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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Third Week of April 2024

The traditional Burmese New Year, ‘Thingyan,’ was marked last week. For the third year since the attempted coup, the people of Burma refused to participate in any celebration, which would suggest the situation in the country is normal. In its loosening grasp on reality, the junta bought stages and set up areas to gather in urban locations, but these went largely unattended as photos showed empty streets and closed-up shops. With ongoing human rights violations rampant, the cause for celebration was diluted with a shared frustration for the lack of consequences the junta continues to evade.
 
The junta released thousands of prisoners nationwide during the annual New Year events. However, this remains a disingenuous gesture as HURFOM has documented debilitating conditions inside the prison. On April 17, at 1:00 PM., the military junta granted amnesty to 3,303 prisoners nationwide. As part of this amnesty, 204 inmates from various prison camps in Mon State were released to mark the first day of the New Year. The Department of Revenue ordered these releases under the military junta’s command. Only four of those pardoned in Mon State were political prisoners who were being detained under Section 505 of the Penal Code.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Second Week of April 2024

On April 4th, 2024, the United Nations Security Council held an open briefing on Burma. While the dialogue was welcomed, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) shared collective disappointment at the lack of meaningful progress in response to the urgency of the situation in Burma. While the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council recognizes the severity of the crisis, it fails to accept that international stakeholders, notably ASEAN, cannot be relied upon as drivers to end the crisis when they are constantly engaging with the junta.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, First Week of April 2024

At the end of March 2024, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released our monthly overview inclusive of several worrying observations, including the impacts of forced conscription and the rise in crime, violence against women and the targeting of political prisoners within junta-run jails. These concerns have only heightened within the first week of April. The military continues to deceive the international community by concealing the fact that prisoners are being killed after inhumane torture.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Third Week of March 2024

The devastating impacts of the junta’s unjust Conscription Law cannot be denied. As the Burma Army continues to see widespread losses in previously held territories and bases, alongside an increasing rate of defections, the junta is robbing the youth of their futures by forcing men and women to enlist in the terrorist regime. According to the military junta’s conscription law, military service is mandatory for men aged 18 to 35, women aged 18 to 27, and those who have completed at least two years of service. The first conscription week will begin after the next water festival period and will involve 5,000 people per month across the country. The junta also announced that 60,000 men would be called for military service each year.

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HURFOM Releases a New Report: “Voice Up” A Gendered Overview of the Human Rights Situation in SE Burma

January – March 2024

Today, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) releases “Voice Up,” A Gendered Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Southeastern Burma. The report is the first in a series that will follow, focusing on the situation of women and children in Southeastern Burma throughout the year. Before the attempted coup in Burma, HURFOM had published similar content in a bulletin-style format under the title ‘Voice Up.’

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Second Week of March 2024

Over the last week, civilians once again in target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) struggled to resume their daily activities in peace. While the junta continues to present a distorted illusion of business as usual. This incorrect and profoundly misleading narrative must not fool the international community. The reality is that the situation on the ground is that innocent civilians are being deprived of their fundamental rights and freedoms and prevented from accessing safe and secure pathways to education, health care and legal assistance.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, First Week of March 2024

Across the first week of March, there continued to be widespread attacks against civilians who have been abducted and detained on baseless charges. The junta is rapidly losing bases and territory across target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM). In response, the Burma Army has scaled up attacks against the people, notably those spearheading the Spring Revolution.

On the evening of 28 February 2024, another teacher affiliated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was abducted in Kanbauk, Yebyu, Dawei.  Military junta troops arrested the 48-year-old CDM teacher, Daw Mee Mee Zaw, from Khaing Thazin Ward:

“They raided the house and abducted her. They put a black hood on her head. It’s confirmed that she was taken,” a woman from Khaing Thazin Ward reported to HURFOM. The woman continued to disclose that the CDM teacher, Daw Mee Mee Zaw, was arrested for allegedly teaching National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) education online.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Fourth Week of February 2024

Over the last week, in target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), women were targeted by the military junta. The escalation of violence on the ground in Burma has impacted civilians the harshest, particularly in conflict-affected areas where women and children are among the majority of those displaced.

The regime also is enforcing stricter measures on mobility while repressing rights related to freedom of expression. This comes alongside a worrying rise in arbitrary arrests and abductions, which are rooted in baseless assumptions and a lack of evidence. In Mon State alone, according to a report by the New Ramanya Federal Force (NRFF), 105 civilians were killed, and more than 900 were unjustly arrested since the attempted coup.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, Third Week of February 2024

Over the last week, the military junta intensified and scaled up its attacks against civilians. In retaliation for the widespread support of the resistance movement, the Burma Army is targeting innocent civilians.

Dozens have been arbitrarily arrested and detained on baseless allegations and are charged in a legal system with no legitimate basis. Many have been forced into confessions and are tortured in the process. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to monitor the situation closely.

The number of those arrested has sharply increased since the beginning of 2024. One local who was detained in Thanbyuzayat by the Burma Army was accused of supporting the local resistance forces in Mon State on 10 February 2024. The victim, age 43 years old and a motorcycle repairman was arrested in the evening by junta forces. The regime continues to crack down on fundamental rights and freedoms, including participation in protests.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

HURFOM, First Week of February 2024

On 1 February 2024, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) issued a statement to mark three years since the failed coup in Burma. Over the past three years, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has documented widespread suffering and evidence of crimes perpetrated by the junta. Human rights violations have steadily increased across Southeastern Burma, including in Mon and Karen States as well as in the Tanintharyi region.

HURFOM continues to call for immediate accountability for the widespread and systematic crimes committed by the Burma Army. For decades, the Generals and soldiers of the regime’s commands have violated the rights of civilians with impunity. The international community must take the criminality embedded in the Tatmadaw seriously. This includes acknowledging the pro-democracy movement and leaders and ending all engagements with the military junta. The shared oppressor of the people has no place in the future of the country’s democratic movement. 

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