Forty villagers tortured for their possessions

January 3, 2008

About forty villagers in Mon State were violently assaulted by Burmese troops from Batallion No -299. The villagers were trying recover wood left in houses they had to abandon when the Burmese military forced them to relocate their village.

The villagers, including nineteen women, were from Bayoun-ngae village, in Khaw-zar Sub Township, Mon State.

The villagers were forced to relocate six months ago by Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.583 following fighting between Burmese soldiers and Mon rebels outside the village. After three Burmese soldiers were killed and three more injured in the fighting, troops accused the villagers of supporting the rebels and passing information to media organizations. They also ordered vilagers to provide information about the movement of rebel groups.

The soldiers then arrested and tortured fifty villagers, as well as burnt two houses and dismantled many pots and shelves in the temple before forcing some to relocate.

According to a villager in Ye township, the latest villagers to be assaulted were attempting to bring back wood from the homes they had left behind after the soldiers forced them to move and took valuable goods from their houses. The source was unsure of how many soldiers beat the villagers.

The village had about one hundred households and about thirty houses built with wood. The remaing houses were built with bamboo.

An IMNA source said, “They couldn’t bring the valuables with them on account of orders by the Burmese troops. Some were resettled in Han-gan village about one mile from their village and some are living in plantations.”

Detained villagers had to pay the soldiers over 0.2 million Kyat for their release.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News