Mizzima
The Karen Human Rights Group has issued a briefing paper entitled: Burning Karen State: Retaliatory burning of houses and property against rural civilian communities of Southeast Burma (2021 and 2022).
Following the 2021 coup led by the Myanmar military, rural communities in Karen State have been continuously targeted by the State Administration Council (SAC) in various ways, severely impacting their safety, livelihood and living conditions.
Among those violations, houses and property destruction are widespread. According to KHRG documentation, the SAC began to set fire to Karen villages in May 2021, burning at least 170 civilian houses as well as other properties such as shops, vehicles and food across Karen State, reminiscent of scorched earth policies enacted in the past by the Myanmar military.
As a result of the February 2021 coup, violence against civilians, protestors and pro-democracy activists spread across Burma. Those who participated in anti-coup activities were arrested, detained and killed.
This led to serious tensions and fighting between Myanmar’s military junta, and numerous armed and non-armed resistance groups.
The junta has reinvigorated a scorched-earth campaign in order to wipe out resistance groups or to clear areas under the control of resistance groups, resulting in the widespread burning of villages and towns all over the country, notably in Sagaing Region and Chin State, leading to at least 58,000 homes and civilian structures burned since the coup.
Due to the worsening of the situation, over 1.3 million people have been displaced throughout Burma since the coup, including over 500,000 people in Karen State.
After peaceful pro-democracy protests were violently suppressed by the junta in all seven districts in Karen State, SAC forces and Border Guard Force (BGF) regularly clashed with armed resistance groups present in the region, including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[13], the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO)[14], and people’s defence forces (PDF). In order to expand their control, the SAC began to increase their military activities and deployed more troops in Karen National Union (KNU) controlled areas despite KNU warnings against doing so.
The SAC also conducted airstrikes and shelling in civilian areas as part of military operations, and, at times, in response to attacks by KNLA/KNDO and PDF, seriously affecting local villagers.
According to KHRG, to destroy or weaken its opponents, the SAC deliberately targets anyone who potentially supports or is involved with armed resistance groups or other entities opposing the junta through arrests, threats and other acts of violence.
This violence was acknowledged by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews on 14 April 2022 who said: "If you live in an area or village that they (the junta) think is particularly supportive of those that have taken up arms then you are, in their view, the enemy.”
This pattern of violence is reminiscent of the ‘four cuts’ strategy deployed by the Burma military in Karen State as early as the 1960s.
The main purpose of this strategy is to destroy the links between insurgents, their families, and local villagers by cutting off food, funds, intelligence, and recruits to ethnic armed groups (EAGs). As a result, EAG-controlled areas were labelled as ‘black areas’ under the ‘four cuts’ strategy, where the Burma army was given full authority to kill anyone or destroy anything that they thought could be linked to EAGs or to other entities opposing the junta.
KHRG underlined that the ‘four cuts’ approach made its return in Burma following the 2021 military coup, spearheaded by the junta’s desire to eradicate opposition efforts. Its reinvigoration by the Burma military following the coup and its devastating consequences for civilians is well-depicted by the events monitored by KHRG since February 2021.
This has included house burning and property destruction, violations often conducted due to the perceived or assumed links between villagers and insurgents. A worrying pattern of abuses can be identified in such cases: burning of houses or destruction of civilian properties regularly take place during or following clashes between the junta and armed resistance groups, or during junta military operations.
This pattern stems from the overall aim of the ‘four cuts’ approach and its central assumption that all villagers are (potentially) affiliated with armed resistance groups or other entities opposing the junta.
The KHRG briefing paper also highlights the destruction of houses and property during or following armed clashes or military operations. It illustrates such patterns of abuse by offering an overview of retaliatory cases involving houses or property burning or destruction that took place from the 2021 coup to December 2022 in six out of seven districts of Karen State.
During this period, KHRG received 39 detailed field reports on house burning and property destruction cases (including short updates, interviews, and photo evidence) provided by community members trained to monitor human rights conditions on the ground.
Among these, KHRG identified a pattern of retaliatory destruction of houses and property by junta soldiers during or following armed clashes with armed resistance groups or military operations.
In these cases, armed clashes prompted junta soldiers to violate civilians’ human rights and principles of international humanitarian law. As exemplified by cases of junta forces threatening to burn the homes of local civilians if they are attacked by armed resistance groups.
Junta forces systematically assume civilians are affiliated to or connected with opponents of the junta.
KHRG believes that The pursuit of criminal justice and accountability shows that human rights violations and impunity for these acts are not tolerated. It says there is an imperative need to prosecute Burma military leaders for their crimes throughout the country, including for those committed specifically against the Karen.
At the same time, it is urgent to ensure adequate humanitarian assistance and protection for ethnic populations who are facing violence and atrocities at the hands of the Burma military, including the burning of their properties.
KHRG says the international community should:
Acknowledge that the military junta is the source of the current human rights violations and the root cause of the humanitarian crisis in Burma, and refrain from supporting or granting legitimacy to the junta, including by signing agreements with them and presenting them with credentials.
Pressure respective governments to support current international investigations and proceedings, and seek out all additional opportunities to hold the Burma military accountable for its vast array of crimes, including the universal jurisdiction case in Germany and a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Broaden the scope of accountability of international investigations to include crimes committed against Karen peoples, past and present, and other ethnic and religious minorities not yet covered by current proceedings.
Supporting the emergency response delivered by local civil society and community-based organisations (CSO/CBOs) and ethnic service providers that prioritise human rights, including by supporting victims of property destruction.
Support coordinated and targeted sanctions against junta officials suspected of responsibility for international crimes and other serious violations of international law.
