Submitted by crinadmin on
On February 19th 2010, soldiers based in Hsar Law Kyoh, Lu Thaw Township in Myanmar, killed a 15-year-old student and injured two others after firing a mortar into a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). This site was inhabited by 353 civilians who had fled their villages, including the entire population of Thay Thu Kee village to resist ongoing attacks against villagers in northern Papun District designed to drive civilians into State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)-controlled areas. Such attacks have been a well-documented and direct consequence of the increased military presence in Papun since the the Northern Karen State Offensive began in November 2005. Even though the SPDC had withdrawn from some camps previously located near IDP areas of Lu Thaw Township, residents had not yet felt it safe to permanently return to their villages. They had instead chosen to stay in the camp and had even built a school so that their children could continue to receive an education during displacement. Researchers from the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) report that the school was hit by an SPDC mortar just after 9:00 am on February 19th. The attack occurred during the school's exam period; students had arrived and were sitting an exam when the shell landed. Three schoolboys were injured by fragments from the mortar. KHRG has confirmed that, prior to the attack, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) had not been active in the area into which the mortar was fired. This indicates that the soldiers did not fire the mortar as a response to a prior attack or in an attempt to strike a legitimate military target, but as a deliberate attack on the civilian population. This is consistent with numerous accounts of similar assaults documented by KHRG, including mortar attacks on villages and shooting civilians on sight, by SPDC units since the start of the Northern Karen State Offensive. Prior to this incident villagers from another area reported to KHRG that they had escaped after soldiers shot at them in January; the soldiers had entered their village on patrol and opened fire after seeing the villagers working in their fields. Further information