Fri, 05 Jun 2015
Dooplaya Photo Set: Tatmadaw conduct heavy weapons target practice in Win Yay Township, January 2015

This Photo Set shows Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #310 conducting heavy weapons target training and its consequences, including the destruction of villagers’ crops and rubber plantations in Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District in January 2015. Villagers report that the Tatmadaw have carried out heavy weapons target training in the area before, but this time is different as there are more soldiers and this is the first time they have conducted night time target practice.

Photo Set | Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District (January 2015)

The following photos were taken by a community member in Dooplaya District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor local human rights conditions. They are presented below, censored where necessary for security purposes.[1] The eight photos below were received along with other information from Dooplaya District, including 374 other photos, six video clips, one situation update, and one incident report.[2]

Fri, 05 Jun 2015

Footnotes: 

[1] KHRG trains villagers in eastern Burma/Myanmar to document individual human rights abuses 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 situation updates, villagers are encouraged to summarise recent events, raise issues that they consider to be important, and present their opinions or perspective on abuse and other local dynamics in their area.

[2] This Photo Set was compiled by KHRG office staff and is based on information from a community member from Dooplaya District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor local human rights conditions. In order to increase the transparency of KHRG methodology and more directly communicate the experiences and perspectives of villagers in eastern Burma/Myanmar, 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 categorised by Type, Issue, Location and Year, please see the Related Readings component following each report on KHRG’s redesigned Website.

[3] ‘Kyay Ywa Gon’ means ‘village hill’ in Karen.

[4] Light Infantry Battalion (Tatmadaw) comprised of 500 soldiers. However, most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Primarily for offensive operations but sometimes used for garrison duties.

[5] A land use grant is a legal form which gives the holder permission to use and work on the land, however the land is ultimately owned by the Burma/Myanmar government. 

[6] The 2012 Farmland Law, Chapter 2(3), states that anyone over the age of 18 years, in order to work on their land, must acquire ‘Form Number One’ from the village administration office. They must fill this out and send it to Farmland Village Tract Administration Department. The form will then go to the township administration and a decision will be made. In this case, Saw K--- was unsuccessful and his current land use grant was not legalised under the new system.

[7] Usually the township administrator does not give a reason for accepting the application or not. At the time of publication KHRG did not have any information regarding why his application was denied.

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