Articles

Ethnic Shan human rights organisations have urged the Government to halt Burma Army attacks in Shan State, saying these attacks undermine hopes for a lasting peace agreement. The statement, which was signed by 18 organisations including the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network, said that recent attacks had already displaced 1,500 civilians. The mass displacement of…

MAHACHAI, Thailand (Myanmar Now) – The details of that morning 25 years ago are hazy but Than Than Aye remembers vividly the palpable excitement as an 18-year-old voting in her first election. She does not remember who she voted for in the 1990 elections- possibly Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – but recalls putting the voting slip in the ballot…

Despite its concerns about continuing fighting between the Burma Army and Shan and Kachin armed groups the United States released a statement praising the signing of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the government and eight armed groups. The United States in a statement released on 15 October by its spokesperson, John Kirby said that the “signing of the text of…

Ongoing Burma Army offensives in Shan and Kachin State are blocking key armed groups from signing a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, the community based organisation, the Women’s League of Burma warned. The NCA is set to be signed on October 15, but only eight armed groups have decided to sign it. “We do not trust Naypyidaw’s [government’s] peace process. It’s clearly…

Human Rights organisations have expressed growing alarm over the Burma Government continuing to use draconian legislation to imprison political opponents. A report by Fortify Rights and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic found that police used unwarranted and excessive force in cracking down on civilians protesting against development projects in Letpadan on March 10. Police “brutally punched, kicked,…

The Burma Army has kidnapped and tortured a man from Wan Kawn Yao, Shan State, local villagers claim. The villagers have written a letter to the local Burma Army commander demanding the return of the man, named as 33 yer-old farmer Sai Thein Tun. The villagers claim that Sai Tun was kidnapped on September 10 this year while on his…

Fighting between soldiers from the government’s militia, the Border Guard Force and a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army occurred yesterday at around 10am and continue into today on the old Kawkareik-Myawaddy Road. A BGF officer confirmed the firefight between soldiers from the BGF’s Battalion 1017 and the DKBA’s splinter group led by Bo Nar Ma Kyar [Lieutenant…

Villagers from villages along Eastern Donna Range gathered at Htee Mae Wah Kee village in Myawaddy Township on October 4th to show their support for the three Karen armed groups who have decided to sign the ceasefire agreement with the government. The Karen armed groups – Karen National Union (KNU), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and KNU/KNLA – Peace Council…

Burma’s Government is engaged in the illegal displacement of thousands of its own citizens, a leading human rights organization has concluded. The New York based Physicians for Human Rights collected evidence of 8,000 people being relocated against their will to make way for dam projects in Shan State. One example cited in the report was the Upper Paunglaung dam, which…

More than forty Karen organizations issued a statement critical of the Karen National Union after it had decided to sign a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government that excluded the majority of ethnic armed groups. Seven ethnic armed organizations, including the Karen National Union, decided to go ahead and sign the NCA with the government without the full support of…