December 28, 2022

Junta troops are still banning the transport of humanitarian aid including shipments of medicines and fuel in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state a month after a local cease-fire went into force, according to sources in the region.  Brokered by Japan after four months of intense fighting in the Rakhine, the cease-fire is the latest halt to hostilities between junta troops and the rebel Arakan Army, or AA, that have devastated the civilian population of the state and of Paletwa township in neighboring Chin. Although roads have been reopened across Rakhine, junta forces continue to block the delivery of essential goods to

A secret court in Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced the lawyer representing a leader of the former ruling political party to 15 years in prison with hard labor, according to an attorney with knowledge of the country’s judicial proceedings. The military tribunal in Mandalay’s Obo Prison sentenced Ywat Nu Aung, who represented Zaw Myint Maung, a vice chair of the National League for Democracy Party, on charges of aiding a terrorist organization, the attorney told Radio Free Asia, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.  The move is the latest by the military junta, which took control of the