Following are the direct translations of some written orders sent from SLORC Army units to Chin villages in Chin State, northwestern Burma. Copies of these orders were provided to KHRG by the Chin Human Rights Organisation, which is now actively documenting the human rights situation in Chin State. For related information, see also "SLORC Abuses in Chin State" (KHRG #97-03, 15/3/97) and "The Situation in Northwestern Burma" (KHRG #96-06, 30/1/96).
These orders include demands for forced labour on roads and at Army camps, extortion money, food, building materials, and intelligence. For every order reproduced here, hundreds more are issued every week; these should be seen only as a small representative sampling. Most of the orders are addressed to Chairmen and Secretaries of Village Law & Order Restoration Councils (VLORC / Ya Wa Ta) from the Township Law & Order Restoration Council (TLORC / Ma Wa Ta). These are local levels of SLORC administration. A ‘village tract’ is all the villages in a subarea of the township. While the Township LORC consists of SLORC officials under direct military control, the Village LORC members are appointed, often against their will, by the local military. They are responsible for providing forced labourers, money, materials, intelligence etc. as demanded by the military and the Township LORC, and they are the first to be arrested and tortured if they fail to do so. The similarity of these orders to those obtained by KHRG in Karen areas at the opposite end of Burma show the systematic, widespread, and consistent nature of SLORC abuses throughout all rural areas of the country.
Most of these orders were typed, copied and sent to villages throughout the township. Photocopies of the Burmese originals (with village names blacked out) are available upon approved request. We have attempted to accurately reproduce the visual page layout of each order, and underlining, etc. are as they appear in the order. ‘Stamp:’ gives the translation of the unit stamp affixed to some of the orders. Italic text in square brackets has been added by KHRG for clarification where necessary. Note that Burmese grammar is very different from English, and therefore some of the phraseology sounds awkward because we have tried to reproduce the wording as exactly as possible.
As in the originals, numeric dates are shown in dd/mm/yy format. The term ‘loh ah pay’ appears frequently; in direct translation it implies voluntary labour, but it is SLORC’s term for forced labour. LIB = Light Infantry Battalion; IB = Infantry Battalion; LORC = Law & Order Restoration Council, SLORC’s local and regional administration. Where necessary for safety, details have been blanked out with ‘xxxx’, ‘yyyy’, etc. Even so, please do not pass this report to any SLORC representatives.
Topic Summary
Haka-Gangaw road labour (Order #1), Than Tlang-Haka road labour (#2,3), orders for porters & messengers (#5,6), demands for Army camp building materials (#8), forced payment for a school (#4), extortion of money for sports and student festivals (#1,9,10), forced conscription and support for People’s Militia (#11-13).
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Order #1
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 1/4-5/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
12 December 1996
To: Chairman / In-Charge
Ward/Village Law & Order Restoration Council
xxxx village
Than Tlang township
Subject: Invitation for a meeting
1) For the Student Sports Festival fund and in accordance with the decision taken by the Chin State Law & Order Restoration Council, Than Tlang township must come to dig the road from Haka to Gangaw. They must come to dig 22,500 kyin for the car road in the first week of January [1 kyin = 10 x 10 x 1 feet of dirt or stone].
2) If you have difficulties in coming to work, others must be hired and the price is 200 Kyats for one kyin of ordinary soil. After deducting the wage for one day, you must come along with 135 Kyats unit price for each kyin.
3) The meeting will be held in the community hall of the Township Law & Order Restoration Council group on 18/12/96 at 1:00 p.m. The village tract LORC Chairmen, Secretaries, members and responsible people are invited to attend the meeting without fail (without fail).
[Sd.]
(for)
Chairman
(Kyin
Za Pone, Secretary)
Copy to: - Sent
- Office
copy
[Gangaw is in northern Magwe Division 90 km. as the crow flies southeast of Haka, but this road goes through rugged hills and will actually be much longer. Paragraph 2 implies that SLORC may be providing 65 kyats per kyin to pay the forced labourers, but that all this money is simply being kept by the Township LORC. The Township LORC has reportedly claimed that it has allocated wages for the labourers, but has then decided on its own to ‘donate’ all these wages to the Student Sports Festival fund - which is in its turn stolen by officials and the military. Regardless, the reality is that no one on this road is being paid, and those who cannot work are being forced to pay 135 Kyats per kyin. No one is being ‘hired’ as the order claims.]
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Order #2
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 01/1-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
24 April 1996
To: In-Charge
Ward/Village Law & Order Restoration
Council
xxxx ward/village
Than Tlang township
Subject: Regarding
widening the motor road by 20 feet
Reference: 1) Letter # 93/3-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah) from this
office dated 18/1/96
2)
Letter # 01/3-18/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah) from this office dated 26/2/96
3)
Letter # 01/3-18/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah) from this office dated 29/2/96
2)
Letter # 01/3-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah) from this office dated 4/4/96
1) In accordance with the resolution of the meeting which was attended by members of the Township Law & Order Restoration Council, department heads and all village-in-charges, the work assignments to widen the road by 20 feet between Than Tlang and Haka shall be completed within April 1996. You have already been informed that we will take serious action against any village which cannot finish its assignment. This has been frequently acknowledged by letter and by spoken communication.
2) However, until today, 24/4/96, we have found that you have not started yet. This assignment is a national duty and is also regional development. We have already given you enough time to do it. Furthermore, the Township Law & Order Restoration Council assisted as much as we could towards all of your needs. If you give any reason, such as that you came late and could not fulfill your assignment building the motor road, we will not accept any such reason.
3) We hereby inform you to complete the building of the road in April using all villagers necessary from your village. Anyone who refuses to come to build the road shall be punished according to the law, and you should inform this office. We hereby inform you again to report to the Township Law & Order Restoration Council when you go to build the road. We hereby inform any villages which cannot come to do it by 26/4/96 that all members of the Village Law & Order Restoration Council must come and meet with the Chairman of the Township Law & Order Restoration Council on 30/4/96 at 10:00 a.m. without fail.
[Sd.]
(Tin
Aung)
Chairman
Copy to: - Township engineer, public works department, Than Tlang;
assign
a place when they come to report to Than Tlang
- Township
health department, Than Tlang; take responsibility for health care
-
Receipt/Office
[Widening the Haka - Than Tlang road will make it more effective for military use.]
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Order #3
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 01/3-18/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
26 February 1996
To: Chairman
Ward/Village Law & Order Restoration
Council
xxxx town/village (Than Tlang
township)
Subject: Loh ah pay [forced labour] to widen the
motor road
Reference: Resolution 4/96 by supervisory group dated 21/2/96
1) Regarding the above subject, on 24/2/96 the supervisory group checked the road construction which has already been done.
2) Apart from the seven villages listed below which have fulfilled their duty, all wards and villages have not completed their assignments yet. Therefore in accordance with the above reference, 15/3/96 is the deadline to redo and finish your assignments.
3) The supervisory group will reassign the rest of the work which remains to be done.
4) You are hereby informed that first the supervisory group will only collect rice rations.
5) You can go home after sending the information and measurements to the engineer and the engineer accepts them [i.e. after the engineer verifies that you have built the road to all specifications]. (Instead of hard rock areas, build instead in softer soil areas.)
6) Up until now, Bel Har village has still not started building the road so the Village Tract Law & Order Restoration Council must solve this as quickly as possible.
7) The Chairmen and secretaries of the village tracts themselves must supervise this repeated loh ah pay assignment from beginning to end, as per the arrangement.
8) People must go to the worksite by their own arrangement. The responsible person must inform the road supervisory group.
9) The villages which have already fulfilled
their loh ah pay are:
1) Tibual village, Tlang Te tract 5) Thinghual
village, Tikhuangtuam tract
2) Mualkai village, Tlang Te tract 6) Tha Tlang
village, Tikhuangtuam tract
3) Kuhchah village, Chaung Ti Ya tract 7)
Leitak (A) village, Hmawngtlang tract
4) Ywakwa village, Saikah tract
10) You must not fail because it is your national duty.
[Sd.]
(for)
Chairman
(Kyin
Za Pone, Secretary)
Copy to: All members of road supervisory group; U ____
Receipt/Office
[This order relates to forced labour to widen the Haka - Than Tlang road by 20 feet, and predates Order #2.]
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Order #4
Stamp: [illegible]
To:
Date:
28/12/96
Chairman
xxxx village
Subject: To send rice
1) Regarding the above subject, you are hereby informed to bring 2 sacks of rice to Myeit Wah army camp on 29/12/96, as decided at the meeting with 12 villages under the authority of Myeit Wah army camp.
2) To set up Miza self-reliance middle school, Myeit Wah tract must contribute 8,000 Kyats. Therefore your village must contribute 1,000 Kyats.
3) If you send rice to the camp, it could make money for the Miza school fund.
[Sd.
/ Ba Than]
Chairman
Tract
Law & Order Restoration Council
Myeit
Wah tract
["Self-reliance" projects mean the villagers have to give all required money, materials and forced labour to complete the projects, then SLORC makes propaganda claiming credit for them.]
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Order #5
To:
22/11/96
Chairman / Secretary
xxxx village
Subject: To send servants [i.e. porters]
Regarding the above subject, the Chairman is informed to come along with 5 servants and 4 days of rations [for the servants], on 24/11/96 at 12 o’clock midday to Myeit Wah army camp. The Chairman himself must come to send them without fail. If the Chairman fails, the responsibility will be on the Chairman and Secretary. We inform you that we will take strict action.
[Sd. / 22/11/96]
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Order #6
To:
4/11/96
Chairman / Secretary
xxxx village
Subject: To provide 2 special messengers from your village
If the enemy enters the area of the villages, each village must inform the mobile column which is nearest to their village. We inform you to assign 2 special messengers in order to send this information as quickly as possible.
[Sd.
/ 4/11/96]
(for)
Column Commander
Frontline
#55 Infantry Battalion
[This will force the villagers to rotate being on standby for any call by SLORC to act as messengers.]
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Order #7
Stamp: [illegible]
To:
Date:
25/11/96
Chairman / Secretary
xxxx village
Subject: Invitation for a meeting
Regarding the above subject, a very important meeting will be held on 30/11/96 at Myeit Wah army camp, so you are hereby informed to report to this camp by 8 a.m. at the latest on 30/11/96.
[Sd.]
(for)
Battalion 2nd in Command
#344
Infantry Battalion
[On the back of this order was written, "Bring 2 chickens along with you".]
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Order #8
Than
Tlang Army camp
Than
Tlang town
Letter
no. 100/01/U 1
Date:
1996 January 18
To: Chairman/Village in-charge
Village Law and Order Restoration Council
xxxx village (Than Tlang township)
Subject: To inform you to supply wooden boards/bamboo/thatch
1. According to the above-mentioned subject, we need wooden posts, bamboo and thatch in order to build the Army camp in Than Tlang. Therefore, each village is requested to collect (450) wooden posts, (450) bamboos and (450) bundles of thatch.
2. The wooden posts must be 9 feet long, have a diameter of 1½ feet at the top and may also be used for fencing. The bamboo must be freshly cut. As soon as you receive this letter, you must cut and collect these and send them to Than Tlang Army camp.
3. Therefore, Sir, your duty is to provide these (450) wooden posts, (450) bamboo and (450) bundles of thatch, and when these are sent to the Than Tlang Army camp, the village in-charge or a member of the Village LORC must be present and inform the camp office.
[Sd.]
Camp
Commander
Than
Tlang Town
Copy to:
- Chairman, Than Tlang Township Law and Order Restoration Council
- Army Camp office copy only
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Order #9
Office
of Township Education Department
Than
Tlang
Letter
#: Section 1/(mgmnt)/9006/Sports (Funds)
Date:
1995 December 12
To: Headmasters
State High School/State Middle School
xxxx town/village [State Middle School]
Subject: Collection and donation of funds for the 8th Students’ Festival
Reference: Telegram order #658/Section (1-A) dated 5-12-1995 from State Education Officer - Haka
1. According to the above-mentioned subject, every student from high school and middle school must contribute 50 Pyas [½ kyat] per month starting from 1 December 1995 in order to support the 8th Students’ Festival. A list and the money collected should be sent to the State Education Office before the 7th of each month, as per the referenced message mentioned above.
2. Therefore, as per the above directions, I hereby inform you to collect 50 Pyas per student and send it to reach this office before the 5th of each month together with a detailed list.
[Sd.
/ 12-12-95]
(Thla
Cung)
Township
Education Officer
Than
Tlang
Copy to:
- State Education Officer, Chin State, Haka
- To all the headmasters
- Office copy
[Note: This order was apparently sent to every Township Education Officer in Chin State by telegram. It relates to the 8th All-Burma Students’ Festival which is to be held in Haka, Chin State in late 1997. In 1996 and 1997, students have to pay an additional 100 Kyats toward the Students’ Festival fund with their admission fees. People in Chin State must also give money, forced labour, materials, etc. to prepare for the festival.]
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Order #10
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 01/3-1/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
30 September 1995
To: Chairman / In-Charge
Village Law & Order Restoration Council
xxxx town/village
Subject: To pay money for the sports festival
Reference: Meeting minutes for 8/95
1) For the 1995-96 women’s under-15 and under-17 football competition and sports festival, and the sports competition for adults from the concerned townships (at Haka), the fund of 30 Kyats per household (excepting government servants and religious leaders) must be received by the deadline date of 31/10/95.
2) The village tract secretaries themselves must bring all of it [the money] along with them by the above date.
[Sd.]
(for)
Chairman
(Kyin
Za Pone, Secretary)
Copy to: Receipt/Office
[This is a form letter sent to every village with the village name written in the blank.]
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[The following 3 orders form a sequence - first every village was ordered to provide recruits for SLORC’s "People’s Militia", then they were ordered to send these men for military training, then they were ordered to pay for the cost of the military training course.]
Order #11
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 03/1-18/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
2 September 1995
To: Chairman / Secretary / In-Charge
Village Law & Order Restoration Council
xxxx town/village
Subject: To set up People’s Militia and send their names quickly
1) It has been learned that some villages of Than Tlang township have not formed People’s Militia. For those villages which have not yet set up People’s Militia, they must set up 5 fulltime members and 10 reserve members from villages which have under 50 households. From villages which have over 50 households, the strength will be 10 fulltime members and 25 reserve members. Set it up quickly and fill out the list as shown below completely. We inform you to do this and send it to our group without fail.
2) If you fail to send this we will take punitary action.
| People’s Militia | |||||||
| Serial # | Name | Age | ID Card # | Village Name | Fulltime | Reserve | Remarks |
[Sd.]
(for)
Chairman
(Kyin
Za Pone, Secretary)
Copy to: Receipt/Office
[People’s Militia members receive no salary, but villagers are generally forced to support them with rice and they are exempted from portering and other forced labour duty. However, they are held responsible for keeping opposition groups out of the village on their own (which they cannot, so they don’t try, and then SLORC accuses them of being rebel collaborators), and they are often called into action and used as cannon-fodder by the local SLORC Battalions. Generally no one joins voluntarily, so SLORC issues conscription orders like this one and the villagers have no choice but to draw lots to decide who will go.]
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Order #12
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 01/2-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
5 April 1996
To: Chairman / In-Charge
Ward/Village Law & Order Restoration
Council
xxxx town/village
Subject: People’s Militia
recruit training
Reference: IB #266 Letter dated 29 March 1996, Ref. No. 266/15/A-1
1) As per the above reference, the fulltime members of People’s Militia from your village will be given combat training in the battle course from 22/4/96 thru 27/4/96. Therefore, 5 fulltime people from villages of under 50 households and 10 fulltime people from villages of over 50 households must be brought to the Township LORC office by the village tract secretaries by the deadline of 20/4/96 without fail (without fail).
2) The chairmen of the village tracts and the leaders of the People’s Militia groups must come to this office for preliminary discussions on 12/4/96 at 10:00 a.m. without fail.
3) We inform all concerned leaders from wards and villages when they come to this office for the meeting on 12/4/96 to bring along the People’s Militia list including names, dates of birth, ages, National Identification Card numbers, father’s names, and village names.
[Sd.]
(Tin
Aung)
Chairman
Copy to: Receipt/Office
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Order #13
Township
Law & Order Restoration Council
Than
Tlang
Ref.
# 01/2-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah)
Date:
25 April 1996
To: Chairman / In-Charge
Ward/Village Law & Order Restoration
Council
xxxx village
Subject: Attending People’s
Militia training
Reference: Township Law & Order Restoration Council letter No.
01/2-17/TLORC (Tha Ta Lah) dated 17/4/96
1) As per the above reference, people from the towns, wards and villages must pay fees of 1,200 Kyats for food and 700 Kyats for rice, total 1,900 Kyats, for each member of People’s Militia attending the training. The secretary of the village tract must come himself to send it, we hereby inform you.
2) We have received the amount shown below from the people attending the training, and we inform the secretary of the village tract to send the remainder himself by the deadline of 30/4/96.
A) For 2 people, received 1,000 Kyats, remaining to pay 2,800 Kyats.
[Sd.]
(Tin
Aung)
Chairman
Copy to: Receipt/Office