• Home
• about
• Activities
• Contact
• Programs
• Manual

• Analysis
• Commentary
• Feature
• General Election
• Monthly Report
• News
• PDF Format
• Special Report
• Video Clips

Subscribe

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Four: March 2022]

Indiscriminate firing last week led to the death of a 17yr old Karen teenager as civilians continue to be targeted. Consequences await the junta.

Full Analysis:

As the month of March comes to an end, in HURFOM targeted areas there continues to be ongoing threats to survival and civilian safety and security. The war being forced upon innocent people has led to hundreds of thousands displaced across the country leaving many in crippling levels of poverty. Inflation has crippled households who are struggling to provide for their families with the bare minimum. Civil society organizations have attempted to fill these gaps, however, the ongoing blocks of aid and humanitarian assistance have made basic provision of services and delivery extremely difficult, and high risk.

Read more

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Three: March 2022]

HURFOM: Weekly update on the situation in Karen, Mon & Dawei since the attempted coup:
13+ Arrested
9+ Detained
9+ Inured
4+ Killed

Civilians are unlawfully being targeted & charged in military-backed courts where justice has been delayed, denied, and dismissed.

Full Analysis:

In HURFOM target areas of Mon and Karen States, as well as Tanintharyi region, civilians have experienced mounting terror and intimidation tactics by the unlawful junta. Innocent people continue to be unlawfully arrested and charged in courts that are closed to the public which evokes the very spirit of authoritarian rule and judgment.

A school teacher involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Khok Khwar village, Kyaninseki Township, Karen State was sentenced to 17 years in prison on three counts. Ko Hein Htet Aung was a primary school teacher who had joined the CDM. His court hearings were finalized on 9 March by a military junta backed court in Hpa-An, Taung Kale Prison. The court decision also included hard labor. The charges include Section 505 of the Penal Code, and Section 52a of the Anti-Terrorism Law. Two young activists in Dawei have also been sentenced to 12 years in prison each by the junta-backed Dawei prison court on March 14. These two strike leaders and activists, Ko Pai Khant Zaw, 19, and Ko Set Mai Soe, 24, were arrested in Dawei and detained since May last year.

In Mon State, a young man only 21 years old, along with his friends were stopped, searched and arbitrarily abducted by the junta near Ye Township highway station on 14 March. They were alleged to be affiliated with local civilian defense forces. Midnight raids in Ye Township, Mon State in particular are ongoing. On 16 March at 10:30 PM, Ko Yi Htay and another two residents from Yan Gyi Aung Ward were abducted after their homes were raided. A couple days there on 18 March, former National League for Democracy (NLD) Chairman, U Kyaw Moe Aye had his home and property seized by the junta in Ye township. His relatives, including his brother and nephew were arrested. Among the unlawful arrests this week, an elderly 80 year old man, who is well known and experienced in the community, was also abducted in Ye township, despite not having an arrest warrant or any grounds to do so.

At the end of the week, HURFOM documented more horror. At least three innocent local villagers were killed, and seven others injured when artillery shells exploded near a pagoda in Kyauktaung village, Thaton Township, Mon State during a festival. There must be justice and accountability for those who have fallen and lost their lives to such senseless violence.

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Two: March 2022]

HURFOM received rising cases of movement & travel restrictions by the junta in target areas including 8 incidents of moto + property confiscations.

Full Analysis:
It is undeniable that the military junta is losing their quest for power. Over one year since the failed coup, and Burma Army defections are mounting alongside a growing Civil Disobedience Movement. Armed resistance from local civilians who have taken up arms are defending their homes, villages and pushing back on the junta’s assaults. In response, the military has forced the wives and children of soldiers into training, and are putting police officers on the frontlines to fight.

Read more

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

No one feels safe and secure in #Burma amid the lingering of junta backed forces, such as plain clothed police officers and informers. The people want peace.

Full Analysis:

In HURFOM areas, civilians are unquestionably continuing to reel from the aftermath of the failed coup. Economically, the country has been crippled by inflation, including rice, a staple in the local cuisine. No one feels safe and secure amid the lingering of junta backed forces, such as plain clothed police officers and informers.

On 1 March, HURFOM released our monthly findings from February 2022 which found that even a year after the failed coup, the amount of destruction caused by the junta have amounted to the most serious of human rights violations. The junta has shown no signs of easing their attacks against the people and has instead continued to spearhead their campaign of terror and illegal, inhumane acts including arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate firing and shelling, enforced disappearances, murder and many others.

In February 2022 alone, HURFOM recorded at least 65 arrests, 25 injuries and 10 deaths. Women and girls in particular were targeted with nearly 30 being arrested, sentenced and charged by the junta. Alongside the terror continues to be undisputed bravery. Protests and calls for action, including urgently dismantling the junta by cutting off their access to funds, weapons and more, are all the more active in Burma.

Junta troops are cracking down on the travelers near Hindra junction, located at Taungthone Lone Village, Metta Sub-Township, Dawei District. Stop and frisk operations were carried out on 2 March where nearly 60 military vehicles from the Metta Battalion arrived and began a rigorous operation. Approximately 30 motorcycles, six cars and the owners were arrested and confiscated. It is still unclear why the junta soldiers arrested and confiscated these vehicles. It seems like they will demand the ransom to give back to the drivers and owners.

In Karen State, on 28 February, a group of junta soldiers and officials arrived at Thang Yee Shop Road in Nyaung Wine Ward No. 5, Hpa-an, Karen and conducted guest registration and household inspections, and abducted three young men, according to the residents. The illegal activities and corruption is fuelled by a lack of accountability.

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.

Read more

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

• On the bridge in Kaw Kyaik Village, Hpa-an Township, a group of junta security troops blocked the War-Sue Iron Bridge and forcibly stopped travellers. Young people were targeted and arrested.
• At least five civilians were accused of supporting PDFs and NUG. Their homes and properties have been seized by the junta GAD since February 16, according to the reporters in Kawkareik Township.
• Residents say at least four villages, with an estimated more than 1,000 IDPs, have been fleeing to the deeper Brigade 4 areas of the KNU.

Read more

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.

Read more

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

Karen State

• Junta troops continued patrolling around Hpa-an township and are torturing, looting, and arresting local civilians. Soldiers and police raided a house on Aung Nang-1 Road in Hpa-an, at 9:40 PM on 2 February.
• Airstrikes deployed by the military junta in the early morning of 5 February killed six civilians and injured two. 

Read more

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

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

• According to relief and health service providers on the ground, an estimated 27 villages in southern Kawkareik have been evacuated due to military offensives and airstrikes against the Karen National Union and local People’s Defense Forces leading to over 20,000 IDPs.
• Junta forces raided and eradicated a village called An-Pha-Gyi village in the southern part of Kawkareik Township on January 22 at 2:30 pm. Two men and four women native villagers were arrested and taken away by the troops.

Mon State

• Residents in Mon State, Bee Lin Township reported that the military junta has cut off food supplies to Win Maung and Mae Wai villages for seven months. They are facing serious food shortages.
• Family members confirmed three young villagers detained on January 24 are still missing. The men were driving when they stopped, beaten and arrested by soldiers near Taung Kalay Village Tract, Kyaikmaraw Township.

Dawei Region

• Seven youth from a free clinic located in Wae-Kyun-Nyaung-Yan Ward were abducted by the junta on 24 January 2022.
• On 27 January, junta sponsored armed forces, Pyu Saw Htee group shot and killed a former NLD member, a resident of Parada village, Nabule area, Yebyu Township.

Analysis

Arbitrary arrests took place with increasing frequency across the last week. Two youth, including an older man, were arrested by junta security forces on 19 January at a rubber plantation in Yele In village, Pakari village tract, Dawei. The family members of the victims have been unable to get in contact with them since they were arrested. A total of four detainees, including two Civil Disobedience Movement activists from Kanpauk, Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region, were sentenced to two years in prison by the Junta’s Dawei Prison Court on January 28, according to the Dawei Political Prisoners Network (DPPN). As of January 2022, more than 950 people had been arrested since the military coup and 69 had been killed in Tanintharyi Region. 

Civilians fleeing worsening violence in Karen State are being directly targeted by the Burmese junta. A 45-year-old woman is among the over 20 000 newly displaced people who said, “Even if I could go back to my home, I think nothing will be left. I heard the junta burnt our village. They stole our ox, and destroyed our livestock. We have to start from the beginning again.” Her sentiments speak to the feelings of many forced to abandon everything for their safety. 

Local villagers said they face difficulty living due to the military clearance operations against the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) in Brigade No.4 in areas controlled by the Karen National Union. On the morning of 25 January, approximately 200 junta troops entered Khaung Daing Pyin Village, Myin Mat Tat Village, Dawei Township to search for PDF soldiers. A villager who managed to escape said, “I was terrified of being shot. Some innocent people were fired at while working on their farms. That is why I do not dare to go to my farm,” said a 60-year-old villager whose plantation is located outside of the Myin Mat Tat village. Junta forces are continuing to build building bunkers on and surrounding the campus of the Basic Education High School No. 1 and 3 in Hpa-An, Karen State.

Amidst all of the brutality being waged by the junta, the Spring Revolution is succeeding. Evidence of the junta’s paranoia was made especially clear when the junta dispersed leaflets threatening civilians not to join planned Silent Strike on the anniversary of the attempted coup in Hpa-an, Karen State. According to locals, the General Administration Department and Army officers threatened that participants would be imprisoned and property confiscated if their shops closed. 

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Third Week of January 2022]

HURFOM: Over the last week, fighting in Karen State led to increased displacement as over 250 villagers were forced to flee to areas controlled by the Karen National Union. The indiscriminate firing targeted innocent villagers in the midst of uncontrolled attacks by the military junta.

Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »