SPDC ORDERS TO VILLAGES: SET 99-A
Toungoo District
Toungoo (Taw Oo) district forms the northern tip of Karen State, sandwiched between Karenni State to the east, Shan State to the north, and Pegu Division to the west. Much of this district is steep forested hills with small remote Karen villages. For several years these villages have suffered destruction and forced labour as SLORC/SPDC troops have tried to undermine the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in the area by wiping out village food supplies and forcing people to build a military access road into the area. This road now reaches Bu Sah Kee, though in rainy season it is wiped out and vehicles can only reach Kaw Thay Der or Yay Tho Gyi; hence the orders in this report ordering as many as 260 villagers at a time to "transport food", i.e. carry Army rations, from Yay Tho Gyi to Bu Sah Kee and other Army camps. From Yay Tho Gyi to Bu Sah Kee is several days’ walk over very steep forested hills.
Now that the SPDC Infantry Battalions are more strongly entrenched in the area the villagers were hoping for a respite; many of them in villages along the road even call their villages "Nyein Chan Yay" ("Peace") villages, having made an informal agreement with the local SPDC military that they will comply with all orders and demands if only their villages are not destroyed or forced to move. This includes villages such as Baw Ga Li Gyi and Yay Tho Gyi (Kaw Thay Der). However, these villages are facing increasingly heavy demands for porters and money by the SPDC battalions, and as they have no money to pay to avoid portering they are in a dilemma. At the same time, villages which are not seen as cooperating fully are being punished severely. In Saw Wah Der village SPDC troops recently chose all the nicest houses in the village and burned them, and all of the villagers now live in the forest in fear. Further east, SPDC Major Myo Myint could see the ricefields of Bu Sah Kee village from the camp of Infantry Battalion #26 which he commands, and the villagers there always flee into the forest when his troops approach; so in September 1998 he sent patrols out with orders to destroy the entire rice crop of the 60 families in the village. They uprooted, cut down or stomped down about half of the entire crop which was to support the village through the coming year, and the villagers there no longer know what they will do when they run out of rice.
The motor road now being built from Toungoo in Pegu Division to Mawchi in southern Karenni (Kayah) State is intended to create easier access to southern Karenni from the central plains of Burma, both to make military control of Karenni easier and because Mawchi is a mining area. The distance is about 80 kilometres in a straight line, but actually closer to double this distance because most of the route is through steep and remote hill country. Though it is usually referred to as the Toungoo-Mawchi road, there is already a road from Toungoo to Baw Ga Li Gyi, so the new construction is actually from Baw Ga Li Gyi to Mawchi. As can be seen by the orders below, the road is being cleared and constructed using large amounts of forced labour of the villagers. Many villagers in Saw Wah Der area lost their 1998 rice crop because there were so many SPDC troops along the road route that they didn’t dare to plant in the nearby fields. Construction stopped during the rainy season of 1998 but has now resumed. Once it is completed, it is almost certain that the same villagers will be forced to guard it against mining, sabotage or ambush of military convoys, because the road passes through remote areas.
Many of the orders below call for ‘servants’ or ‘loh ah pay’ (translated here as ‘voluntary labour’), SPDC’s terms for forced labour. The villagers who go are used as porters, messengers, road labourers, and doing Army camp labour such as sentry duty, cleaning, and building and maintaining barracks, fences and booby-traps. ‘Operation servants’ specifically means long-term frontline porters. Village heads are called to ‘meetings’ to ‘discuss the matter of servants’ or to ‘discuss clearing of the road’, but at these meetings the Army officer or local Peace & Development Council (PDC) officials simply dictate forced labour assignments and threats for failure to comply. Some orders refer to forced labour for the Na Pa Ka [the Western Military Command]; though they are based far to the west in Arakan (Rakhine) State, one Strategic Command of 3 Battalions has been operating in Toungoo District for at least 2-3 years now to assist the Southern Military Command.
Most of the orders below are from Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract, a group of over 10 villages administered by the Village Tract PDC in Baw Ga Li Gyi, a large village of several hundred households. This Village Tract PDC is clearly working closely with the local SPDC Battalions; they receive orders from the Battalions, then pass them on to the elders of all villages under their administration, sometimes with extra demands tacked on to enrich themselves. In the process, a complex system of ‘servants’ and ‘servants’ fees’ has developed within this village tract. Initially the local Battalions issue orders to the Village Tract PDC demanding numbers of forced labourers for a specific purpose. Knowing that the villages do not want to do the labour and will be slow to comply, the Village Tract PDC often hires day labourers through agents in Toungoo, pays for their ‘car fees’ (i.e. transport costs) to Baw Ga Li Gyi, and supplies them to the SPDC military. The Village Tract PDC then issues orders to the villages under their administration to pay their share of the cost based on the relative size (number of households) of their village; for example, a village may be ordered to pay for 10 of the 80 people hired by the Village Tract PDC. The amounts are often not specified in the orders because they are already understood; for example, 4,000 Kyats for each short-term porter plus 250 Kyats for his ‘car fee’.
Under this system even small villages must pay 30,000-80,000 Kyats per month, and many simply do not have the money to do so because of all the other SPDC demands they have to meet. As a result, most villages are delinquent in their payments, and once payments fall behind by a couple of months the Village Tract PDC often tells the village ‘we will no longer take any responsibility for you’ and reports the village to the military for failure to ‘perform their duty’. A military column might then storm the village to loot and burn houses as punishment.
In addition to these fees, villages are faced with direct orders to provide forced labourers, sometimes when the military says it is for ‘emergency’ purposes, meaning that they need labourers right away for one-time work. At the same time, they face constant demands for rice, meat, vegetables, fruits, cheroots, condiments, and building supplies such as bamboo and roofing leaves. In July 1998 villages throughout the village tract were even ordered to form teams to compete in the "Battalion Commander’s Cup Volleyball Tournament" (see Order #T64). Usually when villages are ordered to form teams for SPDC competitions, they are then forced to pay a heavy ‘entry fee’ to enter their team, while villages which do not form teams are forced to pay an even heavier ‘fine’. Some orders below also demand money for compensation to be paid to landmine victims and others who have been wounded or killed while doing forced labour for SPDC troops. While this may appear humanitarian at first, such compensation should clearly be paid by the SPDC, not demanded from the local villages which supplied the forced labour under pain of punishment in the first place. Furthermore, Order #T55 demands 100 Kyat from each family in all the villages to pay for a funeral, though there is no way that the funeral could cost so much; chances are that the excess will not be given to the victim’s family but will be kept by the local authorities.
For more information on the situation in Toungoo District see KHRG
Information Update #98-U5, "Continuing
Hardships for Villagers in Northern Karen Districts", and a full KHRG
report on the subject to be released soon.
Restrictions on Villages
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Order #T1*
Village Tract Peace and Development Council To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To obey the orders issued by the local Battalion Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the official instructions sent today, 6-1-98 at 8 o’clock in the morning, to the office of the Village Tract Peace and Development Council by the Battalion Commander of #39 Infantry Battalion, the following orders are issued for security reasons and all villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract must obey these orders. (1) All villagers must sleep in the village at night and must not sleep in any gardens / fields outside the village. (2) Everyone must ask permission from the village authorities in order to travel to other places such as Toungoo, and must go only when the authorities have registered them and given permission. (3) The family lists will be checked in all villages, and if someone is not sleeping at home at night when the family lists are checked by the authorities, he will be regarded as one who has contact with insurgents and appropriate action will be taken. (4) It is confirmed that these orders take effect from 6-1-98, the date of their issue. Therefore, you are informed to announce these orders to the people of your village so that they will know and obey these orders.
[Sd.] Copy to: - The Battalion Commander [This order makes life very difficult for villagers in the cropping season, when it is necessary to stay in their fields which may be far from the village. For those regarded as having ‘contact with insurgents’, ‘appropriate action’ means arrest, interrogation under torture, and often summary execution.] |
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Forced Labour on Roads
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Order #T2 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 11-5-98 Subject: Voluntary labour for construction of the Toungoo - Mawchi road Regarding the above subject, through the Toungoo - Mawchi Frontline Road Construction Unit, #48 Infantry Battalion from Baw Ga Li Gyi Base asks all villages in the area of Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract to provide a total of 20 voluntary labourers and rotate them every 5 days, so you are informed that the Chairperson / Secretary must send xx voluntary labourers to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (12-5-98) with their food for 5 days. Note: [blank]
[Sd.] [Forced labour constructing the main part of the Toungoo-Mawchi road, which runs over 100 kilometres from Pegu Division to Karenni (Kayah) State, began in early 1998 and is not yet completed. The road is to pass through remote and very rugged forested terrain for almost its entire length. See also Orders #T3 and T4.] ============================================================ Order #T3*
Stamp: Date: 11-5-98 Subject: Voluntary labour for construction of Toungoo - Mawchi road Regarding the above-mentioned subject, #48 Infantry Battalion from Baw Ga Li Gyi base have asked for voluntary labour through the Toungoo - Mawchi Frontline Road Construction Unit. Therefore the Chairperson / Secretary are informed to send voluntary servants, according to the quotas assigned to each village in the list below, to Baw Ga Li Gyi base on 12-5-98 at 7 o’clock in the morning with their food for 3 days. The more people the road construction unit gets, the fewer days they will have to spend to finish the work, so the total number of (20) persons previously specified has been replaced by the newly fixed total of (40). In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion, you are notified that you must send the voluntary labourers as specified and apportioned to each village without fail (without fail) and it will be entirely the responsibility of your village if you fail. (1) vvvv village voluntary servants
(20) persons
(for) Chairperson ============================================================ Order #T4
Stamp: Subject: Summoning voluntary labour 1. The Mawchi - Baw Ga Li Gyi car road is for the development of the local area. The road construction causes no one any trouble or difficulty, and the intention of the road construction is to make transportation and communication easy. Therefore, make sure there are no landmines and no ambushes at the road construction site or along the old car road. If there are any landmines or ambushes, the road construction must be carried out by the people of the village. 2. Therefore, you are informed that you must send (xx) voluntary labourers in turns [on a rotating basis] for the road construction to Baw Ga Li Gyi on 26-5-98 at (0800) hours.
[Sd.] [This is referring to the Toungoo-Mawchi road; a road already exists from Toungoo to Baw Ga Li Gyi, so the main work is being done on the Baw Ga Li Gyi to Mawchi section, which makes up well over half of the road’s length of over 100 kilometres. As the order demonstrates, forced labour is being used regardless of whether or not there are landmines or ambushes, and the construction is definitely causing people some trouble. Not only is there forced labour, but many farmers with fields along the road route didn’t dare plant a crop in 1998 because they were afraid of being grabbed for labour by the soldiers along the road.] ============================================================ Order #T5 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: Voluntary labour on Paleh Wah - Baw Ga Li road According to the instruction of the Battalion Commander from xxxx Camp, to repair the damaged parts of the road between Paleh Wah and Baw Ga Li, xx servants from your village must come to xxxx [village] bringing with them the following items and wait there. We will go by vehicle to repair the road. (1) Hoes
[Sd.] [This is the existing road from Baw Ga Li Gyi westward to Toungoo.] ============================================================ Order #T6 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send voluntary labourers for road construction The local battalion from Baw Ga Li Gyi Base has asked for voluntary labourers for the road construction as follows, and so you are informed that you can comply by sending the voluntary labourers (or) collecting the fees for the voluntary labour. The Chairperson (or) the Secretary himself must come (or) bring the voluntary labourers / send the fees on (4-12-97) according to the following list.
Those villages which have not submitted their population list as requested by the authorities must make the list and send it as soon as possible.
[Sd.] [This order relates to forced labour on the road from Baw Ga Li Gyi either to Bu Sah Kee or to Toungoo.] |
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Portering and Other Forced Labour
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Order #T7*
Stamp: To: Chairperson Subject: To send voluntary labourers In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #xxx IB at xxxx Base, you are informed that you must collect one voluntary labourer per house from your village and send them with their own food for 4 days; they will have to transport food [carry rations as porters] from Yay Tho Gyi to Maung Daing Gyi Camp and they must come without fail. Send them right now.
[Sd. /Lt.] [This was carbon copied and sent to several villages, some with the village name left blank.] ============================================================ Order #T8 To: Chairperson Subject: To send the voluntary labourers to Maung Daing Gyi village Regarding the above subject, the numbers of voluntary labourers to transport the food to Maung Daing Gyi Camp are assigned to Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract as follows: (A) wwww [village] (10) persons You Chairpersons yourselves must bring them to xxxx Camp on the 17th at 6 o’clock.
[Sd./ xxxx / Lt. Col.] At the same time, the meeting of the Chairpersons will be held. [This is a demand for porters to carry rations from the roadhead to an Army camp. It was copied and sent to several villages.] ============================================================ Order #T9 Stamp: To: Chairperson Subject: To send (8) voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, we cannot hire any servants from Toungoo so you are informed to bring (eight) voluntary labourers to xxxx on September 11 at 6 o’clock in the morning. You yourself must bring them.
[Sd. /Lt./ 10/9/98] Note: Take the letter to yyyy village right now. [Sd./ 10/9/98] [In this particular village tract, the normal practice is for the Village Tract PDC to hire labourers for the Army and then force the villagers to pay the cost (see summary notes on Toungoo District above); however, the villagers are also often called for forced labour when the Army can’t be bothered to go through this procedure, as this order shows. The note at the bottom probably refers to a copy of this order enclosed for another village. Orders #T10 and T11 below were received at the same time by other villages.] ============================================================ Order #T10
Stamp: Subject: To send (5) voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, we cannot hire any servants from Toungoo so you are informed that you yourself must send (five) voluntary labourers to xxxx on September 11th at 6 o’clock in the morning.
[Sd. /Lt./ 10/9/98] ============================================================ Order #T11
Stamp: Subject: To send 5 voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, we cannot collect any servants, so you are informed that you yourself must come and bring (five) voluntary labourers to xxxx on September 11 at 6 o’clock in the morning.
[Sd. / Lt. / 10/9/98] ============================================================ Order #T12 xxxx village elder I have heard about a tree falling between xxxx and yyyy, so tomorrow please order 5 of your villagers and some of us will also go and do [clear] it together. Thankfully,
[Sd.] [Note: This order is written in Karen, from the village tract PDC chairman to a village elder. This type of work, not work for the Army, is what ‘loh ah pay’ really means in Burma; however, in real ‘loh ah pay’ the village elder would not ‘order’ 5 villagers, he would ask for 5 volunteers. This order reflects on the way that SPDC forced labour is not ‘loh ah pay’, but even more so on how their use of force is creeping into and corrupting what used to be voluntary work by villagers within their community.] ============================================================ Order #T13 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 22-4-98 Subject: To send voluntary labourers The Battalion Commander of #xxx IB at xxxx Base asks (xx) voluntary labourers from your village and so you, the Chairperson yourself, must come and bring them. You are informed that if you cannot send them, you must hire the labourers by yourself through Ko xxxx at Baw Ga Li Gyi village. Bring the fees for the labourers along with you and come without fail.
[Sd.] [Ko xxxx is most likely an agent who supplies people willing to do forced labour for money. It appears that he is frequently used by the Village Tract authorities to obtain labourers to fill the military’s demands, as his name appears in several orders.] ============================================================ Order #T14 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 19-4-98 Subject: To send voluntary labourers The Battalion Commander of #48 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base is asking for voluntary labourers from the villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract, so you are informed to send xx voluntary labourers with their own food for 5 days to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (22-4-98), Wednesday, at 9 o’clock in the morning without fail (without fail).
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T15 To: Chairperson
Stamp: Date: 23-2-98 Subject: To send voluntary labourers to Baw Ga Li Gyi on
(24-2-98) You are informed to send the voluntary labourers to Baw Ga Li Gyi on (24-2-98) at 5 o’clock in the morning. The full quota of people must be sent in accordance with the instructions of Baw Ga Li Gyi Camp issued on (23-2-98) at 7 o’clock at night. Note: You must not fail.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T16
Stamp:
Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To bring 5 voluntary labourers You are informed that you yourself must bring 5 voluntary labourers to xxxx Camp on 6-1-98 at 3 o’clock in the evening without fail (without fail), and if you fail to comply, it will be entirely your own and your village’s responsibility.
[Sd. / 2nd. Lt.] ============================================================ Order #T17 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 10-12-97 Subject: To send the voluntary labourers we requested Collecting the exact number of labourers we asked for on (9-12-97), you yourself must bring the voluntary labourers today, (10-12-97), at 10 o’clock in the morning without fail. The reason for asking them to bring their own food for 4 days is that they must go along with the troops up to Si Kheh Der. (Therefore, you must comply without fail, and if you fail, it will be entirely your responsibility. If the local troops arrive at your village, you will face the same fate as Za Ba Ji and Meh Kyaw villages and we will not take responsibility for you.)
[Sd.] [The villagers sent are to be used for forced labour going along as porters for a military column heading to Si Kheh Der. KHRG has been unable to confirm what was the ‘fate’ of the 2 villages mentioned who failed to obey an order at the end of 1997, though it may have included the arrest of village elders or the burning of houses.] ============================================================ Order #T18 9-12-97 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Subject: To send voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #39 IB, you are informed to send voluntary labourers according to this apportionment. (1) uuuu [village] (30) persons
(6) zzzz [village] (12) persons As mentioned above, this is to notify [you] that the Chairperson and the Secretary themselves must bring the voluntary labourers with their own food for 4 days on (10-12-97), Wednesday, at 9 o’clock in the morning without fail.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T19
Stamp: Subject: To send voluntary labourers In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #39 IB to convey food [carry Army rations] from Yay Tho Gyi to Si Kheh Der, you are informed that you yourself must come and bring xx voluntary labourers from your village with their own food for 2 days to Baw Ga Li Gyi on (18-11-97) at 7 o’clock in the morning, and if you fail it will be entirely your responsibility. Note: It is only loh ah pay [‘voluntary labour’].
[Sd.] [In this context ‘It is only loh ah pay’ means that it is to be short-term forced labour (in this case portering) as opposed to longer-term forced labour, which is usually referred to more specifically as ‘frontline operations servants’, ‘voluntary road labour’, etc.] ============================================================ Order #T20 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send 7 voluntary labourers In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #39 IB sent today, (16-11-97), for voluntary labour [portering] from Yay Tho Gyi to Si Kheh Der village, you yourself must bring xx voluntary labourers with their own food for 2 days on (18-11-97), Tuesday, at 7 o’clock in the morning, and if you fail it will be entirely your responsibility. I confirm that the labourers will be used only for loh ah pay.
[Sd.] [In this context ‘only for loh ah pay’ means that it is to be short-term forced labour (in this case portering) as opposed to longer-term forced labour, which is usually referred to more specifically as ‘frontline operations servants’, ‘voluntary road labour’, etc.] ============================================================ Order #T21 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Subject: Voluntary labour to convey food In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #39 IB, all villages around Baw Ga Li Gyi must send voluntary labourers to convey food [carry Army rations] from Yay Tho Gyi to Bu Sah Kee, so (xx) voluntary labourers from your village must be sent to Baw Ga Li Gyi on 27-10-97 at 7 o’clock in the morning and they must bring their own food for 3 days. We will leave for Yay Tho Gyi after the labourers from all villages arrive at Baw Ga Li Gyi. You are informed to send the labourers in the specified number and on the specified date without fail.
[Sd.] [Copies of this order were sent to several villages, each ordered to send different numbers of forced labourers.] ============================================================ Order #T22 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 12-9-97 Subject: To send operation servants Regarding the above subject, #73 IB from Baw Ga Li Gyi Base has summoned operations servants from all villages for 17-9-97, but the number of servants was not specified. Villages can either send the servants from the village (or) hire the servants from Toungoo. We want to know how your village plans to get the servants, so you are informed that you, the Chairperson, yourself must reply to the Chairperson of Baw Ga Li Gyi on 16-9-97, the date of sending bamboo shoots and spikes, without fail, and must bring the remainder of the previous servants’ fees along with you.
[Sd.] [‘Operation servants’ means forced labour porters who might be taken to the frontline for weeks or months. ‘The date of sending bamboo shoots and spikes’ refers to the demand in Order #T62.] ============================================================ Order #T23*
Stamp: Subject: To send the specified voluntary
labourers we requested to convey food Reference: The decision made by the meeting of all villages on 26-8-97 (1) Regarding the above reference, at the meeting of all villages on 26-8-97 the quota of voluntary labourers for each village, bringing their own food for 4 days to convey food [carry Army rations] from Maung Daing Gyi to Bu Sah Kee, was agreed by all Chairpersons and Secretaries, but your village did not send the voluntary labourers on the specified date of 29-8-97. (2) On 29-8-97, #73 IB summoned your village to send the voluntary labourers as soon as possible, and your village failed again. (3) Therefore, the local Battalion informs you that as soon as you receive this letter, you, the village authorities, the Chairperson and the Secretary, must send xx voluntary labourers to the specified gathering place at Baw Ga Li Gyi / Yay Tho Gyi to convey food according to the quota as immediately as possible (as immediately as possible). (4) Villages which fail to send the voluntary labourers will have severe action taken against them. The Chairperson and the Secretary themselves must come and bring the voluntary labourers. (5) You, Chairperson / Secretary, are informed that motor vehicles from your village are not allowed to travel starting from 30-8-97 because your village has failed to send voluntary labourers. If there is a similar failure in future, appropriate action will be taken against you.
[Sd.] Note: Since 1 more voluntary labourer is needed, send one more. [At the time of this order, a road from Baw Ga Li Gyi to Bu Sah Kee had already been completed using forced labour, but this order was issued during rainy season, when it is not passable. As a result villagers still have to go as porters, then after each rainy season they are forced to rebuild the road.] ============================================================ Order #T24
Stamp: Subject: To send voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the decision of the meeting held on August 26th ‘97, you are informed that your village must send voluntary labourers today without fail in the specified number, and if you fail it will be entirely your responsibility. Note: The Chairperson himself must come and bring the labourers.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T25
Stamp: Subject: Voluntary labour to transport food [carry
rations] from Maung Daing Gyi to The number of voluntary labourers from each village to transport food was specified at the meeting of the Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 IB of Baw Ga Li Gyi Base and the Chairpeople / Secretaries from all villages held on (26-8-97), and the meeting made a decision that [the forced labourers of] some villages must gather at Yay Tho Gyi and the others at Baw Ga Li Gyi. In accordance with the instructions of the Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (27-8-97), after gathering at the specified place, each group of voluntary labourers must come to gather at Yay Tho Gyi Base on (29-8-97). The villages to gather at Yay Tho Gyi village must come on (29-8-97) by 12 o’clock noon, and the villages to gather at Baw Ga Li Gyi village must come on (29-8-97) by 6 o’clock in the morning. After gathering at Baw Ga Li Gyi village, all villagers must arrive at Yay Tho Gyi by 12 o’clock noon. You are informed that you must bring two copies of the voluntary labourers’ list. The group to gather at Yay Tho Gyi must bring a [second] copy of the voluntary labourers’ list for Baw Ga Li Gyi Base.
[Sd.] [In a very convoluted way, what this order is saying that at the meeting on 26 August the Battalion gave orders for forced labourers from the villages to gather in 2 groups, at Baw Ga Li Gyi and Yay Tho Gyi, on 29 August. The Baw Ga Li Gyi group must gather by 6 a.m. so they can proceed to join the other group at Yay Tho Gyi by noon. Both groups must bring 2 copies of the labourer list to be sent to Baw Ga Li Gyi (probably 1 for the Army camp and one for the PDC office). The whole group will then proceed to carry rations from Maung Daing Gyi to Bu Sah Kee.] ============================================================ Order #T26
Stamp: Subject: To send the voluntary labourers again to transport food [rations] Your village did not comply with the order to send voluntary labourers to transport food, so one person from each family from your village must come and gather at Baw Ga Li Gyi on 24-8-97, Sunday, today, at 7 o’clock at night, in accordance with the instructions of the Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base. Then they must wake up in the early morning on 25-8-97 to depart. [They must spend the night at the Base and then leave early morning with the Column as porters.] You, the Chairperson and the Secretary, yourself come and report the progress of collecting the voluntary labourers.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T27* To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send the voluntary labourers to transport food [Army
rations] from The Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base summoned the Chairperson of Baw Ga Li Gyi village on (21-8-97) at 9 o’clock in the morning and assigned the Chairperson to send one person from each family in all villages to transport the remaining food from Yay Tho Gyi to Maung Daing Gyi. You, the Chairpersons and the Secretaries of the villages, must gather the voluntary labourers to transport the food and send them to Baw Ga Li Gyi village without fail (without fail) as soon as you receive this letter. They must bring their own food for 5 days. The Chairpersons and Secretaries themselves must bring them. You must be informed that the villages which ignore this summons and do not respect this order will have appropriate action taken against them. You are informed that the assignment to transport the food at Yay Tho Gyi Base has been specified for each village, and the villages which do not accomplish their duty will be driven to carry out their task by all means until they fully accomplish their duties. Therefore, all villages must gather the labourers as soon as this letter is received and must bring the necessary things. You are informed that all of the Chairpersons and the Secretaries must supervise in order to get one person from each family and send them.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T28
Stamp:
19-8-97 Subject: To send voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the instructions of Advance #73 [Infantry] Battalion, you are informed to send (xx) voluntary labourers. With their own food for one day.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T29
Stamp: To: Chairperson / Secretary
Date: 19-8-97 Subject: To send the voluntary labourers again Regarding the above subject, the Yay Tho Gyi Base informed the Baw Ga Li Gyi Base that the voluntary labour group sent from all villages to transport food [Army rations] from Yay Tho Gyi to Maung Daing Gyi did not accomplish their duty according to the apportionments and they went back to their villages, so the Deputy Battalion Commander at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base summoned the Chairperson of Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract and instructed him as follows. All villages must get one person from each family in the village for voluntary labour and send them to Baw Ga Li Gyi on (28-8-97), Wednesday, at 12 o’clock noon. If the villages fail to comply, appropriate action will be taken. After arriving at Baw Ga Li Gyi at 12 o’clock noon, all must proceed to Yay Tho Gyi. Therefore, you are informed that all villages must send the voluntary labourers again to transport the food.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T30 Stamp: To: Chairperson You are informed that you, the Chairperson, yourself must come and bring the voluntary labourers as soon as you receive this letter.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T31 To: Chairperson 9-8-97 Subject: To send voluntary labourers Regarding the above subject, the Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 [Infantry Battalion] summons (260) persons for voluntary labour to convey food [Army rations], so you are informed that (xx) from your village must be sent to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base without fail (without fail) on 11-8-97, Monday, at 6 o’clock in the morning.
[Sd.] [This is a typewritten order copied and sent to all villages, with the village name and number to send written in the blanks. ‘Any male or female can go’ was handwritten as an added note.] ============================================================ Order #T32 To: Chairperson / Secretary On 13-7-97 at 7 o’clock in the morning, the Battalion Commander of #73 IB from Baw Ga Li Gyi Base summoned voluntary labourers from all villages to convey food [carry Army rations] from Yay Tho Gyi to Maung Daing Gyi, so you are informed that you, Chairperson / Secretary, yourself must come and bring the voluntary labourers with their own food for 3 days to Baw Ga Li Gyi on 13-7-97 in the evening after gathering the males/females for the voluntary labour according to the quota as soon as you receive this letter on 13-7-97. The list of voluntary labourers for each village
Note: Come today (or) tomorrow at 6 o’clock in the morning. If possible, come today without fail (without fail).
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T33 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send voluntary labourers In accordance with the instructions of the Battalion Commander of #73 IB on 7-7-97, you are informed that you, the Chairperson, yourself must come and bring the voluntary labourers on 10-7-97 at 7 o’clock in the morning as shown in the following quota list for each village.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T34 Stamp: To: Chairperson
Date: 30-6-97 Subject: To send operation servants Regarding the above subject, you must send the servants we summoned from your village as soon as you receive this letter. Baw Ga Li Gyi village has sent females as well [as males], so if there are no males available in the village you can send females. The Battalion Commander says that if you fail to comply with the order, it will be entirely your responsibility.
[Sd.] [‘Operation servants’ are long-term frontline porters.] ============================================================ Order #T35 Stamp: To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send voluntary labourers On 28-6-97 #73 Infantry Battalion of Baw Ga Li Gyi Base asked for voluntary labourers, so in accordance with the instructions of the Battalion you are informed that you, Chairperson / Secretary, yourself must come and bring the voluntary labourers with their own food for 5 days to #73 Infantry Battalion of Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on 29-6-97, Sunday, at 7 o’clock in the morning without fail (without fail), bringing the specified number of labourers as shown in the following list. It is loh ah pay [short-term ‘voluntary’ labour] to transport food [Army rations]. The list of voluntary labourers for each village
[Sd.] |
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Demands for ‘Servant Fees’
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Order #T36* To: Chairperson Subject: To pay servants’ fees 1. Regarding the above subject, you are informed that this is the last warning for you to come and pay the servants’ fees for the month of September today, 19/9/98. 2. If you fail, we will not take responsibility for you for any reason. (xx,xxx K[kyats])
[Sd.] [‘We will not take responsibility for you’ means they will not be accountable if they decide to arrest the village head or burn the village.] ============================================================ Order #T37*
Stamp: To: Chairperson/Secretary Subject: To collect and pay the fees for the servants hired
for the month of 9/98 1. The total number of servants hired for the month of 9/98 is as follows:
2. You are informed that the villages that remain to pay the fees for the month of 9/98 and the balance for the month of 8/98 are as follows, that the authorities of the villages must collect [the money] as soon as possible, and that if they fail to send the fees, Baw Ga Li Gyi village will not be responsible for hiring the servants collectively for other villages and these villages will have to hire the servants themselves. [i.e. if the villages pay the fees to the Baw Ga Li village tract PDC then the PDC will handle things with the Army; otherwise, the villages will have to send or hire forced labourers themselves to meet the Army’s demands.]
[Sd.] [For a full explanation of the system of ‘servants’ fees’ in Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract, see the summary notes on Toungoo District above. Often when the military in the area demands forced labourers from the village tract, the village tract PDC hires the labourers in Toungoo and then forces the villages each to pay the cost for hiring a certain number of them. The amounts demanded in the above list are the (number of porters) x (4,000 per porter) + an unexplained sum, which may be the ‘car fees’ for transporting the porters.] ============================================================ Order #T38
Stamp:
Advance #xxx Infantry Battalion Subject: Informing [you] to pay the servants’ fees as soon as possible 1. Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract is hiring and sending operations servants. And I have learned that Baw Ga Li Gyi village has extracted some money from its village fund to pay the servants’ fees on behalf of your village in order to smooth the work flow, because your village is too late in paying the monthly fees. 2. Therefore, you are informed to pay the servants’ fees for your village as soon as possible to the Chairperson of Baw Ga Li Gyi [village] and no later than September 5, since the work flow will be smooth only if you pay the servants’ fees not later than the 5th of every month.
[Sd. /Lt.] [The villages of this village tract are being forced to send forced labourers and also to pay ‘fees’ so that the village tract authorities can hire additional labourers for the Army. This order is a warning to one of the smaller villages in the tract to pay their fees, because they have not been paying and the central village of the tract has been covering by paying for them.] ============================================================ Order #T39 xxxx [village] - The
balance of 7/98 Fees for 8/98
Total Outstanding for servants’ fees - xx,xxx/ The total of xx,xxx kyats for servants’ fees was received on xx-9-98.
Stamp: [This is a receipt from the village tract PDC issued to a village which has just paid xx,xxx kyats toward the cost of hiring labourers to fill the military’s forced labour demands.] ============================================================ Order #T40* To: Chairperson/Secretary Subject: To come and pay the fees for the servants hired
for the month of 8/98 Regarding the above-mentioned subject, the fees for (80) servants hired and sent for the month of (8/98) are as mentioned below, and you are informed that the villages which have to pay the remaining fees for the servants hired for the month of (7/98) must come and pay the fees. The Chairperson / Secretary are not able to pay all the fees according to the distribution specified by the Supervising Body of Servant Hiring in Baw Ga Li Gyi village tract. Therefore, this is to notify [you] that you, Chairperson / Secretary of the village, must inform us if you would like to hire the servants by yourself, or you must come regularly and pay all the fees if you would like to hire the servants along with all villages collectively.
[Note: ‘G.E.’ is the General Engineering Corps of the Army.] The fees to be paid by the villages and the remaining fees for the previous month
The fees for the extra servants hired includes 250 kyats for the car fee [cost to transport the ‘servants’ to where they’re needed] collected according to the total number of houses in the villages.
[Sd.] [This is a carbon-copied order sent to several villages, demanding the balance due on the July 1998 ‘fees’ and the full amount of the August 1998 ‘fees’. These ‘fees’ add up to the amount which the village tract authorities have spent to hire labourers to fill the military’s demands for forced labour. Most villages do not have the money to pay this much, become delinquent in their payments and may eventually face military punishments such as the burning of houses or the arrest of elders. If the village cannot pay they must ‘hire the servants by themselves’, i.e. send the specified number of additional labourers - though they may be arrested if they try to do this, because it is really the money that the officials and officers want.] ============================================================ Order #T41 Receipt Date: xx-8-98 [sic: xx-9-98] The servants’ fees for the month of 8/98 for xxxx village are (xx,xxx K[kyats]) and the first installment, (xx,xxx K), was already paid. The remainder, (xx,xxx K), was paid today and has been received. The remainder, (xx,xxx K), was received today, xx-9-98.
Stamp: ============================================================ Order #T42 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect and send the monthly servants’ fees for the month of (7/98) You are informed that there are in total 70 servants hired for the month of (7/98) and you must collect the servants’ fees according to the list below.
You must collect 4,250 kyats per servant because we will have to pay half of the car fees.
[Sd.] [The normal amount would be 4,000 per porter, but 250 has been added to pay for their transport from Toungoo, where the village tract has hired them, to Baw Ga Li Gyi.] ============================================================ Order #T43 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect and pay servants’ fees for the
servants hired for the Regarding the above subject, all villages around Baw Ga Li Gyi village must pay the fees for (53) servants hired by the villages collectively and sent to the frontline in the month of (6/98). The fees for (20) servants to be hired later in this month from Baw Ga Li Gyi are apportioned as follows to each village, and this is to inform [you] that the Chairperson / Secretary from each village must collect the fees and send them on (15-6-98).
Baw Ga Li Lay village has been irresponsible for a long time. If you do not hire the number of servants according to your allotment, the local battalion will take appropriate action against you. The leader of Baw Ga Li Lay village must be rechosen and the result must be reported to Baw Ga Li Gyi village on (15-6-98). [This is a typewritten and unsigned order sent to several villages (the threat against Baw Ga Li Lay village was included on all copies). To ‘hire the number of servants according to your allotment’ means to pay the cost for the village tract to hire that number of labourers for the military. At the bottom of each copy, handwritten notes to the village head indicate how much his village has to pay, always in the tens of thousands of Kyat. These handwritten notes have been omitted here for security reasons.] ============================================================ Order #T44
Stamp: Subject: To collect and send the monthly
servants’ fees for the month of 7/98 You are informed that there are in total (70) servants in the month of 7/98; the total servants for each village is specified as follows, and you must collect 4,250 kyats per servant. The reason for asking 250 kyats more [than the usual 4,000] is due to the need to pay half of the car [transport] fees.
Regular fees per family = 100 kyats
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T45 [This is a hastily written receipt for ‘porter fees’ paid to the village tract PDC by a village.] xx-6-98 xxxx [village] The fees for two servants for emergency needs
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T46
Stamp: Subject: The matter of the servants hired on 2-5-98 The Baw Ga Li Gyi Camp asked for (30) servants on (2-5-98) and (21) were hired. The number of servants apportioned to each village is as follows, and you must come and pay the remaining servants’ fees.
(1) vvvv [village]:
Amount paid [already]
xx,xxx K [kyats]
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T47*
Stamp: Date: 6-5-98 Subject: To pay the servants’ fees of 21 servants for #710 LIB The Battalion Commander asked 94,500 K [kyats] for the servants’ fees for (21) servants who came along as operation servants with the Column of #710 LIB which arrived at Baw Ga Li Gyi on 3-5-98, so the VPDC [Village Peace & Development Council] of Baw Ga Li Gyi paid the fees. All villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract are responsible for these servants, so you are informed that the following villages are responsible to collect their respective fees for the payment.
[Sd.] [‘Operation servants’ are frontline porters. In this case the porters have not been hired by the village tract, but have been rounded up (probably without pay) by the military column before coming into the area. On arrival at the largest village of the village tract, the column of LIB 710 had 21 porters with them and demanded 94,500 Kyats to ‘pay for’ these forced labourers. The elders had to pay it, though none of this money will go to the porters, and then issued this order to demand that the smaller villages of the tract pay their ‘share’ of the amount already given to the military. Note that the total adds up to 98,400 Kyats, 3,900 Kyats more than was paid to the military. This is probably due to corruption within the Village Tract PDC.] ============================================================ Order #T48 To: Chairperson / Secretary / Village elders
Stamp: Date: 27-4-98 Subject: To collect and pay the regular servants’ fees
for the operation servants You are informed that the villages must collect the fees on time for the (32) operation servants hired by the frontline columns, and pay these fees as soon as possible before the end of the month. The distribution among the villages is as follows.
This is not the group [of porters] sent on (24-4-98), this is the remainder [of the fees] for the previous group.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T49* [This is a hastily written receipt for ‘porter fees’ paid to the Village Tract PDC by a village.]
Stamp: Fees received for servants in March
For the month of March For xx servants.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T50 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect and send the fees for the operation servants In the meeting held on (13-11-97), #39 IB asked for 100 operation servants for the frontline columns, and so the authorities of our village tract went to see Ko xxxx in Toungoo to hire the servants and ( - ) servants arrived here tonight. To pay the servants’ fees to Ko xxxx, your village must pay the fees of xx servants for every 100 people [of the population in your village]. You are informed that you must collect the fees for ( - ) servants and come to bring it as soon as possible, and you will be informed again by letter if the authorities ask for ( - ) more servants.
[Sd.] [In this case the Battalion has demanded 100 porters for the frontline from the village tract, so the Village Tract PDC has contracted labour agent Ko xxxx to hire that number of people. The Village Tract PDC is now demanding that the villages pay them the money which they owe to Ko xxxx on the basis of xx porters (@ 4,000 or more kyats each) per 100 villagers. This is a typed form letter with blanks for the village name, date and number of ‘servants’. On this copy some have been left blank, as the amount to be paid is based on the village population and the village head would know the amount to pay per ‘servant’.] ============================================================ Order #T51
Stamp: Date: 10-9-97 Subject: To come and pay the fees for 1 servant for 1 village Regarding the above subject, to pay the fees for the operation servants sent to the Bu Sah Kee Frontline, each village must come and pay the fees for 1 servant. If you want to know the details of the servants’ fees, come and see the Chairperson of Baw Ga Li Gyi village. The last day for sending the servants’ fees is (15-9-97). This is to inform [you] that the villages which did not come and pay the servants’ fees for the month of August according to their apportionment must collect the fees and come and bring them.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T52
Stamp: To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To pay the servants’ fees for the long-term
operation servants sent to The Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 Infantry Battalion of Baw Ga Li Gyi Base has summoned long-term operation servants for the Bu Sah Kee Frontline. Although all villages in the village tract must send these servants based on the ratio of total houses in the village, we discussed it with the Deputy Battalion Commander of #73 IB and sent the servants as shown in the following list. Therefore, you are informed that the fees for the operations servants we hired and sent to the frontline are specified as follows for each village based on the ratio of total houses in the village, and you must come and pay these fees.
Other costs in hiring the operation servants such as vehicle fees and expenses for food provided to the servants before they were sent to the Frontline is (800 kyats) for each village, and the Chairperson / the Secretary must come and pay the fees.
[Sd.] [This order was issued by the Village Tract LORC to inform village leaders that the Tract authorities have negotiated with the Battalion to hire long-term frontline porters rather than obtaining them from the villages. The Village Tract authorities have hired the required 34 porters in town, sent them to the Battalion, and are now demanding to be reimbursed by each village. Each village must pay for the specified number of porters based on village size and the standard amount (several thousand Kyat per porter) which is already known by village heads, plus 800 Kyat per village to cover the cost of transporting the porters from Toungoo and feeding them.] ============================================================ Order #T53 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Date: 24-7-97 Subject: To come and pay the fees for the operation
servants hired and sent for Regarding the above subject, (40) operation servants were sent on 22-7-97 as requested by #55 IB of the Na Pa Ka Strategic Command. You are informed that the operation servants are apportioned to the following villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract according to the total number of households in the villages, and all villages must come and pay the fees for the operation servants.
[Sd.] [In this case, IB 55 demanded 40 porters (operation servants) so the village tract LORC hired 40 people to go instead of the villagers, and is now demanding that the villages each pay for their allotted number of porters. The Western Military Command is based in Arakan (Rakhine) State but has been operating in Toungoo District for several years now.] |
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Demands for Cash Compensation and Other Fees
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| Order #T54* To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect and send the donations for 2 landmine
victims, Regarding the above subject, while going along with the Column of #138 LIB as operations servants, 2 villagers from Doh Der village, Saw Taw Ni and Saw Pah Yu, who stepped on land mines on (18-3-98) and (20-3-98), were admitted to the hospital by the authorities and Saw Taw Ni was later reported dead at Toungoo Hospital on (20-3-98). You are informed that donations for these two landmine victims must be asked from all villages and must be sent to Baw Ga Li Gyi to be handed over to their relatives through the Chairperson of Doh Der village, and you must come to bring the collected money to Baw Ga Li Gyi.
[Sd.] [Though these 2 villagers stepped on landmines while doing forced labour for an SPDC column, the authorities paid no compensation and ordered instead that it be paid by other villagers.] ============================================================ Order #T55* To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect funds for a funeral 1. A truck driver’s assistant named Saw Da Maung, the son of Saw Maung Oh, from Yay Tho Gyi village was killed by a vehicle (Pa/6315) which was part the convoy from Baw Ga Li to Bu Sah Kee on food carrying duty. 2. The authorities have instructed us to raise a funeral fund by collecting it from all villages to help his remaining family for all necessary things required for the funeral. 3. Therefore, you are informed to collect 100 kyats from each family in all villages and send the funds here.
[Sd.] [In this case, a civilian was killed by a truck which was part of a military convoy carrying rations, but as usual the SPDC is demanding that the villagers pay compensation to his family rather than paying it themselves. The amount of 100 Kyats per family in all villages is excessive, and is definitely much more than would be needed for a funeral; most of it will probably be taken by local PDC officials and the military.] ============================================================ Order #T56 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To collect funds from the villages and send them on time Regarding the above subject, in accordance with the agreement between the villages to raise the funds to hire operation servants for Baw Ga Li Gyi Base and for other matters such as money for landmine victims, voluntary labour, vehicle fees, and sending servants for emergency needs, all villages must collect funds as shown in the following list. Some villages are complying but others have failed. Therefore, you are informed that you must come and pay your village fees before (6-2-98), and that if you fail you will face the consequences and Baw Ga Li Gyi will not be responsible for your village.
1. Since the servants from three villages, Za Ba Ji, Meh Kyaw and Doh Der, went along with the battalions under the command of Na Pa Ka [the Western Military Command], these three villages are exempt from paying monthly fees by the local battalion. For these three villages, the 7 remaining villages must pay the servants’ fees according to their population ratio. 2. 30 emergency servants were taken by Ko xxxx on (31-1-98) and all villages must provide the fees according to the distribution for each village.
[Sd.] [The numbers shown under ‘Monthly Fees 2/98’ are numbers of porters; villages have to pay about 4,000 Kyat of fees per porter hired by the Village Tract PDC. The Na Pa Ka (Western Military Command) is actually based in Arakan (Rakhine) State but has also been operating in Toungoo District for several years now. Note that even though Za Ba Ji, Meh Kyaw and Doh Der have already sent servants with the Na Pa Ka and are therefore exempted from paying fees for their own servants, the other villages still have to pay for them. ‘Emergency servants’ are porters demanded on an urgent one-time basis by the military; Ko xxxx is a labour agent who hires porters in Toungoo for the village tract, though it is unclear whether he took the porters by force or paid them this time. Either way, the villages are being ordered to pay for them. Amounts are written under ‘Emergency’, ‘Vehicle Fees’, and ‘Remarks’ for this specific village, but have been omitted here for security reasons.] |
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Extortion of Food and Materials
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| Order #T57
Stamp: To: Chairperson Subject: To collect vegetables Regarding the above subject, you are informed to send gourds, beans and other vegetables from the hill-side fields to xxxx on (21-9-98).
[Sd. /Lt.] [This is an order for food to be sent to the local Army camp.] ============================================================ Order #T58 To: xxxx (Chairperson) Dear Chairperson, I am xxxx, the Intelligence Officer from #xxx IB. I want (15) durians today, so send them with this messenger who comes from xxxx village. I will come there later because I have no time right now. Help appropriately. Thankfully,
[Sd.] [Durian is a large seasonal fruit, usually weighing 1-2 kilograms each, which is highly valued throughout Southeast Asia.] ============================================================ Order #T59
Stamp: Uncle, I request you to send two (2) viss [3.2 kg/7 lb.] of chicken along with the Road Security Unit which is coming there today.
[Sd. /Lt.] ============================================================ Order #T60* To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 22-5-98 Subject: To cut and stack Wabo bamboo for Baw Ga Li Gyi Base In accordance with the instructions of the Company Commander of #48 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base on (22-5-98) in the morning, you are informed to cut (xx) 6-taun-long Wabo bamboo and stack them at the side of the car road. They will be picked up by truck on (23-5-98) in the evening, so you must finish cutting and stacking the bamboo on (23-5-98) in the morning. Total (xx) pieces - length 6 taun [9 feet]
[Sd.] [Wabo is a particularly large and thick variety of bamboo, 6 inches or more in diameter and 15, 20 or more feet long.] ============================================================ Order #T61
Stamp: To: Chairperson Dear Chairperson, We’ve just arrived at xxxx village. We are out of food since we have come from the deep jungle. Therefore, we want you to help our group with something to eat such as chicken, etc. We are at the house of the Chairperson of xxxx village. That’s all.
[Sd. / 27/4/98] ============================================================ Order #T62
Stamp: To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To send the bamboo shoots and spikes requested by
#73 IB of Baw Ga Li Gyi Regarding the above subject, you are informed that #73 IB of Baw Ga Li Gyi Base is requesting bamboo shoots and one-taun-long [18-inch-long] spikes, and you must send them in the specified numbers as shown in the following list of quotas for the villages on (16-9-97), Tuesday, without fail.
Note: Send them on (16-9-97), the specified date, without fail.
[Sd.] [Bamboo shoots, available in rainy season, are a highly valued food. The spikes are most likely for use in booby-traps at the Army camp. One taun is 18 inches; one viss is 1.6 kg / 3.5 pounds.] ============================================================ Order #T63
Stamp: To: U xxxx Dear Chairperson - I’d like to request you to send 5 good durians to the Baw Ga Li Police Station. Send them on (22-7-97). Respectfully,
[Sd.] [Durian is a large seasonal fruit, usually weighing 1-2 kilograms each, which is highly valued throughout Southeast Asia.] |
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Order to Take Part in an Army Volleyball Tournament
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| Order #T64* To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 24-7-98 Subject: To take part in the Advance #30 Battalion
Commander’s Cup Volleyball Reference: Ref. No. -Ya Ta-30/Ah 1 Ba 1/Oo 1 of Advance #30 Infantry
Battalion 1. According to the above reference, to hold the volleyball tournament for the Battalion Commander’s Cup of Advance #30 Infantry Battalion, let us know if your village can/cannot form a volleyball team. You must organise your villagers to form a volleyball team to take part in the tournament. 2. To start the tournament, volleyball teams from all villages must be formed, so you, Chairperson / Secretary yourself, must come and report on progress to Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract Peace and Development Council on (27-7-98). 3. You will be informed in advance of the starting date of the tournament.
[Sd.] [This type of tournament is a common occurrence when SPDC officers want to be entertained. Usually all villages are forced to form teams, and if they cannot they must pay heavy fines as penalties. Then the villages with teams are forced to pay heavy ‘entry fees’, so the SPDC officers make money either way.] |
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Summons to ‘Meetings’
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Order #T65
Stamp: Date: 20-7-98 Subject: To discuss the matter of servants To discuss the matter of servants, you are informed that the Chairperson / Secretary must come to Baw Ga Li Gyi on 21-7-98 at 8 o’clock in the morning without fail.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T66 To: Chairperson / Secretary
Stamp: Date: 20-7-98 Subject: To discuss the matter of servants You, Chairperson / Secretary, are informed to come to Baw Ga Li Gyi village without fail on (21-7-98) at 8 o’clock in the morning to discuss the matter of servants.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T67
Stamp: Subject: To attend the meeting about clearing the road Regarding the above subject, the Battalion Commander of #48 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base will hold a meeting with all village authorities of the villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract to discuss the clearance of the Toungoo - Mawchi car road, so you are informed that you, Chairperson / Secretary, yourselves must come and report to Baw Ga Li Gyi Base without fail (without fail) as soon as you receive this letter. If you fail, it will be entirely your village’s responsibility.
[Sd.] [This will be a meeting to assign forced labour for clearance of the road route for the new Toungoo - Mawchi motor road, which was begun in early 1998 and is not yet complete. Copies of this typewritten order were sent to several villages.] ============================================================ Order #T68 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: To attend a meeting The Battalion Commander of #48 IB at Baw Ga Li Gyi Base wants to have a meeting with Chairpersons / Secretaries from all villages in Baw Ga Li Gyi Village Tract and you are informed that you, the Chairperson / Secretary yourself, must attend the meeting without fail (without fail) according to the following schedule. Meeting date - 20-4-98 (Monday)
Stamp: ============================================================ Order #T69
4-2-98 Subject: To come and see the Commander of the Frontline Column Regarding the above subject, the Commander of the Frontline Column of #xxx Infantry Battalion at Baw Ga Li Base wants to see you, and so you are informed that you, Chairperson, must come yourself and see the Commander without fail (without fail) as soon as you receive this letter.
[Sd.] ============================================================ Order #T70
17-1-98 To: Chairperson Subject: To attend a meeting Regarding the above subject, you are respectfully informed that the Chairperson / the Secretary and the village elders from your village must come to Baw Ga Li Gyi village tomorrow, (18-1-98), Sunday, without fail (without fail). [Regarding:]
Chairperson [‘The matter of servants’ would refer to sending forced labourers, ‘the matter of monthly servants’ to paying extortion ‘servants’ fees’ every month, and the ‘matter of the victims of landmines’ involves forcing villagers to pay compensation to the families of porters wounded or killed by landmines while doing forced labour for SPDC troops.] ============================================================ Order #T71 To: Chairperson / Secretary Subject: Invitation to attend a meeting All local battalions/units which have arrived in this area for their operations want to see and have a meeting with all Chairpersons and Secretaries from the villages, and so you are informed that all Chairpersons and Secretaries must attend the meeting according to the following schedule. Meeting date - 17-12-97 (Wednesday) Note: Come and arrive at the specified time, 9 o’clock in the morning. Bring the fees for the xx voluntary labourers hired for the month of 12/97.
[Sd.] [VPDC = Village Peace & Development Council.] |
Back to the beginning of the orders
report, Set 99-A
Pa'an District | Dooplaya
District | Papun District