Military arrests funeral service group members
Eight members of a funeral service group named M-Rescue, including its chair, were arrested by the military during a night time raid on its office in Mandalay on Oct. 26. The group helped transport the body of the recently-deceased Zaw Myint Maung, the former Mandalay Chief Minister and vice-chair of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, during his funeral on Oct. 8.
“It’s been about five days since they were arrested. We haven’t been able to make contact. We don’t know where they’re being detained, so we’re very worried,” a family member of one of those arrested told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The official reason for their arrests is currently unknown.
Several members of M-Rescue, including its chairperson, were also arrested shortly after the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021 for their alleged involvement in anti-coup protests. They were detained for one month and then released. Nay Soe Maung, the son-in-law of former military dictator Than Shwe, was arrested in Mandalay on Oct. 24 after he had attended Zaw Myint Maung’s memorial service.
Regime tightens grip on gold trading
The regime’s Ministry of Natural Resources & Environmental Conservation declared gold trading as an essential service on Wednesday. Under the directive, the ministry will be empowered to issue direct orders to control gold trading, including prices, in accordance with the Essential Goods and Services Act.
“I haven’t heard of such an order and if it is true then, traders are unable to trade gold independently,” a source close to the ministry told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The ministry stated that any individuals who violated the law may receive punishments of six months to three years in prison and face a fine of no more than 500,000 kyat.
Traders claimed that no instructions have been issued to businesses yet and gold markets in Yangon continue to operate normally. The Yangon Gold Entrepreneurs Association (YGEA) has pegged the price of a tical (0.0164 kg) of pure gold at 5.6 million kyat as of Oct. 29. Gold prices in Burma have surged since Chinese authorities restricted trade through gates along the Burma-China border in northern Shan and Kachin states.
UN states that ‘brutality’ of crimes in Myanmar has increased
Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), said that the “frequency and brutality” of war crimes in Burma has increased over the past year, during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday. He claimed that airstrikes conducted by the Burma Air Force have killed hundreds of civilians.
“In just the past few weeks, the [IIMM] has collected evidence of air strikes on an [Internally Displaced Persons] camp in Mandalay and [Karenni] State; markets, schools and a temple in northern Shan State; a wedding reception in Sagaing [Region]; and a number of villages in Rakhine [Arakan] State,” he recounted. “Arrests of people perceived to be opponents of the military are also increasingly frequent.”
Koumjian added that the IIMM has opened new investigations into human rights abuses committed in Sagaing and Magway regions, as well as Kachin and Shan states. The U.N. investigator also drew attention to reports of torture, rapes, and mass killings of civilians, including the Rohingya, during fighting between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State.
News by Region
ARAKAN—Five civilians, including two 10-year-old girls, were killed and one person was injured due to an airstrike on Maung village in Taungup Township, around 200 miles (322 km) south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, Wednesday.
“We’re constantly worried about when the next airstrike will come. We haven’t been able to sleep peacefully for quite a while now,” a Taungup resident told DVB. An airstrike on a market in Tanlwalywama village of Taungup Township killed at least 15 civilians on Oct. 7.
More than 1,000 civilians have been trapped in Ann, which is located around 199 miles (320 km) southeast of the Arakan capital Sittwe, since the AA launched an offensive to take control of the Western Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Sept. 26.
“The Air Force conducted retaliatory airstrikes as the fighting intensified in the town. Residents are trapped inside as the military restricted access to the town. There are civilian casualties due to the artillery shelling and fighting,” an Ann resident told DVB. Ann residents reported that there are food shortages. The AA has also blockaded roads leading into Ann.
SHAN—The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) party chairperson Sai Nyunt Lwin said that “no dictator” should ever rule Burma again on Oct. 26. He made the remarks during a speech he gave at an online event to commemorate the 36 anniversary of the SNLD party’s founding.
“People in the country have been ruled by dictators that they don’t want and are suffering from war as well as natural and man-made disasters. We must try to ensure that no dictator rules the country again,” said Sai Nyunt Lwin. He expressed sympathy for those that have been impacted by armed conflict, especially in northern Shan State. The SNLD was dissolved by the regime’s Union Election Commission in March 2023. It was founded on Oct. 26, 1988.
YANGON—The regime stated on Wednesday that it had arrested a man in Mayangone Township for allegedly criticizing a new Burmese language film on social media by claiming it mocks Burma’s Indian and Hindu communities. A police station in Hlaing Township charged the man with violating Section 505(A) of the penal code, accusing him of spreading “false news” with the intent to “destroy national stability” on Oct. 26.
“His family members asked about his whereabouts at the station but he wasn’t there at that time as he was being interrogated by the military,” a source close to the police station told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The film the man is accused of criticizing is titled Gyitcarsiphoothala (Have you ever Rode a Jeep?) which is released in cinemas nationwide today. The Myanmar Hindu Union issued a statement condemning the film.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,550 kyat)
