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Print:This Incident Report describes events that occurred in Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District in October 2022. On the morning of October 22nd 2022, a female villager was shot dead by State Administration Council (SAC) soldiers after fighting broke out with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) at a place known as P’Nah Koo Kleh, T’Hkaw Pwa village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract. SAC soldiers also took money and jewellery belonging to the villager who was shot dead, and burned two farm huts nearby.[1]
Part 1 – Incident Details
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Type of Incident |
Killing |
|
Date of Incident(s) |
October 22nd 2022 |
|
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
P’Nah Koo Kleh Place, T’Hkaw Pwa village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District |
|
Name |
|
|
Age |
48 |
|
Sex |
Female |
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Nationality |
Karen |
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Family |
Single |
|
Occupation |
Farmer |
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Religion |
Christian |
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Position |
Villager |
|
Village |
T’Hkaw Pwa village |
|
Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
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Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
|
Unknown |
Unknown |
Combined forces of SAC LIB #599 and another unknown SAC battalion |
Ton Taw, Moo special area, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District |
Unknown |
Part 2 - Information Quality
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1. Explain in detail how you collected this information. |
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On October 22nd and 23rd 2022, a KHRG field researcher phoned the administrator of A--- village tract after he heard gunshots go off in the area on October 22nd. The administrator told him that fighting happened on October 22nd between KNLA and SAC soldiers in P’Nah Koo Kleh Place, T’Hkaw Pwa village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, Moo Township, and that SAC soldiers shot Naw Day Nyah, a villager from T’Hkaw Pwa village. On October 23rd, the researcher interviewed Naw Day Nyah’s nephew, Saw B---, to collect the information. |
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2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
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Many people [in T’Hkaw Pwa village] witnessed the incident and provided this information to Naw Day Nyah’s nephew, Saw B---. He was also among those who carried Naw Day Nyah’s body back to the village. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
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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 7 am on October 22nd 2022, State Administration Council (SAC)[3] soldiers [unknown battalion] came to stay at Ton Taw army camp, located on the eastern side of Ton Taw village, Moo special area, Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) Districe, where SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[4] #599 is based. The combined battalions headed eastward to P’Nah Koo Kleh Place, which is located not very far from Ton Taw village. The troops encountered Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[5] soldiers when they entered P’Nah Koo Kleh Place in T’Hkaw Pwa village and fighting broke out there. As a result of the fighting, villagers who lived in that place had to flee in a hurry without being able to take anything with them. Naw Day Nyah was at P’Nah Koo Kleh Place at the time of the fighting, but she was sick and could not flee far away. She only moved a short distance from her farm hut before she was seen by SAC soldiers who shot her dead. Naw Day Nyah was hit by a bullet behind her left ear. The bullet penetrated her skull, and exited through her right ear, causing her to lose her right ear. She was also hit on the palm of her hand [KHRG was unable to confirm which hand]. Shortly after Naw Day Nyah was shot dead, SAC soldiers came to the spot where her body was and stole 300,000 kyats [USD 142.86][6], one gold necklace, and one pair of earrings that they found in Naw Day Nyah’s bag. SAC soldiers also burned down two farm huts, destroying everything inside the huts.
Naw Day Nyah’s body was found the next day [by KNLA soldiers] and was carried back to T’Hkaw Pwa village. Her body then was buried in the place known as Thaw Kwaw Day in T’Hkaw Pwa village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District.
As a result of the incident, local villagers in the area are facing security concerns and have to live in constant fear. Therefore, they moved away from their village. Since villagers had to flee from their village and left their livestock and their work behind, they face many livelihood challenges. |
Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details
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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 victim’s nephew gave KHRG permission to use the information for publication. |
Further background reading on the security and human rights situation in Kler Lwee Htoo District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Situation Update: Arbitrary taxation, education, health care, SAC activity and indiscriminate shelling, March to June 2022”, January 2023.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: Indiscriminate shelling killed a displaced woman in Moo Township, September 2022”, December 2022.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: Two villagers shot dead and 12 villagers’ houses burned down by SAC in Ler Doh Township, July 2022”, December 2022.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: Two villagers were seriously injured in a landmine explosion in Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, July 2022”, November 2022.
These twos photos were taken on October 23rd 2022 in T’Hkaw Pwa village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. The photo on the left shows the corpse of Naw Day Nyah and the injury on her right ear that was caused by the SAC soldiers’ shooting. The photo on the right shows the grave of Naw Day Nyah where she was buried at Thaw Kwaw Day Place, near T’Hkaw Pwa village. [Photos: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in November 2022. It was provided by a community member in Kler Lwee Htoo who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.
[2] Naw is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[3] The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup.
[4] A Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) comprises 500 soldiers. Most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are understrength with less than 200 soldiers, yet up-to-date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. LIBs are primarily used for offensive operations, but they are sometimes used for garrison duties.
[5] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.
[6] All conversion estimates for the kyat are based on the December 20th 2022 mid-market exchange rate of 1,000 kyats to USD 0.48 (taken from https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/mmk-to-usd-rate).
