Myanmar lawyer wins 2026 IBA Human Rights Award
Zar Li Aye, a lawyer and human rights defender from Burma’s Chin State, received the International Bar Association’s (IBA) 2026 Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights at the IBA’s 2026 Annual Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Oct. 4-9.
“This recognition belongs not only to me, but also to the courageous lawyers, human rights defenders and communities in Myanmar who continue pursuing justice despite extraordinary risks, particularly since the 2021 military coup,” Zar Li Aye said in her acceptance speech to the IBA’s 2026 Annual Conference on Oct. 8.
Zar Li Aye has served as a legal advisor to the International Commission of Jurists – ICJ since 2016 and led Lawyer For YOU, a legal aid team providing pro bono representation and advocacy in human rights and criminal defence cases to citizens of Burma since the February 2021 military coup, according to the IBA’s press release.
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Iran ships jet fuel to Myanmar despite US blockade
Iran has managed to export some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July, despite a U.S. naval blockade, shipping intelligence showed and people involved in security said. Tehran has in recent weeks been concealing such cargoes among a growing volume of ship-to-ship transfers by other Gulf producers off Oman, four people in maritime security who track Gulf oil movements told Reuters.
While a fraction of its former energy exports, the cargoes are rare evidence of petroleum products getting through a blockade that has halted Iran’s crude exports. Analysis by U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic using ship and satellite tracking, shows at least eight gas tankers carrying Iranian LPG have left the Gulf of Oman since mid-July.
Another tanker carrying Iranian jet fuel reached Burma in September, additional satellite imagery and analysis by maritime intelligence group SynMax show. The U.S. imposed targeted sanctions in 2023 on jet-fuel shipments to Burma, citing military airstrikes on civilians that the United Nations says have killed thousands of people. The regime in Naypyidaw has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
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US holds secret talks with Myanmar regime in Japan
The U.S. and the regime in Naypyidaw held talks in Tokyo, Japan, on an unknown date last week, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. This is their second meeting in a month as Washington steps up re-engagement with the regime in Burma it shunned since the 2021 military coup.
Earlier talks in Naypyidaw in mid-September focused on securing the release of American businessman Adam Castillo and shutting down scam centers that target Americans, but could pave the way for broader discussions, including on Myanmar’s rare-earth mineral deposits, Reuters previously reported.
It was not immediately clear exactly what the two sides discussed at last week’s talks, disclosed to Reuters by three people with knowledge of the engagement. The people, including one U.S. official, all requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting. The U.S. has sanctioned 130 individuals and 89 entities linked to the regime.
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News by Region
MAGWAY—The National Unity Government (NUG) reported on Sunday that at least 12 civilians, including two children, were killed and two were injured during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Yesagyo Township on Friday. Yesagyo, located 130 miles (209 km) north of the region’s capital Magway, is partially administered by the NUG.
The airstrikes targeted two locations where residents were accessing the internet through a Starlink satellite internet terminal in two villages of Yesagyo, the NUG report added. An unknown number of residents across four villages have been displaced from their homes due to the fear of further regime airstrikes.
NAYPYIDAW—Min Aung Hlaing invited the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), to participate in “peace talks” during a video message at a ceremony to mark the 11th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in Naypyidaw on Thursday.
The ABSDF stated on Oct. 15 that the NCA, initiated under previous President Thein Sein’s administration, was a political ploy to “deceive the international community.” The CNF said that this latest offer for talks was “difficult” to believe when the regime orders airstrikes on civilians in Chin State on a daily basis. Read the full article on our website
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