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Two years have passed since Myanmar’s military junta seized power, ousting the country’s democratically elected leaders in a coup. Since February 1, 2021, widespread protests have taken place across the country and a fierce opposition movement has formed. But the junta is brutally cracking down on dissent. One of their tools has been fire, used to torch entire towns and cut off supplies to the resistance.
Fire, a weapon of extreme warfare used to set houses, supplies and food stores on fire, has been at the forefront of the conflict in Myanmar. Since the 2021 coup, the military junta has used it to confront the resistance: the People’s Defense Forces and allied ethnic militias.
The junta has been accused of serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, mass murder, sexual violence and torture. Activists say they have also been using fire to torch buildings and towns that show sympathy for the opposition.
It is difficult to track these fires, but NGOs and rights groups have begun to document them. One of them, Myanmar Witness, has been using open source tools to verify and record alleged arson attacks, creating a map to collect evidence of the fires.
The map collects instances of buildings and towns destroyed by fire. Each begins with a claim from the media or eyewitnesses, which is then verified by analysts using real-time data from NASA and satellite imagery.
NASA’s Fire Information Map for Resource Management System (FIRMS) uses heat and infrared sensors to indicate fires around the world in a matter of hours. This database, along with eyewitness footage and satellite imagery, can provide Myanmar Witness with enough evidence to hold the military junta accountable through reporting and media engagement.
Other NGOs and international organizations are gathering evidence of international crimes committed by the military junta to present to the International Criminal Court.
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