On February 1st 2011, Naw L---, 24, told KHRG that her husband, Saw T--- had been arrested, beaten and summarily executed by soldiers from Tatmadaw Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1015,[1] led by Company Commander Mu Naw Dweh. According to Naw L--- the soldiers came to their house in Gk--- village, Lu Pleh Township, Pa’an District at around 7:00 pm on November 29th 2010, accused Saw T---, 27, of making contact with and spying for the Karen National Union (KNU), and arrested him. The arresting officer was Private Wah Lu. Naw L--- told KHRG that she was too afraid to leave the house after her husband was detained, but that she heard gunshots fired during the night. The next morning she went to look for him and found his dead body; Naw L--- said her husband’s body had two or three bullet wounds in the chest, and looked like he had been badly beaten before he was shot.  Saw T--- was a member of the local school committee for Gk--- village. As a committee member, Saw T--- had had contact with the Karen Education Department (KED), the education department of the KNU, in order to secure support for and the provision of materials to the school in Gk--- village, which provides classes for children up to 4th standard. Saw T--- and Naw L--- have one son, aged three years old, and a daughter, aged one and a half years old. Naw L--- and her children are currently staying with relatives at an undisclosed location.

n a separate incident reported to KHRG in mid-December 2010, Saw M---, a 75-year-old resident of Bp--- village, Dta Greh Township, Pa’an District was shot at point blank range on November 19th 2010 by BGF Battalion #1015 troops that had been recently deployed in his village. Saw M---’s son Saw W---, 27, told KHRG that Saw M--- had a habit of pretending, when he was intoxicated, that he practiced ‘black magic’. Saw W--- said that local DKBA troops previously stationed in the Bp--- area had been familiar with Saw M---’s habits; he believed, however, that newly-arrived BGF Battalion #1015 troops viewed Saw M--- with suspicion and considered that he posed a security threat. Saw W--- told KHRG that, on November 19th 2010, Saw M--- was called out of his house by BGF soldier Pah Lay Koh, who shot and killed Saw M--- as soon as he stepped outside.

Suspicion of civilians by Tatmadaw forces has been previously documented to attend the escalation of hostilities between the Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups in mixed administration areas in eastern Burma,[2] as well as to accompany tensions between the Tatmadaw and various racial and religious minorities in other areas of Burma.[3]  KHRG has documented numerous incidents in which civilians have been detained, abused, persecuted or summarily executed after being suspected of supporting, contacting or cooperating with the KNU or its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA),[4] The extrajudicial arrest, abuse and execution of civilians on such grounds appear to be established, tacitly-sanctioned practices in areas over which Tatmadaw forces seek to extend or consolidate military control.[5]  The execution of Saw W---, meanwhile, illustrates the danger, recently articulated by villagers confronting increasing conflict in Dooplaya and Pa’an, that re-orientation of military relationships or instability in the military context near their communities may expose civilians to acute suspicion and serious human rights violations by unfamiliar armed groups.[6]