News: Large Sums Extorted from Residents by Local Authorities for the Water Festival in Kawkareik Township... Commentary: Peace-building and the solving of Human Rights Problems... Report: ?They will burn the village until it turns to ash?: Gross human rights violations committed by LIB Nos. 562 and 563 in Kawkareik Township, Karen State: On the morning of January 13, 2011, the Burmese Army?s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) No. 562 and 563 entered Dauk Phalan village in Kawkareik Township, Karen State. Unbeknownst to the LIB troops, Karen National Union1(KNU)?s Brigade 6, battalion No.18, was present in the village. Coming upon each other, both sides opened fire. During the fighting, sections of the LIB battalions scavenged the village for residents they believed to be linked with the KNU. LIB troops then conducted arbitrary arrests of accused rebel supporters, inflicted physical punishment upon villagers, forcibly took villagers to work as porters, and destroyed the properties and livelihoods of villagers in order to insure armed ethnic groups were unable to survive in those areas...Torture; Execution; Extortion; Property Destruction; Conclusion