Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
June 10, 2024
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.
Read moreWeekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
May 27, 2024
Escalation of Conflict in Rakhine State Calls for Support of Targeted and Vulnerable Groups
No one is safe in the presence or custody of the Burma Army. As the situation worsens in Rakhine State, crimes against civilians are being committed by the military junta and Arakan Army. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) joined a statement signed by 195 civil society and revolutionary organizations to condemn and oppose any ethnic armed groups, including Rohingya armed groups, that are collaborating with the terrorist military junta and abusing the public.
HURFOM has witnessed and documented the brutality of the Burma Army in our target areas of Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region. We stand to defend all of those who have been oppressed by all military forces. Ethnic revolution organizations, in particular, have a moral obligation to protect their communities from the violence deployed by the junta. The Arakan Army is no exception.
Read moreHURFOM Weekly Update: Targeting of Civilians by the Junta Increases in Tanintharyi Region
May 20, 2024
HURFOM, Third Week of May 2024
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) is deeply concerned over the escalation of attacks by the Burma Army against civilians in the Tanintharyi region. In the last week alone, aerial and ground attacks increased in Yebyu and Tha Yat Chaung, which forced more than 100 people to flee, including pregnant women and children.
In areas like Kanet Thiri, Gone Nyin Sate, Thae Lan, Chaung Wa Pyin, Sone Sin, and Se Taw, where revolutionary forces are fighting to take control, the junta has launched marine and air strikes, forcing thousands of residents to flee.
Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
May 13, 2024
HURFOM, Second Week of May 2024
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.
Analysis
Arbitrary arrests and abductions by the military junta continue to threaten the local livelihoods of innocent people. The surge in enforced disappearances comes amid the forced conscription enactment across the country. Since the Burma Army announced the People’s Service Law would go into effect, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has found ongoing rights violations being perpetrated in target areas of Southeastern Burma.
Read moreWeekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
May 6, 2024
HURFOM, First Week of May 2024
The military junta continues to commit widespread human rights violations. In target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region, civilians are feeling increasingly unsafe as the Burma Army shows threatening behaviour and actions. In the wake of the newly enacted Conscription Law, arbitrary arrests and forced abductions have been on the rise. As the regime continues to forcibly enlist recruits at all costs, HURFOM is concerned that the human rights situation will worsen.
On April 29th, the military deployed six vehicles and a bulldozer to strategically destroy and block the road between Kan Bauk and Nabu Lae. The operation commenced around noon when they used the bulldozer and an excavator to sever the road, creating ditches and piling up soil to obstruct passage. This disruption occurred near a bridge on the Zadi-Khaung Pyan road, a crucial connection between Kan Bauk Township and Nabu Lae village.
Read moreWeekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
April 22, 2024
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.
Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
April 15, 2024
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.
Read moreWeekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
April 8, 2024
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.
Read moreWeekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
March 25, 2024
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.
Read moreHURFOM Releases a New Report: “Voice Up” A Gendered Overview of the Human Rights Situation in SE Burma
March 21, 2024
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.’
Read more
Latest Headlines
- Child killed by landmine in Dawei
- Junta sentences social worker to 10-year imprisonment in Kyike Hto
- Woman steps on landmine and lose her left foot in Tenasserim
- November 2024: Escalated Attacks Across Southeastern Burma, including Artillery Shelling, Airstrikes and Arson, Threaten Civilian Security
- Junta issues directive to increase conscription numbers through arrests
- The Human Rights Foundation of Monland Condemns Reports of Extortion and Abuse of Power by Prison Authorities in Southeastern Burma
- Junta seals and seized freelance reporter’s house after arrest and killing him
- Junta shoots and kills local man in Yebyu
- Pregnant woman sustains serious injury in a shooting incident in Ah Sin village
- Voice Up IV: A Gendered Lens on Human Rights in Southeastern Burma (Sep-Nov 2024)
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