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KHRG #98-08 Part 4 of 6: Pa'an dist



Subject: KHRG #98-08 Part 4 of 6: Pa'an district

                    UNCERTAINTY, FEAR AND FLIGHT

    The Current Human Rights Situation in Eastern Pa'an District

       An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
               November 18, 1998     /     KHRG #98-08

*** PART 4 OF 6 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***

[Some details omitted or replaced by 'xxxx' for Internet distribution.]

__________________________________________________________________________


                             Portering

"They captured me when I was working in my paddy field near Pah Klu.  
I think it was one month ago.  They called to me, 'Uncle, come here 
quickly or we'll shoot you dead!'  I was very afraid so I ran over to them,

and they forced me to carry things for them.  The DKBA soldiers caught 
me, but there were some Burmese soldiers with them too.  They captured 
many people around that time.  They made me carry shells - eight shells.  
I don't know the proper name of that gun, but the shells were so big and 
heavy that I couldn't stand up with them on my back unless someone 
helped me or I put them up on higher ground first before shouldering 
them.  Then on top of that they also loaded one gallon of oil, a bag of 
pumpkins and a chicken. ? They gave me no rice.  After carrying for 
two days I still hadn't eaten rice, so I ran to escape near Ker Ghaw.  The 
soldiers didn't have any rice to eat either.  I'm speaking the truth, I'm 
not lying to you!  They didn't hit me because I was a new porter [i.e. he 
hadn't been with them for long so he still had strength enough to carry], 
but they hit the older porters and kicked them with their jungle boots.  I 
wanted to say 'Don't do that' when they kicked the other porters but I 
was afraid that then they would hit me too.  Whenever they said 'Uncle, 
run quickly' I had to run with the heavy things on my back. ? One 
night they forced us to walk all night.  We had to climb the mountains 
and we had no sleep.  When we arrived in Sgaw Ko in the morning they 
still didn't let us sleep, they only let us take a short rest and then we
went 
on again." - "Saw Kweh" (M, 31), Thay Maw Gu vill., southern Pa'an 
dist. (Interview #9, 8/98)


Though portering is a form of forced labour, it is considered by the 
villagers to be in a category of its own.  It is without question the most 
dreaded form of forced labour, and it is on the increase in eastern Pa'an 
district due to the current SPDC military campaigns against the KNLA and 
the villagers in the Dawna Range.  Villagers from southeastern and central 
Pa'an district are being taken more and more regularly to haul supplies on 
short trips between local SPDC camps, and also to go along with military 
columns on longer trips into the Dawna.  Women are being used more and 
more frequently, because the men dare not go and the villagers hope that 
the women will be treated less brutally, though this also creates the 
possibility of rape.  Villagers can generally avoid a 5- to 7-day shift of 
portering by paying 3,000 to 5,000 Kyats or by hiring someone to go in 
their place, but very few subsistence farmers have any money anymore due 
to the incessant demands placed on them.  Not only the SPDC, but the 
DKBA and occasionally the KNLA take villagers as porters; however, 
with the KNLA it is generally for short times and with no physical ill-
treatment, and with the DKBA there is generally no physical abuse unless 
they are part of an SPDC column.


"I had to go more times than I can count.  That began when they 
arrived in our village a year ago.  They would demand one or two people 
each time and later we would have to rotate with new porters.  We had to 
porter for 3 to 6 days each time.  If people couldn't go they had to pay 
money to hire a porter to go for them.  It cost 100 Kyats a day to hire 
someone."  - "Pa Shwe" (M, 29), Po Ti Pwa village, northern Pa'an district 
(Interview #1, 9/98)


Porters with SPDC columns are treated brutally and fed little or nothing.  
Villagers forced to go as porters in Pa'an district are treated much the
same 
as operations porters in other areas; saddled with heavy loads, kicked, 
prodded and abused if they are too slow, beaten if they fall, and left to
die 
or killed if they become to sick or weak to continue.  In most cases they 
are released at the end of the trip, but in other cases they can only go
home 
if they escape.


"Most of the time I had to carry bandoliers full of bullets for the 
medium machine gun.  I had to carry 6 bandoliers full of bullets for the 
medium machine gun as well as 6 [mortar] shells as big as this.  When 
they put all of it on my body I had a very hard time just standing up.  
Then they also put many more small things on top, like cooking oil and 
other things that I couldn't see. ? (T)hey hit the other porters often.  I 
saw it.  I saw them beat the porters' faces often."  - "Saw Kaw Ghay" (M, 
31), villager from Myawaddy township now internally displaced 
(Interview #6, 8/98)

"We villagers were having to pay taxes and fees, and on top of that we 
had to go to be porters and forced labourers too.  The village headman 
was always asking us to go, and we had to go.  I had to be a porter for 
the Ko Per Baw.  They ordered the village headman to call the villagers 
to go.  They told me I'd have to go for only one day, but then I had to go 
for five days.  I had to carry food and cookpots.  Two pots, plates, rice 
and other food like oil, onions, garlic and chillies - I think it must have

weighed at least 10 viss [16 kg/35 lb] because it was very heavy."  - "Pa 
Kloh" (M, 28), southern Pa'an district (Interview #8, 8/98)

"They only gave us a messtin-lid of rice to eat [about half of a small 
plate].  We didn't get enough, but there was nothing we could do about 
it.  In Ker Ghaw the headman asked them, 'You forced these people to 
be porters, why don't you give them any food?'  So then they ordered 
that headman to give them rice for the porters."  - "Saw Tha Wah" (M, 
42), Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district, describing how he had to go 
as an SPDC porter in July (Interview #13, 8/98)


Even when SPDC units obtain porters on regular rotations from villages in 
their area, they still catch anyone they encounter along their way and use 
them as porters.  Villagers are extremely afraid of portering, and they 
know that almost all male villagers encountered by patrols in eastern Pa'an

district are taken as porters.  This is why village men usually run as soon

as they see an SPDC patrol, and the soldiers usually open fire on any 
villager they see running.  Many villagers are killed in this way.


"If they asked the village headman to give them two porters then the 
village headman gave them two porters, but they still captured other men 
from the village to be porters.  They released the captured porters only 
when they wanted to release them."  - "Pi San San" (F, 50), Taw Oak 
village, southern Pa'an district (Interview #18, 9/98)


Because of the current military operations in Pa'an district, the SPDC is 
also taking people in Kawkareik town to be porters.  Usually they look for 
visitors to the town.  Similarly, they are currently stopping passenger
cars 
along the Myawaddy-Kawkareik road and taking passengers off the cars to 
be porters.  According to people who have often travelled this road 
recently, they do not take everyone from every car, as they know this 
would cause everyone to stop using the road.  Instead they only take one or

two men from every few cars.  Usually they look for people who do not 
have proper documentation and use this as an excuse to arrest them, then 
take them as porters.  As is always the case with porters, the family is
not 
notified and has no way of knowing what happened to the person, nor are 
they compensated if he or she is wounded or killed.


"The Burmese didn't arrest everyone in the car.  Sometimes they arrest 
one or two people and sometimes they let one or two cars go free. ? 
They don't want people to know they are arresting porters like this.  If 
they arrested everyone on all the cars, they know the people who come to 
Thailand won't dare return to Burma.  Now people say that the Burmese 
aren't arresting people to be porters, but they are always arresting 
people.  They capture people to be porters every day because people are 
travelling every day.  If people aren't going up they're travelling down, 
and if they're not coming down they're going up.  So they can arrest 
people every day."  - "Pa Ler Wah" (M, 30), Kaw B'Naw village, Pa'an 
district, describing how the SPDC grabs people as porters off the public 
cars between Kawkareik and Myawaddy (Interview #33, 8/98)
__________________________________________________________________________


                Landmines and Human Mine Detonators

"His name is Pu K---.  He's over 50.  He stepped on the mine between 
Kwih Lay and Taw Oak, on the hill called Ther Ko Kaw.  Then later his 
wife stepped on a mine near the same place, and she was killed.  At the 
time that she stepped on the mine nobody dared go to look, because 
many Burmese soldiers were staying around there.  When I went to look 
later, first I just saw one of her slippers all torn apart and the other
one 
in good shape, then I saw her head and her body on its side, with just a 
piece of her sarong, some cloth and a blanket."  - "Maung Nyunt" (M, 
40), Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district, describing how his wife's 
father and then her mother both stepped on landmines; her father lived but 
his leg was blown off (Interview #15, 8/98)


Landmines are being used extensively throughout the area by all parties to 
the conflict, the SPDC, DKBA, and KNLA.  In eastern Pa'an district the 
SPDC is primarily using Burmese-made anti-personnel mines marked 
types 'MM1' and 'MM2'.  The MM1 is a cylindrical mine which looks 
much like the American-made M76, and in fact the SPDC troops still do 
lay some old American M76 mines along with their MM1's.  They 
sometimes mount the MM1 on a post at waist level in long grass or scrub 
and rig it with a tripwire; in this way it will kill the villager who trips
it 
and possibly several others rather than just blowing off his or her leg. 
The 
M76 and MM1 are very powerful.  The MM2 is modelled on a cheap 
Chinese-made mine which is flat, round and partly made of plastic; 
however, the Burmese version is made of metal.  The SPDC troops also 
have some of the Chinese-made version.  The KNLA used to have some 
American M76 and some Chinese mines, but for the most part they are 
now using homemade mines of their own design.  KHRG currently has no 
information on the types of mines being used by the DKBA, but the 
villagers insist that the DKBA is laying mines as well.

The KNLA generally lays its mines slightly off the pathways but 
sometimes right on the path; they always make a point of notifying local 
villagers of which routes are mined and whether the mines are on the path 
or not, though this often proves insufficient as villagers continue to be 
blown up by KNLA mines.  The SPDC and DKBA lay mines 
indiscriminately on pathways, around farmfields and in abandoned villages 
without notifying anyone.  Villagers' cattle are regularly killed by these 
mines.  When a villager's cow steps on an SPDC mine, the owner must 
keep quiet because if the SPDC finds the owner he is fined "to pay the cost

of the landmine".  DKBA commander Moe Kyo has also been accused of 
doing this in southern Pa'an district.


"?they [DKBA] lay landmines, and they burn down our field huts, our 
haystacks and our bullock carts too.  Our cattle stepped on their 
landmines, and then they fined the cattle's owner for the price of the 
mine.  Moe Kyo [a DKBA officer] did that."  - "Pa Weh Doh" (M, 47), 
Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district (Interview #14, 8/98)

"?the SPDC Army and the DKBA came and stayed together in this 
area and put landmines close to the villages and around the villages.  
Whenever somebody's cattle stepped on the landmines, the owner had to 
pay them money for the price of the landmine.  Therefore the owners of 
the cattle who had stepped on the landmines kept quiet because they 
were afraid that the SPDC soldiers would find out.  Some people had 5 
or 6 cattle but all have been killed by landmines."  - report by KHRG 
monitor in southern Pa'an District (Interview #11, 8/98)

"Last year two villagers were killed by the landmines.  KNLA 
landmines.  They knew where the landmines were because the KNLA 
had told them, so they went safely, but just before they came back the 
KNLA laid more landmines.  They didn't know about the new landmines 
and they were killed." - "Pu Ler Muh" (M, 58), xxxx village, northeastern 
Pa'an District (Interview #26, 4/98)


If a villager trips an MM1 mine which is mounted at waist level with a 
tripwire, he or she will almost certainly be killed, possibly along with 
others.  When villagers step on buried mines, the general result is that
the 
leg is immediately blown off around the knee or higher, and the other leg 
is badly wounded by shrapnel.  In addition, the person walking behind 
them is frequently hit in the face with shrapnel and blinded.  This effect
is 
so common that one villager, in describing a porter whose leg had been 
blown off, said that, "The Burmese were carrying him, and the blind 
porters were holding on to the others and following".  Villagers in the
area 
are more and more frequently being maimed or killed by the mines of all 
sides in the conflict.  They step on the mines when heading to their
fields, 
fleeing to the hills or to Thailand, going from village to village, or 
returning to their destroyed villages, which are sometimes booby-trapped 
by departing SPDC troops.  Due to the difficulty of getting to medical 
help, many of those who step on the mines bleed to death.  


"I stepped on a landmine on the 28th of February this year.  It was a 
landmine of the Burmese or the Ko Per Baw.  I know it was theirs 
because I heard them talking about it when they came to our village 
later. ? It was on the path to our field.  I was going to get thatch for
the 
roof of our house. ? My foot was blown off when I stepped on it, and a 
piece of the landmine even hurt me here on my other leg, you can see it 
here!  After that my uncle and aunty sent me to the hospital among the 
Burmese [in Myawaddy]. ? I had to stay in the hospital for 12 days, and 
then the doctor forced me to go home even though my leg was not well 
healed.  Some pieces of the landmine are still in my leg and they give me 
pain sometimes.  They just cut off my leg and then forced me to go 
home.  When I stepped on the landmine I was 8 months pregnant.  I was 
in the hospital for 12 days, then came home and after 9 days in my 
house I gave birth to my daughter.  It was too early to give birth, she was

not even 9 months in my belly."  - "Naw Muh Lah" (F, 23), Sgaw Ko 
village, southern Pa'an District (Interview #7, 8/98)

"From our village only my sister stepped on a landmine.  A villager 
from Wah Mi Klah stepped on a KNLA landmine as well.  His name is 
Kyet Po.  Many villagers stepped on landmines.  Some stepped on the 
mines when they fled for Thailand and others stepped on the mines 
when they went to look for their cattle and buffalos."  - "Pa Li Kloh" (M, 
21), Tee K'Haw village, northern Pa'an district (Interview #3, 9/98)


With so many landmines in the area, SPDC and DKBA columns 
throughout eastern Pa'an district are now consistently forcing some of
their 
porters to march in front of the column as human mine detonators and 
human shields against ambush.  Around the villages of Sgaw Ko, Pah Klu 
and Taw Oak in the southeast, they even take people specifically for this 
purpose in addition to people to carry their loads.  In these villages they

have repeatedly made specific demands for women to march in front of 
them, and have occasionally even made women carrying small children do 
this.  Villagers from Taw Oak village report that at least 6 people from 

their small village have died in the past year from landmines, particularly

from forced labour as human mine detonators.  In Sgaw Ko village in late 
July or early August, an SPDC patrol demanded that a group of women 
from the village go with one of their patrols to detonate mines, but the 
village headman would not allow it so he went in their place.  His name 
was Bo Meh Tah, and he was 41 years old with a wife and 4 children.  
Between Sgaw Ko and Pah Klu he stepped on a mine and was killed.


"Battles occurred sometimes.  The battles were between the DKBA and 
the KNLA.  They would use me as their cover - they forced me to go in 
front of them.  They captured the villagers to be porters and forced them 
go in front of them because they did not dare to go in the front.  If the 
villagers wouldn't go in front of them they beat the villagers.  The man 
who hit me was Corporal Thin Ga Jut.  There were 4 or sometimes 7 
other porters like me who were also forced to go in front by the DKBA."  
- "Saw Tee Kaw" (M), Pah Klu village, southern Pa'an district (Interview 
#17, 9/98)

"All the village elders have fled.  Now there are no more village elders.  
The village headman from Sgaw Ko was killed when they forced him to 
guide them.  He stepped on a landmine and died.  His name was Bo Meh 
Tah.  He stepped on the mine between Pah Klu and Sgaw Ko.  That 
happened only about 10 days before we came here."  - "Pa Weh Doh" 
(M, 47), Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district (Interview #14, 8/98)

"? they ordered the women to go with them and walk in front of them.  
The village headman knew that if the women went they would go with 
their small children, and if they stepped on landmines the women and 
the children would be badly hurt. ? so the village headman said, 'I will 
go instead of you, because you women have small children to take care 
of'.  That village headman, who was 41 years old and had a wife and 4 
children, stepped on a landmine when he was in front of the SPDC 
soldiers and he died, but the SPDC soldiers never took care of his poor 
family.  The villagers look on him as a hero who died to save his 
villagers, but none of them can help his family because every villager is 
living in poverty and each family has a very hard time just surviving 
themselves."  - KHRG monitor in southern Pa'an District describing the 
death of Sgaw Ko village headman Bo Meh Tah (Interview #11, 8/98)


Even if the villagers know which paths have been mined by the KNLA 
they don't know the precise locations of the mines, and if they do or say 
anything which indicates they know the route is mined, then the SPDC 
troops will accuse them of being KNLA collaborators and torture or 
execute them.  In addition, the SPDC and DKBA troops do not know 
where each other's mines are placed.  In order to have people to send in 
front of their columns, SPDC and DKBA units are demanding more and 
more villagers as porters around Pah Klu, Sgaw Ko and Taw Oak villages 
in the southeast.  Right now, fear of being taken as porters and being used

to detonate mines is one of the major reasons villagers from that area give

for having fled their villages.


"The Burmese forced people in our village to be porters, and in other 
villages they forced everyone, even the old women and the children.  
They force people to go as porters and to go in front of them to clear 
landmines.  Many women and children have died when they went as 
porters. ? Now the villagers who are still there are giving them money, 
but if the soldiers go fighting they still gather the women and children to

go in front of them to set off the landmines.  If the Kaw Thoo Lei 
[KNLA] shoot at them the bullets will hurt the women and children, but 
if we don't go in front of them they torture the villagers."  - "Naw Lah 
Say" (F, 25), Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district (Interview #12, 
8/98)

"When we had to go as porters they forced us to go in front of them and 
they followed behind.  Between Taw Oak and Sgaw Ko villages there are 
landmines, so they didn't dare go first and they pushed us out to go in 
front of them.  We were lucky that time and didn't step on the mines."  - 
"Pa Weh Doh" (M, 47), Taw Oak village, southern Pa'an district 
(Interview #14, 8/98)

"They forced the villagers to go in front of them to detonate any 
landmines that might be there, whether the people wanted to go or not.  
The porters lost their legs that way.  I saw a villager from the plains 
whom the Burmese had arrested to be a porter who had lost his leg.  The 
Burmese were carrying him, and the blind porters were holding on to 
the others and following [when one person steps on a mine the person 
behind him is often hit in the face and eyes by shrapnel].  I saw 5 porters

with injuries but we dared not look at all of them."  - "Pa Li Kloh" (M, 
21), Tee K'Haw village, northern Pa'an district (Interview #3, 9/98)

"Every time they entered the village they forced villagers to go as 
porters, and some villagers didn't dare go as porters.  Some of those who 
went as porters died, and some got wounded or lost their legs and hands.  
Six people died as porters last year.  Yeh Paw Ta, and Naw Hser's 
mother.  Naw Hser's mother was 54, and I don't know how old Yay Paw 
Ta was, I think he was over 40.  Also Naw Sghu, she was just over 30.  
Dta Oh, he was 30 years old.  And Naw Hser Paw - she was 18 years old.  
Her husband's name is Hsa Ler Lah.  She was carrying her small baby 
daughter, who was only one or two months old.  When she stepped on 
the landmine she died together with her baby, and a girl and a boy lost 
their legs - Ma Leh Kyo and Pa Roh. ? All of them were from Taw Oak 
village.  They also killed Pa Mu Dah, who was 15 years old, and Set Lay.  
He was about 40.  He was married with no children, but his wife is 
pregnant.  Another one they killed was Maung Thaung Ngeh.  He was 
30 and married.  The Burmese killed his wife as well.  Her name was 
Naw Ga May, she was about 25.  They had 2 children, both daughters.  
They've killed all those people just this hot season [between March and 
August 1998]."  - "Saw Tha Wah" (M, 42), Taw Oak village, southern 
Pa'an district (Interview #13, 8/98)
__________________________________________________________________________


- [END OF PART 4; SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 5 AND 6 OF THIS REPORT]
-