‘Human shields on the battlefield’: Myanmar forces Rohingya into military

Al Jazeera
16 Apr 2024

Forced conscription into the military is the latest tactic Myanmar’s military-led government is using to target the persecuted Rohingya population.

Link : Here

Myanmar junta in a make-or-break Rakhine fight

ASIA TIMES
Anthony Davis
February 1, 2024

Arakan Army poised for all-out Rakhine war but replication of recent insurgent successes in Shan state is far from guaranteed 

Arakan Army insurgent fighters take aim in their conflict against Myanmar state forces in Rakhine state. Photo: YouTube / Arakan Army promotional video

 

As the tempo of conflict in Myanmar’s northeast slows after months of dramatic insurgent advances, the civil war’s center of gravity has shifted decisively to the western seaboard state of Rakhine.

Rakhine situation may lead to risks of geopolitical conflict

prothomalo
Interview: Maj. Gen. Emdadul Islam (retd)
Published: 11 Feb 2024,

Bangladesh is facing a fallout from the Myanmar civil war. Bullets and mortar shells are crossing over the border into Bangladesh creating danger and alarm. Members of the Myanmar army, its Border Guard Police (BGP) and government officials, a few hundred in number, have fled into Bangladesh for shelter. In an interview with Prothom Alo's Partha Shankar Saha, security analyst Major General Emdadul Islam (retd) talks about the prevailing situation in Myanmar, its impact on Bangladesh, Rohingya repatriation and the role of China, India, the US and others. Maj. Gen. Emdadul Islam is the author of the book 'Rohingya: Nishango Nipirito Jatigoshti'.

‘Still waiting’: Myanmar’s Kayah looks for justice over military killings

ALJAZEERA
By Andrew Nachemson
Published On 10 Jan 2024

The vehicles in which 33 people were set alight lie rusting by the roadside, as families call for end to military impunity. 

Flowers have been placed on the burned remains of the vehicles to mark two years since the attack [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera]

Kayah State, Myanmar – On December 28, in his clinic in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State, Dr Oak wrapped up a routine check on a pregnant woman and removed some non-threatening shrapnel from the leg of a resistance fighter.

2 soldiers killed, 5 captured as KIO-AA clash with junta forces

Narinjara
| Date: 03 October 2023 

A joint force of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and Arakan Army (AA) attacked a junta column, who came down from the hilltop outpost to carry food items, where 2 soldiers were killed. Moreover, 5 including a captain with their weapons were captured, said a source close to the AA.

3 northern alliances (MNDAA, TNLA & AA) will meet military council's unit in Monglar on 1 June

Narinjara
By: Web Master
| Date: 31 May 2023 

Three northern alliances comprising Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Taung National Liberation Army (TNLA) and The Arakan Army (AA) will have a discussion with military council's National Unity and Peacemaking Coordination Committee on 1 June in Monglar of Shan State of Myanmar, said a press statement.

Buthidaung township, Tha Peik Taung village is being burnt down by the terrorist military

Myanmar Pressphoto Agency
MPA
September 24, 2022

Residents have confirmed that the 22nd Division of the terrorist military started burning Tha Peik Taung village (Rakhine) near the No. 8 Border Guard Police Battalion in the southern Buthidaung Township on September 23rd at 9:00 p.m. today.

There is Ah Lal Chaung Rohingya village near No.8 Border Guard Police Battalion, and the Tha Peik Taung village is also located nearby.

Myanmar, Bangladesh must solve border tensions peacefully

ASIA TIME

By TILOTTAMA RANI CHARULATA

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

The Bangladeshi government’s diplomatic and military preparations need to be strengthened

Myanmar border guard police patrol the fence in the 'no man's land' zone between the Myanmar and Bangladesh border. Photo: AFP / Phyo Hein Kyaw

Many Rohingya people fled from Myanmar a few years ago in fear of their lives, but recently the Myanmar army has had to face strong resistance from other independence-seeking rebels. Along with the Arakan Army, the military is in serious conflict with the Cochin Army, and elements of the Shan, Karen, Mong, Shin and Kaya peoples.

As a result, the Tatmadaw (military) has adopted a slightly different strategy from its persecution of the Rohingya to avoid international surveillance of its suppression of the rebels. As a part of this, it has mounted a campaign on the border with Bangladesh.

UN-appointed expert says better sanctions on Myanmar needed

The Washington Post

By David Rising | AP
September 22, 2022

FILE - A school bag lies next to dried blood stains on the floor of a middle school in Let Yet Kone village in Tabayin township in the Sagaing region of Myanmar on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, the day after an air strike hit the school. A United Nations-appointed human rights expert called Thursday for governments and companies to coordinate efforts to cut off the military-led government of Myanmar from its revenue and weapons sources, saying life in the Southeastern Asian nation has become a “living hell” for many since the generals seized power last year. (AP Photo, File) (Uncredited/AP

BANGKOK — A United Nations-appointed human rights expert called Thursday for governments and companies to coordinate efforts to cut off the military-led government of Myanmar from its sources of revenue and weapons, saying life in the Southeastern Asian nation has become a “living hell” for many since the generals seized power last year.

Tom Andrews, in Geneva to deliver his annual report on Myanmar to the U.N. Human Rights Council, told reporters that while many countries have been imposing sanctions on individuals, military entities, financial institutions and energy companies, what is needed is “coordinated action.”

Can Bangladesh-Myanmar military ties stabilise the region?

The Daily Star
Parvej Siddique Bhuiyan
Sun Jun 19, 2022

A power shift in Myanmar and the subsequent polarisation among major powers triggered a new geopolitical flashpoint in Bangladesh's strategic backyard, which the latter cannot afford to ignore. It seems that the US and other western countries are taking a heavy-handed approach while other big powers, such as Russia, China, India, and Japan, have started explicitly (or covertly) normalising their relations with the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military).

Myanmar always gets priority in Bangladesh's economic and security strategy. Although democratic Bangladesh has a moral dilemma in supporting the military government, it has yet to formally condemn the military coup or demand Aung San Su Kyi's release. It underscores Dhaka's careful support for the junta's "one-Myanmar government policy." So, in foreign policy circles, the immediate discussion is whether Dhaka's stance is a "well-thought-out approach or simply a premature polarisation."

UN and US condemn Myanmar military after protest reportedly turns deadly in Yangon

CNN

By Pierre Meilhan and Cape Diamond,
December 6, 2021

Protesters walk down the street to protest against the military coup and demand the release of deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

(CNN)At least five people were killed in Myanmar when a vehicle plowed into anti-junta protesters this weekend, according to local media. The attack took place in a Yangon township, news outlet Myanmar Now reported Sunday, citing protesters and eyewitnesses. 

One reporter who witnessed the incident told CNN that it was a military vehicle that rammed demonstrators. 

Torture in Myanmar: Don’t Let the Junta Normalize Cruelty

THE I DIPLOMAT 

By Tomas Max Martin, Ergun Cakal, and Hannah Russell
JULY 13, 2021

Torture – and the fear that it engenders – has been central to the military junta’s efforts to quell popular resistance.

On June 26, CNN reported the story of American-Burmese journalist Nathan Maung, who was released by the Myanmar military after three months of detention, during which time he experienced severe torture. On June 22, Human Rights Watch published the account of a 17-year-old boy, who endured repeated beatings with a bamboo stick filled with cement, blows to the head with the butt of a rifle, and burial up to his neck in a mock execution.

Rohingya genocide case at ICJ: Myanmar military regime organises new legal team

The Daily Star

Digital Report
June 26, 2021

Armed police confront protesters on the streets of Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Monday, February 8. Photo: AP

The Myanmar military regime has organised a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The regime's order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.

Internet ‘Whitelist’ Highlights Myanmar Military’s Wishful Economic Thinking

THE I DIPLOMAT

Sebastian Strangio
May 26, 2021

Facebook and Twitter are out. A suite of business applications and messaging services are in.

Myanmar’s military junta has drawn up a list of more than 1,200 online services and domain names to which it plans to grant the public access under its embryonic system of internet controls. A copy of this “whitelist,” which was given recently to local internet service providers and telecoms companies, was obtained by Nikkei Asia and published yesterday.

Since seizing power on February 1, Myanmar’s military has drastically tightened its controls over the internet in a bid to quash the rising protests against its coup. It has ordered the blocking of websites and the virtual private networks that are used to circumvent such blocks. It has also instituted nightly internet blackouts and cut off mobile data.

Atrocity Alert No. 253: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Myanmar (Burma) and Colombia Format

GLOBAL CENTRE
FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY
TO PROTECT
19 May 2021
ATROCITY ALERT

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

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WAR CRIMES CONTINUE IN GAZA CONFLICT

As the war in the Gaza Strip has intensified over the past week, Israeli forces have displayed reckless disregard for the lives of Palestinians in the blockaded enclave, carrying out hundreds of airstrikes targeting residential buildings in one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Since 10 May at least 219 Palestinians, including 61 children, have been killed and over 1,500 injured by Israeli airstrikes. Airstrikes hit Shateh refugee camp on 15 May, killing 10 civilians, and also targeted a multi-story building that includes the media offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. At least 130 buildings – including 17 hospitals and Gaza’s only laboratory for COVID-19 testing – have now been seriously damaged or destroyed, forcibly displacing over 58,000 Palestinians. Gaza’s sewerage system and water supply have also been damaged by airstrikes, with the UN reporting that 800,000 Gazans now lack access to safe drinking water. These attacks, which appear to deliberately ignore the principles of proportionality and distinction, may amount to war crimes under international law.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: “In Accordance with the Law” – How the Military Perverts Rule of Law to Oppress Civilians

JUST SECURITY
by Pwint Htun
April 28, 2021

(Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series brings together local and expert voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).

“When protestors refuse to listen to our orders to disperse, we shoot at the protestors in accordance with the law.”

These are the chilling words of a Tatmadaw soldier. Unfortunately, they are not isolated ones, and they show how the idea of “law” has been perverted to justify both the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup and the deplorable violence that has followed. The word “law” (or “upaday” in Burmese) has long been a tenuous concept in Myanmar. After decades living under a military dictatorship, in which laws were used as tools of oppression and could change at the whim of those in power, the people of Myanmar have, understandably, little trust in law. The recent actions of Min Aung Hlaing and the current junta have only further affirmed this perception. The concept of law and the related idea of the rule of law have been warped and manipulated by soldiers and police officers, many of whom believe they are enforcing the “law” to uphold order when they crack down on protests against the coup.

ASEAN Won’t Save Myanmar

FP

BY OREN SAMET |

APRIL 23, 2021,

The organization isn’t designed to solve problems—particularly not one as thorny as the post-coup unrest in Myanmar.

Protesters take part in a candlelight demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on April 3. STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Ever since Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, staged a coup against the country’s civilian government on Feb. 1, leading to a seemingly irrepressible popular uprising, foreign-policy experts have continued to search for potential international solutions to the deteriorating situation. With major Western powers like the United States possessing limited leverage over the Tatmadaw, and China and Russia stymieing a robust response at the international level, many have looked to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a more significant role.

U.S. imposes additional sanctions on Myanmar, targeting two companies linked to the country’s military.

The New York Times
By Glenn Thrush
April 21, 2021

Myanmar’s thriving timber and pearl industries are sources of funding for the military and its leadership.Credit...Romeo Gacad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

American officials announced new sanctions on Myanmar in the wake of the recent military coup, targeting two state-owned businesses with connections to the armed forces as part of an escalating international effort to jolt the country back onto a democratic path.

The move on Wednesday came two days after European Union officials expanded their own sanctions against Myanmar’s military leadership, targeting 10 officials who were involved in toppling Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government and a violent crackdown on protesters.

China's Relationship With Myanmar's Military: It's Complicated

KGOU

MICHAEL SULLIVAN

MAR 29, 2021

Originally published on March 29, 2021 11:37 pm

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

It was a bloody weekend in Myanmar. Security forces, again, used live ammunition against protesters all over the country, killing at least 114 people. It was the bloodiest single day since the coup began and drew condemnation from around the world but not from neighboring China, a country with a complicated relationship with Myanmar's military. Michael Sullivan reports from neighboring Thailand.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, BYLINE: In mid-January, China's foreign minister Wang Yi made a high-profile visit to Myanmar and met with the leader of the democratically elected government, Aung San Suu Kyi - yet another sign of China's deepening economic ties with an approval of Suu Kyi's civilian-led government. Just two weeks later, she was in jail. Myanmar's military was back in charge, and the country was in turmoil.

'Kill Me Instead': Despite Nun's Pleas, Military Junta Shoots Pro-Democracy Protesters in Myanmar

Common Dreams

Kenny Stancil, staff writer
Tuesday, March 09, 2021

"We heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid's head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street," said Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng. "We need to value life. It made me feel so sad."

"I knelt down… begging them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot me and kill me instead," Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng said of her attempt to dissuade police officers in Myitkyina, Myanmar from shooting people at a pro-democracy demonstration on March 8, 2021. (Photo: Twitter screengrab via Reuters)

Kneeling before a group of police officers in a northern Myanmar city on Monday, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng courageously begged the forces of the country's new military junta to refrain from shooting pro-democracy activists—a plea that was ultimately ignored by the officers who went on to kill at least two people and injure several others as the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations against last month's coup continues.

"I knelt down… begging them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot me and kill me instead," Tawng told AFP on Tuesday after a video of the incident went viral.