Type of Incident

[Enforced disappearance.] SAC [State Administration Council][2] soldiers  arrested and disappeared villagers

Date of Incident(s)

August 27th 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

[Farmlands near] Lei Pat village, Don Don village tract[3], Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

Name

Saw[4] A---

Saw B---

Age

54 years old

40 years old

Gender

Man

Man

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

Married

Married

Occupation

Daily wage labourer

Daily wage labourer

Religion

Christian

Christian

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

Aa--- village, Yay Leh village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District.

Bb--- village, Yay Leh village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District.

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

SAC [State Administration Council]

Unknown

LIB [Light Infantry Battalion][5] #351

Ler Doh Town / [currently encamped at] Lei Pat village, Don Don village tract, Moo Township.

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

The head of the ‘Emergency Relief Committee’, in Moo’s Township, under the KNU [Karen National Union][6], named Saw C---, informed [the KHRG researcher] about this incident. Then, on September 2nd 2024, [the KHRG researcher] met with the victims’ families and conducted interviews in person.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

This information was provided by the victims’ wives [named Naw[7] D--- and Naw E---]. They knew the incident occurred because their husbands went to a place near Lei Pat village, Don Don village tract, for grazing cows and buffalos, but later they did not return home. Thus, they [Naw D--- and Naw E---] believed that they [their husbands] were arrested by SAC soldiers.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On August 27th 2024, a villager named Saw B--- and a villager named Saw A--- were arrested by SAC [State Administration Council] soldiers from LIB [Light Infantry Battalion] #351 (based in Lei Pat village, Don Don village tract, Moo Township) when they both went to a farm which is near Lei Pat village for grazing their cows and buffalos.

Saw A--- is from Aa--- village, and Saw B--- is from Bb--- village, both villages are located in Yay Leh village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. They are daily workers and every day they met and went to the farmlands for their cows and buffalos to graze. Saw A--- was pasturing his cows and Saw B--- was pasturing his buffalos. The place where their cows and buffaloes were grazing is located near Lei Pat village, where SAC soldiers are based in and patrol around.

On August 27th 2024, Monday, at around 9 am, both of them [Saw A--- and Saw B---] disappeared. No reason [was given] when they did not return back to their homes. The victims’ families tried to look for them, but they were not found: only their bags, cows and buffalos remained in the place [in the farmland next to Lei Pat village]. The families and villagers asked [around] for these two people, but no one knew if the SAC [arrested them or if the SAC] killed them. The victims’ families believe that they [Saw A--- and Saw B---] were captured by the SAC as they [victims’ families] know that if anyone goes to places near Lei Pat village, they would certainly be captured or arrested by SAC soldiers. These two people have been disappeared for one week, and were not found and did not return home [as of September 2024].

Saw A---’s wife, named Naw E---, explained: “I told him [Saw A---] ‘don’t go to that place for grazing your cows because it is near Lei Pat village, where Burmese [Burma Army] soldiers live’, but he didn’t listen to me and later he went [there]. So, I could not do anything about his disappearance.” Although he [Saw A---] was warned by his wife not to go to that place, he decided to go [there] because there are not many places with enough grass for cows to graze since places were flooded.

Saw B---’s and Saw A---’s families feel worried about them due to their disappearance. Their families also do not know how they were treated [by SAC soldiers when arrested]. Saw B--- has five children; the oldest one is 21 years old and the youngest one is 13 years old. His children cannot go to school anymore because the situation has escalated [become more difficult and the family could not support the children’s schooling since his disappearance].

Due to this kind of SAC violation, villagers who [usually have to] travel and work close to the SAC army camp in Lei Pat village dare not travel [there] anymore. They also dare not to travel long distances for their livelihoods, such as going to their workplaces. 

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

The victims’ families allowed KHRG to publish this information, but they want it [the information] to be published following KHRG’s way [with censoring for their security].