[1] KHRG incident reports are written or gathered by community member in Papun District who have been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. KHRG trains community member in eastern Burma 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 eastern Burma, 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. As companion to this, a redesigned website will be released in 2013. Three other Incident reports that were submitted along with this one have been published as "Incident Report: Looting in Papun District #1, May 2012," KHRG, March 2013; "Incident Report: Looting in Papun District #2, May 2012," KHRG, March 2013; and "Incident Report: Forced Labour in Papun District #1, May 2012". These reports have been summarized and published as the most recent report for Papun district, "Border Guard Battalion #1014 demands for labour and other goods in Papun District," KHRG, March 2013.

[3] Border Guard battalions of the Tatmadaw were established in 2010, and they are composed mostly of soldiers from former non-state armed groups, such as older constellations of the DKBA, which have formalized ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government and agreed to transform into battalions within the Tatmadaw. Border Guard battalions are assigned four digit battalion numbers, whereas regular Tatmadaw infantry or light infantry battalions are identified by two or three digit battalion numbers. For more information, see "DKBA officially becomes Border Guard Force" Democratic Voice of Burma, August 2010, and, "Exploitation and recruitment under the DKBA in Pa'an District," KHRG, June 2009.

[4] Commander Maung Chit's name is sometimes spelled "Maw Hsee."

[5] Although the community member used the name Maung Chit Thu as the commander of Battalion #1014, Maung Chit Thu is actually a top-tier officer in the Border Guard, while Maung Chit is the commander for Battalion #1014. The confusion stems from the fact that Maung Chit Thu is part of the intelligence division for the Border Guard and actual role in the command structure is unclear. In December 2012, KHRG verified that these two names do not refer to the same officer. For more information on Maung Chit Thu's authority, see "KHRG report: "Pa'an Situation Update: June to August 2011," KHRG, October 2011.

[6] The community member had travelled to the area previously, and shared KHRG information gathering methodology with villagers, in order to prepare notes of events in their area as local records for general reporting. This Incident Report is based on the villagers' notes that were shared with the community member.

[7] KHRG received reports on the activities of Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1014, which has been active along the border of Papun and Thaton Districts. Battalion #1014 is commanded by Major Maung Chit, which is also sometimes spelled Maw Hsee, whom is allegedly to be a part of an advisory committee that oversaw the 2010 transformation of the DKBA into the BGF, and assumed responsibility for business activities for the group. See "The Situation In Karen State After the Elections," EBO (Euro-Burma Office) Analysis Paper No. 1/2011, April 2011. More recently, on August 5th 2012, the KNLA and BGF #1014 engaged in a firefight in Mae Seik village, Papun Township, despite the terms of the ceasefire. KNLA and Government's Militia Fight – Four Soldiers Killed Karen News, August 7th 2012. For additional articles discussing abuses perpetrated by BGF #1014, see these KHRG reports: "Torture and killing in Thaton District," KHRG, October 2012; "Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, received April 2012," KHRG, June 2012; "Papun Interview: Saw T---, August 2011," January 2012; "Thaton Situation Update: June to October 2011," KHRG November 2011; All the Information I've Given You, I faced it myself, KHRG December 2011, page 14.

[8] As of March 15th 2013, all conversion estimates for the kyat in this report are based on the official market rate of 872 kyat to the US $1. This reflects new measures taken by Burma's central bank on April 2nd 2012 to initiate a managed float of the kyat, thus replacing the previous fixed rate of 6.5 kyat to US $1.

[9] The Burmese government has pledged to the International Labor Organization (ILO) that it will end forced labor in Burma by 2015. These pledges were embodied in a Memorandums of Understanding between the Government and the ILO, signed on March 16, 2012. For more information on the issue of forced labor and Burma's relationship with the ILO, see Civilian and Military order documents: August 2009 to August 2012, KHRG, October 2012.