SURVIVING IN SHADOW: Widespread Militarization and the Systematic Use of Forced Labour in the Campaign for Control of Thaton District

Top of Report | Terms and Abbreviations | Table of Contents | Introduction and Executive Summary | Forces in the District | Forced Labour | Landmines | Killings, Detention, and Torture | Fees, Looting, and Extortion | Restrictions | Food Security | Education and Health | Flight and Displacement | Future of the Area | Appendices

V. Killings, Detention, and Torture

"Q: Why don't you complain to them?

A: Now they have issued the order or article called 'Saught Myin Ka' ['Hate']. They don't have any questions. They don't have to specify any faults if they want to arrest us. They release people when they want to release them. People haven't made any mistakes, but still they arrest them. They release them whenever they want to release them. They also don't release people forever. So we are afraid of them. Sometimes people go to carry paddy from the hill fields. If they [SPDC] see them, they torture and kill them. They accuse us of carrying rice for the Kawthoolei [slang for the KNU/KNLA], but really the villagers are carrying the food for themselves."

"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)

Thaton District is under perhaps the strongest SPDC control of all seven Karen districts and should therefore theoretically be the district with the least conflict-related killing, torture, and arbitrary detention. Since the informal ceasefire began in January 2004 incidents of SPDC or DKBA troops shooting villagers have greatly decreased, yet villagers find they are still liable to be arrested, tortured, and summarily executed by both SPDC and DKBA military units. Some of the violence is random, but much of it is directed against village heads for not complying with the regular demands. The village heads are easier targets than the other villagers because they have to go to the Army camp when summoned by the officers and liaison with the soldiers whenever they come to the village, and because they are held responsible whenever demands are not met. The torture of village heads is often used by the SPDC to set an example to the other villagers of what could happen if their demands continue to be ignored. Thaton District has fewer internally displaced persons (IDPs) than other Karen districts because it is more difficult to evade SPDC control, and as a result the shooting of villagers on sight tends to be less common. However, arbitrary shootings still do occur. On August 1 st 2005 a DKBA unit opened fire on a house in Bilin township, seriously wounding the four villagers inside, two of whom were children aged 6 and 12 Villagers are more often arrested, interrogated, and sometimes summarily executed, usually after being tortured as part of the interrogation first.

Villagers interviewed by KHRG have said that SPDC units have shot at villagers who ran away from them. The soldiers believe that anyone who flees from them must have done something wrong. In the mindset of the SPDC this means that anyone seen running away must be working with the KNU/KNLA. Villagers who have been shot by SPDC soldiers are almost never given medical attention, even when it is clear that the person is a villager and when the shooting has been later admitted to have been an accident [see the 'Education and Health' section] . The attitude of many SPDC officers towards the villagers can clearly be summed up by the statement made by an officer after his soldiers accidentally shot and wounded a villager in Bilin township. He was quoted by a villager to have said, "Let him die. It doesn't matter. He is not our nationality" .

This villager from Bilin township lost his left arm after being shot by SPDC Army soldiers. [Photo: KHRG]

"They shot Pa Eh Soe dead. They killed Pa Eh Soe two months ago. He was 28 years old. The Burmese shot him dead. Major Kyaw Za Lin's unit [IB #14] shot him dead. They shot him dead when he jumped down from his house. The Burmese had come and slept there [in Paya Raw village] for three days. He had just come back from going to yyyy. The people told him not to come back. They [SPDC] had also arrested aaaa. We told him that aaaa stayed at zzzz so don't come back, but he came and in the night the people [SPDC] came to arrest him. They called bbbb to show them. They tied up the owner of the house when bbbb went to show them. They also tied up the owner of the other house. They were both brothers in law. One is Cccc and the other is dddd. They are villagers in xxxx. It was because of Pa Eh Soe. They [SPDC] came to ask for him. Bbbb said that there was a radio at cccc's house. Cccc said he didn't know about it and that it was not in his house. At that time Pa Eh Soe was staying at dddd's house. He jumped down to flee. When he jumped down the Burmese shot him dead."

"Naw Bo Mu" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #59, 6/03); also see the 'Testimony of "U Maung Shwe"' at the end of this section for more on the fate of Pa Eh Soe

"Now they shoot if people run. They issued an order. The bad people run and the good people stay. If people run, they are bad people and they shoot them dead. Villagers or bad people, if they see them run, they will shoot them."

"Saw Ba Ray" (M, 26), teacher from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #33, 3/02)

"He said he would go to his field. He heard the people shooting and then the people fled. He also followed those people. He didn't run. When the Burmese called him he was walking slowly. He was shot dead in the people's hill field. It was three days ago [May 14 th 2001]. It was in the evening at the time when people are gathering their children and feeding their pigs. We heard him shouting. He called to me. The Burmese didn't allow me to go. They shot at him three times, but only one time hurt him. It hurt him in the bladder. He didn't die immediately. They [SPDC soldiers] looked after him with rice. They gave three sacks of rice and 10,000 Kyat. They gave it to hold a funeral because they shot him wrongly."

"Naw Lay Mo" (F, 60), widowed villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #11, 5/01); her husband and all of their nine children have all been killed or died from disease

"I want to hurt them [SPDC] back a lot. I said never mind, but I looked down at my younger brother and thought, 'He is dead.' My mother also went to see him. I told her, 'Don't worry. You don't need to cry. His luck came like that.' He had just left from being a monk. I have seven siblings, four are brothers. One is gone [to be a KNLA soldier]. The one who went isn't dead yet, but the one who didn't go is dead. The one who left was shot at many times by the Burmese near the house, but the one who didn't go is dead, so we can't do anything."

"Saw Po Po" (M, 35), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #45, 11/02)

"They came to arrest me in the village. They said that the outside people [KNU] had entered the village. When they came to arrest the people they saw one buffalo run out and they believed that the Kawthoolei people had entered the village. They shot when the buffalo ran out and it hurt one of the villagers. He didn't die. It injured his arm. The people told them when they shot him that they had injured a villager. They said, 'Let him die. It doesn't matter. He is not our nationality.'"

"Saw Play Loh" (M, 27), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #14, 6/01)

More commonly, villagers are arrested and killed by SPDC or DKBA soldiers on the accusation that they are helping the resistance. The evidence for this is usually very circumstantial and often little more than mere suspicion. Some villagers have been killed from the torture that always accompanies interrogation, while others have been summarily executed at the end of the interrogation. One villager thought he would be shown clemency if he complied with the SPDC by showing them where the KNLA had hidden a cache of landmines. However, this was considered evidence that he was aiding and abetting the resistance, and upon retrieving and relinquishing the six landmines to the soldiers, he was tortured and executed. Anyone who is known for a fact to be working with the KNU/KNLA is shown no leniency whatsoever. Wounded KNLA prisoners are horribly tortured before being killed. Villagers described to a KHRG researcher how an SPDC unit repeatedly stabbed a wounded KNLA soldier with a sharpened stick as he laid on the ground unarmed, defenceless, and bleeding after being shot in a firefight. The soldiers continued to stab, kick, and stomp on him until he died.

"They called everyone. They even went up into the houses and called everyone down. They also called the elderly people. They kicked them when they couldn't call them. There was an insane person named aaaa when they went to yyyy village. He didn't understand when they called him. He didn't care. They shot at him with guns. When they chased him they shot at his legs many times. He is an insane man."

"Saw Thaw Oo" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #31, 3/02)

"They looked and anyone that they suspected was tied up, punched and beaten. They did this to many people. Sometimes they were villagers. They tied them up and they had to follow for one or two nights. They also forced them to carry loads. They tied their hands behind them and forced them to carry a load. During the night they interrogated them, punched them and beat them. They were released later when the village head and their relatives followed and met the soldiers. The people who weren't released were killed. ... It happened last year [2002], but it hasn't happened yet this year. They killed one younger brother [a man younger than himself] from Lay Kay that way. The Burmese killed him and covered him with sawdust at the camp. They met him while he was ploughing."

"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)

"Yes, they [DKBA] demand things. The villagers must give when they demand. If we didn't give things to them they said the sentiment of the people is with the Kawthoolei [slang for the KNU/KNLA]. When the people didn't feed them, they forced the people into the water and wrapped their heads [with a tarpaulin to temporarily suffocate them]. Some people who couldn't endure this died. ... I saw this. They wrapped the head of one person from Ta Meh Kee [earlier] this dry season. He died. They forced him into the water. He hadn't done anything wrong. He was a villager. They asked him, 'Did you see the Kawthoolei?' He said he hadn't seen them, but they didn't believe him, so they wrapped his head. After they wrapped his head they forced him into the water. He died when he could no longer breathe. He was Pa Beh Yu."

"Naw Maw Thee" (F, 20), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #55, 4/03)

"They killed our village tract secretary, Pa Mi Per. That unit already has gone back. They just went back last month [June 2003]. It was not long ago. They arrested one of our tract leaders and two villagers. One was going to the hill fields and the other one was following our [village tract] secretary. They were tied up when they came back. There were three people. One of them had a walkie-talkie. They didn't kill them in our village. We told them, 'If you kill him, kill him in our village. Don't go to kill him in another village. He has his uncle, auntie and relatives and they want to see him.' He [an SPDC officer] told me, 'Mother, I won't kill him.' Win Htut Lin arrested him. They were from [LIB] #108, Division #44 [LID #66]. They only killed Pa Mi Per. He was 38 years old. He had just married and built a house. He had not stayed in his house for even one day yet. It was on the 8 th day of the month [May 8 th , 2003]. They killed him between Paya Raw and Lay Kay at the foot of the rock on the other side of the road. We went to find his grave. It was very far. ... He said that he [Pa Mi Per] was his enemy. They got one walkie-talkie. He [the SPDC officer] said he wouldn't kill him and would send him to the Division. He said he would send him to the Division, but he only arrived at Paya Raw. He didn't arrive at the Division."

"Daw Paw Ghay" (F, 50), village head from xxxx village (Interview #75, 7/03)

"Maung Kwee was a villager and he couldn't speak Burmese. When the SPDC arrested him and interrogated him he could only say 'Er' ['Yes']. The Burmese asked him, 'Do you have a gun? Did you plant landmines? Do you have landmines?' He said, 'Er.' He used this word as his answer. He went together with the SPDC and took out six landmines so the SPDC arrested him and tortured him. He was a villager, but as we are Karen people, they [KNU] need our help also. They ask us to keep their things. He thought that if he told the SPDC that, they would not torture him so much. Even though he said that, the SPDC didn't reduce the amount of torture and took more action against him. The SPDC later killed him."

"U Maung Shwe" (M, 40), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #67, 7/03)

"The people [KNLA] shot them near our village. They [SPDC] entered, but I didn't recognise their division or battalion numbers. The Battalion Commander's name was Aung Thu. Kawthoolei were staying on the other side of the mountain and came. We didn't know the time, but they met each other one time near the monastery. They [SPDC] shot a resistance person named Win Maung. After that, they called and gathered the village heads. 'Heads, what is the unit that entered just now?' The head said, 'The people who entered were aaaa 's unit. Aaaa didn't know about your plan. Just now they entered and you entered and met each other. They didn't hide and shoot at you.' He said, 'You must know the one who is dead now. Go and see.' Then we went to see. After they had shot him, they stabbed him with a pole. They sliced off the top of a pole so it was sharp and then stabbed him before he had died. He was bruised on the places where they stabbed him. They stomped and stepped on him. They kicked and stomped on him. Very quickly we couldn't remember him. Later they asked to find out about him. Afterward we found out he was Win Maung and someone we knew. He [SPDC] told his wife and children. His wife and children were staying at yyyy village. He said, 'You married a soldier. You have to suffer like this. You are rude and you married a soldier.'"

"Naw Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #38, 3/02)

Most villagers who are arrested however are not killed. Instead they are interrogated and customarily tortured by the soldiers. Many of the villagers who have been arrested by the SPDC or DKBA have been accused of either supporting or of being actual members of the resistance. Others have been arrested and tortured in an attempt to gain intelligence about the whereabouts of the KNLA. On September 25 th 2001, soldiers led by Moe Kyo of the DKBA demanded to know the location of a nearby KNLA encampment and supply cache. To extract this information the soldiers beat the village head with sticks and the butts of their rifles and threatened to cut his legs off if he refused to show them the location of the cache. Likewise, villagers are beaten and tortured every time that they fail to inform the SPDC of any intelligence on KNLA movements. It are usually the village heads who suffer this abuse [see the 'Restrictions' section] .

"When I was staying at yyyy I was a village head. I was a village chairperson. The KNU soldiers sometimes come and go there. They [DKBA] told me to not give them information when they come and go and to not join hands with the KNU, so they called me down from the house and punched me a lot in front of the Burmese [soldiers]. All of my face became bruised. They called me down and punched me a lot, then they saw two boys who were working in the village and they tortured them. They punched and kicked them with big boots. Then they took them into the village and beat them with a length of bamboo three or four times each. ... After they tortured them they came back and said again, 'A group of the Kawthoolei [slang for KNU/KNLA] came back to your village and you say you don't know and hid them.' So they fined us and forced us to give one pig from the village."

"Saw Hla Than" (M, 37), villager from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #77, 4/01)

"When we were coming back from sawing firewood to make charcoal the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] asked us, 'Where are you going?' We told them we were coming back from working our charcoal kiln. They asked, 'Did you see the outside people?' We said we hadn't seen them. They said we were lying to them and forced us to smell the muzzle of a mortar and to breathe in strongly. They hit my nose [on the muzzle] and my nose was bleeding. Then they asked my small cousin and hit his head with a mortar base plate and his head was cut. When they questioned us we answered, 'We don't know why you are doing this. You are the Ko Per Baw and the children of Karen mothers. You are bigger than the Burmese.'"

"Saw Play Loh" (M, 27), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #14, 6/01)

"They tortured me one time. It was when the people fled. They thought I was acting as sentry. I told them I wasn't acting as sentry. Captain Soe Mya thought I was and accused me of acting as sentry. I told him I wasn't and that it was the people who fled and not soldiers [KNLA]. He scolded and beat me. They punched and hit me. They kicked and stomped on me. They tied me up and pulled me along to the monastery. They hit me with a big shell [probably a mortar shell]. They poked me with a knife and a bayonet. They hit and punched my head. It caused an infection. I went to get an injection at yyyy. It cost 6,000 or 7,000 Kyat. It took over one month. I had to pay back the money once I was cured. I paid back the money little by little during the rainy season. I have not paid it completely yet. I still have 2,000 Kyat remaining to pay."

"Saw Lay Mu" (M, 33), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #20, 1/02)

"They called the villagers down and gathered them. They ordered me to go and show them the KNU's place. I told them I haven't seen it. They disliked it when I told them I hadn't seen it. Then they pushed me down and jabbed me with a gun. They beat my buttocks with a piece of wood. It was a piece of firewood 2 feet long. After he hit me one time, he hit me with his pistol. He ordered me to tell them the place. I told them I couldn't tell them. They said, 'You can't [refuse . If you can't tell and you can't go, we will cut your legs off with a machine.' After he said that, they came in front of me with two guns. They were [DKBA officer] Moe Kyo's soldiers. Moe Kyo was behind me. They told me, 'If you don't tell, we are going to kill you. Look at the tip of the barrel.' I couldn't do anything at that time. One of the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] soldiers told me, 'Speak. We have already written down your name. If you don't tell, you must die.' At that time we went to show them. We had to go to show them. When we went to show them, they seized their [KNU] things. ... They came on September 25 th [2001] at 10 o'clock in the morning. It was only the Ko Per Baw who came on that day. There were about 35 soldiers. The one who commanded them was Moe Kyo."

"Saw Myint Thu" (M, 36), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #18, 1/02)

"When they ordered us we went and they beat us. They said that we gave the information a little bit wrong. We gave them information about the Nga Pway ['ring worm'; derogatory SPDC slang for the KNU]. They said, 'If the Nga Pway enter the village, say that they entered the village.' We told them that they came in the night. The villagers from yyyy said they entered at 3 p.m. and it was not night. We had to go and tell them, but we didn't go to tell them. We thought we would keep it and we would go and tell them the next morning. We thought it was no problem and we would tell them the next morning. We didn't tell the people who came to send the Kawthoolei soldiers. They said, 'We went to send the Kawthoolei soldiers to xxxx. Right now they are staying at xxxx.' At that time there were two Burmese units. One was staying at Peh Wa Hta and the other unit was staying at Paya Raw. ... They didn't order us to go, we went ourselves. At that time they didn't beat us yet. They were very happy because we came to send them the information. He said, 'Thank you for coming to tell us.' I told him, 'When they arrived in xxxx village, they didn't sleep in the village. They went out and I don't know where they were going.' The next morning the people from zzzz told them that they went to send them [KNLA] to xxxx the evening before and when they arrived back to zzzz it wasn't dark yet. It was 3 p.m. in the evening. Then they [SPDC] ordered us to go to yyyy. He said, 'We treat you as the Burmese village head, so why are you like this? You came to lie. I don't want to see you. You are the relative of the Nga Pway. When I see you I want to eat you. I will eat you.' But he didn't dare to eat us. He ordered us to come. He said, 'You are connected to the Nga Pway. They arrived at 3 p.m. in the evening, but you said they arrived in the night after dark. You came to tell us the next morning.' I said, 'Mother came back [to the village] at night. We saw them at night, so we told you in the night. In the daytime we are not staying in the village. We are going to work. We have to work to eat. We saw them in the night so we told you it was at night. We didn't dare to come in the night, so we came the next morning.' Then he hit me five times with a very big piece of bamboo. It was as big around as a big toe and five plah [228.6 cms. / 7.5 feet] long. They beat me on my back. ... He said, 'Now we are not beating you. The Nga Pway are beating you. You feed the Nga Pway rice, so Nga Pway is beating you.'"

"Naw Wee Wee" (F, 42), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #48, 11/02)

"When they came during this dry season [January 2003], aaaa [a KNLA officer] came down and called a meeting at yyyy. Yyyy and xxxx are not very far. The Ko Per Thu ['Black Headbands'; villager slang for the KNLA] came back to call a meeting in the village. Many of the Ko Per Thu came to call the meeting. The military in Lay Kay said that the people didn't inform them. The Division Commander said that the village head hadn't informed him. He didn't dare to go and follow them because there were many of them waiting for them. He came after they had left. Then his soldiers went and beat them. I also went at them time, so I saw it with my own eyes. They were the Burmese unit from [LID] #44. All the female village heads ran away. It was during the cold season, maybe in the month of Pya Tho [January 2003]. ... They beat them. They even beat the women who have small babies. They beat many people. There were about five or six people. There were six people."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

"I had to be the one-month village head. The Burmese hit me. They beat me two times on my leg and it became purple. They ordered me. They said that the village head had lied to them. They said that the people [KNU] had come and spoken. They said that the village head had lied to them and didn't report to them. When they arrived they hit and beat [them]. All the chairpersons fled. They didn't dare to face them. They tied up the chairperson and shot at her. They beat her and fired a shot by her ear with a gun. They beat each one-month village head two times. It was during the month of Taw Tha Lin [September 2002]. They said that the people hadn't reported to them. The people had reported to them, but they didn't report everything. They said that the people had lied to them. They hit us when they arrived at the village. They demanded to eat poultry, goats and pigs."

"Naw Hla Win" (F, ?), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #58, 5/03)

"Maybe she didn't inform them in Lay Kay when the people [KNU] held a meeting. Grandfather Operations Commander [KNLA] came back and held a meeting with the students here. She didn't inform the Burmese about that, so when the Burmese found out, Burmese Captain Bo Myint came and hit her. The Burmese hit her back eight times, shot a gun beside her ear and tied her to a coconut tree."

"Daw Mu Lu Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #65, 7/03)

Similarly, whenever a firefight has broken out between SPDC and KNLA units, it is usually the nearby villagers who are punished by the SPDC. Following a fight, the SPDC soldiers, unable and unwilling to pursue the KNLA, go to the nearest village to enact their retribution. The SPDC soldiers commonly arrest the village head and/or several villagers and accuse them of having prior knowledge of the whereabouts of the KNLA and of complicity in or even responsibility for the attack. They are then beaten and tortured for failing to perform their duty by informing the SPDC. As one villager from Bilin township described to a KHRG researcher in 2003, "They kicked, punched, and beat me. They said, 'The Nga Pway ['Ringworm'; SPDC slang for the KNLA] came to shoot us. You are united with the Nga Pway. Your feelings are the same as the Nga Pway.' They beat me because we didn't report to them [that the KNLA was nearby]. We didn't know that the people would come to shoot them." Even if the villagers are aware of the presence of KNLA soldiers nearby, they have little or no influence over their activities. In most instances, villagers are not informed by the KNLA that they plan to ambush the SPDC, and even if they are, they can do little to stop it.

This villager from Bilin township was portering for soldiers from LIB #2 when the unit was ambushed by the KNLA. The SPDC Army soldiers blamed him for the attack and tortured him in retaliation. They beat him with a rifle until it broke in two and suffocated him by wrapping his head in a soaked cloth. One of the officers then sliced open his thigh and calf with a knife. [Photo: KHRG]

"They tortured people when the fighting I told you about occurred near the village. It was aaaa and one or two villagers from yyyy village. They had come to visit at that time. They [SPDC] did it to all of them. They tied them up. They kept the one or two villagers from yyyy on the bank of a ditch and stomped on their backs with their boots. Aaaa is a xxxx villager. They [SPDC] entered the village and took up a knife and were going to stab the village head with it. They also saw aaaa and they tied him and beat him. They hurt him a lot. They did his mouth here [indicating how he was cut] with a knife and it cut him a little. It was better for him after the people told them that he is a crazy man. ... He is not a crazy man."

"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)

"We have to be afraid of the Burmese. We have to be afraid of them because they are torturing us. When they see us they beat and question us. They stabbed me. They stabbed me two or three months ago [September 17, 2002]. They saw me in the forest at Nya Doh Ni. When they saw us they called us and questioned us, 'Did you hear anything?' We told them that we hadn't heard anything. Then a bomb exploded and they hit us. When they saw us they gave us baskets to carry. Then after we had gone halfway fighting occurred. After the fighting finished they hit us. They said, 'When we asked you, you didn't know. When we asked you about your Nga Pway ['Ringworm'; SPDC slang for KNU/KNLA] relatives, you didn't know. You came to take a rest. You came to contact the Kawthoolei.' I told them, 'No. There were fish. We were cooking rice and fish.' They accused us that we had gone to contact the rebels. As for us, we stayed by ourselves. At the same time that they asked me, they took a gun and beat me with the gun. The gun broke. The butt of the gun broke. The barrel was very long. They beat my back. They beat me one time. Then they asked me again, but I didn't answer them. They asked me who shot them. I told them that I didn't know. Then they soaked a wet towel and wrapped it around my nose. I couldn't breathe. Then after we went a while longer we sat and they questioned me again. Then they kicked my eyes. ... They went back to Yoh Kla camp. They stabbed me in the building at the gate of Yoh Kla camp. They stabbed me with a knife. That person didn't say anything to me. He drank alcohol and came to me. He stabbed me two times with a knife and then he got off his buttocks and went back. ... They didn't do anything else to me. After he stabbed me he left. Then the people [other soldiers] untied the rope on me. After they untied me they didn't listen to me. They didn't give me an injection or bandage my leg the whole night. He stabbed me once in the ankle and once in my thigh. It passed through my thigh. ... They [SPDC] gave me 5,000 Kyat and one sack of rice. I didn't take them. They asked me to take them, but I didn't want anything."

"U Day Thein" (M, 42), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #46, 11/02)

"The Burmese beat me. Fighting occurred so they beat us. They beat me at the beginning of the rainy season when the people start ploughing. They beat me because fighting occurred. The people [KNLA] shot at them. They beat me on the ground. They called me to the ground and then beat me. I was staying in my field hut. I had just stopped ploughing. I came back to the hut when I stopped ploughing. I came back and rolled a cheroot. After I finished three drags there was a gunshot. When the gun fired another group ran behind me. I didn't know where they came from. I thought they were Burmese. One person looked behind and another person looked at the ground. There were many, and then the explosions started. I didn't flee. I couldn't flee because I was between them. I went down [from his hut] when the fighting occurred. The people [KNLA] shot at the Saya Gyi ['big teacher'; used here to describe an SPDC Sergeant] but it didn't hit him. He aimed at me with a gun. ... When they shot at us I saw the bullets hitting. When the bullets stopped the Company Commander [SPDC] said, 'Why didn't you tell us?' I said, 'I didn't know. If I knew I would have told you.' He hit me once. The NCO with one or two chevrons [a Corporal or Lance Corporal] hit me. Many of them hit me. There were four people hitting me. I couldn't hit them back. They didn't punch me at any time with their fists. They jabbed me with their barrels and their gun butts. They jabbed, 'chu, chu, chu' [imitating the sound of the jabs] and it was painful when they jabbed my back like that. ... They acted the same as if they had met a wild cat. None of them were soldiers [privates]. All of them were NCOs with two or three chevrons and Company Commander Kya Bay."

"Saw Ko Pi" (M, 32), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #49, 11/02)

"The new unit isn't hot-tempered. When they ask, we answer. We warned [informed] them, so they haven't been angry. We can't tell sometimes. If an event occurs in the village, we can't tell whether they will scold me or not. There was one time last year when the people [KNLA] shot near the village and I warned this Burmese unit. When the people shot near the village, I thought they [SPDC] would come and beat me to death. I came down alone when they called me. Nobody went with me in this emergency. I went alone. They didn't say anything so I was very happy. I had to go and sign a paper after I came back to sleep for 10 days. I went to Ler K'Ter. He [an SPDC officer] ordered me to find out who the people were who had shot at them. The people [KNU] asked me to say aaaa. I haven't seen them come again until now after I told him that."

"Naw Ber Kaw" (F, 52), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #39, 8/02)

"They never hurt me when I went to porter for them, but the people [KNLA] came and shot at them when I was building a house for those people [SPDC] and they beat me one time. They kicked, punched, and beat me. They said, 'The Nga Pway ['Ringworm'; SPDC slang for the KNLA] came to shoot us. You are united with the Nga Pway. Your feelings are the same as the Nga Pway.' They beat me because we didn't report to them [that the KNLA was nearby]. We didn't know that the people would come to shoot them. The one who tortured me was Khin Maung Myint. He punched, kicked and beat me. My head was cut with two or three wounds. He kicked both my sides and one or two of my ribs were broken. He beat me with a long piece of bamboo. My head was cut. You see, my teeth have fallen out. He beat me about 10 times and my back was in pain. There was blood on my head, shirt and sarong. I couldn't remember [he lost consciousness]. He questioned me and then I lost consciousness. They tied me up for one day and a night that time. He didn't give me food or water. I would have died if the village head hadn't come to guarantee for me. They tortured me at the beginning of the rainy season one year ago. Until now I can't work."

"Saw Say Tee" (M, 48), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #57, 5/03)

DKBA and SPDC soldiers have also beaten villagers, particularly the village heads, for being unable to meet their demands. In many cases a village may face numerous demands from a number of different military units at the same time, and are only able to fulfil one of those orders at a time. Village heads try to explain to the soldiers why their demands could not be met, but this is often answered with a beating [also see the 'Forced Labour' section] .

"They are the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] soldiers. They were angry with me because they couldn't demand bullock carts from us. They demanded 10 bullock carts. They were going to pull t'la aw [mahogany] logs. ... He is Bo Tin Win. He told me, 'Come and sit here.' I went there. I was carrying a bamboo hat and a pipe. He told me and a woman who came with me to carry rice to sit. She didn't dare to go. She knew Tin Win. He said, 'Auntie from xxxx, come here. What did you do? Only two bullock carts have arrived.' I said, 'I could only find two bullock carts.' He said, 'You are very clever to lie like this.' I said, 'I am not so clever as to lie. Elder sister [referring to herself] searched the whole night with the 'village mother / village father' [village elder]. The people told us they had to carry cut sugar cane. They were not free. When I went to ask at the other side of Baw Naw, they said they had to build a bridge.' He asked, 'Is it only your village that has to build the bridge?' I said, 'No, but the people aren't free to come. We could find only two bullock carts, so we only brought two bullock carts.' He said, 'Go see how many bullock carts are on sentry duty.' I said, 'I don't know. I don't remember how many bullock carts. I don't know. I will go back and ask the village mother and father. I don't know.' He said, 'Aren't you the chairperson? You are working for your people's place. You are clever.' I said, 'I am clever, but I am not clever in everything. I don't have food to eat. You can say whatever you want. I suffer a lot.' He kept me there for the whole evening. I said, 'Nephew, release me. Young brother, release me.' Some of them called me elder sister and some of them called me auntie. 'Release me. I will go back. This woman has a small baby.' They said, 'It doesn't matter. Young sister [addressing the other woman], didn't you buy bread for him?' She said, 'I didn't buy it. I don't have money. Release me. The people are waiting for us. If it is dark my baby won't get to suckle milk.' Then they sent us in the night."

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"We came back to xxxx by bullock cart. The children had started sleeping. We came back and he [DKBA] said, 'Gather the people and tell them that I order them to come and arrange bullock carts.' He was angry that they didn't get the bullock carts. He said, 'I am sending you to arrange the bullock carts.' He is the husband of one of the girls in xxxx. The people ordered him to come and arrange the bullock carts. 'The people sent only two bullock carts. Go find the eight remaining bullock carts. If you can't I won't release the village mother and father. Drive them together into the village. Do it for me. Gather them at the people's houses. Buy two bottles of alcohol.' It became dark. He talked on the radio, 'Bo Tin Win, I can't arrange the bullock carts yet. I can't find the village mother and father yet. I can only find the two 15-day village heads. Their shit and urine is dropping [they are afraid].' He [Bo Tin Win] said, 'Make them hurt a lot.' I said, 'Don't make us hurt a lot. Don't do to us like this. Your wife is also living in xxxx.' I told him, 'Pity us again. Release us. We are going back to find them again.' He said, 'You can't go back. If you go back you will tell. They [KNLA] will wait for me at the t'la aw [mahogany]. Don't go back. If I allow you to go back now, you are a cousin of aaaa [a KNLA soldier]. You will go back to call aaaa and you will ask him to come and wait for me on the way to yyyy.' He spoke to me like that. He called me to follow him because six of his friends [other DKBA soldiers] were waiting at the village. When I went back we got four bullock carts. When we arrived at Ta Thu Kee they shot their guns, 'raw raw' [imitating the sound of the guns]. He said, 'I am showing my ability to the xxxx villagers. Do you know that?' I said, 'You show your ability, but don't make too much noise with the guns. In the past you ate rice together with us.' ... He said, 'I can't rely on you. Every village respects me, but only xxxx doesn't respect me.'"

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

Torture usually involves some form of severe beating involving slaps, punches, kicks, being jabbed at with rifle barrels, and being beaten with rifle butts and sticks. Villagers are typically tied up during the beating and throughout any interrogation. The torture sometimes goes further, with villagers being sliced or stabbed with knives. Some villagers have had molten plastic dripped on their bare flesh. The soldiers set fire to plastic bags and hold them over the villagers so that the melted plastic drips onto them. A common form of torture is to wrap the victim's head in a nylon tarpaulin and douse it with water. The water seals the pores in the fabric and the person begins to suffocate. The victim is then unable to breathe until the water runs off or dries up, opening the pores back up and thus allowing the person to breathe again. This is done repeatedly while the villager is being interrogated.

SPDC officers sometimes draw their pistols and threaten to shoot villagers. KHRG has been told by villagers of several different cases of SPDC officers drawing their pistols and attempting to shoot them, but their guns jammed when they pulled the trigger. This happened to "Saw La Htoo Mu" [Interview # 27] , a villager from Bilin township: "Then he chambered a bullet. He pulled the trigger, but it didn't fire and he hit me. He hit me like this three times. Then he shot, but it didn't fire." Others have told how officers fired their weapons into the ground next to them or next to the person's ear.

"They [DKBA] called me and two of my friends. My friends were aaaa and bbbb. They punched us, kicked us with big boots and covered our heads [with a soaked tarpaulin to suffocate them]. We couldn't endure it. I cried. Everybody cried. We couldn't endure it. They covered my head with a tarpaulin. They must have folded it two or three times because it was very big and thick. They punched me two times in the head and kicked my body two times with their boots. They ordered me to show them the Kawthoolei [slang for KNU/KNLA]. If I didn't show them I had to die. They tortured my friends the same. We couldn't show them because we didn't follow them [KNU/KNLA]. They asked, 'Did they come?' We said, 'They came.' They said, 'Which way did they go? Where did they sleep? You must have seen and know it. You are a village elder.' I said, 'I don't know because they didn't call us, they went themselves.' We then had to carry loads for two days [as forced labour]."

"Saw Nay Min" (M, 50), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #78, 4/01)

"Because of aaaa I suffered. He said that I was a soldier and I have been the servant of bbbb [a Karen officer] for one or two months already. On the night when the Burmese came to arrest me, aaaa himself was also with them. The Burmese asked me to talk with him. He said that I was Maung Aye. I told them I was not and that I am a villager named ["Saw Ghaw"]. Aaaa was a soldier [in the KNLA] and the Burmese captured him. I couldn't do anything. Aaaa only spoke two words to me and they pushed aaaa out and tied me up. It was painful and my arms were bruised. They took me to Yoh Klah camp and interrogated me. They said that if they questioned me and I couldn't answer, they would ask my wife. They had also tied up my wife. Then they wrapped my head [with a piece of tarpaulin] two times. They told me to get a gun and a radio. I told them I didn't have them and I am a villager and not lying. They hit me with their gun butts. Then they stomped on me with their big boots. They choked my neck. I couldn't count the number of times they hit me."

"Saw Ghaw" (M, 30), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #12, 5/01)

"They beat me this time. They came at 8 o'clock. It was LIB #118, LID #44, Battalion Commander Aung Myint and Column #1 Deputy Commander Saw Hlaing Soe. They called me down [from his house]. Then we went. He said I was drunk when we went. Then he said, 'I will shoot you dead. You pray.' I said, 'I don't need to pray. Shoot until I'm dead.' Then he chambered a bullet. He pulled the trigger, but it didn't fire and he hit me. He hit me like this three times. Then he shot, but it didn't fire. Then he kicked like this [displaying the manner in which he was kicked]. When I fell down they went out into the middle of the village."

"Saw La Htoo Mu" (M, 58), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #27, 3/02)

"When the villagers fled they [SPDC] arrested and questioned the flat field owner [referring to himself]. They asked who was fleeing. I told them he was a villager. They also asked his name. I had to tell them his name. They asked, 'Why did he run? Is he a bad person?' I told them, 'He is not a bad person, he is a villager.' He [an SPDC officer] didn't believe me when I told him he was a villager. He asked, 'Why did he run? What does he do?' I told him, 'He doesn't do anything.' He said, 'He doesn't do anything, but he fled. If he doesn't work, he can't eat.' I said, 'He works a hill field.' He asked me what time he went to work. Then he punched me. He punched me three times in the chest, two times on my shoulder, two times on my neck and kicked my side one time."

"Saw Eh Doo" (M, 32), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #47, 11/02)

Some interrogations end with the villager being released immediately, while at other times the villager is taken away by the soldiers. Sometimes they are used as porters for several days and then released [also see the section on 'Forced Labour' ] . They are also sometimes taken back to the soldiers' camp and held there for several days or sometimes a month or more. During this time they are held in small cells or kept in mediaeval-style leg stocks. Many of the SPDC Army camps throughout the region contain a set of these stocks. One villager claimed that he was subjected to this simply for arriving late for his stint of forced labour cutting the brush from alongside a road. They are fed very little and what little they are given is usually bad. "Saw Ter Kee" [Interview #88] , a villager from Pa'an township, was arrested by the DKBA on the speculation that he was a KNLA soldier and detained in a cell along with about 50 or 60 others. They were fed rice that had cement powder mixed in with it. The soldiers forced them to eat it and would not allow anyone to wash out the cement. Another villager was not fed or given any water to drink for three days and was only fed then because one of the soldiers took pity on him and secretly brought him some food when his commanding officer wasn't looking. They are typically not allowed out of their cells to go to the toilet, and those who are locked in the stocks must soil themselves where they sit. The soldiers often continue to periodically interrogate and torture the detained villagers. The detention of villagers at military camps is practiced by both the SPDC and the DKBA. Villagers are usually only released when their village head can come to the camp to vouch for them and attempt to convince the soldiers that they are merely villagers and not soldiers. In many cases, a ransom must be paid before they are able to secure their release. The DKBA sometimes hands its prisoners over to the SPDC, who then sends them to prisons in towns in central Burma or Moulmein . DKBA and SPDC units also frequently work together to arrest and detain villagers.

"They hurt me many times. They put my two legs in the stocks [mediaeval-style leg stocks], pushed my body down and punched my chest. It was in this dry season during the month of Tha Tin Kyaut or Tan Saung Mon [October or November] 2003. They ordered me to go for 'loh ah pay', but I didn't go. They forced me to go and cut the bushes [flanking the road]. I went to cut them but I went late. They put me in the stocks at the camp. When one of the Thra Sit Kyu [Company Quartermaster Sergeant] came, he ordered me to lie down. He told me that I hadn't cared when they forced me, that I hadn't followed and done like the others. I told him, 'Saya Gyi [sergeant], I hadn't finished eating rice yet. I ate late.' He said, 'No you don't. You are a cunning man. We will put you in the stocks.' I thought he was lying to me, but he really put me in them. He didn't put my legs in them straight. He put my legs in spread apart. I kept my legs spread apart and I couldn't move. My legs felt very painful. He put me in there for an hour. He didn't do anything when he first put me in there. After a while he pushed my body and punched my chest. I couldn't move. He sat on my waist and punched my chest. I couldn't breathe. He punched me three times. The elder came at that time and saw it. He said to him, 'Don't do that to him. He is a villager.'"

"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)

"When I came back the soldiers of Pa Nwee and T'Gee Baw from the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] punched and beat me a lot. T'Gee Baw is a Battalion Commander. He beat and punched me. They tied me up the whole night. My legs were in the stocks. My hands stayed behind my back. It rained the whole night until morning. During the night I looked pale and was nearly dead. Another commander came and said, 'You are not receiving justice.' Then they released me and put me in a cell. I had to stay in a cell. I had to stay there for two months. They accused me of being a soldier. The Ko Per Baw accused me of being a Ko Per Lah ['Green headbands'; KNLA] soldier. They beat and punched me. When I was put in the cell they fed me rice mixed with cement powder. The Ko Per Baw fed me. They mixed it into the rice and didn't allow people to wash it out. They mixed that and chaff into the rice. ... I ate with the other people. One was aaaa. He lived in the back of yyyy. The people [DKBA] said that he was selling fake gold. There were many other people, about 50 or 60 people. They had different mistakes, like fighting or loving another man's wife. The people beat them and their heads were cut. They were put in cells. They killed two or three people the night I entered. They said they would kill one pig. I thought it was my turn. I found a rope and I put it on my neck, but I didn't die. ... The village head went to speak with them and they released me."

"Saw Ter Kee" (M, ?), refugee from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #88, 5/03)

Villagers are rarely given any medical assistance by the SPDC or the DKBA during their detention or after their release. Some villagers have been unable to work for days or weeks after being severely tortured. They must usually make do with traditional remedies made from leaves and roots found in the forest to heal their wounds. In an instance that occurred in January 2001, "Saw Dee Ghay" [Interview #10] , was stabbed in the thigh during his interrogation. He was left tied up and blindfolded for the next three days, during which time he received no medical treatment for his wounds. It wasn't until three days after he was stabbed that he was untied (yet remained blindfolded) and he first became aware that his wound became infested with maggots. After a number of days, a medic finally cleaned and treated his wound. He was still unable to walk properly and complained of still being in a great deal of pain two months after being tortured. It is quite possible that he also suffered some internal injuries as a result of the prolonged beatings that he received while being detained.

"The Burmese came to arrest me at midnight on the New Year. It was when the people had gone to the monastery and were coming back from worshipping that they came and arrested me. ... At first when they took me I didn't get rice to eat or water to drink. They put me in the stocks [mediaeval-style leg stocks] and also tied me. I passed urine and shat there. I couldn't go or come. I looked like a cow or a buffalo that passes urine or shits there and is very dirty. Nobody came near me. They just came to ask if I had a gun, but I didn't have a gun. They said, 'The people said you have a gun. When we come to ask, you say you don't have a gun, so the people have asked us to kill you.' I told them, 'If you will kill me, finish it because I don't have a gun. I have one 'tee law' [a type of homemade musket for hunting small game of no military value], I don't have another one. If you will kill me, finish it because I don't have a gun. I have only that one 'tee law'. You saw it.' They said that I have a gun and ordered me to find the gun. ... They tied my hands behind me. They tied one of my legs and put the other leg in the stocks. They also tied my neck. ... My leg that I am holding here, I can't walk well on it. They shot it one time. It is painful and I can't walk well. They shot me just one time. They mostly punched and hit my head. They beat me the whole day and night two or three times for two or three days. Later they decreased it a bit, but they didn't untie me. They didn't feed me rice for three days. They didn't feed me rice or water. On the third day they didn't see that one of their soldiers came to nudge me [awake] and feed me rice. But he fed me from outside the cell and I couldn't eat in the night time. Then he gave me water to drink. He told me, 'Eat quietly. Don't make noise. The commander will see. If any longer you will starve and die.' He fed me from outside the cell so it didn't go inside my mouth. ... I couldn't see when they beat me because my eyes were covered. I know only that they came and hit me with a gun butt. I also know that in the beginning they stabbed me with a knife. This is a scar from the knife and this also is a scar from the knife [displaying his wounds]. ... After three days they took me out of the stocks and they untied me, but they didn't uncover my head. I was untied so I touched my wound. The maggots were eating me, but because they didn't uncover my head I couldn't see. They covered my head all the time. They uncovered my face after 15 days. ... They opened and treated my wounds that the maggots had eaten. In the beginning when they hadn't opened it yet, the maggots ate me and they didn't go near me. I told them I couldn't suffer it, but they didn't care about me. If I told them, they beat me. I didn't dare to speak. I told them flies and maggots were eating my legs and I couldn't endure it. When I spoke like that they kicked me. I didn't dare to speak so I had to suffer. ... I had to stay there for a month and they released me when their unit changed. If they hadn't changed their units I wouldn't have been released yet. ... I have been back [in his village] for about two months. My legs are numb and I can't stand up. My hands can't hold things. When I come back and sleep at night my cheek is painful. In the beginning when they beat me it was numb, I didn't feel the pain. Later, I knew that my cheek was painful at night. Inside is painful [he may have suffered internal injuries as a result of his beatings]."

"Saw Dee Ghay" (M, 50), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #10, 4/01)

"I remember that they entered on the 8 th day of the waxing moon of Ta Gu [20/4/02]. When they entered [the village] they came up into my house. Then they woke me up. They forced me to go down. Then I went down. They called me to follow them to the other people's house and go up into the house. They went up into the other person's house and stole one bottle of alcohol and one chicken. They took me and tied me up in the night. They asked me about the place of the soldiers [KNLA]. I told them I hadn't seen it. Then he put a gun in my mouth and kicked me. He put the gun inside my mouth. They punched me one time and kicked the back of my neck one time. They tied me with a rope. They punched and kicked me after they tied me with the rope. The commander interrogated me himself. The commander was Zaw Hlaing Moe. They also called four other people. They were aaaa, bbbb, cccc and dddd. They asked for rope to tie dddd. He couldn't suffer so he fled and they shot at him. He wasn't injured. After they shot at him they came back and punched me. They asked me, 'Is he a soldier?' I said, 'No, he is a villager.' They said, 'He is a villager, then why did he run?' I said, 'He was afraid and fled. It is because what you are doing isn't right.' I wasn't free to speak. I was free to speak only one time, and then they put the gun in my mouth. They put the gun in my mouth and I wasn't able to breathe. ... In the morning they ordered us to hold their hats and fill them with rice. It was difficult. Maybe they didn't have rice also. They asked me, 'Do the Nga Pway have a paddy barn?' I said, 'I see nothing.' They asked me the names of the leaders. They asked me to tell them the names of the people who are soldiers. I said I didn't know. He said, 'You don't know. Which village do you stay in?' I said, 'I stay in xxxx village.' He said, 'You stay in xxxx, so you must know how many people are soldiers.' He argued and kicked me."

"Saw Eh K'Lay" (M, 39), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #36, 4/02)

Though the interrogators usually accuse the villagers of being KNLA soldiers and ask about the activities of resistance forces, it is clear that they are often aware that their prisoner is innocent and knows very little – yet the torture and detention continues. In some cases the main purpose appears to be extracting ransom from the village, but more often the detentions, interrogations and torture have the main purpose of creating a climate of fear and subservience in the village. After SPDC or DKBA units have brutally tortured a villager for days and repeatedly decreed that he is a KNLA soldier, it would seem illogical for them to release him back to his village – yet this is what happens in most cases. This is probably to ensure that all the villagers in the area get the message that any failure to comply with orders and demands will be punished brutally. Thus detentions, interrogations and torture which appear on the surface to be aimed at extracting intelligence about enemy operations are actually carried out as part of the campaign to bring the civilian population under control and make them subservient to military orders and demands.

"Another thing is when they entered our village last year [in 2001] in Taw Tha Lin [Burmese month corresponding to October] and ate things. [DKBA officer] Moe Kyo came up at that time. They came to our village at 4 o'clock in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet. He called us down [from their houses]. We went down. We thought we would go to him. When we went down and went to the toilet, he said he would shoot all the villagers dead. He is Htee Kyu. He is a servant of Moe Kyo. At that time it was 4 o'clock in the morning and a rooster crowed. There was a rooster in my house. When he crowed, he [Htee Kyu] ordered his soldiers to go and catch it, but his soldiers didn't dare to catch it. He said, 'You must go and catch it as I say. You must go as I order.' They caught the rooster after they called us down. They called us to gather on the other side of the river. There is a village there. After we were gathered, they took ropes and tied us. They tied us in groups of five people. They forced the five people to walk quickly. We couldn't walk because they had tied five people with one rope. He said, 'Walk quickly. If you don't walk quickly, I will shoot you dead.' I was angry, so I replied, 'If you want to shoot us dead, shoot me dead. We are villagers. We are not against you. You have tied us in a group and we can't walk, so we tell you. We also can't see because the sun hasn't risen yet. You call us and we must go. Right now, if you want to shoot us dead, shoot us dead.' They kept going after that. They went together with us. They handed us over to the Burmese when we arrived at yyyy. They handed us over to Intelligence. They called him 'IO' [Intelligence Officer]. His name was Maung Myint. He arrested all the villagers when he entered yyyy. After he arrested them, he questioned, beat, hit, choked their necks and wrapped their heads [with a soaked tarpaulin]. They sliced aaaa's face with the skin of a coconut and poked him with a knife and he became blistered. They asked him about the place [where KNU was hiding]. When he told them that he didn't know, they poked him with a knife. His whole body was bleeding. We didn't dare to look. They tortured him cruelly in front of us. ... They asked about the KNU's place. The father of one of them [yyyy villagers] wasn't staying there. They asked him if his father was KNU. As you know, soldiers must travel. As for him, he didn't know. He was young. He was 18 years old and he didn't understand. They tied him with a rope and hit his head with a gun. His head was cut. ... It was the Burmese soldiers, but the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] directed them to do it. The two of them were working together. When they [DKBA] directed them to do it, they had to do it. They said, 'Make more pain for this person.' So they did it."

"Saw Myint Thu" (M, 36), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #18, 1/02)

"It was in the forest not far from the village. We were coming back on the path so we met them there. They called us in the night and told us to sit. When we sat they told us that we were cooperating with the Kawthoolei and we were going to get rice from the village. They threatened us and hit our heads. I didn't dare to stay anymore. When they tied my two friends, they hadn't tied me yet, so I fled. They shot me when I fled. They didn't know that they had hurt me. If they knew they could have found me. One wound was in my thigh, one in my calf and one on the side of my calf. The people who shot me were Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villagers slang for the DKBA]. The one who led them was Thaw Ma Na. ... When I fled they accused me of working with Kawthoolei. They didn't release my two friends. They took them along and took action against them and put them in prison. They handed them both over to the Burmese. They haven't come back yet. They handed them over to the Burmese and the Burmese took them to the lower place. They put them in prison."

"Saw Htoo Shwe" (M, 40), villager from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #79, 8/01)

"They tortured three people including my uncle. When they tortured one of them they brought him back. He was sick for three months. He didn't dare to move. He was coughing blood. He couldn't move to pass stool or urine. He passed stool and urine at home. He ate there and slept there. That happened in Tha Tin Kyaut [October 2002]. He was still not healed when I came up here."

"Naw Maw Thee" (F, 20), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #55, 4/03)

Another way in which SPDC forces attempt to assert their dominance over the civilian population is through rape and sexual violence. While sexual abuse of women is not as frequent as detention with torture in Thaton District, it does happen and KHRG researchers have received several reports of it. Most of the abuse has come from SPDC soldiers, but sexual violence by DKBA soldiers has also been reported. Of all of the human rights violations being committed in Burma , there are none that carry the same stigma as rape. Many villagers view rape as the lowest of crimes to commit. The vast majority consider it to be worse than murder. Yet instead of receiving psychological and spiritual support from the community, women who have been raped often find themselves ostracised. Unmarried women who have been raped are considered by many as unfit for marriage, and married women, while finding moral support among other women in the village, are sometimes eschewed by their husbands who feel shamed by the rape. Villagers who have been violated have little recourse to justice. When it is reported to military commanders, some officers respond with promises to take action, but this seldom occurs and even these promises are accompanied by warnings to the women not to tell anyone else. More often, the officers deny the charges and threaten to punish the women for making false accusations and "spreading rumours" . Most soldiers who dare to sexually assault women continue to enjoy impunity. Their crimes go unpunished and they remain free, if not emboldened to do it again. Luckily for those involved, all of the cases presented here were cases of attempted, but not actual rape. All of the women and girls were able to escape being violated; either managing to flee or with the assailant being interrupted before they could actually be raped.

On September 15 th 2002, three DKBA soldiers attempted to rape and threatened to shoot "Naw Hsa Htoo" [Interview #81] , a young Karen woman from Pa'an township as she washed in a stream. When she approached their commanding officer the following day, no action was taken. The officer refused to listen to any of her allegations, saying that the leader of the three was married and would not have done such a thing. The soldier being accused drew his pistol, chambered a round, and threatened to shoot her dead where she stood, providing further evidence that should have supported her case. The officer dismissed this simply by telling his soldier to put his pistol away and concluded by saying that there was no problem and that she should forgive the soldiers. On July 21 st 2003, two young girls aged 10 and 12 were sexually assaulted by what the villagers believe to have been SPDC Army soldiers. At 4:00 a.m. the assailants crept into the room where the girls slept and cut away their underwear with a knife. Luckily for the girls the men were unable to proceed any further as some of the other villagers woke up and they fled. The girls themselves are unsure who came to them in the dark as they slept, and the villager who described the incident to KHRG was unsure if the offenders were soldiers or convict porters. However, it is highly unlikely that it were convict porters as they are usually tied up and guarded by soldiers at night, and therefore would not have had the freedom to have been able to get loose to assault the girls. Without any evidence, the villagers were unable to present the case to the SPDC commanding officers. They feared that they would have been labelled as troublemakers guilty of spreading rumours and would have been punished as a result.

"On May 19 2005, DKBA #333 Brigade, Battalion #3 platoon commander [usually a 2 nd Lieutenant] Saw Maw Thaw [attempted to] rape 18 year old aaaa from yyyy village. She went to work in zzzz village, and at lunchtime on May 19 2005 while she was in the field, Saw Maw Thaw went to her with the intent of raping her. He pulled her to the ground and took off her clothes and [her] sarong. She tried to escape from being raped, but she couldn't. She was wearing underpants so it wasn't easy for him to have sex with her. At that time one of the children who was taking care of the cows came near so he let her go. She ran away and reported it to the village head. The village head then went to complain to his [DKBA] leader, but nothing happened. He didn't have time to strip her lower body, but he did have the time to strip her upper body. His leader didn't take any action against him. She was not paid any compensation for the insult to her dignity."

"Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx ), KHRG field researcher (Field Report #1, 5/05)

"The SPDC didn't rape, but the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] did. They came with the SPDC. They did it. They did it to me. I suffered it. It happened on the 15 th during the 9 th month of 2002 [September 15 th 2002]. It happened when I while I was taking my bath. I had gone down to take a bath after the school was finished. They asked to have sex with me. They took off my sarong. When I spoke and shouted at them, they beat me. They argued and pulled at my body. I didn't dare to stay and take a bath. They made me angry. Two or three of them asked to have sex with me and made me angry. They followed me when I ran and they took off my sarong. I shouted and cried when they took off my sarong. ... He didn't ask for my love; he asked to have sex with me. He spoke directly. There were three people. His other friends helped him and said, 'Follow and have sex'. He showed me his gun. He chambered a bullet. He chased me and took off my sarong. He asked to have sex with me. I ran and cried. He said he would shoot me. I pushed him away and then ran back and cried. He couldn't hold my lower body. I ran and he hit me. He punched my back. He punched me two or three times with his fist. Then I escaped and ran back to my house and cried. I went to complain to their commander after that. He said he would shoot and kill me. When the commander spoke to him he said that he was only joking. He has a wife. He is married and not single. His commander said there is no problem and to forgive him. He stayed on his soldier's side. He had already gone back to tell him [the commander] because I went to complain about him at daybreak. I didn't go at sunset [of the previous day]. When I went to complain, he stayed on his soldier's side and I couldn't say anything. ... Afterwards he didn't come to me, but he told me to be careful. He wasn't satisfied with me. He glared at me when I went to talk with his commander. He said that I had embellished. I said that I didn't embellish and that he did it to me like that. [He then drew his pistol and said that] he was going to shoot me. When he went to shoot me his commander said, 'Don't do like that.' He didn't shoot me. They were the same. He chambered a round when I went to speak to his commander. He remained very angry."

"Naw Hsa Htoo" (F, 18), teacher from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #81, 3/02)

"I was so afraid of one of the Burmese soldiers named Pa Daw Po [a nickname meaning a 'soldier's small dagger'] that I became sick and developed a fever. I ran away to yyyy village. The people went to pick me up. He was going to slit my throat. He threatened me with a dagger. I was scared. He stabbed it near me. He said, 'Don't tell lies. Tell the truth.' I told him again and again. He interrogated me in the night. I thought he was going to rape me because it was after 11 o'clock and nearly midnight. He didn't call me to under the house. He called me very far. I went there without a light. I held a lighter and flicked it on. I had to wrap it in my sarong because it was hot. I told him, 'Major, you didn't bring a light. I can't see anything. I can't guess heads or tails.' He said, 'No problem. A light will come in a while.' A light did come after a while. He asked me to sit near him, but I didn't dare to sit there. It was dark and I didn't dare to sit near him. There were only Burmese [soldiers]. I was afraid of them. I was the only woman there. He asked me to sit near him in the dark. We [Karen] don't do this. I came back to sleep for a while after he interrogated me for a round. After I slept a while he called me to aaaa's sawmill. He interrogated me for another round. I couldn't sleep the whole night. In the morning I could only eat a little bit of rice. The people cooked good food, but I didn't want to eat. I was very afraid of this Burmese unit. This Burmese unit scolded me. The other Burmese units didn't scold me. They shouted at me and I shouted back at them, but I didn't dare to shout at him [Pa Daw Po]. If I had shouted at him a dagger would have reached my neck."

"Naw Ber Kaw" (F, 52), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #39, 8/02)

"They don't rape women, but there was a soldier or convict porter [probably a soldier since a convict would not have enough freedom to do this], we don't know which. They cut off a girl's short pants [underpants] with a knife. That girl is small. After they cut off that girl's pants, the people woke up and they fled. It was five days ago [July 21 st 2003]. Her name is aaaa. They did it to her sister also. Her name is bbbb. They are very young and don't have breasts. Bbbb is 12 years old and her younger sister is 10 years old. They don't know who did that to them. It was the Burmese because we Karen people don't do that to each other. It was in the morning at 4:00 a.m. ... The people didn't complain to them [SPDC officers]. If we don't have evidence to show, we can't tell them because we are afraid that they will accuse us of spreading rumours. We dare to tell them only if we know the people who did that."

"Saw Zaw Kee" (F, 48), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #62, 7/03)

Top of Report | Terms and Abbreviations | Table of Contents | Introduction and Executive Summary | Forces in the District | Forced Labour | Landmines | Killings, Detention, and Torture | Fees, Looting, and Extortion | Restrictions | Food Security | Education and Health | Flight and Displacement | Future of the Area | Appendices