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Weekly update on Human Rights situation in Karen, Mon States & Tanintharyi Region since the attempted coup [Fourth 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

• The junta artillery regiment command located in Nagar-Taung hill, which is 3 kilometers west of Three-Pagodas-Pass Town, indiscriminately fired several motor shells, and at least three innocent civilians were seriously injured on 22 February 2022. 

Mon State

• The junta’s seizure of housing and properties of the MPs in Mon State continues. Former National League for Democracy Members of Parliament, Daw Khin Kyaw Phyu, Mudon Township, and U Aung Kyaw Thu’s house, located in Thaton, Mon, were confiscated by the junta on 20 February 2022.
• The junta affiliated General Administration Department and troops confiscated two more homes and properties of former NLD MPs by accusing them of being affiliated with the National Unity Government. 

Dawei Region

• At 1 pm on February 22, a total of 24 teenagers, including 15 boys and nine girls, were arbitrarily arrested by the junta military forces in Tha-Byar village, Long Lone Township.
• Five youths arrested on suspicion of being members of the local Strike Committee have not been released in Long Lone Township.

Analysis

As February 2022 came to an end, nine youths from Dawei Township who were arrested on 29 May 2021, were all sentenced to nine years each in prison by the military junta. During the first week of February alone, HURFOM documented nearly 20 people who had been unlawfully arrested by the military junta’s security forces. By the end of the month, over 50 civilians had been arrested and detained. Arbitrary arrest is a human rights violation, as it deprives civilians of their liberty to live protected under the law with the right to legal counsel.

Despite the arrests and ongoing threats to civilian safety, there are still ongoing protests and organizing taking place. An estimated 50 Students from Long Lone Township’s Student Union and some local inhabitants launched a campaign against the junta military under the slogan “Gather together 22222; Revolt in rural; Rebel in urban’ on the morning of 22 February 2022. Political prisoners have also joined protests including by going on hunger strikes in Dawei to protest the dictator’s decrees and by refusing to obey any order from the military junta. 

Over the last week, more violence by the military junta threatened civilian survival. Frequent clashes between the military junta and ethnic armed organizations have led to increased internal displacement in HURFOM target areas. On 20 February, fighting broke out between the military council and the local People’s Defense Force in Myeik District. Junta soldiers have been conducting indiscriminate shelling in the villages which resulted in two local villagers being hit by shells and killed instantly in Kapawa village, Tanintharyi Township. The two dead were identified as Moe Aung and Aung Win, both in their 40s. A Pawa villager said many fled due to heavy artillery fire. Currently, Thet Kay Kyaw, Chaung Kauk, Pawa and Tharaphon villagers are fleeing to nearby forests and mountains.

HURFOM has emphasized our disdain for the military junta, and their corrupt dealings which include crackdowns on innocent civilians. The people of Burma have only the simple request of wanting to live in peace.

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