MURDER OF A REFUGEE BY SLORC

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
May 24, 1995 / KHRG #95-18

On May 22, 1995 a meeting of the Thai National Security Council was held in Bangkok. It was chaired by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and attended by the NSC, armed forces chiefs, and representatives of the Foreign and Interior ministries and the military Supreme Command. The meeting decided that as the situation in Burma has "almost returned to normal", the Thai Government will begin mass forced repatriation of Karen refugees as soon as SLORC agrees to "accept them back". It would be interesting to know what the Thai Government considers to be a "normal" situation in Burma. Are torture, massacres, executions, rape, extortion, forced labour and looting to be considered "normal" and therefore safe for the return of refugees? For it is these things, not military battles, which 99% of the refugees fled in the first place, and none of these things have diminished. However, the Thai Government has said it will only consult SLORC to find out if repatriation is appropriate, not the refugees themselves. Were the Thai Government to consult the refugees they would hear stories such as the one documented in this report, which show that refugees cannot even walk 10 minutes into Burma without being shot at by SLORC troops. On January 14, 1995 we released "SLORC Shootings & Arrests of Refugees", KHRG #95-02, documenting 48 of the hundreds of cases of Karen refugees who were shot, murdered or arrested by SLORC troops throughout 1994 simply for trying to cross the border to grow some food. None of these refugees are recognized as such by the Thai Government or the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, so they only receive severely restricted aid and must supplement it by themselves. As they are not allowed to do so in Thailand, this often involves crossing into Burma for the day to forage or grow vegetables. As soon as they get across SLORC goes for them, considering all refugees to be 'insurgents in disguise'.

This report documents the death of Saw Tha Po, age 41 and father of 3, a Karen Buddhist refugee in Huay Bone (Don Pa Kiang) refugee camp 20 km. north of the Thai town of Mae Sot. On March 25, 1995 he crossed the Moei River to gather charcoal and never came back, shot dead by SLORC troops only 500 m. from the border. He and a friend were ambushed by 7 soldiers from SLORC Light Infantry Battalion #9, part of #44 Light Infantry Division. They were commanded by Company Commander Khine Zaw Lin. If refugees cannot even get 500 m. into Burma without being shot, it is horrifying to think what will happen to many of them when the Thai Army hands them over directly into the hands of SLORC forces.

The names of witnesses interviewed in this report have been changed to protect them, and the false names are enclosed in quotes. All other details are real. Please feel free to use this report in any way which may help the peoples of Burma.

Interviews

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INTERVIEW #1.

NAME: "Saw Ler Wah"      SEX: M          AGE: 30
ADDRESS: Hlaing Bwe township, now refugee at Don Pa Kiang (Huay Bone) camp, Thailand
FAMILY: Married, 3 children aged 3 months, 3, and 4
DISCRIPTION: Karen Christian

I am from Pee Ta Ka village, Hlaing Bwe township. Now I have been in this camp 4 years already. On March 25th I crossed to the other side [of the Moei River, which is the border] to burn wood to make charcoal. We went 10 minutes' walk from the river. There were only 2 of us. While we were collecting our charcoal the SLORC troops came. It was 11 o'clock [a.m.] We'd only finished filling 2 sacks. I heard footsteps because I was sitting facing toward them. My friend was facing the other way so he didn't see them. Me, I saw one soldier. He shouted "Don't run!" and started shooting at the same time. I was already running. We were scrambling to get away on all fours, like dogs. I ran and I didn't know what happened behind me, what happened to my friend. The soldiers were yelling but I couldn't understand because I was running. I can't say how many shots there were, just Bang Bang Bang 3 shots, and after that a lot, I can't say. I saw only one soldier. His face was blackened and he had a carbine. First he fired 3 shots from his carbine, and those shots were for me. The first, second and third shots were at me. Then I heard G2 or G3 [Burmese Army automatic assault rifles], alot. I ran straight back to the camp without hiding or resting on the way.

I didn't know or see that Tha Po was hit. I didn't know anything. We were separate, he ran his way and I ran mine. The same day at 4 o'clock [p.m.] I and some of my friends went back to search for him. Oh, so many of us went. We found his body very far from the place where we went for charcoal, about as far as from here to the church [over 100 m.] He was laying on his side with a wound just on his leg. He was hit on his left [lower] leg. The flesh and the bone were blown apart - there was only one bone left. It had bled alot. He bled to death. I can't say if they tortured him because the body was black and swollen. I didn't see any injury on the other parts of his body. He tried very hard to get back [to the river]. He'd taken off his shirt, grabbed some leaves and tried to wrap them around his wound. But when we found his body, it had fallen off his leg. The wound was so bad the bone was torn apart.

I don't know how many soldiers were there. We didn't dare check because we were afraid they might still be staying nearby, so we only looked for the body and didn't stay long. I passed the place where they were when they shot at me and I saw some shells from a carbine but I didn't look closely. We were afraid so we only hurried to find the body. Now I'm afraid to go back again. I went back anyway to get my charcoal, but all of it had already been taken.

[Halfway down Tha Po's left shin his leg had been blown apart - the flesh had exploded and the bones were sticking out sideways several inches. This was probably caused by a type of G3/G4 assault rifle bullet that essentially 'explodes' on hitting something, causing it to rip people to shreds. It is quite common to bleed to death or die from shock after being hit by such a bullet even in the arm or leg. According to a nurse at the camp hospital, when they got Tha Po's body back to the camp and washed it, it was bluish-black, presumably because he had bled to death. After shooting him the SLORC troops probably never even looked for the body - they generally only look for a body if they think it may be someone with a gun they can capture, but as for unarmed villagers they just shoot them and leave them to die in the bush. A group of people from another village saw the soldiers after the attack, and reported that they were 7 soldiers from SLORC #9 Light Infantry Battalion, part of #44 Light Infantry Division, and were commanded by Company Commander Khine Zaw Lin. LIB #9 has since been rotated out of the area and replaced by Infantry Battalion #81. SLORC has recently moved 1,500 more troops into the area, despite the fact that there is no fighting going on there.]

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INTERVIEW #2.

NAME: "Naw Chit"         SEX: F          AGE: 35
ADDRESS: Refugee at Don Pa Kiang (Huay Bone) camp, Thailand
FAMILY: Married, 3 children aged 5 to 15
DISCRIPTION: Karen Buddhist

["Naw Chit" is the widow of Saw Tha Po.]

My husband was about 40 years old. I woke up in the morning and my husband said we had no charcoal left, so he would go to the other side of the river and bring back charcoal. I told him "Wait for awhile. Don't go now." I tried to stop him because my injured leg was shaking alot, and he said the skin on his body was also shaking [this is a bad omen]. I told him, "We both have shaking in our skin, so don't go." But he said, "Do you have any charcoal?" I said "No", so he said "We have no charcoal in the house, so I'll have to go." Even that morning we had no charcoal to cook, so my husband told me to go borrow some from the neighbours and tell them we'd pay it back when he returned. He said he had to go in a hurry because if the Burmese came around then he couldn't dare go anymore.

A while after they'd gone, "Saw Ler Wah" came and asked me, "Sister, has my friend come home yet?" I said no, and he said "Eh, when we were over there the Burmese soldiers came and shot very close to us." I went to the riverbank and I saw many people there, so I asked them to go across with me to look for my husband. But they said "We don't dare go across because maybe the SLORC soldiers are still there", so I didn't force them to go and I came home. We waited a few hours, then at about 3 or 4 o'clock we went across the river to search for my husband.

With 3 children, now that my husband is dead I don't know what I'm going to do for the future. Now I have only my eldest son to rely on. I can't do anything.