This Incident Report describes events that occurred in F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District on May 28th 2021. A group of Tatmadaw soldiers opened fire on two villagers, injuring one of them. The victim was admitted to the hospital on the same day, but he was later taken away by the Tatmadaw on the pretext of providing him treatment. Local villagers are now unable to contact him. The other villager who was shot at is now missing.[1]

 

Part 1 – Incident Details

Type of Incident

Armed attack against civilians resulting in injuries

Date of Incident(s)

May 28th 2021

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

H--- village, F--- village tract,[2] Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

Victim Information

Name

Saw[3] B---

Saw A---

Age

27

36

Sex

Male

Male

Nationality

Karen

Karen

Family   

Married

N/A

Occupation

N/A

N/A

Religion

N/A

N/A

Village

H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

-

-

Infantry Battalion #75

-

Deputy Commander Zaw Win Naing

 

Part 2 - Information Quality

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

A KHRG researcher interviewed the family of one of the victims (Saw B---).

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The sources took the injured victim to the hospital after the incident.

 

Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

This incident happened on May 28th 2021, at 11 am, in H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. A patrol of Tatmadaw[4] soldiers opened fire on two local villagers, 36-year-old Saw A--- and 27-year-old Saw B---. Both of them were inside the same hut at the time of the incident. The soldiers involved were from Infantry Battalion (IB)[5] #75, which is led by deputy commander Zaw Win Naing. They later argued that they fired at these villagers because they thought they were Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[6] soldiers.

 

The incident place is just one hour away on foot from the main road. Saw C---, Saw B---’s father, was on his way to the hut when he heard gunshots and ran away. He went back to the hut after the gunfire [had ceased] and the situation had cooled down. He saw blood at the incident place and eventually found Saw A--- hiding in the bushes. One bullet had gone through his kneecap, so he was not able to run away. Saw C--- took him back to the village and villagers sent him to Ler Doh (Kyaukkyi) General Hospital. Saw B--- is now missing. No one knows where he is or whether he is still alive. His shoes and bag were not at the incident place anymore.

 

Saw C--- arrived at the hospital [with Saw A---] at 4 pm but, at 7 pm, Tatmadaw soldiers came and took [Saw A---] away on the pretext of providing him treatment. A local villager told KHRG: “Saw A---’s knee was badly injured. He won’t be able to walk again, even after the treatment. The nurse contacted the military hospital and they [Tatmadaw soldiers] came and took him. We cannot contact him on his phone. The Burma Army keeps his phone and we cannot talk to him. We only got to talk to him [on the phone] once [after he was taken away].” He added: “We haven’t heard anything about Saw B---. We cannot find him since there are travel restrictions [in place] due to security reasons.”

 

The local villager further explained that, in his opinion, the soldiers had taken Saw A--- [from the hospital] to keep word of the incident from spreading: “I think that the Burma Army soldiers do not want the information [about the shooting] to spread. This is just like what happened in the past. One of my cousins was also alone inside a hut after he came back from fishing. Burma Army soldiers went to his hut, then they left a letter saying: ‘We took him for treatment’. We tried to find him, but we could not.”

 

Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details

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

The family of Saw B--- provided permission to use this information.

 

Further background reading on human rights abuses committed by the Tatmadaw in Southeast Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:

 

Thu, 03 Jun 2021

Footnotes: 

[1] The present document is based on information received in May 2021. It was provided by a community member in Kler Lwee Htoo District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.

[2] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.

[3] Saw is a S'gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person's name.

[4] Tatmadaw refers to the Myanmar military.

[5] An Infantry Battalion (Tatmadaw) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Yet up to date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. They are primarily used for garrison duty but are sometimes used in offensive operations.

[6] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.

ဖးအါထီၣ်တၢ်ဂ့ၢ်ဘၣ်ထွဲတဖၣ်