Thu, 29 May 2014
Toungoo Incident Report: Tatmadaw transport rations and ammunition in Thandaunggyi Township, December 2013

This Incident Report describes the transportation of food and ammunition and the use of heavy weapons in Thandaunggyi Township by the Tatmadaw in December 2013. Villagers reported that such military activity causes insecurity among the local community, as it is perceived as preparation for war. Previously, N--- villagers had constructed a new road to avoid Tatmadaw soldiers, but now the Tatmadaw has started to use that road to transport materials. 

Incident Report | Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District, December 2013

The following Incident Report was written by a community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights abuses. It is presented below translated exactly as originally written, save for minor edits for clarity and security.[1] This report was received in March 2014 along with other information from Toungoo District, including seven other incident reports, six interviews, 89 photographs and five video clips.[2]

Part 1 – Incident(s) Detail

Type of Incident

Transportation of weapons and rations

Date of Incident(s)

December 1st 2013

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

N--- village, Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District

 

Victim Information

Name         

Age

Sex

Nationality

Religion  

Family

Occupation

Responsible

Village

Saw E---

22 years old

Male

Karen

Christian

Single

Cultivator

 

N--- village, Thandaunggyi Township

 

Perpetrator Information

Name 

Rank

Unit

Base   

Commander

 

 

Military Operation Command, Light Infantry Battalion #377

 

 

 

Part 2 - Information Quality

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

I took the photos by myself on December 4th 2013.

 

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

 

 

Part 3 – Incident Details

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened.  Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please, use the space prepared below and create attach if needed.

The Tatmadaw transported rations and ammunition on the road that villagers use for traveling from Thandaunggyi [town] to N--- village on December 1st 2013. They [the soldiers transporting the rations and ammunition] did not disturb the villagers when they transported things like before [as they had done in the past], but their military operations command [local Tatmadaw headquarters] shot heavy weapons for their security [as a threat meant to deter the KNLA from attacking the soldiers who were transporting rations and ammunition in the area]. They used 125 horses for transportation. They [the Tatmadaw] used a different road to transport things in the past and they called that road a military road. [In order to avoid the Tatmadaw], the villagers made their own effort and constructed a motorbike road for traveling. [However, now] the Tatmadaw use horses and transport rations and ammunition every day on the road that the villagers had constructed. It is not easy to avoid the horses and we [the villagers] are afraid of the heavy weapons launched by the Tatmadaw. According to one of the officers who is managing security for the transportation of rations and ammunition, the process will take at least two weeks. By seeing it, the villagers are worried that the war will start again because the Tatmadaw is sending more food and ammunition than they need during the ceasefire. 

 

Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

KHRG can use the photos and news as they want.

Thu, 29 May 2014

Footnotes: 

[1] KHRG trains community members in eastern Burma to document individual incidents of abuse using a standardised reporting format; conduct interviews with other villagers; and write general updates on the situation in areas with which they are familiar. When writing incident reports, community members are encouraged to document incidents of abuse that they consider to be important, by verifying information from multiple sources, assessing for potential biases and comparing to local trends.

[2] In order to increase the transparency of KHRG methodology and more directly communicate the experiences and perspectives of villagers in eastern Burma, KHRG aims to make all field information received available on the KHRG website once it has been processed and translated, subject only to security considerations. For additional reports categorized by Type, Issue, Location and Year, please see the Related Readings component following each report on KHRG’s Website.

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