The following Incident Report was written by a community member in Hpa-an 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 February 2013 along with other information from Hpa-an District, including one other incident report, one situation update, and 319 photographs[2].
Type of Incident |
BGF [Border Guard Force][3] confiscated and cleared a villager’s land in order to grow rubber trees. |
Date of Incident(s) |
February 1st 2013. |
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
A--- village, Taw Soe village tract, Ta Kreh [Paingkyon] Township, Hpa-an District. |
Victim Information |
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Name |
H--- |
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Age |
50 |
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Sex |
Female |
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Nationality |
Karen |
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Family |
Married |
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Occupation |
Trader [shop owner] |
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Religion |
Christian |
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Position |
Villager |
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Village |
A--- |
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Perpetrator Information |
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Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
Cantonment Area Commander |
BGF Battalion #1015 & Battalion #1016 |
Hlaingbwe |
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1. Explain in detail how you collected this information. |
I met with H--- on February 28th 2013 and she told me about the incident. Commander Kya Aye arrived at H---’s land on February 1st 2013 and ordered the villagers to clear it; he then claimed it was his own land, so he could grow rubber trees. |
2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
H--- inherited this land from her parents, and she also has the land title, which is checked once per year by the responsible people [from the Burma/Myanmar government land registration department]. She is attempting to get her land back now. She wants to report this incident to the BGF and to the Burma government. She has not been able to report it yet, but she is still trying. |
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. |
BGF Commander Kya Aye confiscated the land of H---, which is located beside A--- village (which we usually call O--- village) on February 1, 2013, in order to grow rubber. H--- obtained the land title for this land a long time ago. No one initially informed her that her land had been confiscated and cleared [her home is located elsewhere]. There are many places [land] around this land [H---’s land, which was confiscated] but we have not heard anything about the other land [being confiscated][6]. This BGF Commander is the one who causes the most problems in this area. He has confiscated people’s land, conducted logging on people’s land and in the forest, conducted mining, built pagodas, and constructed roads. He is doing these things for his own benefit. Battalion #1015 and Battalion #1016 [BGF] are under his control because he is the Commander of Cantonment Area #2. Some of his soldiers do not accept [agree with] the things that he does. There are many human rights abuses that he committed. No one reported him to his superiors because people are afraid of him. He is a Buddhist. [In 2012] he also confiscated the land of the senior monk of D--- village, Noh Kwee village tract, Ta Kreh [Paingkyon] Township, which is located beside the monastery. The monk assumed that he would not need to report him [Commander Kya Aye] because he is a leader. Later, the monk asked his disciples to report him [Commander Kya Aye]. I do not know if this case is stalled or ongoing. I will follow up on it and report next time[7]. |
Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
H--- requested that I report the perpetrator to the Burmese [government]. She [H---] did not want me to take a photo of her. I could not take a photo of her confiscated land because I met her far from it. |