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Appendix A

The Village Act and the Towns Act

These two colonial-era Acts provide a legal basis for forced labour to be demanded in certain circumstances.  The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has pressed the SPDC and its predecessors since the early 1960s to repeal or rewrite these Acts with no success - instead, the Ne Win regime only made the wording even stronger.  In reality, these Acts are never cited by SPDC authorities or military units when demanding forced labour, and most officials and officers are probably not aware of their contents.  As can be seen from the text below, most of the forced labour used in Burma today is not allowed by the Acts; it is demanded for purposes outside those specified, payment is not given, “reasonable excuses” are not accepted, and the labour is not restricted to the specified limits of time and distance.  We have included extracts from them here because they are directly referred to by the subsequent SPDC orders ‘banning’ forced labour (these are presented in Appendix B).

The Towns Act was originally enacted in 1907, and the Village Act in 1908.  The full text of these two Acts is almost 20 pages long, so we have only included the excerpts below which are directly relevant to forced labour.  These excerpts are reproduced from Appendix 13 of the ILO High Level Team report of November 2001 (ILO Document Number GB.282/4) and Chapter 11 of the ILO Commission of Inquiry report (1997), both of which quoted from the English version of the Acts sent to the ILO by the SLORC regime in 1993; to our knowledge, there has been no revision of the Acts since then.  However, prior to 1993 there had been several changes, some of which made the Acts even stronger; we have included notes on these changes below, comparing the 1993 version to the 1944 version as published by the British colonial regime in The Burma Code, Volume 3 (1944).  The full text of both ILO reports mentioned above is available online at www.ilo.org. 

Extracts from the Village Act, 1908 (1993 English Version)

Section 8(1)

 Every headman shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely:

…

 (g) to collect and furnish, upon receipt of payment for the same at such rates as the Deputy Commissioner may fix, guides, messengers, porters, supplies of food, carriage and means of transport for any troops or police posted in or near or marching through the village-tract or for any servant of the Government travelling on duty: provided that no headman shall requisition for personal service any resident of such village-tract who is not of the labouring class and accustomed to do such work as may be required;

…

(n) generally to assist all officers of the Government in the execution of their public duties; and

(o) generally to adopt such measures and do such acts as the exigency of the village may require.

Section 11

       Every person residing in the village-tract shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely:

…

 (d) on the requisition of the headman or of a rural policeman, to assist him in the execution of his duties prescribed in sections 7 and 8 of the Act and the rules made under the Act.

Explanation – A requisition under clause (d) may be either general or addressed to an individual. 

Section 12

If any person residing in a village-tract refuses or neglects to perform any of the public duties imposed upon him by this Act or by any rule thereunder, he shall, in the absence of reasonable excuse, the burden of proving which shall lie upon him, be liable 

(i)   by order of the headman, to fine …, or

(ii) by order of the village committee, on the case being referred to it by the headman, to fine … , or to confinement for a term not exceeding 48 hours in such place as the Deputy Commissioner may appoint in this behalf, or to both, or

(iii) on conviction by a Magistrate, to fine … , or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or to both. 

Extracts from the Towns Act, 1907 (1993 English version) 

Section 7(1) 

The headman of a ward shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely: 

… [note: paragraph (l), the key paragraph, is omitted in the ILO reports.  The ‘Provided that’ clause below applies to paragraph (l); see notes below] 

Provided that no headman shall requisition for personal service any resident of such ward who is not of the labouring class and accustomed to do such work as may be required; and 

(m) generally to assist all officers of the Government and municipal officers in the execution of their public duties. 

Section 9 

Persons residing in a ward shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely:

…

(b) on a general or individual requisition of the headman to assist him in the execution of his public duties. 

Section 9A

If any person residing in a ward refuses/neglects to perform any of the public duties imposed upon him by this Act or any rule thereunder, he shall, in the absence of reasonable excuse, the burden of proving which shall lie upon him, be liable, on conviction by a Magistrate, to a fine …

Notes on the above texts and changes to the Acts 

Between 1944 and 1993 several changes were made to the wording of the Acts, which can be seen by comparing the above texts as provided by the SLORC in 1993 with the text of the Acts as published in The Burma Code, Volume 3 (1944).  Some of these changes are minor or semantic; for example, “Crown” has been replaced by “Government”, and “at such rates as the Deputy Commissioner, with the sanction of the Commissioner, may from time to time fix” has been changed to “at such rates as the Deputy Commissioner may fix”.  However, some of the changes are directly relevant to the use of forced labour.  Compare the text above of the Village Act, Section 8(1) paragraph (g), to the 1944 version which follows: 

Every headman shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely:

…

(g) to collect and furnish, upon receipt of payment for the same in advance, at such rates as the Deputy Commissioner, with the sanction of the Commissioner, may from time to time fix, guides, supplies of food, carriage and means of transport for any troops or police posted in or near or marching through the village-tract or for any servant of the Crown travelling on duty and, on the written order of the Deputy Commissioner, for any traveller. 

Provided that, except in the case of troops or police, the provisions of this clause shall apply only to the headmen of village-tracts which are notified by the Deputy Commissioner, with the sanction of the Commissioner, as being village-tracts where the conditions are such that the furnishing of services or supplies as specified above at reasonable rates is not ensured.

Provided also that no headman shall be bound to collect supplies beyond the limits of the village-tract of which he is headman, or to furnish carriage or means of transport for more than twelve hours’ journey from such village-tract, unless the Deputy Commissioner certifies in writing that it is necessary in the public interests that carriage or means of transport should be supplied for a longer period, in which case the Deputy Commissioner shall fix higher rates of payment than the rates of payment for journeys of twelve hours or less.

Provided also that no headman shall requisition for personal service any resident of such village-tract who is not of the labouring class and accustomed to do such work as may be required; 

Several changes are important.  Between 1944 and 1993, “guides, supplies of food, carriage and means of transport” has been changed to “guides, messengers, porters, supplies of food, carriage and means of transport”; the addition of messengers and porters broadens the Act to allow more forms of forced labour.  The 1944 Act specified payment “in advance”, while the 1993 Act simply specifies “payment”.  The first proviso, which specifies that other than for troops or police, such labour cannot be conscripted if it would be possible to hire it on reasonable terms, has been removed from the 1993 version, as has the second proviso, which limits the journey to 12 hours without specific written permission and reiterates that the labour must be paid at rates dependent on the length of the journey.  Both of these provisos were removed by Act 29 passed in 1947, but some of the other changes were made later.

The Towns Act is very similar in content and wording to the Village Act.  The equivalent to Section 8(1) paragraph (g) of the Village Act is Section 7(1) paragraph (l) of the Towns Act, which stated as follows in 1944: 

The headman of a ward shall be bound to perform the following public duties, namely:

…

(l) to collect and furnish, upon receipt of payment for the same in advance at such rates as the Deputy Commissioner, with the sanction of the Commissioner, may from time to time fix, guides, supplies of food, carriage and means of transport for any troops or police posted in or near or marching through or near the town. 

Provided that no headman shall be bound to collect supplies beyond the limits of the ward of which he is headman, or to furnish carriage or means of transport for more than twelve hours’ journey from such town unless the Deputy Commissioner certifies in writing that it is necessary in the public interests that carriage or means of transport should be supplied for a longer period, in which case the Deputy Commissioner shall fix higher rates of payment than the rates of payment for journeys of twelve hours or less.

Provided also that no headman shall requisition for personal service any resident of such ward who is not of the labouring class and accustomed to do such work as may be required; 

As noted in the earlier excerpts of the 1993 version, the ILO has failed to include this key paragraph in its reports, showing only the proviso that follows it.  It was probably omitted because its wording is almost identical to the equivalent paragraph of the Village Act, which implies that the same changes have been made in the Towns Act as noted above for the Village Act.  These would include the addition of messengers and porters to the types of labour which can be conscripted, the removal of the condition that payment be made “in advance”, and the removal of the first proviso in the 1944 text which places limits on the time and distance for forced labour. 

The ILO reports also fail to quote Section 10 of the 1993 version of the Village Act, which allows village headmen to be punished for failing to provide forced labour, as stated below in the 1944 version: 

Section 10

If a headman or a rural policeman neglects to perform any of the public duties imposed on him by this Act or any rule thereunder, or abuses any of the powers conferred upon him by this Act or any such rule, he shall be liable, by order of the Deputy Commissioner, to pay a fine not exceeding fifty rupees. 

The ILO has also neglected to include the equivalent section of the Towns Act, Section 9, which is worded almost identically.  It is probable that no significant changes were made to these sections between 1944 and 1993.  Section 11 of the Village Act and Section 9 of the Towns Act, which explain that demands for forced labour can be placed either on an individual or can be “general”, meaning they can be imposed on an entire village, ward, village tract or other collective, were not changed between 1944 and 1993.  Nor were Section 12 of the Village Act and Section 9A of the Towns Act, which allow people who fail to do forced labour to be punished with fines or imprisonment.  However, there is a key clause in Section 12 of the Village Act and Section 9A of the Towns Act which states, in both the 1944 and 1993 versions, that a villager or townsperson can be punished for not doing forced labour “in the absence of reasonable excuse”, meaning that if a person has an illness in the family, important work to do in the fields, or other essential obligations they do not have to perform forced labour.  While this clause is present in all of the English versions of the Acts, it is glaringly absent in the current Burmese language versions of both Acts.  The SPDC allows no exemptions.  

It is very revealing that the revisions to the Acts between 1944 and 1993 have only made them stronger, despite the ILO’s repeated calls that all powers to conscript forced labour be removed.  The SLORC and SPDC regimes have always protested that it will take a great deal of time, study and governmental process before the Acts can be changed, but this is clearly not true as the Acts have been changed on several occasions already.  While neglecting to change wording which is no longer applicable (such as the references to a ‘Deputy Commissioner’, a position which no longer exists), the Burmese regimes have made changes as noted above which alter the scope and meaning of the Acts.

Appendix B 

SPDC Orders ‘Banning’ Forced Labour

The texts of the SPDC orders included below have been extracted from Appendix 13 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) High Level Team report of November 2001 (ILO Document Number GB.282/4).  The full text of the ILO High Level Team’s report and appendices are available online at www.ilo.org .

The texts below are the English texts supplied by the SPDC to the ILO of Order 1/99 (May 14, 1999), the Home Ministry order of October 27^th 2000, and Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt’s order of November 1^st, 2000 (the ‘secret directive’ banning forced labour on development projects allegedly issued by the SLORC in 1995 is not included here, as it was never circulated or implemented and has been superseded by these more recent orders).  As documented in previous KHRG reports and the reports of other organisations, Order 1/99 was never circulated at any level of the civilian or military authorities, and was most likely only written to be shown to the ILO and other international organisations.  Similarly, when the Home Ministry order and Khin Nyunt’s order were first sent to the ILO texts were only provided in English, and no Burmese texts were forthcoming until later despite repeated requests by the ILO.  Burmese texts of these latter two orders only appeared in Burma in 2001 when it was becoming clear that an ILO team would visit Burma to assess their implementation.  After this time, all three of the orders below began to be circulated in Burma, though as the order documents in this report and other evidence shows, they have not been effectively implemented.

Order 1/99

Government of the Union of Myanmar,
The Ministry of Home Affairs.

Order No. 1/99

Yangon, the 15th Waning of Kason 1361, M.E.
(14th May 1999)

Order directing not to exercise powers under certain provisions
of The Towns Act, 1907 and The Village Act, 1907 [sic: the Village Act is dated 1908] 

1.   The Government of The Union of Myanmar, the Ministry of Home Affairs hereby issues this Order under the directive of the Memorandum dated 14-5-99, Letter No. 04/Na Ya Ka (U)/Ma Nya of the State Peace and Development Council.

2.   Under Section 7 of the Towns Act, 1907, powers have been conferred on the Chairmen of the Ward Peace and Development Councils to enable them to execute their public duties. Among such powers, the right to requisition for personal service of the residents of the ward is provided in Sub-section (1)(l) and (m) of Section 7. It is provided in Section 9 that residents of the ward shall fulfil the duty assigned under the said power and it is provided in section 9A that on failing to fulfil such duty, action may be taken against them.

3.   Similarly, under Section 8 of the Village Act, 1907 also, powers have been conferred on the Chairmen of the Village Tract Peace and Development Councils to enable them to execute their public duties. Among such powers, the right to requisition for personal service of the residents of the village tract is provided in Sub-section (1)(g), (n) and (o) of section 8. It is provided in section 11(d) that the residents of the village tract shall fulfil the duty assigned under the said power and it is provided in section 12 that on failing to fulfil such duty, action may be taken against them.

4.   In order to make the Towns Act, 1907 and the Village Act, 1907 conform to the changing situation such as security, administrative, economic and social conditions within the internal domain of the State, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been scrutinizing and reviewing as to how the said Acts should be amended, inserted and deleted, in coordination with the relevant ministries, Government departments and organizations.

5.   As such, this Order is hereby issued directing the Chairmen of the Ward and Village Tract Peace and Development Councils and the responsible persons of the Department of General Administration and the Myanmar Police Force not to exercise powers under these provisions relating to requisition for personal service prescribed in the above-mentioned Towns Act, 1907 and the Village Act, 1907, until and unless any further directive is issued, except for the following circumstances:

(a) requisition for personal service in work or service exacted in cases of emergency on the occurrence of disasters such as fire, flood, storm, earthquake, epidemic diseases that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the population;

(b) requisition for personal service in work or service which is of important direct interest for the community and general public and is of present or imminent necessity, and for which it has been impossible to obtain voluntary labour by offer of usual rates of wages and which will not lay too heavy a burden upon the present population.

6.   Any person who fails to abide by this Order shall have action taken against him under the existing law.

                                                                                  (Signed) Col. Tin Hlaing;
                                                                                  Minister,
                                                                                  Ministry of Home Affairs.

______________________________________________________________________________

 Order Supplementing Order 1/99, October 27^th 2000

The Government of the Union of Myanmar,
The Ministry of Home Affairs,
Yangon, 1st Waxing of Tazaungmon 1362, M.E.
(27 October 2000)

Order supplementing Order No. 1/99

The Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of the Union of Myanmar, under the direction of the State Peace and Development Council, hereby directs that the following amendment shall be made to Order No. 1/99 dated 14 May 1999 as requisition of forced labour is illegal and is an offence under the existing laws of the Union of Myanmar. 

1.         Clause 5 of the said Order 1/99 shall be substituted with the following: 

(a)  Responsible persons including members of the local authorities, members of the armed forces, members of the police force, and other public service personnel shall not requisition work or service notwithstanding anything contained in sections 7(1) and 9(b) of the Towns Act, 1907, and sections 8(1) and 11(d) of the Village Act, 1907. 

(b)  The above clause (a) shall not apply to the requisition of work or service when an emergency arises due to fire, flood, storm, earthquake, epidemic disease, war, famine and epizootic disease that poses an imminent danger to the general public and the community. 

2.   When the responsible persons have to requisition work or service for purposes mentioned in clause 1(b) of this Supplementary Order the following shall be complied:

(a) The work or service shall not lay too heavy a burden upon the present population of the region.

(b) The work or service shall not entail the removal of workers from their place of habitual residence.

(c) The work or service shall be important and of direct interest for the community. It shall not be for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations.

(d) It shall be in circumstances where it is impossible to obtain labour by the offer of usual rates of wages. In such circumstances, the people of the area who are participating shall be paid rates of wages not less favourable than those prevailing in the area.

(e) Schoolteachers and pupils shall be exempted from requisition of work or service.

(f) In the case of adult able-bodied men who are the main supporters of the necessities of food, clothing and shelter for the family and indispensable for social life, requisition shall not be made except only in unavoidable circumstances.

(g) The work or service shall be carried out during the normal working hours. The hours worked in excess of the normal working hours shall be remunerated at prevailing overtime rates.

(h) In case of accident, sickness or disability arising at the place of work, benefits shall be granted in accordance with the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

(i) The work or service shall not be used for work underground in mines. 

3.   When the responsible persons have to requisition work or service for purposes mentioned in clause 1(b) of this Supplementary Order, they shall do so only with the permission of the Deputy Commissioner of the General Administration Department who is also a member of the relevant District Peace and Development Council.

4.   The State or Divisional Commissioner of the General Administration Department who is also a member of the relevant State or Divisional Peace and Development Council shall supervise the responsible persons to abide by the Order No. 1/99 and this Supplementary Order.

5.   The phrase “Any person who fails to abide by this Order shall have action taken against him under the existing law” contained in clause 6 of the said Order No. 1/99 means that any person including local authorities, members of the armed forces, members of the police force and other public service personnel shall have action taken against him under section 374 of the Penal Code or any other existing law. 

                                                                                   (Signed) Col. Tin Hlaing,
                                                                                   Minister,
                                                                                   Ministry of Home Affairs

Letter No. Pa-Hta-Ya / 2-3 (3140) / Oo3
Dated: 27 October 2000

Circulation:

(1)  Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council;
(2) Office of the State Peace and Development Council (forwarded for the issuance of further directives to State, Divisional, District and Township Peace and Development Councils for supervision not to requisition forced labour);
(3) Office of the Government;
(4) Supreme Court;
(5) Office of the Attorney-General;
(6) Office of the Auditor-General;
(7) Public Service Selection and Training Board;
(8) Ministry of Defence (forwarded for the issuance of further directives to all units under its command for supervision not to requisition forced labour);
(9) Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs (forwarded for the issuance of further directives to relevant departments and regional work committees stationed at border areas subordinate to it for supervision not to requisition forced labour);
(10) All other Ministries;
(11) Director-General, General Administration Department;         )           (forwarded for the issuance of 
                                                                                                )           further directives to departments
(12) Police Major General, Myanmar Police Force                      )           and organizations subordinate to
                                                                                                )           him for supervision not to
(13) Director-General, Bureau of Special Investigation;                )           requisition forced labour)
                                                                                                )
(14) Director-General, Prisons Department                                 )

(15) All State/Divisional Peace and Development Councils;          )           (forwarded for the issuance of
                                                                                                 )           further directives to
(16) All District Peace and Development Councils;                      )           organizations subordinate to
                                                                                                 )           them for supervision not to
                                                                                                 )           requisition forced labour) 

(17) All Township Peace and Development Councils (forwarded for the issuance of further directives to wards and village-tracts subordinate to them for supervision not to requisition forced labour);

(18) Managing Director, Printing and Publishing Enterprise (for publication in the Myanmar Gazette).

 ______________________________________________________________________________

Additional Instruction to State and Divisional Peace and Development Councils, November 1^st 2000

The Union of Myanmar,
The State Peace and Development Council.
Letter No. 04/Na Ya Ka (U)/Ma Nya
Dated: 1 November 2000

To:                   Chairpersons,
                        All State and Divisional Peace and Development Councils 

Subject:  Prohibiting requisition of forced labour 

1.   The Ministry of Home Affairs which administers the Towns Act, 1907, and the Village Act, 1907, issued, under the directive of the State Peace and Development Council, Order No. 1/99 on 14 May 1999. The Order directs responsible persons not to exercise powers under certain provisions of the said Acts relating to requisition of forced labour and stipulates actions that are to be taken against any violation. … 

2.   After the issuance of Order No. 1/99, to be in conformity with the changing situations, the Ministry of Home Affairs under the direction of the State Peace and Development Council issued the Order Supplementing Order No. 1/99 on 27 October 2000. The Supplementing Order renders the requisition of forced labour illegal and stipulates that it is an offence under the existing laws of the Union of Myanmar. Responsible persons, including the local authorities, members of the armed forces, members of the police force and other public service personnel are also prohibited not to requisition forced labour and are instructed to supervise so that there shall be no forced labour. …

3.   Therefore, it is hereby directed that the state and divisional peace and development councils shall issue necessary instructions to the relevant district and township peace and development councils to strictly abide by the prohibitions contained in Order No. 1/99 and the Supplementing Order of the Ministry of Home Affairs and also to effectively supervise to ensure that there shall be no forced labour within their respective jurisdictions. 

4.   Responsible persons, including members of the local authorities, members of the armed forces, members of the police force and other public service personnel who fail to abide by the said Order No. 1/99 and the Supplementing Order shall be prosecuted under section 374 of the Penal Code or any other existing laws.

                                                                                      By order,

                                                                                      (Signed) Khin Nyunt,
                                                                                      Lieutenant-General,
                                                                                      Secretary (1),
                                                                                      The State Peace and Development Council.

Copies to:
(1)  Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council;
(2)  Office of the Government;
(3)  Supreme Court;
(4)  Office of the Attorney-General;
(5)  Office of the Auditor-General;
(6)  Public Services Selection and Training Board; and
(7)  All Ministries.

- [END OF REPORT] -

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