Myanmar military, not EAOs, only terrorist organisation in Myanmar, CRPH says

Myanmar military, not EAOs, only terrorist organisation in Myanmar, CRPH says

The committee of elected lawmakers removes the ‘terrorist’ and ‘unlawful’ designations once used against ethnic armed organisations

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 17, 2021
Military troops are seen on Bargayar Road in Yangon’s Sanchaung on February 28. (Myanmar Now) 
Military troops are seen on Bargayar Road in Yangon’s Sanchaung on February 28. (Myanmar Now) 

A committee representing elected lawmakers-- who have been unable to take their seats in parliament following the February 1 coup in Myanmar-- announced the removal of all ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) from the country’s list of terrorist groups and unlawful associations on Wednesday.

The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) issued a statement condemning all arrests and detentions under Section 17(1) of Myanmar’s Unlawful Associations Act, which prescribes up to three years in prison for affiliation with an “unlawful association.” The CRPH said that it considers the Section 17(1) arrests and charges leveraged against EAOs fighting for national equality and self-determination illegitimate. 

The CRPH “expresse[d] its profound gratitude” to EAOs that have provided “care and protection” to civil servants participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in opposition to the military junta. The committee recognised and congratulated these EAOs for their “strong commitment to the building of [a] federal democratic union.”

In the wake of violent crackdowns by the junta’s armed forces on anti-coup protesters nationwide, the CRPH labelled the Myanmar army a terrorist organisation on March 1. 

Of the more than 20 ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, 10, including the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the previous National League for Democracy government and the military.

Affiliation with EAOs not signatory to the NCA, such as those in the Northern Alliance, has led to charges under Section 17(1). These cases have been disproportionately brought against civilians belonging to ethnic nationalities. 

The military coup council announced on March 11 that it would remove the Arakan Army, a Northern Alliance member with which it had been engaging in intensifying clashes for nearly two years in Rakhine State, from its list of terrorist groups. 

No other EAOs were removed from the list. 

The military continues to engage in ongoing clashes with EAOs in Kachin and northern Shan State, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), another Northern Alliance member. In Karen State and Bago Region, the junta’s armed forces have been fighting with NCA signatory the KNU. 

While the KIA has not commented directly on the coup, in a February 10 statement it said it would protect the people’s anti-military movement if the armed forces violently suppressed it. 

The KNU has also said it would protect protesters, and has provided asylum for police officers who joined the CDM. 

The RCSS/SSA issued a statement condemning the military coup, and has offered to protect civil servants participating in the CDM. 

The 10 NCA-signatory EAOs announced on February 20 that they would suspend the peace process, and on March 11 they held an online meeting to discuss ways to stop the killing of civilians by the military council.

On March 5, the CRPH called for the military-drafted 2008 Constitution to be abolished and a federal, democratic Constitution to be established. Ten days later, the CRPH issued a law protecting the public’s right to defend themselves from the military’s violent crackdown on protesters with the aim of establishing a federal army. 

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
Monk killed in junta custody after rival monk shot to death

Pyinar Wuntha was detained shortly after the killing of another monk, who was accused of helping the military

Moe Oo
Published on Apr 7, 2022
Soldiers watch anti-coup protesters in Yangon in February 2021 (Myanmar Now)

A monk from Mandalay Region was killed after being detained by junta soldiers this week, leading locals to accuse the military of torturing him to death.

Pyinar Wuntha, who ran a monastic school in the village of Kin in Madaya Township, was detained on Sunday after another monk accused of being a military informant was shot dead in the village. 

The morning after Pyinar Wuntha was taken, authorities phoned his apprentice to tell him to come and collect the body from the Madaya General Hospital, a local man who would like to remain anonymous told Myanmar Now. 

“He was only taken last night and his body was at the morgue this morning,” the man said on Monday.

Calls to the Madaya Central Police Station seeking comment on the monk’s death went unanswered. 

It appears Pyinyar Wuntha was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the killing of a rival monk named Soe. 

Like Pyinar Wuntha, Soe was a member of the Lwin Oo monastery, where residents say they were in competition with one another for the position of head monk. 

Junta-controlled newspapers said on Monday that Soe was shot dead by ten members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF). 

After the killing, soldiers arrived in Kin and arrested Pyinar Wuntha along with around 19 other villagers.  

“The truth is, we still don’t know who killed Soe,” said the villager.

Several residents told Myanmar Now that Soe helped the junta to recruit people for its Pyu Saw Htee militia and was involved in the burning of houses believed to belong to people who raised funds for the PDF.

On Monday afternoon, local PDF fighters used explosives to ambush a column of about 30 soldiers outside of Kin, killing and injuring several of them. 

Moe Oo
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Missing youth protesters from Mandalay feared to be in military custody

Members of a local strike committee suspect that their colleagues—six men and two women—were taken by the junta

Mary Hnin
Published on Apr 7, 2022
Moe Oo
Published on Apr 7, 2022
Junta forces prepare for a crackdown on demonstrations in Mandalay shortly after the coup in February 2021 (Myanmar Now) 

Eight youth who are part of a strike committee in Mandalay have been missing since Monday, according to another member of the group. 

A committee leader told Myanmar Now that three of the young people were initially shot at and arrested by junta troops while photographing a flash mob protest in Mandalay that morning, and five others in their network disappeared later in the day. 

“Three people went missing first. According to people from the neighbourhood, gunshots were heard, so it’s possible that they were arrested,” he said. “The military could have found out about the other five after interrogating the first three.”

The victims were identified as Hein Min Zaw, Aung Zaw Myint, Naing Lin Tun, Kyaw Soe Moe, Kyaw Min Tun, Htet Ko, Thae Su and Ja Seng Aung—all in their 20s. 

Since the February 2021 coup, there have been several instances where people were taken by the junta’s forces and killed in military custody, their bodies not returned to their families. 

An interrogation centre located inside Mandalay Palace has become notorious for brutal acts of torture perpetrated against detainees, as has Mandalay’s Obo Prison.

According to data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), nearly 2,000 people have been killed by the military since the coup and more than 13,000 remain in detention.

The military has dismissed the numbers as exaggerated, but the AAPP claims that they are likely much higher, noting that they are compiled based on available records. 

The junta’s spokesperson did not answer Myanmar Now’s calls regarding the missing youth activists in Mandalay. 

Mary Hnin
Moe Oo
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Shan, Wa forces clash in eastern Shan State

Tension is high near the Thai border as both the RCSS and UWSA accuse one another of trespassing into their territory 

Nyein Swe
Published on Apr 7, 2022
A UWSA parade in Panghsang, Shan State, in 2019 (EPA)

Fighting broke out between the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Mongton Township, eastern Shan State on Tuesday morning, resulting in casualties on both sides, according to officers from both ethnic armed organisations. 

RCSS spokesperson Maj Kham San told Myanmar Now that UWSA forces arrived with apparent plans to attack one of their bases in Mongton, across the Thai border from Chiang Rai province. They retreated moments after opening fire, he added. 

“They started attacking our base, so it was clear that they started the fight,” he said. 

UWSA communications officer Sam Baim claimed Wa troops had attacked because the RCSS had entered their territory.  

“They trespassed into our territory and when one of our soldiers went out to check as they neared our base, they started shooting. The young soldier was killed,” he told Myanmar Now. 

He estimated four other UWSA troops were injured, and five members of the RCSS killed. However, Maj Kham San said he was unable to confirm the number of casualties on either side. 

Several local news organisations reported that there were casualties, but Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify further details on the incident. 

Mongton is located just 50 miles from the RCSS headquarters at Loi Tai Leng.

Asia Times reported that some 20 years after occupying the areas around Mongton, the UWSA now claims them as part of their “southern territories”—separate from the autonomous zone granted to them by the military and centred in Panghsang, northern Shan State. 

Tension has been high in the region for months, as the RCSS’s Maj Kham San noted that the junta’s armed forces also continue to operate in Mongton. There, he described how Myanmar army, Wa and Shan bases all face one another.

He told Myanmar Now that the RCSS would take steps to avoid another battle. 

“We will contact and negotiate with the local bases from both parties. We will try to find out why the attack was carried out,” he said.

The UWSA did not comment on the RCSS’s plans to hold negotiations but has stated that their forces would take action against anyone who trespassed into the areas they consider part of their territory. 

The military council did not return Myanmar Now’s calls. 

 

Nyein Swe
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