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KHRG: SPDC Orders Set 99-A, Part 5/
- Subject: KHRG: SPDC Orders Set 99-A, Part 5/
- From: win2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 12:13:00
Subject: KHRG: SPDC Orders Set 99-A, Part 5/5
SPDC ORDERS TO VILLAGES: SET 99-A
Pa'an, Toungoo, Dooplaya and Papun Districts
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
February 10, 1999 / KHRG #99-01
*** PART 5 OF 5; SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***
[Only part of the report is reproduced here for circulation on Burmanet.
For a more complete copy of the report, see the KHRG website at
http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/
Some details have been omitted or replaced by 'xxxx' for Internet
distribution.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Extortion of Food and Materials
Order #T57
Stamp:
Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion
To: Chairperson
xxxx village
Subject: To collect vegetables
Regarding the above subject, you are informed to send gourds, beans and
other vegetables from the hill-side fields to xxxx on (21-9-98).
(1) Pumpkins 15 pieces
(2) Gourds 20 pieces
(3) Cucumbers 20 pieces
(4) Other vegetables 1 basket
(beans, gourd sprouts, pumpkin sprouts)
[Sd. /Lt.]
Intelligence Officer
xxxx, Lt. xxxx
Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion
[This is an order for food to be sent to the local Army camp.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #T58
To: xxxx (Chairperson)
xxxx village Date: 1-8-98
Dear Chairperson, I am xxxx, the Intelligence Officer from #xxx IB. I want
(15) durians today, so send them with this messenger who comes from
xxxx village. I will come there later because I have no time right now.
Help appropriately.
Thankfully,
[Sd.]
Captain xxxx
[Durian is a large seasonal fruit, usually weighing 1-2 kilograms each,
which is highly valued throughout Southeast Asia.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #T60*
To: Chairperson / Secretary Stamp:
xxxx [village] Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract
Peace and Development Council
Than Daung Township
Date: 22-5-98
Subject: To cut and stack Wabo bamboo for Baw Ga Li Gyi Base
In accordance with the instructions of the Company Commander of #48 IB
at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (22-5-98) in the morning, you are informed to
cut (xx) 6-taun-long Wabo bamboo and stack them at the side of the car
road. They will be picked up by truck on (23-5-98) in the evening, so you
must finish cutting and stacking the bamboo on (23-5-98) in the morning.
Total (xx) pieces - length 6 taun [9 feet]
[Sd.]
(for) Chairperson
Village Tract Peace and Development Council
Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township
[Wabo is a particularly large and thick variety of bamboo, 6 inches or
more in diameter and 15, 20 or more feet long.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #T61
Stamp:
#xxx Light Infantry Battalion 27/4/98
Company #2
To: Chairperson
xxxx village
Dear Chairperson,
We've just arrived at xxxx village. We are out of food since we have come
from the deep jungle. Therefore, we want you to help our group with
something to eat such as chicken, etc. We are at the house of the
Chairperson of xxxx village.
That's all.
Thanks.
Yours,
[Sd. / 27/4/98]
Temporarily at xxxx village
At the house of the Chairperson
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order to Take Part in an Army Volleyball Tournament
Order #T64*
To: Chairperson / Secretary Stamp:
xxxx village Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract
Peace and Development Council
Than Daung Township
Date: 24-7-98
Subject: To take part in the Advance #30 Battalion Commander's Cup
Volleyball Tournament
Reference: Ref. No. -Ya Ta-30/Ah 1 Ba 1/Oo 1 of Advance #30 Infantry
Battalion from Baw Ga Li Gyi dated 24-7-98
1. According to the above reference, to hold the volleyball tournament for
the Battalion Commander's Cup of Advance #30 Infantry Battalion, let us
know if your village can/cannot form a volleyball team. You must
organise your villagers to form a volleyball team to take part in the
tournament.
2. To start the tournament, volleyball teams from all villages must be
formed, so you, Chairperson / Secretary yourself, must come and report on
progress to Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract Peace and Development Council
on (27-7-98).
3. You will be informed in advance of the starting date of the tournament.
[Sd.]
Chairperson
Village Tract Peace and Development Council
Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township
[This type of tournament is a common occurrence when SPDC officers
want to be entertained. Usually all villages are forced to form teams, and
if they cannot they must pay heavy fines as penalties. Then the villages
with teams are forced to pay heavy 'entry fees', so the SPDC officers make
money either way.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Summons to 'Meetings'
Order #T67
Stamp:
To: Chairperson / Secretary Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract
xxxx village Peace and Development Council
Than Daung Township Date: 8-5-98
Subject: To attend the meeting about clearing the road
Regarding the above subject, the Battalion Commander of #48 IB at Baw
Ga Li Gyi Base will hold a meeting with all village authorities of the
villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract to discuss the clearance of the
Toungoo - Mawchi car road, so you are informed that you, Chairperson /
Secretary, yourselves must come and report to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base
without fail (without fail) as soon as you receive this letter.
If you fail, it will be entirely your village's responsibility.
[Sd.]
(for) Chairperson
Village Tract Peace and Development Council
Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, Than Daung Township
[This will be a meeting to assign forced labour for clearance of the road
route for the new Toungoo - Mawchi motor road, which was begun in
early 1998 and is not yet complete. Copies of this typewritten order were
sent to several villages.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Dooplaya District
Just south of Pa'an district is Dooplaya district, extending to the
southern
tip of Karen State with extensive fertile plains in the west and mountains
in the east. Much of this region was controlled by the Karen National
Union (KNU) until the SLORC mounted a major military offensive and
overran most of it in early 1997. The KNLA continues to conduct
guerrilla activities there, and the SPDC is systematically working to
consolidate total control over the region. To do this they conduct
sporadic
forced relocations in areas of central and far southern Dooplaya whenever
KNLA activity becomes frequent. Threatening orders against having any
contact with the KNU (see Order #D1 below) have been issued to village
elders in the area. The SPDC also imposes heavy restrictions on the Karen
rice farmers who populate the region; those who live in farmfield huts or
houses far from their villages have been forced to move into the centre of
their villages, and no one is allowed to be outside of villages without an
SPDC pass. In most places these passes only allow villagers to leave the
village in the morning and return by sunset, making it extremely difficult
for people whose fields are one or two hours' walk from the village. Even
with a pass to be in the fields, farmers spotted by passing SPDC patrols
are
frequently taken as porters.
Villages in Dooplaya also face a steady stream of demands for forced
labourers at Army camps, porters on a permanently rotating basis, bullock
carts and teams, rice, other foods, dry goods, and building materials.
Extortion money in the form of "servants' fees" is also levied on all
villages under SPDC control in the region, and more formal rice quotas
have begun to be levied against rice farmers. These quotas must be paid in
addition to the ad hoc demands for rice constantly coming from local
Army units.
For more information on the situation in Dooplaya District, see "Dooplaya
Under the SPDC: Further Developments in the SPDC Occupation of
South-Central Karen State" (KHRG #98-09, 23/11/98).
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Threats to Those Supporting the Opposition
Order #D1*
[This is a typewritten form letter with details written into the blanks.
Items shown in bold face italics are those which have been written in.]
Stamp:
#xx Military Strategic Command (Base)
Subject: To sign that you understand and promise
At Kya In Seik Gyi township, xxxx village Chairperson /
Secretary
/ Member xxxx , age ( xx ) years, (Father's name, xxxx
), on
October xx, 1998 at 1200 hours, confirms that he fully understands the
following facts told him by the Operations Commander, the TPDC
Secretary, the person-in-charge of the Immigration Dept., the MI Unit
Commander and the Commanders of the Battalions / Units, promises that
he will accept any action taken against him according to the law, and
agrees to relocate the villages.
(1) Do not support any insurgent; do not give any information about
the military to the insurgents; do not provide the insurgents with
food or protection money.
(2) Do not allow any insurgent to take destructive action against the
military or any government department.
(3) Do not encourage or accept any deserter; do not contact the
insurgents for them.
(4) Do not distribute any propaganda papers or cassette tapes
produced by the insurgents.
(5) Do not sell liquor to the soldiers; do not encourage the soldiers to
drink [alcohol].
(6) Immediately report to the military about the insurgents as soon as
they arrive at the village.
(7) If I support the insurgents, encourage the soldiers to drink alcohol
or contact the insurgents to hand over any soldiers [deserters], I
will bear the punishment of God and accept any action taken
against me according to the law.
[Village elder's thumbprint]
Place: Kya In Seik Gyi town (Signature): xxxx
Date: xx-10-98 Name: xxxx
Village: xxxx
"Witnesses"
(Signature): [Sd.] (Signature): [Sd.]
Rank/Name: xxxx Rank/Name: xxxx
Post: xxxx Post: xxxx
Department: Township Police Station Department: Township Peace &
Development Council
Place: Kya In Seik Gyi town Place: Kya In Seik Gyi town
Date: xx/10/98 Date: xx/10/98
[In the first paragraph, 'TPDC' = Township Peace & Development
Council, and 'MI' = Military Intelligence. In Item 7, the word used for
'God' refers to the Christian God; this may be because many of the
villagers in the area are Christian. This document is a typewritten order
which it appears that the elders of several villages were forced to sign,
probably after being summoned to a meeting at the Township PDC in Kya
In Seik Gyi. Village elders are constantly ordered to do such things as
are
mentioned in this document; this signing ceremony is only to intimidate
them further. The references to Tatmadaw deserters are included because
more and more soldiers are deserting from the SPDC Army. When they do
so in areas like Kya In Seik Gyi township, they usually go to the elders of
a nearby village and ask to be taken to the opposition forces to surrender.
To prevent this, when soldiers desert SPDC commanders usually inflict
heavy punishments on all surrounding villages, often including the
arbitrary torture or execution of elders.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Forced Labour
Order #D2*
Stamp:
#xxx Light Infantry Battalion
Company #2
Chairperson
xxxx village
You are informed that the Chairperson or the Secretary must bring 8
servants to xxxx village on 27-10-98 / the 8th Waxing Day, at 12 o'clock
and also bring rice for 1 day for the servants. If you fail, it will be
entirely your responsibility.
[Sd. / Capt.]
Company Commander
Company #2
['Servants' are forced labourers, usually referring to porters or Army
Camp labour if not specified otherwise. 'The 8th Waxing Day' refers to the
equivalent lunar day on the Burmese calendar.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D3
To: Chairperson Stamp:
xxxx village Advance #xxx Light Infantry Battalion
Column #1 Date: 17-10-98
You are informed that you, Chairperson, must immediately come along
with the Secretary of xxxx [village] who brings this letter; the Secretary
of
your village must follow you after gathering four servants, and you,
Chairperson and Secretary, are entirely responsible if you fail to bring
the
servants.
[Sd.]
(for) Column Commander
Advance #xxx Light Infantry Battalion
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D4*
Stamp:
Frontline Light Infantry Battalion #xxx
Column 2 Headquarters
To: Chairperson
xxxx village
Kya In Seik Gyi township Date: 18-7-98
Subject: Permanent rotation servants required
You the headperson are informed to send 5 permanent servants with their
own rice to arrive today for the use of Frontline #xxx Light Infantry
Battalion, Column 2, and prepare to rotate the servants every 5 days.
[Sd.]
Column Commander
Column 2
#xxx Light Infantry Battalion
[In SPDC written orders, porters are generally referred to as 'servants'
(wontan). 'Permanent servants' means that the specified number of
porters must be with the Column on a permanent basis, rotated with
replacements from the village every 5 days. ]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D5
Stamp: Date: 1-6-98
Frontline Light Infantry Battalion #xxx To: Chairman
Column 2 xxxx village
To build xxxx camp, you are informed to come with (26) voluntary
labourers with one bowl of rice each, to xxxx monastery on the 2nd at 8
o'clock without fail.
[Sd. / 1-6-98]
(for) Battalion Commander
Frontline #xxx Light Infantry Battalion
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D6
Stamp: Date: 1-6-98
Peace & Development Council
xxxx village (IMPORTANT - DO QUICKLY)
To: Village Head
xxxx + yyyy villages
Subject: The voluntary labour carts must arrive
Regarding the above subject, according to the order from the Township,
#xxx Military Operations Command Headquarters requires cart porters
urgently. Therefore, [send] 1 cart with 1 team of bullocks together with
enough rations from each of your villages to arrive at the Village Peace
and Development Council office together at 4 o'clock this evening without
fail, you are informed.
Note
Today, 1-6-98, Monday, at 4 o'clock in the evening they must arrive
together. If there is failure and those from the Army camp come to arrest
you, it will not be our responsibility. One village must give one bullock
cart. Do it by drawing lots.
[Sd.]
Chairman
Peace & Development Council
xxxx village, Kawkareik Township
[Each cart will have to be taken by its owner with a team of 2 bullocks,
and will likely be used to haul rations or other materials for the Army.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Extortion of Cash, Food and Materials
Order #D7*
Stamp:
#xxx Light Infantry Battalion Date: 22-10-98
Company #2
To: Chairperson/Secretary
VPDC
xxxx village
You must make 5 baskets to be used for the servants and send them within
the next three days. Come and bring some food on 22-10-98 in the
afternoon. We are out of food. Send a chicken, a package of London
cheroots, 30 kyats of cooking oil and a package of Ajinomoto for our
Captain, without fail. Send 3 pyi of rice too. Thanks.
[Sd. / 22/10/98]
[The baskets demanded are for use by porters doing forced labour
carrying supplies and/or ammunition; these porters are probably
demanded from the same village. 30 kyats of cooking oil would be
about 300-400 millilitres, and 3 pyi of rice is about 5-6 kilograms.
Ajinomoto is commonly used MSG seasoning powder.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D8
To: Chairperson Stamp:
xxxx village Advance #xxx Light Infantry Battalion
Column #1 Date: 19-10-98
You are informed that you, Chairperson, bringing 1 1/2 tins of rice with
you, must come and see the Column Commander at xxxx [village] as soon
as possible.
[Sd.]
(for) Column Commander
Advance #xxx Light Infantry Battalion
[1 1/2 tins of rice is about 25 kilograms / 55 pounds.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D9
Stamp:
Village Peace & Development Council
Date: 12-5-98
Ye Township, xxxx village
To: Chairman (xxxx village)
Subject: Requesting assistance with the servants' fees
Regarding the above subject, according to the agreement of the xxxx
village tract headmen and small village leaders, xxxx village is assessed
(two thousand) for servants' fees. Therefore, [you] are informed to come
and pay this money at xxxx village.
[Sd.]
Member (1)
["Servants' fees" are more commonly known by villagers as "porter fees".
They are not actually used for porters, it is simply a name used to extort
money for the military.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #D10
Stamp:
Infantry Battalion #xxx To: Chairman
xxxx village
Subject: Informing [you] to send logs
[You] are informed to send (30) logs, (6) inches in diameter and (8) feet
in
length, for repairs to the camp, to xxxx camp before 25-1-98. If [you]
fail
to send [them], it will be the gentleman's [i.e. your] responsibility
alone.
[Sd. / WO II]
Camp Commander
['WO II' means 'Warrant Officer 2'.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Crop Quotas and Money-Spinning Schemes
Order #D12*
Ministry of Commerce and Trade
Myanmar Agricultural Products Trading
Kya In Seik Gyi Town
Ref. No.: 04 / Paddy Purchasing Depot / 98
Date: 9-11-98
To: Chairperson
Quarter/Village Peace and Development Council
xxxx Quarter/Village, Kya In Seik Gyi Town
Subject: Notification about selling paddy
Regarding the above-mentioned subject, the Township Peace and
Development Council has decided that xx farmers from your
village/quarter must sell xx tins of paddy to the purchasing depot of
Myanmar Agricultural Products Trading.
However, as of 9-11-98 , only ~ farmers from your village/quarter
have sold ~ tins of paddy , so this is to notify [you] that the
remaining
~ farmers must sell ~ tins of paddy as soon as possible.
[Written in by hand:] Sell xx tins of paddy within November.
[Sd.]
In Charge
Paddy Purchasing Depot
Kya In Seik Gyi town
Copies to:
(1) Chairperson
Township Peace and Development Council
Kya In Seik Gyi town
(2) Township Manager
Myanmar Agricultural Products Trading
Kya In Seik Gyi town
(3) Office Copy
[This is a typewritten order with the village name and quantities
demanded and outstanding written in by hand. Rice farmers are all forced
to sell quotas of rice to the SPDC at only 10-20% of market price for use
in feeding the Army and exporting for SPDC profit. Villages are assessed
based on their family registration lists and lists of acreage which they
are
forced to submit to the military. Many villages like this one are
delinquent
in their quota payments because the farmers cannot pay and still survive,
particularly when they also have to constantly give rice, other food, and
money to Army units in combination with these quota demands. However,
village leaders and farmers who fail to comply face arrest and
confiscation of their land, so they usually end up paying, even when this
forces them to buy rice at the market to hand over to SPDC authorities.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Summons to 'Meetings'
Order #D15
Stamp:
#xxx Infantry Battalion Date: 20-11-98
Company #3
To: Chairperson (xxxx)
Subject: Invitation to attend a meeting
Regarding the above-mentioned subject, you are informed to come to the
Column Office at xxxx village on (22-11-98) at 10 o'clock to attend a
meeting without fail.
Note: If you fail, action will be taken against you.
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Papun District
The orders below come from northern Papun District, where close to 200
small villages in the hills have been shelled, burned and destroyed by
SPDC troops since early 1997. Unable to round up the villagers for forced
relocation because they always fled into the forests before troops could
arrive, the SPDC decided to simply wipe out the villages. An estimated
30,000 or more people are still living in hiding in the forested hills in
small groups of 2-5 families, trying to grow small crops and sometimes
being hunted out by SPDC troops to be shot on sight. As a result there are
few written orders issued to villagers in this area, though more are issued
in central and southern Papun District both by the SPDC and the DKBA.
____________________________________________________________________________
_
Order #PP2*
Stamp: Date: 31-10-98
D.K.B.A.
The Progressive Buddhist Ayin [sic] National Army
Subject - To make a fence for the Camp
Regarding the above-mentioned subject, you, the villagers, are respectfully
informed to come to help us in making the fence for the Camp on 1-11-98.
Lt. xxxx
Company #x
Ka Saw Wah Battalion
xxxx Camp
D.K.B.A.
[The 'Camp' is the local DKBA military camp. The DKBA members
themselves usually refer to themselves as 'DKBA' in English or its
equivalent in Karen, though this order is written in Burmese; 'Progressive
Buddhist Ayin National Army' is the direct translation of what the officer
has written on this order. Intending to write 'Kayin' (Burmese for
'Karen')
he has mistakenly written 'Ayin', which is meaningless in this context (it
is
an adverb meaning 'firstly'). In the stamp, 'D.K.B.A.' is written in
English
letters, and under the signature it is written in Burmese characters which
spell 'Dee Kay Bee Ay'.]
____________________________________________________________________________
_
- [END OF REPORT; SEE THE KHRG WEBSITE FOR A MORE COMPLETE VERSION] -