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

HURFOM | May Week One

The first week of May in Southeastern Burma was met with more air and ground attacks by the Burmese military. The targeting of civilians remains ongoing as lives continue to be caught in the crossfire of artillery shelling and indiscriminate firing into local areas. In addition, junta forces increased their operation of thirty-seven checkpoints along the Tanintharyi Highway and have been committing illegal taxation and extortion against travelers and vehicle drivers, according to local sources and those using this 180-mile-long motor highway.

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Armed Administrators threaten villagers with their guns in Mudon

HURFOM: Since January 31, 2023  when the military junta passed a law granting some people  the right to bear arms January 31, 2023, many village and ward Administrators in Mudon Township, Mon State obtained guns.

Local villagers reported to HURFOM that those Administrators have threatened them with their guns and aggressively abused them.

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Junta cuts off telecommunications in Three Pagoda Pass

HURFOM: On April 21, 2023, the military junta cut off all telecommunications in Three Pagoda Pass (TPP), Kyarinnseikyi Township, in Karen State. TPP is a border trade town located on the Thai-Burma border.

“Telecommunication has been cut off for six days. When entering Three Pagoda Pass, we can access telecommunication services provided by Thai operators but telecommunications of Burmese operators is completely cut off,” said a driver who travels from Mawlamyine to Three Pagoda Pass.

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Monthly Overview: New Year ‘Thingyan’ Activities Are Marred by Violence, Military Impunity by the Junta

Human Rights Foundation of Monland | April 2023

Every year for decades, the Burmese New Year has been celebrated in April. Once a celebration inviting festivities and tradition is now profoundly darkened by the cruel actions of the junta. Since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021, the people of Burma have rejected the regime’s pursuits to defend the realities on the ground as ‘normal.’ One of the ways the military has tried to show its legitimacy is by propping up holidays such as Thingyan. In response, civilians have boycotted their events and participated in ‘Silent Strikes’ to demonstrate the ongoing rejection of the military.

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Since martial law imposed, nearly 100 motorbike stolen in Ye

HURFOM: Since martial law was imposed in Ye in February, 2023, nearly 100 motorbikes have disappeared in Ye Township, Mon State, local villagers reported to HURFOM.

50 motorbikes alone were stolen in Du Yar, Pa Line Thein, Hnee Hnu, Thar Ga Ram and Ham Gam villages in Southern Ye Township. 

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

HURFOM | April Week Three

In an ongoing wave of violence, civilians continued to be targets of the military junta. Young people, men, and boys, are regularly rounded up by the soldiers where they are violently questioned, tortured and often killed. Orders to ‘crush the resistance’ from the coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing, continue to fuel unprecedented rates of violence. Fear and the ongoing bombings from the various junta-backed battalions are growing causes of displacement, where over one million are displaced across the country.

Violence did not slow or stop even during the traditional Thingyan holidays. The junta shot at two young people during the annual festivities in Palaw Township, Southern Tanintharyi Region. On April 16, witnesses said that at 9:30 AM, a young man and a woman in their 20s riding a motorcycle were fired at during their mandatory sentry duty. They both are residents of Palaw. The young woman was injured by a bullet shaft in her stomach, and the man was hurt in the head,” according to reports. During Thingyan, the Burma Army soldiers killed at least five people in the Tanintharyi region.

Two young men were confirmed arbitrarily murdered after the Junta forces abducted and accused them as members of local armed resilience members during Water Festival Celebration holidays in Panga village, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State. A 35-year-old Social Worker from Panga village said these two young victims were strangers from unknown places, and the Junta Security troops captured them near Panga village on April 18, 2023. They were tortured before they were killed.

HURFOM reporters confirmed the names of these young victims as Maung Arkar Minn, 16, and Aung Myo Htet, 21.  “Where is the rule of law? We are being deprived of our rights,” asked a civilian.

While soldiers continued their murder spree, the Junta’s Correctional Department in Mon State began releasing over 220 prisoners to mark the Burmese traditional New Year festival on April 17 and 18. However, HURFOM confirmed that no political prisoners were removed from the prisons located in Mon State.

“As usual, the junta prioritizes releasing those with drug-related offensives and petty crimes,” according to a young volunteer lawyer in Mawlamyine.

“Hundreds of young political prisoners involved in this revolution have been detained in Kyaikmayaw Prison. All must be freed,” said the mother of a young prisoner.

Unfounded suspicions also encouraged the regime to add more chaos during the festivities by arresting people without cause. Residents in Bilin Township, Mon State, informed HURFOM that at least eight young people from two villages were detained for allegedly being involved in the explosion of two bombs on 16 April, the eve of Burma’s New Year.

On April 16, a homemade bomb exploded near Taung Gyi and Taung Zun Villages. The junta arbitrarily abducted four youths from Taung Gyi Village and another four young villagers from Taung Zun Village. The families and community leaders cannot visit those detained. They are negotiating with the police to see them.

Due to the explosion, the local social response team confirmed that at least four residents, including a 10-year-old boy, were injured. Some buildings were also damaged. With these latest arrested youths, the junta has detained at least 20 people since January 2023.

As of 23 April 2023, due to the recent fighting in Tanintharyi Township, at least 3,500 residents from seven villages are fleeing and in need of assistance, said residents who fled the war. In Karen State, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people were displaced, and hundreds of thousands were already made to run. Battles in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, ran from the new armed clashes in Mekanae areas, Brigade No. 6:

“The junta forces were firing long-range rockets into the villages for hours into the night,” according to HURFOM reporters in Karen areas. Emergency response team members said that at least 500 new arrivals were received in Thaton areas of Mon State.

Military extrajudicially killing in Thanbyuzayat

HURFOM: On April 18, 2023, the Burmese military arrested two individuals suspected of plotting a bombing in Pa Nga village, Thanbyuzayat Township, in Mon State. The military did not charge the suspects or bring them to court, instead they killed them.

Thanbyuzayat residents criticized the misconduct of the military and questioned if their township is under martial law.

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Plantation owner kidnapped by unknown armed group in Lamine

HURFOM: At approximately 10 am on April 17, 2023, a 40-year-old resident from Gone Paw Yaw Thit village, Lamine Sub-township, Ye Township, in Mon State was kidnapped by an unknown armed group. The victim is the owner of a plantation.

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

HURFOM | Week Two

Despite the annual traditional Thingyan celebrations, typically when the people of Burma participate in various New Year activities and ceremonies, the junta has once again given no reason to celebrate. The brutal presence of the military junta has quieted all plans, and boycotts have seen empty streets where barricades are placed. The violence by the Burma Army continues to escalate. During the last week in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland reported on more volatile crimes committed with impunity. Women, children, and the elderly, in particular, were targeted. The situation is dire and requires an immediate response.

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Two villagers shot and injured on Ye – Thanbyuzayat Highway Road

HURFOM: At approximately 11 am on April 10, 2023, two villagers were shot and injured on the Ye – Thanbyuzayat Highway Road near Lane Maw Chan village, in Ye Township, Mon Sate.

The victims were shot while traveling in a vehicle when they were returning home from Three Pagoda Pass.

The bullet penetrated the waist of the man while the woman sustained a bullet wound to her leg. Both victims were sent to Ye General Hospital for further treatment.

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