KNU Press Release # 18-98, 19-98 20

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Press Release No. 18/98
Human Rights Violations by SPDC and DKBA
July 25 1998

Toungoo District
· 22-6-98: A military column from the SPDC IB 59, led by commander Hla Than
Maung, extorted 20 Kg of rice from each household in Hu-mu-doe, Ler-gla-doe
and Glor-me-doe villages. The 250 households in the 3 villages had to meet
the demand of the SPDC troops, in spite of great difficulties.
· 22-6-98: Commander of Column (1) of SPDC IB 20, Saw Tun, and troops
extorted 40,000 Kyat of cash and a cattle from Ber-gor-doe village. They
killed the cattle and ate part of the meat. The remaining part of the meat
was forcibly sold to Maw-go-doe villagers. Troops from the column took 66
Kg of rice and utensils found in  a farm hut.
· 24-6-98: Troops from Column (1) of SPDC IB 59, entered Ka-hswe-ta village
in Hut-toe-pat area, at 8 a.m., and shot up the villagers killing Saw Mya
Thet, 45, and his son,  Saw Ler Wa, 18, on the spot, and wounding Saw Meh
Nay, 21.
· 9-7-98:  Troops from SPDC Tactical Command (3) and IB 59, came to
Maw-daw-ko area, at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, and shot up the villagers
found, without reason. The arm of village elder Maung Gyi, 52, was broken
by gunshot. Other villagers escaped by running away.
Papun District 
· 25-6-98: The DKBA troops came to Lay-kor-ti village tract and extorted
200 Kyat each from 236 households.
Pa-an District
· 28-6-98: Troops from DKBA Brigade 999, arrested and beat up Koe-toh
villager, Saw Myint Lwin, who lost a teeth as a result. The troops demanded
the villagers to ransom Saw Myint Lwin with 800,000 Kyat. He was released
on 8-7-98, on the payment of the ransom.
· 9-7-98: Pan Wa and colleagues from DKBA Brigade 999, came to Nay-teh-ta
village and beat up the village head, after arresting him. Then, they told
the villagers to ransom him with 100,000 Kyat. He was released after the
villagers paid 50,000 Kyat with many entreaties.

Words & Abbreviations: KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of the
Karen resistance); SPDC = State Peace and Development Council (Military
dictatorship of Burma);  DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (Puppet army
of the SPDC); IB = Infantry Battalion; Kyat = Name of Burmese currency; 
(Translated, printed and distributed by the Karen Information Center)
*********



Press Release No. 19/98
Human Rights Violations by SPDC and DKBA
July 26, 1998
Thaton District
· 11-7-98: Troops from SPDC LIB 546 came to Htee-wa-glay village, in Thaton
township, and looted  (1) a pair of earrings and 900 Kyat from Naw Mo Lo,
(2) 3 sarongs, 2 shirts and 1,000 Kyat from Htee Par Bi, (3) 2 sweaters, a
knife and 1,500 Kyat from Naw Way, (4) 3 sarongs and 1,000 Kyat from Naw Mu
Gyi, (5) 2 chickens and 800 Kyat from Naw Shwe Paw, (6) 3 chickens, a
bottle of cooking oil and a table clock from Naw Tin Yee, (7) 2 chickens
from Naw Hsa Pya, (8) an incubating hen from Naw Ngwe Sein, and, (9) 2
ducks from Naw Mer Dah and Naw Ma Shwe.
· 14-7-98: Company commander, Myint Oo, from SPDC LIB 546, called a meeting
of Ta-maw-tort villagers and issued orders banning villagers from staying
at work in their farms, after 6 p.m.  
· 20-7-98: At 12 p.m. midnight, No. 3 company commander, Aung Myint Sein,
from SPDC IB 230, seized Saw Par Ker's daughter, Naw Paw Lu Htoo, 16, of
Ta-paw village and raped her. After the rape, he shot her dead with his
carbine, through her private parts.
Nyaung-le-bin District
· 12-6-98: San Lwin, A DKBA soldier, serial No. 15591, defected with one
M16 rifle, one magazine and 12 rounds of ammunition, to the KNLA. In
relation to the matter, the SPDC troops seized Kwe-da-lin village head and
beat him up. They extorted 150,000 Kyat from him, as a fine.
· 19-7-98: Troops from SPDC LIB 367, looted 20,000 Kyat from Poe Maung Du
of  Haw-la village.
· 20-7-98: Troops from SPDC LIB 349, without reason, shot villagers from
Ler-ta-kwee village to death, who were cutting bamboo.
Pa-an District
· 27-6-98: Troops from IB 8, of the 44th Division, Southeast Command, led
by battalion  commander, Myint Sein, stayed overnight at Deh-bu village in
Pa-an district, and looted the villagers of 23 chickens, 2 bottles of
cooking oil, 2 cooking pots, 12 spoons, 2 pieces of man sarong, 2 pieces of
woman sarong, and a knife.
· 8-7-98: Troops from SPDC LIB 547, together with DKBA troops, looted
Htee-klay villagers of 4 oxen, 2 pigs and 3 goats, and killed the animals
for food. They caught and took away all the cattle, pigs and chickens, seen
on the way, including 2 oxen of villager Par Htee Nya,. The group, entering
Htee-wa-plaw village at 11 p.m. that night, shot up the village, and as a
result, one 4-year old girl was killed and 4 villagers were wounded. 

Words & Abbreviations: KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of the
Karen resistance); SPDC = State Peace and Development Council (Military
dictatorship of Burma);  DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (Puppet army
of the SPDC); KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army (Military wing of Karen
resistance) ; IB = Infantry Battalion; LIB = Light Infantry Battalion; Kyat
= Name of Burmese currency.
(Translated, printed and distributed by the Karen Information Center)
*********

KNU Press Release No. 20/98
Human Rights violations by SPDC and DKBA
Thaton District
>From 24-6-98 up to now, SPDC army battalions IB 2, IB 8 and LIBs
1/3/9/102/108, under
the LID 44, have been demanding a person per household from the villages of
(1) Htee-paw,
(2) Ma-e-hsa, (3) Mi-gyaung-aing, (4) Ma-yan-gon, (5) Glor-theh, (6)
Shwe-pyaung-pya, (7)
Lar-aung-leh, (8) Strong and Taw-ya, in Tha-ton township, to clear land for
army plantation
project. Families that fail are fined 5,000 Kyat each. On 12-7-98, troops
from SPDC army
battalions LIBs 3, 8 and 9, went to Mi-gyaung-aing, and Ma-yan-gon
villages, and seized
villagers for the plantation project. Anyone absent from work is also fined
1,300 Kyat and, in
addition, the troops forcibly take the villagers? chickens, ducks, pigs and
goats for food, at
will.
Toungoo District 
15-6-98: Troops from SPDC IBs 30, and 59, under Tactical Command No.3 of
the Southern
Command seized 30 women from Gor-thay-doe (Ye-tho-gyi) and Baw-ga-li
villages, in
Tan-da-bin township, and forced them to carry supplies to Bu-sa-kee army camp.
21-6-98: The commander of SPDC army Southern Command, Brig. Gen. Tin Aye,
instructed
his troops to shoot and kill anyone seen outside of the villages, and
destroy all dwellings,
paddy fields, and plantations in the area where they were operating.
Nyaung-le-bin District
28-6-98: The SPDC military column No. 2, led by commander Kyaw Win,
demanded 250
villagers from nearby villages, and made them to clear bushes near the
villages of Ko-ka,
Ta-la-seik, Kyee-bin-zu and Lein-bin-wei.
1-7-98: Troops from SPDC IB 57, arrested Ma-oo-bin village headmen San
Lwin, and Kyi
Than and his wife, and sent them to Shwe-gyin town.
18-7-98: Combined forces from SPDC IB 367 and LIB 703, took an overnight
rest in
Tha-yet-kon village of Mone township. On 19-7-98, they arrested villager
Saw Mu Kaw
Htoo, from Ler-kla village, and tortured him severely. Later they shot him
to death at
Hee-toe-kee village. Apart from the torture and killing, the troops looted
10 dinner plates, 20
cups and 20 spoons from the villagers.
Papun District
27-7-98: The SPDC troops shot and killed a woman villager, Naw Kha Htoo, of
Ler-eh-doe
village, without reason. Later on, the troops burnt down the houses of
villagers, (1) Pah Dah Ah,
(2) Saw Htay Bo, (3) Hsa Lo Heh and (4) Naw Ray. The troops also took
whatever they wanted
of the villagers? belongings. On the same day, these SPDC troops burnt down
5 houses and
village headman, Saw Taw Lu?s  rice barn with 45 baskets of paddy, in
Day-bu-poe village.

Words and Abbreviations: KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of the
Karen resistance);
SPDC = State Peace and Development Council (the military dictatorship of
Burma); IB = Infantry
Battalion; LIB = Light Infantry Battalion; LID = Light Infantry Division;
Kyat = Name of Burmese
currency; A basket = Measure of volume equal to about 8 gallons (A basket
of paddy weighs about 16
Kg.)
(Translated and distributed by Karen Information Center)
*********


KNU Press Release No. 21/98
Human Rights violations by SPDC and DKBA
Papun District
29-6-98: A combined force of troops from SPDC army IB 19, led by 2nd in
command, Than
Htoo, and the DKBA burnt down 5 houses in Doo-ta-ba village, and looted the
belongings of
the villagers as follows: (1) Ten baskets of paddy and 1,000 Kyat cash from
Saw Par Day,
Ten baskets of paddy and 8,000 Kyat cash from Par Maung Kar, (3) Ten
baskets of paddy
and 1,000 Kyat cash from Kyaw Meh, (5) Ten baskets of paddy and 5,000 Kyat
cash from
Naw Ku, (6) Six baskets of paddy and 1,000 Kyat cash from Kay Kwet, (7)
Half basket of
rice and 3,000 Kyat of cash from Chwet Di, (8) One musket, 2 pots and 1,000
Kyat cash
from Li Kha, (9) three pots, 5 chickens, and 5 baskets of rice from Par
Tet, and (10) Two
pots and 5 chickens from Maung Tin.
21-7-98: Troops from the SPDC army IB 59, led by battalion 2nd in command,
Thura Sein
Win, forcibly gathered a total of 32 villagers for forced labor from
different villages as
follows: 4  from Ta-kot-soe-kee, 2 from Mae-kor-law, 2 from Mae-klee-ta, 2
from Mae
Waing, 4 from Toe-mai-kee, 3 from Ler-wah-ko, 4 from Klo-kee,  2 from
Pway-day and the
rest from other villages. The troops also extorted cash amounting to
138,000 Kyat from the
villagers.
Dooplaya District
15-7-98: The SPDC troops from IB 209, led by battalion commander, Thaw Ta
Nyein,
arrested, at 15-30 hours, Saw Ah Soo of Taung-ga-lay village and beat him
up severely. The
troops also looted a pig from the villagers for food. 
22-7-98: At 16-33 hours, troops from SPDC army IB 24 under the Tactical
Command 442,
burnt down 2 houses, 3 paddy barns and 2 abbeys of Talakon Karen religious
sect, at
Ler-law-seh village. The troops also looted items from the Talakon
monastery valued at
200,000 Baht, and valuables from villagers - a gold chain weighing 24
grams, 4 pieces of
ruby, 2 pieces of jade, 3 pieces of tourmaline, a wrist-watch, a pair of
spectacles valued at
1,500 Kyat, 2 large pots, one rice container, a gold bangle of 16 grams, a
gold piece of 16
grams, 6 silver plates, 30,000 Baht of cash from Daw Mya Aye, and
belongings of villagers,
Saw Di Po valued at 30,000 Baht, Saw Hser Gay valued at 50,000 Baht and
Kyaw Moe Loe
valued 14,000 Baht.
Pa-an District
22-7-98: The combined force of  troops, led by commander Soe Naing Oo, from
SPDC LIB
3 under LID 44, and some DKBA troops from DKBA unit 999, led by Kyaw Kyaw,
on a
joint operation in Mae-par-reh-toe area, in Na-bu township, looted 10
baskets of rice, 10
chickens, 4 machetes and a gemstone, valued at 500 Baht, from Thet-po-kuy
villagers.
Words and Abbreviations: KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of the
Karen resistance);
SPDC = State Peace and Development Council (the military dictatorship of
Burma); DKBA =
Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (Puppet army of SPDC); IB = Infantry
Battalion; LIB = Light Infantry
Battalion; LID = Light Infantry Division; Kyat = Name of Burmese currency;
Baht = name of Thai
currency (one Baht is equal to about 10 Kyat at the present exchange rate);
A basket = Measure of
volume equal to about 8 gallons (A basket of paddy weighs about 16 Kg., and
rice about 33 Kg.)
(Translated and distributed by Karen Information Center)
*********