A/HRC/60/20
19.
While the motivations for the attack remain unclear, sources indicated that the military
regularly targeted public administration sites, including schools, with the effect of instilling
fear in the general public. There was already an established pattern of military attacks against
schools, with over 640 instances since 2021.7 Consequently, the National Unity Government
has shut down several schools in its territories as a means of preventing further deaths among
children.
4.
La Ei village, Pekon Township, Shan State
20.
Between September 2024 and May 2025, the military bombed, on three separate
occasions, a camp for displaced persons, commonly referred to as the “Bangkok camp”, at
the border between Shan and Kayah States. An analysis of available information revealed no
discernible military objective, reported fighting or the presence of anti-military armed groups
in the vicinity to justify the attacks. Although OHCHR requested information, the military
provided no response.
21.
In the incident with the largest number of civilian casualties, on 5 September 2024 at
around 9 p.m., two 500-lb bombs struck a residential area, 8 killing at least nine civilians,
including three women, three girls and three boys, and wounding nearly 30 others. Photos
reinforced accounts from witnesses showing significant destruction and large craters at the
site. While some 50 houses were destroyed, the number of casualties was limited, reportedly
since families tend to sleep in underground bunkers, evincing the intense fear of air strikes
that is ever-present in many communities.
22.
On 18 November 2024, two planes dropped four bombs that destroyed a parish priest’s
house and a church in the camp, killing one civilian and causing further destruction. Local
sources reported that the incident had followed repeated death threats on social media from
pro-military accounts against the priest serving in the camp. The military carried out another
aerial bombardment on 14 May 2025. Sources indicated that surveillance drones and an
aircraft had circled the area before the aircraft dropped two large bombs that damaged two
buildings that served as school dormitories and injured one civilian. Residents reported to
OHCHR that, at the time of the third incident, only 250 people out of the 600 present before
the first incident remained in the camp due to the repeated bombardments, as many people
had decided to flee to other locations.
C.
Human rights abuses by anti-military armed groups
23.
While not comparable in scale, scope, intensity and brutality with the violations
committed by the military, multiple sources raised concerns about abuses perpetrated by
anti-military armed groups. Persistent communications shutdowns, security concerns and
occasional reports of media gag orders by anti-military groups hampered verification by
OHCHR. Occasional reports were received of anti-military groups reportedly launching
attacks that destroyed civilian objects, such as schools, with inconsistent warnings to civilians
prior to attacks, and using command-detonated roadside bombs and anti-personnel
landmines. According to data provided by the military, although not independently verified,
anti-military armed groups have been accused of having “claimed the lives of 8,878 civilians
including 330 children, 112 teachers, 24 healthcare workers, 121 monks, 2 nuns and
1,208 administrative staffs in different townships” since the coup.
24.
Of increasing concern was the trend of anti-military armed groups conducting targeted
killings of individuals suspected of association with the military, particularly killings of civil
servants, including in their homes or in tea shops or restaurants. Anti-military groups
frequently claimed responsibility for such incidents and OHCHR recorded 169 reports of
killings of administrators, their family members and other civilians, including religious
personnel, by anti-military armed groups from eight states and regions. Bago, Magway and
7
See https://data.humdata.org/dataset/63605720-f0da-454d-89a6-552f1acc3a53/resource/7203e9a6daa7-4eb5-9f88-0d03c9bc284a/download/2020-2025-mmr-education-in-danger-incident-data.xlsx.
8 See https://karennihumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/KnHRG-Statement-CondemningAirstrike-in-Pekon-1.pdf.
5