Type of Incident

Armed attack against civilians resulting in injuries

Date of Incident(s)

May 28th 2021

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

H--- village, F--- village tract,[2] Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

Victim Information

Name

Saw[3] B---

Saw A---

Age

27

36

Sex

Male

Male

Nationality

Karen

Karen

Family   

Married

N/A

Occupation

N/A

N/A

Religion

N/A

N/A

Village

H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District 

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

-

-

Infantry Battalion #75

-

Deputy Commander Zaw Win Naing

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

A KHRG researcher interviewed the family of one of the victims (Saw B---).

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The sources took the injured victim to the hospital after the incident.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

This incident happened on May 28th 2021, at 11 am, in H--- village, F--- village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. A patrol of Tatmadaw[4] soldiers opened fire on two local villagers, 36-year-old Saw A--- and 27-year-old Saw B---. Both of them were inside the same hut at the time of the incident. The soldiers involved were from Infantry Battalion (IB)[5] #75, which is led by deputy commander Zaw Win Naing. They later argued that they fired at these villagers because they thought they were Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[6] soldiers.

The incident place is just one hour away on foot from the main road. Saw C---, Saw B---’s father, was on his way to the hut when he heard gunshots and ran away. He went back to the hut after the gunfire [had ceased] and the situation had cooled down. He saw blood at the incident place and eventually found Saw A--- hiding in the bushes. One bullet had gone through his kneecap, so he was not able to run away. Saw C--- took him back to the village and villagers sent him to Ler Doh (Kyaukkyi) General Hospital. Saw B--- is now missing. No one knows where he is or whether he is still alive. His shoes and bag were not at the incident place anymore.

Saw C--- arrived at the hospital [with Saw A---] at 4 pm but, at 7 pm, Tatmadaw soldiers came and took [Saw A---] away on the pretext of providing him treatment. A local villager told KHRG: “Saw A---’s knee was badly injured. He won’t be able to walk again, even after the treatment. The nurse contacted the military hospital and they [Tatmadaw soldiers] came and took him. We cannot contact him on his phone. The Burma Army keeps his phone and we cannot talk to him. We only got to talk to him [on the phone] once [after he was taken away].” He added: “We haven’t heard anything about Saw B---. We cannot find him since there are travel restrictions [in place] due to security reasons.”

The local villager further explained that, in his opinion, the soldiers had taken Saw A--- [from the hospital] to keep word of the incident from spreading: “I think that the Burma Army soldiers do not want the information [about the shooting] to spread. This is just like what happened in the past. One of my cousins was also alone inside a hut after he came back from fishing. Burma Army soldiers went to his hut, then they left a letter saying: ‘We took him for treatment’. We tried to find him, but we could not.”

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

The family of Saw B--- provided permission to use this information.