The following incident report was written by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. It is presented below exactly as originally written, save for minor edits for clarity and security.[1] This report was received along with other information from Papun District, including four other incident reports,[2] one interview and two situation updates.[3]
Type of Incident |
Looting |
Date of Incident(s) |
May 17th 2012 |
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
H--- village, X--- village, Y--- village, Meh Pree village tract, Bu Tho Township, Papun District |
Victim Information |
||||||||
Name |
Age |
Sex |
Nationality |
Family |
Occupation |
Religion |
Position |
Village |
Saw L--- |
35 |
Male |
Karen |
Married |
Farmer |
Buddhist |
Civilian |
H--- village |
Saw M--- |
40 |
Male |
Karen |
Married |
Farmer |
Buddhist |
Village Leader |
X--- village |
Saw N--- |
33 |
Male |
Karen |
Married |
Farmer |
Buddhist |
Second Village Leader |
Y--- village |
Perpetrator information |
||||
Name |
Rank |
Company/Battalion/Division |
Based at |
Commander's Name |
Saw Nyunt Thein |
Commander |
Border Guard[4] #1014 |
D--- village, Border Guard Camp |
Battalion Commander Maung Chit |
1. Explain the specific manner how you collected this information. |
During the previous rainy season, I went to [censored for security] and I met with them [the villagers] as usual. When I arrived, and when difficulties [accident] occurred, they wrote to me about the information.[5] |
2. Explain how the source verified information accuracy. |
In order to make sure whether this information is true or not, we went and compared [the information gathered with] the information that the "mother organization" [Karen National Union (KNU)[6] had already reported to the District [office of the KNU]. This information is meaningful and, we can say, and we dare to say, that this information is true. |
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 |
This time, to be able to report, we searched for the civilians' problems, and we discovered a problem that happened on May 17th 2012. The problem was about the actions of Commander Nyunt Thein and his people, the subordinates of the NPD [Nay Pyi Daw] government's Border Guard Military #1014,[7] [led by] Battalion Commander Maung Chit.[8] Their activities were different from the others, because they went and looted [things] from civilians. The information that we are reporting on is about an event that happened on May 17th 2012. The place where the event happened was in H--- village, X--- village and Y--- village. The villages that we are reporting about are in Meh Pree village tract, Bu Tho Township, Papun District. The people who created the problem, and who have abused the human rights [of villagers], were Commander Nyunt Thein and his followers, who are the subordinates of the Battalion Commander Maung Chit from the NPD government's Border Guard #1014. Almost all the people who live in Burma experience patterns of bullying, intimidation and torture. Mostly, all of the armed groups often engage in these practices, which were continued by one Burmese [Burma] government after another. Therefore, the group under Commander Saw Nyunt Thein is also engaging in the practice of frightening civilians and looting things from them, time after time; Commander Nyunt Thein and his group are frightening civilians and looting the civilians' things. On May 17th 2012, Commander Nyunt Thein and his people looted things from the civilians of X---, Y---, and H--- villages; they looted durians and chickens. They demanded six durians and five viss[9] of chicken from Y--- village. Then, they looted 50 durians from X--- village and 50 durians from H--- village. For the villagers, whether they wanted to give [the things] or not, they had to give [them]. According to the demands from Commander Nyunt Thein, villagers had to go and send the durians to B--- village. Even though they sent the durians, they didn't get any payment for them. We can say that those kinds of human rights abuses could happen continuously in the future. It is not easy for them [soldiers] to change their behaviour and the enthusiasm that they have demonstrated. These are the human rights abuses that have occurred in the ethnic area. President Thein Sein and the Operations Commander Min Aung Hlaing said that they will eradicate forced labour from the army [Tatmadaw], but I can assume that there is no agreement within the army.[10] |
Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
We can use wherever it is appropriate. |