The SPDC in 2001 continues using forced labor in Burma; particularly forced portering for military operations; forced labor for military bases and income generating projects for the military and building and maintenance of roads. Despite ongoing talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and SPDC, little has changed for Burma’s ethnic minority groups, particularly the Karen, Karenni and Shan, living in rural areas where forced labor is regularly conscripted for portering, infrastructure projects and military support activities. Although the issue of forced labor in Burma has received much recent attention internationally, there has been little corresponding action by SPDC to eradicate its use.

Two trends in 2001 were the increase in the use of prison labor for portering during military operations and an increase in the collection of porter fees. Porter fees take on two forms; in one, each household in a village is required to pay a certain amount each month in order to compensate the conscripted porters. In the other, villagers are forced to pay a fee so that they are not conscripted as porters. Porter fees are a burden on villagers that should not be underestimated as its affects their livelihood in almost the same way that portering does. Villagers who cannot afford to take time away from their livelihood to porter also cannot afford to pay money to avoid portering. Both the increase in the use of prisoner portering and porter fees can be attributed to SPDC’s desire to improve its image in the international community. The use of prisoner porters lessens the number of civilian porters that need to be conscripted and when porters are paid with funds forcibly collected from villagers the Burmese military can say the porters are paid labor.

From September 17 to October 6, 2001, a High Level Team (HLT) from the ILO spent 3 weeks in Burma to assess the implementation and impact of measures to eliminate forced labor announced by SPDC. The Burmese military junta promised to eliminate forced labor after the ILO, in an unprecedented move in November 2000, urged its 175 member governments to impose sanctions and review their dealings with Myanmar to ensure they are not abetting forced labor. The ILO has been examining forced labor in Burma since 1998.

The HLT issued a report on their findings in November which “concluded that there were ‘obvious although uneven effort at disseminating the Orders…at all levels of the military hierarchy’ (Order No. 1/99 of 14 May 1999 and the Supplementing Order 1/99 of 27 October 2000 concerning forced labor and compliance with ILO Convention 1930 (No. 29))... The report confirmed that there was ‘a strong correlation between the presence of military camps and the practice of forced labor, whether or not these troops engaged in military activities’, and that all too often such labor was ‘accompanied by acts of cruelty’. The situation appeared to be particularly serious in southern Shan State and the eastern parts of Kayin State near the Thai border.  The report also noted that the Muslim population in northern Arakan (Rakhine) State is ‘disproportionately affected by forced labour; it reflects an element of discrimination against this population, which also takes the form, inter alia, of restrictions on movement’.”

“On November 15, 2001, the ILO Governing Body adopted conclusions after examination of the report of the High-Level Team. The Body recognized the efforts made by the authorities to disseminate the Orders among the population, although it considered these efforts should be strengthened and extended to include all the media and the use of the appropriate languages (the orders have not been translated into other major ethnic languages). It expressed profound concern regarding the very limited impact of this new legislation to date and, in particular, the persistent impunity with regard to criminal prosecution of persons who have committed violations, despite the provisions of this legislation. The Body stated that urgent efforts should be undertaken by the SPDC to rectify this situation and provide more convincing evidence of their willingness to achieve this by the next session of the Governing Body to be held in March 2002. The conclusions supported the recommendations of the High Level team that an ombudsman should be appointed (who has national and international credibility) to whom complaints regarding forced labor could be submitted and who would be able to conduct direct investigations along with a form of permanent presence of the ILO in Burma” (Source: UN Burma Service Office, Briefing Paper on the Human Rights Situation in Burma 2002 for the 58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights resolution on ‘the human rights situation in Myanmar’)

In preparation for the ILO fact finding mission to Burma, villagers in several townships in Shan state were instructed by military authorities to tell the ILO investigators expected to tour Shan State that forced labor had ended. In one example, on July 28, Lt. Col Myint Maung, Commander of LIB 515 (Lai-kha) told people living in Mong Kern, 108 miles northeast of Taunggyi, to give “proper” answers to the foreign fact-finding team when they arrived and “tell them all labor given is voluntary and out of your love for the army.” He reportedly gave the same message to the people of Lai-kha the previous day and similar incidents were reported in Mong-Hsat and Mong-Ton. In some areas, such as Mong-Kerng, it was reported that forced labor had noticably lessened but there had been a corresponding increase in money requisitioned for renting workers, mules, vehicles etc. to replace the forced laborers. Therefore, the people still faced the same hardship as they earn meager wages through their own labor.

However, as late as July, mass forced labor was being used on infrastructure maintenance projects for the military. In one case, on June 20, 2001, Lt. Col. Khin Maung Soe, sent an order to all the village and tract headmen forcing the people of Lai-Kha township to clear the roadside leading out of Lai-Kha town for a distance of 30 k.m. The villagers were also required to cut bamboo, make new fences for the 4 military battalion bases in the township and repair all the barracks for the soldiers. In addition they had to clear all the drainage channels in the bases, trenches and bunkers around the base and clear all the bushes and grass outside the fences as wide as 5 arm-spans from the fences. All of the work had to be completed within 30 days or the village tract headman would be fined 50,000 kyat, each village headman 15,000 kyat and each family 1,000 kyat. In order to finish on time, most villager, young and old, male and female, went to work on the forced labor sites, ignoring their own livelihood. The villagers were still seen working on the military bases in Lai-Kha township in late July 2001. (Sources: SHRF Monthly Report, August 2001; S.H.A.N. News, August 6, 2001)

In addition, On September 30, 2001, the Chairman of the Nam-Kham Township Peace and Development Council called a meeting of all the community and village/tract leaders and told them as follows:

1. In 2-3 days time, the visiting ILO inquiry team will arrive in Mu-Se and Nam-Kham townships;

2. Our government has provided the ILO team with a helicopter;

3. Because they do not trust us, they have brought their own interpreters;

4. When they arrive, they may go along the main roads and streets, and even into the houses, and ask whoever they want to ask about what they want to know. 

Therefore, what you must do is to follow them in your respective villages and quarters and see (a) who they meet; (b) what they ask; and (c) what is the answer, and must later report it back to us (SPDC authorities);

5. The time of the ILO team arrival in each village or quarter and their departure time must be reported immediately to the SPDC authorities; 

6. The people in the whole township must be notified beforehand to say there is no forced labour when asked by the ILO team;

On how to notify the people, some village and community leaders asked whether they should use loud speakers and walk along the streets in their respective areas to make sure everyone heard it.  But they were not allowed to do so. Instead, they were ordered to go from house to house and personally tell the people and see to it that they understood and followed the instructions, and make sure no house was left untold. (Source: SHRF)

On October 2, Mizzima News reported that as the three-week long visit of the ILO team was coming to its end, forced portering and forced labor for road construction was still rife in the Naga Hills in Sagaing Division. “According to the local people of Layshi township in the Naga Hills, the Burmese authorities continue to use forced labor for the construction and maintenance of the sixty mile-long Htamanthi-Layshi motor road. In the last week of August, the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) instructed the village authorities to complete the task of road repair and construction by the end of November this year. Naga villagers told Mizzima News that road works are currently under way between Yan Nwe Village and Kyoe Tadar (the Suspension Bridge) near Layshi town involving villagers being forced to “voluntarily” contribute their labor. Moreover, the villagers are made to work at farms of army units in upper Sagaing Division and pay regular tax for army rations. The villagers are also being used as porters by army units moving from one base to another and in patrolling. Army units recruit up to 50 villagers to carry their loads during patrolling or transfer. Seven Burmese army battalions are stationed in the Naga Hills with each battalion being stationed in an area for the duration of two to four months. (Source: Mizzima News)

SPDC often uses civilian forced labor to move its supplies, such as rations and munitions. The best known form is “operation portering”, which occurs where SPDC mounts a major military operation. These operations involve up to 2,000 troops at a time, and on average two to five porters are required for each soldier in order to carry the required ammunition, rations, heavy weaponry and other supplies. To conscript the required number of civilians, SPDC troops, police and local authorities are assigned a quota of how many porters they have to round up.

Once at the frontline, operation porters are assigned to units and given a load to carry over the mountains. The soldiers generally carry nothing except their personal weapon and a small personal kitbag, while each porter is forced to carry 30 to 50 kilogram loads in woven bamboo baskets which rip the flesh off their shoulders and backs. They generally have no change of clothes and are given little or no food, often just one or two handfuls of rice per day and do not have access to adequate supplies of water. They are not paid in any way. They are often sent in front of the column as human minesweepers and used as human shields. Those who are wounded or fall sick are generally not treated but simply left behind as medicine is reserved for the soldiers. While carrying loads, if porters are slow they are usually kicked, prodded with bayonets or beaten to keep them moving, and if they collapse and cannot continue they are left behind, often after being beaten unconscious. Soldiers often open fire on any porters trying to escape, and if captured they are tortured or executed in front of the others as an example. They are usually kept as porters for the duration of the operation, which can be three months or longer. Many escaped operation porters testify that by the time they escaped, half of the original porters had died. Even if the operation ends, they are just told they are free to go and given no assistance to get home, even if it is halfway across the country. 

In addition to portering for military operations, villagers are often conscripted to porter supplies between military camps. Portering assignments to carry supplies between military camps usually last a few days to a week and villagers have to take their own food. Portering takes villagers away from their work and families and there is always the risk of being beaten or killed, so people try to pay instead of going if they can. Doing work for the military not only prevents people from being able to work for their livelihood but it also puts them in harm’s way. The villagers doing forced labor are routinely beaten if they haven’t finished their work, have been taking a short rest or simply don’t do a “good enough” job. If villagers are found hiding in the jungle, they’re often forced to work and porter for the military as well, and people caught in this manner are treated particularly brutally. Porters, drawn both from the relocation sites and the jungle, are expendable to the military.

A partial list of porters tortured and killed is included under the Partial List of Incidents section of this chapter.

In areas under SPDC control, even in places where there no resistance threat, the local people are regularly summoned to do one or more days of forced labor at military camps. Whenever a new battalion moves into an area the nearby villages are forced to provide most of the building materials for the camps. At least one person per household is required to perform forced labor building the barracks and bunkers, digging trenches and erecting fences. They also have to act as messengers, build and maintain the camp buildings and surrounding fences and defenses, clear the ground around the camps and do other work for the troops. People are forced to go on a rotating basis for ‘gkin’ [‘patrol’], which means standing sentry and delivering order documents, messages or packages to villages and between military camps. Demands for these kinds of labor, as well as demands for porters and various fees, are often dictated at regular meetings called by the battalion officers that must be attended by village heads and sometimes heads of households.

Village heads are sometimes ordered to provide comprehensive and detailed registration lists of everyone and everything in their villages. These lists are then used to assess paddy quotas, quotas for forced labor, fees and extortion money, demands for carts, vehicles and other equipment, and to closely monitor the movement of villagers and the arrival of anyone new in the village. People found to be unregistered can be arrested, accused of being ‘insurgents’, and detained and/or tortured. The registration lists are also a tool for intimidation, making the villagers believe that the SPDC knows everything about them and making them afraid to do anything out of the ordinary.

Each village has to send several people on rotating shifts of three to five days to each military camp in their area for miscellaneous forced labor, which is sometimes referred to as ‘patrol’. This labor routinely includes clearing scrub and grass in and around the camp, maintaining barracks, digging and maintaining trenches and bunkers, building fences and man-traps, cutting firewood, carrying water, cooking, cleaning, and delivering messages to other military camps and order letters to local villages.

In areas where there is any possible of conflict, villagers must undertake sentry duty at military camps; often most or all the soldiers sleep, leaving only unarmed villagers as sentries with orders to wake them up if anything happens. Villagers must also clear roadsides of scrubs and trees for anywhere from 5 to 100 meters on each side of military supply roads in order to decrease the chance of ambushes. They also have to do unarmed sentry duty, outside military camps and along vehicle roads which are used by the military. If anyone is seen on the road, they are supposed to send a signal up the line by beating on bamboo sticks. Villagers in northern Mone Township, Karen State report that they now have to do nightly sentry duty along the roads from Kyauk Kyi to Mone and northward to Toungoo. Three villagers have to man each sentry post, which are closely spaced along the road, for rotating 24-hour shifts, and are supposed to report any strangers on the road to the local military. It costs 150 kyat to avoid one 24-hour shift, and villagers are also punished if they are not seen at their post during the shift.

On September 14, 2001, the Pasaung Township authorities issued an order to villagers from Buko, Kwakee, Sholo, Bwadoh and Kosakee villages in Lopwakoe District to come and clear the old Mawchi-Taungoo road. According to the order, villagers from those mentioned villages must finish clearing the road before they can harvest their crops. (Source: KNAHR)

On September 13, 2001, villagers living in Pasaung, Kwet Thit, Kemapyu and Namkin were ordered by the Burmese commander Maj. Aung Aung from IB No. 135, to provide them with 1250 wood posts, 3200 bamboo poles and 60 bamboo sheets for a new military base in Pasaung. In addition, villagers were ordered to bake 25,000 bricks by the troops for the new base building. (Source: KNAHR)

On August 29, 2001, the commander of SPDC LIB No. 428, based in Pruso, ordered the villages of Weithutaw, Beeso, Lyadu, Hteeduku and Hteeduleh to supply them with 10 poles of bamboo each. All village chiefs were ordered to show up at the military base along with the demanded bamboo within five days. (Source: KNAHR)

August 20, 2001. A new military base is being established in Kone Suu village, Loikaw Township to house the troops from IB No. 72. On August 20, the Burmese Major Thura Ne Win Myint from IB No. 72 ordered all villagers living in Kone Suu village tract to supply them with building materials and to work on this new base. Loilin Lay villagers were ordered to distribute wood in 5 trucks (10 wheels drive), Daw Tanaw villagers were ordered to provide 200 hardwood posts and Kone Suu villagers were ordered to supply 300 poles of bamboo. In addition, one person of each household in these villages was ordered to work on the base until finished. They were also asked to do more work on digging trenches around the new base during the base establishment period.
(Source: KNAHR)

As of August 2001, people living in Mawchi, Pasaung cities and Lopwakoe district are now being ordered to come out and work on an old road re-pairing project which is linking Mawchi and Taungoo. People were ordered to clean the roadside from Mawchi to the border with Karen State. There are two reasons that the Burmese regime wish to repair this old road; the first is to re-open the Mawchi Wolfram Mine and the second is to transport logs from the areas down to Rangoon and furthermore to transport military supplies for its troops in the region. There are four battalions of Burmese troops currently deployed along the road for security reasons and local militias were ordered to take security duties along with them. The regime is planning to finish this road-repairing project by the end of 2001.  (Source: KNAHR)

On August 20, 2001 the Burmese troops from LIB No. 424 ordered villagers to clean the roadside 50-feet distance either side. On that day, Kawtuday villager named Saw Tay Ne Htoo, aged 19, (Saw Tay Ne Htoo and Naw Ne She’s son) stepped on a landmine between Six and Eight miles while he cleaned the road. He was brought to Mawchi hospital, but because of insufficient medical supplies his family transferred him without permission to Loikaw Central Hospital for medical care from the Mawchi hospital authorities.  (Source: KNAHR)

On August 10, 2001 all villages located in Lawpita area were ordered to send 20 people from each village in order to work on a Banana Plantation Project owned by USDA by the commander of LIB No. 530. Villagers were ordered to clean the meadow of the plantation field whilst being guarded by troops. (Source: KNAHR)

During the 1st and 2nd weeds of August 2001, officers from the LIB 72 and LB 426 forced villagers from Mahtaw Khu, Lawdalay, Lay Einsu, Sorikyai and Kanni villages, Karenni State to clear land along the 3 mile long water intake pipe of the Baluchaung Dam. The land had to be cleared a furlong on each side. The villagers had to bring their own food and utensils to be used in the clearing. The clearing was done in the areas where land mines had been laid in 1990 for security. The places where the mines were shown with poles with flags. (Source: Federation of Trade Unions Burma: Documented by Karenni Evergreen Environmental Group)

In July 2001, Poe Reh, commander of Burmese militia, based at Hteepoklo, Deemaw Soe Township, ordered each village of Kaylya, Daw Takle and Hteebyanye to supply them with 150 bamboo poles for their barracks by July 6. All villagers from the above-mentioned villages were ordered to show up without fail to the militia base on July 6, 2001. (Source: KNAHR)

June 27, 200, Currently there are only 10 families remaining in Pakyeh village, Loikaw Township after the Burmese troops repeatedly came in and butchered domestic animals owned by villagers without payment, as well as forcing villagers to serve as military porters. A Company of Burmese troops from LIB No. 250 came in and encamped at Pakyeh Pagoda Hill on June 26. They then ordered villagers to fetch water for their daily use every day. On June 27, they arrested 10 villagers in order to serve as military porters from Elephant Camp to Naung Lon Lake. Arrested villagers were forced to carry military rations and ammunitions.  (Source: KNAHR)

On January 13, 2001, 3 villagers were killed and 8 others were wounded when a landmine exploded while they were doing forced labor. SPDC troops from LIB No. 427, 428 and 531 ordered villagers of Maw Thi Tho village, Pruso township, Karenni, to clean Maw Thi Tho military installation. During the cleaning the bomb went off and killed Gyaw Wah Nee, Baw Ei, and Taw Ei from Maw Thi Tho village and wounded Taw Ei, Juliyo, Mya So, Mo Ei Mya, Pha Nel, Do Ei and Law Ei, including two women. After the explosion, the villagers were forced to repair the damage to the camp building by each person from one family bringing bamboo and posts. (Source: KNAHR)

On July 7, 2001, army Tactical Commander No .1 of SPDC Tactical Control Command No. 19, based in Ye Township of Mon State, held a meeting with local civilians in eastern part of Ye township and ordered them to build a Strategic Command office building for them, said a Mon development worker in the area. On that day, army operation strategy commander, Col. Than Toe and Col. Myo Win from battalion LIB No. 591 and Col. Soe Naing from battalion No.583 under command of SPDC brigade. No. 19 gathered the village headmen and villagers in Ye river (Ye-chaung pyar) area and held a meeting in the Kyanug-ywa village PDC office. The plan connected with SPDCs deployment of 2 new military battalions in recent months. In the meeting, SPDC brigade No.19 army strategy commander instructed and villagers to construct three Strategic Command office buildings for them in Kyaung-ywa village. In their order for construction, they ordered the villagers to take responsibility for work-duties depending on the population of the village. 18 small villages in this area have to build one office building as a group according the development worker. On July 10, 2001 Kyaung-ywa village headman collected money from villagers and started construction. For construction supplies and hiring carpenters, the villagers have to use their own money. In this case, to avoid the army’s requisition of compulsory labor from the villagers, army commanders transferred all duties to the concerned village headmen in the area. (Source: Independent Mon News Agency)

During June 2001, junta military authorities forced porters to use (Yaba) drug tablets in order to carry their heavy loads in the front lines of Karen State of Burma, according to 3 porters who escaped on June, 25, 2001.

The military authorities were from Infantry Battalion (IB) No.88 under Light Infantry Division (LID) 77, IB No.8 under (LID) 44 and IB No. 203 under (LID) 22. The military authorities were led by Major Soe Win of IB No.8; who recruited the porters from the following porter-recruiting camps in Mon State of Burma. The porter-recruiting camps are:-

1. Mok Palin porter-recruiting camp,

2. Taung Zun porter-recruiting camp,

3. Yan Nyein porter-recruiting camp,

4. Zin Gyaik porter-recruiting camp and

5. Tha Ton Won Saung porter-recruiting camp. (Source: MICB)

On March 8, 2001, Mudon Township Trucks Administration Department ordered 21 trucks and their owners or drivers from Kamawet village of Mudon Township, to carry 450 Kyins of stones from streams or digging sites to the construction sites. The measurement of one kyin of stones is 100 cubic feet. To complete carrying the total 450 kyins of stones, each truck had to carry for about 7-9 days. If one truck failed to go and work, the owner of that truck had to pay 20, 000 Kyat as fine to the authorities. (Source: HURFOM)

During January and February, 2001, LIB No. 343, which is based in Ye Township and patrolled the southern part of the township area. Conscripted 30 villager porters every day from a Mon village called “Khaw-zar”. The battalion takes porters along with them to carry ammunitions and food supplies while they are launching military patrol in the area to halt the entry of an armed Mon splinter group into the area. Khaw-zar village has about 700 households and the headmen have to provide porters on a rotating and daily basis. Khaw-zar village is a big Mon village near the border of Mon State and Tenasserim Division. One Mon splinter group also launched their military activities in this area after crossing from Yebyu Township of Tenasserim Division. Sometimes, fighting between SPDC and Mon troops also happened in this area and the villagers are also suspected as rebel-supporters. Just recently, in October 2000, to halt the rebels from entering Khaw-zar village, a SPDC battalion, IB No. 61 forced the villagers to fence their villages roundly and have only three small entrances. The villagers or farms who need to go to their farms or plantations daily have to get a permission letter every day from the army commander and they are not allowed to stay at their work-places at night time. When they have no military patrol, they used these villagers to work in their military camp just outside of village, to build military barracks, to build trenches and bunkers, to cook and carry water and other chores. At night time, the soldiers also use villagers to guard their own village and to inform soldiers if the rebel troops are approaching the village. Although SPDC’s Ministry of Interior ordered all military battalions to not use forced labor in their battalion and military patrol or offensives, some battalions, like LIB No. 343 still does not listen and continuously use forced labor in their responsible area. (Source: HURFOM)

In the months after anti-Muslim rioting broke out in Sittwe, Arakan State in February 2001, approximately 3,000 students, teachers and monks were taken into custody in Sittwe. They were taken by Military Intelligence, Police and Paramilitary forces and held without trial. Students as young as ten and eleven were interrogated. Two thirds of those arrested were released after paying bribes to officials. The rest went missing or were sent to the Thai border for portering and forced labor. Some parents who traced their children to the Thai border followed them there and bribed law enforcement authorities to release their children. In one case A Ko Ko Naing (not his real name), aged 16, of Moouleik quarter, Sittwe, was taken to Tacheleik of Shan State along with 47 of his fellow students. He was forced to porter by the military in areas where there were operations going on. His father paid a bribe to Military Intelligence 10 of Sittwe and went to Shan State to bring back his son. Most parents of missing children have been afraid to ask the authorities the whereabouts of their children. (Source: Narinjara News, ‘Arakanese Students Missing Since The Race Riot’, September 28, 2001)

Since the first week of December 2001, military officers forced about 100 civilians to work as free laborers in Arakan State, according to 3 migrant workers who recently reached Mae Sot, a Thai border town opposite Burma, speaking on condition of anonymity. The military officers led by Capt. Aung Gyi of company (4), Light Infantry Battalion N. 542, ordered seven village headmen in Rambre township, Kyauk Pyu district, to recruit about 100 civilians, four days in a week, as volunteer-laborers to work on Road construction around Man Aung Island Myo, Sandoway district, Arakan State. Families that are unable to do the forced labor have to pay 300 kyat to the authorities. The seven villages are:

1. Kyauk Se village (about 100 houses), Village SPDC Chiarman, U Soe Khin,

2. Kong Boung village (about 150 houses), Village SPDC Chairman, U Shwe Ohn,

3. Aung Hla Byin village (about 70 houses), Village SPDC Chairman, U Sein Hla Pyu,

4. Thayet Cho village (about 120 houses), village SPDC Chairman,U Aung Chan Nyo,

5. Kyauk Tway village (about 60 houses), village SPDC Chairman, U Pyu Tin Aung,

6. Gat Pyin village (about 50 houses), village SPDC Chairman, U Ba Thein,

7. Zee Daw village (about 75 houses), village SPDC chairman,U San Tha Aung.

(Source: MICB)

Since October 2001, SPDC administrative officers have been extorting money from the villagers in Thazi township, Mandalay Division, according to three traders on the Thai Burma border, speaking on condition of anonymity. The SPDC Village tract (3) administrative committee and Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) officers of Thazi township led by village Chairman U Ba ordered all the villagers to clean the village without payment every Saturday evening. Any villager unable to participate in the cleaning, has to pay 200 kyat to the Chairman. (Source: MICB)

Beginning in June 2001, farmers from Kangaw township, Magwe division of Western Burma have been forced to work on a farm owned by the Burmese military North Western command. According to U Ba Thein (name changed), a 50 year old farmer from Hantha-wadi village of Kangaw township, it had been 3 months since all the villagers from Kangaw township were ordered to work on the North Western command military-owned farm. The forced labour began in June and was still going on at the time CHRO interviewed U Ba Thein on August 18, 2001. U Ba Thein was forced to work at one of the forced labour camps called “ Kyu-kya ” under the command of Major Thein Aung of LIB 309, Katha battalion. There are several forced labour camps in Kangaw township and Colonel Hla Ngwe, tactical commander of North Western Command is the supervisor of all the labour camps in Magwe division. While this is occurring, the SPDC orders the village headmen to submit monthly reports to the township Peace and Development office saying that there is no forced labor or forced portering in their village. (Source: CHRO)

In the first week of June 2001, Lieutenant Kyaw Kyaw Naing of LIB 274 from Sabawngte army camp ordered village headmen from Lungcawipi, Hlungmang, and Darling to attend a meeting on June 9 at Sabawngte army camp. He warned them that any one who failed to attend the meeting would face severe punishment. In the meeting, Lt. Kyaw Kyaw Naing issued an order for the villagers. This included 5 orders that the villagers must obey without fail. These orders were: they must contribute their labour to rebuild the fence of Sabawngte army camp; Villagers are prohibited from carrying their guns outside of the village, and those caught with their guns outside of the village will be shot; the villagers must record all visitors from other villages; the villagers must obtain permission from the headman when they want to travel; and any guest who does not have a permit from the headman shall report to the army camp. Lt. Kyaw Kyaw Naing warned the headman that if any village failed to comply with these orders, the village would be burnt by the army. According to order number one, the villagers from Lungcawipi, Hlungmang, and Darling were forced to begin work from June 11, 2001. Villagers were forced to work from dawn to dark. Even though the month of June marks the beginning of monsoon and is the busiest time for villagers to work on their farms, they have to abandon their farm work and repair the fence of the army camp. The villagers have to bring their own food and tools to work at the army camp. (Source: CHRO)

SPDC in Kalay Township, Sagaing Division have ordered all village headmen to report that there is no forced portering and forced labor in their respective areas. According to “U Phu Kya,” a 45 year old Burmese village council member from Ywasi-Ywatha village tract in Sagaing Division, beginning in June 2001 the township Peace and Development Council ordered all the village headmen to write monthly reports stating that there is no portering or forced labor in their villages, despite the existence of the practice of forced labor on a large scale throughout the region. Again on August 8, 2001, all the village council members in Kalay Township were summoned to the township Peace and Development Council office and forced to sign statements that there was no portering or forced labor in their villages. (Source: CHRO)

August 18, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 37 based in Klaw-mee-der, led by captain Tin Ko Oo, demanded 72,000 Kyat as porter fees and 19,200 Kyat as runner fees for August in Klaw-mee-der area, Tantabin Township. The villagers and village heads appealed to Tin Ko Oo as they had difficulty to find the money. But he did not accept their request and threatened the villagers by pointing his gun at them. In addition, the officer told the village heads to report if they had unusual information. At present, the SPDC troops in Toun-goo District restricted the villagers’ activities, and demanded porters, cash and various kinds of food from the villagers. (Source: KIC)

Beginning July 2001, Bo Htun Nay Win from SPDC IB- 73 demanded 10 Klaw-mee-doe villagers, Tantabin Township, as porters daily. Moreover he also demanded 52,500 Kyat per week as porter fees at the rate of 7,500 Kyat per day from that village. He also demanded 2 chickens per week per village from nearby 6 villages and 3,000 Kyat as runner fees at the rate of 500 Kyats per week per village from those 6 villages. Bo Htun Nay Win and his troops of SPDC IB-73 base at Klaw-mee-doe took merchandise from the shops of that village on credit and the village head man had to pay their debts every day. Bo Htun Nay Win was squeezing money from Klaw-mee-doe villagers in various ways and as a result villagers were faced with a difficult situation. (Source: KIC)

June 26, 2001, Bo Hun Naming Win and Bo Hla Kyow Oo of SPDC IB-73 based at Plaw-mee-doe camp summoned villages heads in Plaw-mee-doe area, Tantabin Township and demanded them to either supply the army 6 porters or 108,000 kyats per village every month. Moreover they also demanded 2 persons from Plaw-mee-doe to serve as runners and give information everyday or to pay 4,200 kyats as runner fees every month. On that day Bo Hun Naming Win of IB-73 also demanded 10 villagers from Hu-mu-doe, 10 villagers from Ler-Kla- doe and 10 villagers from Plaw-mee-doe to serve as porters. (Source: KIC)

From June 15, 2001 to June 20, 2001, officers from SPDC commander 3, operation commander Khin Yi from Eastern command head quarters battalion commander of IB 124, battalion command of IB 20 and Brigadier general Win Myint from Ba Yint Naung garrion town collected 70 people from each ward and for a total of 500 persons from Than-daung town, Than-daung Township to carry food supplies to Day-lor army base. Until these days, the army is still seizing people in Than-daung to carry supplies for the army. Moreover, the army did not allow villagers going outside their village in villages located between Day-lor to Than-daung. (Source: KIC)

Starting from the beginning of May up to now (May 18), a column from SPDC IB 75 under LID 66, based in Glaw-mee-doe village, Tantabin Township demanded 12 villagers from the villages as porters regularly. If the villagers failed, a villager had to pay 700 kyat as a fine. If a month had 30 days, the villages in Glaw-mee-doe area had to pay 252,000 kyat, but if a month had 31 days, the villagers had to pay 336,000 Kyat, in porter fees. The SPDC IB 75 troops forced men, women and children from Glaw-mee-doe villages to carry their food and military supplies constantly. At present, SPDC troops from battalions, columns and guerrilla units of Operation Command No. 3, under Southern Command, have been operating in Glaw-mee-doe area, planting landmines, demanding porters, runners and food from the villages. The SPDC troops from battalions, columns and guerrilla units of Western Command in Than-daung Township, demanded cash from the villages in their operational area. In addition, the troops place all kinds of restrictions on the villagers in Ba-yin-naung-tat-myo and demand food and various kinds of items from the villagers in that area. (Source: KIC)

May 1, 2001, a column from SPDC IB 75, which was operating in Hu-mu-der village, demanded 200 villagers from Klaw-mee-der, Hu-mu-der and Ler-klah-der villages, Tantabin Township. The troops forced these villagers to carry military supplies from Pet-let-wah to Klaw-mee-der village for two days at a time. In addition, the troops seized all the villagers including men, women and children for using them as porters. Also, troops from the so-called SPDC guerrilla unit demanded voluntarily work and porter fees. These troops harassed the villages around that area constantly. (Source: KIC)

April 13, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 75, based in Glaw-mee-doe village, demanded 15 villagers from Ket-doe village, 15 from Ler-kla-doe village, 15 from Hu-mu-doe village and 30 from Glaw-mee-doe village, Tantabin Township to serve as porters. On 14-4-2001, the troops forced them to carry food supplies to Nar-lay-ta.(Source: KIC, KORD)

In March, the SPDC troops in Ta-ta-bin and Than-daung Townships, had been demanding cash and villagers to serve as porters from the villages, in the townships, everyday.
(Source: KIC)

February 15, 2001, The SPDC Southern Army Command demanded villagers and trucks from Baw-gali, Kaw-thay-doe (Tatanbin Township), Than-daung and new Than-daung (Than-daung Township) to carry enough rations for one year for the army. (Source: KIC)

February 8, 2001, Column 1 and 2 of SPDC LIB 48 under the control of battalion commander Khin Maung Sint forced 15 villagers of Baw-gali and Kaw-thay-doe villages, Tantabin Township to carry military supplies to Bu-hsa-khee. (Source: KIC)

January 30, 2001, Troops from SPDC again seized another 70 villagers from Pet-kaw-doe, Deh-doh and Maw-ko-doe, Tantabin Township to carry military rations from Baw-ka-li to Tha-aye-ta. (Source: KIC)

January 28, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 344, led by column commander Zaw Htun seized 70 villagers from Pet-kaw-doe, Deh-doe and Maw-ko-doe villages, Tantabin Township and forced them to carry military rations from Baw-ka-li to Tha-aye-ta.
(Source: KIC)

On January 27, 2001, SPDC troops from IB 30 and 73 arrested 13 villagers and sent them to their front line base camp at Bu Has Khee to serve as porters. The arrested villagers were 2 from Kler Lar village, 2 from Kaw Thay Der village and 9 from Klae Soe Khee villager. (Source: KORD)

January 22, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB - 344 led by column (2) commander Zaw Tun seized 30 Per-kaw-doe villages and 7 Maw-ko-doe and Der-doh villages, Tantabin Township and used them as porters to carry supplies from Baw-ga-li to Tha-aye-tha. (Source: KIC)

January 1, 2001, The so-called SPDC guerrilla unit based at Play-hsa-lo village, Tantabin Township, led by Min Zaw and Tun Nay Win, demanded from Play-hsa-lo, Yeh-lo and nearby villages, villagers for carrying supplies from Play-hsa-lo to Tha-byay-nyunt village. Moreover, these troops also demanded at least 25 villagers to go with the military columns, per week to the front line. (Source: KIC)

July 29, 2001, about 50 soldiers from SPDC LIB 440 forced Saw Shwe Htoo from Mar-lar-daw villager, Kyauk Kyi Township to show them the way to Ta-ler-der. On July 30, 2001, again the troops forced villager Pah Teh and Saw Nya Tan Pa to show the way to Ta-ler-der and on 30-7-2001, these troops demanded the villagers to find out the places of Karen resistance fighters. (Source: KIC)

April 19, 2001, one bullock cart with food supplies arrived in Ma-la-daw village, Kyauk Kyi Township. As a result, the troops immediately forced 35 villagers to carry the food supplies to Saw-tay-doe and up to Ta-ler-day. (Source: KIC)

April 13, 2001, troops from an SPDC unit, forced U Nay Win to carry 30 baskets of rice, with his bullock cart, to Ma-lar-daw, Kyauk Kyi Township. In Mar-lar-daw, the troops forced 30 villagers to carry the rice to Maw-doe place. (Source: KIC)

April 1, 2001, The 50-man strong SPDC IB 73, demanded 5 bullock carts and 50 villagers from Ma-lar-daw village, Kyauk Kyi Township to carry military supplies to Saw-tay-doe village. (Source: KIC)

March 20, 2001, A unit from SPDC IB 26 took 24 women villagers to Saw-tay-doe, Kyauk Kyi Township to carry supplies along with a military column. (Source: KIC)

On October 7, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 8, led by Column 1 Commander, Ko Ko Aung came to Ta-rweh-kee village, Thaton District, Karen State for a military operation. While camping in the village, the troops demanded 2 villagers to serve as porters and while camping outside the village, they demanded 5 villagers to serve as porters, everyday. The troops paid the village porters 50 Kyat, per day, for their service. (Source: KIC)

On October 5, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 101, led by second lieutenant Thant Tit with DKBA troops came to Pwa-hgaw village, Thaton District, Karen State and demanded 4 villagers to serve as porters, and a basket of rice, a Viss of chicken and a bottle of liquor. (Source: KIC)

On August 26, 2001, SPDC troops from IB 6 and LIB 106 led by commander Soe Tun forced more than 200 villagers from 10 villages in Thaton District to carry 1,150 sacks of rice from Mae Pu Hta to their military outpost in Mae Pray Hkee. The villages affected were: 100 villagers from Ta Eu Hki; 50 villagers from Nya Po Hki; 80 villagers from Ka Paw Hke; 50 villagers from Klaw Hta; Toe Tae Hke and Kwee Lay Pya. An unknown number of villagers from Siko, Nya Su Hta and Mae Pyu Hkib had to carry 150 sacks of rice. (Source: CIDKP)

August 25, 2001, troops from SPDC stole a goat from villager Saw Sa Nyo. The troops demanded rice as well as porters from Ta-u-kee village, Bilin Township. The troops said that if the villagers failed to meet their demand they would have to pay 10 Viss of pork or 5,000 Kyat. (Source: KIC)

On August 24, 2001, a company from SPDC IB Battalion 6 led by Company Commander Aung Kyaw Soe forced 50 villagers from Nya Po Hki and 80 villagers from Maw Hki to serve as porters. (Source: CIDKP)

August 21, 2001, The company 4 commander, Aung Kyaw Soe, from IB 6 of SPDC Tactical Command 772 forced 50 Nya-po-kee villagers and 80 Pauk-kee villagers, Bilin Township to carry rice from Mae-pu-ta to Mae-pree-kee. At present, SPDC troops did not allow the villages to go for work at 6:00 o’clock in the morning. The village have to return to the villages by 6:00 0' clock in the evening. (Source: KIC)

August 21, 2001, (Bilin Township) Company Commander Aung Kyaw Zaw and LIB 106 Battalion commander, Soe Htun, forced: (1) 100 villagers of Ta-u-kee village to carry 350 bags of rice, (2) 50 villagers of Nya-po-kee village to carry 150 bags of rice, (3) 80 villagers of Pauk-kee village to carry 200 bags of rice, (4) 50 villagers of Ee-sue-kee to carry 150 bags of rice, (5) villagers of Kee-ko/Nya-shu-kee/Mae-pree villages to carry 150 bags of rice, (6) 50 Klaw-ta/Toe-theh-kee/Kweeh-lay-pyan villagers to carry 150 bags of rice to Division 772 camp. If the villagers failed, they had to pay cash 5,000 Kyat or 10 viss of pork as a fine. The troops had already 3,000 bags of rice hauled from Mae-pu-ta to Division 772 camp. In this rainy season, SPDC troops forced the villagers to haul rations three times more than in previous years. (Source: KIC)

August 21, 2001, operation commander of SPDC Division 772, ordered IB 6 battalion commander Ko Ko Naing to force 100 Ta-u-kee villagers and 50 Pauk-kee villagers, Bilin Township to serve as porters for carrying rice to Mae-pu-ta. (Source: KIC)

July 24, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 106 of Division 77 came to Ka-wah-ta village, Bilin Township and looted: (1) a machete and a cat from Naw Ber Pa, (2) 3 Pyi of rice from Maung Shwe Hla, (3) a chicken from Naw Lee, (4) 4 chickens from Naw Pu Pet, (5) a dog and a Viss of sesame paste from Pah Mae Moe, (6) a chicken from Naw Shwe, (7) a chicken and a Pyi of rice from Naw Moe Lo, (8) a chicken from Ma Wah Moe and 7 chickens and a female pig from other villagers. In addition, the troops took 8 villagers with them as porters and guides, and as they got lost on the way, the troops slapped the faces 3-4 times of Ka-wah-ta villagers Saw Pah Mae and Saw Maung Than, accusing them of showing the wrong way. (Source: KIC)

April 16, 2001, The DKBA troops, led by Moe Jo, came to Kwee-lay village, Bilin Township and demanded a pig from Naw Ma Bo and a pig from Naw Pet. In addition, they seized 9 villagers for use as porters. (Source: KIC)

April 2, 2001, Troops from No. 1 column of LIB 107, under SPDC LID 77, led by second lieutenant Soe Htun and company commander Soe Min, came to Kwee-lay and Klaw-ta villages, Bilin Township and seized women villagers of Kwee-lay and Klaw-ta, for portage. (Source: KIC)

On September 24, 2001, Captain Thein Htun, from SPDC LIB 548 based at Pa-ya-ngote-toe camp of Kya-inn township, summoned nearby villages namely Kayan-taung, Hsin-bote-inn, Ka-sa, Kyone-sein, Hsin-kaung, Hsi-zone and Ta-yoke-maw. He instructed them to send, without fail, one villager from each village to serve as porter, for one month at the camp, and to replace monthly the old ones with new ones. (Source: KIC)

From September 22 to 26, 2001, the SPDC, No. 2 Operation Group of the Western Command forced villagers to construct a military camp at Anam-gwin village, in Win-yay township. Villagers who were forced to work were: (1) Saw Maung Lay 48, (2) Saw Pah Loe 39, (3) Maw Ta Kha 35, (4) Saw Ta Lay Kho 40, (5) Pah Lu Tu 30, (6) Pah Thu Kha 30, (7) Naw Pa Dah Pa 48, (8) Saw Hay Ta 22, (9) Saw Say Lay 50, (10)Maung Kyi Htwe 20, (11) Saw Po Twe 40, (12)Saw Ohn Pe 30, (13) Maung Win Tin 30, (14) Saw Hsar Da 29, (15) Saw Bo Gay 24, (16) Saw Aye Kywe 23, (17)Saw Ki 23, (18) Saw Day Naw 24, (19) Saw Hai Gay 30, (20) Pah Kya Li 23, (21) Toe Kyay Li 45, (22) Saw Pyaw Yi 30, (23) Saw Paw Bo 18, (24) Saw Pah Dah 18, (25) Saw Hnget 42, from Kaka-tit village. They were forced to cut and carry wood and Bamboo. The troops also forced (1) Sein Aung Hti (2) Kyaw Parch (3) Kyaw Than Maung (4) Saw Ka Kyi (5) Maung Khaing (6) Maung Htun Aye (7) Kyaw Hsar Nu (8) Kyaw Klu Tel (9) Maung Hla Soe (10) Saw Ah Noo (11) Maung Yi Lwin (12) Saw Hsar Kya Nge (13) Maung Tha Ga Nu (14) Saw Paw Gaw (15) Toe Kaw Ku (16) Htaw Noe Kleh (17) Koo Loo Po (18) Pah Ti Toe (19) Saw dTee Peh (20) U Thaung (21) Pah Meh Tha (22) Kya Maung (23) Shwe Lay Kyai (24) Kyaw Dah Lay (25) Saw Nga Say (26) Saw Pah Pote (27) Maung Tha Khin (28) Saw Meh Lah (29) Ta Pay Lay (30) Maung Thauk Kya (31) Kyaw Theik Pan (32) Ta Kay Htee (33) Kyaw Hla Aye (34) Lay Kyaing (35)Kaw Lar Hai (36) Ta Kay Htee (37) Kyaw Klay (38) Ba Kyaing (39) Pa Ei Tee (40) Meh Pay (41) Maung Pu Hla (42) Saw Say Set (43) Kyaw Thee Hai (44) KNoe Kha (45) U Nyein (46) Pah Lay (47) Kyaw Leh Mee (48) Shwe Htun (49) Kyaw Kaw Kay Po (50) Kyaw Lah Khee (51) Maung Thein (52) Nga Ha (53) Po Ya Ni (54) Saw Pah Htee (55) Neh Htee Daw (56) Mee Ta (57) Kyaw Lo Tha (58) Day Tu (59) Kyaw Ka Ba (60) Chai Neh (61) Pah Li Lah (62) Pa Soe (63) Kyaw Po Tha Kwa (64) Po Poe Loe (65) Kyaw Htun Hlaing (66) Kyaw Tee Ti (67) Saw Ta Poe (68) Kyaw Bay (69) Lay Shwe (70) Maung Kyah (71) Aye Kyay Pee (72) Kyaw Bah (73) Na Dee (74) Maung Si Way (75) Pah Mu Tu (76) Maung Khan and (77) Kaw Ler, and 17 bullock carts from Yet-paw village to cut and carry 1,600 bamboo poles and 80 wood poles. (Source: KIC)

From September 16 to 20, 2001, About 150 troops from SPDC IB 231 led by Column Commander Than Zaw Oo forced villagers to serve as porters to carry military supplies at the frontline for the column. Each had to carry a weight of 30 Viss, without receiving food. The victims were: (1) Saw Moo Kri 37, (2) Saw Eh Htoo 38, (3) Saw Pwe Paw 32, (4) Saw Hsa Mu Wah 18, (5) Saw Htun Kway Htee Kla 35, (6) Saw Maung Lin Aung 20, (7) Saw Je 22, from Pu Yae village, Kaw Ka Reik township, and (8) Saw Ta Kay 35, (9) Saw Maung Neh Kay 28, (10) Saw Dah Wah 49, (11) Saw Ta Loe 32, (12) Saw Maung Win 36, (13) Saw Maung Lin Tin 36, (14) Saw Wah Yu 28, (15) Saw Ah Su 25, and (16) Saw Ngwe 23, from Win-lon village, Kya-inn township. (Source: KIC)

July 27, 2001, Pway Pwa villagers who fled to Pwa-weh-hta were forcibly driven back to their own village. Due to forced labour by SPDC, Pway-pwa villagers namely (1) Saw Maung Tin (2) Saw Htun Tin (3) Saw Tha Hser (4) Saw Pah Ter and (5) Swa Kya Mu had not finished sowing paddy to their paddy fields. (Source: KIC)

June 27, 2001, Battalion commander Sein Maung and battalion second in command Thein Htay of SPDC LIB -119 under control of LID-33 came into Kay Kor and Pway Pwa area and demanded villages from Ma-lay-ler, Win-maung and Mae-chone villagers to carry food supplies to Mae-waing army camp. In order to avoid being attacked, the army put a villager in between every troop to go along with the column. Due to forcing villagers to work, Pway-bwa village which was a small village could no longer tolerate forced labour and later shifted to Pwa-wai-hta. However, the battalion command of LIB-119 felt dissatisfied with those villagers and made contact with SPDC LID- 77 to drive them back to their own village. (Source: KIC)

June 19, 2001, Acting Battalion commander Aung Min Lwin of SPDC LIB-111 ordered 2 Mae waing villagers, Papun Township to come and wait at their military camp every day. The army used them to carry the luggage and to go in front as guides. He ordered the villagers that if any of his troops being killed or wounded by the enemy’s gun or landmines, the villages had to compensate 100,000 Kyats and the villages also had to exchange new porters every five day and provide his troops 30 viss of pork every month.(Source: KIC)

May 2, 2001, Major Khin Maung from SPDC LIB 110 summoned Maw-thay-tha villagers to carry food supplies. (Source: KIC)

April 1, 2001, (Papun Township) Troops from SPDC IB 36 led by Bo Zaw Htoo seized 6 villagers from Kyo-kho-doe village, 5 from Hee-po-doe village and 3 at Saw-bwe-doe village as porters and forced them to carry supplies from Kaw-pu to Nah-oh-lor camp. (Source: KIC)

On March 13, 2001, troops from LIB 340, column commander Myint Way Aung, entered Ter Gaw Soe and looted villagers belongings. They also took 2 bullock carts and forced the owners to go to Papun and transport military rations to the front line. (Source: KORD)

February 16, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 370, based at Mae-waing, demanded 66 Mae-waing villagers to carry food supplies from Mae-waing to Maw-thay-tha.
(Source: KIC)

On January 1, 2001, IB-36 officer Zaw Htun and his troops seized 6 villagers from Kyokhoder, 5 from Hepoeder and 3 from Hsawbweder and forced them to carry supplies from Kawpu to Nahulu. (Source: KORD)

July 30, 2001, Troops from so-called SPDC Peace Unit (anti-insurgent unit), led by Saw Thu Mu Heh, ordered Noh-dar-shu and Kyaw-kay-ko villagers to carry 20 tons of granite stone from Plaw-ker-ko to Ka-lay-kee villages, without any payment. (Source: KIC)

July 15, 2001, Combined troops from SPDC LIB 545 and LIB 546, led by Column 2 commander Soe Tin, came to Oo-kyu-khee village, Kya-inn township and forced villagers: (1) Saw Toe Po, M-43, (2) Saw Toe Po Soe, M-30 and (3) Saw Bleh Dah, M-29 to carry supplies from Oo-kyu-khee village to army camp in Ka-li village. (Source: KIC)

July 10, 2001, Camp commander Khin Maung Gyi from SPDC LIB 545, seized Noh-taw-pla villagers: (1) Saw Paw Way, M-19, (2)Saw Hsa Htoo, M-23, (3) Saw Htoo Ker, M-22, (4) Saw Ni Ni, M-49, (5) Saw Pi Aye, M-32, (6) Saw Lu Thaw, M-36, (7) Saw Peh, M-33, (8) Saw Ka Plu, M-39, (9) Saw Toh Pa Wee, M-40, as porters for 4 days. The army forced them to carry arms and ammunition from Ka-li-khee camp to Htee Po Thein village, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 9, 2001, Combined troops from SPDC IB 545 and 546, led by Column commander Soe Tin, forced Noh-taw-pla villagers: (1)Saw Po Kyay, M-29, (2)Saw Lu, M-39, (3)Saw Htoo Law, M-25, and (4)Saw Ka Day, M-33 to carry food supplies from Ka-li-khee army camp to Pa-ya village, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 9, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 34 under the SPDC Western Command, led by battalion commander Lt. col. Kyaw Win, came to Tu-ler village of Win-yin Township and seized and took with him Tu-ler villagers for portage. The villagers were; (1) Saw Win Lay (M, 30), (2) Saw Aung Bweh (M, 50), (3) Saw Pway Tha (M, 40), (4) Saw Ta Set (M, 22), (5) Saw shwe Han (M, 45), (6) Saw Ben Kyaw (M, 42), (7) Saw Tahm Lee (M, 47), (8) Saw Thet Win (M, 16), (9) Saw Kyaw Kweh Kweh (M, 36), (10) Saw Thein Chit (M, 22) and (11) Saw Than Pyu (M, 38). (Source: KIC)

July 4, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 546, led by battalion commander Soe Tin, forced Nga-pyaw-daw villager Saw Naing Kyi to carry food supplies to the top of Ka-lay-kee mountain, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 3, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 545, based in Ka-lay-kee village, Win Yae Township and led by officer Win Htun, demanded 2 bullock carts and 5 villagers and forced them to carry military supplies. The road, damaged by rain, caused much difficulty to the villagers. (Source: KIC)

July 1, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 344, led by battalion commander Myint Thein, came to Ah-pyaw village and seized and took with them villagers for portage. They had not released them at the time of this report. The villagers were: (1) Saw Kay Po (M, 37), (2) Saw Mya Win (M, 30), (3) Saw Than Kyaw (M, 28), (4) Saw Pa Hay (M, 32), (5) U Lu Tin (M, 55), (6) U Maung Thein (M, 54), (7) U Aung (M, 38), (8) Ta Pway (M, 25), (9) Saw Pah Pa (M, 45), (10) Than Kyaw Lin (M, 18), (11) Tin San (M, 30) and (12) Auw Kaw (M, 42). (Source: KIC)

June 29, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 548, led by battalion Tin Maung Oo, demanded 5 bullock carts from villagers to carry military supplies to Kya-in. The villagers were not free and failed to go so the troops arrested the village head of Kya-in and forced the bullock carts and the village head to reach Ta-ku-kee within that night. (Source: KIC)

June 27, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB- 548, led by Battalion commander Tin Maung Oo, ordered 5 bullock carts from Kya-inn village headman to carry food supplies, but as the villages failed to comply, the troops came and arrested the headman and forced him to transport supplies with one bullock cart, within the night. (Source: KIC)

June 27, 2001, troops from SPDC 548, led by battalion commander Tin Maung Oo, forced 3 Ta-ku-kee villagers, Kya In Township Saw Toe Ku, Saw Klo Mee and Saw Tha Yo Htoo, and 3 bullock carts to carry military supplies to Ka-lay-kee.(Source: KIC)

May 30, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 106, led by Major Than Win came to Ma-u village, Dooplaya District, Karen State and demanded belongings from the villagers. They also forced 4 villagers to serve as porters.  (Source: KIC)

July 30, 2001, Troops from so-called SPDC Peace Unit (anti-insurgent unit), led by Saw Thu Mu Heh, ordered Noh-dar-shu and Kyaw-kay-ko villagers to carry 20 tons of granite stone from Plaw-ker-ko to Ka-lay-kee villages, without any payment. (Source: KIC)

July 15, 2001, combined troops from SPDC LIB 545 and LIB 546, led by Column 2 commander Soe Tin, came to Oo-kyu-khee village, Kya-inn township and forced villagers: (1) Saw Toe Po, M-43, (2) Saw Toe Po Soe, M-30 and (3) Saw Bleh Dah, M-29 to carry supplies from Oo-kyu-khee village to army camp in Ka-li village. (Source: KIC)

July 10, 2001, camp commander Khin Maung Gyi from SPDC LIB 545, seized Noh-taw-pla villagers: (1) Saw Paw Way, M-19, (2)Saw Hsa Htoo, M-23, (3) Saw Htoo Ker, M-22, (4) Saw Ni Ni, M-49, (5) Saw Pi Aye, M-32, (6) Saw Lu Thaw, M-36, (7) Saw Peh, M-33, (8) Saw Ka Plu, M-39, (9) Saw Toh Pa Wee, M-40, as porters for 4 days. The army forced them to carry arms and ammunition from Ka-li-khee camp to Htee Po Thein village, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 9, 2001, combined troops from SPDC IB 545 and 546, led by Column commander Soe Tin, forced Noh-taw-pla villagers: (1)Saw Po Kyay, M-29, (2)Saw Lu, M-39, (3)Saw Htoo Law, M-25, and (4)Saw Ka Day, M-33 to carry food supplies from Ka-li-khee army camp to Pa-ya village, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 9, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 34 under the SPDC Western Command, led by battalion commander Lt. col. Kyaw Win, came to Tu-ler village of Win-yin Township and seized and took with him Tu-ler villagers for portage. The villagers were; (1) Saw Win Lay (M, 30), (2) Saw Aung Bweh (M, 50), (3) Saw Pway Tha (M, 40), (4) Saw Ta Set (M, 22), (5) Saw shwe Han (M, 45), (6) Saw Ben Kyaw (M, 42), (7) Saw Tahm Lee (M, 47), (8) Saw Thet Win (M, 16), (9) Saw Kyaw Kweh Kweh (M, 36), (10) Saw Thein Chit (M, 22) and (11) Saw Than Pyu (M, 38). (Source: KIC)

July 4, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 546, led by battalion commander Soe Tin, forced Nga-pyaw-daw villager Saw Naing Kyi to carry food supplies to the top of Ka-lay-kee mountain, Win Yae Township. (Source: KIC)

July 3, 2001: troops from SPDC LIB 545, based in Ka-lay-kee village, Win Yae Township and led by officer Win Htun, demanded 2 bullock carts and 5 villagers and forced them to carry military supplies. The road, damaged by rain, caused much difficulty to the villagers. (Source: KIC)

July 1, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 344, led by battalion commander Myint Thein, came to Ah-pyaw village and seized and took with them villagers for portage. The villagers were, (1) Saw Kay Po (M, 37), (2) Saw Mya Win (M, 30), (3) Saw Than Kyaw (M, 28), (4) Saw Pa Hay (M, 32), (5) U Lu Tin (M, 55), (6) U Maung Thein (M, 54), (7) U Aung (M, 38), (8) Ta Pway (M, 25), (9) Saw Pah Pa (M, 45), (10) Than Kyaw Lin (M, 18), (11) Tin San (M, 30) and (12) Auw Kaw (M, 42). (Source: KIC)

June 29, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 548, led by battalion Tin Maung Oo, demanded 5 bullock carts from villagers to carry military supplies to Kya-in. The villagers were not free and failed to go so the troops arrested the village head of Kya-in and forced the bullock carts and the village head to reach Ta-ku-kee within that night. (Source: KIC)

June 27, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB- 548, led by Battalion commander Tin Maung Oo, ordered 5 bullock carts from Kya-inn village headman to carry food supplies, but as the villages failed to comply, the troops came and arrested the headman and forced him to transport supplies with one bullock cart, within the night. (Source: KIC)

June 27, 2001, troops from SPDC 548, led by battalion commander Tin Maung Oo, forced 3 Ta-ku-kee villagers, Kya In Township Saw Toe Ku, Saw Klo Mee and Saw Tha Yo Htoo, and 3 bullock carts to carry military supplies to Ka-lay-kee.(Source: KIC)

May 28, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 106, led by Major Than Win, seized 6 Ma-u-bin villagers as porters to carry supplies to Taung-ga-lay village. (Source: KIC)

May 24, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 106, led by column commander Major Than Win, came into Ma-oo village and extorted, (1) 3 chickens from Daw Ma Htwe, F-63, (2) one chicken from U Pein Lar, M-30, (3) 4 chickens from U The Na Koo, M-32, (4) 5 chickens from U Kwa Toe, M-63, (5) one duck from U Ali, M-38, (6) 6 tins of sardines from Naw Ku Yah, M-30, (7) one Viss of onion, 20 Kyat worth of cooking oil from Ma Khaing and (8) 2 sardines, half a viss of chili, 10 Kyat worth of cooking oil, 20 cheroots, 2 and a half baskets of rice, 2 Viss of chicken and 2 packets of London cigarettes from the shop of Naw Beh Kyeh. On that day, these troops also forced two villagers to serve as porters. (Source: KIC)

May 22, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 548, column 2, led by Major Naing Lwin, came into Ko-du-kweh village and extorted from villagers, (1) Maung Hla, M-35, 2 chickens, (2) Maung Kyaw Lin, M-42, 2 chickens, (3) Naw Ku Paw, 6 chicken eggs. In addition, they forced Saw Kyaw Naung, M-35, to serve as a porter. (Source: KIC)

April 27, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 62, led by column commander, Major Thu-ra Myint Thu, seized 7 chickens from Daw Ma Chaw of Htee-pa-taw village, Win-yin Township. On the same day, the troops demanded 16 villagers from Lake-po and Nah-kyi villages to serve as porters. (Source: KIC)

April 3, 2001, No. 2 column commander, Kyaw Soe Tint, of SPDC LIB 546, demanded bullock carts from villages in Kya-in-Seik-kyi and Kyon-doe Townships. The villages, having to provide the carts, were: (1) Dah-lee village, 5 bullock carts; (2) Shwe-doe village, 2 bullock carts; (3) Bee-sa-ka village, 5 bullock carts; (4) Win-ka village, 13 bullock carts; (5) Htee-po-tha village, 2 bullock carts; (6) Tha-min-doot village, 11 bullock carts; (7) Ler-thay village, 3 bullock carts; (8) Htee-klee village, 2 bullock carts; (9) Aung-chan-tha village, 2 bullock carts and (10) Paw-wah-klo village, 2 bullock carts. He demanded altogether 65 bullock carts and forced them to carry heavy loads of ammunitions and rations, from Kya-in-seik-kyi to Kyaik-don Town. Reports said that SPDC LIB 546, demanded about 200 bullock carts, but the villagers could not provide them, because the cattle and bullock carts were still being employed for work in the fields. In fact, no one wanted to go, as the troops used bullock carts for hauling heavy loads and mistreated the men as well as the animals by beating, swearing and starving. However, the villagers were forced to provide hauling service 4 or 5 days or even a week, at a time. (Source: KIC)

March 14, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 549, came to Pa-deh-prot village and seized Saw Pah Kwa, M, 25, Saw Pa Si, son of Saw Pa Nga, and Naw Hsa Klo, a nursing mother and daughter of Saw Lah Bweh, together with her infant child, for carrying supplies as porters. (Source: KIC)

March 13, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 545, came to Kyaung-gon village and demanded from the village headman 5 baskets of rice and 10 villagers to serve as porters.
(Source: KIC)

February 1, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 704, led by Major Kyaw Zwa Thein demanded 15 carts from Kyune-kone, 10 carts from Noe-ta-su, 5 carts from Kyaw-kay-ko villages to carry military rations from Kya-in to Htee-po-tha village, Kya-in Seik Kyi Township in one day. (Source: KIC)

July 17, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 280, led by Kyin Maung Aye, demanded 5 villagers from Peh-cha village as porters. They said that if the village failed to provide porters, each family had to pay 200 Kyat. On the same day, the troops demanded 10 villagers from Pa-saw-u village as porters. (Source: KIC)

July 5, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 376, led by battalion commander Win Oo Myint, seized the students from Kler-pu village and forced them to carry food supplies to Kaw-tee-lo village, for the whole day without any food. (Source: KIC)

On June, 20, 2001, Junta authorities ordered four groups of villages in Karen State to provide them with porters or money, according to two villagers who came to Thai-Burma border.

Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.547, LIB No. 548 and LIB No.549 led by Strategy commander Major Than Zaw Htoo and Democratic Buddhist Karen (DKBA) Capt. Moon Daing have been recruiting porters from 4 groups of villages since early this year. Each family, which was unable to provide porter, has to give the authorities Ks.2000 each time. Each village has to provide the authorities with 10 to 15 porters a day. The porters have to work 5 days each time.

The 4 groups of villages are from Pa-an and Kawkareik townships and the groups are as follows:-

1. Kaw Kalaung group consists of 15 villages or (over 1000 houses).

2. Naung Ta Bay group consists of 14 villages or ( about 1200 houses).

3. Naw Ka Dae group consists of 9 villages or ( about 1100 houses).

4. Mya Pa Daing group consists of 11 villages or (about 1200 houses). (MICB)

March 12, 2001, The SPDC troops forced Ler-ker-doe-ka villagers to carry supplies and go with them to the front line. In a fire fight, villagers - (1) Saw Maung Win, M, 50, son of Saw Haw Thata, (2) Saw Koe Lo Di, M, 24, son of Saw Pa Eh, (3) Saw Eh Win, M, 50, son of Saw Raw Ba, (4) Saw Nee Plo, M, 50, son of Saw Tha Doo, (5) Saw Aw Htoo Say, M, 28, son of Saw Shee Peh, (6) Saw Du Ner, M, 35, son of Saw Kwee Yai, (7) Saw Ka Tha, M, 25, son of Saw Shay and (8) Saw Kyaw Doe, M, 35, son of Saw Ta Moo, all from Ler-ker-doe-kah village, were wounded. Of them, Saw Maung Win and Saw Du Ner were seriously wounded. In addition, Tha-bar-ber villagers, Saw Baw Gay, M, 13, son of Saw Maung Day, and Saw Klo Htoo, M, 35, son of Saw Peh were also wounded. (Source: KIC)

August 11, 2001, U Aung Pu 48, son of U Nyunt of In-kying section of Za-yat-kyi-myo, who was serving as a porter for SPDC IB-26, stepped on a landmine planted by SPDC IB 26 troops in Bu-hsa-kee area, Tantabin Township and lost both legs. (Source: KIC)

August 16, 2001, At 11:35 AM, troops from Column 1 of SPDC IB 26 forced Baw-ga-li villagers to carry rations to Klet-mu. Baw-ka-li villager Saw Klo Htoo (aka) Saw Po Oo (32), son of U Ko Yan, stepped on a landmine planted by SPDC troops at Klet-mu, Tantabin Township and died. (Source: KIC)

On 25 July, 2001, 4 Muslim porters were killed in a mine-explosion at the front line in Karen State opposite Mae Sot, Thailand, according to an eye-witness who requested anonymity.

The eye-witness, a porter who escaped, said that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) officers arrested the 4 Muslim civilians at Kala Or check point and demanded Kyats 100,000 from each.

As the Muslims could not afford to pay the money, they were sent as porters to the front line where they were killed in mine explosion. The SPDC officers included police, immigration and army officers, according to the witness. Kala Or check-point is between Moulmein and Davoy.

The 4 Muslims were Ahamad ( 25 years old), Thein Htoo (20 years old), U Ye Din (31 years old) and Hla Shwe (22 years old) from Maung Ngan Yat Kwet, Moulmein Myo, Mon State. (Source: MICB)

August 20, 2001, Troops from SPDC battalion 280 forced Noh-pah-doh villager, Saw Hsar Eh Kler, to serve as a guide. On August 25, 2001, the troops killed him because they came under attack in Mergui-Tavoy District. (Source: KIC)

On July, 19, 2001, junta military personnel shot two Muslim porters dead in the front lines of Karen State with a false allegation that they were trying to flee at night, according to three porters who escaped.

The escaped porters said that on July, 15, 2001, about 180 prisoners from porter recruiting camps of Hlaing Bwe, Karen State, were transferred as porters through Light Infantry Battalion No. 205 to the front lines along the Downa mountain ranges. Fifty porters among them including some Muslims were transferred to Hill No. 401, controlled by Capt. Tun Soe. There, fighting took place between junta military and Karen National Union (KNU) and some of the porters started to flee. The junta’s soldiers were very angry and shot two Muslim porters dead. The two victims were San Lin (26 years old) and Hamid (32 years old), both from Moulmein. (MICB)

July 26, 2001, troops from SPDC IB 73, based in Klaw-mee-doe village, Tantabin Township demanded 30 villagers of Klaw-mee-doe village and forced them to construct bridges on Yaw-lo-klo river. (Source: KIC)

March 10, 2001, SPDC IB 26 troops, based at Tha-bya-nyunt camp, Tantabin Township summoned Play-hsa-lo village head-man, San Tin, and sent him to a place where SPDC IB 20 troops were constructing a motor road, near Ma-lar-daw village. In addition, IB 26 demanded 3 Play-has-lo villagers, at a time, to work as forced laborers, in rotation, on the road construction. (Source: KIC, KORD)

December 30, 2000, Troops from SPDC LIB 344, based at Baw-ga-li village, Tantabin Township forced 60 villagers of Ber-gor-doe to carry supplies every day to Tha-aye-ta place near Maw-chi motor road. (Source: KIC)

March 6, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 26 ordered villages namely, You-lor, Kamu-lor and Ma-la-daw in Tan-tabin township to provide 3 villagers per village to clear the way for construction of a motor road. (Source: KIC)

On February 4, 2001, 200 combined troops from SPDC IB 26,39 & 35 arrived at Kyouk Kyi Pok with 2 D-7 bulldozers for road construction and one truck for transporting fuel for the 2 bulldozers during the construction work. Again, on February 7, 2001 the troops arrived at Ter Kwe Lay Kho and gave instructions to the Ma La Daw villagers to clear the car road. One person from each family had to come and work every day starting on February 9. Construction on this road has been going on since 1998. The road is planned to go to Bu Has Khee in Toungoo District. The starting point of this car road is in Mon township, Nyaunglebin district. During the construction period SPDC patrolled the area constantly and villagers in the neighboring areas had to abandon their villages, homes, food and property and hide in the jungle as they thought it wasn’t secure to stay in their villages. Those villagers were from (11) villages of Saw Tay Der, Kyouk Pya, Kheh Po Der, Yaw Khee, Ka Waw Kho, Thet Baw Der, K’pa Hta, Saw Kher Khee, Nya Mu Khee, They Khay Lu and Nwah Hta. The construction up to Kheh-Po-Der has been finished. (Source: KORD)

February 1, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 26 forced 46 villagers from Maw-ket-tha-per-ko, Kyauk Kyi Township to clear road from Ma-la-daw to Way-ta. (Source: KIC)

On October 3, 2001, a high ranking SPDC police officer, ordered villagers from Toe-taw, Thu-ee, Mae-leh-hta and Mae-leh-khee villages, Thaton District, Karen State to clear both sides of the motor road along the Sal-ween river bank. They had to bring their own food supplies. (Source: KIC)

April 12, 2001, The SPDC is digging an irrigation canal from Du-won/Bu-lo-klo to Kyet-kaw, Thaton Township. Many farmers lost their rice fields because the canal cut through them. The SPDC troops forced the villagers of Du-won, Pa-dah-Oo and Kyet-kaw village tracts to work on the digging. Each family had to provide a worker for the project. The villagers had to bring their own food with them. A family, which could not provide a worker, had to pay a fine of 500 Kyat per day. (Source: KIC)

February 1, 2001, No. 2 column commander, Win Lin Aung from SPDC LIB 8, forced the villagers to construct Ta-ro-ta-plo motor road, Pa-an Township with rocks, forcing 28 villages to woke on this project with their own foods. The villages were: (1) Ta-ro-ta-plo, (2) Noe-pleeh, (3) Kra-ta, (4) Saw-ta-lu, (5) Wa-ta-yet, (6) Naw-pa-doh, (7) Htee-kaw-wah, (8) Noe-rah, (9) Wa-mee-pwah, (10) Preh-kaw, (11) Kler-doe, (12) Ler-ka-ter, (13) Ta-ree-kyet, (14) Noe-po-moe, (15) Noe-Ma-kweeh, (16) Toe-taung, (17) Tho-ane, (18) Mae-leh-ta, (19) Mae-leh-kee, (20) Noe-kweeh, (21) Ta-kaw-bo, (22) Ko-dah-kyi, (23) Weh-pya-ta, (24) Law-pu, (25) Plaw-po-toe, (26) Mae-si-ta, (27) Baw-tha-pru and (28) Htee-po-neh. (Source: KIC)

In July, battalion commander Kyaw Win from SPDC IB 384, forced nearby villages, namely Tu-lay-gon, Ta-kat-chaung, Wet-chee-gon, Ah-leh-ywa, Ga-mai-leh and Nat-chaung villages, Kyaw-in Seik-kyi Township to construct a motor road, with rock foundation, between Wah-boh-gon and Kya-inn-seik-kyi. The villagers were to bring their own food supplies with them. The villagers had to finish the construction, within July.

July 27, 2001, troops from so-called SPDC Peace Unit (anti-insurgent unit), led by Saw Thu Mu Heh, forced Da-ley villagers to clear brushes on the sides of the motor road between Da-ley and Mae-tha-raw. A person from each family had to go for the work. (Source: KIC)

July 9, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 376, led by Win Oo Myint, forced the villagers of Myit-ta, Hsar-mu-taw and Hsi-ku villages, Tavoy Township to repair bridges in Myit-ta area. (Source: KIC)

June 23, 2001, At 11:00 hours, 100 soldiers from SPDC Operational Command Headquarter 9, forced Htoo-leh villagers to construct roads, bridges and make a list of farms and orchards, which had no owners. (Source: KIC)

Beginning in May and as of July 15, 2001, SPDC troops were forcing villages who stay near the Law-pi-ta electric supply line between Yo-doh and Toungoo, Toungoo District, Karen State, to keep watch over the electric supply post every day. Any village who failed to watch had to pay 300 kyat per household to the SPDC troops based in that area. (Source: KIC)

April 15, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 538, led by company 3 commander, Kyaw Kyaw came to Htee-pu-kee-der-ka village, Than daung Tonwship and forced 15 villagers to work for Ka-thwee-dee military camp on 16-4-2001. The troops demanded 2 villagers from Htee-pu-kee-der-ka and forced them to work together with Htee-pu-kee-der-ko villagers, for Ka-thwee-dee military camp. (Source: KIC)

March 13, 2001, Columns from SPDC IB 124, LIB 394 and SPDC Southern Command operation commander, Zaw Htun, came to LIB 538 camp, under the command of Soe Myint Thain, based in Ka-thwee-di village, Than Daung township and summoned Ka-thweeh-di, Tha-ba-ber and Ler-ker-doe-kah villagers, Thaung-daung Township. Zaw Htun told them to provide 20 villagers per village, for work. The villagers were to bring machetes and axes with them to build 5 houses and 3 tiers of fences for military camp. The work was to be finished in 3 days. The villagers had to bring their own food and provide 2 runners in addition. (Source: KIC)

January 6, 2001, The so-called SPDC guerrilla unit based at Play-hsa-lor village, Tantabin Township ordered 20 villagers each from Plaw-baw-doe, Ta-pah-khee and Yaw-lor villages to come and bring with them their own food for 3 days and to work at the army camp at Play-hsa-lor village. On January 1, 2001 those troops ordered every household in Play-hsa-lor village to cut bamboo for constructing huts, fence and buildings for the army camp. (Source: KIC)

May 13, 2001, a column from SPDC IB 73 came into Ma-lar-daw village, Kyauk Kyi Township called a meeting of all the villagers and appointed a new village headman. On 15-5-2001, these troops forced Ma-lar-daw villagers to clear the village school yard, where later their battalion headquarters would be shifted to. (Source: KIC)

April 9, 2001, No.1 column commander, Than Myint, No. 2 column commander, Ko Ko Oo and intelligence officer, Khin Zaw, of SPDC IB 73, based in Saw-tay-doe, demanded 70 villagers and 4,000 roofing thatches from Kyauk-kyi-bauk village, Kyauk Kyi Township. (Source: KIC)

April 4, 2001, troops from IB 26, demanded one villager, per house, and forced them to take security duties. At the same time, they forced 4 bullock carts to take them to Tha-bye-nyunt village, Kyauk Kyi Township. (Source: KIC)

As of October 11, 2001, DKBA troops in Tha-ton District demanded one person per family, from Toe-teh-kee and Taw-klaw-kee villages, Thaton District, Karen State to construct a military camp. The camp was still under construction up to the time of this report, and the troops continued demanding villagers regularly. (Source: KIC)

On October 9, 2001, troops from SPDC LIB 7, led by Bo Maung Aung, ordered villagers from Ta-paw, Pa-wo, Noh-law-plaw, Noh-aw-lar, Ha-ta-laik and Ka-meh villages, Thaton District, Karen State to provide daily a person from each household to go and construct the army camp at Ta-paw, Tha-ton township. Those villagers were required to bring their own food. The troops threatened to punish those who failed to go. (Source: KIC)

June 16, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 106, led by No.2 Column commander came to Htaw-klaw-hta village, Bilin Township and demanded from villagers (1) 5 chickens, 4 ducks from Naw Mee Na, (2) 3 chickens from Naw Li, (3) 2 chickens from Naw Ma Pu, (4) 2 chickens from Naw Nai and (5) 2 chickens. On that day, Kyaw Min from DKBA forced villagers (1) Htaw- kla-hta village, 8 persons, (2) Lay-kaw-hti village, 8 persons, (3) Htee-pa-doh-khee village, 8 persons, (4) Kaw-po village, 8 persons, (5) East Yo-kla village, 8 persons, and (6) East Htee-pa-doh village, 8 persons to cut Pyin-ka-doe wood for him with their own food supplies. (Source: KIC)

February 20, 2001, Company Commander Soe Aung from SPDC LIB 8 demanded Shwe-yaung-pya villagers, Thaton Township to pay porter fees of 100 Kyat per household monthly. Sargent Major Tin Soe of SPDC IB (8) demanded Kya-ta-raw villagers to send one villager and 20 bundles of fire wood to the army camp everyday. (Source: KIC)

July 30, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 63, led by battalion second in command Thein Htun, extorted 3 chickens from Htee-po-hta village, Pa-pun Township and also demanded 5 villagers for work and one villager to serve as a runner. (Source: KIC)

From July 28, 2001, to August 1, 2001: Troops from SPDC IB 63 summoned villagers from nearby villages to come to their army camp to serve as runners every day.
(Source: KIC)

June 29, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB-63 ordered 2 villagers from each village of Mae-nyu-hta, Mae-ku-hta, Mae-ku-khee, To-mu and Htee-doh-hta, Pa-pun Township to come and work at their army camp every day. As a result villagers had no more time to do their own work. (Source: KIC)

June 28, 200,1 Battalion commander Aung Min Lwin of SPDC LIB-111 ordered villagers in Mae Waing area, Pa-pun Township to cut 600 poles of bamboo and 60 poles of wood at the girth of 18 inches to construct their army camp. Moreover the army also order that each day a Mae-waing village must come to stay at their army camp for security purpose. (Source: KIC)

May 1, 2001, Major Khin Maung from SPDC LIB 110, forced 30 Mae-waing villagers, Pa-pun Township to clear weed around a shop, located in the army compound.(Source: KIC)

April 30, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 308, forced 15 villagers from each village of Toe-moo-kee, Htee-doh-ta, Mae-ku-kee and Mae-ku-ta villages, Pa-pun Township to bring with them hoes and spades to work for Mae-kyi-ta military camp. (Source: KIC)

February 18, 2001, A special unit of SPDC troops demanded 60 Mae-waing villagers, Pa-pun Township to cut bamboo and set up a fence for their camp. (Source: KIC)

February 12, 2001, Troops from SPDC LIB 370, based at Mae-waing demanded 30 women from Mae-waing village, Pa-pun Township to winnow and clean the rice.
(Source: KIC)

July 20, 2001, Battalion sargeant major, Than Htun, of SPDC IB 283 forced 30 villagers of Da-li village to plant rice in the army rice fields. The villagers had to bring their own food with them. (Source: KIC)From July 27, 2001 to August 3, 2001, in accordance with that order, the troops forced villagers from the nearby villages to work for them. The villagers thus forced had to take their own food to work. The villages affected were; (1) Loat-sha, (2) Yet-paw, (3) Da-aye, (4) Htee-toe-kaw, (5) Pah-yah, (6) Win-taw, (7) Nan-kwee, (8) Htee-law-zaw, (9) Win-ka-na, (10) Than-ba-ya, (11) Ko-won, (12) Taung-zun and (13) Kyauk-bi-lu villages. (Source: KIC)

July 11, 2000, A group of about 20 troops from SPDC IB 106, led by major Aung Thu, came to Lane-maw-jan village of Win-yin Township and instructed the village heads of (1) Ka-neh-ka-maw, (2) Tha-ka-det, (3) Aung-tha-bye, (4) Aung-tha-ya, (5) Ma-yan-gon and (6) San-pya villages to build a military camp, between Tha-ka-det and Tha-ya-gon villages, and beginning from 12-7-2001, the villages of Ka-neh-ka-maw, Tha-ka-det and Tha-ya-gon were to provide 3 villagers, per village per day, to build the camp. An order was issued saying that each household of Aung-tha-bye village had to supply 25 timber bars for fencing of the camp, and Ka-neh-ka-maw and Tha-ka-det villages had to provide 3 roofing iron sheets or 4,800 Kyat, per household. Aung-tha-bye and Ye-la-mine villages each had to provide 3 villagers per day to construct the military camp, between Aung-tha-bye and Lane-maw-jan villages, beginning from 12-7-2001 and Ye-la-mine village was to take responsibility for the supply of timber, necessary. (Source: KIC)

July 8, 2001, Troops from SPDC Western Command, led by No. 2 operational commander, Kyaw Htoo Lwin, came to A-nan-kwin village of Kya-in township. The troops demanded timber planks and bamboo from the villagers to build a base camp and forced the villagers to work for them constantly. The operational commander Kyaw Htoo Lwin issued an order to battalions 34, 344 and 232, under his command, to demand timber planks and bamboo from the nearby villages to repair their base camps.
(Source: KIC)

January 20, 2001, Zaw Min, Sein Kyaw Soe and Aung Soe Moe from SPDC LIB 703 summoned village leaders of Htee-po-tha in Kya-in Township and demanded 250 pieces of thatch and 100 numbers of 12 cubit long wooden poles. On January 24, 2001, the same troops forced villagers of Htee-po-tha to cut and clear a motor road linking Htee-po-tha and Deh-pa-taw for military trucks transportation. (Source: KIC)

January 27, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 32 led by artillery battalion commander Ohn Kyaing combined with troops led by operation commander Hla Toe forced the villagers of Ta-ku-kee, Ta-ka-kee, Kaw-taw-klo and Kya-in, Kya-in Township to bake bricks. They forced each village to bring 20 cart loads of fire wood to the artillery unit camp in Kya-in Town. Moreover they also forced villagers to work voluntarily once in every five days. (Source: KIC)

January 31, 2001, Maj. Kyaw Swa Min from SPDC LIB 704, forced the villagers of Ta-ku-kee and Ka-lay-kee, Kya-in Township to split bamboo on the top of Ka-lay-kee mountain and bring with them their own food and work whole day. (Source: KIC)

January 24, 2001, Battalion commander Sein Tha Win and battalion second in command Win Tin from SPDC IB-81 under LID 22 who took responsibility in Mae-taw-day and Ka-ma- kho areas ordered 5 villagers each from Ta-ri-po-kwee, Mae-ta-moo, Kyaw-talay-kho, Ka-mah-hta and Htee-tha-blu-hta villages, Hlaing-bwe Township to come and stay with them by turn every three days. (Source: KIC)

May 17, 2001, troops of SPDC IB 53 seized Kaw-thay-doe villagers, Tantabin Township and made them to march in front of them as mine detectors on the way to Bu-sa-khee. The Burmese troops also forced the villagers to carry food supplies. (Source: KIC)

April 10, 2001, SPDC IB 48 and IB 59 forced 10 villagers from Kler Lar and 8 from Kaw Thay Der to serve as porters and mine sweepers. The villagers were asked to carry military supplies and clear landmines along the car road of Kaw Thay Der, Bu Hsa Khee. (Source: KORD)

April 4, 2001, SPDC troops from military strategic No. 3 from the Southern Division Command forced 8 villagers from Kaw Thay Der and 2 from Klae Soe Khee to serve as porters and mine sweepers on their way to Bu Hsa Khee village. (Source: KORD)

The SPDC Southern Command Commander, General Tin Aye, ordered IB 73 battalion commander, Min Oo, to give responsibility to 20 Gor-thay-doe villagers, Tantabin Township to clear landmines and the road, daily, beginning from December up to this day (Jan 20, 2001). (Source: KIC)

On October 10, 2001, Pah Ni Tho from DKBA came to Kweeh-lay village and started to make block and cut-off operation in Pauk-kee, Ta-u-kee, Nya-po-kee, Noh-po-kee and Yo-kla area, Thaton District, Karen State. The villagers in that area escaped from their villages and hid in the jungle. It was learned that the order of block and cut-off operation programme came from the army general head quarters of SPDC in order to make impossible for ILO to investigate on forced labour issues. (Source: KIC)

February 11, 2001, troops from SPDC Burma Engineer Battalion 911 Unit 3 forcibly took two trucks and 15 villagers from Kaw-thay-doe village, Tantabin Township to repair a broken bulldozer. (Source: KIC)

April 18, 2001, Troops from SPDC IB 73, led by Column No. 1 commander, Than Myint, with 45 soldiers, came to Ma-lar-daw village, Kyauk-Kyi Township and ordered the villagers to repair Pyi-daw-tha school and clinic. (Source: KIC)

July 11, 2001, At 6:00 AM, troops from SPDC LIB 376 and LIB 379, led by officer Hla Win and officer Thein Win, forced the villagers of Taung-thon-lon and May-ta villages, Tavoy Township to find Karen resistance fighters. (Source: KIC)

July 5, 2001, Troops from No. 12 unit of SPDC LIB 113 forced the village tracts in Mergui/Tavoy district to construct a total of 24 buildings each measuring 100 feet by 80 feet and estimated to be worth 400,000 Kyat. Each village tract had to construct a building. (Source: KIC) Source: KNAHR September 2001

On July 14, 2001, 7 villagers who had lodged a complaint with SPDC military authorities about increasing use of forced labour by SPDC troops were killed by SPDC troops from Kun-Hing-based IB246 and their bodies dumped into Nam Taeng river in Kaeng Tawng area, Murng-Nai township. On July 11, 2001, the 7 villagers went to the visiting Commander of the SPDC Eastern Military Commander, Maj. General Maung Bo, from Taunggyi and filed a complaint about the continued use of forced labor by SPDC troops in the area.

The villagers said to Maung Bo, “We have been told by Gen. Khin Nyunt on May 29, 2001 that starting from then the Burmese army would not use forced labour of the people; would not take chicken, pigs and other things from the people for free; and would not torture and kill the people any more. However, after Gen. Khin Nyunt left, the use of forced labour by the local military authorities has increased, requiring us to work for the military almost all the time. We have to provide free labour for the military in building military facilities, cultivating crops, sawing wood, repairing and building roads etc., leaving virtually no time for us to cultivate our subsistence crops. Many people have to start their rice cultivation late into the season, which will surely result in poor yields”.

Maung Bo told the villagers he would report it to his superiors and give them good news in one week. A few days after Maung Bo left and while the villagers were waiting for the expected ‘good news’ from him, they were arrested for interrogation by a patrol of 20-25 SPDC troops from Co. No.3 of Kun-Hing-based IB246, that was temporarily stationed in Kaeng Tawng under the command of Capt. Mya Aung.

About 10 days after Maung Bo had left Murng-Nai township for Taunggyi, villagers from Ho Kun village, Kun Long tract, who had gone fishing found the dead bodies of the said 7 villagers stranded at ‘Taad Pha Pha’ waterfall, about 2 miles east of Ho Kun village.

1. Zaai Ti-Ya (m), aged 30,of Nam Tum Tai village, Nawng Hee tract, Murng-Nai township

2. Lung Haeng Wi (m), aged 40, of Nawng Tao village, Kun Long tract, Murng-Nai township

3. Zaai Aw Lam (m),aged 28,of Pa Saa village, Nawng Hee tract, Murng-Nai township

4. Zaai In-Ta (m),aged 24,of Nawng Ook village, Ton Hoong tract, Murng-Nai township

5. Zaai Ta Lam (m),aged 21,of Nawng Ook village, Ton Hoong tract, Murng-Nai township

6. Zaai Khan-Ti (m),aged 36,of Kun Hoong village, Nam-Zarng town, Nam-Zarng township

7. Zaai Saw-Ya (m),aged 31, of Kun Keng village, Nam-Zarng town, Nam-Zarng township

Since after October 22, 2001, when Gen. Maung Aye, Deputy Chairman of SPDC, and his 20-member entourage came to Nam-Zarng by helicopters from Rangoon and presided over the opening ceremony of a new railroad project in the area, SPDC troops have started using unpaid mass forced labor of the people in Nam-Zarng township. In late October, not less than 240 local people, including men and women from 18 to 55 years of age, were forced by SPDC troops of IB 66 to clear the path for the railroad in Nam-Zarng township.  The railroad will run from Nam-Zarng town to Saai Khaao village in Saai Khaao tract in Kun-Hing township. The estimated time frame for the completion of the railroad is 2-1/2 years, during which time unpaid mass forced labor will certainly be used in several stages of the construction project.

Another railroad project has also been underway since early November. This railroad will run from Murng-Nai to Mawk-Mai township. Construction of the new rail lines will eventually link the existing lines which were built some years ago using forced labor of the people.

The SPDC commander of IB 66 on November 5, 2001, issued an order requiring village and tract headmen in Nam-Zarng township to provide 400 unpaid forced laborers. In regard to the use of forced laborers, it is said that the 3-4 SPDC military battalions in the area have already divided duties in handling them. 

In a meeting jointly held by military battalions in the area, at the base of Nam-Zarng-based IB 66, it was estimated that about 24,000 forced laborers would be needed to complete the railroad projects, and duties were divided among 3 battalions:

1. Nam-Zarng-based IB 66 would be responsible for conscription of forced laborers

2. IB 66 from the 55th Division would be responsible for controlling the forced laborers

3. IB 247 would be responsible for overseeing the forced laborers while working at the work sites (Source: SHRF, S.H.A.N)

On November 18, 2001, the 226 forced laborers from Nam-Zarng and Murng-Nai townships, including men and women who had been working since early November 2001 were replaced by a new shift of forced laborers from Nam-Zarng and Murng-Nai townships. The new shift, consisting of 240 forced laborers, 130 conscripted from Nam-Zarng and 110 from Murng-Nai townships including men and women aged ranging from 17 to 55, started working on November 19, 2001, when the old batch of forced laborers were released. Sometime in November 2001, the commander of IB66 sent directives to Si-Seng, Mawk-Mai, Larng-Khur and Murng-Pan townships demanding 100 forced laborers from each township, thus requiring military authorities in those townships to force village and village tract leaders to provide a number of villagers from their respective areas to fill up the demanded quotas. The villagers were required to bring their own tools such as knives, hoes and rakes etc. to work with and provide their own food for 17-18 days during which they would have to stay and work at the construction sites. New shifts of forced laborers would be needed after every 17-18 days to replace the old ones. On November 22, 2001, the first batch of 400 villagers, over 1/3 of whom were women, from the said 4 townships had been sent to work on the railroad between Sai Khaao and Kung Mark Laang villages. (Source: SHRF)

Since early July 2001, hundreds of local people have been forced to work without pay in a road-building project by the SPDC military authorities in Murng-Pan township. On July 4, 2001, Commander Win Zaw Oo of SPDC’s LIB332 issued an order to all the village tract leaders in Murng-Pan township to provide 30 workers from each village tract in a new road-building project. The new motor-road would start from the centre of Mai Niu village in Nam Terng tract, Murng-Pan township, and go through Wan Kung, Long Kaeng and Naa Ing village, pass by Ho Lin village on the north and up to Mai Nyawng Khong Khaang village and then to LIB520 base at Nam Hoo village, and continue down to the main road at Wan Tham village between Murng-Pan and Ta Sang bridge on the Nam Khong (Salween river). The new road would be approximately 9 miles long. About 100-120 people at a time have to work in building the said road for a period of 5 days during which they receive nothing and have to provide their own food. About 80-90 ethnic-Burman workers, probably paid, are also seen working at the road-building site, with 12-15 SPDC troops under a Sergeant from LIB520 overseeing all the workers.

One of the Sergeants, U Aung Hpyu, overseeing the workers was said to have told the local people who were being forced to provide free labour that they could work slowly if they liked and take rest every hour or whenever they got tired, but they should not sneak away.

One of the ethnic-Burman workers was also said to have told some of the unpaid local forced labourers in a friendly conversation during a break that he thought the local people were being forced to come and work not because the SPDC troops wanted to finish the road quickly, but just to keep them from being able to work properly for themselves, and thus preventing them from becoming rich or economically strong. (Source: SHRF)

Since late 2001, SPDC troops from IB 246 have been forcing all the people in Ka Li village tract in Kun-Hing township, including all the displaced people in the relocation sites, to guard day and night the main road between Ka Li village and Kun-Hing town. Sometime in late 2001, the commander of Kun-Hing-based IB246, Lt. Col. San Hlaing, issued an order forcing the people in Ka Li tract to build 14 guardhouses along the main road between Ka Li and Kun-Hing. Each guardhouse was to be built on hardwood stilts with a bamboo floor as high as about 1-1/2 yards, and to be about 3 yards square in width. All the guardhouses were to be completely built within 3 days, after which each guardhouse was to be manned by 4 people, 24 hours a day. SPDC troops from Co.3 of LIB 524, under the command of Capt. Myint Aung, stationed at Ka Li village, were responsible to oversee the road-guarding activities. There were about 40 of them taking turns and making rounds every day to make sure that all the guardhouses were manned all the time and exactly 4 persons at each one.  Capt. Myint Aung was said to have warned the headman of Ka Li village tract that he would be punished if there were less than 4 persons at each guardhouse at any given time, and a fine of 100,000 Kyat of money would be charged for every missing person. The reason for guarding the road was not disclosed to the people. According to the local people, many thought that since it coincided with rice harvesting time the SPDC troops were deliberately forcing them to do such a thing so that they would not be able to get their rice on time. However, according to recently arrived refugees, the road-guarding forced labor is still going on continuously up to the present (February 2002). (Source: SHRF)

During November and December 2001, people in Kaeng Tawng area of Murng-Nai township, mostly women, were forced by SPDC military authorities to collect leaves and make roofing sheets for the several military bases and camps in the area. Every day at least 5 people from each village of the village tracts, such as Kun Mong, Kun Naa, Paang Kyawng, Kung Lom and Ho Ha, had to prepare their own food early in the morning to take with them as they needed to go into the forests around 6:00 a.m. to collect leaves and bring them to the military bases and camps in their respective village tracts. Once at the military camps, the villagers had to work weaving leaves into roofing sheets until 5 o’clock in the evening. There were about 30 people working each day at each camp. If the demanded quotas of workers were not met, the responsible village headmen would face punishment. The SPDC troops claimed that they paid for the forced labor, but the fee was so small that it was almost next to nothing, considering the time and effort exerted each day. The SPDC troops offered 100 Kyat for 100 sheets of leaf-roofing. But each person could only make around 20 sheets per day, only the most skilled could finish up to 30 sheets. That meant 3-4 persons together could get only 100 Kyat per day for working more than 10 hours, from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Source: SHRF)

On November 16, 2001, the commander of IB 65 of the SPDC issued an order to the people of Murng-Ton township forcing them to make 600 sacks of charcoal for the SPDC soldiers in the area, to be finished before December 1, 2001.

Each of the following village tracts was ordered to produce equal amount of charcoal as follows:

1. Nawng Paa Yaen tract - 100 sacks

2. Wan Naa “ 100 “

3. Mae Ken “ 100 “

4. Murng Haang “ 100 “

5. Huay Aw “ 100 “

6. Pung Pa Khem “ 100 “

The charcoal was to be produced from only 2 specified kinds of hardwood while all other different kinds of wood were strictly prohibited. Anyone found using wood other than the specified kinds would be severely punished, said the order. Furthermore, the village and village tract leaders were told to tell all the villagers to say that they willingly provided the Burmese military with charcoal free of charge to help them because the soldiers were so busy protecting the country that they had no time to do it themselves. When asked by either foreigners or anyone in the country, no one was to say that they were ordered by the Burmese soldiers to provide them with free charcoal. (Source: SHRF)

Since late October 2001, the commander of Co.2 of SPDC’s LIB 515, Capt. Htun Khin Oo, forced people in Lai-Kha township to reap and thresh rice crops at a military farm and ordered them to grow garlic, onions and peanuts for the military. The people were to provide their own seeds to grow those crops on the following acreage of land

1. Garlic, 5 acres

2. Onion, 5 acres

3. Peanut, 80 acres

In addition, the people had to build fences around those farms to protect them from animals, which took some time to build and to cut and transport bamboo and wood for the fences. Around 70-80 people each day were required to work at those farms until they were finished. Since it coincided with their own rice harvest time, it was very difficult for the people to find time to work for themselves and a lot of rice had been lost due to belated harvest. (Source: SHRF)

On October 15, 2001, SPDC military authorities in the Kaeng Tawng area of Murng-Nai township issued an order requiring all the 4 village tracts in Kaeng Tawng area to grow cold season crops for the military. The crops were Japanese sesame, peanut and potato. The seeds were provided by the military and the people were to cultivate them and produce not less than the amount demanded by the military or they would have to buy them from somewhere else to fill the quota.The following is the list showing the village tracts and the amount of seeds they were required to cultivate:

1. Ton Hoong tract was required to cultivate 30 tins of Japanese sesame, 20 tins of peanut and 500 viss of potato

2. Kun Mong tract was required to cultivate 30 tins of Japanese sesame, 25 tins of peanut and 500 viss of potato

3. Kun Long and Nawng Hee tracts were required to cultivate 50 tins of Japanese sesame, 35 tins of peanut and 700 viss of potato

(Note: 1 tin = 20 litres, 1 viss = 1.6 kg)

The seeds were given to each village and tract headman to start cultivating from the end of October 2001 onwards. Each kind of crop was to yield 10 to 20 fold as shown in the following list.

(1). 1 tin of Japanese sesame was to yield 10 tins

(2). 1 tin of peanut was to yield 20 tins

(3). 1 viss of potato was to yield 10 viss

Similar incidents are said to have been taking place in several other townships such as Murng-Ton, Murng-Sart, Larng-Khur, Murng-Nai and Murng Pan. People in these townships are being required to cultivate the above mentioned crops for every military battalion based in their townships. Each battalion must have each kind of crop cultivated on at least about 20 acres of land, and must have all 3 kinds of the said crops. Most of the work needed to cultivate the crops would undoubtedly be done with the unpaid forced labour of the people. (Source: SHRF)

From September 26-29, 2001, villagers of Pha Sawng village and Yaang Khai village in Murng Luay tract, Murng-Yarng township, were forced by SPDC troops from IB228 to work without pay at a military camp every day from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Sixteen villagers from Pha Sawng village and 21 from Yaang Khai village had to clear the military camp compound of grass and bushes, fix fences around the camp and clear bushes outside around the camp all day long for 4 days. The villagers not only received nothing for their labour, but also had to use their own tools and provide their own food during the 4-day forced labor service. (Source: SHRF)

From July to September 2001, villagers of Wan Pawm Tin Thaat in Paang Hung tract, Kaeng-Tung township, were forced by SPDC troops of IB245 to work in their camp expanding project.IB245 confiscated land close to the camp, expanded it, and forced the villagers to work for 3 months without pay. Each day, 10 villagers had to work clearing the area, building fences, digging trenches and building barracks. Village leaders complained about this to the SPDC authorities in Kaeng-Tung, but nothing happened.(Source: SHRF)

In August 2001, people in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township were being forced to work en masse for the military. In addition to hand-sawing lumber for the military on a regular basis, the people have to clear the sides of all the roads leading out of the area to Kho Lam in Nam-Zarng township, to Wan Lao in Kun-Hing township and to Murng-Nai town itself, up to the points where people from the other townships are supposed to take on the work. At the same time, they have to cut wood and bamboo and build new military camps as well as repair the barracks and replace fences, and clear 5-6 arm-spans of ground outside the fences around the military camps. There are now 8 military camps in Kaeng Tawng area, new and old. Some have been built, some are under construction and some are still at the planning stage. The following are the locations of the military camps:

1. One at Ton Hung village relocation site, a long-established one

2. One at Ta Kun village in Ton Hung village tract

3. One at Ta Waeng village in Ton Hung village tract

4. One at Wan Turm village in Kun Mong village tract

5. One at Kun Mong village in Kun Mong village tract

6. One at Waeng Kao village in Nawng Hee village tract

7. One at Pa Sa village in Nawng Hee village tract

8. One at Muay Taw Phak Lid village in Nawng Hee village tract

Each military camp has its own fences, trenches, bunkers and barracks which are usually 15-16 small houses for the soldiers. All have been built, are being built and will be built by unpaid forced labour of the local people. (Source: SHRF)

Since July 15, 2001, SPDC troops from IB246, LIB324, IB48 and LIB526, who were newly stationed and building new military bases in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township, have confiscated hundreds of acres of deserted rice fields, whose former owners had been forced to move away some years ago, and forced the local people to provide free labour to cultivate them for the military. At least 650 acres of rice fields around populated areas, not including those in remote areas, were confiscated and the whole lot of mini-tractors in the Kaeng Tawng area, about 75 in all, were forced to plough the fields. During the ploughing period, the farmers with mini-tractors had to work 10 days for the military and 5 days for themselves in rotation until it was finished. Unpaid forced labour of the local people has been used in all the work needed to cultivate the confiscated rice fields, including ploughing, building and repairing embankments, sowing and planting. Most likely, forced labour would still be used at harvest time. (Source: SHRF)

In mid-June 2001, SPDC troops of Ta Lur-based LIB316 confiscated a hill of woodland, called Kawng Maak Khaam, from the villagers of Murng Laen in Ta-Khi-Laek township. They then forced the local people to build a new military camp for new recruits to be conscripted in the near future. Since June 13, people in the village tracts of Ta Lur, Murng Laen, Nam Kherm, Pa Leo and Kaeng Laab have been forced to provide unpaid forced labour every day in building the new military camp. The villagers have to take turns providing forced labour in order to be able to tend their rice fields. From 5 up to 12 houses from each village, in proportion to its size, have to go at one time. Some farmers hire others to go on their behalf so that they can have more time to tend their rice fields. The villagers have to cut trees and clear the ground at the top of the hill, and dig the ground to level it. They have to build fences, dig trenches and build barracks, and they also have to build a road leading from the main road up to the hill top. (Source: SHRF)

Since March 10, 2001, SPDC troops of LIB334 have been forcing villagers in Sop Luay tract, Murng-Yawng township, to keep guard day and night along the roads and Mekhong river banks in the area. The SPDC authorities said they had seen SSA-E (Shan State Army - East) troops’ presence and movement in the Murng Yawng Noi area, on the bank of the Mekhong on the Lao side of the border. Since then, many villagers in Sop Luay tract have had to build small guardhouses, 1-2 furlongs apart, with a wooden gong to beat if they detect any movement of the Shan soldiers. The village guards must report to Mung-Yawng town every day, leaving them little time to do their own work. (Source: SHRF)

Since March 1, 2001, SPDC troops of LIB 359 have been forcing the people in Murng Phong A and B tracts, Ta-Khi Laek Township to stand guard 24 hours per day. They were ordereed to take up security duties at all the village entrances, along the Murng Phong-Ta-Chi-Laek road and along the banks of the Mekhong and Nam Hok rivers in anticipation of an attack by SSA-E. The villagers also had to build thatched tents 2 furlongs apart along the road and river banks to keep watch all the time. It was also reported that other village tracts in the township, such as Murng Laen, Pa Leo and Kaeng Laab also had to do the same. (Source: SHRF)

On February 3, 2001, SPDC troops from IB226 shot dead a man from Nawng Saa village, at Yaang Ka stream near his village in Yaang Ka tract, Kaeng-Tung township. He was catching fish with six other villagers when they were surrounded by SPDC soldiers from Co. No.2 of IB226. As they were being surrounded, Zaai Wong, aged 19, who was a distance away from the other fishermen, saw the troops and tried to escape. The SPDC troops fired at Zaai Wong and killed him. The troops then took the remaining five men to Yaang Ka village to join a bigger military column and 20 other civilian porters taken from other villages. The civilian porters set out on February 4, 2001, carrying military rations and clothes, towards the mountain ranges populated mostly by the Lahu people. They went through village after village, stopping only for lunch and at night, where the villagers were forced to provide food and keep watch. After 10 days they returned to Yaang Ka and were released. They were: (Source: SHRF)

1. Zaai Oon (m), aged 21, from Sop Yoi village

2. Zaai Lao (m), aged 25, Sop Yoi village

3. Zaai Kawng (m), aged 20, Nawng Saa village

4. Zaai Poi (m), aged 20, Nawng Saa village

5. Zaai Leng (m),aged 19, Nawng Saa village

6.Zaai Wong(m), aged 19, Nawng Saa village

In late February and early March 2001, SPDC troops from Co. No.3 of Murng-Khark-based LIB328, stationed at a hilltop stronghold in Murng-Yarng township, forced several villages in the area to bring hundreds of bamboo and thousands of thatch-sheets to build houses for them. On February 26, troops,led by Lt. Htay Naing, came to Kho Sung, Wan Zaang and Pa Hai villages in Murng Luay tract, Murng-Yarng, and ordered the village headmen to provide bamboo to build the military camp. Together the 3 villages were ordered to bring 360 pieces of bamboo to the hilltop camp by March 2. On March 1, the same troops went to Ter Laad, Huay Khaa and Wan Lio villages in Murng Yarng tract, Murng-Yarng township, and ordered the village headmen to provide 3,500 sheets of weaved thatch for roofing at the military camp by March 6. Village headmen and leaders pleaded with the SPDC township authorities to help persuade the soldiers to reduce the amount to 600 thatch-sheets, but the township authorities dismissed them saying, “Don’t you understand. You are able to live peacefully only because of the Burmese army. Stop complaining and give them what they want, and when they want”. On March 3, the same troops summoned the village headmen of Pa Nung, Pa Mai and Waeng Laek villages, situated close to the foot of the hilltop camp, and ordered them to bring their villagers to build houses for the soldiers in the camp, starting from March 12. (Source: SHRF)

From February 16 to 18, 2001 SPDC troops from Murng-Khark-based LIB327, who had been deployed for security purposes along the Mekong river in Pa Leo and Kaeng Laab areas, forced the local people to build strongholds and dig trenches for them. People from surrounding villages such as Nam Kai, Ho Kawng, Pa Leo and Kaeng Lab had to provide their own food, tools and building material. They were forced to work from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. for 3 days while SPDC troops sat and watched. On February 21, 2001, SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based IB221 forced the villagers of Huay Lin Lam, Phak Hi, Pa Khaa and Wan Tong to dig trenches at their stronghold on the hill called Loi Yon in Murng-Phong tract. More than 200 villagers were seen working at the site. They were also required to feed the troops on a daily basis. The villages had to rotate in providing food and forced labour for the SPDC troops and, in addition, they were also forced to dig trenches for the families of the SPDC police force in the area in case fighting broke out. (Source: SHRF)

Since early 2001, SPDC military authorities in Larng-Khur have confiscated thousands of acres of cultivated lands including plantations of sugarcane, tobacco, betel leaves and betel nuts, bamboo and other hardwoods to be used for building military bases and other military facilities. In April 2001, SPDC military authorities in Larng-Khur confiscated over 1,200 acres of sugarcane plantations and about 15 acres of bamboo and betel nut plantations east of the Nam Taeng river in the area of Wan Haad village tract. The SPDC troops cleared all the sugarcane to use the land as a military training ground. They also forced the local people to clear trees from the surrounding higher ground and build a military camp with several barracks for the soldiers and new recruits. At the same time, several acres of tobacco plantations in Kho Ta village tract were confiscated from the local people to set up a base for a Light Infantry Battalion. Several acres of tobacco plantations in Pung Thun village tract were also confiscated to make a base for an artillery unit.In this way, many sugarcane and tobacco farmers in Larng-Khur township have lost their lands, and thus their livelihood. (Source: SHRF)

On December 28, 2001, a column of about 60 SPDC troops from Murng-Paeng-based LIB 528 rounded up 13 villagers from the following 3 villages in Yang Kham village tract, Murng-Paeng township, to use as porters in a military operation — 5 porters from Kung Khaa village, 3 from Wan Naa and 5 from Wan Sen.Many villagers from other villages and village tracts were also seized for porters by the same column so that there were over 40-50 civilian porters in all. The civilian porters were forced to carry military rations and ammunition starting from Tong Ta village in Murng-Paeng township down to Murng Tum village tract area in Murng-Sart township where there was fighting between SPDC troops from LIB3 31 and SSA-S (Shan State Army - South) troops. (Source: SHRF)

On December 1, 2001, 28 villagers from 4-5 villages in Nam Naang village tract, Murng-Phyak township, were forcibly taken by SPDC troops from LIB 330 to be used as unpaid porters in a military operation. A column of about 60-80 SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based LIB 330 came to Nam Naang village tract and seized villagers they could find in Wan Kaw, Pa Yaao, Ja Nu, Yaang Mon and Kaad Naang villages. About 28 villagers were seized and immediately forced to carry military rations and ammunition from Naa Naang village market place and head toward Murng Tum village tract in Murng-Sart township where there was news of armed clashes between SPDC troops and Shan soldiers. The villagers were seized unprepared at different places while doing various things so that many did not have proper clothing for the harsh job. Some did not have shoes or warm clothes. Even though it was cold season, the troops did not allow them to get their clothes, saying that they were on a very urgent mission.  (Source: SHRF)

On August 10, 2001, 16 Akha villagers from Paang Khun village in Pa Hok tract, Murng-Yawng township were forced by a combined force of SPDC police and people’s militia to carry confiscated consumer goods to the police station in Murng-Yawn town, about 10 miles away. The goods had been confiscated from traders who had bought them in Thailand. The villagers had to work all day, returning 2-3 times to transport everything but received nothing for their forced labor. Armed police and militia walked in front and rear of the villagers as guards while they were transporting the goods, as if they were prisoners. (Source: SHRF)

In mid-June 2001, SPDC troops from LIB514, led by Capt. Thein Maung, forcibly conscripted 250 civilian porters, including 108 women and children, with some as young as 8, from a relocation site in the outskirts of Murng-Kerng town. They were conscripted on the orders of battalion commander, Lt. Col. Hla Myint, on June 13, after an armed clash between SPDC troops and Shan resistance soldiers in Murng-Kerng township. The SPDC troops took all the adult men, and they took women and children from houses where men were not available. Many were aged between 8 to 16, and were forced to carry ammunition, rice and other food stuff and military things. Some children were forced to carry 6 cans of condensed milk each, some carried rice and others carried 10 rounds of m79 mortar shells each, and were kicked and beaten when they could not go fast enough. The porters were forced to serve the military without pay for 16 days, during which all the women porters above 15 years of age were said to have been raped by the SPDC soldiers. They were released on June 28 but, 5 days later, the same SPDC troops ordered the village headmen in the area to provide 10-15 civilian porters from each village, either men or women. The 150 porters were displaced persons who had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of Murng-Kerng town 4-5 years ago by the SLORC troops.
(Source: SHRF)

In April 2001, two civilian porters were severely injured in an accident while being forced to serve as porters for SPDC troops LIB526, led by Capt. Sein Htun, at Amutae village in Amutae tract, Murng-Sart township. Zaai In Ai, 36, and Zaai Yi Nung, 34, from Paang Mu village in Murng Kok tract, were seized by SPDC troops, when they were returning from the Nam Naang village market.They were tied together and forced to carry heavy loads of military things. After 3 days, they stopped at Amutae village for a rest, where they were ordered to go up into a house built on high stilts. However, as they were tied together and carrying heavy loads, Zaa In Ai slipped at the top of the steps and they fell to the ground together. Zaai In Ai broke his left leg in the fall and Zaai Yi Nung suffered from a severely sprained waist and broken ribs, both suffered bruises and cuts and could not walk. The SPDC troops ordered the villagers of Amutae village to make makeshift stretchers and carry Zaai In Ai and Zaai Yi Nung back to their village. No compensation was offered. (Source: SHRF)

Since March 2001, SPDC troops of Co. No.4 of LIB524, led by Capt. Aung Nyunt, have been patrolling the Kaeng Tawng area, in Murng-Nai township, and forcing the local villagers to serve as guides. Two guides must be on duty and replaced every 5 days by another two new guides. The troops patrol and search deserted villages and when the guides are unsure of the way or accidentally take a wrong route, the troops beat and kick them, some have lost consciousness during these beatings. The torture had made it very difficult for the village headmen to assign villagers to serve as guides so villagers agreed to collect money among themselves and hire someone to go on their behalf. A guide’s fee is 10,000 Kyat, and the guide in turn has to give the troops 5,000 Kyat to prevent them from beating him. That means, every 5 days, the villagers have to collect 20,000 Kyat to hire 2 guides and the guides have to give 10,000 Kyat to the SPDC soldiers.
(Source: SHRF)

Since February 5, 2001, SPDC military authorities have been forcibly conscripting many people and civilian vehicles in Ta-Khi-Laek township for military service. In the military operations by SPDC troops against the Shan resistance in Ta-Khi-Laek and Murng-Sart townships, SPDC military authorities of  LIB331 and IB259 have taken 600 people to serve as unpaid porters. The SPDC troops also issued an order requiring civilians and vehicles to be on standby for military use; 24 vehicles at a time have to be on standby for 24 hours. Many trucks and cars that ran between Ta-Khi-Laek and Kaeng-Tung, and Ta-Khi-Laek and Tawng-Gi have been prevented from leaving the township without compensation. The owners have to provide fuel and oil, and the drivers have to provide their own food. Car owners have to hire other vehicles to do their work, at the rate of 1,500-2,000 Baht per day for a 4-wheeled mini-truck and 2,500-3,000 Baht per day for a 6-wheeler. Zaai Lee, Zaai Non and Lung Pan, who were late to their driver standby post, were beaten 3 times each with sticks by the SPDC troops from LIB331.
(Source: SHRF)

On February 19, 2001, 3 Lahu villagers of Kawng Sur Nur village in Murng Khawn tract, Kaeng-Tung township, were seized by SPDC troops from IB226, led by Capt. Kyi Win, and forced to serve as guides. Ja-U, 29, Ja-Phya, 20, and Ja-Wa, 30, were forced to guide the SPDC troops to Murng Pack tract for the day and were unable to return until the next day. They had no money and had to beg for food when they arrived in Murng Pack tract and also for the journey home. (Source: SHRF)

In January 2001, SPDC troops from Lai-Kha-based LIB515, led by Capt. Htay Win, severely beat two civilian porters, and extorted money from eight other civilian porters for their release, after forcing them to serve as porters for more than 20 days, in Lai-Kha township. On December 27, 2000, SPDC soldiers of Co.4 from LIB515 forcibly conscripted 10 civilian porters at Maak Mong Lao village in Ho Nawng tract, Nam-Zarng township. The porters were forced to carry heavy loads of ammunition, food and other things for the troops without adequate rest and food. Lung Mu, 57 and Wan-Na, 17, had become so weak from lack of adequate food and rest that they could no longer carry their loads. The troops kicked and beat them with rifle butts so harshly that Lung Mu broke his right thigh and Wan-Na broke his left arm. The 2 porters were then left to their fate in the jungle between Ton Hung and Maak Laang villages in Naa Mang tract, Lai-Kha township. Their relatives later found them and brought them back to their village. On January 17, 2001, Capt. Htay Win sent a message to the headman of Ho Nawng tract that the porters taken from his village tract were so unwilling to work for the Burmese army that they deserved punishments, and extorted a fine of 5,000 Kyat for the release of each of them. The 10 villagers taken as porters were: (Source: SHRF)

1. Lung Awng (m), aged 51

2. Zaai Aen (m), aged 37

3. Zaai Pawng (m), aged 30

4. Lung Mu (m), aged 57

5. Zaai La (m), aged 25

6. Zaai Leng (m), aged 19

7. Kham Awng (m), aged 43

8. Wan-Na (m), aged 17

9. Zaw-Ti-Ka (m), aged 20

10. Wa-Ya-Ma (m), aged 25

In mid December 2001, a porter who was taken in Murng-Kerng township was too exhausted to continue carrying his load and was burned to death by SPDC troops from IB243 and LIB505, in the mountains between Murng-Kerng and Lawk-Zawk townships. On December 12, 2001, a column of about 90 combined SPDC troops from Nam-Lan-based IB243 and LIB505 in Si-Paw township, led by Capt. Zaw Min and Capt. Kyi Too respectively, conscripted 5 civilian porters from Lin Lan village in Ham Ngaai village tract, Murng-Kerng township, saying that they were on an urgent mission to Lawk-Zawk and needed porters. The 5 porters taken were, Zaai Aw, 35, Zaai Ti, 37, Pi Tun, 43, Aw-Zin-Na, 40, Zaai Loo, 27. The porters were forced to carry heavy loads and walk with the military column towards Lawk-Zawk township. When they reached Paang Wo mountain range between Lawk-Zawk and Murng-Kerng, the porters were forced to climb with their heavy loads. Zaai Aw, who was carrying about 1-1/2 baskets of rice, fell down from exhaustion when they reached half way up the mountain slope, lying prone on the ground and was unable to get up. SPDC troops walking behind him barked out orders forcing him to get up, but he could not. Some pulled him up by his hands, but he fell down again as soon as they released him. The SPDC troops then became angry and kicked and trampled Zaai Aw’s waist and neck with their boots until he became virtually unconscious and, saying that he wanted to die, made a pile of dry twigs and leaves over his body, and set fire to it. He was then burned to death. After witnessing the scene, the other 4 porters eventually were released after they reached Lawk-Zawk. (Source: SHRF)

On August 7, 2000, SPDC troops forcibly conscripted the following 10 civilian porters while they were working at a farm at the Kun-Hing town relocation site:

1. Lung Saw (m), aged 51, originally from Waeng Kum village, Naa Poi tract

2. Na-Ling (m), aged 50, originally from Huay Poo, Saai Murng tract

3. Saw-Zing (m), aged 36, originally from Mai Maw Lao village, Saai Khaao tract

4. Lung Moo (m), aged 53, originally from Kung Laang village, Loi Khio tract

5. Wi-Ya (m), aged 55, originally from Paang Hok village, Wan Phui tract

6. Zaai Win (m), aged 21, originally from Naa Khaa village, Naa Teng tract

7. Naang Lu (f), aged 36, originally from Naa Keng village, Loi Keng tract

8. Naang Paang (f), aged 33, originally from Naa Yaang village, Saai Khaao tract

9. Naang Nyunt (f), aged 28, originally from Nam Hoo village, Saai Khaao tract

10. Naang Ung (f), aged 25, originally from Naa Waai village, Wan Lao tract

10 porters were forced to carry military things as troops patrolled deserted villages in relocation areas, camping wherever they were when night fell, sometimes stopping for 2-3 days at a place. According to the porters themselves, they did not have to carry very heavy loads, but the women were raped almost every night by one soldier or another. After 1 month and 5 days, a porter named Zaai Win tried to escape but was recaptured by the troops. He was beaten and tortured, and a bamboo stick was rolled on his shins, in front of the other porters. After 3 days, the wounds in his shins were full of pus and the troops beat him to death. The other porters were forced to go on until September 20, when they reached Kun-Hing town and the troops released them. These civilians had been forced to serve as unpaid military porters for a straight period of three and a half months, during which time the women were also forced to serve as sex slaves.
(Source: SHRF)

On March 29, 2001, a 45-year-old unpaid forced civilian porter was beaten to death by SPDC troops from IB246, led by Capt. Myint Lwin, in Kaeng Lom area, Kun-Hing township. He had become too weak from illness to carry his load. (Source: SHRF)

In mid-February 2001, a civilian porter was shot dead by SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based LIB330, led by Maj. San Win, near Kawng Mon village in Murng-Lung tract, Murng-Sart township. On February 10, 2001, SPDC troops from LIB330 rounded up 16 civilian porters, 6 from Wan Kaad, 3 from Wan Tong Long, and 7 from Wan Yaang villages in Murng Hai tract, Murng-Phyak township. They were seized while working on their vegetable gardens, some on their farms and some on the streets. They were then taken to Murng-Phyak and detained until the next evening when they were forced to carry military things towards Murng Kok & Murng Lung tract in Murng-Sart township with the same military column. They reached Murng Lung and camped at the village temple where the troops ordered them to serve them food. They stayed at Murng Lung for 2 nights, during which the porters had to provide them with free meals and also keep guard as an outer fence while the troops slept in the temple compound. The porters were not allowed to leave the temple and were tied, in groups of four, at night. On February 13, 2001, while marching from Murng Lung towards Ho Murng, two of the porters tried to escape as they reached Kawng Mon village along the way. The troops shot at them and killed one, but the other porter escaped into the nearby forest. Afterwards, the remaining porters were tied by their hands in fours as they carried the heavy loads, making it very difficult for them to walk on. Whenever one fell down, the others would fall as well, and the troops would scold, beat and kick them. The 14 porters were released on February 16, 2001, when they reached Murng-Sart township and they had to find their own way home. Zaai In Phya, 29, from Wan Tong Long village was killed in the failed escape attempt and left behind a wife and 3 young children. (Source: SHRF)

In mid February, 2001, an elderly civilian porter was kicked and beaten to death and his body thrown down a mountain slope by SPDC troops from IB49, led by Capt. Aung Kyaw Htoo, in the Loi Larng area, Murng-Ton township. On February 13, 2001, SPDC troops of Co.4 from IB49, forcibly conscripted 36 civilian porters, aged from 18 to 57, in Murng-Sart township and took them to the Loi Larng area using forcibly conscripted civilian trucks. The porters were then forced to carry heavy loads of ammunition through valleys and mountains to several military outposts. After a few days, one of the porters, Lung Aw-Zae-Ya, 56, became so weak and sick that he could no longer carry his load up the mountain and collapsed. Some of the troops kicked and beat him and forced him to go on. But when he could not stand up, the troops continued to kick and beat him to death and threw his body down the mountain about 3 miles from Loi Larng village.
(Source: SHRF)

On September 8, 2001, SPDC troops from LIB 471 conscripted 17 civilian porters from Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township, saying that they would pay 500 Kyat per person per day for their porter service. The porters were forced to carry heavy loads and walk through jungles day and night with very little rest and food. After some days, while they were walking across a field, one of the porters, Zaai Lu (m), aged 25, became so exhausted that he collapsed and could not get up right away. The SPDC soldiers then beat Zaai Lu and one of them struck him on the head with his rifle butt. Zaai Lu lost consciousness from the beating and when he recovered his senses, there was blood all over his clothes, and the soldiers forced him to wash his clothes and walk on. When they reached a place called Huay Lur, after patrolling for 8 days, Zaai Lu was exhausted again and one of the SPDC troops slit the left side of his neck with a knife, but fortunately not deep enough to reach his throat, and said, “I can kill you if I like. The death of one Shan is not as regrettable as the loss of one milk can of ours”. The SPDC troops decided to stop for the night at that place and Zaai Lu managed to escape during the night, gaining courage from the thought that he would surely die sooner or later if he stayed on.
(Source: SHRF)

Reported on May 18, 2001. Sin They Village, Ye Phyu Township, Tenasserim Division. Approximately 300 households. Sin They village is located near Dauk Lauk and Pa Dauk Gone villages where LIB 406 and 407 are located. The military authorities ask the local authorities to give forced labor for their agriculture projects (gardens). The village authorities in Sin They village order 100 villagers every 10 days to work in the rubber and cashew gardens. These gardens are located in Sin They and Ka Lone Htar villages. The villager have to cut bushes and weed the gardens. If they are absent, they have to pay 500 kyat. Moreover, the soldiers from LIB 406 have a charcoal business so they need firewood to make the charcoal and the soldiers order the Sin They village authorities to manage for their needs so in the village every house is responsible to gather and send firewood to LIB 406. They have to get an amount of firewood the equivalent of 6 feet high and 6 feet wide. If someone is absent from this duty, they have to pay 1500 kyat for a replacement.
(Source: ABSDF)

On May 16, 2001, LIB 376 based in Mitta Village, east of Tavoy township, Tavoy District, Tenasserim Division, informed the VPDC to build a security gate every mile between Mitta and Taung Done Lone village and 4 villagers to stay at each security gate (2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening). They wanted it build within one week. The villagers had to be from Mitta and Taung Lone Done villages. The reason for building the security gates was that KNLA soldiers from Battalion 10 were moving in that area and attacking SPDC troops.

Starting May 16, 2001 and lasted until May 22, 2001. Taung Lone Done VPDC ordered one person from each house to clean the road between Taung Lone Done and Mitta. This meant clearing the bushes along the sides of the road so that no one could hide. If someone was absent, they had to pay 500 kyat a day for a replacement.

Starting May 23, 2001 and as of June 3, Taung Lone Done VPDC ordered 16 people a day (8 in the afternoon, 8 in the evening) to stand guard with homemade guns at the 4 security gates their village was responsible for. And they had to hit an iron bar every hour to tell the time. Moreover, they were ordered to inform the VPDC when there was something unusual. They were threatened that if they didn’t follow orders they would be punished. If someone couldn’t stand guard at the gate, they had to pay 1000 kyat for a replacement.

This village has 600 houses. 12 villagers have to go the military camp every week for portering. The call it standby portering. Every house in the village has to pay 400 kyat every 10 days to pay the porters with. Each porter recieves 10,000 kyat. Moreover, the villagers have to pay 500 kyat monthly for the Village Development fund, a fund to pay for serving visiting township authorities and for the village militia fund. If the villagers cannot pay, they have to serve as standby porters. (Source: ABSDF)

May 15, 2001, Soun Sin Village, Thayet Chawn township, Tenasserim Division. Approximately 300 households.

LIBs 403, 404, 405 own vegetable gardens around this village where they grow rubber and cashew. During the 2001 rainy season, 30 villagers from Soun Sin village were ordered to work everyday tending the gardens and cutting bushes. This requirement started in early May. If the villagers are absent, they have pay 500 kyat a day to pay for a replacement.

In addition, during the six months prior to May 2001, every house in Soun Sin was ordered to pay 500 kyat a month in porter fees by the local authorities. They were told that this order came from the township authorities. In May, the local authorities began to order five villagers a month to serve as porters. Whenever they ask for 5 people, they ask for 800 kyat from each house to pay the porters with. According to a rule made by the military authorities, each porter receives 40,000 kyat for portering and the local authorities are responsible for paying the porters. If a villager cannot pay the 800 kyat, the village authorities take them to the military camp and the military authorities force them to be unpaid porters. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on April 18, 2001. Lei-pyin-gyi village Tha-yet-chaung township. Approximately 120 households. The SPDC authority in village level group from Lei-pyi-gyi village tract continues to force one person from each household to contribute labor to repair and reconstruct the Myeik-Tavoy car road which runs between Palaung village and Tha-yet-chaung township. The laborers have to work everyday except for one week a month when they can relax. The forced laborers have to bring with them a packet of rice, mattock, knife, crowbar and other materials they need. Moreover, the authorities are also making the residents (laborers) search for precious stones, dig holes, cut and clear the forest along both sides of the road. Anyone who fails to go for forced labor will be fined 500 Kyat per day, which will be used to hire a substitute. The Myeik-Tavoy car road reconstruction work was begun at the beginning of February 2001. Since then the authorities have continued to force the residents of Lei-pyin-gyi village, in Tha-yet-chaung township to contribute labor. The VPDC chairman is U Saw Dee Law, age 45. Although he is a Christian he does not have time to go to church on Sunday but instead he has to oversee the Christian residents of the village as they labor at the worksite in order to ensure that they finish the work quickly. The SPDC authority in village level group collects two porters each month for military operations, and also collects 1200 Kyat per household to pay the porters salary. At Lei-pyin-gyi village the compensation for one military operations porter was fixed at 40000 Kyat. If anyone is unable to pay the porter fees or to serve as a porter, The SPDC authority in village level will give them one month to do it. If, at the end of the month they still haven’t paid the fee or gone for portering the SPDC will punish them by forcing them to go as military operation porters without compensation. Therefore the residents dare not refuse the SPDC authority in village level orders and they have to serve the porters as well as during the fixed duration. (Source: ABSDF)

On March 29, 2001. Zar-di village, Ye-pyu township. Approximately 450 households. At Zar-di village, one of the current platoons from IB 282 remains in the camp and is active in Zar-di village. The VPDC in Zar-di collects 5 standby porters everyday and sends them to IB 282, from the Zar-di village military camp. The SPDC troops continue to make the standby porters find wood, carry water, split wood, cook and do other general tasks. If anyone fails to go, they will be fined 500 Kyat, which will be used to hire a substitute. As Zar-di village is one of 13 villages in the TOTAL company Region Development Project, the residents are not forced by the SPDC authority in township level to serve as military operations porters. Despite this, Zar-di village chairman U Kan Tha continues to collect porter fees from the residents; 500 Kyat per household each month. In addition the residents who are living in Zar-di village every month have to pay 100 Kyat per household to the VPDC for an anti-insurgent group fund – a part of the village development fund. (Source: ABSDF)

Since March 2001 in Kawthaung and Bokepyin Townships, Tennaserim Division, the authorities have been ordering the villagers to work building the No. 20 Operation Control Unit Camp (OCUC). Between 10 and 20 people from each village are forced to work twice a month. In addition, bullock carts and log cutting machines are taken from the villager for use on this project. OCUC has ten battalions and the villagers have to give various types of forced labor, including collecting 1,000 – 3,000 bamboo pieces, to these battalions. Almost all the machines and villagers have been used for forced labor. While working on these projects the villagers have to provide their own food and do not get any payment. The authorities are planning a building project for the No. 19 OCUC to be completed before the end of 2001. For these reasons, between March and August 2001, between 2,000 and 5,000 local villagers have moved to other townships or Thailand. (Source: THRF)

Since 1992, the villagers of Thayetchaung Township, Tenasserim Divison have had to continuously give forced labor for LIB 403, 404 & 405, who own their own business in the area, including a 400 acre rubber field located between Sone Sin Phyar and Thae Chaung Gyi villagers.

The villages affected are: Sone Sin, Sone Sin Phyar, Thae Chaung Gyi, Thae Chaung Ka Lay, Ah Lae Suu, Byat Weat Thar, Taung Pyauk, Ye Pu, Ye Byat, Mae Kae, Kyauk Ai, Win Ka Hpaw, Kyawe Chan, Chaung Wa Pyin, Thayet Pin Ai, Ye Cho Chaung, Gone Nyin Seit, Se Taw, Se Dead, Pyin Phyu Thar, Chauk Chaung, Pyin Phyu Gyi. LIB 403 camp has a brick factory. The military officials occupied 10 acres from the farm land of U Thar Thar, Thingkyune village. Ten villagers have to work in the factory everyday. Moreover, the villagers have to cut trees for the firewood and sell the bricks. LIB 404 has a 100-acre paddy field in the Innbyar village. The local villagers are responsible to work in the military business. Moreover, they have to bring the product to the camp. LIB 405 has a logging business. Two to five people from each local village have to work in there. They have to cut the trees down, send them to the sawmill, work in the sawmill and sell the product. (Source: THRF)

In March 2001, villagers from Kyaung, Kann Nee and Kind Taw, Ye Township, Tennaserim Division, were forced to work on construciton of the LIB 583 and 591 camps. About 160 soldiers from LIB 62 and 343 guarded the projects. The local military authorities confiscated 400 acres of gardens and vegetable fields owned by local people. In addition to forced labor, the villagers had to lend bullock carts and saws to the military without payment. The authorities also send letters to the surrounding villages for 1,000 to 3,000 leaves to be collected for the roofs of the new camps.

The local villager reported the forced labor incident to the New Mon State Pary (NMSP) which has a cease-fire agreement with SPDC. NMSP complained to SPDC when the project was 70% finished. The authorities agreed to make a contract with businessmen close to the junta to finish the project, however it did not happen and the villagers had to finish the constrution without any payment. (Source: THRF)

On August 19, 2001, SPDC troops from LIB 376 conscripted 80 villagers from Myitta village, 35 miles east of Tavoy Town, Tenasserim Division, and forced them to clear the car road between Myitta and Kwee Waw Wa. The villagers were ordered to finish within 3 days. They had to repair eroded and damaged parts of the road and clear fallen trees over a distance of 15 miles. This road is a major transport route for the SPDC to their front line outposts along the Thai border on the Tennaserim riverside. (Source: TIR)

On, August 16, 2001, an SPDC officer summoned the village headman from Taket village and told him that his villagers should be prepared to reconstruct a car road between 6 mile village and Taket Hsweh Plaw, Tennaserim Township, Mergui District, Tenasserim Division in the coming dry season (October). The road will be 3 miles long and 40 feet wide. (Source: TIR)

Reported on June 28, 2001. The W/V PDC (Ward/ Village Peace and Development Council) from Lawthine village, Kyaukgadin village and Alesakhan village, which are located along the Ye-Tavoy road, Tenasserim Division were ordered to dig a 2 foot wide and 1 foot deep irrigation canal on both sides of the road from No.77 to No. 81 milestones, by TPDC (Township Peace and Development Council) from Yepyu township. On May 26, 2001, U San Myint, an civil engineer from Township People Construction Department, and the members of W/V PDC from the villages mentioned above, had discussed the digging plan in Alesakhan village of Yepyu Township. This year, like last year (2000), the authorities of Yepyu Township ordered the villagers from along the Ye-Tavoy road to expand the road and dig irrigation canals along the roadsides saying they would pay wages. But , after finishing the task, the authorities not only didn’t pay the wages but also blamed that the villagers for creating damage because of careless work. (The villagers said that) this year also, the wages would not be paid like last year and all the wages would just cover the traveling cost of W/V PDC, the catering costs of the authorities, and miscellaneous cost of the members. For the villagers in the region, they will still surely be ordered to keep going as rotation servants without pay. If the villagers fail to do forced labor year, they have to pay 500 kyat for a substitute. The task will start in the beginning of July. People in region were ordered to expand the road and dig irrigation canals in Yepyu Township by TPDC since 1999 without pay. About 6 years ago, after cease fire deals had been made between NMSP (New Mon State Party) and SPDC, Raapu village, Kywaidalin village, Ahteraapu village, Lawthine village, Kyaukgadin village and Alesakan village which are located on the Ye-Tavoy road in Northern Yepyu Township became the permanent legal residence for NMSP Tavoy District Battalion. The people in the region have to work without pay not only for SPDC’s development project but also for NMSP Tavoy District Battalion. (Source: ABSDF)

From February to June 2001, 1000 villagers in Thayet Chaung Township forced to work building a road between Ye Byat and Taung Pyork villages to Bann Chuang area. The road was approximately 50 kilometers. Some family members had no males and girls as young as 12 years old and women as old as over 70 were forced to work on the project. The number of children and elderly working on the project was about 70. Some 30 people died while working on the project and over 200 got ill, mostly young girls and elderly women. Villages affected: 27 villages from Pyin Phyu Gyi village group, San Sin village group, Winn Waa village group. The villagers had a similary experience in 1999 and 2000. 37 people died and 150 got injured and ill while working on road-building projects. The causes of death were starvation, malaria, exhaustion and accidents.
(Source: THRF)

On January 16, 2001, soldiers from No. 58 navey came, based in Zar Deck Gyi Island, let by Lt. Col Tin Win, seized a boat from U Maung Nee of Mine Thway village, Kawthaung Township, Tenasserim Divison. The soldiers seized the cargo from the boat (1500 viss of fish and 1900 viss of prawns [total 1.9 mil Ks]) as well as the passengers. The passengers, 4 women and 5 men, were forced to work building a high schoool on Zar Deck Gyi Island. On January 27 and Feb 10, 2001, their relatives requested to meet with them, but were refused by the authorities.

Forced Portering

On August 17, 2001, SPDC Operation Command HQ No. 13 forced 141 prisoners, 50 male villagers and 30 female villagers from Naw Teh, a forced relocation site on the Tenasserim Riverside in the east of Palaw township, Mergui District, to carry 400 sacks of military rice from Si Prot (Sein Byaut) to Way Hton Ray (Aung Than Wa Ra). The porters had to walk through 20 miles of jungle. On August 18, 140 prisoners and 50 Pyicha villagers were forced to carry the rest of the military supplies. (Source: TIR)

Reported on July 24, 2001, W/V PDC from Kyaungwapyin village, Tayetkhaung Township, Tenasserim Division (which includes 400 houses) collected 150 voluntary servants (porters) each month, to carry military rations to LIB(285) at Pulauk village of Pulaw Township. The W/V PDC forced each porter to pay 500 Kyat as the travelling fee from Kyaungwapyin village to Pulauk village. The porters also had to bring their own food for the (7) days of the journey. The SPDC forced each porter to carry 8 pji of rice, 5 cans of condensed milk, 1 viss of sugar, 5 cans of meat can and a viss of other dried food. When traveling during the rainy season, the porters had to use plastic sheet to prevent the food getting wet. Subordinate troops of Sa Ka Kha (9) from Aung Thawarya village, did not accept any food which had gotten wet and fined the person who carried the food the entire cost of the food. Those who could not pay the fine were not allowed to return home and were forced to stay and serve as military operation porters. Therefore, the porters have to take 3000-5000 kyat with them for extra money. (Source: ABSDF)

Since the beginning of June 2001, LIB 376 ordered people in the Myitha village, Tavoy Township, Tenasserim Division, region to build guard posts between Myitha and Thaung Tone Lone village and ordered men to take rotating guard duties. In the middle of July 2001, the authorities of LIB 376 stopped that labor requirement. However, the people in the region were still used as porters. Five to 10 persons were regularly collected as porters, and those who could not be porters had to hire a substitute for 1,000 Kyat per day. Those who could not pay were arrested, beaten, tortured and sent to the frontline camp. Even though villagers over 55 were not required to be porters, they were still rotationally forced to fetch water for use by SPDC soliders, including bath water. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on May 31, 2001. Kha Maung Taung village, Long Lon Township, Tenasserim Division. 120 households. The chairperson of the VPDC, Thein Aung, 50, collects two porters every month. Every house has to pay 1000 kyat a month for porter fees. One porter receives 40,000 kyat. If someone refuses to pay the 1000 kyat he or she cannot stay in the village anymore. Therefore, if they want to stay in their house they have to find any way to earn money. Those who are asked to be porters dare not refuse.
(Source: ABSDF)

Reported on May 27, 2001. Kanet Thiri village (aka. Nat Sape village), Thayet Chaung Township, Tavoy District, Tennasserim Division. 1200 households. In December 2000, the VPDC stopped collecting porters. In April 2001 the VPDC collected 720 villagers to work for 7 days as porters. This village has 24 quarters. 30 villagers were collected from each quarter. These porters were sent to Pu Lauk village, Pu Law Township, Tenasserim Division to carry food supplies. The VPDC paid 500 kyat per porter for the bus fare to Pu Lauk village. The porters received and unknown amount of money. The porters had to bring their own food, even though they were carrying food supplies for the soldiers. When anything disappeared or was lost, the porters had to pay for the lost goods. If the porters could not pay, they were not allowed to return home and had to continue portering. The porters had to walk for 3 days to Aung Tha Wah village. During the 3 day trip there were no soldiers (security) to protect the food from being looted. Each porter, male and female, had to carry 8 bowls of rice, 5 tins of condensed milk, 1 viss of sugar and 5 tins of meat and 1 viss of dried meat. The VPDC chairman, Win Shein, collected 2,000 kyat from each house in Kanet Thiri village to pay the porters. The porters got 15,000 kyat

each. If the villagers didn’t pay they are ordered to be unpaid porters. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on May 21, 2001. Taung Min Pyaung village, Loung Lon Township, Tennasserim Divison. 370 households. Previously, the authorities in this village collected 4 porters every month. They collected 700 kyat from each house to pay the porters. In February 2001, about 200 porters from Loung Lon Township ran away during a military operation in Loung Lon Township and went back home. For their punishment, authorities doubled the numbers of porters they took from Loung Lon Township. Between March and May 2001, the Taung Min Pyaung village authorities (VPDC) collected 8 porters monthly and 1500 kyat from each house for those porters. The porters were paid 40,000 kyat. If a porter doesn’t show up, they have to give 40,000 kyat as punishment. If a villager doesn’t pay the 1500 kyat, the authorities give them one month to pay double the amount. If they still do not pay, then they can be taken as a porter. The money is collected by Win Aung, Chairperson of the VPDC in Taung Min Pyaung village. He also collects 200 kyat a month for township authorities (visiting) and village development. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on May 18, 2001. Sin They Village, Ye Phyu Township, Tenasserim Division. Approximately 300 households. Sin They village is located near Dauk Lauk and Pa Dauk Gone villages where LIB 406 and 407 are located. Sin They village authorities are responsible for collecting 4 villagers every month for use as porters. The villagers are sent to the police station in Ye Phyu Township. The authorities have to collect money for the 4 porters so every house has to pay 1200 kyat each month. One porter gets 40,000 kyat. The village authorities give the money to the porters. If they do not have enough porters and villagers cannot pay the porter fees, they are forced to be unpaid porters. In Sin They village the villagers have to pay 100 kyat every month to the village authorities for a fund so that they can buy food and snacks for when the township authorities visit. Another 100 kyat is collected every month for the soldiers when they come to visit. Another 100 kyat is collected every month for the village development fund. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on May 17, 2001. Tavoy Township, Tavoy District, Tenasserim Division. The houses in this township have to pay 700 kyat a month in porter fees to the local authorities. This money is used to pay voluntary porters. The porters are taken to the LIB 25 camp in Tavoy Township. Every porter is paid 40,000 kyat. Sometimes, the military leaders ask for more porters, so the local authorities need more money and collect more from the people in the township (between 1000 and 1500 kyat from each house). If the people do not pay the authorities inform the police station and the police force them to be unpaid porters. Some people work voluntarily as porters because the economic situation in the four townships of Tavoy District is very difficult and there is high unemployment. They use the money they earn portering to support their families. However, many people do not want to be porters as it is very dangerous and they search for any way to pay the porter fees. One effect of the difficult economic situation has been rising incidents of theft. In Tavoy township, every village has firemen who are responsible for the security of their quarter in the village and have to stand guard every night. One fireman and 5 civilians from each quarter in the township has to participate in these duties. If someone does not want to go, they have to pay 300 kyat to pay for a replacement. In addition, every month the authorities ask every house to donate 100 kyat for a security fund. Also in Tavoy township, the people receive irregular electric service (they get one day of electricity every four days) but have to pay 500-1000 kyat monthly despite the fact that they often have to rely on candles and lamps. (Source: ABSDF)

May 14, 2001, Shan Ma Twin Village, Tavoy Township, Tenasserim Division. Approximately 250 households. The VPDC demand 8 porters a month from this village to go to the LIB 380 camp, near Mitta village. The VPDC collect 1200 kyat from each house in the village every month to pay the porters with. The porters are each paid 20,000 kyat by the VPDC. The Chairperson of the VPDC, Ohn Linn, has said that if the villagers refuse to pay, he will inform the police and have that person arrested.
(Source: ABSDF)

In May 2001, soldiers from LIB 403, led by Major Than Tun, forced some 250 villagers to carry foodstuffs and rations for 18 to 20 days. The journey started from Pae village, Thayetchaung Township, Tennaserim Division. They have to carry their own food and about 25 kilos of foodstuff and rations. It was a difficult journey, they have to pass many streams and mountains, and some got ill and ran out of food. They were beaten when they could not carry the things for whatever reason. They did not get any medical treatment. The end of the journey was military camps in the Aung Thawara area, Tenasserim Township, Tenasserim Division. Some 70 villagers died on the way. In June, about 18 people were able to reach their home villages. The villages affected were: Winn Waa, Minn Dap, Thein Gone, Wel Yit, Ka Myiang, Nga Ye, Kyawe Min Gone, Kyauk Khamauk, Thit Khaung Dwin, Kanet Thiri. (Source: THRF).

May 13, 2001, Pyi Char village, Palaw Township, Tennasserim Division. Approximately 300 households. The local authorities have been asking the villagers to supply 46 people a month to porter food supplies. The porters have to walk 5 days round trip from their village to the LIB 280 camp in Nann Thi Lar Mine, east of Palaw Township. This camp takes food supplies from many villages in the surrounding areas and the soldiers also ask the villagers to carry the food supplies to one of their camps based in Naw Tel village. If a porter does not show up for portering duties they have to pay 15,000 kyat in porter fees. In addition, if some food is lost or disappears, the porters are not allowed to go back to their villages and are ordered to continue as porters for military operations. Pyi Char is a Karen village. Usually soldiers from LIB 280 visit it 3 times a month.
(Source: ABSDF)

Reported on April 25, 2001. Ra-Pu village – Ye township. During the beginning of April 2001 a guerrilla force under sub-company (3) of KNU battalion (10) continued to campaign near the Ra-Pu village area. The KNU guerrilla force has been stopping and searching people who are traveling to the Tavoy area. The SPDC tactical command (1) under military operation command (8) encamped at Ra-Pu village has been fighting the guerrilla forces and also has been forcing at least 15 persons from Ra-Pu village to take turns each day as stand-by porters, even though there are only 300 households to provide assistance. If anyone fails to take a turn as a standby porter they must pay 1000 Kyat to hire a substitute porter. The SPDC tactical command (1) located in Ra-Pu village is forcing the village residents to dig a fox-hole, which is 4.6 feet deep and 4.6 feet wide, around the village, claiming that it is necessary for village security. The digging began in March 2001 and was finished in mid-April. During this period the SPDC tactical command (1) from Ra-Pu village forced one person from each family in the village to contribute their labor to construct the canal. In addition, beginning in mid-April 2001, they ordered village residents to surround the Ra-Pu village area with bamboo fences. If anybody fails to take a turn providing labor, they will be fined 500 Kyat each day to hire a substitute. On April 3, 2001 at 12:00 am, the guerrilla force under sub-company (3) of KNU battalion (10) ambushed the SPDC LIB 410 under tactical command near Ra-Pu village. The battle lasted about 10 minutes and one SPDC soldier was killed. Following this occurrence, the tactical command (1) fined the residents of Ra-Pu village 1000 Kyat per household, stating that they lost one soldier because the residents of Ra-Pu village failed to give them information about the KNU attack.(Source: ABSDF)

Reported on April 19, 2001. Ta-nyi-chaung village, Tha-yet-chaung township. About 250 households. The VPDC from Ta-nyi-chaung village continues to collect one porter per household every three months, including women, to send to the SPDC troops at the frontline. Only women who are over four months pregnant are exempt from going as porters. Anyone who can not go as a porter, must pay the SPDC authority at the village level 8,000 Kyat to hire a substitute for a week. The VPDC from Ta-nyin-chaung village collects 4 people each month for military operation porters, and collects 1000 Kyat per porter from each household for compensation for the porters. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on April 12, 2001. Thin-ka-done village, Tavoy township. Approximately 30 households. Thin-ka-done village is situated in the eastern part of Tavoy town and on Mit-ta car road. It is a small village of about 30 houses. The Thin-ka-done VPDC chairman, U Win Naing, each month forces the residents to take turns serving as porters for military operations. At the same time, U Win Naing also collects 1500 Kyat from each household, saying that the money is to pay the salary for the porters. At Thin-ka-done village U Win Naing has fixed the salary at 40,000 Kyat for each porter. When it is a resident’s turn to go as a military operation porter they have to go as well as paying the porter fees. Thin-ka-done village is in an LIB 402 activity area, and there is always an active military unit in the village. The SPDC claims that their presence is necessary for bridge security.
(Source: ABSDF)

On April 2, 2001. Hein-sei village, Ye-pyu township. Approximately 70 households. The VPDC from Hein-sei village collects a minimum of 2 porters each month. They also collect 1500 Kyat per household to pay the porters with. The compensation paid to porters in Ye-pyu township, including Hein-sei village, is fixed at 40,000 Kyat, therefore when the VPDC collects porter fees in the village they adjust the amount each household has to pay depending on the number of households in the village. The porters’ fee must be fully paid by the local residents, and the residents who fail to pay the porter fees or go as porters, will be reported by the VPDC to the Ye-pyu town police station, and they will be arrested and punished by the police. Although the SPDC troops and SPDC police do not have a camp at Hein-sei village, the active military unit from LIB 407 battalion often enters the village. Every time the SPDC troops enter Hein-sei village, the SPDC authority in village level collects 200-300 Kyat per household for an entertainment fund. The residents of Hein-sei village earn their living by cutting down the bamboo and other wood in the Hein-sei-chaung-pya area and selling it. Every month the residents have to go to the Hein-sei-chaung-pya area to cut down as much bamboo as SPDC LIB 406 and LIB 407 battalions need. Then they have to carry it to Hein-sei village, which is situated near the Ye- Tavoy car road. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 26, 2001.Nat-gyi-shin village, Ye-pyu township. Approximately 450 households. In Nat-gyi-shin village, SPDC IB 282 column (2), with about 100 troops led by second battalion commander U Tint Naing Oo, remains encamped at the column office in Nat-gyi-shin village. They are active in both the Sein Bone and Pauk-pin-kwin villages. Everyday SPDC IB 282 column (2) office collects 4 standby porters from Nat-gyi-shin village for their column office. They force the porters to pick up rubbish, do general cleaning, find wood, split wood, carry water, cook and do other chores. If anybody fails to go as a standby porter they will be fined 500 Kyat to hire a substitute to go on their behalf. The IB 282 column (2) office demands 10 porters each week. If anybody fails to go they are fined 3500 Kyat per week to hire a substitute. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 21, 2001. Kyauk-ka-nya village, Ye-pyu township. Approximately 200 households. In January 2001, Kyauk-ka-nua VPDC chairman U Than Sein, reported to Ye-pyu police station that U Su Hne, age 40, son of U Chit Sein, had failed to pay porter fees and fees for the village funds and he was saying negative things about the VPDC. So the police from Ye-pyu town came and arrested him. After his arrest he was put in Ta-voy prison for three months by the authorities, who said that U Su Hne had interrupted their business. U Su Hne then had to serve as a prisoner porter for the coastal region command frontline. The VPDC in Kyauk-ka-nya village forces the residents to pay porter fees and the people who refuse to pay are reported to the Ye-pyu police station, and like U Su Hne they are arrested and punished. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 20, 2001. Nyin-Htway village – Ye-pyu township. Approximately 500 households. U Maung Thee (VPDC chairman in Nyin-Htway village) forces five people from Nyin-Htway village to serve as porters each month. He also collects 700 Kyat per household for each porter, saying that it would be given to the porters as compensation. In Nyin-Htway village the compensation for one porter was fixed at 40,000 Kyat. Although the VPDC continues to participate in rounding up porters, this is done completely under the directive of the SPDC authority at the township level. People who cannot pay the porter fees or fail to go when it is their turn to serve as porters, are reported to the Ye-pyu town police station by VPDC chairman U Maung Thee, and continue to be subjected to arrest and violent punishment. The SPDC authority at the township level collects porters from the surrounding villages once a month. In addition, they often collect emergency porters during the month. During last February 2001, 18 people were taken as emergency porters from Nyin-Htway village. The VPDC from Nyin-Htway village also collects an emergency porter carrying fee from the residents. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 18, 2001. At the beginning of March 2001, the Nat Seik village level SPDC authorities divided the village into three parts. Each day they forced at least 500 villagers from each part to take turns working to build embankments to protect the fields beside the Tavoy river from rainy season flooding. Anybody who failed to do this was fined 500 Kyat, to hire substitutes to work on their behalf. For the three months prior to this, the authorities in Nat Seik village had not collected forced porters to carry the rations for SPDC. However, at the beginning of March, once again began to collect forced laborers for building the embankments. The SPDC authorities at the village level are also collect various fees from the villagers including: 100 Kyat per household for fire rescue, 50 Kyat to support mothers and children in the military camp, 100 Kyat for village development, 100 Kyat for guest entertainment. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 18, 2001. Ka-net Thiri (Nat Seik) village, Thayetchaung township, Tavoy district. Approximately 1500 households. VPDC Chairman U Win Shein each month forces a minimum of 10 people to serve as porters for military operations and collects 800 Kyat from each household to give the porters for their transportation costs. In Nat Seik village the VPDC fixed the compensation for one porter at 40,000 Kyat. The SPDC authority at the village level collects all of the fees and does not allow people to hire substitute porters. The SPDC authority at the village level asks the police in Nat Seik village to help them arrest people who refuse to serve as porters or who cannot afford to pay the porter fees. Those who cannot afford to pay the fees are forced to serve as porters. If someone does not show up for portering duty then they are arrested by the police and as punishment forced to serve as porters without compensation.
(Source: ABSDF)

On March 9, 2001, soldiers from LIB 103, led by Lt. Col Aye Kyaing, arrested 80 male and female villagers in Tennaserim Township, Tennaserim Division for use as forced porters. The villagers were between the ages of 12 and 60s. They had to carry foodstuffs, rations and arms for three days to Kyauk Lone Gyi camp. Along the way about 20 villagers got ill but were not given any medical treatment and no payment. A 12 year-old boy, Htway Hla broke his right hand. Gyi Tin, 62, of Thin Baw Nan village died while carrying his load. The porters were taken from the following villages: Thin Baw Nan, Ye Pu, Kaw Ma Pyin, Mine Seip, San Pyi. (Source: THRF)

Reported on March 8, 2001. The tactical command (1) under military operation command (8) remains encamped at Kant Kaw Taung village, in Ye Pyu township. On March 7, 2001 SPDC LIB 408, LIB 409 and LIB 410 under the tactical command (1), arrived at the Ra-Pu village situated north of Ye Pyu township, and set up a temporary tactical command frontline office in Ra-Pu village. When the military operation command (8) under tactical command (1) arrived at Ra-Pu village they also forced 200 people from every village except Kan-Pauk, to accompany them as porters for the military troops. The villagers that they collected were not those whose turn it was to serving as porters once a month, but these were people forced to serve as emergency porters by the SPDC and the SPDC’s police from the villages in Ye-Pyu township. According to this information the reason for the collection of the addition porters was that the tactical command requested that the military operation command send 300 more porters who were needed by LIB 408, LIB 409, LIB 410. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on March 1, 2001. Thirty-mile village – Ye Pyu township. Approximately 100 households. The SPDC village leve1 authorities in Thirty-mile village, collect two villagers each month to serve as porters. They also collect 1000 Kyat per household to pay the transportation costs for the porters. The VPDC raised the amount of compensation paid to the porters to 40000 Kyat. Therefore to hire a substitute porter the VPDC forcibly collects 40,000 Kyat from the village for each substitute porter needed. The VPDC continues to collect porter fees as well as transportation fees in Ye Pyu township. Since the beginning of 2001, the SPDC from Ye Pyu township has also collected fees to hire medics to accompany and look after the military operation porters and to pay for medicine for them. They order the VPDC from Ye Pyu township to collect 500 Kyat per household each month from every village under their control and transfer the cash to The SPDC authorities at the township level. This information comes from a porter who returned from the frontline. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on February 8, 2001. Pa-Ka-Ri village – Tavoy township. Approximately 300 households. The military unit from IB 25, which is located in a camp in Pa-Ka-Ri village, each day collects two villagers to serve as stand-by porters. The two stand-by porters are each forced to carry 2 bundles of wood which are 2 feet long and 2 feet wide, to Pa-Ka-Ri, SPDC camp. In addition, at the SPDC camp the porters are made to work all day cooking, carrying water and cleaning the camp environment for the SPDC. Anybody who fails to serve their porter duty will be fined 500 Kyat to hire a substitute. The VPDC from Pa-Ka-Ri village regularly collects 5 five people to serve as porters for a week to 10 days. Each time they collect porters they also collect 700 Kyat from each household for porter fees. The VPDC in Pa-Ka-Ri village collects porters and porter fees three times each month. Moreover, they also collect fees from each household for funds for entertainment expenses, the village development fund and other general funds.
(Source: ABSDF)

Reported on February 6, 2001. Zin-ba village – Ye-pyu township. Approximately 100 households. During the past three years, the VPDC from Zin-ba village had stopped collecting village residents each month to serve as porters for military operations or as forced laborers in the logging business of LIB (410). Currently, the LIB (410) (rear) camp (camp that supports the front-line camp) working with logging business interests, is cutting and sawing wood in the eastern region of Zin-ba forest, and splitting the profits from the sale of the wood with logging companies. The rear LIB (410) authorities have once again begun collecting residents from Zin-ba village and forcing them to cart the wood they have cut from the jungle to the cart road and through to the LIB (410) rear camp. Other types of forced labor involving residents from Zin-ba village is also continuing. The Back-line LIB (410) authorities regularly use the VPDC to force five people from Zin-ba village to accompany each cart for three days at a time, as well as force them to take turns providing labor for their logging business. (Source: ABSDF)

Reported on April 29, 2001. Maung-mei-shaung village, Tavoy township. 1500 households. Since in February 2000, the SPDC authority from Tavoy district, ordered people from the four townships in the district to stop using the word “porter” and instead refer to them as “public service personnel.” Anyone found still using the name “porter” would be effectively punished.

On February 1, 2001 the tactical command (1), under the SPDC coastal region command, summoned as many public service personnel (porters) as they needed from the four townships in Tavoy district, to send rations to the frontline military forces. They collected at least 400 persons from each of the four townships. In addition, the SPDC village level authority in Maung-mei-shaung village collected 25 Maung-mei-shaung villagers to serve as porters and also collected 3000 Kyat per household, saying that this money would be given to the porters as salary. They will give 30,000 Kyat to each public service personnel (porter). However, if the SPDC authorities at the village level are unable to collect 30,000 Kyat, the public service personnel (porter) would still have to provide their labor and would be given only 10,000 Kyat and told that they were being punished by the VPDC. Moreover, when people from other villages come and ask to hire public service personnel (porters), the VPDC from Maung-mei-shaung village will give them the villagers who are being punished as porters. They also seized some of the porters’ salaries for their own use, and thus only give each porter 10,000 Kyat.

The VPDC from Maung-mei-shaung village continues to collect at least 5 porters each month for military operations. Every time they collect porters for military operations, they also collect 1500 Kyat per household for each porter, saying that they will give this to the porter as compensation. The fixed rate is that one public service personnel (porter) must be paid 40,000 Kyat as compensation. The money given to the porters as compensation was all given to the SPDC authorities by the village residents. However, people who could not afford to pay the porters fee continue to be forced to serve as military operation porters. If people from other villages come to hire military operation porters they give the porters to these people and they keep 20,000 Kyat out of the 40,000 Kyat compensation, giving only 20,000 Kyat to each porter.

The village level SPDC authority from Maung-mei-shaung village each month demands the following funds from each household:

Fund for authorities entertainment (100) Kyat

Fund for village development (100) Kyat

Fund for militias and fire rescuers (100) Kyat

Fund for soldiers on the frontline (100) Kyat

General Fund (100) Kyat and other things.

Thus the total monthly fees collected from the residents from Maung-mei-shaung village by the VPDC is 500 Kyat.

On April 27, 2001 Maung-mei-shaung village resident, U Thee Shwe, age 50, reported that on February 1, 2001 he had gone to transport rations because he needed money due to the poor economic situation in Burma, but he was paid only a 30,000 Kyat. He further reported that public service personnel (porters) from the other villages including his village of Maung-mei-shaung, had to take turns transporting rations. The porters were collected and organized at SPDC IB (25) Camp and on 2-2-2001 a total of 1600 public service personnel (porters) from the four townships in Tavoy district were sent to IB (25), leaving for Mit-ta village by car as arranged by IB (25), from Tavoy district. The tactical command (3), under military operation command, then separated the porters transporting rations from Mit-ta village, sending 800 porters to Htee-hta village, and 400 porters to Mye-kan-baw village. U Thee Shwe was part of the ration transportation group that included Mye-kan-baw village porters. On 3-2-2001 the porters were forced to walk from Mye-kan-baw village to Kin-mwun-chan military camp. They started the journey on 4-2-2001 until 6-2-2001 and had to carry heavy loads of rice and other materials (about 20 viss of weight per porter) through to the Thu-kha borderline and Nga-yant-ni-chaung-pya border camp. On 7-2-2001 U Thee Shwe was released and returned to Maung-mei-shaung village. During the journey, on 5-2-2001, one of the porters, a 45 year old woman from Ba-wa-kone village, stepped on a landmine near the old Thu-kha gate and was seriously wounded. The SPDC troops made the porters take her to Tavoy hospital.

According to U Thee Shwe who was interviewed again on 11-2-2001, when the people from Kyauk-si village, Laung-lone township, came to Maung-mei-shaung village to hire porters, he went as a porter a second time, again being compensated 30,000 Kyat, because he needed the money for farming. During the second week, U Thee Shwe went to Htee-hta village and through to Mei-ta-mi camp transporting SPDC rations for four days on behalf of Laung-lone township. In addition, the military operation command (9) from Htee-hta village continues to send porters from Laung-lone township to Maw-hta village and makes them transport rations through to Ka-ma-pu-law border camp in exactly two days. U Thee Shwe reported that on 20-2-2001, 157 porters from Tha-yet-chaung village and 272 porters from Laung-lone township (a total of 429 persons) were among his rations transportation porter group, most of them were unhealthy because they didn’t have enough to eat and the rations which they brought with them had already run out. The porters who transported the SPDC rations, were not allowed to eat any of the food themselves, and instead had to bring their own rations. If they were found to have taken the SPDC rations, they were made to repay the value of what they had eaten. The porters then decided that they would try to escape from the SPDC troops. They ran away and on 25-2-2001 they arrived at Thei-chaung village, Tha-yet-chaung township. The next day they arrived back at Maung-mei-shaung village. (Source: ABSDF)

In 2001, the boatmen in the following villages in Kyungsu, Bokepyin and Kawthaung Townships, Tennaserim Divison have been forced to use their boats to transportation during military operations and trips. The soldiers can confiscate boats at any time. Villages in Kyungsu tsp: Ka Mar Ai, Lae Air The Dan, Sa Khan Thit, Paeto Ngin, Ma Shwe Ou, Lae Thit, Ye Kan Or, Chaung Gyi Waa Villages in Boakpyin township: Kan Maw, Kyain Mae Taung, Kyainni Taung, Ye Kan Taung, Sa Tain, Ma Tay Kann Taw, Ye Aye Kyant Chaung, Shwe Girl Nyo Villages and Islands Kawthaung tsp: Kara Thuri, Aung Bar, Warr Kyung, Tha Htay Island, Hsa Lone Island, Zar Det Gyi Island, Nyang Weet Island.
(Source: THRF)

In January 2001, Tavoy district, Tenasserim Division, SPDC Battalions 403, 404 and 405, from Kawy Aey, demanded 2-10 villagers from each village in the area. If the villagers couldn’t go they had to pay between 27,000 and 50,000 kyat. If the villager couldn’t pay the money their citizenship card was confiscated and only returned if they could pay 10,000 – 20,000 kyat. The porters were sent to Ta Nin Tha Ye province in Karen State, a front-line area. On January 26-27, 250 porters were sent to Tavoy City, a quieter area. When men weren’t available for portering, women were used. For this reason, between 5,000 and 7,000 villagers crossed to Thailand for asylum at Kah Thew/Yenaw/PeSie/NatAeyTaw between January 26 and February 26. (Source: TWU 2001)

After the military coup in 1988, the number of prisoners increased by a large margin.   Before 1988, there were approximately 40,000 prisoners in Burmese prisons.  After 1988, the number rose to about 60,000 with an additional 20,000 in labor camps. Of the entire prison population, over 1,600 are political prisoners. There are 36 prisons in Burma and over 20 of them detain political prisoners. Numerous violations of human dignity and brutal harassment occur in all prisons.  However, the worst situation for prisoners is in labor camps and as porters for military operations. Prisoners are increasingly being used as porters by the military rather than civilian villagers. In order to comply with Regional military commanders request for porters, the Department of Prisons has formed prisoner service units. Inside sources report that longer prison sentences are being given for minor crimes as the demand for prison labor increases.  

“Prison labor camps continue to operate with little outside scrutiny in Sagaing, Rangoon, Irrawaddy and Tenasserim Divisions and in Mon, Karen and Kachin States…the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited three labor camps in Tamu district near the Indian border in September 2001. The ICRC suggested 120 prisoners return to prison due to their age or health condition. The death rate of prisoners in these camps is between 24-30% per year due to inadequate food, unsafe drinking water, malaria, ill-treatment and insufficient medical care.” (Source: UNBSO)

Convicts are regularly used for unpaid labor as porters, on major infrastructure projects and at rock quarries. They are generally treated much more brutally than civilians and are routinely used in very dangerous or inhuman work, such as blowing up rock faces, digging at cliff-sites, plowing fields in the place of animals and carrying loads far to heavy in the front lines. Prison labor has also been used on numerous infrastructure and tourism projects.

According to AAPP, there are over 21 labor camps, such as: Kabaw valley (Western Burma),  Taungzun/ Motplin Quarry (Mon state), Tuntay camp (near Rangoon), and Bokpyin  camp (Tenasserim Division).

The SPDC has established several labor camps in Arakan State, where the convicts or prisoners are subjected to heavy and exhaustive work. The following are among them:

1) Leyant Tanug prison labor camp, situated on the Lemro riverbank in Mrauk U township.

2) Kyigan Bin (Kawarbil) prison labor camp, 5 miles north of Maungdaw town.

3) Thabra prison labor camp, in Pauktaw township.

4) Taung Gri prison labor camp, in Buthidaung township.

5) Nantat Island prison labor camp, in south Pauktaw township.

6) Ann prison labor camp situated between Ann and Roma Mountain Pass in Ann township.

7) Sinedin prison labor camp, about 10 miles southeast of Buthidaung town.

8) Zaghine prison labor camp, in Rathedaung township. (Source: ARNO 2000)

There were some work camps in central Burma, which demanded prisoners to work there. Those camps were under the prison department.

1. Taw Pone Gyi work camp. Railroad construction site between Gan Gaw- Pahukku. At Taw Pone Gyi camp, prisoners had to dig and crush stones. Escaped prison laborers interviewed by FTUB reported that if 200 prisoners were sent there, only 50 would be returned and the rest would die there because of hard work.

2. Five Pagodas stone crushing work camp: Near Thar Se, prisoners had to crush stones for Thar Se-Taunggyi road.

3. Kabaw valley development work camp: Rice plantation camp in Sagaing Division. Also there was a rail road construction, Kale-Gan Gaw-Pahukku. Rice plantation duty was very hard because, prisoners had to prepare rice fields with hoes, (without using machines or bullocks). A prisoner from Pahukku who was once there explained that Kabaw work camp was the worst and in 1997, 100 prisoners from Pahukku were sent there and only 8 prisoners arrived alive. He said he was alive because he grew and sold flowers for prison officers. Prisoners who work at rice fields died within a 6 month period. (Source: FTUB 2000)

Mupalin Quarry Camp is located in Kyat Tho township, Mon State. It is 20 miles from Kyat Tho and 12 miles from Stuittoung bridge. This camp produces stones for road building.

The prisoners at this camp have to do different types of work from 6 am to 12 am in the morning and to 5/ 6pm in the evening. There are two main working places and two types of work. The ‘hard’ work is done in the quarry and consists of digging and pounding large stones into small stones which can be used in road building. The ‘soft’ work is done in the camp and includes farming, carpentry, cooking and cleaning. If a prisoner doesn’t want to do hard work, he has to pay an initial bribe of Kyat 40,000 to the camp’s superintendent. Then he needs to pay an addition Kyat 10,000 to him every year after that. If a prisoner can’t afford to pay the bribe for soft work he is assigned to do hard work and still has to pay an initial Kyat 20,000 and then Kyat 5,000 to the superintendent every year. The prisoners call the hard work place (the quarry) the ‘front line’ and the soft work place the ‘supporting line.’

There are many deaths among the prisoners in the front line (the quarry). Every year approximately 150 convicted laborers die in Mupalin Camp.

Each prisoner in Mupalin Camp has been assigned a registration number followed by either the letter /E or /c. /c is given to the convict laborers who are newly arrived at the camp and /E was assigned previously to prisoners who arrived earlier (e.g. 3440/c would indicate a newcomer and 3441/E a prisoner who had been at the camp for a longer time).

The camp is shaped like a cauldron with mountains surrounding it. U Thein Htun is the camp superintendent but the convict laborers call him ‘King of Death.’

At the Mupalin camp there are 80 warders and 2,000 convict laborers. The camp is organized like an army, and the convict laborers are divided into 9 companies.

From a one-mile wide rocky mountain, road stones can be produced for 10 to 12 years. After dynamiting the mountain, the convicted laborers break up the rocks using 18, 16, or

14 lb. hammers to make large size stones and 1 or 2lb hammers to make smaller stones.

The Mupalin camp can produce 800 stone quarry per day. (A quarry is equal to 100 cubic feet of stone).

The convicted laborers have to make different size stones including those that are 9 inches wide and 18 inches tall, 9 in x 12 in, 6 in x 9 in, 2 in x 4 in, 1 in x 2 in, and so on.

They also have to produce very small ones that are 1 in x 1 in. They are only able to produce 6 quarries of these small stones per day. The big trucks carry the stones to local construction sites. About 100 convicted laborers are needed to load and unload the stones.

In Mupalin camp, there are 5 permanent convicted laborer cooks and some other newcomers who also do the cooking. Every prisoner wants to do the job of cooking because it is much better than the other types of work. The prisoners who do the cooking use water tanks that have been cut in half to cook 50 Kg of rice.

Everyday there are about 20 prisoners who need to rest because they are ill and unfit to do hard work. Those suffering from diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses are issued medical certificates, which allow them to rest. Some prisoners are also wounded while detonating the rocks in the quarry. Those wounded prisoners are made to do the cooking. According to the Burma Jail Manual published by the SPDC, the prisoners are supposed to receive a rice ration of 0.48 Viss per meal. But in reality they only receive 0.23 Viss, due to the corruption of the warders, who steal the rest of the rice. 0.23 Viss is equal to only one plate of rice. This ration is inadequate for the prisoners, so they are also forced to eat various tree leaves and any thing else that is available, even if they are not sure whether or not it is harmful. This is one reason that they suffer from cholera frequently.

The wounded prisoners do not receive proper medical treatment, and there are at least 4 to 6 prisoners who have lost their legs because of this. In Mupalin camp, there is only one medic and 2 prisoners who assist him. Therefore proper medical treatment is impossible. If a prisoner dies, the camp officials do not give him a traditional religious burial, and they don’t inform his family. The camp officials do not remove the shackles from the dead prisoners in the normal way, but instead they cut off their leg to remove the shackles.

When the relatives and families of prisoners come to see them, they normally give them some cash. But the camp officials deduct 6/10ths of what is given. For example, if a prisoner receives Kyat 10,000, he will only gets Kyat 4,000. Furthermore, often when the warders want to buy alcohol they force the prisoners to give them money. If a prisoner cannot give them what they want, the warders send him to do hard work. Some prisoners are beaten severely until they die because they cannot do hard work.

Superintendent : U Tin Maung Myint

Chief Jailor (two stars) : U Wan Chai

Local Security Police : 7 persons

Warders : 10 persons

Lieutenant Corporal : San Oo (prison staff)

Prisoner in charge of one Hall : Zin Maung Maung (prisoner)

Sergeant from No (3) Company: Kappali

There are two nearby satellite labor camps that are under the direct supervision of officials at No (6), New Life Camp. These are Phayar Ngoke To camp and New Life (6) Sakhangyi. There are 250 prisoners at Phayar Ngoke To camp and 450 prisones at New Life (6) Sakhangyi Camp. The prisoners are divided into two companies at Phayar Ngoke To and three companies in Sakahngyi. There are 1,200 acres of cultivated area at the main No(6) New Life Camp.

Source: : Federation of Trade Unions Burma

Name : Aung Aung

Age : 16 yr. (at the time of incident)

Prison Registration. No.: 1616

Court where sentenced : Mawlamyaing District Court

Home Address : Zayyar Thiri (11) St., Mawlamyaing Tsp.

After his court hearing, on November 25, 2001 Aung Aung was transferred to Mawlamyaing Prison. One month later, on December 18, 2001, he was sent to the No (6) New Life Camp.

Upon arriving at the camp he had to give a Kyat 2,000 bribe to the camp officials so that they would treat him well and so that he would not be assigned hard work. He had to pay a further bribe of Kyat 1,500 whenever his family came to see him.

Aung Aung reported the following information about conditions at the camp:

The camp officials used convicted laborers to manually operate a heavy machine which removes the skin off the rice seeds and instead of using cows they use prisoners pull the ploughs. There were 320 convicted laborers, of these there were three companies (Company 1, 2 and 3) with 70 laborers in each who worked in the rice fields. Some of the other convicted laborers grew vegetables for camp officials and their families. Other prisoners worked in the houses of camp officials. Most prisoners preferred to work in the houses of camp officials, because the work was much lighter than other kinds of work, but to be assigned to this type of work they had to pay a bribe.

Whenever the relatives of a convicted prisoner came to visit them, they had to give between 100 and 200 Kyats as a ‘donation’ to the prison, even though they had already been forced to pay Kyat 200 to get permission for the visit. Actually, the kept the money. Usually a prisoner who receives a visit from his family considers it a lucky thing. However in this camp it was not lucky, because after the visit, the prisoner had to pay his company commander Kyat 2,000, Kyat 1,000 to his group leader (also a prisoner) and Kyat 200.00 to the prisoner in charge of his block. If the prisoner couldn’t pay, they would beat him and assign him very hard work. Sometimes, the officials beat the prisoners until they became unconscious or even until they died. A prisoner named Kyaw Myint Oo (aka Moe Gyi) from Aukkyint Quarter, Mawlamyaing was one of these prisoners who was killed by beating. The average death toll among the prisoners is 3 persons per month.

The prisoners in this camp were fed only a cup of rice and bean-curry, which was like water. So the prisoners were forced to scavenge for other kinds of vegetation, chopped crabs, chopped fishes and even water snakes. Due to their poor diet some prisoners suffered from cholera.

At the camp there was only one medic with one assistant. Whenever the workers had an illness or injury they were only given Burmeton, a type of cold medicine. When the prisoners got sick they were fed only a cup of boiled rice in water. The sick prisoners were made work cleaning three buildings and shoveling human excrement from the latrines. Some of the ill prisoners couldn’t tolerate this work and so they fought with the other prisoners, and in some cases even killed each other, in order to get an extra sentence and be transferred to prison from the camp.

The camp is shaped like a square. There are three buildings that are 100 ft long and 20 ft high. There are about 80 to 100 prisoners in each building.

Aung Aung reports that there was religious oppression carried out by camp officials. In the camp there were about 25 Muslim prisoners. The camp officials treated them more brutally than the other prisoners. At some point all of them were severely tortured and as a result of the torture, 2 of them died.

The camp officials did not allow these Muslim prisoners that were killed to be given a traditional religious burial. Instead they just buried them in the same hole.

Sr. Name Place of Residence Length of Sentence

1) Maung Zaw Bago 7 yrs.

2) Kyway Gyi Pa An 10 yrs.

3) Ar Baw

4) Du Duu

5) Maung Oo

6) Khar Lit 1 yr.

7) Aye Saung Mudon 3 yr.

8) Tin Mya 10 yr.

9) Win Oo Pa An 10 yr.

10) Myo Zaw Win

11) Moe Kyaw Pa An 10 yr.

12) Abdul Samat Ah Paung 2 yr.

13) Ali Rangonn 24 yr.

14) Saw Aung

15) Sonny Mudon 3 yr.

16) Buto

17) Chit Soe

18) Kyaw Win

19) Win Aye 4 yr.

20) Maung Win

21) Maung Maung

22) Chit Win Pa An 5 yr.

23) Thawdar

24) Win Myint

25) Kyaw Thu Hlaing Bwe

26) Hussein Kawkkareik

27) Soe Wai

28) Han Thein

29) Myint Nyunt

30) Kaung Htut 7 yr.

31) Than Tun

Location : 17 miles from Tha Hton Township, Mon State

Superintendent : U Ne Win

Warders : 60 persons

Prisoners : 800 persons

Type of work : Removing (blasting) rocks from the quarry

There are two satellite camps under the direct supervision of the main Yin Nyein camp, Mar Ka The camp, and Yin Nyein camp

From these camps, 300 quarries of rock can be produced everyday. These rocks are transported to the towns of Bago, Taung Ngu, Kyauk Da Gar, Pha Yar Gyi, and so on.

Location : Ah Paung Township, Mon State

Superintendent : U Tin Aye

Warders : 80 psns.

Prisoners : 1,100 psns.

Type of work : Removing (blasting) rocks from the quarry

There are three satellite camps under the supervision of the main Zin Kyaik camp, they are: Phat Lat Mine, Wet Kyii Mine, and Ye Da Gon Mine.

Name : Aung Myint

Age : 33 yrs.

Home Address : Yebaw Zay (3) St., Pa An Township, Mon State

Aung Myint reported that on 22 December, 1993, at about 10:30pm, police officers from Myoma Police Station of Pa An Township, and other officials from the neighborhood Peace and Development Council came and searched his house for evidence of drug trafficking. Despite finding no evidence of any sort, the official took him to Myoma police station. Once there, the police tortured him and forced him to confess to being involved in drug trafficking activities. Finally, on January 21st , 1994, the police took him to the District Court. On April 7th, 1994, the court sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment under the 19/21 act. The name of the district judge was U Kyaw Naing and the prosecuting lawyer was U Soe Thaung. Aung Myint paid the lawyer a Kyat 8,000 bribe and paid another Kyat 8,000 bribe to local judicial officer U Kyaw Naing and his staff.

On April 8th, 1994, Aung Myint was sent to Mawlamyaing Prison. His prison registration no was 3302/c. At that time the prison superintendent was U Win Naing, and two other head prison officials were U Khin Zaw and U Myint Swe. Because of Aung Myint’s long sentence, they put him in a confinement cell. On 18 October 1994, the prison officials sent him to Zin Kyaik Prison Labor Camp, where he served 6 years of his sentence. On July 3rd, 2001 he and another fellow prisoner run away from the camp.

Zin Kyaik is located near Ye Da Gon mine, three miles from Wet Kyii township, and two miles from Phat Lat township.

The workday at the camp goes from 6:30am to 12:00 noon, and from 1:00pm until night. There is no fixed end to the workday, and sometime the prisoners have to work until 7:00pm.

In January 1995 Aung Myint reported that, there was an accident at the labor camp. The stone mine collapsed and 60 laborers died. Another 15 prisoners were injured and some lost body parts.

The daily food ration for the prisoners is very little. The prisoners are given only a bowl of rice for each meal, along with watery bean curry and fish paste. The food they are given is inadequate for a normal person, let alone for the prisoners who have to do hard physical labor.

The healthcare situation in the camps was also terrible. The camp officials only supplied cheap medicines from China to the prisoners who suffered illnesses such as diarrhea, etc. Prisoners who were weak and ill were not given a medical pass to rest. If someone was seriously ill, the officials transferred him first to the Ah Paung Township Hospital, if the Ah Paung Hospital was unable to treat the prisoner, then they transferred him again to Mawlamyaing Township Hospital. No prisoner ever taken to these hospitals ever returned to the camps, and the prisoners assumed that they had died.

Location : Beelin Township, beside the Rangoon-Moke Ta Ma highway road

Superintendent : U Khin Kyaw

Warders : 60 persons

Prisoners : 1,100 persons

Type of work : Removing (blasting) rocks from the quarry

The approximate area of the camp is 3 sq miles. It is surrounded by the Beelin mountain range.

Every year, the death toll is 100 to 150 prisoners.

At this camp there is no proper bathing system, instead the officials spray up to 100 prisoners at a time with water from a fire hose. Many prisoners suffer from diarrhea and other illnesses. There are frequent accidents where the prisoners lose their legs. The camp produces 500 quarries of stone per day.

Location : Yay Township, Mon state

Superintendent : U Hla Tun

Warders : 15 psns.

Prisoners : 300 psns.

Only prisoners with short-terms (between 6 months and 1 year) are sent to this camp. The work in this camp is very light, and there is no hard work. The prisoners have to pay the camp officials Kyat 4,000 per month as a bribe to stay in the camp. If they pay additional bribes some of the prisoners are allowed to leave the camp for a short time to go and meet their family, or their families are able to come and visit them in the camp.

There are 400 male and 700 female prisoners at this camp. The female prisoners break up “Chi Myhin” stones (the smallest size stones) with small hammers (weighing 1 to 2 lbs.). This type of stone is the most expensive and one quarry is worth about Kyat 5,000. The camp’s daily production capacity is 16 quarries of Chi Myhin stones and 200 quarries of other stones of various sizes. The exact death toll from this camp is unknown. The stones are sold to governmental departments (Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Irrigation, etc).

Location : Mu Don Township, Mon State

Prisoners : 200 persons.

Type of work : Producing stones

The stones produced from this camp are used in road construction projects in Mu Don Township, Mawlamyaing Township and Than Phyu Za Yat Township. The convict laborers are usually prisoners from Mawlamyaing prison who are near the end of their prison terms. This camp is called ‘money camp’ because the prisoners are well treated if they can pay bribes to the prison officials. The prisoners in this camp are not shackled.

Location : Kyaik Ma Yaw Township, Mon State

Superintendent : U Myint Oo

Warders : 80 psns.

Prisoners : 250 psns.

Type of work : Cultivating rice throughout the year

There are about 350 acres of paddy field in this camp. The rice from this camp is sold, and the money goes to the officials at Zin Kyaik Prison Camp, for this reason it is known as a ‘fund-raising’ camp. All of the prisoners here are near the end of their prison terms, and have been sent from Zin Kyaik Prison Camp.

Location : Near Taung Ngoo Township, Bago division

Person-in-charge : U Kyaw Min

Warders : 18 psns.

Prisoners : 300 psns.

Prisoners who are able to pay bribes are sent to work here. The prisoners are not shackled and they work for the construction contractors of Taung Ngoo Airport. The labor charges paid by contractors are sent every three months to the Director General of Prisons Department, Ministry of Home Affairs.

There was an incident reported at this camp, where some female relatives of the prisoners who had come to visit were raped by the wardens.

Superintendent : U Nyunt Thein

Warders : 40 persons

Type of work : Producing stones

This camp is a light work camp. In addition to breaking up stones, the prisoners also have to do hillside cultivation and other farming work.

Some of the other Prison Labor Camps are Kawt Thaung (7) mile stone camp in Tanintharyi Division and Kawt Thaung cooking oil cultivation camp.

Formerly, prisoners were taken out of prison and handed directly to the Army units, but since 1996 the SLORC/SPDC has created the ‘Won Saung’ to formalize and institutionalize this process.  Sometimes translated into English as ‘porter battalions’ or ‘service camps’, ‘Won Saung’ actually translates more closely as ‘carrying service’.  The Won Saung come under the Prison Authority and function as holding centers for the convicts before they are taken to porter at the frontline by the Army.  The prisoners are drawn from various prisons around Burma, and according to their testimonies it appears that there are quotas which each prison must provide to the Won Saung camps on a regular basis.  To fill these quotas the prison authorities lie to the prisoners, telling them that their sentences will be reduced or that they will be released after a short shift of portering, and if this is not enough they even send elderly and disabled prisoners, those under treatment in the prison hospital, and those whose sentences are about to end. The convicts are usually given loads much heavier than what civilian porters are forced to carry; sometimes the loads are so heavy that they cannot get to their feet without help from the soldiers. While portering for the Army, the porters are constantly subjected to verbal and physical abuse from the soldiers when they have difficulty carrying their loads.  Porters who fall out of line from exhaustion are beaten and kicked until they rejoin the column.  When porters just cannot continue, they are left behind and sometimes kicked down the mountainside to an almost certain death.  The straps from the baskets cut into the porters’ shoulders and backs and result in painful wounds. 

Despite their requests for medicine, the porters are never given any, even when they have seen the medics treating the soldiers.  Food generally consists of a starvation diet of rice and fish paste, while the soldiers eat dried shrimp, chicken and vegetables.  The food and belongings which soldiers loot from villages are thrown on top of the porters’ loads, as are the soldiers’ personal packs and boots.  In many cases civilian porters are taken along with the convict porters.  The porters are forced to walk between the soldiers, partly to prevent them running away and partly in the hope that resistance groups won’t ambush the column if they see civilians.  Contrary to claims made internationally by the SPDC, the use of convict porters on operations and at the frontline camps in no way lessens the forced labor burden of the villagers.  Rather than being seen as an alternative to civilian forced labor, the use of convicts for portering and other forced labor in Burma should be seen for what it is: an additional, unnecessary, and particularly brutal form of human rights abuse. (Source: KHRG)

The three won saung camps known to the AAPP are located in the southeastern military regional command: in Hpa- an, capital of the Karen State; Myaine Ka lay township, Karen State; and Loikaw, capital of Karenni State.

The junta authorities forced Muslims to do so heavy work that the following Muslims were killed in prisons and porter-recruiting camps during the months of March, 2001 to 31, July, 2001, according to five prisoner-turned porters who escaped. The porters requested their anonymity.

The porters further said that the poor porters, who could not give bribe money, did not get proper medical treatments and have to do very heavy work in prisons and porter-recruiting camps as well.

1. U Kasem - - - 30 - - - - Ka Tha - - - - - - -Mandalay prison

2. U Tin Myint - - 26 - - - - Pyinmana - - - - - Mandalay prison

3. U Maung Than - 36 - - -- Mudon - - - - - - - Kyaikmaraw Ba Wa Thit camp(6)

4. U Ba Dee - - - - 29 - - -- Than Pyu Zayet - - - - - - Do - - - - - - - -

5. U Aung Kyaw Win - 28 - - Pa-an - - - - - - - - - - - -Do - - - - - - - -

6. U Hussain - - - - 25 - -- - Pa-an - - - - - - - - - - - - Do - - - - - - ---

7. U Ye Win - - - - -32 - - - Pa pun - - - - - - - - - - - -Do - - - - - - - -

8. U Aziz - - - - - - 42 - - - Rangoon - -- - - -- ThinZayet Rock-breaking camp

9. U Salim - - - - - -29 - - -- Rangoon - - - - - - - - - - Do - - - - - - - - - -

10. U Seraj Ahamad - 43 - - -Buthidaung, Arakan - - - - Do - - - - - - -

11. U Norzir - - - - - -34 - -- Insein, Rangoon - - - - - - Do - - - - - - - -

12. U Yu soof - - - - -35 - - -Moulmeim - - - - - - - - - -Do - - - - - - - -

13. U Chit Win - ---19 - - -Taungoo(6) Block - Taungoo 4-mile Rocking-breaking camp

14. U Myo Myint Naing - 21 - -Near Universal Bank, Magwe - -Do - - - - - -

15. U Maung Soe - - - -27 - - -Pya pon, - - - - - - -- - - --Do - - - - - - - - - -

16. U Ali - - - - - - - - - 24 - --Apoung Myo - ---Zin Gyaik Rock-breaking camp

17. U Akbar - - - - - - - 56 - --Pa-an - - - - - -- - - - - -- Do - - - - - - - - - —

18. U Du Du - - - - - - -41 - - -Pa-an (near market) - - - Do - - -- - - - - —

(Source: MICB)

According to another report from an escaped porter, on June, 26, 2001, three porters died of starvation and lack of medicines in Myaing Galay porter recruting camp, Pa-an township of Karen State. The porter said that there are four huge halls in the camp where about 800 to 1300 porters are being kept. These porters have to do hard labour and are being given very limited rice and poor curries. When the porters get ill, they do not get proper medical treatments. The escaped porter said that at least 15 to 20 porters die in the camp every month due to the starvation and lack of medical treatments. The three porters who died on June 26th were Ko Tin Hla (23 years old) from Rangoon, Ko Ye Tun (27 years old), from Rangoon and Ko Than Myint (25 years old) from Moulmein.
(Source: MICB)

Reported on November 25, 2001. 32 prisoners died and another 127 ran away from the 500 prisoner laborers recruited to work at the construction site of the new headquarters for Military Operations Management Command [MOMC] No 19 in Mon State’s Ye Township. The 500 prisoners were recruited from Moulmein prison in October. They were not only used as laborers at the construction site but also as porters for the front-line military columns. It is believed that the many deaths and desertions of prisoner laborers and porters could seriously affect the MOMC-19’s search for the NMSP splinter group. Thus, the MOMC-19 has requested the Mon State Prisons Department for an emergency supply of another 500 prisoner porters to be recruited immediately in order to continue with the military operation. (Source: DVB)

Reported on November 2, 2001. Some prisoners are to be sent back to their original prisons from the number one “New Life Project” hard labor camp near the Indo-Burma border as suggested by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Local Burmese doctors will give the prisoners from Thanan, Myothit, Bandula and Razagyo number two camps a medical check up before ICRC’s visit to these camps. Those who are not in suitable health will be sent back to their original prisons for food, rest and medical treatment, as mentioned in an order released by Directorate of Prison Affairs under Ministry of Home Affairs on October 25. Prisoners who are in good health from Kalay prison will replace the returned prisoners. ICRC visited the “New Life Projects” in Kabal valley near Indo-Burma border from September 1 to September 19 and suggested more than 130 prisoners in these camps were not suitable for hard labor. The ICRC delegation visited Oak-pho, Sayasan and Razagyo number one camps in the same new life project. More than 120 prisoners from these three camps were sent back to their original prisons and about 200 prisoners from Monywa prison were replaced in the camps, NMG reported in a previous article. Although ICRC visited and made suggestions for a better situation in hard labor camps, five prisoners from Razagyo number one camp ran away on October 25, while they were doing their work under tight security. The security guards rearrested and beat them. All five prisoners as well as another 6 who allegedly discussed escape were put in shackles and halters. ICRC made two visits during September to hard labor camps and made suggestions on the situation of the camps. ICRC found that the food given to prisoners was not good enough in both quality and quantity, drinking water was not safe, prisoners did not get enough rest, including those suffering from illnesses, the health care system was improper and prisoners were frequently beaten. Altogether eight “New Life Projects” were opened all over Burma under the instructions of Senior General Than Shwe in 1994. The Burmese regime is using the labor to implement its long-term agricultural projects. The mortality rate in these hard labor camps ranges from 24 to 30 percent because of continuous hard labor, malaria and insufficient food.
(Source: Network Media Group)

Prisoners from various prisons were sent to a logistics battalion in Pa-an to be deployed in Karen State open season offensive. On November 13, 125 prisoners from Akyab jail and 350 prisoners from Insein, Henzada, and Prome jails were sent to No.1 Logistics Battalion in Pa-an, Karen State. Prisoners, instead of ordinary civilians, are being used since the International Labour Organization issued a report condemning the practice of forced labor in Burma. In another news report, the Police Director-General’s Office has issued an emergency directive to township police stations. The directive states that all burglars, robbers, thieves, fraudsters, gamblers, human traffickers, etc. detained at the police stations should be charged, sent to court, and sentenced immediately. Then they should be sent to the logistics battalion and attached to the forward areas as logistics support personnel [porters]. (Source: DVB)

Name: xxxx 35 years, Burmese, Buddhist,

Single, Odd jobs, Thaketa, Rangoon.

In 1998, I fought with a friend while drinking and his hand was paralysed. I was charged with Article 326 and in October 1998 I was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Insein Prison. It was not my first time in prison. Previously I was jailed 4 different times - mostly as a thief. I spent over 10 years in prisons and work camps.

In May 1999, I was sent to Taung Sun Stone Crushing Work Camp. My legs were chained for six months. There were over one thousand prisoners there and I was with Company 5. That company had around 70 prisoners and about 10 prisoners who bribed wardens made bamboo baskets, boil water and perform other light duties. Twenty prisoners crushed big stones with hammers and forty prisoners carried stones (various sizes).

The work started at 7:00 a.m. and stopped at 5:00 p.m. There was a one hour break at noon. We had to work 6 full days a week and on Sundays we had to work until 3:00 p.m. Our company’s duty was to crush and carry 2,500 cu-ft of stones a day.

The food provided to us was not good. When the ICRC team inspected the work camp in January 2001 better food was provided.

The ICRC team (five persons including a woman) inspected the Taung Sun camp. The lady introduced herself as Ma Cho (a Burmese name) and she spoke Burmese fluently. They interviewed me and I thought because of that, I was sent to the frontline. I told them that the vegetable garden was just prepared and vegetable plants were brought early in the morning (the day the ICRC inspected) and stuck in the ground. We talked privately, however, because there were many informers among the prisoners.

When the ICRC team returned, the wardens announced that each company had to finish 4,000 cu-ft of stones a day because of the preparation costs (2 million Kyats) for the ICRC. New barracks and buildings, new plates, safety belts and ropes for drill operators (prisoners) were prepared and brought before the inspection. More new prisoners arrived at the end of January. The prison authorities agreed to untie the chains from prisoners due to the discussions with the ICRC, but the new prisoners, who arrived after the ICRC team, were chained.

Around ten to twelve prisoners died annually, mostly from malnutrition and sickness. In August 1999, two prisoners, drill operators from our company, Ko San Win and Thea Ho Sea (nickname) fell from a hill and died. At that time, raindrops were falling and I do not know if it was because of electrical shock or they slipped from a cliff. No safety belts were provided for mine explosive operators and drill operators. There was a clinic and the medic was greedy. He did not treat the prisoners’ wounds properly unless he received money for medicine and for himself.

On February 2, 2001, the work camp authorities selected 25 prisoners who were sent to the Service Camp No. 2. by trucks. Four days later, soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 355 arrived and took 125 prisoners from Taung Sun and 100 prisoners from Insein. We were sent to Thingan Nyinaung and stayed at LIB 355 headquarters. Then, LIB 356 took 100 prisoners from Insein.

Then we went with LIB 355 soldiers to the southern part of Myawaddy. Upon reaching Myawaddy, which I had never been to, I raised my head to look at the town. A soldier immediately punched my face and two teeth fell out.

The LIB 355 managed the prisoners to carry supplies and ammunition for the journey. The whole battalion and prisoners traveled for a day. During that day, many prisoners were exhausted and some were severely beaten. I met two prisoners lying along a path. On the next day, fifteen soldiers and four prisoners, including me, were divided from the whole column as a patrol team. I had to carry seven RPG shells, a small amount of rice and some condensed milk tins. We traveled for about a week and passed some villages but I don’t remember their names. On some nights, the whole battalion stayed together and I met some of my comrades. From our group, two of the prisoners had managed to escape already.

One day, our team went to Yin Gwe Taung No. 2 hill to bring rice supplies. On the way to the hill, I carried materials that had belonged to a major who was shot dead by his soldier from LIB 356 or LIB 284 (I can’t remember which). I also saw a soldier handcuffed and tied with ropes in Yin Gwe Taung camp. In the afternoon, I was ordered to give him some food. He was still handcuffed with his arms behind his back so I spoon-fed him. He was about 18 years old and asked me about court and prisons and I told him my experiences dealing with judges. He said that the major was a drunkard and he was beaten several times and at last he shot him dead. At night, a group of wounded soldiers from LIB 356 arrived. According to the prisoners with them, Karen guerrillas ambushed them and 5 soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 5 wounded. One prisoner also died and one was wounded.

The next day, our 15 soldiers’ team was ordered to send the wounded. Three light farm vehicles carried the wounded and the rest of the soldiers and I walked around the vehicles. I was with a RPG man and I carried a basket of RPG shells. In late afternoon, we reached a big base and waited for the column of Division 66. At about 22:00 hours, hundreds of soldiers from Division 66 reached the base and the camp was crowded. I decided it was a great chance to escape. I went to a stream nearby and slept there.

The next morning, I heard soldiers call my name and I moved further. Later, I found a path and followed it. On the way, I met some people and they showed the direction to escape. I had two condensed milk tins I had stolen from soldiers and when I reached a village, I sold them and bought cheroots. Meals were provided by the villagers. I continued to walk and then I saw a couple, the husband was sick and the wife helping him to continue to walk. I told them to stop a moment and massaged the husband. I also gave them some medicine I had stolen from soldiers. They brought me a package of noodles. I realized that people from that area were friendly and helpful. In the afternoon, I reached a village and villagers told me to wait for 2 hours. Then, some KNU officials arrived and took me to their base. They asked questions and then guaranteed me to return home.

Name: Maung Soe Naing

Prison Labor Camp: Ba-wa-thit (New Life Camp)

Q: What is your name?

A: My name is Maung Soe Naing.

Q: Did you have enough to eat?

A: No, we didn’t.

Q: How much food did you get?

Q: What about the conditions at the labor camp?

Q: Where did they die?

Q: If you paid a bribe would the soldier allow you to leave the camp?

Q: Do you remember who died? Their names and addresses?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A: They are, I think, five and six years old now.

Q: What is your prison registration number?

A: I have forgotten it.

Q: How long were you in Mawlamyaing prison?

A: It was a long time. Nearly two years, I think.

A: No civilians. Just prisoners.

Q: Was there any other machinery like cranes or heavy rollers?

                      A: About 30.

                    # Photos

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