Nickey Diamond (Ye Myint Win)
Nickey Diamond (Ye Myint Win) is a Ph.D. candidate at the Working Group “Social and Political Anthropology” of Prof. Dr. Judith Beyer. His PhD research is devoted to studying “Anti-Muslim Hate Speech in Myanmar”.
In June 2021, he became the first fellow of the newly established “Students at Risk” Hilde-Domin-Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
In January 2023, together with the NGO Fortify Rights and 15 other individual complainants, he filed a criminal complaintwith the Federal Public Prosecutor General of Germany under the principle of universal jurisdiction against the Myanmar military.
In his PhD research, he investigates how hate speech by the state and popular Buddhist ethno-nationalism have laid the terrain for mass atrocities against Muslims, (collective) acts of persecution, and repression. Using a multimethod approach to anti-Muslim hate speech in Myanmar, the research also investigates the genocide committed by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) against the ethnic group of mostly stateless Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine state (beginning in 1978), as well as the incident of anti-Muslim violence that occurred in the city of Meikhtila in the Mandalay Region in 2013. In addition, Nickey has collected empirical materials of hate speech by the state since the 2012 anti-Rohingya violence outbreak in Rakhine state.
Building from cutting-edge legal anthropological scholarship, this research project will advance the anthropology of the state and statelessness, the anthropology of violence, and the anthropology of human rights. In addition to its conceptual and empirical relevance, the project will facilitate – in close dialogue with activists and other scholars both in Myanmar and outside the country –the incorporation of highly vulnerable stateless and non-recognized ethno-religious groups into a future federal democratic system in Myanmar, in support of the ongoing civil disobedience movement (CDM) in the country.
Nickey already holds a B.A. in Economics (UDE) from Mandalay (Myanmar) and an M.A. in Human Rights from the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University in Bangkok (Thailand) for which he received a scholarship from the Government of Norway.
He is also a well-known human rights defender and civil society activist. He founded the Youth for Social Change Myanmar (YSCM) in 2007 and served as the organization’s Executive Director until October 2013. Under his leadership, YSCM became a professional service provider for youth in need of assistance and support. He is also a Myanmar Human Rights Specialist associated with Fortify Rights (since 2015).
As part of the Working Group “Social and Political Anthropology”, Nickey has joined a team of PhD students already working on the topic of activism in Myanmar (see the projects of Benedict Mette-Starke, Carolin Hirsch and Sarah Riebel) supervised by Prof. Judith Beyer.
Publications
2021
with Ken MacLean. Dangerous Speech Cloaked in Saffron Robes: Race, Religion, and Anti-Muslim Violence in Myanmar. The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Mass Atrocity, and Genocide ed. Sara Brown and Stephen Smith. Routledge.
The Failure to Protect Rohingya in Myanmar: A Reflection on the Obstacles to National Protection Against Mass Atrocity Crimes. Global Responsibility to Protect Journal. Brill. (online first) 1-8. (https://doi.org/10.1163/1875-984X-13020007)
2017
A Case Study of Violence and Recovery in Meikhtilar, Myanmar. Mahidol University Online [M.A. Thesis].
2015
The rise of anti-Muslim Hate Speech Shortly before Outbreaks of the Mass Violence against Muslims in Myanmar. 4th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) [Conference Proceedings].
Outreach
Nickey Diamond is in dialogue with Letter Science Diplomacy of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Issue 2, 2023.
Nickey Diamond’s talk at the panel of Academia in Exile, on 13 September 2023, Futurium in Berlin.
Nickey Diamond's talk at Völkermord in Myanmar und seine Folgen | Diskussionsveranstaltung organized by Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker on 2 May 2023 in Hamberg.
Illegitimate Myanmar military junta's intentional use of systematic and nationwide atrocity crimes against the civilian population. Nickey Diamond with Aljazeera English on 28 March 2023.
„Wir hoffen auf Deutschland“. Nickey Diamond with Frankfurter Rundschau. 26/03/2023.
Criminal Complaint Filed in Germany against Myanmar Generals for Atrocity Crimes. Nickey Diamond with Al Jazeera English. 24/01/2023.
News coverage
Myanmar’s Victims and Survivors Deserve Justice The Diplomat 13/04/2023
Two years after Myanmar’s military coup survivors of Rohingya genocide and victims of post-coup atrocities file joint complaint. Standplaats Wereld. 01/02/2023.
Seeking Accountability in German Courts: Nickey Diamond.Profile Story by Fortify Rights. 24/01/2023.
Myanmar army accused of war crimes, case filed in Germany. Nickey Diamond quoted by DW. 24/01/2023.
Myanmar military accused of war crimes, genocide in German suit.Nickey Diamond quoted by AL JAZEERA. 24/01/2023.
Rohingya and Myanmar coup survivors launch legal complaint in Germany against junta. Nickey Diamond quoted by the Guardian. 24/01/2023.
"When freedom is in danger" (Welcoming Nickey Diamond and family (Press release of the University of Konstanz)). campus.kn. 28/07/2021.
Presentations
"Presentation on the Predicaments of exiled activists from Myanmar“.Roundtable Symposium: “One year post coup“, Deakin University. 01/02/2022.