Type of Incident

Killing

Date of Incident(s)

January 16th 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

L--- place, H--- village, Sa Tein village tract,[2] Ler K’Saw Township, Mergui-Tavoy District

Victim Information

Name

Ko[3] T---

Age

42 years old

Gender

Man

Ethnicity

Bamar[4]

Marital Status  

Married

Occupation

Plantation worker

Religion

Buddhist

Position

- [villager]

Village

H--- village, Sa Tein village tract, Ler K’Saw Township, Mergui-Tavoy District

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

[Unknown]

[Unknown]

Kaw Thoo Lei Army (KTLA)[5] soldiers from Company #3, Hsa K’Saw Division

Htein Man place, H--- village, Sa Tein village tract [Karen National Union (KNU)[6] controlled area]

Captain Sa Pih [of Company #3]

Saw[7] San Myit Aung

[a villager affiliated with KTLA]

-

-

-

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

The KHRG field researcher interviewed Ko Z---, the victim’s brother-in-law, and documented the information in detail.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The victim’s brother-in-law, Ko Z---, provided the researcher [with this information]. The KHRG researcher corroborated the authenticity of the information provided by the interviewee by talking with Ko Z---’s wife, Daw[8] P---, and the victim’s wife, Daw U---.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On January 16th 2024, at 6 pm, seven soldiers from KTLA Company #3, Hsa K’Saw Division, based in Htein Man place, nearby H--- village, Sa Tein village tract, Ler K’Saw Township, [and one villager collaborator named San Myit Aung] arrested an H--- villager named Ko T---. Ko T---’s wife, Daw U---, recounted [the arrest]: “A villager named San Myit Aung, [in collaboration with] seven KTLA soldiers, came and took [arrested] my husband [and took him] with them [to their base] to question him. He was accused of being a drug dealer and was reported to the KTLA, then the KTLA came to arrest him. They told me: ‘We will not do anything to your husband, we will just ask him a few questions then we will release him’”. [Saw San Myit Aung is a villager who frequently engaged in military activities with KTLA soldiers.]

Ko T--- was a daily wage worker who was a breadwinner for his family. He struggled a lot with [securing] his family’s livelihood due to [the economic instability caused by the] political situation [since the 2021 coup]. As such, he had to labor for someone [be hired for daily work] to get money for his family’s daily needs. He was accused of selling methamphetamines by Saw Y---, his brother-in-law [a different brother-in-law from Ko Z---, who was interviewed by KHRG], and reported by him to KTLA [Company #3]. San Myit Aung [, a villager collaborator, and seven KTLA] soldiers then arrested Ko T--- on the evening of January 16th [2024].

Ko T--- had not been released as of January 31st. Daw U--- was waiting for the day her husband would return home, because on the day that he was arrested, she was told [by San Myit Aung] that he would just be asked a few questions, and he would not be killed. His wife relayed this information to her younger brother [Ko Z---]. [On or around January 31st, still without any news of Ko T---,] his wife was enquiring about her husband [in the area around H--- village]. When she reached L--- place, where villagers have plantations near H--- village, she met a plantation worker and asked about her husband. The plantation worker informed her: “Your husband already died. They [KTLA soldiers] killed him on the first day they arrested him. They shot him dead and threw him in the canal [near the KTLA base in Htein Man place]. I have seen it [his body being dumped] with my own eyes”. The plantation worker also clarified: “The time he was killed was around 7 pm”.

[As of September 2024,] Ko T---’s body has not yet been found and retrieved. [After the enforced disappearance of Ko T---, the family is facing livelihood challenges.]

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

Ko Z--- [the brother-in-law of the victim] and Daw U--- [the victim’s wife] allowed this information to be used and published.