Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Second Week of December 2021]

December 13, 2021

It has been a difficult year for the people of Burma who have had every aspect of their lives made much more difficult by the military junta. Business owners over the last week were targeted as the regime increases its targeting of those on suspicion of being affiliated with various civilian armed groups across the country.

Ko Pyae Sone Oo, age 40 and the owner of Rice & Curry from Naught-Lae Ward, Myeik was killed in the junta’s detention centers on December 6, according to a family member who were called to pick up the body at a cemetery. Soldiers arrested and detained him on accusations of being a supporter of the People’s Defense Forces on 4 December.

Those participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) also continue to be targeted. Two CDM individuals from the Department of Higher Education were abducted by the junta troops and their informers in Thaton. Ko Min Naung and Ma Zarchi Oo were arrested by ten military troops from their parents’ homes around 7 PM. They are well-known striking education staff from Thaton. Most of their colleagues were detained and sentenced in July. The arrests are more frequent in Thaton Township. On December 7, after two bombs blasts near MyTel offices and railroads, at least nine innocent local youth were arrested by junta forces.

Attacks and arrests against young people by the regime are ongoing. In Tanintharyi region, junta forces jailed three student strike leaders on December 9 for one year for their participation in the anti-coup movement, according to their colleagues. Junta forces in Dawei also arrested seven local youth on International Human Rights Day. Among those detainees, three young women were included, and the reason for their arrest is not known.

Local residents reported that the military junta in Dawei has been arresting the people and demanding ransoms from families for their release. The regime cannot put a price on people’s freedom. The military’s harsh crackdowns are in direct response to the success of the pro-democracy movement. All unjustly arrested must be immediately released.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under Analysis, News