Local sources report that travelers on the Taungoo-Thandaung section of the road connecting Thandaunggyi and Taungoo Townships in Karen State are subjected to human rights violations at military council checkpoints.
The military council has tightened security measures at its checkpoints on the road section since the 2021 coup, such as at 13-Mile, 7-Mile and 4-Mile checkpoints. Since late March this year, the junta soldiers manning the checkpoints have increasingly verbally threatened and sexually harassed travelers.
In the last week of March, a driver passing through the 13-Mile checkpoint was physically assaulted by soldiers who accused him of carrying male passengers, according to a source close to the driver.
“The driver only had three or four friends on board. All of them are young men. At the checkpoint, the junta soldiers checked the number of passengers. Then they physically assaulted the driver. In another case, the car of a local man from the religious office in Thandaunggyi, which had only female teachers on board, was stopped at the checkpoint. The soldiers forced him to do squats and also pay 30,000 kyat,” the source said.
The locals mainly rely on the Taungoo-Thandaunggyi as the jungle routes are rough. In addition to the tightened security measures, as the military council soldiers have committed human rights violations at the checkpoints, locals now avoid unnecessary travel along the road section, according to Thandaunggyi locals.
In addition, female travelers unaccompanied by men have reported being sexually harassed by junta soldiers at the 4-Mile checkpoint, according to sources close to the victims.
“The newly arrived officer at the 4-Mile checkpoint asks unnecessary questions. He treats the travelers roughly. During phone checks, he shows obscene videos to young women and asks them if they want such things from him,” said a local source close to the victims.
Similarly, over the last three years since the coup, the military council has restricted the transportation of rice to Thandaunggyi Township in order to cut off food supplies to the resistance forces. This has severely affected food security for locals and the displaced civilian population, according to aid workers.
Sent by KIC.