Type of Incident

Attack on villager

Date of Incident(s)

January 15th 2013

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

P--- village, Htee Th’Daw Hta village tract, Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District

Victim Information

Name         

Age

Sex

Ethnicity

Religion  

Family

Occupation

Responsible

Village

Naw M---

23 years old

Female

Karen

Buddhist

Yes

Housewife

No

P---

Perpetrator Information

Name 

Rank

Unit

Base   

Commander

Saw Day Day

Warrant Officer

BGF [Border Guard Force][1] #1014

Meh Seik BGF army camp

Commander Ye’Thw

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

On January 15th, the KHRG community member received a telegram message from the KNU [Karen National Union] regarding an attack on a villager. As soon as I [the KHRG community member] heard the news, I immediately left the KHRG Northern Office and went to P--- village, where the attack happened. In order to find out if the news was true, I met with the victim and her son; the victim’s aunt Daw S---; and the victim’s uncle U T---. I interviewed them to get strong evidence. I interviewed the victim, Naw M---, first and she told us about her suffering, and after that I also interviewed her uncle and aunt, who are her neighbours and witnessed the attack.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

I have documented the incident in this report after interviewing the victim, Naw M---, and her son. The witness, Daw S---, who is the victim’s aunt and also her neighbour, explained that [Naw M---’s account] of the incident is true. Daw S--- said, “The warrant officer’s mortar didn’t accidentally go off, but he intentionally fired it.”

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 attach if needed.

The human rights abuse that I am going to report now happened on January 15th 2013 in P--- village, Htee Th’Daw Hta village tract, Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District.

The incident happened when Naw M--- was sitting at the back of the house and a warrant officer of Border Guard Force [BGF Battalion] #1014 fired the 44 mm mortar at her, so Naw P--- and her son were injured. The person who committed the abuse is BGF #1014 Warrant Officer Saw Day Day, led by Company Commander Bo Ye Thway and Battalion Commander Saw Maung Chit.[2]

Warrant Officer Saw Day Day travelled from P--- village army camp and then came into the village.[3] While he went around the village and arrived at Naw M---’s house, he saw that she was sitting with her son, Saw K---. The time was around two in the afternoon. At that time, Saw Day Day was slightly drunk, so when he saw Naw M--- and her son, he asked if she had gasoline or not. Naw M--- replied to him that she did not have it. Saw Day Day told her that he would fire a 40 mm mortar [grenade launcher] at her. A few seconds after he started [aimed] the mortar, the sound of the mortar [being fired] went off. So, it hit Naw M---, who was breast-feeding her son, on her calf and the grenade grazed her son’s back. The bullet [grenade] stopped four yards away from the mother and son. Fortunately, the bullet did not explode.

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

U T--- allows [KHRG] to use this information as it is needed.