The crackdown against
opposition to military rule intensified. Thousands of people were arbitrarily
detained and more than 1,000 opposition politicians, political activists, human
rights defenders and others were convicted in unfair trials. Widespread torture
of detainees continued. Four men were executed following unfair trials on
politically motivated charges. Indiscriminate military attacks on civilians and
civilian objects resulted in hundreds of deaths and mass displacement. Foreign
companies were found to have supplied aviation fuel to the Myanmar military
that was responsible for carrying out aerial attacks killing hundreds of
civilians. Tens of thousands of ethnic Rohingya people remained in squalid
displacement camps and their rights remained severely curtailed. Military
authorities continued to restrict the delivery of humanitarian aid.
BACKGROUND
While Win Myint was
still listed by the UN as the president and head of state, military rule
continued under Myint Swe, appointed by the military as acting president, and
the State Administration Council, led by Min Aung Hlaing, an army general. Both
non-violent and armed resistance continued against this military rule, which
was imposed following the February 2021 coup and the imprisonment of civilian
leaders. Fighting intensified between military forces and ethnic armed
organizations, as well as the People’s Defence Forces and other armed groups
set up to resist the coup, spreading to central Myanmar and other areas
previously unaffected by armed conflict. The military continued with its “Four
Cuts” strategy to cut off armed groups from funding, food, intelligence and
recruits with devastating consequences for civilians. The National Unity
Government, formed in 2021 by representatives of the deposed National League
for Democracy (NLD)-led government, ethnic armed organizations civil society continued their opposition to
military rule. On 21 December, in its first resolution on Myanmar in over 70
years,
UN Security Council
expressed deep concern at the grave impact of the military coup and called for
an end to the violence, the release of political prisoners, unimpeded
humanitarian access and respect for the rights of women and children.
ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND
DETENTIONS
Mass arbitrary arrests
and detentions of NLD members and other supporters of the anti- coup movement
persisted. According to the NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma) (AAPP), military authorities arrested at least 5,415 people during the
year.
In November, 402
political activists were among more than 5,000 prisoners released to mark
National Day. At least 13,272 people arrested since the coup for political
reasons were still detained at year’s end.
The military
authorities often denied detentions and the whereabouts of many detainees
remained unknown for extended periods, amounting to enforced disappearance. The
right to petition to challenge unlawful detention remained suspended. Children
and others were arbitrarily detained as proxies for their parents or relatives.
At year’s end, military authorities were reportedly holding at least 277
people, including 38 children, because of their relationship with a wanted
person.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION,
ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
Authorities intensified
both on- and offline surveillance, further diminishing the space for freedom of
expression and severely restricting other rights including to privacy,
information, association and movement. People were stopped and searched at
random at numerous checkpoints in towns and cities throughout the country and
plain- clothes informants were employed in every ward.1 There were
reports of CCTV cameras with facial recognition capabilities being used in
major cities. Authorities continued to impose periodic internet and
telecommunications shutdowns, particularly in regions affected by armed
conflict.
In October, the State
Administration Council adopted a revised Organization
Registration Law that
imposed tighter restrictions on NGOs. Under the law, humanitarian and other
NGOs carrying out “social tasks” are required to register with boards made up
of government representatives and to comply with broad and vaguely worded
provisions, including prohibitions on “mentioning false data” and “interference
in the internal affairs of the state or politics”. Non-compliance was
punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
Military authorities
attempted to starve the resistance of funds by seizing the property and other
assets of individuals accused of being members of or providing financial or
other support to the National Unity Government or armed resistance groups.
Others were arrested for donating money for internally displaced people after
authorities traced donations from mobile banking records.
JOURNALISTS
Two journalists were
killed during the year including Aye Kyaw, a freelance photojournalist who had
documented anti- coup protests in the Sagaing region. He was arrested by
military authorities on 30 July and died in custody the same day. At least 74
media workers were among those detained at year’s end. Independent media
outlets remained banned and the military authorities subjected those continuing
to publish to harassment and threats of arrest and prosecution.
UNFAIR TRIALS
Grossly unfair trials
of people arrested since the coup took place behind closed doors in makeshift
courts inside prisons. In areas under martial law, trials took place in
military courts where defendants were denied legal representation and the right
to appeal. Pro- democracy activists, opposition politicians, human rights
defenders and journalists were among more than 1,000 people convicted during
the year and sentenced, including to death and long prison sentences with hard
labour. Lawyers defending political detainees faced arrest, threats and
harassment.
Former State
Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 31 years’ imprisonment in a series
of trials for corruption and other bogus charges, in addition to the two years
she was already serving.
In October, Magway
District Court sentenced ex-NLD parliamentarian Win Myint Hlaing to 148 years
in prison on terror-related charges. Around the same time, Aung Khant, Kyaw
Thet and Hnin Maung were also found guilty of involvement in the armed
resistance movement and sentenced to prison terms of between 95 and 225 years
under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
TORTURE AND OTHER
ILL-TREATMENT
Torture and other
ill-treatment of detainees remained widespread, routinely occurring after
arrest and in military and police interrogation centres and in prisons. Some
detainees, including men, women and people of diverse gender identity or sexual
orientation, were subjected to sexual violence, harassment and humiliation,
including invasive body searches, as a method of torture during interrogation
and detention.2 At least 356 people were known to have died in custody
in connection with torture during the year.
DEATH PENALTY
The first executions
since the 1980s took place in July. Phyo Zeya Thaw, a parliamentarian and NLD
member, prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Ko Jimmy), Hla
Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were executed following secretive trials in
military tribunals.3 Dozens of people were sentenced to death during the
year.
UNLAWFUL ATTACKS AND
KILLINGS
Hundreds of people
were reportedly killed in military ground and air attacks, which were
indiscriminate or directly targeted at civilians or civilian objects, as well
as through extrajudicial executions by the military of individuals suspected of
supporting resistance to the coup or on the basis of their ethnicity.
Systematic looting and burning of villages also continued, further contributing
to mass displacement and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Military operations in
Kayin and Kayah states against ethnic armed organizations and other armed
groups in early 2022 took the form of collective punishment against Karen and
Karenni civilians resulting in hundreds of deaths and the displacement of more
than 150,000 people by March. Between December 2021 and March 2022, Amnesty
International documented 24 artillery or mortar attacks in eastern Myanmar
killing at least 20 civilians and seriously injuring 38 others, as well as
causing widespread damage to homes and other buildings.4 The military
also conducted air strikes using fighter jets and helicopters in both
indiscriminate and direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects there, as
well as in Chin and Kachin states and the regions of Sagaing and Magway.
On 17 January,
military fighter jets dropped two bombs on an internally displaced people's
camp in Hpruso township in Kayah State, killing one man and two young girls and
destroying the camp’s kitchen. On 23 October, an air strike on a concert near A
Nan Pa village in Kachin State killed and injured dozens of people. Musicians,
children and other civilians present at the event were among the casualties.5
According to media reports, state security forces blocked medical care for the
injured.
Air strikes on
schools, hospitals and religious buildings also resulted in deaths and damage
and destruction of protected civilian objects. At least 13 people died,
including children and volunteer teachers in an attack by helicopter gunships
and troops on a temple school in Tabayin township, Sagaing region, on 16
September. On 9 August, a military fighter jet fired at a health centre in Daw
Par Pa village, Kayah State, killing the elderly father of one of the patients
and causing damage to the clinic consistent with a rocket attack.
The use of cluster
munitions in aerial attacks was documented in Chin, Kayah and Kayin states,
indicating that Myanmar had developed and was deploying a new weapon system
that is banned under international law.6 The military also increased its
use of internationally banned anti-personnel landmines, laying them in or
around homes, toilets, churches and on paths to rice fields and other locations
frequented by civilians.7 According to UNICEF, at least 86 people
including 27 children were killed by landmines or explosive remnants of war in
the first 10 months of 2022 and 247 people were injured.
Security forces
deliberately killed civilians. In January, soldiers shot and killed at least
six civilians as they tried to escape to Thailand across the Moei river. On 3
March, soldiers shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was collecting fruit on a
riverbank in Kayin State. The bodies of three farmers from San Pya 6 Mile village
in Kayah State were found with their throats slit after they left a
displacement site to collect vegetables from their village. Security forces
shot at relatives as they tried to retrieve the men’s bodies.
Military-backed
militias were also responsible for grave human rights violations. According to
media reports, members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia and soldiers set fire to
houses in Ngatayaw village in Magway region in August, forcing more than 4,000
residents to flee. Other militias believed to be backed by the military were
reported to be responsible for targeted killings of NLD and pro-democracy
activists.
INTERNALLY DISPLACED
PEOPLE’S RIGHTS
As of 26 December, an
estimated 1,505,700 people were displaced within Myanmar, most since the coup.
There were also more than one million refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar
in neighbouring countries.
Internally displaced
people lived in deplorable conditions in makeshift camps and shelters without
adequate access to food and water, healthcare and other basic services. The
military continued to obstruct access to crucial humanitarian assistance for internally
displaced people and other marginalized groups, including via the imposition of
onerous restrictions on NGO registration, banking, visas and travel. There were
ongoing reports by aid organizations of deliveries being blocked or explicitly
denied by the Myanmar military. On 15 September, following renewed fighting
between the military and Arakan Army, the military issued a directive banning
all international organizations from six of the most conflict- stricken
townships in north and central Rakhine State.
An estimated 130,000
Rohingya and other Muslims remained in squalid camps in Rakhine State where
they have been since 2012. Rohingya continued to be denied basic rights
including access to adequate food, healthcare and education. Their freedom of movement
was highly restricted and those travelling outside their designated townships
faced arrest and imprisonment for “illegal movement”.
In July, the
International Court of Justice affirmed its jurisdiction in a case brought by
Gambia of alleged violations against the ethnic Rohingya population in Rakhine
State during military operations in 2016 and 2017.
ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS
Some armed groups
failed to take feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of
military attacks, in some cases co- locating near or visiting villages or
displacement settlements. Some groups used internationally banned antipersonnel
landmines or improvised explosive devices, placing civilian lives in danger.
Opposition armed resistance groups reportedly assassinated civilian
administrators working for the military authorities.
CORPORATE
RESPONSIBILITY
Puma Energy, the main
foreign company involved in the handling and distribution of aviation fuel in
Myanmar, announced in October that it was leaving the country and selling its
business in Myanmar.8 Aviation fuel imported and distributed by foreign
and domestic companies was essential to the Myanmar military in carrying out
air strikes. At least three other foreign companies announced that they were
ending or suspending their involvement in the provision of aviation fuel to
Myanmar during 2022.
Meta’s (formerly
Facebook) algorithms and business practices were found to have substantially
contributed to grave human rights violations suffered by the Rohingya during
2017 by amplifying anti-Rohingya content and enabling and encouraging Myanmar
military action against them.9
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. “Myanmar: International community must do
more to protect brave protesters”, 22 April
2. “Myanmar: 15 days felt like 15 years:
Torture in detention since the Myanmar coup”, 2 August
3. “Myanmar: First execution in decades mark
atrocious escalation in state repression,” 25 July
4. Myanmar: “Bullets rained from the sky”: War
crimes and displacement in eastern Myanmar, 31 May
5. “Myanmar: Deadly air strikes in Kachin State
appear to fit pattern of unlawful attacks”, 24 October
6. Myanmar: Deadly Cargo: Exposing the supply
chain that fuels war crimes in Myanmar, 3 November
7. “Myanmar: Military’s use of banned landmines
in Kayah State amounts to war crimes”, 20 July
8. “Myanmar: Puma Energy to leave amid scrutiny
of aviation fuel supplies”, 5 October
9. Myanmar: The social atrocity: Meta and the
right to remedy for the Rohingya, 29 September
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