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SURVIVING IN SHADOW: Widespread Militarization and the Systematic Use of Forced Labour in the Campaign for Control of Thaton DistrictIV. LandminesLandmines have not been laid in Thaton District in the numbers that they have been laid in some of the other Karen districts, but they still represent a very real danger for villagers in the area. Once laid, landmines still remain a threat many years later. All of the armed groups operating in Thaton District – the SPDC, DKBA, and KNLA – actively lay landmines in the area. None of these groups map the locations of their landmines. SPDC units regularly rotate in and out on average every three months, and though they probably pass general information to the incoming unit on mined locations it is highly unlikely that specific information is kept. The KNLA tries to inform local villagers of mined areas, but the SPDC and the DKBA generally do not inform the villagers where they have planted their mines. Many mines have been planted in areas known to be frequented by civilians, yet they are not informed of the exact locations of the mines, or even of the existence of any mines in the area. Mines have been and continue to be planted in villagers' fields and plantations, on the paths that they use, and even in and around their villages. As a result, many villagers have been wounded, maimed, or killed while travelling on those paths, working in their fields, or while performing forced labour. In Thaton District the SPDC confines the majority of its mine laying to the perimeter defence of their military camps, although they also plant them on paths that they believe that the KNLA uses. The DKBA however has laid large numbers of mines in the region. Their mines have been laid to block the paths that villagers use to travel, in villagers' fields and in places where it looks like people have been hiding. These places may be where the KNLA spent a night, but they may also be where villagers stopped to rest while travelling or while hunting. The notorious Moe Kyo of the DKBA has also planted mines in the forest and on the way to villagers' field huts, directly targeting civilians. The KNLA, short of money and ammunition, has used landmines as a way of protecting its hiding places and supply routes as well as for springing ambushes against SPDC and DKBA columns.
All of the armed groups in the region are capable of manufacturing their own landmines, albeit with varying degrees of complexity, sophistication, and longevity. The SPDC manufactures its own mines in purpose-built factories. Known as the Ka Pa Sa factories (abbreviated from Karkweye Pyitsu Setyoun – the Burmese name for the Directorate of Defence Industries), these factories at Meiktila in Central Burma were built by the Chinese government in the early 1990s. These factories are known to produce at least two types of anti-personnel landmines: the MM-1 Stake Fragmentation Mine (SFM) and the MM-2 Blast Mine (BM), both of which have seen use in Thaton District. The MM-1 is a copy of the Chinese Type 58 Stake Fragmentation Mine, which in turn is a copy of the older Soviet PMOZ-2 mine. It is roughly the same size as a can of soft drink and may either be buried or mounted on a stake and rigged to a tripwire. Once activated, it explodes into 60 pieces, which are cast outwards in a 360 degree arc. The MM-2 is a copy of the Chinese Type 58 Blast Mine, itself a copy of the Soviet PMN mine. The MM-2 mine is buried and set off by the pressure of someone stepping on it. This is arguably the most prolifically laid landmine in Burma [refer to "KHRG Photo Set 2005-A" for examples of these mines] . Though the DKBA uses some factory-produced mines, which they acquire from the SPDC or through the Thai black market, many of its mines are homemade. In addition to producing their own mines, most of which are constructed from bamboo or blue PVC piping packed with explosives or gunpowder [examples of these may be seen in "KHRG Photo Set 2002-A" ] , KHRG researchers have stated that the DKBA has rigged 81mm and 60mm mortar shells as landmines. Most of the mines used by the KNLA are homemade Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) similar to those used by the DKBA. All groups also make and use their own variants of the American M-18 Claymore Directional Fragmentation Mine (DFM). Claymores are usually used in the perimeter defence of military camps as well as for springing ambushes [see "KHRG Photo Set 2005-A" for examples] .
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) has not been a major problem in the district, although there have been a few isolated incidents of injuries stemming from UXO. KHRG researchers have heard of children being injured after finding and playing with an unexploded 40mm grenade round from an M79 grenade launcher in 2000 or 2001. Fishermen have also been killed after using unexploded shells to catch fish. Sometimes old shells explode when villagers stumble upon them while cutting brush alongside the roads or ploughing their fields. Most UXOs are defective rocket propelled grenade (RPG) rounds, mortar shells, or rifle grenades. According to a KHRG researcher, some villagers erect fences around unexploded shells to cordon them off and act as a warning to others. Most villagers don't dare to destroy them themselves and leave them alone. If there is a KNLA unit nearby, they may ask the KNLA to dispose of the shell.
Villagers who are wounded by landmines or UXO can expect little or no medical attention from the SPDC or the DKBA. They usually have to be carried to KNU medics or mobile Karen relief teams who attempt to take care of them with limited medicine and equipment, which usually amounts to little more than amputation of the affected limb without anaesthetic. Even to reach this limited medical help may take several days of being carried over rough terrain in a hammock slung from a bamboo pole. As a result, most landmine victims die from their injuries long before they can be carried to help. As part of the "Landmine Monitor Burma/Myanmar Annual Report 2004" (6) , the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) produced a special five year review looking at trends in the landmine problem in Burma. According to the report, landmine use in Burma has seen a gradual but steady increase over that time. However, Thaton District is an exception to this trend. All sides have greatly reduced their use of landmines in Thaton District since the KNU and SPDC established an informal ceasefire in January 2004. KHRG researchers have reported that they have not heard of the SPDC or DKBA actively laying mines in the district, nor have they heard of anyone being injured or killed by landmines during 2004 or 2005. This is most likely related to the increased travel restrictions imposed on the villagers by both the SPDC and the DKBA over the same period [refer to the 'Restrictions' section] , because if the villagers are not permitted to travel outside their village, they are far less likely to be exposed to the threat of landmines in their fields or on the pathways leading to them.
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