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KHRG #98-09 Part 5 of 5 (Dooplaya)



                    DOOPLAYA UNDER THE SPDC

          Further Developments in the SPDC Occupation 
                 of South-Central Karen State

     An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
            November 23, 1998     /     KHRG #98-09

*** PART 5 OF 5: SEE PREVIOUS POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***

[Some details omitted or replaced by 'xxxx' for Internet distribution.]  


                           Landmines

"His name was Paw Eh Pa.  We did not know if it was a Burmese or 
KNLA landmine, but it was put on the way to Kwih Kler, near the top of 
the village.  He went to his farm at 5 a.m. with his wife along the sandy 
path.  His wife was walking in front of him when he stepped on the 
landmine.  His wife was sprayed with sand and she dared not call to her 
husband.  All that was left of her husband was his head, chest and one 
hand.  His feet were found very far from where he died and his liver, 
intestines and stomach were destroyed.  His left hand was wrapped in 
his sarong, and his right hand had disappeared.  His slippers and torch 
were destroyed and pieces were spread everywhere.  We think it was a 
Burmese landmine.  I saw this all with my own eyes."  - "Saw Htoo Po" 
(M, 25), Meh T'Ler village, central Dooplaya (Interview #3, 9/98)


In areas like Dooplaya, the KNLA can only operate in small groups and 
are dependent for ammunition on very tenuous supply lines.  To 
compensate for the imbalance in numbers, to harass the SPDC troops and 
to protect caches and supply lines, they are increasingly relying on 
landmines.  Most of these mines are of their own design and manufacture, 
but quite effective.  The SPDC responds by increasing their own use of 
landmines.  The KNLA usually lays mines slightly off pathways, not in 
fields or just outside villages, and always tries to tell local villagers
which 
pathways to avoid because they are mined.  However, this is not always 
effective, particularly in areas where the KNLA cannot enter villages 
because the SPDC is based there.  As proof of this, villagers continue to
be 
blown up by KNLA mines.  The SPDC lays its mines on pathways to 
farmfields and in other areas where villagers commonly go and never tells 
anyone where the mines are, making these especially dangerous.  
Landmines are not yet as much of a problem in Dooplaya as they are 
further north in Pa'an district, where they have become a major cause of 
fear and flight among the villagers [see "Uncertainty, Fear and Flight: 
The Current Human Rights Situation in Eastern Pa'an District" (KHRG 
#98-08, 18/11/98)], but they may become more of a problem as time goes 
on and they are already becoming an issue in the daily lives of the
villagers 
in all parts of Dooplaya.


"Six villagers from Kyo G'Lee and one person from K'Neh Thay Po Lay 
were injured by Burmese landmines.  The KNLA landmines haven't 
hurt any villagers, but the Burmese plant landmines on the paths which 
lead to the farms and everywhere.  They also plant them on the road.  
They don't tell the villagers where the landmines are, which is why the 
villagers get injured by the landmines."  - "Saw Muh" (M, 36), xxxx 
village, eastern Dooplaya (Interview #11, 9/98)

"The KNLA tell [the villagers] where they have put their landmines, but 
the Burmese never tell us.  Although many villagers die as a result of 
their landmines they still don't tell us where they put them.  Some people 
get hurt by their landmines when they go to their farms.  Some people 
went fishing and got hurt by their landmines.  They never tell the 
villagers. ? I know that one person from Kyaw Plaw died from a 
landmine and another had to have his leg amputated. ? His name is Ku 
Lu Po, he is 40 years old and has a wife and children.  Another person 
died in the jungle, he was a Bo Kler villager.  That happened last 
summer."  - "Pu Eh Thee" (M, 68), xxxx village, eastern Dooplaya 
(Interview #12, 9/98)


In eastern Dooplaya the villagers are quite aware that there are many 

landmines around and many are afraid to go too far from their villages 
because of this.  In central Dooplaya, there have been several reported 
cases this year of villagers being maimed or killed by landmines.  It is
not 
always clear which army laid the mine.  One of the worst cases occurred 
on March 22nd 1998 near Kwih Kler in central Dooplaya.  Pa Gaw Gu 
from Htaw Wah Law village was being forced to use his small truck to 
carry SPDC rations and was giving the family of Saw Po Dee a lift.  The 
truck hit a vehicle mine (apparently planted by the KNLA) along the road 
and was blown apart.  Saw Po Dee's 6-year-old daughter was killed and all 
of the others were wounded. 


"The Burmese were going to come to bring their rations, but instead 
they forced a villager who owned a car to take the rations to them. ? 
The car with 4 people in it from Htaw Wah Law village hit a landmine.  
The car had Saw Po Dee, his wife, Ma San San, from Kwih Kler village, 
his 6-year-old daughter and the driver, Pa Gaw Gu, inside.  The car was 
carrying rice, chillies and beans for the Burmese, and these were spread 
everywhere after they hit the landmine.  Their 6-year-old daughter died, 
I saw her brain had come out of her nose.  If she hadn't been shielded 
by the rice sacks her body would have been completely destroyed.  His 
wife and the driver escaped out of the front of the car, but Saw Po Dee 
was thrown from the car and fell.  His mouth was bleeding and he was 
bruised.  The Burmese put him on an intravenous drip and then they 
forced a car from Kwih Kler to take him to Kyaikdon.  His wife, whose 
eyes were swollen from crying, went with him.  The Burmese took his 
daughter to the Burmese camp and covered her body.  They didn't allow 
people to see her but I had gone to see [the accident site] before they 
took her away and felt such pity for the girl."  - "Saw Htoo Po" (M, 25), 
Meh T'Ler village, central Dooplaya (Interview #3, 9/98)


Though there are not yet reports of SPDC troops systematically using 
porters as human minesweepers as they do in Pa'an district, this may be 
because villagers in Dooplaya are not yet aware enough of landmines to 
realise that this is what is happening when they are sent out in front of
the 
military column.  A few villagers have already referred in interviews to 
being sent out in front of the military column when they are portering.  If

the use of landmines continues, this will probably become a more common 
and systematic practice by SPDC troops.


"The Burmese knew the way but they made trouble for us and forced a 
villager to go in front of them.  I think they were afraid.  I'm not sure 
why, maybe they were afraid that the enemy would shoot at them."  - 
"Saw Htoo Po" (M, 25), Meh T'Ler village, central Dooplaya, describing 
his experiences while portering (Interview #3, 9/98)

"No one has stepped on landmines recently, but in May my cousin Saw 
Lay Htoo, Ka Lu Po, Naw Kyaw Ta and Mu Dwaw stepped on a 
Burmese landmine in Kyo G'Lee village.   Ka Lu Po died immediately 
and Saw Lay Htoo died later in the Mae Sot hospital [in Thailand].  The 
other two only sustained injuries.  Saw Lay Htoo was 33 years old.  He 
was married with two children but one of his children had already died.  
A landmine exploded in xxxx village after I was arrested [in June] and 
injured one of my uncles, Pa Haw.  People carried him to Kyo G'Lee 
village and the Burmese injected him with medicine but he died soon 
after.  He was 50 years old and had a wife and children.  Nobody goes to 
their farms on that path anymore, people must take a different path, a 
car road.  The Burmese put landmines on the paths, beside the paths 
and on the oxcart tracks."  - "Pa Boh" (M, 38), xxxx village, eastern 
Dooplaya (Interview #9, 9/98)


                        Future of the Area

"Things are getting more difficult every day.  Even the Burmese leaders 
capture each other and put each other in jail.  If they can capture and 
imprison even the people who have authority, then how are the villagers 
supposed to tolerate them?  That's why the villagers are fleeing from 
Burma."  - "Pa Bway Htoo" (M, 44), Dta La Ku elder (Interview #6, 9/98)


The SPDC is without doubt determined to continue consolidating its 
control over all of Dooplaya district.  As this occurs it will carry the
usual 
byproducts of SPDC control for the villagers: increasingly systematic 
extortion of food and money, standing orders for rotating forced labour of 
various kinds, and forced labour on infrastructure, Army farms and 
money-spinning projects for local battalions.  The KNLA is likely to 
continue its small-scale guerrilla activities throughout the region, and
this 
will likely cause the SPDC to continue the sporadic forced relocations of 
villages, arrest and detention of suspected KNLA collaborators, and tight 
restrictions on the access of farmers to their fields.  As the struggle 
continues, the KNLA may become more reliant on landmines and the 
SPDC may respond by doing the same and by taking more porters as 
human minesweepers, as their troops already do in Pa'an district.


"Even if the KNLA gives them all of their weapons there will be no 
peace at all.  They cannot give us peace because they have persecuted us 
from the beginning.  The Burmese can lie about many things.  If the 
KNLA give them all of their weapons, they will still persecute the Karen 
people.  They will continue to force them to carry things like rice and 
ammunition.  They will also continue to beat them and force them to dig 
mud for road construction."  - "Saw Muh" (M, 36), xxxx village, eastern 
Dooplaya (Interview #11, 9/98)

"If there is no KNLA maybe the Burmese would persecute the Karen 
people.  Look, they stayed far from the village but they came here, it is a

long distance from their place.  They didn't do anything to us because 
the KNLA are nearby, but if there were no KNLA they would do 
whatever they want to us.  If you look at the people from the lowlands, 
they are oppressed, beaten, persecuted and killed by the Burmese often."  
- "Pu Eh Thee" (M, 68), xxxx village, eastern Dooplaya (Interview #12, 
9/98)


The DKBA and the KPA are an uncertain factor in the future of Dooplaya.  
It remains to be seen whether the KPA will succeed in becoming a major 
player in the district, or whether they are marginalised by the SPDC and/or

the DKBA.  The initial question is whether the current reappearance of 
DKBA troops in northern and central Dooplaya will be expanded to cover 
areas further south in the district, and how many DKBA troops will be 
involved.

The situation will likely become increasingly difficult for the villagers
who 
are currently internally displaced in central and southern Dooplaya, until 
they may have to choose between fleeing for Thailand or returning to 
SPDC control in their villages.  If extortion and forced labour continue to

become more systematic in the villages, it can be expected that more 
villagers will flee to become internally displaced or to head for Noh Po 
refugee camp in Thailand.  Currently it is very hard for new refugees to 
gain admittance to the refugee camp, because the Thai authorities state
that 
all new refugees are to be forced back unless they are "fleeing from 
fighting".  Many new arrivals will probably be forcibly repatriated on 
arrival.  The Dta La Ku people are facing an especially difficult
situation, 
and may spend much of the near future running back and forth across the 
Thai border. 


"I can't do anything.  I think that I would have to stay because I'm very 
old but I'm not sure if I would be able to stay.  I don't know if the young

people will dare to stay or not.  If they don't dare to stay they can run. 

As for me, I'm very old and cannot run, if they want to kill me then let 
them kill me."  - "Pu Eh Thee" (M, 68), xxxx village, eastern Dooplaya, 
discussing what he will do if the SPDC troops return to his village 
(Interview #12, 9/98)

"If the Thai Army forces us back we go back to our villages, if the 
Burmese Army makes trouble for us we come here [Thailand].  All the 
Dta La Ku people plan to flee and come here because when we asked the 
Burmese commander to allow us to be exempt from being porters, 
because it is against our religion, the Burmese said that the Dta La Ku 
people are troublemakers and they should leave Burma."  - "Saw Meh 
Doh" (M, 44), Dta La Ku elder from xxxx village, southern Dooplaya 
(Interview #K4, 9/98)


According to villagers within Dooplaya, the SPDC may be planning to use 
either the DKBA or the KPA to attack Noh Po refugee camp over the 
coming dry season.  SPDC patrols already made repeated incursions into 
Thailand in March 1998 to test out the Thai defences, but stopped short of 
actually attacking the camp.  If an attack comes, it is difficult to
predict 
whether Thai forces will defend the camp, or abandon it to be destroyed as 
they have done with other refugee camps.  They have already stated that at 
some point in the near future they want to move the camp to another site 
further north, possibly consolidating it with other existing refugee camps.
 
If so, they may allow it to be destroyed as a way of coercing the refugees 
to move to a new site.  However, if the camp does move it will be far from 
refugee crossing points, thus making it even more difficult for villagers
in 
Dooplaya to escape the complete control of the SPDC.


"?we have to stay and die if the Burmese come because we have no 
place to run to.  If they persecute and kill us we will have to suffer, but
if 
they don't kill us we can live.  If we run away our food will not follow 
us.  When we ran away last time we felt bad that our rice was still in the 
village.  When I first came back it was only myself and my youngest son, 
the others didn't come back.  I came back and I stayed here.  Later, I 
heard a dog barking and I saw many Burmese soldiers.  They called me 
to come down from my house.  Then they went into my house and took 
all that they wanted, such as my clothes and blankets.  I don't know if 
the others will run or not but I've heard them say that they don't know 
where to run either.  We don't want to stay in another country."  - "Pu 
Tha Wah" (M, 66), xxxx village, eastern Dooplaya (Interview #13, 9/98)

"I worked in my village but I couldn't get any support.  Burma is our 
country but nobody there treats us fairly when we work.  When my 
children got sick, I had to buy medicine for them in the shop and treat 
them myself.  When I stayed in  xxxx for the last two months I spent over 
10,000 Kyats that way, and I realised I could not stay like that anymore.  
If I'd stayed there much longer my children would have died there, we 
all would have died there."  - "Naw Ghay Wah" (F, 31), schoolteacher 
from Pa'an district who was ordered to move and become a teacher in 
Dooplaya after the SLORC occupation (Interview #4, 9/98)

"I would like to say that if the situation is good in the future I will
tell 
you about the good things, but if the situation is bad I will tell you
about 
the bad things.  What I have told you is true and I hope that the 
situation will be better in the future.  Now we villagers have difficult 
lives because the SPDC persecutes us.  I would like to ask the foreign 
countries to please help us and to do whatever they can as soon as 
possible."  - "Saw Win Than" (M, 50), xxxx village, southern Dooplaya 
(Interview #2, 4/98)
________________________________________________________________________


             Examples of Written SPDC Orders to Villages

Following are the direct translations of some SPDC written orders which 
were sent to villages in different parts of Dooplaya between December 
1997 and July 1998.  The names of the villages which received the orders 
and some other details are blanked out and replaced by xxxx where 
necessary to protect the villages involved.  Copies of the Burmese 
originals of the orders are included on pages 85-90 of this report.  The 
Order Numbers on the Burmese copies correspond to the numbers given 
on these translations.  Please note that Burmese grammar is very different 
from English, so the phrasing of some of these translations may sound 
awkward because we have attempted to translate as directly as possible.  
Note that all numeric dates are in dd-mm-yy format.


                              Order #1

	 	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

[In this order the term 'loh ah pay' is translated directly, and it implies

'voluntary'; however, the labour is forced and not voluntary.] 
___________________________________________________________________________

                               Order #2

		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).] 
___________________________________________________________________________

                              Order #3

	  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, 
#12 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	
___________________________________________________________________________

                               Order #4

		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 servant's 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 #5

       Stamp: 
Infantry Battalion #61		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'.] 
___________________________________________________________________________

                                 Order #6

 									  Stamp:		
	To:	Chairman					 Infantry Battalion #61
		<xxxx village>					 25-10-97

Subject:  To repair camp buildings

According to the subject mentioned as above, the gentleman's village was 
informed to send wood by the 25th of the month, however no wood has 
been sent until now. Therefore, it is informed that the gentleman yourself 
should come and report to the camp commander what date you will send 
wood. 

 								[Sd. / 25-10-97]
 								   xxxx camp
___________________________________________________________________________

                                 Order #7

	      Stamp: 
Village Peace & Development Council				Date: 20-12-97
   Ye Township, xxxx village 		

						To:	Chairman / xxxx village

Lottery money should be sent to the Township soon, therefore you are 
informed to come and give money to xxxx VPDC [Ya Ah Pa, short for 
Village Peace and Development Council] on 21-12-97.

 							 [Sd. 'xxxx']
 							   Chairman
 						Village Peace & Development Council
						   Ye township, xxxx village

[This is just another way of taking money from villagers; the village
elders 
are given a number of tickets and ordered to sell them and hand over the 
money, whether they can actually sell them or not.] 

                         - [END OF REPORT] -

Note: The 'Selected Interviews' and 'Field Reports' have been omitted from
this version for brevity, though they are included in the version
which can be viewed at our website:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/