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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Two: April 2022]

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

The violence by the military junta is fueling a refugee crisis. In Karen State, airstrikes and heavy artillery fire has led to over more than 600 internally displaced people in Kawkareik township, Karen State. Those fleeing are in desperate need of food, shelter, medicine and life-saving materials. However, the situation is worsened by the fact that the Thai authorities are blocking pathways to aid and turning back displaced people directly back into a conflict zone.

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Attacks Against Burma’s Health Workers Must Cease Immediately; Protection Must be Granted to Those in Hiding and Facing Unjust Charges

On World Health Day, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) strongly condemns ongoing violence which targets health workers in Burma by the military junta. Frontline medics, including nurses, doctors and first responders have taken exceptional risks to treat injured protesters, civilians and armed resistance soldiers who have been harmed by the Burma Army. Their courage is being tested on a daily basis as the junta cracks down on those involved with pro-democracy activities. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, some 600 medics have been forced into evading arrest warrants issued for them by the junta. Over 200 medical students have been arrested since 1 February 2021. 

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Methamphetamine tablets (WY) tablets get cheaper while commodity prices rise

HURFOM: As a consequence of the military coup, commodity prices are increasing dramatically every day across Burma.   Meanwhile, across Mon State, the prices for WY(methamphetamine) tablets are dropping,  and there is easy availability.

A WY tablet was priced at just over 1,000 Kyat but now the price is around 800 Kyat.

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Power cuts impacting student’s capacity to study in lead up to matriculation exam period

HURFOM: The Ministry of Education, which is controlled by the military junta, is moving forward with plans to hold the 2021-22 academic matriculation exams from March 31 to April 9, 2022.

Students are upset with the decision because the power cuts have been occurring with more frequency and outages last for longer periods of time making it extremely difficult to prepare for their exams.

Some individuals who assist students to prepare for their exams have had to buy a generator to provide electricity for the students.

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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week One: April 2022]

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

By the end of March 2022, HURFOM had documented a total of 12,177 people who have been displaced due to indiscriminate firing and shelling by the Burma Army in Kawkareik Township, alone. According to end of month summary documentation, there were at least 67 civilians arrested, 50 detained, 23 injured and 8 killed in target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Dawei.

This week violence perpetrated by the junta, which targeted civilians, killed two boys in Thaton Township Kamar Sai Village. Artillery shells were fired during clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army on the morning of March 29 near the Rangoon-Mawlamyine highway, locals said. A forty-year old man was also shot in the abdomen. Over the week, civilians once again were caught in the crossfire of fighting in Taungkyainn village, Kawkareik Township. The homes of local people and a temple, including a monastery, were damaged by heavy artillery shelling by the military. HURFOM contacted some villagers, requesting the destruction of house information in Taungkyainn village on April 1 morning. Many homes are affected. The junta opened fire toward the village, and some motor shells smashed the monastery.

No one feels safe or secure in Burma, especially amid the lingering of pro-junta forces, such as plain-clothed police officers and informers. Fighting across all of HURFOM’s target areas of Mon and Karen States and the Tanintharyi region reflect the military junta’s lack of sincerity to any kind of peace building initiative. As HURFOM documented in our December 2021 report, the Burma Army is undoubtedly on a ‘trajectory of terror.’ Civilians are regularly abducted, extorted and deprived of the most basic of human rights.

Power cuts and decline in charitably supports making water shortages more severe

HURFOM: As summer approaches, access to drinking water is coming under increasing threat in Mon State.  In addition, frequent power cuts and a decline in the number of charity groups providing drinking water is making a bad situation much worse.

“We are facing a water shortage problem, and power cuts are happening for half a day or nearly the whole day. Before the coup, there were many charity groups providing drinking water. But this year is different — we see no help. Some members of charity groups have to stay in hiding from the military, while some are being  arrested. That’s why the annual water shortage crisis is getting worse in our area,” said a resident who lives in Myine Thar Yar Ward, Mawlamyine.

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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Four: March 2022]

Indiscriminate firing last week led to the death of a 17yr old Karen teenager as civilians continue to be targeted. Consequences await the junta.

Full Analysis:

As the month of March comes to an end, in HURFOM targeted areas there continues to be ongoing threats to survival and civilian safety and security. The war being forced upon innocent people has led to hundreds of thousands displaced across the country leaving many in crippling levels of poverty. Inflation has crippled households who are struggling to provide for their families with the bare minimum. Civil society organizations have attempted to fill these gaps, however, the ongoing blocks of aid and humanitarian assistance have made basic provision of services and delivery extremely difficult, and high risk.

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Military tightens security after killing activist: Villagers feel unsafe while traveling

HURFOM: On March 18, 2022, there was a shooting incident in Wae Paung village, Ye Township, Mon State.   The incident took place near the New Mon State Party (NMSP) controlled area.

A People Defense Force (PDF) vehicle broke down,  and members of the PDF were repairing the vehicle near a gasoline shop at the entrance of Wae Paung. The Burmese military responded by shooting at the PDF forces.

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Additional charge for street lighting burden Lamine residents

HURFOM: Privately owned companies that distribute and sell electricity in Ye Township, Mon State have been steadily increasing electricity fees month after month,  citing the rise in gasoline as the reason for the price hikes to consumers.

Bedok Construction & Engineering Co. Ltd, who distribute electricity in Lamine Sub-township and the nearby Kawdut village,  is also collecting an “extra fee” for street lights.   Local villages  see this as  unfair.

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Weekly Update in HURFOM Targeted Areas [Week Three: March 2022]

HURFOM: Weekly update on the situation in Karen, Mon & Dawei since the attempted coup:
13+ Arrested
9+ Detained
9+ Inured
4+ Killed

Civilians are unlawfully being targeted & charged in military-backed courts where justice has been delayed, denied, and dismissed.

Full Analysis:

In HURFOM target areas of Mon and Karen States, as well as Tanintharyi region, civilians have experienced mounting terror and intimidation tactics by the unlawful junta. Innocent people continue to be unlawfully arrested and charged in courts that are closed to the public which evokes the very spirit of authoritarian rule and judgment.

A school teacher involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Khok Khwar village, Kyaninseki Township, Karen State was sentenced to 17 years in prison on three counts. Ko Hein Htet Aung was a primary school teacher who had joined the CDM. His court hearings were finalized on 9 March by a military junta backed court in Hpa-An, Taung Kale Prison. The court decision also included hard labor. The charges include Section 505 of the Penal Code, and Section 52a of the Anti-Terrorism Law. Two young activists in Dawei have also been sentenced to 12 years in prison each by the junta-backed Dawei prison court on March 14. These two strike leaders and activists, Ko Pai Khant Zaw, 19, and Ko Set Mai Soe, 24, were arrested in Dawei and detained since May last year.

In Mon State, a young man only 21 years old, along with his friends were stopped, searched and arbitrarily abducted by the junta near Ye Township highway station on 14 March. They were alleged to be affiliated with local civilian defense forces. Midnight raids in Ye Township, Mon State in particular are ongoing. On 16 March at 10:30 PM, Ko Yi Htay and another two residents from Yan Gyi Aung Ward were abducted after their homes were raided. A couple days there on 18 March, former National League for Democracy (NLD) Chairman, U Kyaw Moe Aye had his home and property seized by the junta in Ye township. His relatives, including his brother and nephew were arrested. Among the unlawful arrests this week, an elderly 80 year old man, who is well known and experienced in the community, was also abducted in Ye township, despite not having an arrest warrant or any grounds to do so.

At the end of the week, HURFOM documented more horror. At least three innocent local villagers were killed, and seven others injured when artillery shells exploded near a pagoda in Kyauktaung village, Thaton Township, Mon State during a festival. There must be justice and accountability for those who have fallen and lost their lives to such senseless violence.

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