No one wants to serve as the village
headman in the rural area of Karenni
State where both the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) troops and its proxy-armies are active. Villages have started to practice a compulsory rotating system, among villagers, to serve as headman, when no one volunteers for the position. Being a village headman is not about governing the community, it is to share the torture.
Villagers must take turns and serve as village headman. The term of headman is different from one village to another; some villages practice three months per term, others four months or six months and the longest term is one year. People who take their turn, according to compulsory rotating system, and serve as village headman are called “bad-lucked persons”, as they have to encounter many risks during his/her term. On the day he/she accepts his/her term as headman, their purse rate jumps, their hairs stand on end and they feel constantly uneasy.
today even a 14 year old boy serves as a headman
Daily duties of headman are that he/she must send one of their villagers to the SPDC army camp, of which some villages are about a 12 hours walk from (round trip), and report about the situation, in particular whether KNPP troops have been around their village or not. The headman is responsible for the accuracy of this daily report. Then, every Friday, all villages’ headmen themselves must go to the army camp for a meeting and report on the situation.
A member of the KNPP was shocked when he arriving at a village in April this year. He explained that when he told the villagers he wanted to see village headman and about 15 minutes later a 14 year old boy came up to them. He said he thought that village headman had sent the boy to them, but when he asked the boy “where is the village headman?” the boy replied that he was the village headman. The official said he was surprised and looked strangely at the boy headman.
Throughout history Karenni society villagers had to be over the age of 18 before they could become the village headman of their community. In the past, almost all headmen were elderly persons and very few headmen are aged 30 or below; but, today even a 14 year old boy serves as a headman.
According to the boy headman, he explained that all households have to take turn and serve as headman for three months in their village by compulsory rotation. Widows must take turn also. The boy headman explained that he is staying with his widowed mother and it is their turn. So he serves as the headman on behalf of his mother since his mother is old.
When KNPP soldiers are near or pass by villages the headman becomes the scapegoat, often being sentenced under the SPDC national security law, article no 17/1, by the Burmese army. The Burmese troops accuse the village headmen of contacting rebel and punish them without any proof or reason. This is normal behaviour for the Burmese army. Being threatened or tortured is not strange for people living in the war zone of Karenni State. Many village headmen express that being headman is the same as if one of your leg has stepped into the grave and only one leg remains alive.
The Burmese army punishes village headmen by making them do strange things. In the last few years, they made old headmen fight one another like as if they were buffalos fighting while the soldiers sat around laughing at them. Another case that happened was the military made a headman touch his son in-law’s genitals and made his son in-law play with his in return. The troops were sitting around laughing at them as if it was entertainment. It is silently happening in the war zone of Karenni State, which is not published in any media.
Some days when the situation is normal and when there are no armed groups near by their village, probably the village headman is happy, as much as when your first lover says that she loves you. Similarly, during the days when Karenni armed group is around and offensives are taking place, probably headman is sad, more than when your true love has left you and is now together with another man.
Since the anti-SPDC KNPP is born from the Karenni people the Burmese military targets Karenni civilians in order to defeat the group. In an interview with a former headman he explained that if Karenni soldiers do not come they are not harmed. But he explained that some Karenni soldiers do not understand their troubles and ignore their demands that they do not carry out fighting near their villages. He said “we beg the Karenni soldiers not to shoot the Burmese soldiers near our village, but some did fight and we were harmed”.
the Burmese army punishes the village headmen
In interview with a spokesperson of the KNPP he said that the KNPP is fighting for the existence of Karenni State and democratic rule. He continued that the SPDC oppressed and used violence against the civilian population in order to defeat the SPDC. However, he pointed out that the KNPP military activities do not target Burmese civilians. He also explained that he truly sympathy for people who are harmed but that they will not surrender just because the SPDC targets Karenni civilians.
Before the SPDC and their predecessors, village headmen were traditionally elected from the village elders by villagers. Headmen were elected because of their credibility and people respected the village headman. Today, electing village headman is not for the purpose of governing, it is to share torture in rotation among villagers. Some lucky headmen are able served their term without any harm, but the majority are harmed - at least being spoiled, and some lost forever.
A former headman who had been imprisoned during this time as village leader retold the reason of his arrest. He said it was because of fighting between Burmese soldiers and Karenni soldiers three miles from his village. When the Burmese soldiers got hurt, they accused him of showing the rebels the way and giving them rice and information. The headman explained that the army started to threaten the villagers, whom had nothing to do this, saying that if it were to happen again in the future your village would be burnt and the population removed.
On the other hand, those Karenni who living in the villages which are close to the cities, the town people compete with each other in order to gain the position of villages headman and position such as sectional authorities. People who gain these positions in the towns are seen as opportunist; because power is an opportunity to secure income sources on the back of the people.
It is true that both sides, the Karenni soldiers and the Burmese soldiers, come to village and eat people’s food the same. Villagers have no authority to stop either side from coming to their village. You eat civilian’s food and torture them while you’re opponent eats the same you do. It is not the nature of civilized human. We want the SPDC to keep their promise and not harm civilians, and we also want the KNPP to respect the requests of villagers especially when their activities compromise the safety and security of civilians.
To go to the other articles published in the September 2006 BI Newsletter click on the links below:
today even a 14 year old boy serves as a headman
