Type of Incident

Threat, forced labour, indiscriminate shelling and looting.

Date of Incident

March 15th 2023

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

M--- village, Htaw Wah Law village tract,[2] Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District.

Victim(s) Information

Name

Saw[3] H---

Villagers from M--- village,

K--- village, T--- village, P--- village, L--- village, and W--- village, in Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District.

Age

67 years old

Sex

Male

Ethnicity

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Vegetable gardener

Religion

Christian

Position

Village leader [specific position censored for security]

Village

M--- village, Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District.

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Infantry Battalion (IB)[4] #558

Poe Chit Muh camp

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

A KHRG researcher conducted an interview with a local village leader.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

A KHRG researcher received this information from the village leader, who experienced the incident.

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 March 15th 2023, SAC[4] Infantry Battalion (IB) #558 soldiers, based at Poe Chit Muh village, Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’ree Township, commanded Saw H---, [a local village leader,] to collect rice for them. Then, Saw H--- organised rice from villages in Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. SAC soldiers also told Saw H--- that they [SAC] would shell mortars into the villages if they did not receive the rice.

On March 17th 2023, in the morning, villagers in Htaw Wah Law village tract transported 50 bags of rice to the SAC camp [of Infantry Battalion (IB) #558]. There are six villages in the Htaw Wah Law village tract, namely M--- village, K--- village, T--- village, P--- village, L--- village, and W--- village, and each village except one provided 10 bags of rice. Villagers from Htaw Wah Law village tract transported the rice with three tractors to the SAC camp. It took 20 minutes to travel from the villages to the SAC army camp by tractors. The SAC soldiers told the villagers that they would pay for the rice, but they did not pay for it.

On March 17th 2023, at about 6:00 pm, SAC soldiers [from IB #558] shelled mortars into M--- village, Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township after villagers transported the rice to the SAC camp. The mortars landed in the village and a villager's house was damaged by the shelling. Some of the shelled mortars remained unexploded in the village.

Due to the shelling, villagers were in fear. Some of them fled to W--- village [located close to the Thai border], while others fled to their farms and huts [located far from the village, scattered on the hills]. After the villagers fled, the SAC soldiers entered M--- village and rummaged through the villagers’ houses, and some [soldiers] looted oil, rice, salt, MSG [monosodium glutamate; a flavour enhancer], and clothes from the villagers’ houses.

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

The victim interviewed gave permission to use this information.