KHRG #95-23 Part 2/2 (45kB)

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=09  SLORC / DKBA ACTIVITIES IN KAWKAREIK TOWNSHIP

     An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
=09=09 July 10, 1995 / KHRG #95-23
=09  =20
=09[PART 2 OF 2 - SEE PREVIOUS POSTING FOR PART 1]

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=09=09=09=09   #5.
[The following woman is now a refugee in Thailand.]

NAME:    "Naw Muh Ghay"    SEX: F    AGE: 33       Karen Christian
ADDRESS: XXX village, Kawkareik Township      INTERVIEWED:  6/6/95

Now the Burmese are demanding porters.  One person per house must
go, and when we go we aren't allowed to come back.  I was staying
at my parents' place.  When the demand came for people to go,
I had to go from our house.  It was after the water festival [which
is in April; these events happened in early May, after two SLORC
soldiers deserted].  Everybody in XXX was called together
because the Burmese said that the villagers had erred.  Some people
in XXX and XXX told them that XXX villagers had
guided two of their soldiers [deserters] through the village,
but I didn't know anything about this.  Then the Burmese demanded
that one person from every house must go to their camp.  So one
person from every house went, because otherwise their house would
be burnt down.  [From subsequent details of her story, it appears
that only one part of the village was involved; XXX is a
very large, spread-out village, so this is expectable.]  When
we went there we saw one headwoman who was being punished severely
by the Burmese - they were pushing a bayonet against her temple.
 But they didn't put us together with her.

It was #XXX Battalion.  There was an NCO who beat me.  Other people
told me he had 3 stripes [Sergeant; others also claim he is with
Intelligence].  When he beat me I cried and became afraid, so
I started to shake.  He could speak Pwo and Sgaw Karen languages.
 He told us, "You must tell the truth!  You are families of Karen
soldiers!"  When they question us like this we answer with only
one word, "Yes", because if we answer otherwise or give different
answers, they'll ask many more questions and we'll have much more
trouble.  He asked, "Who guided the two men?", and we replied
"We don't know, we didn't see", and he said "You are liars!  What
you tell me isn't true!  You are Karen soldiers' families!"  Some
of the women replied "I have a family but my husband is not a
Karen soldier".  Neither is my husband, but I couldn't say this
because my husband doesn't stay near here, so if I said that and
they told me to call him and I couldn't, then they would say he
is a soldier and I might be killed.

I don't remember how many times they beat me, but until I was
blue in many places.  They used a heavy length of bamboo [she
named "wa klu", the thickest variety there is], and both ends
of it were sharpened.  For me they used just one section [probably
about 2 feet long], but longer pieces for some people.  I said
"Please, we are not Karen soldiers' families, if we were we would
never have come here, we are all just regular villagers".  Then
a new soldier came who could also speak Karen and he said to us
"People have told us things already, you don't need to lie to
us.  We already know who guided the two soldiers and where they
went and we know their village."  [a basic SLORC interrogation
tactic, get people to talk by telling them you already know anyway.]
 Before they asked more questions they beat us first and I cried,
and then because they beat us we went along with whatever he said,
agreeing with everything and saying "We know the people who guided
them, they went to XXX, and the Karen soldiers are staying
there and if you go there they'll attack you".  They believed
that, but even so we didn't get any food and then they made us
=0C
sit out in the sun.  Then they told us that we were going to be
taken back to our village because they had no food to give us
there.  Before we left, one person was taken aside and again beaten
severely by the soldiers, and they tied the men together in pairs.
 Then they marched us to YYY, only a few minutes away,
and in that place we saw a pit which had written above it 'Anybody
who makes a mistake will be put in here', and then we were very
afraid.  Then we saw some soldiers boiling water in a very big
pot, and they showed it to us and threatened us that any person
who made a mistake would be put in the pot with the water!  Oh -
boiling water!!  Then we were very afraid and we prayed for
ourselves, all depending on our different religions, and we cried.
 The soldiers said "Anybody would die" and we agreed and said
together that surely nobody could hope to live through that.=20
We didn't see any other villagers in that place, only soldiers.

In the afternoon we set out for XXX [her home village].  We had to carry th=
e
soldiers' rucksacks but we hadn't eaten any food, so we were very
tired because they were very heavy.  All the way from this place
near YYY the soldiers ordered us to run, always run, not walk,
until we reached XXX [her home village], and running it took about 2 hours.
 I saw one woman who had a mouth ulcer, and after we started our
journey it broke and fluid was running out of her mouth and she
was crying.  They called to us and we had to hurry as much as
possible, even if there were many bushes and obstacles, even if
we didn't have slippers on our feet.  Really, this wasn't a pleasant
scene for us, because all we could see was people getting beaten,
and we felt terrible inside.  The headwoman [who had been badly
tortured] couldn't walk, and two people at a time took turns carrying
her.  We'd had no food, and we'd all been beaten.  We took one
rest at YYY, and we thought we would die!  We reached
K---, and when a soldier asked me "What village is this?"
I replied "XXX" [her home village], because I was so tired.  But they order=
ed
us to continue past it.  I was so tired, and I decided "No, I
don't want to go.  If I die now, that's alright."  The pack was
so heavy, and we couldn't put the packs down or take a rest even
for a few minutes.  Then when we reached the outskirts of XXX
they wouldn't let us drink any water even though we were
very thirsty, and even then we had to keep running because there
are Karen soldiers around XXX, and we told the Burmese "Don't
go!  If you go they will shoot at you, and if you make us walk
before you then we will die!"  Then nobody went into the centre
of the village - instead they called us together again.  We saw
only women and children from the village there, but the soldiers
called for everyone to join together with us, whether women or
children [possibly as a human shield], and the people begged them
"Don't shoot, we are only villagers", and they didn't shoot.=20
Then we came to where there was a wedding in the village that
day, where there was alot of pork and other foods, and suddenly
it was all full of Burmese soldiers!  Some food was given to us
too [by the hosts, not the soldiers], but because of the beatings
my sides were sore and I could hardly eat any.

After that we arrived at the monastery, and I found I couldn't
move easily because it was so painful.  They ordered us to stay
together at the monastery.  We all thought we would be allowed
to eat there, but they still did not let us eat.  Only at 10 p.m.
they let us eat, and then only because the abbot demanded that
the soldiers let us eat.  Even though we'd had a rest by then,
we could not eat rice easily.  We only took a very small amount
at a time.  We hadn't eaten for one day and one night.  And then
after eating the feeling was unpleasant, and they still did not
allow us to go anywhere - they said to us "You cannot go back
- if you try to go free you must die". For no reason! No trial
or anything! Then Thra T--- and Thra S--- came and we begged them,
"Please help us, or we will die now".  They told us "We know the
=0C
soldiers have beaten you and we have been trying to find out news
of your situation, so we have come to you and we know that the
soldiers can't kill you now."  They brought with them mothers
and fathers of people in our group, to encourage and strengthen
them.  We heard we were all still in trouble because the Burmese
had demanded 150,000 Kyat, and they begged the soldiers that this
was too much because we had already suffered very hard punishment
for this.  So because they had forced us to go where we didn't
want to go and beaten us, they then reduced the amount by 10,000,
to 140,000 Kyat.  Then all of the village leaders had to sign
to agree to pay this.  They demanded the money because their [two]
soldiers joined the Karen with two guns and ammunition.  After
the leaders signed we were all released and we could return to
our homes.  When we started to go the soldiers yelled at us "Go!
 Quickly!"  So we went quickly, and then after we got to our homes
we couldn't do anything, because of the pain.  I was still very
afraid, I couldn't think clearly and I couldn't sleep.

A man from Baw T'Raw Kaw was also called to go with us, together
with his wife and children.  He was beaten very much by the Burmese
soldiers.  They accused him of guiding the two soldiers, and they
were sure about him.  They wouldn't let his children take their
mother's milk so they cried alot, and the other women there tried
to get the children to take milk from them but they didn't want
to and they cried.  Their mother was there, but when she tried
to give them milk the Burmese soldiers beat her very badly and
her body became swollen.  Then they left her together with us.
 Her husband was also beaten very badly, and after we got back
to the village they burnt him with fire and did so many things
to him.  When I saw it I couldn't even think anymore.  I stayed
by myself and didn't talk to anybody.  In the end, he was dead.
 Dead for no reason.  His name was Boh Nee [named as either Pati
Po Mah or Manein Kyi Bah in the testimony of "Naw Thay Wah" -
Karen and Burmese often have more than one name].

Then [a few days later] the Ko Per Baw came, and people said "We'll
go and see them together", but I said "No, I don't want to go"
because I was afraid and I didn't dare.  Whenever people said
the Burmese were coming we all ran together, even without our
pillows.  Now we stay here [Thailand] we never want to go back
to our place and face all these problems and dangers.  My parents
are still there, because the Ko Per Baw are not as strict for
us [as SLORC], because their leader is Pa Nwee and he knew us
before.  The Ko Per Baw said "Don't be afraid, if you live in
unity with us you don't have to worry about giving things to the
Burmese", and they said "When the Burmese came and beat you we
were not here", but some people said "When they beat us you didn't
want to be here".  Anyway, after they stayed in the village the
situation got a little better, but there is still fighting between
Burmese and Karen soldiers.  [Her friend then described how during
the fighting some Karen soldiers had shot at the DKBA's Pa Tha
Da and his brother in the village, and how afterwards Pa Tha Da
blamed the villagers for this.]  Then Pa Tha Da and his brother
said "If nobody had been in the village houses, they could not
have shot at us" [meaning to imply that the villagers are supporting
the KNLA], and we said "We can't tell them not to shoot at you,
because they're your enemies.  So they came and shot at you, and
they'll do that wherever and whenever they see you."  This made
them angry again, and they said "We will kill you until none are
left!"

On our way here [to Thailand] we saw Nuh Po.  He was wearing a
Striped Headband [he is Pa Tha Da's brother, and is with either
Ko Per Baw or Ko Per Kit], and he asked us "Did you come from
XXX?  Have any Christians come with you?"  We said we'd come
from XXX but there were no Christians among us, and he said
=0C
"If any Christians come we will kill them all!"  At the time he
asked us we were sitting together with a monk under a tree, so
he assumed we were Buddhist!  [They laughed]  He said "If I go
to XXX I will do something terrible there!"  His brother
stays in XXX already, and they know the Christian leaders'
houses and families because they have stayed there and because
before they used to help the Karen soldiers.  So they know all
the secret weapons caches and can find everybody and everything.
 They know the Karen soldiers' families, so those families are
living in fear and without safety.  Many troubles!  At night they
move around outside the Karen soldiers' houses and threaten their
families, so the soldiers' families have trouble, and they can't
stay or sleep in their homes so they have to flee.  Also, the
Ko Per Baw has told the Burmese soldiers to take things from houses,
like rice, pigs or chickens, but they say "Only if it is the house
of your enemy [KNLA]".  Every day the Ko Per Baw take rice for
themselves from houses.  They found some bullock carts, ordered
the owners to give them and then went to take rice from Karen
soldiers' families.  One woman they did this to is Htun Kyi's
wife, whom I know.  I didn't even know Htun Kyi was a soldier,
but they already knew all about it.  So we were all afraid, we
couldn't stay and we came here.

The Burmese soldiers always leave villages before the Ko Per Baw
come and then come back again afterwards so that it will look
like they are not together, but I think they are doing things
together.  The Burmese soldiers go first, they are not polite
and they are the first to be shot at by the Karen soldiers.  The
Ko Per Baw always say "We will do good things and live in unity
and peace."  Yes, they say like that, but we don't know what might
happen.  I never went to their place because I was especially
afraid of their beatings.  As for the Burmese, whenever people
said they were coming I always ran away, because they beat us
very much before they even asked us anything.  Then when they
asked, we couldn't say anything because we were afraid and shaking
and we don't understand Burmese language very well.  One of the
men from the village was walking on the road with a bottle of
pig fat because he was coming back from his cousin's wedding,
and when he met Burmese soldiers they asked him "Did you see any
Karen soldiers?"  He said "No", but after they had passed him
the Karen soldiers attacked them.  He hadn't seen the Karen soldiers
waiting for the Burmese.  But then the Burmese accused him of
working for the Karen soldiers, and they killed him.  They beat
him to death.  Another one, dead for no reason.  His name was
Nyo Sein [mentioned as Saw Ket Doh in other testimonies - Karen
often have more than one name.  He was killed on May 3].

We came here bit by bit.  We saw people from Kyaw Ko going to
buy rice-milling machines, so we asked them to please tell any
other people along the way that we were also from Kyaw Ko.  Then
if we met soldiers we told them "We are from Kyaw Ko, going to
buy machines to mill rice at our farms.  Please let us go to get
things for our farms.  Please don't give us trouble."  We lied
like that to the Burmese soldiers all the way along our journey!
 We could not tell them we were coming here, or they would never
have let us come.  I came with my family, including my 4-month-old
child, and four other people.  [Her friend who came with her added:
 "We came here and we can't go back, because if we try to go back
we have no documents, and if we get back people will tell the
Burmese.  So we cannot go back, even though we really don't know
any Karen leaders."]
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=09=09=09=09   #6.
[The following man is now a refugee in Thailand.]

NAME:    "Saw Tee Ku"        SEX: M    AGE: 21    Karen Christian
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Township                       INTERVIEWED: 2/6/95

I was travelling to XXX along with my friend.  Starting on May 6 I
was staying in K---.  Five people, 3 middle-aged women and two
men, arrived from XXX village and I went to talk with them
to get news.  They said that Ko Per Baw were in their village,
and although Ko Per Baw had encouraged them to stay they had all
got passes from Ko Per Baw to go and visit their family at K---.
 The passes cost 10  Kyats each and bore a Ko Per Baw stamp.=20
In spite of this, when they met with SLORC soldiers from #22 Division
on the road leading out of their village, the soldiers beat them
with sticks on the legs, back and shoulders.  They had bruises.
 This SLORC unit is usually called "M'may thon kyeh" because they
always beat people they meet, even if they don't have any questions
to ask ["M'may thon kyeh, may thon kyeh" is a Burmese proverb,
meaning "Ask nothing, three blows; ask, three blows", usually
used to describe general conditions of life in Burma].

They described to me the current situation at XXX.  The Ko
Per Baw have ordered the people there not to drink alcohol and
to become vegetarians.  They told the villagers to surrender their
hunting rifles and fishing nets, and warned that if they searched
houses and found these things then people would be in trouble.
 They said KNU members must surrender their walkie-talkies, but
only four walkie-talkies were surrendered.  They also said the
villagers should always wear traditional Karen clothes, and although
this was not an order some Ko Per Baw told villagers that they
planned to punish people later who did not obey this.  Most of
these rules were made at the start, when the Ko Per Baw arrived
in XXX and made speeches to all the villagers.  They also
gave out pieces of paper detailing the rules.  The villagers especially
remembered what Bo Kyaw said in his speech.  He said that the
villagers must not try to run away, especially to Thailand, because
the DKBA is in control everywhere and to attempt to escape is
useless.  He said that their plan is very good, that they will
close up all the border areas and open big resettlement camps
for the refugees to return to.  He said they will arrest all KNLA
officers and demanded that the villagers point out their houses
and property.  Later some people had their possessions confiscated,
including ricefields, cattle and other livestock.  8 pairs of
cattle which were being kept under the church were taken, and
the DKBA sold them for 5,000 Kyats per head.

The villagers said that about 14 Ko Per Baw came to XXX,
and although there is a SLORC base nearby the SLORC soldiers just
hung around the edge of the village and kept a low profile.  Pa
Nwee is the Ko Per Baw commander, XXX is to be their headquarters,
and their unit is called No. 333.  Bo Kyaw's unit is to be based
at Kyaw Ko and is called No. 999.  XXXXXX [SENTENCE CENSORED].

On May 19th I stayed at XXX, and the next day the SLORC soldiers
came to the village.  I was in my uncle's house.  I didn't see
them because they entered the village from the other end, but
I saw people running so I jumped up and ran too.  As I ran out
of the village I saw the SLORC soldiers entering from the other
end.  I crossed the XXX River and climbed up to the top of
a hill on the other side.  At the top there were about 50 or 60
other young men like me.  We could see back to XXX.  We watched
while the SLORC soldiers waited for about an hour and then moved
off to YYY.  We stayed on the hill for about an hour until
a woman came with a message from the villagers that it was alright
to return.  When I got back the villagers said there were about
1,000 SLORC soldiers who came from Battalions 356 and 357 of Division
#44, and they took 45 people from the village as porters.  The
=0C
headman said to them, "If you want porters, tell me and I will
arrange it, but don't just grab people", but they didn't listen
to him.  All of the people taken were male, but some were old
and others very young.  I know of some 14 year old boys who were
carrying rice along the roadside when they were taken.   After
this, the headman had to spend all day arranging for food, alcohol
and other things to be taken to the soldiers at YYY, and he
spent all day going backwards and forwards between YYY and
XXX.

Because of these events I was afraid of the Burmese soldiers and
wanted to come back to Thailand, but the villagers advised me
to wait because there were many SLORC soldiers on the move so
it was not a good time for travel.  On the morning of May 29 the
headman received a written order from the SLORC at YYY to send
4 carts and oxen.  YYY has many small sawmills, and the SLORC
soldiers had demanded 2,000 Kyats per engine [small engines used
to drive the saws] from the owners.  Four machines had not been
paid, so the Burmese had confiscated them and now wanted the carts
to transport them for resale.
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=09=09=09=09    #7.
[The following man recently arrived in Thailand as a refugee.]

NAME:    "Saw Thaw Thi Wah"     SEX: M    AGE: 42     Karen Buddhist
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Township                           INTERVIEWED:  31/5/95

In April, about 140 soldiers of the DKBA, along with SLORC soldiers,
came to my village in Kawkareik Township.  We didn't see the SLORC
soldiers because they stayed outside the village, so I don't know
what unit they were from.  The DKBA ordered villagers to go and
gather people from the small clusters of houses throughout the
village and bring them together.  When we were all together they
made speeches.  I recall that there were 5 people on the platform:
Pa Nwee, Bwa Thay, a civilian and two monks, both of whom were
armed.  Pa Nwee talked about why the DKBA was started, because
the KNU oppressed Buddhists.  He said the KNU didn't allow Buddhists
to paint pagodas with lime or allow monasteries to use galvanized
metal roofing, and so on [note: the KNU never actually did these
things].  One of the monks also gave a speech in Karen language,
but the other said nothing.  The speeches encouraged us to join
the DKBA.  They said a married person in DKBA could get 1,000
Kyat per month, and single male or female soldiers could get 500
Kyat.  In order to join we would have to eat only vegetables and
we should move to Myaing Gyi Ngu, where they said they had plenty
of rice and we would be treated well.  They said that the village
would no longer have to send porters, do other labour or pay fees.
 But in reality this is not true, because not long after that
the SLORC soldiers demanded 200 porters.  Most of the single young
men in our village have gone to find work in Thailand and nobody
else wanted to go as porters, so the village head collected money
and paid to hire some 'professional' porters from Kyone Doh to
go in our place.  First each household gave 40 Kyat, but then
this was not enough so there had to be two more collections of
money.  Our village has about 300 households in it.

There have also been two other calls for labour we have had to
obey.  The first was twice in April and twice in May, when #230
Battalion called for 50 people to go and work at their camp, repairing
buildings and roads and gardening.  The duty lasts 5 to 7 days,
and in that time the people must stay in a place near the camp.
 For each person who cannot go, the village must pay 100 Kyats
per day to #230 Battalion.  The other thing is that every village
in Kawkareik Township must send 50 people to work on the reconstruction
of the Mya Pa Dine - Na Bu road.  I had to do my round of duty
there last month.  Many people from throughout the township were
=0C
staying there along the roadside, and we had to bring our own
food and supplies.

In their speeches, the DKBA never demanded that we help them,
but they did ask that we assist voluntarily to carry their things
to the next village, where we would be free to go.  But they did
have some permanent porters with them, people they had arrested
while trying to cross the border out of Burma without their authorization.
 The DKBA seemed to be well armed.  Out of 140 soldiers, 40 had
RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades - this was determined by drawing
and description of the weapon by the interviewee] with spare rounds
on their backs, and maybe 50 had M79's [also deduced from his
description and drawing].  Most of the soldiers were young, the
youngest being 13-14, but some were aged about 40.  Despite this,
they seemed disciplined.  They brought their food with them, including
beans and Burmese-brand condensed milk, chillies and vegetables
[Burmese Army rations other than the vegetables].  They cooked
their curries by themselves, and before going to sleep they meditated
in the villagers' houses [they billeted themselves in the houses
of the village - the meditation is probably ordered by their leaders,
as the DKBA rank and file are very uneducated].  I have heard
that around Pa'an the SLORC has now withdrawn the regional militias,
such as the People's Army militia [SLORC forms most militias by
conscripting villagers, arming them and then taking them along
to force them to fight the KNLA when extra bodies are needed],
and replaced them with the DKBA.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09      #8.
[The following woman is the wife of a KNLA officer and is now a
refugee in Thailand.]

NAME:    "Naw K'Paw Muh"   SEX: F    AGE: 35       Karen Christian
ADDRESS: XXX village, Kawkareik Township      INTERVIEWED:  3/6/95

On the evening of May 7 the Ko Per Baw entered the village, and
when I heard this I left during the night.  Later that night,
a villager came and told me that the Ko Per Baw were asking for
me and looking around the village for me and that I shouldn't
stay, so I changed places again.  Later they said the Ko Per Baw
had called a meeting and said that they wanted to find all Kaw
Thoo Lei [KNU] members and their families, and if they found them
they would kill them all.  So I was afraid to stay.

The Ko Per Baw went to the house of Saw Ku Taw Mo [a form of address
meaning "Saw Ku Taw's mother" - her actual name is Naw Mu Mu,
as noted in other testimony in this report], who is not a Kaw
Thoo Lei wife.  Pa Tha Da was their leader.  He accused her of
sharing her rice with Kaw Thoo Lei and letting them store things
in her house.  When they searched they didn't find anything, but
anyway they said to her "Your son works for Kaw Thoo Lei", they
told her she must go and bring him back and then they abused her
and said that for this reason they would take her possessions.
 Then they took all her rice supply and ripped the gold necklace
off her daughter.  They tied up her oldest daughter, Naw Kuh Po,
who has a baby, and they took her to the monastery but left her
baby at her house.  They kept her at the monastery for one night,
and then her mother and another woman went to talk to them.  They
said "She is just a villager, why do you keep her?", and the Ko
Per Baw said "You must find your son, otherwise we must kill another
member of your family instead."  After that I heard that the abbot
of the monastery spoke with them and she was released, but I'm
not sure because I moved at about that time.

The same night that they came looking for me, the Ko Per Baw together
with SLORC caught Saw Kaw Muh [the son of a local KNU civilian
administrative official].  They tied him up and beat him and didn't
=0C
release him [Saw Kaw Muh was held until late June, when he escaped
and fled to Thailand].  Many villagers were captured like this.
 Other villagers who were afraid ran away, and the Ko Per Baw
also confiscated the village rice supplies.  Pa Tha Da was in
charge.  They searched through many houses.  They took S---'s
video player and generator [his means of income was operating
the village video cinema] and they told him "Whenever we want
to watch a video, you must bring the video cassettes and petrol
and play the video for us" [they probably don't know how to work
the machine].  At that time his wife had just had a child and
it was only a few days old, but still he had to go and serve them
like this.  They also threatened to burn down his house because
they said he was using Kaw Thoo Lei money, but he denied this
and told them all he had got was his traditional wedding present
from his father-in-law.

Along our way to Thailand, every time we heard that SLORC were
coming we ran into the bushes.  At night we slept in the bushes
covered with plastic sheets.  There were lots of rainstorms and
mosquitos and leeches, and my son cried to me "Mother, I don't
want to sleep here, let's go back.  Go back now", and he asked
to drink my breast milk, but I was dry for a long time and I couldn't
do anything for him because we were in the jungle at night.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09     #9.
[The following woman is the wife of a KNLA officer and is now a
refugee in Thailand.]

NAME:    "Naw Thay Wah"    SEX: F    AGE: 27       Karen Christian
ADDRESS: XXX village, Kawkareik Township      INTERVIEWED:  2/6/95

The Ko Per Baw wanted to burn down the church in XXX because
they want all people to become Buddhists.  Pa Tha Da went, but
the monk said "Before you burn down the church I offer you the
opportunity to also burn down the monastery".  He is XXX, the
abbot at XXX monastery.  He said "You should burn down the
monastery first and then the church, because in the past we never
argued with each other, we have lived together peacefully.  When
they have a festival we help them and when we have a festival
they help us, so if you burn down the church you will break my
heart.  You must treat all churches and monasteries equally."
 Then Pa Tha Da lowered his head and went away.

He went to Naw Kuh Po's house, tied her up and said he would burn
down her house.  He tied her up around the neck and the waist.
 They killed three people in XXX: Saw Ket Doh, Pati Po Mah,
and Manein Kyi Bah.  They were all just workers.  They did it
because the Karen [KNLA] soldiers shot at Ko Per Baw.  One of
the men [Saw Ket Doh] was stopped coming back from a wedding,
on the road near XXX.  They asked him if he knew anything
about Karen soldiers, but he said he didn't see anything.  Then
after they left him the Karen soldiers shot at them east of the
village.  The Burmese came for Saw Ket Doh, not the Ko Per Baw.
 Then when the Ko Per Baw met with the Burmese, they told the
Burmese to execute all 3 people.  Later I talked to two Karen
soldiers, and they said they had ambushed the Ko Per Baw because
the Burmese had attacked them while they were eating.  Another
person they arrested was Naw Muh Pee, and she was beaten.  After
she was released she was bleating like a goat!  They also beat
Naw Htoo, and she was beaten so badly that she had to be carried
by Kalah Ma Nyein, who had also been beaten.

I know about the two defectors [the two SLORC deserters from XXX
Battalion who came through their village, also mentioned in the
testimony of "Naw Paw Thu"].  Their officer had cut off the tips
of their pinky fingers [the officer had reportedly done this earlier
=0C
that day as a means of "permanent identification" of his troops].
 I know because the officer came and called a village meeting
and told us this.  He was very angry and said that the XXX
villagers had helped the deserters.  He demanded that the village
pay 150,000 Kyat as compensation for them.

I came here because my Aunty told me not to stay there.  She said
the Ko Per Baw were looking for me, and she said "Don't be discovered
- if they see you they will order you to find your husband within
3 days, and if you can't then they will beat you instead of him,
and maybe you will die instead of your husband."
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09=09  #10.
[The following testimony is from a Karen soldier from Kawkareik Township.]

NAME:    "Saw Thay Po"     SEX: M    AGE: 24     Karen Buddhist
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Township                      INTERVIEWED:  5/6/95

The Ko Per Baw call the people who don't join with them "Ta Bee
Met" [literally, "closed eyes"].  Their idea is to be against
the "Ta Bee Met".  They always call Christians this - not 'rebels'
or 'Kaw Thoo Lei', just 'Ta Bee Met'.  They say that if they see
Christians they will "break them apart".  At first [when DKBA
was formed] we heard that Christians had killed Buddhists, but
that was not true.  None of those things had happened in the places
they said.  Really, this is just action by the Burmese in order
to cause conflict between Karens, so that we will fight each other.
 Even though we are not leaders, we all have feelings and sympathies
about this.

At their meeting in Noh Baw Heh, the Ko Per Baw said "We must
have unity", but after that they demanded some porters for two
or three days at a time.  I heard that at XXX some people
were tortured.  The Ko Per Baw salaries are 1,000 Kyat for married
people and 500 Kyat for single people, but I heard that at Ta
M'ha they demanded the money for wages from the villagers.  My
brother was there at the time.  Now, if people in Noh Baw Heh
want to go outside the village to plant rice and such, they must
ask Benyah Tha Nee [a Karen who was a monk several years ago and
is now with either Ko Per Baw, Ko Per Kit or Ko Per Wah] for permission.
 He gives them a written pass, and they cannot stay out after
dark.  Before, many people slept in their field huts and they
could do alot of work that way [this is also essential close to
harvest time to protect the crops from animals], but now they
cannot do that.  Everybody is especially afraid of SLORC Battalion
#81, which they call "M'may thon kyeh" ["M'may thon kyeh, may
thon kyeh" is a Burmese proverb, meaning "Ask nothing, three blows;
ask, three blows", usually used to describe general conditions
of life in Burma], even though there is no fighting right now.
 Before, when Battalion #81 soldiers stayed in the village for
a few days they said that if they saw anyone breaking the rules
or fleeing from them then they could treat them as the enemy,
and execute them or do as they like to them.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09      #11.
[The following has been summarized from an interview with a Karen
man who returned from Myawaddy area in May 1995:]

I travelled to YYY starting on May 2.  I went through the
trading gate at XXX, just north of Myawaddy and paid 250 Kyat
to the SLORC soldiers there from #44 Division.  Then I walked
to YYY and on to YYY, where I stayed for about 2 weeks.
 There the news was that the DKBA were in XXX village, where
they were making a district headquarters and are constructing
a camp.  This is because SLORC has given DKBA legal and administrative
=0C
authority over this region, although SLORC still seems to be collecting
all the money like before.  The news was that after they are finished
in XXX, the DKBA will come further across the hills and make
another new district named Meh Bleh Toh on this side [eastern
side of the hills], possibly with a camp at Ker Ghaw.  Because
of this, the people in YYY were very worried.  They are very
afraid of the DKBA, even though of the 50 or so houses in the
village about 45 are Buddhist.  We heard that the DKBA hates district
or township officers who were appointed by KNU most of all, and
will kill them if they catch them.

On three occasions in the time I was there we got news that DKBA
soldiers were coming, and we all ran into the forest except for
the older women.  Especially on May 13, everybody thought they
were coming for sure and we hid in the forest until nightfall.
 I became afraid that the first thing the DKBA would do would
be to block the route to Thailand, so on May 18 I started to come
to Thailand.  On the 19th I stayed at Ker Ghaw, and the people
there said the DKBA were only 5 hours [walk] from their village.
 They had heard that there had been a fight between DKBA and SLORC
in which one DKBA medic had been killed, but they didn't know
any other details.  They had also heard that about 200 porters
had just been taken in Myawaddy, but they weren't sure where they
had been sent.
___________________________________________________________________________=
___
=09=09=09       #12.
[The following testimony was given by a woman who used to be a
village headwoman in Kawkareik Township, and is now a refugee
in Thailand.  The first part of her statement was also included
in KHRG #95-21, "Life as a Village Head".]

Village heads are not directly appointed by SLORC but rather are
elected by the villagers themselves.  They are usually women,
because men cannot survive the repeated beatings and punishments
by the soldiers [whereas women are beaten and tortured somewhat
less often].  Therefore, nobody wants to be a village head throughout
the whole region.  Some villages operate a rotation system for
the position, and change the village head as often as every two
weeks or every month.  As a result, even 17 or 18 year old girls
sometimes act as village heads, but they can control the villagers
and will be obeyed because everyone knows that they are being
instructed and guided by the village elders, usually monastic
leaders, and so they never misuse their powers.

The main duty of village heads to SLORC is to give them information
on the situation in the village, especially the security situation
[meaning intelligence on KNLA movements], at a specified SLORC
post in the area before 7 a.m. every morning.  Usually these bases
are on hilltops overlooking the villages.  Attendance is compulsory
when called for and all orders from them must be followed, especially
when they order "community service" by the villagers, or money.
 The level of soldier dealing with the village head is usually
a captain, who is also usually the battalion intelligence officer.
 Typically he will call the village headwoman "Mother" and himself
"Son", even if he is older than her.  If he doesn't like the village
head he will treat her badly, but if he likes her he will speak
politely and be pleasant - "No need, one action; need, another
action" [this means that how he treats her depends on what he
wants, and how harsh he feels he has to be to get it].

Punishments of village heads vary.  Beatings are usually inflicted
with 1=AB" diameter bamboo sticks, especially on the waist, hips
and legs, for a minimum of 5 strokes.  If a village head gives
"false" information she will be locked in the stocks [crude mediaeval-style
leg stocks of wood or bamboo].  In one specific situation the
soldiers of Battalion #230 dug a hole in the graveyard of a village,
=0C
about the size of a child's body and 7 feet deep, and they placed
a set of stocks at the bottom.  The Captain in charge then warned
the village head that if exact information on KNLA activities
was not given, she would then spend a minimum of 3 days at the
bottom of the hole, with no protection from sun or rain.  He said
that on the first day she would receive only water, on the second
day a little rice and water, and on the third day, nothing.  He
said the more serious the digression, the longer the time in the
hole, up to 6 months.  I'm not sure whether or not anybody had
actually been forced to suffer this.  A more common threatened
punishment is to force the village head to lie face up in the
midday sun for 1-2 hours.  I know of at least one case where this
was done.  In that case, a regular officer came and let the woman
go, then the intelligence officer came back and argued with him
for doing so.

As a result of such treatment, if there is a landmine blast, battle
or gunshot in the vicinity of the village the village head is
usually too afraid to report it for fear of the consequences.
 If the SLORC units find out about such an occurrence, they usually
send an order demanding that the village head come to their camp
immediately.  When she gets there, their usual procedure is 1)
beat, then 2) abuse and ask questions, then 3) demand money.=20
Scolding and abuse is usually something like, "You are all Karens,
therefore you must know about these things but you are liars".
 There was one amusing case of an elderly village head who, after
SLORC demanded information from him, went directly to the KNLA
officer in the area, Lt. Col. Johnny, and asked "Hey, what numbers
of men and weapons do you have and what are you up to, because
the Burmese are asking me so I need to know."  And Johnny gave
him enough information to keep them happy!

Porter fees demanded are like this:  for "rich" class, such as
people who own a television, 300 Kyat per house per month; for
"middle" class, such as people who own paddy fields or cattle,
150 Kyat per house per month; and for "poor" class, people who
are living day to day, 80 Kyat per house per month.  Villages
must also provide "rice for porters".  Owners of televisions must
also pay an extra tax of about 200 Kyat per year to the SLORC
office in Kawkareik, plus the local soldiers also demand 150 Kyat
per month per television, even if it is the oldest, smallest,
battery-operated black-and-white kind.

Another duty required of the village head is to arrange for villagers
to go make and repair roads, fences, man-traps and barracks for
the battalions.  Previously, Kawkareik Township was run by Battalion
#230 plus one other battalion, and Myawaddy Township by Battalion
#97 plus one other battalion, but this is now being changed to
accommodate the DKBA.  The SLORC soldiers now are worse than the
ones who were under the Ma Sa La [Burma Socialist Programme Party,
Ne Win's pre-1988 dictatorship].  If an officer is angry his letter
will be typed or written in red ink, and it may have a bullet
or charcoal enclosed [a bullet enclosed with an order means the
village head and others will be shot for failure to obey; a piece
of charcoal means the village will be burned].  If a village head
fails to obey after an order like this then her village may be
shelled.  Five years ago this happened at Ta K'Rah village, but
nobody was hurt.

As for Ko Per Kit, it was established in the rainy season of 1994,
maybe June or July, by a Karen Buddhist holy man [of the group
who do not cut their hair and wear a flat-topped conical hat].
 Their base was at Ta K'Rah.  They said their aims were to preserve
Karen culture, to build many pagodas, and to oppose the SLORC
troops by spiritual activities and supernatural powers.  The first
two aims were stated from the beginning, but the last aim was
=0C
not clear until the end of 1994.  At the time it was still a completely
civilian organization, mostly made up of elderly people but also
with some children.  Pa Tha Da was active in it from the start.
 Regarding his character, he was otherwise a generally lazy person
who really doesn't like to do physical labour, or so it is said,
anyway.  Then as the "supernatural powers" part of the organization
became more obvious, members began to wear swords and carry strange
bows with very short arrows, only about 1 foot long.  These arrows
could only travel 50-100 feet at most, but the leader of the organization
claimed that if one of these arrows was fired at a village or
town at the same time that appropriate prayers and ceremonies
were observed, then the place would be destroyed.  This led most
villagers to begin considering him as something of a crackpot.

I was not in the area when the Ko Per Kit joined with Ko Per Baw,
so I don't know exactly how it happened.  Before, when Ko Per
Kit members heard that Ko Per Baw were coming they were afraid
and tried to hide like everyone else.  Maybe Ko Per Baw forced
Ko Per Kit to join them, or maybe Pa Tha Da changed the organization.
 I only know that most of the Ko Per Kit members have left and
have been replaced by fighters.  [As noted by other witnesses,
Ko Per Kit members now carry long samurai-style swords in scabbards,
with Buddhist prayer beads wrapped around the hilt.  They regularly
tell villagers that once they draw their sword they are obliged
to kill someone with it.]

=09=09=09  - END REPORT -