The following incident report is presented below translated exactly as originally written, save for minor edits for clarity and security. [1] This report was received along with other information from Papun District, including four other incident reports, one situation update and 39 photographs.[2]
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Type of Incident |
Restrictions placed upon a religious group |
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Date of Incident(s) |
September 10th 2012 |
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Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
K'Ter Tee [village], K'Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Papun District |
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Victim Information |
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Name |
Age |
Sex |
Family |
Occupation |
Religion |
Position |
Village |
|
Saw W--- |
46 |
Male |
Yes |
Flat field farmer |
Muslim |
Villager |
M--- village |
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Perpetrator information |
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Name |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander |
|
Saw Bah Yoh |
Company commander |
Border Guard #1013, K'Ter Tee village |
K'Ter Tee village, Border Guard army camp |
Border Guard #1013, Battalion Commander Saw Hla Kyaing |
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1. Explain the specific manner in which you collected this information. |
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At first, we heard there were problems regarding religion that almost happened in K'Ter Tee village, so we decided to go to K'Ter Tee village. Before we arrived at K'Ter Tee village, we arrived at M--- village first and then, we met with a M--- villager named Saw W--- (a Muslim) and we interviewed him about the problems. The distance between M--- village and K'Ter Tee village is only 20 minutes on foot. |
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2. Explain how the source verified information accuracy. |
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It [the interviewee] is Saw W---, a Muslim. [He was interviewed] while he was going to worship on Friday [September 10th] at the mosque, which is in K'Ter Tee village. He brought us the papers that were attached to a tree by Border Guard Company Commander Saw Bah Yoh. He himself dares not approach Buddhists. |
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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 an attachment if needed. |
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At first, there was news regarding the distribution of a pamphlet, and these pamphlets were spread to many places in Karen State. Later, the pamphlets reached the Border Guard and the Border Guard stuck them up on trees.[3] Related to the distributed pamphlets, the Border Guard made an order that "No one is allowed to sell food or products to Muslims and no one is allowed to buy from them, and if they do, they will be fined." The people who made the order and stuck the pamphlet to the tree were the company commander Saw Bah Yoh and his Border Guard soldiers. Since then, the Muslims and Buddhists do not dare to continue their relationship anymore. During the night-time, the Buddhists went and destroyed the mosque.[4] This problem almost became a serious problem. When it was becoming a serious problem, one of the KHRG field researchers [community members from Papun district] arrived at a village near to K'Ter Tee. While documenting the abuses, he met with the Muslim to collect the information. After collecting the information regarding the incident, the researcher encouraged and advised the Muslim in an attempt to avoid further problems. Later, the operations commander from K'Ter Tee Tatmadaw Army Camp found out that KHRG's community member came to K'Ter Tee and already collected the incident, so he gathered all of the K'Ter Tee villagers and set up a meeting in their army camp. In the meeting, the operations commander [Tatmadaw] told all of the villagers that whether [someone] is Buddhist or Muslim, everyone has to treat each other as they used to treat in the past. They will have to get back their good relationship again and live peacefully together, as before. They also told the villagers not to hate each other. Since the Tatmadaw told the villagers to live like that, the problem did not continue anymore. This case, that nearly happened in our Karen State, is similar to the case that is happening in Rakhine State.[5] |
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Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
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The villager who provided the information for us has never reported any information to us [before], so he dares not to be interviewed with the audio recording, however, we can use this [written] information as we need. |