarian regime’s trade-off between the gains derived from repression and a loss of benefits they accrue from free access to the Internet. Alex pointed out that contrary to popular belief, the internet was not shut down in the early hours of 1 February, while the putsch was taking place, as the military used the internet to coordinate between coup-makers. The internet was only cut at about 7.30 am to stem immediate public outcry. The nightly internet blackouts instituted from 6 February, between approximately 1 am and 9 am, were also a response to the SAC’s digital dilemma. According to Alex, these too were a result of the junta’s struggle to maintain a business-friendly image, by allowing businesses to use the internet during regular working hours, while pursuing a countervailing desire to propagate fear, terrorize civilians, and disrupt protest coordination at night.
In addition, military operations require the internet. A blanket internet shutdown would make it impossible for troops to communicate, and would hamper the morale of foot soldiers. ‘We’ve all seen soldiers taking rest, on their phones, going through TikTok videos,’ Alex said. These videos are not innocuous: photos and death threats posted on social media have allowed the military to spread a culture of impunity within its ranks. The SAC’s economic interests and legitimacy among its troops depends on some measure of access to the internet, making a complete shutdown unlikely.
The question is whether the SAC can implement sophisticated controls which maximize forms of internet usage that serve business and military interests, while minimizing the internet’s capacity for engendering resistance. The panellists pointed out a second challenge that the SAC faces: namely, that it currently lacks the means to formulate an overarching surveillance strategy. According to Myo, even though a full picture of the military’s surveillance capacities remains unavailable, ‘one thing is for sure: [the SAC] are very keen to buy hardware and to install software. But the team’s capacity to direct and utilize those resources is very questionable… They lack a strategy.’ Myo implied that the SAC appears to be throwing money at the problem, rather than coming up with a forward-thinking strategy. As a result, they consistently underestimate the population’s adaptability and resilience.
The SAC’s lack of overarching strategy is evident in the scattershot manner in which it has implemented digital repression in the five months since the coup. First, they blocked all internet access at specific times. Then, they brought the internet back online while blacklisting specific websites, most notably Facebook and Twitter. More recently, since May 2021 the military has shifted to a “whitelisting” strategy, enabling access to specific apps such as Zoom, LinkedIn, and various mobile banking applications, via mobile data. Other forms of internet use still require fibre connection, while the aforementioned blacklisted websites, like Facebook and Twitter, remain inaccessible without a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This ‘whitelisting’ of apps for mobile data usage is likely being practiced in the hopes of staving off an impending economic crisis. However, more crude tactics are still at work. During the National Unity Government’s first press conference on 4 June 2021, the SAC blocked internet access throughout the country. Myo expressed the need to better understand these haphazard tactics and the anti-coup movement’s hopes of circumventing them: ‘this is an area for us, activists and revolutionaries, to study more.’
An anti-coup digital culture
In Myo’s words, ‘to answer the question: did the military succeed? I would say no.’ This is partly due to the SAC’s inability to navigate Feldstein’s “dictator’s digital dilemma”, but it can also be attributed to civilians’ ability to circumvent repression. In the face of repression, internet users across Myanmar have developed a thriving anti-coup digital culture through which they experiment with new protest tactics, engender community, and keep one another safe.
The creativity of Myanmar’s protesters has been widely remarked, and extends into the digital realm. Saijai provided three observations on this matter. Firstly, civilians use the Internet to keep safe and to circumvent blocks. For instance, civilians shifted to Signal, which allows for end-to-end encrypted communications, amid rising fears of surveillance. Secondly, civilians have formulated protest tactics based on the unique capacities of various apps. Saijai showed that Twitter has become particularly significant during the coup because its interface allows protesters to communicate effectively with the outside world. Amid the closure of media outlets, civilians use Twitter to obtain news—both from formal outlets and from each other. Trending hashtags, such as #whatshappeninginmyanmar, are testament to the groundswell of anti-coup sentiment in Myanmar. Protesters also use Twitter to tag specific, well-known journalists, thereby using Twitter to ‘gather international attention to Myanmar.’ Protesters thus use both the one-to-one and many-to-many communicative functions of Twitter to great effect. Thirdly, Saijai discussed how protesters were supporting one another through the internet. Protesters have used OpenStreetMap to track the location of police forces in big cities, while the app Way Way Nay provides users with a list of military-linked individuals and businesses, making boycotts easy and accessible. Their use of these apps shows how online engagements feed into the offline activities of protesters. They also show how protesters foment community online, amidst brutal offline crackdowns. ‘I see young people translating frustration and anger into innovation,’ Saijai said, ‘it touches my heart to see them supporting each other.’
Widespread smartphone ownership in big cities also allows citizens to assist journalists in a hostile media landscape, in which journalists—working for both local and foreign media outlets—face arrest, torture, and detention. Citizens take photos and videos of crackdowns, which are then uploaded and shared on social media. Alex explained that this has shifted journalists’ relationships with media users. Since journalists face immense risks when identifying themselves in public, they increasingly rely on information provided by civilians, rather than the other way around. On their part, civilians have adapted quickly. The videos that civilians provide to journalists are generally clearer than what they provided in the early days after the coup, and are accompanied by information that journalists need, such as dates, times, and locations. That said, these videos—while important—expose citizens to several risks. For instance, videos of protests could provoke crackdowns in particular areas, when videos include geotags and place-specific imagery. Such risks make clear that knowledge of digital safety is paramount in post-coup Myanmar.
The Internet is a conduit for another form of post-coup resistance: leaked documents. Alex used Total, the French oil and gas company, as an example of the potency of this tactic. In early May, the activist group Justice for Myanmar used leaked financial reports to show how Total has profiteered from its links with the military. Under pressure, Total has since suspended cash dividends to the junta. In Alex’s words, ‘this is information that we would not have without people being willing to leak it, securely and anonymously, through social media.’ Alex also called on international listeners to leave behind presumptions of a free (if privatized) media sector, which are based on the experiences of Western democracies. In Myanmar, where citizens cannot expect to access critical information from the mainstream media, the need for citizens to document ongoing events cannot be underestimated.
Finally, civilians have managed to remain online in spite of the SAC’s haphazard internet blocks. VPNs, for instance, have been used to access Facebook and other banned websites since the first week of the coup, while mesh networks have been used to communicate at shorter distances. Days after the coup, digital rights activists were advocating the use of the app Bridgefy, a mesh-messenger that relies on short-range Bluetooth technology rather than mobile data. The success of civilians efforts at staying online, Alex maintained, was evident in the themed protests held across the country from February to April, during which street protesters demonstrated their solidarity through coordinated tactics and symbols. These included watermelons, Easter eggs, and shoes. Such extensive coordination would not have been possible without civilians staying online. Myo also highlighted the widespread use of burner phones and the Android app Second Space to hide all or part of one’s digital engagements during home raids or at military checkpoints. Moreover, activists are exploring more imaginative solutions to internet restrictions. ‘I think StarLink will be the best alternative,’ Myo said, referring to the satellite internet system pioneered by SpaceX. There has already been a Twitter campaign pushing the provision of StarLink to Myanmar’s civilians.
For Myo, who has been working in this space for a decade, a silver lining amid the present crisis has been civilians’ heightened and pervasive awareness of digital safety. For years, the rate of smartphone penetration in Myanmar outpaced the population’s digital literacy. ‘After the coup,’ he said, digital safety ‘became a survival skill. If you don’t know about digital safety, you can’t go out.’ That said, all panellists warned against romanticizing the protests. As Alex put it, in Myanmar, ‘digital literacy is borne out of necessity, not just innovation.’ Furthermore, Myo highlighted that more knowledge about the SAC’s surveillance capacity is necessary for protesters to formulate more permanent means of staying online. Only then will this anti-coup digital culture prevail.
What can Big Tech and donors do?
While references to the international community tend to focus on state governments and international bodies, the panellists emphasised that the private sector can play a significant role in shifting Myanmar’s political trajectory. ‘We have to keep in mind that tech companies are almost as large, if not larger, than actual governments,’ said Alex ‘so accountability for these businesses should be on the same level as governments. We have seen how staying neutral is effectively giving way to the evils conducted by the military.’
Some tech companies have founders who have travelled to Myanmar. In 2018, when Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey went to Myanmar for a meditation retreat, he was criticised on his own platform for glossing over the role of social media in stoking anti-Rohingya sentiment. Twitter continues to be largely silent about the coup, while TikTok struggles to manage the flow of military propaganda on the platform. ‘When times were good, we were loyal customers, and everyone was happy about it,’ Alex said. ‘Myanmar supported these businesses, we were on these platforms; they made lots of profit, and they had a foothold in Myanmar, without knowing, or caring much, that it was a digitally vulnerable country. Now that things are the other way around, we need [these platforms] on our side. So the question is: where will they stand?’
Facebook, Myanmar’s social media stalwart, is in a more complex position than other social media giants. Although observers sounded the alarm on anti-Rohingya sentiment on Facebook in 2013, they were not taken seriously. By early 2015, Facebook had seven million Burmese users, but only two Burmese-speaking content moderators. Facebook’s automated systems for detecting dangerous content did not work with the Burmese language. The needle only began to move in 2018, after 700,000 Rohingya had fled Rakhine State, when a UN fact-finding mission reported that Facebook was ‘a useful instrument for seeking to spread hate.’ Min Aung Hlaing, now the leader of the SAC, was removed from Facebook thereafter, the first time Facebook banned a country’s military or political leader. Saijai and Myo were cautiously optimistic that Facebook had learned from its mistakes. Saijai spoke positively of three approaches taken by Facebook: taking down posts advocating military violence; barring Facebook accounts associated with military personnel and military-owned businesses; and creating a new “locked profile” feature that prevents non-friends from accessing one’s posts and photos. Myo was likewise glad that Facebook had been consulting with digital rights organisations in the country.
However, a week after the panel, Global Witness released a report showing how Facebook’s algorithms continue to amplify harmful content in Myanmar. Global Witness documented the extreme ease by which Facebook users can access content that conveys support for Myanmar’s junta and death threats against protesters, some of whose names and photographs circulate on the site. This content violates the community standards that Facebook professes to uphold. Such complexities speak to how difficult it is for anyone, including those in the digital rights sector and Facebook itself, to obtain a comprehensive picture of the platform’s impact on society. It is entirely possible that despite the targeted strategies highlighted by Saijai and Myo, Facebook remains betrayed by its own algorithm. Moreover, the panel did not have time to consider the relationship between ethnic conflict and Facebook, which is beset by even more complexities. There is a dearth of information in this respect, too. Many pre-coup observers zeroed in on the Rohingya crisis, overlooking how social media and the internet affect other embattled ethnic groups. Therefore, Alex’s point to consider how tech leaders can redress massive power inequalities between themselves and their clientele remains salient. Tech companies should take their role in perpetuating power inequalities seriously, and ensure that they can listen to their users. Some first steps could be to hire sufficient staff conversant in Myanmar’s numerous ethnic languages and to engage with digital rights groups across the country.
Finally, Saijai called for donors not to be let off the hook. The preceding discussion has shown how Myanmar’s anti-coup digital culture has not evolved in isolation; rather, it has responded to the coup regime’s control of print media, its desire to remain “open for business”, and the tenacity of Myanmar’s protesters. Similarly, the endurance of an anti-coup digital culture depends on the extent to which people remain healthy and retain their livelihoods outside of the virtual realm. For instance, people’s access to alternatives to the SAC’s education system, such as the newly developed Virtual Federal University and the Spring University Myanmar, depend on their ability to pay for smartphones and VPNs. The panellists also foregrounded the need to plug existing knowledge gaps. They called for donors to fund investigations into the state’s surveillance capacity and the role that tech companies play in Myanmar’s post-coup society and economy.
Donors should adapt, not leave, and remain flexible in response to the changing political situation, including difficulties in obtaining cash. ‘There are many organisations on the ground doing good work,’ said Saijai. The question is whether these organisations can remain connected to one another and to the people reaching out to them.
[1] All three panellists consent to being named in this piece.
[2] Phyu Phyu Kyaw’s analysis of blocked websites is based on research done by the Open Observatory of Network Interference..."
Source/publisher:
Tea Circle (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"The MIMU 3W gathers inputs from participating humanitarian and development agencies on Who is doing What,
Where, across Myanmar. It is normally conducted every 6 months and provides information on agencies’ activities at various levels (village/village tract/township and IDP camps). Given the changing situation, there has been a 9 month gap since the last 3W round documenting agencies activities as of August 28th 2020.
In total, 159 agencies participated in the May 2021 3W, providing information on their humanitarian, development and peace-focused activities across 22 sectors and 157 sub-sectors as defined by technical/sector working groups. 3W reporting tends to be more comprehensive for projects of INGOs, UN and Red Cross agencies, but there is underreporting of activities for local NGOs and CBOs, since not all are participating. 54 less agencies reported in this May 2021 round than in the last MIMU 3W in August 2020, possibly due to the pressures of the COVID pandemic and/or uncertainty re the situation for agencies’ activities countrywide. Note that agencies must report to a sufficiently detailed level (village or camp level) for their work to be reflected fully in the MIMU 3W products.
This Overview covers projects under implementation reported to the MIMU 3W as of May 31, 2021 in Bago (East),
Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Shan (East), Shan (South) and Tanintharyi. Further information on planned and recently completed projects is available from the 3W dataset, which can be requested by 3W Partners. Projects under implementation can also be viewed on our interactive dashboards - 3W Township Dashboard and 3W Village Tract Dashboard..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Public Health, Human Rights and international relations
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Format :
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Sub-title:
ပြည်တွင်း၊ ပြည်ပ ဒေသအသီးသီးမှ ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများမှ မြန်မာ့အရေးအတွက် ပိုမိုထိရောက်သော နိုင်ငံတကာအရေးယူမှုများ နှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ ချက်ခြင်းအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန် တောင်းဆိုချက် (မြန်မာဘာသာပြန်)
Description:
"We, the undersigned Student Unions from all across Burma and in the diaspora, release this
statement to call for immediate and strong action by the international community in their fight
against the military junta and the COV ID-19 pandemic.
Students and student unions have historically been at the forefront of the struggle against
illegitimate rule and oppression in Burma - from Burma’s independence movement, to the 1962
protests against Ne Win’s coup d'etat, the U Thant funeral uprising, the 1988 uprising, the 1996
protests, and 2007 Saffron revolution, to today's Spring Revolution, thousands of students have
given their lives for the country’s freedom. As we write this statement, many of our fellow student
leaders remain in jail, some facing extreme torture in the interrogation centers.
Since the illegal military coup on Feb 1, Burma has been in deep political turmoil. As the military
cracked down on peaceful demonstrations, over 920 people have been killed nationwide, with
thousands detained and tortured. Additionally, hundreds of thousands in the ethnic areas have
been displaced due to artillery attacks and air strikes.
To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the crisis, affecting millions that
are already vulnerable from the violence of the coup. Hundreds, potentially thousands, of people
are dying every day as the virus ravages the country. Meanwhile, the junta - in addition to
upending the pandemic control efforts and vaccine rollout plans by the previous civilian
government - has been cutting off critical lifesaving resources for the people. It has militarized
hospitals and healthcare facilities and continues to threaten, arrest, and kill frontline doctors and
nurses, making it impossible for the healthcare sector to function adequately. The junta is also
shutting down oxygen plants and hoarding oxygen for their own use, while the civilians face an
oxygen shortage, failing to save their loved ones.
The brutality of the Burmese military is outrageous and beyond comparison. Yet, for far too long,
the international community has allowed them to enjoy impunity, even as they continue to commit
mass atrocities against their own people. Many statements of "deep concern" released from
various international entities not only are unsupportive but even undermine our struggles that
many of our friends have sacrificed their lives for.
For decades, the people of Burma have been conveying their message loud and clear that the
military has no support in the country. We have written our revolution with blood and bones that
the military can never, ever rule us. It is about time the international community must start
listening.
Hence, we, the undersigned Student Unions, urge for immediate and strong international action
and demand the following:
• Impose a global arms embargo on the military junta since restricting arms flows to the
military is critical in ending their impunity.
• Recognize and support the National Unity Government (NUG), including keeping
Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun as the legitimate representative of Myanmar at the UN
General Assembly in September.
• Immediately dispatch humanitarian aid and COV ID-19 relief to Myanmar, channelled
through cross-border mechanisms, international organisations, local CSOs, the NUG, and
the Ethnic Health Organisations.
• Pressure the ASEAN and neighbouring countries to take similar steps instead of relying
on them to take actions on their own against the junta; ASEAN's five-point consensus has
proven to be weak and futile, and thus, the larger international community needs to step
up with stronger, more vigorous measures.
• Sanction the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to deplete the military of a sizable portion
of its revenues, which the military has allegedly been using to procure arms and military
equipment.....ပြည်တွင်း၊ ပြည်ပ ဒေသအသီးသီးမှ ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများမှ မြန်မာ့အရေးအတွက် ပိုမိုထိရောက်သော နိုင်ငံတကာအရေးယူမှုများ နှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ ချက်ခြင်းအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန် တောင်းဆိုချက် (မြန်မာဘာသာပြန်)
နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းမှ လက်ရှိ မိမိတို့မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင်း အာဏာရှင်စနစ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှုများနှင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါအခြေနေများအားစပ်လျဉ်း၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင်အား ပိုမိုပြင်းထန်ထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများကို ထပ်တိုးဆောင်ရွက်ပေးပါရန် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတဝန်းမှ ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများ နှင့် ပြည်ပရောက် မြန်မာကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများ စုပေါင်း၍ ဤသဘောထားကြေငြာချက်အား ထုတ်ပြန်တောင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။
ကျောင်းသားများ၊ ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများသည် မတရားအုပ်ချုပ်မှု၊ ဖိနှိပ်မှုများကို ဆန့်ကျင်ပုန်ကုန်သည့် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တော်လှန်ရေးများကို ရှေ့ဆုံးမှဦးဆောင်လှုပ်ရှားခဲ့ကြသော သမိုင်းအစဉ်အလာကြီးမားသည့် တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများဖြစ်ကြသည်။ မြန်မာ့လွတ်လပ်ရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှုမှ အစပြု၍ ဦးနေဝင်းအာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ၁၉၆၂ ဆန္ဒပြပွဲများ၊ ဦးသန့်အရေးအခင်း၊ ရှစ်လေးလုံးအရေးတော်ပုံ၊ ၁၉၉၆ ဆန္ဒပြပွဲများ၊ ၂၀၀၇ ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး တို့အပြင် ယနေ့ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးအထိတိုင် ထောင်ပေါင်းများစွားသော ကျောင်းသားအာဇာနည်တို့သည် တော်လှန်ရေးအတွက် ၎င်းတို့၏ အသက်၊ သွေး၊ ချွေးတို့အားပေးဆပ်ခဲ့ပြီးကြပြီဖြစ်သည်။ ယခု ဤသဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်အားထုတ်ပြန်သည့်အချိန်တွင် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ ရဲဘော်ရဲဘက် ကျောင်းသားခေါင်းဆောင်အချို့မှာ အကျဉ်းထောင်အသီးသီးတွင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံထားရပြီး၊ အချို့မှာ စစ်ကြောရေးစခန်းများတွင် လူမဆန်စွာ ရက်ရက်စက်စက် နှိပ်စက်မေးမြန်းခံနေရသည့် အခြေအနေရှိသည်။
စစ်အကြမ်းဖက်အုပ်စုက ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရထံမှ မတရားအာဏာသိမ်းခဲ့သည့် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၁ ရက်နေ့မှစ၍ မိမိတို့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် နိုင်ငံရေးမတည်ငြိမ်မှုများကို ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့နေရသည်။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြမှုများကို စစ်အုပ်စုမှ မတရားအကြမ်းဖက်ဖြိုခွင်းမှုများကြောင့် အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူပေါင်း ၉၂၀ ကျော် သေဆုံးခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်ပြီး လူပေါင်းထောင်ချီ ဖမ်းဆီးအကျဉ်းချခံထားရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လက်နက်ကြီးပစ်ခတ်မှု၊ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှု စသည်တို့ကြောင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသများတွင်လည်း စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ပေါင်းသောင်းချီ၍ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေရသည်။
ယခုကဲ့သို့ စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မတရားအကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကြောင့် ထိခိုက်ဆုံးရှံးမှုများစွာရင်ဆိုင်နေရပြီးဖြစ်သော သန်းပေါင်းများစွာသော ပြည်သူလူထုကို ကိုဗစ်ကပ်ရောဂါသည် ဆင်းရဲဒုက္ခတွင်းထဲသို့ ဆတိုးတွန်းပို့နေသည်။ နိုင်ငံတွင်းတွင် နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ ကိုဗစ်ကပ်ရောဂါကြောင့် ရာထောင်ချီသေဆုံးမှုများရှိနေသည်။ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် ယခင်ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရ၏ ကိုဗစ်ကာကွယ်ဆေးဖြန့်ဝေရေးအစီအစဉ်များကို ပျက်စီးစေယုံမျှမက လက်ရှိအခြေအနေတွင် ပြည်သူလူထုအရေးတကြိးလိုအပ်သော အသက်ကယ်ဆယ်ရေးအရင်းအမြစ်များကို လိုက်လံဖြတ်တောက်နေသည်။ ဆေးရုံ၊ ဆေးခန်းများအား စစ်သားများမှဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်းထားခြင်း၊ ဆရာဝန်များ နှင့် ကျန်မားရေးဝန်ထမ်းများအား ပစ်မှတ်ထားခြိမ်းခြောက်ခြင်း၊ ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်း၊ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းတို့ကို လုပ်ဆောင်နေကြသည့်အတွက် ကျန်းမာရေးကဏ္ဍသည် ပြိုလဲပြီးအခြေအနေတစ်ရပ်တွင် ရှိနေသည်။ ထို့အပြင် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်သည် အောက်စီဂျင်စက်ရုံများ နှင့် အောက်စီဂျင်ဆိုင်ရာထောက်ပံ့ရေးပစ္စည်းများကို ပြည်သူများ မရရှိနိုင်စေရန် ပိတ်ပင်တားဆီးမှုများပြုလုပ်နေပြီး စစ်တပ်နှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအတွက်သာ အောက်စီဂျင်သိုလှောင်မှုများပြုလုပ်နေသည့်အတွက် ပြည်သူများစွာ အချိန်မသင့်ပဲ သေဆုံးနေကြရသည်။
မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများသည် တုနှိုင်းစရာမရှိလောက်အောင်ကို လွန်စွာအကျည်းတန်လွန်းလှသည်။ သို့ပါလျက် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းသည် ပြည်သူလူထုအား အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် တိုက်ခိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်နေခဲ့သည့် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အား ထိရောက်သည့်အရေးယူမှုများ မပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့်အတွက် လက်ရှိအခြေအနေတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ဘေးမဲ့ရထားသည့်အလား ထင်တိုင်းရမ်းကားနေခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ လွန်စွာမှ စိုးရိမ်ပါကြောင်းဖော်ပြထားသည့် သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်များသည် ထိရောက်သည့်အကူအညီမဖြစ်လာသည့်အပြင် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ သွေးချင်းသူငယ်ချင်းများ အသက်ပေးပုန်ကန်နေသည့် တော်လှန်ရေးကို လျှော့တွေးသဟန်ဖြစ်နေသည်။
စစ်အုပ်စုအား နိုင်ငံတွင်း ထောက်ခံမှုမရှိကြောင်း မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ ပြတ်ပြတ်သားသား အသိပေးကြွေးကြော်ခဲ့ပြီးဖြစ်သည်။ စစ်အုပ်စုလုံးဝအုပ်ချုပ်၍မရစေရကြောင်း ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ သွေး၊ချွေးတို့ဖြင့် တော်လှန်ရေးအတွင်း ရေးသားထားပြီးဖြစ်သည်။ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းအနေဖြင့် မြန်မာလူထု၏အသံအား နားထောင်လုပ်ဆောင်ချိန်တန်ပြီလည်းဖြစ်သည်။
သို့ပါ၍ ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပ ဒေသအသီးသီးရှိ လက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးထားသော ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများသည် မြန်မာ့အရေးအတွက် ပိုမိုထိရောက်သော နိုင်ငံတကာအရေးယူမှုများ နှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများ ချက်ချင်းအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန် အောက်ဖော်ပြပါအချက်များကို တောင်းဆိုလိုက်ပါသည်။
-အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကိုရပ်တန့်ရန်ဆောင်ရွက်ရာတွင် ၎င်းတို့ထံသို့ လက်နက်စီးဆင်းမှုများကို ဖြတ်တောက်နိုင်ရေးသည် ပဓာနကျသည့်အလျောက် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အပေါ်တွင် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာမှ လက်နက်ပိတ်ဆို့မှုဝါဒ ချမှတ်ပေးရန်။
-အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရကို တရားဝင်အစိုးရတစ်ရပ်အဖြစ်အသိအမှတ်ပြုပြီး ပံ့ပိုးမှုများဆောင်ရွက်ရန်။ စက်တင်ဘာလတွင်ကျင်းပမည့် ကမ္ဘာ့ကုလသမဂ္ဂအထွေထွေညီလာခံ၌ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာသံအမတ်ကြီးနေရာတွင် သံအမတ်ကြီး ဦးကျော်မိုးထွန်းကို ဆက်လက်ခန့်ထားရန်။
-လူသားချင်းစာနာမှုအထောက်အပံ့များနှင့် ကိုဗစ်ကပ်ရောဂါဆိုင်ရာ ကယ်ဆယ်ရေးအကူအညီများကို နယ်စပ်ဒေသယန္တရားများ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ ဒေသခံ အရပ်ဘက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသကျန်းမာရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများမှ တစ်ဆင့် ချက်ချင်းအမြန်ဆုံး ဖြန့်ချိပေးရန်။
-အာဆီယံနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများအား မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အပေါ်တွင် ထိရောက်သောအရေးယူမှုများပြုလုပ်ရေး ဖိအားပေးမှုများပြုလုပ်ရန်။ အာဆီယံ၏ ငါးချက်သဘာတူညီမှုသည် အားနည်းပြီး အချည်းနှီးသာဖြစ်ကြောင်း ပြသပြီးဖြစ်သည့်အတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းအနေဖြင့် အာဆီယံကိုသာအားကိုးမနေပဲ ရှေ့တိုး၍ ပိုမိုပြင်းထန်ထိရောက်သော လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်များကို ဦးဆောင်ချမှတ်ရန်။
-မြန်မာစစ်တပ်၏ လက်နက်ဝယ်ရာတွင်သုံးစွဲနေသော ဝင်ငွေအရင်းအမြစ်အား ကန့်သတ်ရန်အတွက် မြန်မာ့ရေနံနှင့် သဘာဝဓါတ်ငွေ့လုပ်ငန်းအား စီးပွားရေးပိတ်ဆို့မှုစာရင်းသွင်းရန်။
ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပကျောင်းသားမဂ္ဂအဖွဲ့များ (၁၇၈) ဖွဲ့မှ ပူးပေါင်းထုတ်ပြန်သည်။
(ပူးပေါင်းထုတ်ပြန်သောအဖွဲ့အစည်းများစာရင်းအား English Version တွင်ကြည့်ရှုပေးပါရန်)..."
Source/publisher:
Student Union Representatives Committee - SURC
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
136.52 KB (7 pages)
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Description:
"In response to the ongoing rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar, the European Commission has mobilised €2 million in emergency assistance to actions helping to fight the pandemic in the country.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “The EU stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar in this difficult time. With this funding, given the challenges of a fragile health system in the country, the EU will be helping in providing treatment to COVID-19 cases. The people of Myanmar continue to suffer from the rampant violence since the takeover by the military junta and it is of great concern that the medical sector is increasingly being targeted. The EU strongly condemns these attacks and calls for the protection of medical workers in respect of International Humanitarian Law. Medical workers are putting their life on the line to save people - they should be able to carry out their work in safety and the humanitarian access to medical facilities should be guaranteed.”
The funding, allocated to trusted and independent humanitarian organisations, will help to support:
the procurement and use of medicines for COVID-19 treatment, oxygen and related equipment, personal protective equipment and provide technical medical support
emergency healthcare, first aid and water, sanitation and hygiene related activities in response to the latest COVID-19 wave
home-based clinical management and stabilisation through tele-medicine and care corners.
The EU continues to support vulnerable people in Myanmar. In addition to the funding announced today, in 2021, the European Union allocated €20.5 million in humanitarian aid to address the immediate needs of displaced and conflict-affected communities in Myanmar.
Background
Myanmar is currently reporting its largest number of coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. The majority of public hospitals and testing centres in the country are not functioning at full capacity, leaving the country with limited capacity to detect and respond to a new wave of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 situation is exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation that has arisen since the military coup d’état of February 2021, which has resulted in the killing of 931 people by the junta, and the displacement of 206,400 people.
The European Commission has been active in Myanmar since 1994. It has funded emergency relief programmes to assist victims of both conflict and natural hazards, with total funding of over €287 million.
Since 2013, we have provided €8.65 million for emergency education to conflict-affected children, including €2 million in 2021.
All EU humanitarian funding is provided in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and is channeled directly through NGOs, UN Agencies, and the Red Cross..."
Source/publisher:
European Commission (Brussels)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Executive Summary: This study shows that many LGBTIQ persons are subject to violations of human rights set forth in Universal Declaration of Human Rights – mainly “freedom from discriminations”, “freedom from torture and degrading treatments”, “right to recognition as a person before the law”, “right to equality before the law”, “freedom from arbitrary arrest and exile”, “right to marriage and family”, “freedom of belief and religion”, “right to desirable work”, “right to education” and “right to participate in the cultural life of the community”.
Despite domestic legal frameworks enacted to implement international human rights conventions such as CEDAW and CRC, many LGBTIQ persons in Myanmar also do not enjoy the rights enshrined in those conventions including those mentioned under other international human rights law such as ICCPR and ICESCR.
Homophobia and transphobia are deeply rooted and are often followed by a range of physical, emotional, sexual violence and economic abuses against LGBTIQ youths. An online survey conducted by LGBTIQ organizations showed that the rate of domestic violence and family violence exponentially escalated during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Transgender and gender-queer persons are also discriminated against and mistreated in public and private services and functions.
In the economic sector, many LGBTIQ people are not granted equal rights, opportunities, or remuneration like any other employees. LGBTIQ people are verbally, physically and sexually assaulted by their supervisors and fellow colleagues, and their employment institutions fail to defend their rights. In the education sector and learning institutions, LGBTIQ students are oppressed, bullied, excluded, or neglected by their fellow students and learners – mainly based on the grounds of their SOGIESC. These acts can include physical and psychological violence, verbal abuse and sometimes, sexual harassment and exploitation. These practices have negative impacts on their physical and psychological well-being and social lives.
In the healthcare sector, LGBTIQ individuals, especially transgender persons and LGBTIQ people living with HIV who are stigmatized and assumed as “spreaders of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.” They are mistreated especially by the caregivers – doctors, nurses and aides and other staff – in healthcare/medical institutions or facilities such as private, public, or governmental hospitals and clinics. Furthermore, LGBTIQ people living with HIV do not have sufficient access to clinics and physicians and HIV medications in rural and remote areas.
Clergypersons and other religious community members exhibit behaviours of rejection against LGBTIQ people, especially trans people in their religious activities and even on religious grounds in some cases. Some are treated as inferior sub-humans or are forced to conform to cisgender norms. In some other cases, discrimination in the religion or belief sector is associated with “conversion therapy” that aims to cure homosexuality or bisexuality to return to the state of heterosexuality.
The dimension of lobbying activities of LGBTIQ organizations in Myanmar primarily diverges on legal reforms and implementation; leading the advocacy for the amendment of section 377 of the Penal Code, along with other LGBTIQ organizations across the country. Some organisations would engage directly with international human rights mechanisms. These include submission of shadow reports to UNHRC’s UPR mechanism, submission of thematic reports to CEDAW committee, and collaboration with UN agencies in Myanmar – such as UNICEF, UN Women and UNDP – to support LGBTIQ-related data and information.
Myanmar’s major emerging LGBTIQ organizations are established on a voluntary basis and informal settings. Despite that the needs required to form a stronger alliance have been identified, varying capacities and experiences of LGBTIQ organizations remain a barrier to form stronger alliances.
Respondents from the research also firmly believe that the National Youth Policy, which has defined “LGBTIQ youth” as “groups to be prioritized”, is a beacon that will lead to more government accountability and public awareness on sexually diverse minorities. The increased popularity of LGBTIQ social media influencers, celebrities and icons have opened the eyes of the public on sexual orientation and gender identity. Respondents also mentioned that increased tolerance and acceptance of the general public on LGBTIQ people in urban populations would create more flexibility to advocate for LGBTIQ rights in the future..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, UN (CEDAW) documents on discrimination against women, Women's rights
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Size:
5.64 MB 5.2 MB
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Sub-title:
Tom Andrews urges the junta to stop attacking healthcare workers during a COVID-19 outbreak.
Description:
"Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, recently warned that a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during a third wave of the coronavirus coupled with the public mistrust of the junta following its Feb. 1 coup d’état had created “a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar.”
In an interview with RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday, he said the crisis will not end until the junta ends its attacks on healthcare professionals, and he called on the international community to exert more pressure on the military. He said there has been an “exponential increase” in cases of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation since the latest outbreak began in May.
RFA: What is your opinion of the situation in Myanmar right now?
Andrews: There's very, very deep concern within the United Nations about conditions in Myanmar. Needless to say, there's been an explosion of COVID cases. We're still unclear exactly what the count is of people that have been infected or people who have succumbed to the disease, but we know that there has been a significant increase, almost an exponential increase in the number of cases. And so, it is a very dangerous situation and we're very deeply concerned about what's going on in Myanmar right now.
RFA: Are you positive that the junta will allow the U.N. and international NGOs to come in and provide assistance in Myanmar?
Andrews: Well, that's the key question right now. I mean obviously, the junta will play the most decisive role in terms of stopping, of preventing, the care, the support and the help that the people of Myanmar desperately need. I mean let's face it, the best thing that could possibly happen would be for [junta chief] Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and the military junta to stand down for a civilian government, a legitimate government to be immediately reinstated so that this emergency response to this crisis could go on.
Since the coup, all of that [prevention and vaccine roll out by the civilian government] has collapsed. We know that the healthcare system as a whole has collapsed since the coup. So that's been just simply a disaster. That's the only way to put it.
Short of stepping down, the next step would be for the junta to at least agree to stop attacking doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. These attacks continue as I speak. And the fact is, you can't attack COVID-19 and attack doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. All hands have to be on deck, and as long as the junta continues this extraordinarily destructive path, then there's really not going to be the kind of help and support for the people of Myanmar that the people of Myanmar desperately need and deserve.
So, I think what has to happen, frankly, is for those interlocutors or potential interlocutors who have the ear of the junta, those who have a direct interest in stopping COVID to speak with the junta and appeal to them to at least take the minimal steps that would be required to stop this disaster from getting any worse. And the first step of that, of course, is to stop attacking those who are providing health care or could be providing health care to the people of Myanmar in their hour of desperate need.
Pressure needed
RFA: You are calling for an emergency coalition for Myanmar from the United Nations with U.N. member states, so how far does that go? What kind of action can we expect from that coalition in the near future?
Andrews: Well, an emergency coalition is, I think, important. I continue to call for it and encourage countries to consider it. There are two major areas that I think it could have a significant impact on. One, of course, is in confronting this healthcare crisis—nations coming together in a very coordinated and focused way to provide for the extraordinary needs that exist right now within Myanmar and working together to try to create the conditions necessary for that aid to get through.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his generals are not going to end this horrible reign of terror because they wake up one day and realize they've made a terrible mistake. They're only going to do this when there is the requisite pressure, when they feel that there is no alternative but to stand down. And that is exactly what we have to focus on.
The suffering that the people of Myanmar are suffering through, it's hard to imagine. The hopelessness that's being felt. I've spoken to people in the country. I know that there are people who are losing their families. I understand just the horrific conditions that are being confronted by the people of Myanmar and I'm so deeply, deeply sorry for what is happening to you. And I'm just so amazed at the courage and the tenacity of the people of Myanmar, dealing with this crisis and standing up as best as they can against this military junta.
The international response to this crisis is painfully slow. And I want you to know that that there are those of us who are working very, very hard and focusing as much energy and attention as possible to move the international community forward as directly and as powerfully as possible. So please know that we are with you, that we will continue to work with you and that this crisis that you are facing, you are not facing it alone. And I fully understand the suffering and the frustration that is being felt by the people of Myanmar. And I'm sorry that it is taking as long as it's taking, but we will persevere..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
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Description:
"Melbourne swimmer Win Htet Oo says pulling out was an ‘easy decision to make’ and a small price to pay
Kieran Pender in Tokyo
Sat 24 Jul 2021 16.00 EDT
There are almost 1,000 athletes here for the swimming competition, which began on Saturday. Win Htet Oo is not among them. Having qualified for the 50m freestyle, Oo was ready to make his Olympic debut as Myanmar’s lone swimmer. No longer.
Oo is absent, in lockdown 8,000 kilometres away in Melbourne, after the military seized power in a coup in February. With the junta committing human rights atrocities and dismantling civilian governance – and the Myanmar Olympic Committee (MOC) among those government structures expected to fall in line – Oo felt he could not represent his nation’s flag.
“After the February coup I knew I couldn’t go to the Olympic Games,” he says. “It was a very easy decision to make, even after training for two decades for the chance to go to the Olympics.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to attend, if [the MOC] was being controlled by the military.”
Oo says this so plainly, almost nonchalantly, that it is hard to imagine the internal turmoil it must have caused him. Because of his principled stance, the 27-year-old will probably never make it to an Olympics. But for Oo, that is a small price to pay to resist the military regime.
“This is a military government accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. They are now the ones controlling the MOC,” he says. “That should be grounds for expulsion from the Olympic movement.”
Born and brought up abroad – he went to college in the US – Oo had always dreamed of representing Myanmar at the Olympics. Competing under its flag for the first time on home soil in 2013, at the Southeast Asian Games, was a proud moment. Securing a spot in Tokyo with a B qualifying time at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games even more so.
At the beginning of this year, the situation in Naypyidaw began to deteriorate. “We were watching closely,” he says. “The elections had just happened, there were some signs that the military might pull something, but it still came as a surprise to me and my family that they would completely remove the government.”
Myanmar’s democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained. The crisis has been compounded by Covid-19, which is rapidly spreading across the country.
“The human rights situation is rapidly deteriorating as a devastating third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hits Myanmar,” says Manny Maung, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Since the coup, the junta has killed hundreds of civilians and detained thousands including medical professionals. The military has attacked doctors and ambulances and now they are looting medical equipment and hoarding oxygen, preventing civilians from accessing life-saving medical care.”
In March, grappling with the morality of representing such a regime on the global stage, Oo wrote to the International Olympic Committee asking them to distance themselves from the MOC and allow athletes to compete independently. The IOC declined.
“At that point I knew talking to the IOC wasn’t going to lead me anywhere, so I went public,” he says.
The Guardian asked the IOC why Oo’s request to compete as a neutral was denied and how the MOC could be seen as complying with Olympic values, given the military junta’s human rights violations. The IOC said that it was in regular contact with the MOC, which had “repeatedly confirmed its focus on the preparation of its team for the Olympic Games”.
While Oo is not in Tokyo, three other athletes have made the journey. In an open letter Oo recently penned to the trio, he implored them not to represent the junta-run MOC at the Games. “History will judge you for your actions,” he said.
Next Sunday, Oo will be at home in Melbourne, watching his event, the 50m freestyle splash and dash. “I know how hard it is for athletes to have trained through the pandemic,” he says.
“I want to see them parading at the ceremony and competing at the highest level. I am very proud of all those athletes – I’ll be watching.”
Oo wants the IOC to examine the MOC more carefully. “I’m hoping that after the Tokyo Games – they have plenty to focus on right now – but afterwards they might make an independent investigation and expel the MOC.”
In the absence of action from the IOC, Oo is hoping his own absence will encourage solidarity from his peers in the pool.
“I wish athletes would try to be aware of what is going on in my country,” he says. “That’s why I have made this stance – to let people know what is happening. That’s all I can ask; that they take the time to learn what is going on in Myanmar.
“I hope they can show solidarity with the people of Myanmar in whatever way they can.”
It is a small ask from someone who has sacrificed their Olympic dreams. While an appearance at the Paris Games in 2024 is not impossible, Oo knows that the latest struggle for democracy in Myanmar will not triumph overnight.
“It all depends whether the military relinquishes power in Myanmar,” he says. “That is the only way I can see myself competing for Myanmar.
“Until the MOC is fully independent of the military, until the struggle against the military dictatorship succeeds, I don’t see myself representing Myanmar at the Olympics. That might take more than three years."..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"United Nations aid to displaced people from Mindat, a mountainous town in Chin State which saw fighting between junta troops and civilian resistance fighters, is only reaching areas permitted by Myanmar’s regime.
This week UN humanitarian organization the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) delivered humanitarian aid in “emergency response” to Mindat’s growing displaced population. However, the aid had not reached those in need, who fled the town following shootouts into rural Mindat. But villagers told The Irrawaddy this week that the aid had not left Mindat town and they had not received any assistance. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ceasefire-broken-in-chin-state-as-myanmar-junta-troops-clash-with-civilian-resistance-fighters.html
“The travel authorization granted to UNHCR permitted access to a number of displacement sites within Mindat town,” the UNHCR told The Irrawaddy by email on Friday.
UNHCR convoys carrying non-food items and COVID-19 preventative materials went to Mindat on Monday. The agency said that since February it has been closely following developments in Chin State to assist those displaced.
The UNHCR said it “calls for the continued collaboration of all concerned to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access in Chin State and across the country, so that no disruption to humanitarian work occurs”.
The agency declined to provide details about how the aid was distributed and how many civilians benefited from the assistance.
The agency said on Monday it plans to distribute tarpaulins, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, blankets, kitchen equipment, solar lamps and protective equipment for COVID-19 prevention as humanitarian assistance for up to 5,000 people.
Dr. Bu Htang, a member of a displacement camp committee in Tuili village, about 50km from Mindat, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the internally displaced people (IDP) in his village did not receive the UNHCR’s aid. His village hosts some 1,200 people who fled fighting in Mindat town and are unable to return home.
“There is no support. We are sharing whatever donations we have. We heard the UN’s aid only goes to the areas where the military regime’s governing council permits. The aid should be delivered to the IDPs and many of those are in the villages, far from the town,” he said.
Despite the hurdles, the UNHCR said the agency is in regular contact with partners “to explore the best way to reach and respond to the needs of those displaced in other areas of Chin State”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), UN System humanitarian assistance, Internal displacement/forced migration in Chin State, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Fourteen countries stand in solidarity with victims of attacks by the Myanmar security forces and condemn attacks on places of worship.
Description:
"Statement from the 14 countries signed up to the International Religious Freedom of Belief Alliance:
We stand in solidarity with the victims of human rights violations and abuses by the Myanmar security forces. People of all faiths and beliefs have come together to condemn the military’s actions since the 1 February 2021 coup.
Faith actors have played prominent roles in the anti-coup movement, including by supporting human rights defenders and vulnerable communities. As a result, some have been subjected to inhumane treatment by the military regime. We remember those who have been killed and call for the release of all those unjustly detained.
We echo the previous calls of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo to protect religious buildings, as well as hospitals, schools and other civilian structures during the ongoing violence. We condemn attacks on all those seeking refuge or protection. We condemn any violence against buildings that are at the very centres of communities, such as the Sacred Heart Church in Loikaw, Katkyaw Monastery in Bago, and Sule Mosque in Mandalay among others.
We condemn any attack on places of worship in Myanmar and support all who pursue peace and human rights in Myanmar. We commend the role of faith actors in responding to COVID-19 in Myanmar as well as civil society organisations who are working in challenging circumstances, and remember all those who have died as a result of the pandemic.
Co-signatories: Albania, Australia, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, US and the UK..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"ဇူလိုင်လ ၂၃ ရက် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်။
=================
သို့
အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာကြက်ခြေနီကော်မတီ(မြန်မာ)
အကြောင်းအရာ။ ။နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများအား အမြန်ဆုံး အကူအညီပေးရန် ကိစ္စ။
၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖေါ်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်၏ အာဏာ ကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် မတရားသောနည်းဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်သိမ်းယူခဲ့ပါသည်။
၂။ နိုင်ငံတော်၏ခေါင်းဆောင်များဖြစ်သည့်နို်ငငံတော်သမ္မတဦးဝင်းမြင့်၊နိုင်ငံတော်၏အတိုင်ပင်ခံ ပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည် တို့အပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံအကြီးအကဲများ ၊ စာပေအနုပညာရှင်များ ၊ တက်ကြွ လှုပ်ရှားသူများ နှင့် ရဟန်သံဃာတော်များကိုလည်း နေအိမ်အကျယ်ချုပ်ထိန်းသိမ်းခြင်း ၊ စစ်ကြောရေး စခန်းများ ၊ လုံခြုံရေးကန့်သတ်ထားသည့်နေရာများနှင့် အကျဉ်းထောင်များတွင် မတရားသဖြင့် ဖမ်းဆီး ချုပ်နှောင်ခြင်းခံရပါသည်။
၃။ နိုင်ငံတော်အာဏာကို တရားမဲ့ရယူသည်ကို မကျေနပ်သဖြင့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒဖေါ်ထုတ်ခဲ့ကြ သည့် ပြည်သူလူထု (၅၀၀၀) ကျော်ကိုလည်း မတရားဖမ်းဆီးချုပ်နှောင်ထားခြင်း ခံရဆဲဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ ထိုသို့ မတရားဖမ်းဆီးချုပ်နှောင်ထားခြင်းခံရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးတက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူများအား အကျဉ်းထောင် ၊ အချုပ်ခန်း ၊ စစ်ကြောရေးစခန်းနှင့် စစ်ဆေးရုံများတွင် ချုပ်နှောင်ထားရှိရာတွင် လူ့ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာကျင့်ဝတ်နှင့် လျော်ညီစွာထားရှိမှုမရှိပဲ သန့်ရှင်းသော သောက်သုံးရေ၊ အစားအသောက်၊ နေရာထိုင်ခင်းနှင့် ဆေးဝါးကုသခံရမှုတို့ ချို့ယွင်းလိုအပ်လျက်ရှိကြောင်း ကြားသိရပါသည်။
၅။ အကျဉ်းကျခံနေရသူများ၏ သက်ဆိုင်ရာမိသားစုများကို ထောင်ဝင်စာပေးခွင့်မပြုခြင်း၊ မိသားစုနှင့်အဆက်အသွယ်မရရှိခြင်း နှင့် တရားဥပဒေနှင့်အညီခုခံချေပခွင့် မရရှိခြင်းစသည်တို့ နစ်နာဆုံးရှုံးလျက်ရှိနေပါသည်။
၆။ ကိုဗစ်တတိယလှိုင်းကို ကောင်းမွန်စွာ ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ခြင်း မရှိခြင်းကြောင့် အကျဉ်းထောင်များ အတွင်းတွင်လည်း ကူးစက်မှုများ များစွာဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် လိုအပ်သောကာကွယ်ကုသရေး များကိုလုံလောက်စွာ ပေးအပ်နိုင်ခြင်းမရှိကြောင်းတွေ့မြင်ကြားသိနေရပါသည်။
၇။ ယခုအခါတွင် ကိုဗစ်ရောဂါပိုးကူးစက်မှုကြောင့် အကျဉ်းသားသေဆုံးမှုများနှင့် ကျန်းမာရေး ချို့တဲ့သောအကျဉ်းသားများ ရောဂါပြင်းထန်ခံစားနေရမှုများကို နေ့စဉ်ကြားသိနေရပါသည်။
၈။ အကျဉ်းထောင်များအတွင်းတွင်လည်း လူ့ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာနှင့် မညီသော ဆက်ဆံခံရမှုများကြောင့် လူ့ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာနှင့်အညီ ဆက်ဆံခံရရေးအတွက် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်တောင်းဆိုမှုများကိုလည်း ကြားသိနေရပါသည်။
၇။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာကြက်ခြေနီကော်မတီ(မြန်မာ) အနေဖြင့် ယုံကြည်ချက် ကြောင့် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံနေရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ၏ နစ်နာဆုံးရှုံးလိုအပ်ချက်များကို ကော်မတီ၏တာဝန်ဖြစ်သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာကျင့်ဝတ်များနှင့်အညီ အမြန်ဆုံးကူညီပေးနိုင်ပါရန် တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။
ဒေါ်ဖြူဖြူသင်း
မင်္ဂလာတောင်ညွန့်မဲဆန္ဒနယ်၊ပြည်သူ့လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်
အတွင်းရေးမှူးအဖွဲ့ဝင်၊ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Secretive Military Trials Violate Fair Trial Standards
Description:
"The Myanmar junta’s military tribunals have sentenced 65 people to death following unjust trials since the military coup on February 1, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. State media and local groups have reported that 26 of those sentenced are currently detained, while 39 were convicted in absentia.
Military tribunals handed down the death sentences in areas of Yangon where the junta declared martial law in March. In imposing martial law, the junta transferred all executive and judicial power to the head of the relevant regional military command and instituted the death penalty as a possible sentence for 23 crimes.
“The Myanmar junta has added to its mass shootings of protesters on the streets by having military tribunals hand down several dozen death sentences after egregiously unfair trials,” said Shayna Bauchner, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Apparently aimed to chill the anti-coup protest movement, these death sentences should serve as a stark warning to foreign governments that urgent action is needed to show the junta that there will be a reckoning for its crimes.”
On March 14 and 15, the State Administration Council (SAC) junta declared martial law in 11 townships in Yangon and Mandalay, following a weekend in which security forces killed an estimated 120 people during anti-coup protests. The Yangon commander, Maj. Gen. Nyunt Win Swe, was granted oversight of all administrative and judicial powers in the designated Yangon townships.
The martial law orders lay out 23 categories of crimes to be charged in military tribunals in the designated townships, all of them carrying a potential sentence of capital punishment. The designated offenses include several put in place by the junta since the coup. The majority are not capital crimes in civilian courts. The 65 death sentences have been imposed for murder charges under penal code sections 302, 396, and 397.
The martial law regulations require the SAC chair, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to approve all execution orders. They also state there is “no appeal for decisions or convictions handed down” by a military tribunal. The only option for defendants sentenced to death is to apply to the SAC chair within 15 days of the conviction to reverse the decision. Min Aung Hlaing has the authority to overturn the decision, change the sentence to a lesser penalty, or approve the decision. The applications can only be filed through prison officials, not lawyers, Radio Free Asia reported.
The execution orders were issued in six batches between April and June. The rushed and concealed legal proceedings, carried out against civilians by military courts not properly convened according to law, have gravely deprived detainees and those convicted in absentia of their basic fair trial rights. Military tribunals in Myanmar have long been conducted behind closed doors inside Yangon’s Insein Prison, where the rules of evidence and procedure applicable in civilian courts do not apply. Those on trial before military tribunals face almost certain conviction regardless of the validity of the charges against them, while the trials are held outside the scrutiny of the public or the international community.
In the first death penalty case brought by the junta, state media reported that 18 men and a woman were sentenced to death on April 8 for allegedly attacking two military officers riding a motorbike, one of whom later died, in North Okkalapa township in Yangon on March 27. The 19 people were sentenced under penal code sections 396 and 397 for murder and robbery. Another man was sentenced to death on April 28 for the same incident. Three of those sentenced are in custody; the remainder were convicted in absentia.
A Yangon military tribunal sentenced two women and five men to death on April 12 under penal code section 302(1)(b) for their alleged involvement in the murder of a woman in Hlaing Tharyar township who had reportedly supported the military. Four are detained; three others were convicted in absentia.
On May 24, Insein prison’s military tribunal sentenced 18 people – 15 men, a woman, and 2 teenage boys – to death under penal code section 302(1)(c) on charges of allegedly killing a supporter of the military on March 29 in South Dagon. Seven are in hiding; eleven have been detained. The two teenagers, ages 17 and 15, were detained on April 17. State media reported that they were transferred to a juvenile court. Four of the detained men are brothers.
Five men were sentenced to death on May 27, four of them in absentia, under penal code section 302(1)(b) for the alleged fatal attack of a man living in Shwe Pyi Thar township.
In the latest reported convictions, a military tribunal sentenced 15 people – 13 men and 2 women – to death on June 21, charged under penal code section 302(1)(b) for allegedly killing an informant and two of his sons on March 15 in Shwe Pauk Kan Myothit, North Okkalapa township. Seven are detained; eight were sentenced in absentia.
Since February, the junta and security forces have responded with increasing violence and repression to the nationwide anti-coup movement. State security forces have killed over 900 people and detained an estimated 5,300 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians.
The martial law orders also allow for death penalty sentencing for treason and related offenses, several of which were put in place or expanded by the SAC to broadly criminalize protest activity and the Civil Disobedience Movement. Under the expanded treason provisions, it is unlawful to “excite disaffection against” the defense forces, effectively making any criticism of the military treasonous. The military courts have also been assigned to hear charges used to stifle dissent, including Penal Code section 505A, a new provision put in place by the junta that makes a criminal offense comments that “cause fear,” spread “false news” or “agitate directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a government employee.”
Some detainees on death row reported being beaten by police in prison. Myanmar security forces have subjected many detainees arrested since the coup to torture and other ill-treatment, including routine beatings. Detainees are frequently kept incommunicado, unable to contact relatives or legal counsel. The victims, among them a 17-year-old boy who spoke to Human Rights Watch, described beatings, burnings from lit cigarettes, prolonged stress positions, and gender-based violence.
Other sources interviewed said security forces often transported detainees to police precincts or military interrogation facilities, where they would be beaten and forced to stand, kneel, or lie in stress positions for hours.
Myanmar has not carried out judicial executions of prisoners since 1988, although Myanmar law still retains the death penalty, and courts have continued to sentence people to death. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty under all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty and irreversibility, and has long called on Myanmar to ban all capital punishment.
“These bogus military tribunals are handing down unfair and unappealable death sentences under direction from a commander sanctioned by the European Union, United States, and others for committing the worst crimes under international law,” Bauchner said. “The United Nations, EU, US, and other governments should be demanding the release of all those wrongfully imprisoned and ramping up pressure so the junta knows that what they do – even behind prison doors – is being watched.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"July 22, 2021, Myanmar: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics has partnered with at least three businesses that continue to maintain commercial ties with the Myanmar army, in breach of their human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Sponsors include Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which are “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Partners”, and Daiwa House Industry, which is a “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Official Partner”. All three businesses are part of the Y Complex commercial real estate project in Yangon, on land leased from the Myanmar army’s office of the quartermaster general, which purchases arms for the military.
According to the Olympic Charter, fundamental principles of the Olympics include “respect for universal fundamental ethical principles” and the promotion of “a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity” through sport.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We are appalled that the Tokyo Organising Committee is partnering with companies that are complicit in the Myanmar military’s widening campaign of terror, which has involved the murder of over 900 people since the illegal February 1 attempted military coup. The military’s criminal conduct is enabled by companies like Daiwa House Industry, Mizuho and SMBC, which provides the military with a direct source of revenue. These companies have failed to uphold their human rights responsibilities. Promoting these companies through the Tokyo Olympics taints the games and goes against the fundamental principles of Olympism. We call on the Tokyo Organising Committee to revoke sponsorships with these companies that are aiding the Myanmar military’s atrocities.”
The Y Complex project is being developed by Daiwa House Industry and Tokyo Tatemono, co-financed by Mizuho and SMBC, under a Build, Operate, Transfer (B.O.T.) agreement with the Myanmar army. In addition to annual lease payments of US$2.163 million, the army will take ownership of the building on completion of the lease, providing a continued source of revenue which can be used to finance their war crimes and crimes against humanity. Parties to the Y Complex project also include two publicly funded entities: Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN).
In August 2019, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar published a report into the Myanmar military’s economic interests and recommended that businesses end their commercial relationships with the Myanmar military and entities it owns or controls, specifying real estate rental as a type of relationship. The parties to the Y Complex project have failed to implement these recommendations.
Note to editors
See joint press release on Y Complex: https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/press-releases/japan-stop-real-estate-project-in-myanmar
See joint submission to the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises regarding Y Complex: https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/press-releases/submission-by-civil-society-organizations-concerning-japanese-business-entities-operating-in-myanmar
See Justice For Myanmar’s web features on Y Complex: https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/land-lease-payments-tie-japanese-gov-and-investors-to-myanmars-military and https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/y-complex
Justice For Myanmar, a group of covert activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar, is calling for an end to military business and for federal democracy and a sustainable peace..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Press Release for Immediate Publication from the Myanmar Accountability Project, MAPLondon, 19 July 2021: The Myanmar Accountability Project, condemns attempts by the Myanmar coup leaders to usurp top ambassadorial posts at the Myanmar embassy in London and the diplomatic mission at the UN in New York.Documentation obtained by MAP confirms that officials with strong military backgrounds are being sent by the junta to fill these two influential posts.“MAP has the official biographies of both these officers and they make ugly reading,” said MAP Director, Chris Gunness. “Aung Thurein, who the junta is demanding take over the UN seat, went straight into the army at the age of eighteen and according to his biography, he served until 2021, strongly suggesting he was in the military during the coup on 1 February and its bloody aftermath.”“Moreover, Aung Thurein served on three Myanmar delegations to Beijing where, as a military man, he would likely have been involved in deals to procure arms. It is an affront to the world body that the military government is sending to the UN a man with such strong connections to an institution with blood on its hands and which stood accused of genocide in the Hague even before the coup.”Over 900 people have been killed since 1 February. Human rights groups have well documented evidence that the Myanmar security forces have gunned down hundreds of peaceful protesters, some with a bullet directly to the head. In addition, over five thousand people have been arbitrarily detained, many are being held without trial and tortured.At the same time, MAP has learnt that the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is planning to grant diplomatic accreditation as the Myanmar Ambassador to London to Htun Aung Kyaw, who served as a fighter pilot during a seventeen-year career in the Myanmar air force.According to his official biography, Htun Aung Kyaw graduated from the country’s notorious military academy at Pyin Oo Lwin, from which leading members of the military junta have also passed out. These include coup leader and Commander in Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
In addition, Htun Aung Kyaw served as a fighter pilot and fighter pilot trainer in the 1990s, when according to human rights groups, the Myanmar army and air force carried out aerial attacks on ethnic nationality villages killing many civilians, which may constitute war crimes.“Prime Minister, Boris Johnson along with other G7 leaders have condemned the coup. The UK and all major allies have imposed sanctions on the coup leaders and their commercial interests,” said Gunness. “It is gross double standare and a moral outrage that the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, should oversee the accreditation as Ambassador of a man who does not represent the legitimate state authority of Myanmar and who served in an army that stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”“MAP calls on the UK as an influential diplomatic presence on the Myanmar file at the UN in New York to ensure that the Credentials Committee, soon to meet at the General Assembly in September, does not recognise the military junta’s representative to the UN,” said Gunness.“We also demand that Dominic Raab stop in its tracks the accreditation of Htun Aung Kyaw. It beggars belief that he is allowing into the UK an ambassador representing a murderous dictator that a UN Fact Finding Mission recommended in 2018 should be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, along with his top commanders. Htun Aung Kyaw should be kept out of the country, let alone be recognised as an ambassador in London. And if he turns up in the UK he should be detained and investigated.”..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Accountability Project
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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pdf
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61.62 KB
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Description:
"Protests have continued in Myanmar, more than five months after the Myanmar military junta seized power in a coup on 1st February 2021 and arrested the civilian leaders of the national and state governments. According to the latest data from human rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 20th July 2021, 922 individuals have been confirmed killed by the military and a total of 5,315 people are currently in detention.
The military junta has also continued its attacks against ethic armed organisations and the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) in various regions including in Kayah and Mon states, Kachin and Shan, Chin and Rakhine states, leaving at least 230,000 civilians displaced as of 24th June 2021. The People's Defence Forces formed by the underground National Unity Government and aimed to protect civilians from security forces has been mobilised against the junta.
On 19th June 2021, the UN General Assembly issued a resolution condemning the coup and demanding that the military “immediately stop all violence against peaceful demonstrators”. However, it stopped short of calling for a global arms embargo against Myanmar’s military, even as it took the rare step of urging member states to “prevent the flow of arms” into the country. It was approved by 119 countries, with 36 abstaining including China, Myanmar’s main ally. Only one country, Belarus, voted against it. It was sponsored by some 60 countries. Human rights groups have continued to call on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo.
On 26th June 2021, Pramila Patten, the U.N. special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, described an “extremely concerning” pattern of sexual violence by Myanmar’s military. Patten focused particularly on reports of sexual violence against women in detention centres.
On 7th July 2021, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called for the urgent formation of an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar” to stop what he described as the military junta’s “reign of terror” in the country. He added: “It could reduce the junta’s ability to attack its citizens, save the lives of those in acute crisis, and gain political leverage so that the crisis in Myanmar might come to a just and permanent conclusion”. Andrews highlighted the extreme human rights abuses committed by the junta, which he described as crimes against humanity.
Various countries have continued to impose sanctions on the military junta. On 21st June 2021, the EU implemented new sanctions on top officials in Myanmar's ruling military junta, including travel bans and asset freezes on eight officials, and also targeted four "economic entities" tied to the Myanmar military. The UK also added three Myanmar economic entities to its sanctions list including a state-owned pearl firm and a timber company.
The United States also imposed fresh sanctions on 3rd July 2021, on 22 individuals including four Myanmar government ministers. The sanctions target Myanmar’s minister of information Chit Naing, minister for investment Aung Naing Oo, labour and immigration minister Myint Kyaing, and Thet Thet Khine, the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement. Three members of the powerful State Administrative Council were also hit with sanctions, as were 15 spouses and adult children of officials.
On 8th June 2021, Japan's lower house adopted a resolution condemning the coup and urging the country to return to democracy. The resolution, adopted in a House of Representatives plenary session, described the military coup as an "act to trample on efforts and expectations for democratisation" and called on the Japanese government to "make full use of all diplomatic resources and every effort to realize" the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. However, the country has yet to impose sanctions.
Human rights groups have continued to criticise ASEAN for its failure to address the human rights violations in Myanmar and for shielding the Myanmar military from international pressure and accountability. On 4th June 2021, a high-level delegation comprised of ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Erywan Pehin Yusof, the second minister for foreign affairs for Brunei, the current chair of ASEAN, met with coup leader and head of the Myanmar military authorities but reported little tangible progress. ASEAN members also tried to block a UN General Assembly draft resolution calling for a global arms embargo on the junta.
In a positive development, the Human Rights Council (HRC) postponed the adoption of the outcomes of Myanmar’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This came after 414 Myanmar and international civil society organisations urged the HRC to postpone the session and reject the Myanmar military junta representatives at the UN Offices in Geneva and recognise the National Unity Government (NUG).
Over the last month, the junta has targeted artists, medical workers, lawyers, LGBTIQ activists and their families, youths and others. Some have been sentenced for ‘incitement’ (Section 505a) and ‘unlawful assembly’ (Section 145) while others have been tortured or killed by the junta with impunity. Nearly half of the 87 journalists arrested by Myanmar’s junta in the five months since it staged a coup remain in detention. An investigation by the rights group Global Witness found that Facebook is promoting content that incites violence against Myanmar’s coup protesters and amplifies junta misinformation..."
Source/publisher:
Civicus (Johannesburg)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Urgently address overcrowding, protect prisoners’ health during COVID-19 crisis
Description:
"We, the undersigned national and international human rights organizations, reiterate our calls for the Ministry of Justice to take urgent measures to address ongoing overcrowding and the COVID-19 crisis in prisons across the country.
In mid-April of 2020, during the early stages of the pandemic, we sent a joint letter to the Department of Corrections in which we expressed our gravest concern over the potentially disastrous impact of the pandemic on the prison population and prison staff in Thailand. One year later, COVID-19 cases surged in the Thailand’s prison system amid a new wave of virus transmissions that hit many parts of the country beginning in April 2021.
On 12 May 2021, the Department of Corrections revealed that 1,795 out of 3,274 prisoners (72%) in Bangkok Remand Prison and 1,040 of the 4,475 inmates (30%) at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok had tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. The severity of the COVID-19 situation in the Thai prison system only surfaced after several prominent pro-democracy activists held in these prisons tested positive for the virus during their pre-trial detention or shortly after being released on bail. Between 12 May and 15 July 2021, 38,019 inmates in prisons across Thailand were infected with COVID-19. This number represents about 12% of the total prison population.
Prison overcrowding and the spread of COVID-19 are closely interrelated and should be urgently addressed to prevent a further deterioration of conditions in correctional facilities.
Despite announcements relating to the provisional release of certain inmates in order to decongest prisons, Thailand’s prison population has not significantly decreased since the start of the third COVID-19 wave. According to statistics from the Department of Corrections, from 1 April to 1 July 2021 the total prison population decreased by a mere 0.2%, from 307,910 to 307,007.
We urge you to take all immediate and necessary steps, including at the policy level, to tackle the ongoing overcrowding in prisons. We welcome the Ministry’s plan to amend legislation on narcotics in a manner that would lead to the release of inmates incarcerated on minor drug-related offenses and we urge you to accelerate this amendment process.
We also recall the recommendations we previously made on the conditional release of certain categories of prisoners currently detained for non-serious and/or non-violent offenses. These include: prisoners over the age of 60; sick prisoners, particularly those with underlying medical conditions; prisoners awaiting trial; prisoners sentenced to terms of up to two years; prisoners with one year or less left to serve; prisoners detained for immigration offenses; pregnant women; and those detained without sufficient legal basis. Those released may be subjected to appropriate non-custodial measures, in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the “Tokyo Rules”).
Ongoing reports of many prisoners who test positive for COVID-19 raise concern over the seriously inadequate detention conditions, prevention measures, and medical care during the escalating COVID-19 outbreaks.
We welcome the various urgent measures - such as testing, quarantines, and transfer of certain infected inmates to medical facilities outside prisons - introduced by the Department of Corrections to control the further spread of the virus in correctional facilities since the latest rise of COVID-19 infections in prisons, and a testing as well as a 14-day quarantine requirement for released prisoners.
However, these measures do not go far enough to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19 in correctional facilities. Since they are at high risk of contagion, authorities should accelerate the COVID-19 vaccine rollout across all prisons. Prisoners who have tested positive for the virus must have access to appropriate medical care and treatment equal to the general public, without discrimination and undue delay.
In addition, for those who remain detained, the Department of Corrections must ensure that prison conditions continue to adhere to international standards, in particular, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the “Nelson Mandela Rules”) and the Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the “Bangkok Rules”). Adherence to such standards is vital during the pandemic, particularly with respect to sufficient space and ventilation, adequate sanitary facilities for personal hygiene, and healthcare, including gender-specific healthcare.
Lastly, the Department of Corrections should provide inmates, prison staff, and the general population with accurate and timely information about the COVID-19 situation in all correctional facilities in a transparent manner.
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
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Individual Documents
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"UN human rights experts today expressed their utmost concern for the situation of human rights defenders in Myanmar, and called for a stronger international response to the military coup, including coordinated sanctions and an arms embargo against the junta by an ‘emergency coalition of nations’.
“The brute force terror campaign we are witnessing in Myanmar continues to be directed towards human rights defenders,” said Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and Tom Andrews, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
The experts highlighted credible information they had received concerning human rights defenders being forced into hiding after having arrest warrants issued against them under section 505(a) of the Penal Code. Their homes were raided, their possessions seized, and family members threatened and harassed. Many others, unable to flee, have been arbitrarily arrested, including labour rights defenders and student activists. Lawyers representing people detained following the coup have themselves been detained, as have journalists covering the protests.
“For years, human rights defenders have been doing essential work promoting human rights in the country,” Lawlor said. ”Since the coup, and despite enforced internet blackouts along with difficulties accessing basic resources, especially for defenders forced into hiding or living in rural areas, they have been documenting the mass violations being perpetrated by the military. As a result, they have been targeted,” the expert said.
“The people of Myanmar appreciate expressions of concern from the international community, but what they desperately need is action. It is critical that nations stand with and for the beseiged people of Myanmar who are being held hostage by an illegal military junta. It is time for strong, focused and coordinate action that includes economic sanctions and an arms embargo,” added Andrews.
Women have played a leading role in the protest and civil disobedience movement that has emerged in the country in response to the military's seizure of the State apparatus in February, and the experts expressed particular concern for the situation of women human rights defenders in the country.
“We have heard from women human rights defenders from different ethnic groups in various areas of the country. Their bravery in continuing to speak out against the human rights violations being perpetrated by the military against the country's population, coming as it does in the face of threats of gender-based violence and massive risks for their safety, is astonishing,” said Lawlor
“Women human rights defenders are particularly at risk in remote rural areas and are often beaten and kicked before being sent to prison where they can face torture and sexual violence with no medical care provided,” said the Special Rapporteur.
Over 892 men and women have been killed since the coup. “A more determined, unified international solidarity with human rights defenders in Myanmar is required to avoid further attacks," Andrews said.
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, Andrews called for the urgent formation of an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar“ to stop what he described as the military junta’s “reign of terror” in the country..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations, Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Human rights defenders in Myanmar are being targeted under a “brute force terror campaign” by the military junta, United Nations independent experts said on Monday, calling again for a stronger international response to the coup.
Description:
"In a statement, Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, and Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders highlighted credible reports of activists forced into hiding after having arrests warrants issued against them, under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code.
Their homes were raided, possessions seized, and family members threatened and harassed, they said, noting that many others who where unable to flee, have been arbitrarily arrested.
Lawyers representing those detained after the coup have themselves been detained, as have journalists covering the protests, the statement added.....Citizens ‘held hostage’: Special Rapporteur Andrews said that the people of Myanmar appreciate the expressions of concern from the international community, “but what they desperately need, is action”.
“It is critical that nations stand with and for the besieged people of Myanmar who are being held hostage by an illegal military junta. It is time for strong, focused and coordinate action that includes economic sanctions and an arms embargo.”
“A more determined, unified international solidarity with human rights defenders in Myanmar is required to avoid further attacks”, Mr. Andrews added, reiterating his call for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar to stop what he described as the junta’s “reign of terror” in the country.
More than 892 men, women and children have been killed and countless more wounded by security forces in a brutal crackdown since the 1 February coup.
According to humanitarians, thousands of people across Myanmar have also been displaced due to clashes between the military and regional armed groups, and the situation is further complicated by the worsening COVID-19 situation, which risks overwhelming health and medical services across the country.
‘Astonishing’ bravery
Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, applauded the bravery of rights defenders, in the face of massive risks for their own safety.
“Women human rights defenders are particularly at risk in remote rural areas and are often beaten and kicked before being sent to prison where they can face torture and sexual violence with no medical care provided”, Ms. Lawlor said.
“We have heard from women human rights defenders from different ethnic groups in various areas of the country. Their bravery in continuing to speak out against the human rights violations being perpetrated by the military against the country’s population, coming as it does in the face of threats of gender-based violence and massive risks for their safety, is astonishing.”
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
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Description:
"Summary: The situation in Myanmar (Burma) is grave. The Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, is
continuing its violent crackdown on protestors, which has led to hundreds of deaths and
thousands of disappearances. A crisis of this scale requires swift, coordinated action,
and the many thousands of people who have been displaced by the violence urgently
require humanitarian assistance.
The UK holds a number of unique roles and responsibilities which allow it to lead on
preventing further violence and ensuring essential humanitarian support reaches those
who need it. The Government has taken some strong measures in response to the coup
and the violence, but there is much more that it can do. In this report we recommend a
number of actions the UK Government should take to help reduce the violence against
civilians. At a time when the Government is planning greater engagement with the
Indo-Pacific, Myanmar presents a test of how effective our policy in the region can be.
We recommend that the Government take further steps to secure a binding arms
embargo on Myanmar, widen its sanctions approach to include a much broader range
of people and organisations, provide humanitarian and logistical support to ethnic
advocacy and media organisations, and take steps to ensure that those perpetrating
these crimes will face justice in the future.
Effective mediation in Myanmar requires concrete action. Failure to do so in the past
has led to the crisis we see today. Failure to do so in the future will only lead to further
violence, instability and loss of life.....Introduction: 1. In February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup which led to the deposition and
detention of the country’s democratically elected representatives, and the military taking
control of the country. The protests and violence that have followed the coup have led to
hundreds of deaths, thousands of disappearances, and tens to hundreds of thousands of
displaced people. Evidence from diaspora groups paints a harrowing picture: many speak
of family members who have been unlawfully detained and many others who are beyond
contact.1
2. The Tatmadaw2 staged this coup and declared a state of national emergency following
their claims that the 2020 General Election was compromised by mass voter fraud. It
has provided no evidence for these claims.3 The election has been found by international
observers to “reflect the true will of the electorate”.4
3. While there has been much international condemnation of the coup and the military
junta’s violence against protestors, there has been little substantial action taken. Months
on from the coup, clear proof that the junta is committing serious crimes against the
Myanmar people continues to surface regularly. Statements of condemnation have not
and will not prevent these crimes—only clear action will.
4. The need for this action is urgent. Dr Sasa, the Minister for International Cooperation
in the democratically elected National Unity Government (NUG), said:
It is a pivotal movement in our history. The darkest hour in our history
which was heading to the great civil war and genocide. Some 54 million
brave people of Myanmar are facing the cruellest military junta.5
The UK has a unique role to play. As the United Nations Security Council ‘penholder’ on
Myanmar, and as an accepted Dialogue Partner to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN),6 there are several fronts on which the UK can exert further diplomatic
influence. This crisis is also a major test of the effectiveness of the UK’s tilt to the IndoPacific region, as announced in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development
and Foreign Policy.7 If the Government is serious about building its influence in the region
it should show a willingness to take moral leadership and prevent further conflict and loss
of life. This report sets out what more the UK Government could and should do..."
Source/publisher:
House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Across Burma COVID-19 is devastating communities, in this way the junta is benefiting from the spread of the deadly disease, they don’t have to use weapons, the virus is killing people. Thousands are dying from lack of oxygen whilst the junta claims people are hoarding supplies, in fact the junta has ordered oxygen factories to refuse refilling cylinder from individuals. Charity groups are struggling to save the lives of COVID-19 patients, but the junta shoots at crowds of people trying to fill up containers of oxygen for their loved ones.
In prisons the situation is getting worse, the junta has restricted visits to lawyers and family, even prison staff cannot make contact with outside. It is becoming even more difficult to obtain information. However, AAPP knows there have been outbreaks in Insein, Hpa-an Taung Galay, Taunggyi and Taungoo prisons, but we do not know how many have been affected, or even how many have been killed. NLD legal advisor U Nyan Win has contracted COVID-19, but he is in a prominent position and receiving medical treatment at Yangon General Hospital. The situation for the other individuals still detained will be much worse. AAPP’s 2018 report on Prison Overcrowding and the Urgent Need for Reform analysed an investigation conducted by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission in 2017 revealed rampant overcrowding. Of the 30 prisons investigated by MNHRC, there was a total capacity of 31,500 but the prisons were found to hold over 50,000 prisoners, 19,000 over capacity. The problem has not improved since the report’s publication.
From AAPP’s previous visits to prisons we understand that medical care is not nearly sufficient, Burma’s prisons are in control of an institution which does not care if people die. The success of the civilian government to procure vaccines and administer them has been dismantled by the military coup.
At the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, AAPP visited 33 prisons and labour camps from May to November 2020 to distribute masks, and sanitiser, probing officials on statistics and practices from the arcane military-controlled prison department. We did this because the military-controlled prison department could not be trusted to reveal the truth. Just as the junta is now torturing people to death and saying COVID-19 is the cause.
It is clear COVID-19 is being used as a weapon of war by the junta, the terrorists in the so-called State Administrative Council understood an outbreak would happen. They occupied hospitals to launch night-time raids to detain medical students, tortured healthcare workers, and indiscriminately shot at protests led by doctors and nurses.
Prisoners in Burma remain especially at risk to the spread of disease because of chronic overcrowding and systemic violations to their rights. Prison staff are also poorly trained, and in Insein and Taunggyi where there are rumours of infection, ratio of prisoners to one staff was 14.6, and 16.0 respectively. Not nearly enough for officials to monitor the physical and mental health of prisoners, or isolate prisoners displaying symptoms or with positive infection.
This is why thousands of pro-democracy supporters are at risk, especially in Yangon. Legal advisor U Khin Maung Myint told The Irrawaddy on 7 July that there are around 13,000 prisoners inside Insein Prison which has a capacity of 5000. This would mean according to U Khin Maung Myint, that Insein is now operating 260% over-capacity.
Reports of an outbreak in Taunggyi Prison are also a significant threat, the prison was operating at 251.3% overcapacity even before the coup, 754 prisoners to its 300 intended capacity. But there are systematic issues beyond overcrowding, HIV is highly prevalent in prisons, and the junta’s letter to MSF to stop work in in Dawei treating HIV patients is indicative of their approach to the human life.
According to a reliable source, there has been a recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Taung Galay Prison, Hpa-An. A woman died on suspicion of COVID-19 last week in a custody cell, but the news was not disclosed by the prison. Prisoner patients who lost the sense of smell are being kept together with other inmates and denied necessary medical treatment, their access to medical supplies is also being restricted due to the prohibition of family visits and communication.
It is clear what the junta thinks of fundamental rights, the vaccination program must not be administered by the junta. The people do not want this, and they will not trust the process. AAPP has great concern for everyone in Burma and its ramifications for the entire region. In order to help our people, we need a trusted leadership, chosen by the people with free civil and political civic space inside the country. We therefore urge the international community including the US, EU, ASEAN, China, UN and donor organizations to put pressure on the junta to restore civilian government and open civil political and civic space.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The international community must urgently respond to Myanmar’s crippling COVID-19 crisis and get life-saving assistance across borders into the country through the democracy movement’s networks, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
Local responders, ethnic service providers, civil society organisations, humanitarian groups and others aligned with the National Unity Government and Civil Disobedience Movement across Myanmar are fighting to provide vital services and life-saving humanitarian aid for millions of people as a massive third wave of COVID-19 sweeps the country. They are in urgent need of help.
“The junta allowed COVID-19 to run free. The coup it launched in February has failed. The junta has not established ordinary government structures and it is unable to do so. The only viable way of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar is to deal with the democracy movement,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the extreme violence and brutality of the junta’s forces for Myanmar’s jungles and border states, including medical professionals now running underground clinics.
SAC-M is calling for the urgent opening of supply lines across Myanmar’s borders, from Kachin state in the north to Karenni and Karen states in the east and Chin state in the west. Humanitarian assistance must be directed through ethnic administrations, civil society organisations and service providers whose networks can reach those in need in the more remote states as well as Myanmar’s central towns and cities.
“ASEAN resolved to provide humanitarian assistance over two-and-a-half months ago as part of its five-point consensus,” said Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “It is unacceptable that ASEAN only acts at the pleasure of the junta while so many lives are being lost. There is no excuse for ASEAN, UN agencies or any other actors to delay. There are ways to get assistance directly to the people now.”
Since launching the coup, the junta’s forces have killed, detained and threatened medical professionals, attacked ambulances, clinics and social workers, destroyed and looted medical equipment, and occupied hospitals. They seized oxygen cylinders as the COVID-19 crisis escalated and blocked factories from refilling people’s oxygen cylinders.
“The junta is weaponising COVID-19 for its own political gain by suffocating the democracy movement and seeking to gain the legitimacy and control it craves – and has so far been denied – by deliberately fuelling a humanitarian disaster and then co-opting the international response,” said Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “The generals are not partners for the delivery of aid. They are murderers who will be held to account for their crimes.”..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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145.06 KB
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Sub-title:
Surging COVID-19 cases as the Delta variant spreads, a collapsed health system, and “deep mistrust” of the military junta, are a “perfect storm” of factors that could lead to further major loss of life in Myanmar, the UN independent expert on the human rights situation in the country warned on Wednesday.
Description:
"In a statement, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said “emergency” assistance for Myanmar was desperately needed to save lives.
“The highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being and that right is being denied to most within Myanmar. The international community must act.”
He reiterated his appeal last week for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar, to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the country, amid reports of severe shortages of vital medial supplies and oxygen.
Vaccination and testing capacity across Myanmar is also severely limited. Of those being tested, an alarming 26 per cent reported positive, Mr. Andrews said last Wednesday, cautioning that the country is at “grave risk of becoming a COVID-19 super-spreader State”, impacting untold numbers of people both inside and outside its borders.
‘Junta lacks capability, legitimacy’
In particular, Mr. Andrews highlighted that the junta “lacks the resources, the capabilities, and the legitimacy” to bring the crisis under control.
“The crisis in Myanmar is particularly lethal because of the pervasive mistrust of the military junta”, he said, calling on the international community to help facilitate a politically-neutral body to coordinate a COVID response that includes a vaccination programme “that the people of Myanmar will trust”.
“Member States, international organizations, regional bodies and non-government organizations that are willing and able to provide much needed aid must do so before untold numbers perish and Myanmar becomes a super spreader of this deadly virus”, the expert stressed.
Detention could become a ‘death sentence’
The Special Rapporteur also raised alarm over the situation of Myanmar’s vulnerable communities, including prisoners held in overcrowded facilities.
“Myanmar’s prison population, including the thousands of political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained since the coup, are in grave danger. Prisoners, particularly those with underlying conditions could see their detention become a death sentence,” he warned.
Nearly 6,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since the military overthrew the elected Government and seized power on 1 February. In addition, approximately 900 people, including children, have been killed and countless more wounded.
“Myanmar’s neighbours are well placed to help and have a self-interest to do so, but there is no time to waste”, urged Mr. Andrews,
“Those with influence on junta leaders must immediately seek to secure their cooperation. The UN and others in the international community are positioned to provide immediate assistance to confront this rapidly deteriorating crisis.”..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations
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Sub-title:
Commercial Dealings with Abusive Military Undermines Rights
Description:
" Japanese business entities should stop their participation in a commercial real estate project involving Myanmar’s abusive military, Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Mekong Watch said today. The proposed Y-Complex in Yangon is being constructed on land leased from the country’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, whose long record of abuses has worsened since the February 1, 2021, military coup.
One participating company, Tokyo Tatemono, stated that they have suspended operation of the Y-Complex project since the coup. However, project participants, including publicly-funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), Fujita Corporation, and Tokyo Tatemono, have not publicly disclosed the duration of the suspension or the conditions for resuming operations.
“The Japanese government and businesses failed to appropriately assess the risk associated with doing business in Myanmar,” said Ryutaro Ogawa, Vice Secretary General at Human Rights Now. “They should admit their own shortcomings and act responsibly, otherwise, they will risk financing the military.”
The Y-Complex, which includes a shopping mall, hotel, and office rental space, is being built on “military-owned Military Museum land” leased by Myanmar’s Quartermaster General’s office, according to a copy of the “Build, Operate, Transfer (B.O.T) Land Lease Agreement” dated October 15, 2013. The agreement states that upon termination or expiry of the B.O.T agreement, the land, including buildings and fixtures, developed on the land should be transferred to the “lessor.” Therefore, companies involved in Y-Complex risk creating immoveable long-term assets for the military, which can continue to yield income after the agreement is terminated. On June 22, 2020, a Myanmar military spokesperson confirmed that the military owns the land, and the Ministry of Defense receives rental payments for the Y-Complex development.
On March 5, 2021, in response to an inquiry by Mekong Watch, JBIC said that Myanmar’s Defense Ministry received all payments for the land rent. JBIC also asserted that the rental payments are ultimately included in the government’s national budget, under the National Budget Law, but did not disclose the basis for this claim. JBIC said it was coordinating with the involved business entities as well as the Japanese embassy in Myanmar to confirm such details with the Myanmar government after outside “stakeholders” raised concerns; but it has yet to publicly do so.
“Even before the coup, we were raising concerns to the Japanese government and businesses about the dangers of money flowing into the military, but they did not take necessary measures,” said Yuka Kiguchi, Executive Director of Mekong Watch. “We strongly condemn the fact that Japan’s public funds likely ended up in the hands of the Tatmadaw.”
Under Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution, adopted during military rule, Myanmar’s Defense Ministry falls under the military, and the military is independent of the democratically elected government. Under article 20(b) of the Constitution, “The Defence Services has the right to independently administer and adjudicate all affairs of the armed forces.” Under article 232(b)(ii), the defense minister is nominated by the military commander-in-chief from the ranks of the military. Other laws further prevent any scrutiny or accountability of the Y-Complex lease payments. For example, according to section 39 of the Union Auditor General Law, the Defense Ministry is exempt from audit, so the land lease payments to the Defense Ministry are not subject to government scrutiny.
Abuses by the military, which has been long implicated in crimes against humanity in Rakhine State and other grave international crimes in ethnic areas throughout Myanmar, have intensified since the coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported that as of July 12, 2021, the security forces have killed more than 900 people, and the authorities have arrested, charged, or sentenced more than 5,200. The military has also intensified operations in ethnic minority areas, with indiscriminate airstrikes and ground attacks that have hit schools, villages, places of worship, and other civilian structures.
“Japanese companies and the government knew that they were dealing with a military responsible for countless atrocities over many years, not a civilian-controlled defense ministry,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. “The Japanese government and companies should make it clear that they do not intend to resume commercial projects with the Tatmadaw.”
In a joint submission to the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises on February 17, 2021, the five groups requested an investigation into whether the Y-Complex project is financing Myanmar’s military. At the time of the joint submission, none of the Japanese businesses involved in the Y-Complex project had conducted effective human rights due diligence as called for by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“It is deplorable that the companies involved in the Y-Complex have not clarified the status of the project following Myanmar’s attempted coup and the military’s widening campaign of terror,” said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson at Justice For Myanmar. “There is no justification for leasing land from the office of the quartermaster general, the very office that purchases weapons that the military uses to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Japanese government and businesses must end their complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocities.”
The UN Guiding Principles state that, “States should take additional steps to protect against human rights abuses by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and services from State agencies.” On May 12, 2021, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar called on businesses to “uphold their human rights responsibilities and put pressure on the military junta to halt grave human rights violations;” while adding that companies should act in line with the Guiding Principles to “avoid contributing to human rights violations, or becoming complicit in crimes if they continue to operate in Myanmar.”
On October 16, 2020, the Japanese government announced a five-year National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, stating that it “wishes to contribute to promoting and protecting both the human rights of people who would be adversely affected by the activities of business enterprises and human rights for society as a whole, including the international community.”
“The Japanese government and businesses should get serious about human rights and follow the commitments laid out in the National Action Plan as well as their corporate policies in a responsible and proactive manner,” said Naoko Watanabe, Manager for Overseas Program Group at Japan International Volunteer Center. “If they don’t, they not only risk funding the Myanmar military but further damaging their reputations.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Human Rights and international relations, Burma's economic relations with Japan, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar called for emergency international engagement to address a “perfect storm” of factors that are fuelling the deepening COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar.
“An explosion of COVID cases, including the Delta variant, the collapse of Myanmar’s health care system, and the deep mistrust of the people of Myanmar of anything connected to the military junta, are a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar without emergency assistance by the international community,” Tom Andrews said.
“The highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being and that right is being denied to most within Myanmar. The international community must act.”
Andrews reiterated his call made at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 7 July for an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar” to, among other things, provide emergency humanitarian aid to the country.
“The junta lacks the resources, the capabilities, and the legitimacy to bring this crisis under control,” he said. “The crisis in Myanmar is particularly lethal because of the pervasive mistrust of the military junta.
“The international community must help facilitate a non-junta, non-political body to coordinate a COVID response initiative that includes a vaccination programme that the people of Myanmar will trust.
“Member states, international organisations, regional bodies and non-government organisations that are willing and able to provide much needed aid must do so before untold numbers perish and Myanmar becomes a super spreader of this deadly virus.
“The junta must also account for the $350 million in COVID aid the International Monetary Fund provided the people of Myanmar just days prior to the coup d’état.”
Andrews highlighted the acute need for greater amounts of life saving aid to treat COVID. “There is a major lack of capacity including oxygen support to treat those suffering from the virus,” he said. “People are dying because of a shortage of medical resources and trust.”
Andrews expressed particular concern for vulnerable populations, including those held in Myanmar’s overcrowded prisons.
“Myanmar’s prison population, including the thousands of political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained since the coup, are in grave danger. Prisoners, particularly those with underlying conditions could see their detention become a death sentence,” he warned.
“Myanmar’s neighbours are well placed to help and have a self-interest to do so, but there is no time to waste. Those with influence on junta leaders must immediately seek to secure their cooperation. The UN and others in the international community are positioned to provide immediate assistance to confront this rapidly deteriorating crisis.”
ENDS
Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Mr. Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"HIGHLIGHTS:
Although displacement figures have remained steady in recent weeks—some 206,000 people are displaced within Myanmar since 1 February—continued armed conflict and unrest across the country have meant that the needs of the internally displaced are increasing. Their needs and the challenges of addressing them have been further exacerbated by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, which has added to existing restrictions on humanitarian actors’ access to internally displaced persons (IDPs). With Myanmar reporting record numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the last two weeks, either the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) or ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have imposed movement restrictions in areas of displacement.
There have not been significant refugee movements from Myanmar to neighboring countries in the past month, but UNHCR and other humanitarian actors continue advocacy efforts to ensure any new refugee arrivals would have access to protection measures and assistance. Thai authorities continue to regularly arrest Myanmar nationals attempting to enter Thailand irregularly though Tak and Kanchanaburi provinces, without systematic identification of whether such individuals are seeking or in need of international protection. Local communities in India, meanwhile, are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their support of Myanmar refugees who have now been in Mizoram and Manipur for months..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked his Southeast Asian counterparts Wednesday to press for an end to violence in Myanmar, its return to democracy and the release of all political prisoners in a video conference attended by the military-led nation’s top diplomat.
In the meeting with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Blinken also underscored the U.S. rejection of China’s “unlawful” territorial claims in the South China Sea and stressed that Washington stands with nations at odds with Beijing in the sea disputes.
Blinken’s meeting with the 10-nation bloc also addressed the coronavirus pandemic, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, as surging infections fill hospitals and morgues and further devastate Southeast Asian states’ once-bustling economies.
Blinken “called on ASEAN to take joint action to urge the end of violence, the restoration of Burma’s democratic transition and the release of all those unjustly detained,” Price said in a statement, using the former name for Myanmar.
The U.S. and European nations have been the most vocal opponents of the military takeover that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February. Suu Kyi was arrested and detained with top members of her National League for Democracy party, including President Win Myint.
Last week, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the rights situation in Myanmar has changed from a political crisis to a “multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe,” adding that nearly 900 people have been killed and 200,000 forced to flee their homes because of military raids. The World Food Program has estimated that more than 6 million people are in severe need of food aid, she said.
Blinken urged ASEAN to take immediate action “to hold the Burmese regime accountable” to a consensus forged in April by the bloc’s heads of state with Myanmar’s military leader. The five-point document called for an immediate end to violence and the start of a dialogue among contending parties with a special ASEAN envoy mediating in the talks.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. pressed for the restoration of the political conditions before the Feb. 1 military takeover, but lamented that “So far, nothing’s happened.”
Although highly contentious issues were raised, the two-hour meeting was “very civil,” a Southeast Asian diplomat told The Associated Press. The diplomat was involved in the meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to publicly discuss what went on.
It was not immediately clear if Myanmar’s military-appointed foreign minister responded to Blinken’s concerns or to the previous ASEAN demands.
ASEAN member states have recommended to Myanmar officials the names of possible ASEAN envoys from Thailand and Indonesia but there has been no response. Two ASEAN representatives who traveled to Myanmar last month asked to meet Suu Kyi and other detainees but were rebuffed, the Southeast Asian diplomat said.
The South China Sea territorial disputes involve four ASEAN states. Ahead of his meeting with ASEAN on Wednesday, Blinken accused China of continuing “to coerce and intimidate Southeast Asian coastal states, threatening freedom of navigation in this critical global throughway,” and upheld a Trump-era rejection of nearly all of China’s maritime claims in the region.
China deplored Blinken’s remarks, saying he was sowing discord among Asian countries and stoking disputes.
“The U.S. always poses as a defender of international law and keeps making an issue of the South China Sea, but it has not joined the UNCLOS,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing, referring to the 1982 U.N. treaty that governs the use of the world’s seas and oceans.
An international arbitration tribunal, acting on a complaint filed by the Philippines, in 2016 declared most of China’s sweeping territorial claims invalid. Beijing has refused to recognize the ruling.
Blinken’s meeting with his ASEAN counterparts was to have taken place in May but he was unable to secure an online connection as he took a flight for an emergency trip to Israel. The bloc’s foreign ministers, who waited for nearly an hour, decided to cancel the meeting. The State Department later apologized.
Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN is a diverse collective of democracies and authoritarian states that has become a battleground for regional influence between the U.S. and China. Its members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The Interim Emergency Response Plan has been developed under the leadership of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) as an operational planning framework to enable prioritized emergency humanitarian response activities beyond the scope of the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) that was launched in January 2021. The operational plan builds on efforts to date to respond to humanitarian needs arising since 1 February 2021, which have drawn on contingency stocks or reorientation of planned development assistance. The Interim Plan focuses on 1) urban and peri-urban townships in Yangon and Mandalay which have seen dramatic increases in humanitarian needs due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing situation since 1 February; 2) scaling up of emergency response in Kayah State, Chin State, and other areas where clashes have driven large-scale displacement in previously stable areas; and 3) flexible inter-agency rapid response in other areas when new emergency needs related to violence, insecurity, and displacement are identified.
The operating environment across the country has become more challenging in a number of respects. In particular, the volatile security situation and communications and banking disruptions are complicating activities countrywide. Responding in areas with limited pre-existing humanitarian capacity, which are the primary focus of this plan, creates specific challenges and risks that partners are working to address. The Interim Plan, therefore, emphasizes the importance of a cautious and iterative approach, as efforts continue to define needs more clearly, improve information collection and to optimize response approaches. As always, humanitarian response activities will be guided by the internationally recognized principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence, and humanity.
The Interim Plan emphasizes the importance of ensuring inclusive humanitarian response approaches tailored to the needs of particular groups, including women, girls, the elderly and persons with disabilities, who are being impacted by the current situation in different ways. It also highlights the centrality of protection and do-no-harm approaches as humanitarian operations extend into new areas.
The Interim Plan identifies $109 million in emergency humanitarian programming to be implemented until the end of 2021. These requirements are in addition to the $276.5 million requested through the 2021 HRP for ongoing humanitarian efforts in Kachin, northern Shan, Rakhine, southern Chin and Kayin states, and parts of eastern Bago Region. The HCT has emphasized that efforts to mobilize in new locations should not draw capacities or resources away from the conflict-affected settings targeted through the HRP and has noted that needs are growing in many of these locations. The HRP and the Interim Plan are therefore distinct but closely linked and will also be implemented in parallel with the development of complementary planning instruments providing, among other areas, for support for the continuity of Myanmar’s health system. If required, lifesaving activities in the areas covered by the Plan and other locations may need to be integrated into a more expansive 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan..."
Source/publisher:
Humanitarian Country Team in Myanmar and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Public Health, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations
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703.89 KB
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Sub-title:
Item 4: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
Description:
"Madam President, Mister Special Rapporteur,
FIDH and its member organizations ALTSEAN-Burma and Women Peace Network welcome this oral progress report.
We are troubled by ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, torture, and prosecutions of human rights defenders, National League for Democracy members, and junta critics and opponents. It is even more troubling that women and children have continued to be deliberately targeted by the junta’s security forces.
Last week’s release of more than 2,000 prisoners charged under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code is welcome, but they shouldn’t have been detained in the first place. This cynical tactic to avoid criticism ahead of high-profile international meetings like this one does not negate the fact that scores of people have been charged with the capital offence of treason and 65 have been already sentenced to death. Several thousands more political prisoners remain behind bars and must be immediately released.
We welcome the National Unity Government’s public commitment to uphold human rights and establish accountability for abuses, including those committed against Rohingya and other ethnic groups. In light of this, we urge the NUG (National Unity Government) to review the recommendations made by UN member states during the Universal Periodic Review of Myanmar in January 2021 and to submit its response to these recommendations ahead of the next Human Rights Council’s session.
Thank you..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Oral Statement to the 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and The Law Society, NGOs in Special Consultative Status
Description:
"Mme President;
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada and the Law Society of England and Wales thank the High Commissioner for her update. We deplore the junta’s continuing assault on the rule of law. The junta has extrajudicially killed hundreds of civilians[1] and arbitrarily detained more than 5,000,[2] including numerous lawyers,[3] journalists,[4] defenders, peaceful protestors, politicians, dissidents, and even children. An additional five lawyers have been arrested since May 24th, 2021. The junta routinely denies detained persons access to lawyers and fair trials. There are regular reports of torture of those in custody.
While the junta has announced the release of approximately 2,300 prisoners,[5] the junta’s relentless attacks on fundamental rights continue to demand urgent global action. We urge all Council members and observer States, including China, Russia, and ASEAN States, to take immediate action:
To call for immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained persons, including lawyers and defenders;
To support the work of the High Commissioner and Special Procedures towards the implementation of human rights and the rule of law in Myanmar; and
To urge the UN Security Council to apply a global arms embargo and other measures to prevent the junta from continuing its grave, systematic, and widespread violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
Thank you..."
Source/publisher:
Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada and Law Society of England and Wales
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Public briefings and oral statements to the CHR by non-governmental organisations
Language:
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pdf
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288.22 KB
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Description:
"Acknowledgements: Internet freedoms are increasingly under threat, constituting part of the continuous regression in freedom
of expression in Southeast Asia. Nowhere has this concerning trend been more apparent than in the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar, since 1 February 2021 coup d'état. Threatened by the modern and
dynamic capacity of the internet to facilitate democracy, the internet was the first target of the Tatmadaw's
new tenure of brutal control and censorship.
In conceptualising this report and placing a spotlight on these developments, Asia Centre would like to
extend a sincere thank you to the Burmese nationals currently residing in Myanmar, as well as members of
the Burmese diaspora who have aided us with valuable inputs for this report. These individuals wish to
remain anonymous due to security concerns.
We are also grateful for the speakers and participants who contributed generously through their insights
during consultations as well as a webinar, “Law and Lawlessness: Myanmar Coup and Human Rights”, on
11 March 2021, in the run-up to the drafting of the report.
We are thankful and grateful to our partners, The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) and the
Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) for reviewing
the draft of this report and providing constructive feedback.
This report was led from the front, with research, drafting and editing by Asia Centre’s Executive Director
Dr. Robin Ramcharan and Programme Coordinator Yawee Butrkrawee. Asia Centre’s Research Interns -
Rory McAfee, Roshni Sharma and Ayman Ragab also supported the research. A special mention and thank
you goes to Asia Centre’s Associate, Dr Balázs Szántó, for his help in reviewing the report.
We would also like to recognise Communications Assistant Srettapong Srimekarat for designing the cover,
infographics and layout of the report. For the cover page, “wire fence background” is supplied by
j88DESIGN via Getty Images. We would also like to thank Centre Manager Patcharee Rattanarong for her
administration of the project.
Myanmar: Dismantling Dissent: Crackdown on Internet Freedoms is dedicated to the people of Myanmar,
especially those leading the protests. Democracy exacts a huge price; we remember in this report those
who have perished during the ongoing struggle for democracy in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Centre , The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, today called for the urgent formation of an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar“ to stop what he described as the military junta’s “reign of terror” in the country.
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Andrews said it was time to the end “the failure of those outside of Myanmar to take measures that could help end this nightmare”.
“The international community is failing the people of Myanmar,” he said.
Andrews highlighted the extreme human rights abuses committed by the junta, which he described as crimes against humanity. “The junta’s military forces have murdered approximately 900 people, forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands, tortured many, including torturing people in custody to death, disappeared untold numbers, and arbitrarily detained nearly 6,000.”
Despite its brutality, Andrews stressed that the junta has failed to take control of the country after launching its February coup. “The junta captured many levers of State power, the purse strings of Myanmar’s Treasury and the administrative offices, but it has not - not even close - taken control of the nation and its people,” he said. “The people of Myanmar roundly view the junta as illegitimate and, indeed, a terrorist scourge set loose upon them.
“Now, more than ever, we must summon the courage of the people of Myanmar and choose the path of meaningful and sustained action.”
Andrews’ call for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar would include “nations willing to stand with the people of Myanmar through meaningful, coordinated action”. He added: “It could reduce the junta’s ability to attack its citizens, save the lives of those in acute crisis, and gain political leverage so that the crisis in Myanmar might come to a just and permanent conclusion.”
The UN expert said that a coalition of nations that are willing work together on strong action to pressure the junta was necessary in light of the paralysis that has followed the consensus decision making that has plagued the international response to date. “The UN Security Council, Human Rights Council and General Assembly have offered statements and resolutions but the people of Myanmar need immediate action,” he told the Council in Geneva on Wednesday.
Andrews cited five key actions the Emergency Coalition should take:
Significantly reduce the revenue that the junta needs to continue its reign of terror by coordinated tough targeted sanctions, including against Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise;
Outlaw the export of arms to the Myanmar military, as called for in last month’s General Assembly resolution;
Pursue universal jurisdiction cases and coordinate investigations against Myanmar’s senior security officials;
Dramatically increase humanitarian aid by working with the National Unity Government to utilize non-junta channels to assure that aid goes directly to the people of Myanmar; and
Work together to deny any claims of legitimacy that the junta may try to assert, such as the false claim that they are recognized by the United Nations.
“Future generations may look back upon this moment and ask: ‘Did the people and nations of the world do all that they reasonably could to help the people of Myanmar in their hour of great peril and need?’
“I’m afraid that the honest answer to that question, at this point, is no.
“There is still time to set a new course and achieve a just outcome for the desperate people of Myanmar,” Andrews said. “But time is short and the stakes could not be higher.”
ENDS
Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"ဒေါက်တာဆာဆာ၊( အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေး ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး၊ အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ ပြောရေးဆိုခွင့်ရှိသူနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာကုလသမဂ္ဂအထူးကိုယ်စားလှယ် ဟောင်း)သည် လွန်ခဲ့သော အပတ် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ၊ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြင်သစ်အထက် လွှတ်တော်၏ နိုင်ငံခြားရေးရာ ကာကွယ်ရေးနှင့်လက်နက်ကိုင်အင်အားစုများ ကော်မတီထံသို့ မိန့်ခွန်း ပြောကြားခဲ့ရာ မိန့်ခွန်းတွင်ပါဝင်သည့် အကြောင်းအရာအပြည့်အစုံကို အများပြည်သူ နားလည်သဘော ပေါက်နိုင်စေရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပြီး အင်္ဂလိပ်ဘာသာမှ မြန်မာဘာသာသို့ အတတ်နိုင်ဆုံး ဘာသာပြန် ဆိုထားပါသည်။
ဤမိန့်ခွန်းသည် ဒေါက်တာဆာဆာမှ ပြင်သစ်လွှတ်တော်အမတ်များထံသို့ ဒုတိယအကြိမ်မြောက် မိန့်ခွန်းပြောကြားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။
ပြင်သစ်အထက်လွှတ်တော်အမတ်ပေါင်း (၁၅၀)ကျော်မှ အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအား မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏တရားဝင်အစိုးရအဖြစ် ပြင်သစ်အစိုးရမှ အသိအမှတ်ပြုရန် လက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးခဲ့ကြပြီး လက်ရှိတွင် ဆက်လက်အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ဆောင်ရွက်သည့်အပေါ် ဆုတောင်းကူညီပေးကြပါရန် အလေးအနက်မေတ္တာရပ်ခံအပ်ပါသည်။
အားလုံးကို ကျေးဇူးတင်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
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3.24 MB
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Description:
"Madam President,
The European Union thanks the High Commissioner for her oral update.
The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar. This unacceptable seizure of power abruptly turned back the clock of history in the country. Once again, the path towards democracy has been reversed and the will of the people expressed in the November 2020 elections, has been ignored. The EU calls on the Myanmar armed forces to immediately halt violence and the use of force against civilians and to allow the population to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Arbitrary arrests and detentions and the torture and ill-treatment of detainees must end. We take note of the release of some detainees by the Myanmar military authorities.
The EU acknowledges the efforts undertaken by ASEAN to initiate a peaceful dialogue-driven process to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The swift and faithful implementation of the five-point consensus reached at the Leaders’ Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on 24 April is important
The EU strongly supports the valuable work of the High Commissioner and her Office, to ensure continuous monitoring, documenting and reporting on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. The EU calls on Myanmar to cooperate with your Office by ensuring immediate access to the country and by facilitating the opening of a country office.
We share your concern that the human rights-, humanitarian- and security situations are deteriorating quickly, with indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population, precipitating mass displacement and a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis. This threatens the lives of many thousands in Myanmar, including women, children and persons belonging to minorities, in particular in the Saigan and Mandalay regions as well as in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin and Shan States.
The Special Advisor of the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide warned in her recent address to this Council that root causes of discrimination and violence need to be addressed, including guaranteeing full citizenship and other rights to the Rohingya community in Myanmar and ensuring accountability for past crimes in order to deter more atrocity crimes from being committed.
The EU reiterates our strong support to the mandate of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to collect evidence of serious international crimes or violations of international law, including those committed after 1 February 2021, and facilitate criminal proceedings in order to ensure the accountability of those responsible.
We would welcome your views, Madame High Commissioner, on how your Office can contribute to existing accountability efforts, including through cooperation with other mechanisms, and what your current priorities are in this regard..."
Source/publisher:
Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
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"Madam President,
The European Union thanks the Special Rapporteur for his oral update as requested by this Council last March. The EU attaches critical importance to your mandate, Mr. Andrews, and would like to acknowledge your continued efforts to document the human rights situation on the ground. We call on Myanmar to resume immediate cooperation with your mandate and grant unrestricted access throughout the country.
The EU shares your serious concerns, Mr. Andrews, about the worsening human rights situation in Myanmar, following the military coup on 1 February, which the EU continues to condemn in the strongest terms. Since the coup, the Myanmar junta and its security forces have increased their brutal repression of peaceful protests across the country, leaving large scores of unarmed citizens dead or wounded. The escalation of military attacks against citizens, including those belonging to ethnic minorities, has resulted in an unprecedented number of displaced persons since the 2016 events in Rakhine state. .
Through its actions, the security forces have shown a blatant disregard for international law, and must be held to account. Violence will not give legitimacy to the illegal over-throwing of the democratically-elected Government.
The EU reiterates its calls to the Myanmar armed forces: These acts of violence against the people of Myanmar must stop and the rights of Myanmar citizens must be guaranteed.
The five-point consensus reached at the Leaders’ Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on 24 April is a positive and important first step to begin a process of de-escalation and the return to the democratic transition in Myanmar/Burma. The European Union underlines the need for their swift and faithful implementation.
In this regard, how do you see, Mr. Andrews, the cooperation between your mandate and the Special Envoy due to be appointed under the five point consensus?..."
Source/publisher:
Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"We welcome the Council’s decision to proceed with this important dialogue.
Myanmar once again stands at a precipice, threatening to become an international human rights pariah. Since the February 1 coup, the military junta has arbitrarily detained thousands and killed hundreds, including dozens of children. Legislators from the elected government remain detained incommunicado.
The civilian population lives under a constant fear of arbitrary arrest and detention. Journalists, lawyers, doctors, and students face increased intimidation and threats. Those who had been held in interrogation centers and prisons describe widespread torture and ill-treatment.
The military-controlled State Administration Council (SAC) continues to restrict the internet and has ramped-up phone and internet surveillance, cutting critical information amid a global pandemic and political crisis. The junta has also exploited the political instability to launch new, abusive military operations in ethnic minority areas across the country, displacing hundreds of thousands.
The Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has issued strong calls for a global arms embargo against the junta alongside targeted sanctions against junta members, and for businesses to reassess their economic dealings with the military.
Concerned states should urgently adopt or enhance targeted sanctions on the junta leadership and on military-owned companies, such as the oil and gas entities that keep the junta in power.
The UN General Assembly has urged member states to halt arms transfers to Myanmar. The UN Security Council should follow through and impose a global arms embargo to help prevent further military abuses.
The only way back from the precipice is the restoration of an elected civilian government that delivers on its commitments to address the root causes of Myanmar’s human rights crisis. These include ensuring equality and non-discrimination for all ethnic groups in Myanmar, notably recognition of Rohingya citizenship and other basic rights.
We encourage the Special Rapporteur and High Commissioner to provide intersessional briefings as needed so that this Council can take all measures necessary to respond to this unfolding crisis..."
Source/publisher:
HRC47: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered this statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner’s oral update on Myanmar.
Description:
"Thank you, Madame President.
Thank you High Commissioner for your update and for your continued efforts as you fulfil your mandate.
The United Kingdom continues to condemn the military coup in Myanmar, and I reiterate today our call on the military to respect the human rights of the people of Myanmar and their democratic wishes.
The coup has had a detrimental impact on freedom of speech. Over 80 journalists have been arrested and many others forced into de facto exile. In many cases, there has been little or no information about their whereabouts, nor have they been provided access to lawyers. This is a clear attack on the rule of law and basic freedoms.
Despite the many risks, independent media in Myanmar continue to play an essential role in exposing the actions of the Junta. Journalism is not a crime. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained and call on the international community to continue to support independent media. In a crisis such as this, where the military regime seeks a monopoly of information, the role of the media is vital in combating propaganda, and keeping alive the spirit of democracy. Supporting these platforms and the verified stories they share is a duty for all of us.
High Commissioner,
What can the international community do to ensure that journalists are allowed to carry out their job without fear or threat of violence?..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
What began as a coup by the Myanmar military has ‘rapidly morphed’ into an all-out attack against the civilian population that has become increasingly widespread and systematic, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Tuesday.
Description:
"Speaking at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet reiterated that the situation in the country has evolved from a political crisis in early February to a “multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe”, repeating a formulation she first used a month ago.
Since the coup, nearly 900 people have been killed while around 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of violent military raids on neighbourhoods and villages.....Downward spiral: “Suffering and violence throughout the country are devastating prospects for sustainable development and raise the possibility of State failure or a broader civil war”, she cautioned.
Ms. Bachelet explained that the catastrophic developments since February have had a severe and wide-ranging impact on human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development.
“They are generating clear potential for massive insecurity, with fallout for the wider region”.
The UN High Commissioner urged the international community to stand united in pressuring the military to halt its continuing attacks on the people of Myanmar and return the country to democracy, reflecting the ‘clear will of the people’.....The UN must act: She said the UN system must not fail the country a second time”, she added, citing the 2019 review of UN action in the country, by Gert Rosenthal.
She also advised swift action to restore a working democracy before the human rights situation in the country deteriorates further.
“This should be reinforced by Security Council action. I urge all States to act immediately to give effect to the General Assembly's call to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”, Ms. Bachelet said.....Hunger, violence and poverty: Ms. Bachelet said COVID had had a ‘disastrous’ impact on an economy that relied on remittances, the garment industry and other sectors which have been devastated by the resultant global recession.
UN Agencies estimate that over 6 million people are severely in need of food aid and forecast that nearly half the population could fall into poverty by early 2022.
“A void has been opened for the most harmful – and criminal – forms of illicit economy to flourish”, she underscored.
Meanwhile, a countrywide general strike, combined with the widespread dismissal of civil servants – including educators and medical personnel – has cut off many essential services in the country.
Since 1 February, at least 240 attacks on health-care facilities, medical personnel, ambulances and patients have disabled COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccination.....Intense violence and repression: She denounced indiscriminate airstrikes, shelling, civilian killings and mass displacement. Civil voices are also being silenced: over 90 journalists have been arrested and eight major media outlets shuttered.
“We have also received multiple reports of enforced disappearances; brutal torture and deaths in custody; and the arrest of relatives or children in lieu of the person being sought”, she said.....New equation: Despite the repression, the UN High Commissioner indicated that the military leadership has not successfully secured control of Myanmar, nor won the international recognition it seeks.
“On the contrary, its brutal tactics have triggered a national uprising that has changed the political equation”, she said.
She added that people across the country continue peaceful protests despite the massive use of lethal force, including heavy weaponry, and a ‘civil disobedience movement has brought many military-controlled government structures to a standstill’.
Some people, in many parts of Myanmar, have taken up arms and formed self-protection groups. These newly formed groups have launched attacks in several locations, to which the security forces have responded with disproportionate force, she noted.....Consequences: “I am concerned that this escalation in violence could have horrific consequences for civilians. All armed actors must respect and protect human rights and ensure that civilians and civilian structures such as health centres and schools are protected”.
“Any future democratic government in Myanmar must have the authority to exercise effective civilian control over the military. The international community should build upon the range of international accountability mechanisms already engaged, until transitional justice measures also become genuinely possible at the national level”, the High Commissioner concluded..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The UN and Burma - news and commentary, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Since the 1st of February, Myanmar has entered a phase of political crisis with a dramatic collapse of all services, including access to health care services and basic support for the most vulnerable within the population.
Description:
"The strong rejection of the military regime by a large majority of the population has led to disproportionate use of force and the escalation of violence against the civilians. It caused a number of deaths, up to 842 until June 3rd, 5 609 persons arrested, among them 4 468 are still detained, and 250 000 people displaced since the military coup.
Médecins du Monde (MdM) is increasingly concerned about the rising tolls and barriers to access health care services as the majority of public health facilities remain closed.
Médecins du Monde has implemented, since 1994, programs in direction of marginalized and vulnerable groups with a continuity of services during all those years. Today, our clinic in Yangon is closed, as it has been for the past 2 months, as the safety and security of our staffs and patients, our first concern, cannot be assured. Services to our patients are largely affected, after already almost a year of challenging times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the population no longer has access to basic survival means, including food, being unable to have money in hands, and of course access to health care, which creates a situation where most of the basic needs are not fulfilled anymore.
THE BURMESE BETWEEN FEAR AND VIOLATED RIGHTS
People from Myanmar are suffering and will suffer for an undetermined period of time from a regime of terror and abusive detentions. Humanitarian actors already present in the country need to be able to reach the population without barriers: this is a question of ensuring respect for fundamental human rights. People need to have unhindered access to basic health services, and humanitarian organizations that are well established in Myanmar.
MdM strongly condemns all forms of violence against healthcare workers as they endanger the health and human rights of the people of Myanmar. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global surveillance system in their three-month post-coup review, there have been 158 reported attacks on health care workers, resulting in 11 deaths and 51 injuries and more than 100 doctors have been arrested since the beginning of February.
PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN MYANMAR
We urge the military regime to cease all violent and repressive actions taken against the population. We also call on the international community to take unified action to protect the people of Myanmar in the best way possible, increasing humanitarian aid through international NGOs and local civil society organizations on the ground, preparing for the internal displacements and refugee crisis which will be inevitable if things continue this way..."
Source/publisher:
Médecins du Monde
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Dear respected members of the Parliament of the European Union, thank you so much
indeed for giving me this great opportunity to represent my people and country of Myanmar,
which have suffered too much for far too long under the hands of the failed coup leader Min
Aung Hlaing and his military junta regime’s reign of terror against the 54 million people of
Myanmar.
This is the darkest moment in our history. The people of Myanmar are facing the darkness
of the genocidal military junta. While the future of Myanmar is in the hands of the brave
people of Myanmar, we need the strong and continued support, friendship and recognition
from the people, Parliamentarians, and European Union and its international alliance. Your
support and recognition are absolutely crucial in ending this cruel military junta in Myanmar
and building a new Myanmar into an inclusive federal democratic union for ALL the people
of Myanmar regardless of race, religion, culture, gender, background and ethnicity.
Under the hands of the failed coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing and his genocidal military junta
forces, the 54 million people of Myanmar are facing brutal crimes against humanity, war
crimes and ethnic cleansing.
1. Over 915 people, including 72 children have been murdered in cold blood since 1st of
February 2021 when the military Generals in Myanmar took entire nation hostage.
2. More than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people were arrested illegally without cause.
3. Many of our democratically elected leaders of Myanmar are facing a show trial with
fraud charges which has nothing to do with the rule of law but has everything to do
with the destruction of our democracy and freedom, and the prolonging of the military
junta reign of terror against the people of Myanmar.
4. More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee for their lives from illegal arrest
warrants.
5. A Few days ago the military junta in Myanmar made another show again by releasing
more than 2,000 illegally detained civilian hostages who should never have been
arrested in the first place. The military junta is preparing another mass illegal arrest
by releasing them as show and also for making more spaces at famous junta run
concentration camps - the Insein Prison and other junta run concentration camps and
prison cells across the country. Insein prison and other junta run prisons must be
closed by the international community immediately before these concentration
camps become the place of hell where human beings are being dehumanized by the junta forces. These prisoners of conscious held in these concentration camps have
done nothing wrong; they simply were using their right to freedom of expression.
6. 1.2 million innocent people of Myanmar have fled for their lives from their homes,
villages, town and cities which have come under attack by the genocidal military junta
forces, who are guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing
against the people of Rohinga our brothers and sisters, the people in Kachin, Karen,
Kayah, Mon, Shan, Rakhine and Chin States which make over 40% of the Myanmar
population. (UNCHR: 1.2 million IDPs, Refugees from Myanmar).
7. 27 million people of Myanmar will be living in poverty within a year. (Half the
population of Myanmar will live under the poverty line within a year - UNDP).
8. 6.4 million people in Myanmar will have no food by the end of October this year
(United Nations World Food Programs - WFP).
9. We have received several hundred thousand emails: 151,000 emails contain
documented cases of crimes against humanity, and 310,000 videos and photographs
of atrocities.
10.427 strong cases are being open by international human rights lawyers on behalf of
28,005 victims who suffered crimes against humanity committed by the military junta
forces. These are being named with case details and cases notes.
11. Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly and out of control without the provision of Covid-
19 vaccinations. Myanmar is becoming another breeding ground for Covid-19.
12. Myanmar is quickly becoming a failed state, and our economy is collapsing without
break, our health care, education and other basic services are paralyzed, and food
insecurity is sharply rising.
13.The violence and killing continue and are becoming more and more widespread
across the nation.
14.Therefore, we are getting closer and nearer to a great civil bloodbath, great civil war,
and another genocide, which can be prevented only by the international community’s
strong actions against this genocidal military regime in Myanmar.
15.The ASEAN five-point consensus on Myanmar passed more than two months without
any actions on the ground, and the military junta continues to use ASEAN as their
propaganda tool.
16.The 76th UN General Assembly resolution adopted on Myanmar has passed two
weeks with no results on the ground in Myanmar. The military junta in Myanmar keeps
showing zero respect for the International Community, our ASEAN brothers and
sisters, and the people of Myanmar.
17.The military junta forces have occupied our churches, schools, community halls and
hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots. These junta forces are replacing
textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns and bullets; replacing
Bibles and hymnals with intimidation, oppression, mortars and bombs; and replacing
life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of torture, destruction and death.
18.It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the
school children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of
worship and community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the
communities, pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is
not normal that our hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is
crashing due to this military reign of terror. It is not normal that our teachers, tutors,
professors, doctors, nurses, midwives, engineers, scholars and civil servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their peaceful movement of Civil
Disobedient Movement-CDM which is more powerful than all the military junta’s acts
of terrorism against the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
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Description:
"22,000 Estimated refugee movements to neighbouring countries since 1 February 2021
980,000 Refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in neighbouring countries as of 31 December 2020
211,000 Estimated total internal displacement within Myanmar since 1 February 2021
370,000 Estimated internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Myanmar as of 31 December 2020
HIGHLIGHTS
Approximately 211,000 people have now been displaced internally in Myanmar since 1 February 2021, a more than 20% increase since one month ago. This includes 176,900 IDPs in Southeast Myanmar and Shan (South). Although recent weeks have seen a decrease in violence in some parts of the country, such as Kachin State and Chin State, the security situation remains volatile, with continued armed clashes, rocket fire, shelling, raids and new military deployments, particularly in southeast Myanmar.
Ceasefires between the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and local defence groups in Kayah State and Chin State have allowed some IDPs to return to their homes, but many remain hiding in forest areas and are in dire need of shelter, sleeping mats and medical supplies. Heavy monsoon rains in June have heightened these needs, while the recent increase in COVID-19 transmission—and resulting travel restrictions—has further hampered already limited humanitarian access. Despite the continuing violence in Myanmar, no significant movements of refugees have been reported to neighbouring countries in the last two weeks..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Human Rights and international relations, Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
7.42 MB
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Description:
"မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ နိုင်ငံတကာ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုလုပ်ငန်းများအတွက် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ သဘောထားရပ်တည်ချက် မြန်မာ ဘာသာပြန် အပြည့်အစုံ
လူသားချင်းစာနာမှု အကူအညီများ ပေးအပ်လျက်ရှိသော နိုင်ငံတကာ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအတွက် အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့်ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနနှင့် လာရောက်ထိတွေ့ ပူးပေါင်း ညှိနှိုင်း ဆောင်ရွက်ကာ ပိုမိုထိရောက်သော လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေး နည်းလမ်းများအားဖော်ထုတ်အကောင်အထည်ဖော်နိုင်ရေး ကို ဦးတည်လျက် ဤသဘောထားရပ်တည်ချက်ကို ထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။
(ထုတ်ပြန်ချက် အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ ဘာသာ နှစ်မျိုးစလုံးကို ဝန်ကြီးဌာန website https://mohadm.nugmyanmar.org တွင် ရယူနိုင်မည် ဖြစ်ပြီး pdf file လိုအပ်ပါက email မှ တဆင့် ဆက်သွယ်တောင်းခံနိုင်ပါသည်။)..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management - NUG
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.69 MB
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Description:
" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the third
month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire
country in armed conflict. It has escalated military attacks on urban-based
movements and border-based ethnic communities.
Security forces, including notorious units that committed genocidal atrocities
against Rohingya people, unleashed lethal battlefield tactics in towns and cities,
launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, and shelled villages in Chin,
Kachin, Karen, Shan, and Sagaing States/Regions.
During April alone, security forces killed at least 288 civilians and displaced over
27,000. The junta sentenced 26 civilians to death in military tribunals.
In total, it has killed at least 845 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over
47,000 ethnic community members, and detained at least 4,537 politicians, activists,
journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.
The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., the elected
parliament) formed an ethnically diverse National Unity Government (NUG).
ASEAN leaders invited junta leader Min Aung Hlaing—who illegally grabbed power
on 1 February—to a meeting, rather than Burma’s legitimate civilian government.
The meeting resolution contained “Five Points of Consensus,” including peaceful
negotiation and cessation of violence in Burma, but not including the release of
political detainees. The junta preceded the meeting by criminalizing the NUG, and
followed the meeting by continuing its violence throughout the country.
The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the
economy, potentially dragging it back by 15 years. The UN projects that by 2022,
48% of the country will be in poverty.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o The UN Security Council must work
with ASEAN, to ensure it complies with
UNSC resolutions on the protection of
civilians, the Geneva Conventions, and
international human rights standards;
o The UN, foreign states, and
international finance institutions (IFIs)
must sanction and stop assisting the
junta; and
o These actors must engage with the NUG
as the legitimate government of Burma,
rather than the junta.....CONTENTS: 2 Burma movement demands
2 Democratic government
4 De jure and de facto authority
5 Air strikes and a new civil war
7 Offensives cross international lines
7 Attempts to stop defections
8 Junta’s violent crackdown
9 Bago massacre, Sagaing attacks
9 Tactics of fear and repression
10 Civilians sentenced to death
11 Media/information restrictions
12 Protests continue despite dangers
13 ASEAN meeting
14 International reactions, sanctions
18 Corporations pick sides
19 Coup continues to destroy economy..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
762.46 KB
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Description:
"CONTENTS: 2 Trials for NLD leaders
2 NUG and CRPH
5 COVID-19 surge
5 Conflict and displacement
6 Ceasefires
6 Displacement
7 Fighting by region
9 Protests and violent crackdowns
12 Resistance bites
12 Women continue to lead, and to
suffer disproportionately
13 International reactions, sanctions
15 ASEAN engagement
15 ASEAN-China meeting
17 UN General Assembly
17 G7 Summit
17 Effects on foreign business
18 Foreign links identified
18 Economy continues to sink
19 Junta continues to enrich itself.....Junta seeks to bolster coup narrative: Since April, the junta has published at least three
propaganda books that omitted its killing of over 800
pro-democracy protesters. The books focused on the
myth that the military had to take over due to
widespread electoral fraud by the NLD in the 2020
elections. According to the books’ prefaces: “Although
Myanmar’s democracy foundation shaped by the
Tatmadaw since 1988 is making certain progress, the
democratic journey is delayed by voter-list errors and
poor transparency in the 2020 election and the failure
to handle the Tatmadaw’s statements on the election.”
On 10 June, the Ministry of Information reported that
the junta’s Union Election Commission had found
evidence of electoral fraud by the NLD after examining
the voter lists and voting conditions in 49 townships in
Shan State. It declared that NLD candidates violated
the Hluttaw Election Law, as well as COVID-19
prevention and control guidelines during the campaign
and on polling day. The Commission added that the
NLD had “arranged to seize power in advance”, and
concluded that the election was not free and fair. This
was one in a months-long series of examinations by
location since February.
During the ASEAN-Russian Federation Summit on
Security on 28 June, junta representative Lt-Gen Yar
Pyae said that electoral fraud by the NLD had led to a
loss of trust in democracy and the election system. He
claimed that the Tatmadaw had no choice but to take
power to maintain stability. Yar Pyae also accused the
NLD of banning “the rights of democracy, including
media freedom” during its first term in office, and
blamed the kyat’s drop in value and increased
commodity prices on their “wrong” economic policies.
Irrawaddy (24 Jun 2021) Myanmar Junta Propaganda Books
Hope to Rewrite History; SAC (10 Jun 2021) Announcement
of Union Election Commission; SAC (29 Jun 2021) Union
Minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae joins virtual ASEAN-Russian
Federation Summit on Security Affairs.....Junta’s “perfect information”: In light of widespread condemnation by independent
media, the NUG, and foreign governments, the junta
sought to dispute the facts about its military actions.
On 7 June, it denied that its troops initiated a 5 June
shootout with villagers armed with homemade guns
in Kyonpyaw Township (Ayeyarwady Region). This
contradicted news reports that the Tatmadaw fired
first. The junta also alleged that three villagers were
killed, compared to 20 in other sources.
On 19 June, it criticized CNN and Reuters for their
“wrong news without media ethics” after they
reported, on 17 June, that junta forces had burned
down 80% of homes in Kinma Village, Pauk
Township (Magway Region). It alleged that a local
PDF and insurgents from Chin State set fire to the
house of a USDP member during a clash with
security forces on June 15, leading to more fires.
Also on 19 June, it published a press release on the
incident, accusing the CRPH, NUG, PDF, extremist
NLD members and followers of spreading rumours
on social networks to cause instability. On 20 June,
it alleged that the PDF had deliberately set fire to
Kinma to raise funds through Facebook donations,
tarnish the image of the government, and draw
international condemnation.
On 21 June, the (reconstituted) Myanmar Press
Council released a statement that unlicensed local
media outlets, international news agencies, and
foreign embassies had spread fake news regarding
the events in Kinma to help international
organizations interfere with the country’s internal
affairs. It said it would not be responsible for further
disputes that occur if media workers contact and
provide information to news outlets whose licenses
were revoked by the junta. The next day, the junta
said official news media had already provided “the
perfect information” and urged news agencies to
follow international media ethics.
SAC (7 Jun 2021) Exaggeration of media on attack in
Ayeyawady Region; Myanmar Now (5 Jun 2021) Junta
troops kill three civilians in shootout over arrest of local
villager; Guardian (6 Jun 2021) Myanmar junta forces
reportedly kill 20 civilians in fresh clashes; SAC (19 Jun
2021) CNN, Reuters news agencies presenting news
without media ethics need to post correct news; SAC (19
Jun 2021) Public information released not to believe fake
and false news on social networks; SAC (20 Jun 2021)
Statement strongly condemns media outlets and
organizations spreading false information on Kinma fire
case; SAC (22 Jun 2021) Media council releases
statement urging to follow journalism ethics; SAC (26 Jun
2021) Myanmar Press Council – Announcement 5/2021.....Latest information control measure: whitelists: In June, internet providers in Burma confirmed that
the junta plans to allow access only to approved
(“whitelisted”) websites/platforms, whereas before
the internet was open except for blacklisted sites.
From February, the junta instructed internet
providers to ban platforms like Facebook and
Twitter, and continued to add other websites, often
via twice-weekly directives. A senior official at
Burma telecommunications company MPT said the
junta gave the company hundreds of thousands of
IP addresses to blacklist, including news websites.
For nearly 50 days, there were only around 500,000
internet connections in a country of 54
million. Website/platform bans and internet
blackouts disrupted even the most basic functions of
the banking, education, transportation, and
healthcare sectors.
The junta restored access to the internet over mobile
data in May. Popular websites and platforms like
Facebook and Twitter remain inaccessible without a
VPN, but some mobile banking applications became
usable again. An IT professional said that while the
junta could not ban some Cloudflare VPNs, most
VPNs could be shut down as whitelisting begins.
All internet users in Burma will likely eventually be
affected by whitelisting, but so far the whitelist only
seems to be affecting mobile internet. The ministry
has sent its lists of over 1,000 websites and
applications to be whitelisted, and mandated that
mobile operators and internet service providers
follow the whitelist plan.
MPT was also recently required to begin monitoring
calls and the most frequently visited websites.
Senior official said they could not view emails and
chats, but were monitoring the highest traffic
websites from local IP addresses.
Frontier Myanmar (30 Jun 2021) Whitelisted internet
takes Myanmar back to a ‘dark age’..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Language:
Format :
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Size:
836.38 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the second
month of its power grab, has escalated military offensives on both the democracy
movement and border-based ethnic communities.
Security forces have unleashed lethal battlefield tactics and weapons on civilians
throughout the country, killing scores in the towns and cities of Ayeyarwaddy,
Bago, Kachin, Mandalay, Mon, Sagaing, Shan, Thanitharyi, and Yangon States and
Regions.
The junta has launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, in apparent
retaliation for opposition to the coup.
The junta has already killed at least 536 civilians, injured hundreds more, and
detained at least 2,729 politicians, activists, journalists and others, in attacks
against the democracy movement. It has also killed at least 23 and displaced over
20,000 in attacks on ethnic communities.
o During March alone, the junta killed at least 513, and displaced over 18,000.
Despite being threatened with the death penalty for “treason,” the Committee
Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., representing the national
parliament) abolished the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, paving the way for the
establishment of a national unity government with ethnic organizations.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o Foreign states and bodies enact targeted
sanctions on the military (Tatmadaw),
Tatmadaw-affiliated companies and
partners, including a global arms embargo;
o All International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
immediately freeze existing loans, recall
prior loans and reassess the post-coup
situation; and
o The UN Security Council immediately send
a delegation to prevent further violence and
ensure the situation is peacefully resolved.
The Tatmadaw has sought to weaken popular opposition by reintroducing the death
penalty, and enforcing a string of oppressive legal amendments and orders that
violate human rights of anybody the junta perceives as an enemy. It enumerated 23
laws or causes of action that would subject civilians to prosecution by court-martial.
Millions of civilians continue to protest nationwide—in almost every township in
Burma—despite military intimidation and brutal violence.....CONTENTS: 2 Coup timeline
2 Committee Representing
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
3 Nationwide peaceful protest
3 Illegal junta’s violent crackdown
4 Junta “apologizes” and then ramps
up violence
6 Attacks on ethnic communities
7 Desperate junta orders
8 International condemnation and
sanctions
10 Corporations pull back
10 Coup destabilizes economy..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
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519.67 KB
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" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial, or economic control in the fourth
month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire
country in armed conflict.
Security forces created battlefields in more towns and cities, expanded airstrikes
on Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Sagaing States/Regions, and shelled villages
in all of these places as well as in Shan State.
During May alone, security forces killed at least 125 civilians and displaced over
150,000. There were 530 violent attacks that either targeted or failed to protect
civilians in the first three weeks of May, and a total 2,098 incidents 1 Feb–21 May.
In total, they have killed over 1,000 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over
200,000 mainly ethnic minority people, and detained at least 5,554 politicians,
activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.
The National Unity Government (NUG) formed an interim armed force, began a
constitutional reform process, and took other democratic, inclusive governance
measures. It suggested granting ICC jurisdiction over events since 1 February.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing snubbed ASEAN’s 5-point consensus by escalating
violence and discarding commitments without consequences—ASEAN members
instead moved to remove the call for an arms embargo at the UN General Assembly.
The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the
economy. The value of the Kyat fell by 20% since January, inflating costs for people
already impacted by the crippling economic impacts of the coup and COVID-19.
Junta leaders, secure in their access to foreign currency through oil, gas, and
natural resource exploitation, seem willing to accept destruction of the domestic
economy as the price of territorial control.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o The UN, foreign states, and international
finance institutions (IFIs) must expand
sanctions;
o These actors must engage with the NUG
as the legitimate government of Burma,
rather than the junta; and
o The UN Security Council must take a
more active role, in the face of ASEAN’s
weakness and the junta’s intransigence.....CONTENTS: 2 NUG fights for democracy
5 Air strikes, artillery, and attacks
on towns
10 Violent crackdowns on resistance
13 Resistance bites
14 Protests continue despite dangers
15 Women continue to lead, and
continue to be targeted
16 International reactions, sanctions
18 More corporations depart
19 Economy continues to sink
20 Junta focuses on extractives for
personal enrichment..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
779.14 KB
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Description:
"1. The National Unity Government (NUG) held a virtual press conference (2/2021) for Burmese
language media on 25 June and for English language media on 28 June.
2. The Ministry of Labour of the NUG released statement 2/2021 on 26 June to confirm that the
announcement made by the military junta’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population
on 1 March 2021 was not in accordance with the law.
The junta Ministry outlawed sixteen labour organisations, including federations of trade
unions, and called their activities illegal. The junta threatened to take actions against such
activities under existing laws.
The NUG Ministry of Labour points out that Myanmar is a party to the ILO Convention
concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Therefore, every
worker has the right to establish and organise to promote labour interests. The NUG also
points to Myanmar’s Labour Organisation Law (2011) concerning registration.
The junta has neither the right nor the authority to designate labour organisations that register
under this law as unlawful organisations.
The Ministry of Labour of the NUG states therefore that the announcement made by the army
council violates the Geneva Convention and that the sixteen labour organisations mentioned
in the junta’s announcement have the right to exist and to continue their work.
3. The web page for the Ministry of Education https://moe.nugmyanmar.org/ was launched on
27 June 2021. Biographies of Ministers, activities and the organisation of the department,
announcements and contact emails are published on this page.
Also included is information on how to join interim education programmes for primary and
secondary levels and vocational training that are part of NUG’s Continuing Education
programme.
The NUG offers courses and lectures on the constitution, federalism, and human rights
provided as part of its Federal Education Programme, available in Burmese and English.
4. The Ministry of Defence of the NUG has published the People’s Defence Periodical,
Volume 1, No. 1. The periodical includes valuable information for local People’s Defence
Forces such as Rules of Engagement, the Law of Armed Conflict, rules for members of the
underground resistance network, defence and gender, the Code of Conduct for the People’s
Defence Force, and the four-point oath of allegiance o f the People’s Defence Force.
5. A high-level open debate on Children and Armed Conflict under the Presidency of Estonia
took place via video conference on 28 June 2021. Members of the United Nations that are not
part of the UN Security Council sent statements to the event. Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun,
Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations, sent a written statement
expressing Myanmar’s ' deep concern about grave violations that affected the children in
armed conflict'.
His statement included these words:
We are particularly alarmed by the trends o f increased attacks on schools. ...The
protection of children needs to be ensured first and foremost by a legal framework
that guarantees their rights and wellbeing.
Regarding Myanmar, he highlighted that,
Despite constitutional constraints with regard to armed conflicts, the elected civilian
government led by President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, showed its strong commitment in implementing a number o f significant initiatives
to enhance child protection capacity.
He also confirmed that:
Given the widely known brutality and inhumane acts o f the military and its total
disregard for human life, the military has been relisted under Section B o f annex I o f
this annual report o f the Secretary-General fo r the recruitment and use o f children.
Since the illegal military coup on 1 February 2021, the military has destroyed our
nascent democratic transition and has ruined the rule o f law. Justice has been taken
out of reach. Violence and atrocities have been perpetrated by the military security
forces on a daily basis.
Nearly 900 people were ruthlessly murdered by the military. According to UNICEF,
as o f 21 June, at least 60 children have been killed since February.
The security forces continue to occupy many schools and hospitals throughout the
country, making it impossible in enabling a safe environment fo r learning and health
care.
Permanent Representative U Kyaw Moe Tun appealed to the Security Council, the Security
Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and the to Secretary-General and
his Special Representative as follows:
• Prevent further grave violations by military forces of killing and maiming children
and rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in Myanmar.
• Ensure that the military forces stop indiscriminate and excessive use of force and
comply with the obligations under international law, including international
humanitarian and human rights law.
• End impunity and hold the perpetrators of grave violations against children
accountable.
• Ensure that the country task force on monitoring and reporting receives sufficient
support and strengthens its monitoring, reporting, prevention and response efforts
regarding all violations and abuses against children in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
196.13 KB
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Description:
"အပတ်စဉ် သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက် (၆/၂၀၂၁)
၂ ဇူလိုင် ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်
၁။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ သတင်းစာရှင်းလင်းပွဲ အမှတ် (၂/၂၀၂၁) ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန် ၂၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် မြန်မာ့ဘာသာဖြင့်ထုတ်လွှင့်သော မီဒီယာများဖြင့် လည်းကောင်း၊ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် နိုင်ငံခြားဘာသာဖြင့် ထုတ်လွှင့်သော နိုင်ငံတကာမီဒီယာများဖြင့် လည်းကောင်း Online Conferencing စနစ်ဖြင့် တွေ့ဆုံ၍ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
၂။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အလုပ်သမားဝန်ကြီးဌာန ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ၂/၂၀၂၁ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ (၂၆)ရက်နေ့စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး အဆိုပါ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်တွင် ၂၀၂၁ မတ်လ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံ အလုပ်သမား၊ လူဝန်မှုကြီးကြပ်ရေးနှင့် ပြည်သူ့အင်အား ဝန်ကြီးဌာနက အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်များနှင့် အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့အား တရားဝင် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများမဟုတ်ကြောင်း၊ ယင်းတို့၏လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်မှုများသည်လည်း ဥပဒေနှင့် ညီညွတ်မှုမရှိကြောင်း ဆက်လက်လှုပ်ရှား ဆောင်ရွက်ပါက တည်ဆဲဥပဒေများနှင့်အညီ ထိရောက်စွာအရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်းကြေညာခဲ့ခြင်းသည် တရားဝင်မှုမရှိကြောင်း၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာအလုပ်သမား အဖွဲ့ချုပ်(ILO)၏ လွတ်လပ်စွာသင်းပင်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် Freedom of Association Convention 87 ကို လက်မှတ်ထိုးထားသော နိုင်ငံတနိုင်ငံဖြစ်ပြီး အလုပ်သမားတိုင်းသည် မိမိတို့ အလုပ်သမားအရေး ဆောင်ရွက်ရန် အလို့ငှါ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာစည်းရုံး ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိကြောင်း၊ ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ် အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့် ဥပဒေသည် မှတ်ပုံတင်ဥပဒေသာဖြစ်ပြီး အဆိုပါ ဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ မှတ်ပုံမတင်သော အလုပ်သမားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို တရားမဝင်အဖွဲ့များအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ခွင့်မရှိကြောင်း၊ ယခုလို အရပ်သားအစိုးရထံမှ မတရားအာဏာလုယူထားသော အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်သည် ဂျီနီဗာ ကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းကို ဖောက်ဖျက်ရာရောက်ကြောင်းနှင့် အဆိုပါ အလုပ်သမားရေးဆောင်ရွက်နေသော အဖွဲ့အစည်း ၁၆ ဖွဲ့သည် မိမိတို့၏ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဖွဲ့စည်းခွင့်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် မိမိတို့၏ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ အလုပ်သမားရေးရာ လုပ်ငန်းများကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆောက်ရွက်ခွင့် ရှိကြောင်းတို့ ဖော်ပြပါရှိသည်။
၃။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်အစိုးရ ပညာရေး၀န်ကြီးဌာန၏ အင်တာနက် စာမျက်နှာဖြစ်သည့် https://moe.nugmyanmar.org/ ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထုတ်လွှင့်လိုက်သည်။ အဆိုပါ Website တွင် ဝန်ကြီးများ၏ ကိုယ်ရေးအချက်အလက်များ၊ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်တာများ၊ ဌာန ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံ၊ အမိန့်ကြေငြာချက်များ၊ ဆက်သွယ်နိုင်မည့် အီးမေးလ်များကို ပြည်သူလူထုသိရှိစေရန် ဖော်ပြထားသည့်အပြင် စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ်ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍတွင်လည်း ကြားကာလပညာရေး အခြေခံ၊ အဆင့်မြင့်နှင့် သက်မွေးပညာရေး အစီအစဉ်များအားလည်းကောင်း၊ ဖက်ဒရယ်ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍတွင်လည်း ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်စနစ် သင်တန်း အခြေခံလူ့အခွင့်အရေး သင်တန်းများအားလည်းကောင်း မည်သို့တက်ရောက် သင်ကြားနိုင်ကြောင်းတို့ကို အသီးသီး ဖော်ပြထားသည်။ ထိုသို့ဖော်ပြရာတွင် မြန်မာပြည်သူပြည်သားများသာမက ကမ္ဘာ့နိုင်ငံအသီးသီးမှလည်း ဝင်ရောက်လေ့လာနိုင်ရန် မြန်မာ၊ အင်္ဂလိပ်နှစ်ဘာသာဖြင့် ဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။
၄။ စစ်ပွဲနှင့်တိုက်ပွဲ၊ ထိတွေ့မှုဆိုင်ရာ စည်းမျဉ်းစည်းကမ်းများ(Rule of Engagement) နှင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခဆိုင်ရာ (သို့) စစ်ဥပဒေများ၊ မြေအောက်ယူဂျီရဲဘော် ဆောင်ရန် ရှောင်ရန်၊ Gender နှင့်တိုင်းပြည်ကာကွယ်ရေး၊ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်မတော်၏ စစ်ဘက်ဆိုင်ရာ ကျင့်ဝတ်များ၊ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်မတော်၏ သစ္စာအဓိဌာန် (၄) ချက် စသည့် အနယ်နယ်အရပ်ရပ်မှ ဒေသခံ ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးအဖွဲ့များ သိသင့်သိထိုက်သည်များပါဝင်သည့် ပြည်သူ့ကာကွယ်ရေးစာစဉ် အတွဲ(၁) အမှတ်(၁)၂ ကို အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ထုတ်ဝေခဲ့သည်။
၅။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် အက်စတိုးနီးယားနိုင်ငံ သမ္မတက သဘာပတိအဖြစ် ဆောင်ရွက်၍ လက်နက်ကိုင် ပဋိပက္ခအတွင်း ကလေးသူငယ်များအရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ အဆင့်မြင့် တံခါးဖွင့်အစည်းအဝေး (UN Security Council High-Level Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict) ကို virtual ကျင်းပခဲ့ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ အစည်းအဝေးသို့ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ အဖွဲ့ဝင်မဟုတ်သော အခြား ကုလသမဂ္ဂနိုင်ငံများနည်းတူ ကုလသမဂ္ဂဆိုင်ရာ မြန်မာ အမြဲတမ်း ကိုယ်စားလှယ် သံအမတ်ကြီး ဦးကျော်မိုးထွန်းက မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ကိုယ်စားပြုပေးပို့သော မိန့်ခွန်း (Written Statement) တစ်ရပ်ကို ပေးပို့ခဲ့ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ မိန့်ခွန်းတွင် ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်မှုများ၊ စာသင်ကျောင်းများအပေါ် ဉီးတည်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများအတွက် လွန်စွာစိုးရိမ်မှု ရှိသည့်ကိစ္စ၊ ကလေးသူငယ်များအား ဥပဒေကြောင်းအရ ကာကွယ်ပေးနိုင်မှု၏ အရေးပါမှုကိစ္စ၊ အပြစ်ကျူးလွန်သူများအားလုံး အရေးယူရန် အရေးကြီးမှု၊ အရွေးချယ်ခံအရပ်သားအစိုးရလက်ထက်တွင် ကလေးသူငယ်များကို အကာအကွယ်ပေးနိုင်ရေး အတွက် အလေးထားဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည့်ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်အနေဖြင့် ပြည်သူများအပေါ် လူမဆန့်သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုများဆက်လက်ရှိနေ၍ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ်၏ အစီရင်ခံစာ၏ ချိုးဖောက်မှုရှိသည့် နောက်ဆက်တွဲ စာရင်းတွင် တပ်မတော်ကြည်း အား ပြန်လည်ထည့်သွင်းခဲ့သည့်ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်တပ်က မတရား အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး နေ့စဉ် လူမဆန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများ မတရား သတ်ဖြတ်မှု၊ ဖမ်းဆီးမှု၊ နှိပ်စက်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်နေသည့်ကိစ္စ၊ ကလေးငယ် (၆၀) ကျော်အပေါ်၊ လူပေါင်း (၉၀၀) နည်းပါး အသတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည့် ကိစ္စ၊ စစ်တပ် အနေဖြင့် စာသင်ကျောင်း၊ ဆေးရုံးများ ကို တပ်ဆွဲထားသည့်ကိစ္စများ ကို ဖော်ပြထားပြီး၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ် တို့အနေဖြင့် ကလေးသူငယ်များ အပေါ် လူမဆန်စွာ ကျူးလွန်များ ထပ်မံ မဖြစ်ပေါ်ရေးအတွက် ကာကွယ်ပေးရေး၊ ခွဲခြားမှု မရှိဘဲ အင်အားအလွန်အကျွံ အသုံးမပြုရေး၊ ကလေးသူငယ်များအပေါ် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူများအား အရေးယူရေး၊ စောင့်ကြည့် အစီရင်ခံသည့်အဖွဲ့ အနေဖြင့် ပံ့ပိုးမှု ပိုမိုရရှိရေး၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာမှု အကူအညီများ အတားအဆီးမရှိ ပေးအပ်နိုင်ရေး၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ နှင့် အလှူရှင်များ အနေဖြင့် အမျိုးသားစည်းလုံးညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ နှင့် ထိတွေ့ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေး၊ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်အနေဖြင့် စာသင်ကျောင်း နှင့် ဆေးရုံးများ အသုံးမပြုရေး၊ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှု ချက်ချင်းရပ်စဲ၍ ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်လည်ရရှိရေး တို့အတွက် ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန် မေတ္တာရပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ပြည်သူတွေနှင့် အတူ အမျိုးသား စည်းလုံး ညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရအနေဖြင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင် အပြီးပြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေး၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်း ဖယ်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံ တည်ထောင်ရေးအတွက် လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သည့်ကိစ္စ အားလုံးကို ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း တို့ကိုဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။
၆။ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေး ဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်များ၏ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများကြောင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အနှံ့အပြားရှိ အတိဒုက္ခရောက်နေကြရသော ပြည်သူများအတွက် ထောက်ပံ့မှုများကို အခက်အခဲများ ကြားမှ အမြန်ဆုံး ရောက်ရှိနိုင်ရေး ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပရှိ မြန်မာပြည်သူများနှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ လှူဒါန်းမှုများဖြင့် ၂၀၂၁ ဇွန်လ ၆ရက်နေ့မှ ဇွန်လ ၂၈ရက်နေ့ အတွင်း
-ကရင် ပြည်နယ် ဖလူး ဒေသ စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် ရှစ်ဆယ့်တစ်သိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် အဝတ်အထည်များ နှင့် ငွေကျပ် ကိုးဆယ့်ခုနစ်သိန်းလေးသောင်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ကရင်ပြည်နယ် အခြားဒေသများရှိ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်စခန်းများသို့ ငွေကျပ် သိန်းတစ်ရာ့ငါးဆယ်ခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် အဝတ်အထည်များကိုလည်းကောင်း၊
-ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် တောင်ပိုင်း ဖယ်ခုံမြို့ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်များအတွက် ငွေကျပ် နှစ်ရာ့ကိုးသိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် ထောက်ပံ့ရေး ပစ္စည်းများကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ကယား ပြည်နယ် စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် သုံးရာနှစ့်ဆယ့်ငါးသိန်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ချင်းပြည်နယ် စစ်ဘေးရှောင် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် လေးရာ့ခြောက်ဆယ့်ရှစ်သိန်းခန့် တန်ဖိုးရှိ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာနှင့် ထောက်ပံ့ရေး ပစ္စည်းများ နှင့် ငွေကျပ် တစ်ဆယ်သိန်း ကို လည်းကောင်း၊
-ပြည်တွင်း ဒေသအသီးသီးရှိ ထိခိုက်လွယ်မိသားစုများအတွက် ငွေကျပ် ကိုးဆယ့်နှစ်သိန်း တစ်သောင်းငါးထောင်ကို လည်းကောင်း ထောက်ပံ့ပေးပို့နိုင်ခဲ့သည်။ လုံခြုံရေးအခြေအနေများကြောင့် ထောက်ပံ့မှုသတင်းများကို အချိန်နှင့် တပြေးညီ မထုတ်ပြန်သည်ကို နားလည်ပေးပါရန် မေတ္တာရပ်ခံအပ်ပါသည်။
၆။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇွန်လ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သော တတိယအကြိမ်ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ဒုတိယပုံမှန်အစည်းအဝေးတွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ပြည်ထောင်စု ဝန်ကြီးချုပ်က အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီးဌာနအသီးသီး၏ (၂) လတာ လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက် နေမှုများကို အစီရင်ခံစာတင်သွင်းခဲ့ပြီး ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်မှ မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားရှိခဲ့သည်။
၇။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင်လ ၁ ရက် အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် ၀၁/၂၀၂၁ ၃ ဖြင့် လူသားချင်းစာနာကူညီရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်တုံ့ပြန်ရေးကော်မရှင် (Commission for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) ကိုဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါ ကော်မရှင်တွင် ယာယီသမ္မတက ဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၊ ပြည်ထောင်စု ဝန်ကြီးချုပ်က ဒုတိယဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၊ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးနှင့် ဘေးအန္တရာယ်ဆိုင်ရာ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေး ဝန်ကြီးဌာန ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီးက အတွင်းရေးမှူးအဖြစ်ဆောင်ရွက်ပြီး လုပ်ငန်းနှင့်သက်ဆိုင်သော ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများမှ ပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး (၁၁) ဦးတို့ အဖွဲ့ဝင်အဖြစ်ပါဝင်သည်။ ..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.
UNILATERAL CEASEFIRE IN WAR-TORN TIGRAY, BUT ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ATROCITIES
After almost eight months of armed conflict and atrocities in the northern Tigray region, the Ethiopian government announced a unilateral ceasefire on 28 June and plans to allow wider delivery of humanitarian aid. The announcement was made after a week-long intensification of fighting and major territorial gains by the opposition Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). On Monday, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) hastily retreated from the regional capital of Mekelle, as TDF forces marched into the city. Eritrean forces, who are allied with the ENDF and have also been occupying parts of Tigray, also appear to be retreating and have left the towns of Shire, Aksum and Adwa.
Despite the Ethiopian government claiming for several months that armed combat in Tigray was over, there has been a rise in clashes as well as a growing number of violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law. On 22 June at least 64 people were killed when a government airstrike hit a bustling market in Togoga. Health officials claim soldiers repeatedly blocked medical personnel from reaching the location of the airstrike. A doctor, who was traveling in a Red Cross ambulance, reported that the vehicle was shot at by the ENDF who then briefly detained the ambulance because “whoever goes, they are helping the troops of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.” The Ethiopian government’s military spokesperson denied that any civilians were harmed in the airstrike.
The recent escalation of fighting has also impeded the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid to 5.2 million people – 91 percent of Tigray’s population – many of whom are at severe risk of famine. Aid workers have also continued to face harassment, intimidation and detention while attempting to carry out their duties. On 24 June three Médecins Sans Frontières staff were murdered during an attack on their vehicle. The Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, also reported that ENDF soldiers entered a UNICEF office and dismantled the VSAT communications equipment, violating IHL.
Deliberate attacks on humanitarian workers and medical personnel constitute war crimes under international law.
The Global Centre’s Communications and Digital Media Officer, Sarah Hunter, said, “while this ceasefire will hopefully provide desperately needed relief for civilians in Tigray, it in no way resolves the conflict. The African Union and UN Security Council have largely ignored the enormity of the crisis in Tigray. They must utilize this opportunity to push for a negotiated political solution and enable an international, independent investigation of all potential war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since last November.”
MYANMAR JUNTA STRENGTHENS MILITARY TIES WITH RUSSIA
On 22 June Myanmar’s military, or Tatmadaw, raided a “People’s Defense Force” (PDF) base in Mandalay – the country’s second largest city – firing rocket-propelled grenades in a civilian area and exchanging gunfire with PDF fighters. This marked the first time that significant armed clashes have occurred in a major urban area between the Tatmadaw and civilian resistance forces that have been formed in response to the military coup on 1 February. Casualties were reported on both sides.
Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw and leader of Myanmar’s military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, attended an international conference last week in Moscow, Russia, where he reiterated the unsubstantiated claim that the previous civilian government rigged the November 2020 election. General Min Aung Hlaing rejected international criticism of the coup, stating that, “some countries are constantly trying to influence other political systems and ideologies … they also want to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states on the pretext of democracy and human rights.” The trip included a meeting with Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, who emphasized the growing military cooperation between Myanmar and Russia.
At least 884 people have been killed by Myanmar’s security forces since the coup and more than 5,210 people remain detained according to the Association for Political Prisoners. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has also reported that an estimated 230,000 people have been displaced this year inside the country and require humanitarian assistance.
In response to the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation inside the country, on 18 June the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that “calls upon all Member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” The resolution also called on the military to “fully cooperate with and immediately facilitate a visit by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar” and for “the immediate release of all those detained arbitrarily.”
In response to the vote in the UN General Assembly, Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director at the Global Centre, said that, “General Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly perpetrated atrocities against the people of Myanmar, including a genocide against the Rohingya, and he orchestrated the 1 February coup. The junta he leads should not be legitimized or recognized by any country. The UN Security Council has received a clear mandate from the General Assembly and it should urgently impose an arms embargo. Not one more bullet or bayonet should be sold to the Tatmadaw.”
MASSACRE IN BURKINA FASO CARRIED OUT BY CHILD SOLDIERS
Earlier this month, on 5 June, an armed group perpetrated the deadliest attack in Burkina Faso in years, when more than 130 people, including children, were killed in Solhan village. The Solhan massacre also forced 7,000 families to flee the area. According to the Burkinabé government spokesman, Ousseni Tamboura, the attack was primarily carried out by child soldiers who were between the ages of 12 and 14 and who belonged to an armed group affiliated with the so-called Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, JNIM).
On 24 June the UN Children’s Fund Representative in Burkina Faso, Sandra Lattouf, stated that “we strongly condemn the recruitment of children and adolescents by non-state armed groups. This is a grave violation of their fundamental rights. We recall that civilian populations should never be victims or targets of attacks. Families and children should be protected everywhere and at all times.”
The recruitment and use of children is one of the UN’s six “grave violations” against children and, according to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, enlisting, conscripting and using children under the age of 15 in an armed conflict constitutes a war crime.
The UN Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, released on 21 June, included information on Burkina Faso for the first time, documenting a rising number of violations against children. During 2020 the UN verified 171 grave violations against 83 children – including killing and maiming – with most violations occurring in the East, Central North and Sahel regions. An estimated ten percent of the country’s schools are also now closed, depriving more than 300,000 children of education. The risk of human trafficking and recruitment into armed groups, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, is particularly acute when children are deprived of access to education.
On 29 June the Burkina Faso government announced that two suspected members of JNIM have been detained over the Solhan massacre.
It is crucial that the authorities in Burkina Faso relentlessly pursue legal accountability for all those who perpetrate abuses against children, provide reparations and support to victims, and increase meaningful protection for those most at risk. The Burkinabé government should also implement its protocol on the release and handover of children associated with armed groups..."
Source/publisher:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor (TEL.OL) is exploring the sale of its Myanmar unit, industry publication TMT Finance reported on Thursday, and has hired Citi to sell the business, with non-binding bids due in the coming weeks.
A Telenor spokesperson said the company does not "comment on market rumours". Citi declined to comment.
Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar operation in May in light of the deteriorating security and human rights situation in the country, where its mobile business remains severely restricted following the Feb. 1 military coup.
Some Chinese buyers are also being invited to bid, TMT Finance said, which would likely not be subject to international sanctions faced by other international telecom companies.
TMT said the other foreign operator in Myanmar, Qatar's Ooredoo (ORDS.QA), had shown interest in buying its market peer and was looking to find a financial adviser for the forthcoming process.
Ooredoo was not immediately available for comment.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that the detail of the TMT Finance report was accurate.
Telenor has around 18 million customers in Myanmar, serving a third of its 54 million population. It is one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, which it entered in 2014.
Myanmar accounted for 7% of Telenor's earnings last year..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Bonjour!
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dear respected members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of
Defenses and Armed Forces of the Senate, the Parliament of France, I cannot thank you
enough for giving me this great opportunity again to represent my people and country of
Myanmar before the French Parliamentarians. I am so moved by seeing and hearing the
strong support from the People, Parliament and Government of France for the liberation and
freedom of the people of Myanmar from the hands of the military junta and for the building
of an inclusive Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar for All of the people of Myanmar
regardless of race, religion, gender, culture, background and ethnicities.
The brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly
appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of the French Republic for your solidarity
with us at this darkest of hours in the history of our country. I once again would like to
reiterate our sincere gratitude for your leadership in the EU, UN and at G7 on behalf of the
people of Myanmar. Thank you for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as representing the
voices of the people of Myanmar and thank you for joining countries that have imposed an
arms embargo in solidarity against the ruthless military junta in Myanmar. While the future
of Myanmar is in the hands of the brave people of Myanmar, we need the strong and
continued support, friendship and recognition from the people, Parliamentarians, and
Government of France and its international alliance. Your support and recognition are
absolutely crucial in stopping the crimes against humanity in Myanmar and ending the
military General’s reign of terror against the innocent people of Myanmar who’s only 'crime'
is expressing their fundamental rights as human beings. The defense and armed forces are
established in the countries around the world to protect their people and to defend freedom
and democracy, but the defense and armed forces in Myanmar are doing the opposite. They
are using their battlefield weapons to destroy our freedom and democracy by killing the
innocent people of Myanmar and bringing destruction to civilian homes, villages, towns and
cities across the Nation of Myanmar.
Under the hands of terrorist-turned-armed forces leader, Min Aung Hlaing and his military
junta gang, the innocent people of Myanmar have been facing the crises of crimes against
humanity, Covid-19 and a great humanitarian catastrophe. Under the brutality of the military
junta in Myanmar, Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly and out of control - the country is quickly
becoming a failed state; the economy is collapsing along with the healthcare system,
education system, and all basic services in the country are failing quickly. Food insecurity is
rising sharply, violence and killing continues day and night. The 54 million people of
Myanmar are facing the darkness of crimes against humanity, death and destruction which
are becoming both systematic and widespread.
Since the failed coup was instigated on the 1st of February 2021 in Myanmar, the military
junta forces have murdered over 915 people, including 72 children, unlawfully arrested and
detained more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people including our elected leaders, our State
Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr. President U Win Myint and dozens of brave journalists,
hunting down more than 2,000 innocent civilians and forcing them to flee from illegal arrest
warrants. All these charges are a farce which has nothing to do with rule of law but has
everything to do with the destruction of our freedom, democracy and prolonging of the
military junta reign of terror in Myanmar.
On the 16th of June 2021, the military junta committed another crime against humanity by
burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes) and burning elderly people to
death who were trapped inside their homes. This is not a first, however, as this military junta
is guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the Rohinga
our brothers and sisters, the people of Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, Chin
States which account for over 40% of the population of Myanmar. We have made our policy
and position strong and clear to bring justice for our Rohingya brothers and sisters and to
hold the military generals accountable for the crimes against humanity that they have
committed against the people of Myanmar. There shall never again be impunity for these
criminals.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta’s reign of terror.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is predicting that over half of the
population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a
year. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million
people in Myanmar are going to face starvation by the end of October 2021. We cannot
allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar people being violently forced to flee from
their homes because of a military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation; we cannot allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of military Generals in Myanmar.
The brutal military junta forces are attacking civilian homes, properties, villages, towns and
cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied churches,
schools, community halls and hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots. These junta
forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns and bullets;
replacing Bibles and hymnals with intimidation, oppression, mortars and bombs; and
replacing life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of torture, destruction and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is crashing due to this military reign of terror..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"In celebration of the Pride Month, The Ministry of Women, Youth and Children Affairs and
Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government today releases the Situation
Report of the LGBTIQs after the Military Coup in Myanmar. This report draws attention to the
situation of LGBTIQ activists who are killed, arrested and tortured for their participation in
the peaceful protests and some of the challenges the LGBTIQ people are facing under the
ongoing violence by the military.
This report is based on the first-hand testimonies the LGBTIQs as well as information
provided by many sources. Since the beginning of the coup in Myanmar, LGBTIQ people have
been actively participating in anti-coup protests, demonstrations and civil disobedience
movement (CDM). LGBTIQ groups throughout Myanmar actively participated under rainbow
flags as front-liners at every stage of the revolution. The visibility of the community leads to
highlighting the diversity and inclusivity of the people against the coup. As crackdowns,
violence against and torture of pro-democracy activists and civilians intensified within the
past few months, many LGBTIQs across Myanmar faced severe human rights violations. The
situation has severely deteriorated for the human rights defenders and activists Including
LGBTIQs.
Reports from LGBTIQ civil society organizations corroborate that there are (12) cases of
LGBTIQ fatalities, with (73) being arrested and/or charged under 505 (a), (65) still being
detained, and (28) either in hiding or having fled to non-SAC controlled areas. Reliable
sources indicate that gay people and transgender women are predominantly at the top of the
chart of most cases of human rights abuses and violations committed against the LGBTIQ.
This report also emphasizes the barriers and challenges faced by the LGBTIQs under military
rule. Documented challenges include access to justice by some LGBTIQs in areas outside of
cities, access to health care, particularly Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) during detention, and
shortage or cessation of service of HIV healthcare services and facilities across the country.
The military coup has unreservedly shrunk civic space for most civil society organizations to
operate. Despite previously existing laws not prescribing mandatory requirements of legal
registrations of non-governmental organizations, LGBTIQ human rights organizations cannot
conduct activities freely at all national and sub-national levels.
The National Unity Government calls on governments and UN human rights mechanisms to
support and engage with the NUG and recognize their work on protection and promotion of
human rights for the people inclusive of the LGBTIQ community. The NUG also calls on these
actors to keep amplifying the voices from Myanmar and to keep the struggle visible in the UN
human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council, UN General Assembly, and
the UN Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Further, the NUG calls on governments to support a call to referral of the Myanmar situation
to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to establish a coordinated arms embargo
against the Myanmar military, as well as targeted sanction against the military's businesses.
Support for Myanmar LGBTIQs is also needed; we call for support in monitoring, documenting
and reporting of human rights violations and gender-based violence of LGBTIQ people in
Myanmar and support for general funding and technical assistance to LGBTIQ groups.....Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs
National Unity Government
Dated 30 June 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs National Unity Government
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
36.31 KB
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Description:
"This morning, the junta prison department reportedly announced the release of 2342 prisoners across the country.
The junta detained innocents. Torture is used as policy by this military, detainees will suffer long-term physical and mental illness. There was no recognition of the injustice and suffering caused today, and no mention of the right to compensation.
Today’s events intend to make it seem there has been a relaxation in the junta’s repression. This is not the case. In fact, the junta is planning to detain and torture even more civilians. The people who remain in prison will be tortured more severely than those released. It is a continuation of the campaign of fear relentlessly waged against Burma’s people by the terrorist so-called State Administrative Council.
At least 883 peaceful protestors have been murdered, and 6421 detained since the coup. “Democracy will not be reached until all political prisoners are released, with justice and national reconciliation achieved. This illegitimate junta is not making positive changes, they are only trying to make the case to be given credentials at the UN in September”, said AAPP Secretary U Tate.
“They are arresting people who should never have been detained in the first place, those released will be threatened and suffer from trauma. They will need rehabilitation and understanding of the injustice they experienced”, said AAPP Joint-Secretary U Bo Kyi, “any release must aim at real reform, including the release of Daw Aung Suu Kyi. Violence must end, and those who committed torture and murder brought to justice. The junta is releasing people whilst arrests go on. The international community must not accept this as a relaxation. Real change must apply pressure to stop the violence and release all of the political prisoners. We have been dealing with this junta for decades, they will not be removed unless there is intense pressure. Releasing some political prisoners does not mean Burma will return to a civilian government the people want”
Burma’s path to democracy can only be restored if our elected leaders and all political prisoners are unconditionally released and a civilian government, elected by the people, in power.
In Solidarity,
AAPP..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The Military's political role
Language:
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pdf
Size:
120.43 KB
Local URL:
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"Under the watch of Min Aung Hlaing’s failed coup and his military junta regime in Myanmar,
Covid 19 cases are rising hugely hourly and is out of control- the country is quickly becoming
a failed state; the economy is collapsing along with the healthcare system, education
system, and all basic services in the country are failing quickly. Food insecurity is rising
sharply, violence and killing continues day and night, and humanitarian catastrophe is
becoming widespread. Normalization of crimes against humanity and war crimes are being
attempted by the oppressive and brutal military junta that the 54 million people of Myanmar
are facing. This is the darkest moment in the history of Myanmar. The people of Myanmar
are facing the real darkness of crimes against humanity, death and destruction which are
both systematic and widespread.
Since the failed coup started on the 1st of February 2021, in Myanmar, the military junta
forces have murdered over 915 people, including 72 children (52 cases have been verified).
The brave people of Myanmar will never allow the normalization of the murder of innocent
civilians, and it is a matter of justice and accountability. The illegal military junta forces have
unlawfully arrested and detained more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people without cause,
including our elected leaders, our State Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr. President U Win
Myint and dozens of brave journalists. The military junta has been hunting down more than
2,000 innocent civilians and forcing them to flee from illegal arrest warrants, for the mere
'CRIME' of expressing their fundamental and universal human rights.
The illegal military junta committed another crime against humanity on the 16th of June,
2021 by burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes), in Sagaing Region of
Myanmar, and burning elderly people to death who were trapped inside their homes. This is
not a first, however, as this military junta is guilty of war crimes, genocide, crimes against
humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the people of Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Shan, Mon,
Rakhine, Chin States, our Rohinga brothers and sisters who account for over 40% of the
population of Myanmar.
This violence we are seeing instigated by the military junta in Myanmar is both systematic
and widespread. The brutal junta forces are attacking civilians’ homes, properties, villages,
towns and cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied
churches, schools, community halls and hospitals to use as barracks and supply depots.
These junta forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with the terror of fear, violence, guns
and bullets; replacing Bibles and hymnals with intimidations, oppressions, mortars and bombs; and replacing life-saving hospital equipment with weapons of tortures, destruction
and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
pastors, monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
hospitals, colleges, universities, banks, and economy is crashing due to this military reign of
terror. It is not normal that our teachers, tutors, professors, doctors, nurses, midwives,
engineers, scholars and civil servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their
peaceful movement of CDM which is more powerful than all the military junta’s acts of
terrorism against the people of Myanmar.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta’s reign of terror.
There is nothing normal about 1.2 million innocent civilians in Myanmar being forced to flee
their homes due to this oppressive military junta.The United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) is predicting that over half of the population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million
people) will be living in poverty within a year. There is nothing normal about 27 million
innocent civilians in Myanmar facing harsh poverty. The United Nations World Food Program
(WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million people in Myanmar are going to face starvation
by the end of October 2021. There is nothing normal about 6.4 million innocent civilians
dying from starvation and thirst. It will be heart breaking to count the number of deaths
caused by not only the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and
hunger that has begun directly because of the terroristic actions of this brutal military junta
in Myanmar.
We cannot allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar people being violently forced to
flee from their homes because of a military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation, nor can we allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of a few old generals.
The military junta’s brutality and cruelties against the doctors, nurses, health workers,
teachers and civil servants who are simply expressing their fundamental rights by joining the
peaceful movement of civil disobedience - CDM - have been increasing. We, the NUG again
denounce and condemn this illegal and illegitimate military junta and their acts of terrorism
against this most peaceful CDM movement. This unacceptable reign of terror, harassment,
tortures, intimidations and violence against the peaceful movement of CDM must be
stopped at once. The legal and legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity
Government (NUG) has now successfully established 16 Ministries with responsible
Ministers, and out of these 16 Ministries of NUG, 11 Ministries have built websites and pages
in order to serve the best interest of our people for whom and by whom the NUG was elected
and formed.
The NUG is looking out for the best interest of the people of Myanmar, and in doing so we
have waived all land fees and charges for all rented lands in the areas of Myanmar's natural resources. These attempts are to cut off all revenue belonging to the people of Myanmar
from going into the hands of this illegitimate military regime 'SAC'. At the same time, I want
to take this opportunity to appeal to the International Communities that the people of
Myanmar have put strong sanctions against the military junta on the ground. They are
putting themselves in harsh conditions, for they know that these harsh conditions are
temporary, and that freedom and federal democracy means everlasting peace, prosperity,
and stability. Therefore, it’s time for the International Communities to sanction all stateowned
enterprises such as Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE) and other revenue
streams which are the main income sources for the military junta to buy more weapons in
order to kill more innocent people in Myanmar.
We have produced very important leaflets on how to prepare emergency kits for families
and individuals, and these are made available to all the public. We have done this because
of the increase of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a direct result of the military junta
forces acts of terrorism against the peaceful and innocent people of Myanmar. We are doing
everything we can to relief our people who have suffered so much for far too long.
The acts of terrorism against Mandalay City, the second largest and most populated city in
Myanmar, and the crimes against humanity and war crimes we have seen in Kinma, village
of Pauk Township, Pakokhu District, Sagaing Division, Demoso and other places in Kayah
State, and Mindat and other parts of Chin State have shown strong evidence that the military
junta in Myanmar is openly committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the
civilian population in Myanmar. The acts of terrorism by the military junta in Myanmar are
leading the whole Nation into a civil bloodbath, a great civil war and another genocide. Day
after day, these nationwide peaceful protests, boycotts and strikes which are completely
non-violent have been cracked down on by the oppressive military junta with bloodstained
heavy battlefield weapons that have been secured from China, Russia and other countries
with the money that has been stolen from the same gas and oil enterprise and our natural
resources..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
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Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Sub-title:
Across Myanmar, militias are forming to counter deadly repression of demonstrations against the 1 February coup. In response, the military has deliberately targeted civilians, displacing tens of thousands. Outside actors should press the regime to respect international law and allow humanitarian aid to the displaced.
Description:
"What’s new? Following Myanmar’s 1 February coup, newly organised militias have launched attacks in several parts of the country in response to regime killings of demonstrators. These lightly armed bands have inflicted significant casualties on the security forces, who have struck back with heavy weapons and bombardment of residential areas.
Why does it matter? The regime’s heavy-handed, indiscriminate retaliation has displaced tens of thousands of men, women and children. Local networks and humanitarian agencies are unable to adequately assist these people, due to security and access restrictions, including military arrests, confiscation of supplies, and killings of those trying to deliver aid.
What should be done? International actors – including in the UN Security Council – should press Myanmar’s regime to respect its legal obligations regarding the principles of proportionality and distinction, which its counter-insurgency strategy deliberately violates, and allow humanitarian access to all displaced people. Newly created militias must also refrain from abuses, particularly killing detainees..."
I.
Overview
The Myanmar junta’s crackdown on protesters and the broader civilian population after the 1 February coup d’état has triggered violent resistance, including the formation of militias in parts of the country. Some such militias, armed with hunting rifles and other makeshift weapons, have used their numbers and knowledge of local terrain to inflict serious casualties on Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw. Security forces have responded with indiscriminate attacks on populated areas, using artillery, airstrikes and helicopter gunships. Tens of thousands of men, women and children have fled to the forest, with the regime blocking relief from reaching them. The Tatmadaw must meet its international obligations to respect the proportional use of force, distinguish between combatants and civilians, and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to those displaced. Outside actors have a responsibility, including in the UN Security Council, to ensure the regime faces consequences for international law violations. The militias, for their part, should not take the Tatmadaw’s grave abuses as an excuse to commit their own.
Citizens in many parts of Myanmar watched in dismay as the regime unleashed deadly violence against protesters and residents in major cities from late February. Determined to continue demonstrating against the coup, but also concerned that they faced the same threat from security forces, they began forming militias to defend themselves. Such groups have emerged in several areas of the country, responding to the security forces’ attacks with determined campaigns of armed resistance. They have been most effective in places with existing militias or ethnic armed groups, or strong traditions of hunting – where many men have access to weapons and know the terrain intimately. Many of these areas have seen no active conflict in years or decades, meaning the Tatmadaw has little established military and intelligence capability there.
With ground troops proving to be easy targets for ambushes, [the military] has unleashed long-range artillery, airstrikes and airborne assaults on populated areas.
Facing rising casualties, the military has responded with overwhelming force. With ground troops proving to be easy targets for ambushes, it has unleashed long-range artillery, airstrikes and airborne assaults on populated areas, such as the towns of Mindat (in Chin State) and Demoso (in Kayah State). The Tatmadaw is using its long-established “four cuts” counter-insurgency strategy in these areas, a cruel approach that deliberately targets civilians in an effort to deprive insurgents of food, funds, recruits and intelligence on troop movements (hence the four cuts). Attacks on populated areas are an integral part of this strategy, along with the looting of food stores and denial of relief supplies, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The fast emergence of these militias, and their capacity to evolve from loosely coordinated groups of local people into more structured, better armed and sustainably funded forces, likely marks a new phase of Myanmar’s decades-old civil war. Given the deep grievances in areas such as Chin and Kayah States – about the coup, but also over decades of neglect, ethnic discrimination and denial of rights – these militias are unlikely to simply disband or quickly fade away. They constitute new fronts for the Tatmadaw, which will probably keep blindly lashing out at civilians, as it has done repeatedly in the past when fighting many of the country’s ethnic armed groups. While these militias generally express support for the National Unity Government (NUG), the civilian body that has emerged to contest the junta’s claim to rule, they are not under its command or control.
In a context of national economic collapse and local penury, these new militias will have privileged access to resources and rent-seeking opportunities, such as other armed actors in the political economy of Myanmar’s conflict have long secured. Experience from other parts of the country shows that such groups can provide protection for residents but can also become a source of insecurity for them, as well as an economic burden.
Addressing these conflict dynamics and their impact on non-combatants is difficult without a return to more democratic and accountable civilian government, which the regime appears determined to prevent. Nevertheless, some steps can be taken now that would help meaningfully improve the situation:
The Tatmadaw must cease attacks on civilians in line with its international legal obligation to respect the principles of proportionality and distinction. The security forces must also stop impeding humanitarian access to displaced populations.
Outside actors should do what they can to ensure that the regime is held accountable for its violations of international law. UN Security Council members inclined to act could request that the UN secretary-general report in more detail on the extent of violence and any obstruction of aid in Myanmar, thus ensuring that the Council discusses these issues. All countries should stop the supply of weapons to the regime.
Humanitarian agencies and donors should use all available channels to press the regime for timely access to displaced people. Asian countries, which are likely to have the most influence, should also advocate for expeditious humanitarian aid as a matter of priority.
The militias likewise have an obligation to refrain from committing abuses, including killing of detainees and attacks on civilians and civilian property. All parts of the resistance must refrain in particular from targeting schools and medical facilities.
Even if it does not have command and control of these groups, the NUG should take steps to strengthen and further disseminate its military code of conduct, continue to publicly signal the priority it gives to this code and press all elements of the resistance to adhere to the provisions.
II.
Opposition to the Coup Takes a Revolutionary Turn
The military regime has responded to the anti-coup resistance with extreme violence, killing more than 870 people and detaining more than 6,000. The dead include protesters – many of whom were shot in the head – bystanders, random civilians shot in their houses and others tortured during interrogations. The crackdown has been effective in clearing the streets of the mass protests seen in the coup’s immediate aftermath, but it has provoked greater anger toward the regime. Mass protests have been replaced with flash mobs, which disperse before security forces can intervene, and strikes, boycotts and other forms of civil disobedience continue on a large scale.
The anti-regime resistance as a whole is diverse, organic and organised locally by professional groups (such as medical workers, engineers and teachers), pre-existing civil society networks, labour unions and others. Some of the members of parliament elected in the November 2020 polls, who were due to take their seats on the day of the coup, have come together to form a legislative body, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH). It is composed mainly of members of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) who are now in hiding, either in areas of the country controlled by ethnic armed groups or in exile. On 16 April, the CRPH established an executive body, the National Unity Government, with a diverse ethnic composition, especially at the deputy minister level.
The resistance has taken on an increasingly revolutionary character, with most dissidents no longer aiming for restoration of the status quo ante, but for the Tatmadaw’s disbandment and its replacement by a new armed force that is not dominated by the Burman ethnic majority. The CRPH/NUG has articulated its wish to create a “federal army”, under civilian control, with a more diverse ethnic composition and without the Tatmadaw’s institutional culture of violence against civilians. On 1 March, the CRPH went as far as to declare the regime a terrorist group, and the NUG did the same on 7 June.
This revolutionary agenda requires the Tatmadaw’s defeat or capitulation. The NUG first endorsed violent self-defence on 14 March and then announced the formation of its own armed wing, the People’s Defence Force (PDF), on 5 May. This step represents a decisive break with the policy of non-violence that the NLD adopted in its long years of opposition to military rule (1988-2011), which was a defining principle espoused by Aung San Suu Kyi herself. The regime responded on 8 May by declaring the CRPH, NUG and PDF to be “terrorist groups” under the Counter-terrorism Law.
The PDF is still a work in progress, with an aspirational structure on paper. Some young people, whom the NUG hopes to bring under its command, are being trained by ethnic fighters and some Tatmadaw deserters in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups. So far, three separate strands have emerged in the efforts at armed resistance:
First, the NUG attempted to convince existing ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar to join forces to fight the Tatmadaw under the banner of a new federal army. While several armed groups have expressed their support for the resistance and NUG, and in some cases provided sanctuary to fleeing dissidents, none has so far been willing to enter into a military alliance.
Secondly, the NUG announced the PDF, a tacit acknowledgement that it had been unable to form an alliance with ethnic armed groups and would instead form its own fighting force de novo. The challenges involved are enormous, however. The NUG does not control territory, and it is unlikely that ethnic armed groups would allow it to operate autonomously from places they control – for chain-of-command reasons, and because of likely regime retaliation; the Kachin Independence Organisation, for instance, has already said it will not do so. Although ethnic armed groups are providing military training to hundreds of young dissidents who have fled to areas under their control for sanctuary, these groups are not organised by the NUG and are not under its command, although they may share its objectives.
Thirdly, locally organised militias have been forming spontaneously in many places across Myanmar, in response to Tatmadaw violence. Groups such as the Chinland Defence Force (in Chin State), Kalay Civil Army (in Sagaing Region) and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (in Kayah State) have clashed with the security forces – both repelling Tatmadaw attacks and going on the offensive to take control of towns or rural areas. The NUG’s announcement of the PDF was intended in part to unify these various local groups under its umbrella. But while many of them are supportive of the NUG and some have pledged allegiance to it, they are not under its command. Some of the largest groups have had no contact at all with the NUG (see Section III.C below).
In addition to organised militias, networks of civilians have responded to the regime’s use of brutal violence with asymmetric attacks on government and other targets in Yangon, Mandalay and elsewhere – including with improvised explosive devices, arson and killings of administrative officials and suspected regime informants. These networks include some people who have been trained in ethnic armed group areas and have subsequently returned to the cities. Since early April, there have been hundreds of explosions in various parts of the country, with the largest concentration in Yangon.
Bomb and arson attacks have struck educational institutions, local administration offices, the homes of regime-appointed officials, police and military personnel and installations, and banks. Schools have been particularly hard-hit, with dozens across the country targeted in an apparent effort to deter parents from registering their children ahead of the new school year starting 1 June, which anti-coup forces have called upon the population to boycott. On 26 May, the NUG issued a set of ethical rules for resistance forces, inter alia prohibiting attacks on schools, medical facilities and other civilian targets. Since then, attacks on schools have declined but not stopped.
III.
The New Armed Resistance
As the regime began to use increasingly deadly violence against protesters and the broader civilian population from late February, city residents began to take measures to protect themselves from the security forces and deter their night-time raids. They barricaded access roads, appointed nightwatchmen to give early warning of the security forces’ incursions and formed defence groups made up of mostly young men and women armed with makeshift weapons and shields.
As the military deployed front-line troops to force residents of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns to remove these roadblocks over the month of March, many members of these improvised defence forces either went underground or fled to ethnic armed group-controlled areas seeking weapons and training. Some of these underground cells, and networks of people who have now returned to the cities after receiving limited training, have begun carrying out opportunistic attacks, including bombings.
In other parts of the country, the situation has evolved differently. With the regime focused on quashing dissent in the main cities, people in many provincial towns and rural areas were able to continue demonstrating without facing violent crackdowns. As they saw the death toll mounting in other areas, however, some of these communities began organising themselves to resist the security forces. When protesters began to be arrested or shot in their areas, they were ready to retaliate.
A.
The Battle for Mindat
On 4 April, resistance cells from all nine townships of Chin State came together to form the Chinland Defence Force (CDF). Located in the country’s north west, bordering India, the mountainous state is Myanmar’s poorest. On 24 April, CDF members in the southern town of Mindat clashed with the security forces for the first time, after officers refused to release seven people, three men and four women, detained for putting up anti-regime stickers in town. Residents said the detentions violated an informal agreement between security forces and the townspeople that troops would take no action against protesters as long as they remained peaceful. Protesters had gathered in the town centre to demand the detainees’ release, and when a police officer fired into the crowd, the defence force retaliated, reportedly shooting dead three members of the security forces.
The situation escalated rapidly from there. The army attempted to bring in troops by road to reinforce the overwhelmed local battalion in Mindat. On 26 and 27 April, CDF fighters ambushed military convoys on the roads leading to the town, reportedly killing more than 30 troops, destroying army trucks and looting weapons. Although the CDF fighters were only lightly armed with traditional flintlock rifles, they were experienced at using these for hunting, had intimate knowledge of the terrain and outnumbered their targets – amassing hundreds of fighters to strike the convoys.
Seemingly taken aback by the level of resistance it was facing, on 27 April the military initially tried to negotiate with Mindat town elders, seeking an agreement that attacks on troops would end in return for the release of detained demonstrators; the truce broke down after a few hours when the security forces failed to release all the seven detainees. Further negotiations were held on 1 May and 9 May, aiming to reach agreement on the withdrawal of fighters from both sides from the downtown area, the withdrawal of troops from outside medical facilities and banks, permission for CDF fighters to return home with no retaliation, and the release of five remaining detainees. Discussions broke down on 12 May, with the military still refusing to release one of the detainees.
The military was able, however, to negotiate safe passage for a convoy of troops through Mindat, on 7 May, in order to resupply its bases in Paletwa township further south. Paletwa had been the site of some of the most intense conflict between government forces and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine rebel force, from January 2019 until the informal ceasefire in November 2020. Chin people were caught in the crossfire of that conflict, and were at times targeted by the Arakan Army, so the CDF may have had some interest in allowing the convoy to proceed.
After negotiations collapsed on 12 May, CDF fighters attacked soldiers posted outside a bank in the downtown area. The following day, the regime declared martial law in Mindat and began shelling the town. On 13 and 14 May, the military sent two convoys of reinforcements, which were again ambushed by the CDF. Tatmadaw troops fled, and CDF fighters seized large quantities of weapons from the trucks before destroying nine of them.
With the CDF controlling all roads into Mindat, on 15 May the military launched an airborne offensive, first shelling the town, then flying in several hundred troops by helicopter to seize control. The CDF retreated into the surrounding hills, and most townspeople also fled; thousands remain in makeshift settlements in the forest. The military now controls the town, but clashes continue in the surrounding areas, including Tatmadaw attacks in areas that civilians have fled to. The CDF told Crisis Group it is regrouping and preparing for new attacks, but in order to protect civilians, it will no longer base itself in urban areas..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"Dear friends, brothers and sisters, thank you for having me!
On behalf of the people of Myanmar, I want to say a warm thank you for giving me this
opportunity to present the plight of the people of Myanmar and appeal for your prayers and
support in this darkest hour in the history of Myanmar. The National Unity Government of
Myanmar and the brave people of Myanmar greatly appreciate you all for your prayers, your
support and for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. This is the most pivotal
moment in the history of Myanmar. While the fate and future of Myanmar hangs in the
balance, the strong and continued support and prayers from you all are absolutely crucial in
stopping this reign of terror. More so than ever, the 54 million courageous citizens of
Myanmar need the continued strong friendship, coordinated support and prayer from you
all in fulfilling our hopes, aspirations, and dreams. The people of Myanmar have suffered so
much for far too long under the hands of the brutal and cruel military generals and their
regimes.
I want to take this opportunity to appeal to you all for your prayers, support and action:
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.2 million
civilians are currently displaced by the violence caused by the military junta's reign of terror.
There is nothing normal about 1.2 million innocent civilians in Myanmar being forced to flee
their homes due to this oppressive military junta.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is predicting that over half of the
population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a
year. There is nothing normal about 27 million innocent civilians in Myanmar facing this harsh
poverty.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is predicting that more than 6.4 million
people in Myanmar are going to face starvation by the end of October of this year. There is
nothing normal about 6.4 million innocent civilians dying from starvation and thirst. It will be
heart breaking to count the number of deaths caused by not only the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and hunger that has begun directly as a result
of the terroristic actions of this brutal military junta in Myanmar.
We cannot allow the normalization of 1.2 million Myanmar People being violently forced to
flee from their homes because of a Military dictator’s thirst for power. We cannot allow the
normalization of 6.4 million Myanmar people being forced into starvation, nor can we allow
the normalization of 27 million people in Myanmar being forced into extreme poverty
because of the greed of a few old generals.
Injustice cannot be made into justice. Since the failed coup in Myanmar on the first of
February 2021:
There can be no justification whatsoever for the brutal murder of over 915 people, including
72 children, by the military junta forces. We will never allow the normalization of the murder
of innocent civilians, and it is a matter of justice and accountability. There is no justification
whatsoever for illegally arresting and detaining more than 6,200 innocent Myanmar people
without cause, including our elected officials, our State Counsellor, Daw San Suu Kyi, Mr.
President U Win Myint and dozens of brave journalists, by the illegal military junta. There is
no justification whatsoever for the torture and intimidation by the military junta of innocent
civilians and forcing over 2,000 of them to flee from illegal arrest warrants, for the mere
'CRIME' of expressing their fundamental and universal Human Rights.
The illegal military junta committed another crime against Humanity on the 16th of June 2021
by burning down the entire village of Kinma (over 250 homes), in Sagaing Region of
Myanmar, and burning elderly people to death who were trapped inside their homes. This is
not a first, however, as this military junta is guilty of war crimes, genocide, crimes against
Humanity, and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people and the people of Karen,
Kachin, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, and Chin States, which account for over 40% of the population
of Myanmar.
This violence we are seeing instigated by the military junta in Myanmar is both systematic
and widespread. The brutal junta forces are attacking Churches, Schools, Villages, Towns
and Cities across Myanmar with heavy battlefield weapons. They have occupied Churches,
Schools, Community halls and Hospitals nationwide to use as Barracks and Supply Depots.
These junta forces are replacing textbooks and pencils with guns and bullets; replacing
Bibles and Hymnals with Mortars and bombs; and replacing live-saving Hospital equipment
with weapons of destruction and death.
It is not normal that classrooms are being occupied by junta soldiers, and that the school
children are being forced to flee for their lives; nor is it normal that places of worship and
community centers are being occupied by the junta forces, and that the communities,
Pastors, Monks, and leaders are being forced to flee for their lives. It is not normal that our
Hospitals, Colleges, Universities, Banks, and Economy is crashing due to this military reign
of terror. It is not normal that our Teachers, Tutors, Professors, Doctors, Nurses, Midwives,
Engineers, Scholars and Civil Servants are being forced to flee for their lives because of their
peaceful movement of CDM which is more powerful than the military junta’s acts of terrorism
against the people of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The protests continued for the 10th week that protesters have used different methods to express their resistance towards the military coup such as “bleeding dye strike”, “marching shoes strike”, “flash strike” while the internet shutdown also continued at night time and all the wireless and broadband services were shut down since last week throughout the country.
In Bago region, more than 80 protesters have been killed by the junta with use of heavy weapons on 9 April and the residents in Bago also fled their homes following the attacks. On the other hand, 19 people have been sentenced to death at courts under the martial law declared by the junta.
There are a high number of Myanmar people displaced from their villages to ethnic army areas and Thai-Myanmar border. Currently, there are shortages of basic necessities, food, shelter, medicine in the displaced persons communities.
UN’s special envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener has arrived in Thailand to start a tour in Asian countries to step up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. However, it was reported that Myanmar's military has turned down her request to visit Myanmar.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners 706 people have been killed by the junta as of 11 April and 3059 people are currently under detention, 64 are sentenced and 657 arrest warrants have been issued targeting pro-democracy activists, political party leaders, government officials, celebrities and social media influencers..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"One hundred days after the coup, the junta has pushed the region’s fastest-growing economy into an economic and humanitarian disaster. The World Bank forecast shows that Myanmar's economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2021, a sharp difference from the previous prediction of 5.9% growth in October 2020. There is a possible banking crisis which leads to cash shortages, limited access to social welfare payments and international remittances. Last week, Myanmar Kyat hit one of its lowest compared to the USD.
The World Food Program also estimates that up to 3.4 million more people, particularly those in urban areas, will face hunger during the next six months. Price rises, hurting the poor and causing shortages of some essentials, including the costs of fuel and medicine.
The junta called to reopen colleges, universities and schools soon but many students and educators are boycotting. As a result, around 13,000 staff had been suspended by May 8. The junta also announced job vacancies for educational positions to replace striking staff.
Across Myanmar, the ordinary citizens have taken up any weapons available from air guns to traditional firearms and homemade bombs and arms have spread in Chin state, Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions. Mindat township in Chin State reported more intensified fights between the civil resistance groups and the Myanmar military while clashes were reported in Myingyan township, Mandalay region and Tamu township, Sagaing region.
According to our information, at least 43 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week and many of them were in Yangon’s townships. It was reported that two people died and at least 21 people were injured.
Media reported the junta continued to conduct air strikes across the villages in Kachin, Kayin, and Shan states, leading to thousands of people fleeing their villages. The Ethnic Health Organizations (EHOs) called on the international community to provide direct support to the ethnic areas as international aid sent through central Myanmar was unable to reach EHOs. The media also reported that the IDPs in Momauk township, Kachin State are in desperate need for emergency support.
CSOs based in Thai-Myanmar border called authorities to consider measures for refugees on humanitarian principles and make an effort to monitor, assess the situation closely while consistently upholding both national security and humanitarian principles. They also urge Thai authorities to assess the situation comprehensively based on correct information and reliable sources.
A DVB reporter, Min Nyo was sentenced by a military court to three years in prison for his reporting. Three reporters from Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation. CSOs and foreign correspondents in Thailand urged the Thai authorities not to deport them back to Myanmar.
Thai prime minister and Foreign Minister met with the UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener to discuss the situation in Myanmar. The PM said he will not force those fleeing violence back to Myanmar. The National Unity Government also called for foreign countries to introduce and expand sanctions against the overseas relatives of Myanmar’s military council members.
As of May 16, a total of 3,998 people are currently under detention and among 92 are sentenced. 1,679 have been issued arrest warrants. Twenty were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment.
UEC member U Khin Maung Oo informed that there will be a coordination meeting with all the 91 political parties on 21 May and the main topic to discuss is about the use of the PR system. After the coup, the junta appointed UEC requested political parties to send the proposals on the PR system and some of the major parties such as NLD and SNLD rejected the proposal.
World religious leaders are giving special attention to Myanmar, Pope Francis offered a special mass for the people of Myanmar on Sunday, 16 May 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, WFP (World Food Programme), Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The protests continued for the 11th week despite the brutal crackdown by the junta forces. Ko Wai Moe Naing, a prominent leader of the pro-democracy protest movement in Monywa, Sagaing region, was beaten and dragged away after a vehicle hit his motorbike. 26 citizens were killed by the junta forces during the Thingyan period, habitually the country’s most joyful and auspicious holidays.
Mobile data was cut in Myanmar for the 35th consecutive day according to Netblocks while nighttime internet blocking continues. Wireless and broadband services were also shut down throughout the country. Youth are fighting the junta's internet shutdown and information suppression with underground printed newsletters such as Molotov, The Voice of Spring, and The Milestone of Spring that they are secretly distributing across communities in Yangon and other cities.
This week, pro-democracy politicians, including the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) announced a shadow National Unity Government (NUG) formed under the terms of the Federal Democracy Charter. Mahn Win Khaing Than, an ethnic Karen and former House Speaker was appointed as the prime minister, while Duwa Lashi La, president of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly is the vice president. President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi retain their positions.
The special ASEAN summit on Myanmar is scheduled to take place on 24 April in Jakarta and Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend the summit as his first known foreign trip since he staged the coup. The National Unity Government officials responded that ASEAN has to negotiate with the newly formed legitimate government if they want to help resolve the current situation. They also urged ASEAN to provide a seat at the summit for the NUG and not to recognize the junta as the legitimate representative of Myanmar.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 737 people have been killed by the junta as of 18 April and 3,229 people are currently under detention. 75 have been sentenced and 930 arrest warrants have been issued targeting pro-democracy activists, political party leaders, government officials, medical officers, celebrities and social media influencers.
An art and culture concert called “Myanmar Spring”, to be held on 24 April at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. The charity event is organized by Myanmar students in Thailand, in the hope of raising awareness and raising funds in support of the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), internally displaced individuals, and families of those who have lost their lives in the conflict in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The protests continued for the 12th week across the country despite the brutal crackdown. After a weeks-long absence, protesters returned to the streets in downtown Yangon ahead of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting. The media also reported that more than 110 people, many of them student activists and youth protesters, were abducted by the junta. Some of the protest leaders’ houses were raided while some of them fled to avoid the arrests.
The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting was held on 24 April in Jakarta, Indonesia and was represented by junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing despite strong objection from the people of Myanmar and both local and international CSOs. The calls to invite the National Unity Government (NUG) to the meeting in order to address the issue of Myanmar were not fulfilled. The meeting ended with the issue of a “Five Points of Consensus”, which was criticised for not including the call for the release of political detainees in Myanmar. Deadly crackdowns on the protesters and the attacks on ethnic communities by the junta continued even during the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.
The World Bank forecast the Myanmar economy will decline by 10 percent this year due to the impact of the military coup. Around 200,000 workers in the garment industry have lost their jobs and nearly a third of the garment industry jobs have been wiped out with many other industries. The World Food Program (WFP) analysis also shows up to 3.4 million or more people will struggle to afford food in coming months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices are in rise.
As air raids and the continuing fights between the Myanmar military led thousands of people to cross the border to Thailand and India. The humanitarian organizations also stressed the importance of unfettered access to everyone fleeing Myanmar to provide lifesaving aid and other services, including healthcare, food and water.
There are nearly 250,000 displaced persons inside Myanmar or neighbouring countries like Thailand, India. However, there is no proper humanitarian assistance for these victims and it was discussed in many CSOs forums for immediate actions, specially from the Thai government, UN and other international relief groups.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures show that as of 25 April, 751 people are confirmed killed by this junta. 3,431 are currently under detention while 79 are sentenced. 1,159 arrest warrants have been issued. 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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222.47 KB
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Description:
"The pro-democracy protests continued across the country while the Myanmar community outside of the country also conducted the protests in places such as London, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul. The protests started again in Yangon last week just before the ASEAN summit after a few weeks of absence. Some flashmobs were also witnessed in townships such as Kyauktada, Sanchaung, Ahlone, Hlaing, Kamayut, Dawbon, Thaketa, Tamwe, Insein and Hlaing Tharyar townships in Yangon.
A series of small-scale explosions also reported in Yangon in the past week. On 2 May alone, explosions were reported at least in six townships including Insein, Hlaing Thar Yar, Tamwe, North Dagon, South Dagon and Thaketa.
The junta lifted the nightly fibre internet cut off while mobile data and wireless broadband remain blocked, except for some selected business and banking apps. Social media, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, are still banned in the country.
Despite the call for immediate cessation of violence through ASEAN summit by the ASEAN leaders which was joined by the junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, deadly crackdowns, human rights violations, raids and arrests have continued in days and nights. The junta also announced that stability is the current priority of the regime including maintaining law and order and restoring community peace and tranquility. The junta also announced it will only consider the ASEAN leaders’ recommended five-point consensus after the situation stabilizes in the country.
Suppression of media and arrest of journalists also continued. More than 70 journalists have been arrested since the coup and of them, 40 are still under detention and another 22 journalists face arrest warrants on incitement charges. It was also reported last week the junta has terminated the license of Myitkyina News Journal, a local media based in Kachin State.
In the past week, tension between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) intensified. The military launched more airstrikes in the conflict areas, causing more residents to flee across the Thailand border.
There is also a trend that pro-democracy activists express their support towards the ethnic armed organizations and receive military training from ethnic armies in Myanmar's borderlands. Thousands of young people including students, doctors and engineers have joined the training in Karen and Kachin States.
The UNDP has reported that nearly half of Myanmar’s population could be forced into poverty by 2022 due to the impacts of military rule and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures showed that as of 2 May, 765 people have been killed by the junta, 3,555 are currently under detention while 82 were sentenced. 1,396 arrest warrants have been issued and among them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonmen..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
181.11 KB
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Description:
"Protests continued over the past week across the towns and cities in Myanmar despite the strong crackdown by the military and the police. The people of Myanmar protested using innovative ways, such as “garbage strikes”, “flower strikes” and “Easter egg strikes” throughout the week.
Due to the air strikes in the Kayin state and severe crackdowns nationwide, thousands of civilians flee to Thailand and India to seek refuge. However, the Thai authorities reportedly blocked them at the border and India’s border state of Manipur issued an order to turn away refugees crossing over from Myanmar (the order was withdrawn later).
Nightly internet shutdown continues along with the nationwide mobile internet cut. The media reported that the military junta ordered internet service providers on 1 April 2021 to shut down all the wireless services and telecommunications which started on 2 April 2021. Only fiber connections are functioning at the moment.
In the past week, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CPRH) declared the abolishment of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar and replaced it with the Federal Democracy Charter as the Federal Democracy Interim Constitution. The move was supported by the ten ethnic armed groups who signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement.
As of 4 April 2021, 564 people have been killed by the junta since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Save the Children reported that among those killed at least 43 are children. There are 2,667 people currently under detention and 38 among them have been sentenced. The junta has issued 425 arrest warrants including the recent list of at least 60 celebrities and social media influencers..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
215.07 KB
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Description:
"Since the military seized power in February, it has been committing various crimes on a daily basis, including unlawful arrests, murder and torture. This brutality has even been targeted towards children and infants. According to AAPP’s data, a total of 72 children, who were eighteen years old and under the age of eighteen, have now been killed since the coup. These are the deaths verified by AAPP, the actual number is likely to be much higher. The names and ages of children who were killed by military artillery and air strikes in the ethnic areas remain unconfirmed and are yet to have been added to the list. The military has killed children as young as one years old.
Below are the recorded deaths of children within 11 States and Divisions. Mandalay Division has recorded the highest number of child fatalities, with 24 children being confirmed to have been killed. The second highest was Yangon, with 20 confirmed child deaths. The junta murdered 48 children in March alone. 11 of the 72 children killed died from gunshot wounds to the head.
On February 20, Maung Wai Yan Tun, 16-years old, was protesting in Thinbawgyin, Mandalay against the detainment of workers involved in the anti-coup movement. The military regime cracked down on this strike, shooting and injuring a civilian with live ammunition. The injured civilian was rescued in a handcart by other protestors, including Maung Wai Yan Tun. Whilst pushing the handcart to help save this civilian, he was shot by junta forces. He died on the same day.
Maung Khant Nyar Hein, was a 17-year old, first year medical university student, and a member of the defense team during a protest against the coup in Tamwe Township, Yangon Division on March 14. He was shot by junta troops, who then dragged him away. He died on the same day. Junta forces also beat and arrested a young woman who came to help him when he was shot.
On March 27, Ma Aye Myat Thu, a 11-year old, grade six student was shot unprovoked to the ear by junta troops as she played in front of her house. She died within the hour, in Thukhawadi Ward, Mawlamyine Township.
Maung Aung Kyaw Htwe, a 17-year old, and his friend were hit by a military vehicle, without reason as they rode a motorbike at the intersection of Pyigyitagon, Mandalay, and Chanmyathazi and Patheingyi Road on June 6. Both of them died that night. The dead body of Maung Aung Kyaw Htwe was recovered, however, his 18-year old friend was not identified, and the name could not be confirmed.
Ma Moe Thandar Aung, was just 1-year and 6-months old, from Kengtung Township, Shan State. On June 19, she fell sick, so her father took her to the clinic at around 9 pm. On their way back, the military signaled to stop them, however because her father was carrying his daughter in his arms, he was unable to stop suddenly. Because of this, the deputy administrator of the General Administration Department from Kengtung Township hit the motorbike with his vehicle. Both father and daughter were severely injured, and his daughter, Ma Moe Thandar Aung, was pronounced dead within minutes.
The unprovoked shooting and killing of children are a grave violation of the law and of human ethics. This inhumane act committed by this brutal regime can have no justification. These horrific actions prove that the regime will stop at nothing to oppress civilians.
In 1991, Myanmar signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and in 2012 signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (CRC-OP-SC). The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (CRC-OP-AC) was first signed in 2015 and later ratified in 2019. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (CRC-OP3-IC) has not yet been ratified. The infliction of bodily harm or killing of children during armed conflict has been defined as criminal under Myanmar’s domestic child rights law.
The United Nations and its affiliates have regularly monitored Burma’s human rights record. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have adopted a number of resolutions towards furthering human rights in Burma. Since 1992, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has been compiling data on human rights abuses in Burma. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has also made a number of recommendations concerning the condition of human rights in Burma. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also compiled and released reports on children’s rights in Burma. The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), which formed in March 2001, and the Independent inquiry Mechanism (IIMM), established in 2018 also have collated data and records of children in Burma. As well as this, Amnesty International, the independent international Human Rights Watch (HRW) and ICRC have also documented reports on the abuse of children in Burma. Human rights organizations throughout Burma have also published reports and suggestions related to children’s rights abuses in Burma.
Despite the fact that Burma has signed both international, and domestic law, safety and security of children of Burma is under significant threat by the junta regime. The junta are now in part control of child protection mechanisms, including the courts. Children are now unprotected by the law and are in constant danger under the junta. This undermines all the vital work that has been done by international organizations, NGOs and domestic charities within Burma to ensure the rights of children. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners urges international human rights organizations, including the United Nations, to take effective action against the military group, which commits horrific crimes upon children..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
347.46 KB 384.57 KB
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Sub-title:
The Burma Military's use of torture is an international crime - it must be stopped!
Description:
"On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we call for an immediate end to the brutal torture of
civilians in Burma, and for perpetrators to be brought to justice.
To mark this important day, we created a video series called "Stop Torture", showing how the Burma military is
using various forms of torture against its own people following the 1 February coup. The video links are available
on AJAR's YouTube channel (click here) and on the website/Facebook pages of AAPP, ND-Burma and Women's
League of Burma.
The post-coup repression shows how the Burma military will not shy away from using its decades-old patterns of
cruel treatment of civilians in a widespread manner, as a mean to terrorize and subjugate the population into
obedience.
While people all over the country continue to defy the military junta through courageous acts of resistance, mostly
peacefully, security forces respond with ruthless and nasty force. At least 880 people, including children and youth,
have been killed by security forces since the coup. Almost 6,300 have been arrested, with 5,104 currently in
detention as of June 24th, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The crackdown
targets any perceived opponent to the coup, including politicians, peaceful protesters, journalists, celebrities,
striking workers, and even children and bystanders. Many of those arrested are subject to various forms of torture
and ill treatment.
There are reports of widespread and systematic mistreatment in detention, including beatings, sleep deprivation,
and being denied the use of a bathroom. During interrogation, detainees are being blindfolded with their hands
tied behind them and forced to kneel on a concrete floor or to lie on their belly, and then beaten repeatedly with
the goal to extract information or forced confessions. Some report being beaten with dangerous objects such as
cables, the butts of guns, and glass bottles. Particularly concerning is the differential treatment of women during
interrogation and detention, in the form of sexual and gender-based violence, sexism and misogyny. There are
reports of sexual abuses behind bars, including beatings on genitals and sexual threats.
Some detainees do not survive. Civilians arrested after being shot by security forces are often denied medical
treatment and subsequently die from their injuries. There are reports of people tortured to deaths in custody,
their bodies returned to their families with a fabricated story as to the cause of death, but with obvious signs of
torture and mutilation. Some bear the marks of organs removal. Others are returned to their families alive, only
to die a few hours later from their injuries. The AAPP has accounted for at least 24 of such deaths following
torture.
These vicious tactics employed by the Burma military are meant to install fear among the public and create an
environment of terror, in order to suppress popular resistance to the coup and maintain their control over the
country. The use of torture, however, is not new to the recent political developments. As long documented by
civil society groups, torture has always been commonplace during interrogation and imprisonment in Burma. This
included also mistreatment of LGBTIQ. people in police detention. In ethnic areas, torture and other forms of illtreatment
were used against civilians to obtain information or confessions regarding the activities of ethnic armed
organizations, or as punishment for perceived sympathy for the Tatmadaw's opponents.
In its reports to the United Nations, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar ("FFM")
concluded that " the manner in which torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, occurred often indicated
the dehumanisation of ethnic minorities in Kachin and Shan States, with Tatmadaw soldiers verbally denigrating
their religions and ethnicities". Indeed, the FFM found that the targeting of civilians, including through torture and
ill-treatment, was a hallmark of Tatmadaw operations in at least Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan States.
Torture has profound, long-lasting consequences for survivors and their families. While they struggle with physical
injuries, psychological trauma, social exclusion and economic hardships, access to basic support services is largely
lacking in Burma, in particular in the current context. Torture survivors and their families require access to health
and medical care, psycho-social support, legal assistance and livelihood opportunities. Plans need to be made to
address their immediate as well as long-term needs, which should also include acknowledgement of survivors'
experience and efforts to ensure non-repetition.
The use of torture by security forces is a violation of international law, as well as Myanmar domestic laws. In some
circumstances, torture can be considered a crime against humanity when it is part of a widespread and systematic
attack against the civilian population. As we have repeatedly stated in the past, decades of impunity have
emboldened the Burma military to continue perpetrating these heinous crimes without any accountability. This
must stop. The time for justice has come. The Burma military must immediately end violence against civilians and
bring perpetrators of torture to justice.
We therefore make the following recommendations:
To the international community:
• Do not recognize the junta's State Administration Council (SAC) and put pressure on the Burma military
to immediately end violence against civilians and respect the Geneva Conventions
• Make a referral of the Burma situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
• Strengthen the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM)
• Establish a coordinated arms embargo against Myanmar
• Issue further targeted sanctions against the Burma military's businesses
• Participate in providing acknowledgment and recognition to victims of torture
• Support victims of torture and their families, including human rights defenders, through programs aimed
at providing material, medical and psycho-social assistance, in order to address both immediate and longterm
needs
• Provide cross-border humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the violence
To the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN):
• Issue a timeframe for the implementation of its "five-point consensus" on Burma and hold the Burma
military accountable to it in an effective and transparent manner
• Call for the immediate release of political prisoners
• Support the establishment of an arms embargo by the international community
To the National Unity Government (NUG):
• Document the use of torture by security forces
• Cooperate with the IIMM
• Commit to bringing perpetrators to justice, including by acceding to the ICC Rome Statute and making a
declaration accepting ICC jurisdiction for past crimes
• Commit to signing and ratifying the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT)
• Commit to preventing torture by providing awareness trainings to security forces under NUG's authority
• Commit to establishing meaningful transitional justice mechanisms to address victim's rights to truth and
reparations, in particular rehabilitation programs for survivors
1. Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
2. Women's League of Burma (WLB)
3. Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma)
4. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
5. All Arakan Student's and Youth Congress (AASYC)
6. Ta'ang Civil Society Organization (TCSO)
7. Burma Civil War Museum (BCM)
8. Union Of Karenni State Youth (UKSY)..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) , Women's League of Burma (WLB) , Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma) , Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) , All Arakan Student's and Youth Congress (AASYC) , Ta'ang Civil Society
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
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Size:
50.99 KB 998.75 KB
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Description:
"I am writing to you again to apprise you o f the current deteriorating situation in
Myanmar. More than 144 days after the unlawful coup, there is no sign o f easing the brutal
crackdown and the violence committed by the military against its own people. As o f 20
June 2021, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total
o f 6.219 people has been arrested whereas 5,033 people are still under detention, 1,950
people been issued with warrants and 871 people ruthlessly murdered by the military since
1 February 2021.
I wish to reiterate that the brutality, inhumane acts, arbitrary arrests, and tortures
committed by the military are clearly amounting to serious human rights violations and
crimes against humanity. A six-day-old baby has reportedly died o f cold due to lack o f
shelter, blankets, and medical supplies at a camp for displaced people in Pekhon in Shan
State. The people o f Myanmar are facing humanitarian crisis and the State Administration
Council (SAC) continues ignoring the calls from the international community to ease the
violence and committing further atrocities. Those displaced in the remote areas are also
short o f shelters, medicine and drinking water. On 11 June 2021, it is reported that soldiers
set fire to food rations, medical supplies, an ambulance and a vehicle in Lwal Yin village
where people have fied.
Taking this opportunity. I wish to again draw your kind attention to this continued
disturbing situation in Myanmar, particularly in Demoso and Loikaw o f Kayah State.
Because o f the irrational tortures and inhumane treatments o f the military, the Karenni
People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Kayah Slate has been triggering the armed resistance
with homemade guns. Since then, the military has been responding with heavy artillery
and airstrikes onto the residential areas, which has led to the displacement o f around 1
million o f local people. This is evidently a systematic brutal attack against civilians using
weapons o f war in order to hold onto power and control. The situation in my country has
not gotten better and regretfully even getting worse.
The situation in Myanmar can only be addressed through multilateral efforts, and to
stop killing o f innocent civilians, the urgent and decisive action from the international
community is more than critical ever.
Allow me to underline the facts mentioned in the General Assembly Resolution
"The situation in Myanmar" adopted on 18 June 2021 at the Seventy-fift h session o f the
United Nations General Assembly. The resolution clearly urged to respect the will o f the
people and to allow the sustained democratic transition o f Myanmar, to immediately
release all detainees including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and to stop all violence. And it also calls upon the member states to prevent
the flow o f arms into Myanmar and calls for unhindered humanitarian access. The United
Nations and the international community must minutely monitor the implementation o f the
adopted resolution by all member states to ensure the restoration o f democracy in
Myanmar.
On my personal note, I hereby, wish to appeal again the international community
and the United Nations, by pursuing the principle o f responsibility to protect, to take a
decisive action against the military without further delay. As usual. I enclose herewith the
weekly information update on current situation in Myanmar o f 18 June and the legal
perspective information sheet issued on 20 June for your kind attention.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances o f my highest consideration..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Size:
200.53 KB 1.07 MB
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Description:
"Despite the fact that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever can be invoked to justify torture
under international law, Myanmar’s military and security forces continue to torture and commit
degrading and inhuman treatment against its people every day.
Since its coup in February, the military regime has increasingly tortured anti-regime protesters and
those opposing th e ju n ta However, it is not a new crime; torture is one o f its cruel tactics
Myanmar’s military has carried out against ethnic people in armed conflicts over the past five
decades. Ethnic people were subject to detention on suspicion o f having ties to ethnic armed
organizations, torture during interrogation, forced confession and wrongful imprisonment.
Evidence showed that the junta unnecessarily displayed force and beat the people including youths
and women in their arrests and tortured them during interrogation. At least 22 civilians were
tortured to death during military custody since February coup.
On this International Day in Support o f Victims o f Torture, the Ministry o f Human Rights strongly
condemns the State Administrative Council, which is how the junta describes itself, and its security
forces for their acts. The ministry here reiterates that it is trying to hold those responsible for torture
accountable both under national and international laws. According to international conventions, not
only those who carry out but also those who authorize torture are responsible for torture. The
ministry will ensure those who authorized torture also receive fitting punishments.
The ministry will ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Convention
Against Torture as soon as possible to prevent torture against innocent civilians in the future. It will
continue its efforts to prevent Myanmar civilians from torture and to bring those responsible for
torture to justice..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Atrocities Against Groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
22.54 KB 238.63 KB
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Description:
" Former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged his successor on Monday to engage directly with Myanmar's military to prevent an increase in post-coup violence and said southeast Asian countries should not dismiss the turmoil as an internal issue for Myanmar.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has communicated with the military since it ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, but the army has not allowed her to visit.
"Given the gravity and urgency of the situation, I believe the secretary-general himself should use his good offices to engage directly with the Myanmar military, to prevent an escalation of violence," Ban, secretary-general from 2007 to 2016, told a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Guterres is "very actively involved" on Myanmar and "has been for a long time," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: "His good offices, along with his special envoy, are always available. We all want to see an end to the violence."
Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that a "robust international response grounded on a unified regional effort" was needed, urging "regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe."
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the violence tearing at fellow member Myanmar. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend an ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24.
"ASEAN must make it clear to the Myanmar military that the current situation is so grave that it cannot be regarded only as an internal matter," said Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister who is now a member of The Elders global leaders group.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
"The military's use of lethal force and the gross violations of human rights being perpetrated against the civilians are not compatible with the ASEAN Charter," he said. "These actions are clear violations of international law, and constitute a threat to the peace, security and stability of the region."
Ban also urged the Security Council to move beyond statements to collective action. However, some diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger action..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The UN and Burma - news and commentary, ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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Description:
"H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, and former Myanmar Special Envoy to the United Nations addressed the Parliamentarians of the French Republic at the hearing on the Myanmar crisis organized by the French National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee.
23 June 2021
Bonjour!
Dear Mr. Chairman and respected members of the French National Assembly, members of the France Parliament, on behalf of myself and on the behalf of the people of Myanmar, I wanted to say thank you to you for giving me this opportunity to represent the people of Myanmar. The brave people and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of the French Republic for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. This is the darkest of hours and the most pivotal moment in the history of Myanmar. While the fate and future of Myanmar hangs in the balance, the strong and continued support from the people, Parliamentarians, and Government of France and its international alliance are absolutely crucial in stopping this reign of terror. More so than ever, the 54 million courageous citizens of Myanmar need the continued strong friendship, coordinated support and recognition from the people, Parliamentarians and Government of France in fulfilling the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of those who have suffered so much for far too long under the hands of the brutal and cruel military generals and their regime..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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Sub-title:
JOINT NORDIC STATEMENT by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
Description:
"Thank you, Mr. President,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country Denmark.
We thank the Special Envoy, Ms. Christine Schraner Burgener, for her important work. We reiterate our firm support for her mandate and stress the importance of UN-ASEAN collaboration.
We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar on 1 February 2021 and the ensuing use of violence by the military and police against peaceful demonstrators.
We are deeply concerned about reports of escalating violence unfolding across Myanmar and a deepening humanitarian emergency. We are worried about the particular impact on women and girls and their protection needs, especially against sexual and gender-based violence. We urge the military to fully cooperate with all relevant UN mechanisms and mandates and to immediately grant them full and safe humanitarian access to the entire country, in particular to areas with internally displaced persons.
We call for an immediate end to all acts of violence, to exercise utmost restraint and respect international law, including human rights, and to return peacefully to Myanmar’s democratic path.
We urge the military to release immediately and without preconditions, all those arbitrarily detained in connection with the coup, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
We, the Nordic countries, continue to strive for and support affirmative action in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and other relevant fora, and we will continue to engage with relevant organisations, such as the ASEAN, to exercise influence on the military.
We reiterate the importance of creating safe spaces where pro-democracy groups, such as the National Unity Government, can speak up and be heard. We strongly believe that the only way forward is for all stakeholders to engage in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue to get Myanmar back on the path to democracy. The international community at large must refrain from any measures or actions that risk lending legitimacy to the military regime.
The Nordic countries will continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and support a peaceful transition to respect for human rights, democratic governance and rule of law..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in New York
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Atrocities Against Groups, Collected resolutions of the GA on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
Size:
367.44 KB
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Description:
"An estimated 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Myanmar and need assistance, the United Nations said on Thursday, as a major armed ethnic group expressed concern about military force, civilian deaths and a widening of the conflict.
Myanmar has been in crisis since a Feb. 1 coup ousted an elected government, prompting nationwide anger that has led to protests, killings and bombings, and battles on several fronts between troops and newly formed civilian armies.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said relief operations were ongoing but were being hindered by armed clashes, violence and insecurity in the country.
It said 177,000 people were displaced in Karen state bordering Thailand, 103,000 in the past month, while more than 20,000 people were sheltering at 100 displacement areas after fighting between People's Defence Forces and the army in Chin State bordering India.
Several thousand people had fled fighting in northern Kachin and Shan States, regions with established ethnic minority armies with a long history of hostilities with the military.
The Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic minority groups, said it was worried about the military's excessive use of force and the loss of innocent civilian lives as fighting intensifies all over the country.
"The KNU will continue to fight against military dictatorship and provide as much protection as possible to people and unarmed civilians," it said in a statement.
The military says it seized power to protect democracy because its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party were ignored.....PROTESTS: Anti-junta protests took place in Kachin State, Dawei, Sagaing Region and the commercial capital Yangon on Thursday, with demonstrators carrying banners and making three-finger gestures of defiance.
Some showed support for those resisting military rule in Mandalay, the second-biggest city, where a firefight took place between the army and a newly formed guerrilla group on Tuesday, the first sign of armed clashes in a major urban centre since the coup.
The military-owned Myawaddy Television said four members of the militia were arrested on Thursday, describing them as "terrorists".
At least 877 people have been killed by security forces and more than 6,000 arrested since the coup, according to the Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group which the junta has declared an illegal organisation.
A diplomatic effort by Southeast Asian countries to halt the violence and initiate dialogue between all sides has stalled and the generals say they will stick to their plan of restoring order and holding elections in two years.
In its nightly news bulletin, state-run MRTV reported on the visit of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to Russia, where a military university named him an honorary professor.
Unlike most global powers, Russia has embraced the junta and the country has long been a key source of Myanmar's weaponry. His visit comes amid international pressure on countries not to sell arms to the military or do business with its vast network of companies.
State media on Thursday carried excerpts from a speech in Russia by Min Aung Hlaing in which he said it was necessary for countries to avoid encroaching on another country's sovereignty.
"Myanmar is striving for restoring political peace and stability," it quoted him saying. "The current government is focusing on the reappearance of honesty over democracy."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Posts ranging from wanted posters to death threats remain online for months, breaching platform’s own standards
Description:
"Facebook is promoting content that incites violence against Myanmar’s coup protesters and amplifies junta misinformation, despite promising to clamp down on the misuse of its platform, according to a study.
An investigation by the rights group Global Witness found that Facebook’s recommendation algorithm continues to invite users to view content that breaches its own policies. After liking a Myanmar military fan page, which did not contain recent posts violating Facebook’s policies, the rights group found that Facebook suggested several pro-military pages that contained abusive content.
Among the posts featured on one of the pages was an image of a “wanted” poster offering a $10m bounty for the capture “dead or alive” of a young woman. The post claimed she was among protesters who had burned down a factory following a military crackdown. Images of the woman’s face and a screenshot of what appeared to be her Facebook profile were posted alongside a caption reading: “This girl is the one who committed arson in Hlaing Tharyar. Her account has been deactivated. But she cannot run.”
Global Witness said that its report demonstrated that self-regulation by Facebook was not working, and called for Facebook’s recommendation algorithm to be subject to independent audit.
Other posts identified by Global Witness included a death threat, the glorification of military violence and misinformation, such as the incorrect claims that Isis is present in Myanmar, and that the military had seized power due to “voter fraud”. The military has accused Aung San Suu Kyi’s party of vote rigging in last year’s election in order to justify February’s coup – a suggestion that has been discredited by observers, including by the independent monitoring group Asian Network for Free Elections.
Facebook said in February that it would remove false claims of widespread fraud or foreign interference in Myanmar’s November election from its site. It also said it had banned military-controlled state and media entities, and introduced a specific policy for Myanmar “to remove praise, support and advocacy of violence by Myanmar security forces and protestors”. Content that supported the arrests of civilians by the military and security forces in Myanmar would be removed under this policy.
A spokesperson for Facebook said its staff “closely monitor” the situation in Myanmar in real time and has taken action on any posts, pages or groups that break its rules.
However, content identified by Global Witness has remained online for months, according to the rights group.
Separate analysis by the Guardian found numerous recent examples of posts that also appeared to breach Facebook’s standards:
In one post from 19 June, which received more than 500 likes, an image showed a man with a bloodied face and rope tied around his neck. The caption states: “This is how you should arrest them”, referring to protesters.
Posts often mock and encourage violence against protesters. One post, also from 19 June referred to a recent flower strike, where protesters wore flowers to mark Aung San Suu Kyi’s 76th birthday, stating: “Every single one of the real men that wore the flowers in public today must be killed … Trash. They all need to be killed so that the children will not have the wrong role models.” The post was liked 175 times.
Another post, from 1 June, targeted children. It showed an image of students outside their school, with a sign that states: “We are students and we will go to school. You are criminals, and you will go to prison.” Many children have not returned to school, despite orders to do so by the junta. The post had been liked more than 4,300 times.
Posts often share misinformation, for example, blaming pro-democracy politicians for leading “terrorists”. A post states “only real news outlets in this country are MOI, MRTV and MWD and other state-run news”, referring to military-controlled channels.
Facebook has previously acknowledged that its platform has been misused in Myanmar, where it is hugely popular and influential. The site is used by almost half the population and, for many, it is the primary way of accessing the internet.
In 2018, following the massacre of Rohingya Muslims by the military, Facebook admitted that its platform had been used to “foment division and incite offline violence”. A UN fact-finding mission drew similar conclusions the same year, stating that Facebook had been “a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate” and that the response of the company had been “slow and ineffective”.
In February, Facebook said its staff were working around the clock to keep its platform safe. The coup greatly increased the likelihood “that online threats could lead to offline harm”, Facebook said at the time.
The Global Witness report also called for Facebook to further investigate other types of content it hosted, including the circulation of forced confession videos by political prisoners, military adverts, and posts that amplified military propaganda – such as the claims that the army is acting in a measured way.
In a statement, Facebook said: “We proactively detect 99% of the hate speech removed from Facebook in Myanmar, and our ban of the Tatmadaw [military] and repeated disruption of coordinated inauthentic behaviour has made it harder for people to misuse our services to spread harm. This is a highly adversarial issue and we continue to take action on content that violates our policies to help keep people safe.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Opinion and Expression - tools for change in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Anti-coup campaigns, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Description:
"Australia must do more to support Burmese journalists who have been forced to flee Myanmar following the military coup in February.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has urged Foreign Minister Marise Payne to issue a stronger condemnation of the military junta’s attacks on freedom of expression, and to provide safe haven to journalists fearing persecution.
Since the junta seized power journalists have been beaten and shot, at least 85 have been arrested, more than 40 detained and several jailed for up to three years. Independent media outlets have been stripped of their licences to operate, and dozens of warrants have been issued for the arrest of other journalists.
Burmese journalists are in hiding not only in Myanmar but elsewhere in the region, seeking safety from persecution and violence. However, Thailand has just sentenced three Burmese journalists to seven months jail and fined them for entering the country.
“The situation for Burmese journalists is desperate,” said MEAA Media Federal President Marcus Strom.
“They face daily risks of arrest or worse both in Myanmar and Thailand, yet they continue to bravely do their work so the rest of the world knows the situation following the coup.
“Australia must use its moral authority to condemn the junta’s attacks on press freedom, and our government should be supporting and protecting Burmese journalists where it is needed.”
MEAA has asked the Australian Government to:
• Issue a statement urging Thailand to provide stronger condemnations of the attacks on freedom of expression in Myanmar and support the safe relocation of journalists under threat in their territory.
• Hold private demarches and otherwise engage with local authorities to underscore their obligation to human rights standards and encourage protective action.
• Provide safe haven, security and support for journalists facing immediate threats in Thailand, including facilitating their relocation to Australia if sought.
• Identify and send case referrals to emergency assistance programs.
• Work with and support local and regional civil society organisations located in India and Thailand in aiding journalists facing threatening situations or otherwise struggling to conduct their work, including funding, technical and material assistance, and by fostering effective support networks.
MEAA is encouraging donations to the Media Safety and Solidarity Fund which will organise for emergency assistance to be distributed to Burmese journalists in Thailand through the Foreign Correspondents Club there..."
Source/publisher:
"Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
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164.23 KB
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Description:
"The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the union and professional association for
Australia’s journalists, is deeply concerned for our colleagues in Myanmar (Burma) as the
crackdown by the military junta that began in February has all but completely silenced
independent media in the country.
Journalists have been beaten and shot. You would know that at least 85 journalists in
Myanmar have been arrested and more than 40 continue to be detained. Some have been
jailed for three years for spreading “misinformation” under section 505A of Myanmar’s
Penal Code. Independent media outlets have been stripped of their licences to operate, and
dozens of warrants have been issued for the arrest of other journalists.
Despite this harassment and persecution, Burmese journalists courageously continue to
work underground at great personal risk, informing the rest of the world about the crimes of
the junta.
Burmese journalists are in hiding not only in Myanmar but elsewhere in the region, seeking
safety from persecution and violence. However, Thailand has just sentenced three Burmese
journalists to seven months jail and fined them for entering the country.
Minister, we urge you to take action on behalf of our persecuted colleagues who are in
danger in their own country as well as abroad. We ask you to:
Issue a statement urging Thailand to provide stronger condemnations of the attacks
on freedom of expression in Myanmar and support the safe relocation of journalists
under threat in their territory.
Hold private demarches and otherwise engage with local authorities to underscore
their obligation to human rights standards and encourage protective action.
Provide safe haven, security and support for journalists facing immediate threats in
Thailand, including facilitating their relocation to Australia if sought.
Identify and send case referrals to emergency assistance programs (e.g. the
Journalists in Distress Network).
Work with and support local and regional civil society organisations located in India
and Thailand in aiding journalists facing threatening situations or otherwise
struggling to conduct their work, including funding, technical and material
assistance, and by fostering effective support networks.
We would welcome the opportunity to further talk about this issue with you as the need is
particularly urgent..."
Source/publisher:
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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pdf
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126.09 KB
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Description:
"The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener today in Washington, D.C. Deputy Secretary Sherman and Special Envoy Burgener discussed the international community’s efforts to help bring an end to the Burmese military’s violence and repression, including by urging ASEAN to hold the Burmese military accountable to the five-point consensus and supporting the people of Burma in their efforts to return Burma to the path of democracy. They also discussed efforts to ensure access to vital humanitarian aid for vulnerable populations inside Burma and to encourage countries in the region to provide assistance and safe haven to refugees and asylum seekers..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s ousted State Councilor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi faced her second in-person court hearing on 7 June in Naypyitaw that court announced the charges filed against her will finish within 180 days. Media also reported on Thursday the junta charged her under the anti-corruption law, bringing to seven the number of legal cases brought against her since the military coup on 1 February, 2021.
UNDP estimates that the poverty level is increasing rapidly which is 48.2% at present, and assumes reasons were COVID19 pandemic and the military takeover. This was not seen since 2005. Almost a quarter of all factories in the Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Yangon have suspended operations amid post-coup turmoil.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar despite the brutal crackdown by the military junta and the unsettled situation continued even in the fifth month after the coup. The clashes between military and the civilian resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Bago, Magway, Shan, Mandalay, Sagaing and Yangon States/Regions.
Three Indian states including Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland are currently sheltering around 16,000 people from Myanmar, civil society groups and government officials estimate, with the number expected to rise in coming months as the situation in Chin state has not improved over the last couple of months.
Five DVB journalists who were charged and convicted for illegal entry to Thailand were reported to have arrived in a “third country” to seek asylum.
There were intense fighting reported in Demoso, Loikaw and Hpruso townships during this week. The Junta has carried out airstrikes on civilian resistance fighters and used artillery on civilian areas. It has also brought hundreds of reinforcements into Kayah State. The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), which is over 60 years old, is backing the civilian resistance of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and People’s Defense Force (PDF). According to Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), 50 civilians were killed from March 19 to June 11 in Kayah State following the coup
According to the aid groups, more than a quarter of a million civilians in seven regions of Myanmar have been displaced by clashes between the military and militias or fighting between ethnic armies. IDPs in Kayah and Chin States are in shortage of food supplies and medicines as the junta blocked all the routes to Kayah and Mindat of Chin State, destroying supplies of rice and medicine intended for IDPs.
The United Nations calls on the security forces in Myanmar to allow safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel and to facilitate the direct provision of relief assistance by the UN and its partners to all those in need in Kayah, as well as other states and regions across the country where there are urgent humanitarian needs while the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated this week that credible reports indicate that security forces have used civilians as human shields, shelled civilian homes and churches in Loikaw, Phekon and Demoso in Kayah state and blocked humanitarian access.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 37 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 9 people were injured.
The most high-profile interaction between the Myanmar military and China took place this week during talks in Chongqing, China between Southeast Asian foreign ministers and China. Junta’s appointed foreign affairs point person Wunna Maung Lwin attended the meeting involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and also the meeting with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group, the body that China and the five Southeast Asian countries part of co-chaired by China and Myanmar.
Following the G8 Summit last week, the Myanmar community across the world has increased the number of protests in different parts of the world calling from the world leaders for their support to fight against the military junta that staged the coup on 1 February. Around 400 Myanmar people who live in the UK joined a protest against the Myanmar coup in Cornwall where the G7 summit is being held and some more were held in USA, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Australia, Netherland, Canada, Finland, Norway, Ireland and Czech Republic on 12th and 13th of June. The Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival, which features more than 30 films from or about Myanmar, will run until June 20 aiming to draw attention to Myanmar’s political crisis while raising money for groups inside the country striving to restore democracy and alleviate hardship.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 13 June, 863 people were killed by the junta. 4,863 people are currently under detention and 178 are sentenced. 1,936 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 5 people to 7 years imprisonment. There were at least 21 deaths after bodies were returned to families bearing the marks of torture, although the exact number is unknown. Among them were active members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), election officials, pro-democracy activists and young people..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, UNDP - Burma/Myanmar, Other Special Economic Zones, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Nearly five months after the coup, the junta has begun the trial of the leaders of NLD. Ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a special court in Naypyitaw on 14 June to hear three cases for possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies, violations of the Telecommunications Law and Natural Disaster Management Law.
Furthermore, the junta has charged Ye Min Oo, a former Naypyitaw Mayor with article 409 of Penal Code (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and violation of the Anti-Corruption law as he allegedly misused his power to allow the “La Yaung Taw” project of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under Daw Khin Kyi’s foundation. A detained Mandalay region MP from the National League for Democracy (NLD) also has been sentenced to three years in prison by the junta without a trial according to his family members that media reported this week.
UNHCR reported that more than 680,000 people are currently internally displaced in Myanmar, including more than 200,000 in the last four months. Most of the recent IDPs are from the states of Kayah and Kayin, where ethnic groups and the Myanmar military engaged in fighting. The reports also revealed more than 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Kayah State, with Demoso Township having the highest number of IDPs. It also mentioned that food and medicines run out faster. Dry food, medicine, and water are the major needs. IDPs in southern Shan State also reported due to the heavy fighting between The Shan Nationalities Progressive Party (SSPP/SSA) and the Shan State Reconstruction Council (RCSS/SSA). People are in dire need of emergency medical treatment, according to a relief team.
Strong winds destroyed around 600 houses in refugee camps in Rakhine state making it more difficult for refugees to live, according to the Rakhine Nationalities Association. People face food shortages and international organizations are no longer able to provide assistance due to political instability. More than 100,000 refugees are still reluctant to return to their homes although no fighting in Rakhine for about eight months.
The junta-controlled Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) announced that three “highly transmissible and more severe” coronavirus variants have been detected in Myanmar. With more than 600 COVID-19 cases reported in Yangon in the last two weeks, the second highest coronavirus hotspot after Sagaing Region. The junta has been struggling to maintain COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment as thousands of government medical staff and numerous volunteers have refused to work for the junta.
Two elderly civilians were burned to death alive after junta troops set the whole Kin Ma village on fire and burnt it to ashes in Pauk Township of Magway Region. On June 20, the junta condemned the actions of local/foreign media outlets and organizations spreading false information on the Kinma Village fire case that further the state media accused People Defense Forces (PDF) for setting fire to the house of U Kyaw Htay, who did not support the PDF which spread to other houses due to the wind.
The junta’s propaganda newspapers published an article on neighboring Thailand’s proportional representation (PR) system of elections and parliaments crafted by the Thai military after the 2014 coup, an indicator that the Myanmar junta is considering enacting a similar system in future elections.
Frontier Myanmar’s managing editor arrested by the junta at the Yangon International Airport is facing a charge under section 505-A of Penal Code, which carries a potential three-year prison term while a DVB reporter, was sentenced to 3-year imprisonment with 505-A of Penal Code in Minhla, Bago Region. There are four reporters arrested by the junta in the Bago region, and among them two have been sentenced to 3-year imprisonment. Ye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief of the DVB in Burma is selected for the International Press Freedom Award for 2021.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution with the support of 119 countries to call for a stop to the flow of arms to Myanmar and urge the junta to respect November election results & release political detainees, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Belarus requested the text be put to a vote and was the only country to oppose it, while 36 abstained, including China and Russia with Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos from the ASEAN regional block.
The junta chief arrived in Moscow on 20 June by a special international Myanmar Airlines flight to attend a security conference, marking his second known trip abroad since he seized power in a coup. Junta appointed Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade U Than Aung Kyaw, Nay Pyi Taw Council chairman Dr Maung Maung Naing, Directors-General from various government departments and senior military officers joined the trip.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar despite the crackdown by the junta. The clashes between the junta forces and the civil resistance fighters or Ethnic Armed Organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Mandalay, Magway and Yangon States/Regions.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 56 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 19 people were injured and at least 4 died.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 20 June, 872 people were killed by the junta. 5,033 people are currently under detention and 196 are sentenced. 1,950 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 18 people to 7 years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Human Rights and international relations
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Size:
327.1 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar despite the crackdown by the junta. The clashes between the junta forces and the civil resistance fighters or Ethnic Armed Organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Sagaing and Yangon States/Regions.
The Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) said that airstrikes by the junta in Karen State’s Mutraw district have displaced 90% of the entire rural population in recent months and sparked a “humanitarian crisis”. Around 70,000 residents from around 150 villages in Kayah State’s Demoso and Loikaw and Shan State’s Pekon Township have been displaced in the five days of fighting since Friday.
Karen National Union (KNU) said that 128 junta’s troops died and 180 injured during clashes between junta’s troops and the KNU in May. There were around 193 clashes between them from 5 to 26 May. Several civilian resistance forces have alerted people not to go outside unless they have urgent reasons to do so, as of increased risks to civilians. At least 73 children were killed by regime forces across Myanmar from 15 February to 15 May, according to the Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government (NUG).
Aung San Suu Kyi attended a court hearing on Monday for the first time after arresting her on 1 February. Prior to the hearing, Suu Kyi had only been permitted to speak with lawyers via video conference.
Japan permits the visa extension for another six months for Myanmar nationals due to the current situation, while the US designated Myanmar nationals for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing many in the US to be shielded from deportation and obtain work permits.
The economy is falling down into the depths due to the military coup as well as the COVID-19 crisis. Myanmar people lose their jobs and the banking system is not fully functioning, the Central Bank is not issuing the limited cash to the bank, therefore, many people are waiting infront of ATMs which is common seen in many mornings.
Millions in Myanmar are struggling to buy food as due to price hike and millions of farmers were pushed into destitution and debt as there are more expensive inputs, declining crop prices and a possible dearth of affordable credit. According to estimates by NetBlocks, a nongovernmental organization that tracks internet access, the cost to Burma’s economy exceeds $24 million per day due to the internet shutdown and restrictions. On the other hand, Myanmar’s junta could lose tens of millions of dollars after French oil giant Total announced that it has suspended dividend payments.
Southeast Asian nations lobbied to remove the arms embargo call from the UN on Myanmar Junta but the Phillippine foreign minister denied knowledge of ASEAN blocking calls to the UN.
School enrolling commenced on Monday across the country which was enforced by the junta but more than half of all teachers are on strike and some 90 percent of students have refused to enroll in Myanmar’s education system, according to the members of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation (MTF).
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 101 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 7 people died and at least 20 were injured.
UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Scharner Burgener called for member states to support Myanmar people and talk to NUG as its setup by the elected MPs during her press conference in Japan.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 30 May, 840 people were killed by the junta. 4,409 people are currently under detention and 108 are sentenced. 1,881 warrants have been issued. 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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"The National Unity Government (NUG) held its very first press conference on Friday 4 June. The junta shut down the internet between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m to disrupt that press conference being held by the parallel government. The NUG said that it will announce a national D-Day to fight the military junta when the time is ripe at its press conference.
The COVID-19 control collapsed after the coup as many health workers joined a civil disobedience movement to protest against the junta. COVID-19 infections have resurfaced in Myanmar amid post-coup turmoil with 767 new cases being found and seven deaths in the past seven days. The military junta has imposed stay-at-home orders on half of the Chin State’s townships as well as Kalay, Sagaing State.
On 1 June, the junta forced the start of the new school year across the country. No more than a quarter of Myanmar's 12 million pupils enrolled for the new school year amid a protest boycott against military rule and in the wake of a series of bombings, an official of Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said. Security forces stood guard at some schools and brought pupils under armed escort from their homes.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of the coup, met with Brunei's Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi in Naypyitaw on Friday 4 June. He told ASEAN envoys elections will only come after the country returns to ‘normal’. The parallel government, National Unity Government (NUG) said it no longer has any expectation that ASEAN can help Myanmar as the regional bloc has only engaged with the junta while neglecting them.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar and its unsettled situation continued even in the fifth month after the coup. The clashes between the junta forces and the civil resistance fighters or Ethnic Armed Organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Mandalay, Magway, Ayeyarwaddy, Sagaing and Yangon States/Regions. It was reported that the staff who are joining the CIvil Disobedience Movement are facing tough choices as there is no income, intimidation, legal threats and weakening financial support. More young people are joining the ethnic armed organisations for military training.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 65 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 11 people died and at least 15 were injured.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 6 June, 849 people were killed by the junta. 4,674 people are currently under detention and 160 are sentenced. 1,936 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 5 people to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour. The journalists of Democratic Voice of Burma and Mizzima were sentenced to two-year jail in the past week..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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"n February 1, the Burmese military thwarted
the will of the Burmese people and carried
out a coup. The coup dashed the Burmese
people’s hopes for a brighter, more democratic future
for the Southeast Asian nation.
In the months since the coup began, millions of Burmese citizens have taken to the streets to oppose the
military takeover.1
Protests have been augmented by
strikes in various areas of the Burmese economy, starting
in the health care sector and extending to parts of civilian
leadership. The apparatus for robust civilian resistance,
formed in response to previous attempts by the military
to thwart reform, remains in place. People are putting
both life and livelihood on the line in an effort to get
their country back on the path to democracy.
The Burmese military has already killed close to
1,000 demonstrators, including at least 40 children,2
and have imprisoned far more: As of May 31, according to the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), 5,576 people had been arrested,
and 4,443 “were still detained.”3
From the first days of the coup, de facto
head of the country Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint have
been under house arrest.
That the response to demonstrations has been swift and often brutal is
no surprise. The leader of the coup, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, is the
same Burmese military official who was responsible for carrying out what
the United Nations calls genocide and crimes against humanity against the
Muslim minority Rohingya.4
The likelihood of future atrocities is high and
should be closely monitored, especially as the Tatmadaw (Burma’s military)
exercises unbridled power and authority. Min Aung Hlaing says that the
military will rule Burma for only one year; the reality may be different.
The U.S. response to the coup has been relatively swift. The Biden Administration undertook a sanctions review and redirected aid away from the
Burmese government toward the people and civil society.5
Since then, the
Administration has issued additional sanctions against Burmese military
leaders and their affiliates.
As the coup stretches on, the U.S. Administration may look for additional
steps that it can take to strengthen the hand of the Burmese people while
holding the Burmese military accountable. To these ends, the Administration should:
l Finally issue an atrocity determination saying whether the Burmese
military carried out genocide and crimes against humanity against the
Rohingya;
l Broaden its application of preexisting sanctions tools, including by
designating Burma as a Primary Money Laundering Concern (PMLC)
or identifying specific entities that might qualify as PMLCs; and
l Press the Burmese regime to release all political prisoners.
The Global Response to the Coup
The Burmese People. The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) is the
latest incarnation of Burma’s pro-democracy movement, which has innovated and flourished as civil society has grown increasingly robust in spite
of various threats to its existence. The 2021 CDM started in the medical community where doctors and nurses refused to report to work and instead
set up roadside medical clinics to meet the people’s needs.6
This response
to the coup later spread to the transportation industries, banking sector,
legal profession, educators, and beyond. Many in the Burmese government’s
civilian leadership refuse to report to work and are playing a key role in
leading the movement.7
An opposition National Unity Government (NUG) has emerged. The
NUG represents a conglomeration of ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers and operates in consultation with the CDM and
the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (comprised primarily
of NLD lawmakers elected in November 2020). While the NUG initially
faced criticism for not engaging the Rohingya, they have since sought
ways to include Rohingya voices in their movement. The NUG established
a Federal Charter,8
an interim document intended to provide order to a
movement that seeks to get the country back on the path toward reform
and establish the NUG as the legitimate government of Burma as opposed
to the military. Protests have extended beyond Burma’s borders and have
included Burmese diplomats in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as
staff on strike and otherwise declaring their allegiance to the CDM rather
than the ruling military junta.9
Protestors in Burma are sacrificing their livelihoods and even their lives
to stand in opposition to the coup and make their voices heard. Such bravery demands a strong response, especially when put in the context of the
existential threat posed by the military junta’s leadership.
The U.S. Government. The U.S. was among the first countries to condemn and take action in response to the coup. On the same day as the coup,
the Administration inaugurated a review of U.S. sanctions and assistance
programs directed toward Burma.10
The President declared a state of national emergency on February 11
when he issued Executive Order 14014 invoking the National Emergencies
Act11 and using his authority under the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (IEEPA)12 to issue sanctions.13 Within 10 days of the coup, the
Administration issued sanctions against 10 individuals and three entities,
including the coup’s leader, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing (the second
time he has been sanctioned by the U.S.).14 This first tranche of sanctions
also targeted Burma’s jade and ruby industries15 and froze over $1 billion in
Burmese government foreign currency reserves in the U.S.16
Since that time, the U.S. has continued to issue piecemeal sanctions
against individuals and entities in Burma..."
Source/publisher:
The Heritage Foundation ( Washington, D.C.)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, National Unity Government (NUG)
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249.61 KB
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Description:
"Stateless Rohingya Muslims face constant setbacks in returning to their Myanmar homeland.
Battered by monsoon rains, Rohingya refugees try to rebuild their makeshift dwellings in the world's largest refugee camp.
Tens of thousands were left without shelter when fire tore through their Cox’s Bazar camp in March. Eleven people were killed.
The fire was the start of another miserable chapter for the displaced Rohingya, who fled their homes in Myanmar after the military launched a crackdown against the Muslim minority.
Now, nearly a million of them live in squalid conditions in camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
The pandemic has made it much harder for international aid to get through. The Rohingya are worried they'll be forgotten.
The United Nations is appealing for more funding to help the Rohingya to return home..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights and international relations, Burmese and other stateless people in Burma, Bangladesh and India, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
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Description:
"The short-lived era of democratic reform in Burma
came to an alarming halt on 1 February 2021, when
the leaders of the Burmese military seized power in
a well-orchestrated coup. The democratically elected
National League for Democracy (NLD) government
was overthrown and key members of parliament
arrested. The military generals who staged the power
grab said that the November 2020 election was
fraudulent. But despite their claims, there has been
no evidence of this at all.
Not long after the military took control, laws were
amended to make it easier to prosecute anyone who
challenged their authority. The most widely used law
has been Section 505 of the Penal Code, used by the
authorities to stifle dissent. The law stipulates that
it is illegal for anyone to make, publish or circulate
any statement, rumor or report with intent to cause,
or likelihood to cause fear or alarm to the public.
The free press specifically has been targeted for
reporting on the military’s violence and like many
others, have faced charges under botched trials by
the junta-controlled courts inside detention centers
and prisons. The moral landscape of human rights in
Burma has been eroded and deliberately derailed by
the Burmese military.
But civilians have responded with state-wide
protests. The demonstrations went on for months,
and drew thousands condemning the actions of
the military. The junta in turn, at the direction of
the so-called State Administrative Council (SAC),
has continued on a spree of mass human rights
violations across the country. Despite bloodshed,
warrantless arrests and impositions of Martial Law
in several townships, the people of Burma remain
defiant. General strikes led to the establishment
of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and a
shadow government, the National Unity Government
of Myanmar (NUG) was formed.
Resistance to the military continues to take on
different forms. The military’s attacks on all
people of various ages, genders, socio-economic
backgrounds and ethnicities have triggered
growing calls for more unity and collective action
to overthrow the junta. These efforts are a growing
force in the rallying calls for long-needed change in
Burma, including for a democratic, federal union.
In areas which the Human Rights Foundation of
Monland (HURFOM) works in, including Mon State,
Karen State and Tanintharyi region, the assault of
fundamental freedoms against innocent civilians has
been widespread. This is especially true for those
associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement
(CDM), an active movement of resistance taking
place across multiple fronts, from striking doctors
to armed protesters in the street. Those arrested
have been forced to endure torture in detention.
According to HURFOM data, at least 41 have been
killed across the target area states. Another 222 have
been injured, while 1,372 have been arrested and
detained since the coup. But the nationwide death
count has soared to almost 900, with over 6,000
arrested. HURFOM has also observed an increase in
the confiscation of mobile devices and destruction of
private property, including people’s homes.
The sense of hope and freedom brought on from
Myanmar’s democracy era is now totally lost.
Survival has become the main focus as rallying forces
continue to be fueled by wide-spread rejection of a
military-government. The only way to beat the junta
is to stay alive and to find new ways of delegitimizing
their rule. Human rights defenders are regularly
on the run, forced to meet in secret with other
dissidents to overcome the harsh realities of the
present moment which people are being strained to
contend with.
The chaos and instability of the security forces
brazen attacks have affected thousands of civilians
who have fled their homes to seek safety. HURFOM
has categorized the mass internal displacement into
three groups of people fleeing: political dissidents
escaping persecution, civilians fearing the junta in
their villages, townships and those who have been
economically impacted seeking better opportunities.
Further, this short briefing paper outlines the
impacts of militarization on displaced communities
since the coup and the underlying consequences.
In addition, this briefer also makes direct calls
for action regarding the humanitarian situation in
Burma, where for the most vulnerable demands an
immediate response..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, Human Rights and international relations, Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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"On this World Refugee Day celebrated annually on June 20, the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Ministry of Women, Youths
and Children Affairs of the National Unity Government have issued a joint statement to honor the resilience of refugees from around the world including from Myanmar.
This year marks the 20th year since World Refugee Day was first established in 2001 to celebrate and honor refugees from around the world. The theme of World Refugee Day 2021 is “Together
we heal, learn and shine." According to United Nations statistics, some 79.5 million people around the world have been
forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 26 million refugees who have crossed international borders and are taking refuge in foreign countries. Myanmar has the highest refugee
population among the world’s countries.
Decades of armed conflicts, violence, and human rights violations have forced many Myanmar people including Rohingyas to flee to other countries including neighbors like Thailand,
Bangladesh and India. And there have been many more new IDPs in Chin, Karenni, Karen, Kachin, Shan, Magwe,
Sagaing, Ayeyarwady and Taninthayi as a result of the junta’s attacks on innocent civilians. According to UNHCR, there are about one million IDPs in Myanmar before the military coup
and the junta’s attacks after the coup forced around 200,000 people flee their homes. On this World Refugee Day, our ministries make the following demands:-
(1 ) The military regime must immediately end armed conflicts, human rights violations, and
(2) The military regime must immediately end disrupting humanitarian aids and arresting
humanitarian aids providers;
violence;
(3) We urge the neighboring countries to help temporarily shelter Myanmar refugees who
have fled from junta’s violence on humanitarian grounds and do not force them back
while dangers remain in Myanmar;
(4) The cross-border humanitarian aid shall be allowed to provide to IDPs in cooperation
with experienced humanitarian agencies and local organizations:
(5) We urge the international governments to coordinate with local CBOs and CSOs to
provide aids to IDPs who are in urgent need of food, shelter, and medicines, need which
are the causes of displacement.
(6) We urge the international community to take action together against the military regime
which is committing international crimes and worsening the refugee crisis.
On this World Refugee Day, we call for a collaborative effort to help refugees from around the
world including from Myanmar “heal, learn and shine together."
Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and
Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs
National Unity Government
Dated 20 June 2021..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Groups working with/for refugees from Burma/Myanmar, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Human Rights and international relations
Language:
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"- ကုလသမဂ္ဂလူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီတွင် အတည်ပြုချက်မှတ်ခဲ့သည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဆိုင်ရာ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်အဆိုများနှင့် လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့် ပတ်သက် ၍ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ၊ မတ်လနှင့် ဧပြီလတို့တွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည့် သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက် များ၊ မိန့်ခွန်းများကို မှတ်သားဖော်ပြလိုကြောင်း၊
- ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့ တွင် မြန်မာ့စစ်တပ်က အရေးပေါ် အခြေအနေ ကြေညာခြင်းနှင့် ယင်းနောက်ပိုင်းတွင် ရွေးကောက်ခံပြည်သူ့ အစိုးရ အပေါ် အရေးယူမှုများ နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍အလွန်အမင်းစိုးရိမ်ကြောင်း၊
- အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့၏ အဓိကအခန်းကဏ္ဍနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ အပြုသဘော ဆက်လက်ထိတွေ့နေသည့် အပေါ်ခိုင်မာစွာထောက်ခံကြောင်းနှင့် အာဆီယံ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ်၏ ၁-၂-၂၀၂၁ရက်နေ့ နှင့် ၂-၃-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့ တို့တွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်များကို ကြိုဆိုကြောင်း၊
- ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြသူများနှင့် ပြည်သူများအား သေကြေဒဏ်ရာရှိသည်အထိ အကြမ်းဖက် ဖြိုခွင်းမှုများကို ပြင်းထန်စွာ ရှုတ်ချကြောင်းနှင့် ဆေးဝန်ထမ်းများ၊ ဂျာနယ်လစ်များ အပါအဝင်ပြည်သူများအပေါ် ကန့်သတ်မှုများနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ အလွန်စိုးရိမ်ကြောင်း၊
- မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းရှိ ပြည်ပနိုင်ငံသားများ၏ လုံခြုံရေးနှင့် အခွင့်အရေးများကို စိုးရိမ် ကြောင်း၊
- ရိုဟင်ဂျာများအပါအဝင် တိုင်းရင်းသားလူနည်းစုများ၏ အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ စိုးရိမ်ကြောင်း၊ လက်ရှိဖြစ်ပေါ်တိုးတက်မှုများသည် ရိုဟင်ဂျာ လူနည်းစုများ နှင့် ပြည်တွင်း ရွှေ့ပြောင်းသွားလာသူများအနေဖြင့် မူလနေရပ်သို့ လုံခြုံဂုဏ်သိက္ခာရှိစွာ ဆန္ဒအလျောက် ပြန်လာနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အရေးကြီးစိန်ခေါ်မှုများ ဖြစ်စေကြောင်း၊ ထို့ကြောင့် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်တွင်း ပဋိပက္ခများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ အခြေခံ အကြောင်းရင်း များကို ဖြေရှင်းရန်လိုအပ်ကြောင်းနှင့် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အနေဖြင့် ရိုဟင်ဂျာ နှင့် အခြားတိုင်းရင်းသား လူနည်းစုများကို နေရပ်ပိုမိုစွန့်ခွာစေသည့် အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များ မပြုလုပ်စေရေးတို့မှာ အရေးကြီးကြောင်း၊
- မြန်မာပြည်သူများ အားထောက်ခံပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာ၊ နိုင်ငံရေးလွတ်လပ်ခွင့်၊ နယ်နိမိတ်သတ်မှတ်ချက်နှင့် စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုတို့နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ခိုင်မာသည့် ကတိကဝတ်တို့ကို ထပ်လောင်းပြောကြားလျက် -
o သို့ဖြစ်၍ ၂၀၂၀ပြည့်နှစ်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲရလဒ်များတွင် ဖော်ပြနေသည့် ပြည်သူ များ ၏ ဆန္ဒကိုလေးစားရန်၊ အရေးပေါ်ကြေညာထားခြင်းကို ရုပ်သိမ်းရန် နှင့် ပြည်သူအားလုံး၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကိုလေးစားရန် မြန်မာ့တပ်မတော်ကို တိုက်တွန်း ကြောင်း၊
o နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတ ဉီးဝင်းမြင့်၊ နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည် တို့ အပါအဝင် မတရားဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းထားသူ များကို ချက်ချင်းနှင့်ချွင်းချက်မရှိ လွှတ်ပေးရန်၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအနေဖြင့် ၂၄-၄-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့ တွင် ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် အာဆီယံအစည်းအဝေးမှ သဘော တူညီချက် (၅) ရပ် ကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန်တိုက်တွန်းကြောင်း၊
o မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအနေဖြင့်၂၄-၄-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့ တွင် ကျင်းပခဲ့သည့် အာဆီယံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များ အစည်းအဝေးတွင် တူညီဆန္ဒဖြင့် ချမှတ်ခဲ့သည့် အချက် (၅) ချက် ကို အမြန်ဆုံးအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရန် တိုက်တွန်းကြောင်း၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အတွင်းရှိ သက်ဆိုင်သူများအနေဖြင့် အာဆီယံနှင့် အာဆီယံဥက္ကဋ္ဌ၏ အထူး ကိုယ်စားလှယ်တို့နှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရန် ထောက်ခံတိုက်တွန်းပါကြောင်း၊
o မြန်မာစစ်တပ်အနေဖြင့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂအတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ်၏ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အထူးကိုယ်စားလှယ်နှင့် အပြည့်အဝနှင့် ချက်ချင်းပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်၍ အထူးကိုယ်စားလှယ်၏ ခရီးစဉ်ကို ချက်ချင်း ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန်၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ နှင့် အခြားလူ့အခွင့်အရေးယန္တရားများ အနေဖြင့် ၎င်းတို့ အပေါ် တိုက်ခိုက် လက်တုံ့ပြန် အရေးယူမှုများကို စိုးရိမ်ရန်မလိုဘဲ အတားအဆီးမရှိ ဆက်သွယ် သွားရောက်ခွင့်ပေးရန်တိုက်တွန်းကြောင်း၊
o ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံရသူများအပါအဝင် လိုအပ်သူများ အားလုံးအတွက် လုံခြုံ၍ အကန့်အသတ်မရှိသည့် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှု အကူအညီ ပေးရန် တိုက်တွန်းကြောင်း၊
o ကုလသမဂ္ဂလုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်အမှတ် ၂၅၃၂ ဖြင့် ထောက်ခံခဲ့ သည့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချုပ်၏ ကမ္ဘာလုံးဆိုင်ရာ အပစ်အခတ် ရပ်စဲရေး မေတ္တာရပ်ခံချက်နှင့် အညီ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို လျော့ပါးစေရေး လိုအပ်ကြောင်းနှင့် ယင်းအတွက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းသို့ လက်နက် စီးဆင်းမှုကို ကာကွယ်တားဆီးရန် အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများကိုတိုက်တွန်းကြောင်း၊..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
GA resolutions on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (English), Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"On World Refugee Day, HURFOM is reminded of Burma’s history, which over the last seven decades has been marred by violence by the Burma Army. Their onslaught led to the establishment of nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border where hundreds of thousands traumatized survivors sought safety. Ethnic people have long been targeted by the regime for their culture and traditions as well as their resistance to live under the regime’s occupation. Today is a testament to their ongoing strength and willful determination to live freely and peacefully in their home country. It saddens HURFOM that the current reality is not safe for their return.
Since seizing power in a coup on 1 February, the people of Burma have been forced to suffer deep-rooted consequences. Their livelihoods have been put on hold as the economic state of affairs spirals. In addition to increased militarization, warrantless arrests and property destruction, civilians have been forced to make difficult choices. In Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region, civilians have been forced to flee for various reasons including being targeted by the regime for their anti-coup activities. Thousands have fled to escape violent conditions in their townships as well as to seek greater livelihood opportunities. HURFOM documentation suggests at least 41 have been killed, 1,372 arrested and detained and over 222 injured in our target areas since the coup.
HURFOM is deeply worried for the future of Burma. Innocent civilians should not be forced to carry the burden of war. Therefore, we call on the international community for urgent humanitarian assistance including food, water, and shelter for displaced populations. Further, donors and international agencies focusing on war-affected refugees and IDPs must recognize the work of local community-based service providers, organizations, and civil society groups trusted by the beneficiaries to coordinate an effective and efficient humanitarian response..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees: discussion groups, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Human Rights and international relations, HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) urges the general public to join our campaign against military impunity. WLB is committed to ending a nationwide pattern of sexual violence
in conflict and to holding military junta accountable for sexual violence in conflict. For over seven decades, the Burmese military has waged war in the ethnic states of Burma/Myanmar. Their use of systematic and widespread violence includes using rape as a weapon of war. WLB has consistently condemned this crime and has advocated
for effective action against the Burmese military through international justice and accountability mechanisms.
Since the Burmese military forcibly seized power on Feb 1, 2021, they have cracked down on the peaceful movement by arresting, detaining, torturing innocent civilians, and even killing protesters. In addition, there is strong evidence claiming that the Burmese
military has been intentionally committing sexual war crimes in ethnic war-torn areas for many years. The current junta security forces are committing widespread acts of sexual violence against detained women. Therefore, on the occasion o f the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, we, the Women’s League of Burma, call for the following: - Immediately send international missions, including the United Nations, to monitor
and intervene to end arbitrary arrests, torture, killing and Sexual violence by the Burmese military, including the current state administration council.
- Refer the State Administration Council officials to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or similar international tribunal to bring justice for survivors and to end sexual
violence in conflict and the killing and arrest of peaceful protesters. The military must be held accountable for their atrocity crimes..."
Source/publisher:
Women's League of Burma
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: standards, mechanisms and commentary - international and Myanmar-specific, Human Rights and international relations
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