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Forced Conscription Drive Takes Toll on Local Communities

In response to record losses of Burma Army soldiers by the opposition forces and defections of soldiers and commanders, as well as economic turmoil and rising poverty as a result of nationwide conflict, it was declared that the 2010 People’s Military Service Law, mandating conscription, would be enforced for the first time since it was passed.

Since this announcement, young men and women have fled to neighboring countries for their safety. However, countries like Thailand have enforced stricter screening mechanisms for Burmese citizens entering. For those remaining inside Burma, the junta has taken additional steps to prevent young people from leaving by denying individuals between the ages of 23 and 35 the opportunity to depart from Yangon by air. This action follows a similar enforcement in May when the military junta temporarily banned all men from working abroad.

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Junta Targets Political Opposition Members

During the second week of August, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) reported on several cases of civilians continuing to be targeted in the offensives perpetrated by the junta. The same criminal acts of terror are being used by the Burma army to evoke fear and uncertainty. This has included the targeting of opposition members. These politically motivated arrests speak to the deep and long-held concerns of members of the regime who fear democracy more than bullets.

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

Flooding in Southeastern Burma Adds to Daily Challenges for Locals

HURFOM: Now, more than halfway through the year, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to report worrying increases in the widespread crimes being perpetrated against innocent civilians by the junta. By the end of July, HURFOM’s June monthly overview numbers had doubled. The reported figures are as follows: 107 people were arbitrarily arrested, 52 were injured, 110 were mistreated, and nearly 60 were killed. In addition, 75,000 people were forced to leave their homes due to violence by the junta as they intensified their offensives in local areas, with 120 homes damaged in July alone.

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

Aerial and Ground Bombardments Threaten Civilian Security

The Burma Army continues daily mass killings nationwide. HURFOM noted disturbing cases of civilians killed in junta bombings. The assaults, both aerial and ground, persist unchecked and demand urgent international intervention.

HURFOM reported an alarming increase in attacks in Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. Locals are being killed while in their homes and tending to their livelihoods. Recently, on July 20th, a farmer from Nyaung Zin village was fatally shot by military junta forces at the Shwe Gu bridge checkpoint in Tha Yet Chaung Township, Dawei District.

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

Increased Surveillance and Privacy Rights are Under Attack

Last week, the junta banned the well-known messaging application Signal. Signal has strong end-to-end encryption that keeps communication completely private. Activists, organizations, and human rights defenders in Burma commonly use it to carry out their activities safely. The Burma Army has tried to censor the flow of information many times in the past to prevent witnesses to the horrors they are committing and, therefore, attempt to shield themselves from consequences. 

Promptly after the attempted coup, the Burma Army moved to ensure access to Facebook was no longer accessible to stop organizing efforts. The terrorist regime has continued to block social networks also to hide the crimes they are violently committing against innocent people. 

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

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.

As the military junta in Burma continues to commit widespread human rights violations, civilians are constantly fleeing to seek shelter and protection. Worryingly, the Burma Army has also intensified its surveillance tactics and is adding checkpoints to critical routes and then extorting those trying to pass. This comes amid rising inflation, including rice prices, which have left families struggling to survive.

At least thirteen villagers have been arrested, with some killed and others missing. Over the past week, junta troops entered Yebyu Township, capturing and killing several villagers while leaving others unaccounted for. Residents from the Zar Dee village tract, located in the Kan Bauk area and Dawei Special Economic Zone, reported the abductions and subsequent killings. Locals discovered the bodies of the captured and killed villagers.

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

Throughout the first week of July, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) observed worrying patterns of violence against women and girls in target areas of Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region.

At the end of June, HURFOM’s latest volume of ‘Voice Up’ also presented evidence of the rise in targeted gendered attacks. Further, a new report released by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar on the gendered impacts of the coup found, “The threat of sexual and gender-based violence is a dark shadow that follows women, girls, and LGBT people throughout Myanmar.”

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

Political Prisoners Protest Denial of Care and Neglect

Life for the people in Burma continues to be increasingly challenging. However, the junta’s terror tactics have not silenced or deterred the ongoing movement in the country for peace and democracy, including in the target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. Even in the junta-run prisons where thousands of political prisoners remain unjustly detained, they continue to demand their rights and freedoms.

On the evening of June 12th, protests erupted inside Kyaikmayaw Central Prison in Mon State due to the denial of care for an injured prisoner who was ordered to perform welding work on a two-story building during a rainstorm. The inmate was electrocuted, fell, and lost consciousness.

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

Insecurity Caused by the Military Junta Undermine Education Pathways

The impacts of the ongoing conflict in Southeastern Burma continue to devastate communities and separate families. The junta’s forcibly enacted Conscription Law has only contributed further to the worsening state of unrest and uncertainty. In target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, local people are fearful of indiscriminate firing, including air and ground attacks, as well as landmines and the possibility of escalated tensions. In the Burma Army’s bid to lose control, they are increasingly targeting innocent people. The impacts have been consequential, including delays to student education pathways.

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

Attacks by the Junta Worsen in Southeast Burma as Civilians are Targeted

​​In the first week of June, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) reported that artillery and airstrikes by the military troops in Bilin and Thaton townships, Mon State, destroyed 12 houses, including a monastery. This information was reported by the Karen National Union (KNU) Central Committee on June 6. In addition, at least fifteen residents were arrested in Kyike Hto Township from May 31 to June 5, 2024.

More than five artillery shells were fired by the 310th Artillery Battalion, causing further damage. Although civilians had to flee their homes, no injuries were reported. On June 3, the 9th Light Infantry Battalion, based in Thaton, fired artillery shells into Yay Wai village, destroying two religious buildings within the village monastery.

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