The Biggest Forced Labour Camp in the World

By Zin Linn

Now, the military authorities are claiming that they are working towards democracy - this must be a fantasy. How can authorities, who are so afraid to grant basic democratic rights to people, build or construct democracy. The fact is that the present military authorities are in great fear of people power. Their minds seem to be set on the idea that only by keeping the people crushed and subjugated can they exist. Such people can never construct democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi It is regrettable that some people from the international community still consider the Burmese generals as the only caucus capable of preserving the peace and prosperity of the nation. They also advocate lifting sanctions currently imposed on the generals' junta. The reason they give is that sanctions cannot solve the deadlock between the opposition and the military dictators. Moreover, sanctions hurt the citizens' interests but not the generals'. But why do these people easily forget the misdeeds of the military regime. In the last decade the military authorities have launched a series of crackdowns on the National League for Democracy (NLD) using the available means in crooked and cunning ways. The NLD won over 80 percent of the parliamentary seats in the May 1990 elections. Yet the NLD has not been allowed to form a legal government. Instead hundreds of its members have been imprisoned or detained for their peaceful political activities, and tens of thousands have been forced to resign from the League. Anyone who refuses to abandon the NLD, or other opposition parties, faces a series of social and economic blockades, such as being denied access to the government's health care centres and hospitals. If someone from an NLD member's family passes away, the military agents threaten the public to stay away from the funeral. So, it is the junta that imposes sanctions, without sympathy, on NLD members and pro-NLD civilians. In addition, the NLD's offices throughout the country were shut down by force to silence any opposition and keep the population in a state of fear. Freedom of expression and assembly has been completely denied by the junta until now. The year 2000 brought even more repression of peaceful political opposition. For the time being, NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and many other NLD MPs and members have been held under arrest due to their peaceful activities. The junta has also arrested hundreds of students for their political activities against militarism. The 1988 pro-democracy movement was led by students, who have traditionally been at the forefront of political struggle in Burma. Although thousands of student activists fled to neighboring countries after the military seized power on September 18, 1988, others continue the struggle inside the country. They have been subjected to the same fate as the NLD and other opposition party members who were arrested unlawfully. There are about 1800 political prisoners according to Amnesty International's 2001 Report. Political prisoners are at risk of torture with every minute in the hands of Military Intelligence personnel (MI). They are also vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment after sentencing, when they can be punished for breaking arbitrary prison rules or rules contained in the jail manual, such as possessing writing paper. Moreover, authorities use criminal prisoners to work in labor-intensive camps, breaking up stones in quarry mines or constructing roads. Conditions are so harsh that several thousands have reportedly died due to persecution, overwork, and lack of nourishment and medical care. Once, in 1982 during the reign of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), I was sentenced to two years imprisonment under security Act 5 ( j ). There, unexpectedly, I met one of my classmates, a junior jail officer, who just came back from a labor-intensive camp situated on the Rangoon-Mandalay New Highway Project. As he was a pious Buddhist, he regretted what he had done to carry out the project. According to his narration, the police, the courts and the prison authorities are instructed to join together in finding more prisoners to use as unskilled laborers on the highway projects and quarries. In Burmese language these prisoners are called ye-bet. Due to hard labor, inhumane treatment, persecution, lack of basic needs and medical care the death toll of ye-bets is terribly high. The junior prison-officer told me that secret prison- reports to the interior minister stated " Between 1972 and 1982 the average death toll of ye-bets was as many as 20,000." In 1991, I was accused of having connections with the NCGUB and was sentenced by Military Court No.2 to serve 7 years imprisonment. I was taken to cellblock 4 (short) in Insein Prison along with other prisoners of conscience. We, the political prisoners, had some knowledge of the other ordinary prisoners who arrived constantly each day. We received confidential information from the wardens who sympathized with our situation. The criminal prisoners, who were assigned to perform cleaning works in the cell-compound, also told us first-hand, their experiences as ye-bets. We gathered information routinely. We exchanged this data with our fellow political prisoners. We assumed it was our duty to count the prisoners that came in and also those that went out to the labor-intensive camps, on a daily basis. Most of us, the prisoners of conscience, had spent over four years in the notorious Insein Prison and had become familiar with prison practice. Some of us were good at analytical appraisal. Learning facts from reliable people, we were able to make a good estimate on the flow of new prisoners. There were about 1200 to 1500 new pisoners coming into Insein Prison every day. At the end of the each day, the prison authorities had to create an exact prisoners' list. Every day the total number of prisoners would always exceed 12,000 - excluding the prisoners sent to the remote labor-intensive camps. At least 1000 prisoners a week were being sent to those hellish camps. There was a period of a month where this figure increased to 5000 yet, amazingly, the daily total remained above 12,000.What was going on in those days? We, the prisoners of conscience, were always alert to the chance of collecting information from ordinary prisoners, as well as wardens. Most wardens came to their duty-post without carrying a lunch-box. They had to ask for their meals from the political prisoners. We were able to provide them with some preserved food, given to us by our families when they visited. For this reason the wardens gave us all of their information. We received stories on everything from the chief jail-master's adultery to a series of corruption scandals involving MI. So, getting the daily roll of the incoming prisoners was easy. There are over 40 townships in the Rangoon Municipality area. Every police station must send detainees to the Insein Prison as a daily routine at dusk. On average, each police station sends about 30 detainees. In this way, every evening, there are over 1200 names in the jail register-book. Within a week or two, a respective court sentences each detainee. They get a minimum of six months to a maximum of three years even if they haven't committed a crime. At the trial, the judge tells them frankly that if they refuse to confess their guilt, the sentence will be doubled. The judge also tells them that the top brass generals who make the decisions. Under such conditions, the detainee has no choice but to accept the sentence. Such summary courts are unacceptable in a civilized society. According to their stories, most of the detainees are arrested while on their way to work. Some are arrested on weekends while in their own homes, having committed no crime. The only mistake they have made is to not go along with the followers or informers of the MI. The MI accuses the detainees of breaking criminal code 54 or 13 (d). Code 54 allows the arrest of a person under suspicion of committing a crime. Code 13(d) allows the detention of a person who stays or hides in the darkness of night. Due to a long period of martial law most people are afraid to go outside at nighttime. The truth is, under these laws, people who are reluctant to support the regime have to face such a fate. There is an example of one U Ba Tu , who lived in South Dagon satellite town. He was a daily-wage earner in a teashop. As a father of three he had to work 12 hours a day to support his family. However, he made some mistakes. Firstly, he supported Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wholeheartedly. Secondly, he would not participate in a labor contributing ceremony that was to build a road in his township. Thirdly, he refused to enlist in the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a pro-junta 'Non-Government Org- anisation.' Moreover, he refused to offer a cash-donation to the USDA, which was known as an MI informant. Early one morning, on the way to work, he was arrested under code 54. At the trial, he told the judge sincerely that he hadn't committed any wrongdoing. The other detainees at the same court were each sentenced to one-year imprisonment. He got double. Another example is a farmer who lived in Kayan, a township in Rangoon Division. He lived with his family in their farmhouse. His mistake was failing to appear at a labor- contributing scheme to dig an irrigation canal. The order was for every farmer on the village track to contribute free labor to the irrigation scheme for a month, without any financial assistance. Those who failed to participate in the scheme were arrested and sentenced to one-year imprisonment with hard labor. During his arrest, the police seized some of his livestock illegally. In this way, the police became a gang of robbers with a license. A great number of lower class citizens are victimized under the junta's man-hunting scheme and the prisons inside Burma are crowded with innocent people. Why has the junta launched such a violent man-hunting scheme? It is a very interesting question. Most Burmese nationals know the answer very well. The junta, in trying to deceive the international community into believing their administration is noble-mined, has built roads, bridges, railways, airports, dams, irrigation and even religious buildings. They have accomplished a great deal of infrastructure. What they hope for in return is to be recognized as a legitimate government and for current for sanctions to be lifted. But they can't see they have made a careless mistake. They have built this infrastructure with the lives of a great number of forced laborers. Actually, the junta's man-hunting scheme is nothing less than the conscription of an enormous mass of forced labor. The police forces have become man-hunting units and the courts and judges are willing supporters of this infrastructure-building program. The prison-officers and the wardens are the drivers of this forced labor machine. Without adding small camps and branches there are over 300 labor-intensive camps holding innocent prisoners. Like Jewish- internment camps under the Nazis, many prisoners are treated as though they are animals. The most deadly camps are at quarry mines. One notorious camp is near the Sittaung river bridge and is known as Taung-zun quarry site. According to a reliable source, Thein Tun who was the jail master at Taung-zun quarry may have come straight from the 'devil's hell'. He has committed many extra-judicial killings, with one of his assistant officers, Tint Swe, as his accomplice. Both wardens and prisoners know his assistant as Dah Tint Swe. Dah in Burmese language is a sword or dagger. Tint Swe has killed many prisoners with his Dah. When a prisoner's health deteriorates seriously, Tint Swe orders his wardens to drag the man behind the bushes, not far from the quarry, where he takes the prisoner's life with his Dah. There are 11 units in the camp and a unit is formed with120 inmates. They have to wake up at 4 a.m. and clean themselves within 30 minutes. But, even though they are not far from the Sit-taung River, the inmates can't get enough water. Breakfast is just a mug of ordinary boiled-rice. They arrive at the quarry no later than 5 a.m. and they have to work for the whole day until 9 p.m. Their tasks include dynamiting the rocky mountain, hammering the heavy rocks into small pieces, carrying the huge mass of rocks and then loading the carriages on the railway line. The stones are then sent for use at every kind of construction site including highway building. Prisoners are not allowed to walk slowly. Everyone has to work quickly and they're allowed to urinate only once for the whole day. If a prisoner is exhausted and slows down, every whip and stick is ready for him. A unit of prisoners is required to produce up to 25 tonnes of the small stones per day. However, under Thein Tun, they actually had to produce twice this amount. Thein Tun was openly selling the extra 25 tonnes to private contractors for a daily income of more than two million kyats. According to the reliable source, Thein Tun was giving one million kyats to the then home minister, every month, in order to keep his dealings secret. So evidence of the extra-judicial killings has been buried along with the dead. Min Khin was a prisoner who fled from the Taung-zun camp but was recaptured and put into a cell wearing iron-shackles. He also told us of his experiences. Every morning in each barrack there is at least one inmate who never wakes up. There are 11 barracks so the first event one has to face in the morning is a mass burial. Lack of nutritious food, fresh water and medical treatment are not the only causes of a prisoner's death, there are other brutal persecutions. In one case, a fellow prisoner was seriously sick and couldn't eat anything. Thein Tun saw this and prepared a table filled with rice and delicious curries, placed it before the sick prisoner and ordered him to eat. But he couldn't even move his hand. Thein Tun told the sick man that if he didn't want to eat the meal he would use it to feed his dogs. After that the jail-master fed the delicious food to his dogs in front of the suffering prisoner. Then he told his wardens to drag the man into the bushes and ordered Dah Tint Swe to follow after them. According to Min Khin, many prisoners commit suicide due to the strain of hard labor as well as the brutal treatment. This is usually carried out by throwing oneself under a lorry or train. Some choose to dive from the mountaintop onto the rocky ground below. Min Khin said the monthly death toll at the quarry was nearly 300. But no-one in autho- rity notices the rocketing death toll because all of the prison authorities get a regular share of the bribe. If one prisoner ceases to be, two more can be found to fill the void. "They don't care about human life!'' exclaimed Min Khin. "The worst thing is every prisoner has to suffer this in iron-shackles like a beast!" There are numerous prisons and labor-intensive camps throughout Burma. There are numerous infrastructure construction sites in Burma. How many tonnes of stone do they need for these construction sites? How can anyone believe that the value of this stone is equal to the value of a human being's soul? There was another ye-bet who fled from the Zin-kyeik labor-intensive camp, in Mon State, to the Thai-Burma border in mid-July 2001. His name was Ko Kyaw Lwin, of Pa- an township, and he was sentenced to 7 years, accused of having connections to the rebels. He was sent to the notorious Zin-kyeik camp, which is also a quarry site. There are always about 2500 ye-bets working under harsh conditions at this site. Just like Taung-zun , the prison-authorities treat the prisoners without sympathy. The working hours are from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the meals consist of rice with a mediocre, salty fish-paste and a so-called 'vegetable soup'. But, no one ever gets enough rice. They hammer the huge rocks into small pieces and are then forced to carry the stones long distances to load the lorries on the highway. Every one must work quickly, every minute. Lunchtime is always around 2 or 3 p.m. and there is never any time for breaks. Work Finishes at 9 p.m. and the prisoners are then allowed to bathe in the muddy water of a small pond. Dinner is at 9:30pm, and they are ordered to sleep at 10 p.m. Every morning, at least one or two ye-bets never wake up again. There is no physician or medicine, neither holiday nor rest. That is why the death toll at Zin-kyeik is always high. If a prisoner tries to escape he is shot dead. Do not dream of finding sympathy at Zin-kyeik ye-bet camp. According to Ko Kyaw Lwin, many atrocities and extra-judicial killings have been committed by the prison-authorities. Therefore, the Zin-kyeik labor-intensive camp is fresh evidence of forced-labor and human rights abuses by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). At such a terrible moment, Japan's decision to resume its Overseas Development Assistance is likely to give added support to militarism in Burma. It is also against the will of the Nobel Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the majority of Burmese people. Japan ought to participate in a concerted effort along side the EU and the US in raising genuine dialogue between the junta and the opposition parties. It is regrettable that some governments and organizations have an attitude of leaning towards and accepting the Myanmar Generals' rule. This attitude is not shared by Bill Jordan, Secretary-General of the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU). The ICFTU is made up of 216 trade unions from 145 countries. Mr. Jordan spoke at an international teachers' conference in Bangkok on July 25 this year. ''Burma is the biggest labor camp in the world,'' he said. "Despite the junta's claims that it is working to wipe out forced labor, the practice has not dimnished in any way at all. Any serious investigation would show that the pronounced initiatives are cosmetic measures for international consumption and haven't touched the people of Burma.''