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Most of the following orders were issued by units of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in Papun, Thaton and Pa’an District. Part of the activities of the DKBA units in these areas are to support the local SPDC military by acting as guides and in fighting the KNLA, and much of the rest of their time is spent on their own money generating projects, such as conducting or taxing commercial logging, setting up checkpoints to collect money from all vehicles and passengers, and demanding money from villages for various things. The DKBA are also involved in calling for and supervising forced labour for their own projects as well as for the SPDC. These projects involve pagoda building, road building and other activities.
DKBA orders often read much like the SPDC orders, except that they are frequently written in bad Burmese or almost equally bad Sgaw Karen. DKBA orders also tend to be more direct in their language if and when they want to put threats across. However, it is important to note that some DKBA units are worse than others, and many of the orders are written in much more genial tones than those used in SPDC orders.
We have divided the orders below into several topical sections: DKBA Recruitment, DKBA General Forced Labour, DKBA Demands for Materials and Money, DKBA Restrictions, DKBA Meetings and KPA Letters. Each of these subsections contains a brief explanation of the orders therein. Some of the orders below were written in Burmese, while the others were written in Sgaw Karen where noted. Instead of writing the DKBA’s name in Karen or Burmese, the officers usually write a series of Burmese characters which are pronounced "Dee Kay Bee Ay", but which have no meaning in Karen or Burmese. Where this occurs, we have used "Dee Kay Bee Ay" in the translations. Where they have written out the name of their Army in Karen or Burmese we have translated directly; it does not usually translate directly as Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, but as ‘Progressive Karen Buddhist National Army’ or simply ‘Karen Buddhist Army’. Where we have written DKBA, it is because it is written that way in English characters in the order.
Several of the orders in ‘Set to a Village I’, ‘Set to a Village II’, and ‘Set to a Village III’ were also from DKBA units. Additional DKBA orders are included in order sets previously published by KHRG. For more information on the DKBA, see “Abuse Under Orders: The SPDC & DKBA Armies through the Eyes of their Soldiers” (KHRG #2001-01, 27/3/01).
The orders in the final sub-section of this section were issued by the ‘Karen Peace Group’, also known as the ‘Karen Peace Army’, in Dooplaya District. For more on these orders see the section ‘KPA Letters’ below.
The following order except and the order that comes after it were sent out by the DKBA in Pa’an District where it is involved in expanding its strength by conscripting new soldiers. At a meeting held in Pa’an District in February 2002, the DKBA gave a list of 19 villages and the quota of new soldiers that each village had to give. The final comment given is ‘When [you] are sending new soldiers, do not send children’, but the age of what are considered children is not given. A DKBA deserter from this same unit interviewed by KHRG said that although the unit tries to only take people over 18 years old, in practice anyone is accepted. Below is the relevant section from this order (the full text of this order can be seen as Order #735 in the ‘DKBA Meetings’ section below). Order #653 follows on from this meeting about a month later. It is clear from this order that the unit was not successful in its recruitment drive and had to resort to the threat of taking one extra soldier from each village which did not comply by the specified date.
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“5. Discussion of the
concerned Army matters. To the enlarge the Battalion’s strength, the villages’ representatives have to send the record of the strength. 1. Kaw Kaw
6 people When sending new soldiers, do not send children and send them to arrive on 18-3-2002.” ______________________________________________________________________________
Stamp:
Progressive Buddhist Karen National Army
Letter No - 999 Ah Hta Hta Ya / Yay x / xxx To/- Subject: Sending new soldiers Regarding the above
subject, every village has to send the allocated new soldiers on
18/3/2002, but we have seen that [only] some villages came to send
new soldiers.
[Sd.] [This typewritten order was written in Burmese and distributed to several villages in the area.] |
The following orders demand villagers for forced labour, most of which involves building, maintaining and fencing DKBA camps, building and maintaining houses for DKBA officers and their families, portering supplies and farming to grow food for DKBA units. Working conditions under the DKBA are similar to those under the SPDC. Village which do not comply with the orders are routinely threatened by the DKBA, for example Order #676 calls two elephant drivers to come to pull logs, but they have not come so the DKBA is threatening them with being labelled as rebels. The officer writes, “How many times have I ordered you? Do you have army weapons? If you are villagers, can you stay when one army orders you?”
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Order #654 (Papun) To: When you receive my letter, arrange 20 people from your village, 20 people from xxxx [village] (female, male) with machetes, crowbars all. Obey at once. From xxxx [camp].
[Sd.]
12-1-2002 [This order was written in Karen and in red ink as a warning to the village head. Similar orders were sent out to several other villages in the area. The DKBA forced the villagers to go and cut the brush around their camp.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #655 (Papun)
To:
Stamp:
18-1-2002 Subject: Writing and informing you as below. Right now, when you receive my letter about Battalion Commander aaaa’s order for the people to mill [wood] at xxxx, carry and send it at once to yyyy. You can’t stay without coming and carrying it. When this letter is received, send your people who have bullock carts. Ask them to carry it at once and it must arrive on 20-1-2002 at yyyy. Receive and obey. Writing and informing you about this.
From [On the back this order is addressed to “xxxx Village Head, send at once. Urgent Army Matter.” Written in Karen.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #656 (Papun)
Stamp: With respect, writing you to know as below. The matter is when you receive my letter about the timber planks for Battalion Commander aaaa, you have to arrange bullock carts and send them at once. Receive and obey at once.
This matter is
yyyy
[On the back this order is addressed “Send to: Village Head, xxxx village, Army Matter-Urgent”.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #657 (Papun)
Stamp:
Progressive Buddhist Karen National Army
Date:
24-1-2002 Writing a letter to inform you. Writing to tell that on 25-1-2002 the motor boat owner must drive to yyyy village.
[Sd.]
24-1-2002 [This order was written in Burmese.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #658 (Papun)
(Karen Buddhist Army) Subject: Writing to inform you. I sent the people to you. Send 60 of your people all at the same time. Ask them to come with the watchman [sentry] immediately. Must arrive to me tonight. From
[Sd.]
aaaa
[The DKBA forced the villagers to cut and clear the brush from along the road and to act as sentries on the road. 40 people from the village went.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #659 (Pa’an)
Stamp:
6-2-2002 Date To: Writing and informing xxxx Heads to know. There is no other matter than writing a letter. Right now, xxxx Heads must help together. Right now, xxxx Head, I am, …I keep the xxxx Head as my real elder brother. Right now, Elder Brother, help me again with an elephant. Come with the elephant on 8-2-2002. Tell the elephant man Pu aaaa. Without fail. Come quickly when this letter is received. Only this. Dee Kay Bee Ay
Battalion #x, Brigade #999, Company Office [On the back this order is addressed “Give to the xxxx Head. Thanks for the postman.” This order was written in Burmese.] ___________________________________________________________________________ Order #660 (Papun) To: Village
Head
Stamp: With respect, Writing you to know about below. When you receive my letter, you must arrange 15 carriers. When received, obey today. Arrange and send at once. You do not hesitate.
[Sd.]13/2/02 [On the back this order is addressed “To: Village Head xxxx. Send at once. Urgent Army Matter.” This order was written in Karen. The villagers had to carry rice for two days.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #661 (Papun)
Stamp:
Progressive Buddhist Karen National Army
Date: Year 2002 February 15th
Subject: Demanding help about bullock carts Regarding the above subject, the bullock carts from your village, send the bullock carts that are needed with Sergeant (Saw aaaa) who was sent now, you are informed and your help is requested.
[Sd.]
15-2-02 [This order was typed in Burmese and carbon copied to be sent to several villages. The village head gave two bullock carts and the DKBA used them to carry thatch for their camp. It took one day and they paid 500 Kyat for each cart, which is much less than the 2,000 Kyat per day that villagers pay each other when they use each other’s bullock carts.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #662 (Papun)
Stamp:
This is ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #663 (Papun)
Stamp:
To: Village Head
With respect,
[Sd.] 18/2/02 [On the back this order is addressed “To: Village Head, xxxx [village]. Send at once.”] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #664 (Papun)
Stamp: With respect, Informing you as below. When you receive my letter, stop your work and come to meet at once. Come and call one of your mwee du [porters]. Receive and obey at once.
This is [This order was written with red ink as a warning to the village head.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #665 (Papun) C/O xxxx
Head
24-2-2002
From aaaa [On the back this order is addressed to “Urgent Army Matter. Send to arrive to xxxx Head”. This order was written in Karen.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #666 (Papun)
Stamp:
24-2-2002 Subject: Writing to inform you. When you receive my letter, ask and gather one mwee du carrier from zzzz [Village Tract], one from wwww Village Tract, one from uuuu Village Tract at your place and come to send them to me at once. yyyy wove the 25 baskets for bullets. Bring them along with 5 viss [8 kgs. / 18 lbs.] of the tree bark for basket rope.
From
[This order was written in Karen.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #667 (Thaton) To:
[Sd.] [The three bullock carts and drivers had to go for five days. They had to carry logs for the DKBA every day.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #668 (Thaton)
To:
28-2-2002 Writing
and informing you know.
[Sd.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #669 (Papun)
Stamp:
11-3-2002 When you receive my letter, send 100 pieces of my timber planks that you carried and kept in xxxx Camp tomorrow. Tomorrow on 12-3-2002 they must arrive at yyyyy [Camp]. xxxx, yyyy [villages] that have bullock carts, come to carry it. If it stays there longer, it will disappear.
From [This order was written in Karen.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #670 (Papun)
Stamp:
To:
This is [On the back this order is addressed “To: Village Head, xxxx village. Send at once. Army Matter DKBA”. The DKBA ordered the 9 porters to carry food for the SPDC soldiers. The SPDC did not demand it themselves, but ordered it through the DKBA.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #671 (Pa’an)
To:
18-3-2002 xxxx
and yyyy heads, please when you receive my letter, nobody should
hesitate. Because I need you and there are many kinds of work, I want to
meet with you. xxxx and yyyy heads, this matter is for
unity, so [This order was written in Karen and in red ink as a warning.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #672 (Papun)
Stamp:
Date: 25-3-02 To: Subject: The matter of coordinating Dee Kay Bee Ay servants. Regarding the above subject, gather at yyyy [village] tomorrow on 26-3-02 to arrive at 7 o’clock, then you must go to meet and coordinate with Bo aaaa at zzzz [village], you are informed. Note: Do not fail. From #434, bring one viss
[1.6 kgs. / 3.6 lbs] of chicken.
Copy to:
[Sd.]
U bbbb [The village tract chairperson has been ordered to collect servant fees for the DKBA as well as demand a viss of chicken for the SPDC soldiers. ‘#434’ is an SPDC battalion and this village tract head is relaying demands for both the SPDC and the DKBA.] ______________________________________________________________________________ Order #673 (Papun)
Stamp: Date: 2-4-2002 To: Writing you a letter. When you receive my writing, arrange 3 carrier people and 2 viss [3.2 kgs. / 7.2 lbs.] of chicken and send them to arrive at 9 o’clock in the evening with yourself. Receive and obey. That is all. Come from |