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KHRG: 2/2
Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.16 ) id WAA21778; Sat, 2 Mar 1996 22:26:07 -0800
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 22:26:07 -0800
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
February 10, 1996 / KHRG #96-07
** PART TWO OF TWO - FOR PART ONE SEE PREVIOUS POSTING **
[CERTAIN DETAILS OF THIS REPORT HAVE BEEN OMITTED OR REPLACED
BY 'XXXX' FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#8.
[The following note was written by 2 Mon traders from XXXX
village, on the Gyaing river not far east of Moulmein, in Mon State.
They earn their living by carrying goods between the coast and the
interior in small riverboats.]
XXXX village has 1,000 houses. Money for 'occasional porters' is 50
Kyats for each household. For the People's Militia, we have to give 30
Kyats per month regularly. We have to do 'volunteer work' from 7 a.m. to
10 a.m., and we receive no payment for that work. For each house, we
have to dig a trench 2 ft. x 4 ft. x 3 ft. We cannot stay at our homes most
of the time because of their work. We have to be on standby to move
them with our boats [all boat owners are forced to rotate being on call to
go with their boat whenever SLORC troops want a boat for any reason].
We have to pay 100 Kyats if we are unable to work on the road
construction in Kauk Bane township.
At Kyone Doh and Kya In gates, if we don't pay as much as they want
they tie us up, they delay our journey, they abuse us, and only after 3 or 4
hours are we allowed to pass through the gate. There are too many gates
where they collect money, so we find it hard to make our living. There's
nothing left for us to spend. These are what we have to pay:
Per person Per boat
1. Kayah gate 20 Kyats 40 Kyats
2. Than Leh gate 15 30
3. Kauk Yoh 30 60
4. Kayit 100 200
5. Gyaing 125 250
6. Yay Gin 300 600
7. Kyone Doh 200 400
8. Kyone Doh Paddy Sales Centre 100 200
9. Kyone Doh wharf charges 30 30
10. Kyone Doh upper gate 400 800
11. Kan Ni 20 40
12. Mi Galon 30 60
13. Kammayeik South 40 80
14. Kammayeik North 40 80
15. Kya In southern gate 200 400
16. Kya In northern troop station 100 200
17. Kya In people's militia 100 200
18. An Kong camp 30 60
19. Ku Tone 200 400
As the days of the year go by, the prices of commodities become higher
and higher. Today 1 pyi [about 2 kg.] of rice costs 65 Kyats. Last year
it was 40 Kyats per pyi. This year one viss of cooking oil costs 240 Kyats.
Last year it was 200 Kyats.
We are never free from anxiety when we are in our village. There are so
many people who go to find work in Thailand - maybe over 500 just from
our village already. For now, we merchants take assorted goods
like prawn paste and fish paste to XXXX [on the upper Han Thayaw
river]. When we go back we carry betelnut,
coconuts, citrus fruits, bananas and a variety of other fruits.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#9.
NAME: "Maung Kyaw" SEX: M AGE: 30 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, no children
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Kya In Township
They killed a man from our village. His name was Pa Khaw [this
happened in April 1995 - see also following interviews]. People were
driving buffalos. He was poor and so he was hired. On the way back he
visited one of his friends near the Mah Lay river. The Burmese came up
from Mudon and saw them. If they had run away they could have
escaped, but they thought the soldiers wouldn't mind them coming to visit
their friends. But the Burmese soldiers came up to the house and seized
them. They took Pa Khaw, who is not a Karen soldier. He is a simple
villager. He never joined the revolution. The soldiers threatened him in
many ways, and accused him of being a soldier. They asked many things.
They poured water into his nostrils, tied up his feet and hung him by his
hands. He was in great agony and it seems he wanted to die. He had to
suffer so much, and at last after so much torture they killed him on the
bank of the Meh Nya Hta river. He was shot and thrown into the river. It
was too late. He was just a simple and regular man, a good man. I have
friends at Meh Nya Hta, and they witnessed the shooting.
He was arrested with the other four. They arrested five people altogether.
They were kept at a military camp. The camp commander is XXXX,
he is a Sergeant. At that time
the Column Commander was XXXX. They are from #XXX Battalion.
The Battalion Commander is XXXX. XXXX asked for a goat
as ransom. He also asked for 5 bottles of honey. It was not the season
for honey, but somehow we managed to find some. He said he would
free the prisoners. They arrested five, killed one and released four. Those
four were very pale after being so long in the holes. It took many days for
their wounds to heal. "Pa Noh" [see interview in this report] had one of
his ribs broken, and he also told me that soldiers used bayonets to hurt
him. They burnt his chin with fire. It is hell for you if the Burmese
soldiers catch you. You have to be very clever and talk to them amiably.
You have to pit your wits against their cunning.
The Burmans still come here sometimes. They summon us to go and do
labour for them, and if we don't show up they come to us and speak
softly. They try to trick us. If what they want is chickens, then when the
owners aren't there they steal their chickens. They also steal good clothing
on sight if they like it. They are just like great robbers. Two or three of
them visit me in the daytime, then at night they come steal my livestock
and belongings. Do you think they stop molesting us even after we meet
their demands? No, not at all. They take everything. They come up and
talk to us in the house, then they steal the chickens from under that very
house. They point their guns at us and threaten us, and we can't do
anything. They don't even carry their loot, they take porters to carry it
for them. The porters are forced to carry loads beyond human strength. Do
you think they would give some of the extra chickens to the porters? No,
they would never do that. The porters have to take their own food supply
with them. The porters have only rice and salt to eat. The soldiers have
nice curries, but they never share it with the porters. We have to hire
porters for them and also provide rice, salt and fishpaste for the porters.
We have to give 3,000 Kyats per month as porter money. We have to
give them pork to eat, 15 viss [24 kg.] each month. But to get that we
have to kill a pig, and the pig might weigh over 25 viss, maybe 30 viss. So
it really costs us more than that. We have to go around the village
collecting money [to pay the owner of the pig], sometimes 35 Kyats per
house, sometimes 45 for a bigger pig. Some villagers are poor and don't
have enough to eat, so we allow them to put in only 15 Kyats. Other
villages are worse off than ours. We are better off, but even though we
pay them their tribute regularly they still don't leave us alone. Even
though we are a long way from them we have to go ourselves to serve
them once a year, digging the earth, cutting bushes in the hot sun and
cutting down hardwood trees like 'tala or', and we can never complain.
This year it is not yet time - later in dry season we'll have to go. Last
year we had to go twice. Once we had to fence their compound, and the other
time we had to cut and sweep the area and dig the earth. We had to dig
up stone slabs with pickaxes and lift them with spades. There are 100
houses in the village. As many as 30 people have to go, for three days at a
time. They make us sleep in tumbledown shacks, with mosquitos biting all
night, and we have to carry water from far away. Ah! It's very very
unpleasant.
There are very few who live in their sight who escape their atrocities. Just
a month or two ago we went to celebrate Thadin Kyo festival [Oct/95]. More
than 30 of us went. When the Burmese soldiers saw us they said our crowd
was too big. I told them we need many people to carry things - there were
20 or 30 viss of onions to carry, 20 viss of jaggery, over 20 viss of sugar,
2 tins of fuel, ... How can one or two people carry that? But we had to
sit in front of them, and they searched everything, ourselves and our
belongings. The camp commander himself led the search. I asked him to
give me a paper to allow me to go and buy food for the festival. He said
he would and started asking me questions. I answered his questions one
by one. As I was speaking, he slapped my face. Why did he insult me
like this? He slapped my face twice. I was angry about that. Then he
sent me away without any paper. So all 30 of us could do nothing. We
had to go on without papers. Then at Hlaing Wa bridge in Kawkareik
they gave us more troubles. I hate them. Slapping and beating are just
the usual insults we have to suffer.
When they come to our village they always ask "Hey! Are there any
Karen rebels here? How many families have connections with them?"
They never accept "No" for an answer. They force us to answer "Yes" to
their questions, then they beat us. If you can speak Burmese you will be
better off, but even then they will hit you at least once or twice. There
are very few instances when we are not beaten. Lately they don't come,
because whenever we hear news that they will come we go and give them
pork beforehand. Once they have pork they don't bother to come. If we
didn't give it, sure they'd come. Because of this, we always live in fear!
Everyone is afraid of them. That is why we have to oblige them. They
tell us that they will come and punish us if we don't pay. From here to
their place is 6 miles, about 2 hours. Before it was #XXX Battalion, now it
is #XXX Battalion. Their stay is never permanent.
Now they are telling us to give them a list showing the number of villagers
and ox-carts in the village, and the numbers of cattle and buffalos. They
said they are collecting this list so they can distribute medicine among us.
As for me, I don't believe they would ever give us medicine. Just think!
When we go work for them they never even offer us a small piece of meat
to eat, we have to take our own food. They would never be generous to
us. [The list is most likely to determine forced labour quotas, availability
of ox-carts to be commandeered, and relative wealth of the village for
extortion purposes.] They want this list, and once they have it they will
use it to exploit us. So we are reluctant to give them the list, and we
haven't done it yet. They have sent papers ordering it once or twice
already.
I almost can't express what I think about SLORC. How do you feel about
them, after hearing what they do to us? We hate them and we are bitter,
but we have no choice but to do their bidding. We don't do it with
goodwill. If you try to talk to them you will surely suffer.
I saw the Ko Per Baw [DKBA]. They haven't been here, but they came
to Aw Paw village. They want to organize us, they told us to go back with
them and stay with them. But we can't go with them. They said if the
Burmese mistreat people they'll shoot them with their guns. They said
they'll keep their weapons, and that's why they have no agreement with
SLORC. We can't easily trust them, and we are afraid. We don't know
them or their place very much. Their battalion commander is Pa Nwee,
he's tattooed his name on his chest. He came during August-September.
They said if the KNU comes back to them that they will not be harmed,
they won't hurt them. Maybe they are making propaganda. I don't know
much about this thing. Their leader is the Myaing Gyi Ngu monk and
they go their own way. [DKBA has tried to make inroads into this area
by playing on the villagers' lack of knowledge of what is happening
further north. So far they have had very little success. Pa Nwee is from
Bee T'Ka area, and at one time was thought to have been executed by
SLORC - see "SLORC / DKBA Activities in Kawkareik Township"
(KHRG #95-23, 10 July 1995), and KHRG Commentary #95-C4, 4 Aug. 1995.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#10.
NAME: "Pa Noh" SEX: M AGE: 45 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 6 children aged 1-19
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Kya In Township
I was arrested during the last Thingyan Festival [water festival, mid-April
1995]. The whole Burmese company came - over 100 soldiers. I heard
them call themselves "commandos". They arrested me at XXXX,
nearly four hours' walk from here. They have a base there. They accused
me of being an Intelligence officer, but I was only herding other people's
buffalos. After they arrested me they covered my face with a piece of
cloth. One soldier held me down and poured water into my nose. They
accused me of being a spy and said I was lying. I think it was because
there was a group of us - there were 17 buffalos, so we needed a crowd to
drive them. They caught 5 of us together, but later they kept us in two
groups. They just kept saying "You are secret agents of the insurgents".
They didn't say anything else. We told them we were just herding
buffalos. But they doubted what I said, so one of them cut deeply into
part of my neck - now it has healed. They cut me here and there with
bayonets on the neck and face. They made me lie down on my stomach
and dripped hot wax on my back. They lit a bunch of candles and fixed
them standing up in a row all along a stick, and this was the instrument
they used to torture me [by dripping a drop of wax and then sticking a
candle on it, the soldiers affixed a row of lighted candles along a stick,
making an impromptu candelabra. By holding up this stick and tipping
it, a whole row of drops of hot wax would fall on his back]. It was too
painful to bear. I tried to struggle but it was all in vain. They held me
down.
It was done by soldiers - NCO's with two or three stripes [Corporals and
Sergeants]. I don't know their names - we never even saw their faces!
Each of us was tortured like that for one hour at a time. They did that
three times every night to us, at 8 p.m. Later they kept us in a hole 18
feet deep. Our eyes could not see, because they kept them covered with
blindfolds. Every day they came to inspect us at 4 p.m. They dropped
stones that struck our backs and heads, making us bleed. They did this to
all of us - there were many holes. They put two of us in each hole. The
other pair was in a hole quite far from us. I suppose they were treated the
same. One of us [out of the five] was killed. They accused him also of
being a spy. He could not speak Burmese. They accused him of being a
soldier of the Rebel army, and of hiding his weapons in the water. They
ordered him to go and retrieve his weapons from the stream, and when
nothing was found the poor man was killed. He was killed in the water. I
didn't see it because I was in the hole with a blindfold over my eyes.
Nobody saw it, they just saw his body floating in the water. His name was
Pa Khaw. He was over 30 and came from Thaton [but settled in Kya In
township]. He was still young. He has a wife and a child just 3 or 4 years
old. As her husband is now dead, I think she will have nothing more to
eat.
The other 4 arrested were T---, A---, P---, and I. P--- is maybe 45 years
old from L--- village, A-- is about 20, I don't know his village, and T--- is
my nephew. He is 35. They kept us there for
1 month and 18 days. The torture lasted for the first 10 days of our
detention. That 10 days of torture did so much to our faces and backs
that it was horrible to look upon. Our faces and backs were all bruised
and blue, and our skulls were cracked. After that time, they put us down
in the holes. Then they kept throwing stones down on us in the holes. At
least 2 stones were dropped on us each day, on our heads and backs,
making us bleed. Our eyes could not see, because they kept them covered
with blindfolds. The blindfolds were taken off only when we were finally
released.
These holes are in their military camp. In the holes they gave us rice with
dal curry, sometimes once a day, sometimes twice. We had to release our
bowels in the pit, in a pail. Each day they lowered a rope, and we tied the
pail to the end so they could draw it up to dispose of it. The pits were 18
feet deep, 6 feet across at the bottom and only 3 feet across at the top,
shaped like a 'tee luh tha' fruit [wider at the bottom, narrowing at the
mouth]. Two of us had to stay in each pit. At night they closed the pit
with mats and we could hardly breathe. We asked them to open it up a
little bit, but when it rained they covered the top so tightly that I nearly
died of suffocation. If they hadn't opened it up in time, we would all have
died then.
We never heard them say anything about releasing us. My wife tried her
best to get me out. Then there was a plea made by a monk, and the village
headman also pleaded for our release while we were still in the deep pits.
But the soldiers wouldn't allow anyone to see us. Then they dropped a
rope for us and pulled us up from the holes. Only after I reached the
surface the Major told me that I could go. My wife was there with the
village headman. I don't know why they released us - I think it was
because the people pleading for us told them that we are Karen farmers
who had lent them our buffalos and so on. I think that's why the Battalion
Commander finally ordered our release. After all, we were never soldiers
like they had accused us of being. They didn't release us at the same time.
They freed my nephew one day before me. We were released one at a
time. I was released second, after T---. They sent me back on an ox-cart.
I could walk, but I was so weak I could hardly step forward. You could
see bruises all over my limbs. What could I do? They covered our eyes
for so long, for the whole month. As soon as they uncovered my eyes on
my release I could hardly see, my eyesight was blurred. That was about 7
p.m. and it was already dark. The next day it was better. For my wounds
to heal, this one here [bayonet-wound on his left chest] took a whole
month.
Now I would never dare to go and see the Burmese again. How can I be
happy over my plight? I'm so sad and bitter. I'm not a fighting man. But
all I can say is that those people are not real soldiers. When I was there
they even ordered me to dig a hole, I don't know why. My Burmese
language is so weak that at first I didn't even know what they meant. They
forced me to dig that hole with a piece of bamboo. Imagine that! It was
not even mature or properly dried. Just imagine using a piece of bamboo
as a spade or a pick-axe! So I had to work all day, my hands got blistered
all over and hurt so much, and I could only make a shallow hole because
you can't dig well with bamboo. I had to scoop out the earth after
breaking it up with the bamboo. P--- was forced to do it with me. I had
to do it blindfolded. They kept my eyes bound and wouldn't even let me
see while I was digging. They also bound my neck and my waist, very
tightly, so I couldn't move properly. What purpose was that hole for? It
was just torture, that's all. Those people are not soldiers.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#11.
NAME: "Saw Ler Wah" SEX: M AGE: 44 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children aged 3 and 14
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Kya In Township
The Burmese detained me when I went to drive buffalos at XXXX
village. It is near their military camp. The Burmese came from their
camp to the village and surrounded us. I don't know their Battalion, but
their officer is XXXX. He's a Captain. There were many of them,
I guess about 100. They arrested us and took us to their camp. We
couldn't understand why. They asked us whether we were soldiers or not.
We told them we're not, we're just ordinary farmers. There wasn't a
soldier among us. They secured our feet in wooden stocks and abused us.
They gave us only a very small amount of rice with beans. They tortured
us while our feet were bound. They poured water into our nostrils. They
accused us of having guns with us when we were driving the buffalos, but
we never had guns. They tortured us for quite a long time. We reached
their camp in the evening and they started interrogating and torturing us,
then a day later they tortured us again. Just imagine! They poured water
into our nostrils, they secured our feet with cords. They always asked
whether there are any Kaw Thoo Lei soldiers. We told them there are
not, but they were bent on accusing us of lying. Then they'd beat us and
torture us again. They hit my mouth and broke one of my teeth, and it
bled badly. They arrested five of us - one died, and four were left. Later,
the four of us were put in the pits in pairs. I was put in the pit with A--,
he's about 20. The one who was killed was Pa Khaw. When he was
killed we were in the pits and saw nothing. We only found out when we
came back. The other two were "Pa Noh" [see interview in this report]
and T---.
They made us stay in the holes for one month, we just had to stay there
and they gave us food, just rice with one or two spoonfuls of beans twice
a day - it didn't do anything to our hunger. We were blindfolded, and tied
with ropes behind our backs. The holes were hot, and very deep. They
were only this wide [he indicated 5-6 feet]. At the bottom there was just
bare earth. To go to the toilet we just had to use a place at the bottom of
the hole. It smelled awful. There were many holes like that in the camp,
but at that time they were only holding the four of us. They told us we
had to wait until someone came and paid for us. People came, but they
didn't release us. We waited and waited, but only after a month were we
released. When people from our village came, they wouldn't allow them
to see us. Only on the third time they came we saw them. Then the
soldiers told us "You can go. Climb up!" They kept us blindfolded and
went with us. I was pale and thin. After that it took quite a long time for
my vision to get better, nearly a month. My other wounds only healed
after I got some injections. I still have some pain now. I have trouble
working, because it's painful to exert myself.
The villagers had to give 35,000 Kyats for each of us before we were
freed. My family had to pay too. We had to sell things to give them the
money, because they wouldn't let us go if we didn't give them the money.
Because of that and the medicine costs, I had to sell all my cattle. I'll
never go back to my village. We are staying here [another village]. As
soon as I hear the Burmese are coming, I'll run away. Some people from
my village have already fled to Thailand. We have to be afraid of them,
we have to flee. I can never go back there.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#12.
NAME: "Naw Lah K'Paw" SEX: F AGE: 40 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children, 1 died of disease, 1 surviving child aged 4
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Kawkareik Township
["Naw Lah K'Paw"'s husband Pa Khaw was killed by SLORC in April 1995 -
see related interviews in this report.]
I cannot remember what month it was, whether it was Da Zow Mon or
Thadin Kyo. While he was herding buffalos, he was killed. I have no idea
why. The owner of the buffalos brought the news. I did not know where
to go, I dared not go. [A friend remarked: "She asked us to go and help,
but when we arrived there we could not do anything, he was already
killed."] Now we just stay here like this. I am tilling the land together
with my brother.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#13.
NAME: "Pi Eh Wah" SEX: F AGE: 56 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 7 children aged 21-37, 6 surviving
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Kawkareik Township
["Pi Eh Wah" told the story of how SLORC soldiers shot and killed her
daughter XXXX in "Field Reports: 6th Brigade Area", KHRG #95-
20, 31/5/95. After failing to arrest "Pi Eh Wah"'s husband, they
approached their house at midnight, called them out and then
immediately opened fire, killing XXXX and seriously wounding "Pi
Eh Wah" and her daughter "Naw Paw Htoo". "Pi Eh Wah" was shot
through the chest, and "Naw Paw Htoo" was hit in the leg and the belly.
The two women had to spend a month in hospital, but first they had to
get an admission letter from the SLORC commander responsible from
the shooting, who wrote that they had been shot by Karen soldiers. The
shooting was in Dec/94, and they were released from hospital in Feb/95.
This interview follows up their story since returning home.]
This is my daughter, "Naw Paw Htoo". She's 37, she has a husband and
2 children 16 years old and 3 years old. Now we no longer dare stay in
our village. So when we got home we went to stay at xxxx village. Now
we stay at yyyy village. SLORC wanted to arrest me, but they failed.
["Naw Paw Htoo" added: "My mother didn't dare go home, but I went
back to my house. The SLORC tried to catch me but they couldn't, so
they burned my house."] Now I still hear news from our home village.
People there say the Burmese are doing everything they like and
committing atrocities. The village has to send pork to them every 5 days.
Sometimes 10 viss [16 kg.], sometimes 15, 17, or 20 viss, even 25 or 26
viss, whatever the soldiers demand. They have to comply. In that village
we have to do so many kinds of things, hard labour in many forms. We
have to work at their camps and build their barracks. We have to cut
down bamboo trees. Our village has 90 houses. Sometimes the whole
village has to go, sometimes 10 or 15 villagers.
Now in our new village, we do not have to give anything because we are
just visitors in this village. The other villagers have to send things
though. I don't know exactly what because I haven't asked them about it.
As for my own village, it's once a week, sometimes even more than that. We
even had to send them our rice. The SLORC soldiers very often came to
our old village, also to our new village. Ever since they shot us, every
time we see them we are very afraid. They stay by themselves and cook
their own food, but they catch our chickens to eat and pick our fruit and
vegetables. They take things by force. If we say anything to them they
shout and abuse us. Usually we have to pay porter fees to them, but they
also demand porters for 3 days. We have to give 150 Kyats if we fail to
go. If people have no money, they go.
Battalions XXX, XXX, and XXX are all in this area now. The closest group
are about XX miles from here. Now we do not know what the future holds,
we have no place, no house and no land. We don't know what to think,
we just carry on day by day.
"NAW PAW HTOO": The soldiers come and sell us their rice at a cheap
price, and they take our rice free of charge. Their rice is not good, it
smells bad. But everyone must buy their rice. They dump their bad rice
at the headman's house, and he has to sell it for them. Then they take our
good rice for nothing, and if they feel too lazy to cook it, we have to cook
and pack it for them. They are always behaving like this, so how can we
go on living? Sometimes we are afraid and have to flee. When they give
"curfew orders" we cannot go out after 6 in the evening. If we do, they
beat us. We are not free to work as we like for our living. Nothing is easy
nowadays. They charge us taxes for our rice mills and sugar cane mills,
and even for video machines. We have to give them 5 baskets of rice for
each machine.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#14.
NAME: "Saw Simon" SEX: M AGE: 45 Karen Christian teacher
FAMILY: Married, 5 children aged 12-23
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kawkareik Township INTERVIEWED: 2/2/96
I arrived here [in the refugee camp] yesterday evening. I came because
there's trouble around our village. For now we could still stay there, but
there will soon be troubles. In the other villages they have troubles -
SLORC is forcing villagers to move and arresting people, so some
villagers have already fled to be Baw Naw Hta. I know this will happen in
every village, so I moved here with my family. We know that SLORC
will give trouble to all the villages where they arrive. If they come,
they'll burn down all the houses like they did before. Some villages where
they are already staying, they order people to join them [probably as
People's Militia], they steal chickens and they force people to carry water
for them at their camp and cook for them. It's at Ka Dee Kee camp. There
are two camps, Ku Doh and Ka Dee Kee, Battalions #62 and #32. The
people have to go for a few days. If the village head can replace them
after a few days, they can come home. If he can't they have to stay and
work a long time. Just two weeks ago one of the village leaders from Ka
Dee Kee village was beaten. His villagers ran away from them, so
SLORC got angry and came and beat the headman.
There are about 100 houses in my village. Now some of the families have
moved here, and some families are moving to other camps. Three or four
families already arrived here. People from other villages are also leaving,
but some are also staying in their villages. Our village is about 10 miles
from their camp, so if the soldiers want to come [on offensive] it will only
take them a few hours to walk.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#15.
NAME: "Saw Wah Htoo" SEX: M AGE: 36 Karen Christian farmer
FAMILY: Married, 3 children aged 8 months - 6 years
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kawkareik Township INTERVIEWED: 2/2/96
We arrived yesterday evening [at the refugee camp]. We came because
we had troubles. We couldn't work freely. Whenever they need people,
they order the headman to send them and the headman is afraid to oppose
them. They ordered us to carry logs to the river. We don't know where
they're going to use these logs [they are most likely to sell in Kawkareik].
They made us cut down trees and haul them to the river. Some were near
the river, some far. If it was far, we could pull them to the river two
trips in one day. The logs had a circumference of 4 or 5 feet. We had to
nail pieces of bamboo around the log, tie 4 or 5 ropes to it and then 4 or 5
people pulled it from each side. They use men to pull the logs - they use
men like elephants.
We had to go all the time, by turns. Each turn lasts 5 days. I've had to go
4 times since the rainy season [since October]. We had to work the
whole day. We couldn't go home at night, we had to stay there for 5 days
before we could go home. We had to sleep under the trees. Some of the
people built a little shelter. They gave us rice, fishpaste, chillies and
salt, but no curry, and they didn't pay us. Sometimes the place is near the
village, sometimes far, depending on where they are cutting down the
trees. They take 10 people from each village. Sometimes there were 80
people there, sometimes more than 100. Whenever they ordered anything,
we had to do it in order not to be beaten. I wasn't beaten, but others told
me that some people were beaten because of being drunk while they were
working. Soldiers were guarding us. Sometimes they weren't, so we
could run away - but we didn't run away, because if we did they would
take serious action against our village headman. The soldiers always came
to check if we were working or not.
They have only been doing this since the rainy season. They force people
from every village near the [Dawna] mountain range, including my
village. It is only SLORC soldiers - there are no DKBA in our place. In
December I moved to XXXX village. Now I have come here. It will be
better here than in my village.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#16.
NAME: "Saw Kya Heh" SEX: M AGE: 35 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 4 children aged 2-13
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kawkareik Township INTERVIEWED: 3/2/96
I arrived [at the refugee camp] last night, because I was afraid of the
SLORC soldiers in my village. We were afraid that if the SLORC and
KNU soldiers fight each other, we will have big problems. When the
KNU and DKBA fought each other, my cousin was killed. That was in
August. After that, the SLORC soldiers ordered us to build bunkers for
them in the village, between XXXX section and XXXX
section of the village. It is a big village, about 300 houses. About 30 or
40 people had to go every day. If there were men in the house, they had
to go. I had to go 3 times, for a day each time. After we built the
bunkers, SLORC didn't stay but DKBA stayed. DKBA stays in the
village, but SLORC is their bodyguard and they stay just outside the
village. Whenever SLORC or DKBA come into the village, they order us
to do things every time. In November, the SLORC soldiers ordered us to
build another big bunker near my house. When people refused to work
they ran away to the jungle, but SLORC and DKBA followed them and
captured all of them. They had to come back and work. I couldn't bear it
anymore and I ran away.
Their camp is about 1 1/2 hours' walk from the village. The soldiers are #44
[Division], sometimes #77 [Division]. #111 [Battalion] also stays there.
SLORC comes to the village often, but when DKBA comes the SLORC
soldiers stay in their camp. Sometimes there are 20 or 30 DKBA in the
village, sometimes more than 60. They don't stay together with SLORC.
SLORC stay in the hills or around the village. DKBA stays in the middle
of the village, in people's houses. I don't know where the DKBA come
from because I've never asked them. Nobody joins them from our village.
SLORC gives DKBA their food, and DKBA doesn't arrest us but they
force us to work. They ask the villagers to join them. They say, "If you
come and join us, we won't ask any taxes or fees in your village. If you
don't join, just stay quietly in your village and don't work with KNU." I
don't dare join them. SLORC comes into the village but they never ask
people to join them, they just visit with DKBA. I didn't dare stay in the
village so I had to run away. I'll try to stay here and see how the situation
will be. If there were no troubles in my village, I would stay there.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#17.
NAME: "U Shwe" SEX: M AGE: 48 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 10 children aged 3-20
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kya In Township INTERVIEWED: 3/2/96
We arrived here [the refugee camp] one month ago, because SLORC
ordered us to make a road with our bare hands. They don't use machines.
We didn't have to go yet, but Ta Ka Kloh and Oo Pee villages have to go.
Villages from near my village have to go. I knew that one day soon I
would have to go, so I moved here. The road is from Sein Gyi to Ta Ka
Kloh and Chaung Wah villages. It is one day walk away from my village.
I'm sure it will come through our village. So far only a few people have
left my village, but I know that more will leave soon. SLORC comes to
our village, not often, but when they come they stay for a long time and
give trouble to the villagers. Two years ago, I saw some porters who were
abandoned along the path by SLORC near my village, and some of them
were wounded. So I took them to my house and gave them food,
medicine and clothes.
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