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

HURFOM | April Week One

Despite the annual New Year festivities celebrating ‘Thingyan,’ the military forces of the Burma Army have not hesitated to continue their crackdown on civilians as they continue to target alleged opposition forces. Martial Law, in particular, has been imposed in several townships where the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) is documenting rights abuses. After the junta’s martial law imposition in southern Mon State, the number of people killed and wounded by gunshots has increased in the areas between Ye Township Mon and Yebyu, of Tanintharyi Region. Injuries and death rates are also rising as punishment for violating them.

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

Fourth Week of March 2023

HURFOM: Indiscriminate firing continues to target civilians. Over the last week, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) documented several incidents where innocent people were targeted by the junta and killed. A trajectory of violence, particularly in the Tanintharyi region, has caused widespread fear and uncertainty among local people.

On 21 March 2023, over 130 homes were burned to the ground in Long Lon Township, Dawei and six people were shot and killed after being taken into military custody by LIB 407 and 273 on 4 March 2023. Days later, the HURFOM reporters network confirmed that an innocent local villager was shot and killed in Long Lon Township.  Joint troops of the junta’s battalions then burned down more than a hundred houses in two villages. Yet again, on 21 March 2023, residents said a male villager was shot dead in Yange’ village, Thayet-Chaung Township, Dawei, around 6:00 PM. The victim, U Htun Wai was over 60 years old, and was fired at by four unknown gunmen on two motorcycles.

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

Third Week of March 2023

HURFOM: The military junta is targeting women and children across Burma. In documentation areas of Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi region, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to document the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the junta. Most recently, HURFOM fieldworkers reported that an innocent 6-year-old boy from Shwe Yaung Pya village died after being hit in the head by artillery mortars fired indiscriminately by No. 314 Artillery Regiment Command base in Zee-Won village, Bilin, Mon State.

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

Second Week of March 2023

HURFOM: International Women’s Day was marked on 8 March 2023. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) called for an end to military impunity, and condemned the junta’s ongoing crimes of gendered violence. Since the failed coup on 1 February 2021, HURFOM has documented the murders of over 65 women, 190 injuries and 700 arbitrary arrests. In addition, out of 125 total enforced disappearances since the coup in Southeastern Burma, 30 have been women in HURFOM target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region.

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

First Week of March 2023

The Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) released a new report this week, which estimated the total of internally displaced people in Karen State at over 500,000.  Documentation by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) supports their findings as increased violence by the junta across Southeastern Burma continues to threaten the lives of civilians.

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

Fourth Week of February 2023

HURFOM: Across Southeastern Burma, civilians remain in crisis. Internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled their villages in Karen State were again attacked by the junta while seeking safety. On February 19, around midnight, the junta air force shelled an area where IDPs temporarily sheltered in the southern part of Kawkareik, Brigade 6 of the Karen National Union (KNU). At least three IDPs, including a child, were injured. A local service provider team member confirmed that three individuals, Naw Hla Htwe, age 36, Saw Pha Kyaw Do, age 44, and a 14-year-old girl, were struck in the attack. 

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

Third Week of February 2023

The year 2023 has continued to be marked with violence against the people in Burma. In Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi region, civilians are relentlessly being attacked by artillery shells and the bullets of the junta’s indiscriminate firing. Destruction of property, including the burning of villages, is ongoing. Thousands more are being forced to flee their homes daily as military impunity, and a lack of international action only encourage the junta to commit more atrocity crimes.

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

Second Week of February 2023

HURFOM: The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) remains concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Southeastern Burma. Villagers in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region have repeatedly told fieldworkers that they do not feel safe or secure. As the junta continues to increase their presence in civilian areas, the cause for concern becomes all the more urgent. Across the second week of February 2023, the military junta committed more widespread violations with impunity. 

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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.

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