Summary of News
- Acting President Duwa Lashi La claims partial pardons won’t halt Spring Revolution
- Union Minister Dr. Sasa urges international community and ASEAN to take decisive action against Myanmar’s military dictators
- Military junta column kills civilian, burns 20 houses, and burns motorcycles in Tanei village in Pale Township
- Private soldier awarded 20 lakh kyat for standing by people
- The number of IDPs in Myanmar exceeds 1.9 million
- JFM urges Singapore to take action against business entities and individuals who are involved with Myanmar military junta
- A fundraiser organised by Myanmar families in Southern California has raised US$16,900
- Myanmar Rice Federation sells reserved rice at a price that has nearly doubled in the past year
1. Acting President Duwa Lashi La claims partial pardons won’t halt Spring Revolution
Acting President Duwa Lashi La wrote on X (Twitter): “SAC [is] losing on all fronts—military, political, social. Jet [were] downed, defections surge, troops stretched thin. Partial pardoning [of] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi & U Win Myint won’t deter the Spring Revolution. Fight persists, gains strength.”
The terrorist military council announced on August 1st that five out of 19 charges against State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were pardoned, shortening her prison sentence by six years. These five charges related to defamation of the state (Section 505(b) of the Penal Code), natural disaster management law (two charges), telecommunication law (one charge), and export and import law (one charge). The terrorist junta also announced that President U Win Myint was also pardoned on two charges out of eight he faced, one under the natural disaster management law and the other under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, reducing his prison sentences by four years.
2. Union Minister Dr. Sasa urges international community and ASEAN to take decisive action against Myanmar’s military dictators
The National Union Government’s Ministry of International Cooperation issued a statement dated August 2, 2023, on the condemnation of the Six-Month Extension of Crimes Against Humanity in Myanmar by the Genocidal Military Junta.
Union Minister Dr. Sasa said in the statement, “The responsible International Community, Myanmar’s neighbours, and ASEAN should no longer keep silent but take real action against the genocidal military junta in Myanmar.”
The Union Minister also noted, “The last 29 months have been filled with pain and suffering, deaths, and destruction, yet it seems not enough for the genocidal military junta in Myanmar,” and continued, “Their atrocities include killing 4,000 civilians, unjustly arresting 24,000 civilians, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and over 800 children.”
Union Minister Dr. Sasa demanded the international community, ASEAN, and all neighbouring nations cut off the genocidal military junta from international finances, weapons, and legitimacy and called for their immediate support for the brave people of Myanmar to end this crisis and establish federal democracy once and for all.
3. Military junta column kills civilian, burns 20 houses, and burns motorcycles in Tanei village in Pale Township
The Pale Township People’s Administrative Organisation (Pa-Ah-Fa) released a report on August 3 regarding the atrocities committed by the military junta columns in Pale Township.
According to the Pale Township People’s Administrative Organisation, a terrorist military junta column that encamped overnight in Tanei village in Pale Township killed a civilian and burned 20 houses and motorcycles belonging to civilians in the village. The column then reportedly entered Kyauk Phyar Kan village.
The terrorist military column torched Tanei village in the early hours of this morning, and the fire was reportedly extinguished at around five in the morning after the column left the village.
4. Private soldier awarded 20 lakh kyat for standing by people
The Mobye People’s Defence Force (MBPDF) announced that a private soldier of the Light Infantry Battalion 422 (KhaMaYa-422) under the 66th Infantry Division contacted Company 3 of the PDF Battalion 1001 (Mobye People’s Defence Force-MBPDF) and sought refuge, along with full weapons and ammunition, on July 3.
The junta private soldier, namely Tin Thein, claimed he came to seek refuge and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) under the People’s Embrace Program to stand on the side of the people since he disagreed with the terrorist military’s attitude, according to the MBPDF.
The MBDF awarded CDM soldier Tin Thein 20 lakh kyat for joining the People’s Embrace Program.
5. The number of IDPs in Myanmar exceeds 1.9 million
According to the United Nations OCHA, as of July 24, 2023, more than 1.9 million people are displaced across Myanmar, with almost 1.6 million of them displaced by conflict and insecurity following the February 1, 2021, military coup.
“More than 22,000 people were displaced across the Southeast over the past two weeks. In Kachin, fighting between the MAF and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been particularly intense in and around Nam Sam Yang village in Waingmaw Township,” UN OCHA stated in its weekly regional humanitarian report for July 25–31, 2023, which also noted, “As of 26 July, more than 700 people from several villages in Waingmaw and Momauk Townships have fled to safer areas.”
6. JFM urges Singapore to take action against business entities and individuals who are involved with Myanmar military junta
Justice For Myanmar (JFM) urged the Singapore government to take action against business entities and individuals who people who are involved with the Myanmar military junta.
Among those listed by the JFM for action are Htoo Group of Companies and its chairman Tay Za; Myanmar Chemical & Machinery (MCM) Group, and its chairperson Aung Hlaing Oo; and International Gateways Group and its owner, Naing Htut Aung.
JFM had revealed that, linked to the total of 78 Myanmar-based companies supplying the Myanmar military, there are at least 38 subsidiary or associated companies in Singapore. Those companies are supplying the military with arms, dual-use items, and helicopter parts.
7. A fundraiser organised by Myanmar families in Southern California has raised US$16,900
The L.A. NUG Supporter group announced on August 3 that a fundraising event held on July 30 raised a total of US$16,900, which includes the pre-order sale, the sales of food and souvenirs on the event day, and the donation money received on that day.
During the fundraiser, a screening of the Har Ngar Kaung troupe’s “Spring Victory” Anyeint entertainment film was shown. The show’s 240 seats were all taken by audience members, and US$6,575 was raised through ticket sales.
The L.A. NUG Supporter group stated that US$5,881 from the proceeds from the sales of the Anyeint tickets, after deducting the expense of the show, was provided to the Har Ngar Kaung troupe group for them to donate to the places in need.
Another food fundraising fair was planned to be organised on September 10, the group said.
8. Myanmar Rice Federation sells reserved rice at a price that has nearly doubled in the past year
Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) announced that 50,000 50-kilogramme sacks of reserved rice (25 percent broken single polished and sorted) would be sold at 60,000 MMK per sack.
The announcement made by the federation stated that it is a subsidy scheme that is intended for the low-income workers engaged in the industrial zone and the related departments under the military junta and for the blue-collar workers through the municipal markets and rice wholesale centres.
Despite the fact that the term “reserved rice” was used in the announcement, the public will still have to pay a price that isn’t all that different from the price of rice on the open market to buy the rice that was collected with the country’s tax money. The market price of a sack of rice is 70,000 MMK, and the price of reserved rice that will be sold-off by the MRF is 60,000 MMK.
Following the military coup in 2021, since the summer paddy season that year, fertiliser prices have risen, and paddy prices have followed. In August 2022, a sack of ordinary rice cost 35,000 MMK, and within a year from that, in August 2023, it became 70,000 MMK. During the time of the military coup, despite the fact that the income and wages of the public have not improved, and unemployment has increased, they are purchasing rice, which is an essential staple food, at a price that has doubled within a year.
The junta had formed the Union Steering Committee to Stabilise Commodity Prices to stabilise commodity prices; however, when selling the reserved rice that was collected with the purpose of national-level emergency use, the price is not affordable for the public and instead is no different from the open market.
#Credit : Radio NUG
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