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KHRG #97-08 Part 3/4 (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 3 OF 4: SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***
*** Some details omitted or replaced by 'XXXX' for Internet distribution.
***
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#7.
NAME: "Maung Kyaw" SEX: M AGE: 27 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Single
ADDRESS: T'Nay Cha village, Kawkareik Township INTERVIEWED: 5/97
[T'Nay Cha is the Sgaw Karen name for his village, which is known as Ler
Pu in Pwo Karen and Nabu in Burmese. This large village is south and
west of the relocation area, in territory more strongly held by SLORC.
"Maung Kyaw" was interviewed just after arriving in Thailand as a
refugee.]
Q: How many days ago did you arrive here?
A: 8 days ago. I came because I don't want to go to be a porter, I'm
too
tired to do it anymore.
Q: Whose porter did you have to be?
A: Burmese and DKBA. They stay together. I also had to build the road
for them, be a sentry, and dig their bunkers. Everyone in the village
has to
go and work for them. As for sentry duty, two villagers from each
village
have to go and do that every night in front of their camp. When we go we
aren't allowed to sleep, but they are all sleeping. We are sentries
without
guns. We're supposed to watch, and if we see Karen soldiers we must go
and tell them.
In the daytime one person from each family has to go. If there is no man
in
the house, women and children have to go. We have to build the car road,
and we also have to plant and harvest rice for them. We have to go from
two
to six times each month. Sometimes we have to sleep there for 3 to 5
days
each time. We have to bring our own rice, fishpaste and salt. They
don't
give us any food. We can only rest when we are eating rice, and we must
eat
rice by turns - while some people are eating, the others must work. We
must
work early in the morning until half past one in the afternoon, then we
can
take a rest for one hour. We start again from half past two until 5
o'clock in
the evening. We have to sleep in their camp - under the trees, or in a
hut if
there are any huts in the camp.
They didn't hurt me, but they shouted at me and hurried me because they
wanted me to finish their work quickly. They hurt some people who fail
to
work. When people's children or anyone in their house is not well, they
have
to take care of that so they can't go to work for SLORC that day. Then
the
next day the SLORC usually hurts them and says it's because those people
have shown disrespect for the SLORC. They beat them and punish them.
On April 13th 1997 my cousin was hurt by the SLORC because for only one
day he'd missed going for labour building the houses for SLORC
[soldiers']
families. The SLORC hit him with a gun on his head, above his right ear,
and his head was broken. So then the SLORC sent him to the hospital, but
they didn't give any food to feed him in the hospital, and they didn't
even pay
the cost of the medicine. They only paid the hospital for the first day.
Now
my cousin still isn't healed yet. He said he'll come here once he heals.
His
farm and his big house were already taken by the SLORC because his fields
are near the SLORC camp. They took all of it. At first my cousin was
going
to sell his house, but the SLORC wouldn't allow him to sell it and they
took it
for themselves. Then SLORC ordered him and his family to go and live in
XXXX village.
Last year each village had to give them about 5 baskets of paddy for
seed,
and they said this year they will take more. Then we had to go and plant
the
seed for them and do all the work on their farm. They didn't pay us
anything. Not only that, but those fields are not even theirs. They
just took
the villagers' fields. If your farm is close to their camp, they just
take it
for themselves.
It took me 2 days to come here by car. I had to ride the car from Kru Tu
[Kyone Doh] to Myawaddy for one night for 1,500 Kyats, then I came here
by car for 50 Baht. I just came with a car that was bringing goods to
sell.
The SLORC didn't know. If they knew, they would never let us come. I
will
go back sometime, but not this year. Maybe in two or three years. I
think
I'll go to Bangkok to find work, or if I can't maybe I can find work here
in
a farm just to survive from day to day.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#8.
NAME: "Saw Wah" SEX: M AGE: 25 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Single, lives with his mother
ADDRESS: Dta Oo Kee village, Bilin township INTERVIEWED: 26/4/97
["Saw Wah" fled his village in Bilin Township of Thaton District (about
60
km. west of Bee T'Ka area), arrived in Bee T'Ka and immediately had to
continue fleeing and become a refugee just before this interview was
conducted.]
Q: Did the SLORC make trouble in your village?
A: Yes, they made trouble in the village - they wanted the villagers to
work
for them every day and people had no time left to do their own work. We
had to build their camp and carry their food. Every 15 days the
villagers had
to carry the soldiers' rations over the mountains to the Bilin River.
All the
men have to be porters for them here and there, and the women whose
babies aren't breastfeeding anymore also have to carry their rations.
Our village has about 200 houses. Usually about 100 people have to go
work
for them from 3 nearby villages combined: Nyaw Oo Kee, Baw Kee and
Daik Kee villages. At Daik Kee and Yo Klah people also have to build the
road. Between those two villages we also had to stand sentry watching
the
road. It's the road they use to transport their rations in 1st Brigade
[Thaton
District] area.
Q: Did DKBA ever come to your village?
A: Yes, they've been there, they've killed at least 2 young men from
our
village this year. One villager was killed when the rains started
[mid-1996]
and last January another villager was killed. Their names were Pa Taw Oo
and Maung Myat Bu, they were both shot dead by Ko Per Baw. Pa Taw Oo
was 25 and Maung Myat Bu was 27. They were both single. They were
killed because they ran away, Ko Per Baw saw people running so they
opened fire. If DKBA come we have to run away. The villagers don't love
Ko Per Baw. None of the villagers ever join Ko Per Baw, they only join
KNU.
Our village was destroyed because of Ko Per Baw and the Burmese. They
set up their camp there. The villagers had to face difficulties, because
they
set up their camp in the middle of the village and then they told the
villagers
to go stay outside the village and build their houses there. Some of the
villagers ran away, to take shelter in the villages of their relatives.
Our
village is one day's walk east of Bilin. Some want to come here [to the
refugee camp], but it's not easy because of Ko Per Baw and SLORC. We had
to
fear them on our way here. We saw them, and when they asked us where we
were going we said we were going to visit relatives and find work.
Now there are more and more SLORC in our area. They say they send more
to look for their enemies, but it is only the villagers who suffer. Now
they
have 3 Battalions, and there is still some fighting. I don't dare go
back.
Back there I couldn't even dare make my farm anymore. About 10
households
from my village are already here. Other villagers want to come out here
if
they can. Most of them are living outside the village now, and they all
have
problems getting enough food.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#9.
NAME: "Pa Boh" SEX: M AGE: 35 Karen farmer
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED:
15/7/97
[When interviewed "Pa Boh" still had terrible scars on his neck and legs
created by knives and ropes.]
Q: Where did the SLORC arrest you and when?
A: They arrested me on 24 June '97 in front of L---, on the hill. I
stumbled upon them, and they at once started to beat me, stomp on me and
kick
me, stomp, kick, stomp, until I was unconscious. They didn't ask me
anything,
just saw me and starting beating, kicking and stomping. After that they
tied
me to the wooden post of a house and they sawed back and forth across my
neck with a knife, front and back - like this. Until my tongue was
hanging
way down out of my mouth. They kept me tied and then they scraped my
shins up and down with pieces of firewood, but I dared not make any move,
I
just had to stay still like that. They tied my hands behind me like this.
They asked me for guns and walkie-talkies, and I said I never see walkie-
talkies because I'm a civilian. They said "You're not a civilian, you're
Kaw
Thoo Lei". Then they hacked me with a knife and my blood came out. They
covered my head with a plastic sheet 2 or 3 times until I nearly died. I
tried
to stand up and just fell down again. They beat me in my side with a
gun, an
AK [AK47], until I was unconscious. Their captain beat me with a rattan
as
thick as my toe. They kept me tied with two nylon ropes. They tied my
hands, my legs and my neck.
I don't know their Battalion number. They stay at B--- and they came to
L---
. When they arrested me they took some of my clothes, my tehku [man's
sarong], torchlight, pot, my watch, my sandals, and my money - 13,500
Kyats. It was the soldiers who took it, but when they searched me their
Captain was right there. I didn't see them arrest anyone else, but when
they'd tied me up and were pulling me along behind them I saw a person
who'd
been shot. I saw him running and the Ko Per Baw shot him, not the
Burmese. The Burmese came along after. He was not dead, but his foot
was smashed. I looked at him and he looked at me. I had never seen him
before.
Q: When you were with the Burmese did you see them give any problems to
villagers?
A: They ate a lot of the villagers' chickens, and they ate a whole group
of
goats and only left two of them. That was in Thay Mu Pa village. They
saw
the goats on the hillside, captured them and ate them. The Captain saw
it but
he didn't say anything to them. They also took 6 buffalos and 5 cattle.
Q: How did you escape?
A: At about 10 o'clock [p.m.] on June 28th one of the soldiers was
guarding
me, and when he went to the Captain I tried to untie my hands and free
myself. Then I ran a little distance away from the house and he came to
search for me with a torchlight - he nearly reached me, the light of his
torch
was on me. I went and hid under the small bushes. I could hear them
making a lot of noise, but I couldn't make out what they were talking
about.
Then I escaped.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#10.
NAME: "Pi Heh Ku" SEX: F AGE: 50+ Karen Animist
farmer
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED:
15/7/97
["Pi Heh Ku"'s son was shot dead on 26 June 1997.]
Q: What happened to your son Pa K---?
A: He is dead. Ko Per Baw shot him. He was with 7 people in a
[farmfield] hut, and he jumped down and ran because he was afraid of the
Burmese. Two of them were [shot and] wounded, him and P---. People
said my son was hit in the head, the back and in his hand. After he was
shot,
nobody went to cover him up.
I thought about him and felt hopeless, I didn't even go and look at him.
My
youngest child went to look at him and came back to eat with me. He was
dead about 2 days and one night, then people went to bury him [they
didn't
dare before that because SLORC troops were still in the area]. We just
had
a small ceremony. The next morning after that I came to stay at my
[farmfield] hut and slept here 3 days. His name was Pa K---. He was 20.
Now no one can help me. If I look at the front of our house I don't see
his
blanket hanging on the wall, if I look at the wooden housepost I don't
see his
bag hanging there. [She was crying at this point.] Now I am old and no
one can help me to work. When my son was growing he helped me a lot,
and now they have shot him just because he was afraid and ran. People
said
the soldiers were Ko Per Baw. The Burmese came together with them, but
the Burmese said they didn't shoot him. The Ko Per Baw are very cruel to
us, their hearts are not good. They put on the yellow cloth and come to
kill
people. Who the hell are they?
The Burmese came together with the Ko Per Baw. Then when they came
back [to the village after the shooting] they said nothing to me. We
were
afraid so we couldn't say anything [about her son]. They came and stayed
all around people's houses and inside people's houses. They arrived at
my
house, and they told me to cook rice for them.
Q: Did they take your things?
A: I kept betelnut in the kitchen and they took it all. They looked
around
everywhere in the kitchen and took everything. The Burmese took it, only
the Burmese dared come to our houses. The Ko Per Baw stayed at the
monastery and in the lower half of the village. My daughter said that at
the
hut [where the shooting happened] they took one pair of slippers and one
hoe. From my son's bag they took 100 or 200 Kyats, then they took the
bag,
his blanket, his watch and his machete. Nothing was left. Now we don't
even have one good machete left, how can we cut anything?
Q: Don't you need your son?
A: Yes I need him, I looked after him when he was little and now he was
old
enough to look after us. I hoped he would take care of me when I become
old. The Burmese have done this, now who will look after me? His
brothers and sisters who are left can feed me, but he was old enough to
walk
and work for me, to cook and to search for vegetables. He cooked and we
ate, he searched for food and we ate it. But now when we come home we
don't see him anymore. Hai! We just have to survive like this. What
can I
tell you? His brothers and sisters will have to look after me. The dead
are
gone, how can he look after me?
Q: How old are you now?
A: Many years. The mountain people never count our ages, we look at our
children and know. Now my youngest child is over 10 years old. I
thought
too much about my son, when I went to the fields I thought about him,
when
I asked him to work for me I saw him work here and work there, but now I
don't see him anymore. I became old and needed him to help me, now
they've come and shot him dead and they've gone. Some day the people who
killed him will have to survive like me.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#11.
NAME: "Saw Lah Ku" SEX: M AGE: ? Karen Animist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 3 children aged 3-6
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED: 15/7/97
["Saw Lah Ku" was in the same field where Pa K--- and P--- were shot.]
Q: When the Burmese shot at Pa K--- where were you?
A: It was 5 days ago, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I was in the lower
field.
I heard the Burmese call to me "Don't run, if you run we will shoot!" I
didn't
see Pa K--- get shot, I ran back here. One of their porters told me
later.
When he was shot Pa K--- was higher up, at the hut.
Q: Why did they shoot him? Did he have a gun or wear a soldier's uniform?
A: No, nobody had guns or was wearing uniforms - we were all only
civilians. The soldiers just saw people running and shot them. They
knew
for sure that they were villagers, they shouted "Don't run!", but the
villagers
were afraid of them and ran and they shot at them. Three of them were
running through the field, and two of them were hit. Pa K--- was hit in
the
middle of his back. He was hit twice. My younger brother P--- was also
wounded. The people who didn't run saw their friends get shot, so they
ran
too and then they were also shot at by the soldiers. The Burmese say if
we
run they will shoot - so they did shoot. One villager dead, one wounded.
The soldiers who shot them were Ko Per Baw, their leaders are M---, T---,
and P---. Afterwards they went to the monastery and told the monk about
it,
and the monk's helper saw one of them putting bullets in his carbine
rifle.
He'd shot about 20 bullets.
After the shooting the soldiers came into the village. They said nothing,
they just said, "Don't run". The Burmese and Ko Per Baw were all very
angry,
they shouted at me no matter what I did, so I was afraid of them. The
Burmese are from #XX Division. When they came in the village they ate
our
chickens and pigs - 2 pigs, and more than 40 chickens. They ate all the
chickens in our village. People say the Ko Per Baw don't eat the hearts
of
animals, but I saw them get one chicken, throw it dead by the housepost
and
then put it in their bag. They don't even look you in the face, all their
faces are dark. Ah-ah, they take a lot of our animals. I don't dare
look at
Ko Per Baw. They took all the belongings of my brother who was shot, all
his
clothes and sarongs, and they take all the pots and spoons that they see
in
people's houses.
Q: Did you ask the Burmese for medicine for the wounded villagers?
A: First we asked a Burmese soldier, "Haven't you got a doctor?" He
said
"Yes, we have" and then he went to ask his officer, but the officer said
the
doctor was not here, he was in the village. So I went back to the
village and
asked the officer there, and he said to me that the doctor was with the
Ko Per
Baw. Then I went to the Ko Per Baw and asked T---, "Where's the doctor?"
He was very cruel and said to me that the doctor was with the Burmese. I
just
went around and around asking them like that. They had a doctor, but
they
wouldn't even look at my face, so what could I do? The man who died, we
kept him for one day and on the second day we buried him.
Q: Do the Burmese and Ko Per Baw ask for fees in your village?
A: Yes, they both ask for fees. Every month Ko Per Baw ask for 20,000
Kyats and the Burmese ask for 20,000 Kyats, altogether 40,000 Kyats.
That is
for our village tract - it has 5 villages, over 70 households altogether.
We
have to give all of it, so the villagers have no money and we can't do
anything
anymore. We're just forced to give it to them, we try to give it the
best way
we can, and we have to bear it. The village elders just try to do the
best for
their village.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#12.
NAME: P--- SEX: M AGE: 28 Karen Buddhist
farmer
FAMILY: Married, 1 child aged 6 months
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED: 15/7/97
[P--- was with Pa K--- and was wounded in the shooting.]
Q: When did they shoot you?
A: In June - in the afternoon, on a Thursday. They were just out
patrolling.
Q: Why did they shoot you? Were you wearing a uniform or something?
A: I was just wearing this white shirt, just villagers' clothing. I was
in
the hut. They called out but I didn't hear them. I ran, and they shot
me.
I only went a short distance and then I was wounded. They shot at me
about
10 times and I was wounded on my leg. They were shooting as though they
were in battle. They shot a big gun [mortar or grenade] 2 times and
small
guns like M-16 and AK [automatic assault rifles]. They fired one big
Chinese shell and it landed between my friend and I - if it had exploded
we
would all have been killed. Then they came and looked down at me, and
they asked me, "Do you dare to die?" My leg was bleeding a lot. I
answered, "Yes I dare. Shoot me and kill me." But their commander said
"Never mind, go to the hospital and you'll be alright." It was Ko Per
Baw
who shot me, and there were also Burmese soldiers. The leader was Bo M---
, he is a company commander. The soldier who shot me is called H---; I
recognised him because I was his porter last year. He knew exactly who
we
were when he shot at us. He came and looked at me and said, "I was going
to shoot you dead. I told you not to run and you ran. But now you know
better." Then they left me there. They gave me no medicine, nothing.
My
relatives came and took me home. A village elder went to ask them for a
doctor, but the Burmese said the doctor was with Ko Per Baw, then the Ko
Per Baw said the doctor was with the Burmese, so he couldn't do anything.
Three of us ran together, one died, one escaped and I was wounded. K---
was killed. No one dared go and get him. He was left there for about 2
days
until the SLORC soldiers all went away, then people went and buried him.
They also ate everyone's animals and took all my belongings. There are
just
two people in my house, me and my wife, so when I was wounded my wife
came to take care of me, and when there was no one there they took
everything from my house. They went and took everything in the village.
They took more than 5 tins of Pa K---'s aunt's rice. They took plates,
pots,
clothing, chickens - these clothes I'm wearing now are the same ones I
was
wearing when I was wounded, they are all I have.
I tried to treat my leg with spirit oil and the Karen soldiers gave me
one
injection. Now I can't move my leg - it feels like the muscle just
doesn't
work anymore. I can't work anymore, and no one is taking care of my farm.
If they can shoot you they will, and even if they can't they will still
try.
We always paid them their money but they still came and shot at us. Every
house had to give them 700 Kyats and 1 tin of rice this month. Every
month it
is not less than 500 Kyats per house, but usually 700. There are over 10
houses in the village, and we have to give them over 7,000 Kyats. If
they ask
more than that, we have to give that too.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#13.
NAME: "Saw Htoo Say" SEX: M AGE: 32 Karen Buddhist
farmer
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED: 7/97
["Saw Htoo Say" was doing forced labour as a guide for SLORC when they
shot Pa K---.]
When the Burmese came to my house they called me down to the ground,
then they went into my house and took one necklace, one knife, 600 Kyats
and some clothing. When they came out of the house they took one tin of
my rice, then they called me and said to me "We need you". They pointed
to
the hills and told me to go with them and show them that place, so I went
with them. The first morning they made me take them to T---, and on the
way they shot at people. One man died and one was wounded. They were 2
villagers, K--- and P---. The soldiers saw nothing strange, they just
saw a
group of people from a distance so they surrounded the hut and called
"Don't
run", and then the villagers jumped up to run and they shot at them. The
villagers were just wearing clothes like you and I, they were just
civilians.
The soldiers wouldn't let me go and see, they kept me below the stream,
pushed me down and said "Sit down here". This Army group is bad. While
we were walking along the way, they said they would shoot any people they
met along the path. If they can't capture someone, they shoot at them.
They arrested me 6 days ago and released me 3 days ago. The Burmese
were from #XX Battalion [sic: Division]. There were also about 30 Ko Per
Baw with them. The Ko Per Baw officer was P---. There were also porters
with them. Later we all came back to my village, and then they arrested
one
man at his hut. His name was K---.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
#14.
NAME: "Pi Say Say Mo" SEX: F AGE: 50+ Karen Animist
farmer
FAMILY: Married, 9 children aged 6-20 but 2 of them already died
ADDRESS: xxxx village, Dta Greh township INTERVIEWED: 7/97
["Pi Say Say Mo" had her house and her entire village looted in early
July
by a SLORC patrol.]
Q: When did the Burmese come to the village?
A: I don't know exactly, but they slept 2 days in the village. They ate
5 of
my chickens. I had cooked some wine for a wedding, and they drank 2
bottles of it and took my 4 bottles of honey.
Q: Were they Burmese or Ko Per Baw?
A: They were Burmese who ate my things. I said to them, "Don't eat my
things". I kept the honey in my kitchen and covered it with a big
blanket. I
put my necklace in the kitchen - I buried it under the ashes of the fire
and I
put pots on top of it, but I was afraid they would see it because they
came
and cooked in my kitchen. They searched through everything in my house
all
day long, but they wouldn't listen to me. I said to stop searching and
then he
said to me, "I am going to grab you by the neck", and I wanted to burn
him
with the wood in the fire. My baby was afraid and cried out very loud.
He
took and ate the honey and chickens and I said "You must be very poor to
rob me like this." They took my husband's hunting rifle [an old
barrel-loaded
flintlock]. They took a tin with 30 eggs in it, and and one tin of rice.
There were many soldiers everywhere, and their officer was staying up
above. I was afraid but I couldn't think what to do, I couldn't talk
anymore.
They came and caught the goats under my house, then they cooked rice
under my house. I needed to go to the toilet but I couldn't because
there
were many soldiers, and then I had to relieve myself inside my house. I
said
to them, "You've eaten everything we had!", and then they frightened me
with their guns to get more food. They took and ate 24 milktins of
sticky-
rice. I couldn't leave my house or they would have taken absolutely
everything. They searched the bag where I keep my sarongs, my clothes
and
my children's clothes, they took everything out again and again and
spread it
all over the place. I don't know which Army group this was. People said
they come from Day Law Pya. People said, "Don't run - if we run the
Burmese will shoot us dead."
___________________________________________________________________________
__
- [END OF PART 3 - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTING FOR PART 4] -