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KHRG: SPDC Orders Set 99-A, Part 3/



Subject: KHRG: SPDC Orders Set 99-A, Part 3/5

              SPDC ORDERS TO VILLAGES:  SET 99-A

         Pa'an, Toungoo, Dooplaya and Papun Districts

    An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
           February 10, 1999     /     KHRG #99-01

*** PART 3 OF 5; SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***

[Only part of the report is reproduced here for circulation on Burmanet.  
For a more complete copy of the report, see the KHRG website at 

http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/
Some details have been omitted or replaced by 'xxxx' for Internet 
distribution.]

____________________________________________________________________________
_

                       Toungoo District

Toungoo (Taw Oo) district forms the northern tip of Karen State, 
sandwiched between Karenni State to the east, Shan State to the north, and 
Pegu Division to the west.  Much of this district is steep forested hills
with 
small remote Karen villages.  For several years these villages have 
suffered destruction and forced labour as SLORC/SPDC troops have tried 
to undermine the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in the area by 
wiping out village food supplies and forcing people to build a military 
access road into the area.  This road now reaches Bu Sah Kee, though in 
rainy season it is wiped out and vehicles can only reach Kaw Thay Der or 
Yay Tho Gyi; hence the orders in this report ordering as many as 260 
villagers at a time to "transport food", i.e. carry Army rations, from Yay 
Tho Gyi to Bu Sah Kee and other Army camps.  From Yay Tho Gyi to Bu 
Sah Kee is several days' walk over very steep forested hills.  

Now that the SPDC Infantry Battalions are more strongly entrenched in the 
area the villagers were hoping for a respite; many of them in villages
along 
the road even call their villages "Nyein Chan Yay" ("Peace") villages, 
having made an informal agreement with the local SPDC military that they 
will comply with all orders and demands if only their villages are not 
destroyed or forced to move.  This includes villages such as Baw Ga Li 
Gyi and Yay Tho Gyi (Kaw Thay Der).  However, these villages are facing 
increasingly heavy demands for porters and money by the SPDC 
battalions, and as they have no money to pay to avoid portering they are in

a dilemma.  At the same time, villages which are not seen as cooperating 
fully are being punished severely.  In Saw Wah Der village SPDC troops 
recently chose all the nicest houses in the village and burned them, and
all 
of the villagers now live in the forest in fear.  Further east, SPDC Major 
Myo Myint could see the ricefields of Bu Sah Kee village from the camp 
of Infantry Battalion #26 which he commands, and the villagers there 
always flee into the forest when his troops approach; so in September 1998 
he sent patrols out with orders to destroy the entire rice crop of the 60 
families in the village.  They uprooted, cut down or stomped down about 
half of the entire crop which was to support the village through the coming

year, and the villagers there no longer know what they will do when they 
run out of rice.


The motor road now being built from Toungoo in Pegu Division to 
Mawchi in southern Karenni (Kayah) State is intended to create easier 
access to southern Karenni from the central plains of Burma, both to make 
military control of Karenni easier and because Mawchi is a mining area.  
The distance is about 80 kilometres in a straight line, but actually closer
to 
double this distance because most of the route is through steep and remote 
hill country.  Though it is usually referred to as the Toungoo-Mawchi road,

there is already a road from Toungoo to Baw Ga Li Gyi, so the new 
construction is actually from Baw Ga Li Gyi to Mawchi.  As can be seen 
by the orders below, the road is being cleared and constructed using large 
amounts of forced labour of the villagers.  Many villagers in Saw Wah Der 
area lost their 1998 rice crop because there were so many SPDC troops 
along the road route that they didn't dare to plant in the nearby fields.  
Construction stopped during the rainy season of 1998 but has now 
resumed.  Once it is completed, it is almost certain that the same
villagers 
will be forced to guard it against mining, sabotage or ambush of military 
convoys, because the road passes through remote areas.

Many of the orders below call for 'servants' or 'loh ah pay' (translated
here 
as 'voluntary labour'), SPDC's terms for forced labour.  The villagers who 
go are used as porters, messengers, road labourers, and doing Army camp 
labour such as sentry duty, cleaning, and building and maintaining 
barracks, fences and booby-traps.  'Operation servants' specifically means 
long-term frontline porters.  Village heads are called to 'meetings' to 
'discuss the matter of servants' or to 'discuss clearing of the road', but
at 
these meetings the Army officer or local Peace & Development Council 
(PDC) officials simply dictate forced labour assignments and threats for 
failure to comply.  Some orders refer to forced labour for the Na Pa Ka 
[the Western Military Command]; though they are based far to the west in 
Arakan (Rakhine) State, one Strategic Command of 3 Battalions has been 
operating in Toungoo District for at least 2-3 years now to assist the 
Southern Military Command.

Most of the orders below are from Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract, a group of 
over 10 villages administered by the Village Tract PDC in Baw Ga Li Gyi, 
a large village of several hundred households.  This Village Tract PDC is 
clearly working closely with the local SPDC Battalions; they receive 
orders from the Battalions, then pass them on to the elders of all villages

under their administration, sometimes with extra demands tacked on to 
enrich themselves.  In the process, a complex system of 'servants' and 
'servants' fees' has developed within this village tract.  Initially the
local 
Battalions issue orders to the Village Tract PDC demanding numbers of 
forced labourers for a specific purpose.  Knowing that the villages do not 
want to do the labour and will be slow to comply, the Village Tract PDC 
often hires day labourers through agents in Toungoo, pays for their 'car 
fees' (i.e. transport costs) to Baw Ga Li Gyi, and supplies them to the 

SPDC military.  The Village Tract PDC then issues orders to the villages 
under their administration to pay their share of the cost based on the 
relative size (number of households) of their village; for example, a
village 
may be ordered to pay for 10 of the 80 people hired by the Village Tract 
PDC.  The amounts are often not specified in the orders because they are 
already understood; for example, 4,000 Kyats for each short-term porter 
plus 250 Kyats for his 'car fee'.

Under this system even small villages must pay 30,000-80,000 Kyats per 
month, and many simply do not have the money to do so because of all the 
other SPDC demands they have to meet.  As a result, most villages are 
delinquent in their payments, and once payments fall behind by a couple of 
months the Village Tract PDC often tells the village 'we will no longer 
take any responsibility for you' and reports the village to the military
for 
failure to 'perform their duty'.  A military column might then storm the 
village to loot and burn houses as punishment.

In addition to these fees, villages are faced with direct orders to provide

forced labourers, sometimes when the military says it is for 'emergency' 
purposes, meaning that they need labourers right away for one-time work.  
At the same time, they face constant demands for rice, meat, vegetables, 
fruits, cheroots, condiments, and building supplies such as bamboo and 
roofing leaves.  In July 1998 villages throughout the village tract were 
even ordered to form teams to compete in the "Battalion Commander's 
Cup Volleyball Tournament" (see Order #T64).  Usually when villages are 
ordered to form teams for SPDC competitions, they are then forced to pay 
a heavy 'entry fee' to enter their team, while villages which do not form 
teams are forced to pay an even heavier 'fine'.  Some orders below also 
demand money for compensation to be paid to landmine victims and 
others who have been wounded or killed while doing forced labour for 
SPDC troops.  While this may appear humanitarian at first, such 
compensation should clearly be paid by the SPDC, not demanded from the 
local villages which supplied the forced labour under pain of punishment 
in the first place.  Furthermore, Order #T55 demands 100 Kyat from each 
family in all the villages to pay for a funeral, though there is no way
that 
the funeral could cost so much; chances are that the excess will not be 
given to the victim's family but will be kept by the local authorities.

For more information on the situation in Toungoo District see KHRG 
Information Update #98-U5, "Continuing Hardships for Villagers in 
Northern Karen Districts", and a full KHRG report on the subject to be 
released soon.

____________________________________________________________________________
_

                     Restrictions on Villages

                           Order #T1*

                               Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                               Baw Ga Li Gyi Village - Than Daung Township
                               Ref:    / Security / Ba Ga La (98)
                               Date:  January 6, 1998


To:      Chairperson / Secretary
         xxxx    village

Subject:   To obey the orders issued by the local Battalion

Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the official instructions 
sent today, 6-1-98 at 8 o'clock in the morning, to the office of the
Village 
Tract Peace and Development Council by the Battalion Commander of 
#39 Infantry Battalion, the following orders are issued for security
reasons 
and all villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract must obey these orders.

(1)   All villagers must sleep in the village at night and must not sleep
in 
any gardens / fields outside the village.

(2)   Everyone must ask permission from the village authorities in order to

travel to other places such as Toungoo, and must go only when the 
authorities have registered them and given permission.

(3)   The family lists will be checked in all villages, and if someone is
not 
sleeping at home at night when the family lists are checked by the 
authorities, he will be regarded as one who has contact with insurgents and

appropriate action will be taken.

(4)   It is confirmed that these orders take effect from 6-1-98, the date
of 
their issue.

Therefore, you are informed to announce these orders to the people of your 
village so that they will know and obey these orders.

                                        [Sd.]
                                     Chairperson
                        Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                      Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township

Copy to:   - The Battalion Commander
             #39 Infantry Battalion at Baw Ga Li Gyi village

[This order makes life very difficult for villagers in the cropping season,

when it is necessary to stay in their fields which may be far from the 
village.  For those regarded as having 'contact with insurgents', 
'appropriate action' means arrest, interrogation under torture, and often 
summary execution.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                         Forced Labour on Roads

                               Order #T2

To:  Chairperson / Secretary                      Stamp:
     xxxx  village                       Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
                                        Peace and Development Council
                                             Than Daung Township

                                                      Date: 11-5-98

Subject:   Voluntary labour for construction of the Toungoo - Mawchi road

Regarding the above subject, through the Toungoo - Mawchi Frontline 
Road Construction Unit, #48 Infantry Battalion from Baw Ga Li Gyi Base 
asks all villages in the area of Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract to provide a 
total of 20 voluntary labourers and rotate them every 5 days, so you are 
informed that the Chairperson / Secretary must send xx voluntary labourers 
to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (12-5-98) with their food for 5 days.

Note:   [blank] 
                                         [Sd.]
                                   (for) Chairperson
                        Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                      Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township


[Forced labour constructing the main part of the Toungoo-Mawchi road, 
which runs over 100 kilometres from Pegu Division to Karenni (Kayah) 
State, began in early 1998 and is not yet completed.  The road is to pass 
through remote and very rugged forested terrain for almost its entire 
length.  See also Orders #T3 and T4.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                               Order #T3*

                                                  Stamp:
To:  Chairperson / Secretary             Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
     xxxx   village                     Peace and Development Council
                                             Than Daung Township

                                                      Date: 11-5-98

Subject:   Voluntary labour for construction of Toungoo - Mawchi road

Regarding the above-mentioned subject, #48 Infantry Battalion from Baw 
Ga Li Gyi base have asked for voluntary labour through the Toungoo - 
Mawchi Frontline Road Construction Unit.  Therefore the Chairperson / 
Secretary are informed to send voluntary servants, according to the quotas 
assigned to each village in the list below, to Baw Ga Li Gyi base on 12-5-
98 at 7 o'clock in the morning with their food for 3 days.

The more people the road construction unit gets, the fewer days they will 
have to spend to finish the work, so the total number of (20) persons 
previously specified has been replaced by the newly fixed total of (40). 
In 
accordance with the instructions of the Battalion, you are notified that
you 
must send the voluntary labourers as specified and apportioned to each 
village without fail (without fail) and it will be entirely the
responsibility 
of your village if you fail.

(1) vvvv village       voluntary servants   (20) persons
(2) wwww                        "           ( 2) persons
(3) xxxx                        "           (10) persons
(4) yyyy                        "           ( 3) persons
(5) zzzz                        "           ( 5) persons
   _____________________________________________________
                              Total         (40) persons


                                        (for) Chairperson
                           Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                         Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                                 Order #T4

         Stamp:
#xxx Infantry Battalion          To:  Chairperson
Column #1 Headquarters               xxxx village

Subject:   Summoning voluntary labour

1.  The Mawchi - Baw Ga Li Gyi car road is for the development of the 
local area.  The road construction causes no one any trouble or difficulty,

and the intention of the road construction is to make transportation and 
communication easy.  Therefore, make sure there are no landmines and no 
ambushes at the road construction site or along the old car road.  If there

are any landmines or ambushes, the road construction must be carried out 
by the people of the village.


2.  Therefore, you are informed that you must send (xx) voluntary 
labourers in turns [on a rotating basis] for the road construction to Baw 
Ga Li Gyi on 26-5-98 at (0800) hours.

                                               [Sd.]
                                       (for) Intelligence Officer
                                         #xxx Infantry Battalion

[This is referring to the Toungoo-Mawchi road; a road already exists 
from Toungoo to Baw Ga Li Gyi, so the main work is being done on the 
Baw Ga Li Gyi to Mawchi section, which makes up well over half of the 
road's length of over 100 kilometres.  As the order demonstrates, forced 
labour is being used regardless of whether or not there are landmines or 
ambushes, and the construction is definitely causing people some trouble.  
Not only is there forced labour, but many farmers with fields along the 
road route didn't dare plant a crop in 1998 because they were afraid of 
being grabbed for labour by the soldiers along the road.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
__

                              Order #T5

To:    Chairperson / Secretary
       xxxx  village                                     Date: 5-7-98

Subject:   Voluntary labour on Paleh Wah - Baw Ga Li road

According to the instruction of the Battalion Commander from xxxx Camp, 
to repair the damaged parts of the road between Paleh Wah and Baw Ga 
Li, xx servants from your village must come to xxxx [village] bringing 
with them the following items and wait there. We will go by vehicle to 
repair the road.

(1) Hoes                                         [Sd.]
(2) Saws                                       Saw xxxx
(3) Machetes                                  Chairperson
(4) Spades                                       VPDC
                                                 xxxx

[This is the existing road from Baw Ga Li Gyi westward to Toungoo.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                     Portering and Other Forced Labour

                                Order #T7*
           Stamp:
Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion         

To:   Chairperson
       [blank]    village                               Date: 11-9-98

Subject:   To send voluntary labourers

In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #xxx IB 
at xxxx Base, you are informed that you must collect one voluntary 
labourer per house from your village and send them with their own food 
for 4 days; they will have to transport food [carry rations as porters]
from 
Yay Tho Gyi to Maung Daing Gyi Camp and they must come without fail.

Send them right now.
                                                 [Sd. /Lt.]
                                             Intelligence Officer
                                                xxxx, Lt. xxxx
                                        Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion

[This was carbon copied and sent to several villages, some with the 
village name left blank.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_


                                 Order #T8

To:   Chairperson
      xxxx [village]

Subject:   To send the voluntary labourers to Maung Daing Gyi village

Regarding the above subject, the numbers of voluntary labourers to 
transport the food to Maung Daing Gyi Camp are assigned to Baw Ga Li 
Gyi Village Tract as follows:

   (A) wwww [village]     (10 ) persons
   (B) xxxx               ( 5 ) persons
   (C) yyyy               ( 5 ) persons
   (D) zzzz               ( 5 ) persons

You Chairpersons yourselves must bring them to xxxx Camp on the 17th at 
6 o'clock.

                                      [Sd./ xxxx / Lt. Col.]
                                         Column Commander
                                 Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion

At the same time, the meeting of the Chairpersons will be held.

[This is a demand for porters to carry rations from the roadhead to an 
Army camp.  It was copied and sent to several villages.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                                 Order #T9

       Stamp:
#xxx Infantry Battalion                               10/9/98
    xxxx [town] 

To:   Chairperson
      xxxx village

Subject:   To send (8) voluntary labourers

Regarding the above subject, we cannot hire any servants from Toungoo 
so you are informed to bring (eight) voluntary labourers to xxxx on 
September 11 at 6 o'clock in the morning.

You yourself must bring them.

                                          [Sd. /Lt./ 10/9/98]
                                          Intelligence Officer
                                             xxxx, Lt. xxxx
                                    Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion

Note: Take the letter to yyyy village right now.

            [Sd./ 10/9/98]

[In this particular village tract, the normal practice is for the Village 
Tract PDC to hire labourers for the Army and then force the villagers to 
pay the cost (see summary notes on Toungoo District above); however, the 
villagers are also often called for forced labour when the Army can't be 
bothered to go through this procedure, as this order shows.  The note at 
the bottom probably refers to a copy of this order enclosed for another 
village.  Orders #T10 and T11 below were received at the same time by 
other villages.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                              Order #T12

xxxx village elder

I have heard about a tree falling between xxxx and yyyy, so tomorrow 
please order 5 of your villagers and some of us will also go and do [clear]

it together.

                                             Thankfully,

                                                 [Sd.]
                                                  xxxx
                                              xxxx village

[Note: This order is written in Karen, from the village tract PDC 
chairman to a village elder.  This type of work, not work for the Army, is 
what 'loh ah pay' really means in Burma; however, in real 'loh ah pay' the 
village elder would not 'order' 5 villagers, he would ask for 5 volunteers.

This order reflects on the way that SPDC forced labour is not 'loh ah pay',

but even more so on how their use of force is creeping into and corrupting 
what used to be voluntary work by villagers within their community.]

____________________________________________________________________________
_

                               Order #T13

To:  Chairperson / Secretary                   Stamp:
     xxxx village                    Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
                                    Peace and Development Council
                                         Than Daung Township

                                                  Date:   22-4-98
Subject:    To send voluntary labourers

The Battalion Commander of #xxx IB at xxxx Base asks (xx) voluntary 
labourers from your village and so you, the Chairperson yourself, must 
come and bring them.

You are informed that if you cannot send them, you must hire the 
labourers by yourself through Ko xxxx at Baw Ga Li Gyi village.  Bring the 
fees for the labourers along with you and come without fail.

                                           [Sd.]
                                     (for) Chairperson
                        Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                      Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township

[Ko xxxx is most likely an agent who supplies people willing to do forced 
labour for money.  It appears that he is frequently used by the Village 
Tract authorities to obtain labourers to fill the military's demands, as
his 
name appears in several orders.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                               Order #T14

To:   Chairperson / Secretary                     Stamp:
      xxxx village                       Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
                                        Peace and Development Council
                                             Than Daung Township

                                                   Date:   19-4-98
Subject:    To send voluntary labourers

The Battalion Commander of #48 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base is asking for 
voluntary labourers from the villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, so 
you are informed to send xx voluntary labourers with their own food for 5 
days to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (22-4-98), Wednesday, at 9 o'clock in the 
morning without fail (without fail).

                                            [Sd.]
                                      (for) Chairperson
                          Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                        Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township

____________________________________________________________________________
_

                               Order #T15

To:   Chairperson                             Stamp:
      xxxx village                  Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
                                   Peace and Development Council
                                        Than Daung Township

                                                Date: 23-2-98


Subject:   To send voluntary labourers to Baw Ga Li Gyi on (24-2-98) 
           at 5 o'clock in the morning

You are informed to send the voluntary labourers to Baw Ga Li Gyi on 
(24-2-98) at 5 o'clock in the morning.  The full quota of people must be 
sent in accordance with the instructions of Baw Ga Li Gyi Camp issued on 
(23-2-98) at 7 o'clock at night.  

Note: You must not fail.

                                             [Sd.]
                                       (for) Chairperson
                            Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                          Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                               Order #T17

To:   Chairperson / Secretary                      Stamp:
      xxxx village                       Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract 
                                        Peace and Development Council
                                             Than Daung Township

                                                  Date: 10-12-97

Subject:   To send the voluntary labourers we requested

Collecting the exact number of labourers we asked for on (9-12-97), you 
yourself must bring the voluntary labourers today, (10-12-97), at 10 
o'clock in the morning without fail.  The reason for asking them to bring 
their own food for 4 days is that they must go along with the troops up to 
Si Kheh Der.

(Therefore, you must comply without fail, and if you fail, it will be
entirely 
your responsibility.  If the local troops arrive at your village, you will
face 
the same fate as Za Ba Ji and Meh Kyaw villages and we will not take 
responsibility for you.)

                                           [Sd.]
                                    (for) Chairperson
                         Village Tract Peace and Development Council
                      Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township

[The villagers sent are to be used for forced labour going along as porters

for a military column heading to Si Kheh Der.  KHRG has been unable to 
confirm what was the 'fate' of the 2 villages mentioned who failed to obey 
an order at the end of 1997, though it may have included the arrest of 
village elders or the burning of houses.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

                                Order #T23*

                                           Stamp:
To: Chairperson / Secretary    Law and Order Restoration Council
    xxxx    village               Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract     Date:
30-8-97

Subject: To send the specified voluntary labourers we requested to convey 
         food as immediately as possible (as immediately as possible)

Reference:   The decision made by the meeting of all villages on 26-8-97

(1) Regarding the above reference, at the meeting of all villages on 26-8-
97 the quota of voluntary labourers for each village, bringing their own 
food for 4 days to convey food [carry Army rations] from Maung Daing 
Gyi to Bu Sah Kee, was agreed by all Chairpersons and Secretaries, but 
your village did not send the voluntary labourers on the specified date of 

29-8-97.

(2) On 29-8-97, #73 IB summoned your village to send the voluntary 
labourers as soon as possible, and your village failed again.

(3) Therefore, the local Battalion informs you that as soon as you receive 
this letter, you, the village authorities, the Chairperson and the
Secretary, 
must send xx voluntary labourers to the specified gathering place at Baw 
Ga Li Gyi / Yay Tho Gyi to convey food according to the quota as 
immediately as possible (as immediately as possible).

(4) Villages which fail to send the voluntary labourers will have severe 
action taken against them.  The Chairperson and the Secretary themselves 
must come and bring the voluntary labourers.

(5) You, Chairperson / Secretary, are informed that motor vehicles from 
your village are not allowed to travel starting from 30-8-97 because your 
village has failed to send voluntary labourers.  If there is a similar
failure 
in future, appropriate action will be taken against you.

                                            [Sd.]
                                          Secretary
                          Village Tract Law and Order Restoration Council
                          Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township

Note: Since 1 more voluntary labourer is needed, send one more.

[At the time of this order, a road from Baw Ga Li Gyi to Bu Sah Kee had 
already been completed using forced labour, but this order was issued 
during rainy season, when it is not passable.  As a result villagers still 
have to go as porters, then after each rainy season they are forced to 
rebuild the road.] 
____________________________________________________________________________
_

   - [END OF PART 3; SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 4 THROUGH 5] -