News Bulletins

News Bulletins are regularly produced by KHRG to provide timely reporting on particular events in Karen and other areas of Burma, particularly when urgent action may be required. To receive News Bulletins via email, subscribe to the KHRG email list from our homepage. Topics covered in News Bulletins will generally be documented in more detail in future KHRG reports.

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NEWS BULLETIN TITLE	DATE
Papun Interview: Saw H---, March 2011	Feb 8th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during March 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District, by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw H---, a 34-year-old hillfield farmer who became the head of N--- village after a 23-year-old villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine at the beginning of 2011, at the time when he, Saw H--- and three other villagers were returning to N--- after serving as unpaid porters for Border Guard soldiers based at Meh Bpa. Saw H--- also detailed demands for the collection and provision of bamboo poles for construction of soldiers’ houses at Gk’Ter Tee, as well as the payment of 400,000 kyat ((US $ 519.48) in lieu of the provision of porters to Maung Chit, Commander of Border Guard Battalion #1013, by villages in Meh Mweh village tract. These payments were described in the previous KHRG report “Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, April 2011." Saw H--- also described demands for the provision of a pig to Border Guard soldiers three days before this interview took place and the beating of a villager by DKBA soldiers in 2010. He noted the ways in which movement restrictions that prevent villagers from travelling on rivers and sleeping in or bringing food to their farm huts negatively impact harvests and food security. Saw H--- explained that villagers respond to such concerns by sharing food amongst themselves, refusing to comply with forced labour demands, and cultivating relationships with non-state armed groups to learn the areas in which landmines have been planted.
Thaton Interview: Naw D---, May 2011	Feb 8th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in May 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Naw D---, a 48-year-old community leader in a government-controlled area of Pa’an Township, Thaton District, who described regular and ongoing demands for villagers to perform forced labour as messengers for local civilian and military officials, as well as challenges faced by villagers with regard to the cost and provision of education for children and access to healthcare. Naw D--- also expressed concerns regarding the debt burden on villagers who rent agricultural land and farm using rented animals and equipment; according to Naw D---, villagers are forced to provide landowners a disproportionate share of their harvested yields, leaving insufficient paddy for themselves and their families, leading to subsequent food shortages. She explained certain strategies villagers have adopted to address concerns, including the establishment of a community healthcare committee and a community health fund which work to assist villagers with health-related issues and to cover the costs incurred by villagers seeking care outside the village.
Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, November 2011	Feb 8th, 2012
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in January 2012 by a villager describing events occurring in Papun District during November 2011. The villager who wrote this report detailed an incident in which 18 Tatmadaw LIB #218 soldiers were killed or injured by landmines and local villagers were subsequently ordered to porter the supplies and equipment that the soldiers had been carrying. The villager also provides information on the closure of the Yunzalin River to boat traffic between Papun Town and Ka Ma Maung for three days by Border Guard Battalion #1013 soldiers and the imposition of a tax on boats travelling along the river. The villager also reiterated concerns expressed by other villagers in recent KHRG reports about severe flood damage to agricultural areas at the end of the 2011 monsoon season and resulting food shortages due to the destruction of paddy crops. This report notes that villagers have responded to food insecurity by replanting damaged fields with diverse crops as quickly as possible after the floodwater subsided, sharing food amongst themselves and pursuing additional livelihoods activities, including cutting bamboo cane to sell.
Dooplaya Interview: Saw Ca---, September 2011	Feb 3rd, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in September 2011. The villager interviewed Saw Ca---, a 45-year-old rubber, betelnut and durian plantation owner from Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, who described the survey of at least 167 acres of productive and established agricultural land belonging to 26 villagers for the expansion of a Tatmadaw camp, transport infrastructure, and the construction of houses for Tatmadaw soldiers’ families. This incident was detailed in the previously-published report, “Land confiscation threatens villagers' livelihoods in Dooplaya District;” as of the beginning of February 2012, a KHRG researcher familiar with the local situation confirmed that the land had not yet been confiscated and that surveys of that land were no longer ongoing. In this interview, Saw Ca--- described the planting of landmines in civilian areas by government and non-state armed groups, and described one incident in which a villager was injured by a landmine during the month before this interview, resulting in the subsequent amputation of part of his leg; Saw Ca--- said that KNLA soldiers had previously informed villagers they had planted landmines in the place where the villager was injured. Saw Ca--- also described an incident in which villagers were forced to wear Tatmadaw uniforms while accompanying troops on active duty, as well as the forced recruitment of villagers by non-state armed groups. Saw Ca--- noted that villagers respond to such abuses and threats to their livelihoods in a variety of ways, including deliberately avoiding attending meetings with Tatmadaw commanders at which they suspect they will be forced to sign over their land.
Incident Report: Three villages fined after fighting between Tatmadaw and NSAGs, two villagers arrested, one killed	Feb 3rd, 2012
The following incident report was written by a villager trained by KHRG to document human rights abuses in Dooplaya District and describes several incidents that occurred in the middle of January 2011. The villager who wrote this report describes the seizure of Tatmadaw supplies by KNLA troops, after which local Te--- villagers were forced to repay the cost of the supplies seized and Sh--- villagers were ordered to pay a fine for the theft. The report describes a third fine levied on Na—village after Tatmadaw troops met and fought with DKBA 999 troops in the Na--- area, as well as the looting of two Na--- villagers’ homes after home-owners fled the fighting, the destruction of a third Na--- villager’s zinc roof by small arms fire, and the killing of a fourth Na--- villager’s pig. The villager who wrote this report also describes the arrest of two other Na--- villagers suspected of being KNLA soldiers, one of whom was subsequently killed. Despite guarantees that the other detained Na--- villager was not a KNLA soldier by the Na--- village head, a monk and one of his relatives, his release was not secured until an additional fine of 300,000 kyat (US $389.60) was paid.
Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, May to June 2011	Feb 3rd, 2012
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Bu Tho Township, Papun District, between May and June 2011. It contains detailed information about demands by Border Guard Battalion #1013 troops for a total of 10,400,000 kyat (US $13,506.49) from 65 villages, each of which was ordered to pay a share of the total in lieu of providing villagers to serve as unpaid porters. The villager who wrote this report also details villagers’ concerns regarding excessive fees for school attendance, abnormal rains leading to damage to crops and subsequent food insecurity, as well as the collection of arbitrary fees by an organisation that purported to assist families to pay funeral and burial costs, but which subsequently disbanded. The villager who wrote this report points repeatedly to ongoing arbitrary taxation by public officials and expresses villagers’ frustrations at what they perceive to be a lack of material change at the village-level in eastern Burma since the November 2010 elections.
Thaton Interview: Daw Ny---, April 2011	Jan 27th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during April 2011 in Pa’an Township, Thaton District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Daw Ny---, who described an incident which occurred in November 2010, during which Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers fired small-arms at her husband without warning and without attempting to hail him, seriously injuring his leg and necessitating 3,800,000 kyat [US $4,935.06] in medical expenses, which has had a deleterious effect on her family’s financial situation. Daw Ny--- told the villager who conducted this interview that her husband was visited in hospital by government officials investigating the incident but that no compensation or redress was offered. Daw Ny--- also described arbitrary demands for food and money, and the illegal logging of teak trees from A--- village by Border Guard soldiers; she mentioned that the imbalance in local power dynamics between armed soldiers and unarmed villagers deters villagers from attempting to engage and negotiate with perpetrators. Daw Ny--- raised concerns about the lack of livelihoods opportunities, and corresponding food insecurity, for villagers who do not own farmland; she notes that, in spite of these challenges, villagers offer voluntary material support to schoolteachers and often attempt to support their livelihoods by selling firewood or cutting bamboo. Daw Ny--- notes that some villagers choose to seek employment opportunities in larger towns but strongly expresses her unwillingness to move to an urban area, believing that food insecurity would only be exacerbated by a lack of money and an absence of alternative livelihood opportunities.
Papun Interview: Saw T---, August 2011	Jan 27th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during August 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 74 year-old Buddhist village head who described the planting of what he estimated to be about 100 landmines by government and non-state armed groups in the vicinity of his village. Saw T--- related ongoing instances of forced labour, specifically villagers forced to guide troops, porter military supplies and sweep for landmines, and described an incident in which two villagers stepped on landmines whilst being forced to serve as unpaid porters for Tatmadaw troops. He described a separate incident in which another villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine whilst fleeing from Border Guard soldiers who were attempting to force him to porter for one month. In both cases, victims’ families received no compensation or opportunity for redress following their deaths. Saw T--- noted that landmines planted in agricultural areas have not been removed, rendering several hill fields unsafe to farm and resulting in the abandonment of crops. He illustrated the danger to villagers who travel to their agricultural workplaces by recounting an incident in which a villager's buffalo was injured by a landmine. He further explained that villagers’ livelihoods have been additionally undermined by frequent demands for food and by looting of villagers’ food and animals. Saw T--- highlighted the fact that demands are backed by explicit threats of violence, recounting an instance when he was threatened for failing to comply quicky by a Tatmadaw officer who held a gun to his head. Saw T--- noted that villagers have responded to negative impacts on their food production capacity by performing job for daily wages and sharing food with others and, in response to the lack of health facilities in their community, travel over two hours by foot to the nearest clinic in another village.
Toungoo Interview: Saw D---, September 2011	Jan 27th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during September 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw D---, a 37-year-old village head and betelnut farmer, who described serious abuses committed by soldiers in Than Daung Township under the command of MOC #9 during 2011, including an incident in which soldiers fired at and killed a 48-year-old villager while he was making charcoal and a separate incident in which two villagers were killed while being forced to guide Tatmadaw troops, when the soldiers came under fire from a non-state armed group. Saw D--- also described repeated demands for forced labour by soldiers from Tatmadaw LIB #378, under MOC #9, including one incident in which more than 100 villagers were forced to carry military rations for a month. Saw D--- also chose to highlight instances of past abuse including: arbitrary arrest, detention and violent abuse of religious leaders; theft and looting of villagers’ livestock, food, and personal belongings; and the harrassment of female villagers. Saw D--- noted that villagers counter limited access to and cost of healthcare treatment at government facilities by using traditional cures in their own village and also respond to food insecurity by sharing food and pursuing alternative means of supporting their livelihoods with jobs for daily wages.
Thaton Situation Update: Thaton Township, August 2011	Jan 20th, 2012
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing ongoing abuses occurring in Thaton Township in 2011, including frequent demands for forced labour from six villages, for villagers to serve as guards at a Tatmadaw LIB #218 camp, and for payments in lieu of forced labour. It outlines some difficulties faced by civilians in pursuit of their livelihoods, including the negative impact of forced labour demands, the lack of employment options available for villagers attempting to support their families and the destruction of paddy crops caused by flooding during the 2011 monsoon. It details restrictions on access to healthcare, specifically the high cost of medical treatment at government clinics and the denial of access for healthcare groups, and also expresses villagers’ frustrations at obstacles to children’s education caused by the need for children to work to support their families and the prohibitive costs of school attendance and supplies.
Incident report: Four villagers forced to guide Tatmadaw troops in Thaton District	Jan 19th, 2012
The following incident report was written by a villager trained by KHRG to document human rights abuses, and details an incident that occurred in May 2011 during which Tatmadaw soldiers from LIB #216 arrested four villagers in Bilin Township, including two village headwomen, and forced them to accompany troops on active patrol. The two village headwomen told the villager who wrote this report that the Tatmadaw soldiers did not provide them with water nor allow them to return to their own village at night, forcing them to sleep in a monastery with the soldiers. One of the women said that the Tatmadaw soldiers told her that they were afraid they were going to be shot at by KNLA soldiers at the time she was forced to accompany them. The following morning, the four villagers successfully negotiated with the Tatmadaw commanding officers to secure their release and received 8,000 kyat (US $ 10.39) split unevenly between the four of them as compensation.
Pa’an Interview: Naw G---, November 2011	Jan 19th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during November 2011 in Lu Pleh Township, Pa’an District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Naw G---, a 40-year-old Buddhist hillfield farmer who described an incident in which her son-in-law, Saw A---, 36, was shot and killed by patrolling Tatmadaw soldiers from IB 230. Naw G--- explained that Saw A--- was cooking with KNLA soldiers in Naw G---’s house, when Tatmadaw soldiers entered P--- village. According to Naw G---, the soldiers fired at Saw A--- as he fled the house and the bullets hit the left side of his head, killing him instantly. A separate report of this incident written by the villager who conducted this interview, including 23 photos taken by the same villager, is available here. An interview with Naw G---’s son who was also present during the attack is available here.
Papun Situation Update: Lu Thaw Township, November 2011	Jan 17th, 2012
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager living in a hiding site in northern Lu Thaw Township, Papun District. The villager described an incident that occurred in October 2011 in which Tatmadaw soldiers fired six mortar shells into an area in which civilians are actively seeking to avoid attacks by Tatmadaw troops; no one was killed or injured during the attack. This situation update places the occurrence of such incidents in the context of the repeated and prolonged displacement of villagers in northern Luthaw who continue to actively seek to avoid contact with government troops due to ongoing attacks against civilian objects. The villager who wrote this report raised concerns about food shortages in hiding site areas where the presence of Tatmadaw soldiers proximate to previously cultivated land has resulted in overcrowding on available farmland and the subsequent degradation of soil quality, severely limiting villagers’ abilities to support themselves using traditional rotational cropping methods. For detailed analysis of the humanitarian situation in this area of Luthaw Township, see the previous KHRG report Acute food shortages threatening 8,885 villagers in 118 villages across northern Papun District, published in April 2011.
Nyaunglebin Situation Update: September to October 2011	Jan 17th, 2012
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Nyaunglebin District, during the period between September and October 2011. It details an incident that occurred in October 2011, in which a villager was shot and injured while working in his betelnut field; the villager who wrote this report noted that some villagers living in these areas respond to the threat of violence by fleeing approaching Tatmadaw patrols. Following the shooting, Tatmadaw troops imposed movement restrictions that prevented villagers from traveling to or staying in their agricultural workplaces in the area where the shooting occurred. This report includes additional information about the use of villagers to provide forced labour at Tatmadaw camps, specifically to perform sentry duty along roads, and also raises villagers' concerns about food security after unseasonable rain prevented villagers in some areas from burning brush on their hill fields preparatory to planting and paddy crops in other areas were destroyed by insects and by flooding during the monsoon.
Pa’an Interview: Naw K---, September 2011	Jan 13th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in September 2011. The KHRG researcher interviewed Naw K---, a 45 year old woman from L--- village in Pa’an District, who described an incident in which Tatmadaw LID #22 and Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers forced local villagers to porter military supplies and equipment while wearing Border Guard uniforms during a joint attack on a KNLA Battalion #101 camp at Kler Law Hseh. In the interview below, Naw K--- explained that, while she was attending a funeral in Th--- village, many Th--- villagers were absent from the village, some having already been arrested by Border Guard soldiers to serve as porters and others having fled the village due to fears that they would be arrested to porter. Naw K--- told KHRG that the Th--- village head informed her that he had to wear a Border Guard uniform while forced to accompany Border Guard soldiers during their attack on the KNLA camp at Kler Law Hseh and she witnessed him departing Th--- village in the company of Border Guard soldiers. This incident was previously described in the KHRG report “Pa'an Situation Update: September 2011” published on October 24th 2011. In addition, Naw K--- also mentioned additional forced labour demands placed on local villagers to work on government-owned agricultural projects. She also described how villagers attempt to mitigate the harmful effects of forced labour demands through negotiation with commanding officers, and strategic temporary displacement to avoid arrest.
Thaton Interview: Naw L---, February 2011	Jan 10th, 2012
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in February 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Naw L---, a female village head from Bilin Township, Thaton District. Naw L--- described being interrogated and threatened at meetings with local Tatmadaw officers, including at times when she was pregnant. She described the killing of her son-in-law by then-DKBA Brigade #333 soldiers, and the defection of a Tatmadaw soldier to the KNLA, after which Tatmadaw soldiers arbitrarily arrested and tortured villagers and ordered Naw L--- to provide a firearm to replace the one taken by the defecting soldier. She also described how Tatmadaw soldiers forced H--- villagers to banish persons suspected of being KNLA soldiers and burn down their houses. Naw L--- explained that villagers face ongoing demands for forced labour, including forced portering of military rations, messenger and guide duty, for Tatmadaw, Border Guard and KNLA troops, but that she and her villagers employ a multitude of strategies to resist or mitigate abuse, including partial-compliance with forced labour demands; cultivating relationships with different, and oppositional, armed groups; lying about non-state armed groups’ soldiers and their operations; and successfully raising complaints to commanding officers about abuses perpetrated by their inferiors.
Tenasserim Situation Update: Te Naw Th’Ri Township, May to September 2011	Dec 12th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in October 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Tenasserim Division between May and October 2011. The villager describes incidents of human rights abuse, including: arbitrary taxation by civilian and military government officials to fund state-organised pyi thu sit local militia groups and schools; conscription of villagers into a pyi thu sit; and the execution of Saw L---, a villager who had been forced to serve as a guide accompanying an active patrol column of LIB #558. The villager who wrote this report believed Saw L--- was killed in retaliation for an attack against that Tatmadaw column by KNLA soldiers, in which one Tatmadaw soldier was killed and several others injured. This report also documents some of the ways in which villagers respond to human rights abuse, specifically through attempts to engage and negotiate with local powerful actors to reduce or avoid demands for arbitrary payments levied against villagers.
Papun Situation Update: Dweh Loh Township, Received in November 2011	Dec 12th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District, between December 2010 and September 2011. This report provides additional information about the summary execution of Saw K---, previously reported by KHRG in October 2011 in the bulletin “Villager executed in Papun District”, and also documents the arbitrary arrest of civilians who were subsequently forced to porter for Tatmadaw troops. It also describes de facto movement restrictions caused by the indiscriminate firing of heavy weapons and machine guns into travel routes and agricultural areas surrounding villages as a security precaution during Tatmadaw resupply operations. The report details the ways in which villagers in areas beyond government control engage in covert trade with villagers living in areas under government control and employ early-warning systems to flee Tatmadaw patrols.
Dooplaya Situation Update: August 2011 to September 2011	Dec 9th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events and military activities occurring in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, during the period between August and September 2011. The villager describes the shelling of civilian areas by DKBA troops resulting in the destruction of a villager’s house, and villagers’ fears of violence by DKBA forces following the defection of a DKBA soldier to Tatmadaw Border Guard troops and his transport through the area around their community. The report also details demands for payment issued by KNU/KNLA Peace Council soldiers; discusses the death of a KNU/KNLA Peace Council officer by natural causes; and raises villagers’ concerns about the flooding of bean and corn plantations along the Moei River at the beginning of September which resulted in destruction of farmers’ seeds and crops.
Nyaunglebin Situation Update: August to October 2011	Dec 9th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District between August and October 2011. The report describes the an incident of forced labour in which villagers were forced to clear undergrowth from a palm oil plantation at IB 60 military headquarters, as well as arbitrary demands for villagers to provide money, firewood, wooden logs and food to Tatmadaw troops. The villager who wrote this report notes that governmental administrative reforms at the village tract level have resulted in increased demands for payment from civilian officials at a time when flooding in flat areas of paddy cultivation adjacent to the Sittaung River at the end of the 2011 monsoon has substantially impacted villagers’ food security. The villager also raises local communities’ concerns regarding the proposed construction of a dam on the Theh Loh River; and requirements that civilians provide guarantees that non-state armed groups will not attack Tatmadaw troops, which villagers fear will lead to reprisals from Tatmadaw soldiers if fighting does occur. This report also documents several ways in which villagers in Ler Doh Township have responded to abuses, including the formation of Mu Kha Poe village security groups to monitor Tatmadaw troop activity and warn other community members of incoming Tatmadaw patrols and attacks;; and cooperation with other villagers and with local community-based aid groups to secure food support, communication equipment, education materials and medical treatment.
Incident Report: Villager shot and killed in Pa’an District, October 2011	Dec 1st, 2011
The following report was written by a villager trained by KHRG to document human rights abuses, and details an incident that occurred on October 29th 2011 in P--- village, during which soldiers from Tatmadaw IB #230 fired small arms at three civilians as they fled their house in P--- village, and two KNLA soldiers who had been cooking food in the house. Saw A---, a 36-year-old married farmer who had returned to P--- to help his wife’s family harvest paddy, was shot in the head and killed as the group ran away from the house The villager who wrote this report visited P--- village two weeks after the incident occurred to document the incident: the villager took the 32 photographs included in this report; spoke with Saw A---’s brother-in-law and mother-in-law, who were the other two civilians who fled the IB #230 soldiers and witnessed Saw A---’s death; and spoke with another P--- resident who heard the gunfire and witnessed the soldiers entering the house after the group fled. The full transcript of a recorded audio interview with Saw A---’s brother-in-law is available in the bulletin "Pa’an Interview: Saw C---, November 2011" published by KHRG on December 1st 2011.
Pa’an Interview: Saw C---, October 2011	Dec 1st, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2011 in Lu Pleh Township, Pa’an District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw C---, a 23-year-old unmarried hill field farmer, who described an incident in which his brother-in-law, Saw A---, 36, was shot and killed by patrolling Tatmadaw soldiers from IB 230 in the Kler Day area of Lu Pleh Township, Pa’an District. Saw C--- explained that he, his mother Naw G---, two KNLA soldiers who were cooking in the house at the time, and his brother-in-law Saw A--- fled their house when Tatmadaw soldiers entered P--- village and that, as they fled, the soldiers fired at them. According to Saw C---, one of the bullets hit Saw A--- on the right side of his head, killing him immediately. A separate report of this incident written by the villager who conducted this interview, which includes 23 photos taken by the same villager, is available in the bulletin "Incident report: Villager shot and killed in Pa’an District, October 2011" published by KHRG on December 1st 2011.
Toungoo Situation Update: July to October 2011	Nov 29th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District during the period between July and October 2011. It details incidents of violence against civilians, including: shooting and killing by Tatmadaw LIB #540 of two villagers hunting monkeys in an area adjacent to a Tatmadaw camp; arbitrary detentions of eight civilians, of whom only three have been released by LIB #539 and IB #73; and the beating of a village head following a KNLA attack against Tatmadaw troops. The villager also cites examples of a range of abuses affecting villagers’ livelihoods, including: forced labour repairing a road and producing and delivering bamboo poles to a Tatmadaw camp; theft and damage of villagers’ possessions by patrolling Tatmadaw troops, including destruction of villagers’ durian and dogfruit trees; the imposition of movement restrictions preventing villagers from sleeping in their field huts, backed by an explicit threat of violence against villagers violating the ban; de facto movement restrictions on villagers due to Tatmadaw activity; and arbitrary demands for payment by Tatmadaw troops. This report also raises concerns about the health situation in Tantabin Township following the 2011 monsoon, including an outbreak of cholera that interfered with the harvest of cardamom, durian and paddy crops, and may have adverse consequences on villagers’ food and financial security during the coming year. The report also notes that some villagers access health services from the KNU Health Department and other relief groups in response to constraints on access to health care in areas of Tantabin Township outside consolidated Tatmadaw control.
Tatmadaw soldiers shell village, attack church and civilian property in Toungoo District	Nov 25th, 2011
On October 12th 2011, soldiers from Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #603 and Infantry Battalion (IB) #92 shelled and then attacked on foot W--- village in the Htee Tha Saw area of Than Daung Township following a clash with Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) soldiers approximately 45 minutes on foot from W--- village. According to Saw F---, a resident of W--- village who fled and hid in the forest during the attack, Tatmadaw soldiers fired approximately 50 mortar rounds into W--- and nearby civilian areas and then entered W---, where soldiers fired small arms deliberately at villagers’ houses, the Roman Catholic church and religious and cultural items; killed villagers’ animals; and looted or damaged villagers’ property including food stores, clothing, roofing materials and money. This report is based on information provided by two villagers trained by KHRG to monitor human rights abuses, including two situation reports, one incident report, an audio interview with Saw F---, and 82 photographs and three video clips taken in the W--- village area one week after the attack occurred.
Toungoo Interview: Saw F---, October 2011	Nov 25th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2011 in Than Daung Township, Toungoo District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw F---, a 55-year-old resident of W--- village who fled his village and hid in the forest during a joint attack by soldiers from Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion (IB) #92 and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #603. According to Saw F---, on October 12th 2011, following a clash with Karen National Liberation (KNLA) soldiers at a location 45 minutes on foot from W---, Tatmadaw soldiers fired approximately 50 mortar rounds into W--- and nearby civilian areas and then entered W---, where soldiers fired small arms deliberately at villagers’ houses, the Roman Catholic church and religious and cultural items; killed villagers’ animals; and looted or damaged villagers’ property including food stores, clothing, roofing materials and money. Saw F--- also reported that W--- villagers have had to provide forced labour delivering bamboo poles to Tatmadaw camps on multiple occasions in the past year; that the W--- school has been forced to close twice due to Tatmadaw accusations that villagers are communicating with non-state armed groups; and that villagers face obstacles in accessing healthcare due to their distance from the nearest health facility and the cost of travel. A full account of the attack on W---, including photo documentation and excerpts of this interview, is available in the bulletin “Tatmadaw soldiers shell village, attack church and civilian property in Toungoo District,” published by KHRG on November 25th 2011.
Toungoo Situation Update: October 2011	Nov 25th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing a joint attack on a village in Than Daung Township by soldiers from Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion #92 and Light Infantry Battalion #603. During the attack the Tatmadaw soldiers fired mortars into the village, prompting residents to flee into the nearby forest; soldiers then entered and fired small arms inside the village, and looted, damaged, or destroyed food, money and other property belonging to the villagers who had fled. A full account of the attack on W---, based on this and one other situation update written by a different villager, an interview with a resident of W---, and photo documentation is available in the bulletin "Tatmadaw soldiers shell village, attack church and civilian property in Toungoo District," published by KHRG on November 25th 2011.This report also notes that villagers in the area face demands for forced labour for local Tatmadaw units three or four times every year, specifically to serve as porters and guides for Tatmadaw troops and to clear vegetation from Tatmadaw camp perimeters. The villager who wrote this report further noted local concerns related to the provision of health care and education, as well as some of the strategies adopted by villagers in response to human rights concerns, including harvesting crops at night to protect livelihoods during Tatmadaw operations, and using traditional practices to treat illnesses in areas where Tatmadaw forces restrict transport of and trade in medicines.
Villager executed in Papun District	Nov 18th, 2011
The following information was submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager trained to document human rights abuses. It concerns an incident that occurred on September 7th 2011 in which the village head of L--- village in Dweh Loh Township was summarily executed by an unidentified Sergeant from Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #208, under Light Infantry Division (LID) #11. According to three L--- villagers who witnessed the execution, LIB #208 Deputy Battalion Commander Moe Zaw Oo was also present when the Sergeant under his command executed the L--- village head.
Thaton Situation Update: June to October 2011	Nov 18th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa’an Township, Thaton District between June and October 2011, specifically forced labour demands for villagers to clear vegetation from roads, to rebuild Tatmadaw Border Guard camps, to porter for three-month periods, and to guide and serve as human shields for Tatmadaw soldiers on active patrol duty. This report also details demands for villages to provide recruits and payments to support recruits’ salaries to Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1014; arbitrary demands for payment in lieu of the provision of villagers to fill demands for forced labour; as well as an explicit threat of violence issued against village heads if they failed to comply with a Battalion #1014 demand to send villagers as porters. The report further documents the imposition of movement restrictions preventing villagers from accessing agricultural workplaces, and raises concerns about the future food security of residents living in areas proximate to the Salween River whose paddy fields were flooded and destroyed during the last rainy season.
Nyaunglebin Situation Update: Ler Doh Township, May to July 2011	Nov 18th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Ler Doh [Kyauk Kyi] Township, Nyaunglebin District, between May and July 2011. It provides details on human rights abuses committed by Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #345 including: demands for forced labour clearing vegetation around Tatmadaw camps, serving as set tha at Tatmadaw camps, and collecting and delivering building materials and firewood; the imposition of movement restrictions and the requirement that villagers purchase travel permission documents to access agricultural workplaces; arbitrary demands for food and payment; and an order to dismantle field huts. This report also notes that villagers were directly ordered by LIB #345 Captain Thet Zaw Win not to discuss or report demands for payment, and describes cooperation between public and military sector officials to levy demands for payment. This report also mentions that some villagers have responded to abuses by negotiating with Tatmadaw officers to avoid orders to dismantle their field huts, and by moving to areas beyond consolidated Tatmadaw control to access humanitarian support and pursue livelihoods activities.
Pa’an Situation Update: September 2011	Nov 3rd, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in T’Nay Hsah Township, Pa’an District during September 2011. It details an incident in which a soldier from Tatmadaw Border Guard #1017 deliberately shot at villagers in a farm hut, resulting in the death of one civilian and injury to a six-year-old child. The report further details the subsequent concealment of this incident by Border Guard soldiers who placed an M16 rifle and ammunition next to the dead civilian and photographed his body, and ordered the local village head to corroborate their story that the dead man was a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) soldier. The report also relates villagers’ concerns regarding the use of landmines by both KNLA and Border Guard troops, which prevent villagers from freely accessing agricultural land and kill villagers' livestock and pets, and also relates an incident in September 2011 in which a villager was severely maimed when he stepped on a landmine that had been placed outside his farm.
Land confiscation threatens villagers' livelihoods in Dooplaya District	Oct 31st, 2011
In September 2011, residents of Je--- village, Kawkareik Township told KHRG that they feared soldiers under Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1022 and LIBs #355 and #546 would soon complete the confiscation of approximately 500 acres of land in their community in order to develop a large camp for Battalion #1022 and homes for soldiers’ families. According to the villagers, the area has already been surveyed and the Je--- village head has informed local plantation and paddy farm owners whose lands are to be confiscated. The villagers reported that approximately 167 acres of agricultural land, including seven rubber plantations, nine paddy farms, and seventeen betelnut and durian plantations belonging to 26 residents of Je--- have already been surveyed, although they expressed concern that more land would be expropriated in the future. The Je--- residents said that the village head had told them rubber plantation owners would be compensated according to the number of trees they owned, but that the villagers were collectively refusing compensation and avoiding attending a meeting at which they worried they would be ordered to sign over their land. The villagers that spoke with KHRG said they believed the Tatmadaw intended to take over their land in October after the end of the annual monsoon, and that this would seriously undermine livelihoods in a community in which many villagers depended on subsistence agriculture on established land. This bulletin is based on information collected by KHRG researchers in September and October 2011, including five interviews with residents of Je--- village, 91 photographs of the area, and a written record of lands earmarked for confiscation.
Toungoo Situation Update: May to July 2011	Oct 31st, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District between May and July 2011. It describes a series of trade and movement restrictions imposed on villagers in June and July 2011, due to frequent clashes between Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups, and road closures between Toungoo Town and Buh Sah Kee. The report also examines in detail the serious impacts the road closures have had on the livelihoods of villagers who have been unable to support themselves by transporting and selling agricultural produce and purchasing rice supplies as usual. The report further describes incidents of human rights abuse by Tatmadaw forces, including the summary execution of two civilians in July 2011 by soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #379; forced labour including the portering of military supplies, the production and supply of building materials, guide duty and sweeping for landmines; and an attack on a village previously reported by KHRG and the subsequent destruction of villagers’ homes and food stores.
Pa’an Situation Update: June to August 2011	Oct 27th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa’an District between June 2011 and August 2011. It details recent Tatmadaw and Tatmadaw Border Guard activity, including camp locations and troop strength, and incidents related to a forced relocation order issued to eight villages in Lu Pleh Township by Tatmadaw Border Guard units on July 15th 2011. After the July 20th deadline for relocation, Tatmadaw and Border Guard forces commenced joint attacks against six of the villages ordered to relocate, including multiple days of heavy shelling and machine gun fire which the villager who submitted this report described as indiscriminate. On July 20th 2011 Border Guard troops also deliberately killed villagers’ livestock and fired mortars into civilian areas of R--- village, injuring a 50-year-old woman, while retreating from an attack by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on the Border Guard camp in R---. This report further documents Tatmadaw Border Guard demands for forced labour and forced porters. The villager who submitted this update raises villagers’ concerns related to flooding along the Dta Greh [Hlaing Bwe] River during the 2011 monsoon season, and the abandonment of schools and loss of trade and livelihood opportunities due to forced relocation. This report notes that, in response to the abuses and concerns mentioned above, villagers in Pa’an District adopt strategies that include: moving to areas beyond Tatmadaw control, monitoring local security conditions, and hiding food stores in the jungle.
Pa’an Situation Update: September 2011	Oct 24th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa’an District in September 2011. It details an incident in which Tatmadaw and Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers forced local villagers to porter military supplies and equipment while wearing Border Guard uniforms during a joint attack on a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) encampment at Kler Law Hseh. The villager who wrote this situation update also reported that since this attack Border Guard soldiers have been based in the Kler Law Hseh area and have forced villagers to porter or make payments in lieu of portering, as well as perform forced labour on military-owned agricultural projects. The villager also reported two distinct incidents in which Tatmadaw and Border Guard troops have confiscated villagers’ land in order to build a military camp and cultivate bean plantations.
Toungoo Situation Update: April to July 2011	Oct 13th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District between April and July 2011. It describes a May 2011 attack on villages and the destruction of paddy and rice stores in the Maw Thay Der area of Tantabin Township, previously reported by KHRG, and relates the following human rights abuses by Tatmadaw forces: restrictions on movement and trade; including regular closure of vehicle roads and levying of road tolls; forced production and delivery of thatch shingles and bamboo poles; forced portering of military rations; and the theft and looting of villagers’ livestock. This report also explains how community members share food when confronting food insecurity, and attempt to ensure that children receive education despite financial barriers and teacher shortages.
Dooplaya Situation Update: August 2011	Oct 12th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Kawkareik, Kya In and Waw Raw (Win Yaw) townships of Dooplaya District between April and August 2011. The villager describes human rights abuses committed by soldiers from at least three Tatmadaw battalions, including: shelling of villages, resulting in civilian injuries and destruction of houses and food supplies; demands for the fabrication and delivery of thatch and bamboo, and for the provision of food; restrictions on villagers; detention, physical abuse, and killing of villagers; shooting of villagers; and a demand for villagers, including children, to clear the perimeter of a Tatmadaw camp. The villager also expresses concern that these abuses disrupt villagers’ livelihoods and the provision of education for children.
Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, August 2011	Oct 6th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Papun District in January 2011 and human rights consequences for local communities. It contains updated information concerning Tatmadaw military activities and details the following human rights abuses: coordinated attacks on villages by Tatmadaw and Border Guard troops and the firing of mortars and small arms in civilian areas, resulting in displacement of the civilian population and the closure of two schools; the use of landmines by the Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups; and forced portering for the Tatmadaw and Tatmadaw Border Guards. The report also mentions government plans for a logging venture and the construction of a dam. Moreover, it documents villagers’ responses to human rights concerns, including strategic displacement to avoid attacks and forced labour entailing physical security risks to civilians; advance preparation for strategic displacement in the event of Tatmadaw attacks; and seeking the protection of non-state armed groups against Tatmadaw attacks and other human rights threats.
Tenasserim Interview: Saw T---, December 2010	Oct 5th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in December 2010 in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 59-year-old village head who, at the time of interview, was in hiding from Tatmadaw troops in an area of Tenasserim Division beyond government control. Excerpts from Saw T---’s interview with KHRG have been published in the previous KHRG field report “Militarization, Development and Displacement: Conditions for villagers in southern Tenasserim Division” however, the full transcript of his testimony is now available below. Saw T--- described witnessing attacks on villagers by Tatmadaw soldiers and cited regular demands for villagers to serve as forced porters for the Tatmadaw and other forms of forced labour as one of the main factors which originally motivated him to go into hiding. Saw T--- explained that villagers in hiding employ a range of strategies to avoid Tatmadaw forces, including coordinating security strategies and sharing information with villagers at other hiding sites, maintaining contact with and seeking protection from non-state armed groups, cultivating crops that are easy to harvest quickly, travelling covertly to villages in mixed-administration areas in order to engage in trade and other livelihoods activities, and crossing vehicle roads during the night.
Tenasserim Interview: Saw P---, Received in May 2011	Oct 1st, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during May 2011 in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw P---, the 36-year-old head of a village in which Tatmadaw soldiers maintain a continuous presence. Saw P--- described the disappearance of a male villager who has not been seen since February 2010 when he was arrested by Tatmadaw soldiers as he was returning from his hill plantation, on suspicion of supplying food assistance to Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) troops. Saw P--- also described human rights abuses and livelihoods difficulties faced regularly by villagers, including: forced labour, specifically road construction and maintenance; taxation and demands for food and money; theft of livestock; and movement restrictions, specifically the imposition of road tolls for motorbikes and the prohibition against travel to villagers’ agricultural workplaces, resulting in the destruction of crops by animals. Saw P--- also expressed concerns about disruption of children’s education caused by the periodic commandeering of the village school and its use as a barracks by Tatmadaw soldiers. He explained how villagers respond to abuses and livelihoods challenges by avoiding Tatmadaw soldiers, harvesting communally, sharing food supplies and inquiring at the local jail to investigate the disappearance of a fellow villager.
Tenasserim Situation Update: Te Naw Th’Ri Township, April 2011	Sep 26th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in April 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division between June 2010 and April 2011. The report details abuses related to land confiscation by Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) officials; forced labour, including forced USDP membership; and attacks on villages in hiding, including the burning of houses, food stores, a school dormitory and supplies by Tatmadaw forces. This report also contains updated information concerning active Tatmadaw units in five areas of Tenasserim Division and relates health and education concerns of villagers in hiding in three areas of Te Naw Th’Ri Township.
Pa’an Situation Update: April 2011	Sep 21st, 2011
This report contains a situation update submitted to KHRG in April 2011 and written by a villager describing events occurring in Lu Pleh and Dta Greh townships in Pa’an District between February and April 2011. It contains information on incidents of forced labour by the Tatmadaw, including the use of villagers to build huts, deliver palm leaves for thatching buildings and provide unpaid forced labour during gold-mining and logging operations. It also documents the forced relocation of villagers from upland areas, and relates an incident in which a Tatmadaw deserter, who was later summarily executed by Tatmadaw troops, shot and injured a 53-year-old woman in Tantabin Township, Toungoo District. In response to human rights and related humanitarian concerns, including access to health care, the researcher reported that villagers travel covertly to seek medical care from cross-border groups, sell betel leaves to supplement incomes and laminate currency in plastic to prevent it from becoming damaged. This situation report also contains updated information on military activity in Pa’an District, specifically the defection of Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers in February 2011 to a breakaway faction of the DKBA that had previously refused to transform into Border Guard battalions, and to the KNLA.
Tenasserim Interview: Saw K---, August 2011	Sep 15th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in August 2011. The KHRG researcher interviewed Saw K---, a 30-year-old medic with the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), an organisation that provides health care and medical assistance to displaced civilians inside Burma. Saw K--- described witnessing a joint attack by Tatmadaw soldiers from three different battalions on a civilian settlement in Ma No Roh village tract, Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division in January 2011. Saw K--- reported that mortars were fired into P--- village, causing residents and Saw K---, who was providing healthcare support in P--- village at that time, to flee. Saw K--- reported that Tatmadaw soldiers subsequently entered P--- village and burned down 17 houses, as well as rice barns and food stores belonging to villagers, before planting landmines in the village. According to Saw K---, the residents of P--- have not returned to their homes, and have been unable to coordinate to restart the school that was abandoned in P--- because most households now live at dispersed sites in the area.
Tenasserim Interview: Saw C---, Received in May 2011	Sep 9th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted prior to Burma's November 2010 elections in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw C---, a 30-year-old married hill field farmer who told KHRG that he was appointed to the position of village head by his local VPDC in an area of Te Naw Th’Ri Township that is frequently accessed by Tatmadaw troops, and in which there is no KNLA presence. Saw C--- described human rights abuses faced by residents of his village, including: demands for forced labour; theft and looting of villagers' property; and movement restrictions that prevent villagers from accessing agricultural workplaces. He also cited an incident in which a villager was shot and killed by Tatmadaw soldiers while fishing in a nearby river, and his death subsequently concealed; and recounted abuses he witnessed when forced to porter military rations and accompany Tatmadaw soldiers during foot patrols, including the theft and looting of villagers’ property and the rape of a 50-year-old woman. Saw C--- told KHRG that villagers protect themselves in the following ways: collecting flowers from the jungle to sell in local markets in order to supplement incomes, failing to comply with orders to report to a Tatmadaw camp, and using traditional herbal remedies due to difficulties accessing healthcare. He noted, however, that these strategies can be limited, for example by threats of violence against civilians by Tatmadaw soldiers or scarcity of plants commonly used in herbal remedies.
Papun Situation Update: Dweh Loh Township, May 2011	Sep 2nd, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in May 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District between January and April 2011. It contains information concerning military activities in 2011, specifically resupply operations by Border Guard and Tatmadaw troops and the reinforcement of Border Guard troops at Manerplaw. It documents twelve incidents of forced portering of military rations in Wa Muh and K’Hter Htee village tracts, including one incident during which villagers used to porter rations were ordered to sweep for landmines, as well as the forced production and delivery of a total of 44,500 thatch shingles by civilians. In response to these abuses, male villagers remove themselves from areas in which troops are conducting resupply operations, in order to avoid arrest and forced portering. This report additionally registers villagers’ serious concerns regarding the planting of landmines by non-state armed groups in agricultural workplaces and the proposed development of a new dam on the Bilin River at Hsar Htaw. It includes an overview of gold-mining operations by private companies and non-state armed groups along three rivers in Dweh Loh Township, and documents abuses related to extractive industry, specifically forced relocation and land confiscation.
Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, April 2011	Sep 2nd, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in April 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Bu Tho Township, Papun District, during the period between January and April 2011. The villager describes the embezzlement of funds earmarked for road repair by government officials; increased taxation on vehicles, road use and the transport of goods; and demands for payment in lieu of forced labour levied by Border Guard Battalion #1013.
Papun Interview: Maung Y---, February 2011	Sep 2nd, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in February 2011 in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District, by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Maung Y---, a 32 year-old married hill field farmer, who described an incident that occurred on February 5th 2011, in which he and eight other villagers were arrested at gunpoint by Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1013 soldiers and arbitrarily detained. During this time, Maung Y--- reported that they were forced to porter military rations and sweep for landmines using basic tools. He described how one villager was denied access to medical treatment and forced to porter despite serious illness, and reported that families of the detained villagers were forced to pay arbitrary amounts of money to the Battalion #1013 troops in order to secure their release. Maung Y--- also reported that, after this incident, his village was ordered by Battalion #1013 to produce and deliver 7,000 thatch shingles, as well as to provide four more villagers to serve as porters. In response to this, Maung Y--- reported that villagers had, at the time of interview, refused to comply with these forced labour demands.
Papun Incident Reports: November 2010 to January 2011	Aug 24th, 2011
This report contains 12 incident reports written by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions, based on information provided by 12 different villagers living in hiding sites in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District between November 2010 and January 2011. The twelve villagers described human rights concerns for civilians prior to and during displacement to their current hiding sites, including: deliberate firing of mortars and small arms into civilian areas; burning and destruction of houses, food and food preparation equipment; theft and looting of villagers’ animals and possessions; and use of landmines by the Tatmadaw, non-state armed groups, and local gher der 'home guard' groups in civilian areas, resulting in at least one civilian death and two civilian injuries. The reports register villagers' serious concerns about food security in hiding areas beyond Tatmadaw control, caused by effective limits on access to arable land due to the risk of attack when villagers cultivating land proximate to Tatmadaw camps, depletion of soil fertility in cultivable areas, and a drought during the 2010 rainy season which triggered widespread paddy crop failure. To address the threat of Tatmadaw attacks targeting villagers, their food stores and livelihoods activities, villagers reported that they form gher der groups to monitor and communicate Tatmadaw activity; utilise early-warning systems; and communicate amongst themselves and with non-state armed groups to share information about Tatmadaw troop movements. Two villagers stated that the deployment of landmines by gher der groups and KNLA soldiers prevents access to civilian areas by Tatmadaw troops and facilitates security for villagers to pursue their agricultural activities. Another villager described how his community maintained communal agricultural projects to support families at risk from food shortages. These reports were received by KHRG in May 2011, along with other information concerning the situation in Papun District, including 11 other incident reports, 25 interviews, 137 photographs and a general update on the situation in Lu Thaw Township.
Village heads negotiate with Tatmadaw, armed groups to forestall human rights threats amid continued conflict in Dooplaya District	Aug 13th, 2011
This bulletin details how six community leaders in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District negotiated with both the Tatmadaw and Karen armed groups in an effort to reduce threats to local villagers as conflict escalated in April 2011. Saw Bp---, the headman of T--- village, described how, prior to April, he and other village leaders met and communicated with local personnel from all parties to the conflict in order to maintain relations and prevent misunderstandings between civilians and each armed group. In April, threats to civilians intensified when a Tatmadaw camp was attacked multiple times, and villagers in the area made preparations to flee to more secure locations, with residents of one community opting to hide in the forest at night and only return to their village during daylight. Village leaders continued to engage and negotiate with the Tatmadaw, and raised the threat of civilian displacement in response to Tatmadaw threats to burn villages, to prevent serious human rights abuses until a new Tatmadaw battalion rotated in to the area. This report is based on information provided by Saw Bp--- to a KHRG researcher in May 2011.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Naw Sa---, May 2011	Aug 5th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Naw Sa---, a 26-year-old villager who described human rights and humanitarian conditions in her village, in a mixed administration area under effective Tatmadaw control. Naw Sa--- cited the following human rights concerns: forced relocation and displacement; demands for provision of food; shelling of civilian areas, resulting in civilian injuries; arrest and detention of villagers; physical violence against detained villagers; forced labour, including sentry duty; and movement restrictions. She also explained the challenges to accessing medical care and adequate education for children faced by members of her community; and described how villagers returned to work covertly on their agricultural projects in order to protect their livelihoods, after they were ordered by the Tatmadaw to abandon their village.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Saw My---, May 2011	Aug 4th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Saw My---, a 45 year-old farmer who described his experiences when he was forced to leave his village in a mixed-administration area and live for two years in a neighbouring village, including specific incidents in which Tatmadaw soldiers fired small arms at children in school uniforms, forced women to serve as human shields for Tatmadaw columns during patrols, and ordered villagers at gunpoint to leave their homes and possessions during the rainy season. He further cited the following abuses: movement restrictions; forced labour; and arbitrary taxation and demands. Saw My--- also highlighted the difficulties his village currently faces accessing health care and education, but explained that villagers counter these difficulties by using traditional medicine and by hiring and supporting local teachers.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Naw Ka---, May 2011	Aug 3rd, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Naw Ka---, a 50-year-old villager who described the situation prior to and after her community was forcibly relocated by the Tatmadaw in 2007. Naw Ka--- cited the following human rights abuses in her testimony: forced labour, including sentry duty and portering; arrest and detention, including physical violence against detained villagers; forced relocation; and movement restrictions. The interviewee also described the humanitarian challenges people in her community have faced, including serious constraints on access to adequate education for children, healthcare, and food. In order improve their humanitarian situation, Naw Ka--- explained how residents of her village decided to return to their homes in 2010 without formal permission from the Tatmadaw, despite villagers' fears that this action entailed serious risks to their physical security.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Saw Th---, May 2011	Aug 2nd, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher during May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Saw Th---, a 37-year-old farmer and village elder, who described his experiences living in Tatmadaw-controlled relocation sites for over two years and in a village in a mixed-administration area, in which various Tatmadaw battalions and non-state armed groups operated. Saw Th--- described the following abuses: forced relocation; movement restrictions; taxation and demands; and forced labour including forced portering and camp maintenance. He said he believed that forced labour demands have decreased due to media attention on the issue. Saw Th--- also explained that villagers pursued agricultural livelihoods activities secretly while living in forced relocation sites, to lessen the impact of movement restrictions; and used herbal medicines because medical infrastructure and access to medical care were inadequate.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Saw S---, May 2011	Jul 30th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Saw S---, a 17 year-old student who compared his experiences living in a Tatmadaw-controlled relocation site, and in his own village in a mixed-administration area under effective Tatmadaw control. Saw S--- described the following abuses: killing of villagers; forced relocation; movement restrictions; taxation and demands; theft and looting; and forced labour including portering, sentry duty, camp maintenance and road construction. Saw S--- also discussed the impact of forced labour and movement restrictions on livelihoods; access to, and cost of, health care; and constraints on children's access to education, including the prohibition on Karen-language education. In order to address these issues, Saw S--- explained that villagers attempt to bribe military officers with money to avoid relocation, and with food and alcohol to lessen forced labour demands; conceal from Tatmadaw commanders that villagers sometimes leave the village to work without valid permission documents; and go into hiding to protect their physical security when conflict occurs near the village.
Nyaunglebin Interview: Naw P---, May 2011	Jul 26th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Naw P---, a 40-year-old farmer who described her experiences living in a Tatmadaw-controlled relocation site, and in her original village in a mixed-administration area under effective Tatmadaw control. Naw P--- described the following human rights abuses: rape and sexual violence; indiscriminate firing on villagers by Tatmadaw soldiers; forced relocation; arrest and detention; movement restrictions; theft and looting; and forced labour, including use of villagers as military sentries and porters. Naw P--- also raised concerns regarding the cost of health care and about children’s education, specifically Tatmadaw restrictions on children’s movement during perceived military instability and the prohibition of Karen-language education. In order to address these concerns, Naw P--- told KHRG that some villagers pay bribes to avoid forced labour and to secure the release of detained family members; lie to Tatmadaw commanders about the whereabouts of villagers working on farms in violation of movement restrictions; and organise covert Karen-language education for their children.
Dooplaya Interview: U Sa---, July 2011	Jul 22nd, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in July 2011 in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District. The researcher interviewed U Sa---, who described how his family and other residents of Pa--- village faced threats and abuses from Tatmadaw soldiers after local DKBA forces captured a Tatmadaw soldier at his home on June 15th 2011. U Sa--- described the following abuses: threats to burn or shell civilian areas; shelling of civilian areas; indiscriminate use of small arms in civilian areas; the taking of civilians as hostages; threats to kill civilians; and the imposition of movement restrictions, including threats to shoot villagers violating restrictions on sight. U Sa--- explained that he and his family fled Pa--- on June 16th to avoid these threats; as of July 3rd, they did not yet feel safe to return to their home. This interview was conducted by a KHRG researcher in July 2011; other details on the situation in Pa--- village after June 15th, including a general situation update, one incident report, and three photographs were submitted by a different KHRG researcher in June and July 2011.
Toungoo Interviews: March and April 2011	Jul 20th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of three interviews conducted during March and April 2011 in Tantabin Township, Toungoo District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The three female interviewees described the following abuses: attacks on villages, villagers and livelihoods, killing of villagers, theft and looting, taxation and demands, displacement, forced labour, including the production and supply of building materials and forced portering. They also raised concerns regarding food shortage, the provision of education for children during displacement caused by Tatmadaw attacks, and access to healthcare. One of the women explained that villagers co-operate with non-state armed groups and other villagers to share information about Tatmadaw movements, prepare secret caches of food in the forest outside their village in case of a Tatmadaw attack, and hold school classes outside of their village in agricultural areas during displacement caused by Tatmadaw attack. These interviews were received along with other information from Toungoo District, including a general update on the situation in Toungoo District, ten incident reports, seven other interviews and 350 photographs.
Nyaunglebin Interviews: May 2011	Jun 29th, 2011
This bulletin contains the full transcripts of three interviews conducted by KHRG researchers in May 2011 with villagers from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The interviewees described the following human rights issues: forced relocation; threats to shell or burn villages; movement restrictions, including curfews, the requirement of travel permission documents and the restriction of river travel by boat; theft and looting; restrictions on the transport of medicine in civilian areas; arrest and enforced disappearance; killing of villagers; forced labour, including portering, camp and road construction and maintenance, the production of construction materials, and sentry duty; the use of villagers to shield Tatmadaw troops during foot patrols; and abuse by non-state armed groups. The villagers also raised concerns regarding food insecurity, access to livelihoods and access to health care, particularly while living in forced relocation sites. In order to address these concerns, the interviewees explained that villagers use strategies including: covert travel to agricultural projects to avoid curfews and movement restrictions; individual and collective negotiation, including with senior military authorities or non-military authorities; bribery; false compliance with relocation orders; submission of petition letters; and temporary strategic displacement to evade immediate human rights threats. These interviews were received in May 2011 along with ten other interviews with villagers from Nyaunglebin District.
Tatmadaw shelling kills one child, injures another in Mae T'Ler village	Jun 16th, 2011
On June 7th 2011, a seven-year-old child was killed and a 17-year-old child and 25-year-old woman were injured in Mae T'Ler village when Tatmadaw LIB #283 fired more than thirty 81 mm mortars into several villages, while repelling a DKBA attack on a hilltop Tatmadaw camp approximately five kilometres away from Mae T'Ler. This bulletin is based on information and photographs submitted by a KHRG researcher in Dooplaya District between June 10th and 16th 2011.
Toungoo Situation Update: April 2011	Jun 13th, 2011
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in May 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District, during the period between 2006 and April 2011. It contains updated information concerning military activity, specifically the replacement of Tatmadaw battalions under MOC #7 with MOC #9. It also details the following human rights issues: movement restrictions, including road closures and travel restrictions, and the requirement that villagers purchase permission documents to work and travel; restrictions on the transport of medicine and staple food items to civilian areas; forced labour, including portering, production of building materials, messenger duty and road maintenance; the use of civilians’ vehicles to sweep for landmines; civilian injuries resulting from the use of landmines by the Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups; and the prohibition of Karen language education in government schools. This situation update also documents villagers’ responses to abuses, including negotiation with Tatmadaw officers, false compliance, and lying to avoid complying with forced labour demands. This report also discusses concerns regarding limited access to health care; limited access to quality education for children; and food insecurity due to abnormal weather and limited availability of essential commodities.
Toungoo Interviews: March and April 2011	Jun 8th, 2011
This bulletin contains the full transcripts of three interviews conducted in March and April 2011 in Thandaung and Tantabin townships, Toungoo District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The interviewees described the following human rights concerns: arrest and detention; forced labour, including production of building materials, guide duty, and forced portering, including by children; arbitrary taxation, including for political party membership; movement restrictions, including the imposition of a curfew; theft and looting; and attacks on villagers, resulting in death and injury to villagers. The interviewees also raised concerns regarding: the impact of movement restrictions on villagers’ livelihoods; high prices of basic commodities; limited access to health care, including prohibitive costs for villagers with limited financial resources; and disruptions to children’s education caused by teacher absences from schools. One villager also explained that civilians who own trucks avoid travelling on the Toungoo to Kler La vehicle road, in order to avoid being ordered to transport Tatmadaw supplies and equipment with their vehicles. These interviews were received by KHRG in May 2011 along with other information from Toungoo District, including: a general update on the situation in Toungoo District, five incident reports, three other interviews, and 700 photographs with researcher notes.
Toungoo Interviews: November 2010 to April 2011	Jun 6th, 2011
This report contains the full transcript of five interviews conducted with villagers in Thandaung Township,Toungoo District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The interviewees described the following human rights concerns: arbitrary taxation and demands; forced labour including road maintenance, guiding, and messenger duty; forced portering, including by children, and use of civilian porters as human shields; movement restrictions including de facto travel and livelihoods restrictions due to Tatmadaw patrols and attacks on civilians; restrictions on transporting essential foodstuffs and medicines; attacks on villages; the killing of villagers; attacks on livelihoods and agricultural projects; theft and looting, including of places of worship; risks to civilians from landmines; physical beatings; and rape. The interviewees also voiced concerns regarding food insecurity and food shortages; limited access to adequate health care; disruptions to children’s education when teachers are unavailable; limited access to education for children in hiding; and the difficulties villagers face from multiple armed groups, specifically when non-State armed groups attempt to intercept Tatmadaw rations while villagers are portering. The interviewees also described different strategies villagers use to address threats to their human rights and livelihoods, including: hiding from Tatmadaw patrols and working covertly on agricultural projects to avoid attacks; avoiding Tatmadaw camps and checkpoints to avoid forced labour demands; sending fewer villagers than demanded for portering Tatmadaw supplies; negotiating with non-State armed groups to avoid activities that might lead to villagers being punished by Tatmadaw soldiers; and cooperation between villagers in hiding and villagers in Tatmadaw-controlled areas, including economic cooperation. These interviews were received in May 2011 along with other information from Toungoo District, including seven incident reports, five other interviews, one situation update and 453 photographs.
Joint Tatmadaw patrol burns field huts and seed stores, displace six villages in Toungoo District	Jun 2nd, 2011
Tatmadaw forces continue to target civilian settlements and food supplies in upland areas of Toungoo District. On May 15th 2011 a joint patrol of LIBs #375 and #541 looted civilian property and burned down six field huts containing stores of paddy seed belonging to villagers in Ku Ler Der village, Tantabin Township. Residents of Ku Ler Der and five other villages in the area fled their homes before the patrol entered in the area and, as of May 20th, remained in hiding and actively monitoring whether Tatmadaw operations in the area would continue. The loss of food production inputs, and displacement away from agricultural projects, comes at a time when villagers in the affected communities, and throughout eastern Burma, are struggling to finish planting hill fields whil anticipating food shortages in the coming year, after irregular weather damaged cash crop plantations and undercut harvests in 2010. This report is based on information submitted by two KHRG researchers in Toungoo District on May 20th 2011.
Toungoo Incident Reports: March and April 2011	May 27th, 2011
This report contains 15 incident reports written by ten villagers describing 25 incidents of human rights abuse that occurred in Toungoo District prior to April 2011. The reports describe 17 incidents of forced labour, including forced portering of Tatmadaw supplies, the production and supply of building materials and forced messenger duty; four incidents in which villagers were shot and/ or killed; two incidents of arbitrary arrest and detention; one incident of theft and looting; one incident of rape; and one report of travel restrictions in Tatmadaw-controlled areas. The reports also register villagers' concerns about food security as a result of regular demands for forced labour, as well as serious threats to villagers’ physical security from exposure to landmines and armed conflict when they are forced to porter for the Tatmadaw. As a result of the serious consequences of demands for forced labour on villagers’ livelihoods, one villager reported that villagers negotiate with Tatmadaw officers in order to reduce or alter forced labour demands. These reports were received by KHRG in May 2011, along with other information from Toungoo District including: four other incident reports, five interviews, one situation update, 346 photographs and 36 video clips.
Toungoo Situation Update and Interviews: May 2010 to January 2011	May 25th, 2011
This report from Toungoo District contains the following information submitted by villagers trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions: one situation update submitted in February 2011 describing events occurring in Toungoo District during the period between May 13th 2010 and January 31st 2011; four statements from villagers in Tantabin Township, collected in October 2010; and full transcripts of five interviews conducted in December 2010 in Tantabin and Thandaung townships. The ten villagers who provided information for this report chose to focus on the following issues: recent military activity, including Tatmadaw troop reinforcement and camp reconstruction in January 2011; the killing of villagers; attacks on and burning of villages; attacks on livelihoods, including the burning of cardamom plantations; repeated or prolonged displacement; forced relocation; forced labour, including taxation in lieu of forced labour; forced portering; the use of civilians to sweep landmines; theft and looting; and movement restrictions. This report also documents villagers’ responses to these abuses, including: the provision of intentionally incomplete household numbers to the Tatmadaw; and the preparation of hiding sites and food caches in the forest by villagers expecting to use strategic displacement to avoid abuse by Tatmadaw forces. Villagers also express serious concerns regarding food insecurity due to abnormal weather in 2010, rising food prices, the cost and quality of children’s education and the use of landmines by the Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups.
Thaton Situation Updates: May 2010 to January 2011	May 18th, 2011
This report includes two situation updates written by villagers describing events in Thaton District during the period between May 13th 2010 and January 31st 2011. The villagers writing the updates chose to focus on issues including: updates on recent military activity, specifically the rebuilding of Tatmadaw camps, and the following human rights abuses: demands for forced labour, including the provision of building materials; and movement restrictions, including road closure and requirements for travel permission documents. In these situation updates, villagers also express serious concerns regarding food security due to abnormal weather in 2010; rising food prices; the unavailability of health care; and the cost and quality of children’s education.
Three villagers killed, eight injured during fighting in Kyaikdon area	May 17th, 2011
Research submitted by a KHRG field researcher indicates that fighting between DKBA and Tatmadaw troops between April 22nd and April 30th 2011 in Kya In Township has left at least three civilians dead and eight injured. The indiscriminate firing of mortars and small arms in civilian areas by armed groups involved in the conflict, and conflict related abuse including an explicit threat by Tatmadaw forces to burn civilians’ homes, caused at least 143 villagers from Gkyaw Hta, Khoh Htoh, T'Aye Shay and Mae Naw Ah villages to seek refuge in the Ra--- area of Thailand between April 22nd and 30th 2011. As of May 13th 2011, KHRG confirmed that the firing of mortars and small arms was ongoing in the areas of K’Lay Kee and Noh Taw Plah, and that some villagers continued to seek refuge at discreet locations in Thailand.
Pa’an interviews: Conditions for villagers returned from temporary refuge sites in Tha Song Yang	May 6th, 2011
This report contains the full transcripts of seven interviews conducted between June 1st and June 18th 2010 in Dta Greh Township, Pa’an District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed seven villagers from two villages in Wah Mee Gklah village tract, after they had returned to Burma following initial displacement into Thailand during May and June 2009. The interviews report that they did not wish to return to Burma, but felt they had to do so as the result of pressure and harassment by Thai authorities. The interviewees described the following abuses since their return, including: the firing of mortars and small arms at villagers; demands for villagers to porter military supplies, and for the payment of money in lieu of the provision of porters; theft and looting of villagers’ houses and possessions; and threats from unexploded ordnance and the use of landmines, including consequences for livelihoods and injuries to civilians. All seven interviewees also raised specific concerns regarding the food security of villagers returned to Burma following their displacement into Thailand.
Tatmadaw attacks destroy civilian property and displace villages in northern Papun District	Apr 8th, 2011
Tatmadaw forces continue to deliberately target civilians, civilian settlements and food supplies in northern Papun District. On February 25th 2011 shelling directed at communities in Saw Muh Bplaw, Ler Muh Bplaw and Plah Koh village tracts in Lu Thaw Township displaced residents of 14 villages as they sought temporary refuge at hiding sites in the forest. After villagers fled, Tatmadaw troops looted civilians’ possessions, burned parts of settlement areas and destroyed buildings and food stores in Dteh Neh village. No civilian deaths or injuries were reported to result from this shelling; local village heads confirmed that all villagers affected managed to flee to safe locations during the shelling, many because of warnings received through a locally-developed system to alert community members of attacks. This report is informed by KHRG photo documentation, as well as interviews with and written testimony from a total of nine village heads, village tract leaders and village officials from communities located or hiding in the affected area. An additional 41 interviews conducted during February and March 2011 in Lu Thaw Township were also drawn upon.
Villager shot and killed by Tatmadaw in southern Dooplaya	Apr 5th, 2011
This bulletin details the killing of Pah Te--- by Tatmadaw troops in southern Dooplaya District. Pah Te--- was shot and killed by troops from LIB #407 as he and his wife returned to their field hut on the night of February 24th 2011. The soldiers fired on Pah Te--- and his wife without hailing or warning them, and do not appear to have made an effort to verify that the villagers were legitimate military targets before directing an attack at them. Information in this bulletin is based upon interviews with local community members, as well as photographs of Pah Te---’s body. Because Pah Te---'s body was photographed seven days after he was killed, readers should be advised that images in this bulletin are graphic.
Extrajudicial execution of two civilians in Pa'an District	Feb 15th, 2011
On November 29th 2010 Saw T---, a 27-year-old man from Lu Pleh Township, Pa’an District was arrested, tortured and executed by soldiers from Tatmadaw Border Guard Force Battalion #1015, following accusations that he had made contact with and provided information to the KNU. In a separate incident that occurred on November 19th 2010 Saw M---, a 75-year-old man, was executed at point blank range by soldiers from a different unit of the same Border Guard Force Battalion #1015, after being asked to step outside his house in Dta Greh Township, Pa’an District. This news bulletin is based on information KHRG received from Saw T---’s wife on February 1st 2011 and from Saw M---’s son in mid-December 2010.
Mother of newborn shot and killed in Papun District	Jan 26th, 2011
On October 13th 2010, a 24-year-old woman was shot and killed less than 45 minutes after she had given birth, when Tatmadaw troops opened fire on her house during an attack on her village in Dweh Loh Township. This news bulletin is based on an interview conducted with the woman’s husband, who has been staying with his newborn son and another one of his sons at R--- refugee camp in Thailand since December 10th 2010.
Villagers flee to avoid fighting and portering: Conflict continues to impact civilians in Dooplaya District	Dec 4th, 2010
Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th 2010. The situation around Palu village remains highly unstable; in order to avoid conflict and conflict-related abuse, civilians are moving frequently between their homes and fields, more secure locations outside the village and along the Moei River, and both official and unofficial locations in Thailand's Phop Phra District. Residents of the community have told KHRG that they believe male villagers face a serious threat of being forcibly recruited as porters to support re-supply operations of Tatmadaw units deployed in the area, and that men in Palu are actively avoiding encountering Tatmadaw troops.
More arrests and movement restrictions: Conflict continues to impact civilians in Dooplaya District	Nov 30th, 2010
Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th 2010. Villagers in the Palu area have left on multiple occasions in the last six days, and continue to report that they are struggling to complete harvests and protect homes from looting while also fearing conflict and conflict related abuses. KHRG continues to document movement restrictions and arbitrary arrests, including the arrest and detention of six more villagers over the last three days.
Villager injured, community flees: Conflict continues to impact civilians in Dooplaya District	Nov 28th, 2010
Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th 2010. Residents of the village of Palu have fled following fighting there yesterday and this morning. At least one civilian has been injured by mortar fire as the others are seeking protection in Thailand. Civilians report they are currently able to take refuge in Thailand; it is imperative that they continue to be able to do so until they feel safe to return home.
Arrest, looting and flight: Conflict continues to impact civilians in Dooplaya District	Nov 25th, 2010
Villagers in eastern Dooplaya District continue to fear for their safety amid ongoing conflict between Tatmadaw and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) forces in and around their villages. Temporary displacement remains a preferred strategy for many civilians seeking protection from conflict and instability. The ability of villagers to access protection in Thailand, however, has been inconsistent, limiting the options available to civilians who feel that they cannot safely remain in their villages. Incidents reported by residents of Tatmadaw-controlled Waw Lay village, meanwhile, indicate that villagers and Tatmadaw forces continue to distrust each other, and that this mutual suspicion, and abuses that result from it, is a major protection concern for civilians in Waw Lay.
School closures and movement restrictions: conflict continues to impact civilians in Dooplaya District	Nov 19th, 2010
Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th 2010. In the large border town of Myawaddy, and surrounding villages, residents today reported the closure of schools and warnings of impending attacks. Villages to the south of Myawaddy, meanwhile, report movement restrictions that are complicating their ability to seek protection in Thailand or tend to crops at a key juncture in the agricultural cycle.
Civilians at risk from continued SPDC-DKBA conflict in Dooplaya District	Nov 14th, 2010
Civilians in Dooplaya district continue to be at risk from conflict between the Tatmadaw and the DKBA. Civilians from Way Lay report that one resident has been wounded by a mortar during an exchange on November 14th 2010 in Waw Lay village, Kawkareik Township. Other residents have attempted to seek refugee in nearby Phop Phra District, Tak Province, Thailand. A villager that spoke to KHRG a few hours after the shelling reports that at least some villagers attempting to cross into Thailand are being prevented form doing so by the Royal Thai Army.
Villagers injured by landmines, assisted by neighbours in southern Toungoo	Oct 22nd, 2010
In a span of just four days at the end of March 2010, two civilians from Wo--- village were injured by landmines while engaging in regular livelihoods activities outside their village in southern Toungoo District. In both cases, fellow community members assisted the injured villagers, carrying them to the nearest medical facility, nearly two hours away on foot. These incidents illustrate the risks mines pose to communities and local livelihoods in southern Toungoo. Local villagers believe risks from the continued deployment of landmines around their villages, agricultural projects and other areas essential to civilian livelihoods are exacerbated by lack of access to information about mined areas.
Village burnt and residents forced to relocate in Pa’an District	Jun 4th, 2010
DKBA soldiers in Dta Greh Township, Pa'an District, have burnt the small village of Gk'Law Lu and forced its residents to relocate. This incident is the second time Gk'Law Lu has been burnt and relocated by DKBA soldiers: the village was first burnt and residents forcibly relocated in October 2008. Relocated families, meanwhile, may face serious threats to their livelihoods if potential DKBA travel restrictions and risks from landmines limit access to farm fields in their home village.
SPDC shelling destroys villagers' rubber plantations in Dooplaya District	May 20th, 2010
Two villagers have lost nearly 3,000 rubber trees in a fire started when SPDC soldiers from IB #548 fired mortars into their plantations as the men fled in anticipation of fighting between IB #548 and a patrol of KNLA troops on April 23rd 2010. The men will attempt to replant their plantations, but have each effectively lost four-year investments of labour and money.
Cross-border DKBA attack displaces households in Thailand	Apr 30th, 2010
On April 21st 2010 DKBA soldiers from Battalion #7 of Brigade #999 crossed into Thailand and burned three huts in the Thai village of Hsoe Hta in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province. The raid was ordered by Batallion #7 Column Commander Bpweh Kih, who believed that the villagers had been in contact with the KNLA and were withholding information about four DKBA soldiers who had recently deserted from a DKBA camp at Bpaw Bpah Hta, Pa’an District. The incident falls into a broader recent pattern of cross-border violence and killings by the DKBA, often against suspected KNLA supporters; it also gives substance to statements made by deserters during interviews with KHRG that indicate they would be summarily executed if recaptured by the DKBA.
Attacks and displacement in Nyaunglebin District	Apr 9th, 2010
At least 2,000 villagers have been displaced by SPDC Army attacks on villages in northern and central Kyauk Kyi Township, Nyaunglebin District. At least four villagers have been killed, while abandoned villages have been burned, including one clinic. More than ten schools have also been abandoned, disrupting students during their exam period. SPDC Army battalions conducted resupply operations at the end of February and KHRG field researchers predict attacks will soon resume.
SPDC mortar attack on school in Papun District	Feb 24th, 2010
One 15-year-old student is dead and two other students are injured after an 81 mm mortar fired into an IDP hiding site in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District, landed in a school set up by the villagers. As of February 21st, the site’s 353 residents remained in hiding and are actively seeking to avoid being shot-on-sight by SPDC Army troops that remain in their area.
Refoulement Deferred: Still no durable solution for hosting refugees in Tha Song Yang District	Feb 5th, 2010
The Thai military appears to have temporarily scaled down plans to repatriate thirty households from one of three sites for refugees in Thailand’s Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province after being notified that they did not wish to return to Burma. Three households were nevertheless returned to Burma today, however, and Thai authorities have not indicated any willingness to allow the other 3,000 refugees to remain in Thailand beyond the immediate future. Until a durable solution is found for hosting these refugees, it is highly likely that Thai authorities will again attempt to forcibly repatriate them. At this juncture, return should not be considered to be voluntary or spontaneous. The three families that were returned today, and any others repatriated to Burma, potentially face significant threats to their human rights and security.
Threatening refoulement: harassment and pressure on refugees in Tha Song Yang District	Feb 3rd, 2010
Local Thai military authorities appear to be moving forward with plans to evict 3,000 refugees residing at three temporary sites in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province. This is not consistent with public and private assurances given by higher-level Thai authorities that any repatriation would be “voluntary.” Refugees interviewed by KHRG report that, starting on February 1st, Thai soldiers began visiting the temporary sites three times a day, threatening refugees and telling them that the camps must be vacated by February 15th. This bulletin details events between January 26th and February 3rd 2010. Appendix 1 then provides full transcripts of four interviews with refugees describing what could be the initial stage of refoulement. Appendix 2 then summarises significant threats to human rights and security that refugees could face should they be forced to return to Pa’an District.
Unsafe return: Threats to human rights and security for refugees leaving Tha Song Yang District	Jan 27th, 2010
More than 4,000 refugees remain in Thailand's Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province, after fleeing fighting and exploitative abuse following joint SPDC/DKBA attacks on KNLA camps near the Ler Per Her IDP site in Dta Greh Township, Pa'an District. Though fighting between these groups is currently at a lull, refugees continue to face serious obstacles to safe return. All three armed groups remain active in the wider Ler Per Her area, and villagers have reported occasional shelling and small arms fire. Large numbers of unmarked landmines have also been placed in civilian areas. While many of these locations are currently abandoned, mines have injured or killed at least five people near Ler Per Her since June, including a 13-year-old boy and a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy. Returning refugees thus face serious risk of injury by landmines. Returned refugees would also face human rights abuses including conscription as forced labourers working on military projects, portering supplies and clearing landmines as well as reprisals against them as accused KNLA supporters. For these reasons, no refugees from the Ler Per Her area should be forced to repatriate against their will. Moreover, refugees should be included in any future negotiations regarding repatriation or relocation.
Attacks on displaced villagers in Nyaunglebin District	Jan 22nd, 2010
At least 1,000 villagers have fled from ten villages during the last five days following the establishment of a new SPDC Army camp in central Nyaunglebin District. Two villagers in the area of the camp are confirmed to have been killed by soldiers from this camp. Three other villagers are missing after another SPDC battalion attacked a party of villagers that had escaped from an SPDC relocation site to tend to their farms.
Forced recruitment, forced labour: interviews with DKBA deserters and escaped porters	Nov 13th, 2009
This news bulletin provides the transcripts of eight interviews conducted with six soldiers and two porters who recently fled after being conscripted by the DKBA. These interviews confirm widespread reports that the DKBA has been forcibly recruiting villagers as it attempts to increase troop strength as part of a transformation into a government Border Guard Force in advance of the 2010 elections. The interviews also offer further confirmation that the DKBA continues to use children as soldiers and porters in front-line conflict areas. Three of the victims interviewed by KHRG are teenage boys; the youngest was just 13 when he was forced to join the DKBA.
Security concerns for new refugees in Tha Song Yang: Update on increased landmine risks	Sep 22nd, 2009
At least 4,862 refugees from the Ler Per Her IDP camp and surrounding villages in Pa'an District remain at new arrival sites in Thailand. Though the fighting that precipitated the flight of many of these refugees in June has decreased, the area from which they fled continues to be unsafe for them to return. This bulletin provides updated information on landmine risks for refugees who may return, or who have already returned, including the maiming of a 13-year-old resident of the Oo Thu Hta new arrival site who returned to visit his village to tend livestock. Refugees face other threats to safe return as well, including widespread conscription as forced labourers, porters and "human minesweepers" by the SPDC and DKBA, as well as forced military recruitment by the DKBA and potential accusation and punishment as "insurgent supporters."
Forced recruitment of child soldiers: An interview with two DKBA deserters	Aug 25th, 2009
Over the past year, forced recruitment by the DKBA has seen a marked increase as the group has intensified attacks on the KNU/KNLA while also preparing to become a "Border Guard Force" under at least partial command by the SPDC army. Struggling to find sufficient numbers of volunteer soldiers, the DKBA has been ordering villages to provide recruits or pay large sums to hire substitutes. Villagers have also been arrested and forced to enlist, or pay to avoid conscription. The following report includes testimony from two teenage boys, aged 17 and 19, who were detained while working on a farm near their village in Pa’an District, forcibly recruited into the DKBA and taken to a military training camp in Shwe Gko Gkoh, southeastern Pa'an District. On July 20th 2009, just one month after they were initially seized, the boys deserted. Three days later they were interviewed by KHRG.
DKBA attack on villagers and the forced dismantling of a mosque in Papun District	Jul 17th, 2009
Since mid-May 2009, the DKBA has become increasingly active in Papun District of northern Karen State. DKBA forces have issued new movement restrictions, demanded food and supplies from local communities and forced villagers to porter supplies and carry out other forms of forced labour. This news bulletin covers a targeted attack on villagers and the forced dismantling of a mosque – both of which were carried out by DKBA forces in Papun District during May-June 2009.
Update on SPDC/DKBA attacks at Ler Per Her and new refugees in Thailand	Jun 13th, 2009
Joint SPDC/DKBA attacks against KNLA positions near to Ler Per Her IDP camp continue, as do joint SPDC/DKBA attacks against the camp of KNLA Battalion #202, located about 30 km north of Ler Per Her. Refugees have fled to Thailand from both areas, while other villagers who have yet to flee remain amidst the fighting facing their own humanitarian and security threats.
Over 3,000 villagers flee to Thailand amidst ongoing SPDC/DKBA attacks	Jun 7th, 2009
As of Saturday June 6th, over 3,000 villagers have fled the area of Ler Per Her IDP camp in Dta Greh Township, Pa'an District to seek refuge in neighbouring Thailand. This includes villagers fleeing joint SPDC/DKBA attacks against the KNLA as well as those fleeing forced recruitment as porters to carry supplies for SPDC and DKBA troops engaged in the fighting. This is the largest refugee exodus from Karen State on a single occasion since 1997. Also, more refugees are expected as joint SPDC/DKBA forces have advanced towards the camp of KNLA Battalion #202, about 30 kilometres north of Ler Per Her.
Over 700 villagers flee to Thailand amidst fears of SPDC/DKBA attacks on a KNLA camp and an IDP camp in Pa'an District	Jun 5th, 2009
Villagers in Pa’an District, Karen State, have begun fleeing to Thailand to avoid violence and forced recruitment as porters in a possible joint SPDC/DKBA attack on a KNLA camp in Dta Greh Township, located next to a now populous IDP camp along the Moei River, bordering Thailand. This news bulletin describes the events of the past four days in which SPDC and DKBA forces have advanced towards the KNLA camp and begun what appears to be preparation for an attack. SPDC soldiers have begun patrolling and have set up an 81 mm mortar not far from the site and displaced villagers living in the area have become increasingly concerned about their safety.
Mistreatment and child soldiers in the Burma Army: Interviews with SPDC deserters	Jun 3rd, 2009
This news bulletin provides the transcripts of two interviews conducted with soldiers who recently deserted from the Burma Army. A third deserter, who was aged 16 when he spoke with KHRG, provides a single statement. The testimonies of these former soldiers provide insight into the current dynamics within the Burma Army. Amongst other things, the deserters described the high number of child soldiers within the Burma Army, low moral, poor remuneration, theft of salaries and mistreatment of rank-and-file soldiers.
Joint SPDC/DKBA attacks, recruitment and the impact on villagers in Dooplaya and Pa'an districts	May 27th, 2009
Following a joint SPDC/DKBA attack on the camp of KNLA Battalion #201 at Ghaw Lay Kee in Dooplaya District on April 19th 2009, around 200 villagers living in the area fled to Thailand. This and other recent attacks against KNLA targets - and the forced recruitment used to support them - have negatively impacted villagers in both Dooplaya and Pa'an districts. Recent DKBA attacks on KNLA targets have also crossed over into Thailand. Meanwhile, new DKBA recruits from Pa'an District will reportedly be sent for training at an SPDC training centre in Magwe Division in central Burma. This bulletin looks at the impact of the attacks and forced recruitment in these areas during April and May 2009.
Whatever happened to the 2007 protesters?: Interviews with convict porters	Apr 29th, 2009
This report presents January 2009 interviews with two former SPDC convict porters. Both men are originally from Arakan State, Western Burma, and participated in the 2007 demonstrations against the rising cost of living. These demonstrations culminated in September 2007 with the large-scale monk-led protests and subsequent military crackdown. Both men were arrested by SPDC authorities for their activities, forced to serve as porters for the Burma Army in Karen State and eventually escaped captivity. Their testimonies cover issues such as SPDC-sponsored murder of convict porters, corruption within Burma's judiciary and systematic SPDC abuses perpetrated against prisoners. The interviews also give insight into the possible fates of other Burmese citizens who have tried to voice dissent in Burma's authoritarian environment, whether as part of the September 2007 protests or otherwise.
DKBA soldiers burn down huts, detain villagers and loot property in Thailand	Jan 20th, 2009
Following skirmishes on January 1st 2009 between soldiers from DKBA Battalions #999 and 907 and KNLA Battalion #103 in north-eastern Dooplaya District, DKBA troops crossed the Thai-Burmese border and have since been operating in and around Thai-Karen villages in Umphang District of Thailand's Tak province and harassing local villagers. This area also includes Noh Poe refugee camp, home to approximately 14,000 refugees from Burma, many of whom remain anxious about the ongoing military operations in the area and a potential attack on the camp.
Human minesweeping and forced relocation as SPDC and DKBA step up joint operations in Pa'an District	Oct 20th, 2008
Since the end of September 2008, SPDC and DKBA troops have begun preparing for what KHRG researchers expect to be a renewed offensive against KNU/KNLA-controlled areas in Pa'an District. These activities match a similar increase in joint SPDC-DKBA operations in Dooplaya District further south where these groups have conducted attacks against villagers and KNU/KNLA targets over the past couple of weeks. The SPDC and DKBA soldiers operating in Pa'an District have forced villagers to carry supplies, food and weapons for their combined armies and also to walk in front of their columns as human minesweepers. This report includes the case of two villagers killed by landmines during October while doing such forced labour, as well as the DKBA's forced relocation of villages in T'Moh village tract of Dta Greh township, demands for forced labourers from the relocated communities and the subsequent flight of relocated villagers to KNLA-controlled camps in Pa'an District as a means to escape this abuse; all of which took place in October 2008.
DKBA soldiers attack Karen village in Thailand	Oct 9th, 2008
After disputes over arbitrary taxation payments and accusations of favouring the KNLA, 40 to 50 soldiers of DKBA Battalion #907 - under brigade commander N'Kaw Mway - attacked the village of Mae Gklaw Kee in Thailand's Umphang District. Troops shelled the village tract leader's house, shot at villagers' houses and then burnt down villagers' crop storage barns. The Batallion subsequently set up a camp in nearby Gklaw Ghaw village. As SPDC and DKBA troops work together in an effort to take control of the area, villagers face increased restrictions, overlapping taxation demands, and the threat of future attacks and land confiscation.
DKBA bans alcohol consumption to justify human rights abuses in Pa'an District	Oct 3rd, 2008
DKBA soldiers in T'Nay Hsah township of Pa'an District have prohibited villagers from drinking alcohol, effectively forbidding several long-standing cultural traditions among the Karen population. Villagers caught drinking have been beaten, punished with forced labour and threatened with conscription into the DKBA. The incidents in this report occurred in August and September 2008.
Forced recruitment by DKBA forces in Pa’an District	Sep 24th, 2008
The DKBA has begun a campaign of conscripting civilians from village tracts in T'Nay Hsah township, Pa’an District, into military service in order to supplement a joint SPDC-DKBA offensive against the KNLA in Dooplaya District. Villagers who do not want or cannot become soldiers for the DKBA are required to hire others to serve in their stead – paying this fee has in many cases required villagers to sell their land and livestock or find work in other villages. Desertion from the DKBA is common and, in an effort to dissuade soldiers from fleeing, the DKBA has begun to harass and fine the families of soldiers that desert. Finally, this current campaign raises questions about the credibility of the SPDC's reported intention to have all ceasefire groups disarm in order to contest the 2010 elections as political parties. This report describes events in Pa’an from June to September 2008.
DKBA soldiers burn down Ler Bpoo village, Pa'an District	Aug 29th, 2008
On August 26th, DKBA forces operating under Bo Gk'Do, an officer serving with Maung Chit Thoo of DKBA Special Battalion #999, burnt down the village of Ler Bpoo in eastern Pa'an District. Prior to being burnt down, the village had 50 households and a population of approximately 100 villagers. The former residents initially fled to seek shelter elsewhere. Some villagers went to stay with relatives in neighbouring settlements and others to a Buddhist monastery located in a nearby village. On Wednesday, August 27th, DKBA forces ordered the displaced villagers to return to stay at an open field located near the now burnt-down remains of Ler Bpoo village.
Update on the KNU/KNLA-PC: Statements by a deserter and a 'retiree'	Jul 29th, 2008
As the KNU/KNLA-PC approaches the year and a half mark since its founding in early 2007, this news bulletin provides an update on developments of this little-reported-on armed group. Having been founded with an initial troop strength of well under 100 soldiers, current estimates suggest that the group has expanded to about 800 soldiers now divided between seven battalions operating in central and southeastern Pa'an District. While the assassination in January 2008 of Ler Moo, widely seen as the KNU/KNLA-PC's major source of funding, has, challenged the group's ongoing expansion, the interviews presented here suggest that it continues to primarily engage in SPDC-sanctioned logging and timber trading. This bulletin presents the full text of two interviews conducted by KHRG field researchers in June and July 2008 with a former soldier and a former officer of the KNU/KNLA-PC.
Interview with an SPDC deserter	Jul 28th, 2008
This news bulletin comprises a translated interview with a 28-year-old deserter from the Burma Army who spoke to KHRG in July 2008. The content of the interview covers issues of child soldiers, mistreatment of civilians and low-ranking soldiers, and the deployment of army personnel against monks and civilians during the country’s September 2007 protests.
Life inside the Burma Army: SPDC deserter testimonies	May 9th, 2008
The military regime's inability to effectively respond to the humanitarian catastrophe lying in the wake of Cyclone Nargis reflects, along with the regime's traditional neglect of civilian interests, underlying fissures within the country's armed forces. Threats, physical abuse and under nourishment are rife in the Burma Army, according to testimonies provided by recent SPDC deserters. These statements support reports coming out from other sources about the declining morale within Burma's armed forces, and the regime's increasing reliance on forced conscription, including of children, in an attempt to meet unrealistic objectives of military expansion. Tension and violence within the ranks of the Burma Army led one deserter interviewed by KHRG to turn his gun on a senior officer, killing him before fleeing from his army unit.
Forced voting as military regime ploughs forth with referendum despite cyclone devastation	May 8th, 2008
While Cyclone Nargis has wrought massive damage upon large areas of south and southeast Burma, the SPDC remains adamant that it will press ahead with its planned constitutional referendum. Karen State has been identified as an area affected by the cyclone, yet local SPDC authorities are continuing to pressure villagers into voting 'yes' in favour of the military-engineered constitution. Statements by villagers, as quoted at length in this report, regarding military coercion, forced participation in the referendum and obligatory 'yes' votes challenge any claims that this process is at all 'free and fair'.
Just another case of coercion and forced labour? Karen villagers' statements on the 2008 referendum	Apr 24th, 2008
As the SPDC steps up its pre-referendum activities, the regime's officials in Karen State have been forcibly registering local villagers, issuing temporary identification documents and ordering everyone to participate in the May 10th event. Villagers, however, have responded to the whole process with a mixture of skepticism and distrust.
SPDC soldiers arrest and kill villagers on allegations of contacting KNU/KNLA	Jan 16th, 2008
Using sweeping powers to confine civilians without charge, SPDC forces operating in Dooplaya District in southern Karen State have detained, tortured and in some cases killed villagers. The grounds for these actions have been alleged contact with the KNU, which the SPDC deems an illegal organisation. As the SPDC seeks to arbitrarily and violently utilise the civilian population to locate KNU personnel, many civilians have responded by fleeing to Thailand in the hopes of finding sanctuary. This report includes testimonies from four villagers who fled from Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District following such persecution by SPDC personnel.
Video evidence of forced labour in Papun District	Dec 13th, 2007
With international interest on Burma firmly focused on events in Rangoon and the regime's purported 'cooperation' with the United Nations, local SPDC authorities have continued demands for forced labour in the rural areas of Karen State unabated. Following the seasonal forced labour cycle the SPDC has once again initiated widespread forced labour projects with the onset of dry season. In Papun District such forced labour has included cutting down and delivering bamboo poles, constructing bridge-side fences and cutting back forest growth from the sides of vehicle roads. To carry out this labour local SPDC authorities have utilised women, children and men. This report includes video and photographic evidence of the SPDC's perpetration of forced labour.
SPDC troops burn villages and step up operations against civilians in southern Toungoo District	Dec 7th, 2007
Following the deployment of new SPDC Army units in southern Toungoo District at the end of November, SPDC troops have been sweeping through the forests on search and destroy missions targeting displaced communities in hiding. Already in December, these patrols have burnt down at least two villages and killed at least one displaced villager as well as having destroyed numerous hidden food stores which they have encountered during patrols of the area. The local displaced communities are now facing heightened food insecurity and an ongoing risk of military attack.
Protests spread in rural Karen State	Sep 25th, 2007
While international attention follows the rapid escalation of protests in the main urban centres in Burma, a growing movement of local anti-regime demonstrations has likewise emerged in Karen State. At least 330 Buddhist and Christian Karen villagers, including monks, teachers, parents and students from 10 villages in Dooplaya District gathered together on Monday, September 24th to share information about the country-wide protest movement; express their solidarity with the anti-regime sentiment; and offer prayers according to their particular religious beliefs. While the extent of military control in Karen State, the greater impunity with which local SPDC personnel operate and the smaller population size of individual communities all restrict the scale of open protest in this area, these acts are nevertheless significant as demonstrations of solidarity with the broader protest movement.
Child soldiers recruited to support expansion of the KNU-KNLA Peace Council	May 28th, 2007
The recent KNU splinter group, the KNU-KNLA Peace Council, in seeking to expand its military forces, consolidate its presence in Pa'an District and put forth a show of strength, has embarked on an intensive recruitment campaign, including the recruitment of Karen children under the age of 18 from homes in Mae La refugee camp and Thai-Karen villages in Tak Province, Thailand. Tricked into joining and prevented from leaving, some of these children have escaped and returned to their homes whilst the parents of other missing children are trying to secure their sons' release and fear for their safety.
Over a hundred villagers cross into Thailand following joint SPDC and DKBA attacks in Dooplaya District	Mar 9th, 2007
On March 8th 2007 State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Light Infantry Division (LID) #22 arriving from their base at Ghaw Lay in joint operation with Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Battalions #907 and #906 attacked Kler Law Kyeh village along with the neighbouring Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Company #3 base, which both lie in eastern Kawkareik township, Dooplaya District. On approach to the KNLA base, SPDC and DKBA soldiers launched mortars and fired their guns into Kler Law Kyeh village. In response, local villagers have fled the area and approximately 140 of them have crossed into Thailand north of the town of Umphang with more expected to continue arriving.
SPDC forces attack rice harvest to force villagers into 'new towns'	Nov 20th, 2006
It is now rice harvest season, and following the end of the monsoon rains the SPDC has sent more troops into northern Karen areas to force all villagers out of the hills. Having already shelled and burned the villages, their present tactic is to patrol the rice fields to keep the villagers away from harvesting their crops so that the rice will be destroyed, while in some cases their troops trample or uproot the crop themselves. Knowing that this crop is essential to the continued survival of villagers in the region, the SPDC hopes to force them out of the area by destroying it and has ordered its battalions to establish several 'new towns' along the roads where villagers are to be interned, controlled, and exploited for forced labour. Most villagers, however, are more likely to flee toward Thailand than submit to life in these internment camps.
Hunger Wielded as a Weapon in Thaton District	Sep 20th, 2006
In March and April 2006, SPDC and DKBA units deliberately targeted and destroyed dozens of hill fields belonging to villagers from three villages in Bilin township of Thaton District in the southwest of Karen State. Burning the fields too early in the growing cycle severely restricts the proportion of the field that can be planted, which in turn limits the size of the harvest. Both the SPDC and the DKBA know this and the burning of these fields represents a systematic campaign of crop destruction intended to obstruct the villagers' access to food and in effect starve them out of the hills. The villagers already suffer from food shortages, and this latest move by the military will only aggravate the situation. The next paddy harvest due in November will be severely reduced as a result, and these villagers will face even more serious food shortages for the coming year.
SPDC military begins pincer movement, adds new camps in Papun district	Aug 9th, 2006
Two large multi-battalion columns operating under SPDC Military Operations Command #15 have begun a pincer movement to force all villagers out of the hills west of the Yunzalin River (Bway Loh Kloh) in northern Papun district of Karen State. Tactical Operations Command #2 has pushed north from Naw Yo Hta and has now set up a new base at Baw Kaw Plaw, just north of Kay Pu; while Tactical Operations Command #3 has approached the same area from the north, coming down from Bu Sah Kee and establishing themselves at a new camp at Si Day. This pincer movement and the establishment of these two new Army camps ensure that the hill villagers in the northern tip of Papun district will remain displaced for the coming months and will lose their entire rice harvest, creating serious concerns about their food security and survival over the coming year.
New SPDC military moves force more villagers to flee	Jul 4th, 2006
The SPDC is continuing its attacks on Karen hill villages throughout northern Karen State, trying to entirely depopulate the northern hills. SPDC columns have regrouped and resupplied and are now launching attacks against undefended villages in hill regions not previously reached by the offensive. Unlike attacks thus far, several Military Operations Commands and a Light Infantry Division are now coordinating their attacks across several districts. If successful, this offensive threatens to completely annihilate the unique way of life and culture of the hill Karen, a distinct group within the Karen population, by either forcing them into relocation sites where they cannot practice their culture and livelihood, or simply killing them off and destroying all remnants of their existence.
Convict Porters: Falsely charged, brutally abused, and unable to go home	Jun 22nd, 2006
As the SPDC offensive in northern Karen regions continues, dozens of forced labour porters are escaping from SPDC columns every week. Most of them are convicts taken from prisons far away in northern Burma. They tell of imprisonment on bogus charges, constant extortion by authorities, extreme brutality at the hands of the Army and the murder of their fellow porters. The lucky few who escape end up in the care of the Karen National Union, who must feed them and care for their wounds with no outside aid. Worse yet, they are trapped far from home: the road home for them is blocked by the Burmese and Thai armies, and almost no one in the outside world is willing to give help or advocate for 'convicts' regardless of how unjustly they were imprisoned or how brutally they have been treated.
Offensive columns shell and burn villages, round up villagers in northern Papun and Toungoo districts	Jun 7th, 2006
Since KHRG's last bulletin on June 1, SPDC troops in northern Papun district continue to escalate their attacks, shooting villagers, burning villages and destroying ricefields. Undefended villages in far northern Papun district are now being shelled with powerful 120mm mortars. Three battalions from Toungoo district have rounded up hundreds of villagers as porters and are detaining their families in schools in case they're needed; this column is now heading south with its porters, apparently intending to trap displaced villagers in a pincer between themselves and the troops coming north from Papun district. A similar trapping movement is being performed along the Bilin river, as 8 battalions come from two directions to wipe out every village in their path. Up to 4,000 villagers in Papun district's far north have been displaced in the past week, and 1,500 to 2,000 more along the Bilin River.
SPDC troops commence full offensive in Papun district	Jun 1st, 2006
Two weeks ago (in Bulletin 2006-B4) KHRG noted the arrival of new SPDC battalions in Papun district of northeastern Karen State and warned that the SPDC offensive against Karen villagers was about to expand into this district. These attacks have now begun. Over the past week, three SPDC columns from three separate bases have fanned out over the northern half of the district and have begun burning villages and food supplies and hunting villagers. More troops are expected to arrive soon to form a fourth column. The columns are avoiding Karen resistance forces to attack civilian villagers. Villagers are already fleeing, carrying what they can through the rains, and several thousand could be displaced over the next week. Now more than ever, decisive international action is urgently required.
Toungoo District: Update on the Dam on the Day Loh River	May 30th, 2006
Over the past ten years the SPDC has undertaken numerous 'development projects' across Karen State, consistently claiming that these are purely for the good of the people. Such projects however are anything but, invariably bringing with them an increase in human rights violations in the area surrounding the development site. Villages are typically forcibly relocated and their inhabitants are used as forced labour. One such project is a hydroelectricity power plant that is to be built on the Day Loh River in Toungoo District. In 2005, KHRG examined the activities of 2,000 SPDC Army troops who moved into the region to secure the area surrounding the dam site. This report serves as an update of the dam situation, incorporating information which may be possible evidence of the complicity of foreign corporations, and explores the possibility that the imminent construction of this project and others like it are part of the motivation behind the current offensive underway in northern Karen State.
Villagers displaced as SPDC offensive expands into Papun district	May 16th, 2006
In recent months thousands of SPDC troops have been sweeping through the hills of Toungoo and Nyaunglebin districts of northern Karen State, burning villages and food supplies and shooting villagers with the aim of forcing all hill villagers to move to areas where they can be controlled by the military. In the past few weeks this campaign has been expanded into Papun district, where it has already displaced over 1,000 villagers. On May 11th seven new SPDC battalions arrived in the district, so there are now 27 battalions with 4,000-5,000 troops poised to launch a major offensive against villagers in Papun district which could lead to the destruction of hundreds of villages and the displacement of thousands more people. Unlike previous years, all of these offensives appear set to continue right through the coming rainy season.
Recent Attacks on Villages in Southeastern Toungoo District Send Thousands Fleeing into the Forests and to Thailand	Mar 16th, 2006
Since November 2005, the SPDC has been mounting military-style assaults on civilian villages in Toungoo District, causing thousands of villagers to flee into the surrounding forests or to head for refugee camps in Thailand. To illustrate this, this bulletin pays special attention to the attack on Hee Daw Khaw village on November 26th 2005, and its subsequent destruction on November 28th 2005.
Attempted rapes and other abuses in northern Karen districts	Mar 15th, 2006
This bulletin documents the resumption of full-scale forced labour in the villages of central Toungoo District and increases in extortion and forced labour imposed on villagers in Dweh Loh township of Papun District. The continued impunity of SPDC soldiers to commit violent abuses is reflected in the stories of attempted rapes which have occurred in both districts.
SPDC road construction plans creating problems for civilians	Jan 27th, 2006
In November 2005 a large number of the SPDC's garrison troops in eastern Papun District were replaced by offensive troops, a possible indication of more aggressive military action to bring the region under control. In December, SPDC forces in the area began work on three new roads to the Salween River, possibly to secure the region for construction of the planned Salween River dams. The SPDC officer in charge told local village heads that he doesn't care how many of their fields are taken or destroyed to make way for the roads. Local villagers also fear they will be used as human shields in front of road construction equipment, and as forced labour to maintain the roads and support the troops coming in to secure them. Meanwhile, displaced villagers who have been evading SPDC control in the region hurried to finish and hide their harvest, for fear that the road construction and increased militarisation will make it difficult for them to remain near their fields.
Nyaunglebin / Toungoo Districts: Re-emergence of Irregular SPDC Army Soldiers and Karen Splinter Groups in Northern Karen State	Oct 24th, 2005
The SPDC's hand-picked Dam Byan Byaut Kya ('Guerrilla Retaliation') units first began executing villagers in Nyaunglebin District in late 1998, but in recent years their activities declined and it appeared that the ouster of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who allegedly controlled them, may have ended their existence. Since July, however, villagers have reported their re-emergence in northern Nyaunglebin District under a new name - the Pyaung Shin ('to clear all'). Just to the north in Toungoo District a marginal Karen splinter group, calling itself the Nyein Chan Yay A'Pwet ('Peace Group') because it acts as a proxy army for the SPDC, has suddenly moved troops into a former SPDC army camp southeast of Toungoo, apparently under SPDC orders. Both of these moves threaten the security of villagers in northern Nyaunglebin and southern Toungoo Districts, and could be a reflection of more aggressive military strategies being developed by the SPDC since Khin Nyunt's ouster. Among villagers in the region, these developments are sparking fears of increased repression and a possible resumption of SPDC military offensives despite the junta's 'informal ceasefire' with the Karen National Union.
Proliferation of SPDC Army Camps in Nyaunglebin District Leads to Torture, Killings, and Landmine Casualties	Jul 7th, 2005
Since the January 2004 ceasefire between the SPDC regime and the Karen National Union (KNU), the SPDC has established seven new Army bases in Nyaunglebin District, sent in more troops, and since May it has also taken over most of the former Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) bases in the district while DKBA forces have been forced to partially withdraw from the area. All of these SPDC camps have been launching extended patrols throughout the remoter parts of the district. Not only does this increased activity violate the terms of the ceasefire, it is also intensifying the climate of fear and leading to further displacement as the SPDC patrols detain, torture, and shoot to kill villagers in many areas.
Recent reports of SPDC use of Chemical Weapons are consistent with past KHRG Reports	May 3rd, 2005
A new report released by CSW alleging the SPDC's use of chemical weapons against Karenni Army (KA) soldiers in February 2005 has once again raised the question of Burma's offensive chemical weapons capability. The symptoms identified in those affected appear to be consistent with exposure to a chemical weapon of some sort. The evidence produced in the CSW report also appears to be consistent with research conducted by KHRG following similar occurrences in Karen State a decade ago, suggesting that the SPDC continues to both manufacture and employ chemical weapons.
Pa'an District: Food Security in Crisis for Civilians in Rural Areas	Mar 30th, 2005
This bulletin examines the factors causing many villagers in Pa'an district to say that they now face a deepening food and money shortage crisis which is threatening their health and survival. Based on villagers' testimony, the main factors appear to be recurring forced labour for both SPDC and DKBA authorities, made worse in some areas by orders for farmers to double-crop on their land and the encroachment of new SPDC military bases on villages and farmland.
Forced Labour and the DKBA in T'Nay Hsah Township, Pa'an District	Feb 22nd, 2005
As SPDC and DKBA units in Pa'an District use the SPDC-KNU informal ceasefire as cover to entrench their positions and build up their weapons supplies, villagers in southeastern Pa'an District face forced labour as porters and forced conscription into the DKBA.
SPDC Violates the Ceasefire During Karen New Year Celebrations; the Attack on Kah Law Ghaw Village, Dooplaya District	Feb 3rd, 2005
On January 11 2005, SPDC forces violated the fragile ceasefire and attacked a civilian Karen New Year celebration with mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Hundreds of villagers were caught between SPDC troops dug in at their village, and Thai soldiers who forced them back across the border after they fled.
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