During 2024 until December the junta committed 2,835 human rights violations in areas of Karen State traditionally mainly under the control of Karen National Union (KNU).
The revelation comes from a report, ‘Children and Families in Tragedy: Massacres in Kawthoolei’ published by the KNU Human Rights Committee (KHRC) on 10 December 2024, International Human Rights Day. It was released to raise public awareness of the junta's war crimes in Kawthoolei Region and to encourage greater public participation in the pursuit of justice, according to the KHRC.
The region called Kawthoolei by the KNU refers to the areas of Karen State, Mon State, Tanintharyi and Ayeyarwady regions that the KNU regards as the Karen homeland. Traditionally it has been mainly under the control of the KNU, though there has always been some Myanmar military presence in parts of the area.
Naw Blooming Night Zan, a KHRC spokeswoman said: “The purpose of publishing this report on International Human Rights Day is to encourage everyone to honour the day, uphold human rights, and put an end to violations. This message is particularly relevant to our Karen State, where serious human rights violations continue. We urge the people of Karen State, as well as all people across Myanmar, to unite in condemning these violations and hold those responsible accountable.”
She added that it is essential to systematically document the junta’s human rights abuses so that action can be taken against the abusers in the future and so that the public can be educated about the human rights abuses that are currently happening.
The report revealed that the junta had committed human rights abuses across all seven of the KNU Districts in Kawthoolei Region.
One incident highlighted in the report was when a junta airstrike on 19 July 2024 hit a monastery in Ngapuinn Village, in the KNU district of Dooplaya, which roughly corresponds to the Myanmar district of Kawkareik. At the time of the airstrike people at the monastery were making preparations to receive donations and five men, five women and five children were killed.
The report also detailed massacres by the junta that happened in 2023.
One of these was when junta soldiers entered Nyaungpinthar Village in Mone Township and brutally massacred 19 villagers after five junta soldiers had been killed in fighting between the junta and a combined force of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and resistance forces in Mone Township.
The 19 villagers killed by the junta included 11 women and four five-year-old children. There were also elderly and disabled people amongst the killed. Before leaving Nyaungpinthar Village the junta soldiers piled up the bodies and burned them.
The KHRC was established by the KNU at the 16th KNU Congress held in March and April 2017. The KNU has not interfered in any of the KHRC’s research and it operates in accordance with international standards.
