Episode #115: A Reign of Terror
“There are many layers of what's happening right now in different parts of the country,” Matthew Wells begins. “But one commonality, one thing that we do see across different regions is patterns of crimes by the Myanmar military against civilians. They resort to very similar tactics, again and again.” Wells, currently a member of Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team that specializes in human rights violations, has spent years investigating the ongoing atrocities by the Tatmadaw.
One of the patterns that has come up repeatedly in their group’s study, regardless of the region or nature of the conflict, has been the Burmese military’s targeting of civilian communities rather than armed opponents. “We see this resort to very similar brutal tactics that consistently violates international law, and it subjects civilians in these areas to really horrific abuses.”
While the tactic once may have worked to some degree, Wells notes that currently it is backfiring, as this heavy-handed tactic has resulted in the rise in Peoples’ Defense Forces (PDF). “The military is fighting on more fronts than it has a really long time! And it is finding an enormous swath of the population that is now in active opposition to it.”
Because of the result of their own actions, the Tatmadaw now regards nearly the entire population as enemy combatants; they are effectively waging war against their own country. Wells attributes this to the entrenched mentality of senior generals, who see few options beyond doubling down on past tactics in response to what many now perceive as an existential threat.
One particular Tatmadaw tactic that stands out to Wells is its reliance on airstrikes. “The way that they are pounding civilian areas… is really of a different order from what we've seen in the past,” he comments. Such heavy bombardment is effectively traumatizing an entire population, and many Burmese are terrified whenever they hear a loud sound now, however distant. This is likely not unintentional, but rather part of a concerted effort to frighten the population into submission while creating further instability, making people feel unsafe and driving them from their homes.
Recently, Wells’ group published a report titled “Bullets Rained from the Sky,” documenting war crimes and displacement in eastern Myanmar. Specifically, twenty-four attacks from artillery and mortars were documented that led to many civilian casualties and the destruction of homes, businesses, and infrastructure. In some of these cases, villages were bombarded for days and nights without cessation, and most often there were no lawful targets in the area. Wells says, “In addition, we found that many people, after they're displaced, have nothing more than the clothes on their back and what little that they can carry.” To make matters even worse, the military has launched assaults on IDP camps as well, so the people simply have nowhere to go now to escape this terror.
While it’s hard to imagine a situation any more horrific than this, Wells expands on just how bad it’s become. He describes soldiers having become little more than bands of marauders that rape, pillage, steal, and burn their way through the Burmese countryside. “They steal money, jewelry, livestock, clothes, rice, anything that they can take away. We interviewed witnesses who describe soldiers slashing rice sacks when they couldn't carry everything, to destroy the food supply. That will have an effect on these villages for months to come.”
The military has been doing everything it can to limit news of its atrocities, from shutting off electricity and internet access, to punishing journalists and others. In spite of these obstacles, Amnesty’s work in uncovering the true story has been nothing short of miraculous. Through their examination of satellite imagery and a confidential in-country network, they have managed to document the ongoing reign of terror. Still, Wells is not satisfied that their work is achieving its desired outcome. “Unfortunately… when you look at the attention paid to the situation in Myanmar by the UN Security Council or by other major multinational bodies, it is embarrassingly limited, despite the fact that that we know the enormous human costs of what's happening right then right now in Myanmar.”
Wells is even less hopeful about the damage being done to the country’s essential infrastructure: a collapsed economy, a decimated health care system, long-term food insecurity, and disrupted education. These structural problems are exacerbated by the real challenge of effectively getting humanitarian aid into the country, because the military has not only been actively preventing support from reaching vulnerable communities by attacking local aid groups, but also plundering supplies meant for refugees.
Currently, Amnesty has been strongly advocating that the UN impose a strict arms embargo on Myanmar, as their reports have made abundantly clear that all weapons sold to the Tatmadaw are being used against civilians. But their work has been met with resistance, even with the plethora of documentation out there, and the UN has been slow to act. As Wells sadly puts it, “It's not happening on Myanmar in the way that it is for other crises.” Still, he hopes that the UN Security Council would push the ICC to act on the Tatmadaw’s many atrocities and begin building criminal cases while evidence is still fresh.
Towards this end, and especially given the decreased international attention on this crisis, Wells calls on listeners to do what they can to continue to keep Myanmar in the news and hold their local representatives accountable. “It's on all of us to try to bring more attention to the situation here and to make sure that our governments wherever we are in the world are likewise putting priority on this.”
He also encourages people to continue donating to nonprofits that are providing aid. “Organizations on the ground are really doing unbelievable work on both sides of the border,” he says. “And they're doing so at incredible risk and in the most challenging of circumstances. So there is a need from donors and others to significantly increase support to these frontline organizations who are responding to these crises every single day.”