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PICTURES |
TIMECODES |
SCRIPT |
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For fifty years Myanmar has been run by its army
After a brief experiment with democracy they’ve again seized power…this time in a coup by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Since the coup, almost 20,000 people have reportedly been killed as the military cracks down on dissent.
For over a year we’ve worked with a network of local journalists who’ve risked their lives to secretly document the army’s brutal repression.
CAPE: Everyone was running and then
They’ve gathered shocking new evidence of major crimes against humanity
UPSOT: Do something please. Someone got shot in the head and died
TOM ANDREWS These are war crimes being committed before our very eyes.
And captured in intimate detail the struggle of young protestors who’ve sacrificed everything to fight the army.
Zeyar Lwin: All of us, including myself, are ready to fight until our last breath
This is the inside story of a nation’s descent into a civil war largely ignored by the rest of the world.
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1.5 |
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TITLE: MYANMAR: THE FORGOTTEN REVOLUTION |
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PART ONE |
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PART ONE |
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2 |
ASTON: FEBRUARY, 2021
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To Democracy! Our right, our right Across Myanmar, millions of people take to the streets to protest against a military coup. KYAW KYAW: We simply want our democracy back, human rights and justice |
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2.5 |
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For five years the army shared power with the nation’s most popular leader Aung San Suu Kyi. When she won a landslide election victory the army arrested her and took power. The man who ordered the coup commander in chief senior general Min Aung Hlaing is now in control |
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2.8 |
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Having briefly tasted freedom, a new generation rises up. It’s one of the biggest pro-democracy movements seen anywhere in the world. |
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Clip 0095 09.27.19.03 - 09.27.24.23 |
UPSOT: Help us, UN please But outside the United Nations office in Yangon, a small crowd is holding a vigil. |
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Soldiers have killed three protestors in the first few weeks of the coup. They’ve warned more will be shot if the demonstrations continue. |
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CLIP 0106 09:34:20:17 - 09:34:39:2 |
INTERVIEW: They are using us for target practice and torturing us |
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09:39:25:05 - 09:39:39:21 |
INTERVIEW: We ask foreign countries and international organisations to help protect our human rights |
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Clip 0092 09:26:07:21 |
UPSOT: Please Save Myanmar To prevent the army from killing civilians, they plead for the UN to intervene under an obligation known as the Responsibility to Protect or RTP. |
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ASTON Phil Robertson Human Rights Watch
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01:12:12:01 01:12:36:09
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PHIL ROBERTSON: It couldn't have been any clearer what the people of Myanmar wanted. And that was the time for the international community to really react before the military escalated the reaction by using lethal force It was a massive missed opportunity.
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12 |
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The UN fails to intervene. And the protestor’s worst fears are about to be realised. |
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13 |
INSERT GFX 2
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The country’s biggest city, and former capital Yangon, is a major centre of dissent On March 3rd in the working-class suburb of North Okkalapa - two protests are called at each end of a major thoroughfare - Thudhamma Road. By analysing all the available footage filmed from these locations and verifying it with eye witnesses, we’ve built a detailed timeline of what was about to be the first major atrocity of the coup.
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16 |
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Upsot: Run! Run! Upsot: The crowd has reappeared on the street and they are being shot at At 1030 police arrive…
They start attacking protestors. |
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An hour later CCTV captures police detaining three paramedics who’d come to help injured protestors. |
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012 Thuta Kyaw Cam A 01.58.18.09 - 01.58.36.16 |
Scores of demonstrators are rounded up and detained in police vehicles.
The two protests regroup in the middle of Thuddhamma Road and demand they be released.
Among them is Myatt Win.
MYATT WIN: It was intolerable, we didn’t want our people to suffer and we were trying to prevent that |
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19 |
12 North Okkalapa Videos NO8
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Mid-afternoon, a witness films soldiers approaching the protest to reinforce the police line.
A defector from the unit told us these men are from the 77th Light Infantry Division - a unit notorious for human rights abuses. |
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12 North Okkalapa Videos NO6 New |
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UPSOT: Crowds
More people join the protest and start moving towards the security forces
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20.3 |
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A Facebook live streamer called Zan - filming from this position - captures the advance. |
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20.7 |
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The convoy of security forces retreats towards this flyover.
It’s filmed by a key witness inside this house. |
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SM1029 02:10.18.00 02:10.27.30 |
UPSOT: They’re running now, the motherfuckers are running because they are outnumbered |
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012 Thuta Kyaw Cam A
02.18.14.07 - 02.18.26.06 |
The trucks carrying soldiers then stop. We can reveal it’s at this point that soldiers first unleash lethal force on large numbers of peaceful protestors. UPSOT: gunshots UPSOT: Shit, they are now shooting at them non-stop Zan is in the crowd as the soldiers open fire. |
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SM1097 02:44:41:04 02:44:46:05 |
UPSOT: sounds of gunfire.
UPSOT: Is that a machine gun? Yes, that's the sound of bullets
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012 220116 Zaw Myo Aung 01.36.34.01 - 01.36.52.23 01.12.15.02 - 01.12.23.17 |
MYATT WIN: It was as if we were on a battlefield
At this point Myatt Win also starts live streaming.
MYATT WIN: I thought people must know their cruelty |
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His footage shows shots being fired directly at an orange bin which a protestor is using for cover.
MYATT WIN: The bullets went through the bin and he was shot three or four times and died on the spot |
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02:15:07:03 02:15:13:04 |
Video filmed from different angles shows protestors rushing to the man’s rescue.
The soldiers keep firing.
UPSOT: They are shooting from that truck. Someone’s been shot, it’s so cruel |
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31 |
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02:44:57:02 - 02:45:07:00
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UPSOT: Someone got shot. Someone got shot
On the opposite side of the road Zan sees another man get shot.
UPSOT: They’re over here
When pieced together, his video reveals shocking evidence of how troops are targeting civilians trying to rescue the injured. |
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31.5 |
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02:45:27:03 02:45:29:03 |
Protestors try to save the gunshot victim.
People with makeshift shields can be seen trying to protect them.
Then more gunfire.
Upsot: Gunfire. |
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02:47:26:01 02:47:31:01
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UPSOT: I’m coming, I’m coming Zan rushes to help, with a man in a purple sarong.. His footage reveals one victim… more gunfire Then, the man in the purple sarong. UPSOT: He got shot in the head, straight in the head |
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Zan is trying to help the victims when soldiers leave their vehicles…
And cross the road to get a clearer shot
... they then open fire again.
UPSOT: His life’s been taken away |
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Sm1097 02:47:57:02 02:47:58:04 |
Zan runs for cover. |
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SM1097 02:49:17:01 - 02:49:52:04 |
It’s only once the shooting stops that he realises what he’s just witnessed. UPSOT: The one who got shot in the head has died. Brother please help Please do something. People are being killed Do something please Someone got shot in the head and died A brother got killed in front of my eyes A bullet to the head, it went straight through |
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01.41.19.03 - 01.41.31.04 |
The wounded are loaded into a vehicle which takes them to the hospital.
Thuta Kyaw is helping.
THUTA KYAW: Lots of people were lying in blood. I didn‘t know if they were dead or alive. But I had to try and save at least one life.
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NO1 01.10.22.18 - 01.10.44.00 |
A facebook livestreamer finds the protestor next to the orange bins … dead.
Upsot: screams
Reports indicate that up to 32 people were killed in North Okkalapa this day.
Short Upsot: vigil
The army told us they started shooting after four police officers were injured by slingshots. |
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More video we’ve found captures security forces killing protestors in other cities on the same day. Here in Monywa in central Myanmar police officers are filmed dragging away their victim’s bodies On the evidence we’ve gathered this is the day soldiers were first ordered to shoot dead large numbers of civilians. |
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PHIL ROBERTSON: The third of March is clearly where we crossed the Rubicon, where obviously the military decided they were going to crackdown. And they were going to crack down using live ammunition. The protests had gone on long enough, and some sort of order was given to crackdown on hotbeds of unrest. |
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Over the next few weeks the military escalates its violence against protestors. Hundreds are killed, including 43 children. Thousands more are detained. |
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Appalled by the violence some soldiers start to defect.
Speaking for the first time, these former soldiers told us the orders to shoot protestors were given by their unit commander. |
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HTET MYATT: He actually aimed at them. He shot them in the head if he saw their head I didn't want to shoot, I didn't want to be involved. I was wearing a mask so people wouldn’t see me YAY KHE: I got quite angry, they were killing people like they kill poultry. As if it was nothing. That was my personal experience |
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To avoid the army’s crackdown many protestors flee to camps in the jungle controlled by ethnic armies that have been fighting the military for decades. These urban Gen Z activists … now need to pick up weapons to fight their own army. Zeyar Lwin, 30, used to run a travel company He’s also a poet who had once been jailed for satirising the army. UPSOT: After this we are going to select our platoon sergeants |
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01:37:10:00 - 01:37:28:00 |
ZL: Most people have witnessed the brutalities of the army and now they want to get rid of them |
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001 Group Training camp 2 1:43:31.14 - 1:43:38.12 |
He’s now leading a militia of formerly peaceful protestors. UPSOT: You can say you've sold your hair for the nation and the people A few months ago, most of them were at college, university or starting their careers |
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More from Shakeel 04.37.10.00 - 04.37.18.00
04.27.36.00 - 04.26.46.00 |
RECRUIT: I worked in the education sector I loved my job and I cherished it I also hate the military dictatorship. So I decided to break free, no matter what |
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Zeya Lwin’s militia is one of dozens being set up across the country. They call themselves the People’s Defense Forces – or PDFs. |
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001 – Group Training Camp 01.38.06.00 - 01.38.12.00 01.38.17.00 - 01.38.28.00 |
ZEYAR LWIN: We must eradicate this military institution
ZEYAR LWIN: Our lives are no longer important because there are others who have already sacrificed theirs |
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01:42:16:00 01:42:24:00 |
Zeyar Lwin makes contact with MPs who fled the country after the coup, they’ve formed a government in exile called the National Unity Government, or NUG, UPSOT: We aren’t just doing military training We are also helping them learn about political ideologies |
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01:25:41:00 01:25:51:00
01:25:16:00 –01:25:35:03 |
They’ve sent some uniforms, but he tells them they’re desperate for weapons. ZEYAR LWIN We cannot shoot them with an arrow We need to have the same weapons as they do |
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PART TWO |
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PART TWO |
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003 Training camp 02:00:50:00 02:00:59:05 |
UPSOT: Chanting Across Myanmar formerly peaceful protestors are now training for war against their own army. UPSOT: What are we doing? Training for battle |
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RICHARD IV 01:11:07:00 01:11:20.00 |
Among them is Richard who’s asked to remain anonymous
RICHARD: The peaceful protests were not enough so we had to take up arms
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01.17.15.00 - 01.17.25.18
00:01:10:01 |
After just a few weeks of training, Richard joins a defence force as they launch one of the first major attacks on security forces.
It’s a retaliatory raid on a police outpost.
Upsot: Be ready to die!
Days earlier the police had raided a funeral, arresting eight mourners.
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01:09:12:16 01:09:15:13 |
RICHARD: We were scared because we didn't have any prior battle experience
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He says the battle rages for three and a half hours. UPSOT: That soldier is running away, keep shooting Then the defence force breaks through. UPSOT: Dude, the weapons are over there Follow him, follow him over there |
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SM0363 01.27.30.00 |
As they advance, phone footage taken by one of the fighters shows several police officers … dead in trenches around the station
UPSOT: Get the weapons from them
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01:29:12.00 01:29:41:03
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RICHARD: We had to kill our enemies I was fearful at that time But I was happy I got to attack those who harshly suppressed our people
Their anger at the way police and soldiers have killed protestors … boils over
UPSOT: Fuck you! Kill him! |
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01.18.09.00
01.10.08.00 |
Four policemen are taken prisoner.
A photo taken moments later shows three of the prisoners lying on the ground with blood coming from their head. |
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01.17.51.00 |
(PAUSE A BEAT) This captures the brutal reality of Myanmar’s descent into civil war |
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01:33:04:13 - 01:34:02:21
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PHIL ROBERTSON: the international community, didn't respond to those early calls for RTP.
when they didn't respond.
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On September 7th the civil war is made official The government in exile – the NUG - calls on Myanmar’s people to take up arms against the military
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Group Training 1 03.31.58.00 - 03.32.06.02 |
Zeyar Lwin’s defense force heeds their call CAMERAMAN: What are you all doing? ZEYAR LWIN: We are moving our base to a different area CAMERAMAN: Why? ZEYAR LWIN: For everything, for the revolution, for war |
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New camp and IV 01:03:28:00 01:03:42:00 |
They move to an abandoned school closer to military outposts UPSOT: You will all have to go to the frontline soon but there are some restrictions, first you have to be healthy. But, the NUG has only been able to send them one gun and little ammunition. It means they are still training with fake weapons. It’s a major concern for Zeyar Lwin’s troops who fear an army attack at any time. GIRL: We have not been able to set up camp yet because we do not have weapons We have to stay here and there and we have to run from one place to another
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89.5 |
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But army violence isn’t the only danger these young recruits from the cities now face. They head out on a training exercise on the river (beat) But a raft sinks and two fighters drown. They find one body but not the other. |
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001 Drowning . 02:15:51:04 02:16:58.22
02:16:55:01 02:17:06:05
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ZEYAR LWIN: We have been looking for the body along the river, but we couldn't find it today. (beat) I’ve encouraged the others to use their grief as a powerful motivation to eliminate the dictatorship once and for all.
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02:55:06:04 - 02:55:29:01
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The next day hold a funeral. ZL: His mother passed on a message when I spoke to her, I will read it out When you find the dead body of my son and bid farewell, please tell him we are truly proud of him as his parents Please let him know that we forgive him completely too, thank you May this revolution win! That was from Thu Htet’s mother
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Having done basic combat training in the jungle, some young activists return to the cities. Here they have formed their own people’s defence forces and try guerrilla tactics against army positions UPSOT: Explosion They use small IEDS |
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UPSOT: Gun shots. And here they attack an army post with an automatic weapon PDF members secretly try to organise, but it’s incredibly dangerous. They are being relentlessly hunted by soldiers, supported by some pro-army informants. |
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01:21:49:17 01:22:07:07 |
Taung has agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity Taung: We need to terminate as many soldiers stationed in the cities as possible We're not going to kill all of them But they threatened us while we were protesting, so now we are threatening them |
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01:13:25:20 01:25:47:12 |
He says the defence forces are also targeting those who continue to show loyalty to the army. TAUNG: if there are informants in an area we give them a warning If they get out of control we terminate them. |
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Two weeks after our interview Taung’s safe house is raided. He’s arrested and sentenced to life in prison, one of thousands who have been detained since the coup. |
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007 – Flash mob protest 01:08:02:10 - 01:08:24:18
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Despite the heavy security presence in Yangon, some protestors are still trying to keep the movement alive - like 18 year old Zarni Htike. One of our teams is with him C: What are you expecting? ZH: For this flash mob to be successful, no arrests and to disperse successfully And to raise the public's spirit |
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01:10:22:02 - 01:10:36:11 |
UPSOT: Eradicate the military dictatorship! Our goal, Our goal. With the army hunting every protestor, the action has to be small... And quick ZH UPSOT: We need the public's help in this revolution Please cooperate with us We have lost our future and our lives, we have nothing to lose but chains |
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But any protests here are dangerous. Just three weeks after we filmed with Zarni Htike, a soldier mows down protestors in Yangon - killing five people. Nine months after the coup, thousands are now dead. |
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PART THREE |
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PART THREE |
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129 |
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In Myanmar, one of our teams has got access to a part of the country where people’s defence forces are holding off the army. |
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130 |
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In Sagaing State, central Myanmar, these civilian militias are now in charge of entire districts. Upsot: We don’t want the military We don’t, we don’t It allows protest leaders like Lwun Thu to hold open demonstrations against army rule. UPSOT: Our revolution will be lost if we no longer hold these protests So please march with us in your full capacity. |
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01:31:23:06 01:31:33.25. |
Sagaing is not like the ethnic armed areas along Myanmar’s borders which have spent decades fighting for autonomy. In fact, this is the military’s heartland, it usually recruits from these parts of the country LWUN THU: We will definitely win due to our people's protests But we can only win if people continue to be resilient
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Now it’s a hotbed of resistance. Secret weapons factories are desperately trying to produce the guns… …and ammunition to take on one of Asia’s most powerful armies
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01.30.44.00 - 01.30.49.00
01.31.29.00 - 01.31.39.00 |
The strength of anti-army resistance here has shocked the military, and for that, the people have paid a terrible price.
UGC UPSOT: Grandpa don’t leave me behind You said you wouldn’t leave me Please save grandpa
In Kani township, 40 people were massacred by the army,
UPSOT: Grandpa was left under a tree.
Many were found in shallow, mass graves. Villagers said some of the bodies showed signs of torture, a claim supported by videos.
In Salingyi township, the bodies of eleven people were found burned. |
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Since September 2021, there are reports that more than 120 villages in central Myanmar have been burned, including this one called Bin. One of our teams reached the village of Nham Khaw after an army raid. VICTIMS: It's not easy to build a house, it took us many years. My whole heart is in pain. The army tells us it’s the people’s defence forces who are burning villages and killing civilians. |
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01:51:43:05 01:52:11:01 |
Captain Khaung Thu Win says this isn’t true He was based in Sagaing military headquarters during some of these reprisal attacks. KTW: The orders were to attack the villages where the enemy and their supporters were. Defecting in December, and now in India, he’s speaking out for the first time. |
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01:50:04:12 01:50:28:10 |
KTW: The problems occur because the soldiers don’t differentiate between the enemy and the public, they shoot and attack them both
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138 |
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In another part of Sagaing our team gains access to the graduation ceremony of nearly a hundred new PDF members Upsot: Formations etc As we’re filming, suddenly an army helicopter starts circling above UPSOT: in the middle of the ceremony there was a chopper. I believe aiming to target the ceremony , so everyone was running. as you can hear. |
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UPSOT: the airstrikes. The trainees seek cover while the helicopter launches an airstrike UPSOT: Get Down! After an hour of aerial bombardment, soldiers enter the village. UPSOT: Gunfire. |
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IMG_4938
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While the soldiers attack one side of the village, our team manages to escape. UPSOT: The people behind me are running. They are local people, resistance fighters and PDF members. We’ve just been told that five helicopters attacked the PDF graduation ceremony. That’s why we’ve had to flee. |
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012 aurstrikes |
A year in to the crackdown, the military is escalating its use of aerial attacks on PDFs We’ve obtained this incredible footage that shows aircraft shooting into villages |
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01.37.39.07 - 01.37.49.06 |
In a secret clinic on the Thai border we find evidence that civilians are also being hit. UPSOT: gunfire over Hpulu village BART: Yes, those are the sounds I heard Soe Aye is a farm labourer. |
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143 |
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He was at home when this low flying helicopter gunship started firing at his village of Hpulu. Soe Aye fled. |
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144 |
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01.01.06.00 - 01.01.16.00 |
SOE: I heard a big blast, I didn’t fall down or anything but I didn’t know what had happened. I couldn’t run anymore. |
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145 |
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01.02.18.12- 01.02.34.08 |
SOE: At that point I was in shock, but then I fell down. After that I tried to get back up but I couldn’t walk anymore. |
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146 |
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This graphic photograph of Soe Aye was taken just moments after the attack. His leg in tatters. |
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147 |
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01.18.06.19 - 01.18.12.10
01.05.39.22 - 01.05.45.16 |
SOE: Now that my leg is gone I have no hope
SOE: I know I’m in trouble and my life is ruined |
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147.5 |
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We obtained a rare interview with the army spokesman
Major-General Zaw Min Htun denies the military uses air strikes against civilians
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023 SAC Zoom 02.43.59.02 - 02.44.08.14
02.44.55.11 - 02.45.17.01
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ZAW MIN HTUN: It is fake news.
When we know the exact location of PDFs we use helicopters There might be times we fly helicopters and planes to scout an area, but we do not use airstrikes at all |
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148 |
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But a military defector says otherwise
Captain Zay Thu Aung is the first helicopter gunship pilot willing to speak out about the use of indiscriminate aerial attacks
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149 |
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ZAY: We hear it all the time now I don't like it at all, and I'd like to suggest pilots avoid these kind of targets as much as possible. |
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150 |
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He says the army is now using air strikes to deliberately attack civilian areas.
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151 |
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01.55.12.15 - 01.55.24.00 |
ZAY THU AUNG: The air force is being used more and more because the ground forces are getting weaker Helicopters and fighter jets are being called in to help daily. Even then, the army can not defeat the PDFs so they just kill the civilians. They can not dominate the area. |
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01:41:20:15 |
Human rights investigators say this is a war crime.
PHIL ROBERTSON: indiscriminate attacks against civilians, by the Air Force, whether it be a jet or a helicopter, certainly constitutes a war crime.
What we are seeing across Myanmar, are crimes against humanity and war crimes. There's no doubt about that. |
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PART 4 |
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On Christmas Day shocking images emerged of a gruesome massacre in Myanmar. With exclusive access to witnesses speaking for the first time, we can reveal how soldiers, again appeared to murder civilians in cold blood. |
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It occurred in the largely Christian state of Kayah On this rural back road. |
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170 |
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01.09.52.24 - 01 : 10 : 04 : 00 |
At around 8am, Pi Yo was driving along the road, delivering pigs for Christmas Day. He wanted to avoid military checkpoints so took the long way round. PI YO: I was afraid to take the Hpruso main road so I went from Muso instead. |
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01 : 18 : 42 : 01 - 01 : 18 : 53.00 |
He says he saw five armed government soldiers blocking the road. A small truck and two cars had already been stopped and soldiers were searching the vehicles. Pi Yo: They waved their hands like this to call me over, two of them were holding guns. |
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01 : 20 : 36 : 03 - 01 : 20 : 48 : 09 |
He quickly turned his car around. I was so afraid. I pushed the accelerator to the floor but I felt like the accelerator was not working. I was absolutely terrified. |
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01:23:54:03 01:24:06.00 |
An hour later a buffalo herder - who we’ve called Naing - approached the road from a nearby field. Two soldiers called him over. NAING: The soldiers called me over but I said no, I needed to herd my cattle |
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01:06:48:04 1:06:57:01 |
He ran and says the two soldiers started shooting at him. NAING: Around 20 bullets, a whole magazine They were firing all around me |
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01:08:45:04 - 01:08:55:00
01:13:47:02 01:13:51:01 |
Naing hid behind some trees about 100 metres away from the soldiers position. He could not see what was going on, but says he could hear soldiers mistreating people in the vehicles. There were definitely more than 20 people, it was really noisy. It sounded like they were beating people up. I think their mouths were gagged |
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01:10:57:13 - 01:11:16:00 |
Capt Soe Khine is a member of a local ethnic militia, the Karenni Army.
He heard there were soldiers in the area and went to investigate.
As soon as we heard the news we went to the area to block them from advancing
The locals warned us the soldiers had detained some people |
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Soe Khine |
01:11:41:13 01:11:50:16 |
At around 11.15 am, Captain Soe Khine saw smoke coming from the road
UPSOT: Motherfuckers
His unit could not get any closer because the army was firing artillery at them
But they were close enough to hear what was happening at the checkpoint.
We heard them shooting, it sounded like small arms.
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177.5 |
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01:24:45:18 01:24:51:08 |
UPSOT: Boom!
Then one of the vehicles exploded.
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179 |
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They waited until the next morning and then discovered a gruesome scene.
UGC UPSOT: We can't count the bodies piled up. Everything has become ashes and charred.
UGC UPSOT: Here
UGC UPSOT: It’s so cruel. No one was spared.
Cpt Soe Khine: Some of them looked like they were half alive when they were burned. Some had their hands tied behind their backs. Some looked like they were trying to escape from the fire.
I felt really sad. It shouldn’t have happened at all.
They found 31 burned bodies and the fragmented remains of others.
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180 |
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01:14:13:03 01:14:15:00
01:16:52:05 01:17:01:03 |
These images show that the fires were contained around each individual vehicle.
The footage indicates that each vehicle was deliberately set on fire.
Naing - who was hiding nearby - believes most of the detainees were still alive when the vehicles were set on fire.
I only heard a few gunshots I don’t think they shot them, they just burned them alive.
But the military might lie about this.
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183 |
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02:58:52:00 02:59:14:03
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Army spokesman Zaw Min Htun told us the cars were carrying PDF fighters. ZAW MIN HTUN: They shot at our forces from the front of their cars, so our forces didn’t have any choice but to shoot back Since there was cooking oil and petrol inside they exploded and caused damage to the cars He was unable to explain why the victim's hands were tied behind their backs. And multiple witnesses told us there was no battle. |
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181 |
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UPSOT: Bring that body, we will take a photo
We gained exclusive access to the autopsy carried out by PDF doctor - Ye Zaw.
Dr Ye Zaw: Dr Ye Zaw: While we were carrying out the postmortem examination we felt anguished, really broken.
He says the autopsy confirmed that many of the victims hands had been tied and that at least one had been burned alive
Local authorities told us the dead included refugees fleeing conflict elsewhere, two workers from Save the Children… and a young girl. |
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186 |
ASTON
Tom Andrews
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar |
12:47:48:13 12:48:08:21
12:48:41:04 12:48:55:18 |
TOM ANDREWS These are war crimes being committed before our very eyes. These are innocent people being subjected to, to attacks, torture, to injury. //You know, the Security Council has refused to, to even entertain a resolution before the Security Council to stop to stop these attacks, or to refer to the International Criminal Court. So I've been recently I've been saying, but under the current conditions, the political will does not exist for the Security Council of the United Nations to even do that. |
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The problem is Myanmar’s army has two powerful backers on the UN Security Council. |
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187 |
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PHIL ROBERTSON: PHIL: It’s important to remember that China is the largest weapons supplier in Myanmar but also that Russia has very close relations with senior general min aung hlaing who is the military commander. We have demanded that there be action. To cut off the military from international arms, we wanted to say look, Russia, China if you want to defend what the military is doing here, you need to do that publicly. You have to defend the indefensible, which is the atrocities that the Myanmar military is committing.
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188 |
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UPSOT: Gunfire More than a year after the coup, fighting in eastern Myanmar is escalating. It is now one of the most active war zones in the country, with these local defense forces claiming to have killed hundreds of army soldiers. UPSOT: Gunfire and fighting. |
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189 |
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Zeya’s Lwin’s PDF are now ready to join the fight. Using donations from inside the country and abroad they’ve managed to buy 14 guns from Myanmar’s black market. |
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190 |
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UPSOT: Push like this You have to put the magazine in and then push it like this. |
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191 |
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UPSOT: There’s a pocket there. There are holes in it |
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192 |
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But there’s not enough weapons or ammunition for everyone to fight. UPSOT: One, two, three They divide into groups to take turns to advance … and attack the army |
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193 |
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Upsot: Helicopter overhead They’re moving towards a town recently attacked by the military (hear a little bit of chopper) And the army is still scouting the area UPSOT: The helicopter is flying really low. UPSOT: They’re looking for us. They’re going to look again. It’s on top of us. It’s on top of us The helicopter moves away… |
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195 |
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04:25:06:10 - 04:25:13:23 |
And they advance closer to the fighting That’s shelling, one after the other It's getting closer, it’s getting closer But with no experience and little ammunition, the ethnic army controlling the area doesn’t allow them to shoot Shall I go forward? They’ve not given us an order to fire No order? Fuck, what do we do then?
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196 |
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02:49:07:00 02:49:14:00
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Then tragedy strikes this group again. One of their friends is shot by the army. UPSOT: Don’t cry, wipe those tears. Don’t cry. It’s their second funeral in just two months.
Upsot: Funeral. |
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PHIL ROBERTSON: This is a human rights disaster that is going to play out over a long time. Neither side can deliver the knockout blow, and so this is going to be a grinding bloody mess.
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198 |
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001 Group training camp
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Myanmar’s death toll keeps growing. But on the frontline, these once peaceful protestors remain undeterred by the prospect of a long and vicious war. I cannot say for sure how long we will need to win this Even though we still have physical challenges like weapons and ammunition
The determination of our people to eradicate this institution is the main reason we will win this revolution. All of us, including myself, are ready to fight until our last breath. |
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END CREDITS |