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KHRG Rpt. 95-24 Part 1/3 (35kB)



=09=09  SLORC / DKBA ACTIVITIES:
=09=09  NORTHERN KAREN DISTRICTS

     An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
=09=09 July 18, 1995 / KHRG #95-24

   [PART 1 OF 3 - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 2 AND 3]

This report covers some recent events in Papun (Karen name Mudraw),
Thaton, and Nyaunglebin (Karen name Kler Lwe Htoo) Districts in
the northern half of Karen State and part of Pegu Division.  It
focusses on the effects on civilian villagers of the ongoing activities
and collaboration of SLORC and DKBA - the 'Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army', formed in December 1994 by the monk U Thuzana but primarily
operating under the orders of SLORC.  The DKBA, often called 'Ko
Per Baw' (Yellow Headbands) by the villagers, has its headquarters
at Khaw Taw Pu on the Salween River south of Ka Ma Maung.  Since
its inception, the DKBA has tried to coerce or force villagers
throughout Papun, Thaton, and Pa'an Districts, the Manerplaw area,
and refugees in Thailand, to move to Khaw Taw Pu to give the DKBA
a civilian support base and a source of conscripts.

While the DKBA continues to try to force everyone to Khaw Taw
Pu, the SLORC has been apparently trying to clear the civilian
population out of all areas close to the Thai border.  This would
allow them to make the area a military-only free-fire zone, seal
off some of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)'s supply
routes from Thailand, and block off the embarrassing flow of refugees
still arriving in Thailand from these northern Karen districts.
 To accomplish this, the SLORC is ordering villages to move closer
to Army camps and is also working together with the DKBA to force
people to Khaw Taw Pu, which is in a SLORC-controlled area.  The
two groups have been marauding through Papun District, sometimes
together, sometimes apart, looting and burning villages, threatening
villagers, capturing porters and sometimes torturing people.=20
Village food supplies, already small due to last year's floods,
have been destroyed, and villagers throughout the District are
fleeing into the forests or trying to get to Thailand.  Hundreds
have already crossed the border since May, but they say it is
getting increasingly difficult to reach the border past the SLORC
patrols, particularly on the Papun - Kyauk Nyat car road.  In
all Districts fighting between SLORC / DKBA and KNLA has also
continued.  SLORC troops in Papun have recently begun a big offensive
against traditionally strong KNU areas to the north.  Thousands
of people living in this area have never had to live under SLORC,
and will surely try to flee to Thailand if this offensive is successful.
 Some have already fled.

However, there are also increasing signs of problems between SLORC
and the DKBA.  Villagers in Papun and Thaton Districts report
that the two groups are beginning to issue conflicting orders
- leaving the villagers unsure what to do, fearing retaliation
from either one side or the other, and therefore forced to flee.
 In Thaton District, SLORC has reportedly issued an order for
its troops not to operate closely together with DKBA and has directly
contradicted some DKBA orders for villages to move.  In Khaw Taw
Pu, SLORC has cut off most of the money and all of the rice it
was giving to the DKBA and has begun extorting rice from Karen
villages to give to them instead, in a move which some feel is
deliberately designed to turn villagers against the DKBA.  Rations
for DKBA families have been cut to half what they need to survive.
 SLORC appears to be increasingly distancing itself from the DKBA,
possibly in preparation for a purge or even an open fight, or
possibly in hope that the DKBA, having served its main purpose,
will dwindle into a token organization which cannot be a threat.
 In Khaw Taw Pu families have been escaping when they can, while
DKBA chief U Thuzana has reportedly been telling his forces to
=0C
remember that SLORC is still their enemy and to keep the "fishing-hook"
(the bitter memories) inside them.


While the situation deteriorates and hundreds if not thousands
of villagers try to flee to Thailand, the Thai Army and National
Security Council have begun planning to commence forced repatriation
of all Karen refugees to these very areas in January 1996, with
no subsequent cross-border aid to be allowed.  A representative
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok recently stated
that the UNHCR will most likely cooperate with this forced repatriation,
saying that the UNHCR would try to make this inevitable repatriation
slightly less painful and comparing the situation to Bangladesh.
 As documented in several independent reports, in Bangladesh the
UNHCR's main role has been lecturing or coercing the Rohingya
refugees to return to Burma, blocking information from reaching
them, rejecting their appeals for help, and telling the rest of
the world that the situation is good.

This report has 4 parts: 1) Papun District, 2) Nyaunglebin District,
3) Thaton District, and 4) Khaw Taw (Myaing Gyi Ngu).  Some of
the interviews in this report were conducted in villages in Karen
districts, while others were conducted in refugee camps in Thailand.
Names of those interviewed have been changed to protect them. False=20
names are enclosed in quotation marks. All other details are real.
In the interviews, DKBA members are often referred to as Ko Per
Baw (Yellow Headbands).  DKBA headquarters at Khaw Taw Pu is often
referred to by its short form, Khaw Taw, or its Burmese name,
Myaing Gyi Ngu.  All numeric dates are given in dd-mm-yy format.
Abbreviations: SLORC - State Law & Order Restoration Council
=09       KNU   - Karen National Union
=09       KNLA  - Karen National Liberation Army
=09       DKBA  - Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
=09       DKBO  - Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization

CERTAIN DETAILS IN THIS REPORT HAVE BEEN CENSORED PRELIMINARY TO
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


=09=09       TOPIC SUMMARY

Papun District (#P1-P19,N1,T1,T2), Nyaunglebin District (N1),
Thaton District (T1,T2), situation in Khaw Taw (K1,T1,T2,P1).

SLORC burning villages (P1,P2,P10,P11,T1), DKBA burning villages
(P1,P11,P16-P19,T1), SLORC looting/extortion (P1,P2,P9-P13,T1),
DKBA looting/extortion (P11,P16,P18,T1,T2), killings (P12,P19,N1,T1),
arrest/torture (P1,P3-P5,P10,P11,P13), attempted rape (P2,P5),
abuse of women (P1,P2,P4,P5,P10), forced labour (P9,P10,P16,T1,T2),
porters/human minesweepers (P2,P3-5, P11,P15,P18).

Forced or threatened relocation to Khaw Taw (P1,P9-P11,P16-P18,T2,K1),
to other places (P1,P2, P6,P7), DKBA threats/acts against Christians
(P10,P11,P15,P17), SLORC / DKBA disputes (T2, K1), SLORC military
offensives (P8,P12,N1), new refugees (P9-P19,N1), shooting of
a refugee by Thai helicopter (P14-P15), thoughts of refugees on
going back to Burma (P9-P19).

______________________________________________________________________
=0C
=09=09     PAPUN (MUDRAW) DISTRICT

In the rainy season of 1994 (June-October), record rainfalls caused
severe flooding which destroyed rice crops throughout Karen areas,
including Papun District.  Now the SLORC and the DKBA are working
together to steal or destroy village food supplies throughout
the area, using food as a weapon to forcibly relocate villagers
in several areas to relocation camps near SLORC Army bases or
to the DKBA's headquarters at Khaw Taw (Myaing Gyi Ngu).  Many
villagers have lost most or all of their already insufficient
rice supply from last year's harvest.  This year's harvest is
not due until at least November, but attacks on villages by SLORC
and DKBA have already forced most villagers into the forest and
they have not been able to plant a crop this year.  A human rights
monitor who recently returned from Papun District reported:  "The
situation of the villagers in my interviewing area is very critical
and serious. Most of them are without rice and they don't have
adequate shelter. Children are malnourished and have no medical
care."  The DKBA continues to order all villages in the area to
move to their headquarters at Khaw Taw near Ka Ma Maung, which
is far to the south in the plains and very foreign to these hill
villagers.  Christians and Animists fear persecution in Khaw Taw,
and Buddhists know that their sons will be forced into the DKBA
Army if they go there.  The DKBA has burned villages which refuse
to go, such as Bwa Der.  The SLORC Strategic Commander in Papun
ordered the heads of 12 villages in the Papun area to a meeting
and told them they are to be forcibly moved to Khaw Taw at the
end of rainy season [see interview #P9].  For the DKBA, this strategy
is aimed at getting them more conscripts and a larger civilian
population to control; for the SLORC, they may be trying to clear
all areas of Papun District close to the Thai border, in order
to make a large military-only free-fire zone and effectively block
any further refugee flows from all northern Karen districts to
Thailand.

For now, many villages are being forced to move to intermediate
villages closer to SLORC camps so that they can be controlled.
 These intermediate villages, such as Wah Mi Day and Kler O Der,
are then to be forced to move to Khaw Taw.  Villages which resist
are being harassed, attacked, looted, burned, and villagers are
being tortured and used as human shields and human minesweepers.
 Right now SLORC troops massed in Papun have also mounted a new
offensive to the north against traditionally strong KNU areas
around Ba Nay Per Ko, Ler Mu Plaw and Saw Mu Plaw.  They began
by attacking a concentration of KNLA troops stationed at Day Pu
Noh, about 20 km. north of Papun.

As a result of all these events, over seven hundred refugees from
several parts of Papun District have crossed the Salween River
into Thailand in May and June, and are now in refugee camps.=20
Thousands more are in hiding in the forests of Papun District,
not knowing what to do.  Many of them reportedly want to run to
Thailand but are blocked by large numbers of SLORC troops along
the way.  Villagers from north and northeast of Papun are daunted
by the obstacle of the car road which runs northeast from Papun
through Par Haik to the new SLORC base at Kyauk Nyat near the
Salween River.  There is a killing ground along both sides of
much of the road and it is heavily patrolled by SLORC troops.
 The villagers must cross this road if they want to reach the
Thai border.  They are probably not aware that the Thai Army and
National Security Council are already making plans to force all
refugees back across the border starting in January 1996 - to
the very area from which they are now fleeing.  The Thai logic
for this is that the situation has now "returned to normal" in
these areas.

=0C
This section consists of four parts:  1) a summary of incidents
in the area [#P1], 2) interviews with villagers still in the area
[#P2-P5, P7] and a SLORC relocation order [#P6], 3) interview
with a KNLA security officer in the area [#P8], and 4) interviews
with refugees recently arrived in Thailand [#P9-P19].  Most of
these refugees fled forced relocation orders and burned or looted
villages, while one [#P12] fled the SLORC's new military offensive.
 Those from Bwa Der, south of Papun, did not have to cross the
heavily occupied Papun-Kyauk Nyat road area, but the others are
from villages further north, where they say that others are blocked
from the border by a wall of SLORC troops.
______________________________________________________________________
=09=09=09     #P1.

The following summary of some recent incidents in Papun District
was given by a human rights monitor who recently returned from
the area.  It is not complete.  Some of these incidents are covered
in detail by the interviews following.

Throughout May 1995, SLORC troops moved around the area looting,
eating or destroying the rice, livestock and other belongings
of villagers in villages including Nya Pi Hta, Meh Way Kee, Naw
Po Kee, Ku Ree Hta, Lay Klay Day, Ma Nyu Hta and Kler Ber Ko.

On 5 May 1995, DKBA troops entered Bwa Der village [south of Papun,
towards the junction of the Salween and Moei Rivers] and ordered
them to move to Noh Pu and Tee Nu Khaw Hta, then on to Khaw Taw.
 The villagers refused to go so the DKBA troops burned down the
church, all 5 houses and all the rice barns in the central part
of the village, and said that if the villagers didn't move by
June 8th they would take them by force.  They captured and severely
beat Wee Saw Aye, Saw Nu, Ser Nay Htoo, Thaw Htoo, Kya Hay and
Pa La Kyay [all Karen men].  They burned a plastic bag and dripped
the burning plastic on Thaw Htoo's chest.  All villagers have
now fled the village to the forest or to Thailand.

On 19 May 1995 SLORC troops from #77 Division, #76 Light Infantry
Battalion, came to Thay Ko Der village.  They spent 3 days in
the village, looting belongings and livestock and torturing some
villagers they had captured in surrounding villages.  Skirmishes
broke out with KNLA troops in the area on the 20th and 21st of
May.  On 22 May the SLORC troops burned 12 of the 15 houses in
the village and several rice barns.  Rice which was not burned
was either taken by the troops or thrown on the ground to destroy
it.  They left, taking 3 men and 5 women away with them, tied
with rope and with soldiers' packs on their backs.  They used
them as guides, porters and human minesweepers to their camp near
Papun, then released them.  The same day they also burned several
houses in Lay Wah village.  Most villagers have now fled Thay
Ko Der, but are blocked by SLORC presence and the Papun-Kyauk
Nyat car road from reaching the Thai border.

At the end of May, villagers remaining in Thay Ko Der village
[see above] and other villages in Ka Lor Hta village tract, including
Meh Kya Po Der village, were forcibly moved to Pah La in Papun
Township [on the outskirts or just outside Papun].  SLORC is forcing
ethnic Indians living in the area to give food to these villagers.
 Each Indian family has to give 2 baskets [67 kg.] of rice monthly,
and the poorer Indian families have to give 1 basket monthly.
 [SLORC always persecutes Burmese of Indian descent - they are
also especially targetted for porter duty.]

In late May, villagers from several village tracts were ordered
or forced to move to Khaw Taw.  In Meh Nya Hta village tract,
villages affected include Meh Ku Hta, Meh Nyo Hta, U Thaw Hta,
and Klaw Hta.  In Bwa Der village tract:  Paw Di Der, Saw Leh
Der, Bwa Der, Meh Pa, and To Po Pwa Der villages.

=0C
In late May further down the Salween River closer to Ka Ma Maung,
villagers in Meh Prih, Tee Baw Kho and Tee Baw Kee villages were
forced to move to Meh Prih Pa Doh, and villagers in Tee Hay Loh,
Waw Maw Loh, Kwee Law Ser and Paw Tah Kwee were forced to move
to Mah Nyaw village.  Villagers from Dta Thu Klah, Ban Kyo Hta,
Boh Kyi, Meh Ka La, Ta Khaw Ko, Bwe Kay and Kyawpa Tah Po Bu villages
were forced to move to Khaw Taw.  As all of these villages are
far from the Thai border, they have no chance to escape.  People
who go to Khaw Taw now get only 4 pyi of rice per person per month.
 [About 6 kg., less than half the ration for a single person in
the refugee camps, which is already less than they would eat in
their village.]
=0C
_____________________________________________________________________
=09=09=09     #P2.

[The following interview was conducted with villagers from Thay
Ko Der village on May 26, 1995, after the village had been burned
down along with Lay Wah village by SLORC troops from #76 Infantry
Battalion, and they were preparing to flee (names which have been
changed are enclosed in quotes; 'Puh', 'Saw', or 'Pa' prefixes
men's names, 'Pi' or 'Naw' prefixes women's names)]:

"Puh Tah Muh":  Twelve houses were burnt down [out of 15], and
4 rice storehouses as well.  Not all of the paddy was burnt.=20
"Pi Wah"'s house and rice storehouse burnt down.  She is an old
woman.

"Pi Wah":  There is nothing left for me to eat.  It's all gone.
 I have a small paddy field, but there's nothing left for me until
the next harvest.

"Puh Tah Muh":  "Naw Muh" also has nothing left.  "Pa Noh" is
my son-in-law.  His house and his rice barn were burnt down by
the SLORC troops and he had nothing left.  They destroyed everything
and spread it around on the ground.  The same for Pa Wih Ber.
 He had nothing left.  He is not here anymore.  And Pa Hser Geh,
everything of his was burnt down.  Naw Kee Paw Heh is from Lay
Wah village, and all of her things were destroyed too.  Saw Yeh
is also from Lay Wah village group.  His farm hut was burnt down,
and he also will not have enough food for the rainy season.

The SLORC entered our village on May 19, then they burnt it down
on May 22 at 9 o'clock in the morning.  There were about 300 or
400 men, and we saw 2 DKBA soldiers.  When they entered the village
only the women and the old men stayed in the village.  The other
men went to hide outside the village.  The soldiers ordered us
to move to a place they said they had prepared for us [relocation
camp].  They ordered us to go stay at Klaw Hta, near Baw Kaw Der
village.  They said if we didn't go there, they would destroy,
burn, and kill.  They said we had to go there to make peace with
them.  We don't know how we can make our living there, we have
nothing there.  We will not be allowed to come back and work our
farms here.  We are afraid of them, so we already ran away from
them.  We don't want to go to the place they asked us to move
to.  Even if we have no food, we will run away from them.

When they entered our village they took so many things: machetes,
spades, hoes, and knives they took, but clothing and baskets they
destroyed.  You don't even need to ask about our livestock - they
regarded it as their own.  They took everything.  They didn't
even leave a needle for us.

"Naw Say Paw":  The SLORC soldiers came to my house and took everything.
 After that, he took me to the bedroom and ordered me to lie down.
 He was pointing his knife at me.  I started shouting and yelling,
and another woman came in so then the SLORC soldier left.

"Naw Tha Ghay":  One woman had only one daughter and her daughter
was staying in Papun, but she was still staying in the village
with her elderly mother.  When the SLORC came they destroyed everything,
all their belongings.  They had nothing left, so the women had
to go to Klaw Hta to stay with relatives.  The soldiers destroyed
everything, pots, clothing, ...

"Naw Lah":  I have a small brother.  I can't escape by myself,
because my brother can't run.  Even if I escape, I'll have no
food in the jungle and no waterproof from the rain.  Now the SLORC
troops came and destroyed everything.  I have nothing left.  I
don't know what I'm going to do.  I have no choice but to go stay
=0C
with relatives in Klaw Hta and obey the SLORC.  Whatever they
ask, I will have to do.

"Puh Klo Thu":  I saw some soldiers.  They came to my house and
destroyed everything, even the rice threshing basket.  A soldier
pushed my wife and I thought he wanted to rape her.  I told myself
that if he raped my wife, I wouldn't care about my life, I would
fight him.  But he teased her and then he left.

"Naw Eh Po":  I had to be a porter when the soldiers left to go
back.  They made me carry their bags.  There were 5 of us women
altogether.  We were all muh k'naw [unmarried teenagers].  The
loads were very heavy, and we had to carry them back to their
Papun base camp.  When we arrived there, some Karens who live
in Papun went to see the SLORC officers and got us released.

"Puh Tah Muh":  When they left the village they said "We will
come back to your village and kill everyone we see here if you
don't obey our order."  If we had security and enough food, we
would like to stay in our own area with our own people.  But if
we have no food or security, then even though we don't want to
go we will have to go and stay with them.  There is nothing more
we can say.  We have heard a lot about the place they have prepared
for us.  There we will have no time to rest.  We will have to
work for them all the time.  Even the women and children there
have to be porters.  For now, we will share what we have.  We
have very little but we can share what we have between us.  If
we are rich, we will be rich together.  While we are poor, we
will be poor together.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09     #P3.

[The following was told by a Karen man from XXXX village in Papun
District who was taken as a guide and human minesweeper on May
19th:]

I was eating sticky-rice in my house.  I got up to chase the chickens
out of the house.  Just then I heard a strange sound so I turned
to look, and I saw a SLORC soldier.  He said "Don't run!" and
told me to sit down.  Another one came and grabbed me by the collar,
and another tied my hands behind my back and ordered me "Go!",
and then I had to go in front of the column.  Soldiers talked
to me in Burmese but I didn't understand, so one pointed his gun
at me and said "Boom".  I guessed that it meant if I ran away
they would shoot me.  They told me to take them to Thay Ko Der
village, and when they arrived at Thay Ko Der they started shooting
at people because the people were running away.  They ordered
me to lift my hands as high as I could behind my back, and then
they tied me very tightly to a house.  I was in alot of pain because
of the way they tied me.  Then they asked me so many questions,
and while they were asking they slapped me in the face, grabbed
my hair and shook my head.  No matter what they did to me they
didn't get any answer, because I don't speak or understand Burmese.
 After that they stopped and left me there like that for the whole
night.  The next morning they untied me.  That morning, the Karen
soldiers shot at them in the village so they came and tied me
up again and moved me to another place.  There they didn't tie
me up as tightly.  I slept another night like that, then the next
morning we went to Maw Lu.  Then they didn't tie me anymore.=20
When they returned from Maw Lu they passed through Thay Ko Der,
and the last group in the column started burning down the village.
 Then they moved on to Toe Kaw Der and we slept one night there.

The next morning the soldiers told me that they were going to
release me.  At noon, a man named H--- came to me.  He was one
of the DKBA soldiers who came along with SLORC, and I told him
"Please help me to tell the soldiers to release me".  He said
=0C
he would help me but that I would have to go and stay in the place
that SLORC prepared for us.  But they didn't release me.  They
took me all the way to their camp south of Papun, and they released
me there.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09       #P4.

[The following woman is from XXXX village near Thay Ko Der, the
same village as the man interviewed above.  She is married, but
all of her children have died.]

The SLORC captured me in my house.  They ordered me to come down
out of the house and to go to the school compound.  They asked
me some questions: "Did you see any Karen soldiers?" - I said
"Yes".  "Did they ever come to your house?" - I said "No, they
passed through the village on the road."  Then they tied me up
and ordered me to walk in front of the column.  They told me "If
the Karen soldiers ambush us along the way, we will kill you on
the spot."  They put their backpacks on our shoulders, and we
went to Thay Ko Der village.  When we arrived there they put us
[the women] in one house and let us warm up near the fireplace,
but they tied us to the bamboo post.  They tied our whole bodies.
 It was so tight across my breasts, it was so painful that I started
crying.  When they saw me crying, the soldiers loosened the ropes
a little bit, and then we slept there one night.  The next morning
they untied us and they said "Don't run away.  We will release
you."  But then some Karen soldiers shot at them, so they tied
us up again and we spent another night there.  In the daytime
they untied our hands and ordered us to pound paddy for them.
 At night they tied us again.  That evening, Karen soldiers came
and shot at them again, and the SLORC had one dead and one wounded.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09    #P5.

[This woman is from the same village and was also taken.]

I was captured by SLORC in my village.  They ordered me to go
to the school compound, then they accused me of being a Karen
soldier's wife [she is not].  They tied me, grabbed my collar
and made me carry a soldier's backpack.  Along the way, we saw
soldiers setting the villagers' rice barns on fire.  First they
took some rice and made us carry it, then what was left was all
burned.  That place was very near Thay Ko Der village.  When we
arrived at Thay Ko Der, they pushed us all into one house and
tied us in a standing position to the bamboo post.  One of my
friends started crying loudly, so they let us sit down and tied
us very tightly to the post again.  They tied our whole body,
our legs and our chests, to the post.  We had to sleep one night
in that house.  In the morning the SLORC soldiers came to untie
the rope and said they would release us.  Then Karen soldiers
came and fought them, and they tied us again and moved us to another
place.  We saw a man from our village tied up like us, and the
soldiers said "Don't try to talk to this man or we will kill you
all!"  The man was tied up very tightly, worse than us.

The soldiers fed us.  The food was enough because we couldn't
eat very well, but if we were at home that amount would be too
little.  They gave us some chicken and pork.  I know that they
killed those animals in the village, because I saw them killing
many of the villagers' pigs.  At noon, one officer came to us
with one DKBA soldier.  The DKBA soldier said to us, "We DKBA
soldiers want peace.  So tell your brothers, mother, sisters and
all your relatives to come and join us.  We will have peace."
 We said nothing but nodded "Yes".  They didn't untie us for the
night - we had to sleep with our bodies tied up with rope [but
hands and legs free].  During the night a SLORC soldier guarded
us because they were afraid we might run away.  One of them tried
to unbutton a button of my shirt, so I made a movement and he
=0C
stopped.  A moment later, he tried to pull up my sarong.  I pushed
his hand off and pushed it back down  Then he tried to grab my
leg, and I pushed him away and started to light the fire.  The
soldier blew the fire out, but after that nothing happened.

We spent 2 nights at Thay Ko Der, then the column moved to Maw
Lu.  We slept one night in Maw Lu and we were still tied with
rope.  During the night, a SLORC soldier tried to remove my sarong
again.  He tried with another girl first, but she hit him with
a piece of firewood so then he tried again with me.  When he tried
to remove my sarong I kicked him.  Then the Sergeant came around
and he went back to his place.  The next night, we slept beside
an old man that they'd captured along the way.  The Sergeant also
slept close to us.  A soldier came again to try to rape me.  I
kicked him and made noise and he left.

The next morning they made me pound the rice for them, but they
didn't give us any breakfast.  We had to move to another place
and they gave us food on the way.  Along the way we had to carry
their backpacks and we were tied with rope.  I had to carry 1=AB
big tins [25 kg.] of rice, and the other girls had to carry 2
big soldiers' backpacks each.  They took us to T'Kung Taing army
camp [near Papun].  I don't know how many villagers they had with
them [because there were several hundred soldiers in the column].
 Then they released us the next morning, because a DKBA soldier
named H--- went and asked the SLORC officers to release us.  We
were released and sent to a Buddhist monastery in Papun.  There
is a monk there from Myaing Gyi Ngu [most likely a follower of
U Thuzana] and there were about 10 [DKBA] soldiers there.  They
said they came to work together with SLORC because they want peace.
 I don't believe them - I only nodded "Yes" to them in Thay Ko
Der because we were tied up in front of them.  Because of what
they are doing I don't believe them.  They act the same as SLORC
soldiers.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09     #P6.

[The following written SLORC order was received by several Karen
villages northeast of Papun.  To protect the villagers, names
have been blotted out and replaced by 'xxxx', 'yyyy', or 'zzzz'.]

    [Stamp:]               To:  U xxxx
    Chairman                    xxxx village
  Village LORC                  yyyy village
xxxx Village Tract              zzzz village

All the villagers from these villages must move to Kler O Der
and Wah Mi Day and settle down there.  In the future, there will
be so many difficulties and problems in your present home area.
 I inform you with this letter because I have sympathy for your
villagers.  After you move, you can come to shop in Papun on Mondays
and Fridays.
=09=09=09=09=09       [Signed]
=09=09=09=09=09       Chairman
=09=09=09=09=09       Village LORC
=09=09=09=09=09       xxxx village tract

[Note:  These villages are in the hills, and are being forced
to move to the plains, about 3 km. outside of Papun near a SLORC
Army base.  Not only will the adaptation to life in the plains
be difficult for them and probably result in disease, but they
will have no land to farm and will be used almost constantly as
forced labour for the Army base.]
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09=09  #P7.

[The following interview is with a villager in one of the villages
affected by the above order:]
=0C

According to this order we will have to evacuate our village,
but we can't because we have no food.  We know that this has been
planned by SLORC.  We don't want to go and stay under their control.
 We don't want to be SLORC slaves.  We have no food, and we don't
know if our leaders [KNU] can help us.  The SLORC came to our
village to burn it down, and they have done so many evil things
already.  They say that they want to make peace, but each time
they come to our village they destroy our belongings and burn
down our houses.  Now we have to face so many difficulties.

If we move there, they will not give us any food.  We will have
to find our own food.  They won't allow us to come back and work
on our farms.  After that, they will kill us.  They will make
us work for them until we all die.  So we can't do anything, just
hide and run into the jungle and eat the food we took with us.
 This will be very difficult for us.  That's why we hope our leaders
will advise us.

If they find us in the jungle, SLORC will burn down our huts and
destroy our food and belongings, just like they did to Thay Ko
Der village.  If they catch the women, we don't know what they
will do to them.  But if we go to the place that they have indicated
for us, they will treat us however they wish.  Even if they want
to kill us, they will kill us, just as easily as we would kill
a chicken under our house.  The places SLORC wants everyone to
move to are Klaw Hta, Wah Mi Day, Maw Thay Der and Ler Kyer Ko
villages.  But those villages don't have peace.  SLORC says they
will make peace but this is not real peace.  If they really want
peace, they have to treat us differently than this.  If we stay
like this, there will only be more and more problems.

If we go to the new place, we will suffer the same as the others
who have gone [referring to forced labour and lack of food].=20
We don't want to face these difficulties.  We villagers, every
morning and every evening we discuss this situation with each
other, but we can't come to any decision because there is nothing
we can do in this situation.  We can't stay like this any longer.
 They want to force us to go to the relocation camp.  If we stay
here, they will beat us, torture us, even kill us.  We have to
choose how we will stay alive, but we have no choice.  That's
why we need our leaders to guide us.  Our leaders started the
revolution with only 5 bullets.  Now, we will feel very sorry
if after all this we have to go and stay under SLORC's control.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09=09 #P8.

[The following is from an interview with a KNLA security officer
in the area.]

>From=20my point of view, I can see SLORC saying that they are going
to make peace with us, but theirs is not an honest way.  If they
want real peace with the Karen people then they need to stop attacking
the KNLA troops.  We received an order [in late March] from Headquarters
that we are not allowed to go and attack the SLORC, so we haven't
attacked any SLORC positions.  The KNU leaders are trying to find
a way to genuine peace.  On the other hand, the SLORC has destroyed
villages in this area and has tried to locate and attack our troops.
 Every villager they catch, they take as a porter and torture
them.  They are always talking about peace, but what they do is
very different from what they say.  That's why even though we
were ordered not to fight against the SLORC troops, we have to.
 We don't go and attack them.  We just attack to protect and defend
when they come.

If they want real peace they should talk to our leaders, but instead
they come and destroy our villages, make problems for the villagers
=0C
and try to use Divide and Rule in our area.  If they regard themselves
as a good government and regard all the ethnic peoples as equal
to the Burmans then they must accept the KNU's approach for genuine
peace.  This is the only way they can get genuine peace in Burma.
 But they only want to crush our struggle and give more problems
to the villagers.  They must know that they can't destroy our
Karen struggle in this way.  The only way they can stop the struggle
is to give equal rights to the minorities and listen to the voices
of the minority groups.  If they don't, the struggle of the minority
groups will never cease.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___

   [END OF PART ONE - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 2 AND 3]