According to the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), in the last week, there has been an ongoing rise of arbitrary arrests across all target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region.
HURFOM says that houses are being raided and broken into by lawless junta soldiers who fail to show any decency while doing so, or even having an arrest warrant.
Young men are increasingly targeted by the junta on suspicions of supporting the local armed groups in northern Dawei.
Junta military forces have established bases in Yebyu, Longlon and routinely interrogate local villagers, especially young men, they also seize belongings and extort money from residents.
Their actions are unlawful and are indicative of a wider pattern of systematic abuses constantly faced by innocent people. Junta forces have also indefinitely stopped allowing prison visits and the sending of parcels and food to prison inmates in Kyaikmayaw, Hpa-an, and Dawei prisons.
On 17 October 2022, at 7:30 a.m., local witnesses reported that a joint force of junta forces and their sponsored militia troops abducted four local male villagers on accusations of being associated with the local People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
Two out of the four detainees were identified as local villagers. The junta joint forces arrived with three military lorries and grabbed U Kyaw Maung and Ko Myint Aye, both from San Hlan village in Longlon Township. The identities of only two of the arrested men are known, and the identities of the other two, who are also just ordinary villagers, are being investigated.
In a separate but related case on 16 October 2022, military troops arrived at Min Yet Village in Longlon Township in the evening and inspected the residents. Three were arrested and sent to a military detention camp. All three have also disappeared until now.
There were also more air attacks on local villagers in Karen State.
The junta deployed these attacks where they explicitly targeted civilians. On 21 October at 7:00 a.m., fighting broke out between the Burma Army and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) near Kawkareik Township.
A local villager, who was recently been displaced and become a new IDP, said to HURFOM “the fighting was intense. The Burmese troops used airstrikes. We saw several attacks with jet fighters. Helicopters fired
rockets toward our villages. We had to run away. Many houses were damaged, and there were casualties. Two people have been confirmed dead and at least five injured,”
A 30-year-old Karen woman told HURFOM that at least 14 homes including a monastery, were damaged due to heavy weapons fired by Light Infantry Battalion No. (97). She said: “In the morning, until 11:00 a.m. a helicopter and a jet fighter flew above us. Then it started firing missiles to ward No.7. Saw Mying Oo, 46 died, and three others were hurt.”
According to HURFOM displacement is also being fueled by the military junta in Mon State where offensives forced as many as 2,000 villagers from their homes.
The junta designated Kyaik Hto Township as an offensive area and have carried out intense military attacks against the armed forces in the KNLA Brigade No. 1 area every day. The fighting has led to new IDPs being created. Most of them are elderly, children, and women sheltering in areas controlled by Brigade 1 of Karen National Union (KNU).
Meanwhile, while human rights violations continue to be perpetrated, twelve junta soldiers ran away from their Mawrawaddy Navy Battalion in Kan Bauk region, located in Yebyu Township, Dawei District, Tanintharyi Region. They took their weapons with them when they defected. Local residents reported that the junta has since tightened security.
Many people in the Kan Bauk region have been questioned by the security forces, and the military is arresting and destroying empty houses: “At least six local villagers were arrested and empty houses were destroyed and properties were seized. Cars, motorbikes, and belongings were also seized by the junt
