Bearing Witness Under Fire: Documenting Abuses Despite Threats and Intimidation

September 3, 2025

For three decades, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has stood with the people of Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi Region. Since its founding in 1995, HURFOM has documented abuses that others have tried to hide—arbitrary arrests, forced displacement, extortion, and killings—and shared them with the world in the hope of ending impunity.

Our latest edition of The Mon Forum (Vol. 10, Issue 8, August 2025) highlights the challenges we face in keeping this commitment. Despite the ever-present risks, our team continues to gather and release information through our website and social media channels. Each month, HURFOM field reporters record between 40 and 50 cases of violations. In August alone, we published over 30 news articles from across 15 townships. These cases document the worsening patterns of violence and oppression that civilians endure daily.

Threats Against Civilians and Monitors

The cost of exposing truth remains painfully high. Since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021, the military has intensified its campaign of terror. Villagers are caught between junta troops and armed resistance groups, both of which station themselves close to civilian areas. Lawlessness has spread, and people who dare to speak out are at greater risk than ever.

This is not new. In the early days of the coup, when our office was still inside Burma, a village administrator threatened a local woman simply because she had shared a photo of abuses with HURFOM. To protect her, we stopped publishing reports in Burmese for years. Four years later, in August 2025, history repeated itself: another woman who sent a photo to HURFOM was arrested and threatened by an armed group. Once again, our team moved quickly to ensure her safety. These are not isolated cases—they show the grave dangers that ordinary people face when they try to tell the truth.

Continuing the Struggle

Operating from the Thai–Burma border has not shielded us from threats. Armed groups and junta forces continue to monitor, intimidate, and obstruct our work. On several occasions, we have been forced to take down or edit sensitive stories to protect sources and local communities. Our priority will always be the safety of the people who entrust us with their stories.

Still, the scale of the crisis demands that we persevere. Over 3.5 million people have been displaced nationwide, and in HURFOM areas alone, tens of thousands are forced to flee again and again due to airstrikes, artillery shelling, and landmines. Our field teams report hundreds of extortion cases every month: police taking 20,000 MMK at one gate, soldiers another 2,000 MMK at the next. Food transport is seized; travelers are harassed; families are threatened. These patterns, which we document case by case, reveal the junta’s systematic strategy to impoverish and control communities.

A Mission Without Retreat

Despite the threats, HURFOM has never given up its mission: to protect and promote human rights, to end impunity, and to contribute to a genuine peace built on federal democracy. Our role is not only to expose atrocities but also to honor the courage of survivors, whistleblowers, and community leaders who risk their safety for justice.

We know this work is dangerous. But silence would be more dangerous still—for victims, for communities, and for the future of our country.

As one elder from Thaton told our team this month: “If we stop speaking, it will be as if these abuses never happened. We cannot let the truth be buried.”

Looking Ahead

HURFOM remains committed to documenting every violation we can, and to ensuring that international actors cannot claim ignorance of the suffering in our areas. The road to federal democracy is long and difficult, but our work—grounded in truth, courage, and solidarity with the people—continues.

Our hope is that the testimonies we collect today will one day serve not only as evidence against perpetrators, but also as a record of resilience and dignity for future generations.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under Commentary