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Weekly update on Human Rights situation in Karen, Mon States & Tanintharyi Region since the attempted coup [Second week of February 2022]

HURFOM: A weekly update by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) on the situation on the ground. Summary data includes Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region.

Weekly Overview

Karen State

• At 8:40 PM on 9 February, junta security forces stopped, searched, and abducted six youths in front of the TB control center near the Hpa-an University traffic light.
• Junta soldiers and joint forces of the BGF indiscriminately fired ammunition and injured a man in Hpa-an. A local resident, Maung Kyaw Oo, was riding a motorcycle in front of Army camp No.1014, and was seriously injured when gunfire erupted.

Mon State

• Three young political prisoners, including Dr. Chan Myae Aung, a volunteer medical doctor, were sentenced by the junta court in Mawlamyine to one year in prison. 
• Nine students and a driver arrested on March 2021 were sentenced to 12 years each in prison in Mawlamyine, Mon by the military tribunal on February 10. 
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• Two restaurants and four houses were seized by the joint forces of junta soldiers and the GAD, who placed notices stating the premises were sealed as the owners have caused ‘terrorism acts.’

Dawei Region

• An NLD supporter who is a taxi driver, ​and his passenger were arrested arbitrarily by the junta troops on Samadhi Road.
• Detained political prisoners, including a former journalist and several political activists arrested mid-last year, were sentenced to prison terms by the junta court.
• According to friends and relatives, a man named Ko Win Thiha, 28, who was arrested at a hotel in Dawei on February 7 and was tortured during interrogation.

Analysis

Over one year since the failed coup, and the people of Burma remain resilient. Young protesters, an estimated 20 people, in Thayet Chaung Township Dawei District, conducted a guerrilla protest against the junta on 12 February, marking Union Day with the slogan “Let’s all get united to get rid of the common enemy.” 

Protests and peaceful demonstrations are continuing to take place on a regular basis. Even in prison, prisoners of conscious are calling for their fundamental freedoms and rights to be respected and upheld. Political prisoners are on a hunger strike in Dawei to rally against the dictator’s decrees. On February 1, marking one year of the failed coup, more than 70 political prisoners at Dawei Prison went on a hunger strike. “We are still learning how many prisoners were involved in the hunger strike in Dawei Prison. It usually ends with brutal torture, more restrictions, and other abuses inside the prison cells,” said a source who spoke to HURFOM. 

Amidst the strength of local communities, the junta is still carrying out ruthless tactics to try and terrorise people. Arbitrary arrests, including at least 15 fishermen and some truck owners on February 10 at around 8 pm in Bawar village, Nabulae beach, Yebyu Township, Dawei. Approximately 70 soldiers entered the village and arrested the person they found. About 15 people have taken with the troops and not been released yet. Another witness reported that junta soldiers raided a National League for Democracy member’s house in Htein Gyi village, but the place was already empty. They did not see the people and confiscated the house owners’ belongings and also fired several gunshots in front of that house.” The resident of Htein Gyi village said junta forces are currently stationed at the Htein Gyi village school and they’re carrying heavy machine guns.

HURFOM condemns the ongoing atrocities and grave human rights violations being perpetrated against innocent civilians. The international community must use all of its resources and authority to hold the Burma Army accountable.

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