Gas Pipeline and Railway Security Troops Unintentionally Shoot Local Residents Free From Culpability

May 2, 2011

On April 7, 2011, in Thanbyuzayat Township: Government sentries patrolling the railway and gas pipelines between the townships of Ye and Thanbyuzayat, shot two residents they mistook for insurgents. Instead of taking responsibility for inadvertently shooting and wounding these villagers, the army increased the number of sentries, inevitably causing further threats to villagers residing nearby.

Consequently, villagers are now worried about their safety when traveling to and from work. Villagers have also received demands to pay for the value of army weapons lost during a confrontation between Burmese government troops and the KNU in early April.

On April 6th, Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.106 and LIB No. 588, based in Maw-ka-nin village, Ye Township, designated a group of 50 members deployed as Kin-pone [secret guarding system], based around Bay-lamine village, with five sentries in a group, placed along the railway and gas pipeline routes. At around 5:30 a.m., on April 7th, Saw Maung Ohn, who is 25 years old, and his friend, who is 26, were shot by Kin-pone soldiers. The event was reported by a relative of Saw Maung Ohn, living in Bay-lamine village, on the evening of April 7th:

“Villagers were shot and wounded near the monastery located east of Bay-lamine village. That was early in the morning, 5 a.m., on April 7th. The soldiers were from LIB No. 106, based in Maw-ka-nin village. It [the shooting] also included soldiers from LIB No. 588. The victims were Saw Maung Ohn, 25, and his friend, Saw Ah-Naing, 26. Saw Maung Ohn is my relative. They both were wounded by soldiers while they were on their way to the charcoal kiln, located near the monastery, to carry the charcoal. Saw Maung Ohn’s left thigh was shot, while a bullet skimmed Saw Ah-Naing’s right arm. Because they both lay down on the ground after being shot, they were able to escape from being shot a second time. Where they lay down was very close to the sentry camp, about 50 feet from it. The soldiers stopped shooting after they realized that they were villagers.”

Saw Maung Ohn was first seen to by a first-aid medic. Then, he was sent to Moulmein hospital. When Saw Maung Ohm’s parents, Tee Bal-Naw and Muu Kar Naw Htar Htar, asked the village head why their son was shot, they were told that he was shot unintentionally, with no further explanation. And, until then, no one has taken responsibility for the shooting.

“The soldiers replied that they [the soldiers] shot them [the villagers] because they thought they were part of the KNLA [the armed faction of the Karen National Union (KNU)] who had been seen near the gas pipeline. Then, they [the soldiers] found out that they were villagers from a nearby village [after shooting]. And, the soldiers told the village headman that they could not be held accountable for a case of unintentional shooting because it was during patrol time. Then, they warned the village head to tell the villagers not to go to work too early in morning or come back home so late at night,” explained U Win Hla Shwe, who is 55 years old, to the village administration group and his close friends, on the morning of April 8th.

According to sources close to Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.106, KNLA unit 4, battalion No. 15, led by Col. Than Soe along with seven men, attacked Tha-Pyay army, a base for sentry duty, located between Na-in Kayin village, Ye Town and Ah-nin village, Thanbyuzayat Township, at 12:45 AM, on the 2nd of April. The attack resulted in killing two LIB soldiers and wounding other who escaped. KNLA men were able to seize two guns from the LIB No. 106 soldiers. It was because of this attack that the Burmese government deployed the Kin-pone.

The increasing installments of kin-pone along the gas pipeline and railway routes, which run through villages, such as Bay-lamine village, in Ye Township and Thanbyuzayat Township, has become a threat to villagers livelihoods. The order that they should not leave for work too early in the morning and return home late at night conflicts with their daily work schedules and forces many villagers to leave their work unfinished. A Bay-lamine villager, who is 39 years old commented:

“We, my father and I, are working as charcoal burners, just like Saw Maung Ohn and his friend who got shot. To make charcoal we have to bake it. And we cannot leave it alone. Because we have to bake, we must go there in the early morning and come back late at night. Even though there is no problem during the day time, because the residents were shot, everybody is frightened and no one will travel out of the village in the early morning. Similarly, those who work on farms and get up early to sell vegetables encounter difficulties. We do not know how long they will keep guarding here. But, it will be good if they [the soldiers] leave.”

According to testimonies collected on the morning of April 8th, the LIB No. 106 commander, based in Maw-ka-nin village, has demanded compensation from villagers in Ah-nin village and Kyaung-ywa village, Thanbyuzayat Township for the men wounded and the loss of LIB guns on the April 2nd attack. On April 8th one Kyaung-ywa village explained:

“The gas pipelines and railways have to be guarded everyday. We have to not only go on sentry duty but also pay tax. And, as their sentry base is here, it is very dangerous for us. There is no way for us to escape; we are always in trouble.”

One member of the KNU Township Administration, living in eastern Mon State explains:

“It is obvious that the military regime uses a policy of oppression when governing the ethnic minority groups. So, if the Karen people or Mon people get shot by the army, they say it it not their fault or that they are not guilty. Because the soldiers who shot the villagers are not given any punishment, allowing them to remain serving in the army, no matter what they do during their front line, military operation, they will never be guilty. It is due to the belief that everyone [the army] is serving the country. So, [because of this belief], the human rights abuses have been committed in this area continuously.”

Saw Maung Ohn’s injury is serious enough that he will be handicapped and unable to walk normally. His parents explained that still no one from the LIB No.106 has come to visit Saw Maung Ohn’s parents, asking about him, or paying compensation. Maung Ohn’s father, on April 9th:

“Whether or not they the army gives compensation, the soldiers who are accountable of shooting my son, should come to say their apologies. … in that way, we would be satisfied. There is only one chance that my son will recover normally and that is if God come to help.”

In the last 10 years, HURFOM has collected documentation that shows the former government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has shot and killed 23 innocent villagers. Villagers were shot because they traveled outside the village during periods of travel restrictions (operation periods) by the army, executions so that witnesses and victims could not report cases of abuse, such as rape, shooting villagers during arguments, and shooting villagers who have tried to escape from portering duty or shooting villagers they thought to be rebels.

A minister, living in a village in Northern Ye Township, commented on the effects of the Burmese army in the villages on April 26th:

It seems to me that the Burmese army is going to ignore these kind of crimes against the local people. If they are going to ignore or going to take no action, then what will happen is we will have more of these incidents in this areas. That’s why the people will more fear the tatmadaw [the Burmese army] than love the tatmadaw.

Documented continuously by HURFOM, the advent of the kin-pone and any extra army troops in villages often results in abuses towards villagers. These abuses include threats to their livelihoods, forced guard duty for the railways or gas pipelines, and threats to villagers lives. Army troops tend to act with freedom from liability and therefore, the rights of the villagers are unprotected. In this case, Saw Maung Ohn was shot unintentionally, but even so, has not received compensation for an injury that will be lifelong. Villagers in Thanbyuzayat Township are unable to walk freely in and out of their village without risking arbitrary execution, as they are currently living under an unofficial curfew.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News