This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in March 2013 by a community member describing events occurring in Papun District between January and March 2013. The report describes the use of villagers from approximately 40 villages in Htee Th'Daw Hta village tract for forced labour. The perpetrators were led by the presiding monk of Myaing Gyi Ngu, U Thuzana. Villagers, including elderly people, women and children, have been forced to work on the construction of the Htee Lah Eh Hta Bridge.

This Field Report includes information submitted by KHRG community members describing events which occurred in Hpapun District between January and December 2013. The report describes human rights violations, including sexual harassment, violent abuses, landmine incidents, forced labour, land confiscation, gold mining, arbitrary taxation, and theft and looting. In addition, fighting between Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Border Guard Force (BGF) soldiers resulted in injury and displacement of villagers.

This photo set includes 18 still photographs selected from images taken by a community member from Bilin Township, Thaton District in January 2013. These photographs depict gold mining in Baw Paw Hta village and show village lands that were bought by the Mya Poo Company and subsequently damaged because of mining.

This Situation Update describes events occurring in Bilin Township, Thaton District in October 2015, including updates on the 2015 general election, education, and development projects.

- Villages under the administration of the Burma/Myanmar government are able to vote in the 2015 general election. However, villages located in Karen National Union (KNU) controlled areas have not been adequately informed ahead of the election.

In the six months since DKBA Brigade #5 troops under the command of Brigadier-General Saw Lah Pwe ('Na Kha Mwe') agreed to a ceasefire with government forces, and in the four months since a ceasefire was agreed between KNLA and government troops, villagers in Kawkareik Township have continued to raise concerns regarding ongoing human rights abuses, including the arbitrary detention and violent abuse of civilians, and forced labour demands occurring as recently as February 24th 2012.

A giant earthquake occurred off Sumatra Island of Indonesia, on December 26, 2004. The earthquake, an interplate event, caused by the subduction of Indo-Australian) plate beneath the Andaman (or Burma) microplate was the largest in size (Mw 9.1) in the world for the last 40 years. While the epicenter was located west off Sumatra Island, the aftershock zone extended through the Nicobar to the Andaman Islands. This earthquake generated a tsunami which devastated the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India, and Thailand as far as the east coast of Africa.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during January 2012 in Bu Thoh Township, Papun District, by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw D---, the 44-year-old L--- village head, who described forced labour, Tatmadaw and Border Guard targeting of civilians, demands for food, and denial of humanitarian services, such as a school.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during December 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed a 40-year-old Buddhist monk, Saw T---, who is a former member of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Border Guard, who described activities pertaining to Border Guard Battalion #1013 based at K'Hsaw Wah, Papun District.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2010 in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Kr---, a 23-year-old hill farmer from L--- village, Pla Koh village tract, who described an incident where he was injured after stepping on a landmine while on Home Guard duty in Kaw Mu Day, which resulted in him losing his left leg.

GENERAL HEALTH:
Overview of Landmine Problems in Myanmar (Michiyo Kato &Yeshua Moser-Puangswan, NIV SEA);
Basic Information about Landmines (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Trauma Care Foundation Burma (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Chain of Survival (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Mine Injuries and Their Management (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB)...
FROM THE FIELD:
Orthopaedic Programme of the ICRC-Myanmar (Marco Emery, ICRC, Myanmar);
Data Collection on Mine Victims and the Impact of Landmines (Christophe Tiers, HI);

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in January 2012 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa'an District between September 2011 and January 2012, and contains updated information concerning military activity in the area, specifically Border Guard Battalion #1017's use of forced labour and their planting of landmines. In September 2011, over 200 villagers from Th---, Sh---, G--- and M--- were forced to harvest beans and corn, an incident which is also described in the report "Pa'an Situation Update: September 2011", published by KHRG on November 25th 2011.

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there.