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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas

(First week of November 2021)

A combination of fear mongering tactics perpetrated by the junta including but not limited to extortion, threats and verbal and physical assaults have sought to advance a military agenda of state-sponsored coercion. However, the people of Burma remain adamant to not bend to the authoritarian rule being forced upon them. Overwhelmingly, citizens have rejected the military’s power-grab and have continued to support anti-coup activities. 

HURFOM released a briefing paper called Under Attack, which highlighted the increase in human rights violations committed by the military junta in Mon State, Karen State and Dawei region. The assaults on fundamental freedoms are ongoing. The junta security troops arrested two local civilians without having no arrest warrants after raiding a house in Tha-Baw-Seik-Pyin Village, Long Lon Township, Dawei Region. The two men they arrested were not the ones they wanted, but they were taken away as hostages. When they left the village, they forcibly took three Honda motorcycles, a tank of oil and also robbed three million Kyats from the villagers. 

Alongside, the abductions are growing numbers of civilians fleeing their villages. According to HURFOM network members, approximately 300 more IDPs from four villages in eastern Dawei have fled their homes after the junta vowed retribution against the civilian armed resistance, and those involved in the guerrilla attacks that killed and injured security troops in the last two weeks.

Local villagers said they were worried about being killed, arrested, abducted and/or used as human shields by the junta, or be subjected to sexual harassment. Many have fled in fear.

Leaders on the global stage have a moral responsibility to meet the moment of crisis that civilians have been confronted with

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas (October: Week Four)

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 Dawei Region.

Across the month of October, HURFOM fieldworkers reported on a series of widespread, systematic human rights violations committed with impunity by the Burma Army. The regime continues to carry out crimes against humanity through targeted assaults on civilian lives and property. The junta soldiers have showed no mercy. Villagers from Ywa Thit, Kawkareik Twsp reported that they had unearthed a disabled villager killed and buried by the junta soldiers. U Aung Myint had physical handicaps. While the battalions were operating in his village, he could not run. The soldiers killed him for no reason.

Family members also continue to be taken as hostages. On October 23 in Dawei at about 8 PM, a group of junta security forces entered into the house of Daw Mar Mar Thet and abducted her. They came and looked for Ma Pan Ei Phyu, one of the daughters of Daw Mar Mar Thet. But Pan Ei Phyu was in hiding, and they arrested her Mom as a hostage. The next day, junta troops arrested another three people, including a 7-year-old child who are family members of Daw Mar Mar Thet and Ma Pan Ei Phyu. They’re all residents of Daung Ngu Ward, Dawei.  

Young people are also being indiscriminately targeted. Two young civilians from No. 2 Ward, Hpa-an Township, Karen State were just abducted and brought to prison. Military intelligence grabbed a young woman and man from Ahmat Hnit ward. The troops came with three trucks into Ward No.2, arrested them after checking their mobile smartphones. They were about 20 years old and are likely being held at Hpa-An prison in Karen State. 

Murderous acts are ongoing as junta troops killed two young civilians who were detained on October 23. Ko Htet Wai Naing, 23, and Ko Than Soe Oo, 23 were the residents of Ottaran Ward, Dawei. They were killed on Yay-Wai street. Both bodies had gunshot wounds. Families were informed to claim their bodies on the 24th.  

Meanwhile, abductions and arbitrary arrests of anyone the junta deems suspicious have resulted in rising levels of fear. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes for safety and security reasons.

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas (October: Week Three)

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 Dawei District.

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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas (Second Week of October)

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 Dawei District.

Internal displacement, which has been fuelled by the junta, has increased in HURFOM target areas. A teenage student, Min Htet Kyaw, 16, a resident of Mudon, Mon State was reportedly abducted from his home by junta security troops at 10 pm on October 13, 2021. The reason for the arrest remains unknown, according to his friend from Mudon. 

Another young student, Hnin Pwint Madee, 17, was also abducted by the junta around 10 pm on October 13 from her parent’s house after the troops checked her mobile phone. Madee is also a resident of Mudon, Mon, State. Of those arrested, two were from Mudon, three from Hpa-An and one from Southern Ye. Those injured were from state-sponsored torture.

Most of the Mae-Kae villagers have been fleeing their homes since September 29th. More so since the neighbouring village, Kywe-Chan, was invaded and looted by the junta’s Light Infantry Battalions 406, 407. As of October 13, 2021, over 6000 local residents have been forced to flee. Amid ongoing human rights violations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders held a summit on 15 October to discuss the junta’s attendance at an upcoming summit at the end of the month. HURFOM joined human rights organizations in urging ASEAN to not extend an invitation to the murderous regime, as it is clear that the military has displayed a flagrant lack of respect for ASEAN. It was decided at the meeting that the junta would not be invited, in what was a victory for the people. 

As the violence worsens amid the eight month of the coup, the international community still has pathways to hold the junta accountable available. Silence on the matters inside the country sets an unfortunate precedent which emboldens the junta to commit human rights violations with impunity.

Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas (First Week of October, 2021)

Weekly update on situation in Karen, Mon & Dawei since the coup:

• 33+ Arrested
• 26+ Detained
• 5+ Injured
• 0 Killed
  Family members are increasingly being arrested in place of wanted #CDM activists and anti-military #HRDs. HURFOM calls for the release of all detainees.

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Arbitrary arrests continuing in Tanintharyi Region

On 4 October, HURFOM documented 5 cases of arbitrary arrests & abductions in #Dawei as the junta continues to target young people and their families.

Arbitrary arrests of young people increased in HURFOM targeted areas

Over the last, we HURFOM observed a significant increase in arbitrary arrests, particularly of young people. We call for:

1. The immediate release of all political prisoners
2. An immediate cessation of junta violence
3. A retreat of all soldiers from civilian areas

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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas (Fourth Week of September)

HURFOM: Civilians are being targeted across the country as systematic violence by the junta continues to be perpetrated with impunity and without consequences. Over the last week, a 27-year-old was shot by junta security forces in Chaung Taung toll gate, Ye Township, Mon State. The victim, Ye Naing Oo, is originally from Khaw Zar, Ye, and the reason the junta shot him is still unknown. The incident happened at 7PM on 28 September. Extrajudicial execution against innocent civilians are ongoing in Tanintharyi Region. Myo Min Hteik, 39 years, a resident of Palaw-Kone village, Palaw Township, Myeik District, was found dead with gunshot wounds early October 1st.

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Weekly update on situation in Karen, Mon & Dawei since the coup (Fourth Week of September 2021)

HURFOM: Over the last week, HURFOM has observed women and young in particular are being increasingly targeted for their anti-coup activities. Ma Nilar Aye, a local human rights activist, and her 60-year-old mother were abducted at midnight by Junta Navy command in Ohn Pin Kwin Village, Yebyu, Dawei Region on 24 September. Friends and family who have tried to contact them say they fear they have ‘disappeared’: “At first, we thought they were detained at Kanbauk Police Station. But they are not there, which means they are missing. Our prayers are with her.”

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Weekly update on situation in Karen, Mon & Dawei since the coup: (Third Week of September 2021)

HURFOM:

Tensions in HURFOM target areas are growing. The escalation of violence by the junta, combined with their exertion of control by intimidating and threatening civilians has isolated communities. The threats to everyday safety are growing exponentially. Young people in particular are at risk.

Maung Yin Min Khant, a 16-year-old boy living in Kadat Nge Htein Village in Loung lone Township in Tanintharyi Region, was shot to death by the junta security forces, who set up a camp at the village monastery, on the evening of September 17th. The targeting has forced many into hiding, but even then, their safety cannot be guaranteed. Two young civilians were abducted by junta Security Forces from their hiding places in Hpa-an this week. According to a witness, the two were affiliated with the Civil Disobedience Movement from a government department and had been in hiding since May. The soldiers and police brought them from Ward #6 to Taung Kalay prison. On September 17 at 1 PM, Ma Cho Cho Phyo, a 3rd-year student from Dawei University was arrested according to Dawei Students Union. The junta and security forces came to her house in Akani Village, Yebyu Township to arrest her brother. But he already escaped. The troops abducted her instead. Six students have been abducted, including a tutor from Dawei University, within this week, according to Dawei University students’ Union. The junta also abducted five youth from Shwe Myaing Thiri ward, Mawlamyine, Mon State on September 18th. The reason for the arrest remains unknown.

The recent armed conflicts between the Junta Forces and PDF created approximately 1,200 IDPs in Tanintharyi Region. Residents have been forced to flee from Kyae-Zu-Daw, Sar-Khae, and Pane-Nae-Taung villages since last month. According to a source who works for a food aid group in Dawei Region, most of them are still terrified to return home: “In some areas, like eastern Palaw Township, people have started to face starvation,” said a source. “We heard that some aid groups are trying to reach out to us to help, but the Burma Tatmadaw battalions are blocking them,” a Karen National Union member said.

Locals fear returning home because the tactics by the Burmese Army, which include arresting and conscripting villagers are prevalent as military tensions increase in Mon State. HURFOM has documented dozens of cases of civilians being arbitrarily detained and taken to unknown locations. According to residents, the military has occupied more and more troops in most wards and quarters in Hpa-an, Karen State as more troops are deployed with armed ex-military servants and militia forces in nearly every quarter in town, one local source said: “The Karen State Junta Administrators said they want to provide ‘Security’ for residents. However, we feel more unsafe living with them. the more they are deploying in the areas, the more chance of human rights abuses will occur,” A 38-year-old ethnic Karen from Hpa-an expressed.

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