Mon, 14 Mar 2016
Hpapun Incident Report: Shooting of a villager by BGF Battalion #1014 in Bu Tho Township, February 2014

This Incident Report describes a case in which Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1014 Commander Maung Chit shot a villager named Saw A--- for no apparent reason in B--- village, Htee Tha Daw Hta village tract, Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District. Consequently, since Saw A---’s arm was broken, he had to go to a monk in Myaing Gyi Ngu Town to receive medical treatment.

Incident Report | Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District (February 2014)

The following Incident Report was written by a community member in Hpapun District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor local human rights conditions. It is presented below translated exactly as originally written, save for minor edits for clarity and security.[1] This report was received in November 2014 along with other information from Hpapun District, including 26 other incident reports, 26 interviews, one situation update, 83 photographs and 32 video clips.[2]

Part 1- Incident Details

Type of Incident

Shooting of a villager

Date of Incident(s)

February 10th 2014

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

B--- village, Htee Tha Daw Hta village tract, Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District

 

Victim Information

Name

Saw A---

Age

61

Sex

Male

Ethnicity

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Farming

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Village head

Village

[B--- village, Htee Tha Daw Hta village tract, Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District]

 

Perpetrator Information

Name(s)              

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Maung Chit[3]

Battalion Commander

 

Meh Say [village]

 

Part 2 - Information Quality

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

On August 20th 2014, I met with Saw A--- who is 61 years old in C--- village and he is a villager in Htee Tha Daw Hta village tract.

 

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The one who gave this information was violently abused by the BGF and it is a true [incident].

Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident

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 an attachment if needed.

On August 20th, 2014, I met with B--- villager Saw A---, who is 61 years old, in C--- village. Saw A--- disclosed that on February 10th 2014, [BGF Battalion #1014] Battalion Commander Saw Maung Chit shot him without [Saw A---] having done any mistake. He called out to him suddenly and shot him in his right arm and his bone broke [as a result]. He went to a Myaing Gyi Ngu monk for treatment until he recovered. [During his recovery,] he also had to be hospitalized for nine days. It cost him 800,000 kyat (US $645.85).[4] The monk also helped him [cover some of his medical] fees.

BGF [soldiers] demand less food and labour than in the past. We hope that these things [demanding food and labour] will not exist, so that we will be able to work for our livelihoods freely.

Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details

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

The one who has suffered [from this abuse] allowed us to use the information so that our leaders and the other people in the world will know the suffering of the villagers.

 

 
Mon, 14 Mar 2016

Footnotes: 

[1] KHRG trains community members in southeast Burma/Myanmar 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 southeastern 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 website.

[3] Commander Maung Chit, also referred to as Maw Hsee, is the commander of Tatmadaw Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1014 in Hpapun District. Maung Chit is not to be confused with Maung Chit Thu (typically referred to as Chit Thu), who is a senior level BGF commander overseeing battalions #1017, #1018, #1019 and #1020 in Ko Ko, Hpa-an District. See, “Human rights violations by Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1014 in Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District, May 2012 to March 2014,” KHRG, July 2015.

[4] All conversion estimates for the kyat in this report are based on the February 24th 2016 official market rate of 1,238.68 kyat to the US $1.

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