UNFC Statement on Current Talks and Raging of Ferocious Battles on the Ground

We all know that members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), together with fraternal ethnic armed resistance organizations, have been endeavoring by various means, with the specific intent of ending over 60-year-long civil war in Burma/Myanmar and resolving the political problems, through round-table talks and consultations with successive governments, and now the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordinating Team (NCCT) and the Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC) are holding talks for realizing the signing of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement […]

KESAN Statement on the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams

Risking personal safety today in a conflict zone in Burma/Myanmar’s Karen State, hundreds of defenders of the Salween River are rallying to warn the public of the grave dangers of destructive dams. Other rallies will be held on the Thai border andaround the world to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams […]

Halt All Dams Now in Salween River and All Ethnic Areas – Protests At Dam Sites

On the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams, Karen Rivers Watch renews its call for the suspension of all dam projects in Karen State and other ethnic states […]

Walking into Beatings, Running Away from Gunfire

This week has seen the various organs of the state being employed to oppress and commit violence against students marching for education reform, workers striking for their rights, and ethnic nationality Kokang fleeing conflict. Thus we have seen the use of guns, thugs, repressive laws, and police brutality, exposing not just the range of the tools of government subjugation of its people, but the depths to which it will go to maintain power.

In downtown Rangoon on 5 March, 2015, around 200 people gathered to show their solidarity with the student marchers, currently barricaded by police in the town of Letpadan, 85 miles from Rangoon. This solidarity demonstration was violently broken up, not just by police, but by a gang of thugs, employed by the police to create disturbances and assault the protestors. These thugs, wearing red armbands with the word ‘duty’ are reminiscent of Swan Ah Shin group, who were used by the previous military regime in the Depayin Massacre in 2003 in which members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were murdered, as well as the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Eight protestors were also detained overnight, including three members of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society group. Meanwhile, the 100 students barricaded in Letpadan remain, with 500 police officers surrounding them, as the government refuses to allow them to continue their march to Rangoon.

Shooting, Killing and Torture of Civilians by Burma Army During Kokang Conflict

Interviews by SHRF provide evidence that during the current conflict in the Kokang area, Burma Army soldiers have been indiscriminately shooting at civilians, causing injury and death; have used civilians as hostages for ambush; and have also tortured civilians on suspicion of supporting the Kokang armed resistance group […]

Tatmadaw Artillery Fire Directed at Villagers Working on Hill Field Farmes in Hpapun District, February 2015

On February 17th 2015, Burma/Myanmar Tatmadaw troops indiscriminately fired artillery shells towards a location where villagers were clearing vegetation for hill field farming in Saw Muh Plaw village tract, Lu Thaw Township […]

Statement of Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) for Reduction-Cessation of Battles between Two Sides in Ta’ang Region

1. As a result of increasing the number of armed forces and military offensives by the Myanmar government’s Tatmadaw in the Ta’ang nationality’s land, comprising of Namtsan, Mantong, Kyaukme, Thibaw, Namtu, Lashio, Mogok, Momeik, Theinni, Kutkai, Museh, Namkham Townships etc. and Ta’ang villages in Kokang Region – there has been increasing frequency of battles, day by day, between the Tatmadaw forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) forces and forces of the ethnic armed resistance alliance […]

Land Policies and Laws Must Reflect Rights and Interests of Vulnerable Communities

Amid the various serious issues currently dominating the headlines about Burma – including the upcoming elections, the escalation in fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic armies, the recent crackdown on workers’ protests, this year’s student marches, and ongoing religious tensions – it is important that people do not lose sight of the land issue. Like other developing South-East Asian countries, Burma is grappling with the sticky and complex problems of land ownership, rights and use. As is often the case, it is the poor and marginalized communities who are most vulnerable to exploitation and human rights abuses, particularly small-scale farmers in Burma’s beleaguered ethnic regions.

This month Human Rights Foundation of Monland-Burma (HURFOM) released a report titled “Yearning to be Heard: Mon Farmers’ Continued Struggle for Acknowledgement and Protection of their Rights” – a follow-up to their 2013 report “Disputed Territory: Mon Farmers’ Fight Against Unjust Land Acquisition and Barriers to Their Progress.” It argues that “continuing barriers to progress lie primarily in the country’s broken land management system, the failures of recent land laws to secure the protection of farmers’ land rights, the failure of government bodies and authorities to perform their responsibilities unbiased from military influence, and the total impunity of the military due to the independent structure of the courts-martial.” A salient example of such impunity, mentioned in the report, is the confiscation of more than 2,000 acres of rubber plantation in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State, over the past year. Regrettably, such land rights abuses betray the paltry extent to which the Burma Government is able to influence the Burma Army and rein in its illegal activities […]

Yearning to be Heard: Mon Farmers’ Continued Struggle for Acknowledgement and Protection of their Rights

Land conflict is the most pressing issue facing Burma today, second only to armed conflict. Though Burma’s emerging democratic government has introduced land policy reform and has established land investigation commissions aimed to resolve land conflicts, civilian land acquisition by the Burmese military continues to take place, particularly in Burma’ minority ethnic areas.

Yet another Derailment of the Burma Peace Train

For anyone who believes that the peace process in Burma is making progress, the recent escalation and heavy fighting in northern Shan State and Kachin State, as well as the Union Day deed of commitment signing farce, only goes to show that faith in the ability and commitment of the Burma Government to secure a sustainable peace deal is misguided.

Union Day falls on 12 February, and is the anniversary of the Panglong Agreement signed between General Aung San, and Chin, Kachin and Shan ethnic leaders, an agreement that promised autonomy to the ethnic regions. It has been a reference point for ethnic nationalities ever since, and is symbolic of the possibility of a federal union within Burma whereby the rights of ethnic people are protected […]