FIELD REPORTS: 6^TH BRIGADEAREA

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
May 31, 1995 / KHRG # 95-20

This report contains two elements: accounts of SLORC human rights abuses in the Kya In Seik Gyi area, in the southern half of Karen State about 80 km. southeast of Moulmein and 100 km. West of the Thai border; and testimonies of porters who have escaped SLORC’s offensive against Maw Kee in the Karen National Union’s Sixth Brigade area, 60-80 km. east of Kya In Seik Gyi near the Thai border. Maw Kee has now been captured and the SLORC troops there are dug in, but the offensive is continuing against other targets in the area. These events are all connected, for while the porters’ testimonies give an idea of the SLORC’s behavior in the frontline areas of its offensives, the other stories show how SLORC behaves 59 km. behind its own lines, in areas which it already securely holds. In other words even if the SLORC offensive ends after capturing new territory, the offensive against the civilians in those areas will have only begun.

These reports have been gathered by independent human rights monitors operating in the respective areas. Where names have been changed to protect people, this is indicated by enclosing the false names in quotation mask. Please feel free to use this report in any way which may help the people of Burma, but do not pass it on to any SLORC representatives.

TOPIC SUMMARY

Shooting/killings of villagers (Story #2), torture of villagers (#1,2), torture of family members of suspects (#1,2), abuse of women (#1,2), burning villages (#1), extortion (#1,8), SLORC corruption (#1,6,8), hospital harassment of SLORC victims (#2), blaming abuses on KNU (#2), porters from urban areas (#3-8), killing porters (#3,7), torture of porters (#3-8), porters in bottle (#4).

#1

The following report was received from a human rights monitor in the Kya In Seik Gyi area:

Pee Setan village, Kya In Township, is 10 miles northeast of Kya In Seik Town, Karen State. Soldiers of Infantry Battalion #62 have a camp 5 miles from the village, so they often come to loot the village. On 21 February 1995 a mobile column from IB #62 led by Major Ohn Myint came into the village. There was some fighting with Karen forces who were in the village at the time, and the SLORC troops withdrew to the Nyaung Gone quarter of the village and burnt that part of the village down. While the village was burning the villagers fled, including U Bu Ghay, male, age 52, a Karen Buddhist farmer. While people were running, the SLORC troops arrested him, tied his wrists behind his back and tortured him in many ways, kicking his head and chest with their boots and beating him with a stick. He suffered head injuries and his face was covered with blood. The soldiers walked on his legs and rolled a bamboo up and down his shins (a particularly painful form of torture). They forced his head back, put a thin piece of cloth on his face and poured water into his nose.

The soldiers then took U Bu Ghay to his house in the village. In his house, they searched for belongings and arrested his wife, Naw Ler Mo. They tied her wrists behind her back with a rope, walked on her legs, covered her face with plastic and poured water into her nose. Then they took U Bu Ghay and Naw Ler Mo back to the Nyaung Gone quarter of the village. They released her but took him to Kyaun Na Kwa village. The next day, the village head along with U Bu Ghay’s sister and daughters went to Kyaun Na Kwa, and the SLORC troops demanded a bribe of 10,000 Kyat to release U Bu Ghay. The villagers apologized to the soldiers (that there had been fighting in the village) and paid 5,000 Kyat. Then U Bu Ghay was released. He couldn’t get back to his village because of his injuries, so he was given treatment by the villagers at Than Pa Yah village. He and his wife do not dare stay in Pee Setan village any longer.

[Note: Infantry Battalion #62 gained notoriety in July 1994 when it attacked Halockhani refugee camp, a camp of four to six thousand Mon refugees who had been forcibly repatriated by the Thai Army to a site just inside Burma south of Three Pagodas Pass. The attack on Halockhani was also led by Major Ohn Myint. At the time, he and IB #62 were being rotated out of their station at three pagodas Pass to Ye. They are now based in Kya In township, and Major Ohn Myint has obviously not been demoted or otherwise discouraged from continuing his burning and torturing ways.]

# 2

NAME: Pi Eh Wah                           SEX: F            AGE: 54         Pwo Karen Buddhist, farmer
ADDRESS: T--- Village, Kawkareik township
FAMILY: Married with 2 sons and 5 daughters.

NAME: Naw Paw Htoo                     SEX: F            AGE: 35         Pwo Karen Buddhist, farmer
ADDRESS: K….village, Kawkareik township
FAMILY: Married with 4 sons and 2 daughters.

["Pi Eh Wah" used to be Village LORC chairwoman (SLORC-appointed village head) in her village. "Naw Paw Htoo" is "Pi Eh Wah"’s eldest daughter, and Aye Myint, age 23, is her youngest. All of them, as well as "Pi Eh Wah"’s son "Saw Htoo Klih", were arrested and tortured after people in her village helped two young SLORC Army deserters to contact a Karen Army unit.]

PI EH WAH: On December 8, 1994 the SLORC came at night. They wanted to catch my husband U D--- but he wasn’t there, so they caught me. I said "My husband went out to catch prawns with his son". When my son came back they asked him "Where is your father?" My son said "He wasn’t with me, he went to the lake." The soldiers stayed all night around our house to catch my husband. Then they ordered my son to go look for his father. I wanted to go look but they wouldn’t let me. They told my daughter M--- to go. She found her father in the fields, but he was afraid and wouldn’t come, so she came back alone. When she came back, first the soldiers arrested me. Second, my son "Saw Htoo Klih", and then [my daughters] Aye Myint and "Naw Paw Htoo". They took us away separately in different directions. I said to them "My son and daughters don’t know anything. If there is a problem, it is with my husband and I. If you want to do something do it to me, not to my children." First they took me to Ma Nyo’s house. There they caught Ohn Kyi, tied him and beat him. After, he managed to untie the rope and escaped. He ran away and never came back. Then they said they were taking me to the monastery. When we left the house, the commander took my son ["Saw Htoo Klih"] and tied his hands behind his back. They took us to the school, but different parts of the school - one up and one down. They also took Aye Myint to the school, but then they took her to Ywah Dan Shay village. There they treated her badly in many ways. They put a plastic bag over her head and poured water on it [so she couldn’t breathe - the bag may have been nylon, which becomes airtight when wet. SLORC often uses this form of torture because it is more convenient than constantly having to remove and replace a plastic bag]. At the school they tied me, they covered my head with plastic and poured water on it. Then they interrogated me. They asked about 2 soldiers: "Did you send the soldiers?" And I said "Yes, I sent them." Then they threatened me. [2 SLORC soldiers had deserted and asked to be taken to a Karen unit, and the villagers had helped them] I told them truthfully. Then they beat me, and they covered my head with plastic and poured water up my nose. I pleaded with them not to beat my children. I said "If you want to beat them, please beat me instead", because I was only worried for them. But they beat my children anyway! The soldiers were interrogating and beating me behind the bushes while their leader Zaw Ko Ko was waiting in the school. He could here when I was screaming. The soldiers said "Your husband fled, so we’ve got you and we can do anything we want to you!" I just said, "Don’t hit my children, because they don’t know anything." I don’t think the 2 soldiers who fled were from Zaw Ko Ko’s group, they were from #3 Company. They were simple soldiers, privates. Their names were K---, and H---.

At 7 p.m. the troops combined together and took us toward Ywah Dan Shay. The commander’s name is Aung Khaing. When we got to the bridge he left my son behind, tied to the bridge. He said to me "Go quickly!" Then I met my daughter [Aye Myint]. She was paralysed with fear and she said she didn’t want to live anymore because the soldiers hit her and she was in a lot of pain. Aye Myint said "My life is not like other people’s. They sank me in a well, they beat me and did many things and they almost raped me." What had the soldiers done to her? I don’t know. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., I don’t know what they did to her. At about 10 p.m. she came back to the village. We met there after we were released. The soldiers told us to go back to our house and sleep quietly, so we went back and slept.

"NAW PAW HTOO": When they came to my house [in another village] they asked for my father and asked whether he was living there or not. My husband was sick on his bed and the soldiers asked how long he’d been sick. I said, "If you want to arrest me then arrest me, but please release my sister because she is not well." My sister had a new-born baby and she had malaria. The soldier said, "If we release her, what will the commander say when we get back to the camp?" He was a Sergeant. He said "Go and ask some other Sergeant to release your sister!" They told us they were punishing us under Article 17/1, and that we were collaborating with Karen soldiers [Article 17/1 bans any contact with ‘illegal’ parties or organizations]. They took me along with my sister and her baby. When we arrived at the stream the baby vomited and my sister gave him water. The soldiers and I walked along the paddy-field dykes, but my sister followed the stream. When the commander saw the baby vomiting, he allowed her to go back. He told her "If you see your father, tell him to come to us", and they took only me. When we got to the soldiers’ place, they sent me to the medic and he gave me an injection, then they sent me to Aunty Phone’s house. I heard they had already taken my mother to Ma Nyo’s house, and I was afraid. At 7: 30 p.m. they came and took me. They kept me near Naw Aye’s house for a long time, then my mother came and they took us to Hlaing Yu Kee. They released us at 10 or 10: 30 p.m.

The soldiers said "Go and sleep well at your home!" We were very happy because they were releasing us. When they released my brother they asked "Is your family now together?" "Yes", I answered. We went to our house together with 2 village headwomen, then the soldiers called the headwomen and went away, so for a moment our family was alone at home. We put candles in the altar. Later the soldiers came back, and there were soldiers around our house and under the house. When one of our candles had burnt out and the other was nearly gone, the soldiers called us, "Please wake up because our commander calls you." So we thought the commander would ask us questions. They said "Wake up quickly." My sister [Aye Myint] couldn’t get up quickly because she was still in pain. I took a sarong and went to her. The soldier called "Is she sleeping?" Then my sister woke up immediately and she was very afraid. Then I heard a gunshot, and I fell down.

"PI EH WAH": She was standing and her leg was hit. My younger daughter [Aye Myint] fell back and I saw her intestines come out. She was hit in the leg also. She was screaming, and she rolled over again and again until she died. The next morning I saw that the bullet had gone right through her body. She was laying face down and she was dead. Aye Myint was 23 years old.

"NAW PAW HTOO": She was between me and my mother. I told her to try not to roll on top of her baby. I said "Try not to scream, or maybe they will come and shoot us again." The soldiers where outside the house. When they fired, one bullet hit the frame of the house and a splinter of wood hit me in my belly - later the doctor removed it at the hospital.

Aye Myint had 2 children, both girls. Her husband had already died. The villagers held a funeral for her the next morning.

"PI EH WAH": I was hit by one bullet near my breast which came out in my back. "Naw Paw Htoo" had 6 wounds in her right leg, and a bullet also passed right through her left leg. She also had a bullet in her stomach [probably the wood splinter "Naw Paw Htoo" mentioned], and later they had to operate on her stomach to get it out. My grandchild was sleeping with us and his blanket was torn by a bullet but luckily he wasn’t hurt. The blanket of Aye Myint’s baby was also torn by a bullet but she wasn’t hurt either. My son ["Saw Htoo Klih"] laid down over me while they were shooting, and he pretended that he was dead. When it was silent again, "Naw Paw Htoo" called him and asked "Are you hurt?" He said "No." She said "If you aren’t hurt, please go!" After he left, he could hear us moaning from the other side of the river, but he couldn’t come back [to warn us] because he had to run. [His sister told him to run because being a young man, the soldiers would accuse him of being a Karen soldier, use this as an excuse for the shooting and probably execute him as well.]

The soldiers released us at 10 p.m., and they shot us at about midnight. They were from #231 Battalion. Their battalion commander is Bo Aung Khaing. The troops who shot us were with Zaw Ko Ko, he was the operation commander. He is a company commander. When they called us, one soldier came in the house and 3 or more stayed under the house. Two of them were Myint Zaw and Thein Win. They have 2 stripes [Corporals].

For the whole night we didn’t receive any treatment. Two other villagers looked after us and "Naw Paw Htoo"’s daughter. In the morning the other villagers came to give us some injections. When the doctor [probably not a real doctor, just the person is the village who knows something about medicines and therefore acts as a doctor] came to give the injections, he was very afraid. The villagers went to An Kong army camp and asked the soldiers to allow us to go to hospital, but the soldiers were afraid. Then the villagers asked the commander. They wouldn’t allow us to go in the morning. Then at 5 p.m. the commander, Aung Khaing, gave permission for us to go. He was in Ywah Dan Shay. He wrote a letter [the villagers cannot be admitted to hospital without a letter from SLORC] that said "We don’t know who came and shot them". We stayed the whole day, then at night we went to the hospital. The next morning Aung Khaing sent another letter that said the Karen came and shot us. The police saw the first letter, and the doctor saw it and kept it. We didn’t show them the second letter. We suffered a lot in the hospital. The police came and interrogated us. They asked all the details about what happened. We said we didn’t know who shot us. The next morning the soldiers had said "Karen soldiers came and shot", but it was SLORC soldiers who were staying in our village. The police asked "Then why didn’t the SLORC soldiers attack the Karen soldiers the next morning?" I said "I don’t know". A soldier named Major Kyaw Shwe came to the hospital and asked us what had happened, then he left. The commander [Aung Khaing] came to the hospital and gave 1,000 Kyat for our needs. He said he didn’t know the soldiers who had shot us. He told the village headwoman to tell people the Karen soldiers had come and shot us. Later the soldiers punished the village headwoman because they said she hadn’t warned them there were Karen soldiers around. She had to give them 5 viss [8 kg.] of chicken.

About 10 days later Aung Khaing came back and gave another 1,000 Kyat. I didn’t want to accept it, but we needed money so I took it [hospital patients in Burma must pay for their own medicines from local black market people, because the military takes all the hospital’s medicine and uses it or sells it]. In the hospital we heard that the commander Bo Aung Khaing asked the doctor to kill us with medicine. A woman there told me she overhead them talking while she was eating. So, every time the doctor came to give us medicine I paid him, because we worried that he would kill us. We gave him whatever he needed, daytime or nighttime. Later the doctor said "We never kill our enemy. If we kill the people in our hospital, then nobody will come to our hospital." Then I felt better. At that time we were the only two patients - everyone else had left.

The doctor took X-rays, but my daughter could feel and touch the bullet her leg. The doctor could see in too, but he couldn’t tell if it was an AK or G3 bullet [an AK 47 bullet would be fired by Karen troops, where as a G3 bullet would be from SLROC troops. The women were afraid that when the doctor found a G3 bullet in "Naw Paw Htoo" they would be accused of being rebel collaborators. SLORC hospitals often refuse to treat gunshot victims until they sign a declaration claiming that they were shot by Karen soldiers.] One week after they took X-rays, "Naw Paw Htoo" had an operation. Her face was covered but she heard the doctor say it was a G3 bullet. After the operation, they uncovered her face and a nurse showed her the bullet. "Naw Paw Htoo" asked whether it was from AK or G3, but they said she didn’t need to know and maybe the doctor would tell her. Then the doctor came again and asked her name, age, and parents’ names. He said he had to correct her admission papers. They had written her age as 25 instead of 35, and her name as M--- instead of "Naw Paw Htoo". It is very different. He took another 2 X-rays of her and one of me. I didn’t know if he would send them to SLORC or the village headmen.

"NAW PAW HTOO": We had nightmares in the hospital. I was unconscious twice, and once my mother was unconscious for a whole day. Dr. Y--- said clearly that the bullet in me was a G3 bullet. He said "It’s easy to know whether her bullet came from Karen or Burmese soldiers". After they found the G3 bullet in me the doctor came and interrogated me. He asked all my personal details and took them to the office. We were in hospital over one month. We left on January 13, 1995. The doctor gave us a card to leave. When we got home, we found out from the villagers that the soldiers were threatening to put us in jail. So we left right away and came to stay in a safer place, at xxxx I still don’t feel well.

The following testimonies were given by civilian porters who escaped SLORC troops attacking KNU territory at Maw Kee, about 100 km. south of Myawaddy along the Thai border. SLORC has now captured Maw Kee and has brought in enough supplies and ammunition to last them until October (the end of rainy season), making it clear that they plan to stay there. SLORC is now continuing its offensive against other targets in the area.

#3

NAME: "Maung Tin Win                     SEX: M            AGE: 39         Mon / Indian, port labourer
ADDRESS: Moulmein Town, Mon State                     INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95

I am from Moulmein. When I was returning home from my job, a military truck suddenly stopped in front of me, and soldiers grabbed me and put me on the truck. I saw there were already about 16 people arrested on the truck. We were taken to Kyaik Pa Nei jetty. We slept one night there. I don’t remember the date - it was nearly 2 months ago. I had never been a porter before. Our family always pays all their fees and ‘donations’. But this time I never got a chance to contact my family. Later I found out that the SLORC was sending 5 Battalions to attack Maw Kee village, so they needed many porters. That’s why the soldiers were arresting everyone in Moulmein, Mudon, Moke Ta Ma, etc. In Maw Kee I saw Battalions #104, #118, and #1. #2 Battalion was there but they went back. On the way I had to carry six 81 mm. mortar shells. I had to carry them too far. I have scars on my back. It’s been a long time, but they’re still not better. On the way, our group carried the heaviest ammunition and the soldiers always ordered us to move quickly, so we were very tired. One porter could not walk any more, so the soldiers beat him on his head and body. It looked like they would beat him to death. His hands were crushed. Then he was still alive, but they just left him near the path. I saw 3 other porters like this while we were carrying the supplies and ammunition.

From Ka Neh Lay to Maw Kee we were cut off because of the Karen resistance, and then I saw 4 porters die without anyone helping them. The dying porters asked for water but we had no water bottles - only the soldiers had them. Some porters bought water from the soldiers. One of the hired porters [paid by villagers to go in their place] had malaria when the Karen attacked the soldiers. He was too weak and thirsty, and he could not get up. There were no streams nearby. He asked for water from the soldiers, but they ignored him. Then he offered 200 Kyat for a bottle of water, and a soldier gave him water and took the money. The porter drank all the water and then he seemed better. I am telling the truth. We were all so thirsty. Later, we found a stream. If we hadn’t, I think I would have died of thirst.

#4

NAME: "Ko Zaw Zaw"                     SEX: M            AGE: 24         Burman Buddhist, trishaw driver
ADDRESS: Mon State                                            INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95

I was arrested on March 10^th at about 8 o’clock in the morning near the railway station, then sent to Moulmein. There was a steamer, and many porters inside the steamer. We went to Kyone Doh, Kawkareik and Thingan Nyi Naung. At last we reached the army base in the forest. We had to carry rice baskets and mortars from the base. They were 81 mm. mortars - six of them each. It weighed about 20 viss [32 kg.]. I saw battles twice. When there was fighting they kept us in one place and told us to hide in the bushes. If the frontline soldiers [point men] asked for more ammo, we were sent to give it to them. It was very hard. They beat us from the back and forced us to go. The hardest job was carrying 25 gallons of water from the stream up the hill [to the encampment]. They treated us like animals, not like human beings. They never accepted that we could not do something. We must do everything. Sure they beat us - if we were tired, if we couldn’t carry, if we were sick or so on. Every day they beat at least 3 or 4 porters. Soldiers checked the porters every morning and night. If some porters were late or tried to talk to each other, the soldiers beat the whole group of us. The soldiers were very young but very rude. They had no respect at all for age. They never called the elderly porters "U" [common respectful form of address to a middle-aged or older man].

We were all in one group. The curry was jackfruit, without enough rice. If we asked for more they beat us. We got 3 pieces of boiled jackfruit for each meal. The soldiers ate tinned fish, tinned beef and dried fish. For every meal they had at least beans with their rice. We didn’t get anything. The porters had to pay 5 Kyat just to get a cheroot from the soldiers. One soldier said we were supposed to get 8 Kyat per day [about US$0.07 at market rate - at time of printing]. But I never saw anybody receive any money from them. I served them nearly 2 months just for jackfruit. If I’d stayed any longer I would have died. That’s why I ran away from them.

#5

NAME: "Ko Maung Gyi"                     SEX: M                 AGE: 24        Burman Buddhist, day labourer
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Town, Karen State                     INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95
FAMILY: Married with 2 children

I was arrested near the cinema hall. May people were arrested there, by #104 Battalion. Sixteen porters were arrested with me. It was more than 20 days ago. My family didn’t know. I asked permission to tell my family before we went, but they refused. The soldiers said it would just be a few days to carry supplies and cheroots. We slept one night at Thingan Nyi Naung on a truck, then one night at an army base then the porters had to start carrying supplies. I carried biscuits and cheroots. In Maw Kee we made fences, bunkers and trenches. I don’t know their officer’s names. The one in charge, the soldiers just called him "Ga-tone" ["Baldie"]. We just got jackfruit and salt to eat. The soldiers got tins of fish, beans and beef. It was worse than living like cows. We had no extra clothes. We slept on the ground, with no blankets. We slept in the rain for 4 or 5 days. If we were sick, we were ignored. They beat us many times. Beat and smash. I told the soldier that my leg was in pain, then he smashed me. So, I said "I work for the soldiers but the soldiers beat me. Why?" Then 3 soldiers came and they all beat, kicked and punched me. I think they do it because they want everyone to be afraid of them. My leg was stiff. They didn’t allow me to rest. My shoulder also hurt from carrying logs. I just wanted to go back home. I am married with two kids. So I ran.

#6

NAME: "Maung Hla"                     SEX: M                 AGE: 20            Burmese Indian Muslim, trishaw driver
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Town, Karen State                INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95
FAMILY: Married with an infant son.

I was arrested in Kawkareik 20 days ago. The Section LORC leaders [town ward administration] and militiamen arrested me at night because I had a dispute with the Section leader. They sent me to #97 Battalion. The next morning #104 Battalion took me to Thingan Nyi Naung. Our group of 11 porters had to carry supplies to Maw Kee. My load was a basket of dried fish. 5 porters escaped along the way. At Maw Kee, my duties were cutting down bamboo, making fences, digging the ground, collecting jackfruit carrying water.

I have been a porter twice now. The previous time was last month near the Thai border with the same #104 Battalion. I ran away and reached a Karen refugee camp - I can’t remember its name. Two days later the village [camp] authorities handed me over to the Thai Police. They took me to Mae Sot and made me cross the [Moei] river to Myawaddy. When I got home I found that my son was sick, so I went to the section leader, explained how I had been a porter and asked for some money to take care of my son. So he collected money from people in the ward, but then he said that money was not for me. He said "Now that money has become public property". I got angry and told him that he was silly. That’s why he arrested me and sent me as a porter again. Unfortunately I ended up with #104 Battalion again and they remembered me. The soldiers tied me up with a rope and beat me. Then they warned me not to run away again.

The soldiers scold and beat us, and the officers say nothing to them about it. The officers say "You porters are bad and disobey the rules. That’s why the soldiers beat you." Some porters have been hired [hired by villagers to go in their place]. They have money so they don’t have to work., they just sit and play cards with the soldiers. We only got jackfruit to eat and one plate of rice, not enough. There were many jackfruit trees in the village. The soldiers said there was no extra food for the porters. If a porter asked for one extra cup of water, the soldiers beat him. They beat for any reason they want. It is no joke! We can die from their beatings. The Captains said nothing to the soldiers while they beat us, they just watched.

Now I will go back to Kawkareik. I know they will arrest me again, but I have no choice. I’ll discuss it with my wife and if she agrees we’ll move somewhere else.

#7

NAME: Min Htoo                     SEX: M            AGE: 26             Burman Buddhist, port labourer
ADDRESS: Moulmein Town, Mon State            INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95

I was arrested in Moulmein on March 9^th, at night. I was arrested by #104 Battalion soldiers. They sent me to Kyaik Pa Nei jetty. We were kept in a steamer for one night. Then to Kyone Doh. We went to Kawkareik and Thingan Nyi Naung by trucks. Then we walked. We carried supplies like rice and ammunition to Maw Kee. We had two meals per day, one plate of rice and some jackfruit. There were plenty of jackfruits in the villages. Sometimes the soldiers gave us salt. The soldiers were from 104 Battalion. They ordered us to dig bunkers and trenches around their camp. My hand was torn open, so one day I told them I could not do it that day. Then a soldier beat me again and again, at lest 10 times. I saw porters beaten every day. They beat us every day. The porters who tried to escape were beaten very severely. During a short battle near Ka Neh Lay, supplies were cut off. All the porters got very thirsty and hungry, so some porters asked for water. The soldiers scolded them and beat them so badly that two of them died. One of the men killed was in his 50’s, and the other was about 30. Also, four or five porters couldn’t walk anymore and were left laying there when we left. I’m telling the truth. I ran away because I couldn’t work anymore. They always beat us, and the food was very bad. We ate boiled jackfruit every day with not enough rice. If we were sick, the soldiers didn’t allow us to rest. They beat us with sticks. I tell you the truth. Now I don’t know how I will go home.

#8

NAME: "Win Hlaing"                     SEX: M            AGE: 31         Burmese Muslim, day labourer
ADDRESS: Kawkareik Town, Karen State             INTERVIEWED: 28/4/95

Three weeks ago I was arrested at my house by the section [LORC] leaders and militiamen. They said I had a debt of 600 Kyat for porter fees [protection money which everyone has to pay to SLORC to avoid being taken as a porter, although many people are taken even after paying]. Usually we have to pay 35- 40 Kyat per month for porter fees, but sometimes after 10 days they come and demand it again. Sometimes they even make us pay again every 3 or 4 days. They said it was my duty for the country, so I must go with the soldiers. I said I was afraid, so please excuse me from this. Then the militia arrested me and sent me to the cells of #97 Battalion. I had to carry potatoes, onions, dried fish and cheroots for them. Then at Maw Kee I had to make fences and dig trenches. The soldiers always beat us. I was beaten twice. One time I asked for a second cup of water so a soldier kicked me in the chest. The food was only jackfruit, salt and a plate of rice - not enough. I was thin, but I got even thinner at Maw Kee. Jackfruit again and again - every day was jackfruit. They gave us jackfruit to eat, then they beat us. Sometimes it was very hard to stand up anymore. They used bamboos to beat us. When we left Ka Neh Lay I saw 6 porters laying on the ground groaning with bad wounds from beatings. Some of their hands were broken. [These are the porters who asked for food when supplies had been cut off -see "Min Htoo"’s testimony.] If you send me back to Maw Kee, I will die. When I get home now, I will pay my porter fees regularly. Whenever the section leader asks we must pay 40 Kyat. Sometimes he asks several times per month. When we were in Moulmein, sometimes we had to pay 4 times a month, 150 Kyat each time. I don’t know where the money goes, but if a person joins the SLORC administration he gets rich. My neighbor is that kind of man.

[At this point "Ko Maung Gyi" added: "In Kawkareik, Tha Dun is very famous. He was poor before he became a SLORC committee member, but within 5 years he become a rich man. Now he’s retired."]

The SLORC doesn’t care about anybody. They think they can run everything. In Kawkareik, when they need porters the militia surrounds the slum area. Then they arrest the poor. They never arrest the rich. The authorities just go to the rich and demand money, about 2,000 Kyat. The rich man will never be a porter. But the poor and the jobless like us are always afraid of them.