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Photos #6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, 6-6, 6-7: All of these villagers from Than Daung Township in Toungoo District described to KHRG how they had been forced to porter for SPDC Battalions during 2004. Naw S---, age 20 (photo 6-2), and Naw B---, age 38 (photo 6-3), are from different villages, but both had to porter in August 2004. Naw S--- was a porter for IB 48 and Naw B--- for a combined column of IB 39 and IB 124. Naw B---, age 55 (photo 6-4), was forced to carry a load of Army rice by IB 39 in June 2004 despite her age. Naw L---, 52 (photo 6-5) was with a group of 35 people from her village who were forced to carry Army rations from Than Daung Gyi to an IB 92 outpost by Captain Zaw Zaw Aung in February 2004. Thirty-five year old Saw A--- (photo 6-6) had been forced to porter Army supplies twice for IB 48 within a week in August 2004. In June, 19-year-old Saw S--- (photo 6-7) had just finished two shifts of portering in a row for a combined column of IB 39 and IB 124. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-11, 6-12, 6-13, 6-14, 6-15, 6-16, 6-17, 6-18: This series of photos shows forced labour transporting rations for SPDC LIB 376 in Thaton district in June 2004. Photos 6-11 and 6-12 show villagers in K--- village setting off with their baskets to pick up the rations from the Army storehouse at T---. From there they have to carry them on their backs to H--- village, where the rations are deposited and stored in the village health clinic. The villagers in H--- must then take the rations from the clinic and load them onto their own bullock carts, as shown in photos 6-13 through 6-15. They must then haul the loads on their bullock carts to LIB #376 camp at L--- (see photos 6-16 through 6-18). They are paid nothing for this work or for the use of their carts. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-20: Three villagers in Bilin Township of Thaton District using their bullock carts to do forced labour hauling rice in May 2004. They were ordered to transport eighteen sacks [900 kgs. / 1,980 lbs.] of ration rice from Yo Klah Army camp to outposts of SPDC LIB 376. They received no payment for their work or for the use of their carts. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-107, 6-108, 6-109, 6-110: Villagers from K--- village in Nyaunglebin District doing forced labour on a vehicle road on 23 October 2004, by order of SPDC Camp Commander Khin Maung Kyi at Aung Soe Moe army camp. Photos 6-107 and 6-108 show the villagers digging earth from around their village, which they must carry in baskets to the road, then spread and pack it down on the road surface as shown in photos 6-109 and 6-110. They are not paid or fed and are provided with no tools or heavy equipment; all work must be done by hand, using nothing more than hoes and machetes. Note that women make up at least half the workforce in the photos. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #3-2: Villagers at Naw Htaw Pwa relocation site in Nyaunglebin District spread out along the dirt road to do forced labour cutting and clearing scrub from the roadsides on 12 October 2004, under orders from SPDC Operations Commander Khin Maung Oo. These people were forced to move from their homes in S--- and P--- villages to the relocation site earlier in 2004 and are now regularly used for forced labour. Most of the workers in this photo are women. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-111: A section of the Toungoo to Mawchi vehicle road in Toungoo District. This road was originally constructed largely through the use of forced labour and each year must be repaired by forced labour after being damaged by the monsoon rains. Each year thousands of villagers are forced to porter goods along this road to supply the outlying SPDC Army camps with rations, ammunition and supplies. The section shown here is between Kler Lah and Kaw Soe Ko. Along this section, whenever the SPDC Army prepares to send rations up the road to their camps, 50 to 60 villagers are demanded to clear the bush along both sides of the road to protect the troops from ambush. This photo was taken in August 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-113: Villagers from K--- village rebuilding the vehicle road from Kler Lah to Bu Sah Kee in Tantabin Township of Toungoo District. This road was built by the Army using forced labour to facilitate Army control of Tantabin Township. The villagers are clearing away a section of the embankment that washed onto the road during a heavy rainstorm. The villagers were ordered to do this work by local Army authorities, and had to attend even though this was the time for weeding their ricefields. They received no pay and had to supply their own tools and food whenever they performed this kind of work. This photo was taken in August 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-115, 6-116, 6-117, 6-118: On 20 April 2004, Brigadier General Myint Aung, commanding officer of SPDC Military Operations Command 9 based in the Lay Kay Army camp in Bilin Township of Thaton District, ordered the reconstruction of sections of the old colonial road running from Kyaik Khaw (Thein Seik in Burmese), to Wee Raw village, before turning north to follow the Donthami River to Lay Kay village. Should this road be fully restored, it will provide a direct link between Thaton and Papun, giving the SPDC the ability to rapidly deploy troops anywhere along the road’s length. These photos show villagers from K--- village gathering the 300 piles of stone for the road that they were ordered to provide. Each pile of stone is one kyin – 100 cubic feet, measured as 10 feet (3 m.) square by 1 foot (30 cm.) deep. These villagers began work on the piles of stone on 20 April 2004, but were still collecting stone two months later in June. Many parents send their children to do the work because the adults are needed in the farmfields or doing other work for family survival; this is why more than half of those in the photos are children. Alternatively, entire families including children come out to do the work in order to get it done faster so time will still be left for their farming and other work. Most of the children shown in these photos are aged between seven and thirteen years old, but even those as young as four or five (see photos 6-115 and 6-116) come along because they cannot be left home alone, and end up carrying rocks along with their older siblings. These photos were taken in May 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-119, 6-120, 6-121, 6-122: Villagers from K--- village in Pa’an Township of Thaton District performing forced labour for the SPDC on the Kyaik Khaw-Lay Kay car road. All of the villages lying on or close to the path of the road were ordered to collect stones that will later be used in the road’s construction. Each village had to assemble 300 kyin of stone – one kyin being 100 cubic feet, measured as 10 feet (3 m.) square by 1 foot (30 cm.) deep – and place these square piles of stone neatly along the road route. Because it was a crucial time in the crop cycle, many of the workers were teenage girls and boys like those in photos 6-119 and 6-120 and younger children whose parents needed to be in the fields. Whenever work needs to be completed quickly or if there are not enough adults who are available to work, the village children must also pitch in and work alongside the adults. These photos were taken in May 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-123, 6-124, 6-125, 6-126, 6-127, 6-128, 6-129, 6-130: Villagers from T--- village carrying out the orders of Brigadier General Myint Aung, commanding officer of Military Operations Command 9, stationed at the Lay Kay Army camp in Bilin Township of Thaton District. On 20 April 2004, he gave the order for each village to contribute 300 kyin (30,000 cubic feet) of stone for road construction (see also photos above). LIB 376 and LIB 378 were two of the battalions under Military Operations Command 9 which were responsible for implementing this order among the villagers shown here. This set of photos shows the stages the villagers must go through to assemble the stone: first the stones are collected from the banks of the Donthami River or one of its tributaries (photo 6-123), and then carried to be placed in neat piles beside the site of the road (photos 6-124 through 6-126). Those with bullock carts used them to cart the stone from the riverbank to where the piles were to be made. Each kyin requires about 10 bullock cart loads of stones. Others employed baskets and sacks to carry the stones. Photo 6-130 shows some of the villagers standing on top of one of the piles of stone, clowning around at the end of the day’s work. This photo is included here to illustrate the strength of the villagers in retaining a sense of humour in a difficult situation, despite the heavy burden that forced labour places over every aspect of their lives. These photos were taken in May 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-135: A kyin (100 cubic feet, measured as 10 feet square by one foot deep) of stones gathered by villagers from K’Law Kher village in January 2004 as part of their forced labour on a road construction project in Bilin Township of Thaton District. This photo was taken in January 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-178: Villagers from K--- village doing forced labour building a fence around the SPDC LIB 344's Taung Thon Lon army camp in Papun district on 28 September 2004. They also had to cut and haul all the bamboo to build the fence. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-220, 6-221: In August 2004, an SPDC Army unit based in Tantabin township of Toungoo District ordered the villagers from W--- village to collect these piles of firewood and giant bamboo for delivery to the Bawgali Gyi Army camp adjacent to the Kler Lah relocation site. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-222, 6-223: Villagers from K--- village in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District trudge through pouring rain and mud in July 2004 carrying shingles of roofing thatch to repair the SPDC Army camp at Meh Way. Saw Soe Aung of LIB 589 demanded five shingles of thatch from each of the 57 houses in the village. One person from each house must go to the camp to deliver their shingles and help with the repairs, rain or shine. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-224, 6-225: Village women from T--- village in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District sending roofing thatch to the SPDC. On 29 May 2004, IB 263 replaced IB 38 at the Taung Thon Lon SPDC Army camp. In assuming command of the post, Major Tin Win Naing of IB 263 demanded 200 shingles of thatch from each of a number of nearby villages to repair the camp. In cases like these, men are afraid to go to the Army camp for fear that they will be detained as suspected rebels or taken as operations porters. Women and girls therefore deliver the materials to the camp, despite facing similar risks themselves. These photos were taken in June 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-226: Villagers from K--- village in Bilin Township, Thaton District supplying thatch for a unit of the DKBA Ka Hsaw Wah ('White Elephant') Battalion in May 2004. They had to walk for three hours in each direction in order to deliver the thatch to the Meh Si monastery in Papun District where it was to be used. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #6-227: Villagers from W--- village in Dweh Loh Township of Papun District providing roofing thatch to the SPDC in February 2004. Captain Lu Maung Htat, an officer of Military Operations Command (Sa Ka Ka) 9, ordered the villagers to deliver the thatch to the Ku Thu Hta Army camp. Children are involved because the family needs to work efficiently to get all their work done, which includes multiple overlapping demands for forced labour along with their own work. SPDC officers never object to the involvement of children as long as the work gets done. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photos #6-228, 6-229, 6-230, 6-231, 6-232, 6-233, 6-234, 6-235, 6-236: Throughout January 2004, commander Zaw Lwin Htut of LIB 349 demanded large quantities of bamboo and roofing thatch from numerous villages in Dweh Loh Township of Papun District. Each household in all of these villages was ordered to deliver six lengths of bamboo and five shingles of thatch to the Win Maung SPDC Army camp adjacent to the Wah Mu relocation site. Photo 6-228 shows a villager from K--- village cutting fronds that will be used to make the thatch from his plantation of Loh (Cabbage Tree palm) trees. Photos 6-229 through 6-233 show people representing each house in K--- and M--- villages carrying their quota of thatch and bamboo to the Bilin river to be transported to the Army camp. At the riverbank the materials from several villages are laid out in piles so village leaders can count them (photos 6-234 and 6-235); if on arrival at the Army camp they are found to be one household short of the quota, the entire village will be punished. In photo 6-236, one of many rafts sets out to deliver the materials to the Army camp. These photos were taken between 8 January 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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Photo #9-3: A group of children from P--- village in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District await the return of their parents who were forced to supply roofing thatch to a nearby SPDC Army camp. This photo was taken in January 2004. (Photo and Text Source: KHRG, 2004)
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