A/HRC/39/CRP.2 entered the village and looted the belongings of villagers. 782 Similarly, on 7 January 2016, in Tangyan Township, Shan State, TNLA men entered a village and requested villagers to give them rice and allegedly said “we do not care if you have rice to eat yourselves”. 783 (e) Taxes and extortion (socio-economic component) 360. Some EAOs implemented arbitrary “taxation” requirements that caused significant economic pressure on civilians. For example, residents of villages under the control of the TNLA in Namhsan Township, Shan State, were obliged to pay “taxes” often referred to by villagers as “extortion money”.784 Sources informed the Mission that villagers were forced to pay up to 10,000 Kyat and one or two bags of rice per month, which represented a major burden for villagers who only earn wages during the short tea leave picking season, from March to late April. The village administrator kept a list of villagers who did not comply with the obligation to pay the taxes. When one household could not pay the TNLA, someone else in the village had to cover for them, and they then needed to pay double the next month. 785 One source mentioned that the TNLA maintained a list of villagers who have not paid “their dues” and that this may result in the TNLA visiting a person’s house “with their guns to shoot at you or destroy your belongings.” 786 In already difficult economic circumstances, this had a serious impact on villagers. One interviewee mentioned that villagers felt intimidated by this and would share small portions of rice amongst themselves to ensure that they had sufficient to pay the TNLA.787 361. Another source mentioned that, when the “Shan Army” 788 controlled the tea fields around his village in Namhsan Township, Shan State in 2011, they would require villagers to pay them a tax to be able to cultivate the land. Reportedly, they charged 30,000 Kyat per tea plantation. The Mission also received reports of the Shan Army789 destroying tea plantations in 2013 in Namhsam Township, Shan State, as a mean to coerce villagers to pay them.790 (f) Abductions, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and ill-treatment 362. The Mission has reasonable grounds to conclude that some EAOs have abducted, arbitrarily deprived persons of their liberty, and subsequently ill-treated or tortured, as a mean to coerce them to participate in military operations, to gain control over a given territory, or to punish civilians who have collaborated with the Tatmadaw or an opposing EAO. 791 363. The Mission received credible accounts of the TNLA abducting the parents of children who refused to join their ranks.792 In one case reported to the Mission, the TNLA abducted the mother of a boy who refused to join the TNLA.793 364. The TNLA also arrested and detained civilians. 794 For example, a victim shared an account of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment conducted by the TNLA in Namhsan, Shan State, in March 2013. The victim was taken for forced labour by the Tatmadaw for four days, but managed to escape and returned to his village which was under the control of the TNLA. Upon his arrival at the entrance to the village, the TNLA detained and beat him accusing him of being a spy for the Tatmadaw. The victim stated, “I was beaten and tied-up for one entire 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 K-137. K-144. PI-093, PI-094, PI-096, PI-097. PI-093, PI-097. PI-097. PI-097. Unclear if Shan State Army-S (RCSS) or Shan State Army-N (SSPP). Considering the location of the incident, it is likely to be the SSA-N (SSPP). Ibid. QI-088. K-143, PI-095, PI-112, PI-114. PI-093, PI-097, PI-112. PI-093. K-143, K-144, PI-095. 89