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

First Week of February 2023

This last week, the solemn two-year marking of the coup, was a reminder of the tyranny that continues in Burma due to the junta’s systematic violence. War crimes and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated with impunity and unending force. While the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions to mark the anniversary, these actions came too little too late for the thousands of people killed by the Burma Army. A referral of the military to the International Criminal Court is needed to ensure that there is an end to military rule. 

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to document the severe violations against the rights and freedoms of civilians. In the over 730 days since 1 February 2021, HURFOM has reported that nearly 25,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Southeastern Burma due to conflict between the junta and armed revolution organizations. After they’ve left, their villages are often scorched, belongings looted, and livestock shot and killed. In addition, more than 3000 innocent civilians have been arrested and detained. The numbers of those killed are likely much higher than HURFOM, and other documentation organizations can report safely. 

We condemn the ongoing human rights violations and call for immediate international intervention and for global actors to pursue accountability mechanisms at the highest level, which put an end to military impunity at last. HURFOM also reported that military affairs observers said that the junta’s declaration of martial law in many townships across the country signalled more brutal oppression in pro-democracy groups, civilians, and local resistance armed forces strongholds. 

This week, the junta targeted a 71-year-old local villager who lost one of his legs when he stepped on a landmine while repairing a water pipe near the cable-stayed bridge in Baykalwe village, Ye Township in Southern Mon State. Junta troops lay landmines to prevent their opponents from accessing bridges close to their camps:

“In many cases, the soldiers put the landmines just outside their camp’s fence for protection. We must be cautious about these unseen dangers while working near the battalions,” said a source who wished to remain anonymous.

“It is speculated that mines are often planted near military bases. Three of our villagers had serious injuries in the past, and all became disabled because of the attacks by Light Infantry Battalion No. 586. No group or authorities ever confess these crimes,” said another. 

This latest incident happened on January 30 at about 10 AM. The local social support team cooperated and helped transfer the victim from Lamai Hospital to the 300-bed hospital in Mawlamyine City.

The fighting continues to kill innocent people caught in the crossfire of the violence. The network human rights documentation teams in the region estimated that at least two residents were killed, 17 people were injured, and more than 4,000 people fled the indiscriminate shells launched by four junta bases in Tanintharyi Township:

“From January 24 to January 31, the junta perpetrated war crimes against local civilians. The fighting led to at least five injuries from my village [Banlamut] and four victims from our neighboring village, BawDeekam, three from Mawtone, another three from Uyinkam and at least two from Thamoke Chone village.”

The junta-backed soldiers based in areas such as Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 556, LIB 557, LIB 558, and Artillery Regiments Command No. 306 are the main perpetrators, according to the team receiving the military information from the local armed forces.

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

Fourth Week of January 2023

HURFOM: As the first month of the year 2023 comes to an end, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has continued to document the military junta’s impunity. This is evident in the widespread crimes which are routinely perpetrated against civilians. There is no reliable rule of law in Burma which would hold the soldiers behind the attacks to account. Villagers across Southeastern Burma are uncertain about their futures because they are surrounded by mass instability. The impacts of relentless civil war have led to a severe economic climate that has destroyed employment opportunities. Families forced to flee live in remote areas with their lives at risk daily as the junta increases their presence. Food, medicine, and shelter remain urgent for those living through crises on multiple fronts.

The conflict has driven people to the Thai border desperately for safety. On January 23, at 10 PM, in Three Pagodas Pass, residents fled to Thailand because combat had resumed. About eighty households left for Thailand during the reporting period. The majority have some documents or residence and work permits on the Thai side.  An hour and a half later, four government offices, including the General Administration Department office, were set on fire, according to HURFOM reporters. Fighting has continued to intensify, leaving locals worried about the junta’s use of airstrikes to suppress the joint armed forces.

“I’m terrified that the junta will use their airplanes to fire at us. If they use the jets, we will all be targets and in great danger. There’s nowhere to run. In our lifetimes, we have been forced to flee many times,” said a 50-year-old resident.

According to ground reports, about 400 families in Kyone Dow, Kanni, Thayettaw and Kaw Kyaik villages, Kawkareik, Karen State,  have been forced to flee to safer areas due to the indiscriminate firing of the junta’s heavy weapons into the villages. Many residents said the situation was intolerable as the Light Infantry Battalion 545 and 546 armed forces fired heavy weapons into their villages.

“Artillery shells dropped near my residence three times, and there was no time to collect anything. My husband managed to move the children. We started running away. It’s challenging because we left all the food and things in my village. Meanwhile, the monastery is helping. In the long run, if we can’t go home, it will be difficult to survive and live.” a 37-year-old mother of three children said of the tense situation.

There are 800 houses in Tharataw Village. A total of 4,000 people live there. A network fieldwork team explained that it is difficult to collect a needs assessment because everyone is fleeing. 

The military junta continues to target opposition forces. The people have overwhelmingly rejected the failed coup and remain active in their calls for the military to be dismantled. In response, the Burma Army has not hesitated to silence its critics violently.  At least five local civilians have been arbitrarily abducted by the secret police and military forces in the last five days in Thayet Chaung Township Dawei, according to families and friends of the detainees. On January 20, 2023, police stopped a minibus with fourteen passengers and abducted the driver, Ko Su Kan Nge, age 35, by accusing him of being associated with the local armed groups:

“The driver and the minibus owner were interrogated and arrested on the road to Dawei. The troops questioned the passengers and let them go later. It seems like they are targeting supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement with informers and tracking them,” said a local.

Arbitrary killings remain a source of fear for many as the junta indiscriminately attacks civilians. A 60-year-old resident of Pala, who has been missing since January 12, was shot, and killed in Pala Township, Myeik District, southern Tanintharyi Region. U Loon Khin had been missing since the evening of January 12. His family said he left for a job and never returned. Approximately eight people, including U Loon Khin, were shot dead in Pala Town in the last 12 months. No one has received justice.

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

Third Week of January 2023

HURFOM: As the year’s first month comes to a close, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to observe and document worrying human rights violations across Southeastern Burma. Thousands have been forced to flee their villages as conflict rages, forcing them to seek safety. HURFOM remains seriously considered for their safety and well-being. Our calls to the international community remain steadfast in calling for change and accountability. The internal structures for law and governance inside Burma cannot be trusted, as the military junta has hijacked all prospects for peace. Global justice pathways and consequences for the military junta are the only possible steps forward.

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

Second Week of January 2023

HURFOM: It was another devastating week across Southeastern Burma where the junta violated international law again by deploying an airstrike in Karen State that claimed the life of a young mother and her two-year-old son. The Burma Army is encouraged to commit these atrocity crimes because they continue to face a lack of severe repercussions from the international community.

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

First Week of January 2023

A New Year has begun, but for many, the lives of innocent civilians in Burma have not changed. The junta uses violence as a tool to weaponize submission and enforce fractured laws that do nothing but make a mockery of the justice system. Fighting continues unabated as armed soldiers continue to wreak havoc, destroying all in their path.

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

Fourth Week of December 2022

HURFOM: Despite the Christmas holidays, the Burma Army has not slowed its offensives. The targeting of civilians continues in Southeastern Burma and across the country. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has closely monitored the scaled-up atrocities perpetrated against unarmed residents. Offensives remain unrelenting, and the lives of the most vulnerable are increasingly at risk amid food shortages and freedom of movement restrictions.

The military junta launched a coup two years ago and denied the results of the 2020 election by dubiously claiming significant mistakes with the voter list. The junta is planning to hold an election in 2023. The Union Election Committee, which is controlled by the military, has been collecting names for a new voters’ list via the General Administration Department (GAD). According to sources within the GAD, there is little confidence the new voter list will be accurate because of corruption within the Immigration Department which has been tasked to make national registration cards and a household list of voters. Some names hold two or three different ID cards. “If corruption cannot be eliminated, the voter list won’t be accurate,” said a source close to the township GAD.

It is worth noting that the junta has also been putting pressure on small or ethnic political parties. The UEC recently informed all political parties of an amendment driven by the junta establishing new membership numbers and requiring parties to pay a fee to the UEC.

“It has been a long time since they’ve checked to see if the people in the constituency and those on the household list are the same. Many have different household lists and don’t live in the township they are registered to vote in.”

Clashes throughout the region threaten instability as hopes for a return to normalcy feels all the more distant. Conflict broke out in Padauk-Gyi Village, Thayetchaung Township, Dawei. The junta burned seven houses, opened fire with artillery weapons, and killed a young villager. On December 18 at 10 AM, fighting broke out between the local People’s Defence Forces and the junta in Padauk-Gyii Village. According to the reporters, the military council army burned seven houses and two motorcycles. In the evening after the battle, the junta and their backed militias entered the road leading to the hot springs in Pe-Dak village. A witness said they fired indiscriminately with their guns. A young man was hit in the chest. He bled to death. Due to these new armed conflicts, at least 300 families and villagers are fleeing nearby areas who fear the junta’s indiscriminate gunfire.

Meanwhile, the abductions are creating a growing atmosphere of fear. In Kaw Dut village, Ye Township, Mon State, two young people were arbitrarily arrested by the junta at 8 PM on December 20: “The junta is patrolling our village day and night. There are no People’s Defense Force soldiers here. But two young villagers, our friends, who were using their phones at the public rest house, were abducted. They did nothing wrong. Their motorbike was also seized,” according to a close friend of one of the detainees. They were sent to the Lamine Police Station, a neighboring Town of Kaw Dut village, Northern Ye Mon State. The junta frequently demands ransoms for the release of their loved ones. Human lives should not have a price tag attached to them. They must be granted their universal human rights to live with dignity and peace.

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

Third Week of December 2022

HURFOM: Over the last week, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) reported increasing cases of arbitrary arrests and abductions. The terror tactics deployed by the military junta have resulted in thousands fleeing for safety. Civilians continue to be fired at indiscriminately and lack access to protection pathways. A hijacked justice system has failed to uphold international rights and freedoms. HURFOM fieldworkers on the ground have reported a growing sense of fear and insecurity. 

Hundreds of residents who fled conflicts in their native villages in Bokpyin Township, Tanintharyi Region,  since the last week of November, have not been able to return to their homes, according to reporters in that region. Families are suffering from food shortages. A HURFOM reporter said that between December 4 and 10, the junta forcibly relocated another 400 local villagers living in Yadanap (Mining) village to the Myanmar-Thailand border. Now the number of people is about 700, including children and the elderly, who face risks to their survival as they cannot access medicine and nutritional food.

HURFOM also reported on the rising challenges facing people with disabilities who struggle to find work and secure their livelihoods. Due to political instability, businesses are reducing staff and stopping work, according to those assisting people with disabilities. He added they are working in connection with vocational training institutes to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities, but it is not practical. In addition, people with disabilities who have been stopped from work face difficulties in making a living. It is improbable that the military junta will support those struggling during these times. HURFOM has reported dozens of cases of the military extorting people through ransoms and confiscating possessions. The number of disabled people increased after the military coup due to excessive landmine injuries and other conflict-related wounds.

Travel in Southeastern Burma has also become much more restricted and high-risk. Since the beginning of December 2022, the Junta Administrator of Pu Law Township, Myeik District, Tanintharyi Region, has required all passengers or travellers to show their recommendation letter (travel authorization) at checkpoints. The junta persecutes anyone who has failed to deliver the letter. A recommendation letter costs at least 5,000 Myanmar Kyat, which is exceptionally high for some families, given the financial struggles amid the ongoing political and economic crisis. Since 1 February 2021, administrators appointed by the junta has made extra money by extorting villagers.

One of the reasons so many have remained fearful in their villages is that the junta has not hesitated to fire into civilian areas if they feel provoked or are suspicious of opposition forces hiding. An innocent civilian was shot dead by Junta LIB No. 406 troops in Wagone village, Dawei; according to local sources. Ko Chit, age 35, was found with gun wounds outside the village. The incident occurred on December 11, 2022, at 8:00 PM. A local who spoke to HURFOM said a group of soldiers and their alliances’ militias arrested Ko Chit by tying his hands behind his back and then he started hearing gunshot sounds. They fled and left the body.   The deceased was just an ordinary villager and had no history of being involved or linked with armed groups. 

HURFOM condemns the ongoing violence being perpetrated against innocent civilians. The junta has advanced their attacks because they have yet to be accountable. The people cannot trust the authorities to protect them, which has only added to the anxiety that residents face daily. There must be justice for lost lives and reparations to families. This is only possible through international accountability mechanisms which demand global intervention.

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

Second Week of December 2022

HURFOM: The brutality and scaled-up attacks by the junta across the last week in Southeastern Burma are evidence of the regime’s devastatingly rampant impunity. On Human Rights Day, marked on 10 December, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) issued a statement daring to ask how many more bullets would need to be fired before the international community awoke to the injustices being perpetrated daily against innocent civilians. HURFOM continues to condemn the ongoing attacks and emphasizes our calls for swift action and accountability. People’s lives are quite literally on the line.

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

First Week of December 2022

HURFOM:

By the end of November 2022, the number of those arrested, detained, killed, and injured only continued to increase. Since the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) began documenting the atrocities being perpetrated by the junta following the attempted coup, thousands have faced unjust sentences and civilian life under the regime has only deteriorated further. Safety and security concerns are rising across Southeastern Burma, where the Burma Army has used excessive force to strip communities of their homes, livelihoods, and possessions. Their endless pursuit of power comes at the cost of humanity as over one million people are displaced throughout the country.

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Weekly Overview: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi Region
Fourth Week of November 2022

HURFOM: During the last week of November 2022 in Southeastern Burma, civilians were met with more devastation, fear and havoc by the military junta. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has continued to document human rights violations in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region. Civilians are being increasingly targeted as the Burma Army acts with no moral consciousness or concept of consequences. Soldiers lack humanity and an understanding of basic human rights norms, laws, and principles. Consequently, civilians are forced to face brutal assaults. Women, children, and the elderly are not sparred, nor are sacred sites such as religious places of worship (monasteries, churches, etc.).

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On November 19, beginning at 5 AM, an estimated 120 junta soldiers from the Costal Regiment Command, based along the Dawei to Htee-Khee highway motorway, indiscriminately fired several mortar shells at the village located beside the highway. Due to these cruel armed attacks launched by the Junta forces, at least two villagers were injured, and more than ten houses were destroyed, according to sources on the ground.

Hundreds of villagers from three villages located in the areas, such as the village from Thingan-Ton, Wa Kone, and Leik-Kyae-Pyaung, were forced to flee the artillery attacks. Villagers said that in Wakone, the Burma Army ransacked the road with artillery weapons and occupied the areas.

One villager described the scene as ‘bullets falling like rainfall.” They continued, “It seems like the junta troops attempted to fire everywhere because they believed that the soldiers of the People’s Defense Forces were located in our villages.” Two young men, Myo Nyunt and Ko Myo, working on betel nut plantations near Wakone village, were hit by artillery shells and injured in their backs and neck. 

A resident from Leik-Kyae-Pyaung village said that the junta forces opened fire with heavy weapons, entered their village, broke the ownerless houses, raided at least ten places, and stole food and clothes. Only two weeks ago, more than 30 houses in Wakone village were broken down, and their belongings and materials were stolen.

Young people are being subjected to ongoing arrests, and unlawful detainment as the Burma Army carries out its campaign of fear and terror. Since November 19, eight youths have been abducted in a series of raids and search operations of suspected organizers of the ongoing silence strikes by the junta forces in Dawei District.

Family members of those arrested complained that because they captured the suspects without specific information, irrelevant people were affected. On November 20, Ma Khin Lay Nwe, a young woman, age 26, was arrested by the military intelligence and police forces. Her family maintains her innocence, saying she has opened a beauty shop in her home. A witness, age 30, told HURFOM in light of all the arrests, he suspects the military has not been successful in finding those responsible for planning and organizing the silence strikes. HURFOM confirmed that those who were forcibly arrested are still being detained at the Long Lon police station. Families believed these young detainees were tortured by the polices and jail authorities while interrogated.

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The junta has also not hesitated to shoot with intent to kill. On 20 November, around 2 PM in Long Lon township, the Burma Army was inspecting pedestrians in front of the Public Hospital in Long Lon, when they opened fire on two young men on a motorcycle. One of them was seriously injured in his back. The other was caught and arrested. In that incident, the junta forces shot at two other innocent teenagers walking on the road. The two victims are siblings from Tha-byar Village; residents stated that 15-year-old Maung Wei Yan Aung died from a gunshot wound at the hospital.

 These attacks are further evidence of the impunity of the military junta.

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