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KHRG#97-08 1/4 (Pa'an)
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ABUSES AND RELOCATIONS IN PA'AN DISTRICT
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
August 1, 1997 / KHRG #97-08
*** PART 1 OF 4: SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR REMAINING PARTS OF THIS
REPORT ***
*** Some details omitted or replaced by 'XXXX' for Internet distribution.
***
The situation in Pa'an District of central Karen State continues to
worsen,
particularly in the eastern parts of the District close to the Dawna
mountains and the Thai border. The Karen National Liberation Army
(KNLA) is conducting guerrilla operations in the Dawna Range, which runs
north-south parallel to the Thai border, and penetrating into the plains
to
the west. As a result, SLORC is terrorizing the Karen villages lying
just
west of the Dawna Range, and began forcibly relocating some of these
villages in November 1996. By February 1997 the villages of Ta Ku Kraw,
Kwih Pa Taw and Noh Law Bler (comprising a total of over 150
households) were forced to move, and Ta Ku Kraw was burned. They were
ordered to move to Naw Deh, where some have gone and are now living in
makeshift shelters with no way to survive. However, most of them fled
into
hiding in the forest where they are now struggling to survive. Then in
February and March 1997, SLORC ordered the villages of Tee Hseh Ker,
Naw Ter Kee, Bee T'Ka, Kaw Per Nweh Ko, Kwih Sgheh, Tee Baw Blaw,
Ler Dah and possibly several more to move. Bee T'Ka, the largest of
these,
has over 300 households but was given only 3 days to move to Taung Zone
army camp, and the villagers were told that anyone seen there after 6
March would be shot on sight. The village was quickly abandoned as the
villagers fled to the homes of relatives or to the forest. Later in
March,
the KNLA used the absence of the villagers as an opportunity to make a
heavy
attack against SLORC troops near the village. SLORC suffered significant
casualties, so they sent word out for the villagers to come back in order
that
they could have a human shield around them. However, most villagers
ignored the call in fear and are still scattered throughout the area.
A similar situation exists slightly further north, where SLORC troops
ordered Noh Ray Tee Per and Ta Wih Koh villages to move to Dta Greh in
March with a deadline in early April. The troops also burned 16 houses
and shot dead one villager in Tee Wah Klay village on 21 March. Villages
around Tee Wah Klay have not been given forced relocation orders as yet,
but most of the people from Tee Wah Klay, Per Way, Thay Mo Pah Kee,
Day Law Pya, and Meh Pleh Wah Kee, as well as the relocated villages of
Noh Ray Tee Per and Ta Wih Koh, have fled into the forests in fear of the
SLORC troops that are regularly patrolling their villages. Most of them
are
living in hiding in the hills, and medics who have visited them report
that
many children have already died of stomach illnesses and malaria. As of
April, at least 16 children had died of illness just in the villages
surrounding Noh Ray Tee Per.
Just south of Tee Wah Klay area in the western part of the Dawna Range,
the 8 villages of Naw Ter Kee, Pleh Wah Hta, Taw Ghoh Hta, Noh Kheh, Pa
Wih Kee, Paw Tee Hta, Paw Tee Wah, and Kyaw Law Kloh have also been
forced to move. Starting in November 1996 everyone in these villages was
ordered to stay inside the village together with their livestock - an
impossible demand to put on subsistence farmers - or be shot on sight.
Then in January SLORC began forcibly moving them to Thu K'Bee.
The situation for villagers in these areas of Dta Greh township is
increasingly desperate and unstable. They have little or no food left,
no
medicine and face the constant threat of discovery and arrest by SLORC
patrols. Many are in hiding in the hills of the Dawna Range, which the
KNLA is using as a base area to launch attacks on SLORC units in the
plains to the west. The KNLA has heavily landmined these hills, making
flight difficult and dangerous for the villagers.
Further south and west in the plains west of the Dawna strongly
controlled
by SLORC, intensive forced labour is continuing on the road connecting
Nabu to Daw Lan and Pa'an to the west as well as other roads [for
background on these roads and other abuses, see "The Situation in Pa'an
District" (KHRG #96-17, 15/5/96)]. The villagers also have to do
continuous forced labour standing guard at Army camps and along roads,
maintaining Army camps, and as porters. In Kawkareik township, most of
the farmland adjacent to Army camps has been confiscated, and villagers
are now forced to provide seed paddy, grow and harvest rice and other
crops for the Army on this confiscated land. In Nabu, SLORC confiscated
half of the Muslim land in the village in 1995, then in 1996 they drove
all
the Muslims out. The order to drive them out was given by Strategic
Commander Ye Htut, and specified that all Muslims must move out within 7
days and settle on Kanaing Paw hill, where there is no water and no
fertile
land. To encourage the Muslims to leave, SLORC troops released pigs in
the Muslim cemetery and hung pork on the houses of some Muslims.
Villagers throughout the SLORC-controlled areas also have to do labour
gathering and transporting wood as fuel for SLORC's brick kilns in army
camps, where rank-and-file soldiers are forced to bake bricks which their
officers then sell for personal profit. These villages continue to be
regularly looted by passing SLORC patrols and also have to pay monthly
extortion money and food to all Army units within reach of their village.
As can be seen from the interviews below, the DKBA (Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army, a Karen group allied to SLORC) continues to be very active
in the heavily SLORC-controlled areas, though they now have a very
limited
presence in some of the Dawna Range areas affected by the forced
relocations; some of them may have been taken southward to help SLORC
in its mass offensive and occupation of Dooplaya District. DKBA units in
the region act mainly as adjuncts to local SLORC units, acting as guides,
doing errands and looting goods and money for the SLORC troops. They
still arrest villagers who fail to obey orders or who are suspected of
contact
with the KNU, and usually hand them over to SLORC to be tortured and
executed. The DKBA has been shooting villagers on sight in relocation
areas for SLORC, but their main activity is extorting money and labour
out
of the villagers, as SLORC no longer provides them material support and
they are now entirely reliant on money extorted from the local population
to
support themselves. Even the annual DKBA calendar is being used to
extort
money [for background on DKBA calendars, see "Inside the DKBA"
(KHRG #96-14, 31/3/96)]. These glossy calendars full of pictures of U
Thuzana, founder and patron monk of DKBA, have been distributed to
villages in quantities based on the number of households. The village is
then forced to buy every copy it receives for the very high price of 280
Kyats
(last year's calendar was 240-250 Kyats) or face retribution. Villagers,
including Christians and Animists, are led to believe that hanging a DKBA
calendar is the only way to prevent your house from being burned down - a
belief that has often proved to be in vain.
SLORC military units responsible for the forced relocations and other
abuses have included Light Infantry Battalions #547, 548, 549, 338 and
357, and Infantry Battalions #28, 36 and 97. The troops are regularly
rotated to prevent them becoming familiar or friendly with the villagers;
for
example, LIBs #547, 548 and 338 have now been redeployed elsewhere and
IB #28 has been replaced by troops from #99 Light Infantry Division.
Despite the dangers of capture by SLORC patrols or stepping on Karen
landmines, some villagers are risking the dangerous journey to Thailand.
A
few manage to make it to the border and cross, only to learn that current
Thai policy is to deny sanctuary to all new refugees; no new arrivals are
allowed to be registered in the refugee camps, and Thai Army guards at
the
camps are now actively prohibiting entry to new arrivals. Some of the
new
arrivals from Pa'an District have been arrested, imprisoned and only
released on payment of bribes. Most of the new arrivals find they have
no
choice but to try to slip through the Thai checkpoints and head for the
sweatshops and building sites of Bangkok and other towns where they will
end up as cheap or bonded labour.
The remainder of this report consists of interviews conducted by KHRG
between April and July 1997 with villagers and medics in Pa'an District
and
newly arrived refugees in Thailand. Interviews #9, 11, and 13-17 were
conducted and contributed by the Karen Community Information Service
(KCIS), an independent organisation working to provide news service to
the
Karen refugee community. Interviews #10 and 12 are combined from
separate interviews with the same people done by KCIS and KHRG. The
names of those interviewed have been changed and some details omitted in
order to protect them. False names are shown in quotes, all other names
are real.
Note that many villages in the area have several names. For example, Dta
Greh (Karen name) is known as Pain Kyone in Burmese; Nabu is the
Burmese name for T'Nay Cha (Sgaw Karen) or Ler Pu (Pwo Karen). To
the people in the area, Dta Greh (Pain Kyone) is a township; however,
SLORC considers the area part of Hlaing Bwe township.
Abbreviations
SLORC State Law & Order Restoration Council, military junta ruling
Burma
KNU Karen National Union, main Karen opposition group
KNLA Karen National Liberation Army, army of the KNU
KNDO Karen National Defence Organisation, militia/police wing
of the KNU
Kaw Thoo Lei The Karen homeland, also used to refer in general to
KNU/KNLA/KNDO people
Nga pway 'Ringworms', derogatory SLORC name for Karen soldiers
DKBA Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, Karen group allied with SLORC
Ko Per Baw 'Yellow Headbands', common name villagers use to refer to
DKBA
IB Infantry Battalion (SLORC), usually about 500 soldiers
fighting
strength
LIB Light Infantry Battalion (SLORC), usually about 500 soldiers
fighting strength
LID Light Infantry Division (SLORC); one Division consists of
10 LIB battalions
Kyat Burmese currency; US$1=6 Kyat at official rate, 300 Kyat at
current market rate
Table of Contents
This report consists of three main parts: the above introduction,
interviews
related to forced relocation (#1-6), and interviews from areas more
strongly
controlled by SLORC (#7-21).
Page Interview #
Introduction 1
Forced Relocations / fleeing villages 5 1-6
Other areas
Kawkareik Township 15 7
Bilin Township 16 8
Torture 17 9
Shooting on sight 18 10-13
Looting 22 14-16
Education difficulties 23 17
Arrest/torture by false accusation 25 18
Arrests by DKBA and SLORC 27 19-20
DKBA extortion, conscription & calendars 28 21
Map 30
Topic Summary
Forced relocation (Interviews #1-4,6), burning villages (#2,3,6,18,21),
fleeing into the forest (#2,3, 6,8,18), deaths due to flight (#2,6),
shooting/killing on sight (#6,8,9,10-13,17), shooting death of 7-year-old
child (#6), killings/executions (#1,4,5,6), arrests (#1,2,4,5,9,18-20),
torture (#1,4,5,9,18), beatings (#1,2,7,9,16,19,20), abuse of women
(#1,16-18),
looting (#9-18), extortion (#3,11, 12,18,21), food confiscation
(#2,3,7,17),
land confiscation (#7), education problems (#17), ban on trade by
villagers
(#18), DKBA conscription of children (#21), DKBA forced sale of calendars
(#21), landmines (#2,3), Thai arrest of new refugees (#1).
Forced labour: At Army camps (#2-5,7,8), porters (#1,3,4,5,7,8,17,21),
guides (#13), roads (#1-5,7), road sentry duty (#5,8), farming (#7).
___________________________________________________________________________
____
Interviews
#1.
NAME: "Saw Win Htoo" SEX: M AGE: 25 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Single, lives with his parents
ADDRESS: Noh Kheh village, Dta Greh Township INTERVIEWED: 5/97
["Saw Win Htoo" had just fled his village to become a refugee when this
interview was conducted.]
Q: Why did you come here?
A: Because the Burmese forced us to move. We ran and scattered
everywhere. We had to run to XXXX. Eight villages had to move - Naw
Ter Kee, Pleh Wah Hta, Taw Ghoh Hta, Noh Kheh, Pa Wih Kee, Paw Tee Hta,
Paw Tee Wah, and Kyaw Law Kloh. The Burmese ordered us to be porters and
to
find the Karen soldiers. We couldn't find them, so they forced us to
move.
They told us, "If you stay here and there's any fighting, you will
have to do your duty and face the consequences. If you don't do your
duty
we will kill you." They want to make Kaw Thoo Lei [KNU] people go
hungry. They said that people from the village welcome and give rice to
Kaw Thoo Lei people, so they moved the village. Somebody went and shot
at the Burmese at Peh Leh Noh and one died, so they beat our Burman
village headwoman. She cried out very loud and one of her ribs was
broken.
After that she dared not be a village head anymore and we had to choose a
new one. Our village head is a woman because if we choose men the
Burmese treat them very badly, but women are treated a bit better [i.e.
tortured a little less frequently].
They started giving these orders last rainy season [mid-1996]. First
they said
nobody could go outside the village, that they would shoot dead anyone
they
see outside the village. All our livestock also had to be kept and cared
for
inside the village [impossible for cattle and buffalos], but the
villagers
couldn't feed them like that so they had to let their livestock wander
freely,
and the cattle ate and destroyed all our rice crop. The people from Naw
Ter
Kee and Play Ghaw Hta, their cattle and buffalos ate and destroyed all
their
rice, so they didn't have enough for themselves and they had to buy it
from
elsewhere. Then in January the Burmese started to relocate the villages
to
Thu K'Bee. The Burmese said, "Anything you can't take with you will be
mine. I will burn all of your houses." The villagers moved, they took
some
money with them and bought some rice, but when the money was gone they
went hungry. Some tried to find work to earn some money, and they all
thought about coming here.
The Burmese set up their camp there 4 years ago. It is #36 Battalion.
There
are 3 camps around the village, 30 soldiers at each camp. They come and
ask us "Where are the nga pway ['ringworm'] Karen soldiers, have you
found any yet?" If we say no, they beat us and say "Are you nga pway?"
Then if we say no they beat us, and if we answer yes they beat us. They
always call for 7 people from each village to work at their camp - seven
people have to go with their own rice and then come back each day. They
write orders to the village head and then she has to arrange the
villagers for
them. In each village 3 to 5 villagers had to go as porters and 40 or 50
people had to go for other work at a time. If you can't go you have to
hire
someone else for 100 Kyats per day. The oldest who go are 40 or 50 years
old, and the youngest are 15. For work on the road, it is mostly women
who
go, and single young people. If older people go the soldiers make them
work
even harder. We had to go for 3 to 4 days, and take our own food.
They demanded porters and people went, and then if people couldn't carry
their things any more they kicked them, stomped on them, beat them and
punched them. Sometimes they say people help the "nga pway", that means
Karen soldiers, and then they kill them. They pour water in their
mouths, tie
their hands behind their backs, tie their necks and plunge them in water,
then
they make them crawl across thornbushes. They killed 2 villagers this
year
that way, Tee Po Thay and Tay Po Ker. The Burmese ordered them to go
and find some Karen soldiers and they couldn't, so they killed them. The
village head tried to vouch for them, but they didn't listen and said it
was
none of her business. Their wives followed and tried to see them but
couldn't. They held them in the forest for 2 or 3 days and then killed
them.
The leaders of the Burmese know their men are doing these things but they
pretend they don't know. People went and told them about it, and later
they
came and forced the villagers to move.
I decided to come here and try to find work to live. I'll do anything
that I
can. Three of us came together. Along the way at Meh Th'Wah, Ko Per
Baw gave us problems. We had to give them money or else they wouldn't
allow us to come. We couldn't come secretly. In our village we don't
see Ko
Per Baw. We came into Thailand and the Thais arrested two of us on the
road at Mae Tan. We had to stay in Mae Tan jail for one night and Mae
Sot
jail for 4 nights. I had to give them 700 Baht, that was all I had, and
my
uncle [already a refugee] came and he only had 100 Baht so he gave it to
them, and then they released me. My friend had to stay there cleaning
the
grounds of the jail. They released him later, but I don't know where he
is
now. After I was released I came here [the refugee camp] on the
passenger
car but I had no money for the fare, so the Thai driver got angry at me.
[Note: unlike the scenes of Thais "welcoming" refugees portrayed in
Hollywood movies, this is more typical of what really happens; new
refugees who arrive in small groups are commonly arrested, imprisoned,
robbed and abused in other ways by Thai authorities, then either forcibly
repatriated, sold into sweatshop labour, or allowed to pay their own way
to
get to refugee camps.]
My parents are still at Noh Kheh but they will come soon. Many people
will
come because they can't stay there any more. I don't know when they will
arrive. They were all farmers but they can't do anything now.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#2.
NAME: "Maung Hla" SEX: M AGE: 38 Karen Animist
farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children aged 2 and 8
ADDRESS: Noh Ray Tee Per village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED: 4/97
["Maung Hla" spent the last year living in a hut in the forest out of
fear of
SLORC abuses, only sneaking back and forth to his village when he could.
Then his village was ordered to move, and he fled to become a refugee one
week before this interview was conducted. His village is a few hours'
walk
north of Dta Greh.]
Q: Where is Noh Ray Tee Per, is it near Dta Greh?
A: It is at the bottom of the big mountains [just west of the Dawna
Range].
Dta Greh is to the south. It takes from morning until noon to walk to
the
main part of Dta Greh. There were about 40 households in the village,
but
there are not many houses left now because most of the people have
scattered. About 5 families went to Sho Kloh [refugee camp in Thailand],
and my family came here. Now we have been here one week, because there
were difficulties and trouble in our village. The Ko Per Baw and SLORC
made trouble, so I could not live any longer in my village and I came
here.
When they arrived in the village they sometimes caught and beat the
villagers.
Less than a month ago they beat 2 villagers, Pa G--- and Pa K---. They
are
brothers. Pa G--- is the eldest. He is 21 years old and Pa K--- is 19
years
old. Pa G--- has one child but Pa K--- has no children yet.
Q: Why did the SLORC beat them?
A: I don't know why they were beaten. SLORC came with guns and told
the villagers to come down from their houses, and then the Ko Per Baw
tied
them up and beat them. They hit them once with their guns, they stepped
on
their necks and kicked them in the chest. Then they fired their guns
until one
magazine was used up. They fired their guns close to the two villagers'
ears
to frighten them and then they took them to Pah Eet village. Then the
Karen
soldiers said that they shouldn't capture the villagers for no reason, so
they
went to Pah Eet village to rescue the victims, there was fighting and the
captives were released.
Those who are afraid like us, we ran away and stayed in the forest
because
we're afraid of their arrests and beatings. For one year already I
haven't
dared go back to stay in the village. I was too afraid to go back, so I
just
built a hut and we stayed in the forest. As soon as he was released, one
of
those men who was beaten came to me and told me he dared not live in the
village anymore, so he would go to Sho Kloh refugee camp and live there.
The
soldiers who beat them were Ko Per Baw. Their leader is Pa Nwee. He
comes once every 2 or 3 days, but sometimes once or twice a day,
sometimes
not for 4 or 5 days. Sometimes they come together with the Burmese,
sometimes it is Ko Per Baw soldiers alone. They don't kill, but they
torture
the villagers. There are plenty of these cases.
Q: Do the villagers have to do work?
A: Yes, we had to work. We had to build the Ko Per Baw barracks at Be
Kyo and work for the Burmese at Kwe Taw Ru village. Every day 5 persons
had to go for forced labour. They had to put up spikes [bamboo obstacles
and man-traps around army camps], carry water and build roads. The road
leads to Kah Dteh, Maw Ko Kah Dteh. I didn't go myself, but my younger
brother went 10 times while I cultivated the land. Sometimes they feed
the
forced labourers only once a day. When we take along our rice, they make
us exchange our good rice for their rice full of dirt and paddy [unhusked
grains]. Their rice is coloured yellow, but if we say we won't exchange
our
rice with theirs they threaten and beat us. Before I came out here we
also
had to give the Burmese 300 Kyats per household.
Q: I heard that Bee T'Ka and some other villages had to move, did you
hear
about that?
A: Yes, they also ordered our village to move but we did not move yet.
Our
village has to move to Ler Pleh. The Burmese came themselves and told
us.
They said we'd have to move on the 8th of April, about 25 days ago. Ta
Wih
Koh village also had to move, but they didn't listen and ran away in to
the
forest. Ta Wih Koh had 80 houses. The people there were supposed to
move to Dta Greh. I don't know why we have to move. They said we have
to build our houses near other villages, but the villagers don't want to
move.
So some fled into the jungle to hide and some still live in the village.
Now
those who ran away and hid in the forest dare not go back to stay in the
village [for fear of arrest for having fled]. The Ko Per Baw said that if
they see anyone in the forest they will shoot them. Whenever they see
people
cultivating in the forest they beat them at once. My brother built his
house
in the forest, and when Ko Per Baw saw it they burnt it down instantly.
My
brother ran back to the village. They don't like people building houses
in
the forest.
Sixteen people died of cholera - among them 2 of my cousin's small
children
and 2 of my uncle's children. About 10 children died, and some
teenagers.
Most of the dead were children between the age of 8 and 10. There were
many children in the forest with us but none of them died - it was the
children in the villages who died, and especially the people who have to
go
and live in the army camp. None of them have any medicine, and no one
has any
rice. The people in the village have to eat roots and leaves, just like
I was
eating in the forest. I had to live on roots and leaves for 4 or 5 days
at a
time. Now people in the village and in the forest are preparing and
hoping to
plant their rice. For one year I've lived in the forest in a hut because
I
was too afraid to stay in the village. I planted banana trees and ate
roots
and some vegetables. Sometimes my 2 children got sick. There are many
households in the forest now, 5 or 6 or 10 houses in a group, 1 or 2
houses
here and there. I couldn't count them all, but there are plenty.
Q: You lived in the forest for one year already, so why did you flee to
Thailand now?
A: There were difficulties living there. The Ko Per Baw don't like
people
staying in the forest. They said that they will shoot people dead if they
see
them in the forest. It took us 2 days to come here with our 2 children -
I
carried the small one, and my wife is also pregnant. We didn't bring
anything, we had nothing to bring. We were afraid of the bombs
[landmines], we had to avoid them along the way. We came cautiously and
in fear and finally arrived here. Many people from Noh Ray Tee Per would
like to come here. Some are still planting, so maybe after the crop they
will
come here. If there is peace I would like to go back, but I don't know
how
long that will be.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
- [END OF PART 1 - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 2 THROUGH 4] -