English
ကညီကျိာ်
မြန်မာOn March 24th 2017, one case of violent threats and abuse by a Border Guard Force (BGF) soldier towards villagers in O--- village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District. The BGF soldier Ng’Htun from Battalion #1013 entered a house where villagers were gathered for a funeral devotion service and hit the heads of villagers with a gun, including Saw H--- and two other friends. The villagers were scared and kept silent while Ng’Htun was hitting and threatening them.
Incident Report | Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District (April 2017)
The following Incident Report was written by (1) 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 June 2017 along with other information from Hpapun District, including one other incident report, six interviews, one situation update and 107 photographs.[2]
Part 1 – Incident Details
|
Type of Incident |
Violent threats and physical harassment |
|
Date of Incident(s) |
March 24th 2017 |
|
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
O---village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District |
| Victim Information | |||
| Name | Saw[3] H--- | Maung W--- | Maung T--- |
| Age | --- | --- | --- |
| Sex | Male | Male | Male |
| Ethnicity | Karen | --- | --- |
| Family | Married | --- | --- |
| Occupation | Casual daily worker | --- | --- |
| Religion | Buddhist | --- | --- |
| Position | Ordinary villager | Ordinary villager | Ordinary villager |
| Village | O--- | O--- | G--- |
| Perpetrator Information | ||||
| Name(s) | Rank | Unit | Base | Commander’s Name |
| Ng’Htun | Soldier | BGF #1013[4] | K’Taing Ti Battalion | Lit. Colonel Saw Hla Kyaing |
Part 2 - Information Quality
| 1. Explain in detail how you collected this information. |
| When the KHRG researcher was traveling between Hpapun Town and Mee Zaing Chaung Wa [Bay], he heard the news that Saw H---, Maung W--- from O--- village and Maung T--- from G--- village were beaten by the BGF soldier Ng’ Htun. The researcher interviewed the victim Saw H--- about this case. |
| 2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
| When the BGF soldier Ng’Htun entered the house of the villager U[5] K---, a drunken man named Maung T--- who was drinking alcohol with other friends shouted, “Who dares?” Then, Ng’Htun hit him with a gun. The expression of this villager verified that this is the true information that he experienced it. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
| Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
|
On March 24th 2017, a case of violent threat and physical abuses occurred in O--- village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District. This [case of] violent threats and physical abuses was a human rights abuse towards local villagers. The perpetrator was a 32 year old BGF soldier from Battalion #1013 whose name is Ng’Htun. The local villagers who were threatened and beaten were Saw H---, who is --- years old and Maung W--- from O--- village and Maung T--- from G--- village.The villagers do not know why the perpetrator threatened the victims but they assume that it was because of the boastful attitude of the BGF soldier Ng’Htun. To describe the full details of this situation, U K---, 60 years old, who lives in O--- village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, was having a devotion service for his mother’s funeral in his house on March 24th 2017. As is customary, villagers were gathering in his house to prepare food together. At the same time, they [villagers] also drank alcohol and played cards. Then, suddenly, BGF soldier Ng’Htun entered the house and headed towards the group of villagers who were drinking and playing cards. A drunken villager from the group, Maung T--- shouted, ‘Who dares?’ Then, Ng’Htun took out his gun and turned it towards the group of people. When everyone was too scared to move and therefore kept quiet, Ng’Htun hit the foreheads of Saw H--- and shouted at Maung W---. In addition, Ng’Htun also pointed his gun toward Maung T--- and punched him on his head. Local people were protecting themselves by staying silent and suffered whatever Ng’Htun did to them. This kind of violence is possible [to be repeated] in the future. |
Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details
| Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
| Saw H--- allowed this information to be used in the report. |
This photo was taken on April 3rd 2017 in O--- village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District. This is the photo of O--- villager Saw H--- who was beaten by BGF soldier Ng’Htun when he was at a funeral service in a house. At the same time, two other villagers who were drinking and playing cards during the funeral service were also shouted at and beaten by the BGF soldier Ng’Htun from Battalion #1013. [Photo: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] KHRG trains community members in southeastern 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] Saw is a S’gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[4] KHRG continues to receive reports discussing abuses involving BGF Battalion #1013 and #1014, including: “BGF Battalion #1014 demands forced labour, asserts heavily militarised presence in villages in Hpapun District, June 2015,” KHRG, December 2015; Hpapun Incident Report: Villager killed by Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1013 in Bu Tho Township, March 2015,” KHRG, September 2015; “Human rights violations by Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1014 in Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District, May 2012 to March 2014,” KHRG, July 2015 and “Hpapun Field Report: Killing, violent abuse, landmine incident, military activity, forced labour, displacement, and poor health and education make villagers feel insecure, January to December 2015,” KHRG, December 2016. Further reports detailing abuses involving these battalions are also available on the KHRG website.
[5] U is a Burmese title used for elder men, used before their name.
Print: