This photo set consists of over 400 photos with accompanying descriptions to document some aspects of the human rights situation in Karen areas of Burma. These photos have been taken and gathered by KHRG since the publication of Photo Set 2000-B in October 2000. The photos in this set were taken in Papun, Nyaunglebin, Toungoo, Pa’an and Dooplaya Districts of Karen State and eastern Pegu Division, Tenasserim Division of southern Burma, and a few were taken in Thailand. They have been divided under several headings: ‘Forced Labour’, ‘Forced Relocation and Restrictions’, ‘Attacks on Villages & Village Destruction’, ‘Detention and Torture’, ‘Shootings and Killings’, ‘Flight and Displacement’, ‘Landmines’, ‘Soldiers’, and ‘Children’. Brief synopses are provided below under each topic heading. More detailed information on all of the regions mentioned is available in KHRG documentary reports, several of which are referenced in the text below. It is important to note that almost all of the abuses documented in this photo set have occurred since October 2000, while the SPDC has simultaneously been lauded internationally for ‘talking to Aung San Suu Kyi’ and ‘releasing political prisoners’. In fact, the reason that the SPDC can continue to commit such abuses with impunity is largely because the international community has been so easily distracted into focusing all of its attention on the political manoeuvring in Rangoon. Similarly, all of the photos of forced labour included here have been taken since the SPDC claimed to put an end to forced labour (first in May 1999, then again in October 2000).

Almost all of the photos in the set have been taken by KHRG human rights researchers in the field, as noted in the photo captions; the exceptions to this are credited according to who provided them. The photos have been chosen as a sampling, intended to show as many aspects of the situation as possible. Some details of people and places have been deliberately omitted from the photo descriptions or replaced by ‘xxxx’, ‘yyyy’, ‘aaaa’, ‘bbbb’ etc. where necessary to protect the villagers involved. While looking at the photos, please remember that they have been taken under difficult and often dangerous circumstances with low budget equipment, and quality is as incoming.

The photos are not numbered sequentially, but according to the main section in which they appear; for example, photos related primarily to Forced Labour are numbered A1, A2, etc., and those related primarily to Forced Relocation and Restrictions are numbered B1, B2, etc. Photos which are relevant to more than one section are displayed more than once. For example, a photo of children doing forced labour will appear in both the Forced Labour section and the Children section, but will bear the same number in both places; as a result, the sequence of numbered photos may appear something like A1, A2, C47, A3, A4, D12, D13, A5, etc. All of the photos in the Children section are taken from other sections of the photo set.

Copies of the photo prints or digital copies scanned at higher resolution can be obtained upon approval from KHRG, by specifying the photo set and photo numbers and paying the costs involved. Organisations may download the images from the KHRG web site or use the prints for publication on a not-for-profit basis, provided they are properly credited; any publication for commercial purposes requires permission of the copyright holders. This can be obtained by contacting KHRG.