The KHRG said that the DKBA and Burmese government forces involved in the recent fighting in Karen State should be held accountable under international law if they were found to have committed human rights abuses, such as indiscriminate shelling in civilian areas.

“Regarding the recent fighting, any armed group that committed indiscriminate attacks which killed or injured civilians should take responsibility according to national and international law,” KHRG said in an interview with Karen News, adding, “Whenever fighting happens between armed groups, villagers have to live in fear and their rights are abused.”

KHRG said that civilians were the ones suffering in the current fighting. They said: “According to media reports during the recent fighting, between the DKBA and the Burma Army and Border Guard Force, civilians have suffered from displacement, restrictions on their freedom of movement, and civilians including children were injured and died from apparently indiscriminate firing of weapons by armed actors."

On 11th October, four civilians were killed and nine badly injured when an artillery shell landed nearby a shop where they were having lunch on the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road. One of those killed was an 11 year-old boy, while two of those injured were also children. It is still not known which side fired the shell.

Salween Watch, a community based organisation, said that following fighting on 10th October at least 260 villagers tried to flee to Thailand on 11th October, but were turned back by the Thai authorities. The number of villagers displaced internally is not known, but is probably much greater than those who tried to flee into Thailand.

KHRG noted that soldiers were also targets of killings. It highlighted the murder of Private Saw Ta Noh from the 6th Brigade of the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) whose body was found, with his throat slit, washed up on the banks of the Moei River on 21st September. He was last seen alive on 16th September when soldiers from the government Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion No. 1022 arrested him at a checkpoint.

Five BGF soldiers were arrested in connection with the killing on 22nd September, the case against them is still ongoing.

The KHRG maintained that the latest fighting highlighted that all armed groups must be held to account for their actions, pointing out that despite the 2012 ceasefire the organisation continues to document killings.

KHRG said: “On 25th June 2012, in Thaton District, a 52-year-old man was tortured and killed by soldiers from BGF Battalion No. 1014, after he was accused of being a Karen National Union (KNU) spy. In Hpa-an District, a 16-year-old boy was killed on 11th March 2013, and a 62-year-old grandmother was killed on 27th March 2013, both by soldiers of BGF Battalion No. 1016, because they had publicly discussed the BGF’s involvement in drug related issues. On 11th June 2013, also in Hpa-an District, an entire family of four was murdered by troops under the orders of Commander Kya Aye of BGF Battalion No. 1015, after the family had been accused of practicing witchcraft."