Hpapun Incident Report: Violent threats and physical abuse by BGF #1013 soldier in Dwe Lo Township, March 2017

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]

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	Type of Incident
Violent threats and physical harassment	Violent threats and physical harassment

Type of Incident	Date of Incident(s)
Violent threats and physical harassment	March 24th 2017

Type of Incident

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Violent threats and physical harassment

O---village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District

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

Victim Information	Name
	Saw[3] H---
	Maung W---
	Maung T---

Victim Information	Age
	---
	---
	---

Victim Information	Sex
	Male
	Male
	Male

Victim Information	Ethnicity
	Karen
	---
	---

Victim Information	Family
	Married
	---
	---

Victim Information	Occupation
	Casual daily worker
	---
	---

Victim Information	Religion
	Buddhist
	---
	---

Victim Information	Position
	Ordinary villager
	Ordinary villager
	Ordinary villager

Victim Information	Village
	O---
	O---
	G---

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

Perpetrator Information	Name(s)
	Rank
	Unit
	Base
	Commander’s Name

Perpetrator Information	Ng’Htun
	Soldier
	BGF #1013[4]
	K’Taing Ti Battalion
	Lit. Colonel Saw Hla Kyaing

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.

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

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.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

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.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

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.

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.