Below are a set of links to all reports published by KHRG matching your search criteria and compiled from information received from KHRG's field researchers. If you wish to search for a particular report, please use our main search page.
Our News Bulletins are available via email, subscribe to the KHRG newsletter list by entering your email address on the KHRG homepage. Topics covered in News Bulletins will generally be documented in more detail in future KHRG reports.
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Karen Human Rights Group Commentary [KHRG Commentary]
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Dec 21st, 1999 |
| There are now only a few days left in the current millennium, which leads one to think both of the future, of all the hope which it may or may not hold, and of the past, of how much the world has changed in a short thousand years - for that matter, the incredible pace of change just within the past century. From horses to the traffic in Asia’s megacities, from flightless to frequent flyer programs, from the abacus to the computer. Whether these things really reflect progress or not is open to debate (particularly each time your computer crashes), but the fact remains that for many people it is difficult to even imagine living the different pace and style of life of a century ago. |
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Beyond All Endurance: The Breakup of Karen Villages in Southeastern Pa'an District [Regional or Thematic report]
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Dec 20th, 1999 |
| Pa’an district forms a large area in the central heartland of Karen State. Much of the eastern part of the district used to be under at least partial control of the Karen National Union (KNU), but after troops of the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta captured the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in 1995, they progressively exerted increasing control over the entire eastern part of the district. |
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Interview Annex - Beyond All Endurance: The Breakup of Karen Villages in Southeastern Pa'an District [Regional or Thematic report]
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Dec 20th, 1999 |
| This document is an Annex to the Karen Human Rights Group report "Beyond All Endurance: The Breakup of Karen Villages in Southeastern Pa'an District". It contains the full texts of Interviews #1-45 with villagers in and from the region, which are quoted and referenced in the above-mentioned report. |
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Central Karen State: Villagers Fleeing Forced Relocation and Other Abuses Forced Back by Thai Troops [Field report]
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Sep 29th, 1999 |
| Over the past four months, villagers from southeastern Pa'an District in Karen State have been steadily arriving at areas along the Thai border 35-60 km north of the Thai town of Mae Sot. They have risked treacherous travelling conditions during the rainy season to make the journey, camping in makeshift shelters along the way with little food or clothing. Testimonies collected from recent refugees indicate that the SPDC is intensifying its operation from August-December 1999 to clear all villages in the southeastern corner of Pa'an District in order to undermine Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) activities in the region. |
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Karen Human Rights Group Commentary [KHRG Commentary]
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Sep 16th, 1999 |
| 9-9-99 is now behind us, and it failed to produce the nationwide uprising in Burma which some people had hoped for. This does not mean that ordinary people in Burma are coming to accept the rule of the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) military junta, it only means that the regime has been very successful ingraining people with a pathological fear of doing or saying anything, and in creating economic conditions where people have to focus every ounce of their energy simply on surviving from day to day. In this sense, the systematic creation of intense poverty has worked in the regime’s favour. It could prove to be a double-edged sword, and the SPDC would be foolish to sit back on its successful suppression of the 9-9-99 movement. The emotions brought to the surface during this movement may take time to ferment in ordinary people, but they may still come out into the open on a day with no numerical significance, when no one expects it. Just before September 9th, one Burma-based diplomat was quoted in the media saying, "You can’t plan an uprising". That is true, but you also can’t predict one. |
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Caught In The Middle: The Suffering of Karen Villagers in Thaton District [Regional or Thematic report]
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Sep 15th, 1999 |
| This report looks at the human rights situation for Karen villagers living in Thaton District (known in Karen as Doo Tha Htoo), which includes part of northwestern Karen State and northern Mon State. |
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Central Karen State: New Refugees Fleeing Forced Relocation, Rape and Use as Human Minesweepers [Field report]
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Aug 27th, 1999 |
| Since mid-August, new flows of refugees have begun arriving at the Thai border from Karen villages in southeastern Pa’an District, central Karen State. Over 100 families, totalling well over 500 people, have arrived thus far and they say that many more will follow. Those who have arrived so far come from the villages of Pah Klu, Taw Oak, Tee Hsah Ra, Kyaw Ko, Tee Wah Thay, Tee Khoh Taw, Tee Wah Klay, B’Naw Kleh Kee and Ker Ghaw, most of which are within 2-3 days’ walk of the border. |
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Photo Set 99-B [Photoset]
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Aug 18th, 1999 |
| The photos and descriptions below are part of Photo Set 99-B, which shows some aspects of the human rights situation in Karen areas of Burma. This set consists of photos taken and gathered by KHRG since the publication of Photo Set 99-A in March 1999. The list is divided by district, and included below is a summary of the situation in each district followed by the descriptions of the photos from that district. Some details of people and places have been deliberately omitted from the photo descriptions where necessary to protect the villagers. |
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SPDC & DKBA Orders to Villages: Set 99-C: Karen and Mon States [Orders report]
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Aug 4th, 1999 |
| Following are the direct translations of some written orders sent from SPDC and DKBA Army units and local authorities to villages in Pa'an and Dooplaya Districts of Karen State and Kyaik Mayaw township of Mon State, southeastern Burma. |
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Human Rights Trends in Rural Eastern Burma [Article or paper]
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Jun 29th, 1999 |
| These briefing notes were prepared as a short summary of some of the main human rights issues affecting people in rural eastern Burma. They are included here in case they may be useful to those requiring a quick synopsis of some of the ongoing human rights trends. |
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Field Reports: 6th Brigade Area [Field report]
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May 31st, 1999 |
| This report contains two elements: accounts of SLORC human rights abuses in the Kya In Seik Gyi area, in the southern half of Karen State about 80 km. southeast of Moulmein and 100 km. West of the Thai border; and testimonies of porters who have escaped SLORC’s offensive against Maw Kee in the Karen National Union's Sixth Brigade area, 60-80 km. east of Kya In Seik Gyi near the Thai border. |
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Karen Human Rights Group Commentary [KHRG Commentary]
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May 25th, 1999 |
| The rainy season appears to be beginning early this year, and as the rains begin many people look back and evaluate the past dry season. Though the period since October/November 1998 has not featured a major military offensive, the situation for rural villagers in eastern Burma has continued to deteriorate and there have been some extremely worrying new developments. In general, the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) regime has continued to use increased militarisation, forced relocations and tighter controls on villagers as a means of consolidating its control over remote regions, and as a result more and more villagers are becoming internally displaced each month while life becomes even more desperate for those who are already displaced and hiding in the forests. This dry season the SPDC has also added a new weapon to its arsenal which is now terrorising villagers and driving many of them to flight: the ‘Sa Thon Lon Guerrilla Retaliation’ execution squads. |
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Continuing Fear and Hunger: Update on the Current Situation in Karenni [Regional or Thematic report]
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May 25th, 1999 |
| Since mid-1996 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta, now renamed as the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), has forcibly relocated and destroyed over 200 villages covering at least half the geographic area of Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern Burma. At least 20,000-30,000 people have been displaced, forced to move into military-controlled camps where many of them have been starving and dying of disease, or to flee into hiding in the forest where they face similar suffering as well as the possibility of being shot on sight by SLORC/SPDC patrols. |
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Death Squads and Displacement: Systematic Executions, Village Destruction and the Flight of Villagers in Nyaunglebin District [Regional or Thematic report]
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May 24th, 1999 |
| This report is a detailed analysis of the current human rights situation in Nyaunglebin District (known in Karen as Kler Lweh Htoo), which straddles the border of northern Karen State and Pegu Division in Burma. |
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SPDC & Orders To Villages: SET 99-B Thaton and Pa'an Districts [Orders report]
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Apr 19th, 1999 |
| Following are the direct translations of some written orders sent from SPDC and DKBA Army units and local authorities to Karen villages in Thaton and Pa'an Districts of Karen State, southeastern Burma. All of them were issued in the period September 1998 - March 1999. |
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Karenni (Kayah) State: Continuing Flight of Villagers to Thailand [Field report]
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Apr 14th, 1999 |
| In mid-1996 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma broke a ceasefire with the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) by launching a military offensive aimed at gaining complete control over areas of Karenni (Kayah) State near the border with Thailand. To support this military campaign, at the same time the junta launched a mass forced relocation campaign against rural villagers throughout the state, hoping to undermine the KNPP by removing or wiping out the entire civilian population in rural areas. Since then over 200 villages covering at least half the geographic area of the entire state have been forcibly relocated, burned and destroyed by Burmese Army troops under the command of the SLORC, which was renamed the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) in November 1997. |
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False Peace: Increasing SPDC Military Repression in Toungoo District of Northern Karen State [Regional or Thematic report]
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Mar 25th, 1999 |
| This report describes the current situation for rural Karen villagers in Toungoo District (known in Karen as Taw Oo), which is the northernmost region of Karen State in Burma. The western part of the district forms part of the Sittaung River valley in Pegu (Bago) Division, and this region is strongly controlled by the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) military junta which rules Burma. |
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Photo Set 99-A [Photoset]
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Mar 1st, 1999 |
| This document gives descriptions for Photo Set 99-A, which shows some aspects of the human rights situation in the Karen areas of Toungoo, Nyaunglebin, Papun, Pa’an and Dooplaya districts throughout 1998 and the beginning of 1999. The list is divided by district, and included below is a summary of the situation in each district followed by the descriptions of the photos from that district. The numbers in these lists correspond to the numbers written on the photographs in the set. Some details of people and places have been deliberately omitted from the photo descriptions where necessary to protect the villagers. |
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Nyaunglebin District: Internally Displaced People and SPDC Death Squads [Field report]
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Feb 15th, 1999 |
| Nyaunglebin (known in Karen as Kler Lwe Htoo) District is a northern Karen region straddling the border of northern Karen State and Pegu Division. It contains the northern reaches of the Bilin (Bu Loh Kloh) River northwest of Papun, and stretches westward as far as the Sittaung (Sittang) River in the area 60 to 150 kilometres north of Pegu (named Bago by the SPDC). The District has 3 townships: Ler Doh (Kyauk Kyi in Burmese), Hsaw Tee (Shwegyin), and Mone. The eastern two-thirds of the district is covered by forested hills dotted with small Karen villages, and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) operates extensively in this region. The western part of the district is in the plains of the Sittaung river basin; here there are larger villages of mixed Karen and Burman population, and this area is under strong SPDC control. For several years now SLORC/SPDC forces have tried to destroy Karen resistance in the eastern hills, largely by forcing villagers to move and wiping out their ability to produce food. |
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SPDC Orders To Villages: SET 99-A [Orders report]
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Feb 10th, 1999 |
| Following are the direct translations of some written orders sent from SPDC Army units and local authorities to Karen villages in Pa'an, Toungoo, Dooplaya and Papun Districts of Karen State, southeastern Burma. |
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