FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM
Three female CDM civil servants amongst five “burned alive” by troops, resistance group claims. Five members of Magway’s Yesago-based N-YSO Guerrilla (N-YSO) — including a pregnant CDM teacher and a CDM healthcare worker — three female and two male — were burned alive after being arrested by troops in a raid on June 10, N-YSO has claimed. The recovered remains of the burned bodies were cremated on June 14, the group added. The victims are said to be CDM principal Win Kyaw, teacher Khin Hnin Wai, nurse Zali Naing, and guerrilla fighters Thae Ei Ei Win and Wu Khone. Khin Hnin Wai was five months pregnant, whilst nurse Zali Naing is said to have provided full-time health care to the members of the resistance group. A N-YSO outpost was raided by three separate military columns on the early morning of June 10. Wu Khone is said to have carried out an IED attack on troops shortly before the raid, killing 13 soldiers including a warrant officer, according to N-YSO. Following the raid, soldiers are said to have abducted local people to use as guides. Troops are also alleged to have conducted an arson attack on nearby Thitgyitaw village following the raid, during which they were subjected to a further IED attack, killing two more soldiers. State media has yet to acknowledge the incident. | BURMESE
Shortly after the report, Medical Family Mandalay (MFM), a group of health workers based in Mandalay that are involved in the resistance movement, issued a statement expressing its deepest condolences for the death of nurse Zali Naing. The statement expressed deep sadness over the nurse’s death and paid tribute to her as a “People’s Martyr” for her courageous resistance to the military dictatorship and sacrifice for a future federal union.
UN’s rights watcher speaks on suffering of Burma’s children. Tom Andrew, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, said that 142 minors have been killed, more than 1,400 arrested and more than 250,000 displaced since the coup in Burma. According to his report, released on June 14, at least 61 children including those under the age of three have been taken hostage, and more than 130,000 children have been displaced to refugee camps. More than half a million Burmese child refugees have been forced to flee to neighboring countries. The Special Rapporteur said that at least 382 children have been killed or maimed by armed groups since the coup. In addition, the Special Rapporteur said that he had seen evidence that children had been caught in fighting and deliberately targeted by Burma Army soldiers. He added that he was still investigating the incidents detailed in the report, but had information that minors had been beaten, stabbed, and had their nails and teeth removed during interrogation. Andrew called on UN member states to increase pressure on the Burmese junta and to block the regime’s means of funding to alleviate the suffering of children in the country. | BURMESE
Magway PDF Groups debunk junta defection claims. Magway Region resistance groups have categorically denied that people portrayed as submitting to the military on state-run MRTV this Monday were members of an armed group. State media made the claims after the SAC said it would provide an amnesty to resistance groups that laid down weapons and returned to civilian life. Read more.
Arrests made in Mohib Ullah murder case. Bangladeshi police on Monday charged at least 29 alleged ARSA members in connection with last year’s execution of prominent Rohingya rights activist Mohib Ullah, Al Jazeera reported. Ullah was renowned as a community leader amongst the Rohingya community in exile and was the chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights. 15 of those charged have been arrested, while others remain at large, according to prosecutor Faridul Alam. “At least four of those arrested have made confessional statements over their roles in the murder,” Alam said. The family of Ullah blamed ARSA for his murder shortly after the killing, but the group has denied responsibility. Despite ARSA’s claims, Bangladeshi authorities said that they had evidence that the head of ARSA, Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi, had ordered Ullah’s murder, according to Benar News. The ARSA chief reportedly assassinated the Rohingya activist as he was dissatisfied that Ullah was more popular than him, according to a Bangladeshi police report. The report also said that ARSA requested a meeting at one of the refugee camps two days before the killing. “At the meeting, [one suspect] and others said ‘our leader Ataullah Jununi told us that Muhib Ullah is emerging as a bigger leader. The Rohingya are giving him more support. He must be killed,’ said accused Azizul Haque, who was guarding the meeting venue,” an excerpt of the police report stated. The police investigation is the Bangladeshi government’s first admission that ARSA maintains a presence on its soil, an accusation it repeatedly denied in the past. ARSA has been accused of being involved in the narcotics trade, intimidating refugees, and murdering its opponents in refugee camps housing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people who remain in camps in Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch today published a multimedia report showing how “the Myanmar authorities have detained over 135,000 Rohingya and Kaman Muslims arbitrarily and indefinitely in Rakhine State for a decade.” DVB this week published on the restrictions of movement still affecting Rohingya within Burma.
AA sends message to Rakhine’s military administration. The Arakan Army (AA) will respond where necessary to the junta appointed Rakhine State Government’s “bullying” of the Rakhine people, AA/United League of Arakan (ULA) spokesperson Khaing Thukha said at an AA/ULA press conference on June 14. He said that the military’s administration in Rakhine had misused public funds and oppressed the Rakhine people. “I would like to give a warning to any Rakhine person working for the junta’s government. Although we have exhibited patience for a long time, we will deal with them appropriately if they harm our people,” he said. According to the AA spokesperson, the current government imposed by the regime was worse, in the view of the EAO, than previous governments in the state, Rakhine-based media outlet Western News reported.
MAPCO’s multinational ventures failing. Major projects of the Myanmar Agribusiness Public Company (MAPCO) have been suspended, according to the company’s 2021-2022 annual report. MAPCO is a leading state-owned company in Burma’s agriculture sector. An LNG-to-power project that was being constructed in partnership with Japanese companies in the Thilawa SEZ and a Hlegu-based project backed by Chinese and Singaporean investors are amongst the ventures put on hold, MAPCO’s director has said. The report said that, in attempting to mitigate growing risk in the economy, MAPCO is looking to invest in farms, bran oil mill machinery, and the generation of electricity from rice husk based-on the country’s growing energy needs. MAPCO also plans to build a production factory for wrapping agricultural products in partnership with Indian investors on MAPCO-owned land in Yangon’s Twante township. The company was formed in August 2012 and is one of the very few firms listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. | BURMESE
NUG MoD discusses fighting force. The NUG’s Ministry of Defense has formed 257 PDF battalions and established connections with 500 other local armed groups, the NUG’s Acting President Duwa Lashi La said during the NUG’s 58th cabinet meeting held on June 14. During the meet, the leader urged Burma’s citizens to scupper the junta’s planned 2023 elections, arguing: “It is important to take political and military action to eliminate the fraudulent election that will be held by Min Aung Hlaing’s junta”. The NUG’s defense minister, Yee Mon, yesterday published a rousing opinion piece in The Diplomat in which he appealed to ASEAN foreign ministers: “Do not underestimate us [the NUG/PDF]… Each day we grow stronger. We are here.” During the meeting, attended by NUG union ministers and deputy ministers, Prime Minister Mahn Win Khaing Than praised the public’s continued participation in the anti-military movement. “The revolution is still going on more than a year later thanks to concerted efforts made by the public and revolutionary forces to achieve progressive development in diplomacy, politics, and military affairs,” he said. | BURMESE
Mandalay Chief Minister verdicts expected. Final verdicts on all five corruption charges heard against deposed Mandalay Chief Minister, Dr Zaw Myint Maung, will be delivered on June 17, the military’s Obo Prison Court decided yesterday. Closing arguments in the cases were made yesterday, according to a source close to the court. “I argued in court that he should not be punished,” the source said. The junta’s Mandalay Region Anti-Corruption Commission charged Zaw Myint Maung with five cases of corruption on March 8, accusing him of taking bribes. Maung Weik, a witness for the prosecution, testified that he had handed money to the ousted Mandalay chief to win favor from him. Zaw Myint Maung in turn denied that he had ever taken a bribe during his tenure. The junta has so far hit the NLD politician with a total of nine charges; he was earlier convicted of two offenses under the Natural Disaster Law and was sentenced to four years in prison on Dec. 8, 2021. The minister is suffering from a variety of illnesses, including leukemia, for which his wife Yu Yu May and daughter Su Wai Pon were providing medication until his arrest in the first week of May 2021. He is currently facing difficulties receiving care after his family members were also detained. | BURMESE
News by Region
KARENNI —Three civilians were injured, and several homes were damaged during the military’s shelling of Yu So Mo So village in Demoso township on the afternoon of June 14. Locals said that those injured were a 60-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man, and a 3-year-old child. In addition, two houses were damaged. | BURMESE
MANDALAY —The Mandalay Ranger Force PDF (ROM) announced that it fired at the gate of the Burma Army’s Central Military HQ, located at an entrance of the Mandalay Palace moat, this morning. ROM attacked the gate in alliance with other urban guerrilla factions, yet it is unknown if there were any casualties. “We fired with small arms and could only hit the HQ’s bunker. If we had good weapons, we could kill soldiers,” a spokesperson of the PDF told DVB. Military personnel conducted an investigation around the area following the incident. | BURMESE
MON —Around 100 military personnel have stationed in the mountains around Kyaiktiyo, home of the famous “Golden Rock” pilgrimage site, according to local sources. Troops have deployed in Kyikan Pazat and Moak Soe mountains as well as Lay Yin Gwin on Mount Kyaiktiyo — where the famous Kyaikyito Pagoda is located — since June 13. The reason behind the deployments is unclear, but the military’s presence has created concern among locals. According to the Kyaikto Revolution Force (KRF), a police officer was killed after a KNLA led coalition attacked the Yathetaung police outpost, located on a road running across one of the mountains, on June 14, one day after troops arrived. Kyaiktiyo Pagoda typically receives millions of domestic and international visitors every year but the number has dropped dramatically following the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup. | BURMESE
RAKHINE —There have been no repatriations of refugees back into Rakhine State, despite a junta authority in Rakhine State saying that Burma was ready to take back more than 1,000 Muslim and Hindu Rohingya refugees that fled to Bangladesh, according to the local Muslim and Hindu communities. “They want to come back. They have registered and applied to be repatriated. I do not know why the Bangladeshi government has not sent them back yet. Burmese authorities sent a letter saying the refugees will return,” Maung Ni, one of the Hindu community leaders, told DVB. According to the readmission list, 316 of the 444 Hindus that fled to Bangladesh are registered to be repatriated along with 711 Muslims. “The Bangladeshi government does not want to send Rohingya refugees back to Burma. It is only preparing to ship the refugees to Bhasan Char Island. We are not being asked for our opinion,” Mamat Rawchi, a Rohingya refugee in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh said. Members of the junta, including the regime’s Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, arrived in Rakhine State in December 2021 to discuss the resettlement process. Since the Burma Army began its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya in August 2017, an estimated 600,000 Muslim and 444 Hindu Rohingya from at least 100 villages of Rakhine’s Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships have been forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Two resettlement centers — Taungpyo Letwei and Ngakuya — have been built on the Burmese side of the border in preparation for the refugees’ return. A third, the Hla Pho Khaung resettlement center, is under construction. The NLD administration in 2018 made two attempts — on January 23 and November 15 — to begin repatriations, yet were allegedly blocked by Bangladeshi authorities. | BURMESE
NAYPYIDAW —Two bombs exploded in Lewe township, Naypyidaw Region on the morning of June 14, according to local sources. “The blasts took place near a traffic light in Bawdi Kone in Lewe. The first explosion hit a car and another bomb detonated when soldiers and traffic police came to investigate the first blast,” a witness said. Residents said that there may have been casualties from the second bombing, but DVB was unable to verify this claim. Military authorities have yet to release information about the incident and no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. | BURMESE
SAGAING —Six bodies were discovered after the military and Pyusawhti militiamen raided and set fire to over 100 homes in Taw Kyaung Lay village, Chaung U township on Tuesday morning, Chaung U PDF has claimed. Junta forces are said to have entered the village on Sunday and camped for two nights, setting fire to homes and looting valuables before leaving. “They fired guns since arriving in the village, making villagers flee. The military caught and tortured some civilians that had left the village. They took all the valuables from inside the homes they searched. We found six bodies when they left, and some villagers are still missing,” a local source told DVB. Five of the six bodies were burned and among the victims was a man suffering from a mental illness. On May 7, homes in Taw Kyaung Lay village were also destroyed in arson attacks. 11 villages have now been subjected to comprehensive arson attacks by the military in Chaung U township, according to Chaung U PDF.
The army also set fire to homes in Thone Eain Su village in Kale township yesterday morning. The village has more than 200 homes and the number of buildings burned down remains unknown as villagers were forced to flee due to the attack. “They set fire to our village before and have now done it again. So, we must flee again. Many homes could have been torched as there was a lot of smoke,” a refugee told DVB. The military had previously burned down five homes in Thone Eain Su village on May 30. Internet services in Kale township have been shut off since early March as junta forces conduct an offensive in Sagaing Region, burning down civilian homes in villages across the region. | BURMESE
SAGAING —The National Unity Government’s Education Ministry on June 14 organized a sports event in war-torn Yinmarbin — a stronghold of resistance groups. The spectacle evidenced the growing ability of “People’s Administrations” to coordinate peaceful events independently of the junta’s civil service. The event, named the “Rainy Season Sports Competition”, was held during the country’s monsoon season. Photos and videos uploaded by those in attendance showed thousands of students wearing school uniforms, with many civilians coming to support the events.
YANGON —Soldiers carried out coordinated night-time inspections of guest lists in most townships of Yangon on the nights of June 13 and 14, arresting several alleged anti-military protesters from different strike groups. The General Strike Committee (GSC) and other leaders warned protesters to stay alert. Plainclothes soldiers are reported to have carried out search operations in most townships of the country’s commercial capital including Lanmadaw, Botathaung, Tamwe, Sanchaung, Pazundaung, Shwepyithar, East Dagon, and Hlaingtharyar. Sources close to those affected said around 30 protesters were arrested during the two night operation, and that further searches were under way. Locals reported hearing explosions and gunfire in North Okkalapa and Hlaingtharyar township last night. | BURMESE