How International Initiatives Can Support Peace and Justice in Myanmar

The Irrawaddy
Opinion
By Sean Bain  

21 November 2019  

A Rohingya refugee touches the shore at Shah Porir Dwip after crossing the Bangladesh border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in September 2017. / Reuters 

Gross human rights violations in Myanmar may constitute the most serious crimes under international law and so carry global significance. Yet the Naypyitaw authorities have failed to fulfill their obligations to address these crimes by conducting the investigations and prosecutions to enable accountability in line with international law.

In response to this situation, several justice initiatives focused on Myanmar are gaining momentum at an international level.

Chinese Ambassador Says Beijing Stands with Myanmar on Rohingya Issue

The Irrawaddy
By Moe Myint
22 August 2019

Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing (right) meets with Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai in Naypyitaw on Thursday.  / Office of the Commander-in-Chief’s website

YANGON—During a meeting with Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Napyitaw on Thursday, Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai reiterated that China stands with Myanmar when it comes to international pressure over the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State, according to an army website.

Flash Floods Kill Two, Intensify Suffering in Rohingya Camps

The Irrawaddy

By Muktadir Rashid
10 July 2019
Rohingya refugees walk along a road at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on March 6, 2019. / Reuters

DHAKA—Flash floods and monsoon rains have intensified the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas living in refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, displacing 2,700, damaging 3,400 homes and killing at least two, according to NGOs working in the area.

The Bangladesh government and local and international agencies are keeping volunteers on standby, fearing landslides in the densely populated neighborhoods.

Local authorities so far have recorded two deaths, including one child, during the ongoing monsoon rains.

AA Chief’s Brother, Several Arakanese Arrested in Singapore

The Irrawaddy
By Moe Myint
10 July 2019

Aung Myat Kyaw, the brother of AA chief Major-General Tun Myat Naing, poses for a picture. / Aung Myat Kyaw / Facebook

 

YANGON – A brother of Arakan Army (AA) chief Brigadier-General Tun Myat Naing and five of his colleagues were arrested by Singapore police in separate locations within the city-state this morning, longtime friends of the accused confirm.

No Evidence of Any ARSA Links to ISIS: Terrorism Expert

The Irrawaddy 
By Nyein Nyein
4 June 2019

Sidney Jones, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) in Jakarta, Indonesia, gives a public forum in Bangkok, Thailand on May 30. / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy  

BANGKOK—Security expert and director of Jakarta-based NGO the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) Sidney Jones visited Bangkok last week to speak about pro-ISIS networks in Southeast Asia.

Rohingya Man, 8-Year-Old Son Killed in Blast in Northern Rakhine

The Irrawaddy 

  By Moe Myint 

22 May 2019

YANGON—An explosion killed a Rohingya boy and his father and severely wounded another adult in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday, according to a village official.

The victims were identified as Mohamad Shofi, 38, his son Husson, 8, and Mohammad Shazam, an adult of unknown age, according to Ah Lel Kyun village administrative official U Win Hla Tun. Mohammad Shazam was transported to Sittwe Hospital for medical treatment this morning, U Win Hla Tun said.

Army Arrests Village Administrator in Rakhine

The Irrawaddy 

By Moe Myint 18 May 2019

GAD official U Thein Soe Aung's shop in Shwe Pyi village, in northern Rakhine's Kyauktaw Township. / Mg Than / Facebook

 
YANGON–A village administrative official from northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township was arrested by army troops on Thursday.

U Thein Soe Aung, an official of Shwe Pyi village—about 8 kilometers north of Kyauktaw Township—was accused by the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, of providing rations to Arakan Army (AA) rebels.

Army Shoots Motorcycle Driver Dead in N. Rakhine

The Irrawaddy
By Moe Myint
10 May 2019

The body of motorcycle ferry driver Ko Maung Maung Hla, who was found dead in a rural area of northern Rakhine State's Kyauktaw Township early on Friday morning.  / Kyaw Hla Myint / Facebook 

 
YANGON—A motorcycle ferry operator was shot dead while driving home to his village in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township early Friday morning, according to local residents.

The victim was identified as Ko Maung Maung Hla, 36, from Phayar Paung village 4 miles south of downtown Kyauktaw. Village administrator U Aung Tin Win, who went to see the body at Kyauktaw General Hospital on Friday morning, told The Irrawaddy that Ko Maung Maung Hla worked as a ferry operator. He had a 9-year-old son with his wife, Daw Hla Win, who sells vegetables in a market.

Four Detainees Admit to Being Arakan Army Members: Army

The Irrawaddy 
By Moe Myint
8 May 2019

Army troops in the 74th Anniversary of Myanmar Armed Forces Day Parade in Naypyidaw on March 27, 2019. / The Irrawadd

YANGON—After eight days of interrogation during military detention, six out of dozens of detainees from Kyauktan Village in northern Rakhine State’s Rathedaung Township were transferred to Sittwe Police Station on Wednesday.

Military Extends Ceasefire in Kachin, Shan for 2 Months

The Irrawaddy
By The Irrawaddy
1 May 2019

Peace Commission members (right side of the table) and representatives of the Northern Alliance comprising the KIA, TNLA, AA and MNDAA (left) hold talks in Muse, northern Shan State, on April 30, 2019. They agreed to hold further discussions on bilateral ceasefire agreements. / Hla Maung Shwe / Facebook

YANGON—The Myanmar military on Tuesday extended its unilateral ceasefire in five regional commands in Kachin and Shan states for two months on Tuesday, with restive Rakhine State remaining exempt from the truce.

ISIS a Threat to N. Rakhine: Gov’t Spokesperson

The Irrawaddy 
By Htet Naing Zaw
29 April 2019

 A Tatmadaw soldier on security duty in Rakhine State / Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYITAW—The director general of Myanmar’s President’s Office U Zaw Htay has said that Myanmar has been a target of the Islamist militant group ISIS since 2012 when the group shifted its focus to northern Rakhine State after losing its footholds in Syria and Iraq.

“ISIS mainly nurtured home-grown cells. The terrorists who entered from outside linked and worked with radical elements inside the country, as in the case of Sri Lanka,” U Zaw Htay told reporters.

Police Officer Injured in ARSA Ambush in N. Rakhine

The Irrawaddy
By The Irrawaddy
23 April 2019

A police vehicle damaged in an ARSA attack in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State on Monday / Supplied

YANGON—In the latest in a string of attacks this year, a Myanmar police officer was injured when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked a police van transporting officers at the junction of Zeepin Chaung and Leikra villages in Maungdaw Township, northern Rakhine State, on Monday morning.

Shelling Injures Two Civilians in N. Rakhine, Villagers Say.

The Irrawaddy
19 April 2019
By MOE MYINT

Maung Tun Aye is treated for shrapnel wounds at a hospital in Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine State, on Thursday. / Mrauk-U Karuna Wave / Facebook

YANGON — Two civilians in northern Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U Township were wounded by shrapnel from artillery fire after the Myanmar Army began shooting and shelling in the area on Wednesday night and into Thursday, according to locals.

Mrauk-U resident Ko Than Tun said about 460 people fled Baungdwat Village, about 3 km south of the township’s urban center, on Thursday and have taken shelter at the Myothit monastery in central Mrauk-U.

Daw Khin Kyi—Wife and Mother of National Leaders—Was Born 107 Years Ago Today.

The Irrawaddy

16 April 2019

By WEI YAN AUNG

Daw Khin Kyi (left), with Prime Minister U Nu and his wife on their visit to England in 1950

Today would be the 107 birthday of Daw Khin Kyi, the widow of Myanmar’s national hero General Aung San and mother of Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Is Bangladesh Really Interested in Justice on Rakhine Issue?

The Irrawaddy
12 April 2019
By NYEIN MAUNG

ICOE members in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, in August 2018. / ICOE

Bangladesh has finally allowed the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) to visit the country. According to a press release on the ICOE’s website, the Bangladeshi foreign minister has agreed in principle to meet with the commission next month. What is unclear—and frankly, this must be the crux of the issue—is whether Bangladeshi authorities will allow the ICOE to conduct evidence gathering in Cox’s Bazar. No information on this is available on the ICOE’s website.

AA Kills 20 Soldiers in N. Rakhine’s Ancient Capital Mrauk-U.

The Irrawaddy
10 April 2019
By MOE MYINT 

Police and Army personnel jointly patrol along a main road in downtown Mrauk-U in March 2019. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

YANGON—About 20 government soldiers were killed when the Arakan Army staged attacks on two Myanmar Army artillery bases on the outskirts of Mrauk-U in northern Rakhine State on Tuesday night, the armed ethnic group’s deputy chief claimed.

Brigadier-General Nyo Tun Aung said the AA attacked the No. 31 Police Regiment because troops from Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 22 were firing 105-mm howitzer shells almost daily from the base and another Army base in Lay Hnyin Taung about 8 km from downtown Mrauk-U.

‘Kyaukphyu BRI Projects a Bigger Threat Than Myitsone’

The Irrawaddy
By The Irrawaddy 8 April 2019 
Interview

 Journalist and author Bertil Lintner in interviewed with The Irrawaddy. / The Irrawaddy

Amid growing public concern about Chinese-backed development projects in Myanmar, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will leave for Beijing late this month to attend the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit. During her meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping there, she is quite likely to discuss the Myitsone Dam, the most controversial Chinese project in the country so far. As well the Myitsone dam, another important China-backed development project is now underway on the shore of Bay of Bengal in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine. Prior to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to China, The Irrawaddy talks to Bertil Linter, a Swedish journalist and author who has been covering Myanmar and Southeast Asia for nearly four decades, on China’s major involvement—from development projects to the peace process—in the country.

A Call for a Coup.

The Irrawaddy  
By WEI YAN AUNG | 4 April 2019

A portrait of U Ba Bay, one of the politicians tried for attempting to instigate a military coup

YANGON—Sixty-five years ago today, the Yangon government tried a number of politicians for high treason for requesting that the military stage a coup.