 |
 |
Go to Photo Home Page / KHRG Home Page / Top / Table of Contents
Forced Labour
/ Attacks on Villages /
Detention & Torture
Shootings & Killings / Flight & Displacement
Landmines /
Soldiers /
Children / Food
[Clicking on the sample photos shown in the introduction below will take you to the description of that photo. Clicking on a thumbnail above a photo description will provide an enlargement of the photo. It is recommended that you view this set with your web browser window maximised.]
|
|
|
The killing of villagers in Karen areas by SPDC units who have adopted what amounts to a 'shoot first and ask questions later' policy is becoming more and more common. Villagers seen outside of SPDC-controlled villages are often considered 'the enemy' and shot on sight with little chance of proving their innocence. Villagers often tell KHRG researchers that the soldiers call out to them and open fire at the same time (see Photos #D1 through D3, D8 through D10, D26 and D27 and D53 through D57). This happens to both displaced villages hiding in the forest as well as villagers from SPDC-controlled villages working their fields in areas that see little resistance activity. The SPDC Army is seen as an occupation army and despised by the entire population in these areas. This is not lost on the soldiers who often develop an 'us' and 'them' mentality reinforced by officers who tell the soldiers that the villagers are the 'enemy'. This dehumanising effect and the nature of the guerrilla war being fought leaves the soldiers very nervous and edgy and prone to shoot anything that moves.
 |
Villagers seen outside their villages are often taken as porters or beaten and interrogated by SPDC soldiers. The interrogation is usually accompanied by beating or other forms of torture. Knowing this, many villagers react to the sight of SPDC soldiers by fleeing. Fleeing villagers are shot at by the soldiers regardless of whether they are men, women, the elderly or children. To the soldiers, if you run, you are the enemy. After SPDC units have been ambushed by resistance forces, suffered casualties from landmines, or any other military setback, the usual response is to punish the nearest village. This usually means shelling or shooting into the village without warning. Villages have also been shot up or shelled for failing to comply with SPDC demands for forced labour or materials. A common threat is to send a bullet, a chillie or a piece of charcoal along with an order letter to encourage a village head to provide whatever forced labour or materials the Army unit wants (see Photo #A38). Villagers performing forced labour as porters for SPDC units are often shot at if they try to flee (see Photo #D41). Other villagers have been wounded when they are caught in the crossfire of an ambush while portering for the SPDC. Villagers are often forced to walk in front of or between soldiers to deter ambush, but this does not always stop resistance units from going through with the attack (see Photos #D47 through D50).
Summary executions can be carried out against any villagers suspected of having contact with resistance forces (see photo #D15). The executions are carried out with impunity. The victims and the relatives of the deceased have no recourse to file complaints. Doing so may result in further torture or other punishment. SPDC military officers do not have to report the wounding or death of villagers and no investigations are ever carried out.
 |
Internally displaced villagers are in a much worse position. The fact that they have fled, in the logic of the SPDC, is proof that they are a part of the resistance and therefore the enemy. This allows SPDC soldiers to rationalize the shooting of villagers on sight in their hiding places during operations to clear areas of civilians. Military-style assaults are carried out on displaced villager hiding sites wherein the soldiers first open fire with rifle grenades or mortars and then move into the village shooting their rifles. In some instances the soldiers have watched the site for a while beforehand, enough time to make it clear that there are only civilians in the site. When the soldiers open fire, they continue shooting even after it is clear that their targets are children, women and the elderly (see Photos #D4 through D7, D21 through D25). Villagers working in their open hill fields are very visible from a distance and SPDC soldiers sneak up on them as close as possible before opening fire with automatic rifles, rifle grenades and sometimes mortars. With nowhere to hide in the open fields, many villagers have been killed or wounded in these attacks (see Photos #D11 through D14, D30 through D35, D58 and D59, D69 and D70).
 |
After the shooting stops, the SPDC soldiers often simply move on. No treatment is given and often they do not even stop to check whether the people they have shot are wounded or dead. When they do stop it is usually only to loot the body (see Photos #D26 and 27). Wounded villagers from SPDC-controlled villages have a difficult time finding treatment because many doctors are afraid to treat 'rebels'. Most are forced to buy medicines on the black market and treat themselves. The SPDC severely restricts, and in some areas prohibits, the supply of medicines.
Internally displaced villagers often seek treatment from other villagers with whatever medicines they can find in the forest. Luckier villagers may be able to receive basic treatment from a KNLA medic or a mobile medical team sent by Karen and other non-Thai relief organisations in Thailand.
Warning: Many of the photos in this section show graphic detail.
____________________________________
 |
 |
 |
| D1 | D2 | D3 |
Photos #D1, D2, D3: Saw P---, 50 year old married farmer from xxxx village in western Papun District, was shot by soldiers of LID #33 on August 4th 2001. He was coming back from collecting betel nuts with his son at their betel nut plantation. The soldiers saw him, called out to him and immediately opened fire on him. He received a wound as big as a fist in his lower jaw and lost three of his teeth. He also suffered wounds in his chest and shoulder. His son was unhurt. They fled and together with a 70 year old woman they met on the way, Naw L---, they slept in the forest for three days. Saw P--- had no medical treatment during this time. Karen soldiers eventually found them and carried him to where he could receive treatment. Photo #D1 was taken four days after the incident and photos #D2 and #D3 were taken three weeks later. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
 |
|
| D4 | D5 | D6 | D7 |
Photos #D4, D5, D6, D7: A group of villagers from Tee Law Bler village in Dooplaya District tried to flee to Thailand after being ordered to relocate in April 2002. They spent the night of April 28th in some rice field huts not far from their village. Soldiers of IB #78 found the villagers asleep in the huts and without investigating who was inside opened fire on them. Ten people were shot dead, six of them children: Saw Toh Paw (age 56), his wife Naw Hsa Ghay (51), their granddaughters Naw K'Ree Htoo (12) and Naw Bleh Po (5), Ma Htwe Yi (50), Naw Mu Tha (40), Mu Bpaw Bpaw (7), Saw K'Pru Mu (14), Naw Plah (5) and Naw Dta Baw (2). All but Saw Toh Paw and Saw K'Pru Mu were women and girls. Nine other villagers were wounded and left there by the soldiers. Naw Pee Lee, 45 years old, (Photos #D5 and D6) from Tee Law Bler village, was shot in the left breast. She was eight or nine months pregnant at the time. Her husband tried to care for her in the forest and after ten days she gave birth but the baby died immediately. She also died three days later on May 10th. Two of her five children had been among those who died in the initial barrage. The young boy in Photo #D7 was lucky to escape with only the injury to his left arm, although he will bear the scars of the attack physically and mentally for the rest of his life. [Photos: FBR]
____________________________________
 |
 |
 |
| D8 | D9 | D10 |
Photos #D8, D9, D10: Saw M---, a 37 year old married farmer from xxxx village in southwestern Papun District, was shot by soldiers of LIB #xxx who saw him coming back from his hill field on the evening of August 10th 2001. He was shot in the bottom of the left sole of his foot. The bullet passed through his foot and into his right thigh. From the angle of the wound he must have been running away from the soldiers when it happened and they tried to shoot him in the back. He was captured and interrogated by the soldiers who forced him to look for a gun and a walkie-talkie. He was tortured severely while being interrogated and almost died as a result. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| D11 | D12 | D13 | D14 |
Photos #D11, D12, D13, D14: Saw M--- is a 25 year old Karen Buddhist hill field farmer from xxxx village, Thaton District. At 6 o’clock in the morning of July 3rd 2001, LIB #xx led by commander A--- came to the area of his village. Before reaching the village the unit came to Saw M---’s hill field and began shooting. He was injured twice in the right arm, breaking the arm. He was also shot in the back with the bullet exiting through his right side. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D15 |
Photo #D15: Naw K--- and her two youngest children are from xxxx village, Nyaunglebin District. Her husband was Saw L---, a 31 year old villager with a durian plantation. On May 30th 2001, SPDC soldiers at yyyy Army camp ordered him to go and bring them some durian. He went to deliver the durian and the soldiers killed him. He was killed by M--- under the command of A--- of one of the SPDC's Guerrilla Retaliation units (see Photo #C8). Naw K--- must now fend for herself and her two children alone. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
| D16 | D17 |
Photo #D16, D17: SPDC soldiers shot and wounded Saw H--- in the left thigh at xxxx in Nyaunglebin District on September 7th 2001. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
|
|
 |
| D18 | D19 |
Photo #D18, D19: The bodies of Saw A---, 33 years old and married, and Saw H---, 25 years old and single, both villagers from xxxx village, Tantabin township, Toungoo District. They had both come from their village to visit relatives in yyyy village. Their relatives had asked them to cut the grass around their cardamom bushes and betelnut trees. When they were leaving yyyy, SPDC soldiers of IB #xx led by company commander T--- and Sergeant T--- saw them at zzzz and shot both of them dead at 7 o’clock in the morning of July 14th 2001. Saw H--- is wearing the blue undershirt. After the soldiers shot him they cut off his head. Photo #D19 shows his headless torso with his head lying next to it. The body with the red Karen bag around his neck is Saw A---. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D20 |
Photo #D20: Two and a half year old Naw E--- became fatherless when SPDC soldiers of LIBs #xxx and yyy shot her father dead on October 27th 2001 at the old village of xxxx. He had gone there to collect betel nut. He was Saw B---, a 27 year old hill field farmer from yyyy village, Papun District. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| D21 | D22 | D23 | D24 | D25 |
Photos #D21, D22, D23, D24, D25: The bodies of Saw H---, Saw D--- and Saw S--- who were shot dead by SPDC soldiers near xxxx village, northern Papun District. Soldiers of LIB #xxx and IB #yy had come down from Toungoo District in the north into Papun District. After shooting at villagers in their fields at yyyy and zzzz villages, the soldiers came to xxxx village on November 20th 2001. The villagers were holding a Christian worship service and did not know that the soldiers were approaching. When the soldiers opened fire the villagers scattered and ran away. Three children, Naw S---, 17 years old, Saw H---, 6 years old, and Saw T---, 8 years old, became separated from the other villagers and were lost in the forest for a day. Three of the villagers were killed. Saw D--- and Saw S--- (Photos #D22, D23, D24, D25) were shot together. Saw H--- (Photo #D21) the xxxx village head, was shot separately. All three men had children. The villagers went back after the soldiers had left, found the three men and buried them. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D26 | D27 |
Photos #D26, D27: In December 2001 Saw D--- from xxxx village, northern Papun District, went to buy some medicine for his eldest child who was very sick. On the way back he was seen by SPDC soldiers of LIB #xxx and IB #yyy led by commander A---. The soldiers shot at him and he was hit by two bullets. One bullet entered his right buttock and exited his hip and another hit him in the calf. He crawled to escape until he fell unconscious. The soldiers cut his bag off him and took all the medicine he had bought for his son. They then placed a ‘People’s Army’ magazine in his bag and left it with him. Saw D--- laid unconscious in the forest for two days before villagers found him. He could not talk or walk when he was found and he was very cold. The villagers took him home and found a medic to treat him. He felt better after he was able to eat some rice porridge. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D28 | D29 |
Photos #D28, D29: When the villagers of xxxx village, Papun District returned to their village on November 30th 2001, they found a convict porter lying dead on the paddy in Saw N---’s hut. The porter had been carrying for Tactical Operations Command #333, LID #33. When a KHRG researcher saw him, the porter looked as though he had been kicked repeatedly because his side was very bruised and his face looked as though it had been punched multiple times because it was swollen in many places. The sole of his foot was burned and had burst. A few chillies were found beside him and the villagers thought that he may have eaten them because he was so hungry before he died. By the time he was found he had been dead for three days. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
 |
| D30 | D31 | D32 |
 |
|
 |
| D33 | D34 | D35 |
Photos #D30, D31, D32, D33, D34, D35: Saw P--- (Photo #D33) is the village head of xxxx village in western Papun District. On October 11th 2001 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the 50 year old hill field farmer was in his field hut with his son, Saw K---, 15 years old (Photo #D30), when soldiers from a combined column of IB #xx, Column #x under Battalion Commander T--- and LIB #xxx commanded by A--- and deputy commander L--- opened fire on them. Saw K--- was injured by a piece of shrapnel in the waist (Photos #D31 and D32). No one else was injured and everyone was able to escape. In Photo #D34, Saw K--- is holding the tail sections of the rocket propelled grenades that the soldiers shot at him. Photo #D35 is a closer look at the tail sections. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
| D36 | D37 |
Photos #D36, D37: Two photos of Saw P--- who was shot in the right calf by SPDC soldiers in early November 2001. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D38 |
Photo #D38: Saw T--- is a 25 year old Karen Buddhist from xxxx village in Papun District. On January 26th 2002, Saw T--- and four friends went back to their deserted village to take some vegetables. They were seen on the way by soldiers from Columns #1 and 2 of IB #xxx, LID #33 who began shooting at them. They were all able to run and escape unhurt. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D39 | D40 |
Photo #D39, D40: Saw M---'s (Photo #D39) wife was shot dead by a combined column of LIB #115 and IB #17. She died in the hill fields near H--- village, Papun District, in on July 25th 2001 at 1:30 in the afternoon. Saw M--- was arrested, bound and forced to carry as a porter for the soldiers for one month before they released him. Photo #D40 is of Saw M---'s four children who he must now take care of without his wife. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
| D41 |
Photo #D41: Saw L--- was taken by SPDC soldiers as a porter in Pa’an District in late 2001. When he later ran to escape, the soldiers shot at him and he was injured in the right forearm. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| D42 | D43 | D44 | D45 | D46 |
Photos #D42, D43, D44, D45, D46: On December 9th 2001 at 6 o’clock in the morning, Police Corporal Z--- and Lance Corporal H--- were on duty at the xxxx quarter checkpoint in Kawkareik town. Both men were drunk and began verbally harassing a village woman, Nan M---, from yyyy village. The 18 year old girl was coming back from Thamehnya Mountain [where a famous Buddhist monastery is located near Pa’an town] where she had gone to worship at a monastery. She was questioned by the two policemen who also took 1,000 Kyat from her. Her cousin, Saw Htay Win, happened to arrive at the checkpoint at this time. The 10th Standard [Grade] student from Kawkareik High School #2 went to help her. The police told him, “This does not concern you. Don’t come and bother us.” Saw Htay Win said, “It does concern me. This is my cousin, my younger sister [a relative term since she is younger than him] and I am not satisfied with what you are doing.” The policemen than came closer to Saw Htay Win and punched him. One of the policemen picked up a stick and hit him on the head. Saw Htay Win became dizzy. The other policeman pulled his gun and shot Saw Htay Win in the right shoulder. The bullet traveled down through his liver and intestine killing Saw Htay Win. The police sent the young man’s body to xxxx Hospital before his parents could come for him. The doctors cut open his head and his torso to remove the bullet. They then sewed him back up and placed him in the morgue. When the young man’s parents went to ask about the incident no one dared to say anything. The parents then went to meet the two police men who were responsible but they were not allowed. The parents wanted to take his body back to be buried in their village, but the authorities would not allow it and wanted him buried beside the Army camp near xxxx town. More than 200 students demonstrated for at least two days because the authorities took no action against the two policemen. The uprising was calm, but the immigration police told the teachers of High School #x that they had better control their students or harsh action would be taken. The teachers told the students’ parents to control them. The authorities have yet to do anything about it and the parents are still unable to take their son home to be buried. The young man’s cousin, Nan M---, has become mentally unstable because of the event. Saw Htay Win was involved in many sports competitions for boxing, football, running and javelin and he won many awards for his athletic ability. On the morning of December 9th he was going to Pa’an to attend a boxing competition which was to be held on December 10th. Photo #D46 is of Saw Htay Win's medals that he won in sports competitions and for scholastic achievement. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| D47 | D48 | D49 | D50 |
Photos #D47, D48, D49, D50: Saw H--- and Saw P--- from xxxx village were taken as porters by LIB #xxx, Battalion Commander K---, in Dooplaya District. Fighting occurred along the way. Saw H--- (Photos #D47, D48), 47 years old, was seriously wounded. Although he was wounded while portering for the SPDC he received no medical attention from SPDC medics in these photos but from KNLA medics or a mobile medical team. Saw P--- (Photos #D49, D50), 56 years old, was less seriously injured. This photo was taken on December 24th 2001. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
| D51 | D52 |
Photos #D51, D52: This convict porter was found dead near Kyauk Tan village in Dooplaya District, about 15 metres from a path. He was apparently beaten to death by soldiers of LIB #546 under Column #1 Commander Kin Maung Yi on December 23rd 2001. His name is unknown. This photo was taken on December 30th 2001. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
| D53 | D54 | D55 | D56 | D57 |
Photos #D53, D54, D55, D56, D57: On January 14th 2002, Naw N---, her husband and her son were coming back form cutting firewood when soldiers from LIB #xxx under Battalion Commander M--- and Battalion Deputy Commander M--- opened fire on them. Naw N--- was killed and her son was injured in the back by shrapnel, probably from a rifle grenade or a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). The incident happened near xxxx village, Dooplaya District. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
Warning: These photos are graphic.
 |
 |
| D58 | D59 |
Photos #D58, D59: P--- was shot in the right thigh by SPDC soldiers in Nyaunglebin District while harvesting in his hill field. After shooting him, the soldiers went to the village and looted all the villagers’ belongings in the village, including his. He was unable to take anything when he fled. This photo was taken on December 15th 2001. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D60 |
Photo #D60: The skulls and bones of two convict porters found by villagers in November 2000 in Saw Htee township of Nyaunglebin District. The porters were wearing the white sarongs of convict porters and had been carrying for LIB #367 and 368 commanded by Lt. Col. Ko Ko Aung. The lower left portion of the skull of one of the porters was destroyed suggesting that he was beaten to death. Knife marks were also found on a shin bone suggesting torture. The other body was unmarked. Villagers who found them before they had decomposed said that one of the bodies looked as though it had been beaten to death and the other was unmarked and had probably died of exhaustion or illness. [Photo: FBR]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D61 | D62 |
Photos #D61, D62: This is the body of Soe Lwin Oo, a 25 year old farmer from Kyaut P’Daung who was taken as a convict porter by LIB #66 in northern Papun District. He fled the column and stayed in the jungle for 10 days. Villagers gave him some food and KNLA soldiers went to see him to invite him to come to their camp. He could no longer walk so the soldiers left him there. The next day, February 11th 2002, the soldiers went back to see him but he was already dead. These photos were taken at Kwee Doh Hta on February 13th 2002. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D63 |
Photo #D63: Xxxx villager Naw M---'s husband was shot dead by SPDC troops of LIB #xx under Company Commander T--- on January 7th 2002. The soldiers saw Saw P--- running when they entered the village and immediately shot and killed him. The soldiers then searched the houses in the village and looted everything from the houses in the village. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D64 |
Photo #D64: The wife and children of M--- on their platform in the forest after fleeing SPDC troops. One month earlier, on March 15th 2002, LIB #xxx from Military Operations Command #10 entered their village and shot M--- dead. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D65 |
Photo #D65: Naw W---, a villager from xxxx village, was wounded when SPDC troops fired mortars into her village during fighting in the yyyy area of Pa’an District on April 8th 2002. She has an eight month old baby. This photo was taken on April 11th 2002. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D66 |
Photo #D66: During fighting in the yyyy area of Pa’an District on April 8th 2002, SPDC mortar rounds fell in the yyyy monastery grounds wounding this monk. This photo was taken on April 17th 2002. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D67 | D68 |
Photos #D67, D68: Saw M---, 38 years old, was shot by LIB #xx in Papun District. He went to Papun Hospital for one month but his wound did not heal, so he came back to his village and treated it with herbal medicine for two months. He then came with his family to a KNU clinic for treatment. This photograph was taken in August 2002. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| D69 | D70 |
Photos #D69, D70: On July 23rd 2002, SPDC soldiers of IB #xxx under Battalion Commander T---entered xxxx village and began shooting at Naw K--- in her hill field. The 23 year old woman was weeding in her field at the time. She was able to flee uninjured. Villagers returned to the area two days later and found three rifle grenades (Photo #D69) that failed to explode when the soldiers shot at her. In Photo #D70 Naw K--- is holding the three grenades and one of the soldier’s canteens that they dropped while chasing her. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
 |
 |
| D71 | D72 | D73 | D74 |
Photos #D71, D72, D73, D74: Saw K--- is a 27 year old villager from xxxx village, northern Papun District. On July 24th 2002 he was going to visit his aunt and uncle in yyyy village when fighting broke out between KNLA and SPDC units in the zzzz hill fields. A shell dropped behind him and he was injured in the back and the right buttock by shrapnel. He fled with the KNLA soldiers back to the hiding site of the zzzz villagers. One of the KNLA medics then cleaned the wound and gave him an injection. There were no other medicines besides some Paracetamol. The villagers sent him to a KNU clinic two or three days later when the SPDC troops had left the area. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
|
D75 |
Photos #D75: Saw B--- was a 35 year old hill field farmer from xxxx village in western Papun District. When SPDC soldiers from LIB #xxx, Sa Ka Ka #10 came to his village on May 13th 2002, he was very sick. He had oedema and was unable to flee by himself. The other villagers were also unable to carry him. He was killed by the SPDC soldiers when they found him in his hiding hut in the forest. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
____________________________________
 |
 |
| A38 | A39 |
Photos #A38, A39: Photo #A38 shows an order letter and 9mm bullet sent by Battalion Commander aaaa of LIB #xxx at xxxx village in Dooplaya District in December 2001. The letter was sent to the yyyy village headwoman and demands planks of wood to be cut and delivered to the Army camp. The bullet was included in the envelope as a very direct threat. The village headwoman did not dare to go, so a few days later LIB #xxx sent another letter and ordered the yyyy village sawmill owner to make the planks. A list of dimensions for the planks was included and the order stipulated that the planks be sent to zzzz town by late December 2001. Photo #A39 is of the sawmill. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
Forced Labour / Attacks on
Villages / Detention & Torture
Shootings & Killings /
Flight & Displacement
Landmines /
Soldiers /
Children / Food
Go to Photo Home Page / KHRG Home Page / Top / Table of Contents