Junta abuses committed around April’s Tingyan New Year celebrations and water festival in southeastern Myanmar have been detailed in the latest Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) report.

For decades, the Burmese New Year has been celebrated in April. Once a celebration inviting festivities and tradition it has now, according to HURFOM, been profoundly darkened by the cruel actions of the junta.

Since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021, the people of Burma have rejected the regime’s attempts to assert that the situation on the ground as ‘normal. ’One of the ways the military has tried to show its legitimacy is by propping up holidays such as Thingyan.

In response, civilians have boycotted their events and participated in ‘Silent Strikes ’to demonstrate the ongoing rejection of the military.

Demonstrating the regime’s lack of sincerity and commitment to peace, days before Thingyan took place, the junta deployed an airstrike on a village in the Sagaing region that killed over 100 people. The assault was unprovoked and took place when no armed conflict occurred.

According to initial reports, the primary victims were women and children. HURFOM says that the junta continues to exhibit a disregard for the protection of human rights. This attack and many others are stark reminders of why the regime must be held accountable. Military impunity extends far before the coup.

A few days before Thingyan, on 11 April 2023, a 17-year-old girl was accused of being associated with planting a bomb near the water festival pavilion and arbitrarily abducted by the junta forces in Mawlamyine, Mon State, at 9:00 PM.

“The joint forces of junta soldiers, militia, and secret police came and grabbed Ma Thin Yanant Oo. The junta in Mawlamyine announced that a handmade bomb was found at the back of the stage of the water festival in Mawlamyine on April 11,” said a source.

She was arrested and charged by the police with planting the bomb, despite there being no evidence of her doing so. One of the detainee’s friends told HURFOM that Ma Thin Yanant Oo posted an objection on her Facebook wall about the junta’s ‘bloody ’Thingyan festival after which she was arrested at her home by military council troops.

“Junta soldiers are blocking the road and searching the areas for bombs. Young people and active online users need to be careful because the junta is creating this problem and making up stories,” said a resident.

In a related case, two young men were confirmed killed after junta forces abducted them during Tingyan on 18 April in Panga Village, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State and accused them of being members of local armed resistance group.

A 35-year-old Social Worker from Panga village said it was not known where the two young victims were from. HURFOM reporters confirmed their names as Maung Arkar Minn, age 16, and Aung Myo Htet, age 21. They were tortured before they were killed, forcing local villagers to ask: “Where is the rule of law? We are being deprived of our rights.”

According to HURFOM, during the traditional festivities there was indiscriminate violence everywhere in Burma.

The junta shot at two young people during the Palaw Township, Southern Tanintharyi Region holiday. Witnesses said that on 16 April at 9:30 a.m., a young man and a woman riding a motorcycle were fired on by soldiers. The young woman was injured by a bullet shaft in her stomach, and the man received a head injury.

During Thingyan, the junta killed at least five people in Tanintharyi.

In Mon State, at least eight young people were arrested after a homemade bomb exploded near Taung Gyi and Taung Zun villages on 16 April. The junta arbitrarily abducted four youths from Taung Gyi Village and another four young villagers from Taung Zun Village.

Their families and community leaders cannot visit the detained. At the time of writing, they are still negotiating with the police to see them.

A local social response team confirmed that the explosion injured at least four residents, including a 10-year-old boy. Some buildings were also damaged. With these latest arrests, the junta has detained at least twenty people since January 2023.

In target areas of Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) continues to document the attacks against civilians.

Throughout April, more violence and targeting of civilians continued to threaten livelihoods. Martial law, in particular, is undermining the safety of local people.

After the junta’s martial law imposition in southern Mon State, the number of people killed and wounded by gunfire has increased in the areas between Ye Township in Mon State and Yebyu in Tanintharyi Region. Injuries and death rates are rising.

At the beginning of the month, residents confirmed that junta troops killed three civilians who had gone missing in Ye Township and Beilin Township, Mon State. The regime accused them of violating the curfews declared under martial law.

The junta opened fire on two youths aged 17 and 20. They were standing on the highway road between Dout-Yep and Shwe-Yaung-Pya Villages.

Two local sources who witnessed the incident confirmed that the junta shot these young men. They were accused of being linked with local defence forces and breaking the curfew installed by the junta as part of their martial law jurisdiction. Both died of injuries incurred in military custody.

Similarly, in Ye Township, Mon State, on 23 March, at 8:00 p.m., a man named Nai Win Kyi was driving from Kyaung Ywa Village when junta troops shot him. Again, he was accused of violating the curfew, and Light Infantry Battalion 61 based in Kyon- Laung opened fire on him. “He died from two gunshot wounds,” said witnesses who spoke to HURFOM.

HURFOM also warns that indiscriminate firing by the junta also poses a grave threat to civilians.

A teenage boy in Wet-Toe Village, Palaw, Southern Tanintharyi Region, was seriously injured when junta-backed soldiers fired mortars into the village. At least 10 others were injured in the attack. The boy and another civilian have been transferred to a bigger hospital due to the severity of their injuries.

The ongoing violence by the military junta is relentless and continues to threaten the security of the people. HURFOM reiterates that immediate intervention is needed to curb the violence in Burma and bring the Generals and soldiers responsible to account once and for all.