Myanmar: Despite Ceasefire, Army Seizes Land and Tortures Citizens in Southeast Myanmar - Report

May 14, 2014 | Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation
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BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The Myanmar army continues to commit rights abuses - seizing land and detaining and torturing citizens - in the country’s southeast, more than two years after the government and the region’s ethnic rebels signed a historic ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the world’s longest-running insurgency, a new report said.

Previously reported abuses in the area – such as forced labour, restrictions on movement and attacks against civilians – have decreased significantly since the Karen National Union (KNU) and the government agreed upon the ceasefire in January 2012. However, civilians accused of supporting the insurgents are still arbitrarily detained and tortured, and arbitrary taxation by all armed groups continues, according to Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) report released on Tuesday.