Type of Incident

Indiscriminate gunfire at a villager’s house

Date of Incident(s)

August 10th 2021

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

A--- village, Chee Thu Saw village tract,[2] Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District

Victim Information

Name

Saw[3] C--- (House owner)

Age

Over 50 years

Sex

Male

Nationality

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Plantation worker

Religion

Christian

Position

Villager

Village

A--- village, Chee Thu Saw village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Naing Lin Htun

Captain

Light Infantry Battalion #604

Pyinmana Township (in Nay Pyi Daw) but temporarily operating out of Day Dah Hkoh army camp, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District

Major Hein San Htun

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

Saw B--- (a former village head) contacted a KHRG researcher on the phone and informed him about the incident.  

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

KHRG’s researcher heard villagers talking about this incident. Then Saw B--- contacted the KHRG researcher and informed him about this incident over the phone. Local Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[4] authorities also told the researcher about this incident.

Saw C---, the homeowner whose house was damaged by the gunfire, told Saw B--- about the incident. Saw B--- then informed KHRG’s researcher about the incident and shared the information Saw C--- had provided to him.

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.

On the night of August 10th 2021, Captain Naing Lin Htun and two of his fellow soldiers from an unknown company[5] under State Administration Council (SAC)[6] Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[7] #604, and temporarily based in and operating out of Day Dah Hkoh army camp, near A--- village, Chee Thu Saw village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District, left the army camp and entered the village, where they drank alcohol. [Soldiers are not supposed to leave the camp. Captain Naing Lin Htun and his fellow soldiers were able to do so because Captain Naing Lin Htun is the highest authority at the camp.] While they were drunk, Captain Naing Lin Htun took his pistol and fired at a house owned by a villager named Saw C---. The roof of the house was damaged by the gunfire [the gunfire damaged one of the zinc panels on the roof as well as a wooden roof support].

Villagers were not happy about this incident and they complained about it. One community member called Major Hein San Htun, battalion commander of SAC LIB #604, and informed him about this incident [Major Hein San Htun is located at Thout Yay Ket army camp, Thout Yay Ket village, Kay Lay Koh village tract, Thandaunggyi Township]. Major Hein San Htun then called and met with Captain Naing Htun Lin. He [the major] said that he would punish Captain Naing Lin Htun for this incident. However, Major Hein San Htun did not hand down any punishment nor take action against Captain Naing Lin Htun for what he did. Because of Major Hein San Htun’s failure to take action, the villagers are worried that SAC soldiers will commit similar acts in the future.

The villagers were worried for their security when they [the soldiers] entered the village at night, because past actions of this type [by Tatmadaw[8] soldiers] have caused the villagers to fear for both their lives and their property [for example, in the past Tatmadaw soldiers would enter the village at night to threaten and even arrest villagers]. Local villagers also have recent experience with property damage caused by SAC soldiers from the Day Dah Hkoh army camp. In March 2021, when SAC soldiers cleaned the area surrounding their army camp [by cutting and burning grass and bushes], they burned down some of the gardens owned by villagers. No compensation was provided to the owners following this incident.

According to the KHRG researcher, the relationship between the villagers and SAC soldiers who live in Day Dah Hkoh army camp is not very good. Villagers worry about their security due to their [the SAC soldiers’] presence near the village.

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

Both the victim and KHRG’s direct source have given KHRG permission to use this information.