Human Rights Defenders
Individual Documents
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"When the Myanmar military seized power on February 1, 2021, factory workers in the industrial zones around Yangon were immediately apprehensive.
“It’ll be like it was before,” said Ma Phyu*, a worker interviewed by the authors two days after the coup, referring to the decades under military rule before 2011 when labour unions were de facto illegal. “Employers will oppress workers and reduce their wages,” she said.
Concern about the possibility of deteriorating working conditions and restrictions on employees organising at their workplaces were major reasons why thousands of mostly young, mostly female factory workers protested against the coup in downtown Yangon on February 6, catalysing a series of general strikes that have taken place since the coup.
Alongside the protests, civil servants, led by doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, had launched a Civil Disobedience Movement that would subsequently attract hundreds of thousands of other public and private sector workers.
At Yangon’s ports, striking truck drivers brought international trade to a standstill and the banking system was paralysed by walk-outs. Workers making military equipment at Ministry of Defence factories and miners employed at Chinese-run copper mines with revenue-sharing agreements with the military also joined the general strike.
By organising themselves and taking direct action, workers throughout Myanmar made history in the weeks and months after the coup. As a student activist involved in the protests acknowledged in June 2021, “Working-class people have been crucial to our movement.”
The experiences of workers in industrial zones around Yangon since the coup make clear the causal link between military rule and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Myanmar and show how the collective struggles of workers to improve their livelihoods is a critical element of the broader popular uprising.
At the same time, the employment-related demands made by workers in industrial zones around Yangon since February 1 last year – for better wages and working conditions and increased opportunities to organise – reveal a continuity between working-class struggles since the coup and those during the so-called democratic transition.
The enduring collective struggles of workers in industrial zones around Yangon – and those of ordinary people throughout the country – reflect the need for something beyond mere restoration of the pre-coup political arrangement.
What is apparent in these workplace movements is a process of democratisation from below, as workers endeavour to assert collective power in their workplace.
Repressing workers, enabling exploitation
The junta’s response to defiant factory workers has been brutal. On February 26, 2021, the junta declared 16 of the country’s most prominent trade unions and labour organisations illegal and threatened to arrest labour activists who continued to organise anti-coup activities, signalling an acute awareness of the power of labour organising.
On March 14, soldiers and police killed at least 65 protesters in Yangon’s heavily industrialised Hlaing Tharyar Township, where tens of thousands of factory workers live. Later that day, martial law was declared in Hlaing Tharyar and nearby Shwepyithar Township. On March 15, martial law was also declared in the Yangon townships of North Dagon, South Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa, all of which suggests the junta was targeting working class neighbourhoods.
On April 15, about 40 soldiers raided the Shwepyithar office of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar and arrested its director, Daw Myo Myo Aye, for organising anti-coup activities. Other union leaders and labour activists have since gone underground or fled abroad.
In the weeks after the coup, workers’ strikes, supply chain disruptions and a climate of insecurity compelled factories in Yangon’s industrial zones to suspend operations. Following the mass killings of protesters at Hlaing Tharyar on March 14 and the subsequent imposition of martial law, many workers fled the industrial zones for their hometowns in rural Myanmar. By July, an estimated 250,000 jobs had been lost in garment factories alone, said the International Labour Organization.
Since then, most factories around Yangon have reopened and workers who fled post-coup violence and economic disruption have returned, despite military and police harassment. Although many workers wanted to support the CDM, they have been forced to return to work because of limited livelihood options and lack of social support due to junta restrictions.
As workers returned to factory jobs, many employers took advantage of martial law and economic disruption to cut their wages, degrade working conditions and undermine workplace labour groups.
Ko Aung*, a factory worker interviewed in January, said casualisation was increasingly common. “They use politics as an excuse to undermine the workers’ organisation. During this time of political instability, there aren’t many workers on monthly salaries. They hire daily labourers. If you’re dissatisfied, they fire you,” he said. “There are no written contracts for daily labourers. For the daily wage, they pay K3,600 (about US$2).”
Employers have also leveraged the junta security apparatus against workers who try to collectively organise for wage increases and improved working conditions.
On March 16 last year, police and soldiers called by the owner of the Xing Jia factory in Hlaing Tharyar reportedly shot and killed six workers who had argued over their wages with their employer, whom they accused of theft.
“After the coup, the workers’ situation deteriorated,” said Ko Aung. “Employers took advantage of the political situation to severely oppress the workers.”
Harassment and extortion
In the industrial zones of townships under martial law, workers are also facing constant harassment from patrolling soldiers and police, who act with impunity and often extort money from employees travelling outside their workplaces.
“When I’m travelling along the road, I don’t feel secure,” said Ma Khaing*, another worker interviewed in January.
“They [police] check our phones” for anti-coup content, she said. “When I’m travelling along the road, I can never be sure whether I’ll be stopped and questioned. I worry about that.”
“We’ve been told that we can be imprisoned for three years if we have [anti-coup] news on our phone. When I’m planning to go out, I always delete everything from my phone in advance. Only then do I go out,” Ma Khaing added, “If they find [incriminating content] on our phone, they accuse us of supporting the PDF [People’s Defence Forces] and demand money. They demand as much as they want. A person must give the money as demanded. If they don’t pay, [the police] say they’ll send the worker to be interrogated.”
Wary of having their brands tarnished by association with violent military rule, some international apparel companies have stopped sourcing garments from Myanmar. Others, such as H&M and Zara, initially suspended orders after the coup, but have since resumed placing orders with suppliers. As of October 2021, most of Myanmar’s 600 or so garment factories that produce for export are operating, though with reduced workforces, according to the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers’ Association’s October newsletter.
The reduced demand for labour has left workers even more vulnerable to exploitation. They often have to accept lower wages and poorer working conditions or face the threat of dismissal, while union organisers are particularly at risk of being sacked. Many people desperate for work are paying brokers to arrange jobs for them in neighbouring Thailand, where thousands have been arrested for entering the country illegally.
Workers’ struggles under military rule
For factory workers and their families, the coup has exacerbated what were already extremely precarious conditions in the industrial zones around Yangon.
In February 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions to the supply of raw materials from China led to garment factory closures and the loss of between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs. By September 2020, 233 factories had requested permission from the authorities to close, suspend operations or lay off workers. Employers then used the pretext of COVID-19 disruption to sack unionised workers, while police intervened to break up strikes and arrest organisers.
With no effective social safety net even before the coup, factory workers sacked during the pandemic often had little choice but to take on further debt and reduce food consumption, and in some cases turned to sex work to support their families.
But working class communities in the industrial zones around Yangon were already struggling before the pandemic. Labour law violations and wages below the legal minimum were prevalent at factories in Yangon. Many other workers toiled in informal arrangements outside the remit of labour protection laws.
Nevertheless, even while the decade before the coup was difficult for workers, there was genuine progress being made and hope that positive changes would continue.
Trade unions had been banned for nearly 50 years, but were permitted again under the Labour Organisation Law enacted in 2011 under the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party government. The law resulted in hundreds of thousands of factory workers in Yangon and elsewhere organising themselves into unions; by 2021, almost 3,000 workplace unions had been registered throughout the country.
Over the ensuing decade, many of these unions went on strike for better wages and working conditions. Some of the most assertive factory-based unions were affiliated with the Federation of Garment Workers of Myanmar and the All Burma Federation of Trade Unions. These unions, and the broader working class networks of which they are a part, have formed a dedicated constituency of resistance to military rule since the coup.
As well as street protests, workers have also been organising since the coup to collectively push for better wages and working conditions. Such moves can involve extremely high risk, as shown by the killing of workers at the Xing Jia factory in March 2021.
However, there have been two notable cases since the coup of workers in Yangon’s industrial zones making tangible gains by going on strike.
On October 14 last year, about 350 workers at the Gasan Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar went on strike over pay cuts and reductions in benefits. The strike continued into early November, when soldiers and police raided the factory and the strikers were forced to flee.
Workers say senior management called in junta forces to put down the strike. Management also told the workers that the factory would close in December because of a lack of orders. However, a worker interviewed in January for this article said the threat to shutter the factory – which remains open – was a ploy by the owner to sack unionised workers and avoid paying them severance.
“The workers had the right to receive severance pay and demanded to receive it but management refused,” said the worker, who asked not to be identified. “Soldiers came, but the workers had solidarity and continued to demand severance pay and the employer eventually agreed to pay. You can say that we were victorious.”
Then on December 8, about 800 workers at a factory in Shwepyithar Township, which they asked not be identified, began a strike that lasted 11 days and also ended in a victory for workplace solidarity.
The workers’ demands were for the employer to stop cutting the bonuses of employees who were unable to work every day, serve better quality rice in the factory canteen, and sack a human resources manager accused of constant harassment. The workers achieved their demands, including the removal of the human resources manager. They also held a workplace election to choose a new executive committee for their factory-level union.
These stoppages have demonstrated that factory workers in industrial zones around Yangon have the motivation and capacity to organise and strike for collective demands, despite the restrictions and risk of violence they face under martial law. The strikes are therefore an important precedent for further workplace action under post-coup conditions..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-18
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Individual Documents
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"Inspired by the ongoing series, ‘Chronicle of a coup’, Damien Riley (pseudonym) writes about his experiences at an NGO.
(Editor’s note: This post is inspired by the ongoing “Chronicle of a Coup” series by Christopher Walker. This letter, however, is a separate and original contribution of Damien Riley (pseudonym). We encourage other authors to submit their own accounts.)
“Tanks appear on city streets as fears of a possible coup continue”, read the news headline on my computer screen. It was Friday, January 29, and I was working at home on a sunny afternoon when I saw the ominous images of an olive-green armored vehicle in Bahan township. I shared the story’s link with my colleagues: I had worked for a local NGO for the last five years. We had a management meeting scheduled on Zoom for later in the day, and I wrote ahead, in what would become a gross understatement, saying, “This seems concerning.”
Tensions between the National League for Democracy (NLD) party and the Myanmar military had been building for weeks. After a disappointing loss by its proxy parties at the polls in November 2020, the military had been harping on largely unfounded claims of election irregularities. With the new NLD government, emboldened by its democratic mandate, set to take office in the following week, these tensions were reaching a crescendo. Just days before tanks were in the street, a Tatmadaw spokesperson had refused to rule out a military coup when questioned about it by reporters.
Swallowing doubts / January 29, 2021
At my job, we watched these developments closely because they would affect our work as a human rights NGO. During the democratic transition, we built grassroots networks, raised awareness about human rights to thousands, and developed relationships with legislators and government officials. For the NLD’s second term, we had an ambitious agenda of lobbying and advocacy planned.
Our director joined the meeting that afternoon and informed us he was getting updates from persons knowledgeable of what was happening in Nay Pyi Taw. Negotiations between the military and the NLD were becoming extremely fraught. The news of tanks in the streets was not to be taken lightly. He then left our meeting to find out more. For me and my colleagues, there was a mixture of gloom and incredulous disbelief. As an organization, we had already overcome so much disruption and uncertainty because of Covid-19. Now were we on the brink of another disaster? Or were the tanks and murmurings of a coup just hype and theatrics? The previous year, Covid-19 had taught us not to underreact, and so we decided to stop our meeting, switch our communications to encrypted channels, and stock up on cash and food.
I called an expat friend to cancel our dinner plans that evening. He reacted skeptically, saying his Myanmar colleagues were also following the news and told him that a coup wasn’t going to happen. As his friend, I advised him to be extra prepared. If there was no coup, we would have dinner another evening.
In retrospect, memories of the weekend before the February 1st coup have become precious. They were the last moments before the world as we knew it was turned upside down. At the time in Yangon, daily life was beginning to return to normal, after months of Covid-19 shutdowns. More shops were opening up and people were increasingly going outdoors for exercise.
Although I continued to receive updates that the discussions in Nay Pyi Taw were unsuccessful, I still doubted that these were a certain prelude to a coup. After all, pundits and experts had weighed in: The military would not violate its own undemocratic constitution, and, moreover, years of the democratic transition had created changes to the Tatmadaw’s avenues of control that were irreversible. As an example of the attitude of the times, just a month earlier Frontier Myanmar published an article that included the lines, “Myanmar today is a country of immense potential. While our nation may still be mired in poverty and conflict, we have a democratically elected government that has the capacity to bring about tremendous change.”
As that final Sunday, January 31, came to a close, I reviewed notes of our management meeting and scheduled time in the coming week to discuss what we had not covered on Friday. I went to sleep that night blissfully unaware of the chaos to come.
Rising fear and dread / February 1, 2021
At 8:00 am I woke up to find several missed calls from early in the morning. The normally green light on my internet router was red. Nothing was coming in through my phone’s cellular data. The phone line was dead too. I turned on my apartment’s television to see scrambled channels beaming back at me. Only MRTV, the state-run TV service, had a program playing on loop. It showed montages of soldiers and wide-angle footage of scenes around Nay Pyi Taw set to music.
I wandered outside in the cool morning, making my way over to a busy street. There was a crowd in front of a KBZ bank, waiting to use the ATM. I overheard the security guard telling people in line that the connection was not working. This confirmed my suspicion that the internet was turned off everywhere.
I returned home and settled into an uncomfortable wait.
Over the next hours, phone service across Myanmar gradually returned, albeit unevenly. One of my colleagues called me. He told me he heard from people in his building that State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were arrested, along with many NLD members. The words hit me with a jolt. Recalling the rumors that flew during the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, my colleague’s voice carried these words with a tone of caution.
I went by foot to my colleague’s downtown apartment and climbed up the stairwell of the low-rise cement building to his room, where the internet hotspot had begun working again. Immediately after connecting, my smartphone overflowed with updates and missed calls over messaging apps. The Irrawaddy bore the horrible truth on its front page: “Myanmar Military Seizes Power”.
I got in touch with our director and a handful of our donors. The situation was urgent: dozens of CSO leaders, activists, and some political figures were flooding our phones with messages saying they were in danger and needed help. With a donor, I agreed to form a committee that would review and approve cases for my NGO to send support to. Hours passed quickly while I attended to these urgent tasks. As I worked, cars and buses drove in the streets below. It was the edge of downtown, and here people moved hastily along the sidewalk. It was approaching rush hour, and there was a nervous and expectant energy in the air. Soon MRTV’s evening news program would come on, and the military-controlled news service would confirm the coup.
In the weeks and months to follow, I would be glued to my phone, and particularly to an encrypted messaging app that became standard among the people in our field. I waited to review more cases of activists in need of help. Most often, these were people needing places to hide and money to sustain them, and sometimes for their family members as well. Some were in jail and their colleagues submitted applications for money to pay their legal expenses. As mass violence against protests swept across Myanmar, the need increased. In some cases, they’d already been beaten or shot. Others were trying to flee the country. My daily work became a world of trying to help people in increasingly dire need, where we often communicated using pseudonyms, code-words, and idiosyncratic ways of verification. It all took place against a backdrop of rising dread and fear.
What can a human rights NGO do? / The aftermath
For a human rights NGO, the coup presented an existential crisis. Questions arose about the future of my organization’s programming and the viability of our work. As the violence worsened, the theory of change for large portions of our programming no longer made sense. Shots and small explosions could be heard almost every night in Yangon. Each neighborhood set up its own local security unit. Images on social media showed daily horrors. There were crackdowns on protesters, leaving dead bodies in their wake, and activists carried away by men with guns in the night. After 2 am, internet and phone services were shut off so that no one could warn you and no one could call for help. At my work, there would be no more trainings for the public, no more meetings with the government, no more advocacy campaigns about human rights.
For the work that we could do, there was also a question of ethics. At what point does it become irresponsibly risky for our staff, partners, and beneficiaries? Within our organization, there was ambivalence about the right and responsible way forward. We were NGO workers, not soldiers. Even if a person was willing to carry out a dangerous assignment, should we commit them to do it? What was the standard for reasonable risk in this situation? Eventually some people resigned from work. No one could really sleep.
Moreover, our operations became increasingly difficult due to financial reasons. Most banks were effectively closed due to the civil disobedience movement. Moreover, it was risky for a registered NGO to withdraw or transfer money using official bank accounts at all. We hatched schemes on how to move and manage our funds via alternate channels and methods, only to have to revise and later scrap them due to the escalating violence. While we waited for donors’ approval of our alternate plans, the situation would change, making the whole planning effort in vain. Adding to the calamity, there was no way to receive fund transfers from our donors outside of Myanmar. Some of our funds that we’d had transferred to us in February were stuck, unclaimed in our banks. If the situation was not resolved, we would eventually run out of money.
I began asking for cash loans from donors with local offices – to no avail. Bank service gradually resumed, by appointment or by getting an all-too-rare queue number. Then the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) issued an order requiring banks to notify and seek CBM’s approval when NGO funds were withdrawn. After media organizations and other non-governmental organizations were raided, it was simply too dangerous to show up at the bank with our official documents. Moreover, conducting our activities while adhering to the financial documentation requirements of our donors became dangerously impractical.
A tragicomic disconnect / The future
Everyone was having to adapt, including our donors. In the NGO world, most donor-funding is restricted to project plans and comes with specific reporting obligations. Changing a plan or seeking an exception often was administratively laborious and required numerous justifications. Donors’ reactions to our rapidly changing needs after the coup ranged from being very flexible and understanding to being uncertain or unwilling to approve our requests. In the former case, fast approval meant we could mobilize the money we had on hand to move our staff to safety and buy the equipment we needed urgently. It also meant we could distribute financial support to partners and affected communities around the country who were resisting the coup. In the latter case, some change requests to donors went unanswered for weeks while their respective headquarters discussed and untangled the obligations they had to their back donors. This is because the donors funding NGOs in Myanmar are often NGOs or international NGOs themselves, functioning as intermediaries between “back donors” – often country donors, international organisations, or private philanthropists – and local organisations in Myanmar.
This created many missed opportunities. For our NGO to carry out actions in the field, we had to wait for a window in which the situation on the ground was safe enough. The delay in donor approval meant that our implementing partners had to wait while evading police and soldiers. It caused immense frustration to all involved when an opportunity to act would arise but our project change request was still pending approval.
In my view, the situation in Myanmar was deteriorating faster than the funders’ ability to respond, leaving NGOs like mine scrambling. While I appreciate that donors had difficult decisions to make, it was local NGOs bearing the brunt. Amid waiting for donor approvals, our operations crumbled and our safety was at risk. Unlike international NGOs, we did not have a headquarters with additional layers of support outside of the country. We were on our own, and we had to take greater risks to maintain our business continuity as an NGO. I will never forget frantically calling around to find space in a safe house for a staff member, while also explaining to an international donor why I could not get their money back on the rent payment for an office that was too unsafe to use.
The problem was a tragicomic disconnect between funders trying to operate business-as-usual and the reality on the ground. The truth is that the consequences of the February 1st coup were not going to be quickly reversed. Too much blood was shed; a delicate social contract forged during Myanmar’s democratic transition in Myanmar had been shredded. Although far from perfect, Myanmar’s democratic pretenses between 2011 and 2020 were a foundation for much of the work of civil society in Myanmar. It was the premise on which so many development plans and investment decisions were made. That premise was now a rug that had been pulled from underneath our feet.
Postscript / 12 months later
Twelve months after the coup, half of the staff have left. Some staff quit out of concern for their safety; some joined the armed resistance; some fled across the border, and some no longer had duties to perform. Of the staff who remain working, there is a mixture of motivation to support the revolution, burnout from overwork and stress, and a resolve to carry on as normally as possible, either for family or due to lack of an alternative.
Despite the challenges, our donors did not abandon us. While there was great urgency to act at the ground level in months after the coup, the contexts overseeing our funding were slower to adapt. Keeping hard copies of project documentation, getting signatures as verification, and only using organizational bank accounts are just some of the standard requirements when handling international development funds. But these are no longer safe and feasible for Myanmar human rights organizations. Our donors needed time to understand and accept the conditions we were working in. Trust from our donors and competence in our handling of projects were essential for continuing our partnership. Credit, however, largely goes to the extremely resourceful staff who work out of safe houses and remote locations, as well as to the partners – both organizations, networks, and individuals – who ensure the funds go where they are necessary and that actions are coordinated.
Having survived 2021, there is a reason for hope. As the Burmese proverb goes, “Even the big wave goes under the boat, and even the high mountain is under the foot.” [လှိုင်းကြီးလှေအောက်၊ တောင်ကြီးဖ၀ါးအောက်]..."
Source/publisher:
Tea Circle (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-17
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Kyi says she begged soldiers to release her son, but they refused. Footage of her mourning beside his body has been viewed widely, just one of many similar stories
Description:
"Kyi kneels on the ground, pleading for her son to wake up. Crouched beside a riverbank, she rocks back and forth, shaken with grief. Her son’s body, which has washed ashore, is motionless in the shallow water. One of his wrists is tied with rope. “My boy, I know it would be nice if you respond to me,” she cries.
It’s a video that has been seen widely within Myanmar – one Facebook video has been viewed more than a million times – but is also a scene that is tragically common. Videos and evidence of military killings are continually shared online – adding to the vast files of evidence being collected by rights groups, but also to the daily trauma that people are faced with.
Kyi’s son, Sin Pauk, was 28, a farmer and a caring son. “He was the only child and a very clever son to me,” Kyi tells the Guardian. He didn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, she says, and was very religious.
His death occurred after the army entered Kinsanpya village in Kanni, in the Sagaing region of western Myanmar on 30 January, forcing the villagers to flee. He had gone to feed his ducks and was one of seven people unable to get away in time, all of whom were arrested.
Locals told Kyi that detainees were being kept on a boat by soldiers stationed inside the village that night. Kyi knew her son was among those being held. Despite the risk to her safety, she went back to the village to plead for his release.
It is not possible for the Guardian to independently verify the accounts given.
Kyi says she begged the soldiers, but they refused to let Sin Pauk go. She was not allowed to enter the boat to see him.
The body of Sin Pauk was eventually found, about 5km (three miles) away, in the river near Ta On village. Two other villagers, including 60-year-old San Aung, were found separately at a riverbank near Kinsanpya village on 3 February. The rest remain missing.
When her son’s body was found, he was wearing different clothes, Kyi said. His throat had been cut. “I wish they had the same karma as my son.”
“I waited for him since he always comes home to me, whatever it takes,” says Kyi. “I know he won’t leave me.”
Sin Pauk is one of more than 1,500 killed by the military since the coup last year.
Last week, as the country marked the one-year anniversary of the military’s seizure of power, the violence continued unabated. In the Sagaing region alone, the military launched an airstrike on a graduation ceremony for recruits to an anti-junta armed group, killing civilians, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. Hundreds of homes have also reportedly been burned.
The pace of atrocities perpetrated by the military, the dire security situation and unreliable communications pose major challenges for rights groups and journalists who try to document such events. Often, little is known about those who have been killed..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"It has been over a year since Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup from the democratically-elected government, rejecting the result of the 2020 general election in which the National League for Democracy Party won an overwhelming majority.
The coup prompted widespread protests across the country, and civil servants from various sectors including health and education came out on strike to join the wider Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), almost bringing the administrative mechanism of the military regime to a halt.
In response, the junta has detained and dismissed striking government employees, as well as issuing arrest warrants for some of them, forcing many to go into hiding.
Some have returned to work due to pressure from the regime, but many civil servants are still on strike in defiance of military rule. Just over one year since the February 1 coup, some of the CDM strikers talked to The Irrawaddy about why they continue to defy the military regime.
Professor Dr. Khin Maung Lwin
Rector, Mandalay University of Medicine
It has been one year since the military regime unlawfully took control of Myanmar. We joined the CDM because we don’t want to be enslaved by the military dictatorship, and because we don’t like that it has unlawfully taken control of the country with weapons. We are intellectuals and we don’t want to be lowly academics who have to kneel down before military dictators. So we joined the CDM.
I promise that I will bravely continue to take part in the CDM until the military dictatorship is rooted out and a genuine federal democratic country is established.
Daw Yati Ohn
Lecturer, Government Technical Institute (Kale Township)
I am proud of myself for joining the CDM. No matter what difficulties lie ahead of me, I will never regret my choice. I am currently working for a mobile medical team which provides healthcare for resistance fighters and members of ethnic armed organizations at the frontline. The team also provides healthcare for civilians displaced by the fighting.
As I am a teacher, I have conducted two short term vocational training courses as part of the interim education program with the support of the Vocational Education Committee. And I am planning to conduct more courses in the future.
Ko Bo Bo
Striking police second lieutenant who now serves in the parallel Karenni (Kayah) State Police
I don’t regret joining the CDM. There are many policemen that have joined the CDM in Karenni (Kayah State). I was a little depressed in the early days after I joined the CDM. But I haven’t felt down since I joined the revolution. I am doing my fair share with the hope that the revolution will succeed.
I am not very satisfied with the progress of the revolution in the country as a whole. But I am very satisfied with the resistance in Karenni. People have joined the resistance and I am grateful to them. I respect the resistance groups that are fighting the regime. They are making more sacrifices than us. I would like to urge the people to help the resistance movement where they can until it succeeds.
Lin Htet Aung
Striking captain from the Myanmar military
People have been repulsed by the military since it seized power. I stand by the people and I am doing what I can to fight back the regime. We have fought back with the strength of the people, and we have achieved certain progress in a short time.
It was the hardest time for me to desert the military. There were many difficulties when I deserted the military for the people. But I don’t regret it. I even take pride in myself that I have deserted the military regime. No matter how tough it will be, we won’t give up.
As more and more people have joined the resistance day by day, the military regime is in chaos. We will fight until the dictatorship is eliminated. I totally believe that the revolution will be successful with the strength of the people. Only when the dictatorship is wiped out will we be able to live our future freely. So we will fight until the end.
Striking employee
Locomotive workshop, Myanma Railways
We have joined the CDM with the determination to root out the military dictatorship. Many striking civil servants are struggling now. Some private companies do hire people, but they don’t want to recruit striking civil servants because of threats from the military regime. So we can’t find jobs no matter what we apply for.
But we decided to continue fighting. We don’t want to return to work and to be labelled as non-CDM. I would like to urge my fellow striking government employees to keep going. The revolution must succeed. But I don’t want to blame those who have returned to work because of financial hardship. I am grateful to them that they have also done what they can. But I want to ask them not to betray us.
Striking doctor from Yangon
Speaking of the impact of the CDM, the military regime can’t find substitutes for striking technicians at schools and hospitals. Some hospitals have re-opened, but they are not operational. Because those who have returned to work [after initially joining the CDM] are lazy and lackadaisical workers. They don’t have any enthusiasm.
The CDM has had a noticeable impact on the military regime over the past year. It would have had more but for the junta’s financial resources. The fact that not only striking government employees but also the people are defying their orders has also had a significant impact on the regime. The fact that the regime is in chaos and losing face on the international stage shows that the CDM has had an impact.
We don’t know how long the revolution will take. But the remaining CDM strikers have decided not to return to work. If we return to work after enduring for more than one year, we will be scorned not only by our peers who returned to work earlier than us, but also by the strikers who are sticking with the CDM. So it is very unlikely that we will return to work..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, General Strike, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
With the military increasing its use of informants, rappers and artists must keep their identities secret, even from one another
Description:
"Early one morning last February, a group of young people gathered on a street corner in Myanmar armed with brushes and buckets of paint. In the faint light of dawn, they quickly completed their task and dispersed.
“I felt excited and nervous. I was scared too, because I didn’t want to get caught,” says Tu Tu, a pseudonym for the group’s organiser.
Hours later, the streets were teeming with people demanding that the military, which had seized power on 1 February, stand down. Media reports from that day show people marching and drone photographs of huge resistance slogans painted on the road. Tu Tu’s group had succeeded in its mission.
"I believe that everyone should be involved in this revolution, but holding guns is not enough. We can only win this by participating in every way Black Art
It was one of many ways that the arts have invigorated the pro-democracy movement. During the first weeks after the coup, as protest chants and revolutionary songs reverberated across the country, artists energised the crowds with dance and music, and covered walls and streets with murals and graffiti.
Within weeks, however, the sound of gunfire and the screams of protesters filled the air while blood stained the streets. One year on, the military has killed about 1,500 people and arrested more than 11,000 – 8,700 of whom remain behind bars.
These violent crackdowns have made it too dangerous to make art in public. But some artists continue to work underground.
“Art is as powerful as a weapon,” says Tu Tu. “When we fire a gun, one bullet can only hit one enemy, but if we can illustrate something clearly through art … we can spread our message much faster.”
Q&A
What is the Reporting Myanmar series?
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In February 2021, Myanmar's progress towards democracy was brutally stalled when the military seized power and took control of the country.
In the year since, the country has been plunged into violence, poverty and mass displacement as the military attempts to crush widespread resistance to its rule.
Internet blackouts, arbitrary arrests, a ruthless curtailing of freedom of speech and escalating military attacks on civilian areas have silenced the voices of people from Myanmar.
For this special series, the Guardian’s Rights and freedom project has partnered with a diverse group of journalists from Myanmar, many working in secret, to bring their reporting on life under military rule to a global audience.
Journalists in Myanmar are working in dangerous and difficult circumstances, as the military government attacks the free press and shuts down local media outlets. Many reporters still inside the country fear arrest, with others forced to leave their homes and go into hiding in areas increasingly under attack from military forces.
All the reporting in this series will be carried out by journalists from Myanmar, with support from the editors on the Rights and freedom project.
These are the stories that journalists from Myanmar want to tell about what is happening to their country at this critical moment.
After protesting became a life-threatening endeavour, few of Tu Tu’s friends were willing to keep painting words on the ground. They went out a few more times, but finally had to stop. “My friends were worried, so they didn’t participate any more. I understood, but I wanted to do so many things,” says Tu Tu, who requested the Guardian use pseudonyms for them and anonymise their gender and location.
Determined to keep resisting, Tu Tu began making illustrations instead, and took on the artist’s name Black Art. “I don’t need much to make illustrations; I can even do it with just a pen or pencil. I can express anything based on my ideas,” they say.
They have since made dozens of illustrations highlighting the crisis in Myanmar. Broken Heart shows a girl holding a pink balloon and facing a row of police; in a second image, a police officer guns her down and her balloon floats into the air. Coup Makes Orphan shows a child crying in front of a soldier shooting a protester in the head.
Black Art also makes illustrations based on photographs taken across the country. The Last Kiss shows a boy at his father’s funeral, while Screaming from Myanmar has a crying girl clutching her dead father’s photograph. Spring Revolution and The Last Bow depict parents grieving over their children.
Two illustrations, Heroes Never Die and They are Free Now, are tributes to five youths who jumped from the roof of a building in August to avoid being arrested by military forces; two of them died.
“I even cried when I drew some illustrations,” says Black Art. “My illustrations are based on real stories and they are sad stories.”
Since May, armed resistance has grown across the country and the military has responded with indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Black Art’s more recent illustrations highlight the military’s use of airstrikes and arson attacks on towns and villages.
The artist told the Guardian that they see art as a way to document what is happening in Myanmar. “I want art to be left as a form of history which can be seen by the next generation, to prevent something like this from happening again,” they say.
Although many of their friends have decided to take up arms against the military, Black Art remains committed to fighting through art. “I believe that everyone should be involved in this revolution, but holding guns is not enough,” they say. “We can only win this by participating in every way, and I am participating in mine with the belief that we will win.”
Aye Win, a hip-hop artist in Yangon, uses music to rebel. During the protests in February, he and a group of friends held two freestyle rap events under the name Rap Against Junta before they had to go underground. “When [the military] started the crackdowns, we couldn’t meet any more,” says Aye Win. “We all moved to the internet and used different applications to connect.”
In the following months, some of Aye Win’s friends joined the armed resistance against the coup, and others left the country, but Aye Win took on the role of Rap Against Junta’s director and persevered as an artist.
On 30 June, the group released Dictator Must Die, a track featuring artists from Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Myanmar. After that, they released a full album on 21 October. Called Dick Council – a play on Sitt Council, the Burmese name for the junta – it included 12 tracks by local artists. It was followed by Blood on 7 January, which features singers from eight different ethnic backgrounds rapping in their own languages.
Throughout this entire process, Rap Against Junta has not held a single in-person meeting. With the military increasing its use of informants to break down the resistance movement, many of the contributing artists have kept their identities secret even from one another.
“Most of the other rappers don’t know who I am and I also don’t know who they are,” says Aye Win, who connected with contributing artists through an open submission process on social media.
The need to maintain anonymity, however, has made it difficult to identify people to support the project. “When we approach people for help using a fake identity, they don’t really trust us and they always put aside the proposals to collaborate,” he says.
Rap Against Junta also had to adapt creatively when promoting their music. In their music videos, their faces are masked or shown in silhouette, while Aye Win has only allowed himself to be photographed behind a full mask or interviewed using voice-distorting technology.
As the country’s economic crisis worsens, Aye Win also says it is becoming harder to find people who can give time to Rap Against Junta because they need to earn an income. “People are trying to make money and put food on the table, so they cannot commit like before,” he says.
Aye Win is also facing pressure from his family. “My parents are discussing my future plans. I have just been stuck [at home] and doing nothing for one year. I am doing something, but it is not an established way of making a living for them,” he says. “[They said] I should go somewhere else and survive while I am still young; the future is nowhere to be found here for me.”
But Aye Win sees making protest art as a serious mission. “It is a kind of revolutionary work, and we need to finish by deadlines – we have to pay attention to every detail,” he says..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-09
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Formerly an anti-war poet, Maung Saungkha has endured a harsh training regime to prepare for armed struggle against Myanmar’s military junta
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"Days after the military coup in February 2021, demonstrations erupted across Myanmar. The military responded by shooting unarmed protesters with live rounds. People were beaten, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned.
On the frontlines of protests in Yangon in February and early March, I witnessed soldiers and police firing live rounds into crowds, and on 8 March, I was one of hundreds of protesters who were barricaded overnight on Kyun Taw Road in Yangon’s Sanchaung township, where soldiers and police went from house to house searching for people to arrest.
Witnessing the military’s atrocities and campaign of terror from the frontline, I realised that the only way to fight back was through armed revolution.
I am one of thousands of activists and young people from cities and towns across Myanmar to take up arms. Some joined existing armed groups – known as ethnic armed organisations – in the country’s border areas, where minorities have been fighting for self-determination for decades; others, like me, formed new revolutionary groups.
In the first week of March, I travelled to an area of Myanmar’s borderlands and joined a group of 17 people in establishing the Bamar People’s Liberation Army on 17 April.
As a poet and human rights activist, my revolutionary journey has been very tough. We must overcome our ego, homesickness and intellectual pride. Our trainers always told us that we must fight a revolution within ourselves before we can fight a revolution against others.
Q&A
What is the Reporting Myanmar series?
During the three months of training, we ran drills and studied the battlefield and governance systems without rest from 4am to 10pm. To train our minds and bodies to become stronger, we were only allowed two meals a day, limited to five minutes, and we sometimes went days without eating. Outside food was also prohibited, and we were never able to fill our stomachs.
“I spent more than six months in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. Recalling that time is like a nightmare
I have endured days under the scorching sun without a sip of water; I have also stood to attention under heavy rain to the sound of harsh commands that felt like hot liquid iron being poured into my ears, and have experienced the feeling that blows with a cane could fall on my hips at any time.
By the end of the training, my potbelly had disappeared and I had turned to skin and bones. I used to get tired just climbing three floors of stairs in my city apartment building; now, I am running up and down hilly jungle terrain. My mindset had also hardened. I had lived my entire life as an anti-war poet. But the former peacemaker who once could not stand even the sound of gunfire is now hungry for war. I believe we have no other choice.
This month, in an alliance with an ethnic armed organisation, we began active combat with the military, which is continuing.
My story as an activist goes back to around 2012. It was the early years of the country’s political transition, and I was elected as a representative under Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) for a youth working group in Yangon.
In 2015, while campaigning for the NLD for November’s general elections, I was jailed under charges of defamation for writing a satirical poem about having a tattoo of the president, Thein Sein, on my penis. I spent more than six months in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. Recalling that time is like a nightmare. I was repeatedly interrogated, without breaks for eating, and subjected to mental torture.
I was released in May 2016. It was just three months after the NLD government was sworn in to parliament, where they shared power with the military under the rules of a constitution drafted by the military in 2008.
Since my release, I have continuously dedicated myself to promoting freedom of expression and equal rights. In 2016, I began advocating to amend the Telecommunications Law. Introduced in 2013, the law criminalised defamation over telecommunications networks and saw more than 250 people, including 37 journalists, charged during the NLD’s term.
In January 2018, I founded Athan (Voice), a research-based activist organisation focused on promoting freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information rights in Myanmar.
When I joined the NLD, it was with the hope and expectation that they could bring human rights and justice for everyone in Myanmar when they came to power. But in October 2018, I resigned from the party due to my different views from Aung San Suu Kyi on the state of press freedom in the country, and particularly her decision not to speak out for the rights of the Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were jailed in relation to their coverage of the military’s massacre of 10 Rohingya people in Rakhine state.
During the NLD’s five-year term, I openly criticised party leaders over oppression of minorities including the Rohingya, restrictions on press freedom and freedom of expression, a prolonged internet shutdown in Rakhine and Chin states, and their failure to speak out against human rights abuses openly committed by the military.
I also played a leading role in numerous activist campaigns for the rights of journalists, activists and oppressed minority groups including the Kachin, Karenni, Arakanese and Rohingya.
On 8 November 2020, the NLD again won a landslide victory in general elections, and the newly elected government was set to convene parliament on 1 February. The military, whose party suffered a humiliating loss, had refused to accept the election results, and its commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing had already warned that the military might “take action” if its claims of election irregularities were not addressed. Still, I didn’t really believe Min Aung Hlaing would dare to stage a coup.
It became clear to me that the coup had happened at 4am on 1 February, when I received a call that two friends and fellow activists had been arrested by the military. Soldiers came to arrest me too, but fortunately I was not at home.
“We also seek to ensure that, if Aung San Suu Kyi is released, that no political compromises are made in the name of stability
On 11 February, I joined people from different ethnic groups, including the majority Bamar group to which I belong, in forming the General Strike Committee of Nationalities. We called for the repeal of the 2008 constitution and the establishment of a federal democratic union – demands that were eventually supported at the national level.
On 1 April, a body of elected parliamentarians operating in exile announced the abolition of the 2008 constitution and establishment of an interim National Unity government based on a federal democracy charter. It marked the early stages of a shift in people’s mindsets.
The public abandoned the idea that we must endure whatever the military does to us and make compromises according to the military’s demands. Instead, this Spring Revolution has shown a commitment to root out nationalism and religious extremism, and has also pushed to end gender discrimination, patriarchy and military dictatorship once and for all.
Among the objectives of the Bamar People’s Liberation Army are to end the dominance of Bamar Buddhists over other ethnic groups and to strengthen the unity of Myanmar’s diverse ethnic groups under a federal democratic union.
We also seek to ensure that, if Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest, no political compromises are made under the name of state stability.
If this Spring Revolution, in which people from all social strata have participated with unity and solidarity, cannot lead to the establishment of a new federal democratic union that can guarantee peace and democracy, then justice and equality will still be far off in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-09
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History, Human Rights Defenders
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"One year ago, as the Myanmar military sent tanks down the streets and rounded up government officials and activists, it shut down the internet, mobile phone networks, radio, and television channels. As it plunged the country into a communications blackhole, the junta launched concerted assaults at already threadbare protections online to throttle expression and information-sharing. Today, the military is ramping up efforts to cement authoritarian control of online space, alongside violent crackdowns, and serious human rights violations. This is a digital coup, and the world must resist.
Internet shutdowns continue to be wielded to shroud serious human rights violations. Soon after the coup and lasting almost three months, the military imposed near-complete nationwide internet shutdowns — including nightly communications blackouts and online media and messaging platform bans. The people in Myanmar were not able to communicate with loved ones, share information, report on human rights violations, or seek help amidst an emergency. Contrary to the principles of net neutrality and the norm of a free internet, the junta lifted some disruptions to favor its own “white-list” of organisations and corporations that could access the internet, while the rest of the country suffered the consequences of these discriminatory and unequal shutdowns. The military continue to order regional shutdowns — particularly where active armed conflicts are ongoing, in attempts to conceal thousands of reports of assault, killings, arrests, detention, enforced disappearance, ill-treatment, torture, torching and gender-based violence committed by the junta.
Control of telecommunications providers and abuse of surveillance technology expands monitoring and targeting of individuals. Reuters recently reported that the Myanmar military had privately approved the sale of Telenor Myanmar to M1 Group and military-linked Shwe Byain Phyu Group — with the latter as a majority shareholder. Should the sale go ahead, three of the four telecommunications providers operating in Myanmar would be directly controlled by the junta — including Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited (MyTel). It can also be assumed that thereafter, all operators in Myanmar — including the fourth, Ooredoo — will activate surveillance technology within their networks, noting Telenor’s statement that its departure was due to “continued pressure” on operators to “activate intercept equipment and technology for the use of Myanmar authorities”. These targeted efforts will enable the military to bring all network services under its stranglehold and escalate abuses of privacy and security rights, through surveillance and related efforts. Yet, disturbingly, not a single telecommunications sector actor has implemented urgent data protection and privacy safeguards needed to protect their customers. Telenor Group, in particular, had earned people’s trust on the basis of their earlier commitments to human rights and public reporting on network shutdowns and military orders. These customers — including activists, journalists and other at-risk individuals — are now in danger of having their data transferred to a military-linked outfit through an irresponsible disposal of its business operations in Myanmar.
Legal tools are abused to stifle individuals’ rights to expression, information, and privacy. By amending the Broadcasting Law and resurrecting a previously defeated Cybersecurity Law, the military will fortify censorship controls online. The amended Broadcasting Law effectively criminalises any speech deemed impermissible by the military on a wide range of media — including radio, television, audio and video social media posts, and websites — with up to three years’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, the draft Cybersecurity Law provides overbroad censorship and regulatory powers to the authorities — including the Ministry of Defence with its notorious record of committing abuses amounting to serious international crimes — to censor online content, order the furnishing of individuals’ personal data from internet service providers and control online platforms and services through onerous registration and licensing requirements. Not satisfied with the increasing trend of arrests for alleged illegal VPN usage, the draft Cybersecurity Law proposes to penalise VPN usage with up to three years’ imprisonment, further extinguishing one of the last tools of protection and security available to the people of Myanmar.
Price hikes and onerous data provision requirements make it increasingly difficult for people to access the internet. In December 2021, in an attempt to price people out of telecommunication access, the military forced telecommunications operators to significantly hike up prices for data usage and phone calls, doubling the price of mobile data, and increasing the cost of phone calls by nearly a quarter — significantly impacting a population already struggling from a banking crisis. In January 2022, the increasing cost of connectivity was worsened by the junta’s 10% tax hike on mobile data service providers — which then increased customers’ prices further — and a 20,000 kyat (US$11) commercial tax on new SIM card activation, which exacerbated the already onerous requirements for SIM card registration. These manipulations now pose extortionate barriers to internet access for the average person in Myanmar, amidst a coup and a pandemic — when they need connectivity the most.
Harassment and dissemination of incitement to violence online propagates fear and insecurity. Reports continue to emerge of military and military-linked personnel appropriating social media platforms to post hate speech and incite violence against individuals supporting opposition to the coup. From even before the coup, content moderation failures on platforms like Facebook and YouTube had accelerated hate speech and incitement to violence online. Pressure from civil society forced Facebook to take down hundreds of military-linked accounts and strengthen its mitigation measures. After being blocked from Facebook, increasing numbers of military and military-linked actors are now abusing less responsive services and platforms to amplify a regime of fear and abuse online, including through death threats on TikTok, and doxxing on Telegram. In contrast, the junta are conducting stop-searches of individuals’ devices which often result in arrests, detention, and assault, with impunity. While tech platforms meander in their mitigation measures, privacy and security violations proliferate.
With a year of concerted effort to control and manipulate the online and offline lives of millions of people in Myanmar as groundwork, today, the junta’s digital coup is more violent and aggressive than ever — aimed at crushing remnants of the already razed rights to privacy, expression, information, association, and security. As the world watches on, the Myanmar military is very close to its goal of consolidating absolute control of digital spaces.
The international community, technology companies, platforms, and network providers must stand with the people of Myanmar and resist the digital coup. We have an obligation to hold the Myanmar military accountable for the serious human rights violations it continues to commit. The international community must:
Publicly condemn the Myanmar junta’s continued attacks on civic space and push back against assaults on rights — including to freedom of expression, information, association, privacy and security;
Support calls for targeted sanctions against the military and against military-linked individuals and businesses, including sanctions aimed at restricting the sale and supply of dual-use surveillance technology
Pressure companies to uphold international standards on responsible business;
Continue and expand support for civil society, humanitarian and other actors working to defend human rights within Myanmar.
Telecommunications and technology companies in Myanmar must:
Immediately implement data protection and privacy safeguards to resist increasing attempts to extend surveillance, censorship, and abuse of rights;
Conduct due diligence and pursue genuine public engagement when creating or changing their policies on data protection, content moderation, and others, pursuant to international human rights standards; and
Implement policies informed by genuine public engagement and based on international human rights standards.
Every day, the people of Myanmar continue to suffer escalating attacks in an environment of repression and violence. The coup is offline and online. The international and business community must resist. Continued inaction costs lives..."
Source/publisher:
Access NOW
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders
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"On 1 February 2022, Myanmar completed a year since the military coup during which the junta detained Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, Chairman of the Union Election Commission Hla Thein and many other political leaders and activists in the early hours of 1 February 2021. ANFREL has been closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar since the coup and publishes weekly updates, and also published a timeline of the key incidents that happened over the last year that you can access here. ANFREL also reaffirmed that “the 2020 Myanmar General Elections were, by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar and ANFREL will stand with the people of Myanmar in their fight for the restoration of democracy in the country”.
Despite the junta’s threats of charges of sedition or terrorism against anyone who participates in the silent strike on 1 February, many streets were deserted and shops abandoned across the country including in the commercial hub of Yangon. The junta also threatened the business owners that their properties would be seized if they participated in the strike. Anti-junta protests were also held across the country while two people were killed and 38 injured in a grenade attack at a pro-military rally conducted in Tachileik, Shan State. More than 1,519 people have been killed by the junta in the last 12 months and over 11,980 people detained, with 8,977 still indetention. Reports also say over 400,000 people have been displaced since the coup by the junta air strikes, heavy weaponry attacks and mass arrests in different parts of the country.
A joint statement issued by the European Union, and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States urged the junta to immediately end the State of Emergency, allow unhindered humanitarian access, release all arbitrarily detained persons and swiftly return the country to a democratic process. The statement further called on members of the international community to support efforts to promote justice for the people of Myanmar and hold those responsible for human rights violations and abuses accountable. In a special statement, the ministry of foreign affairs of Singapore also expressed concern about the situation in Myanmar,said Singapore is disappointed by the lack of progress in the implementation of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, and called on the junta to release of all political detainees including ousted president Win Myint and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
The UN Security Council also repeated its call for the pursuance of dialogue with all parties concerned and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar in a statement that further calls for the release of all those who remain arbitrarily detained. In the meantime the Council has continuously failed to impose the global arms embargo on the Myanmar military that rights groups and Myanmar civil society has been calling for since the coup in February, 2021.
Cambodia, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that Myanmar Junta’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin will not be invited to the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh in February. Instead, ASEAN will invite a non-political representative. The ASEAN foreign ministers meetings scheduled in January 2022 were postponed amid reports of disagreements among the member states over Myanmar with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia having strongly opposed inviting the junta appointed foreign minister. Last November, ASEAN barred the junta leader Aung Min Hlaing from attending the ASEAN summit and invited a non-political representative; the junta refused the invitation.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, Noeleen Heyzer, the United Nations’ special envoy for Myanmar said that the junta cannot be ignored and left out of any upcoming peace process. Responding to her interview, civil society organizations in Myanmar have heavily criticized her views on power sharing with the military and her claims that the military is in control at this particular time. 247 CSOs rejected her views in a joint statement which further mentioned her views provide a signal that the “UN is willing to act as a broker for their power despite the grave crimes that the junta committed”. Noeleen Heyzer responded to the criticisms and said the term “power-sharing” as a solution to the current crisis was taken out of context. The civil disobedience movement in Myanmar in their official twitter handle called for the resignation of the UN special envoy stating that she doubled down on her mistake and lied it was “misrepresentation“ when she was given a chance to correct.
According to sources, the trial of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for election fraud will begin on 14 February 2022. Last November, the junta-appointed election commission filed charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, Chair of the Union Election Commission Hla Thein and 13 other people over the alleged electoral fraud in the 2020 elections. The junta has also fined election officials for alleged fraud in the 2020 elections. Media reported on 4 February 2021 that 12 election sub-commissioners from Taunggyi in Shan State were fined 10,000 kyats each under Section 130 (a) of the Penal Code that criminalizes any act that fail to comply that requires to be done by the constitution of the Union of Myanmar or in any act enacted by the parliament. Several sources also revealed that the junta is pressuring officials from the UEC sub-commissions to sign a confession stating that they “knowingly rigged the elections”. Those who failed to confess would be charged in junta courts.
In a meeting in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw, Senior General and the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing expressed that the current First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system does not match with the democracy and federalism of Myanmar and the Proportional Representation (PR) system is a need for a wide representation of ethnic nationalities. Since the coup junta appointed the election commission has been tasked to change the Myanmar electoral system that will provide an advantage to the military aligned political parties. The UEC also have conducted several rounds of meetings with political parties to introduce a PR system in Myanmar that the bigger political parties that secured seats in the 2015 and 2020 general elections such as NLP, SNLD and ANP have been in the forefront against introducing such a system.
The junta also filed a fresh corruption charge against Aung San Suu Kyi for allegedly receiving US$550,000 of donation for a charity foundation named after her mother. She faces 10 more corruption charges in junta courts and a court already sentenced her to four years in prison in early December 2021 on charges of incitement and breaches of COVID-19 regulations, later reduced to two years, and another four-year sentence in January 2021 for the illegal import of walkie talkies under the export-import law, possession of the devices under the telecommunications law and breaching COVID-19 protocols under the natural disaster management law.
Amid the junta’s proposed cybersecurity law that would ban the use of VPN and the digital currencies, the junta spokesman indicated that the junta plans to establish a digital currency to support domestic payments and boost the economy.
The Arakanese Army known as AA, which has been very much silent since the military coup in Myanmar, clashed with the junta forces in Maung Taw Township, Rakhine State.
As of 28 January 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) recorded that 1,519 people have been killed by the junta. 8,977 people are currently under detention. 84 have been sentenced to death and 1,974 are evading arrest warrants..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-07
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders, ASEAN-Burma relations
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"Dear respected members of the UK Parliament, friends, colleagues, and fellow health care professionals,
I sincerely thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of the health workers, and indeed the entire nation of Myanmar.
Today is a day which should need no explanation. Today, over fifty five million Myanmar people grieve the anniversary of the 2021 military coup d'état. For those who have lost their homes, the property, their livelihoods, their freedom or their loved ones; for those who languish in prisons on false charges, who watched helplessly as COVID-19 tore through the cities with neither doctors nor oxygen, who have seen the smoke and heard the screams of their fellow villagers being burned alive, who have fled to the jungles and mountains with no food and no shelter, who have fled to foreign lands where they exist with no legal protections, for these people, today is a reminder of the darkest and most infamous day in Myanmar’s history
Our brave people have faced unimaginable difficulties due to Covid-19, compounded by the military coup, and compounded yet further by the nation-wide humanitarian crisis stemming from the senseless violence of the military junta. Our brave civilian health workers have been and continue to be targeted by the ruthless military as objects of special vengeance for the mere ‘crime’ of honouring their Hippocratic oaths to aid their fellow injured and sick citizens. Many of our skilled doctors, nurses, midwives, ambulance personnel, medics and general health care workers have been threatened, arrested and murdered in cold blood. Hospitals, clinics, ambulance stations and charity organizations across the nation have been attacked, occupied or destroyed by military thugs. Many of those who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) have been forced to flee for their lives to avoid arbitrary arrest, torture and extrajudicial killing. Yet despite these most terrible conditions, the people of Myanmar have shown time and time again that they are resilient, united, unshakable and will not be beaten back into submission under the military’s boots.
The people UK, the Government and Parliament have been a great advocate for the people of Myanmar since the coup, regularly condemning the actions of the military, and issuing sanctions and providing aid in various forms. Similarly, UK organizations and agencies have continually supported the people of Myanmar in every way they can. I am truly thankful for everything that these organizations have done and continue to do to help relieve the pain of our brave healthcare professionals out on the front lines of this revolution. The action taken both on the international stage and on the ground by these organizations has had a very positive and heartening effect on our people, and this type of assistance - words backed by action - are what we need now, more than ever. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain displaced, and thousands of healthcare workers with them, who, despite the odds, continue their selfless service to help as many sick and injured as possible with the limited supplies they have.
Finally, I want to call attention yet again to the ever worsening situation in Myanmar which effects all citizens equally, medical and non-medical alike. It is this then that must ever be on the forefront of our minds, that these brave people continue to do the impossible, saving lives with the most meager of resources. This is however unsustainable, and a strong backing is critically needed to keep these medical workers supplied with the life saving medicines and equipment they depend on. The work of the UK Government, its partners and that of non-governmental organizations must expand exponentially to keep up with the growing crisis, and I must humbly request and implore all those who are able to contribute to this effort; to support those who support our front-line workers, and help bring an end to this humanitarian, health, and political crisis. The people of Myanmar have the will to survive and emerge the victors of this situation, they just need the means.
The means needed, as I mentioned, are four-fold. First, increased UK financial support for technical assistance and training of health workers, including through Health Partnerships. Second, continued work by the UK Government to hold the military to account for the persecution of health workers, and the untold numbers of suffering civilians. Third, a commitment to renew visas for Myanmar health workers residing in the UK in recognition of support they are giving the NHS at this time, and providing visas for those who have been forced to flee their homes, wherever they may currently be. Fourth, a re-invigoration of UK advocacy at the global level to marginalise the Tatmadaw and its cronies. The people of Myanmar desperately need the continued support of the UK on the world stage to help bring a swift end to this hellish nightmare we are enduring.
Thank you for your attention, and may you be blessed for the blessings you have given us..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Anti-coup protesters
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"An anonymous Myanmar-based contributor details the junta’s recent efforts to undermine the organizing of protests.
As the one-year anniversary of the military coup swiftly approached, people around the country were waiting to hear how anti-military activists would call upon us to commemorate that tragic date. We did not have to wait long. On January 22, the call so many had been hoping for came in the form of a post on social media. A silent strike was set in motion for February 1, with a request for the closure of all businesses and for people to stay at home.
News of the strike spread quickly across the country by way of social media, phone calls, news outlets and word of mouth. Min Aung Hlaing, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister and head of the military junta’s organization, the State Administrative Council, and his cronies, did not take long to react. A week in advance of the planned strike they embarked on yet another campaign of terror against the people. According to a January 26 Myanmar Now article, the junta threatened that those who merely participated in the strike would suffer severe repercussions:
“The military council responded to the call three days later by announcing that anyone found to be taking part in or promoting the silent strike would see their property confiscated and face multiple criminal charges. Those charges include Section 52a of the Counterterrorism Law, Section 124a and 505a of the Penal Code, and Section 33a of the Telecommunications Law. The terrorism charge carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, and Section 124a—for sedition—carries a life sentence of 20 years. The other charges are accompanied by three to five years in prison.”
With the benefit of hindsight, it appears that the regime had, weeks ago, begun to take steps toward preventing any such resistance by the people. In December they announced that all internet providers, of both mobile data and WiFi, had to double the cost of their services. No explanation for the price hike was given. Increasing the cost of internet services would, of course, provide additional revenue for the military, but more insidiously, it would also reduce its affordability and thereby diminish internet communication, especially among the poor.
Calculating that more action was needed, on January 8 the regime raised prices again to further discourage internet usage. This time they levied an additional tax on SIM cards. These phone cards, which previously cost 1,500 kyat, became subject to an additional commercial tax of 20,000 kyat—more than half an average week’s wages—amounting to an increase of 1,333 per cent. Further, internet service providers were hit with a tax increase of 15 per cent on their sales, which of course would be passed on to consumers.
The regime, through its mouthpiece, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, claimed the move was an effort to promote well-being among the youth because the new charges would reduce the “effects triggered by extreme use of internet services on the employment of the people and mental sufferings of [the] new generation [of] students.” No one was buying this except as some much-needed comic relief.
The real reasons for those increases were to directly impede communications among the organizers of protest actions such as the strike, and among the people in general, as well as to further enrich Min Aung Hlaing and his partners in crime and corruption.
But, still not satisfied, the junta continued pulling other levers. Ten days before February 1, the junta announced that electricity would be cut from 6 am to 6 pm for the three days immediately preceding the strike—January 29, 30 and 31—which means that during this three-day period there was no WiFi and no way for most people to charge their computers or phones—phones being the principal means by which the vast majority of the people access the internet. While over the years, and especially since the start of this latest coup, the citizens of Myanmar have grown accustomed to being without electrical service for hours at a time, this recent announcement heightened people’s concerns. No one doubted that this was merely another effort to prevent them from communicating and organizing in the days leading up to the strike.
In another attempt by the regime to frustrate and crush the upcoming strike, on January 24, eight days beforehand, Myawaddy TV and MRTV—the junta’s television propaganda outlets—announced a new restriction: anyone caught in possession of a virtual private network (VPN) app would be subject to arrest, fines and a possible prison sentence of up to three years. A life sentence is possible if the owner has shared anything deemed to have incited people to participate in the upcoming strike, or referred to the military in a derogatory manner.
News of this new law had recently been circulating in the media, but it was considered to be merely some proposed legislation made public for purposes of review. This, however, was at odds with what the junta’s TV stations were saying. On January 24, The Irrawaddy reported that it had access to a leaked copy of a draft of the legislation, and a cover letter, showing thatthe decision to enact the law had already been made. Whether or not this draft legislation had been ratified is of little consequence, because, ultimately, when anyone is stopped by police or soldiers and ordered to turn over their phone, the law will be interpreted at the end of their gun barrels.
It bears mentioning that, since the coup’s onset, websites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook—which are used by the vast majority of Myanmar’s population—and a host of other sites as well, have been blocked, and therefore anyone accessing these sites could only do so by using a VPN. So, in Mandalay and Yangon, and probably everywhere between, soldiers and police have been searching the phones of random pedestrians and motorists looking for their VPN apps. We have heard that those caught with the app on their phones are being given the option of arrest and certain prison time, or of bribing the arresting soldiers with a payment of 100,000 kyat (US$56) to make the problem go away.
Clearly, as they have done so many times in the last year, the soldiers and police have created for themselves a tidy commercial enterprise on the backs and suffering of their fellow citizens. A few days before the strike we heard of a man who was stopped by soldiers. After seizing his phone, they discovered that he had been on Facebook. When asked how he had accessed the site without a VPN, the man, unable to provide a satisfactory answer, was promptly beaten. In another case, two people were stopped by soldiers and VPN apps were found on their phones. The soldiers simply confiscated the phones, undoubtedly either to sell or for their own personal use.
Business owners who were unaware of the new law were posting on Facebook that they would support the strike by closing for the day. Consequently, many of them were tracked down, arrested for their posts, and had their establishments permanently shuttered and apparently expropriated. In addition, there have been reports from numerous areas that vehicles with loudspeakers mounted to their roofs were circulating through neighbourhoods warning people that should they participate in the strike they will be in violation of the law, and anyone sharing information about the strike on social media will be subject to arrest and imprisonment under the counterterrorism laws. On January 26, The Irrawaddy reported that these warnings were “an attempt to prevent the protest after the previous silent strikes saw the whole nation of over 54 million people stay out of sight for the day.”
Police, soldiers and okkahtas, the military-appointed ward administrators, went from business to business, forcing owners to sign an agreement committing them to keeping their shops open on February 1, the day of the strike, and acknowledging that if they failed to do so they would suffer severe consequences. But everyone understood their dilemma. Even if they were forced to open, with everyone staying at home they wouldn’t expect any customers. So what then did the junta hope to gain by forcing shops and businesses to remain open? With no customers on the streets, what’s the point? Other than bolstering the junta’s delusion of normality, it simply makes no sense.
These various efforts by the military regime, each of which required the marshalling of enormous human and material resources, demonstrates that the call for another general strike struck an extremely raw nerve. In his vain efforts to project legitimacy, particularly to the international community, General Min Aung Hlaing has announced time and again that he would “very shortly” have the “terrorists” under control and could ensure stability throughout the nation. However, stability seems to be getting further and further beyond his grasp.
On February 1, empty streets, similar to those seen during the December strike, put the lie to the junta’s statements and became a major embarrassment. Desperate to avoid international disgrace, the regime has gone into overdrive in its efforts to crush the resistance, but its efforts will, in all likelihood, prove to be both insufficient and deficient. The amount of resources it amassed in hopes of forestalling the strike is a telling indication of how alarming this demonstration of resistance was to the regime, a fact that the Burmese people have carefully noted. The military’s heavy-handed and disproportionate tactics are a clear sign of its weakness and desperation.
By moving forward with the strike, the Burmese people have shown the world that investments in Myanmar will never bring returns until there is genuine democratic stability, and that such stability is squarely in the hands of the people. Deserted streets across the country on the day of the strike, despite every effort by the military to quash it, should serve as a warning to those who continue to engage in business with the generals while the people of Myanmar suffer under these tyrants.
Nonetheless, the people must not become complacent, because this regime will almost surely carry on in ways that defy morality and legitimacy. People need to prepare themselves for any and all possibilities. The regime led by Min Aung Hlaing and his cronies—which sanctions the bombing of innocent civilians, which tortures and burns to death young and old alike, which gang-rapes women, which loots and torches homes and entire villages, which murders indiscriminately—that regime accepts no constraints and recognizes no limits on its atrocities.
How the military will respond now that the strike has successfully taken place is an unknown that should concern everyone. But attempts at terrorizing people have already proven ineffective in deterring them from their cause. This is especially true for those of Generation Z who have vowed to fight to the end. Recent attempts to cow the Burmese people into submission, as described above, will only act as an accelerant thrown upon their anger and resentment. It would do Min Aung Hlaing and his gang well, and the international community too, to heed the words of the many who have announced that they will “never back down,” that “this is the last time.” It remains to be seen who is poking whom..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Sub-title:
Yi Yi Khine was hit by a bullet in her stomach while driving in downtown Kalay on Tuesday
Description:
"A teacher who was part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was shot and killed as she rode her motorcycle with her child on her back in the Saging Region town of Kalay on Tuesday morning, a relative said.
The bullet hit Yi Yi Khine, a 42-year-old middle school teacher, in the stomach at around 9am as she rode through downtown Kalay, and she died shortly after arriving at the nearby hospital. The child was not injured.
It is unclear exactly who shot Yi Yi Khine, the relative said, but there was a military base near the site of the killing.
“She couldn’t get help easily because it was the day of the silent strike,” the relative said. “She could still talk a bit when she arrived at the hospital.”
Yi Yi Khine passed away at about 11am and her funeral was held the following day. She also leaves behind a second young child.
Locals in Kalay joined millions of people across the country on Tuesday who took part in a silent strike to show their opposition to military rule on the one-year anniversary of the coup.
“The roads were empty by 10am and it stayed that way until 4pm,” a Kalay resident said. “The shops had to remain open because the military threatened them. There were no buyers whatsoever.”
Soldiers spent the day patrolling the town in about 20 vehicles, he added.
Over 100 civilians have been killed and over 400 arrested by the military in the township of Kalay since the coup, according to the Kalay Township Strike Committee.
Kalay was apparently the first place where civilians took up arms to fight back against the coup regime last year, with protesters using traditional hunting rifles to defend themselves in late March when they were attacked by the junta’s forces..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"1 year after the coup in Myanmar: silencing and oppression of critical voices 01/02/2022
Today, exactly one year ago, the military junta seized power in Myanmar and violently cracked down on nationwide peaceful and democratic protests. The crackdown on independent media and freedom of expression within the country that followed immediately after, has degraded press freedom dramatically. Recently, attacks on the free press have intensified extremely, leading to the killing of 3 independent journalists and the arrest of 3 journalists from ethnic media outlets in January 2022 alone. We call on the international community to join us in demanding the military junta to put an end to the escalating violence against journalists, to seek justice for these courageous journalists, and to provide safe refuge to those whose lives are at risk both inside and out of the country.
Since the onset of the coup, the Myanmar military has made sure to keep a tight grip on the flow of information in the country. Centralizing information and censoring independent journalists is one of the main tactics used by the military as a way of seizing control and limiting freedom of expression. On February 1st 2021, the sporadic internet black outs that followed, were a way of limiting citizens’ access to information. Shortly thereafter, the army seized control of state television and the Ministry of Information. In early May 2021, the military subsequently declared all satellite television illegal. The licenses of 9 media houses were revoked and 4 charged under Section 505 (A) ever since.
Alarmingly high levels of censorship, arbitrary arrests, violence and even killings of journalists, demonstrate the increasing danger that journalists in Myanmar are facing. Local journalists and ethnic media workers have become open and physical targets of the junta. Many journalists have already been assaulted, shot at and injured while covering national protests, illegally arrested and prosecuted for carrying out their journalistic work - often accused of supporting opposition forces. So far, 136 journalists have been arrested, 49 remain in detention and at least 3 journalists have been killed (source: ASEAN).
After the coup the military changed the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, and introduced the New Section 505 (A) that prohibits causing fear, spreading false news and agitating crimes against a government employee, all punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. The junta is using this law against the media.
Following these large threats, many independent journalists have gone into hiding and move around on a daily basis. This makes it next to impossible to operate independently inside the country. A large group of journalists and media houses have fled to neighbouring countries Thailand and India. With the recent battles of Lay Kyaw Kyaw, more than 15 ethnic media organizations were pushed to cross the border into Thailand. The journalists in exile are facing numerous challenges such as the obtainment of work visas, discrimination and ethnophobia that hamper their safety.
Despite all challenges, media organizations and freelance journalists are extremely resilient and haven’t stopped their important work despite the rising pressure. Critical voices continue their work of daily reporting and voicing criticism. Ethnic media continue their work from KNU-liberated areas. New, innovative and creative solutions are developed to continue working and providing access to information for Burmese citizens.
Nonetheless, the crackdown on the media and the hostile environment affecting the safety of journalists of Myanmar is concerning. It is evident that the junta sees journalists as their enemy, and we are concerned that they will not hesitate to use more violence in the battle for facts and information. The crackdown on the media comes at a time where the continuation of independent and accurate informationis crucial to the conflict situation in Myanmar, to provide people with lifesaving information, offer them facts about the ongoing events, counter misinformation, and record human rights violations. Without facts and access to reliable information, the people of Myanmar will remain unable to decide over their own destiny and fully enjoy human rights.
Our calls to action
The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the continued violence against media workers in Myanmar. We welcome earlier statements of UNESCO and the Media Freedom Coalition condemning the violence and internet shutdowns imposed by the junta. But more is needed. That is why we call for:
- the international community to continue to condemn and address violations of press freedom in Myanmar and ensure that those responsible will be brought to justice;
- governments from both neighboring countries as well as the international community should create a safe haven to the journalists who are stuck in a limbo, by providing them with emergency visas. The situation that many journalists fleeing Myanmar due to threats to their lives are facing, only to find themselves in a situation where their lack of a legal status puts them at risk of persecution and eviction by the authorities, is dire. There is a real sense of urgency in terms of Myanmar journalists requiring safe ways to seek refuge through emergency visas;
- the international community is to provide long term support to independent Myanmar media including smaller ethnic media organizations from remote areas in order to recover, rebuild, and continue their reporting either in Myanmar or in exile. Media development organizations, media outlets and Myanmar journalists have shown resilience and have continued their vital work in order to bring reliable information to the Myanmar public. They need long-term support..."
Source/publisher:
Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"On 1 February 2022, people in Myanmar will mark the first anniversary of renewed military dictatorship with protest and resistance. The coup prevented an elected government from taking office. The military extralegally detained its members, and embarked on a program of state violence reminiscent of the atrocities in 2017 that led hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.
The military has met nationwide resistance. A civil disobedience movement that began in the days after the coup has persisted in its efforts to oppose military rule by strikes, boycotts and other kinds of non-cooperation. A people’s defensive war has brought fighting to parts of the country that had for decades been without armed conflict.
The costs have been great. Many have lost their jobs and housing. Thousands have been detained and at least 1,499 civilians have lost their lives, according to the AAPP. An estimated 406,000 people have been internally displaced since the coup and at least 32,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR.
The military coup has exacerbated efforts to combat the Covid-19 crisis, unnecessarily contributing to a high death toll. Military rule greatly complicates future efforts to control the virus, putting the health and safety of millions in peril.
The consequences of the coup on higher education are disastrous. After decades of debilitating dictatorship, universities and institutes in Myanmar were just beginning to find their feet when the military again seized control. The universities remain closed to students. With their shutdown go the hopes of another generation for quality education in Myanmar. Opposition groups, activists and engaged scholars are setting up alternative study programs, but these can fill only a small part of the demand.
As academics, students and professional staff working on Myanmar, we mark this anniversary by condemning the coup and the violent suppression of political opposition to military rule. We deplore the targeted killing and maiming of unarmed civilians, including via massacres during recent military offensives launched in many parts of the country.
To our friends and associates in Myanmar, and to alumni of Australian universities who are struggling against dictatorship, we extend our solidarity. We join with you and others around the world in demanding that the military retreat from politics, stop the killings and torture; release all political prisoners, including our colleague Professor Sean Turnell, and return government to those whom Myanmar’s electorate chose to lead it. Joint statement issued on 31 January 2022 by:..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Studies Association of Australia, Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars, Australia-Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, Australia Myanmar Institute, Griffith Asia Institute and Myanmar Research Centre
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
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Description:
"One year has now passed since the
Burma Army’s attempted coup on
1 February 2021. The Human Rights
Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) began
documenting atrocities being perpetrated
against civilians by the military junta in
Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi
region on 7 February 2021. The crimes
that have been committed speak to the
unrelenting horrors which continue to
be forced upon innocent clusters of the
population. The majority of the people in
Burma strongly reject the military coup
and have been collectively strengthened
by a commitment to toppling the
terrorist regime.
More than anything, the Burma
Army craves legitimacy and has used
violence as a tool to try and submit
the people to their will. However,
despite the grave horrors projected
onto civilians, the Spring Revolution
remains unbroken. It is a struggle that
civilians feel they cannot step away
from until their freedom and rights are
restored. One year ago, the Burmese
military made clear its disregard for
democracy and peace. They reaffirmed
the reality that they would not follow
the rules of international, democratic
governance but would rather try to
rewrite their own playbook which went
even beyond the 2008 military drafted
Constitution. By dismissing key pillars of
a functioning, free and fair government
in their refusal to accept the victory
of the National League for Democracy
(NLD), the people very quickly resisted
– and have continued to show their
strength through protests, underground
organizing and even taking up arms to
join local civilian defense forces.
Despite the mass momentum which
has fueled the revolution, the Burma
Army has only wielded more violence
including air and ground strikes to force
civilians to submit and for armed groups,
including ethnic armed organizations
(EAOs) to surrender. However, the
people remain vigilant and committed
to ensuring that they are victorious in
their long deserved quests for peace and
security..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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"When hundreds of thousands of workers across the country walked out of their jobs in protest at the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, Grace* was among the first to join.
Although she was seven months pregnant, the middle-school teacher from Chin state was determined to resist the military by refusing to work under its administration. Joining her was her husband, also a government employee.
What they didn’t then know was that nearly a year later, their hands, once accustomed to holding chalk and pens, would instead be holding hoes and shovels, calloused and blistered from farming under the scorching sun. Nor did they ever imagine that they would be living in hiding, on the run from soldiers and police.
“My husband and I decided to strike soon after the coup was staged. For fear of being arrested by the police, we haven’t been able to return home for nine months,” says Grace, talking to the Guardian from an undisclosed location.
Two of my family members were arrested because of me. Our houses were raided. We have no regular source of income and have to struggle every day to make a living. But never have I ever regretted joining the civil disobedience movement, not even once. We are part of the revolution against the military dictatorship.”
In the year since the coup, Myanmar has been plunged into chaos and a spiralling economic crisis as the military responds to the widespread civilian defiance to its rule with deadly violence and mass arrests.
Some of its main targets are the hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, including teachers, nurses and doctors participating in a campaign of civil disobedience and refusing the serve the regime.
Public hospitals are barely functioning, and when state schools opened in June, more than half the teachers were absent. Private and public bank workers have also been striking en masse, and even withdrawing cash is now near-impossible.
In an effort to crush the movement and make people return to their jobs, military forces have started hunting down striking public sector workers across the country and raiding their homes.
Since the strikes began in February, at least 140 people have been arrested for their participation, of whom 107 remain in detention, the Guardian was told by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Myanmar-focused rights monitoring group.
The AAPP says at least eight of those taking part in the civil disobedience movement have died in military interrogation centres, and seven of the bodies showed signs of torture.
Families have also been targeted. Since the coup, 46 people have been taken as hostages in an attempt to force their family members participating in civil disobedience to turn themselves in; 39 of these hostages are still in custody, according to the AAPP.
Grace went into labour shortly after she left her home. With family members being targeted by police raids, she was so scared of being arrested she registered at the hospital under a fake name. Her husband did not dare accompany her.
The military has also attempted to force those who are taking part in the strikes to return to work by making it harder for them to survive. It has evicted thousands from worker housing, and stopped paying salaries. Last May, more than 125,000 striking teachers had their contracts suspended in an attempt to try and force them back into the classroom.
The Guardian spoke with seven teachers in Chin state who are still on strike. They all said their only financial support was community donations, which were irregular and amounted to less than half of their former income.
For Grace and her family this is not enough to survive. In June, the couple began farming corn. On weekends, they sell fried snacks to make ends meet. They still face the constant risk of arrest.
As violence and military attacks escalate across the country, many teachers and other public sector workers who have gone on strike are now also living under the shadow of war. Since May, fighting has dramatically increased. The military has sought to quell armed resistance by attacking entire civilian populations, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that more than 400,000 people have been displaced from their homes.
Intensifying military attacks caused Ling Kee*, a high school headteacher who joined the civil disobedience movement and went on strike last year, to leave the town of Thantlang in August with his three adult daughters, also strikers, and his wife.
They took shelter with relatives in Hakha township, but a month later had to flee again upon hearing that soldiers were going door to door hunting down strikers. With nothing but the nightclothes they were wearing, they drove motorbikes through the night along mountain roads until they crossed the border into India. .
Unable to work there, they are relying on their savings to survive.
Students have also joined taken action against military-run services. After weeks of protests over a military “slave education system” in May, only 10% of the country’s nearly 10 million people of school age registered this year, according to the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation.
When state schools opened across the country in June, many of them guarded by armed soldiers, classrooms were empty.
To ensure that youth do not miss out on their education, churches, civil society organisations and striking teachers have established multiple grassroots education channels, supported by community donations. But funds are limited, and teachers also worry that their classes could get caught in the crossfire of the ongoing fighting, a teacher from Kanpetlet township told the Guardian.
Biak* had just one year of high school left when the coup happened.
Now living in a refugee camp in Mizoram, India, after her home was destroyed in a military attack, she is unable to study because there are no education facilities. “Currently, my family doesn’t have a house to live in, and I have no chance to study. All of my dreams were reduced to ashes, just like the homes in Thantlang, including mine,” she says.
* Pseudonyms have been used for security reasons
Flora Lian is an independent researcher from Chin State, Myanmar and writes about current issues in Chin State. She holds a master’s degree from Chiang Mai University. She is writing under a pseudonym for security reasons..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, General Strike, Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁) ရက်နေ့သည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ ပြည်သူများ၏ အသစ်တဖန် ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသော စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်အား ဆန္ဒပြခြင်းနှင့် တော်လှန်တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်း တစ်နှစ်ပြည့်မြောက်သည့် နေ့ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုသည် ရွေးကောက်ခံအစိုးရတစ်ရပ်၏ အစိုးရဖွဲ့အုပ်ချုပ်နိုင်ရေးကို တားဆီးခဲ့သည်။ စစ်တပ်သည် အစိုးရအဖွဲ့ဝင်များကို တရားမဝင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းပြီး ရိုဟင်ဂျာမွတ်ဆလင်သိန်းနှင့်ချီ၍ ဘင်္ဂလားဒေ့ရှ်နိုင်ငံသို့ ထွက်ပြေးစေခဲ့သည့် ၂၀၁၇ ခုနှစ်က ဖြစ်ရပ်ကို အောက်မေ့သတိရစေသော အစိုးရကျောထောက်နောက်ခံပြု အကြမ်းဖက်အစီအစဉ်ကို စတင်ခဲ့သည်။
စစ်တပ်သည် နိုင်ငံတဝန်း ခုခံတော်လှန်မှုကို ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည်။ အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး ရက်ပိုင်းအတွင်း စတင်ခဲ့သော စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကို ဆန့်ကျင်ရန်သည့် အကြမ်းမဖက်လူထုအာဏာဖီဆန်သည့်လှုပ်ရှားမှု (CDM) သည် ဆန္ဒပြခြင်း၊ သပိတ်မှောက်ခြင်းနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းငြင်းဆန်သော နည်းလမ်းများစွာဖြင့် ကြံကြံခံ ဆက်လက်တည်ရှိနေသည်။ ပြည်သူများ၏ ခုခံစစ်ကြောင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခများ ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ မရှိခဲ့သော နိုင်ငံ၏အစိတ်အပိုင်းများတွင် တိုက်ပွဲများ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသည်။
ပေးဆပ်ရမှုသည် အလွန်ပင်ကြီးမားပါသည်။ လူအများအပြား အလုပ်အကိုင်နှင့် အိုးအိမ်များ ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ ထောင်နှင့်ချီ၍ ဖမ်းဆီးခံထားရပြီး အရပ်သား ၁၄၉၉ ဦးထက်မနည်း အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ကြောင်း AAPP ၏ အချက်အလက်များအရ သိရသည်။ UNHCR အချက်အလက်များအရ အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးကတည်းက ခန့်မှန်းခြေ လူ ၄၀၆,၀၀၀ ခန့် နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ရပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ၃၂,၀၀၀ ခန့် အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများသို့ ထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ကြရသည်။
စစ်တပ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုသည် COVID-19 ကပ်ရောဂါအကျပ်အတည်းကို တိုက်ဖျက်ရန် ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများကို ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားစေခဲ့ပြီး သေဆုံးသူအရေအတွက် မြင့်မားလာစေခဲ့သည်။ စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးသည် ဗိုင်းရပ်စ်ကို ထိန်းချုပ်ရန် ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများကိုများစွာ ရှုပ်ထွေးခက်ခဲစေပြီး သန်းနှင့်ချီသောပြည်သူများ၏ ကျန်းမာရေးနှင့် ဘေးကင်းရေးကို အန္တရာယ်ဖြစ်စေသည်။
အဆင့်မြင့်ပညာရေးအပေါ် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု၏ အကျိုးဆက်များက အလွန်ဆိုးရွားလှသည်။ ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို အားနည်းစေပီးနောက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ တက္ကသိုလ်များနှင့် အင်စတီကျူးများသည် မိမိခြေပေါ် မိမိရပ်တည်နိုင်ရန် စတင်ကြိုးပမ်းနေစဥ် စစ်တပ်က ထပ်မံသိမ်းပိုက်လိုက်ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ တက္ကသိုလ်များသည် ပိတ်ထားဆဲဖြစ်သည်။ ရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်ခြင်းဖြင့် အရည်အသွေးပြည့်ဝသော ပညာရေးကို မျှော်လင့်နေကြသော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ မျိုးဆက်နောက်တခု၏ မျှော်လင့်ချက်များကို ကွယ်ပျောက်စေခဲ့သည်။ အတိုက်အခံအဖွဲ့များ၊ တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူများနှင့် ပညာရှင်များသည် အစားထိုးပညာရေးအစီအစဥ်များကို ကြိုးစားအကောင်အထည်ဖော်နေကြသော်လည်းဘဲ တောင်းဆိုချက်များ၏ အနည်းငယ်မျှကိုသာ ဖြည့်ဆည်းပေးနိုင်သည်။
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနှင့်ဆက်ဆိုင်သော အကြောင်းအရာများကို လုပ်ဆောင်နေကြသော ပညာရှင်များ၊ ကျောင်းသားများနှင့် ကျွမ်းကျင်ဝန်ထမ်းများအနေဖြင့် အာဏာသိမ်းမှု တနှစ်ပြည့်မြောက်သောနေ့တွင် အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးအတိုက်အခံများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် ဖြိုခွင်းခြင်းများကို ရှုတ်ချလိုက်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံအများအပြားတွင် မကြာသေးမီက ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ထိုးစစ်များအတွင်း အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများအပါအဝင် လက်နက်မဲ့ အရပ်သားများကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားသတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းနှင့် ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရစေခြင်းများကို ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ရှုတ်ချသည်။
အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကို တွန်းလှန်နေကြသော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ မိတ်ဆွေများ၊ အပေါင်းအသင်းများနှင့် သြစတြေးလျ တက္ကသိုလ်အသီးသီးမှ မြန်မာကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများနှင့်အတူ မိမိတို့ တစိတ်တဝမ်းတည်း ရှိနေပါသည်။ စစ်တပ်က နိုင်ငံရေးကနေ ဆုတ်ခွာရန်၊ သတ်ဖြတ်မှုနှင့် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများကို ရပ်တန့်ရန်၊ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ လုပ်ဖော်ကိုက်ဖက် ပါမောက္ခ Sean Turnell အပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံရေး အကျဉ်းသားများအားလုံး လွတ်မြောက်စေရန်နှင့် ပြည်သူများရွေးကောက်ထားသော အစိုးရထံ အာဏာပြန်လည်အပ်နှံရန် တောင်းဆိုနေသူများအားလုံးနှင့်အတူ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အတူ ရပ်တည်နေပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Studies Association of Australia, Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars, Australia-Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, Australia Myanmar Institute, Griffith Asia Institute and Myanmar Research Centre
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"In the first hours after the military grabbed power in a shock coup in Myanmar one year ago, there was little public reaction.
No-one seemed to know how they should react, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the woman who had led opposition to military rule for the previous three decades was under arrest.
"That morning the internet and phone lines were cut", recalls Moe Sandar Myint, a prominent union leader in Hlaing Tharyar, an industrial district of Yangon.
"We did not believe the news at first, but after we went out to buy radios we knew the coup was true. We were devastated. It was a day of darkness for us. Myanmar was only just starting to grow. Figuring out how to fight back against the dictators was of the utmost importance to us."
But by the end of that day a message from Suu Kyi, written it seems in anticipation of the coup, had been published, urging the people of Myanmar not to accept it.
At the same time one of her most trusted advisors, Win Htein, citing the example of Mahatma Gandhi, appealed for a campaign of civil disobedience, in keeping with Suu Kyi's long-standing strategy of nonviolent resistance.
Thus was born the CDM, the Campaign for Civil Disobedience, initially led by health workers and teachers who refused to go to work, and quickly supported by trades unions, civil servants and a vibrant cross-section of music and movie stars, LGBT+ groups and ethnic minorities.
The doctors and nurses defying Myanmar's military
Not only did they endorse Aung San Suu Kyi's non-violent beliefs - her face was everywhere on protest posters - they also called for the restoration of the elected government she headed.
Moe Sandar Myint organised the first of many worker protests four days after the coup. They were part of a nationwide movement against military rule which in that first month filled the streets with carnival-like rallies.
"I was worried about my workers getting shot", she says. "But seeing the overwhelming participation of the people when we marched my fears fell away."
Today she lives in exile in Thailand with her husband and three children after a gruelling flight from Yangon that took her first to the war-torn borderlands controlled by ethnic insurgents, and then on a frightening night-time journey across the border.
The turning point was last March, when the coup leaders ordered troops to crush the protest movement without restraint.
For Moe Sandar Myint the violence came on 14 March. By then she was already staying away from her home to avoid arrest.
Hlaing Tharyar, with its dense population of migrant workers, had a reputation as a tough neighbourhood in Yangon, and residents had barricaded the roads in an attempt to stop the military from entering.
"I was with the other union leaders planning our next action. Suddenly we heard the military was coming, so we scattered. They had blocked all the roads out of Hlaing Tharyar, and were shooting at us," she said. "Many people died, including some of my workers."
"First they began to shoot from the middle", remembers her husband Ko Aung who was on the streets with the protesters. "Then the shooting came from the sides and from behind us. We tried to take cover but there was no protection from the bullets."
Myanmar Witness, an organisation using satellite and other imagery to verify human rights abuses, believes as many as 80 were killed Hlaing Tharyar in what it describes as a massacre with indiscriminate shooting by the security forces.
Video from that day shows police positioned on a bridge looking into Hlaing Tharyar, casually taking shots at the people below. After they raided Moe Sandar Myint's house, she knew she and the family would have to leave Yangon.
Many other participants in that euphoric first month of protest have also fled, some to join a desperate, unequal armed struggle against the military junta.
No going back
Aung San Suu Kyi has since vanished from public view, cut off from the struggle behind a curtain of secret show-trials.
MPs and officials from her party formed a shadow National Unity Government (NUG) last April, aiming to challenge the junta's attempts to win international recognition, and to broaden the opposition leadership by including more ethnic minorities.
But with its members scattered and on the run from the military, the NUG's influence over the armed resistance groups proliferating across Myanmar is limited.
These local militias, calling themselves People's Defence Forces or PDFs, use captured or home-made guns and improvised explosives to attack military convoys and assassinate officials working for the junta.
They no longer talk much about peaceful protests. Indeed some of them are critical of Su Kyi's autocratic leadership, and her past efforts to co-exist with an over-powerful armed forces. They say there can be no going back to the status quo ante.
How Myanmar military uses torture to suppress women
George and Frank are two young men who took part in the anti-coup protests near their homes in Yangon. We cannot use their real names.
George was a business executive; Frank, a keen video-gamer, worked in a café. Both are now volunteer fighters with PDF operating in insurgent-controlled areas.
After watching people being gunned down at their barricades in March, and realising that no international help was coming, they decided the non-violent strategy was not working.
"It was difficult to know where to begin our armed struggle', says George. "We were normal people, with no experience of military training."
For activists in Yangon, the easiest option was to join up with one of the established insurgent groups to the east of the city, which have been fighting the central government for decades.
Some of these groups have stayed aloof from the anti-coup movement, but three in particular, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the north, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) along the Thai border, have offered sanctuary and training.
The first problem for George and Frank who joined the KNLA, was winning their trust. The group is wary of possible military infiltrators, and harbours a long-standing suspicion of a majority population which until recently had shown little sympathy for Myanmar's minorities.
Their second problem was weapons. They had to buy their own, on the black market.
George paid the equivalent of $2,000 (£1,500) for a pistol. Frank sold his car and a piece of land to fund his $3,500 purchase of a US-made M4 rifle. Ammunition is a constant problem.
Their Karen hosts expect PDF volunteers to be largely self-funding, but still operate under the command of KNLA officers. It has been a tough adjustment.
"Before all this I was only interested in studying and playing games", says Frank.
"Living in the jungle, sleeping on the ground, sometimes I just wanted to give up. We had to eat whatever was offered - we ate banana stems more often than meat. I found getting used to the toilet situation the most difficult."
In December both men were injured in fighting as the army attacked areas where they believed PDF leaders and members of the NUG were sheltering.
They describe terrifying, chaotic encounters where they were heavily outgunned. They also complained about not getting any material support from the NUG, to which the PDFs are nominally loyal.
The NUG is torn over how much to continue following Suu Kyi's non-violent principles, and how much to embrace the turn to armed resistance.
In September, it announced a "People's Defensive Revolution", supporting the right of people to use armed force against the junta, and publishing a code of conduct for the various militia groups.
It has raised significant sums of money from the overseas Burmese diaspora, and has established a defence ministry, with which George- who now commands his own small PDF battalion - says he communicates regularly; but he says the wishes of his Karen protectors must take precedence.
One year on, the resistance to military rule in Myanmar is unrecognisable from its boisterous, colourful beginnings.
The security forces have killed at least 1,500 people, some in dreadful massacres, and destroyed hundreds of homes. The junta claims hundreds on its own side have been killed by bombs, assassinations and drive-by shootings.
The economy is in ruins. And growing numbers of people are being driven into exile..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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"Thawdar*, 14, who had to flee her home due to violence, stands in a displacement camp in Kayah state. More content from Kayah state here and from Northern Shan state here.
One year since the Myanmar military seized power in a coup, the scale and severity of violence against civilians, including children and humanitarian staff, is escalating, Save the Children said today. In the past two weeks alone, children have been killed in several bombings and raids by the military in Kayah state[i] and Sagaing region[ii][iii][iv], including the bombing of a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kayah. In the past year, at least 150,000 children have been forced to flee their homes[v].
The UN Security Council must find ways to address the crisis and protect children from violence, attacks and displacement in Myanmar, the child rights organisation said.
Recent UN figures show at least 405,700 people have fled their homes due to fighting within Myanmar since the military seized power almost a year ago, with that figure increasing by 27% in just the past month. Of the total number of people displaced across Myanmar, an estimated 37% are children[vi], many of whom are living outside in the jungle under makeshift shelters and vulnerable to hunger, illness and protection risks, the aid organisation said.
Violence has particularly intensified in the southeastern state of Kayah in recent months, where last week two teenage sisters were among those killed in the bombing of an IDP camp. Recent UN figures show 91,400 people in Kayah state have fled their homes since February 2021, but local reports earlier this year said the more accurate figure is much higher – more than half its 300,000 population.
Thawdar*, 14, had to flee her village in Kayah and is now sheltering in an IDP camp. She remembers the scorching sun and the sound of gunfire on the day she fled.
She said: “When I was working on harvesting corn in the field, my aunt came and told us that we also need to flee as we heard the weapons loudly. It was urgent and we couldn’t take so many things. My mother packed some clothes, pots and plates. Then, we left our home.
“I was so worried and thinking on the journey, ‘What if weapons hit us?’ I have always been afraid of the soldiers, and I pray they don’t reach the camp. I never want to hear the sound of heavy weapons again.”
Thawdar*, her family and others in the camp rely on food donated by Save the Children and other local charities to survive.
Thawdar’s* mother Daw Merry*, 36, who has four children, said she constantly worries about meals and insecurity. She said: “If we do not have enough food to eat, what should we do? Sometimes I feel sad when I don’t have money to buy medicines or snacks my children want.”
Kayah state was also the site of an attack on at least 35 civilians, including four children and two Save the Children staff members late last year. The aid workers, both young fathers who were passionate about children’s education, were on their way back to their office after working on a humanitarian response in a nearby community when they were caught up in the attack.
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said: “Yet again we are seeing children bear the brunt of conflict. Over the past year, a shocking 150,000 children have been displaced across Myanmar. That’s 150,000 children who are separated from their friends, their schools, and their homes.
“Children and their families are fleeing because they have no choice, and we are seeing them forced to hide out in jungles and forests and living in terrible conditions. Save the Children teams are doing what they can to provide urgent assistance, but they have very little access to food, clean water and healthcare, let alone education. Children on the move are at heightened risk of trafficking, abuse, recruitment into armed groups, injury and death. Last week’s horrific attack on an IDP camp shows that children in Myanmar are caught between a rock and a hard place.
“The Myanmar military, as well as all other armed actors, must uphold International Humanitarian Law, protect children and keep them out of harm’s way, and provide unhindered humanitarian access.”
Prior to the coup, there were already 370,000 people displaced across the country, including tens of thousands of Rohingya children living in detention-like camps in Rakhine state. The situation for them and the nearly 500,000 Rohingya children and their families who have fled into Bangladesh remains fragile. The brutal tactics employed by the military in Myanmar are reminiscent of the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in 2017, according to Save the Children.
Inger Ashing said: “UN Security Council members must deliver on their shared responsibility to address the unfolding crisis in Myanmar.
“Member states must impose an arms embargo, with a focus on limiting the kinds of airstrikes we’ve seen recently. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) must also convene on an urgent meeting to review and action the ‘Five Point Consensus’ agreed in April 2021, which calls for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and for the ASEAN Special Envoy to help mediate a diplomatic solution. These steps are vital to protect children, their communities and humanitarian aid workers.”
Save the Children has been working in Myanmar since 1995, providing life-saving healthcare, food, education and child protection programmes through more than 50 partners and 900 staff across the country. Save the Children has now resumed the majority of its programmes across Myanmar following the attack on 24 December 2021, and staff remain fully committed to helping the most vulnerable children in Myanmar, especially during this time of conflict and crisis.
CONTENT AVAILABLE: Displaced families from Shan State, Myanmar and Kayah State, Myanmar.
For further enquiries please contact:
Emily Wight, [email protected];
Our media out of hours (BST) contact is [email protected] / +44(0)7831 650409..."
Source/publisher:
Save the Children (London)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Human Rights Defenders
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Description:
"The military’s new draft Cyber Security Law repeats the repressive provisions of previous drafts and adds more, seriously threatening the safety and security of Myanmar’s digital space.
The military has circulated a newly revised draft Cyber Security Law to a few stakeholders requesting any feedback by 28 January 2022. A 2021 draft of the same law disappeared after being criticised by business and civil society, including FEM. Some of the 2021 draft’s repressive provisions were later added to the Electronic Transactions Law in an amendment condemned by FEM and others.
This analysis outlines new threats posed by the 2022 draft. FEM’s analysis is based upon international standards relating to the right to freedom of expression. All of the threats posed by the 2021 draft still remain in the 2022 draft, and are listed below too. FEM has published an unofficial translation of the 2022 draft, showing any changes from 2021. This analysis should not be understood as legitimising the military’s authority or its so-called laws.
Prosecution bias, evidence ignored, and courts sidelined
The 2022 draft seriously undermines due process in Myanmar’s judicial system. Due process, which can be defined as fair treatment in courts according to a clear set of rules, is vital for the protection of all human rights, including freedom of expression. Any undermining of due process is therefore an attack on the right to freedom of expression.
Prosecutors would no longer be required to present electronic evidence of a crime in court, but could simply say that the evidence exists (Art. 66). The prosecutor’s evidence would come from the newly established and military-controlled “National Digital Forensic Lab” (Art. 65). If the defendant’s lawyers gave contradictory evidence in defence, which is normal in any criminal case, the court would be forced to favour the prosecution’s evidence, regardless of its merit (Art. 67).
Several provisions in the 2022 draft would sideline the courts entirely. The military would have the legal authority to check and take over the systems of digital businesses, order content deleted, block digital platforms, revoke business licences, and seize individuals’ computers or phones, all without going to court (Arts. 60, 61b, 35, 61c, 71-78, 55, 57).
More options for permanently blocking social media and websites
The 2022 draft has added a whole new chapter on administrative sanctions for digital businesses (Ch. 15), compared to just one article in the 2021 draft (Art.72). The new chapter includes four articles that each allow the military to block access to digital businesses, such as Facebook, YouTube, or domestic companies (Arts. 71-74) for breaching any one of five long and vaguely written provisions (Arts. 34, 35, 36, 54, 58). For example, the military could permanently block the whole of Facebook on the grounds that it included just one post criticising a military leader (Arts. 71 and 35e). Any such block would likely be a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression and access to information.
The 2022 draft does not include any safeguards to arbitrary blocking. The military would not need to have or show a reason for blocking, would not need to go to court, or get a court order, and could therefore decide to block access unilaterally. Any appeal by a blocked digital business would be decided by the military rather than a court (Art. 77). If blocking was inadequate, the military could shut down the entire digital business on the grounds that it had not been “properly formed”, a status undefined anywhere in the draft (Art. 74).
VPN use and encouragement criminalised
The 2022 draft would criminalise the use of Virtual Private Networks, or VPN, with a punishment of up to three years imprisonment and a fine (Art. 90). VPNs hide data flows so that people can access blocked content or communicate privately. VPNs are vital for protecting freedom of expression and access to information in authoritarian countries like Myanmar.
Most people in Myanmar use VPNs to access Facebook, which has been blocked by the military since 4 February 2021 shortly after the coup began. Businesses also use VPNs to exchange data securely, but could potentially apply for a waiver to the ban (Art. 62). Given that VPNs are needed to access Facebook, any individual or business that posted on Facebook could in effect be creating evidence of a crime.
Any individual that encouraged the use of VPNs could also face a punishment of up to three years imprisonment and a fine (Art. 89c). This could include phone shops that install VPNs, media outlets and civil society organisations who promote VPN use, or digital rights defenders who give security training.
Platforms like Facebook criminalised for hosting criticism
The previous 2021 draft would have made digital businesses, such as Facebook and YouTube, criminally liable for hosting any expression that the military decided fell under five vague categories (Arts. 29 and 61). The five categories included expressions that were vital for democratic debate and were lawful offline. For example, expression that disturbed the so-called “stability” of the military’s coup (Art. 29a). The military would also have had the legal authority to order such expression deleted (Art. 29). Any international businesses operating outside of Myanmar could have ignored the order. However, they would still have faced the risk of their employees being charged in absentia, or their services being blocked (Art 86, 100, 101).
The 2022 draft repeats the 2021 version and its violation of the right to freedom of expression. It has also added a sixth vague category of expression that the military could order deleted: “expressions that damage an individual’s social standing and livelihood” (Art. 35f). On first impression, this could mean defamation, which is best defined as a false assertion of fact that results in serious harm to a person’s reputation. However, the sixth category does not say or imply that the expression needs to be false, or needs to be an assertion of fact, or that it should create serious harm. Furthermore, the sixth category does not use any of the common Burmese language descriptions of defamation. Instead, it would best be described as simple criticism, which inevitably – and often rightly – damages a person’s standing. For example, criticism of a coup leader.
The 2022 draft’s “intermediary liability”, or holding digital businesses liable for content, would not only apply to international social media, but could also apply to Myanmar-based servers, websites, or apps. This increase in business risk may directly or inadvertently encourage businesses, including international companies, to carry out military orders in part or in whole, increase general content moderation to delete anything that could fall under the military’s six categories, or block Myanmar users altogether.
Child “pornography” crime removed
The right to freedom of expression and information may be limited under particular circumstances, including when necessary and proportionate to protect the rights of others. As such, there is no right to seek, receive, or impart content showing sexual abuse of children, often inappropriately called child “pornography”.
The 2021 draft would have rightly criminalised the specific crime of seeking, receiving, or imparting content showing sexual abuse of children (Art. 69). However, the military has completely removed this crime from the 2022 draft. It is unclear why the military would choose to effectively decriminalise child abuse content.
The 2022 draft does however keep the 2021 draft’s crime of sharing general sexually explicit content (Art. 96). The provision is vague and could be used to violate the right to freedom of expression and access to information. For example, people, including teachers and civil society workers, could be criminalised for providing sex education, discussing women’s bodies, or raising awareness of LGBTIQ issues.
Financial flows to dissenting groups blocked
The right to freedom of expression is closely linked to the right to freedom of association. Often, individuals join together with others who wish to express similar concerns. They may establish organisations that sometimes require income in order to facilitate their rights to association and expression. Any block that prevents an organisation from raising funds can be a violation of the right to freedom of association. If the organisation is blocked because of its political message, this is a violation of the right to freedom of expression too.
The 2022 draft includes a range of provisions that could seriously undermine the financial systems that are commonly used by members of the public to finance groups that offer dissent against the military such as the National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) (Art.94 and 95).
Recommendations
At the beginning of the coup, the only institution in Myanmar with the constitutional mandate to adopt laws was the Union Parliament. As the Union Parliament is no longer functioning, laws and amendments, including the 2022 draft Cyber Security Law, cannot be lawfully adopted. The military has no legal right to adopt laws as civil society has already established.
Nevertheless, FEM calls on all national and international stakeholders – including those from within the business community – to review FEM’s analysis, reflect on how these violations of the right to freedom of expression would affect them and the Myanmar people, and act immediately to ensure that the military once again withdraws their repressive proposal.
Previously published concerns
The following concerns were published in February 2021 in response to the military’s circulation of the 2021 draft Cyber Security Law. All of the threats posed by the 2021 draft still remain in the 2022 draft.
1. Military will have absolute control over Myanmar’s internet
The draft law establishes a hierarchy of bodies overseen by and formed of representatives chosen by the military under the military’s governing State Administration Council (Arts. 5.a, 7, and 9). These oversight bodies are given absolute control over making internet and communications-related rules (Art. 6.a), implementing those rules (Art. 6.b), and investigating rule-breakers (Art. 12). Furthermore, the draft law also enables the Ministry of Defence to issue rules (Art. 88).
2. Regulates people, communications, and companies internationally
The draft law is unusual because it has a wide, extra-territorial reach, giving the military government an international jurisdiction as well as a normal domestic one. It creates international offences (Art. 2.a), applies to Myanmar citizens outside of Myanmar (Art. 1.a) and international organisations (Art. 6.h), and covers any form of international communications (Art. 1.c). This significantly extends the oppressive effect of Myanmar’s already restrictive domestic legal framework.
3. Increase in criminalisation and long prison terms
The draft law includes a variety of vague and overlapping crimes with three-year prison terms and fines, many of which do not have legitimate democratic aims. Three-year prison terms for misinformation or “fake” websites that cause “public panic, loss of trust or social division” are likely to be used to punish criticism (Arts. 64 and 65). Sharing “sexually explicit speech” – such as that currently being used by many Generation Z protesters – is also punished with a three-year prison term (Art. 68). Using false names or pseudonyms on Facebook will result in a three-year prison sentence (Art. 65). Several provisions include three-year prison terms for actions commonly done by whistleblowers (Arts. 57, 59, and 60). In addition to these disproportionate three-year prison terms, those convicted may also be charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law (Arts. 70 and 71).
4. Internet intermediaries criminally liable for content
The draft law places both administrative and criminal liability on internet intermediaries such as Facebook, Google, and Telenor, while easing the military’s potential to ban them altogether. It includes a vague list of content that all “online service providers”, defined as “any person or business providing online services used in Myanmar”, must remove when ordered (Art. 29). The vague list includes for example, “verbal statements against any existing law” and is clearly intended to punish criticism. All “online service providers” must prepare in advance to receive orders (Art. 48), which may come from any person or organisation authorised by the military government (Art. 47).
If an intermediary does not comply with an order, the military government can issue a warning, fine, or temporary or permanent ban (Art. 72). Representatives of the intermediary will also face a criminal punishment of up to three-years imprisonment plus a fine (Art. 61).
5. Eases network control and internet shutdown
The draft law enables the military government to take direct control over network infrastructure and eases their ability to shut down the internet. It includes provisions for both temporary and permanent bans on any online service such as Facebook (Arts. 51.a and 51.c), and provisions for allowing the military government temporary control of any network devices (Art. 51.b). Bans must be in accordance with a vague “public interest”, presumably as defined by the military (Art. 51). The only so-called “safeguard” is that the military’s governing State Administration Council must approve the military-controlled ministry’s decision (Art. 51).
6. Private data put under military control
The draft law gives the military unfettered access to private data. It requires all “online service providers” such as Facebook, Google, and Telenor, to store vast quantities of personal private data including Citizenship Card numbers for at least three years (Art. 30). This data must be stored on servers designated by the military-controlled government (Art. 28.a), and be accessible for “national security” checks (Art. 59). There are no privacy safeguards (Art. 15) and data must be provided when requested (Art. 31). Any computer owned by anybody can be inspected on vague grounds (Art. 45)..."
Source/publisher:
Free Expression Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders
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"415 Attacks on Health Care in Myanmar During One Year of Crackdowns Following Military Coup: Report
Ahead of February 1 coup anniversary, new report spotlights Myanmar armed forces’ brutal violence against health workers and facilities
January 26, 2022
At least 415 attacks and threats against health workers and health infrastructure in Myanmar were perpetrated during the one year since the country’s coup and the ongoing crackdown, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Insecurity Insight, and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR). February 1 marks the one-year anniversary of the Myanmar coup d’état and the military’s ensuing crackdown on civilians, which has been characterized by targeted violence against health workers and obstruction of health care services, in gross violation of international law.
“Our Health Workers Are Working in Fear”: After Myanmar’s Military Coup, One Year of Targeted Violence against Health Care,” based on open-source information, documents and analyzes trends in violence against health workers and facilities during the military crackdown since the coup, highlighting:
A total of 415 attacks on health care
286 health workers arrested or detained
128 health facilities attacked
30 health workers killed
“In the year since Myanmar’s coup, nurses and doctors have been in the military’s crosshairs. Armed forces have harmed and intimidated health care workers, raided COVID-19 clinics and blocked vital humanitarian aid, resulting in the decimation of the Myanmar health system amid a pandemic,” said Lindsey Green, program officer for PHR and a report co-author. “Without immediate action from the international community to pressure the Myanmar military to end the bloodshed, Myanmar’s besieged health workers and civilians will enter a second year of a health and human rights catastrophe.”
The data featured in the new report covers February 1, 2021 through January 10, 2022. Researchers from the CPHHR, Insecurity Insight, and PHR used an open-source methodology informed by the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. The incidents reported are neither a complete nor a representative list of all incidents. Data collection is ongoing and data may change as more information is made available. However, the research provides a snapshot of how Myanmar’s military is persecuting health workers and targeting facilities amid its broader crackdown on civilians in the past year. The underlying data set can be explored at Humanitarian Data Exchange on a global map on threats and violence against health care.
Attacks on health care have become a prominent feature of the country’s coup d’état. Today, Myanmar is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a health worker, with more reported attacks against health care in Myanmar in the past year than in any other country on Earth.
While the highest number of monthly incidents were documented amid nationwide protests in March 2021, there has been a gradual increase in reported attacks from September 2021 through early January 2022, amid escalating armed resistance across the country and crackdowns by the Myanmar military.
The new report also analyzes how forms of violence against health care have evolved alongside wider events happening in the country over the 12 months since the coup, including the nationwide protests, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), the disastrous third wave of COVID-19, and the declaration of a people’s defensive war.
The report shows how, today, the people of Myanmar are facing gravely diminished access to routine and emergency health care services, with ongoing and egregious deliberate targeting of health care by the Myanmar military and other armed actors.
Mandalay Medical Cover, a volunteer medical organization, provided a statement alongside PHR to the UN Human Rights Council about the impacts of violence against health care:
“Our healthcare workers are working in fear. We are being oppressed, we are forcefully arrested – as are our family members if we cannot be found – and are being prevented from providing proper medical care, resulting in permanent damage to patients and the loss of many lives…. By effectively and forcibly preventing doctors from providing essential medical care to these people, many lives which could otherwise have been saved are unnecessarily lost.”
Attacks on health workers violate human rights and are grave breaches of international law. The researchers offer a series of detailed recommendations to the State Administration Council, Myanmar military (Tatmadaw), National Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations, People’s Defence Force, and the international community.
PHR is calling on the Myanmar military-led State Administration Council and Tatmadaw to immediately cease the targeting of health care workers with warrants and arrests for participating in the CDM and peaceful protests or for their provision of health care, as well as to immediately release people arbitrarily detained. All parties to the conflict must adhere to the provisions of international humanitarian and human rights law regarding respect for and the protection of health services and the wounded and sick, and regarding the ability of health workers to adhere to their ethical responsibilities of providing impartial care to all in need.
PHR is calling on international actors to provide COVID-19 vaccines, medical aid, and broader humanitarian support to the people of Myanmar through flexible mechanisms that recognize the evolving nature of conflict dynamics and difficulty in reaching all people in need. This should include support for cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid (along borders with China, India, and Thailand) to reach those in need who cannot be reached otherwise.
PHR is also calling on the United States Congress to pass the BURMA Act, which calls for the authorization of humanitarian assistance and targeted sanctions with respect to human rights abuses perpetrated by the Myanmar military. In addition to the February 2021 coup and ongoing crackdown against civilians, Myanmar security forces also perpetrated atrocities against the Rohingya people, which resulted the exodus of more than one million people from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
As the one-year anniversary of the coup is marked on February 1, the human rights and health crisis continues to grow in Myanmar, with escalating conflict, increasing numbers of internally displaced people and refugees, and the effective collapse of the public health care system.
“The impacts on the people of Myanmar of the military coup d’état and attacks on health care over this past year are incalculable and will continue to have implications for many years to come – especially as these attacks continue unabated,” the report states..."
Source/publisher:
Insecurity Insight, Johns Hopkins University and Physicians for Human Rights via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Health Workers Strike, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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Htet Htet Eaindra Aung fled Yangon and now files reports on the run from remote and embattled Kayin state.
Description:
"Htet Htet Eaindra Aung was a news anchor at 7-Day TV in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon when the military junta ousted the democratically elected government and shut down news organizations like hers. Now she’s among a group of young journalists trying to help to restore democracy by working remotely, often on the run, for online outlets dedicated to challenging the regime’s propaganda.
An outspoken critic of the military, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said she felt that she had to flee Yangon after its crackdown on media. She spoke with RFA’s Myanmar Service from the jungle in Kayin state along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, with only a backpack full of her personal belongings.
“I can’t stand the weather here. It's very cold,” she said. “There are days when you wake up in the morning without having a good night's sleep. Sometimes I spend the whole night in front of the fire and go back to bed in the afternoon.”
Htet Htet Eaindra Aung spent several weeks on the run with refugees fleeing an offensive by the military in the Lay Kay Kaw region — an area in adjacent Kayin state under the control of the armed wing of the ethnic Karen National Union. Some 20,000 civilians are estimated to have fled fighting in the area to makeshift camps along the banks of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River and into neighboring Thailand.
Each day, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung records a news segment in front of a greenscreen for the online-only news outlets of PVTV and Delta News Agency. At night, she sleeps in a crowded tent in the jungle. She said that she misses being able to work at her own pace and her former carefree lifestyle when “there was nothing to worry about.”
“I would work quietly all day in an air-conditioned room. After work, I’d take a walk outside. That was my previous life,” she said.
Journalists targeted
Htet Htet Eaindra Aung is one of many journalists who left the city for Myanmar’s jungles amid the deteriorating security situation. Some have left the country to seek political refugee status. Several others have been detained while working inside the country.
About 120 journalists have been detained since the coup, according to U.N. ad RFA tallies. While some have since been released, at least 53 others are still being held in various prisons. One photojournalist died while being interrogated and another was fatally shot in an artillery attack carried out by Myanmar’s armed forces while covering the plight of refugees in Kayin state.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report it released in December that Myanmar ranks second only to China as the world’s worst jailor of journalists.
After the coup, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said that she constantly felt anxious and insecure because she had spoken out against the military, making it impossible for her to work or even risk staying in her own home.
Eventually, she decided to leave Yangon to work as a correspondent in the jungle.
“I only have a brother and my father. They never stop me from doing what I want to do,” she said. “I told my father that I wanted to leave like this and that I might not be able to return home. He said it was fine and that I could decide for myself and not to worry about him.”
Inconveniences and danger
Htet Htet Eaindra Aung, who has a passion for singing and aspires to become an artist, said she was initially excited to experience life in the mountains and believed that working as a reporter in the country’s remote border regions would not be so difficult. However, she told RFA that she misses the convenience of city life in Yangon.
“I try to be happy here, with nothing in my mind. I carry out my work as required. But in my subconscious mind, I miss Yangon,” she said.
“I often have dreams and in them, I’d be walking alone in Yangon without anyone by my side. It should be a fun time in which I’m walking around the city happily. But I often feel very bad when I wake up from such dreams.”
Life in rural Myanmar isn’t only more difficult because of small inconveniences. When fighting between the military and the KNU intensified in Lay Kay Kaw, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung fled the town along with its residents, including infants and the elderly.
“I was very sad to see a newborn baby while on the run. The baby was only eight days old. Both the baby and the mother were running away from the fighting,” she said. “I saw elderly people as old as my grandmother trying to flee to safety. Even young people like me cannot stand the cold weather here. How can these elderly people manage?”
Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said she regularly prays for the release of the country’s detained journalists and the resumption of her career as a reporter following an end to military rule. She also expressed her appreciation for her family, who she said “have full confidence in me.”
“I’m so very grateful to my father and brother, but I have never said it out loud. If I had a chance, I’d like to thank them for this opportunity,” she said..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders
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The defendants were facing a range of charges, from incitement to violations of weapons and anti-terror laws
Description:
"Thirty-one opponents of Myanmar’s military junta received lengthy prison sentences in Dawei in the final week of last year, a prison source in the Tanintharyi Region capital has disclosed.
A list provided by the source shows that a special court inside Dawei Prison handed down the sentences, ranging from two years to 19 years, between December 28 and 30.
According to the list, 14 of the convicted defendants were student activists who had been charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
This group included Soe Pyae Aung, 22, a spokesperson for the Dawei University Student Union, who was arrested in late September, and two female students, Soe Mi Mi Kyaw, 22, and Shar Pyae Khin, 24, who were taken into custody at the same time.
Four of the 14 students—all of whom were given two-year sentences for their political activities—were women, the list showed.
The remaining defendants were given sentences of at least seven years in prison, based on offenses that included incitement and violations of Section 19f of the Weapons and Explosives Law, Section 51 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, and Section 52 of the Logistics Law.
The longest sentence was given to 38-year-old Tun Tun Oo, who was given an 18-year prison term after being found guilty on all four charges.
Nyan Win, 24, was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison on all but the terrorism charge, while the others each received seven or eight years.
All 17 are also facing additional charges of homicide under Section 307 of the Penal Code, the source said, adding that this charge has been laid against a total of 77 Dawei Prison inmates.
According to the source, none of the defendants were represented by lawyers.
A lawyer living in Dawei and two local activists confirmed that prisoners detained for anti-regime activities were having difficulty getting legal representation.
“No lawyer in Dawei dares to take these cases. Some offered their services free of charge at first, but then they started to be targeted with arrest warrants,” said one activist.
A Yangon-based lawyer who frequently travels to Dawei said that colleagues in the city were coming under heavy pressure from the regime.
“A very close lawyer friend of mine said that they had been warned not to take political cases, and also not to speak of the threats against them,” he said.
Local media outlets reported recently that warrants were issued against several lawyers in Dawei and Launglon townships in November. Four of these lawyers have since been arrested, according to the reports.
Myanmar Now was unable to reach the families of the defendants or local authorities for confirmation of the sentences..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
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Description:
"Over eleven months since an illegitimate coup, the entire Burma struggles in the face of the military’s inhumanity. The armed wing of the junta is systematically stealing civilian properties, carrying out violent military operations, and committing widespread murder. This war of terror, perpetrated by the junta against civilians, is only getting worse.
On December 5, the armed wing of the Junta rammed a vehicle into a peaceful protest on Pan Pin Gyi Road in Kyeemyindaing Township, Yangon. Thereafter, opening fire and aggressively detaining demonstrators and bystanders, leading to several reported casualties. The military junta shamelessly claimed that they were simply dispersing unauthorized protests.
In Sagaing Region, there is strong opposition to the coup d’état. As a result, locals in the region are the victims of heinous junta crimes. In December, at least (18) locals were arrested and burnt to death. (2) of these victims were children, under 18 years old. Similarly, on December 25, in Moso village, Hpurso Township, Kayah State, over (30) bodies of innocent civilians, including children, were found dead in a vehicle. They had been burnt to death. Before the victims were killed, four members of the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (Kalalata) met with junta troops to negotiate the release of these detained civilians. The four members were tied up and shot dead in the head. Moreover, several innocents are still missing in the incident of Moso village, Hpruso Township.
In December, the armed wing of the Junta deliberately committed arson attacks on civilians’ houses, buildings, and properties. There were at least (56) arson attacks and more than (650) houses were burnt down. This comes from data collection and monitoring by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the true number is likely higher.
In December, (127) civilians across the country, were killed in junta’s targeted attacks. According to data collected by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), this includes (61) victims were tortured to death, (5) women and (7) children, under 18 years old.
(309) civilians were detained by the junta between December 1 and 31. Of these, (68) were women, (15) children under the age of 18 and (18) hostages.
Across the country, the junta coup is targeting members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ordinary civilians’ homes and properties are being sealed and unlawfully taken, if they are accused of being related to the National Unity Government or in connection with alleged PDF. In December, a total of (33) houses were seized.
Those who are unlawfully and arbitrarily detained, are also facing inhumane torture. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, civilians across the country staged a silent strike. Political prisoners held at Insein Prison partook. (89) prisoners who participated, were beaten with rubber batons and wire cables and kept in solitary confinement. Wai Yan Phyo Moe, one of those tortured following the silent strike, the Vice-Chairman of the All-Burma Federation of Student’ Unions, was sentenced on December 29 and also severely beaten again by criminal prisoners with support of prison authorities while he was being sent to prison cell. He is now in critical condition but is not receive proper medical care.
As with all our monthly chronology’s since the coup, it is but a summary of the numerous human rights violations committed by the armed wing of the Junta in its bid to induce a climate of fear across the country..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ မတရားအာဏာသိမ်းမှု (၁၁) လ ကျော်လာသည့်အချိန်တွင် တနိုင်ငံလုံးအနှံ့ လူမဆန်စွာရက်စက်မှုများ၊ ဘေးဒုက္ခများ၊ စစ်ရေးအရှိန်မြင့်တက်လာမှုများနှင့်အတူ အရပ်သား ပြည်သူလူထု ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ် ပျက်စီးဆုံးရှုံးရမှုများနှင့် နစ်နာခံစားရမှုများမှာ ဆထက်တိုး၍ ဆိုးရွားလာနေဆဲ ပင် ဖြစ်သည်။
ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၅) ရက်နေ့က ရန်ကုန်မြို့၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်၊ ပန်းပင်ကြီးလမ်း၌ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် လူအုပ်ထဲသို့ စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေများက ကားကိုအရှိန်ပြင်းပြင်းမောင်းနှင်၍ ဝင်တိုက်ကာ သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်၍ ဆန္ဒပြပွဲကို ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ဒဏ်ရာရရှိသူများ၊ အသက်အန္တရာယ်ထိခိုက်သူများနှင့် ဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသူများရှိခဲ့သော်လည်း စစ်အုပ်စုကမူ ၎င်းတို့အနေဖြင့် တရားမဝင် ခွင့်ပြုချက်မဲ့ ဆူပူဆန္ဒပြမှုအား လူစုခွဲ ထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့ခြင်းသာဖြစ်ကြောင်း တာဝန်ယူမှု၊ တာဝန်ခံမှုကင်းမဲ့စွာ ငြင်းဆိုခဲ့သည်။
အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန်ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသည့် ဒေသများထဲမှ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းမှာ အာဏာ သိမ်းအကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ပစ်မှတ်ထားတိုက်ခိုက်မှုကို ဆိုးဆိုးရွားရွားရင်ဆိုင်ရလျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ အတွင်း၌ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းကျေးရွာများရှိ ဒေသခံ (၁၈) ဦးထက်မနည်းမှာ စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေများ၏ ဖမ်းဆီး မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းကို ခံခဲ့ရပြီး ထိုအထဲတွင် အသက် (၁၈) နှစ်အောက် ကလေးနှစ်ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။ အလားတူ ပင် ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၂၅) ရက်နေ့က ကယားပြည်နယ်၊ ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ မိုဆိုကျေးရွာအနီးတွင် မော်တော်ယာဉ်ပေါ်၌ ကလေးငယ်များပါ ပါဝင်သည်ဟု အတည်ပြုထားသည့် မီးရှို့ခံထားရသော အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူ ရုပ်အလောင်း ၃၀ ကျော်ကို ရှာဖွေတွေ့ရှိခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထိုအပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများကို မီးရှို့မသတ်ဖြတ်ခင် ဖမ်းဆီးထားစဉ်အတွင်း ၎င်းတို့လွတ်မြောက်ရေးအတွက် သွားရောက်ညှိနှိုင်းခဲ့သော ကရင်နီပြည်နယ် လူမျိုးပေါင်းစုံလွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်ဦး (ကလလတ) ပြည်သူ့စစ်အသွင်ပြောင်း မှ တပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင် ၄ ဦးအား စစ်တပ်မှ လက်ပြန်ကြိုးများတုတ်၍ ဦးခေါင်းကို ပစ်ကာ ရက်ရက်စက်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြောင်း ကလလတ မှ ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ဖရူဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ မိုဆိုကျေးရွာဖြစ်စဉ်တွင် အချို့သော အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများ ပျောက်ဆုံးလျက်ရှိသည်။
အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ၏ နေအိမ်၊ အဆောက်အအုံနှင့် ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများကို စစ်အုပ်စုမှ မီးရှို့ ဖျက်ဆီးမှုခြင်းများ အား ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့်လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျေးရွာများ၊ လူနေ ရပ်ကွက်များ မီးရှို့ခံရမှုမှာ အနည်းဆုံး (၅၆) ကြိမ် ရှိခဲ့ပြီး အဆောက်အဦပေါင်း (၆၅၀) ထက်မနည်း ပျက်စီး ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ အဆိုပါ အချက်အလက်မှာ မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်းမှ စောင့်ကြည့်မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားချက်များအရဖြစ်ပြီး လက်တွေ့မြေပြင်တွင် ယခုထက်ပိုမိုများပြားနိုင်ဖွယ်ရှိ သည်။
ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လူမဆန်စွာ ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများကြောင့် နိုင်ငံတဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်သူ (၁၂၇) ဦးကျဆုံးခဲ့ရပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) ၏ ကောက်ယူ စုဆောင်းရရှိသည့် မှတ်တမ်းများအရ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ၌ ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် ကျဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ (၆၁) ဦး၊ အမျိုးသမီး (၅) ဦးနှင့် အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ် (၇) ဦး ရှိခဲ့သည်။
AAPP မှ လက်လှမ်းမီသမျှ ကောက်ယူရရှိထားသည့် အချက်အလက်များအရ ဒီဇင်ဘာ ၁ မှ ၃၁ ရက်နေ့အထိ စစ်အုပ်စု၏ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုကြောင့် ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရသူပေါင်း (၃၀၉) ဦး ရှိခဲ့သည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီးဦးရေ (၆၈) ဦး၊ အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ်ဦးရေ (၁၅) ဦး နှင့် ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၁၈) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။
အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုသည် နိုင်ငံအဝှမ်း၌ အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ်ပါတီဝင်များ၊ အရပ်သားပြည်သူ လူထု၏ နေအိမ်များ၊ ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများကို အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ PDF စသည်တို့နှင့်ဆက်သွယ်သည်ဟု ဆိုကာ မတရားချိပ်ပိတ်သိမ်းဆည်းမှုများကိုလည်း ပြုလုပ်လျက်ရှိရာ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ချိပ်ပိတ်သိမ်း ဆည်း ခံခဲ့ရသော နေအိမ်အဆောက်အအုံပေါင်း (၃၃) ခု ရှိခဲ့သည်။
တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းမှုများကြောင့် အကျဉ်းထောင်များ၌ ချုပ်နှောင်ခံနေကြရသည့် မတရား ဖမ်းဆီးခံများ၏ အကျဉ်းထောင်တွင်းအခြေအနေမှာလည်း လူမဆန်သော နှိပ်စက်ညှဉ်းပန်းမှုများနှင့် ရင်ဆိုင် ကြုံတွေ့နေကြရသည်။ ဒီဇင်ဘာလ (၁၀) ရက်နေ့၊ အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနေ့၌ မြန်မာ တနိုင်ငံလုံး အသံတိတ်သပိတ် (Silent Strike) ကို ဆင်နွှဲခဲ့ကြချိန် အင်းစိန်အကျဉ်းထောင်၌ ချုပ်နှောင်ခံထားရသည့် နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကလည်း သပိတ်တွင်ပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထို့အတွက်ကြောင့် ထောင်တွင်းဆန္ဒပြပွဲတွင် ပါဝင်ခဲ့သူ (၈၉) ဦးမှာ နံပါတ်တုတ်၊ ရာဘာကြိုးတို့ဖြင့် ပြင်းထန်စွာ ရိုက်နှက်ခံရပြီး တိုက်ပိတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ဒီဇင်ဘာ (၂၉) ရက်နေ့က ပြစ်ဒဏ်ချမှတ်ခြင်းခံခဲ့ရသည့် ဗမာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာ ကျောင်း သားသမဂ္ဂများ အဖွဲ့ချုပ် ဒုဥက္ကဋ္ဌဖြစ်သူ ကိုဝေယံဖြိုးမိုးကို အင်းစိန်ထောင် အတွင်းမှာ ထောင် အာဏာပိုင် များနှင့် အကျဉ်းသားတချို့က အကြမ်းဖက်ရိုက်နှက်ခဲ့ခြင်းကြောင့် အသက်အန္တရာယ် စိုးရိမ်ရသည့် အခြေအနေမှာရှိနေပြီး လုံလောက်သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုကိုလည်း မရရှိ ပေ။
အထက်ပါဖေါ်ပြချက်များသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်၏ ဒီဇင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော တရားမဲ့ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများအား အကျဉ်းချုပ်ဖေါ်ပြချက်မျှသာဖြစ်ပြီး အခြားသော တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ်များတွင်လည်း ထိုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်ကျူးလွန်မှုများ များစွာရှိခဲ့သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.18 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"This is the US Campaign for Burma’s eleventh monthly On-The-Ground in Burma briefer! Since December 10th is Human Rights Day, this month’s briefer will focus on the human rights abuses in Burma
This month’s briefer includes:
December highlights
An in-depth analysis of human rights abuses in Burma
Four major policy recommendations
A unique feature story from IDPs displaced by airstrikes in Karen State
An overview of IDP issues and rights abuses in each ethnic state and central Burma
As the conflict escalates in Burma between the pro-junta militias, anti-coup forces, and the military, so has the violence and rights deprivations in ethnic regions and central Burma. Almost a year after the February 1st coup and the junta is unrelenting in its brutal campaign on the people of Burma..."
Source/publisher:
US Campaign for Burma
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.46 MB
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Sub-title:
Tatmadaw Cadets Receive Training at Japanese Defense Academy
Description:
"(Tokyo) – The Japanese government should cut ties with the Myanmar military and immediately suspend a military study-abroad program involving Myanmar cadets, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, staged a coup and installed a junta that overturned democratic elections.
As of December 10, the National Defense Academy of Japan, a Defense Ministry facility, was still hosting eight cadets from Myanmar, according to a Defense Ministry official. Through the program, the trainees participate in an extensive curriculum of academic and military training, including combat and arms training.
“It’s mind boggling that Japan is providing military training to Myanmar cadets at the same time as its armed forces are committing crimes against humanity against Myanmar’s people,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. “The Japanese government should immediately suspend the program and any other ties with Myanmar’s military.”
During a Foreign Affairs Committee session on April 14, a Defense Ministry official, Masahiro Kawasaki, said Japan had been accepting cadets from Myanmar since 2015 under article 100 of the Self-Defense Forces Act, which permits the training and education of foreign nationals in Defense Ministry facilities, including the academy, with the approval of the defense minister.
The program allows Japan to showcase how the Japan Self-Defense Forces operate under “strict civilian control” and cultivate “relationships” between self defense forces personnel and students, while increasing “mutual understanding” and “trust” between Japan and the students’ countries, Kawasaki said. He added that Japan would consider the concerns about the program while monitoring the situation in Myanmar closely.
The February coup resulted in the arrest of civilian leaders of the national and state governments, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and an announced one-year “state of emergency.” Since then, junta military and police forces have killed more than 1,300 people and detained over 10,000. Junta-controlled courts have sentenced hundreds to prison terms and sentenced 75 people, including 2 children, to death, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Widespread and systematic killings, torture, and sexual violence have amounted to crimes against humanity.
In August 2017, two years after Japan’s training program began, the Myanmar military under commander-in-chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing carried out mass atrocities against the ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, forcing more than 740,000 to flee. At least 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar are confined to camps and villages under guard of local authorities and security forces, under conditions that amount to the crime against humanity of apartheid. And in long-running armed conflicts with ethnic armed groups, the Myanmar military has for many years committed summary killings, rape, indiscriminate shelling, torture, and arson, among other war crimes.
Since the coup, Tokyo has called for an end to violence and the release of elected government officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi. On March 28 Japan’s Defense Ministry issued a joint statement with 11 other countries criticizing the Tatmadaw’s use of military force against “unarmed civilians.” The Japanese government halted new non-humanitarian Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects earlier in 2021 while allowing existing aid projects to continue. The Diet passed a resolution in June that condemned the coup and called for a “swift restoration of the democratic political system.”
In March, Australia, one of Japan’s major defense partners, suspended its military cooperation with Myanmar because of the military’s deadly crackdown on anti-coup protesters. The Defense Cooperation Program was limited to non-combat areas such as English language training.
“Japan should follow suit with Australia and immediately cut ties with the Myanmar military,” Kasai said. “Japan should not be supporting and endorsing Myanmar’s extremely abusive armed forces by training Tatmadaw soldiers.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"1. Insein Prison’s guards violently tortured the political activists and civilians
due to their participation in the silent strike against the military dictatorship
on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2021, according to evidences we have
received.
2. Additionally, the ministry also received the evidence along with information
about the perpetrators of the hillings and violent tortures that happened
inside the prions in September, November, and December.
3. The unjustly detained civilians have been violently beaten and locked up in
the cell blocks for 20-40 days without access to medical treatment. And the
political detainees are forced to perform hard labor.
4. The Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government is
documenting the human rights violations with the aim of holding
perpetrators accountable. The ministry continues to beep a close monitoring
on the violence directed at unjustly detained civilians inside prisons across
the country. The documents on human rights violations are being submitted
to the respective UN organizations and the international investigation
mechanisms as the ministry strives to bring about justice through
international mechanisms. The perpetrators, who have committed human
rights violations must be punished according to the law. The culture of
impunity for perpetrators who committed human rights violations must end.
5. The Ministry of Human Rights strongly urges the cessation of violence
against unjustly arrested civilians who have been detained for exercising
their political rights, including freedom of expression, and thus calls for the
exceptional release of all political detainees.
6. The ministry calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross-ICRC for
the utmost protection and assistance of unjustly arrested civilians inside the
prison and victims of human rights violations inside the prison. And the
ministry urges the international community to call for an independent
investigation into the human rights violations and other violence inside the
prisons, and to hold the perpetrators who committed the human rights
violations accountable. The Ministry of Human Rights continues to
document the human rights violations by close monitoring in order to hold
perpetrators accountable..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
32.52 KB
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Sub-title:
Sagaing Massacre Latest in Military’s Escalating Terror Campaign
Description:
"In a year where atrocities by Myanmar’s military have been commonplace, credible reports of a massacre of 11 people, including 5 children, who were bound, shot, and then burned, have sparked revulsion and outrage.
Photos and video circulated online show the remains of the victims in Don Taw village, Sagaing Region, in northwestern Myanmar. Villagers returning from hiding after fleeing a military raid used their mobile phones to record the charred remains on December 7, 2021. Local media reported that government security forces committed the killings in retaliation for an attack earlier that morning by anti-junta militia.
The United Nations issued a statement that it was “appalled and alarmed at the escalation of grave human rights abuses in Myanmar.”
But the killings – and the burnings of the bodies – bear all the hallmarks of the Myanmar military. Decades of impunity for the worst crimes have created a mindset that soldiers can brazenly commit such atrocities without fear of being held accountable.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented the Myanmar military’s scorched earth campaigns in ethnic minority areas in Kachin and Karen States, and in Rakhine State against the ethnic Rohingya and Rakhine populations.
The Myanmar military is now deploying those tactics in the Sagaing Region, committing atrocities against civilians in response to attacks by People’s Defense Forces on security forces. From May to August, massacres were reported in villages across Kani township, with dozens of civilians killed in a series of incidents.
In September, the military also was implicated in massacres against the ethnic Yaw people in Gangaw township and elsewhere in Magwe Region.
Concerned governments should impose asset freezes that impact the flow of revenues to Myanmar’s military. But they should also press for the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. Prosecutors in many countries can also use the legal principle of universal jurisdiction to bring to justice to military commanders implicated in war crimes and other abuses. That’s happened recently in Argentina, where a national court will investigate the military’s crimes against the Rohingya, the first court to hear directly from the Rohingya victims themselves.
The latest killings show Myanmar’s military is escalating its campaign of terror. Without urgent and coordinated international efforts to halt military abuses, more atrocities can be expected in the year ahead..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
COUNTRIES OF CONCERN: MYANMAR AND AFGHANISTAN
Description:
"Myanmar saw a rapid decline in fundamental freedoms following the February 2021 coup, with the arrest, detention and criminalisation of hundreds of activists, including HRDs, trade unionists, journalists, political and student activists, doctors, poets, people from ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ groups and artists. The junta used excessive force and firearms against protesters and disrupted the internet. Journalists were hunted down and dozens were arrested and charged. A number of political prisoners were allegedly tortured and ill-treated and there have been reports of sexual violence against women in detention centres. At the time of writing, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,244 people had been killed and 7,122 people are currently in detention.
Another country of concern is Afghanistan, following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. There have been reports of activists facing systematic intimidation throughout the country. The Taliban are carrying out house-to-house searches for activists and journalists, particularly women, and interrogating them and their families. This has created a climate of significant fear and many have gone into hiding or have fled the country. The Taliban have also conducted raids on women-led CSOs across Afghanistan. Anti-Taliban protests, especially by women, in Kabul and other cities have been met with excessive force, gunfire and beatings to disperse crowds, leading to deaths and injuries of peaceful protesters. Journalists are at increased risk for covering the situation on the ground. Some covering the protests have been arbitrarily detained, tortured or ill-treated with impunity..."
Source/publisher:
Civicus (Johannesburg)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Women's rights, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Waiyan Phyoe Moe, Vice President of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, and Laypyay Soe Moe, Responsible Person of Student Rights of the University of Yangon Students' Union, have been reported to be severely beaten and tortured owing to their participation in the Silent Strike along with 89 other political prisoners. They have also been said to be moved from the Special Ward to the Main Jail to be isolated in solitary confinement.
With regards to this situation, we humbly request the public to help with the:
I. Unexceptional release of all political detainees, and
II. The rights of the detainees such as healthcare and security.
The current conditions of our comrades inside the prison is extremely distressing. We hereby implore the masses and the revolutionary forces fighting for the annihilation of the military dictatorship to stand in solidarity with our comrades and help them as best we can as per the updates on the situation..."
Source/publisher:
All Burma Federation of Student Unions and University of Yangon Students' Union
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
24.07 KB 173.97 KB
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Description:
"HURFOM: Ten months of terror have passed since the Burma Army orchestrated a failed coup on 1 February. “Trajectory of Terror,” is a new briefing paper by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) which outlines human rights violations committed in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region perpetrated by the military junta between the end of February until the end of November 2021. Military impunity is emboldening the junta to commit more atrocities.
On Human Rights Day, HURFOM expresses grave concern over the lack of safety civilians are being forced to contend with amid the junta’s dark crusade for power and control. HURFOM calls for an immediate forfeiting of powers by the Burmese military and an end to the violence which has killed hundreds and injured many more, including the elderly, women and children. [Download in English]
The human rights situation in Burma has spiraled out of control. The increased violence and negligence wielded by the military Generals has left millions without food and shelter. Civilians do not feel safe in the country. Homes are being looted, and villages are being burned to the ground in deliberate acts of arson by the junta. Members of political opposition parties and human rights defenders have been forced into hiding. Children are being denied the right to be educated safely as military soldiers roam schools and use classrooms as bases. Livelihoods have been crippled as landmines litter farms and encircle villages, making leaving for food and work a life or death prospect. This sabotage of survival has been brought on willfully by the Burma Army.
HURFOM fieldworkers have spoken to witnesses on the ground who detailed arbitrary arrests, abductions and assaults on fundamental freedoms of residents in our target areas. The violence has created an unstable environment where hundreds are fleeing persecution and fearful for what their futures hold.
A response by the international community which meets the gravity of the peril’s civilians are being confronted with on a daily basis is long overdue. As the year ends, it is with the most profound urgency that HURFOM reiterates calls of our network and allies to respond to the many crises which are worsening daily.
Media Contact
Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director, Email: [email protected], Signal: +66 86 167 9741
HURFOM was founded by exiled pro-democracy students from the 1988 uprisings, recent activists and Mon community leaders and youth. Its primary objective is the restoration of democracy, human rights and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM is a non-profit organization, and all its members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
294.15 KB (26 pages)
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Description:
"Today, December 10th, people from around the world observe Human Rights Day to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) in 1948. Because of the February 2021 military coup, this year’s Human Rights Day is an especially solemn and painful occasion for the people of Myanmar. The human rights violations being committed against the people of Myanmar since the coup are a direct result of the failure to end the Myanmar military’s longstanding oppression of ethnic and religious minorities. Thus, it is fitting that this year’s theme for Human Rights Day is Equality, as it serves as a reminder of what may come to pass when the principle of equality is disregarded. The human rights principle of “Equality” is found in Article 1 of the UDHR, which states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Since February 2021, people across Myanmar have been protesting against the junta –– a regime that has consistently sought to undermine the principle of equality, impose discriminatory practices and sentiments, and embed them in the legal, political, economic and social framework of the country.
From the outset of the coup, people of all ages, ethnicities and religions in Myanmar have come together to peacefully demonstrate against a military dictatorship that pays no regard to human rights and uses its power to discriminate and oppress. Participants of the Civil Disobedience Movement (“CDM”), composed mostly of professionals in the public sector, have sacrificed their careers, freedoms, and lives by refusing to work for the junta. Similarly, young people have been on the frontlines fighting for their rights, often supported in the background by older civilians who also are standing against the military dictatorship in the hope of building a Myanmar in which the rights enshrined in the UDHR will become a reality for all. In their struggle against dictatorship, people across Myanmar have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention; torture, including sexual and gender-based violence; and enforced disappearance; with many being murdered by the junta in their defense of human rights.
Ethnic minorities in rural areas, who have long been the target of military abuse are once again facing challenges and threats to their lives, livelihoods, and physical security and integrity. Since the military coup, armed conflicts occurring between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations have intensified. As early as March 2021, the Myanmar military began an airstrike campaign in Southeast Myanmar that often-targeted civilian areas. These airstrikes destroyed villages, killed many civilians, and caused mass displacement of villagers from their homes and ancestral lands. Southeast Myanmar continues to be heavily militarized by the junta. Civilians are unable to go about their daily lives due to the high risk of being killed, injured, or detained by the Myanmar military. Furthermore, there has been a recurrence of the military’s use of civilians for forced labor and as human shields, which were common forms of human rights abuses under past military regimes. Despite facing these abuses, rural villagers have been active in supporting the anti-coup movement and in protecting those who have placed themselves on the line in the defense of human rights. Local villagers have provided shelter and protection to CDM participants, ousted members of parliament, protesters and human rights defenders, and Myanmar military defectors. They have also participated in peaceful protests, even in the face of heavy military presence.
In recognition of the painful events of the past ten months, as well as the long history of ethnic oppression by the Myanmar military, the Karen Human Rights Group honors the people of Myanmar who continue to fight for a new Myanmar that recognizes that all are equal in dignity and rights. We also strongly urge the international community to remain steadfast in their support for the people of Myanmar, and to refrain from aiding or assisting the junta’s commission of human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations. This means actively refusing to give any legitimacy to the junta, and refusing both direct or indirect recognition of the junta as the government of Myanmar. It also means cutting ties with all businesses that support the junta or are implicated in the provision of weapons to the junta and its affiliates. Finally, we commemorate all those who have lost their freedoms and even their lives as a result of their resistance to the junta, in service to the fight for a federal democracy that respects, protects, and fulfills the human rights of all people of Myanmar equally..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
74.81 KB 102.93 KB 50.16 KB
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Sub-title:
City streets emptied during nationwide demonstration after massacre of villagers by soldiers
Description:
"The streets in towns and cities across Myanmar were deserted on Friday as the public held a “silent strike” to protest against the military government, days after a massacre of villagers provoked international condemnation.
Reports of the killing of 11 villagers, including children, in Sagaing region on Tuesday, were described by the US as “credible and sickening”. A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned of an “alarming escalation of grave human rights abuses in Myanmar”.
The military rounded up villagers, shooting them and setting them on fire, according to reports by independent local media. A video and photograph that appears to show the burned corpses in Don Taw village have been shared on social media.
The OHCHR called for a “firm, unified” international response. It also referred to a recent military attack on a small group of peaceful, unarmed protesters who had gathered in Yangon on 5 December. A military vehicle rammed into the group and opened fire, killing as many as five people, according to local media reports.
“These attacks are heinous, completely unacceptable, and disregard common values of humanity. They are also far from isolated,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the OHCHR.
In state-controlled media, the military responded to international criticism by accusing UN officials and others of interfering in Myanmar’s domestic affairs and relying on “distorted news”. It denied reports of the massacre in Don Taw and instead accused “nation-destroying media” of publishing false reports.
On Friday, the “silent strike” was observed in many areas of Myanmar, with businesses shut between 10am and 4pm to signal defiance against the junta. In Yangon, normally congested roads were deserted, and lines of shops and businesses shuttered. A prominent protest leader, Min Han Htet, posted images of empty streets on social media with the message: “We are one organism”.
The prominent activist Thet Swe Win said on social media that, in some towns, soldiers had confiscated the property of businesses that had closed, and that business owners had been forced to show up and be arrested.
Friday’s protest was reportedly observed across Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay, and in towns across Sagaing region, Bago region, Ayeyarwaddy region, Shan state and Magwe region.
Mass protests that spread across Myanmar in the aftermath of the coup were crushed with deadly violence by the military. However, opposition remains widespread and people continue to find new, peaceful ways to defy the junta. An armed resistance consisting of people’s defence forces has also emerged.
The military has killed at least 1,323 people since it seized power on 1 February, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that monitors deaths and arrests. A further 7,881 are currently detained..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Two journalists were injured at an anti-regime protest in Yangon when a military vehicle drove through the crowd on December 5. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns the brutal attack and demands that the junta immediately cease its increasingly extreme violence against journalists.
Journalists with the independent Myanmar Pressphoto agency, Ma Hmu Yandanar Khet Moh Moh Tun and Ko Kaung Sett Lin, were on assignment when junta forces drove through a peaceful anti-regime protest in Yangon and opened fire on those attempting to flee. The attack killed five people and left dozens wounded, drawing international condemnation.
Hmu Yandanar sustained serious injuries when the military vehicle rammed into the back of the protest. She remains in a critical condition at a military hospital in Yangon following surgery. Kaung Sett Lin was also injured and received medical treatment at the same hospital before being taken into custody.
Coverage of the event by state-endorsed media made no mention of the military vehicle or the deaths, stating that its forces disbanded an “unlawful riot”. While the regime claimed that 11 demonstrators were arrested, witnesses suggest that over 15 people were taken into custody.
Myanmar’s junta has antagonised journalists since it assumed control in the military coup on February 1, with over 100 journalists arrested during its administration and more than 20 remaining in custody. After its exclusion at a regional summit in October, the junta released dozens of journalists in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds, an action largely met with distrust.
The IFJ said: “The IFJ condemns the junta’s ongoing violence towards journalists and demands that the journalists enduring detainment are released. This incident shows that, despite recent attempts to remedy its image, Myanmar’s junta continues to contravene international human rights standards and subjugate freedom of expression.”..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation of Journalists
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
" Myanmar authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalists Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun, who were arrested after sustaining injuries covering anti-military protests, and ensure that those responsible for injuring the journalists are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Authorities arrested photojournalist Kaung Sett Lin and videographer Hmu Yadanar, both with the independent Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, on December 5 while they were covering a flash mob protest on Pan Pin Gyi Road in the commercial capital Yangon, according to local news reports and MPA chief editor JPaing, who goes by one name. Both were in a military hospital due to injuries sustained at the event, he said.
“Myanmar must immediately release journalists Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun and bring the perpetrators of the violence that injured them to account,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must cease and desist from treating journalists like enemies of the state.”
Hmu Yadanar suffered injuries to her head after being hit by a truck allegedly driven by military forces into the back of the protest, The Irrawaddy reported. Security forces then opened fire on the protesters, killing at least five people in the melee, the same report said.
JPaing told CPJ by email that Hmu Yadanar has since undergone surgery for her head injuries at Military Hospital No. 2 in Yangon. Kaung Sett Lin was being held at the same hospital and recuperating from injuries, he said. CPJ was not able to immediately determine the nature of those injuries or how they were sustained. It was not immediately clear under what charges they were being held, JPaing said.
CPJ emailed Myanmar’s Ministry of Information for comment on Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar’s arrests and The Irrawaddy’s account of violence by security forces, but did not receive an immediate response.
A CPJ special report in July documented the situation of journalists jailed in the wake of the military’s democracy-suspending February 1 coup, and found that at least 32 journalists were imprisoned due to their work as of July 1. Several journalists have been released and arrested since the mid-year census was conducted, according to CPJ reporting.
Many have been held on charges under Article 505(a) of the penal code, a broad and vaguely worded provision that penalizes incitement and the spreading of “false news” with maximum three-year prison penalties, CPJ research shows.
In April, CPJ called on coup maker Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to release all of the journalists jailed by his military regime..."
Source/publisher:
Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s junta rammed into anti-regime protesters and shot at them during a crackdown in Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon, on Sunday morning.
An estimated five people were killed and several others injured, according to witnesses. The junta said on Sunday night that 11 “illegal rioters” were detained and a few sustained injuries but did not mention any deaths.
The Irrawaddy talked to one of the protesters who managed to escape.
How did the soldiers attack?
We were just started to demonstrate near Pan Pin Gyi and Strand roads in Kyimyindaing. We had taken only about 20 steps when a military vehicle carrying about eight soldiers rammed into us from behind. I was knocked about five meters and could not move. Some hit their heads on the road. Some died.
When and how did it happen?
It was around five minutes after the protest started at 8:45am on Sunday. The vehicle came from Strand Road. We did not know as it was behind a YBS bus and suddenly overtook the bus. It only took a few seconds and was too fast to react. There was a lot of blood.
Were you injured?
My hands, knee and waist were injured. When it hit me, I fell on the vehicle’s hood. A soldier hit my head with his rifle butt. I pushed and kicked him in the chest. We were both upside down. Fearing he would fire, I kicked his rifle. But he held on and he fired at me. Luckily, I slipped and the bullet missed.
I ran. The soldiers followed and shot at me but they missed. I found a taxi and left. I saw one reporter who was badly injured and taken by soldiers into their vehicle.
What happened to the reporter?
I think the reporter was hit by the vehicle. It did not look good. I did not see how he was attacked. Most of the protesters scattered when we were rammed. It was a terrorist attack.
There were only about eight soldiers but they fired on us and hit us with rifle butts. The violence was intense..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
https://nugmyanmar.org
ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁၂/၂၀၂၁)
၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက်
ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်သူများကို ကားဖြင့်တိုက်၍ အကြမ်းဖက် ဖမ်းဆီး၊ သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများနှင့်
ပတ်သက်၍ ထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း
၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက်နေ့မနက်တွင် ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်အတွင်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ လျှပ်တပြတ်သပိတ်အဖြစ် ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် လူငယ်များကို အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အုပ်စုက စစ်ကားဖြင့် အနောက်မှ အလစ်အငိုက် ဝင်ရောက်တိုက်ခိုက်ပြီးနောက် သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်သတ်ဖြတ် အကြမ်းဖက်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ဖြိုခွင်းမှုကြောင့် ဆန္ဒပြလူငယ်အချို့ကျဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး အများအပြား ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်နေသည့် ပြည်သူ ၁၁ ဦးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ အကြမ်းဖက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခံခဲ့ရသည့် ပြည်သူများမှာ အမှန်တရား၊ တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် တန်းတူညီမှျမှုတို့အတွက် ရဲရဲရင့်ရင့် ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်နေကြသည့် မိမိတို့ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ရင်သွေးများလည်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၂။ ယခုကဲ့သို့ အကျည်းတန်သော စက်ဆုပ်ဖွယ်ဖြစ်ရပ်များသည် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်တပ်၏ လက်နက်ကိုင် အနိုင်ကျင့်လိုသည့် ဖုံးဖိမရသော အမူအကျင့်၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူမှန်သမျှကို ကြိုက်သလို သတ်ဖြတ်နိုင်သည်ဟုခံယူထားသည့် စစ်တပ်၏ အင်မတန်နိမ့်ကျ၊ လူ့ကျင့်ဝတ်မဲ့မှု၏ ပြယုဂ်တစ်ခုဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ထိုသို့သော သတ္တိကြောင်ပြီး ယုတ်မာရိုင်းစိုင်းသည့် ပြစ်မှုမျိုးကို ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည်မှာ ယခုအကြိမ်သည် ပထမဆုံးအကြိမ်မဟုတ်ပါ။ အောက်ဖော်ပြပါ အဖြစ်အပျက်များသည် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာနက မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားသည့် အလားတူဖြစ်စဉ်များဖြစ်ပါသည်။
• ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့ မြိတ်မြို့တွင် ဆန္ဒပြသူတစ်ဦး အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့က ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။
• မေလ ၂ ရက်နေ့ ရွေဘိုမြို့တွင် ရွှေဘိုပင်မသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း လူစုနေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှာ လူအုပ်ထဲသို့ ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့ပြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများကို ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့သည်။
• မေလ ၆ ရက်နေ့ မွန်ပြည်နယ်၊ ချောင်းဆုံမြို့နယ်တွင် ဆိုင်ကယ်တစ်စီးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့မှ ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် ဆိုင်ကယ်စီးလာသူ ပြည်သူတစ်ဦး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။
• မေလ ၂၁ ရက်နေ့ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်၊ မြစ်ကြီးနားမြို့နယ်တွင် ထင်ရှားသည့်ကချင်တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူ ၂ ဦးဖြစ်သော ဒေါ်ဆိုင်းနူးပန်နှင့် ဦးလွမ်းဇောင်း အပါအဝင် လူငယ် ၃ ဦးကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့က သေနတ်ဖြင့်ပစ်၊ ကားဖြင့်တိုက်၍ ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့သည်။
• မေလ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် သံဃသမဂ္ဂသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် သံဃာနှစ်ပါး ဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသည်။
• ဧပြီလ ၁၅ ရက်နေ့ မုံရွာမြို့တွင် သပိတ်ခေါင်းဆောင် ကိုဝေမိုးနိုင်ဦးဆောင်၍ အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ဆိုင်ကယ်သပိတ်ပြုလုပ်နေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့က အရပ်သား အိမ်စီးကားဖြင့် တဖက်ယာဉ်ကြောမှ မောင်းနှင်လာကာ ကားနှင့်တိုက်၍ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။ ကိုဝေမိုးနိုင် ဆိုင်ကယ်လဲကျသွားသောအခါ ၎င်းတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ ကားပေါ်မှ ဆင်း၍ ဝိုင်းဝန်းရိုက်နှက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။
• ဇွန်လ ၆ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် လူငယ်သုံးဦးစီးနင်းလာသည့် မော်တော်ဆိုင်ကယ်အား အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ ကားဖြင့်ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့သဖြင့် လူငယ်နှစ်ဦး သေဆုံးခဲ့သည်။
• ဇွန်လ ၁၆ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် မန္တလေး မဟာမိတ်တပ်ပေါင်းစု သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း လူစုနေကြစဉ် ဆန္ဒပြသူများ၏ ဆိုင်ကယ်များကို ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ခဲ့သဖြင့် ဆန္ဒပြသူအများအပြား ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရခဲ့ကြသည်။
• အောက်တိုဘာ ၂ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေးမြို့တွင် မန္တလေး သံဃသမဂ္ဂ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သဖြင့် သံဃာ ငါးပါးနှင့် ဆန္ဒပြ ပြည်သူ သုံးဦး အဖမ်းဆီးခံခဲ့ရသည်။ ထိုတစ်နေ့တည်းမှာပင် LGBT အရေးတက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှား သူတစ်ဦးဖြစ်သော စူးရှရှင်းသန့်ကို ဆိုင်ကယ်မောင်းနေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက ကားဖြင့်တိုက်ကာ ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ပြီး စစ်ကြောရေးသို့ ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည်။
• အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့ မန္တလေး၊ မဟာအောင်မြေမြို့နယ်တွင် လူငယ် ၆၀ ခန့်စုဝေး၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ဆန္ဒဖော်ထုတ်နေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့မှ ကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်၍ ဖြိုခွဲခဲ့ပြီး ဆန္ဒပြသူ ၁၀ ဦးကို ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည်။
၃။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများကို ကားဖြင့် တိုက်၍ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းသည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ စုဝေး စီတန်းလှည့်လည်ခွင့်ဆိုသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို ချိုးဖောက်ရုံသာမက အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သောကြောင့် ထိုလုပ်ရပ်များအပေါ် ပြင်းထန်စွာရူတ်ချသည်။
၄။ ပြည်သူလူထု၏တရားဝင်အာဏာအပ်နှင်းခြင်းခံထားရသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (CRPH) နှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ(NUG)တို့က စစ်ကောင်စီသည် အကြမ်းဖက်အဖွဲ့ အစည်းဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကြေညာထားပြီး ဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်မှုကျုးလွန်မှုများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ နိုင်ငံတကာခုံရုံး များတွင် အပြစ်ပေးစီရင်နိုင်ရန်ကြိုးပမ်းနေမှုအား ယဉ်ကေျးသည့်၊ လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းစံချိန်စံနှုန်းများကို လေးစားလိုက်နာ သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းတစ်ခုလုံးက ဝိုင်းဝန်းပူးပေါင်းလုပ်ဆောင်ပေးကြရန် လိုအပ်သည်။ ထို့ပြင် အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ်များကျူးလွန်နေသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီကို အကြမ်းဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးဆောင်ရွက်ချက် များနှင့်အညီ ကိုင်တွယ်အရေးယူကြရန် တောင်းဆိုသည်။
၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ပြည်သူများက အသိတရားရှိရှိဖြင့် ကာကွယ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ရှိသည်။
၆။ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုတစ်ခုစီအတွက် ကျူးလွန်သူတစ်ဦးချင်းစီတိုင်းကို အပြစ်ပေးအရေးယူနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အချက်အလက်အထောက်အထားများ ရှာဖေွခြင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ရာဇဝတ်ခုံရုံး၊ တရားရုံးမျာမှတစ်ဆင့် အရေးယူနိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားခြင်းဖြင့် တရားမျှတမှုကို ပြည်သူနှင့်လက်တွဲ၍ ဖော်ဆောင်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရက သန္နိဌာန်ပြုသည်။
၇။ အဖိုးတန်လှတဲ့ ပြည်သူတစ်ဦးတစ်ယောက်ချင်းစီရဲ့ အသက်ပေါင်းများစွာကို ယခုလိုရက်စက်စွာ သတ်ဖြတ်ခံနေရခြင်း၊ ပညာသင်ပြီး ကိုယ့်ဘဝတိုးတက်ရေး၊ တိုင်းပြည်တိုးတက်ရေး ကြိုးစားရမည့် လူငယ်များ လမ်းပေါ်တွင် ဆန္ဒပြရင်း သေကျေကြရခြင်း၊ မိဝေးဖဝေး လက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးတိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရင်း ပင်ပန်းဆင်းရဲ ခံကြရခြင်း ၊ မတရားဖမ်းဆီး ခံရကာ စစ်ကြောရေးတွင် ညှင်းပမ်းနှိပ်စက်ခံရပြီး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခံရခြင်းများအားလုံး အမြန်ဆုံးအဆုံးသတ်နိုင်ရန် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အားလုံးတွင် တာဝန်ရှိပါသည်။
၈။ ထို့ကြောင့် တရားမျှတမှုအတွက်၊ လွတ်လပ်မှုအတွက်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူအားလုံး တန်းတူညီမျှမှုအတွက် တောင်းဆိုနေသည့် ပြည့်ရင်သွေးများကို ယခုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်စွာ ရက်စက်သတ်ဖြတ်သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အာဏာရှင် များအား အပြီးတိုင်အမြစ်ဖြတ် အဆုံးသတ်နိုင်စေရေး ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ နိုင်ငံအဝန်းတွင်ရှိသည့် ပြည့်ရင်သွေးလူငယ်များနှင့် ပြည်သူတရပ်လုံး၏ ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့ရမှုများ ၊ ဆက်လက်ပေးဆပ်နေရမှုများ အလဟဿ မဖြစ်စေရန်အတွက် သမိုင်းကပေးသောတာဝန်ကို ဦးထိပ်ရွက်ဆင်၍ အဆုံးသတ်ထိ တိုက်ပွဲဝင်သွားမည်ဟု ထပ်လောင်းကတိသစ္စာပြု အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Political History
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"၁။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဒီဇင်ဘာလ ၅ ရက်နေ့၊ ယနေ့နံနက် ၈နာရီဝန်းကျင်တွင် ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ ကြည့်မြင်တိုင်မြို့နယ်၊ ပန်းပင်ကြီးလမ်းပေါ်၌ ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြချီတက်လာသော စစ်အာဏာရှင် ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်းကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များက လူမဆန်စွာကားဖြင့် ဝင်တိုက်ပြီး ပစ်ခတ်ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့ခြင်းကြောင့် ဆန္ဒပြလူငယ် ၅ ဦးသေဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ၁၅ ဦးခန့် ဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရပါသည်။
၂။ အဆိုပါအကြမ်းဖက်မှု၌ အများအပြားပြင်းထန်သော ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ပြီး ရိုက်နှက်ခြင်း၊ ခြေထောက် ဖြင့် ကန်ကျောက်ခြင်း၊ သေနတ်ဒင်ဖြင့် ရိုက်နှက်ခြင်းများ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့်အပြင် ဆေးကုသခွင့် မရရှိဘဲ စစ်ကြောရေးစခန်းများသို့ ဖမ်းဆီး ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည့် လူမဆန်သော ဖြစ်စဉ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံးနှင့်ထပ်တူ များစွာဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲရပါသည်။
၃။ လွတ်လပ်စွာစုဝေးခွင့်၊ လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်ခွင့်တို့သည် နိုင်ငံသားတို့၏ အခြေခံအခွင့် အရေးတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပြီး ယခုကဲ့သို့ အပြစ်မဲ့သော ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများအား ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ အကြမ်းဖက် ဆောင်ရွက်နေခြင်းသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကြေညာစာတမ်း (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) ပါ ပြဌာန်းချက်များကို လိုက်နာမှုမရှိဘဲ ပြောင်ပြောင်တင်းတင်း ချိုးဖောက်နေခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၄။ ယခုကဲ့သို့သော လူမဆန်သော ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို နေ့စဉ်ရက်ဆက် ကျူးလွန်နေကြသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့်လက်ပါးစေများအား ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် ရှုံ့ချပါကြောင်းနှင့် ၎င်းတို့အား သံတမန်ရေးနည်းလမ်းအပါအဝင် လိုအပ်သည့် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုများပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရေး ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် ဆက်သွယ်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက် ရှိပါကြောင်း သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်အပ်ပါသည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders
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"During 1 Feb–26 Nov, there were 6,675 armed clashes and attacks on civilians, a 632% increase from the same period in 2020. The junta’s crimes resulted in a massive increase in displaced persons, including around 50,000 just in Chin, Sagaing, and Magway since May 2021. Junta courts handed down lengthy sentences to high-profile NLD leaders. Sham trials against Aung San Suu Kyi moved forward, but the court delayed two verdicts without explanation. Junta military courts sentenced 21 people to death and 29 to life in prison. The junta ordered its soldiers in Sagaing, Tanintharyi, and Mandalay Regions to shoot at any male passenger on a motorbike..."
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-BURMA
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Articles and reports about the NLD, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, ASEAN-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
Despite its official condemnation of the coup, Japan continues to move towards normalizing ties with the junta
Description:
"Since the February 1 military coup in Myanmar, the junta’s security forces have killed nearly 1,300 people, arrested more than 10,000, and continue to detain nearly 7,400. The junta-controlled courts have sentenced 65 people to death, including 2 children.
Facing such violence, militias have formed around the country to oppose the junta, and target security forces as well as civilians perceived to be supporting the junta.
Japan, one of Myanmar’s closest allies, has taken some action. Tokyo denounced the coup, while demanding an end to violence and the release of elected government officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi. The Japanese government halted new non-humanitarian Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects earlier this year while allowing existing aid projects to continue.
It also continues to cooperate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in its efforts to press the junta to address the human rights violations, via an ASEAN Special Envoy. The Diet passed a resolution in June that condemned the coup and called for a “swift restoration of the democratic political system.”
However, Japan has stopped short of placing targeted economic sanctions on senior military and junta officials or their economic interests, as its democratic allies have done.
And now it appears that Japan is playing a double game, officially allied with governments critical of the coup, while increasingly normalizing diplomatic contact with the junta. This approach risks undermining the international community’s efforts to hold the Myanmar junta accountable for ongoing crimes against humanity in Myanmar, including torture, murder, and rape.
In May, Japan’s Foreign Ministry reportedly accepted five junta-appointed diplomats, asserting that refusing their appointment would place Japanese nationals in Myanmar at risk, and that “practical connections” with the junta are necessary. This was a major shift, considering that the Japanese government had earlier refused to accept junta-appointed diplomats since the coup on the rationale that it would risk legitimizing the military’s move to overturn the country’s democratic elections and install the junta.
In November, Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of Nippon Foundation and Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, met with the junta chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and discussed the “current situation and the peace process in Myanmar, as well as Japan’s assistance to the country.” Sasakawa previously voiced concerns about placing targeted sanctions on the military, claiming that doing so would “increase China’s influence.” Although Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi claimed that Sasakawa’s visit was in a personal capacity, independent local media did not interpret it as such, describing Sasakawa as “Japan’s special envoy.”
Hideo Watanabe, former cabinet minister and director of the Japan Myanmar Association, also visited Min Aung Hlaing twice this year after the coup, according to a Japan Myanmar Association member-only newsletter obtained by Human Rights Watch. Watanabe is a leading senior figure in encouraging Japanese companies to invest in Myanmar, especially in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone.
Recalling his latest trip to Myanmar in September, Watanabe described Min Aung Hlaing being “very shocked” by the June parliamentary resolution. Sympathizing with him, Watanabe described the resolution as “interventionist,” “extremely disappointing,” and “pitiful.” Then-Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also described Watanabe’s trips as private, but it would be naive to believe that Min Aung Hlaing saw his visit as such.
In the newsletter, Watanabe claimed that Min Aung Hlaing has “trust” in him as the “window” between Japan and the military, known as the Tatmadaw. Watanabe also said he had communicated to the commander-in-chief “once again” the Japanese government’s position on a new special economic zone in Mon State, which was discussed by the Japanese and Myanmar governments before the coup. The article said that Min Aung Hlaing once again “approved” the project.
The Japanese government’s claim that high-profile Japanese figures with strong contacts in the Myanmar military or government are acting in a private capacity is not new.
In 2018, the former Japanese diplomat Kenzo Oshima was part of Myanmar’s domestic commission to investigate the military’s ethnic cleansing campaign against ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State. Japan’s Foreign Ministry had welcomed the commission’s creation. When Human Rights Watch presented evidence that Myanmar’s government had created similar commissions eight times since 2012 and none led to accountability for grave abuses, Foreign Ministry officials distanced themselves from Oshima, claiming that he had joined in a personal capacity.
It’s evident that ministry officials, prodded by Sasakawa and Watanabe, believe they can contain Min Aung Hlaing’s reign of terror through dialogue alone. Their collective cognitive dissonance is perhaps inevitable, considering Japan’s significant economic investments in Myanmar and an overarching concern with containing the influence of China.
But if nothing else, the Foreign Ministry should lend an ear to one of their own.
In an interview earlier this year, Japan’s former ambassador to Myanmar Tateshi Higuchi, expressed embarrassment for not being able to read Min Aung Hlaing’s “nature” during his tenure between 2014 to 2018. He advised Japan to “drop its optimism and illusory assumptions,” and asserted that Japan should prioritize saving lives and alleviating the suffering of people in Myanmar, advocating sanctions against the military.
Higuchi also disparaged the Foreign Ministry and Sasakawa’s go-to “but what about China” line, saying “the situation is not that simple” and that the “the military does not want to be in a situation in which China is the only option.”
Japan should stop playing this double game, and work with its allies to swiftly impose targeted sanctions on the Tatmadaw and its economic interests, while suspending ongoing non-humanitarian ODA programs. Sasakawa and Watanabe should also stop coddling Min Aung Hlaing, and instead use their political capital to demand the junta stop violence against protesters, respect human rights, and restore the democratic system they shredded..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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Sub-title:
Security Forces ‘Kettled’ Demonstrators, Fired on Rescuers in Hlaing Tharyar
Description:
" Myanmar security forces deliberately “kettled” protesters and used lethal force during the March 14, 2021, anti-junta protests in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township, Human Rights Watch said today. Soldiers and police armed with military assault rifles fired on trapped protesters and on those trying to assist the wounded, killing at least 65 protesters and bystanders.
Following the February 1 military coup against Myanmar’s democratically elected government, numerous demonstrations broke out in Yangon and other cities. The police and military forces repeatedly used lethal force against largely peaceful protesters in violation of international human rights law. The deadly shootings in Hlaing Tharyar stand out because of the large number of people killed and the security forces’ apparent premeditated use of lethal force.
“The Myanmar security forces’ massacre of several dozen people outside Yangon in mid-March was not a case of riot control gone astray,” said Manny Maung, Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Hlaing Tharyar killings have the hallmarks of a planned attack on protesters for which those responsible, regardless of rank, should be held to account.”
Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed six witnesses to the Hlaing Tharyar violence. Human Rights Watch also verified 13 videos of the protests recorded on March 14, and 31 photographs uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
Anti-coup demonstrations began around early March in Hlaing Tharyar, a largely industrial zone across the Hlaing River, west of Yangon. Because many trade union members live and work in the area, the protests were particularly large and well-organized. Before dawn on March 14, protesters set up cement-block barricades and sandbags as barriers at major bus stops along the Hlaing River Road, the area’s main thoroughfare, ahead of sit-in strikes starting at 5 a.m.
Around 10 a.m., about 200 soldiers and police began moving into Hlaing Tharyar, bypassing the barriers and causing protesters to retreat or disperse. Witnesses said that, by 11 a.m., the security forces had trapped many protesters from the east and west, a tactic known in some countries as “kettling.” Only one witness at Mie Kwat Zay said that security forces gave verbal warning before the military and police began firing at protesters, but at all other locations, witnesses heard no warnings.
The witness accounts and videos indicate that security forces deliberately fired upon protesters to kill or maim without there being any threat to the security forces’ lives. One video shows police and military gathered at 1 p.m. on the Aung Zeya Bridge, which separates Hlaing Tharyar from Yangon. The forces look at the protesters on the streets below and can be heard discussing when and whom to shoot. An unidentified person off camera says, “Just shoot them in the head,” while two police officers point assault rifles toward the protesters. Gunshots are heard and the same unidentified person yells, “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!”
All six witnesses said that the security forces also fired on people who were trying to reach the wounded. “[W]e weren’t able to help those who were injured because they would shoot at us if we tried,” one witness said. “We couldn’t get to them, and they died. Some people who tried to help went forward anyway and they were shot in the head and died.”
Witnesses said that some protesters used weapons, such as rocks, slings, and Molotov cocktails, in response to the security forces firing on them, but no security force casualties were reported.
On March 15, the day after the killings, the junta accused “rioters” of burning down garment factories and blocking firefighters, and imposed martial law in Hlaing Tharyar and nearby Shwe Pyi Thar township. “Rioters created havoc on roads, and over 2,000 rioters also blocked the roads to prevent fire engines from leaving their stations and fighting the fire,” a junta statement said.
The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that security forces should “apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms,” and use the minimum necessary force at all times. Firearms may only be used when other less harmful means are not practicable but must still be used to the minimum extent necessary. Intentionally lethal use of firearms is only permitted when strictly unavoidable to protect life. The Basic Principles further provide that in “cases of death and serious injury or other grave consequences, a detailed report shall be sent promptly to the competent authorities.”
Since the coup, throughout the country, Myanmar security forces have killed more than 1,200 protesters and bystanders, committing killings, torture, and other crimes that amount to crimes against humanity. The crime against humanity of murder has been defined by international tribunals as death that “results from an act or omission by the accused, committed with the intent either to kill or to cause serious bodily harm with the reasonable knowledge that it would likely lead to death.”
The State Administration Council, Myanmar’s junta, is not known to have taken any action against security force officers or personnel, for their involvement in criminal offenses at Hlaing Tharyar or as a matter of command responsibility. The military commander with responsibility for the Yangon Region, including Hlaing Tharyar, was Brig. Gen. Nyunt Win Swe. The Yangon Region police chief was Brig. Gen. Myo Min Htike. Former Myanmar military officers told Human Rights Watch that regional military commanders control police forces during joint operations.
The UN, regional bodies, and governments, including the European Union, United States and United Kingdom, should respond to ongoing human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Myanmar by supplementing, strengthening, and coordinating international sanctions against the junta leadership and military under Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Actions should include targeted sanctions on specified military and police commanders, including Brig. Gen. Nyunt Win Swe and Brig. Gen. Myo Min Htike; a global arms embargo; and financial restrictions that would reduce the junta’s revenues from extractive industries.
“Hlaing Tharyar was a bloodbath for which all those responsible should be brought to justice,” Maung said. “Such atrocities will continue unless the UN Security Council and concerned governments take concerted action to hold Myanmar’s junta leaders to account.”
For details and accounts of the attacks, please see below.
Killings, Other Abuses in Hlaing Tharyar
In early March protesters set up barricades at several bus stops along the main Hlaing River Road, which runs perpendicular to the Hlaing River. Before dawn on March 14, they gathered at the barriers to participate in sit-ins starting at 5 a.m. By 10 a.m., security forces arrived at the first barricade at Bus Stop 1. Witnesses said that about 200 soldiers and police easily bypassed the barriers, forcing protesters to back up westward along the road, or to disperse north and south into side streets.
Myanmar security forces move into Hlaing Tharyar around 11 a.m. on March 14, 2021, “kettling” protesters from the east, west, and south. Shortly after 11.30 a.m., security forces open fire at protesters. In this video, protesters are seen retreating from Bus Stop 3 to the east around 12:30 p.m., but are trapped by security forces at escape routes, namely a group of military vehicles coming into Hlaing Tharyar from Aung Zeya Bridge around the same time. Credits: © 2021 Maxar Technologies. Source: Google Earth. Road data: Open Street Maps and contributors. Video: Unknown uploader. Verified by Human Rights Watch.
By 11 a.m., the security forces came from both east and west and trapped protesters between Bus Stop 3 and Bus Stop 5. Between noon and 12:40 p.m., the security forces encircled or “kettled” the protesters between Bus Stop 1 and Bus Stop 3, based on Human Rights Watch analysis matching key landmarks visible in two videos with satellite imagery, and the length and angle of shadows in the videos.
Witnesses are identified by pseudonyms for their protection.
“Ko Phyo,” who joined the sit-in at dawn at Mie Kwat Zay bus stop near the local market, said that, at about 11:30 a.m., police and soldiers began firing live rounds. They shot continuously, trapping protesters for the next two hours:
At Mie Kwat Zay, a group of soldiers and police joined the ranks from the direction of the BOC [junction] bus stop, and another group from Bus Stop 1 came to trap us in between. The police were at the front and the soldiers were behind them. The soldiers started the shooting.
“Zaw Zaw” said that, at about 11 a.m., security forces started firing at protesters near Bus Stop 5:
They started with teargas and then rubber bullets. After 30 minutes, they started using live rounds. From our side, we used slingshots and rocks, and some even threw Molotov cocktails back … Many people died in front of my eyes … I will never forget that day.
“Zaw Htet,” who had joined a sit-in with other labor rights activists at the Tar Tar Phyu bus stop on Hlaing River Road, said that by 1:40 p.m. at least 50 military trucks had made their way to the Aung Zeya Bridge near the protesters’ barricade. The security forces had overrun other barricades ahead of him. He said that they began to shoot when they reached Tar Tar Phyu. At least two armed security force personnel were positioned on two higher buildings:
Four people got shot at Tar Tar Phyu in front of me. Out of four, three people died on the spot, and another one was carried by taxi to a clinic … A boy next to me was so scared. I told him to stay on the ground and not to get up, but he was so scared, he stood up to run. He got shot in the neck and died.
“Thiri” said that by the time she arrived at Bus Stop 3 around 2:30 p.m., three people were already dead. She could see that others were trapped because of the shooting, but a few were trying to back up from the main road into a smaller road adjacent to the main highway. She could make out two security force personnel on a high building pointing their weapons toward the bus stop, and another two under a tree on the opposite side of the road:
We could see the police and soldiers making their way towards us, bit by bit. So those of us who could started backing off and dispersing towards Bus Stop 5 by trying to go down the alleyways and back streets. That was when they sent [an aerial] drone out to see which way we were running. There weren’t that many soldiers at this point, but they knew which directions all the protesters were taking … Just in front of my eyes, I saw a person get shot in the abdomen and his abdomen burst open.
Myanmar security forces have used low-flying drones during protests elsewhere in the country, in Monywa in Sagaing Region and in Mandalay Region.
“Thiri” said that, shortly after seeing the drone, five more military trucks came over the Aung Zeya Bridge. Running along with four others, security force personnel shot at them, and one bullet hit a nearby lamp post. She fled back and hid behind a barricade at Bus Station 5, but the security forces were also shooting there:
I saw police and soldiers come into the small roads and snatch everyone they saw. I was at Bus Station 5 by then, and I saw they shot at the people who were running and trying to hide behind the barricades. When additional forces came, the combined police and military team moved forward and fired nonstop. I saw another man get shot dead.
“Zaw Zaw” said:
Around 4 p.m., we regrouped at the BOC bus stop. Police and soldiers had attacked other stops ahead, such as at Tar Tar Phyu and Mie Kwat Zay. When we got to the BOC stop, one person was shot with a rubber bullet, and it penetrated their backbone. They even chased us into smaller back streets.
Another protester, “Honey,” said that around 5 p.m., when the sounds of gunfire had died down, she took her motorbike to check on her friends:
That’s when I ran into a sniper shooting from a high building, possibly from Ko Nyi Ma Swe’s phone shop on Hlaing River Road. I had to get off my motorbike and run away. Earlier, there was a guy shot dead. I saw his blood on the road. His body was taken away by residents nearby.
Witnesses said the shooting continued well into the evening. A journalist reported that, at 6 p.m., security forces were still chasing and shooting at protesters near Bogyoke Aung San Road and the Hlaing River Road, near Bus Stop 3.
Deliberate Shooting of Protesters
Witnesses described situations in which they believed the security forces were aiming at and shooting demonstrators. Video that Human Rights Watch analyzed corroborated these accounts.
Just before 1 p.m., police and soldiers congregate on Aung Zeya Bridge and are seen pointing their assault rifles down at protesters from the bridge while gunshots are fired. Credits: © 2021 Maxar Technologies. Source: Google Earth. Road data: Open Street Maps and contributors. Video: Unknown uploader. Verified by Human Rights Watch.
In one video, recorded around 1 p.m., police and military on the Aung Zeya bridge can be heard discussing who and when to shoot, and where to aim. The suspension bridge is high above the protesters on the ground below, and two police officers on the north side of the bridge can be seen pointing their rifles down toward Bo Ba Htoo Road. Commands are shouted in the background to hold fire as the security forces coordinate when to shoot. Repeated gunshots are then heard off frame.
A police officer posted a video on Tik Tok, which Human Rights Watch analyzed, that shows 11 police officers wearing the distinctive insignia of the Lone Htein riot police, preparing to advance on protesters from a location in Yangon at around noon. As they discuss the weapons they were going to use, one officer says to the others, “You guys will handle Hlaing Tharyar.” Another replies: “I will show no mercy for these people.” Human Rights Watch and others have long documented the highly abusive role that the Lone Htein riot police have played in previous government crackdowns, beating and wrongfully detaining protesters, often working closely beside the army.
Two witnesses said that they heard automatic weapons being used during the crackdown. Both military personnel and police carried military assault rifles that can be fired in a fully automatic mode. A photo posted by a local media outlet shows military officers and vehicles stationed on Hlaing Road between Mie Kwat Zay and the BOC bus stops between 4 and 6 p.m. and a soldier carrying an apparent MA-1 assault rifle. Other photos of police officers on the Yangon side of the Aung Zeya bridge show them using BA series assault rifles.
Videos and images Human Rights Watch reviewed capture the security forces using lethal force against protesters. They also show security forces making a coordinated maneuver to surround protesters and block their exit routes.
In one video, taken just before 12:30 p.m., a group of protesters stand under a row of tarps about 35 meters from Bus Stop 3, as intermittent gunshots can be heard nearby. Soon tear gas is deployed from the west and more gunshots are heard, causing the protesters to disperse to the east.
A second video, filmed one block north of Bus Stop 3 at around 12:30 p.m., appears to show protesters fleeing from gunshots, with tear gas visible about 10 to 40 meters east of the bus stop. A minute later, at least 10 security force trucks are seen in an apparent pincer move, driving west from the Aung Zeya bridge into Hlaing Tharyar toward the retreating protesters. One man is seen lying on the pavement from an apparent gunshot wound to his head. Someone attempts to help him, but gunshots force them to leave the man and run for cover.
Videos corroborate witness accounts that the security forces cut off protesters’ exit routes from the west and the south. A very brief video and two images posted on social media appear to show security forces crossing the Bayint Naung bridge over the Hlaing River, south of Aung Zeya bridge, into Hlaing Tharyar around 3 p.m. Two other photos show at least one bulldozer and two military trucks on an elevated highway roughly a kilometer east of Bayint Naung bridge driving toward Hlaing Tharyar. The one-second video shows three trucks parked at the western end of Bayint Naung bridge. The angle and length of shadows in the video and photos indicate they were taken between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Targeting People Trying to Assist the Wounded
Protesters carried injured people to mobile clinics that had been set up around the wards and to a clinic nearby Mie Kwat Zay. However, all six witnesses said they saw security forces prevent injured people from receiving help, and fire on those trying to reach wounded protesters or retrieve dead bodies.
“Yadanar,” a medical student, anticipated violence on March 14 so volunteered at a mobile clinic near Mie Kwat Zay. She said patients started arriving shortly after 1 p.m.:
At least 10 people who came into the clinic were people who’d been shot. They were shot in the arms, legs, head and neck. One person died at our clinic. There might have been other patients who died on their way to a hospital ... When a headshot patient came in, I saw he was having a seizure. We sent him off with an ambulance to a hospital. But one ambulance that took an injured person from our clinic to a hospital was attacked and the ambulance driver badly injured, so they were even shooting at ambulances.
Witnesses said the security forces piled bodies on the back of military vehicles. Other bodies remained on the street because the security forces shot at protesters who tried to retrieve them. The police and soldiers also shot at protesters and health care workers who tried to assist other wounded protesters. Security forces shot a healthcare worker who was trying to retrieve a body just 30 meters away, hitting the healthcare worker in the thigh, a witness said.
Human Rights Watch analyzed a video recorded around noon about 100 meters east of Bus Stop 5 on Hlaing River Road that shows protesters under gunfire as they attempt to carry wounded demonstrators away from advancing security forces. At least four protesters are visibly injured as they try to help others who are shot; one protester is limp and motionless as he is carried away and another is bleeding from his back on the pavement. Teargas is visible in the center of the road. Gunshots ring out throughout the video, and police and military officers are seen advancing west together toward the bus stop..."
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2021-12-03
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"Across Southeast Asia, parliamentarians are increasingly at risk. Lawmakers who use their mandates to defend human rights or to hold power to account have for years been targeted through trumped-up criminal charges, threats and harassment, physical violence, and detention. In 2021, we continued to see MPs targeted, to a large extent because of the military coup in Myanmar and its devastating aftermath, but also due to alarming developments elsewhere.
This briefing from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) provides an overview of human rights abuses against elected lawmakers in Southeast Asia. The findings in 2021 are stark, and APHR must unfortunately report that the situation facing MPs has only deteriorated further. The number of detained lawmakers in the region rose from just one in 2020, to 91 in 2021 due to the Myanmar military regime’s wave of arrests. In fact, Myanmar has previously been a country where APHR has rarely documented abuses against MPs, but it has now joined the ranks of Southeast Asian states repressing lawmakers.
The coup in Myanmar is the most dramatic example of a wider trend of closing democratic space in the region. In countries where APHR has previously documented abuses against MPs, such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, authorities continued to level baseless criminal charges against opposition MPs, while often also being implicated in or failing to prevent or effectively investigate threats, online abuse, and disinformation campaigns against lawmakers. In 2021, the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region also served as an apparent excuse to justify the silencing of democratic debate, either by targeting lawmakers exercising their freedom of expression to scrutinize official measures, or by suspending parliament, as was the case in Malaysia..."
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ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
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2021-12-03
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In one case, soldiers repeatedly beat a farmer in front of villagers and splashed water on his face to wake him when he passed out
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"Two men were murdered by soldiers after being detained in Mandalay Region this week in seperate incidents, locals have told Myanmar Now.
Than Tun Aung, a 25-year-old farmer, was detained and severely beaten on Monday after soldiers stationed in his village of Khine, Myingyan Township, started firing their guns at random, several locals there said.
He was among 11 men at the village bar at the time who were accused of an “unauthorised gathering” and taken to the local school.
Than Tun Aung fainted from the beatings on his way to the school, but the soldiers splashed him with water to wake him up and kept beating him as they continued on their way, said a local who spoke to eyewitnesses.
“The kid died while they splashed water on him and kicked him repeatedly,” the local said. “They were beating him for ‘not answering’ their questions but the truth is he just couldn’t speak anymore because of his injuries.”
Five hours after his arrest, villagers found his body between the market and the local clinic covered with a blanket. Soldiers told villagers he died of a cold, said another local, who has now fled Khine.
Than Tun Aung’s funeral was held at the village cemetery on Tuesday, but soldiers disrupted the ceremony by blocking the way for people who were carrying his body to be cremated, said the second local.
“The main road to the cemetery is the road near the school where the soldiers are stationed,” he said. “The soldiers came out of the school and told us that they couldn’t let us pass, so we had to go through the woods to get to the cemetery.”
Than Tun Aung leaves behind a 22-year-old wife and a one-year-old son.
Around 30 soldiers have been stationed at the school for about a month and more than 1,500 residents have fled to nearby villages.
The 10 other people detained with Than Tun Aung have been released but are not allowed to leave the village, locals said. “Those who were arrested didn’t dare to flee because the military threatened to harm their families if they did,” said one resident.
Than Tun Aung’s family did not want to speak with the media because soldiers were still in the village, the locals added.
Soldiers have been checking villagers’ mobile phones and social media pages, they said.
There have also been incidents of soldiers detaining villagers and forcing them to sing the Myanmar national anthem while they beat them, the locals said, adding that in other cases soldiers have forced villagers to fight each other.
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment.
In a similar case on Wednesday, Phyo Maung Ye, the 30-year-old owner of the Today teashop in Sintgaing Township’s Kathe village, was shot in the leg three times as he was detained by junta forces and died in custody at the Hpalanbo police station the same day.
Twelve police and soldiers detained Phyo Maung Ye along with his wife and two-year-old son, who were also taken to the police station but released hours later, according to locals.
Phyo Maung Ye was arrested on suspicion of helping to fund the People’s Defence Force (PDF), said one local.
“A Facebook account wrote that Phyo Maung Ye was financially supporting the PDF and he posted a status to refute that claim, but he was arrested at his shop the next day,” said the local. “He was shot three times in his leg during his arrest. We heard he had his arm broken during interrogation as well.”
The police station claimed that Phyo Maung Ye died when he tripped and fell during an escape attempt. They did not allow his family to take his body and said they had cremated it themselves.
“It’s impossible that he tripped and fell and died. He died because they tortured him. He had already been shot when he was arrested,” said another local.
“He was a good person doing honest work. He was not affiliated with the PDF either,” he added. “He did not give them any financial support. It saddens me a lot that our own villager had to experience this.”
The Sintgaing chapter of the PDF said Phyo Maung Ye’s killing was an act of terrorism by the military. “He was not a member and he was not a supporter. They took out their anger on an innocent civilian,” said a member of the group.
Myanmar Now tried to contact the military council and the Hpalanbo police station about Phyo Ye Maung’s death but all calls went unanswered.
In July junta forces arrested and tortured another teashop owner in Sintgaing. Min Thu Tun was detained along with his wife and child in Ohn Pin Chan and reportedly lost his hearing and some of his eyesight while being interrogated.
At least 1,302 civilians have been killed by the junta since it seized power in February and 7,687 remain in junta custody, according to recent figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-03
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The troops took Htoo Myat Lwin and three others during an early morning raid on a house in Dawei
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"Soldiers arrested a prominent protest leader in the southeastern coastal town of Dawei on Tuesday along with three members of the family living in the house where he was hiding, according to a fellow anti-coup activist.
About 30 troops burst into the house at 6:30am and detained 22-year-old Htoo Myat Lwin, an organiser with the Coalition Strike Committee - Dawei. The soldiers also took Hla Pe, 50, along with his 28-year-old son Sai Ko Ko Tun and 18-year-old daughter La Pyae Pyae Tun.
“The house was raided while they were sleeping,” said a member of the strike committee, requesting anonymity. “We heard that they surrounded the house before arresting the victims. The neighbours said that they could hear people being beaten and cursing.”
“It was Htoo Myat Lwin that the military wanted but the hosts were also taken along with him,” he said, adding that a fifth person in the house, who suffers from a cognitive disability, was left behind by the soldiers.
Htoo Myat Lwin is a student at Dawei University. Soldiers found out about his whereabouts after arresting and interrogating nine members of the strike committee in recent days; Htoo Myat Lwin is the tenth member to be arrested since November 25.
“The majority of Htoo Myat Lwin’s friends are in detention now,” the activist said. “He was also called from the phone numbers of his friends who were detained and asked where he was.”
The soldiers took mobile phones, two computers, a motorcycle and books from the house. The strike committee member said the four detainees were taken to an interrogation center, but Myanmar Now was unable to verify this.
Dawei is a stronghold of the anti-coup movement in Tanintharyi Region, where the junta has raided the houses of several National League for Democracy officials. The military has deployed armed troops at security checkpoints across the township, according to locals.
The junta banned the use of motorbikes by two or men at the same time in Dawei and elsewhere in a bid to curb guerrilla forces’ hit-and-run attacks against soldiers. Locals said the ban is causing hardship to people who rely on the vehicles for their livelihoods..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-30
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"Since the February 1st 2021 military coup, the human rights situation in Myanmar has seriously deteriorated. The State Administration Council (SAC) headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has engaged in systematic violence against civilians and stripped away the few key civil and political protections that the already problematic 2008 Constitution was supposed to guarantee, further opening the door for widespread human rights violations. The SAC’s treatment of citizens as enemies of the state and its unrelenting efforts to crush all opposition have resulted in widespread violence and the loss of lives during this first six months of the coup. The SAC has shot and killed peaceful protesters, bombed rural villages forcing thousands to flee, deprived people of access to health services and information, and turned the law against the people of Myanmar to arrest, detain, and torture at will.
As future returnees could potentially face similar In highlighting the human rights violations that have occurred since the February 1st coup, this report presents the degrading security situation and humanitarian crisis that civilians in Southeast Myanmar are currently facing. It also presents the hopes and struggles of rural villagers and civilians, to show how, despite the increased insecurity that they face, they continue to seek out ways to counter a military regime they know to be both illegal and unjust. Most importantly, this report seeks to ensure that the experiences and concerns of rural ethnic villagers are not just heard but addressed.
Overview
Interviews conducted by KHRG reveal the level of violence that the SAC undertook against protesters, and the ways in which protesters have continued to voice their opposition to the coup in the face of increasing brutality and repression by the state military. Protesters recounted stories of fear and insecurity as they encountered the ruthless response of the SAC to civilian opposition, yet equally expressed a strong sense of hope and an unwavering commitment to upholding the fight for democracy and freedom from oppression through to the very end. These interviews also highlight the efforts of civilians to support and sustain each other as protesters and those engaged in civil disobedience sought refuge and protection.
This report also presents the escalation of insecurity in rural ethnic areas, where the Myanmar military has long used violence against civilian villagers as a key strategy in waging war against ethnic armed actors. Although conflict and attacks had been ongoing in certain parts of Southeast Myanmar even prior to the coup, the shifts currently taking place reflect a complete disregard for human rights and signal a return to a “four cuts” approach that, as independent researcher Kim Joliffe has highlighted, “treats civilians not just as ‘collateral damage’ but as a central resource in the battlefield”. Although some areas in Southeast Myanmar have experienced little to no fighting, others have endured an ongoing onslaught of attacks and fighting since the coup. It is estimated that, as of June 23rd, close to 177,000 villagers in Southeast Myanmar, including 50,000 in Kayin State, have been displaced since the February 1st coup (with over 140,000 still experiencing displacement as of August 23rd). KHRG also received a growing number of reports of direct attacks on civilians, including targeted killings, forced labour, looting and confiscation. That, combined with the SAC’s use of the COVID-19 pandemic as an additional weapon of war, has left rural villagers at-risk from multiple forms of attack.
What is evident in both rural and urban areas is not just the increase in acts of violence since the coup, but that the SAC has sought to legitimise its own abusive actions and inscribe in law the deprivation of fundamental human rights. The Myanmar military, in ousting the newly elected civilian government, not only illegally seized power by making unsubstantiated claims about election fraud, but also set about instituting legislative changes that would effectively legalize state-based repression and its own use of excessive force against civilians.
Similarly, the SAC is using the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and calls for ceasefire to then give itself permission to undertake whatever measures it deems necessary to “keep the peace”. Although the SAC announced a unilateral ceasefire on its part since April 2021, it also stipulated that it would continue to respond to “actions that disrupt government security and administration”, thus authorizing its own military offensives. Since the coup, it has repeatedly accused other armed actors of failing to honor peace commitments, and to label any groups that oppose the SAC as terrorists.
From the outset, it has also used the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the Natural Disaster Management Law, to justify arrests. It has limited access to information about the health crisis, and more recently to vital medical care, using the pandemic as a political weapon against the public as well as ethnic armed groups.
With ongoing displacements, a worsening COVID-19 pandemic, and the SAC blocking national and international aid organisations’ access to critical areas, the humanitarian crisis has become dire, placing many in life-threatening situations.
Methodology
This report is based on interviews conducted with rural villagers as well as with participants in the protests and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) who fled to KNU-controlled areas for their safety. KHRG began conducting interviews shortly after the February 1st coup, through the first week of June 2021. A total of 133 interviews were conducted, covering a wide range of topics related to the coup. Forty-nine of those interviews were with people who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, many of whom had either fled to their home village in Southeast Myanmar or been provided refuge in a KNU-controlled area.
This report also draws on raw data reports prepared by KHRG researchers working in local communities within KHRG’s operational area. The raw data for this report covers the period from the beginning of February through the end of July, thus the first six months of the coup. Over 100 raw data submissions were used for this report.
Key Findings
Chapter 1: Protests
After the February 1st coup, protests erupted throughout Myanmar in both urban and rural areas, often drawing tens of thousands of people in large cities, and/or uniting hundreds of villages in rural areas, all voicing their opposition to the coup and military dictatorship. Although peacefully engaging in the right to freedom of expression, civilian protesters became the target of repression and violence at the hands of the military regime.
Since the military overthrew the civilian government on February 1st 2021 and declared a state of emergency allowing for the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial power to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services, it has also instituted laws and policies that restrict or suspend the fundamental rights of citizens. In particular, it has enacted legislative changes that undermine freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to privacy. Although in contravention of international law, these legislative reforms, along with the declaration of a state of emergency, are specifically being used to silence and criminalise any and all forms of dissent. Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, SAC security forces cracked down on the protests using excessive violence, including brutally beating and torturing protesters as well as shooting at them using both rubber and live bullets. Hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands more injured as a direct result of violence by SAC security forces.
“In joining the protests in Yangon and Mandalay, it is like we pick straws over who will die in the street [joining the protests is like a deadly game of chance]. They [police] can shoot people at any time if they want. In fact, they shot people. Many people have already died. They [police] never gave a warning to people before cracking down on the protests.” --Maung E---, a university student in Yangon
KHRG conducted interviews with a number of SAC soldiers and police officers who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, and who confirmed the use of excessive force and violence by security forces during the protests. In some cases, this was violence that they had witnessed, but in other cases, it was violence that they were ordered to undertake as part of their security activities surrounding the protests.
“When there was a protest in Hledan, Yangon we would break up the mass gathering. There was a total of 50 of us. Six of us had real guns [machine guns] including me. We had to fire live rounds [against protesters]. Our bullets are not meant for shooting innocent civilians.” --A police officer based in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo District
As the SAC responded to the protests with increased violence, the protesters adopted more varied protest strategies and also developed self-protection strategies in an attempt to make themselves less vulnerable to injury, violence and arrest by security forces. SAC security forces have also engaged in arrests without providing the reason for the arrest and without allowing access to legal counsel or communication with family members. Likewise, family members and friends of detainees have often been unable to access information about why they were arrested, where they are detained, how they are doing, whether they are alive or dead and other critical information about court proceedings.
“Laws are from their mouth [decided solely by the SAC] because whatever they say is considered law [toward the civilians]; they can kill, they can arrest, they can detain and they can do whatever they want [by the order of SAC authorities]. There is no rule of law. Every action they have been practicing is against the civilians.” --A young teacher from Hpa-an Town
Chapter 2: The Civil Disobedience Movement
On February 2nd 2021, healthcare workers across Myanmar walked off their jobs to express their opposition to the military coup. This form of protest quickly spread to other branches of public service, eventually turning into a nationwide, large-scale Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
While CDM participants in general spoke of the desire for democracy, a return to civilian government, and the hope of undermining the SAC by shutting down the wheels of government, SAC security forces (police and military) who joined the CDM also cited unjust and unlawful orders as motivating factors. The CDM participants with whom KHRG conducted interviews faced major barriers to joining the movement, making it clear that a decision to join could have life-threatening consequences. Since joining the CDM, participants have experienced livelihood issues, increased risks and restrictions, as well as threats of arrest and attack by the SAC against themselves and their family members, leading many to go into hiding.
“I also worry for my family’s security because of the actions that the Burmese military has done. If they cannot arrest me, they will target my family. I heard that they will threaten my wife. I heard that they will harm my family.” --A CSO worker from Ayeyarwady Region
KNU local leaders have been attempting to provide security and necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing for CDM participants who have reached KNU-controlled territory, leading CDM members, protesters and human rights activists to flee to KNU territory seeking protection. Informal networks and local community support have also been particularly strong, with some civilians seeing this as their best way to contribute to the movement.
“Ordinary people like us do not need to participate in the CDM. We just have to support those who do participate in the CDM. The situation happening now is not right, so we have to support them. We have to care for them and we have to give them food, and support them in what they need. They are working for us as well.” --Saw Y--- from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District
Chapter 3: Militarisation and a return to violence
The security situation in rural areas of Southeast Myanmar rapidly degraded during the first six months following the military’s seizure of power. Since the military coup, human rights violations have steadily increased, as have displacements and threats of injury and death to civilians in rural areas. Just the news of the military takeover led many villagers to begin preparing for the possibility of fighting, and thus displacement, and for the re-emergence of the kind of human rights abuses that they had suffered in the past.
“Some people dare not to stay at home anymore. They go to stay at their huts. Those who are living close to the road dare not to sleep at their houses. They heard that Tatmadaw soldiers will patrol so they are afraid and go to sleep in other places. Then, they come back to their houses in the morning. Some people hide food in the jungle. If anything happens, they can go and hide there and they will have food.” --A missionary in Dooplaya District
Increased ground attacks in some areas began shortly following the military takeover but the airstrikes in Karen State, which began on March 27th, marked a pivotal moment in the escalation of fighting and attacks, and have contributed to a growing climate of insecurity that recalls earlier periods of military abuse. t is extremely difficult to estimate the total number of displacements due to conflict since the February 1st military coup. UNHCR, which is working on relief operations, estimated 47,700 in Kayin State, and another 1,100 in Mon State. The figures are likely much higher given the poor access to IDP sites and displacement information in many areas, and the variable nature of displacements, which can be recurring or extended, and can vary from several days to several months or longer. One of the biggest problems continues to be access to aid. Due to both COVID-19 and increased insecurity following the coup, many international stakeholders are no longer operating on the ground in some areas. Even attempts by local stakeholders to provide support to IDPs have met with opposition by the SAC.
“We will be shot dead so no boats dare to run. We dare not go to send rations for the IDPs. The supplies are accumulating on the Thai side. The boats from the Thai side do not go to the Myanmar side because they are afraid they will be shot by SAC soldiers.” --A boat driver interviewed by KIC
While airstrikes and fighting have led to large-scale displacements and a growing humanitarian crisis, the human rights situation has also degraded with an increase in abuses (like forced labour, targeted killings, looting and arbitrary arrest) that had curtailed following the NCA. Areas that have faced less fighting and attacks have still been heavily affected by the overall climate of insecurity. Aside from witnessing the movement of troops and reinforcement of troops and supplies in their region, many villagers noted increased patrolling by armed soldiers.
Another cause of concern for villagers in some areas has come from the emergence of various militia groups. Since the coup, the SAC has been appointing new members who are former Tatmadaw soldiers. They are rotating between different areas within the village tract, and have been appointed specifically to monitor the activity of villagers and the local KNU.
“We only dare to criticise the military coup secretly within our family because there are many junta spies that [report] people who criticise and disagree with the military government to the police.” --An interviewee from Dooplaya District
Since the coup, there has been renewed insecurity and threats to freedom of movement for villagers. The military has been checking travelers and making arrests, which has increased fear surrounding travel. KHRG has received an increasing number of reports about landmine accidents since the military coup. Despite ongoing calls on the Myanmar government and all ethnic armed groups to halt the use of landmines and to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty, the planting of new landmines continues to take place.
Chapter 4: COVID-19 since the coup
The lack of testing and reporting by the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) has not been able to conceal the fact that, as of early July, COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed and Myanmar is facing a serious humanitarian crisis.
Since the announcement of the coup, KHRG has received multiple reports that most of the prevention measures that had been set up to protect villagers from the spread of the virus to rural areas were no longer being adhered to. The lack of accurate information about COVID-19 since the SAC took power has contributed to the sense that COVID-19 was no longer something villagers needed to be concerned about.
“Since the military coup, even in our village and at the national level, people didn’t continue thinking about COVID-19 anymore. I myself didn’t continue thinking about it anymore.” --A village secretary in Noh T’Kaw Township, Dooplaya District
The SAC has not only continued to provide inaccurate information, it has also restricted access to resources and services, and prevented other key actors from helping manage the spread of the virus and address the health needs of the people of Myanmar. Prior to the coup, the NLD government had been working to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, and began making plans for rolling out vaccinations. Because it is now the military government taking over this process, rural villagers are refusing the vaccination due to distrust of the military.
“[W]e worry that the Myanmar military will mix something into the vaccine. […] So no one dares to get the vaccine.” --A villager from T’ Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District
Chapter 5: Challenges to peace, democracy, and development
The coup has had devastating effects on all aspects of daily life in Myanmar, creating impacts as individualised as lack of access to the internet and as widespread as a downturn in the national economy. By eroding possibilities for peace, democracy and development, these problems have touched the lives of all civilians, but have impacted rural villagers in particular ways.
The coup involved not just a wider shift from elected civilian government to military dictatorship but also a replacement of local administrators with SAC-selected individuals. Replacing elected leaders with military-appointed ones not only serves to further undermine the democratic process, it erodes relationships of trust between local communities and the administrators that are supposed to serve and represent them.
“Everything depends on the village administrator, because no matter how much you protect your village, if the village administrator works under the military government you can’t do anything. He will simply send information to the SAC.” --A villager from Ta Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District
The coup has had harsh impacts on Myanmar’s economy, at both the individual and national levels. Civilians across Southeast Myanmar are experiencing job loss, higher prices on necessities, restrictions on travel, and loss of access to telecommunication systems, all of which are increasing food and livelihood insecurity. The CDM has had a large impact on education in Southeast Myanmar. After the SAC seized power, many teachers in government schools joined the CDM, so most of the government schools have had to close. Even when the SAC reopened some government schools on June 1st 2021, there was a shortage of both teachers and students. There have also been heavy impacts on access to healthcare. There are approximately 30,000 physicians in Myanmar, and about 20,000 work for the government hospitals. As a response to the coup, approximately 75 percent of those working in government facilities have joined the CDM and refused to work.
“If people need to go for an operation and they are not allowed to go […] they will just die.” --Naw O--- from Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District
The coup has also had an impact on access to information, through telecommunication interruptions and SAC control of news and media outlets. Telecommunication interruptions are particularly serious in rural areas where information is already limited to what people can access through their phone.
Chapter 6: Moving forward
Although there may have been early confidence that the Spring Revolution would be successful, there have been increasing divides regarding how the fight should go on. Many stressed the importance of continuing the fight until the end, and the need for more government staff to join the CDM. Others noted the lives already sacrificed.
“People from Myanmar have died many times already. Therefore, we must not feel hesitation to die this time [for this cause]. If we are afraid to die this time [for this cause] and just do nothing about it [military dictatorship], our lives will be dead forever.” --An interviewee from Kawkareik Town
For some, the coup has served as an awakening since it highlighted the oppression that ethnic minorities have faced at the hands of the military, as well as the level of violence the Myanmar military is capable of. In the eyes of many, a political solution involving negotiation with the military regime is not possible. Despite the sense that negotiation would not benefit civilians, some believe that the way forward is still through peaceful means. Others spoke of the necessity for well-planned self-defense and carefully executed offensives involving the collaboration of both the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and EAOs. Several interviewees highlighted the need for full inclusion of minority voices in any strategies and plans for moving forward. A strong emphasis was also placed on the need for a federal democracy that allows for self-determination as the only means of ensuring ethnic minority rights and equality.
“I protested for my country to be free from military dictatorship, for my country to become a real federal democracy and for the ethnic minorities to receive equal rights. If we don’t have equal rights in this country while we are living in this country, there is no reason we could consider ourselves citizens of Myanmar.” --A KECD teacher in Dooplaya District
Conclusion
Information continues to pour in regarding incidents of violence, with increasing stories of torture, forced labour and killings in rural Southeast Myanmar. Fighting and attacks continue and are becoming more widespread. Many facing displacement are still not receiving support, and some have reported having little left to eat. Displacements are ongoing and the possibility of seeking refuge across the border in Thailand remains limited. Reports of illness-related deaths are being submitted, yet villagers are unsure whether this is due to COVID-19 or some other illness, since there is little availability of testing or medical care.
Ethnic minorities want their voices to finally be heard, but also to be supported as they stand up for their own rights and for equality and justice.
“We have had [in the past] to solve whatever we face in our own way and suffer it by ourselves. Therefore, people think no one will stand with or for them when they have any problems or face anything. […] [I]t is critical that civilians feel that they are being supported by others, that they are not alone in this fight. They need others to stand with them and beside them.” --An interviewee in Kawkareik Town
Recommendations
To the State Administration Council (SAC)
Immediately step down and hand over power to the National Unity Government (NUG). End the crackdown, arrests and targeted attacks on protesters and CDM participants. Cease the halting and seizure of medical and humanitarian supplies intended to alleviate the COVID-19 and other humanitarian crises in Southeast Myanmar. Reverse the suspension of Sections 5, 7 and 8 of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of the Citizens (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 5/ 2017). Revoke amendments to the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law, the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (SAC Law Nos 3/2021, 5/2021 and 6/2021). End interruptions to communication services and the suppression of media freedom since this is a violation of the right to access information. Cease attacks on civilian areas, as well as patrols and military transports through, in or near villages or livelihood areas; demilitarise areas close to villages and farms by removing troops and camps. Stop all forms of forced labour, including using villagers as human shields, porters, and navigators; and refrain from making arbitrary demands on local communities such as demanding the use of their vehicles, boats or other property for military purposes. End arbitrary and illegal taxation practices, as well as the confiscation of civilian property for military and personal use. Ensure compliance with international humanitarian standards and human rights law; and end impunity by ensuring that any armed actor who has violated the rights of any person is held accountable for abuses in fair and transparent investigations and judicial processes in independent and impartial civilian courts. Put an end to clearance operations, as well as activities, commonly termed the “four cuts strategy”, that prevent civilian access to food, communication, aid and other basic necessities.
To international organisations, NGOs, funding agencies, and foreign governments
Refrain from giving any legitimacy to the military junta and from recognising them in any international forum. Exclude the SAC as a partner for the distribution of aid. Urge UN agencies in Myanmar to take a clear and strong position in responding to the situation on the ground, and to use all possible resources to limit the human rights abuses and violations undertaken by the SAC. Provide financial and technical support as needed for the NUG, including on international human rights laws and standards and other matters of governance. Consult and sign MoUs with the NUG and EAOs to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis across the country. Support a UN Security Council resolution on a global arms embargo. Diversify international funding distribution so that more funding is made directly available to non-state actors, particularly ethnic service providers and civil society organisations, regardless of their registration status. Prioritise methods of service delivery and communication that rely on local CSOs/CBOs and ethnic service providers that have the ability and networks (due to consistent access and trust from the community) for local implementation of support programmes. Recognize the complex logistics of service delivery and be willing to contribute to solutions proposed by local CSO/CBOs and ethnic service providers. Mitigate the impacts of displacement, armed conflict and insecurity on livelihood through increased support and initiatives that reduce the vulnerability of small farmers and day labourers. Support EHOs and other non-state health actors, both regarding COVID-19 prevention and treatment (including screening/testing and the running of quarantine facilities), and the provision of other essential health services in rural areas. Urge Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure that their authorities do not deny entry to people crossing the border seeking refuge; and encourage them to work with cross border organisations to develop support and protection services for those seeking refuge. Provide neighboring countries with the necessary resources and technical assistance to provide humanitarian aid, including for COVID-19, for the people from Myanmar who are fleeing the military violence. Engage with Myanmar’s neighbours to ensure the passage of aid to Myanmar, in particular through cross border aid organizations and local civil society organizations already operating in the area. Advocate for the release of political prisoners, including political actors, protesters, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and their family members. Insist that the Security Council refer Myanmar to the ICC or set up an ad hoc tribunal to ensure all perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass atrocities are prosecuted and that justice is attained for victims and survivors.
To the SAC and EAOs/EAGs
Put an immediate halt to the planting of landmines and ban all further use of landmines; mark all areas contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and inform the local communities of these locations for their safety. Comply with international humanitarian standards and human rights law, particularly with regard to the protection and safety of civilians..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Full-Report-en.pdf- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Full-Report-bu.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Briefer-Karen.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Briefer-en.pdf
- 2021-11-24-KHRG-Military-Atrocities-and-Civilian-Resilience_Briefer-bu.pdf
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Description:
"Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is pleased to announce the release of its latest report, Military Atrocities and Civilian Resilience: Testimonies of injustice, insecurity and violence in Southeast Myanmar during the 2021 coup. This report highlights the serious crimes committed by the Myanmar military and the deteriorating human rights, humanitarian, and human security crisis as a result of the brutal violence inflicted upon civilians in Southeast Myanmar and throughout Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021. This report also presents the hopes and struggles of rural villagers and civilians, demonstrating that, despite the increased insecurity they face, they continue to seek ways to counter a military regime that is illegal and unjust.
Through interviews conducted with rural villagers as well as with participants in the protests and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), this report exposes the violence that the military-led State Administration Council (SAC) has used against protesters, and the ways in which protesters have vehemently continued to voice their opposition to the coup in the face of increasing brutality and repression by the military. Interviewees recounted stories of fear and insecurity as they encountered the ruthless response of the SAC to their efforts to defend their rights and the future of their country. And yet, they also expressed a strong sense of hope and an unwavering commitment to upholding the fight for federal democracy and freedom from oppression to the very end.
This report also presents the increased insecurity in rural ethnic areas, where the Myanmar military has long used violence against civilian villagers as a key strategy in waging war against ethnic armed actors. This escalation of violence by the Myanmar military has led to the widespread displacement of villagers in Southeast Myanmar. It is estimated that, as of June 23rd, close to 177,000 villagers in Southeast Myanmar, including 50,000 in Karen State, have been displaced since the February 1st coup (with over 140,000 still experiencing displacement as of August 23rd, 2021).
Also explored in this report are the wider impacts of the coup, like the breakdown of the healthcare system since the military coup and the SAC's restrictions on access to information and healthcare services vital to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
KHRG hopes this report will allow national and international stakeholders to understand better the impact the military coup has had on ethnic minorities in Southeast Myanmar. Included in the report are several recommendations for national and international stakeholders. These recommendations state how stakeholders can develop and implement policies that limit the power of the SAC; facilitate humanitarian access without working with the SAC; protect human rights; and promote accountability for international crimes..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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Families of activists hunted by authorities are often targeted for reprisal.
Description:
"Myanmar families fearing arrest or confiscation of their property are severing ties with sons or daughters active in opposing military rule, with announcements posted prominently in public media, sources say.
At least 15 activists or militia members were disowned by their parents during the last week, according to media monitoring by RFA’s Myanmar Service.
Film actor Pai Phyo Thu, pop singer Kyar Paul, and well-known news announcer Kyaw Thet Linn — who had worked for Myanmar Radio and Television before the Feb. 1 military coup that overthrew civilian rule — were among those disowned.
Kyaw Thet Linn told RFA he understood the reasons for his parents’ decision.
“My parents, who are over 80, are more in danger than I am because they can’t run away. And if I return home, it would be dangerous for them and me both,” he said. “So, I think they did this hoping that it would be safer for everyone to totally cut their ties with me.”
“It hurts a lot, because both my parents and my wife have now abandoned me. But our sacrifices are nothing compared to the sacrifices suffered by those who have fallen in the revolution,” he said.
Sources said that the families of anti-junta activists living in countries beyond the reach of Myanmar security services have also been targeted for reprisal, leading them to cut ties with their offspring as well.
Ko Linn, an activist living in a Western country, says he has been given up by his family in Myanmar because he has led anti-junta protests in the country where he now lives.
“Some of us Burmese nationals living overseas have been staging protests in support of the shadow National Unity Government, raising funds and supporting Civil Disobedience Movement workers, and all these actions have affected my mother,” he said.
“My family back home has been questioned, and my mother has been detained because they couldn’t get to me instead. She has now been charged under certain laws,” he said.
Ko Linn’s mother has now been held in custody for almost two months, Ko Linn’s sister said, adding that she had to throw her brother out of the family in the hope that the move might get her mother released.
“My mother is still under arrest, and my family members are being threatened. Activists’ family members are now under pressure in Burma," she said, referring to Myanmar by its former colonial-era name.
“I have nothing to say about my brother’s situation,” she added.
'No guarantees'
Khin Maung Myint, a veteran high court lawyer in Myanmar’s commercial center and former capital Yangon, said that the announcements of severed family ties may not prevent arrests, as the country’s military rulers are simply arresting whomever they want.
“Despite these announcements, there is no guarantee the junta won’t take action against these families,” he said.
“I think that people are making these announcements out of fear, hoping they might be spared and that fall-out from the actions of their loved ones might be prevented."
Similar moves were made during national unrest in Myanmar in 1988, when troops killed thousands of civilians protesting another period of military rule, said Kyaw Htwe, a member of the Central Working Committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the government that was overthrown by a military coup earlier this year.
“There were many such incidents in 1988, and even after a person was imprisoned, his family could not carry on with their businesses unless they cast him out,” he said. “It’s not hard to imagine how heartbreaking it would be for the rest of the family to take this as a precautionary measure.”
Myanmar’s military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1, claiming voter fraud had led to a landslide victory for national leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party in the country’s 2020 election.
The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide demonstrations calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,291 people and arresting 7,530 over the last nine months, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP-Burma).
More than 70 family homes have been forcibly confiscated by military authorities since August, according to RFA records..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"For Immediate Release
DATE: 24 November 2021
Civilians in Myanmar have unjustly been subjected to systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the military junta for decades. A new briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma), “Democracy Derailed in Myanmar,” details how the junta has curtailed attempts for democratic reform in Myanmar.
A failed attempt at seizing control of the country by the Myanmar military on 1 February 2021 has left the country in desperate need of humanitarian assistance alongside worsening economic and social crises. With over 3 million civilians lacking critical life-saving materials including food, water and shelter in the midst of raging internal conflict, the Myanmar Generals have effectively left the most vulnerable in oblivion. Villages under martial-law, amid sweeping restrictions on movement and access to information, has made basic survival a daily challenge.
Among ND-Burma’s findings, ongoing conflict in urban and rural areas, as well as the suppression of fundamental freedoms, including that of the press, and the mishandled COVID-19 response has led to the conclusion that the junta is on a war-path which includes the destruction and annihilation of anyone or anything that stands in their way. Using evidence collected by ND-Burma members including the Chin Human Rights Organization and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, and desk-research, it is abundantly clear that long held impunity is emboldening the junta to commit state-wide atrocities.
Any government which uses violence to suppress basic rights and freedoms must be condemned in the harshest possible terms. It is unacceptable that civilians are fearing for their lives in the midst of a brutal, militarized civil war. Longstanding calls for their protection must be heard, and freedom of expression must not be used to derail civilian rights.
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Women's rights, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
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Description:
"၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့
ဆယ်စုနှစ်များနှင့်ချီ၍ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ စနစ်တကျ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ကို မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် လက်မခံဘဲ ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးမှတ်တမ်းကွန်ရက် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) (ND-Burma) မှ ထုတ်ပြန်သည့် “ဒီမိုကရေစီလမ်းကြောင်းပေါ်မှ လမ်းချော်ခဲ့သောမြန် မာ” အစီရင်ခံစာတွင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုက မြန်မာ့ဒီမိုကရေစီ အကူးအပြောင်းအား မည်သို့ ဟန့် တားနှောင့်ယှက်နေသည်ကို တင်ပြထားသည်။
မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ရက်တွင် အာဏာသိမ်း၍ တိုင်းပြည်အာဏာကို မတ ရား ရယူပြီးနောက် အလွန်စိုးရိမ်ဖွယ် လူသားချင်းစာနာသည့် အရေးပေါ်အကူအညီများ လိုအပ်ခြင်း နှင့်အတူ လူမှုရေး စီးပွားရေး ချွတ်ခြုံချ ဆိုးရွားလာသည်။ ပြင်းထန်သည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူ ၃ သန်းခန့်မှာ စားရေ ရိက္ခာ၊ ရေနှင့် နေထိုင်စရာ အပါအဝင် လူ့ဘဝအသက်ရှင်သန်ရေး အ တွက် လိုအပ်သည့်အထောက်အကူပစ္စည်းများ ကင်းမဲ့ ချို့တဲ့လျှက်ရှိပြီး စစ်ဗိုလ်ချုပ်ကြီးများသည် ထိခိုက်နစ်နာ အလွယ်ဆုံးသူများအားလည်း မေ့လျော့ပစ်ထားကြသည်။
စစ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးဥပဒေအောက်ရှိ ရွာသားများမှာ ခရီးသွားလာခွင့်နှင့် သတင်းအချက်အလက်ရရှိမှု အပေါ် တင်းကြပ် ကန့်သတ်ခံရခြင်းကြောင့် နေ့စဥ် အသက်ဆက် ရှင်သန်ရေးအတွက် အခက်အခဲ များနှင့် ကြုံတွေ့ရသည်။
ND-Burma မှ တွေ့ရှိချက်အရက် ကျေးလက်နှင့် မြို့ပြများတွင် ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသည့် တိုက်ပွဲများ၊ သတင်းလွတ်လပ်မှုအပါအဝင် အခြေခံလွတ်လွပ်ခွင့်များကို ဖိနှိပ်ခြင်းနှင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါကို ထိရောက်စွာ မကိုင်တွယ် မဖြေရှင်းနိုင်တို့က စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့သည် ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး ၄င်းတို့ရပ်တည်မှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သည့် မည်သူ့ကိုမဆို သုတ်သင်ချေမှုန်း ဖျက်ဆီးမည်ကို ပြသ နေသည်။ မွန်ပြည်လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဖောင်ဒေးရှင်းနှင့် ချင်းလူ့အခွင့်အရေးအဖွဲ့အပါအဝင် ND-Burma အဖွဲ့ဝင်များမှ သက်သေအထောက်အထားများ မှတ်တမ်းတင် စုဆောင်းမှုအရ စစ်တပ်သည် ကာလကြာရှည် အသုံးပြုနေသည့် အပြစ်ရှိသူများအပေါ် အပြစ်ပေး အရေးယူခြင်းမရှိမှုကြောင့် နိုင်ငံနှင့်ချီ၍ ကျယ်ပြန့်သည့် ကြမ်းကြုတ်ရက်စက်မှုများကို ဆက်လက်ကျူးလွန်နေသည်မှာ ထင်ရှားသည်။
မည်သည့်အစိုးရမဆို အခြေခံအခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်များအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက် ချိုးဖောက် လာပါက အပြင်းထန်ဆုံး စကားလုံးများဖြင့် ပစ်တင်ရှုံ့ချရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ကြမ်းကြုတ် ရက်စက်ပြီး စစ်အင်အား တိုးချဲ့ချထား တပ်လွှမ်းမိုးသည့် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူများသည် ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ ဘေးကင်း လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်နေရသည်မှာ လက်ခံနိုင်စရာ အကြောင်းမရှိပေ။ ၄င်းတို့ဘဝ လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရရေးအတွက် ကာလကြာရှည် တောင်းဆိုနေမှုကို မဖြစ်မနေ နားထောင်ရ မည်ဖြစ်ပြီး လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်မှာလည်း နိုင်ငံသားအခွင့်အရေးမှ လမ်းချော်သွားရမည် မဟုတ်ပေ။..."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
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Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Women's rights, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
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"The bodies of a 23-year-old female medic and two male members of the Kale People’s Defense Force (PDF) were found at a camp which was raided by junta troops last Tuesday in Kale Township, Sagaing Region.
The civilian resistance group said victims were Biak Rem Chin, Cher Thang Puia and Ram Mawia.
Biak Rem Chin, also known as Chin Chin, was providing medical training at the camp. She had been shot in the forehead while Cher Thang Puia and Ram Mawia showed signs of torture on their faces.
During the raid, the junta captured nine female medics at the base and their condition remains unknown.
The three deaths mean the numbers killed by the military regime is at least 1,281, reported the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which records killings and arrests by the junta. The group estimated that the actual number of victims is much higher.
According to the AAPP’s latest report, junta forces have killed around 50 civilians so far this month, including five teenagers, bystanders, villagers, a striking teacher and a hostage.
High-school teacher U Zaw Min Aung, 40, who joined the civil disobedience movement by refusing to work under the regime, was tortured to death in interrogation hours after being detained in Myin Thar village, Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region.
He was seized with another civilian on the night of Nov. 17 and accused of having links to PDFs.
Ko Ye Aung, who was seized as a hostage in Kyauktada village in Mandalay Region was tortured to death during interrogation, the AAPP said.
On Nov. 12, Ko Myint Naing and Ko Ye Aung, the father and uncle of a young activist who faced an arrest warrant for incitement, were detained. The next day, Ko Ye Aung’s family was told to retrieve his body, which was apparently covered in torture injuries.
Junta forces have detained more than 10,000 people, while nearly 2,000 people face arrest warrants.
Numerous relatives of wanted activists have been taken hostage by the junta.
The AAPP said the 13-year-old son of National League for Democracy member U Htay Aung was seized when junta forces could not find him.
On Nov. 13 morning, the junta seized the wife of U Thein Naing Tun and a young philanthropist named Ko Thein Zaw as hostages in Taung Tha Township, Mandalay Region, when troops failed to find former village administrator U Thein Naing Tun and two other wanted people..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political History, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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Sub-title:
Retired teacher Neih Ki Yaw was determined to make the third coup of his lifetime the last his country would have to suffer
Description:
"Neih Ki Yaw, a native of southern Chin State’s Mindat Township, was born a year after Myanmar won its independence from British colonial rule.
He was still a boy when the country first fell under military rule nearly 60 years ago, but was already a father of five (with one more on the way) by the time of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
In the 1990s, as the army strengthened its grip after mounting another bloody coup to hold on to power, he lost his wife and struggled to raise his family on his own.
Eventually, he retired from his job as a middle-school teacher and dedicated himself to serving his community. Then, a little over a decade ago, he witnessed the first signs of real change in his lifetime, as the military allowed the first election in 20 years.
No doubt, he hoped to live out his years believing that his children’s children would never have to know the harsh realities of life under a brutal dictatorship. But Myanmar’s military had different ideas.
When the army stole power again in February, for the third time since his birth, Neih Ki Yaw was determined to resist it in any way he could.
Not letting his age stand in his way, he took part in anti-coup protests—and then, as the regime moved to crush all opposition to its rule, he joined the armed resistance movement.
In the end, this decision cost him his life. Earlier this month, a piece of shrapnel from an artillery shell hit him in the back while he was fighting on the frontline, killing him instantly.
His life ended very differently from the way it began—as a citizen of a newly liberated country—but serves as a reminder of the timeless, and ageless, desire for freedom from oppression.
‘Determined to win’
Neih Ki Yaw was an outstanding student in his youth. As an eighth grader, he won an award for excellence, signalling a promising future.
Growing up in Mindat, however, his prospects were limited. As the poorest state in a country that grew steadily more impoverished over the decades due to military mismanagement of the economy, Chin State did not offer many opportunities.
Despite this, however, Neih Ki Yaw remained in the place where he was born and raised, choosing to become a teacher rather than leave in search of better prospects elsewhere.
Our ethnic regions have faced a lot of injustice under all these dictatorships, and he was well aware of this. That’s why he was determined to win this fight at all costs
Many years later, it was this same commitment to his homeland that compelled him to join the fight against a junta that threatens to rob another generation of its potential.
“Our ethnic regions have faced a lot of injustice under all these dictatorships, and he was well aware of this. That’s why he was determined to win this fight at all costs,” said a friend who worked with him to help develop his neighbourhood in Sawntaung, the village he lived in until his death.
Mindat was among the first places in Myanmar to see the emergence of an armed resistance movement. In late April, local people armed only with traditional hunting rifles began to form into small units to defend anti-coup protesters facing lethal crackdowns by regime forces.
Later, these same units coalesced into what would become the Chinland Defence Force (CDF). Over time, they began to fashion more sophisticated weapons, including handmade pistols and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
As a reserve member of the CDF, Neih Ki Yaw took responsibility for maintaining weapons and making IEDs to be used against military vehicles pouring into Chin State with reinforcements.
“We were so proud of him for playing such a big part in the revolution from his home,” said one of his four sons, a former forestry department employee who quit his government job to join the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Perhaps proudest of all was his youngest son, who took his father’s handmade mines with him when he went to the frontline as part of the armed resistance.
A failed mission
For months, the CDF carried out successful attacks on regime forces using these explosives. However, with the junta’s launch of Operation Anawrahta in October, their efforts to hold back the massive movement of troops proved less effective.
On October 13, a convoy of 70 military trucks and two tanks travelling from Pakokku stopped in Mindat en route to Matupi, in western Chin State. The CDF had laid IEDs along the Mindat-Matupi road to prevent it from reaching its destination, but due to demining and poor weather conditions, only a few were detonated.
When we decided to pull back so that we could return fire, he stayed behind to draw in the junta’s forces. That’s when he was hit
The failure of that mission was a huge disappointment to Neih Ki Yaw, and probably one of the key reasons that he felt a need to go to the frontline, according to CDF spokesperson Yaw Mahn.
“He decided to go to the frontlines because he was afraid his comrades would be hurt by his mines. He was also quite unhappy that they didn’t stop that convoy,” he said.
When the convoy returned to Mindat from Matupi in early November, Neih Ki Yaw left home to join a group of CDF fighters sent to intercept it.
“He didn’t tell us that he was going, but I figured he had already made up his mind. He just gathered all of his weapons and explosives and left for the frontline,” his youngest son told Myanmar Now.
“We didn’t want him to go as he was quite old, but we didn’t try to stop him,” he added.
Fighting spirit
Neih Ki Yaw met his end near Milestone 48 on the Mindat-Matupi road. It was here that he and his comrades came under artillery fire and Neih Ki Yaw decided to sacrifice his life so that others in his unit could retreat, according to Yaw Mahn.
“When we decided to pull back so that we could return fire, he stayed behind to draw in the junta’s forces. That’s when he was hit. A piece of shrapnel penetrated the left side of his back.”
His body was carried back to his home village, where he received a Christian burial at the local cemetery on the morning of November 5. Another ceremony was held for him in Kalay, which has also been a major centre of anti-regime activity. The town, located some 300km to the north in Sagaing Region, also has a large Chin community.
“It was just so sudden. The realization that I didn’t have a father anymore just broke me. But we are proud of him for giving his life for federal democracy, for his people, and for his country,” said his youngest son, the CDF member.
A close friend who asked to remain anonymous said that Neih Ki Yaw was the first person from his village of more than 600 people to die in battle against the junta.
“When the revolution is over, we plan to hold a ceremony to recognize him as a martyr of our cause,” he said, adding that Neih Ki Yaw’s fighting spirit was a source of pride to many living in the Chin Hills.
It was just so sudden. The realization that I didn’t have a father anymore just broke me
His youngest son also vowed to keep his memory alive by continuing the fight until it achieves its goal of ending Myanmar’s decades of oppressive military rule once and for all.
“This is a war and people die during wars. We can’t let his death be the end of our revolution. We will have to continue fighting until the end,” he said.
“We have already decided to end this dictatorship for good. Therefore, we must keep fighting in every way we can,” he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political
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"Being unbowed, defiant and outspoken are trademarks of Nan Khin Htwe Myint, the detained Karen State chief minister of the ousted National League for Democracy government.
When the military staged a coup on Feb. 1, the 67-year-old was detained, like other NLD government officials. She told The Irrawaddy in February that during her house arrest, the Karen woman challenged the commander who detained her, saying, “If the military thinks there is vote fraud, I am ready to contest with you via an open ballot system anytime, rather than a secret ballot.” That was her response after the commander read her the regime’s official notice announcing the coup, which said the military seized power due to electoral fraud. The commander responded with an uneasy laugh.
Even under house arrest, she urged the people to continue their anti-regime strike in whatever ways possible, whether by raising three-finger salutes—a symbol of defiance against military rule—banging on pots and pans, or joining the civil disobedience movement (CDM).
She herself engaged in all these different means of anti-regime protest. As she still had access to her phone, Nan Khin Htwe Myint gave interviews to the media, urging public support for “final efforts” to strike against the regime and to speak up for the release of detained leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
She even posted a video online calling on people to unite to fight against military rule and urging soldiers to defend the people and unite with the general public.
On Feb. 8, two days after tens of thousands of Myanmar people took to the streets rejecting the military coup, she was taken to Hpa-an Prison in the Karen State capital.
In May, she was sentenced to two years in prison for comments she made following the Feb. 1 coup calling for people to show unity in striking against the regime, which were deemed by the junta to be incitement.
Then on Nov. 9, the NLD Central Executive Committee member was sentenced to 75 years in prison on four corruption charges—which she denied—by the junta court inside Hpa-an Prison. She is now serving a total of 77 years in prison, a move by which the junta hopes to ensure that the core NLD member stays behind bars.
Her family and people close to her say it shows the depth of the military’s grudge against her for her outspokenness and defiance.
Dedicated democracy activist
Nan Khin Htwe Myint has made many sacrifices due to her activism and family history of opposing military rule.
Her father was the Karen State head of the AFPFL (Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League) in the years shortly before and after independence from the British. Through family discussions Nan Khin Htwe Myint gained a homegrown knowledge of federalism, as well as political and ethnic history. Under Myanmar’s military rulers, her family was targeted for persecution for their political ties.
She has inherited her father’s commitment to working for ethnic rights and equality. She told The Irrawaddy in 2016 that she “is dedicated to establishing my country as a federal-based democratic nation.”
She was detained for the first time in 1975 for taking part in the student movement and imprisoned for six years. She continued to be imprisoned; she was jailed for two years in 1997, and then arbitrarily detained multiple times throughout the 1990s, without any charges.
She became a dedicated member of the NLD upon its formation in 1988, following the nationwide uprising that year. She contested and won a seat in the 1990 general election, in Hpa-an Constituency, the same constituency she represented in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.
The military regime’s targeted acts of oppression against her include prison sentences and numerous arbitrary detentions. Now, she is being defamed by the junta with corruption charges. The allegation is ironic given that as chief minister of Karen State, Nan Khin Htwe Myint was known for her anti-graft stance.
“We are really surprised by the charges and the verdicts,” said her younger brother Saw Than Htut, who won election to an Upper House constituency in the 2020 election.
“We, ourselves, loathe committing graft. She has never committed any corruption. The charges are a complete swindle,” said the brother. “The junta’s charges against her are totally based on grudges as she is a decisive, outspoken and courageous politician.”
Those who know her well speak of her as leading a very simple and far from luxurious life, even though she was the chief minister. She didn’t even own a car.
A senior NLD leader who has known her for more than 30 years, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she is loyal to both the party and the country and “a role-model” in the NLD after chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Trumped-up charges
After they were detained in prison in the second week of February, the regime filed complaints against Nan Khin Htwe Myint and U Than Naing, Karen State’s municipal minister under the NLD government, accusing them of violating tender and financial regulations related to infrastructure development projects in Karen State. She was given 75 years while her colleague got a total of 92 years for corruption and sedition.
The pair told the court that they “didn’t commit the offenses,” according to their lawyer U Aung Thein.
A source close to the court said that “the rulings were unjust” because they were entirely based on the prosecutors’ arguments, neglecting the defense lawyers’ arguments. The judge just read out a prepared ruling, the source said.
Some lawyers said such cases could be solved through departmental inquiries and did not need to be brought to trial.
“These cases are simply based on grudges,” said a lawyer who is familiar with the cases.
Knowing her integrity, a judge reportedly apologized to her during one proceeding, according to the source close to the court.
Junta’s grudges against NLD
Reflecting their desire for NLD members to stay behind bars, the Myanmar junta’s grudges against the party’s leaders become more obvious by the day. Nan Khin Htwe Myint’s cases are just the latest examples.
Similar charges have been brought against other senior leaders including detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other chief ministers.
The junta has filed 11 charges against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD party chairperson, including for sedition, alleged breach of COVID-19 restrictions, violating the Official Secrets Act and corruption, which are also widely believed to be trumped-up charges.
The 76-year-old Nobel Laureate faces up to 102 years in prison if found guilty.
In the 10 months since the military coup, the junta’s courts across the nation have handed jail sentences to 286 people including NLD members, former lawmakers, students and civilians participating in the peaceful anti-regime movement, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which documents rights abuses and killings.
Civilian courts have sentenced them to terms ranging from at least two years to life imprisonment, while fewer than a dozen civilians have been sentenced to death by a military court.
Among them, 80-year-old NLD patron U Win Htein was sentenced to 20 years in prison for high treason by a court inside Naypyitaw Prison for criticizing the coup on Oct. 29.
Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu was sentenced to two years in prison for incitement by Sittwe Court on Oct. 8. Magwe Region Chief Minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo was sentenced to the same term on June 8. Mandalay Region Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who is also the NLD’s vice chair, is also accused of sedition and corruption, and awaits trial..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, Articles on the NLD, Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
The 40-year-old high school teacher was taken into military custody at 11am—by 5pm his family was notified that he had died
Description:
"A teacher from Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township who had been taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. Within hours, his family was notified that he had died at an interrogation centre.
Zaw Min Aung, 40, was a high school teacher participating in a general strike across Myanmar in accordance with the CDM, which aims to topple the junta that seized power in February’s military coup.
He was arrested from his home in Myintha village at around 11am by a large group of soldiers and policemen.
A local teacher told Myanmar Now that the victim’s family was notified at around 5pm by officials from the police station in the nearby village of Kyar Nyat that he had died.
“We were only told that he died during the interrogation. We don’t know the exact cause of his death. His body was all wrapped up with only his face exposed,” the teacher said, adding that Zaw Min Aung was reportedly cremated at the Kyar Nyat cemetery.
Another local said that it was likely that Zaw Min Aung was wrongly flagged by a military informant as being involved in the anti-coup movement beyond his participation in the CDM, and was subsequently targeted.
“He was a very honest and quiet person. He liked to help people, too. His only political action was taking part in the CDM. I think he was tipped off to the military by an informant,” the local man said.
Another Myintha resident, 30-year-old Moe Kyaw, was also arrested for shouting warnings to villagers that junta troops had arrived on Wednesday. He was later released from the Kyar Nyat police station, but was reportedly tortured during his interrogation, another villager told Myanmar now.
Of Zaw Min Aung, the latter villager said, “it saddens me a lot to see that a teacher from our village had to face such a fate.”
Myanmar Now tried to contact the Kyar Nyat police station in Thabeikkyin regarding the arrests and the teacher’s death, but all calls went unanswered.
Zaw Min Aung leaves behind a wife and two young sons.
Other teachers participating in the CDM have been recently targeted in Mandalay Region, arrested and killed in military custody.
Thein Zaw, a teacher from Kin village in Madaya Township, was accused of supporting the anti-coup People’s Defence Force and kidnapped by the military on October 6. He was forced to guide his captors to his home three days later, and was killed en route. His body was disposed of by the junta’s armed forces near the village cemetery.
Win Lwin, from Ywar Bo village in Sintgaing Township was also arrested on November 1 and died one day later in military custody.
Villagers in Leik San Khun in Amarapura Township tore up a notice posted on the junta’s local administration office, threatening teachers with death if they did not return to work.
Soldiers responded by carrying out a raid on a group of locals preparing for a wedding, and beating those present.
Thabeikkyin Township was once the site of mass demonstrations against military rule, but the protests waned after leaders were forced into hiding by the junta’s crackdowns..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-19
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"Civilian resistance groups are still trying to rescue nine female civilian fighters captured by the junta earlier this week in Sagaing Region’s Kale Township.
With tensions rising in the township, local People’s Defense Forces (PDF) have warned residents not to travel on the Gangaw-Kale Road, which is used by junta soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee, a militia group trained and armed by the military regime.
On Tuesday, junta soldiers raided a base where over 20 civilian resistance fighters from the Kale PDF Battalion 3 were staying. Two male fighters and ten female members of the PDF’s medical team were at the base at the time of the raid.
Kale PDF confirmed that those captured were medics from the resistance group. The Kale PDF said that it found the bodies of two male members and a 23-year-old female medic at the site on Thursday.
Combined forces from the Kale PDF, Chin Nationalities Defense Force (CNDF), Chinland Defense Force, Ranger Kale Defense Force (RKDF) and other community-based resistance groups have been battling regime troops to rescue the captured PDF members.
“We are very sorry that some of those captured from Battalion 3 are our former colleagues. We will fight tooth and nail to rescue the captured members,” said the RKDF in a statement.
CNDF said at least 20 junta soldiers were killed in Tuesday’s fighting. A civilian resistance fighter was slightly injured by an artillery strike.
A combined force of local resistance groups also attacked junta soldiers on Tuesday in the southwest of Kale Township. They also attacked the police station in Tar Han Ward on Tuesday, and an explosion took place near the runway of Kale airport on Wednesday. Despite the fighting, anti-regime protests are continuing in Kale.
In response to the attacks, junta soldiers torched at least 15 houses in two villages on the Kale-Gangaw road on Thursday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-19
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The troops also badly beat Htay Aung’s wife when they raided his home in Mandalay Region
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"Police took a 13-year-old boy hostage from a village in Mandalay’s Amarapura Township on Sunday when they were unable to find and arrest his father, who is a local member of the National League for Democracy (NLD). locals said.
The police officers also badly beat the wife of Htay Aung, who is in hiding after fleeing his village of Kantaw.
“The wife was covered in blood from their beatings,” said a local man who wanted to remain anonymous. “When the family went to the junta’s administrator to ask about the child, they told them that they would release the kid if the father turned himself in.”
The boy was reportedly being held at Myitnge police station as of Wednesday.
Another villager said it was unclear why junta authorities are targeting Htay Aung. “The man is not even a party leader, he’s just a regular member,” the local said. “We don’t know why they were looking for him so desperately. Our best guess is that a military informant named him.”
In October, soldiers put up notices containing death threats at the local administration office in the Yay Kyi Pauk village tract, where Kantaw is situated. The notice ordered teachers taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) to return to work, the two locals said.
Villagers tore up the notices and were later beaten by soldiers for doing so, they added.
Last week the same thing happened in the nearby village of Leik San Khun; villagers tore up notices containing death threats to teachers who refuse to return to work and were then beaten by soldiers.
The Mandalay regional police force did not answer calls seeking comment on the detained boy.
The coup regime has taken dozens of family members hostage, including young children, in a bid to force its opponents to give themselves up in recent months.
Last week a man was killed in detention after junta authorities in Madaya Township detained him because they were unable to find his nephew..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-18
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"It is a true pleasure to join you this evening to mark the opening of the
Myanmar Diaspora, Human Rights Advocacy, Capacity Building Program. I have
been involved in organising similar training courses for Burmese activists in
Thailand. As a facilitator and co-organizer of these trainings, I was very
impressed with the DTP program and, of course, I am a great fan of Mr. Jose
Ramos-Horta. We shared the same vision and mission for human rights and for
democracy. I take great pride in now addressing a DTP course as the National
Unity Government’s (NUG) Minister of Human Rights. Some of you are joining
us from inside Myanmar, where you continue to fight for freedom, rights and
democracy at great personal risk. This takes tremendous courage and I thank
you for your commitment to our people and to our nation. As of today, at
least 1,260 of our people, including children, have been killed by the military
junta. Another 10,143 have been arrested, while 7,251 remain in detention
subject to torture, disappearances and sexual violence. Another 65 people
have been sentenced to death by military tribunals. Senior United Nations
officials, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special
Rapporteur on Myanmar have held the military responsible for a human rights
catastrophe. They have also said that the military’s atrocities likely comprise
crimes against humanity and war crimes. This is because their attacks are
deliberate, widespread and systematic, target civilians, and are conducted in
the full knowledge of the junta leadership.
To repeat, these crimes include murder, rape, severe deprivation of physical
liberty, and enforced disappearances. Tragically, for so many in Myanmar, the
fight for human rights has come at the cost of their lives or freedom. My own
story goes back to 1988 and that revolution of our generation. The military’s
atrocities drove us into the jungles and then, just as now, the youth were
forced to take up arms to fight for their survival. For many years I was exiled
from our homeland, as I am again now. And just as then, I remain committed
to the overthrow of the military. It was in the jungle camps that I first grasped
the true meaning of human rights. At the 1988 protests, we would shout for
democracy, shout for human rights, but I did not yet have a true sense of what
these things were. Out of a hunger for knowledge, we set up a "Jungle
University” in our camp that was filled with donated books. Here I found a
copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it was unlike anything I
had read. It spoke of equality and it challenged discrimination. Amongst all the
suffering and violations that I saw around me, human rights finally made sense.
I began to collect people’s stories and to document their experiences to share
with the world. To shine light on the military’s crimes against its own people.
As this effort grew, I got the opportunity to study at Columbia University and,
from there, I started the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB).
Our mission at HREIB was to share knowledge, to teach human rights in
meaningful ways, and to equip future generations to keep the world aware of
the people’s struggle. Over the years, we trained thousands of
participants. Today, we all face a new struggle. We are part of a new Spring
Revolution. Our country and our people are suffering terribly. We must rebuild
our nation. Each of us has been given the gift of education and opportunity.
This DTP course is a new opportunity, and with that comes responsibility: a
responsibility to do all you can with this new knowledge in service to our
country and to all those denied such opportunities. We must never stop learning, also it is important that we must never stop working for Myanmar.
This Program also comes at an exceptionally important time. I express my
gratitude to the DTP for generously holding it, and to the NUG Representative
Office in Australia, led by Dr. Tun Aung Shwe, for its extraordinary efforts in
support. Myanmar needs a new generation of human rights defenders and
advocates, and that is what this course will equip you to be. For our part, the
NUG remains committed to bringing the military junta’s crimes to the world’s
attention and to pursuing accountability. We are engaging with the very bodies
that you will learn about - the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, and
the Human Rights Council - as we fight for recognition as the legitimate
representative of the people, and as we urge the international community to
take desperately needed action against the criminal military junta. In closing, I
wish you a very successful course and I thank you again for your leadership, for
your courage, and for your service to the Myanmar people..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-17
[field_licence]
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National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"American journalist Danny Fenster has been freed from prison in Myanmar, according to a Myanmar military official and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who had been on a private humanitarian visit to the country.
Fenster's release comes just days after the former managing editor of Frontier Myanmar — an independent news outlet that covered current affairs, business and politics — was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a military court in Myanmar.
Myanmar's military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told CNN Business that the journalist "has been released and deported. We will release details why he was released later."
According to a statement released by Richardson on Monday, Fenster will be making his way back to the United States "through Qatar, over the next day and a half."
A former US ambassador to the United Nations, Richardson said he had conducted face-to-face negotiations with Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of Myanmar's military junta.
Fenster's family said they were "overjoyed" at his release.
"We cannot wait to hold him in our arms,' they said in a statement. " We are tremendously grateful to all the people who have helped secure his release, especially Ambassador Richardson, as well as our friends and the public who have expressed their support and stood by our sides as we endured these long and difficult months."
Fenster, a 37-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, was arrested at Yangon International Airport on May 24 while he was trying to leave the country to visit his family in the United States. He had been denied bail and was held in Insein Prison in Yangon. On Friday, he was found guilty of three charges brought against him by the Myanmar military, which seized control of the country in a coup on February 1.
Those charges included visa breaches, unlawful association with an illegal group and incitement under section 505a of Myanmar's Penal Code, which makes it a crime to publish or circulate comments that "cause fear" or spread "false news."
Sonny Swe, Publisher, CEO and co-founder of Frontier Myanmar, Fenster's former employer in Myanmar, told CNN Business on the phone that Fenster was already on a plane having left Insein prison earlier in the day.
"I'm very, very pleased to hear about the news. Not only our happiness, I've been there before, I know how Danny and the family will be feeling right now," Swe said. "From this point onwards, it's all positive. He deserves to be reunited with his family."
Fenster was one of about 126 journalists or media workers detained since the coup, according to the UN. About 47 remain behind bars..."
Source/publisher:
CNN Business
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-15
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"Editor’s Note: This post is the first installment in an ongoing series, Chronicle of a Coup, comprised of reports, dating from February 22 and written from within Myanmar, which together sketch one person’s first-hand account of the weeks and months following the February 1 military coup. The impressions of Christopher J. Walker (pseudonym), the primary correspondent, are occasionally paired with those of family, friends, and colleagues. Christopher’s copious reports, which are still being written, will be posted weekly, on Fridays for the foreseeable future, and are available in chronological order here.
Tea Circle is grateful to Christopher for sharing his personal account of life under military rule in Myanmar, and to Mathieu Lukas (pseudonym), his friend and amateur editor. Recognizing that Christopher’s voice is one of many, we encourage other authors to submit their own accounts, which might be written independently, or in conversation with the other letters posted here. Tea Circle is also currently accepting Burmese-language submissions, including those describing everyday experiences since the coup. We welcome others to join this ongoing conversation.
An ominous morning | February 22, 2021
Every morning, beginning at 5:15, itinerant pe byouk-, nambya– and rice-sellers walk through the various quarters calling out the names of the foods they are peddling. But today, not one of them is to be seen.
5:30 – By this time, those who sell from pushcarts are in the street out front preparing their carts and wares for the day’s business. This morning there is none of that.
5:45 – By now the call to morning prayers would have been broadcast from the mosque over a loud public address system. Today it’s dead quiet. Strangely, even the roosters and other birds are largely silent.
6:30 – This street serves as an outlet for our quarter. Usually, at this hour scores of private cars and taxis would be coming through. So far today I have counted five. And judging by the markings on the vehicles, they are being driven by supporters of the civil disobedience movement.
As I look up and down the street, all the parking spaces, except one, remain occupied.
The trishaw stations at either end of the street are empty; even they seem closed for the day.
There are no newspaper delivery boys.
7:00 – An elderly woman returns from shopping, but her basket is empty. Obviously the market and its shops are closed.
In the distance, not a single commuter train can be heard, but this is no longer unusual since the railway workers have been on strike for more than a week.
7:45 – I walk over to the main commercial district. Every shop is shuttered except for three that are preparing small food packets to hand out for free to demonstrators.
Many businesses in this area are protected during the night by private security guards, some of whom, ordinarily, would still be lingering around after their shifts. Today, they have all disappeared.
People are angry with the military, very angry. During the night graffiti artists again expressed their indignation in written format. This time they used oil paint, which is not so easily cleaned off.
Painting on the pavements has become commonplace. Yesterday in the late afternoon, in twelve-foot letters, a neighbourhood volunteer work party repainted a statement of their displeasure on the main road. What amazes me is that this was done in broad daylight: the painters were protected by citizens who kept the police at bay.
Protesters, easily identified by their white, black or sometimes red clothing, are beginning to leave their apartments and are headed to the various local staging points before continuing to the main assembly areas.
Today, a Monday, is a day of national strikes. Offices and businesses will be closed.
A message has come that the internet will be shut down until 1:00 pm, apparently to discourage strike and demonstration organisers. But this will have minimal effect because everyone has a cellphone and information spreads quickly.
(Typically, the internet has been down from 1:00 to 9:00 am every day anyway. While it has, at times, been operating outside of these hours, service is frequently intermittent or dreadfully slow. The only reason that the junta tolerates the internet is that institutions and businesses now rely on it in order to function. This was not the case in 1988 or 2007 when there were no internet providers or cellphones, and the vast majority of people had no telephones even in their homes.)
To date the military has done everything it can to incite riots, but for the most part, people are aware of this and are not “biting.” I earnestly hope that they will continue in this way.
I just received word that protesters are being discouraged from demonstrating in the town centre because they can easily be trapped there. There is a widespread fear that starting today police and soldiers have orders to shoot at them. (I had first-hand experience of this tactic in 2007 when I and others were hemmed in by soldiers, and people were beaten and fired upon.)
9:00 – Surprise! The internet is working.
9:15 am – From my window I can see large groups of protesters advancing toward the centre of town, in spite of the danger.
Security | February 26, 2021
As you can probably imagine, communication has been one of the more challenging things for me in the past few weeks. At issue is my safety as well as that of those around me. These days anyone can be imprisoned for the most spurious of reasons. Friends have been of great comfort and help in keeping my communications safe.
At this point I feel reasonably secure, having several layers of security built in with multiple devices, ISPs, passwords, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. This in itself creates numerous challenges as I try to recall passwords, and which computer or device, SIM card or phone number I use for which transmission. I have tiny pieces of paper hidden all over, not just in my apartment but in other places too. And of course I have to remember where those are!
Now that I feel reasonably safe, I shall try to write more regularly and geared more to what you are unlikely to see in the media. No doubt some of you will think that I shouldn’t do this, but it is something I really must do. I promise to use the utmost caution. What I ask, in fact encourage, is that everything I send be shared with as many others as possible.
Every day I experience guilt and frustration because there is so little that I can do to help. However, one thing that I can do is try to explain what life here now is like, the struggles and fears that the Burmese face each and every day.
Few of us know what it is like to go to bed with an intense fear that tonight trucks full of soldiers might pull up in front and take me away, or awake with the thought that I survived another night.
I subject myself to this because it is important that others know what is actually happening here and what the people of Myanmar are going through. The daily news cannot possibly cover it all. I believe that the more people elsewhere know of the situation, the more likely it is that outside assistance will come. Without pressure and support from sources abroad, the struggle here will become all the more difficult.
A simple act can be powerful. A case in point: On day two of the coup an apparently famous American singer named Rihanna posted a message on Twitter expressing her support for the Burmese people. I have no idea whatsoever who this person is, but everyone here was happy to get her message. The response and gratitude were amazing.
The Burmese desperately want the rest of the world to know of the injustices and violence visited upon them daily. They are pleading for assistance from the United Nations, the U.S., U.K., Australia and Japan. Whenever a representative of any of these countries speaks out, here it gets everyone’s attention and appreciation. Most understand that support from abroad is vital for their civil disobedience movement (CDM) to be successful.
…
I just got interrupted. A neighbour, a woman in her 80s, came from across the street to deliver a meal to us. She is doing this for all those in our quarter who have supported the CDM, and in memory of a person who was recently shot and killed by soldiers. I gratefully attempted to refuse her offer hoping that she would pass it on to others who are more needy and worthy, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
…
More than ever I have to look for the positives in all of this, and one is that people have grown closer and more patient with each other. These are incredibly sad times here. I just cannot figure out how such things can happen. Tears start to well up as I think of it. To turn my back on what is occurring is something I could never live with. I must do what I can.
People’s bravery, courage and commitment are truly incredible. Most impressive is their commitment to a nonviolent movement. I have not seen a single example of violence on the part of the CDM demonstrators, although I’ve heard that in some parts of the country it is slightly different. I have heard too that folks in other areas have suffered the worst kinds of torment and brutality, so can understand their frustration and anger. How far can people be pushed?
On one occasion I witnessed a hundred or so protesters throwing plastic water bottles at retreating police trucks, and a few times I saw bricks and stones thrown at police. Twice I saw people using slingshots. And I do see more and more people carrying sticks, but these are rather for defensive purposes. I have never seen nor heard of a single instance when anyone was struck by a demonstrator. When speaking with people I always mention the great importance of remaining peaceful, and to a person they understand and agree.
At times 5,000-kyat men have come into our quarter to cause trouble, and been caught by our new local security team. The 5,000-kyat men are spies and provocateurs hired by the Tatmadaw, the military, often felons and drug addicts freed from prison in exchange for their “services.” They are used to infiltrate the quarters to gather information, to cause diversions by committing acts of vandalism such as breaking windows and lighting fires, and to assault demonstrators in an attempt to provoke them to violence and provide an excuse for soldiers to attack. As a deal-sweetener, they are supposedly paid 5,000 kyat, about US$3.25, for each assignment.
I have seen these provocateurs detained and questioned by our local team. As angry as the local security volunteers were, they never once harmed these people in any way. I once saw the police return to their barracks apparently forgetting two of their vehicles that were left in a throng of protesters. No one laid a finger on either one. Elsewhere in the world, how long would those vehicles have lasted before they were engulfed in flames?
Groups of police or soldiers typically include a photographer. In one situation, the police left an area but their photographer somehow didn’t realize it and quickly found himself alone. A dozen CDM demonstrators surrounded and began photographing him. They didn’t hurl any abuse, nor did they in any way threaten or detain him. When they finished, they just left him to hurry off. In many other places such an opportunity would have resulted in the policeman being badly beaten, or worse.
It is now 9:45 on a Friday morning. In various quarters across town, the police have already begun arresting and shooting people. Previously, this would only happen in the afternoon or under the cover of darkness. At the same time, 100 metres from my window, thousands are beginning to march as they do every day. These are the kinds of things that I see and hear, and do my very best to report as objectively as possible. How long the demonstrators’ peaceful and commendable responses will keep up is anyone’s guess. We all have a breaking point.
I am so very exhausted. My brain is painfully full. I apologize that my writing is so poor—my sixth-grade grammar teacher would be very disappointed. I’m sorry, but I cannot bear to go through this report again. I shall send it as is, knowing that you will understand.
Now, as I finish, police have appeared in our quarter. I don’t know what they are up to. Two nights ago the local citizens took control of the offices of the oakkahta, the elected head of the quarter. Now I am told that police have retaken them. Eventually they leave, and I hear one of my neighbours say, “It’s OK. Tonight we will take them again.”
တို့အရေး တို့အရေး Dote ayae, dote ayae. Our cause, our cause..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-13
[field_licence]
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders
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"Responding to the sentencing of American journalist Danny Fenster to a combined 11 years in prison, Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, said:
“This is a reprehensible outcome in a case that has been deeply flawed from the start. Danny should have never been arrested in the first place and to sentence him to a combined 11 years shows how far Myanmar authorities are willing to go to signal that they do not respect independent media in the country or the impact on family members of those wrongly imprisoned.”
“Danny has done nothing wrong, but has somehow been charged with multiple alleged offences that are completely out of touch with reality and his work as an independent journalist. The court also ignored reams of evidence showing where he worked and records of his time in the country. He should be immediately and unconditionally freed and all charges dropped.”
“Danny is a prisoner of conscience. His liberty was taken away from him cruelly and unjustly, solely for doing his work as a journalist and exercising his right to freedom of speech.”
“His case has illustrated the enormous increase in risks and challenges faced by journalists in Myanmar since the military seized power on February 1. But despite internet blackouts, legal threats and detentions, they continue to courageously report on the dire situation in Myanmar.”
Background
A court in Yangon sentenced 37-year-old Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison on Friday, according to his employer Frontier Myanmar, where he is the managing editor.
He was arrested on 24 May as he tried to board a flight out of the country, which has been in turmoil since the military coup earlier this year.
The three charges for which he was sentenced on 12 November relate to an alleged immigration offence, incitement, and unlawful association with an illegal group. He was given the maximum sentence under each charge, according to his employer, which said there was no basis for the allegations.
Since the coup the military authorities have arrested, detained, prosecuted and imprisoned dozens of journalists, stripped media outlets of their licenses, and erased years of press freedom gains.
Amnesty International calls on the authorities in Myanmar to release journalists imprisoned simply for their work and the peaceful exercise of their human rights..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-13
[field_licence]
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Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"The knife that carved through Gue Gue’s abdomen wasn’t exactly meant for pulling out her inflamed appendix. But it was the only one available in the sweltering jungle clinic, a bumpy ride over mountainous terrain from her guerrilla training camp.
There was no option for general anesthesia to put her under, so Gue Gue was conscious for the operation. The former tour guide, a stylish 26-year-old who listed her interests on Facebook as “Traveling, Adaptive Hiking, Dance, Writing, Gymnastics, Fashion Photography, Listening to Music, and Reading,” tried to keep her mind focused on all the work she had yet to do and not the surgery. “They were cutting the muscle like we are chopping pork,” said a friend who was there.
Gue Gue had no regrets, she said later, except about the jagged red mark left behind. “I really don’t want any scars!” she said, laughing. “After the revolution, I’ll go and remove my scar with a laser.”
Only a few weeks earlier, on an April evening, Gue Gue had slipped out of her family home in Mandalay, an ancient royal city careening into the 21st century, with shiny new malls, snappily dressed students and hipster cafes. Carrying a single change of clothes, she left behind the home where she had lived with her parents as the baby, the youngest daughter, well-loved and comfortable.
She was going to fight the junta, and not just with words.
Since Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, toppling the civilian government, Gue Gue had seen many of her peers killed by troops on the streets of her hometown as they chanted democracy slogans. Hopes that the international community would respond to the military’s mounting brutality with practical action had fizzled. For her, and thousands like her, the only option was force.
“I have family. I have dreams. I have things that I want to achieve. I want to travel. I want to write. I want to study,” Gue Gue said a few weeks before her operation in the jungle, in the first of a series of interviews over several months. Two other people, and video and photo footage shared with Reuters, confirmed the outline and many of the details of her story.
Because she still hasn’t healed from her ad hoc surgery, she hasn’t yet been involved in any fighting. But she says she is ready. “I sacrificed all this and joined this training with only one ambition: that we must win.”
Two faces of the resistance
The men and women rebelling against Myanmar’s junta vow to be the last generation to live under the boot of the country’s military. This, they say, is the “final battle” to root out the army, which has been the most powerful institution in the country since it became an independent nation in 1948. The military has withstood popular uprisings and civil war for decades, including the mass uprising in 1988 that led to the emergence of Aung San Suu Kyi as a human rights icon.
It is a fight that has in a few short months made guerrilla fighters of university lecturers, day laborers, I.T. workers, students and artists and forced countless young men and women into a life on the run.
Some, like Gue Gue, who had never considered herself particularly political until the bloodbath on the streets in the wake of the coup, are in clandestine rebel training camps. Hundreds of armed outfits have popped up across the country, according to an October report by the International Crisis Group, many calling themselves People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). A famous poet formed one. Beauty queens and actresses who were wanted by the authorities for supporting the protests re-emerged on social media in areas controlled by armed groups, posting pictures with rifles slung over their shoulders.
Others, like a skinny 32-year-old librarian named Tayzar San, have been hiding in cities, organizing clandestine demonstrations, funneling money to striking workers and strategizing. A young man who once spent his spare time buried in books – as often Burmese romance novels as nonfiction political tracts – he now lives out of a backpack, moving from apartment to apartment to evade the authorities who have put a $5,600 bounty on his head. By September, he said, he hadn’t seen his wife and daughter in seven months.
The utterly changed worlds of Gue Gue and Tayzar San paint a portrait of sacrifice and resolve in a young Burmese generation who, unlike their parents, grew up in a world of smartphones and greater political freedoms. Many are willing to pay any price, including their lives, to overthrow a junta that they say threatens to take them back to a darker past.
Speaking in October, army chief and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said the junta, which has vowed to hold elections within two years, was working on a five-point plan to reach a “true union based on democracy and federalism.” He said the leadership was working to “change the country peacefully.” In a message to Reuters responding to detailed questions, the junta’s “True News” information unit said, “We have no plan to answer meaningless questions.”
At stake is the fate of a country of 55 million people that once looked to be on its way to becoming Asia’s newest semi-democratic state, a nation on the crossroads of India and China rich with natural resources, considered a frontier market for foreign investors and a keystone in U.S-led efforts to counter Chinese power in Southeast Asia.
It is one of the bloodiest chapters yet in a decades-long struggle to shrug off a series of military dictators who have waged some of the world’s longest-running civil wars, displaced millions of people and consigned multiple generations to poverty and dashed dreams.
Since Myanmar, then Burma, won independence from colonial Britain seven decades ago, it has known less than 25 years of civilian governance. Successive juntas ruled the country from 1962 until 2011, when Gen. Than Shwe appeared to step back and hand limited powers to a civilian government.
It was a managed process that reserved vast political influence under the constitution for the military. Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been imprisoned in her home for 15 years, was freed to participate in elections and, in 2015, won them.
In the years following, Suu Kyi drew criticism for standing by the military as they carried out what the United Nations termed a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Testifying in the Hague, where Myanmar faces charges at the International Criminal Court, she admitted that war crimes may have been committed but denied genocide, saying Rohingya had “exaggerated” the extent of abuses against them.
But her government made some steps toward weakening military power and attracting foreign investment. The Myanmar kyat became Asia’s best-performing currency, and the World Bank was predicting economic growth in the country despite the COVID-19 pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-12
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, Anti-coup protesters
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"During the past two weeks, SAC troops have scaled up military operations in Pekhon and
Demawso townships, in an attempt to secure control of the main access roads from southern
Shan State to Loikaw, and from Loikaw to southern Karenni State. SAC troops have shelled
directly into towns and villages, killing and injuring civilians and damaging numerous buildings.
Hundreds more SAC troops have been deployed from Naypyidaw to try and sweep out
resistance forces in the hills west of Pekhon town.
On October 25, SAC troops fired artillery shells and shot guns at Lud Mae Taw Catholic church
in San Pya 6 mile, Demawso township. They also indiscriminately shelled into Mar Ner Plaw
quarter in Demawso township, damaging a house there.
On October 26, combined KA and KNDF troops clashed with SAC troops travelling between
Htu Lwi Belar village and Ngwe Taung Ywa Thit village in Demawso township. 10 SAC
soldiers were killed and 2 military trucks damaged.
On October 26, Pekhon PDF troops and other Karenni forces clashed with SAC troops camped
near Katheh village in Gone Hsone village tract, Pekhon township, causing one of the PDF
soldiers to be injured. The SAC then indiscriminately shelled into Katheh village, injuring 3
villagers.
On October 27, the SAC again indiscriminately shelled into Katheh village in Pekhon township
damaging five houses and a local clinic.
On October 29, Moe Bye-based LIB 422 battalion indiscriminately shelled into and around Moe
Bye town, killing a woman from Sigan 2 quarter and injuring a man from Pau Oo 2 quarter; and
also killed a villager in his farm near the town.
On October 30, SAC troops carrying out operations between Loikaw town and Moe Bye town
set fire to stacks of harvested paddy along the roadsides.
On October 31, SAC troops shot at two villagers from an IDP camp in Demawso township while
they were returning to their village to get rations, luckily causing no injury. SAC troops also
burned down several houses in Ngu Plau quarter in Demawso township, according to a
Demawso PDF statement. Moreover, SAC troops fired shells into Daw Tama Nge village in
Demawso township, injuring one villager and damaging some houses.
On November 1, SAC troops patrolling from Shwe Yauk quarter in Demawso township
indiscriminately shelled into Daw Nga Khan quarter 2 in Demawso township, damaging a
community-owned store and 3 houses..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-10
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Type:
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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, Human Rights Defenders
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"Over 20 years ago in exile, I co-founded the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) to monitor political prisoner numbers in Myanmar, so we can advocate and lobby the outside world to apply pressure on the Myanmar military, which once again seized power on February 1.
On October 18, I saw the success of that political pressure when the junta announced a mass prison release days after coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was rightfully excluded from the October 26-28 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
This is not the first so-called amnesty since the coup and it must not be the last. Yet, the outside world must continue to pay close attention. The junta will use so-called prisoner releases to deceive. On June 30, the regime announced the release of 2,342 prisoners. But AAPP has identified only 371 prisoners who were actually freed. Most remained in detention and their torture continued.
It has been over two weeks since the junta announced on October 18 the supposed release of another 5,636 political prisoners. Only 4,072 of those detainees have had their releases confirmed by AAPP, but just 949 of them have been properly identified because the military refuses to be transparent.
Our democratically-elected leaders remain in prison, as do many others as hostages. Arrests and killings by the junta have not slowed down. On October 23, the 1988 generation activist Ko Jimmy was violently arrested at a home in the Panglong housing complex in Yangon’s North Dagon Township. Another bargaining chip for the military regime in any future “concessions”.
Thousands of less well-known political prisoners are at risk of being forgotten by the outside world. This is what the Myanmar military wants. Therefore, they arrest people in the middle of the night, refuse to acknowledge the location of detainees or to allow independent observers inside prisons. This corrupt and power-hungry institution wants to make it as difficult as possible for ASEAN and others to know how many people they arrest, and whether any amnesty is authentic.
Actually, the stories of re-arrests outside prison gates and at homes soon after release demonstrate the reality of the junta’s tactics. Kyaw Naing Tun was one of those released from Magwe Central Prison on October 19, but the former political prisoner was re-arrested just eight days later. He was taken to an interrogation center and tortured to death, His body, and in particular the back of his head, had been violently smashed.
At least 127 detainees supposedly released on October 18 have been re-arrested since then. Among them were 11 democratically-elected politicians who were taken to the gates of Meiktila Prison, only to be cynically re-arrested by the police and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
This is a pattern from before the February coup. Min Ko Naing, another 1988 generation activist, was released on two separate occasions during the time of the previous military regime, and both times was soon re-imprisoned.
It was the same story for leading National League for Democracy (NLD) member U Win Htein, who on October 29 was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in a Naypyitaw detention center under Section 124(a) of the Penal Code. Back in 2008, U Win Htein was waiting in a guesthouse to be reunited with his daughter after being released from prison. It was less than 24 hours later when military intelligence sent him back to Katha Prison and charged him under the State Protection Act, a repressive piece of legislation subsequently repealed by the now ousted NLD government. Such re-arrests are motivated by the desire of the military to psychologically intimidate others.
Treating political prisoners like pawns, the military re-arrests them just when they think they are free. AAPP released a statement on this tactic after October 18, highlighting the impact on the mental health of political prisoners and families. In fact, this is a type of psychological warfare, a torment which does not end with conditional release. Forced to sign pledges, all can be re-arrested at any time, for any reason, under Section 401 of the Penal Code.
This is how it was in the past when persecution continued long after detention ended. Former political prisoners were always the first target if something went wrong in a community and they were continually harassed as a type of social punishment. When I was released for the first time in 1993, businesses felt intimidated to hire me and military intelligence followed my every move. It was not long before I was arrested again and sentenced to a longer, harsher term.
While in prison, protestors detained for practicing fundamental human rights are forced to hold stress positions for hours, sticks are used to repeatedly hit their shins and backs, they are refused anything to drink, and made to hear the screams of fellow inmates. Even if they are spared brutal interrogation, political prisoners are housed in overcrowded cells and need to bribe guards just to get enough space to sleep, enough food to eat and water to drink. Every day is a struggle to survive. These are experiences that AAPP staff understand intimately.
The scars of torture linger long after detention. A young man from Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, was arrested on August 8 on unfounded suspicion of links with a People’s Defense Force. He was released the next day with wounds across his body consistent with severe torture. The man could barely speak, traumatized through vicious interrogation by the junta. Photos circulated of another detainee from North Dagon in Yangon, showing his neck tattoo burned off by cigarettes. The tattoo read “we will never forgive”, a reference to the Myanmar peoples’ hatred of the coup and desire for justice.
Nowadays, people in Myanmar know that the coup leader’s greed and brutality will impoverish entire generations. We’d seen the prospect of a better future. Political prisoners and the entire population profoundly hate Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for destroying that possibility and will never subject themselves to his rule, whatever the level of repression. Brutal interrogations, however, will create long-term mental health implications. Former political prisoners and their families need urgent support. Fundamentally, Myanmar is a deeply traumatized society. Just being released is not enough; we need accountability to tackle the loss of dignity.
Families embracing loved ones after being released is one of the reasons I really appreciate what ASEAN did on October 15 by excluding the coup leader from its October summit, as well as the support of the United States and other like-minded governments since the coup. It was political pressure which allowed the possibility of rehabilitation to happen. Nowadays, the junta does not have legitimacy from its own people, its neighbors or the international community.
Before the coup, the military’s spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said torture survivors and families could make complaints to the military. People in Myanmar understand, then and now, that you cannot submit a complaint of torture to the torturer, when that same torturer continues to hold a gun to your head on release. People in Myanmar need a civilian government, with no role for the military in politics or government.
This why ASEAN’s decision to deny the coup leader the legitimacy he craves was so significant. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews powerful statement said of the subsequent prisoner ‘amnesty’, “their release is clearly not because the junta has had a change of heart”. The October 18 releases happened because of pressure from inside and outside Myanmar. But I want to advocate for the international community to do more. The international community’s demand now must be for the release of detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, all other political prisoners, and a return to civilian rule.
For this purpose, United Nations (UN) member states need to implement the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar’s ‘Three Cuts” policy. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke for civilians in Chin State and Magwe and Sagaing regions earlier this month. It noted the junta’s “established pattern of attacks… against unarmed individuals using lethal force, destruction of residential properties, mass arbitrary detention and deaths in military custody”. As long as the Myanmar military has cash and weapons, atrocities will continue..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-05
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Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders
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"In the nine months since the coup, we have seen an intensification of inhumane acts committed by the terrorist-like junta.
The military are violently raiding towns and villages, causing civilian casualties across all states and regions. Children have not been spared. After being arbitrarily arrested, civilians are often forced to pay a ransom for their release. Those in refugee camps face threats and harassment, and torture is systematically committed against innocents. These acts of terror are perpetrated by the junta, to instill fear in the population.
On October 18, the terrorist group announced they would release (1316) people who had been sentenced and (4320) people who were facing trial, a total (5636) arbitrary detainees. The releases were achieved because of political pressure by ASEAN and the international community, but this was never an absolute amnesty, they were conditional releases. According to AAPP documentation, as of October 31, only (4072) were released, (122) of whom have been re-arrested. The number of re-arrests is likely to be higher, as some releases have not yet been identified by AAPP.
In October, a church and at least 400 houses in Thantlang, Falam and Mindat Townships in Chin State were set on fire by the junta. The military denied responsibility for the arson that occured in Thantlang Township, on October 29. However, a spokesman for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) threatened the public on social media, “to see the Thantlang incident as an example of what is to come”.
In fact, the junta is also targeting National League for Democracy MP’s, officials, and supporters. The NLD Party which won the largest number of votes in the November 2020 election. In October, at least 10 NLD offices were attacked. The junta has also broken into NLD offices, looting items, committing arson and setting off bombs. At least 25 properties owned by Hluttaw representatives, NLD members, and ordinary civilians such as hotels, hospitals, houses and shops, were illegally seized by the junta in October.
Arrests
According to AAPP documentation, (319) civilians were detained by the terrorist junta between October 1 and 31. (80) women were detained, and (27) were taken as hostages, including (9) children, under the age of 18.
In Mandalay, the Monk Union has been protesting daily against the military coup. On October 2, at around 1:30 pm, some 10 junta soldiers, armed and in plain clothes, arrived at Mya Taung Monastery in two cars. The military troops used a car to crack down on the protesting monks. During the crackdown, five monks were forced to change into normal clothes and were beaten, held at gunpoint and arrested. The same night, three other civilians were searched and arrested by the junta.
Families continue to be held as hostages on a daily basis. At the beginning of this attempted coup, the wife and nine-year-old daughter of a Naypyidaw-based police superintendent, who was involved in CDM, were arrested. Still, no one knows where they are being detained. When a father was not found in Thayet Chaung Township, Tanintharyi Region, his wife and two children, aged two and six-years-old, were arrested and detained on October 9.
Killings
In October, at least (79) civilians were killed in the junta’s targeted attacks. This includes (6) women and (3) children, under the age of 18. Of those, (17) died as a result of torture.
On the morning of October 1, around 100 terrorist junta soldiers raided Pyindaung village in Khin Oo Township, Sagaing Region, and chased the fleeing villagers. Five villagers, including a five-year-old boy, were shot dead in a field in the village. Houses were destroyed. Tractors, five cars, 40 motorbikes, rice and oil, were also stolen by the junta.
Ko Kyaw Naing Tun a.k.a Ah Nge Lay, who was released from Magway Central Prison on October 19, was re-arrested at his home in Magway on October 27, on suspicion of killing the Aung Metta ward administrator. The family was notified to retrieve his dead body on October 28. Police say he died due to COVID, but his body and head (especially his back), were covered with injuries consistent with torture.
This is but a summary of human rights violations committed by the terrorist junta group in October. In this climate of fear, similar atrocities have been widely perpetrated across the country, amounting to crimes against humanity..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-04
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Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, 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
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"အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စု၏ လူမဆန်စွာ ရက်စက်မှုများမှာ မတရားအာဏာလုယူမှု လပေါင်း (၉) လ ကြာလာသည့်အချိန်ထိ ဆထက်တိုး၍ ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာနေသည်။
မြို့ရွာများအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်ဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်းမှုများ၊ လက်နက်ဖြင့်ပစ်ခတ်မှုများကြောင့် ကလေးသူငယ် များအပါအဝင် အရပ်သားထိခိုက်နစ်နာခံစားရမှုများမှာ တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ်အနှံ့ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရလျက်ရှိသည်။ ထို့အပြင် မတရားဖမ်းဆီးပြီးနောက် အခကြေးငွေဖြင့် ပြန်လည်ရွေးခိုင်းမှုများ၊ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်များ၏ နေရာ များထိ လိုက်လံခြိမ်းခြောက်နှောင့်ယှက်မှုများ၊ ညှဉ်းပန်း နှိပ်စက်မှုများကိုလည်း စနစ်တကျကျူးလွန် လျက်ရှိရာ ပြည်သူများအား အကြောက်တရားလွှမ်းမိုးနေစေရန် အလို့ငှာ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိဖြင့် အကောင် အထည်ဖော်လျက်ရှိသည်။
အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့မှစတင်၍ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှ နိုင်ငံရေးနှင့်ဆက်နွယ်သော ပြစ်ဒဏ် ချမှတ်ခြင်းခံရသူ (၁၃၁၆)ဦး၊ တရားရင်ဆိုင်နေရသူ (၄၃၂၀)ဦး၊ စုစုပေါင်း (၅၆၃၆) ကို လွှတ်ပေးမည်ဟု ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာခဲ့သည်။ မတရားဖမ်း ဆီးခံခဲ့ရသူများကို ယခုကဲ့သို့ ပြန်လည်လွှတ်ပေးမည်ဟု ကြေညာ ခြင်းမှာ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်း၌ မျက်နှာပန်းလှစေရန် နိုင်ငံရေးရည်ရွယ်ချက်အရ လွှတ်ပေးခဲ့ခြင်းသာ ဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုကဲ့သို့ လွှတ်ပေးခဲ့သည်ဟု ကြေညာခဲ့သော်လည်း နိုင်ငံရေး အကျဉ်းသားများ ကူညီ စောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) မှ မှတ်တမ်းပြုချက်များအရ အောက်တိုဘာ ၃၁ အထိ အရေအတွက် အားဖြင့် (၄၀၇၂) ဦးမှာ လွတ်မြောက်လာခဲ့ပြီး ထိုအထဲမှ ပြန်လည်ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ အရေအတွက်မှာ (၁၂၂) ဦး ရှိသည်။ ထို့ပြင် ပြန်လည်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုများကြောင့် တိမ်းရှောင်နေရသူများလည်းရှိနေသလို ပြန်လည်အဖမ်းခံရ သော အရေအတွက်မှာ မြေပြင်တွင် ထိုထက်ပိုများမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
အောက်တိုဘာလအတွင်း ချင်းပြည်နယ် ထန်တလန်မြို့၊ ဖလမ်းမြို့နယ်နှင့် မင်းတပ်မြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ကျေးရွာများမှ ဘုရားကျောင်းတစ်လုံးနှင့် အိမ်ခြေ (၄၀၀) လုံးထက်မနည်း မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခံခဲ့ကြောင်း သိရှိရ သည်။ အောက်တိုဘာ ၂၉ ရက်နေ့က ထန်တလန်မြို့ မီးလောင်မှု ဖြစ်စဉ်ကို စစ်အုပ်စုဘက်က ငြင်းဆန်ထား သော်လည်း စစ်အုပ်စုအမာခံ ပြည်ထောင်စု ကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ၏ ပြောရေးဆိုခွင့်ရှိသူက လူမှု ကွန်ရက်စာမျက်နှာထက်မှတစ်ဆင့် ထန်တလန်ဖြစ်စဉ်ကို နမူနာယူကြရန် ပြည်သူလူထုကို ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှု ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည်။
၂၀၂၀ ရွေးကောက်ပွဲတွင် ပြည်သူ့ထောက်ခံမဲအများဆုံးရရှိခဲ့သော အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ်ပါတီ၏ ပါတီရုံးများ၊ အဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၊ ထောက်ခံသူများကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ပစ်မှတ်ထားတိုက်ခိုက်လျက်ရှိရာ အောက်တိုဘာ အတွင်း ပါတီရုံး အနည်းဆုံး (၁၀) ရုံးထက်မနည်း တိုက်ခိုက်ခံရမှုဖြစ်ပေါ်ခဲ့သည်။ ပါတီရုံး၏ ခြံစည်းရိုး၊ တံခါး၊ ဆိုင်းဘုတ်၊ ဗီနိုင်းနှင့် အလံများ ရိုက်ချိုးဖျက်ဆီးပစ်ခြင်းများအပြင် ရုံးခန်းအတွင်း ဝင်ရောက်ကာ ပစ္စည်းများ ဖျက်ဆီးယူငင်ခြင်း၊ မီးကွင်းပစ်ခြင်း၊ ဗုံးပစ်ထည့်ခြင်းနှင့် ဖောက်ခွဲဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း စသည့်ပုံစံများ ဖြင့် တိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သည်။
ထို့အပြင် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များ၊ NLD ပါတီအဖွဲ့ဝင်များနှင့် အရပ်သားများ ပိုင်ဆိုင်သော ဟိုတယ်၊ ဆေးရုံ၊ နေအိမ်နှင့် ဆိုင်ခန်းများအား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုက မတရားသိမ်းဆည်းချိတ်ပိတ်မှုများကို အောက်တိုဘာလအတွင်း အနည်းဆုံး (၂၅) ခုထက်မနည်း ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည်။
ဖမ်းဆီးမှု
AAPP မှ လက်လှမ်းမီသမျှ ကောက်ယူရရှိထားသည့် အချက်အလက်များအရ အောက်တိုဘာ ၁ ကနေ ၃၁ ရက်နေ့အထိ စစ်အုပ်စု ၏ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုကြောင့် ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရသူပေါင်း (၃၁၉) ရှိခဲ့သည်။ အမျိုးသမီးဦးရေ (၈၀)ဦး၊ အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ်ဦးရေ (၉)ဦးနှင့် ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၂၇) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။
စစ်အာဏာရှင်ကို နေ့စဉ်ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် မန္တလေးမြို့မှ သံဃသမဂ္ဂစစ်ကြောင်းသည် အောက်တိုဘာလ ၂ ရက်နေ့၊ မွန်းလွဲ ၁ နာရီခွဲခန့်တွင် လမ်းပေါ်၌ ချီတက်ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်နေစဉ် အရပ်ဝတ်များ ဝတ်ဆင်ထားသော စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လက်နက်ကိုင် ၁၀ ဦးခန့်က အိမ်စီးကား နှစ်စီးဖြင့် ရောက်ရှိလာပြီး ကားဖြင့်တိုက်၍ ဖြိုခွင်းခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါဖြိုခွင်းမှုတွင် သံဃာ(၅)ပါးကို လူဝတ်လဲကာ သေနတ်ဖြင့်ချိန်၍ ရိုက်နှက် ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့သည့်အပြင် လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ် (၃)ဦးကိုလည်း ဖမ်းဆီးသွားခဲ့ကြပြီး ယင်းနေ့ ညပိုင်းတွင် မြတောင်ကျောင်းတိုက်ကို ဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်း၍ ရှာဖွေခဲ့ကြပြန်သည်။
အလိုရှိသူကို ဖမ်းမမိ၍ မိသားစုကို ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် ဖမ်းဆီးမှုများမှာ နေ့စဉ်ရက်ဆက် ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေဆဲဖြစ်ရာ စစ်တပ် အာဏာသိမ်းအပြီး ပြည်သူ့ဘက်ရပ်တည်၍ အာဏာဖီဆန်ရေး လှုပ်ရှားမှုတွင် ပါဝင်ခဲ့သူ နေပြည်တော်အခြေစိုက် ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့မှ ရဲအုပ်၏ဇနီးနှင့် အသက် (၉) နှစ်အရွယ် သမီးတို့မှာ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရပြီးနောက် လက်ရှိအချိန်တွင် မည်သည့်နေရာတွင် ချုပ်နှောင်ခံထားရသလဲဆိုသည်ကို မသိရှိရသေးပေ။ ထို့အပြင် အောက်တိုဘာ ၉ ရက်နေ့တွင် တနင်္သာရီတိုင်း၊ သရက်ချောင်းမြို့နယ်၌လည်း ဖခင်ဖြစ်သူကို ဖမ်းမမိ၍ ဇနီးသည်နှင့်အတူ နှစ်နှစ်နှင့် ခြောက်နှစ်အရွယ် ကလေးငယ်နှစ်ဦးကိုပါ ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့မှု ဖြစ်ပေါ်ခဲ့သည်။
သတ်ဖြတ်မှု
စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အညှိုးထားတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အောက်တိုဘာလအတွင်း အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၇၉) ဦး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ (၁၇) ဦး၊ အမျိုးသမီး (၆) ဦးနှင့် အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ် (၃) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။
ခင်ဦးမြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ပျဉ်ထောင် ကျေးရွာကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏တပ်သား (၁၀၀) ခန့်မှ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁ ရက်နေ့ နံနက်ပိုင်းတွင် ဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်းခဲ့ပြီး ထွက်ပြေးသော ဒေသခံရွာသားများကို လိုက်လံပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သောကြောင့် အသက် ၅ နှစ်အရွယ် ကလေးတစ်ဦး အပါအဝင် ဒေသခံရွာသား (၅) ဦးမှာ လယ်တောအတွင်း ကျည်ထိမှန်၍ အသက်သေဆုံးခဲ့ကြ ရသည်။ ထို့ပြင် နေအိမ်များကို ဖျက်ဆီးသွားခဲ့ပြီး ဒေသခံများ၏ ကား ငါးစီး၊ ထော်လာဂျီနှင့် ဆိုင်ကယ် အစီး ၄၀ နှင့် ဆန်၊ဆီ စသည့် ရိက္ခာများကိုပါ ယူဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည်။
မကွေးဗဟိုအကျဉ်းထောင်မှ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၉ ရက်နေ့က ပြန်လည်လွတ်မြောက်လာသူ ကိုကျော်နိုင်ထွန်း (ခ) အသေးလေးကို အောက်တိုဘာလ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့က မကွေးမြို့၊ အောင်မေတ္တာရပ်ကွက် အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူး သတ်ဖြတ်ခံရမှုနှင့် ပက်သတ်ပြီး မသင်္ကာမှုဖြင့် နေအိမ်တွင် စစ်တပ်က ထပ်မံလာရောက်ဖမ်းဆီးပြီးနောက် နောက်တစ်ရက်အကြာ အောက်တိုဘာ လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် အလောင်း လာထုတ်ရန် မိသားစုကို အကြောင်းကြားခဲ့သည်။ ကိုဗစ်ရောဂါကြောင့် သေဆုံးသွားသည်ဟု ရဲက ပြောဆိုသော်လည်း သေဆုံးသူ၏ ခန္ဓာကိုယ်နှင့် ဦးခေါင်းတခုလုံး (အထူးသဖြင့် နောက်စေ့) ပျက်စီးကျေမွနေကြောင်း သိရှိ ရသည်။
အထက်ပါဖေါ်ပြချက်များသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်၏ အောက်တိုဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော တရားမဲ့ အကြမ်းဖက်မှု များအား အကျဉ်းချုပ်ဖေါ်ပြချက်မျှသာဖြစ်ပြီး အခြားသော တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ်များတွင်လည်း ထိုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်ကျူးလွန်မှုများ များစွာရှိခဲ့သည်။
နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများ ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း.."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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Sub-title:
A local guerrilla group has claimed responsibility for the killing and said it also destroyed five junta-owned phone towers
Description:
"Soldiers burned down the home of an anti-coup activist and arrested the mother of a protest leader in Tanintharyi on Monday after local guerrillas shot and killed a police officer.
Military units arrived in Pyinhtein village, Launglon Township shortly after officer Nay Myo Aung was gunned down on the nearby Launglon-Sitpye road.
The soldiers raided the home of Min Lwin Oo, 31, who is part of the anti-junta Dawei District Strike Committee. When they were unable to find him they took his 56-year-old mother, Cho Than, instead.
“It’s just absurd that my mother was taken for my involvement in the revolution,” Min Lwin Oo told Myanmar Now.
“There’s no law stating that they can do such a thing,” he added. “I should be the one paying for my actions, not my mother. She didn't even talk with anyone in the neighbourhood. She was always just busy with housework.”
He added that he would not surrender to the junta despite his mother being taken hostage.
“My mother’s a fearless woman, she would have already expected this. I even told her to stay elsewhere but she didn’t. She just said that she would face them bravely if she got arrested.”
Soldiers also ransacked the neighbouring village of Sitpyea the same day. They stormed the home of 21-year-old Wai Yan Soe, another Dawei District Strike Committee member, and when they couldn’t find him they burned the house down.
The military also broke furniture and stole his belongings during the raid on his house, Wai Yan Soe told Myanmar Now.
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun did not answer calls seeking comment.
Soldiers arrested a 14-year-old girl and four women working as Covid-19 control volunteers in Sitpyea in late August following an anti-coup street protest the same day. Those arrested were not involved in the protest, locals said.
The Dawei District Strike Committee has used flash mob tactics to keep street protests alive in the area amid deadly crackdowns by the junta. Meanwhile other local groups have engaged in armed resistance.
A group called the Nway Oo Guerilla Force claimed responsibility for the assassination of the police officer on Monday and said it has also destroyed five junta-owned Mytel communication towers.
Junta forces have repeatedly targeted the family members of protesters since the February 1 coup with arrests and violence, which serve both as an attempt to coerce activists into handing themselves in and as a means to punish them.
Late last month soldiers viciously beat a five-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman in a village in Magway Region because, locals believe, they are distantly related to a local protest leader..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
The former student union leaders and strike committee staff were taken into junta custody in a raid by 100 soldiers on a safe house in Chanayethazan Township
Description:
"Around 100 Myanmar army soldiers raided a safehouse in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township on Saturday, arresting eight people, including two former student union leaders and two members of an education strike committee.
Among those taken into junta custody were Yan Soe Paing, the former chair of the Mandalay University Student Union and Naung Htet Aung, the former chair of the Yangon Education University Student Union.
Two members of the basic education staff’s general strike committee—Nine Thiha Kyaw and Thet Su Hlaing—were also arrested.
Aung Pyae Sone Phyo, the chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, said the identities of the remaining two detainees had not been verified.
“The house where they had recently been staying was raided. Six of our people were taken and we only managed to identify four of them. We still don’t know who the other two are, which group they are from or why they were arrested,” he told Myanmar Now on Sunday.
The victims’ families were worried for their safety and had received no information on their whereabouts, Aung Pyae Sone Phyo said.
“We heard that the military also kicked and beat a disabled woman at the house during the raid,” he added.
Locals who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity claimed that the troops who carried out the raid on the safehouse also later searched other homes in the neighbourhood and interrogated pedestrians.
The junta’s information team did not answer calls from Myanmar Now regarding the arrests.
Daily protests against the dictatorship are ongoing in Mandalay and have been met with brutal crackdowns by the military, whose troops have been known to open fire on demonstrators and hit them with cars.
According to documentation by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 9,000 people have been detained by the junta in the nine months since the February 1 coup. More than 1,000 have been killed.
The military council has declared the AAPP an unlawful organisation..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s junta atrocities are continuing with the murder of more than 10 civilians, including a Buddhist monk and National League for Democracy (NLD) supporters, over the past five days.
Regime forces have looted houses, destroyed property, bombarded civilians with artillery, burned down homes and arbitrarily killed civilians during operations against civilian resistance forces, especially in Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin, Shan and Kayah states.
By Saturday, 1,222 people had been killed by junta forces since the February coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which records deaths and arrests.
Last Thursday, the bodies of two NLD supporters, U San Lwin, 60, and U Kyaw Htay Aung, 50, were reportedly dumped by junta forces near the NLD office in Chanayethazan Township, Mandalay.
A photo was released of two bloody bodies lying beside a road in Mandalay.
The two victims were arrested with another NLD supporter, U Moe Gyi, 50, on Wednesday night, according to the AAPP.
The police retrieved the bodies and then reportedly asked family members to retrieve the corpses, according to the media.
Many torture injuries, including knife wounds, were found on the bodies, according to the AAPP.
A 25-year-old NLD member Ko Min Min Thu, also known as Mohammad Har Ni, from East Mawtone village in Tanintharyi Region, on Wednesday was tortured to death two days after being detained. He was seized at his home by regime forces last Monday.
On Thursday night, regime forces detained a married couple, U Myo Lwin and Daw San San Lwin, after failing to find their son who has been accused of being a People’s Defense Force (PDF) member.
U Myo Lwin was reportedly tortured to death during interrogation after the couple were accused of supplying the PDF, according to the media.
The AAPP said a Buddhist monk, U Kuthala, an assistant head of the monastery in Yinshae village, Yegyi Township in Ayeyarwady Region, was shot dead by regime forces last Tuesday while returning from shopping in Ngathaingchaung near Yegyi.
A novice monk was also injured in his ear during the junta shooting, the AAPP said.
On Thursday, former political prisoner Ko Kyaw Naing Tun, who was released from prison in Magwe Region in mid-October, was reportedly tortured to death by the regime after being detained again on Wednesday.
Another three civilians were shot dead by junta forces during raids on villages in Myaung, Budalin, and Khin-U townships in Sagaing Region on Sunday and Monday.
One or two displaced villagers were shot dead by the regime forces while returning home to fetch food at a village in Demoso Township, Shan State, on Sunday.
The Demoso PDF said junta forces burned down houses and randomly attacked villages and residential areas of Demoso on Sunday and Monday.
Troops burned harvested rice in Demoso on Saturday while advancing on neighboring Pekon Township in Shan State, the PDF said.
On Friday, troops bombarded the mountaintop town of Thantlang in Chin State. More than 160 houses, including two churches, burned down in junta artillery fire.
Except for Rakhine State, regime forces nationwide are facing increasingly intense attacks by civilian resistance forces and ethnic armed forces..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-01
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
Before he became the leader of the Zero Guerrilla Force, Thet Naing Aung was putting his life on the line in other ways
Description:
"Most of Myanmar’s resistance fighters prefer to keep a low profile on social media; but one, a 47-year-old man from Myingyan, in Mandalay Region, is more than happy to show his face to those who would just as happily see him dead.
“I’m not afraid of them,” says Thet Naing Aung, a sturdily-built man with a greying beard and a determined look. “I’ve been fighting them since before I had a weapon. Now that I have weapons in my hands, I have nothing to fear at all.”
Thet Naing Aung—or Thet Gyi, as he is usually called by those who know him—is the leader of the Zero Guerrilla Force, one of many armed resistance groups that have emerged around the country in the months since the military seized power.
Like most other groups of its kind, the Zero Guerrilla Force is a largely anonymous outfit—a small army of faceless fighters who ambush troops, carry out hits on regime collaborators, and sabotage telecoms towers.
But as leader of the group, Thet Gyi stands out. On his Facebook page, for instance, he can be seen posing in front of an array of rifles as his juniors pay their respects to him at the start of this year’s annual Thadingyut festival.
While another photo shows him in an even more militant light—holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, ready to fire—he was not always so keen on displays of firepower.
The turning point came on March 3, when a young protester named Zin Ko Zaw was shot in the head in the same ward that Thet Gyi lived in in Myingyan. It was then that he decided he had to join the fight against a murderous regime.
But what truly radicalized him, he said, was witnessing firsthand the carnage that the junta would continue to inflict on innocent civilians over the ensuing weeks.
Before he actually joined the armed resistance movement, he spent his days trying to deal with the horrific situation unfolding around him, and around the country, as the junta unleashed hell on unarmed protesters.
He did this by risking his own life to recover the bodies of those murdered by the regime. He also formed a funeral committee and raised funds for the families of fallen youths.
In all, he pulled 22 bodies out the junta’s killing fields.
“I carried their bodies myself, cleaned them, and buried them. The more people I buried, the more my hatred for the military grew,” he said.
From volunteer to ‘terrorist’
Thet Gyi had a reputation for helping others in need long before the coup. According to one local volunteer, he regularly assisted Myingyan’s social welfare association with its Covid-19 relief efforts.
“He helped out at first as an external volunteer during the pandemic, but later joined the group as a member,” said the volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous.
But it was after the crackdowns began that Thet Gyi really started to be noticed in his community. In his neighbourhood, he was famous for showing up while the bullets were still flying to rescue bodies from the clutches of their killers.
“Whenever the military opened fire, he would arrive on the scene and just start collecting bodies while everyone else was running around in a panic,” said a local politician who also did not want to be identified.
There was little in Thet Gyi’s past to suggest that he would one day take the path of an armed insurgent.
After graduating from the Meiktila Technological Institute in 1997, he went into several different lines of work, from sculpting to recycling old vehicles and renting out cranes.
Politics held little appeal for him, but he always had an interest in finding practical ways to make a difference in people’s lives. By the time Covid-19 hit, he had amassed enough money to feel that he could afford to dedicate himself to charity work.
When the coup happened a year later, he was ready to play a different role, although it wasn’t immediately clear what that would be. It was only after finding himself drenched in the blood of young activists that he decided that combat was his true calling.
After a period of training in an area under the control of an armed group, he returned to his hometown to found the Zero Guerrilla Force. Active since April 18, it was among the first resistance groups formed in the wake of the coup.
Armed at first with handmade hunting guns, the group later acquired rifles and started using makeshift mortars in clashes with regime forces. Labelled a terrorist group by Myanmar’s junta, the Zero Guerrilla Force has killed at least 40 soldiers, including six army officers, according to Thet Gyi.
Its main targets, however, have been military informants and other junta collaborators. It has also destroyed a number of communications towers used by Mytel, a telecoms company partly owned by the military.
Nothing left to lose
So far, the deadliest mission carried out by Thet Gyi’s band of guerrillas has been an ambush on a military outpost in Mandalay Region’s Natogyi Township that left 11 soldiers dead and three others wounded on October 15.
Even before this incident, however, Thet Gyi had already been identified and targeted by the regime. In late September, a building he owned in Myingyan’s Sunlun ward was raided and all of his most prized possessions were confiscated.
“They couldn’t find me, much less capture me, so they took my belongings to deprive me of a livelihood,” he said.
The junta took everything he owned—from pots and pans to priceless antiques (including a vintage silver cup used by the great stage actor Shwe Man Tin Maung for his makeup and a sword that once belonged to a Shan prince).
Thet Gyi said he couldn’t begin to put a price on all the things he has lost because of his involvement in the armed resistance movement. (And as petty thieves, the regime’s forces certainly would have no idea of their value, he added.)
Now that he has nothing left to lose, Thet Gyi feels even closer to those who look to him for leadership.
“All of my comrades have been blessed by a monk. We’re not afraid to die in battle. Our group has exceptional unity. We’ve had no problem whatsoever to this day,” he said.
But even as he contemplates his own death, he dreams of a more peaceful future—of a time when weapons will no longer be needed. When that day comes, he says, he won’t hesitate to hand over all the arms he now has at his disposal and start a new life under a legitimate government.
Part of that life, he says, will be creating a new social welfare organization of his own. And he can think of no better name for it than one that has come to mean everything to him: Zero..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-31
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Description:
"At least 297 attacks and threats against health workers, facilities, and transports in Myanmar were perpetrated from February 1 to September 30, 2021, according to an analysis based on open-source reports compiled by Insecurity Insight, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR).
Myanmar’s armed forces and police reportedly committed the vast majority of attacks amid resistance to the military takeover. The Myanmar military’s (“Tatmadaw”) wanton violence against health workers and facilities is fueling the collapse of the country’s health sector and its COVID-19 response, as the emergency in Myanmar devolves into a protracted conflict.
Within the 297 total incidents that took place across Myanmar during the first eight months of the military’s coup and crackdown (February 1 to September 30, 2021), Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR highlight reports of:
210 health workers arrested
40 health workers injured
29 health workers killed
Hospitals raided at least 87 times
Hospitals occupied at least 56 times
25 incidents impacting COVID-19 response measures
“The Tatmadaw uses restrictions on health services as a tool of repression and control,” said Christina Wille, director of Insecurity Insight. “Many people are denied health care. Amazingly brave health workers continue to provide care in clandestine ways but frequent raids and curfews, medical shortages, and power outages jeopardize health facilities and put patients’ lives at risk. The international community needs to take bolder steps to address Myanmar’s tragedy.
“The humanitarian tolls have increased as COVID-19 spreads largely unchecked. The recent military build-up in Myanmar’s border areas portends additional atrocities and the displacement of more people,” said Wille. “Myanmar’s catastrophe won’t remain inside the county’s borders.”
The incidents referred to are based on the dataset 01 February – 30 September 2021 Violence Against Health Care in Myanmar Data, which is available on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). For the purposes of this research brief, one incident can comprise multiple types of violence or threats such as those above. The brief does not include incidents of violence against patients. Selected events can also be viewed on the global map on threats and violence against health care.
The new research brief highlights several alarming developments in the military’s ongoing crackdown on the medical profession and the anti-coup movement.
The military has used health facilities to arrest civilians suspected of participating in the anti-coup movement. For example, an elderly pro-democracy activist received a call about his eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccine. Upon arrival at a COVID-19 vaccination center on August 4, he was reportedly arrested by armed forces and remains detained in the county’s capital. The Tatmadaw often denies medical care to detainees in its custody.
Health workers continue to be targeted for providing care, with detainees coerced into confessing to falsified charges, such as possession of weapons or links to anti-junta terrorism. In one instance on September 25, a doctor and nurse who volunteered to treat COVID-19 patients were reportedly dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night, tortured, and killed by the military-run State Administrative Council (SAC).
The COVID-19 response has been derailed by the military’s violence against health care. For example, four NGO workers for an organization that transports COVID-19 patients and delivers medical supplies were arrested by the SAC, who also reportedly seized two of the group’s ambulances. The military has blocked numerous international and local aid groups from reaching people in need. Patients are also routinely blocked from accessing care.
State and non-state actors continue to use explosive weapons around health facilities. In one case, on September 22, a car bomb exploded outside the military-occupied Public Hospital in Mandalay region, killing one person and injuring two others.
“There is no doubt that the emergency has spiraled into a protracted humanitarian crisis,” said Sandra Mon, a PHR expert and epidemiologist from Myanmar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights. “The military junta continues to intimidate and threaten health workers, even during the third wave of COVID-19 that devastated the country. The collapse of Myanmar’s health care system and the evolution of the conflict has now led to health being used as a political bargaining chip. Conflict should never justify inaction, especially where public health is concerned. Myanmar’s international allies must continue to press for unhindered delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to the people. Global health diplomacy must be invoked.”
While the vast majority of attacks and threats against health care have been perpetrated by Myanmar’s armed forces, non-state actors also reportedly committed violence against health care in May and June. Of the 297 total incidents, at least 267 are attributed to Myanmar’s armed forces (State Administrative Council/SAC or the Tatmadaw) and 14 to non-state actors. The perpetrators are unclear in 16 incidents.
The increase in attacks by non-state actors was driven in part by escalating conflict between the military and local ethnic militias in recent months, particularly in the Chin and Kachin states, as well as the shadow government’s September declaration of a “People’s Defensive War.”
The research brief also includes testimonies from nurses in Myanmar, collected by Insecurity Insight with support from the Tropical Health and Education Trust in September 2021.
“We are not criminals,” said one nurse, whose identity is concealed due to extreme security risks. “We are caring and compassionate nurses who want to help reduce pain and suffering. We just want to give care to our people.”
Another nurse told researchers: “This is not the first time in our history that we suffer from dictators. Back then, we couldn’t let the world know what was happening. Today, we are globally connected and want to raise our voices. We don’t want our country and health system to deteriorate. It is our human right to speak out and say where we stand on this.”
Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR used an open-source methodology to compile incidents noted in local, national, and international news outlets, online databases, and social media reports. The incidents reported are neither a complete nor a representative list of all incidents. Most incidents have not undergone verification by Insecurity Insight, PHR, and CPHHR. Data collection is ongoing and data may change as more information is made available. However, the data offers a snapshot of how Myanmar’s military is persecuting health workers and targeting facilities amid its broader crackdown on dissent.
“Myanmar’s military must immediately cease hostilities and allow prompt, equitable, and unhindered delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and lifesaving aid to the country’s besieged civilians,” said Susannah Sirkin, director of policy at Physicians for Human Rights. “UN member states must use all tools at their disposal to pressure and influence the Myanmar military to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law. In a year that has seen rampant conflict- and COVID-19-related violence against medical professionals, Myanmar may be the worst place on Earth to be a health worker today due to the onslaught from the military. The global community cannot let this stand.”
The research brief makes several recommendations to UN member states, urging the international community to ensure the full implementation of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2286, adopted in May 2016, which strongly condemns attacks on medical personnel in conflict situations, as well as UNSC Resolution 2565, which calls for a global ceasefire during the COVID-19 pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
Physicians for Human Rights (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Public Health, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma
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Family and friends had recently expected the reporters to be released as part of an amnesty
Description:
"Three journalists jailed by the junta after reporting on the fallout from its February 1 coup are now facing terrorism charges that could see them sentenced to several years in prison, lawyers have told Myanmar Now.
The journalists are Win Naing Oo, a senior Channel Mandalay reporter, D Myat Nyein, a reporter with the now defunct Zayar Times in Sagaing Region, and Pyae Phyo Aung, who worked for the same outlet.
All three were initially charged under Section 505-A of the Penal Code for incitement. A Mandalay-based lawyer familiar with Win Naing Oo’s case said more details of the new charge against him would be released at his next hearing on November 5.
“I learnt from the court that his Section 505 charge had been changed to one under the Anti-Terrorism Law,” he said.
Win Naing Oo was due to appear at a hearing relating to his 505-A charge on Tuesday but did not show up even though other co-defendants in the case did, the lawyer added.
“Only the others charged with him under the same case file were… indicted with Section 505 charges. Win Naing Oo didn’t appear at the court,” he said.
Family members and friends of the three journalists had expected them to be released as part of a recent junta amnesty after it was announced that people charged under 505-A were due to be set free.
Another lawyer said police and court sources had revelaed that the Zayar Times reporters would face terrorism charges, but no detailed information was available yet.
“Only one charge has been filed to the court so far,” the lawyer said. “The terrorism charge is still being filed at the police station, according to my sources.”
D Myat Nyein, 25, has been in detention at Obo Prison in Mandalay since July 26 and has been attending hearings at a court set up inside the prison. His lawyer could not be reached for further details about the case against him.
Pyae Phyo Aung, 30, was arrested on October 11 and is due to attend his first hearing under the 505-A charge at a court in Sagaing Township on October 29.
Myanmar Now was unable to contact the No.1 police station in the town of Sagaing, where Pyae Phyo Aung is being held.
The Zayar Times was forced to stop publishing in late July after the junta began targeting its journalists. Its chief editor Saw Yan Paing and two other reporters there have gone into hiding to avoid arrest. It is unclear if the three journalists in hiding will also face terrorism charges.
“As journalists we have to have connections with both sides so we can hear both sides of the story. It’s really sad that we have to face such major charges,” said one of the Zayar Times journalists who is in hiding and did not want to be named.
The junta has arrested roughly 100 journalists since its February coup and at least 53 of them were still in detention as of October 1, according to Reporters Without Borders. Around 20 journalists were released as part of the amnesty in mid-October..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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Sub-title:
Stronger International Pressure Needed to End Abuses
Description:
"“They placed a plastic bag over my head to suffocate me. They did this three times…. They held mock executions.… They pointed a rifle at me and pulled the trigger repeatedly.”
This is how a detainee in Myanmar, recently released after arrest for anti-junta protests earlier this year, described to Human Rights Watch some of the torture tactics that Myanmar soldiers used during an interrogation session in a military facility. The detainee suffered extensive beatings even before the interrogation. “My back felt broken,” the former detainee said. “I was on my knees and they had kept kicking my head… There was so much blood. I really didn’t think I was going to come out alive.”
Reports of torture by Myanmar’s long-abusive security forces are being increasingly well-documented. An expose by the Associated Press on October 28 includes credible and consistent accounts of torture of 28 detainees released in recent months, with information from victims, medical forensic analysts, and military defectors who witnessed abuse.
Myanmar’s junta announced a partial prisoner amnesty on October 18. The announcement said 1,316 people would be pardoned and charges dropped against 4,320 people who “participated in protests.” But many of these people have yet to be released, and some of those freed have given harrowing accounts of their mistreatment.
Several women released described to Myanmar media abuse they suffered at an interrogation center in Yangon, including mock executions and sexual assault. Human Rights Watch documented similar accounts at the same facility and elsewhere since the February 1 military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government.
Consistent accounts of torture of those critical of the junta, as well as widespread and systematic killings and other atrocities by Myanmar’s security forces, has led Human Rights Watch to conclude that abuses since the February coup amount to crimes against humanity.
Concerned governments need to increase pressure on Myanmar to end this brutal crackdown. Targeted sanctions on the military leaders overseeing abuses have not been enough. Governments should block foreign currency transactions to overseas banks controlled by the junta, including billions of dollars in revenues from oil and gas, mining, and timber ventures that are paid to junta-controlled entities. The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo and refer the country’s situation to the International Criminal Court. Failure to act will only invite more impunity, and more torture..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
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"Bangkok, October 25, 2021 – Myanmar’s military junta should immediately follow up its recent release of at least 15 jailed journalists by freeing all those still wrongfully held in detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On October 18, the country’s military government announced the release of over 5,600 prisoners in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds, according to news reports. At least 15 journalists were subsequently freed, according to local news reports and CPJ’s communication with editors and executives at their respective news organizations.
“Myanmar’s release of at least 15 journalists while leaving over 20 others to languish behind bars is a cynical attempt to alleviate rising international pressure against its repression,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Partial measures simply aren’t good enough: Myanmar’s junta must free all of the journalists it is holding wrongfully in detention.”
A CPJ special report in July documented the situation of journalists jailed in the wake of the military’s democracy-suspending February 1 coup, and found that at least 32 journalists were imprisoned due to their work as of July 1.
Many were held on charges under Article 505(a) of the penal code, a broad and vaguely worded provision that penalizes incitement and the spreading of “false news” with maximum three-year prison penalties, according to CPJ research; four of those recently released had been sentenced to prison terms under the provision.
The journalists, who were freed October 18 and 19, included:
Local independent media outlet Democratic Voice of Burma journalists Min Nyo, Kaung Myat Hlaing (Aung Kyaw), and Thet Naing Win, according to DVB editor-in-chief Aye Chan Naing, who communicated with CPJ via email. All three had been handed prison sentences under Article 505(a), according to CPJ research.
Mizzima news website co-founder Thin Thin Aung, reporter Zaw Zaw, and office assistant James Pu Thoure, according to news reports and Mizzima founder and chairman Soe Myint, who communicated with CPJ by email. Zaw Zaw had been handed a two-year prison sentence under Article 505(a), according to CPJ research.
Independent news outlet Myitkyina News Journal reporters Myo Myat Myat Pan, Tu Lawt (Christopher), and Ah Je, who were released in Kachin State, the local publication’s chief executive Brang Mai told CPJ via email.
Kachin Wave News website photographer La Raw, according to Htoi Awng, an editor at the local publication who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.
The 74 Media news website reported on its Facebook page that its reporter Chan Bu was released.
Voice of Thanbyuzayat news website photographer Htet Myat Thu, according to the publication’s editor-in-chief Paing Htoo, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.
Tachileik News Agency reporter Kyaw Zin Hein, according to the agency’s editor Cherry Htike, who communicated with CPJ by messaging app.
Dakhina Insight reporter Naing Linn Tun, Thanlyin Post editor Tu Tu Thar, and freelance reporter Aung Kyaw Oo, according to local reports and the Detained Journalists of Myanmar private Facebook group administrator Han Zaw, who communicated with CPJ via email.
CPJ emailed Myanmar’s Ministry of Information for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
In an open letter in April, CPJ called on coup maker Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to release all of the journalists jailed by his military regime..."
Source/publisher:
Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"Today, AAPP learnt Kyaw Min Yu (a.k.a Jimmy), a leading member of the ’88 Generation Students Group, was ruthlessly arrested by the junta on 23 October. Ko Jimmy was severely injured in his head during arrest and remains in critical condition at a military hospital.
We have witnessed this illegitimate military junta arrest political activists and anyone against them in brutal crackdowns. Many have been shot dead or brutally tortured to death. It is clear, the military is unlawfully committing crime against civilians as they wish.
The military junta is the one fully responsible and accountable for whatever happens to Ko Jimmy (a.k.a Kyaw Min Yu). We humbley request the international community apply pressure to protect political detainees from any torture committed by the unlawful military group. Fundamentally, we urge the immediate release of all political detainees.....၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ အောက်တိုဘာလ ၂၃ရက်နေ့ ညပိုင်းတွင် ၈၈ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့်ပွင့်လင်းလူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်း၏ ခေါင်းဆောင်တဦးဖြစ်သူ ကိုဂျင်မီ(ခ) ကိုကျော်မင်းယုအား အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုမှ အင်အားအလွန်အကျွံသုံးပြီး အကြမ်းဖက်ဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့ကြောင်း သိရှိရသည်။ ထိုသို့ ဖမ်းဆီးစဉ်အတွင်း ဦးခေါင်းတွင် အသက်အန္တရာယ် စိုးရိမ်ရသည်အထိ ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရရှိကြောင်း သိရှိရသည်။
အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ၎င်းတို့နှင့် အယူအဆမတူသူများအား ဖမ်းဆီးရာတွင် မလိုလားအပ်ဘဲ ကြမ်းတမ်းစွာဆက်ဆံခြင်းများကို ပြုလုပ်နေသည်ကိုလည်း တွေ့ရှိနေရပါသည်။ ဖမ်းဆီးစဉ်ပစ်ခတ်ခံရပြီး သေဆုံးမှုများ၊ စစ်ကြောရေးတွင် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးမှုများလည်း ရှိနေသည်ကို တွေ့ရှိရပါသည်။ ထိုကဲ့သို့သော လုပ်ရပ်များသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုသည် ၎င်းတို့အာဏာတည်မြဲရေးအတွက် တရားဥပဒေကို မထေမဲ့မြင်ပြုပြီး အပြစ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူများကို စိတ်ထင်တိုင်း တရားမဲ့ပြုကျင့်နေကြောင်း ပေါ်လွင်စေသည်။
ထို့ကြောင့် ကိုဂျင်မီ(ခ) ကိုကျော်မင်းယု နှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာမည့် အကျိုးဆက်များအားလုံးသည် မတရားဖမ်းဆီးခဲ့သည့် စစ်အုပ်စုတွင် တာဝန်အပြည့်အဝရှိပြီး စစ်အုပ်စုအနေဖြင့် တာဝန်ယူ၊ တာဝန်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်း အနေဖြင့်လည်း ကိုဂျင်မီအပါအဝင် မတရားဖမ်းဆီးခံထားရသူများအား ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုများမှ ကာကွယ်ပေးရန်နှင့် လွတ်မြောက်ရေးအတွက် အားထုတ်ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးပါရန် မိမိတို့ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်အသင်း (အေအေပီပီ) မှ အလေးအနက် မေတ္တာရပ်ခံအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-25
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Student Groups, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"Myanmar’s junta seized veteran political activist Ko Jimmy, also known as Kyaw Min Yu, a prominent 88 Generation Student leader, on Saturday night in Yangon for his anti-regime activism.
Ko Jimmy, 52, sustained a severe head injury during the arrest at Pin Lon Hnin Si villa in North Dagon Township.
His wife Daw Nilar Thein, another leading 88 Generation Students figure who also took part in the 1988 pro-democracy movement as a university student, has been in hiding elsewhere for her anti-junta activism. She is worried about her husband’s health and says, “the regime must take all responsibility for whatever happens to him”.
Ko Jimmy has been evading arrest since February. The junta issued arrest warrants for him along with Ko Min Ko Naing, another prominent 88 Generation figure, and a few others on Feb. 13 for alleged incitement.
The junta has killed nearly 2,000 people, detained more than 9,000 others and tortured those in captivity and committed gross human rights violations against civilians resisting military rule.
By THE IRRAWADDY 25 October 2021
Myanmar’s junta seized veteran political activist Ko Jimmy, also known as Kyaw Min Yu, a prominent 88 Generation Student leader, on Saturday night in Yangon for his anti-regime activism.
Ko Jimmy, 52, sustained a severe head injury during the arrest at Pin Lon Hnin Si villa in North Dagon Township.
His wife Daw Nilar Thein, another leading 88 Generation Students figure who also took part in the 1988 pro-democracy movement as a university student, has been in hiding elsewhere for her anti-junta activism. She is worried about her husband’s health and says, “the regime must take all responsibility for whatever happens to him”.
Ko Jimmy has been evading arrest since February. The junta issued arrest warrants for him along with Ko Min Ko Naing, another prominent 88 Generation figure, and a few others on Feb. 13 for alleged incitement.
The junta has killed nearly 2,000 people, detained more than 9,000 others and tortured those in captivity and committed gross human rights violations against civilians resisting military rule.
The Irrawaddy spoke to Ma Nilar Thein, who was also a political prisoner under a previous military regime, about Ko Jimmy, her concerns and her message to those opposing the regime.
How much do you know about Ko Jimmy since his arrest?
I have heard that he is in Mingaladon Military Hospital. He is being watched.
Do you know about his head injury?
I’m not sure how he got his head injury.
You said two people escaped. What did they say about his arrest?
Two young people escaped while junta forces were breaking down the door. They do not know what happened after that. They said there were a lot of troops.
There was a rumor Ko Jimmy was arrested with weapons.
I do not know.
Why was he still in hiding in Yangon?
There are a lot of people in hiding in Yangon knowing they face arrest any day. People are in hiding, avoiding arrest and trying to keep anti-regime activities going.
It has been eight months. People in Yangon move around. We knew the risks when we joined the pro-democracy movement. We are doing our best. Not only people inside the country but those aboard are also fighting the dictatorship. People are doing different things in different ways.
It is important to try to stay safe while doing what you can. But we all know we are no longer safe anywhere. Some think it is safer in liberated areas [controlled by ethnic armed groups]. But people there are fleeing the war. They face different problems.
How worried are you about Ko Jimmy and yourself?
If we are arrested by the junta, we know we will be tortured and maybe killed as we have heard many stories over the past eight months. We are all worried about everyone in captivity.
Our concerns reduce slightly when we hear someone has arrived alive in prison. We are worried about him. We heard many things but we can’t confirm anything. I’m worried about him.
Does he have a lawyer?
No. We won’t hire any lawyer because we will not cooperate with those who arbitrarily arrest people, act with injustice and manipulate cases.
People are saddened by the arrest of Ko Jimmy. You have been involved in this revolution and been freed from detention. Would you like to share any message with the people?
Ko Jimmy has been arrested. Before that, our beloved and respected Generation Z, our other dear comrades and student unions members have been arrested in many places. There are deaths. We have to turn these sorrows into strength and we will continue to work to overthrow the dictator. The more we face such difficulties and pain, the more determined we are to work harder to overthrow this dictator..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-25
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Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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"As the military takeover in Myanmar enters its ninth month of oppression and threat, university teachers committed to the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) are facing more difficulties and challenges. Most of the university teachers chose this vocation for its stability and prestige. However, Myanmar’s coup is making university teachers’ lives unthinkably difficult. Therefore, this article, based on open-ended survey research with university teachers participating in CDM,[1] will explore the pathways that university teachers are using to overthrow the military regime and the challenges they have faced since the military coup.
This article is structured around Matthew Mullen’s argument that democratic change in Myanmar developed around three pathways: contentious politics; everyday resistance; and reconstructive politics. I use Mullen’s ‘pathways’ as a theoretical framework to explore how university teachers participate in the revolution against military dictatorship. The first pathway (contentious politics) entails people organizing and publicly challenging political targets. The second pathway (everyday resistance) describes how people in a personal capacity are engaging in subtle behaviors on a daily basis to subvert military rule. The third pathway (reconstructive politics) describes how people try to change the situation around them by creating new opportunities. I argue that through these three pathways Myanmar’s university teachers undermine the junta’s plan to use education as a site of normalizing military rule.
Contentious politics: university teachers and the CDM
After the coup on 1st February 2021, thousands of university teachers and school teachers, doctors and nurses across Myanmar joined the CDM. Soon after the military coup, some CDM teachers and students in various universities (including Dagon University, Mandalay University, Yadanarbon University, Technological Universities, Yangon University of Education, among others) staged a rally called the “Red Ribbon Campaign” in front of their respective universities, where they displayed the three-finger salute popularized by Thailand’s protesters. University teachers also joined in street protests by wearing teachers’ uniforms until the end of February and early March. The military targeted these university teachers in their crackdowns.
Although university teachers cannot participate in strikes and demonstrations any longer because of arrests by the military, many are still participating in the CDM. When asked about why she participated in the CDM, an associate professor at Mandalay University said “I participate in the CDM to reject military coup and get truth and justice by means of the CDM.” A tutor at Mandalay University said “I joined the CDM in order to end military rule, to show our disobedience against any forms of the junta and to reflect what we [university teachers] can do for our future generations.”
In early May, the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar announced that the Education Ministry would reopen 134 universities on 6 May, demanding that teachers arrive on campuses on 3 May to prepare for teaching. Owing to fears about how the military would treat dissenting educators, some university teachers ended their commitment to the CDM when universities reopened.
“Some university teachers have already withdrawn from the CDM and come to class because of the threats made by the military” said a lecturer. Another lecturer said “I have withdrawn from the CDM to protect my family.” Many university teachers are returning to their respective universities, worried that they could lose their job and with it the income that their families rely on. Other CDM teachers think that those who suspended their involvement in the CDM lack the commitment necessary to end military rule.
On 6 May when universities reopened, university teachers who were still actively participating in the CDM had their jobs suspended by the military. Some university teachers that were suspended eventually returned to work, where they had to sign a pledge not to take part in the CDM. People in Myanmar are reluctant to speak up because they are living under the surveillance of military intelligence personnel and informers. Those who act against the military risk torture, long-term imprisonment and being treated as outcasts for life. To protect themselves and their families, Myanmar people participate in creating the silence that constrains many aspects of their lives.
On 21 May, the military issued removal letters for CDM teachers. However, many university teaching staff did not return to work despite various challenges and difficulties. In the words of an assistant professor at Mandalay University, CDM teachers believe that “CDM is very effective for overthrowing military dictatorship because until now governmental control or governance is not functioning all over the country”. Moreover, a tutor at Mandalay University added, “to some extent, it’s effective in overthrowing the military dictatorship. Even now, most of the students and teachers are not following the military’s rules to attend the classes. That’s absolutely what makes the junta look foolish.” Another tutor at Mandalay University answered “CDM is one of the most effective tools to overthrow the military regime, especially in challenging the military regime’s legitimacy.” Thus, many university teachers firmly determined that they will do CDM to the end.
Everyday resistance: other ways that university teachers challenge the junta
In addition to the CDM, university teachers are also using other ways which can overthrow the military regime. For instance, they refuse to pay taxes, boycott military products, and participate on social media. An associate professor at the Yangon University of Distance Education said “besides the CDM, I support the CDMers as much as I can by collecting the information and help them join the organizations they need”. A lecturer at Mandalay University answered “to reject the dictator, I don’t pay the municipal tax, don’t use the military products and don’t give back the government loan, etc.” A tutor at Mandalay University added “I act as a keyboard warrior on social media and also support the CDMers and the People Defense Force (PDF) as much as I can.” Another lecturer at Mandalay University said “I don’t pay electricity fee, I disobey the junta’s orders, and I share posts on social media to shame the military regime.” Thus, CDM university teachers also challenge the junta by using subtle tactics that subvert the junta.
Reconstructive politics: engaging in federal education with the NUG
Some university teachers are also participating in online educational activities with the National University Government (NUG). The NUG is working on plans to build a parallel education system for students who do not want to study at junta-controlled universities, in order to prevent the coup regime from governing and building legitimacy. Ja Htoi Pan, the Deputy Education Minister under the NUG, said “the NUG will first focus on an interim education plan for final year university students and Master’s students.”
Since then, universities have formed the University Interim Council, with student representatives and teacher representatives, to implement the NUG’s education plans. An associate professor at Yangon University of Distance Education said, “I am preparing for online education and collecting the information of the CDMers to join with the NUG.” A lecturer at Mandalay University answered, “now I am trying to build capacity by attending online classes under the support of the NUG.” Thus, CDM university teachers are engaging in parallel education with the NUG to create new federal educational opportunities for students. This demonstrates reconstructive politics, or the creation of new opportunities as a form of resistance.
Challenges faced by university teachers since the military coup
Since the military coup, university teachers who committed to the CDM faced various challenges and difficulties. At least 90% of students and teachers joined the CDM before university reopened and many have been forced by the military to return to universities. State-run newspapers and television report that around 20 people a day were issued arrest warrants, including education staff who participated in the CDM throughout April. Teachers from various townships taking part in protests against the coup have been charged under section 505 (a) of the criminal code, which makes it a crime to circulate any statement, rumor or report which could cause any military person to fail to carry out his duties. Hundreds of rectors, lecturers and teachers have been charged under 505 (a) and could be imprisoned for a maximum of three years if found guilty. At least a hundred educators have been detained. Door-to-door searches have forced many teachers and civil servants to go into hiding.
On the other hand, on April 26th, the NUG announced that they would blacklist 32 educators who had threatened or coerced CDM participants. The NUG also released the following statement: “Non-CDMers are betraying the country and they will be removed when the people’s government takes back power”. Some NUG supporters also posted on social media the names and pictures of non-CDM university teachers and added harsh comments in the name of social punishment.
Under this difficult situation for university teachers, there are growing concerns about the future, as university teachers play a vital role not only in providing high quality education but also in developing the human resources of the nation. University teachers described their difficulties and challenges of participating in the CDM as follows. A lecturer at Mandalay University said “I can’t live in one stable place as I am worried about arrest and persecution by the military as well as the lack of income and living difficulty. But I overcome these difficulties through my willingness to win the revolution. Therefore, I am firmly determined not to return to work.” An associate professor at Mandalay University answered, “there are many challenges that I faced in participating in the CDM such as insecurity, fear of arrest, and removal order.” Moreover, she added that “temporary dismissal and removal order are challenges that I face because university teacher is my vocation. But this is the end of the military coup in our generation and so I decided to participate in the CDM to the end despite challenges.”
Despite the determination of these educators, it is important to understand the serious challenges university teachers face, including threats to their safety and livelihoods. A tutor at Mandalay University reported “I face three main challenges by participating in the CDM. The first challenge is living difficulty as I do not receive my regular salary and it makes our living difficult sometimes. The second challenge is safety – we have to stay in a safer place due to arbitrary detention of CDM teachers. The final third challenge is that of emotional attacks because even though we participate in CDM, sometimes, most people near us don’t support the CDM and even discourage us. We don’t ask for much help from our neighbors but just for some words of support like ‘we will win one day, stay strong!’” She also added that “I feel depressed sometimes as there is no work or income but I feel proud to stand against injustice and I continue my life with the perception that I did what I should do for the public.” Thus, offering moral support is also vital for CDM teachers.
There have also been complications regarding the loans that university teachers have received. A lecturer at Mandalay University reported “while the National League for Democracy (NLD) government was still in power, the NLD government gave loans that were equal to two months of salary for university teachers. The NUG said that university teachers do not need to give back loan. But the military dictatorship said that they will prosecute CDM teachers who don’t repay the loans. That threatens all CDMers.” Moreover, university teachers who are participating in educational activities with the NUG described that they have internet and communication difficulties and also fear for personal security.
Overall, the main issue for CDM teachers is security. They face fear of arrest and threat by 505 (a) and thus many are living in hiding. The loss of a regular salary and a job they loved creates many difficulties for CDM teachers. Although CDM teachers sometimes feel depressed because of discouragement by neighbors and no income, they overcome these difficulties with a strong willingness to win the revolution.
Support for university teachers participating in the CDM
There are many local, regional, and national support groups like universities’ CDM support teams and the CRPH-CDM support team which are trying to provide financially for the CDMers. University teachers hold a variety of opinions about the financial support they have received while participating in the CDM. A lecturer at Mandalay University answered “I am satisfied with the supporting groups as they support as much as they can even though there are many difficulties. For instance, the military tries to disturb and block the supporting groups.” An associate professor at Mandalay University said, “I didn’t join the CDM with the expectation that I would be as well supported as we have been, so I am satisfied with how much support people have given us.” Although there are support groups which are trying to provide for the CDMers, there are still some teachers falling through the gaps. A tutor at Mandalay University responded, “I am not satisfied with support as teachers in rural areas do not have enough financial support from the support groups. Even if some CDMers receive support, it is not enough for their living costs.”
There seems to be a big difference between the CDMers who are well off economically and those who are not. Although the loss of regular salary may not be as big of a problem for the CDMers who can rely on savings and support from their families, the CDMers who lack this security face more challenges due to loss of their regular salary. It is also difficult for the CDMers to find another job. Knowing that the CDMers will eventually return to their old jobs makes employers reluctant to hire CDMers over other candidates looking for permanent positions.
As there is no regular income during this period, university teachers are trying to survive with the help of their family, or by living off savings or making more through irregular self-employment, like starting online shops. A lecturer at Mandalay University said “as I am single, my parents support me. For another job, as I got traditional medicine diploma certificate in 2001, I am trying to produce a medicine product to sell.” A tutor at Mandalay University answered “I try to survive by living with money I saved throughout the year and I have the plan to start working a new job but at the present I can’t do anything due to COVID-19 pandemic and political instability.” A lecturer at Yadanarbon University said, “I am running online shops and also my parents are able to support me.” It was found that although CDMers are facing difficulties, they never regretted their choice: they made up their mind to commit to CDM to the end.
University teachers also recommended various ways to overthrow the military regime, encompassing international action, donations to the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs), and the involvement of the ethnic armed organisations. They all stress unity for the cause. A tutor at Mandalay University suggested “international forces are crucial to overthrow the dictatorship. Also, the international actors should discuss Myanmar affairs and take action.” Another tutor at Mandalay University described “donating to the CDM and PDF and persuading military officers and police officers to cooperate in the CDM should be continued to overthrow the military dictatorship.” A lecturer at Mandalay University said “now under the NUG government, Generation Z are trying to fight against military dictatorship by taking up arms and attending training under KNU, KIA, and other ethnic groups. They have a strong desire to eradicate the military dictatorship, so we are heavily reliant on Generation Z and believe that we will win.” An associate professor at Mandalay University also suggested “we must unite each other to overthrow the military dictatorship and we need to continue participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement until we achieve this revolution.”
Conclusion
University teachers, who are at the heart of political activism, are prime targets for oppression and prosecution by the junta. Despite oppression by the junta, university teachers are using three of Matthew Mullen’s pathways to overthrow the military dictatorship. The first pathway they use is contentious politics such as participating in strikes, and the CDM. The second pathway is everyday resistance such as disobedience to the military’s orders, a refusal to pay municipal tax and electricity fees, boycotts of military-related products, donating to the PDF and CDMers, and speaking out on social media. The third pathway is reconstructive politics such as participating in a parallel education plan under the NUG. Thus, we can say that teachers have been in the forefront of the fight for democracy in Myanmar since the military coup on 1 February.
Due to the impacts of the military coup in Myanmar, many university teachers who participated in the CDM have been removed from their position. They are in hiding and at risk. Some have been charged under criminal code 505(a) and detained. Besides personal insecurity, many are struggling to survive as they no longer get paid. Although they were facing various difficulties, they will continue participating in the CDM until the end and hope that the revolution shall win.
Notes
[1] The author contacted fifteen familiar university teachers through Facebook Messenger and requested that they answer a questionnaire for this article. Out of fifteen requests, ten teachers completed the survey for a response rate of 66.6%...."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-25
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
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A warrant for the former student leader’s arrest had been issued in February, shortly after the military seized power
Description:
"Kyaw Min Yu, a veteran pro-democracy activist also known as Ko Jimmy, was arrested by junta forces on Saturday night in Yangon’s North Dagon Township, according to his wife.
Nilar Thein confirmed to Myanmar Now that her husband had been arrested and wrote on Facebook that his life was in danger.
“The military council must take responsibility for anything that may happen to him after the arrest,” she wrote.
It was unknown at the time of reporting where he was being held. Spokespersons for the military junta could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
According to the pro-regime news outlet People Media, Ko Jimmy was arrested in connection with a shootout that took place in a residential neighbourhood in North Dagon on Saturday night.
Citing a resident of the area, People Media said the clash began when regime forces entered Pinlon Housing to conduct a raid. Several other people were also arrested, and a number of weapons were seized, it added.
The military issued an arrest warrant for the 52-year-old activist on February 13 for allegedly inciting unrest and threatening “public tranquillity” for writing social media posts critical of the February 1 military coup.
A warrant was also issued at the same time for Min Ko Naing, another prominent figure involved in the student-led “four-eights” uprising of August 1988.
Ko Jimmy, who is also a writer, was imprisoned that year for his political activities and not released until 1996. In 2007, following the Saffron Revolution, he was arrested again and held until 2012.
As of Saturday, Myanmar’s military junta had arrested a total of 9,175 opponents of the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of these, 7,016 are still in regime custody..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-24
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Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"At least 50 journalists were among the thousands of people due to be freed from prison in Myanmar this week after the military announced an amnesty.
The military-installed government announced an amnesty for 5,600 people on Monday. The figure includes over 1,300 who had been convicted, and 4,320 who were awaiting trial.
Among those named on the list are three journalists from the independent broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB); two journalists from the VOA affiliate Mizzima; and Sithu Aung Myint, a veteran journalist who contributes to VOA and who has been jailed since August 15. The DVB journalists were freed Monday but as of Thursday Sithu Aung Myint remained in custody.
A team of lawyers representing the journalists on a pro-bono basis welcomed the announcement but said it would continue to assist the dozens still behind bars.
"We are relieved and happy to know that three DVB journalists, including Aung Kyaw, from Myeik, and Min Nyo, from Pyay, were released. We have to wait and see whether all 50 journalists are released. If not, we'll continue to represent them,” the legal team’s spokesperson, Khin Maung Myint, told VOA Burmese.
Most of those released had faced charges under Section 505a, which criminalizes content deemed to cause fear or spread false news about the government, but it was unclear if those accused under other sections of the penal code would be freed.
Incitement charges filed against Htet Htet Khine, who freelances for the BBC, were dropped under the amnesty, but a charge under the Unlawful Association Act remains active, the spokesperson for the legal team said.
On Wednesday, the Facebook group Myanmar Press Freedom In-Depth, which tracks jailed journalists, said at least 17 journalists have left prison since the start of this week. But dozens more remain in custody.
One of those is American journalist Danny Fenster, whom Myanmar has charged under its laws on incitement and the Unlawful Associations Act. Fenster, who is managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was not named in the amnesty and remains in custody.
Originally from Detroit, Fenster has been jailed since May 24 for offenses allegedly carried out by Myanmar Now, months after Fenster resigned from the news outlet, his lawyer says.
Frontier Myanmar has said it will end its print publication and temporarily cease its online and social media operation.
In a message emailed to subscribers, editor-in-chief Thomas Kean cited political instability and risks to staff from possible arrest or the coronavirus.
“The conditions for journalists working inside the country have gotten progressively worse over the past few months as the regime gets more desperate to crush resistance,” Kean said.
His message added that many of the outlet’s reporters are in hiding and that it has become harder for the photographers to work.
Mixed feelings
The amnesty brought mixed emotions for those freed, including DVB reporter Min Nyo, who was arrested in March while covering a protest over the military takeover, and later sentenced to three years in prison.
The reporter said that 170 people were detained under incitement charges in Pyay, in Myanmar’s Bago region, but only eight of those have been freed.
"Many youth remain in prison. We are not happy to be released, because we feel uncomfortable looking at those left behind in jail. They have hopes and vision for future,” Min Nyo told VOA. “We left prison with sadness, and we want them to be released as soon as possible."
Also freed were Mizzima co-founder Thin Thin Aung and one of her staff, James Pu Thoure. Both were arrested on April 8 on charges of incitement.
Since the February 1 coup, arrest warrants have been issued for at least 10 Mizzima journalists, including the managing director and editor-in-chief Soe Myint and managing editor Sein Win.
The amnesty deal was announced three days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) declined to invite Myanmar’s military leader to a summit.
ASEAN cited a lack of progress on plans the junta had agreed to in April to restore peace in Myanmar.
Myanmar's military government blamed "foreign intervention" for the decision.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) tied the prisoner release to the junta’s attempts to blunt international criticism.
The military announcement “must not be met with applause. It is a tactic of the junta to stop international condemnation. These releases will not end the coup,” the AAPP said.
The group said that as of Monday, 7,355 people were detained, including 354 who have been sentenced. A further 1,989 are under arrest warrant and Myanmar has sentenced over 100 in absentia.
Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said that while the prisoners' release was welcome, it came "not because of a change of heart, but because of pressure."
In a statement posted to Twitter, Andrews added that they had been detained "illegally for exercising their fundamental human rights."..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
Activists say issuing further charges to freed prisoners was ‘mental torture’ for families
Description:
"More than 100 political prisoners freed following a supposed amnesty in Myanmar were re-arrested shortly after their release according to a rights group, in what activists have likened to “mental torture” for the detainees and their families.
Some relatives, who had waited outside prisons expecting to be reunited with their loved ones, managed to catch a glimpse of them at the gates, before they were handcuffed and taken away. Others spent hours together, only to be separated again.
The Myanmar junta, which has been repeatedly condemned for detaining thousands of its critics, including children, promised a major release of political prisoners on Monday. It stated it would pardon 1,316 people and drop charges against 4,320 people who had “participated in protests”.
The military, however, gave no details of who would be freed, or what the terms of release would be.
Human Rights Watch has since described the releases, which have taken place over the past week, as “limited in scope”. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPP), an advocacy group, has confirmed that 324 people have been freed. More than 7,031 political prisoners are still being held in detention, according to AAPP Burma. This includes anyone suspected of criticising or questioning the February military coup – from medics, to journalists, politicians and activists.
AAPP said it was aware of 110 cases where people were issued with further charges and re-arrested after their supposed release.
Ma Zin Mar, who lives in central Myanmar and spoke under a fake name, was told by a lawyer that her sister would be among those released this week. She waited outside the prison and saw her sister walk free. Then, she watched as her sister was handcuffed and placed in a car by plainclothes officers.
“When this car drove outside of the prison compound, I ran after the car and asked them what happened. They said that they were bringing her to the police station. We followed to the police station and asked to meet my sister, but we were not allowed. We were so worried about her health,” she said.
Ma Zin Mar had spent that day cheering up her mother, telling her that her sister would soon be free. She had been so happy to see her walk out of prison. “We are so depressed now. It is now even hard to breath.”
Her mother, she added, was depressed and lying in bed.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent democracy activist, described the re-arrests as “complete mental torture of the family members and for the political prisoners.”
There have been widespread reports of torture inside Myanmar prisons, and some of those who have been released this week have described harrowing treatment at the hands of security forces.
A young democracy activist, who also spoke anonymously, said that during interrogations, which took place before he was transported to prison, detainees had no choice but to use toilet water to drink or wash their faces. He was arrested for possessing banners and posters opposing the military coup.
“They [the military] even put guns in our mouths. And they threatened us a lot. They asked us to dig graves for ourselves. Also, I have seen other people get tortured and they were even vomiting because of the severity of the torture. Some people lost their teeth,” he said, speaking anonymously for fear of arrest. Prison, he said, had felt like paradise in comparison.
He added that he cannot feel happy, even though he has been released. He lives in fear of being arrested again. He also worries for the many others left behind in prison. “Some of them got arrested for sharing a Facebook post, or they beat pots and pans [a protest act], or they got arrested as their phones were searched by the soldiers on the road. They did no crimes,” he said.
The junta appeared to be releasing prisoners who had been charged under section 505a, a sweeping law that is used by the junta to punish anyone who criticises the coup or the military. However, many face multiple charges, and so remain in prison.
The announcement of the prisoner release came just days after Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief, was excluded from a regional summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) over his failure to commit to de-escalating the country’s crisis.
Shunlei Yi said that she believed the announcement had been in response to the pressure from neighbouring countries. “They see these leaders as their like minded people,” she said, referring to Asean, which has a tradition of non-interference and rarely condemns its members over human rights issues.
David Mathieson, an independent analyst formerly based in Myanmar, said that regardless of whether the release had been planned for some time or driven by the Asean decision, the snub by neighbouring countries would have stung. “They’re status-obsessed people, the leaders of the SAC [State Administrative Council junta],” he said.
However, he added that the prisoner releases, which appear far more limited than promised, were unlikely to impress anyone in the international community. “A lot of diplomats [should say]: ‘you said that you were going to release all these people – where are the lists and where is this happening? … You’re promising something like this and completely reneging on it. We can’t trust anything that you say from now on, which really limits the ability to construct mediation with you.’”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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Local URL:
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Description:
"SUMMARY:
This briefing covers the situation of human rights, which were
documented by the Chin Human Rights Organization in
northwestern Burma/Myanmar, primarily in Chin State,
Sagaing and Magwe Regions, between August and September
2021. Under the reign of terror imposed by the junta, hundreds
have been arrested, dozens of people killed, injured and
thousands exiled in a matter of months.
Evidence contained in this briefing demonstrates that there is a
clear pattern of serious violations of international human rights
and humanitarian laws, which are being committed by the
Burmese/Myanmar military junta State Administration Council
(SAC) against civilian populations with complete impunity..... This document details human rights violations committed by SAC actors
during August and September, 2021. Attacks on the civilian population and
civilian infrastructure initiated by the State Administration Council (SAC) junta
have become increasingly relentless in western Burma/Myanmar since
August 2021. Junta soldiers operating in Chin State and parts of Sagaing and
Magwe Regions, under the Northwestern Regional Military Command based
in Monywa, have conducted a campaign of unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest
and detention, torture and deliberate targeting of civilian and religious
infrastructure.
During August and September, the numbers of attacks on civilian and
religious infrastructure in western Myanmar where Tatmadaw forces have
escalated military activities against civil militias from the Chinland Defense
Force (CDF) in Chin State and the various Peoples Defense Force (PDFs)
operating in Sagaing and Magwe Regions has increased. These conflicts have
led to radical violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,
resulting in the massacres of civilians and causing civilian casualties, damage
and destruction to private and public property.
These ongoing violations constitute part of what the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet described as the “human rights
catastrophe” in her report to the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva
on Thursday, September 23.1 The violations documented by CHRO and other
groups have clear patterns in which perpetrators’ actions are demonstratively
deliberate and intended to cause harms to civilians. The destruction of lives,
livelihood and properties are directly linked to the military scorched earth
counter-insurgency policy.
The notorious “four-cuts” doctrine, which has been employed in active war
zones in ethnic areas for decades, is now being applied in the junta’s military
campaigns in urban areas in the fight against local militia groups such as CDF
and PDFs in western Myanmar/Burma. In implementing the four-cuts
doctrine designed to cut off food, funding, intelligence and
recruits to the
resistance groups, civilians are deliberately exposed to extreme violence and
livelihood destruction. The deliberate and indiscriminate nature in which the
policy is being applied in the current conflict circumstance has led to
unnecessary deaths, destruction of livelihoods and properties of civilians..."
Source/publisher:
Chin Human Rights Organization
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Chin (Zo)- economic, social, cultural, political
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Description:
"Introduction:
1. This report complements the earlier report produced by the National Unity Government (NUG) of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on the human rights situation in Sagaing and Magway Regions.2
2. Since its failed military coup d’état of 1 February 2021, the illegal military junta has directed escalating, excessive and disproportionate force against the people of Myanmar. As at 18 October 2021, at least 1181 civilians had been killed by security forces countrywide, while another 7355 remained in detention.3 An estimated 612 persons had been arrested in Chin State alone, 70 of which (61 males and nine females) took place in August and September 2021.4
3. Increasingly since April 2021, security forces – operating at the direction and in the full knowledge of the junta leadership – have intensified operations in ethnic minority areas and in centres of resistance. The military continues to employ its long practised ‘four cuts strategy’, known as Pyat Ley Pyat, cutting off communities and presumed insurgents in these areas from funding, food, intelligence and recruits. This strategy has been accompanied by internet and phone blackouts, and forced displacement.
4. The NUG has documented credible reports of grave human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful killings and murder, torture and mistreatment, sexual and gender-based violence, abductions, arbitrary detention, the use of human shields, the indiscriminate use of landmines, the destruction of homes and property, and looting. The information contained in this report is drawn from multiple sources, including victims, witnesses, medical personnel, and local residents and organisations. Select emblematic incidents are set out below. Other incidents remain under investigation and subject to verification. Open source references are provided where available.....Chin State: 5. Chin State is located in western Myanmar and borders Bangladesh and India. It shares internal borders with Rakhine State, and Magway and Sagaing Regions.5 Chin State comprises 9 townships, including Falam, Hakha, Kanpetlet, Mindat, and Thantlang, and is amongst the poorest parts of Myanmar.
6. At 18 October 2021, at least 33 civilians, including eight children, had been killed by junta security forces in Chin State since February 2021. Unconfirmed reports suggest that four military battalions, including Light Infantry Battalion 222 (LIB-222) and Light Infantry Division 66 (LID-66), have been deployed to Chin State.
7. The international community has expressed growing alarm at troop build ups in Chin State. Notably, the United Kingdom (penholder on Myanmar at the United Nations (UN) Security Council) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released recent statements. On 15 October 2021, the United Kingdom acknowledged that ‘[r]epeated large scale attacks have demonstrated the Myanmar Military has no regard for the people of Myanmar’.6 On 8 October 2021, OHCHR noted the military’s ‘established pattern of attacks’ against unarmed individuals and urged ‘the international community to speak with one voice, to prevent the commission of further serious human rights violations against the people of Myanmar’.7
8. This escalation of force in Chin State has included the use of artillery, with multiple reports of civilians having been killed and injured and homes destroyed by shelling. On 18 September 2021 in Thantlang Township, 18 civilian homes were destroyed by shelling. As many as 15,000 villagers have fled Thantlang Township on account of these indiscriminate attacks.8
9. The military has also employed airstrikes in Chin State. On 10 September 2021 in Lon Ler village of Thantlang Township, local villagers were forced to flee airstrikes that reportedly followed clashes between the Chin National Front and junta forces.9
10. The NUG is also investigating multiple incidents in which junta troops have allegedly shot and killed civilians. On 18 September 2021 in Thantlang Township, a Christian pastor was murdered by junta soldiers.10 His wedding-band finger was cut off and his ring removed, acts that constitute despoliation and pillage of the dead.11 On 29 September, two men – one aged in his seventies, the other in his fifties – were shot and killed by junta soldiers while they were driving in Thantlang Township. Two other civilians were reportedly injured in the same incident.12
11. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Mr. Thomas Andrews, has deemed as credible reports that junta soldiers used an estimated 10 to 14 civilians, including a pregnant woman, as human shields during an attack on Mindat Township in August 2021. The Special Rapporteur has also documented the use of sexual violence, arbitrary detention, the blocking of roads, and the cutting off of the water supply in Mindat, forcing the displacement of over 30,000 villagers.13
12. According to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), between 30,000 to 35,000 persons from Chin State have fled to Mizoram State in India since 1 February 2021, while another 20,000 people remain internally displaced in Mindat Township. CHRO also estimates that up to 10,000 residents of Thantlang Township have been displaced since 6 September 2021.14..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders
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Description:
"Since the military February 1, 2021, coup the junta has been brutally cracking down, arbitrary detaining thousands, relentlessly torturing, and ruthlessly killing civilians against an illegitimate coup attempt. Most of the political prisoners are mentally and physically tortured, and do not even have access to a fair trial.
The military junta released some political detainees on October 18, 2021, with the promise of retrospective sentences. It was never an absolute amnesty for political detainees. However, some were even released then cynically re-arrested as soon as they arrived home. Some others were told they were on the released list, taken to the jail entrance, only to be taken back to prison in the face of additional charges.
These actions, of re-arresting soon after supposed released, having met with family for some hours or even arriving at jail gates only to be taken back to prison, are a form of physical and mental torture, not only to the political detainees, but their families.
According to AAPP documentation, 110 political prisoners were re-arrested soon after release since 18 October’s announcement. And yet, there will be more arrests as some are in hiding or have been in lost contact. The hope is for every detainee to be released. These re-arrests destroy this desire. It is clear, the military junta is targeting the mental wellbeing of not only the political prisoners, but their children and family members.
We, AAPP, condemn these cruel acts committed by the military junta. We also urge the immediate release of Burma’s elected President, State Counsellor, and all political detainees. AAPP will continue our efforts against the military perpetrated arbitrary detentions, torture, and barbaric killing. Yet we urge the international community to put further pressure on this illegitimate junta group..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
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Description:
"Emerging as the first act of defiance after the military coup on 1 February 2021, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) is a general strike mobilisation spearheaded by hundreds of thousands of civil servants. The CDM has become the centre of focus for all parties involved in the post-coup era in Myanmar. To those opposing the coup and the military, the CDM is not only an anti-coup campaign but also a foundation from which to replace the military-controlled administrations. For the military and its supporters, the CDM was a surprise, and represents a threat to maintaining coercive and central power in the post-coup era—a threat that needs to be dealt with through the strongest measures available.
The civil disobedience campaign in Myanmar comprises a wide range of forms including banging pots and pans, street protests, refusal to pay bills, and boycotting state-sponsored lottery and military-affiliated businesses. However, this report, which can be downloaded by clicking on the cover image below, mainly focuses on the actions and roles of CDM civil servants, locally known as the CDMers, as the civil disobedience campaign is widely referred to the act of civil servants pledging not to work under the military. The report explains the CDM in three different phases—emergence, growth, and consolidation—by highlighting the significant developments, campaigns, and relationships among key political actors and organisations involved; it also explains the measures taken against the CDM by the military to consolidate its grip.
The coup was almost universally unpopular, sparking mass protests and boycotts against military-affiliated businesses, but also creating renewed fighting with several ethnic armed organisations, including signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
The Emergence of the Civil Disobedience Movement
Mobilisation of politicians and activists to launch the civil disobedience campaign was vital, but the movement began with healthcare workers refusing to go to work on the day after the coup. In his first interview with the local media on 1 February, U Win Htein, a patron of the NLD, urged the public to initiate a non-violent movement to protest against the coup, referring to the civil disobedience movement of India led by Mahatma Gandhi. A group of medical doctors from Mandalay created a network and launched the online campaign by circulating a statement condemning the military coup. A day after the coup, healthcare workers from about forty hospitals, medical institutes, and COVID-19 testing centres announced their decision to join the movement and stop work indefinitely.
Growing popularity of the Civil Disobedience Movement
The CDM gained momentum with the onset of street protests. The “CDM” and “Don’t go to office, break away” became some of the most popular slogans of the anti-coup demonstrations across the country. While some portrayed the CDM as the best bulwark in defense against the military-rule, others went further in describing the CDM as a silver bullet that could entirely end the military’s dominance in politics.
The health and education sectors have the highest volume of CDM participation. About 90% of the total number of healthcare workers reportedly joined the CDM in the first month after the coup. In some states and regions, 50 to 65 percent of teaching staff joined the movement. The participation of civil servants from three military-controlled ministries—Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Border Affairs—has attracted much public attention. In some townships in Yangon and Mandalay, CDM participation among ward offices is as high as 100%. Moreover, at least 2,000 soldiers and police have reportedly joined the movement as of mid-August. However, all of them are low-ranking, with the highest rank being an acting police colonel and army major, proving the military’s leadership is less likely to split. The movement was nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize by six academics in Norway. It is estimated that more than 410,000 of about one million civil servants have participated in the CDM since the coup.
Consolidating the Civil Disobedience Movement
Having witnessed the deadly crackdown and impact of the CDM, the CDMers and tech-savvy youth have resorted to various tactics, including controversial online “Social Punishment” campaigns, to grow and sustain the movement. For the National Unity Government (NUG), an alternative government to the State Administration Council formed by the military, the CDM is perceived as the most important pillar in boosting domestic support; some CDM participants have become leaders of the NUG. The CRPH and civil society organisations have set up networks across the globe to finance CDM participants, despite the military’s strict control over banking systems.
With the assistance of the CDMers, there have been efforts to develop alternative administrative mechanisms to challenge the military’s rule, which are most evident in education and heath sectors. Defectors from the security forces have also been known to conduct training for the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs), liaising with others keen to defect, and leaking information about military affairs to the press and the NUG. In Kayah (Karenni) State, groups opposing the coup formed a state police force comprised of 300 CDM police as part of an alternative governing force.
Military’s Responses
Surprised by the impact and popularity of the CDM, the military has used all the tools at its disposal to weaken and co-opt the movement. The military at first only asserted authority through intimidation and warnings via their subordinates and lure the civil servants with promotions and benefits. When the movement grew exponentially, soldiers and police carried out lethal and extra-lethal violence to crackdown on the movement. As of May, more than 140,000 teaching staff were suspended. At least 252 attacks were carried out against healthcare workers and medical facilities, resulting in 25 deaths by 31 July. Hundreds of CDMers and supporters have been charged and more than 70 of their family members have been taken hostage by the military. In mid-August, more than 150 people, including 48 doctors, were still in custody in connection with the CDM and many of them were reportedly sexually abused, beaten, or tortured to death..."
Source/publisher:
New Mandala
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, National Unity Government (NUG), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"Some political prisoners freed by the junta on Monday were rearrested on the same day and charged under the terrorism law, their colleagues said.
Myanmar’s regime released over 5,600 people, most of whom were arrested and facing trial for participating in anti-junta protests. As of Saturday, more than 7,300 people had been detained by the junta since the coup.
In Mandalay Region’s Meiktila town, 11 of 38 political prisoners released were apprehended by police after walking out of Meiktila Prison. Those rearrested were an elected lawmaker from the National League for Democracy (NLD), other NLD members, and political activists including members of the ’88 Generation students movement.
NLD sources said on Tuesday morning that the 11 would be charged under sections 50A and 52J of the Counterterrorism Law for attempted terrorism and having contact with terrorist groups. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
Sources at the Mandalay branch of the NLD said U Lwin Maung Maung, who was elected to the Mandalay regional parliament in 2020 on the NLD ticket, was taken by the police at around 6 p.m. in Mandalay.
“I saw Ko Lwin [U Lwin Maung Maung] at the prison gate but police took him to the No. 1 Police Station near Meiktila Prison right after his release and some were arrested before arriving home,” said a source who was in front of the prison at the time.
U Lwin Mg Mg was first arrested in late April and charged with sedition under Section 505-A of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisoment.
The Irrawaddy could not reach police for comment.
Monday’s amnesty came right after ASEAN’s exclusion of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing from the group’s upcoming summit for his regime’s failure to collaborate with the regional bloc’s efforts to resolve Myanmar’s post-coup political crisis. The junta said the prisoners were freed on humanitarian grounds, but many believe the amnesty on Monday was the regime’s attempt to appease 10-member ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member.
Previously, the regime announced mass amnesties in February and April..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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Description:
"Lu Nge Khit, the era of youth, is a small media organisation formed by young journalists in Myanmar on Monday, 13 September, when they held their very first newsroom meeting. The founding group of journalists, from a variety of backgrounds, all shared a desire to unite and create a new platform to fill the huge information void left by the military coup on 1 February. A string of subsequent measures inflicted on the people by the Tatmadaw, first as the “State Administration Council” and now as a “Caretaker Government” have stymied access to information across the country.
Soon after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing fronted the cameras on 8 February, seemingly confused at the millions-strong rejection of his poorly thought-out grab, the Tatmadaw began increasing murders, detentions and other attacks on civilians and peaceful protesters, and banned existing media houses, starting with those most extensively covering the anti-coup protests. The Tatmadaw raided offices, explicitly targeted journalists for abduction and tortured them on the street and in shadow detention centres.
The Detained Journalists Information Group and Reporting ASEAN has counted a total of 102 journalists arrested, of whom 48 are still detained, including American Danny Fenster. Four media houses have been charged under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code and seven media houses have had their publishing licenses revoked. Although some organisations have managed to relocate staff to areas in the country outside of the Tatmadaw’s control and continue reporting, others, such as 7 Day News Journal and The Voice Daily, have completely ceased their operations. Myanmar is now “the country without newspapers”: for the last seven months since March 17, 2021, Myanmar has not had a single independent print newspaper in publication.
Since 1 February, as the Tatmadaw’s horrific subjugation of the nation’s people has increased, so has public access to information decreased. After initially imposing nationwide internet blackouts, the Tatmadaw has shifted to employing strategic township-level blackouts, with 25 townships still affected this month. Some of the military’s most egregious crimes and massacres in rural areas take place under these blackouts.
One consequence of increasing challenges to accessing information is a rise in the spread of propaganda, “fake news”, disinformation and misinformation. Access to accurate and balanced information is crucial in this time of crisis. In such an unsafe reporting environment, media organisations are now––more than ever–– dependent on citizen journalists. Organisations struggle every day to verify sources and claims from these brave people on the ground, who are shot at, beaten and arrested by security forces and their proxies if caught filming newsworthy events.
At the same time, many young journalists have lost their jobs and others are in hiding, with either no income or with meagre support from the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Even though activists have been shouting out loud that “Journalism is Not a Crime”, reporters are being treated as criminals under the military regime. The story of one of our own reporters, pseudonym Ko Y, illustrates this.
Ko Y was arrested earlier this year while reporting on mass street protests in Yangon. He was held in Insein prison for three months. When released, the newspaper he worked for had stopped publishing due to having its license revoked by the military.
“While I was in prison in March, I heard the news that my newspaper had stopped printing and I felt helpless. For me, it is not only about me losing my job, but also about losing press freedom in our country,” he said.
Nevertheless, Ko Y is eager to continue reporting under the military regime and went into hiding after joining Lu Nge Khit. As a newsroom team member of Lu Nge Khit, he risks his life along with the rest of the team and Myanmar’s thousands of citizen journalists every day. Ko Y says, “I’m glad that I can continue my work reporting conflicts over the country. It makes me feel confident that I’m reporting right and accurate news for the people who need it”.
Lu Nge Khit was formed to be a bridge between the people of Myanmar––who deserve easier access to journalism of the highest standard––and journalists with the passion and skills to pursue the verification and reporting of news needed to meet this essential right to information. As part of this goal, one of Lu Nge Khit’s missions is to target and support youths with information useful for them and their generation. The majority of the Lu Nge Khit team lived their childhood and adolescence under the military regime before the changes of the decade from 2010-2020, but we were also shaped by that decade and its opportunities, helping us to understand the profound concerns facing Myanmar’s youth of today.
Many of my own childhood memories are filled with military propaganda. It is a shame, but I believed it all then. It was hard for me in my young age to find job and opportunities. Access to information is a basic human right and we do not want today’s youth to suffer from a lack of information like we did.
Lu Nge Khit is also intended to be a platform for youth, enabling and supporting young people to raise and express their own voices. As a first step, we are developing an online program for youth to share their experiences, their concerns and opinions. The program will be open to all young people in the country, and more information will be available soon.
Another mission of Lu Nge Khit is to create opportunities for journalists and try to rebuild the devastated media industry in Myanmar. Lu Nge Khit cannot hire all the journalists who have been forced out of work by the Tatmadaw, but it can create opportunities for those journalists who are particularly energetic and keen to continue their career during this terrifying crisis. At present, a team of seven reporters and three editors are running the newsroom in collaboration with a video editor and a translator.
Please visit Lu Nge Khit and like/follow its Facebook page, which is currently the best way to stay engaged with the organisation. We are currently in the process of setting up a website and other secure media channels to reach the people of Myanmar, but for now, Facebook remains our central distribution service..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Announcement follows junta chief being barred from summit over failure to commit to de-escalation
Description:
"Myanmar’s military has announced plans to release more than 5,000 prisoners, days after the junta chief was blocked from attending an upcoming regional summit over his failure to commit to de-escalating the country’s crisis.
A total of 5,600 people arrested or subject to arrest warrants for taking part in anti-coup protests since the military seized power in February would be released, it was announced on state TV on Monday.
Late into the evening the first of the prisoners were released. It was not immediately clear how long it would take for all those scheduled for release to be freed.
More than 7,300 political prisoners – including medics, elected politicians, journalists and protesters – are being held, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) Burma, an advocacy group that tracks the arrests.
In cases where the military’s targets cannot be found, security forces have instead abducted their relatives, including children, the UN special rapporteur for the country, Tom Andrews, said last month.
Many rushed immediately to find out if their relatives or friends would be released following the announcement. A woman from Yangon, who spoke anonymously, was among those who went to the prison to search for information about her sister, a journalist detained in August.
The family had not been able to visit her sister since the arrest, she said. “We received a letter that says she is healthy and OK. We didn’t hear any other news.” The letter had asked for the family to send her a newspaper to read; they tried to pass one to prison staff, but are unsure if she received it.
“We hope for her freedom. But we can’t expect too much,” she added.
Another woman whose two younger brothers were arrested separately, in May and July, said she too was trying to find out if they would be released. Both were in their 20s, she said. “There is no reason to thank [the military]. We even want to curse them. Many of my friends and two brothers are arrested, so there is no reason to thank them.”
At least 1,178 have been killed in the military’s deadly crackdowns, according to AAPP Burma, including 131 people who were killed in detention. There have been widespread reports of torture in prisons.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which has led international efforts to negotiate, agreed a five-point plan with the military to de-escalate the crisis in April. This included an agreement that Asean would send an envoy, Brunei’s second foreign minister, Erywan Yusof, to the country to mediate. However, he cancelled his trip this week after the military announced he would not be permitted to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
The bloc decided to exclude the junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, from its upcoming summit, which will be attended by Joe Biden, due to the lack of progress. The decision was a rare rebuke from Asean, which maintains a non-interference policy, and is a major blow to the junta’s hopes of gaining greater legitimacy internationally.
Minn Khant Kyaw Linn, a 23-year-old student activist whose friends were killed during the spring revolution protests this year, said the international community should not be fooled into believing the military’s pledges. “This army also tortured and arrested innocent people. We demand the international community to take action on this army,” he said.
Among those being held is the American journalist Danny Fenster, who has been in detention since his arrest on 24 May.
AAPP said in a statement that the prisoner release was intended as “a form of distraction for the foreign governments” and that it was no coincidence that the announcement came days after Asean’s decision to exclude Min Aung Hlaing from its gathering.
“The junta will continue to refuse to be transparent about the individual persons released, and who remains detained. Released prisoners from 18 October may include some political prisoners but the intention is not to relax repression,” AAPP said.
“If the junta wanted to make concessions, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint and all political prisoners would be released unconditionally, and the democratically elected leaders reinstalled.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-18
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Anti-coup protesters, Human Rights Defenders, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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"Ousted President U Win Myint appeared at a special court in Naypyitaw on Oct. 12 to face incitement charges over a National League for Democracy (NLD) central executive committee (CEC) statement condemning the Feb. 1 coup.
State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and former Naypyitaw Mayor Dr. Myo Aung also appeared at the court for the same charge.
President U Win Myint for the first time revealed details of his detention on the morning of the Feb. 1 coup during his testimony. He said the military tried to force him to step down before the coup but he refused.
The president’s lawyer, U Kyi Win, told The Irrawaddy about his first public comments since he was detained.
What did President U Win Myint testify about his detention?
The court asked his age, address and occupation. He said he was 70 but that he didn’t even know where he was being held and that he lived at the presidential residence until Feb. 1.
And he said his occupation was president, which suggested he still considered himself to be the president.
He said soldiers entered his bedroom at around 5am on Feb. 1. He said he took his medicines, said his prayers, got dressed and went with them.
He was taken to the President’s Office and was asked to wait outside his office. Two generals asked him to resign on health grounds.
He said he was in good health and would not resign. One of the generals asked him to reconsider his decision, saying he could be harmed.
He said he would rather die than resign. He told them to act lawfully and not to stage a coup. He was taken back to his presidential residence.
At the residence, many soldiers had seized communication devices from the building. At noon, he was told he would have to move within three days. So he and his family started packing.
He said he was moved to a house in the ministers’ neighborhood on Feb. 4. He was moved again on May 23. He didn’t know where it to.
Many soldiers were waiting for them at the new house. He said he lost contact with the outside world on Feb. 1 and there was no television or newspapers.
He said it was unreasonable to charge him over the NLD statement which was issued after his detention and that he was not guilty.
Was he detained with his family?
All we know is he said he packed with his family. We assume they are still together.
To what extent will his testimony impact the case?
The prosecutors have charged him under Article 505(b) of the Penal Code for incitement.
They cannot prove he was involved in the NLD statement. The prosecutor failed to submit evidence.
In Myanmar, prosecutions can’t proceed unless the prosecutor can submit evidence. The president cited Article 64 of the Constitution: “If the president or vice-presidents are members of a political party, they shall not take part in its party activities.”
He said he strictly followed Article 64 and had not engaged in the party’s activities since he assumed the presidency.
He said the accusation that he was involved in the NLD’s statements on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 was unsubstantiated because he was detained on Feb. 1. He said the charge was therefore baseless. He said they only charged him because he was on the NLD’s CEC.
We heard the prosecutor asked him about the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, National Unity Government and People’s Defense Forces. What was his response?
Prosecutors asked him if he knew about the organizations. He said he didn’t because he had been isolated since Feb. 1.
Did Daw Aung San Suu Kyi instruct you to inform the public about the testimonies made in court?
Yes. She said the public must be informed about the trial. Trials are supposed to be held in public. She said people should know if a trial is unfair. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asked us to release the testimonies.
What is your legal assessment of the case?
Legally, [U Win Myint] did not violate the law. The prosecution cannot prove he was involved with the statements..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-14
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Articles and reports about the NLD, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders
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"Court testimony from Myanmar’s ousted civilian President U Win Myint on Tuesday showed that commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing breached the military’s own 2008 Constitution when he seized power on Feb. 1.
On multiple occasions over the past eight months, whether in meetings with members of the State Administration Council (SAC) he chairs, or at gatherings with his subordinates, the commander-in-chief has repeatedly claimed that there was no coup on Feb. 1 and that the military takeover was carried out “constitutionally”.
However, on Tuesday, the 70-year-old detained President, testifying in his own defense, told a court in Naypyitaw that early on the morning of the takeover, two military generals entered his room at the Presidential Residence in Naypyitaw and tried to force him to resign from his post on the grounds of ill health.
According to his lawyer, the President told the court that the officers threatened him, saying that if he did not do as they instructed he would come to “harm”.
U Win Myint told the generals that he would rather die than consent to their proposal, the lawyer added.
The President said he told the generals that he was not concerned about being harmed, and that things should be handled as per the law and not by staging a coup, his lawyer said.
The first public revelation of the circumstances of President U Win Myint’s detention came as he personally defends himself against an incitement charge brought by the regime over statements released by his National League for Democracy (NLD) urging the public to resist the coup.
The same charge has also been brought against detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD chairwoman, and detained Naypyitaw Mayor U Myo Aung.
A lawyer told The Irrawaddy that Tuesday’s court testimony from the President has emerged as the strongest confirmation yet of assertions made by both local and international legal experts that the military takeover was unconstitutional.
According to Article 417 and Article 418 of the 2008 Constitution, in the event that a state of emergency is to be declared in the country, the President must announce the order in coordination with the military-dominated National Defense and Security Council (NDSC). The President then transfers the government’s executive, legislative and judicial powers to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces.
However, a few hours after the country’s civilian leaders including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested on Feb. 1, the military convened an NDSC meeting. Former general U Myint Swe, the military-appointed vice president, attended the meeting as “acting president” and declared the country to be under a nationwide state of emergency for one year. Then, he immediately transferred the country’s legislative, administrative and judicial powers to the commander-in-chief.
Trying to force the sitting president to resign by using threats could be seen as coup maker Min Aung Hlaing’s desperate attempt to make his takeover constitutional. The charter’s Article 73 (a) states that one of the two vice presidents—the one who won the second-highest number of votes in the presidential election—shall serve as Acting President “if the office of the President falls vacant due to his resignation, death, permanent disability or any other reason.”
In other words, the two senior military officers’ suggestion that U Win Myint quit his position for health reasons was nothing more than a pretext to make the coup legal.
However, given the then president’s refusal to resign, it’s hard to say that Article 73 provides valid support for U Myint Swe’s acting presidency, let alone the coup.
“The President has notified the entire nation as well as the world, through the court, that the takeover violates the Constitution,” the lawyer said.
The President’s words clearly reveal the commander-in-chief and his fellow generals to be criminals who have committed high treason, he said.
“It is the strongest evidence that they committed high treason as [it comes from] the head of state himself,” the lawyer said.
Lawyers in Myanmar have called for the prosecution of the coup leaders for high treason, which carries the death sentence.
Amid these calls, the SAC led by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has amended the country’s high treason law in an attempt to guarantee impunity for the military leaders who seized power in February.
While the original Article 121 of the Penal Code says anyone who “attempts or otherwise prepares by force of arms or other violent means to overthrow the organs of the Union or of its constituent units established by the Constitution” is guilty of high treason, the coup leader has amended it so that only unconstitutional use of force of arms constitutes high treason, meaning it is acceptable to use force of arms as long as it is done in line with the Constitution.
However, lawyers said that because the takeover was carried out in breach of the Constitution, every order, every appointment and removal of an official, and all changes to the law made by the junta are illegal.
Myanmar has been in political and social turmoil since the military overthrew the civilian government and seized control.
Since the coup, the junta has killed at least 1,167 people including protesters, politicians, activists, bystanders and children, and arrested more than 8,890 in an effort to suppress opposition to the regime..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-13
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"Myanmar's deposed President testified on Tuesday that the military tried to force him to relinquish power hours before its February 1 coup, warning him he could be seriously harmed if he refused, according to his lawyer.
The testimony of Win Myint -- his first public comments since he was overthrown -- challenges the military's insistence that no coup took place, and that power had been lawfully transferred to the generals by an acting President.
Win Myint was testifying alongside Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate and de facto government leader before the coup, at their trial on Tuesday on charges including incitement, stemming from letters bearing their names that were sent to embassies urging them not to recognize the junta.
Win Myint, who was Myanmar's head of state, told the court in the capital Naypyidaw that senior military officials approached him on February 1 and told him to resign due to ill health.
"The president turned down their proposal, saying he was in good health," defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said in an English-language text message sent to reporters, citing his testimony. "The officers warned him the denial would cause him many harm but the president told them he would rather die than consent."
A spokesman for Myanmar's ruling military council did not answer calls seeking comment on Tuesday.
Khin Maung Zaw said the defense rejected the charges against Win Myint and Suu Kyi as they were being held incommunicado.
Win Myint and Suu Kyi have both dismissed multiple charges against them as false. The defense lawyer, representing them both, said Suu Kyi had suggested Tuesday's testimony be made public.
Myanmar has been torn by violence and economic paralysis since the army intervened to prevent Suu Kyi forming a new government, three months after her party was re-elected in a landslide.
The generals said that election was marred by fraud, threatening the country's sovereignty.
The vice president, Myint Swe, a former army officer, was sworn in as President on February 1 and immediately handed power to the military to oversee a state of emergency.
The junta has not publicly disclosed how Myint Swe assumed the presidency from Win Myint..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK) via "CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-13
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights Defenders
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"This brief, the third in a series, reviews Myanmar’s conflict trends for the month of September 2021. It focuses on the significance of the National Unity Government’s (NUG) September 7 declaration of “resistance war” against the junta, e.g., the long-rumored ‘D-Day.’1 This brief builds upon analysis presented in Brief 2: Myanmar’s Shifting Military Balance, which described how armed resistance to military dictatorship continued to expand in scope during July and August 2021. Particularly significant, by the end of August a total of 250 out of the country’s 330 townships had experienced at least some conflict incidents since 1 February. Key to armed resistance has been the increasing assertion and steady expansion of self-defense groups. Since the coup, approximately 240 such groups have declared themselves in one way or another. It is likely that at least 180 of them have been active to some extent.
The NUG’s September 7 declaration was a major milestone in the country’s history.2 Since then, there has been a notable increase in attacks across the country on Tatmadaw forces and other State Administration Council (SAC) apparatuses. Self-defense groups and key EAOs are active in resistance actions across the length and breadth of the country aside from Rakhine.3 A strong argument can be made that resistance to military rule is now self-sustaining in terms of resourcing, safe havens, and personnel, and cannot be easily extinguished by the Tatmadaw.4 The Tatmadaw has had no success forcing key EAOs to sign ceasefires or to break their burgeoning relationships with the NUG and peoples’ defense forces (PDFs). Resistance forces now have established safe havens with both the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Karen National Union (KNU) where they can safely train and equip fighters.5 Raids on villages are ineffective at killing PDF fighters. Tatmadaw ‘clearance operations’ in remote townships are costly and ineffective at controlling territory for the long-term. There are simply not enough security forces to move around. It is not assured that SAC will lose, but a month after D-Day, it certainly does not have the military initiative. The Tatmadaw is increasingly having to react to events driven by the resistance.6
As before, the analysis in this brief is underpinned by a ‘conflict incidents’ dataset compiled by the author. This dataset comprises approximately 3,400 incidents from 1 February to 30 September but focuses specifically on ‘conflict incidents’ from May onwards when the nature of resistance shifted towards nationwide armed revolt. This dataset draws on Exera daily briefs but is complemented by other sources, such as 74 Media, Khit Thit Media, and Mizzima’s daily updates. The author notes up front his own doubts about trying to quantify a highly fluid situation. Such datasets are useful for highlighting general trends and trajectories and the analysis below should be understood accordingly.7 Lastly, the brief intentionally provides a wide range of references to support policymakers interested in specific topics. Did D-Day have any effect? The September 7 announcement by NUG interim president Duwa Lashi La provoked a lot of interest around the world and a palpable sense of excitement within the country. After a month, it is possible to make some preliminary observations about whether it had any significance to the military situation on the ground.
Over September there were approximately 779 conflict incidents, compared to 523 in August and 443 in July.8 This represents a 49 percent increase month-on-month.9 A review of the most conflict-affected townships, both overall and during September, highlights they are all over the country, including in major urban townships in Yangon and Mandalay. September saw new townships all over the country emerge as hotspots, such as: Ye Township, Mon State; Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region; Thantlang Township, Chin State; and Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region.
Examined from another angle, daily national averages of conflict incidents increased from 16.9 in August to 26 in September.10 Mandalay saw the steepest change, nearly doubling its average with several townships in Mandalay city seeing sharp rises in conflict incidents (see Annex 1). Magway was also notable, increasing from 1.55 to 2.64 conflict incidents per day, driven by resistance attacks in Yesagyo, Gangaw, Pauk, Saw and Taungdwingyi Townships. Yangon and Sagaing Regions were already high in August but still increased over September; from 3.61 to 5.4 and 3.84 to 6.8 incidents per day respectively. Overall, Sagaing, Magway, Yangon, and Mandalay Magway Regions represented 68 percent of all conflict incidents in September.
The widespread presence and quickening pace of armed resistance and conflict incidents in Bamar Regions is unprecedented. While the remaining three regions are not at the same levels, Bago, Ayeyarwady and Tanintharyi Regions also saw their daily averages of conflict incidents increase over September compared to August (see Annex 1). This was due to increased actions in townships with
existing concentrations of conflict incidents – for instance Pathein, Bago, and Dawei – but more significantly by rapid increases in other townships that did not have extensive conflict histories. For instance, Thayetchaung Township in Tanintharyi Regions escalated markedly in September as did Kyaukkyi Township in Bago Region. Seven townships also became active for the first time in September in these three Regions, namely Einme and Ngaputaw Townships in Ayeyarwady Region; Daik-U, Gyobingauk, Kawa, and Monyo Towships in Bago Region; and Tanintharyi Township in Tanintharyi Region. The D-Day announcement did not significantly change the strategy and tactics used by self-defense groups. Rather, it signaled a distinct escalation in attacks utilizing available resources. Self-defense groups are utilizing the gamut of tactics applied to date, including IED and mine attacks, assassinations, arson attacks, attacks on police stations, and bombings of strategic routes, offices, and infrastructure. Several new tactics have also emerged, such as the routine sabotage of MyTel telecom towers. During September there was a clear escalation of bombings in both Yangon and Mandalay. By example, from September 1 to 22, there were at least 39 explosions in Yangon Region alone.11 Sabotage of MyTel telecom towers escalated significantly over September and by the end of the month over a hundred had been destroyed since the coup.12 As mentioned, conflict incidents have been consistently present in the States since the coup except for Rakhine. However, Shan State was relatively calm over September aside from consistently high levels of conflict incidents in Muse Township in the northeast and Phekon Township in the south, which has been the case for several months now. Overall, conflict incidents decreased across the State from 48 in August to 33 in September. That Shan State is relatively calm is a historic anomaly, but the ongoing fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) -- Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) coalition persists at comparatively low numbers of conflict incidents, albeit at high intensity as they are significant military forces engaging in battles. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an EAO from the Kokang community, has been active in Muse but was also increasingly active in Lashio Township during the last week of September. There were also notable attacks on Tatmadaw-allied forces in Kalaw Township.13
Although Chin State saw an overall increase in conflict incidents, both Kayah and Karen States saw slight decreases. Fighting over September was particularly pronounced in Chin State’s Thantlang, Hakha and Tedim Townships in the north and Kantpetlet Township in the south. September was also significant for the amount of coordination by Chin self-defense groups and those in nearby Sagaing and Magway
0
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Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month Conflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region MonthConflict Incidents Per State/Region Month
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4
Regions. Mon State also saw notable increases in conflict incidents over September, more than doubling compared to August. This was driven by marked increases in Ye, Bilin and Thaton Townships..."
Source/publisher:
Matthew B. Arnold, Ph.D.
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"The situation regarding human and labour rights in Myanmar has continued to deteriorate since the military junta coup in February. The military has brutally violated human rights and, in their attempt to wipe out opposition, targeted workers, activists, labour rights organisations and trade unionists. As a result, Clean Clothes Campaignmembers in Myanmar have been forced into hiding. As of September 18th, 1109 people have been killed by the military since the coup and 6613 are currently detained in custody.
We stand in solidarity with all those working to end military rule in Myanmar and fully support the call to bring back democracy and to respect human rights. The Clean Clothes Campaign’s role is to amplify the voices of garment workers and to be guided by the demands of our members regarding protection of their rights. Having consulted with our Myanmar members, we call for the suspension of the EU’s preferential trading system ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA). Under the EBA, businesses in Myanmar can export goods tariff-free (barring weapons and ammunition) to the EU market. The EBA has significantly bolstered Myanmar’s economy and the EU receives more than half of Myanmar’s total apparel exports. EBA preferences can be revoked in cases of serious and systematic violations of human rights and suspension of it will hit the ruling military.
The Clean Clothes Campaign will continue to push all garment brands sourcing from Myanmar to prioritise workers’ rights in all their actions.
This means that brands who are stopping production in Myanmar must abide by their responsibilities to exit responsibly, honour all existing commitments and payments and ensure workers receive all wages, benefits and severance pay owed to them. This is vital as the coup, combined with Covid-19, have resulted in job losses, povertyand economic instability, which are severely impacting upon workers and their families. Myanmar has approximately 700,000 garment workers; brands must act now to ensure these workers and their families do not face further hardships.
Our demands to brands:
Publicly condemn the military coup, call for the restoration of democracy and the rule of law, and to support the people’s protests and the Civil Disobedience Movement;
Prioritise workers’ rights and take concrete steps to protect them, including but not limited to: protecting, supporting and collaborating with the labour movement, ensuring workers receive full wages and benefits owed including full severance payments as necessary; as far as possible, protecting the safety of workers including ensuring suppliers don’t have links to the military.
Be thorough and transparent in their due diligence process concerning human and labour rights in Myanmar, including disclosure of an up-to-date list of all their direct and indirect suppliers.
If brands are currently committed to producing in Myanmar, they should create robust contingency plans regarding payment of severance and a pathway for a responsible exit, should their situation change.
Our call to the European Union, the United Kingdom and international communities:
Withdraw EBA preferential trading tariffs due to the serious and systematic violations to human rights by the military.
Support the people of Myanmar in their call for democracy through targeted sanctions and diplomatic means.
Continue to pursue all avenues for remedy of human rights violations, including pressuring the military to release all political prisoners..."
Source/publisher:
Clean Clothes Campaign
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-11
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Sub-title:
With three of her sons in prison and the fourth in hiding, Khin Kyi finds herself alone and struggling in precarious times
Description:
"Until four years ago, 63-year-old widow Khin Kyi made a living selling used books in the Myaynigone commercial district in Yangon's Sanchaung Township. Then she started selling noodle salads to make ends meet. Now she has nothing to rely on, not even her four sons.
First the pandemic, then the coup, robbed her of her livelihood. Of the two, the latter has done far greater harm. She may have been strong enough to survive a recent bout of Covid-19, but recovering from the coup may prove far more difficult.
Thanks to a niece, she has food to eat. But that is far less support than she would have had if her four adult sons were still around. Before the coup, they often visited her home. Now she has no idea when they will return.
“My niece has been sending me food these days. I feel quite small since I don’t have my sons with me anymore, but I’m trying my best to stay strong as I want to see them all again,” she said.
Her oldest son, 34-year-old Thu Zaw Kyi Win, has a family of his own, with two young sons, aged three and four, and a third child on the way. It has been months since he saw them last.
He longs to reunite with his family—not only with his wife and children, but also with his mother and brothers. But as the only son who is not in the custody of the coup regime, he doesn’t dare return to any of the homes he has known, lest he, too, ends up sharing his brothers’ fate.
“The only way all of our families will ever be able to reunite is if we win this revolution,” he says in a determined voice.
The solitary son
Now in hiding, Thu Zaw Kyi Win plays down the price he and his brothers have had to pay for opposing Myanmar’s dictators: “I knew I would have to face these things if I did this, so it wasn’t unexpected when my brothers got taken.”
In his eyes, however, there is a look of deeper concern. Perhaps he is thinking of his mother, and the mother of his sons. But rather than dwell on this, he returns to the subject of his brothers.
Naing Zaw Kyi Win, the next in line, was arrested on April 10 for taking part in a workers’ strike in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township. He is currently being held in Insein Prison, where the two brothers previously served 14 months for their involvement in a similar strike in February 2015.
Twenty-seven-year-old Naing Zaw Kyi Win was working as a driver at a factory before the coup. A loner who kept largely to himself, he was also known for helping his co-workers with their problems.
Thu Zaw Kyi Win acknowledged that his brother had drifted away from the rest of the family before the coup. “He lived alone and never really talked to any of us,” he said.
Ironically, before the coup tore the family apart, it brought the two brothers together again. United in their commitment to fighting the regime that seized power on February 1, they were both quick to join the Spring Revolution.
Thu Zaw Kyi Win has heard that his brother was among those who took part in a protest inside Insein Prison in July. As punishment, he was reportedly beaten and placed in an isolation cell.
Although this could not be confirmed, it has added to the emotional burden of both his mother and the only brother still in a position to know anything about the rest of his family.
The twins
When Thu Zaw Kyi Win and Naing Zaw Kyi Win joined forces in the early days of the anti-coup movement, they also counted a third brother among their closest comrades.
Yan Naung Kyi Win was working as a tattoo artist near Shwepyithar’s Amoe Gyi bus station before the turmoil began. Just 22 years old, he already had a history as a student activist.
According to a former central committee member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), Yan Naung Kyi Win served as chair of the Shwepyithar Township Student Union from 2017 and became president of the township’s executive team of the Basic Education Students Union in 2018.
“He was dead set on destroying the dictatorship from the time he started working with us. I’m very worried about him now that he’s being detained,” the former ABFSU official said.
Yan Naung Kyi Win was arrested in Bago on April 16 and is currently being held in Bago Prison.
Despite being his identical twin, Yan Naing Kyi Win, the fourth brother, could not have been more different from Yan Naung Kyi Win, at least in terms of his political orientation.
Unlike his brothers, Yan Naing Kyi Win kept himself aloof from the unrest that has swept across the country since February. He preferred to focus on his phone and computer repair business in Hlaing Tharyar Township.
But his apolitical attitude did little to protect him when, in July, he was arrested while visiting his mother. As Thu Zaw Kyi Win later learned, he has since been charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
“They accused him of taking part in the protests and arrested him. I think they mistook him for one of us,” said his oldest brother.
Targeting families
According to Bo Kyi, the associate secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), such unjustifiable arrests are not simply a matter of guilt by association. Targeting family members has always been one of the military’s ways of punishing its opponents, he explained.
“The military has not changed. In the past, they would often arrest the father if they could not find the son. But now they’re doing it even more than before,” he said.
But the regime doesn’t just lock up relatives of activists—it also ensures that families suffer in other ways, as well.
“Sometimes they fire family members from government jobs if someone in the family is politically active. And they will make it impossible for children of activists to study abroad,” he said.
As a mother deprived of the support of her sons in a time of desperate need, Khin Kyi is like millions of others in Myanmar who are struggling to survive under the rule of an army indifferent to the needs of ordinary citizens.
For Thu Zaw Kyi Win, who is as powerless to help his mother as her other three sons who are now behind bars, knowing how much she must be suffering is perhaps the bitterest pill he has had to swallow.
But even now, he remains convinced that the day will come when the people will prevail over their oppressors, and his family will be reunited.
“We will make sure to meet up at Mom’s house again, just like old times,” he says, with hope in his eyes..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-11
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Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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"I and many other journalists who covered the 1988 pro-democracy uprising felt a sense of déjà vu when, once again, the Tatmadaw’s tanks rolled into major cities and cracked down brutally on protesters while some embittered activists took to the borders to fight and to form a government working mostly in exile. Is it happening again? Will there be another few decades of harsh military rule, resistance and suffering? Will the men in green ever come to their senses and realize that they are destroying the country, not “saving” it?
On closer reflection, however, there are some fundamental differences between the situation today and that of 33 years ago. First of all, digital media has changed the world, and Myanmar is no exception. In 1988, the internet and smartphones did not exist and we who covered the uprising from Bangkok had to depend on shaky and often faulty landlines. It all began on Aug. 8,1988—hence “8888”—with massive demonstrations all over the country. The military was called out to suppress the uprising and did so brutally. Thousands of people—yes, thousands, not hundreds as some chroniclers claim—were gunned down in the then capital Yangon and elsewhere. When that failed to cow the public into submission, the Tatmadaw withdrew from the streets and public view, hoping that it would create the kind of chaos it would need to step in and “restore order”. And that was exactly what it did on Sept. 18, when a junta called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) assumed power and another massacre of protesters took place.
During that month, from mid-August to Sept. 18, Myanmar actually enjoyed its first month of intellectual freedom since the initial military takeover in 1962. After more than two decades of strict governmental control of the media, new lively papers emerged, some daily and others intermittent. By the end of August, Yangon alone had nearly 40 independent newspapers, magazines and journals full of political commentaries, biting satires and cartoons ridiculing the ruling elite. They had fanciful titles such as the Light of Dawn, Liberation Daily, Scoop, New Victory, the Newsletter and so on. Some were handwritten and photocopied or mimeographed, while others had access to professional printing presses, often free of charge because their owners wanted to show that they also supported the movement for democracy.
Despite the use of English titles for many of the publications, they were in the Burmese language, published locally in Yangon, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Pathein and elsewhere, and it was rare that the information they contained reached the outside world. The same was true of photographic images. Many Myanmar photographers took excellent pictures and those were also published locally. One of them is Htein Win, and thanks to him there is evidence of the events of 1988. An experienced photographer, in 1974 Htein Win had also photographed the student demonstrations triggered by the funeral of the Myanmar former secretary general of the United Nations, U Thant.
But very few international press photographers were inside the country, among them Alain Evrard from Belgium and a Japanese photographer who used the name Ryo Takeda. Takeda photographed demonstrators kneeling before soldiers and urging them not to shoot, while Evrard took the most iconic picture of the suppression of the 1988 uprising: a shot of a Tatmadaw officer leading an attack on a group of demonstrators — and soldiers carrying guns with bayonets charging the crowd. Evrard had to hide his film rolls in his underpants and smuggle them out of Myanmar. Once in Bangkok, days after the event, he could have his film developed and prints made. A few videotapes, all on VHS, also reached Bangkok, but they were of very poor quality.
Sporadic demonstrations continued for a while after the formation of the SLORC and the imposition of draconian martial law measures, but the Tatmadaw was soon in near-total control of cities and towns and even major villages. But an estimated 10,000 activists, most of them young, fled to areas along Myanmar’s borders which were under the control of various ethnic rebel armies. On November 1, they formed the All Burma Students Democratic Front and organized themselves along military lines and dressed up in uniforms with insignia. The hope was that they, together with their ethnic allies, would defeat the Tatmadaw militarily.
Then came the May 1990 election, which, to the surprise of many, was free and fair. The National League for Democracy (NLD) scored a landslide victory, capturing 392 of the 485 seats that were up for grabs (of a total of 492; elections were not held in seven constituencies) while the Tatmadaw-supported National Unity Party scored a mere 10 seats. But that Pyithu Hluttaw, or National Assembly, was never convened. Instead, the SLORC eventually decided to form a constituent assembly consisting of about a hundred MPs-elect and 600 delegates handpicked by the Tatmadaw.
When it became clear a couple of months after the May 1990 election that the SLORC was not going to honor the outcome and began arresting MPs-elect, some fled to the Thai border along with other NLD activists. In December 1990, they formed what they called the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s cousin U Sein Win, an elected MP, as prime minister. A loose alliance was formed with the ABSDF and some of the ethnic rebels.
Internationally, there was widespread condemnation of the mass killings and arrests in 1988 as well as the SLORC’s decision to ignore the results of the 1990 election. But, at that time, there were almost no foreign investors in Myanmar. One of the few was Fritz Werner Industrie-Ausrüstungen, a German firm that was involved in arms production and had personal connections with the then dictator General Ne Win. There was, in other words, very little at stake economically for the outside world, including Myanmar’s immediate neighbors.
Looking back at those events which took place three decades ago, it is evident that we are now dealing with an entirely new situation with different dynamics internally, regionally and internationally. After the 2010 election, the Tatmadaw decided to allow a high degree of freedom of expression, and that lasted until the Feb. 1 coup. But during those 10 years, tech-savvy young people known as Generation Z became masters at using the internet—and many of them are still active after the coup. Today, nothing happens in Myanmar without it being disseminated worldwide on Facebook and other social media. People also communicate with each other relatively safely via digital platforms, some of which are encrypted. In real, crude and brutal terms, more people were gunned down by the Tatmadaw in 1988 than today, but the documentary evidence was never there.
Some, but not as many as in 1988, have resorted to armed struggle—but in a way that Myanmar has not seen in recent history. The military-structured ABSDF soon fell apart because of factional infighting, some resulting in activists killing other activists. There was an acute shortage of weapons and even medical supplies. Many fell sick with malaria and other diseases contracted in the jungle. The dream of an armed uprising from the borders never materialized. The erstwhile ABSDF militants trickled back to their old hometowns, or ended up in exile in the US, Australia and Europe.
This time, there is armed resistance as well, but it includes urban guerrilla warfare of a kind not seen in Myanmar before. Bombs are exploding on an almost daily basis in cities and towns all over the country, even in the old capital Yangon and the new one, Naypyitaw. Suspected Tatmadaw informants are being assassinated and militants are blowing up military-owned property like Mytel communication towers. Local resistance forces, which are active also in the Burman-dominated heartland, have ambushed Tatmadaw convoys with guns and homemade bombs. And the Tatmadaw today is no longer the highly disciplined fighting force it was in the 1980s and before. Judging from reports from inside the country—and then not only from internet activists—the Tatmadaw has suffered heavy casualties with hundreds of dead and many more wounded.
Furthermore, the old NCGUB never managed to attract anything that could be interpreted as recognition. It became redundant after 2010 and was dissolved two years later. The new National Unity Government (NUG) has the backing of several MPs who, unlike those in 1990, have actually served as MPs, and that of Myanmar’s representative to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun. Informal meetings have been held with representatives of foreign governments. On Oct. 5, the French Senate extended what can be seen as a recognition of the NUG, and the European Parliament passed a similar resolution a day later. And, as The Irrawaddy reported on Oct. 6, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has issued a warning to the junta in Naypyitaw, the State Administration Council (SAC), that his country will hold talks with the NUG if the generals fail to cooperate with a recently appointed special envoy of ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a fellow member.
But the deciding factors could be what certainly did not exist in 1988: a once thriving local business environment and foreign investors. Strikes and military crackdowns have been bad for business. The World Bank forecasts in its July report an 18 percent annual decline for Myanmar’s economy, nearly double what was predicted in March. Other estimates are even more dire; Global credit rating agency Fitch Solutions, for instance, expects a contraction of 20 percent or more. In short, the economy is on the verge of collapse, and the blame for that lies entirely with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s decision to oust the elected government and seize absolute power.
Regional trading partners like ASEAN and China may not care about democracy and human rights, but they don’t want to see their investments go up in smoke over the Myanmar battlefield. China has invested heavily in Myanmar’s fledgling industry and in infrastructure projects such as a deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State. High-speed railroads are on the drawing board, and so are plans to dredge the Irrawaddy River for trade. Chaos is the last thing the Chinese would want to see in Myanmar.
Singapore exported US$2.7 billion worth of goods to Myanmar in 2020, mainly mineral fuels, oil, electronics and machinery. Trade with Vietnam was also booming before the coup and Vietnamese companies have invested in real estate and a huge new shopping mall in Yangon. Mytel is a joint venture between Tatmadaw-controlled Myanmar Economic Corporation and Viettel, which is owned by the Vietnamese military. Vietnam, hardly a democracy, would not normally have cared about a military takeover in a foreign country, but the Vietnamese can hardly be pleased to see their co-owned communication towers being blown up, and other investments being ruined because of the coup.
So will the new junta survive? The old SLORC was never under the same pressure at home or internationally as the SAC. But, in the end, it depends on what will happen inside the Tatmadaw when—and it seems inevitable—Myanmar sinks even deeper into economic, social and political crisis. But what will come in place of SAC, if it falls, is impossible to predict. What can be said with certainty, though, is that Min Aung Hlaing and his henchmen had probably not anticipated any of this when they decided to launch their ill-fated coup on Feb. 1. What the generals could get away with in 1988 is not possible in 2021.
Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist, author and strategic consultant who has been writing about Asia for nearly four decades..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-11
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History, Military History, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders
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"The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Myanmar and on the situation of the Rohingya, in particular those of 22 November 2012(1), 20 April 2012(2), 20 May 2010(3), 25 November 2010(4), 7 July 2016(5), 15 December 2016(6), 14 September 2017(7), 14 June 2018(8), 13 September 2018(9), 19 September 2019(10) and 11 February 2021(11),
– having regard to the Council conclusions of 22 February 2021 on Myanmar,
– having regard to the statements of the Vice President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) of 23 March 2021 on the escalation of violence in Myanmar, and of 19 April 2021, 30 April 2021, 12 May 2021 and 27 July 2021 on the situation in Myanmar,
– having regard to the declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU of 30 April 2021 on the outcome of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting,
– having regard to the statements by the Spokesperson of the European External Action Service of 3 March 2021 on continued human rights violations by the military, and of 23 May 2021 on the latest developments in Myanmar,
– having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/1000 of 21 June 2021 amending Decision 2013/184/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma(12),
– having regard to the Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/711 of 29 April 2021 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma(13),
– having regard to the EU guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief,
– having regard to Article 34 of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar recognising the freedom of religion or belief and guaranteeing citizens the ‘right to freely profess and practice religion’,
– having regard to the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s Five Point Consensus of April 24 2021,
– having regard to the report of the UN Secretary-General of 31 August 2021 entitled ‘Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar’,
– having regard to Resolution 75/287 of 18 June 2021 of the UN General Assembly on the situation in Myanmar,
– having regard to the report of 22 August 2019 of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar entitled ‘Sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic conflicts’,
– having regard to the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the reports of the International Labour Organization supervisory mechanism,
– having regard to the report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of 16 September 2021 on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,
– having regard to the statements by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Myanmar of 23 September 2021,
– having regard to the statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews, of 22 September 2021,
– having regard to the UN Human Rights Council reports on Myanmar and the situation of the human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities,
– having regard to the report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar of 1 July 2021,
– having regard to the final report and recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (Annan Report),
– having regard to the order of the International Court of Justice of 23 January 2020 on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of the Gambia in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar),
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
– having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional protocols thereto,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948,
– having regard to Rule 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 1 February 2021, the military of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, in a clear violation of the constitution of Myanmar, arrested President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as leading members of the government, seized power over the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the government by means of a coup d’état, and declared a one-year state of emergency; whereas in August 2021, the commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, announced that he was appointing himself Prime Minister and that the state of emergency would be extended until August 2023;
B. whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar indicated in a formal statement that the military junta’s widespread, systematic attacks against the people of Myanmar likely amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes under international law; whereas the UN Special Rapporteur explicitly stated that the architects and perpetrators of the coup and the violations should be held accountable;
C. whereas in May 2021, the military junta took initial steps to dissolve the political party of Aung San Suu Kyi, which was in government until the coup d’état of February 2021;
D. whereas the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the National Unity Government (NUG) were formed to represent the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar;
E. whereas in response to the coup, peaceful protests and demonstrations broke out in various cities in Myanmar; whereas since 1 February 2021, politicians, government officials, civil society representatives, religious actors, peaceful protestors and writers have been unlawfully arrested or put under house arrest; whereas the latest report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights states that since the coup, more than 1 120 people have been killed and military authorities have arrested over 8 000 people, including hundreds of politicians, activists and civil servants; whereas the courts have sentenced 312 people, 26 of whom have been sentenced to death, including two children; whereas at least 120 people have reportedly died in custody; whereas as of July 2021, the junta had killed at least 75 children;
F. whereas the military has, in parallel, been increasing its crackdown on the media in Myanmar, with a growing number of journalists having been arbitrarily arrested, detained and charged in order to silence the media and eradicate freedom of expression; whereas the junta is increasingly making use of tools of surveillance and censorship through restrictions on telecommunications and the internet;
G. whereas torture is widely used against the people held in custody for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations; whereas methods of torture include beatings, mock executions with guns, cigarette burns, and rape and threats of rape; whereas torture by the police has been a problem in Myanmar before, but the Tatmadaw is now using a systematic threat of torture as a part of its efforts to oppress the opposition;
H. whereas the junta is increasingly relying on the use of collective punishment, including the abduction of the family members of those who have been issued with arrest warrants, but who the police and military forces are unable to locate; whereas children, including toddlers, have also been killed or abducted, presumably to force their parents to turn themselves in to the authorities;
I. whereas ethnic minorities practice Christianity (6,3 %, particularly the Chin, Kachin and Karen people), Islam (2,1 %, particularly the Rohingya, Malays, people from Yangon and other minorities), and Hinduism (0,5 %, particularly Burmese Indians);
J. whereas violations of the freedom of religion or belief and other human rights are being perpetrated against religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar;
K. whereas churches have been shelled and raided, and priests and pastors have been arrested; whereas military troops have also set up camps in church compounds, thus further undermining their role as sanctuaries for people in need;
L. whereas there are numerous ethnic groups in Myanmar; whereas internal conflicts have led to the tragic loss of thousands of lives over the past decades;
M. whereas Myanmar’s Citizenship Law declares the Rohingya ‘non-national’ or ‘foreign residents’ and therefore deprives them of citizenship, which further exacerbates their precarious situation; whereas the persecution of the Rohingya minority has not ended, despite numerous calls by the international community;
N. whereas the roughly 600 000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State are being subjected to persistent discriminatory policies and practices, systematic violations of their fundamental rights, arbitrary arrests, confinement in overcrowded camps and severely limited access to education and healthcare; whereas the oppressive conditions imposed on the Rohingya amount to crimes against humanity;
O. whereas the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, in particular women and girls, remain at significant risk of sexual violence, notably in the context of the protracted conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army;
P. whereas the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is worsening, with more than 210 000 people internally displaced this year alone, three million people in need of humanitarian aid, a number which has tripled in the last eight months, and half the population, approximately 20 million people, living below the poverty line;
Q. whereas the UN Secretary-General has warned that ‘the risk of a large-scale armed conflict requires a collective approach to prevent a multi-dimensional catastrophe in the heart of Southeast Asia and beyond’;
R. whereas the World Food Programme estimates that 6.2 million people across Myanmar are at risk of food insecurity and hunger, up from 2.8 million prior to the military coup;
S. whereas the humanitarian situation in Myanmar has also been worsened by the COVID-19 crisis; whereas the arbitrary mass detention of protesters, crowded prisons and the overall neglect of prisoners’ health have also contributed to an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections;
T. whereas the military has used COVID-19 measures to crack down on pro-democracy activists, human rights defenders and journalists; whereas the right to health is being undermined; whereas the junta has shut down hospitals and targeted medical professionals, leading to the collapse of the health system as COVID-19 surges across the country; whereas troops have destroyed medical supplies and equipment and have occupied dozens of medical facilities, which has prompted the people of Myanmar to stay away from medical facilities for fear of being detained or shot;
U. whereas the Tatmadaw and its generals are illegally securing funds through the illegal sale of timber, gems, gas and oil, and are faced with widespread allegations of corruption;
V. whereas according to the UN, the 2021 UN Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan has received only 46 % of the requested funds to date and humanitarian operations are suffering as a result of a major funding shortfall;
1. Strongly condemns the coup d’état of 1 February 2021 executed by the Tatmadaw under the leadership of commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing; calls on the Tatmadaw to fully respect the outcome of the democratic elections of November 2020 and to immediately reinstate the civilian government, end the state of emergency, end the use of violence against peaceful protesters, respect the right to freedom of expression and association, and allow all elected parliamentarians to assume their mandates; calls on Myanmar’s military to release all political detainees, to reverse restrictions on the freedom of expression, assembly and association, and to respect the freedom of religion or belief;
2. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and all others who have been arrested on unfounded accusations; considers the release of all political leaders and prisoners the first essential step towards a peaceful solution to the crisis and the restoration of the legitimate authorities;
3. Expresses its support for the people of Myanmar in their struggle for democracy, freedom and human rights;
4. Denounces the Tatmadaw’s widespread violent response to any kind of protest and the gross human rights violations it has committed and continues to commit against the people of Myanmar, including against ethnic and religious minorities, which amount to crimes against humanity; expresses its deep concern at the frequent attacks on churches, mosques, schools and medical facilities, and the arrests of religious leaders;
5. Supports the CRPH and the NUG as the only legitimate representatives of the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar, and calls on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to include and involve them in genuine and inclusive political dialogue and efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of the crisis based on respect for the rule of law;
6. Calls for immediate and regular access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees and prisons, as covered by the Geneva Conventions; calls on the military and police forces to provide the families of all individuals detained in connection with the security force operations across Myanmar prior to and in the aftermath of 1 February 2021 with full information about their fate and whereabouts;
7. Recalls the multi-ethnic nature of Myanmar; urges the Tatmadaw to fully respect each ethnicity’s inalienable rights; calls for an immediate, rigorous, independent and transparent investigation into the crimes committed in the country by the military and for their perpetrators to be brought to justice ;
8. Is appalled by the Tatmadaw’s crimes against ethnic and religious groups in Myanmar; strongly condemns the attacks by the Tatmadaw in the states of Kayin, Kayah, Kachin, Shan and Chin, which have led to large-scale displacement, the death of civilians, including children, the destruction of religious buildings, and other violations of human rights and humanitarian law;
9. Condemns the persecution of Christians in the country; urges the Tatmadaw to stop killing and arresting Christians and to end the shelling and raiding of churches; stresses that the international community has expressed its deep concerns about the violent targeting of Christian communities in Myanmar;
10. Reiterates its condemnation of the human rights violations and systematic and widespread attacks against the Rohingya population; underlines that the EU will continue to closely monitor the actions of the military leadership towards minorities in the country, in particular the Rohingya; reiterates its call on the authorities of Myanmar to establish conditions and guarantees for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return, under the oversight of the UN, of those Rohingya who wish to return to their native land;
11. Strongly condemns the ongoing discrimination against ethnic minorities, whose freedom of movement is severely restricted and who are deprived of basic services in Myanmar;
12. Condemns any use of violence by the junta against its citizens, as well as other forms of harassment, in particular towards human rights defenders, civil society activists and journalists; urges the junta to remove any restrictions on telecommunications and the internet, including independent media websites and social media platforms;
13. Calls for an immediate end to the violence towards labourers and unions, and for the rights of unions and their members to be protected, including the right to operate freely;
14. Calls for immediate humanitarian access to and assistance for vulnerable communities, including women, children and ethnical minorities, and for the empowerment of civil society organisations and ethnic community-based organisations, in order to ensure that humanitarian aid effectively reaches those in need; asks the Commission to redirect and step up humanitarian aid, including healthcare support, through cross-border channels, local humanitarian networks, ethnic service providers, and community-based and civil society organisations; asks the Commission to analyse how best to pursue development projects with these groups and to direct development assistance accordingly;
15. Notes with grave concern that the humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by a third wave of COVID-19 in Myanmar, with particularly worrying transmission levels among the most marginalised populations, including those in the country’s overcrowded and unsanitary prisons; urges the junta to re-establish a containment strategy and a contact-tracing system, and to ensure that people have access to healthcare services and vaccines; asks the Commission to step up its support in this regard and to guarantee that this support reaches the citizens, including by providing doses of COVID-19 vaccines;
16. Is appalled by the attacks, harassment, detainment and torture of healthcare workers, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 healthcare crisis; calls on the junta to guarantee the security and safety of all healthcare workers and to immediately cease all harassment and attacks against these people; stresses the responsibility of the Myanmar authorities to guarantee full access to healthcare;
17. Condemns the attacks by the military authorities against medical professionals and facilities, and the response of these authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic; highlights that health and access to healthcare and vaccinations are universal human rights;
18. Calls on the Tatmadaw to stop denying the right of the population to protection against and proper treatment for COVID-19, which could cause significant loss of life in Myanmar;
19. Urges the governments of the neighbouring countries to ensure that their authorities do not prevent anyone from crossing the border in search of refuge; calls on these governments to ensure that aid organisations and local civil society organisations are allowed to access areas with internally displaced people along their borders with Myanmar;
20. Reiterates its support for civil society and democracy advocates in Myanmar and calls for the EU and its institutions to continue efforts aimed at civil society advancement, despite the current and possibly ongoing limitations imposed by the current military government;
21. Calls on ASEAN, its members and particularly its Special Envoy to Myanmar to make more proactive use of their special role in Myanmar, to cooperate with the UN Special Envoy and to engage with all parties involved, notably with the NUG and representatives of civil society, in particular women and ethnic groups, in order to promote, at a minimum, the effective and meaningful implementation of the five-point consensus with a view to achieving the sustainable and democratic resolution of the current crisis in the near future;
22. Further calls on China and Russia to actively engage in international diplomacy and live up to their responsibility as permanent members of the UN Security Council; expects them to play a constructive role when scrutinising the situation in Myanmar;
23. Urges Myanmar to cooperate with international efforts to ensure accountability, including by finally granting the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) full access to the country; calls for the EU, its Member States and the international community to ensure that the IIMM has the requisite support to execute its mandate; recalls that Myanmar is under the obligation to comply with the provisional measures order of the International Court of Justice;
24. Welcomes the recent rounds of sanctions imposed by the Council against members of the Tatmadaw and their businesses, and calls on the Council to continue imposing targeted and robust sanctions, with the aim of cutting off the lifelines of the junta while ensuring that the people of Myanmar come to no harm; is of the opinion that the international community must continue to take additional action against, and impose costs on, the military and its leaders until they reverse course and provide for a return to democracy; stresses the need for all EU Member States to strengthen and enforce sanctions imposed against any state-run Myanmar businesses, notably in the timber and gem industry; urges the Commission to ensure that national penalties imposed on Member States and associated countries for breaching EU sanctions are effective; stresses that this would require imposing specific asset freezes and bans on international financial transfers to the two state-owned banks, the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank, through which all foreign currency is collected, and adding to the sanctions list the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which generates the junta’s single largest foreign currency inflow;
25. Calls on the Council to continue to impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for the coup of February 2021 and to consider other possible measures; urges the Council to include the State Administrative Council as an entity instead of its individual members, on the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures;
26. Reiterates its call on EU-based businesses with operations or supply chains in Myanmar to conduct heightened human rights due diligence and to ensure that they have no ties with Myanmar’s security forces, their individual members or entities owned or controlled by them, and that they do not contribute, directly or indirectly, to the junta’s crackdown on democracy and human rights; calls on EU-based businesses to publicly disclose their conclusions and to work on continually improving labour conditions and environmental standards within their undertakings in Myanmar;
27. Reiterates its call to continue implementing targeted sanctions against those who are responsible for the atrocities against the Rohingya;
28. Reiterates its call on the Commission to swiftly launch an investigation into the trade preferences that benefit Myanmar, especially regarding companies owned by members of the Myanmar military, in specific sectors and to keep Parliament duly informed of the steps to take; acknowledges that improvements have been achieved since Myanmar was reinstated into the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme in 2013, for example the creation of jobs in the garment sector, which has benefited women in particular; underlines, however, that the enhanced engagement process had already been established in 2018, focusing on compliance with international human rights conventions and labour rights, and that the coup reversed the progress made during the democratisation process, thereby undermining the conditions for granting EBA preferences;
29. Calls on the EU delegation to Myanmar and the embassies of the Member States to closely monitor the human rights and health situation in Myanmar and the cases of political leaders and others who are currently detained and imprisoned;
30. Calls on the Member States and associated countries to maintain the embargo on the direct and indirect supply, sale and transfer, including transit, shipment and brokering, of all weapons, munitions and other military, security and surveillance equipment and systems, as well as the provision of training, maintenance and other military and security assistance; highlights the need for the further investigation of the situation by the International Criminal Court;
31. Warns of the risk of an even larger humanitarian emergency as a consequence of the escalation of violence and of the country’s severe economic crisis, poverty and number of displaced people; calls for the EU, its Member States and the international community to urgently meet their financial obligations to the 2021 UN Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan;
32. Calls on the VP/HR and the Member States to vigorously address the situation in Myanmar, and calls on the VP/HR to report back to Parliament, in particular to its Committee on Foreign Affairs, on a regular basis, including on the situation of religious and ethnic groups, in order to ensure adequate parliamentary dialogue on this important and worrying situation;
33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the legitimate President and National Unity Government of Myanmar, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the State Counsellor of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of the United States, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Australia, Canada, the Member States of ASEAN, the governments and parliaments of Russia and China, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Human Rights Council..."
Source/publisher:
European Parliament (Brussels)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Human Rights Defenders
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Nearly 1,000 villagers in Thayetchaung Township, Tanintharyi Region, have been displaced by fighting between civilian resistance fighters and junta troops, said Dawna Tanintharyi, a humanitarian group helping those left homeless.
Clashes broke out after junta troops raided villages in Taung Pyauk to the east of the Dawei-Myeik road in Dawei District on Sept. 28, detaining civilians and torching houses.
“Nearly 1,000 villagers have fled their homes since the raids. The numbers will increase if the clashes continue. As there are still no camps they have to cope with what they have. We are consulting to set up camps,” said a Dawna member.
Daung Min, a resistance group, confronted regime troops following the raids. It said it clashed with junta troops four times since late September.
People lack food and medicine and junta troops are tightly controlling the roads, making it difficult to supply those displaced.
“They said their food will barely last a week. We have difficulties transporting food to them. They also need medicine,” said the Dawna member.
“More people will be displaced and the problems will increase if clashes continue. [The PDFs and junta troops] should stop fighting until the civilians have escaped. Those displaced need aid and they cannot receive any supplies,” said a resident..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Human Rights Defenders
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Sub-title:
The military council units also raided the boy’s house two days after he was detained
Description:
"Junta authorities arrested the teenaged president of the Basic Education Students’ Union of Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township at his home earlier this week, according to the group.
Tun Aung Kyaw, age 15, was taken into detention by two police officers and two local administrators, a spokesperson for the Naypyitaw Students’ Union said.
It is said that the military units arrested Tun Aung Kyaw, the president of the basic education students’ union of Zabuthiri township, Naypyidaw, at his home on October 3 evening.
“He is technically a minor, so they said that they just had some questions to ask and that they’d let him go soon,” he told Myanmar Now.
At the time of reporting, the boy was still being held at the No. 3 police station in Zabuthiri and had not been allowed contact with his family, the student union representative said.
At 10pm on Tuesday, military troops reportedly ransacked his house.
Myanmar Now called the police station for comment on Tun Aung Kyaw’s arrest but the calls went unanswered.
Another Naypyitaw student leader, Yan Paing, was arrested by the military on May 2 and died on October 1 during an interrogation, according to a statement released by the Naypyitaw Students’ Union.
According to the statistics reported by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), there have now been at least 7,104 civilians detained by the junta since the February 1 coup and at least 1,158 civilians killed during that same period.
As they have been active in participating in anti-coup demonstrations, student union members have been frequent targets of military arrests, but the exact number of students in detention is not known.
Most recently, four students preparing to protest against the junta were arrested near the Pathi dam in Taungoo Township, Bago Region on the evening of September 19..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders
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Description:
"စစ်တပ်မှ အာဏာသိမ်းယူသည့် အချိန်မှစ၍ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်ကန့်ကွက်ခဲ့ကြသည့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများအပေါ် ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန်နှိပ်ကွပ်မှုများကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ပြုလုပ်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိခဲ့သည်။ စက်တင်ဘာလ (၇) ရက်နေ့တွင် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရက စစ်အာဏာရှင်ကို လက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်မှုများဖြင့် ပြန်လှန်ခုခံသွားရန် ကြေညာချက် ထွက်ပေါ်ခဲ့ပြီးနောက် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများမှာ ပိုမို ဆိုးရွားရက်စက်လာခဲ့သည်။
စက်တင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ မကွေးတိုင်း၊ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း၊ ချင်းပြည်နယ်တို့တွင် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ လက်ပါးစေ တပ်ရင်းတပ်ခွဲများက အကြမ်းဖက်ဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်းမှုများပြုလုပ်ကာ မီးရှို့ခြင်း၊ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ ပစ္စည်းဥစ္စာများကို ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်းများ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ ကြသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ရွာလုံးကျွတ် ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင် ကြရသည့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများမှာ တစ်နေ့ထက်တစ်နေ့ ပိုမို များပြားလာလျက်ရှိနေသည်။
တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုများပြုလုပ်ရာတွင် လူကိုသာအကြမ်းဖက်ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းမျိုးမကဘဲ ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများကိုပါ သိမ်းဆည်း ခြင်း၊ ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့ခြင်း ဖြစ်ရပ်များအပြင် ဖမ်းဆီးပြီးနောက် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်၍ သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းများကိုပါ စနစ်တကျ ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်လျက်ရှိနေသည်။
စစ်ဘေးရှောင်များကို စားနပ်ရိက္ခာ၊ ဆေးဝါး၊ ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုနှင့် လိုအပ်သော အခြေခံအထောက်အပံ့များ ကူညီ ပံ့ပိုးပေးနေသည့် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုပေးနေသော စေတနာ့ဝန်ထမ်းများမှာလည်း စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ပစ်မှတ်ထား တိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းကို ခံနေရသည်။
လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့် အခွင့်အရေးများမှာ စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ထက်တွင် ဆိုးရွားစွာချိုးဖောက်ခံနေရသည့် အခြေအနေတွင်ရှိနေပြီး သတင်းအချက်အလက်ဆက်သွယ်မှုပြတ်တောက်စေရန် ရည်ရွယ်၍ မန္တလေးတိုင်း၊ မကွေးတိုင်း၊ စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း၊ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်နှင့် ချင်းပြည်နယ်ရှိ မြို့နယ်ပေါင်း (၂၀) ကျော်တွင် အင်တာနက်ဖြတ်တောက်မှုများကိုလည်း စနစ်တကျ ပြုလုပ်ထားသည်။
ယခင် အရပ်သားအစိုးရ လက်ထက်က ပယ်ဖျက်ခဲ့သည့် မည်သည့်အချိန်တွင်မဆို အကြောင်းပြချက်မရှိဘဲစိတ်ထင်တိုင်း နေအိမ်များသို့ အချိန်မရွေး ဝင်ရောက်စစ်ဆေးနိုင်သည့် ဧည့်စာရင်းဥပဒေကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ပြန်လည်အသက်သွင်းလာပြီး ပြည်သူတို့၏ လုံခြုံဘေးကင်းရေးနှင့် အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်များမှာ ပိုမို၍ ကြီးမားကျယ်ပြန့်စွာ ခြိမ်းခြောက်ခံနေရလျက် ရှိနေသည်။ စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုတိုက်ဖျက်ရေးဗဟိုအဖွဲ့က နေအိမ်၊ တိုက်ခန်းငှားရမ်းသူအိမ်ရှင်များကို နေအိမ်၊ တိုက်ခန်းများအား ငှားရမ်းမည်ဆိုပါက ငှားရမ်း နေထိုင်သည့် သူများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးရုံးများသို့ ငှားရမ်းနေထိုင်သူများ၏ ကိုယ်ရေးအချက်အလက်၊ အထောက်အထားပြည့်စုံစွာဖြင့် တင်းကြပ်သည့် သတ်မှတ်ချက်များနှင့်အတိုင်း ဧည့်စာရင်း တိုင်ကြားရန်နှင့် မိမိငှားရမ်းထားသောသူများသည် သံသယ ဖြစ်ဖွယ်ရှိကြောင်း တွေ့ရှိရပါက သက်ဆိုင်ရာ တာဝန်ရှိသူများကို အချိန်မီသတင်းပို့ အကြောင်းကြားခြင်းရန် ကြေညာချက်ကို စက်တင်ဘာလအတွင်း ထုတ်ပြန်လာခဲ့သည်။
ထို့အပြင် ငှားရမ်းထားသည့်နေအိမ်တိုက်ခန်းများတွင် နေထိုင်သူများသည် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်ကြောင်း ဖော်ထုတ် ရရှိပြီး ဧည့်စာရင်းတိုင်ကြားထားခြင်းမရှိကြောင်း စိစစ်တွေ့ရှိရပါက ငှားရမ်းသည့် ပိုင်ရှင်များတွင် တာဝန်ရှိသည့်အတွက် သက်ဆိုင်ရာ တည်ဆဲဥပဒေအရ အရေးယူခံရမည့်အပြင် အဆိုပါငှားရမ်းထားသည့် နေအိမ်၊ တိုက်ခန်းများကို အကြမ်းဖက်မှု တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးဥပဒေအရ သက်သေခံအဖြစ် သိမ်းဆည်းခံရမည်ဖြစ်သလို တရားရုံးတွင် စစ်ဆေးပေါ်ပေါက်ချက်အရ နိုင်ငံတော် ဘဏ္ဍာအဖြစ် သိမ်းဆည်းခံရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်းလည်း ထိုကြေညာချက်တွင် ပါဝင်သည်။
စက်တင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သော စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ကျူးလွန်မှုများ အကျဉ်းချုပ်ဖော်ပြချက်
ဖမ်းဆီးမှု
AAPP မှ လက်လှမ်းမီသမျှ ကောက်ယူရရှိထားသည့် အချက်အလက်များအရ စက်တင်ဘာ ၁ ကနေ ၃၀ ရက်နေ့အထိ စစ်အုပ်စု ၏ တရားလက်လွတ်ဖမ်းဆီးမှုကြောင့် ထိန်းသိမ်းခံခဲ့ရသူပေါင်း (၅၅၅) ရှိခဲ့သည်။ အမျိုးသမီး ဦးရေ (၉၅)၊ အသက် (၁၈) နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ်ဦးရေ (၁၇) နှင့် ဓားစာခံအဖြစ် ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူ (၂၅) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။
သတ်ဖြတ်မှု
စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အညှိုးထားတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် အရပ်သားပြည်သူ (၉၆) ဦး အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ရသည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် သေဆုံးခဲ့ရသူ (၈) ဦးနှင့် အသက် (၁၈) နှစ်အောက် ကလေးသူငယ် (၈) ဦး ပါဝင်သည်။
အကြမ်းဖက်ဖျက်ဆီးမှု
စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း
စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန်ဆန့်ကျင်ကန့်ကွက်သော ဒေသတစ်ခုအဖြစ် ထင်ရှားသည့် စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းအတွင်းရှိ ပုလဲမြို့နယ်၊ တန့်ဆည်မြို့နယ်၊ ကလေးမြို့နယ်၊ ကနီမြို့နယ် အစရှိသည့် မြို့နယ်များနှင့် ကျေးရွာများတွင် အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်တပ်က စီးနင်းဝင်ရောက်မှုများ၊ နယ်မြေရှင်းလင်းရေးအကြောင်းပြုကာ ရှာဖွေဖမ်းဆီးခြင်း၊ ပစ္စည်းဥစ္စာများကို လုယက်ဖျက်ဆီးခြင်းများ ဆက်လက်ကျူးလွန်နေဆဲဖြစ်သည်။
အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ လက်နက်ကြီး၊ လက်နက်ငယ်များ အသုံးပြု၍ တရစပ်ထိုးစစ်ဆင်မှုများကြောင့် စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းအတွင်းရှိ ကျေးရွာများမှ ဒေသခံထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာတို့မှာ ဘေးလွတ်ရာသို့ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေရလျက်ရှိသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ကနီမြို့နယ်၌ အသက် ၁၃ နှစ်အရွယ်သာရှိသေးသည့် အရွယ်မရောက်သေးသော မိန်းကလေးတစ်ဦးမှာ စက်တင်ဘာလ (၁၆) ရက်နေ့က စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေ တပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၏ အဓမ္မပြုကျင့်မှုကို ခံခဲ့ရကြောင်း ဒေသခံများ၏ ပြောကြားချက်အရ သိရ သည်။
စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး၊ မြောင်မြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ကျောက်ရစ်ကျေးရွာ၊ ကလေးမြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ရေရှင်ကျေးရွာ၊ လယ်ခြားကျေးရွာ၊ ဒိုးနွယ်ကျေးရွာ၊ ကျောက်ပြုတ်ကျေးရွာ၊ တန်ဆည်မြို့နယ်ရှိ ကျီကုန်းကျေးရွာ၊ ယင်းမာပင်မြို့နယ်ရှိ ကံစုကျေးရွာများတွင်လည်း မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးမှုများ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။
ရန်ကုန်တိုင်း
စက်တင်ဘာလ ၇ ရက်နေ့၌ မှော်ဘီမြို့နယ်၊ စမ်းကြီးကျေးရွာရှိ ပြည်သူ ၃၀ ဦးကို လုပ်အားပေးရန်ပေါ်တာအဖြစ် စစ်အုပ်စု ၏လက်ပါးစေ တပ်ဖွဲ့များက အတင်းအကျပ် ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့သည်။ စက်တင်ဘာ ၂၅ ရက်နေ့ နံနက် ၁နာရီခွဲ အချိန်ခန့်တွင် စမ်းချောင်းမြို့နယ်၊ မြေနီကုန်း တံတားအဆင်း၌ လူငယ် ၃ ဦးကိုဖမ်းဆီးပြီးနောက် သေနတ်ဖြင့်ပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သလို သွေးအိုင်ထဲ လဲနေသည့် ထိုလူငယ် များကို ဝိုင်းဝန်းကန်ကျောက်သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြပြီး ရုပ်အလောင်းများကို တင်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့ကြသည်။
မကွေးတိုင်း
ဆောမြို့နယ်၊ ရေစကြိုမြို့နယ်၊ ဂန့်ဂေါမြို့နယ်၊ မြိုင်မြို့နယ် အစရှိသည့် မကွေးတိုင်းအတွင်းရှိ မြို့နယ်များတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုက လက်နက်ကြီးများနှင့် အဆက်မပြတ်ပစ်ခတ်မှုများ၊ နေအိမ်အတွင်းဝင်ရောက်စီးနင်းမှုများ ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့ရာ ဒေသခံများ ထွက်ပြေး တိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် စစ်အုပ်စုက လူနာတင်ကား၊ ပရဟိတကားများကို အသုံးပြု၍ ရွာများကို စီးနင်းမှုများ ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ဂန့်ဂေါမြို့နယ်၊ မွေ့လယ်ကျေးရွာအနီးတွင် မွေ့လယ်ကျေးရွာမှ ဒေသခံရွာသား သုံးဦး နှင့် လယ်ရှည် ကျေးရွာမှ ဒေသခံရွာသား နှစ်ဦးတို့၏ ရုပ်အလောင်းများကို စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁၃ ရက်နေ့ နှင့် ၁၄ ရက်နေ့တို့တွင် တွေ့ရှိခဲ့ရပြီး သေဆုံးသူများတွင် နောက်စေ့ကို သေနတ်ဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်းခံထားရပြီး ခန္ဓာကိုယ်နှင့် ဦးခေါင်း၊ မျက်နှာတို့တွင် ရိုက်နှက်ခြင်း ခံထားရသည့် ဒဏ်ရာများ၊ ခြေထောက်နှင့်လက်ကို ဓားဖြင့် မွှန်းထားသော ဒဏ်ရာများ၊ လိင်အင်္ဂါဖြတ်တောက်ခြင်းခံထား ရသည့် ဒဏ်ရာများကို မြင်တွေ့ခဲ့ကြရသည်။
အလားတူ မြိုင်မြို့နယ်တွင်လည်း မီးရှို့သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများ၊ လူမှုကူညီရေးကားအပါအဝင် ဆိုင်ကယ်အစီးရေ ၃၀၀ ကျော်ကို မီးတင်ရှို့မှုများကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ စက်တင်ဘာ ၉ ရက်နေ့ နံနက်ပိုင်းတွင် ဂန်ဂေါမြို့နယ် အတွင်းရှိ မြင်သားကျေးရွာကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ မီးတင်ရှို့ ဖျက်ဆီးခဲ့ပြီး အနည်းဆုံး ဒေသခံရွာသား ၁၈ ဦးကို သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကြောင်း သိရှိရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ဂန့်ဂေါမြို့နယ်၊ နှမ်းခါး၊ သာလင်းနှင့် ထယ်လှော်ရွာများကိုကို ဝင်ရောက် စီးနင်းခဲ့ပြီး မီးရှို့ခဲ့သည့်အတွက် အနည်းဆုံး လူနေအိမ် ၅၀ ခန့် ပြာကျခဲ့ရသည်။
ကချင်ပြည်နယ်
မိုးညှင်းမြို့ပေါ်တွင် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ အိမ်ခွန်ဆောင်ရန်အတွက် အတင်းအဓမ္မလိုက်လံကောက်ခံလျက်ရှိရာ အိမ်အခြေအနေပေါ် မူတည်ပြီး သောင်းဂဏန်းမှ သိန်းဂဏန်းအထိ ငွေကြေး ပေးဆောင်နေရသည်။
တနိုင်းမြို့နယ်၊ တရုန်ကျေးရွာတွင် စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁၀ ရက်နေ့က အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်တပ်နှင့် ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော် (KIA) တို့ တိုက်ပွဲ ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့ရာ စစ်အုပ်စုဘက်က တရုန်ကျေးရွာအတွင်းကို လက်နက်ကြီးများ ပစ်ခတ်ခြင်း၊ သေနတ်များ ပစ်ခတ်နေခြင်းတို့ကြောင့် တရုန်ကျေးရွာရှိ အသက် ၄၀ ဝန်းကျင်အရွယ် အမျိုးသမီးဦးခေါင်းကို ကျည်ထိမှန်ခဲ့ပြီး ဒေသခံ ၂၀၀ ဝန်းကျင်ခန့်မှာ ထွက်ပြေး တိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် ရွှေကူမြို့နယ်တွင် စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁၁ ရက်နေ့က စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ စီးလာသည့် သင်္ဘောပေါ်မှ လက်နက်ကြီး၊ လက်နက်ငယ်များဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သဖြင့် ရွှေဘုံသာကျေးရွာမှ အမျိုးသားနှစ်ဦးနှင့် အမျိုးသမီး တစ်ဦး လက်နက်စမှန်ကာ ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာရရှိပြီး နှစ်ဦးမှာ စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းကို ခံခဲ့ရသည်။
ကရင်ပြည်နယ်
စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် ဒူးပလာယာခရိုင်၊ ကော့ကရိတ်မြို့နယ်၊ ပိုင်ကလာဒုံကျေးရွာတွင်လည်း အမျိုးသမီးတစ်ဦးကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ဖမ်းဆီးခေါ်ဆောင်သွားပြီး စစ်ကြောင်းအရှေ့မှ လမ်းပြအဖြစ် လူသားဒိုင်းသဖွယ် အသုံးပြုကာ KNU ထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေအတွင်းကို ဝင်ရောက်ခဲ့သည်။ ထို့အပြင် ကြာအင်းဆိပ်ကြီးမြို့နယ်၊ တောင်စွန်းကျေးရွာ ဘုန်းတော်ကြီးကျောင်း ပရဝဏ်မြေတွင် တပ်စွဲထားသည့် စစ်အုပ်စု၏တပ်ဖွဲ့မှ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၂၅ ရက်နေ့၊ ညနေ ၈ နာရီကျော်အချိန်တွင် ကျေးရွာများအနီး၌ လက်နက်ကြီး၊လက်နက်ငယ်များဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်သည့်အတွက် ရွာသားအများစုမှာ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။
ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်
ဖယ်ခုံမြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ခေါင်းအိကျေးရွာသို့ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁ ရက်နေ့မှ စတင်ကာ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စုမှ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်နေပြီး စက်တင်ဘာလ ၃ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကုန်းဆုံကျေးရွာ ထိုင်တော်မူဘုရားမှ ခေါင်းအိနှင့် စက်တော်ကျေးရွာများဘက်သို့ အင်အား ၅၀၀ ခန့်ဖြင့် ထိုးစစ်ဆင် ဝင်ရောက်ခဲ့သည်။
ချင်းပြည်နယ်
ဟားခါးမြို့ မြို့သစ်စီမံကိန်းဖော်ဆောင်သည့်နေရာတွင် မီးကြိုးသွယ်တန်းနေသည့် လူငယ် ၂၀ ခန့်ကို စက်တင်ဘာလ ၃ ရက်နေ့၊ နေ့လယ် ၁ နာရီခန့်က စစ်အုပ်စု၏ တပ်များမှ မြေပြင်နှင့် ရဟတ်ယာဉ်ပေါ်မှနေ၍ သေနတ်နှင့်ပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သည်သည်။ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၇ ရက်နေ့၊ ည ၁၀ နာရီခန့်တွင် ဟားခါးမြို့တွင်း ပစ်ခတ်မှုများကြောင့် ပြည်သူအချို့ ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့ကာ နေအိမ်များမှာ လက်နက်ကြီးကြောင့် ပျက်စီး ခဲ့သည်။
ထန်တလန်မြို့တွင် စက်တင်ဘာလ ၉ ရက်နေ့၌ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်က မြို့တွင်းသို့ လက်နက်ကြီး၊ လက်နက်ငယ်များဖြင့် ရမ်းသန်း ပစ်ခတ်မှုကြောင့် မြို့တွင်းရှိ နေအိမ်တချို့မီးလောင်ပျက်စီးခဲ့သည်။ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁၀ ရက်နေ့၊ နေ့လယ်ပိုင်း၌လည်း ထန်တလန် မြို့နယ်ရှိ Lungler (လုံလဲရ်) ကျေးရွာကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ဂျက်လေယာဉ် တစ်စီးမှ ဗုံးကျဲတိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သည်။ စက်တင်ဘာလ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့၊ နေ့လယ်ပိုင်းတွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏တပ်မှ ထန်တလန်မြို့ပေါ်ကို လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သောကြောင့် နေအိမ် ၁၉ လုံးမီးလောင်ပြာကျခဲ့ပြီး မီးငြှိမ်းသတ်ရန်သွားသည့် ထန်တလန်ရာပြည့်နှစ်ခြင်းခရစ်ယာန် အသင်းတော် (TCBC) မှ သင်းအုပ်ဆရာ ကျုံးဗျက်ဟုမ်းသည် ပစ်သတ်ခြင်းခံခဲ့ရကာ ၎င်း၏ နာရီ၊ ဖုန်း နှင့် မင်္ဂလာ လက်စွပ်ကို လက်ချောင်းကိုပါဖြတ်ပြီး စစ်အုပ်စုတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များက ယူဆောင်သွားခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထန်တလန်မြို့ခံများသည် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ရန်ကို ကြောက်သောကြောင့် တစ်မြို့လုံးနီးပါးထွက်ပြေး တိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရလျက်ရှိသည်။
ကယားပြည်နယ်
စက်တင်ဘာလ ၇ ရက်နေ့တွင် စစ်အုပ်စုလက်ပါးစေတပ်နှင့် ကရင်နီအမျိုးသား ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ် (KNDF)တို့ တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွား ခဲ့ပြီးနောက် စစ်အုပ်စုဘက်မှ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ပစ်ခတ်မှုကြောင့် ခြောက်မိုင်ရှိနေအိမ် သုံးလုံးခန့် မီးလောင်သွားခဲ့သည်။ ထို့ပြင် စစ်အုပ်စု တပ်ဖွဲ့ ဝင်များသည် ဒေါပိုးစီ၊ စံပြ ၆ မိုင်နှင့် ဒီးမော့ဆိုရှိ ဒေါငံခါးရပ်ကွက်မှ နေအိမ်တချို့အား ဝင်ရောက်မီးရှို့ ခဲ့သည်။
အလားတူ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်က လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းပစ်ခတ်ခဲ့သည့်အတွက် ဒေါစဲကျေးရွာရှိ လူနေအိမ် လေးလုံးထိမှန် ပျက်စီးခဲ့ပြီး အသက် ၈ နှစ်ဝန်းကျင်ကလေးငယ်တစ်ဦး ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့သည်။ ဒီးမော့ဆိုမြို့နယ်တွင် တိုက်ပွဲပြင်းထန်ခဲ့ပြီး ကျေးရွာ (၁၀) ရွာမှ ဒေသခံ ၃ ထောင်ကျော်သည် တောတောင်များအတွင်း ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်မှ ဘောလခဲမြို့မှ နေ၍ လက်နက်ကြီးများဖြင့် ရမ်းသမ်းပစ်ခတ်မှုကြောင့် နန်းဖဲကျေးရွာရှိ တောင်ယာခုတ်တောင်သူ အမျိုးသမီးတစ်ဦး သေဆုံးသွားခဲ့ပြီး (၄) ဦး ဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့သည်။
စက်တင်ဘာ ၂၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်မှ ဒီးမော့ဆိုမြို့နယ်၊ သေးဆူလဲနှင့် ကုန်းသာကျေးရွာများအတွင်း တပ်စွဲပြီး အဆိုပါကျေးရွာများရှိ အများပြည်သူပိုင်နေအိမ်များအား မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးသွားကြသည်။
အထက်ပါဖေါ်ပြချက်များသည် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်၏ စက်တင်ဘာလအတွင်း၌ ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သော တရားမဲ့ အကြမ်းဖက် မှုများအား အကျဉ်းချုပ် ဖေါ်ပြချက်မျှသာဖြစ်ပြီး အခြားသော တိုင်းနှင့်ပြည်နယ်များတွင်လည်း ထိုကဲ့သို့ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်ကျူးလွန်မှုများ များစွာရှိခဲ့သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-04
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"Since the attempted military coup, the terrorist junta has been violently cracking down on civilians who protest the military coup. Civilians faced intense and daily repression from the terrorist junta.
On September 7, the National Unity Government declared the terrorist groups’ indiscriminate violence has been deteriorating. In response a defensive war against the junta was called, and peoples support for the NUG, and PDF requested.
During the month of September, the junta’s battalion troops violently raided villages, burning houses, killing civilians, and looting and destroying properties in Magway Region, Sagaing Region and Chin State. Entire villages forced to flee, with the number of abandoned villages increasing day by day.
This terrorist like junta are not only arbitrarily arresting people, but also looting their property, setting fire to, and destroying buildings. After arrest, detainees are being systematically tortured and killed by the junta.
At the same time, voluntary humanitarian groups providing food, medicine and other basic needs for internally displaced persons have been targeted by the junta.
A civilians’ right to freedom of expression is completely disregarded by the military junta. In 20 townships over Mandalay, Magway, and Sagaing Region, and Kachin and Chin State, the junta has cut internet connection to disrupting communication and the free flow of information.
The repressive Ward or Village Tract Administration Law was rejected under the previous civilian government, but in the aftermath of the coup was reinstated by the junta group. Under this law the military can enter your home at any time, for any reason. This law threatens the safety and well-being of the entire population. In September, the juntas so-called Central Committee for Combating Terrorism, announced that a house or apartment owner who rents out the property, must now report the tenants’ personal information to the relevant administrative office. At the same time, if tenants are found to be acting suspicious, the landlord has to report it immediately, to the relevant officer.
In addition, the statement said that if the house/apartment owner does not report a registration list, and the tenants are found to have committed “acts of violence”, that apartment will be taken as state ownership, under the anti-terrorism law, and the property owner charged under the existing law.
Summary of Junta’s September Crimes
Arrests
According to data collected by AAPP documentation, 555 people were arbitrarily arrested and detained between September 1 and 30, by the junta. This included (95) women, (17) children under 18 and (25) hostages.
Killings
This month, at least 96 civilians were killed by the junta’s targeted attacks. Among them, eight victims were tortured to death and eight were children, under the age of 18.
Acts of Terrorism in Sagaing Region
Pearl Township, Tangse Township, Kalemyo Township, and Kany Township have been areas of strong opposition to the military since the illegitimate coup. In disproportionate response, junta troops have raided villages, looted property, and bringing destruction to entire areas of innocent civilian populations.
Junta forces have used different kinds of heavy artillery to attack villages. Thousands have been forced fleeing to their homes. According to a report from a local villager, a 13-year-old girl was raped by a member of the junta, on September 16, in Kany Township.
Kyauk Yit village in Myaung Township, Yeshin village in Kalemyo Township, Lal Chya village, Doe Nwe Village, Kyauk Pyut village, Kyigone village in Tanse Township, and Kansu village in Yinmarbin Township were also set on fire to by junta troops.
Yangon Region
On September 7, in Sangyi village, Hmawbi Township, the junta armed forces took 30 villagers, and forcibly used them as porters. On September 25, at around 1:30 AM, at the edge of Myay Ni Gone Bridge, Sanchaung Township, three youths were detained, shot, and killed. The junta were kicking the youths, as they lay in a pool of their own blood, the soldiers later took the dead bodies away.
Magway Region
In Saw Township, Yezakyo Township, and Gangaw Township in Magway Division, the terrorist junta group were using artillery to enter villages and raid houses. Most of the local villagers were forced to flee their homes, whilst the junta group uses ambulances and charity cars to raid towns.
Nearby Mwe Le village in Gangaw Township, the dead bodies of three locals from Mwe Le village and two dead bodies from Le Shay village were found on September 13 and 14. Gunshot wounds were found on the back of the heads of the bodies, and all over, including heads and faces displaying injuries from severe beatings. They were also found to have knife wounds on their hand and legs, and their male organsq were cut.
In Myaing Township, junta troops have committed arson killings, setting fire to charity vehicles and more than 300 motorcycles. In the early morning of September 9, the junta set fire to Myin Thar village in Gangaw Township and killed at least 18 local villagers. Hnan Khar, Thaliin and Htae Hlaw villages in Gangaw Township were also raided by the junta and at least 50 houses burned to the ground.
Kachin State
In Mohnyin, the junta is forcibly collecting tens of thousands of Kyats in “property taxes”, depending on the condition of the house.
On 10 September, in Tarong village, Tanai Township, there was a clash between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and terrorist junta troops. Later on, the junta were shooting artillery shells and heavy gun fire into Tarong village. A 40-year-old woman was shot in the head and some 200 locals forced to flee.
On September 11, a vehicle carrying junta troops used heavy artillery on Shwe Bon Thar village. Mortar shells were also fired, two men and one woman were injured, and two others were detained.
Karen State
On September 1, in Pailaladon Village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, the junta abducted a woman to use as a human shield. Junta troops entered KNU controlled areas with the woman as a guide on the frontline. They then set up camp in the Taungsoon village in Kayin Seik Gyi Township. The junta were shooting artillery shells and gunfire into the village on 25 September, at around 8pm, forcing many of the locals to flee.
Shan State
Since September 1, the terrorist group has been firing heavy artillery shells at Khaung Ei village in Phekone Township. On September 2, approximately 500 troops entered Kone Ei and Sattaw village.
Chin State
Around 20 youths were detained on September 3 at the Myothit project construction site in Hakha City. At around 1pm, junta troops were shooting from both a helicopter and the ground. On September 7, by around 10pm, junta troops were firing artillery shells and gunfire in Hakha city. Some civilians were injured and many houses damage from the heavy artillery shells.
On September 9, in Thantlang Township, the military fired heavy artillery, mortar shells and gunfire into the city. Some houses within the city were burnt down. At around midday, on September 10, the terrorist group were using fighter jets to bombard Lungler village in Thantlang Township.
In the afternoon of September 18, the military fired into Thantlang Township. Nineteen homes were set on fire by heavy artillery shelling. A pastor from Thantlang Centenary Church (TCBC), Cung Biek Hong, was shot to death. The terrorist junta cut off his finger to take his wedding ring. His phone and watch were also stolen by the junta. Residents of Thantlang fled, from fear of the terrorist group.
Kayah State
On September 7, heavy fighting broke out between junta troops and the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF). The junta used heavy artillery and three houses were burnt down within a six-mile area. In addition, the junta group set fire to buildings in Daw Poe Si village, Sanpya village and Daw Nga Kha Ward in Dimawso.
Four houses in Daw Se village were destroyed by heavy artillery and an eight-year-old child was injured. There was intensive fighting in Demawso Township, and more than 3000 locals from 10 different villages fled into the mountains.
On September 9, a female farmer was killed, and four others injured when artillery shells were fired from a military junta camp in Bawla Khe Township.
On September 25, junta troops attacked Demawso Township, they initially entered and set up camp in Sule village and Kone Thar village, before setting fire to local homes.
This is but just a summary of the human rights violations committed by the terrorist junta group in September. There have been similar atrocities across other states and divisions, in September and the months before, amounting the serious crimes against humanity..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, 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
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"GENEVA (1 October 2021) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed her shock and sadness over the killing of Rohingya human rights defender Mohib Ullah and called for a prompt, thorough and effective investigation into his death.
“It is heartbreaking that a person who spent his life fighting to ensure that the violations committed against the Rohingya people were known world-wide has been murdered in this way,” Bachelet said.
“I want to pay tribute to an exceptional human rights defender, who despite the risks that his work entailed, nevertheless continued defending the rights of his people,” she added.
Mohib Ullah, who was chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot dead on Wednesday by unknown assailants in the Kutupalong / Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in southern Bangladesh. Set up in August 2017, the camp currently hosts more than 750,000 Rohingya who fled the mass killings, rapes and persecution by the Myanmar army and security forces.
For years, Mohib Ullah methodically collected information about human rights violations suffered by the Rohingya in their home state of Rakhine, in northwestern Myanmar, and sought to galvanise international action.
He travelled to Geneva in March 2019 to address the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in person, explaining how deeply the Rohingya had been discriminated against for decades and deprived of their basic rights, including nationality, land, health and education.
“Imagine if you have no identity, no ethnicity, no country. Nobody wants you. How would you feel? This is how we feel today as Rohingya,” he told States attending the Human Rights Council session. “We are citizens of Myanmar, we are Rohingya.”
“His words were very powerful and highlighted the terrible situation of the Rohingya and today, four years later, they echo as a reminder that Rohingya are still waiting for justice and still waiting to return home,” the High Commissioner said, adding that Mohib Ullah’s death highlights the precarious conditions of the Rohingya in both countries. “We need to do much more to help this persecuted community, both in Bangladesh and in Myanmar,” she added.
Insecurity has been increasing alarmingly in the Kutupalong / Cox’s Bazar camp, with growing criminality, rising tensions between different groups, as well as heavy handed security crackdowns during anti-drug operations. Anti-Rohingya sentiment has also been increasing within Bangladeshi communities.
“Whoever was responsible for his murder, Mohib Ullah’s death is a clear example of the insecurity in the camp, and the apparent attempts to silence moderate civil society voices,” the High Commissioner said.
“A prompt, thorough, and independent investigation should be conducted not only to identify and apprehend his killers, and expose their motives, but also to define what measures are needed to better protect vulnerable civil society leaders, while avoiding further securitisation in the camps,” Bachelet said.
“I fully understand the huge challenges Bangladesh has faced in hosting the Rohingya refugees, and the need for more external support. However, the safety and protection, as well as basic rights of refugees and those hosted in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, must be ensured,” Bachelet said.
Meanwhile in Myanmar itself, the situation of approximately 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State remains dire, with many still confined in camps. Alleged violations include unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, and high levels of extortion.
“Mohib Ullah’s killing should be a clarion call to the international community to redouble its pressure on Myanmar to recognize the Rohingya and accept their return, and to pursue accountability for the terrible crimes committed against them,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya
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"The Myanmar military’s coup turns eight months old on Friday, and the takeover has had a resounding impact on the country and its people. The regime’s follow-up crackdowns on protesters over the last seven months have seen more than 1,000 people killed and several thousand others detained. For all its brutality, the junta still can’t control the country due to various forms of ongoing popular anti-regime resistance. While some people have taken up arms, some of the country’s most popular artists are using their skills and fame to rally people to the cause and keep the revolution going strong.
Meet Kyar Pauk, one of Myanmar’s most famous rockers, and heartthrob actor Daung.
Both artists have denounced the coup from the outset. Now in hiding, they still find ways to resist the regime. The lead singer of the band Big Bag produces podcasts chronicling unfolding resistance-related events, with the aim of keeping people motivated without giving them “false hope”.
The 31-year-old actor Daung actively lobbied for the Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) against the regime following the coup. For his activism, he was targeted with false rumors that he had a relationship with the regime leader’s daughter—claims he strenuously denies in the interview below. Currently, he said he is supporting the revolution as best as he can but is reluctant to go into details due to security concerns.
They talked to The Irrawaddy about the reasons behind their opposition to the junta, as well as their hopes.
What led you to participate in the revolution against the military dictatorship?
Kyar Pauk: I joined the movement neither as a rock star nor an artist. I reject military rule as a citizen. The people have the right to speak if they do not like the person who rules them. You need to make your voice heard. It has nothing to do with having many followers. You have to stand on the side that you think is right and show the right side of what you stand for. I do play that role. Another reason is I want to share my message. It doesn’t matter if they block my views one way or another, or whether my songs are not allowed to be sung on stage or be aired on the radio. We have to think about how often we speak out through our own platform. That is the key.
For eight months since the Feb. 1 coup, you have played your part by motivating others. In this revolution, if some feel depressed and frustrated, what would be your message to them?
KP: The main thing is that we need to know the real situation. The real situation is it will take time, because a lot of things are out of our control. Things can’t be done based on our decisions alone. It depends on the decisions of other people, so patience is key.
No one can say at this time how long it will take. You have to choose what role you will play. But if we get too excited and work so hard every day, we will get tired and burn out. We must strike a balance. We have to know our situation. We must keep that in mind.
How has the coup affected you?
KP: I’ve lost everything. I’m afraid that may sound like a complaint or as if I’m depressed. There are so many memories I try not to dwell on. What we have to keep in mind at this time is not what we have lost. There are some who have lost their lives and some who have lost their family and loved ones. We have to think about that.
Before the coup, you must have had plans for the future. How were you preparing for 2021 before the coup? Are those plans all gone now?
KP: In fact, life is ruined. Everything you believed in and built has been destroyed. I am not alone. As you know, it has happened to all of us, more or less.
What prompted you to be outspoken against injustice and stand up for truth? And what do you want now?
KP: Before 2010, throughout our lives, we did not know much about education or social problems. Then the political transition came, the doors were opened. I knew I did not have freedom under previous military regimes. Then under the civilian governments, we did have relative freedom, if it was not absolute freedom. But when the coup happened, these freedoms were immediately revoked. That’s it. That is the inspiration for all of us. It’s not just me who is motivated to defy the military regime. Everyone knows that loss of freedom is losing a part of our life. Everyone feels empty.
Actor Daung
Could you tell us about the beliefs that led you, as an artist, to get involved in the Spring Revolution and the current anti-dictatorship movement?
Daung: When this [coup] happened, it went without saying that our future was ruined. This is not fair. If we did not respond, we would not be human. Because we live in a society. As a citizen, I cannot accept it at all. That’s why I resist.
I am an artist and the artists belong to the people. We stand with the people to show that we, the artists, do not accept the coup. That’s how I got involved in this revolution. In the beginning, I rejected injustice, and then resisted.
For the past eight months since the coup, you have continuously shown defiance and relentless opposition to the military dictatorship. Some express doubt about how long the revolution will last. How do you keep your spirits up?
Daung: Simply put, the time has passed while we’ve been contributing our part. Before this coup, I posted on Facebook that we, the people, voted [for the National League for Democracy in last November’s election]. The next day, when the military staged the coup, I felt so sad. I think that feeling is still going strong.
From then on, I asked myself, ‘What can I do?’ I will do my best as a citizen. I’ve been working based on my beliefs and decisions step by step until now.
My purpose is simple. I will continue to work until this dictator is overthrown. I don’t think I could work on creating any art other than revolutionary art. I wouldn’t want to. I don’t know why.
Yourself and many young people were born and raised during the previous military dictatorships. Then, we had this era of democracy for 10 years. How did you feel when you heard about the military coup on that day?
Daung: Let me give you an analogy: It’s like the electricity going out while you are watching a very interesting movie. There is anger when you’re plunged into darkness. Everyone feels empty and [in Burmese] we say the word “ha” in unison. It was not just me who felt that way: It happened to the whole country.
As you said, we grew up under the dictatorships. We lived like a bird in a cage that did not know we could fly in the sky. Then, the cage door opened [with the democratic transition] and we got half way, flying in the sky. Suddenly, we are now put back in a cage. Such a situation is unacceptable. We are not only fighting the coup leaders and the regime; we are fighting with the intention of making our country the best it can be. I think we all need to understand that.
We must fight them, to deter their destruction. They must be destroyed, demolished and eradicated.
Since you have many supporters as an actor, have there been any personal attacks against you or threats for joining this revolution?
Daung: Now I’m being accused of extra-marital relations with someone I do not know. I have never talked to her. I only shot one film with that production company [Seven Senses]. I did not know that it was led by them [Khin Thiri Thet Mon, the daughter of coup leader and commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing). I think a few actors and actresses took a group photograph with her once at the launch of that film production. That’s it. I’ve received lots of criticism since then. I have already made a decision since then that I would not make contracts with that company. That’s how I’ve rebelled.
It hurts so much to be accused of having a relationship with this woman. I don’t have any such relationship. There are such attacks.
Next time, when our country gets back on the path to democracy, I will practice my art again. I value my art a lot. I believe that art will return in a new form. Because of the experience we are going through now, it will be a lot more mature than before. The people, all of us, want to contribute our best for our country. I believe we can make more beautiful creations. We put our hope in that. That is why we are continuing the revolution..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-01
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Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"Responding to the killing of leading Rohingya activist Mohib Ullah, who was shot dead this evening in the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazaar, Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, said:
“Mohib Ullah was a leading representative of the Rohingya community, who spoke out against violence in the camps and in support of the human rights and protection of refugees. His killing sends a chilling effect across the entire community. The onus is now on the Bangladeshi authorities to expedite an investigation into his murder and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials.
“We call on the Bangladeshi authorities and the UN Refugee Agency to work together to ensure the protection of people in the camps, including refugees, civil society activists and humanitarian workers from both the Rohingya and host community, many of whom have shared concerns about their safety.
“Violence in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar has been a growing problem. Armed groups operating drug cartels have killed people and held hostages. The authorities must take immediate action to prevent further bloodshed.”
Background
Mohib Ullah, 48, who led the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, was shot dead at around 8:30PM at his office in the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. Mohib Ullah had represented the Rohingya community at the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2019.
At least two thousand Rohingya refugees have been forced to flee their shelters to other camps since violence broke out last year between two rival factions seeking to control the illicit trade of contraband drugs inside the camps. On 7 October 2020, around a dozen shelters in Kutupalong refugee camp were burned to the ground.
Rohingya refugees told Amnesty International that the clash broke out between a group that has been operating a drug cartel within the refugee camp and another armed group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) as they vie for control of the camps..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights Defenders
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