The soldiers from Myanmar¡¯s army knocked on U Thein Aung¡¯s door one morning last April as he was having tea with friends, and demanded that all of them accompany the platoon to another village.
When they reached a dangerous stretch in the mountains of Rakhine state, the men were ordered to walk 100 feet ahead. One stepped on a land mine and was blown to pieces. Metal fragments struck Thein Aung in his arm and his left eye.
¡°They threatened to kill us if we refused to go with them,¡± said Thein Aung, 65, who lost the eye. ¡°It is very clear that they used us as human land mine detectors.¡±
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