Armed conflict in Karen State - the human rights situation

expand all
collapse all

Websites/Multiple Documents

Title: Free Burma Rangers
Description: "... The Free Burma Rangers is an organization dedicated to freedom for the people of Burma. "De Oppresso Liber" is the motto of the Free Burma Rangers and we are dedicated in faith to the establishment of liberty, justice, equal rights and peace for all the people of Burma. The Free Burma Rangers support the restoration of democracy, ethnic rights and the implementation of the International Declaration of Human Rights in Burma. We stand with those who desire a nation where God's gifts of life, liberty, justice, pursuit of happiness and peace are ensured for all... MISSION: The mission of the Free Burma Rangers is to bring help, hope and love to the oppressed people of Burma. Its mission is also to help strengthen civil society, inspire and develop leadership that serves the people and act as a voice for the oppressed... ACTIONS: The Free Burma Rangers (FBR), conduct relief, advocacy, leadership development and unity missions among the people of Burma... Relief: ..."...FBR has issued some of the best documented reports on internal displacement/forced migration
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
Date of entry/update: 2004-05-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Description: The largest body of high-quality reports on the civil war in Burma, especially focussed on the civilian victims - currently over 600 reports dating from 1992.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Karen, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Title: The human rights situation in Karen State
Description: Link to the section on Discrimination Against the Karen in the OBL Human Rights section
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Title: NYAUNGLEBIN DISTRICT: TATMADAW ROAD CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES LEAD TO CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE KNLA, DISPLACEMENT AND PROPERTY DAMAGE IN KYAUKKYI TOWNSHIP
Description: "From February until early April 2019, intermittent confrontations between the Tatmadaw and the KNLA resulted in the displacement of at least 108 people in Kheh Der village tract. The fighting broke out because the Tatmadaw is undertaking controversial road construction works despite the objection of local communities and the KNU. Sporadic armed clashes leading to displacement In early February 2019, a Tatmadaw soldier was shot and injured in Muh Theh while he was building a road between the villages of Muh Theh and Pa Kaw Hta (Hkee). This incident occurred in a KNU-controlled area in Kheh Der village tract, Kyaukkyi Township, Nyaunglebin District. KHRG has not been able to confirm who fired at the soldier. Local people believe that he was shot because the Tatmadaw was engaged in road construction activities despite repeated objections from the local community and KNU leaders. On February 23rd 2019 around noon, a second Tatmadaw soldier was shot while he was operating a backhoe to build a road in Aee Thar Plaw [area], Kyaukkyi Township. In retaliation, the Tatmadaw fired two artillery shells and other weapons toward the area where they thought the shot came from. According to local people, no further fighting occurred that day. The shelling did not result in civilian casualties or property damage. Following this incident, the Tatmadaw sent reinforcements to provide security for the road construction. On March 27th 2019 at 7:00 AM, fighting broke out between the KNLA and Tatmadaw soldiers between Muh Theh and Pa Kaw Hta (Hkee), reportedly because the Tatmadaw trespassed into KNU territory in violation of an oral agreement with the KNLA. No casualties were reported. These clashes are a clear violation of section 5 (a) of the NCA, which states that the Tatmadaw and Ethnic Armed Organisations shall not engage in armed attacks in ceasefire areas. In addition, both the Tatmadaw and the KNLA failed to act with the necessary diligence to avoid this confrontation, as they should have under section 7 (a). On April 2nd, 2019, a first group of local people fled Pa Kaw Hta (Hkee). Because of the fighting that broke out, they did not feel safe staying in their village. They cleared new lands, preparing a space where the rest of the village could settle. On April 4th, 2019, more dismantled their houses to move to this new place, which is located a 30-minute walk from the village. In total, 108 people from 34 households have already moved there, and they now face livelihood difficulties and difficulties accessing water. They told KHRG that they fled to protect themselves from renewed fighting between the KNLA and the Tatmadaw. They did not feel safe staying in Pa Kaw Hta (Hkee) because their village was close to the road. Other community members from Kheh Der village tract are now worried that fighting between the Tatmadaw and the KNLA might recur, and have started preparing to flee their villages should the situation worsen..."
Source/publisher: Progressive Voice via "Karen Human Rights Group"
Date of publication: 2019-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 835.54 KB
more
Title: The revolution that will never die in Myanmar
Description: ''On a misty January morning, several thousand ethnic Karen people gathered near a mountaintop at Law Khee Lar, a rural part of their home state in Myanmar near the Thailand border. Law Khee Lar is located in territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organization with an armed wing that has been fighting against state forces for seven decades, in one of the world’s longest running civil wars. On this particular day, Karen people gathered to celebrate the 70th Karen Revolution Day, an annual commemoration of the beginning of the KNU’s Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) long armed struggle for self-determination and rights...''
Creator/author: Oliver Slow
Source/publisher: Asia Times
Date of publication: 2019-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Dooplaya Situation Update: Kyainseikgyi Township, March to June 2018
Description: ''In May 2018, a soldier from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) had a dispute with local community members in Daw Ka Kloh village, Noh Taw Plah village tract, Noh T’Kaw Township. Five local villagers cut down a tree close to the field of DKBA Deputy Company Commander Saw Kee, based in Noh Moh Wah army camp. The commander of this battalion was Pa Nyein. Saw Kee was upset because he thought the tree belonged to him. He said that the five villagers did not respect him, and took advantage of his absence to cut down the tree. He behaved in an aggressive way to the local people, and threw their electric saw on the ground...''
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2018-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 467.13 KB
more
Title: We Have Always Been Running: Why a Young Karen Woman Chose to Become a Soldier
Description: "Naw Mu Gay, 22, wanted to join the Karen army since a young age. Coming from a large family, Naw Mu Gay?s father found it hard to provide for everyone, having to work on a farm in order to exchange betel nut leaves for rice that was barely enough to feed his family. Attending a school far away from her village, Naw Mu Gay and her siblings had to live with their grandmother in Taungoo, seeing their parents only once a year during the school break. To help the family once her father fell ill, Naw Mu Gay had to drop out of school to work on a farm in the village. She and her family lived in constant fear of the Burma Army, often having to run to the jungle where the family would live in a broken tent, cooking only at night time when the smoke would not lead Burmese soldiers to their hideout. Naw Mu Gay grew up seeing her parents suffer amidst the conflict, and continuously having to run for their lives. This year, finally given the opportunity, Naw Mu Gay decided to join the KNDO (Karen National Defense Organisation), and says that she will rely on her fellow comrades to get through the difficult times that lay ahead."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of publication: 2015-10-05
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Bitter Wounds and Lost Dreams: Human Rights Under Assault in Karen State, Burma
Description: Findings: "Out of all 665 households surveyed, 30% reported a human rights violation. Forced labor was the most common human rights violation reported; 25% of households reported experiencing some form of forced labor in the past year, including being porters for the military, growing crops, and sweeping for landmines. Physical attacks were less common; about 1.3% of households reported kidnapping, torture, or sexual assault. Human rights violations were significantly worse in the area surveyed in Tavoy, Tenasserim Division, which is completely controlled by the Burmese government and is also the site of the Dawei port and economic development project. Our research shows that more people who lived in Tavoy experienced human rights violations than people who lived elsewhere in our sampling area. Specifically, the odds of having a family member forced to be a porter were 4.4 times higher than for families living elsewhere. The same odds for having to do other forms of forced labor, including building roads and bridges, were 7.9 times higher; for being blocked from accessing land, 6.2 times higher; and for restricted movement, 7.4 times higher for families in Tavoy than for families living elsewhere. The research indicates a correlation between development projects and human rights violations, especially those relating to land and displacement. PHR?s research indicated that 17.4% of households in Karen State reported moderate or severe household hunger, according to the FANTA-2 Household Hunger Scale, a measure of food insecurity. We found that 3.7% of children under 5 were moderately or severely malnourished, and 9.8% were mildly malnourished, as determined by measurements of middle-upper arm circumference. PHR conducted the survey immediately following the rice harvest in Karen State, and the results may therefore reflect the lowest malnutrition rates of the year.....Conclusion: PHR?s survey of human rights violations and humanitarian indicators in Karen State shows that human rights violations persist in Karen State, despite recent reforms on the part of President Thein Sein. Of particular concern is the prevalence of human rights violations even in areas where there is no active armed conflict, as well as the correlation between economic development projects and human rights violations. Our research found that human rights violations were up to 10 times higher around an economic development project than in other areas surveyed. Systemic reforms that establish accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations, full political participation by Karen people and other ethnic minorities, and access to essential services are necessary to support a successful transition to a fully functioning democracy..."
Creator/author: Bill Davis, Ma, MPH; Andrea Gittleman, JD, PHR; Richard Sollom, Ma, MPH, PHR; Adam Richards, MD, MPH; Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH; Forword by Óscar Arias Sánchez
Source/publisher: Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
Date of publication: 2012-08-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more