ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
ILO-en-strap

Geneva, 21 May 1999


Report of the Director-General to the
members of the Governing Body

on

Measures taken by the Government of Myanmar
following the recommendations of the Commission
of Inquiry established to examine its observance
of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)

Introduction

1. At its 274th Session (March 1999), the Governing Body decided:

2. By letter of 1 April 1999, referring to the decision made by the Governing Body at its 274th Session (March 1999), the Director-General of the ILO asked the Government of Myanmar to inform him in detail, by 3 May 1999 at the latest, of any measures taken by the Government on each of the recommendations set out in paragraphs 539 and 540 of the Commission of Inquiry's report. In reply, the Government sent two letters, dated 12 and 18 May 1999, which are reproduced as Appendices I and II.

3. Requests for any available information on the effect given by the Government of Myanmar to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry were also sent to international employers' and workers' organizations having consultative status with the ILO, to a number of intergovernmental organizations and to governments of member States of the ILO. By 20 May 1999, replies had been received from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the World Confederation of Labour, the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Universal Postal Union, the World Bank, the Governments of Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Peru, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

4. In its report,(2)  communicated to the Government of Myanmar on 27 July 1998, the Commission of Inquiry established to examine the observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), concluded that:

Concurrently, the Government violates its obligation under Article 25 of the Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law for the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour are both really adequate and strictly enforced.(3) 

5. "In view of the Government's flagrant and persistent failure to comply with the Convention", the Commission in its recommendations urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure:

6. The Commission of Inquiry pointed out that its recommendations "require action to be taken by the Government of Myanmar without delay".(5) 

7. Information received on the effect given to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry will be set out in three parts, dealing with: (i) the amendment of legislation; (ii) the exaction in practice of forced or compulsory labour, and any measures taken by the Government to stop the practice; and (iii) the enforcement of penalties which may be imposed under the Penal Code for the exaction of forced or compulsory labour.

I. Amendment of legislation

8. In its report, the Commission of Inquiry noted:

The Commission further noted that the wide powers to requisition labour and services under these provisions do not come under any of the exceptions listed in Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention and are entirely incompatible with the Convention.(7)  Recalling that the amendment of these provisions had been promised by the Government for over 30 years and again announced in the Government's observations on the complaint, the Commission urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the Village Act and the Towns Act be brought into line with the Convention without further delay, and at the very latest by 1 May 1999.(8) 

9. In reply to the request to report on any measures taken on each of the recommendations set out in paragraphs 539 and 540 of the report of the Commission of Inquiry, the Government stated, in its letter dated 12 May 1999,(9)  "that the practical measures envisaged to be taken on the recommendations have been submitted to the Government of the Union of Myanmar for decision and they are already in the process of being actively considered by the high authorities". No indication was given regarding the nature of the "practical measures envisaged to be taken". In its preceding letter of 18 February 1999, again referred to in this connection, the Government recalled:

10. By letter of 18 May 1999,(10)  the Government indicated:

The Government added "that this Order clearly stipulated that any person who fails to abide by this Order shall have action taken against him under the existing law". Finally, the Government pointed out that the Order has already been made public and has been circulated to all state bodies, government ministries and all local administrative bodies and will be published in the Myanmar National Gazette where all laws, procedures, notifications, regulations and directives are published, and that it was made known to local and international media at the conclusion of the ASEAN Labour Ministerial Meeting in Yangon on 15 May 1999.

11. Thus, by 18 May 1999, neither the Village Act nor the Towns Act had been amended, as requested in the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, nor had any draft law proposed or under consideration for that purpose been brought to the knowledge of the ILO. However, an Order "not to exercise the powers" under the Acts has been announced by the Government in its letter of 18 May 1999. The text of the Order made on 14 May 1999, which was not included in the Government's letter, is reproduced as Appendix III and will be considered in Part II.B. below.

12. In a communication of 3 May 1999, the Government of the United States indicated that it:

II. The exaction in practice of forced and compulsory
labour and any measures taken to stop it

13. This part of the report will set out information regarding: (a) the continued exaction of forced or compulsory labour by the authorities; and (b) any measures taken to stop the practice.

A. Continued exaction of forced or compulsory
labour by the authorities

14. In its recommendations of July 1998, the Commission of Inquiry pointed out that "concrete action needs to be taken immediately" by the Government "for each and every of the many fields of forced labour examined in Chapters 12 and 13" of the Commission's report to stop the present practice.(12) 

15. In its letters to the Director-General of the ILO dated 12 and 18 May 1999,(13)  the Government of Myanmar did not refer to actual practice followed since the Commission of Inquiry issued its recommendations.

16. All information on actual practice that was received by the Director-General in reply to his request notes the continued widespread use of forced labour by the authorities, in particular by the military. Information received on the general pattern observed will be reflected in section (1) below before dealing under (2) with specific forms of labour and services as identified by the Commission of Inquiry in paragraphs 300-461 and 485-502 of its report.

(1) General observations

17. In its communication of 3 May 1999, the ICFTU draws attention to "relevant and consistent evidence of the persistence of forced labour in Burma" contained in documents from the following sources: Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma (FTUB), United Nations, Anti-Slavery International, Worldview International Foundation, Aliran Kasadaran Negara, Karen Human Rights Group, Images Asia, Shan Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights Foundation of Monland, Mon Information Service, Chin Human Rights Organization, Karenni Information Office, State Department of the Government of the United States, National League for Democracy (Burma) and Committee Representing the People's Parliament (Burma).

18. The ICFTU notes that:

19. The ICFTU draws particular attention to:

As pointed out by the ICFTU, "all these orders are quasi-identical in shape, style and contents to the hundreds of forced labour orders which the Commission of Inquiry had examined and found to be authentic in the course of its investigation".

20. Like the earlier orders, those issued after July 1998 never refer to any legal basis for the authority exercised. Thus, the observation of the Commission of Inquiry that "the powers to impose compulsory labour appear to be taken for granted, without any reference to the Village Act or Towns Act"(14)  remains valid.

21. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees supplied a note dated 29 April 1999 on compulsory labour practices in Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, where UNHCR has been operational since 1994 around the areas of Maungdaw, Rathedaung and Buthidaung. According to this note:

22. In a communication of 3 May 1999, the Government of the United States indicated that members of the US Embassy in Yangon (Rangoon):

23. Another government indicated that in compiling its report in reply to the Director-General's request for information, it had "sought the views of individuals and organizations from all over Burma/Myanmar", which had given "a number of first-hand examples of forced labour dating from the ten months between start July 1998 and end April 1999". Examples mentioned will be reflected in section (2) below.

24. The World Confederation of Labour transmitted a note of May 1999 by Amnesty International on its concerns at the 87th International Labour Conference, in which it is noted that:

25. A great number of interviews referred to by the ICFTU in its submission and conducted by Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) staff between December 1998 and April 1999 with villagers in Nyaunglebin District of Pegu Division and those who have fled the area indicates that there has been no decrease in forced labour in Nyaunglebin District since mid-1998, and in fact many villagers have experienced an increase in forced labour and demands for the associated cash fees. This is consistent with information gathered from other regions of Kayin (Karen) and Kayah States by KHRG.

(2) Forms of labour and services requisitioned

26. The ICFTU has submitted a considerable number of orders addressed to village heads by military officers (or, in a few cases, by a Village Peace and Development Council, referring to an order given by a military officer). Several dozens of these, addressed to village heads in Thaton, Pa'an, Toungoo, Dooplaya and Papun Districts of Kayin (Karen) State and dated between August 1998 and February 1999, order a number of "servants", "rotation servants" or "volunteer workers" to be sent without fail; it is often specified that if the village head fails to comply it will be entirely his or her responsibility; in a case where one worker from a village had "returned without permission", the village head was ordered to send himself immediately 24 kilograms of pork or fine money of the value of the pork as well as to come himself "today with one person to take his place as a volunteer worker"; the order indicates that "the village head and the village will be severely punished if they fail".(15)  In some cases the tasks to be performed are not mentioned in the orders; in others, it is specified that the persons to be sent are to work as porters, to repair a military camp or to act as messengers for the military. In most cases, the length of the assignment is not mentioned; in others, a number of days is indicated; sometimes it is specified that workers have to bring their own food.

27. Some 40 documents submitted by the ICFTU contain information gathered in interviews conducted and reports published by the Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma (FTUB) and a number of non-governmental organizations that give details of hundreds of cases in which forced labour was exacted between August and December 1998 and in 1999 for portering, military camp work, sentry duty and other work in support of the military all over Kayin (Karen) State, in Kayah State, Pegu Division, Arakan State, Shan State, Chin State and Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division, in conditions similar to those set out in paragraphs 300 to 388 of the report of the Commission of Inquiry. Details provided often include the designation of the military units and/or camps and the names of military officers involved, as well as those of villages and of individual victims.(16)  In a number of cases, forced labour is reported to have been imposed in circumstances of extreme brutality, involving the destruction of villages, torture, rape, the maiming and killing of exhausted, sick or wounded porters and (in one case) of a non-cooperative village head, and the use of civilians, including women and children, as mine sweepers and human shields.

28. According to the Amnesty International note which was submitted by the World Confederation of Labour:(17) 

29. According to a report submitted in January 1999(18)  by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, throughout 1998 the SPDC military are reported to have been taking porters from the main towns throughout central and southern Shan State, where the Shan resistance is operating. The SPDC had been sending out regular military patrols from its bases around the area, each time demanding groups of porters from the civilian population. The households provided porters on a rotation basis, and if someone could not go, they were made to pay 8,000-10,000 kyats to hire a replacement.

30. In reply to the Director-General's request for information, a government indicated that sources from all over Myanmar reported that forced labour of the kinds described in paragraphs 300 to 388 of the Commission's report continues. Last dry season saw relatively muted fighting between the army and ethnic insurgents. As a result, demands for porters to help in military operations over the past ten months appear to have been fairly mild. But there were numerous instances of the military demanding labour to carry equipment and goods to and from army camps and in construction and maintenance work. The following examples are quoted:

31. Documents submitted by the ICFTU contain information gathered in interviews conducted and reports published by non-governmental organizations and the National League for Democracy concerning the continued imposition of forced labour on villagers in Kayin (Karen) State, Kayah State, Pegu Division, Arakan State, Shan State, and Yangon (Rangoon) Division for agricultural and other production projects undertaken by the military, including work on army rubber plantations, the digging of irrigation ditches to grow rice, the clearing of fields and virgin lands, the growing of beans or other vegetables for the army, and the digging of ponds and raising of fish, in conditions similar to those described in paragraphs 394 to 406 of the report of the Commission of Inquiry.

32. In his report submitted in January 1999(19)  the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar mentioned that villagers in Shan State apparently had been forced in September 1998 to plant yellow beans for the army, then tend the plots and do weeding and fencing for troops at local bases. Also, throughout 1998, the Special Rapporteur received reports of villagers from several (named) villages being forced to work for (named) army battalions for periods of up to two weeks splitting rocks near the Salween River crossing of Ta Sarng in Shan State. The rocks were conveyed by the army to big cities like Yangon (Rangoon) where they were sold for 12,000-15,000 kyats per truckload.(20) 

33. In reply to the Director-General's request for information, a government, referring to paragraphs 394 to 407 of the report of the Commission of Inquiry, mentioned the following examples of forced labour associated with agricultural and income-generation projects from the last ten months:

34. According to a report submitted by the ICFTU which was published in January 1999 by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, on "The conscription of forced labour on the repair of Ye-Tavoy railway road":

35. According to reports on the conscription of forced labour for widening the Ye-Tavoy motor road, published in January 1999 by the Mon Information Service (Bangkok) and in February 1999 by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (quoted below) that have been submitted by the ICFTU:

36. Information submitted by the ICFTU, contained in interviews conducted and reports published by the Karen Human Rights Group, gives details concerning:

37. As indicated in paragraph 26 above, the ICFTU has submitted a considerable number of orders addressed to village heads by military officers. Several of these, addressed to village heads in Pa'an and Thaton Districts of Kayin (Karen) State in October 1998, order people from the village to be sent with their own tools to clear the shrub along car roads, or intimate that "the road worker group must go to work at the worksite". Similarly, forced labour imposed in September 1998 on villagers for road repair in Toungoo District is reported in an interview conducted by the KHRG and submitted by the ICFTU.

38. The ICFTU has also submitted a report of April 1999 by the Shan Human Rights Foundation, stating that:

39. In reply to the Director-General's request for information, a government, referring to sources from all over Myanmar, quoted the following examples of forced labour during the last ten months, corresponding to paragraphs 408 et seq. of the report of the Commission of Inquiry:

40. Information contained in reports by the National League for Democracy and various non-governmental organizations, submitted by the ICFTU, indicates the continued use of forced labour for infrastructure projects ranging from digging canals and building dykes to building pagodas. According to reports by the NLD:

41. Documents submitted by the ICFTU report the extensive imposition of forced labour on hundreds of villagers for the construction of dykes. Thus, the January 1999 report by the Mon Information Service (Bangkok) on "forced labour on construction of dykes for private rice-cultivation projects of SPDC military" indicates that:

42. Similarly, the imposition of forced labour on several hundred villagers in the second half of 1998 for the construction of each of four major dykes in the Yebu township area for the Army's rice cultivation lands is described in a February 1999 report by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, submitted by the ICFTU with details including working, living and sanitary conditions at the construction sites and the mistreatment of villagers by soldiers guarding them:

43. In documents submitted by the ICFTU, based on interviews conducted by the Karen Human Rights Group, the imposition of forced labour by soldiers on villagers (including non-Buddhists) for the construction of pagodas is reported for central Dooplaya district (Kayin State) in July-Septemer 1998 and a number of places in Nyaunglebin district (Pegu Division) up to early 1999.

44. In reply to the Director-General's request for information, a government, referring to sources from all over Myanmar, quoted the following examples of forced labour associated with infrastructural development projects during the last ten months, corresponding to paragraphs 444 to 457 of the report of the Commission of Inquiry:

B. Measures to stop the exaction in practice
of forced or compulsory labour

45. In its recommendations of July 1998, the Commission of Inquiry indicated that:

46. While the Commission indicated that action needed to be taken immediately, it appears from the information supplied by both the Government of Myanmar and other sources that the concrete measures called for by the Commission of Inquiry had not been taken by mid-May 1999.

47. One single source mentioned two isolated instances of corrective action taken by the Government of Myanmar upon complaints by the National League for Democracy. In reply to the Director-General's request for information, a government, having listed examples of forced labour that had been supplied by sources from all over Myanmar, added that it had been quoted:

According to the same government, these:

48. While no general action to stop the imposition of forced labour had thus been taken by the Government of Myanmar until mid-May 1999, the Government indicated in its letter of 18 May 1999 that an Order was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs dated 14 May 1999 directing the relevant authorities not to exercise the powers conferred on them under section 7(1)(l) and (m), and section 9 and 9A of the Towns Act and section 8(1)(g), (n) and (o), section 11(d) and section 12 of the Village Act, 1907.(22)  This indication does not fully correspond to the content of the Order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs dated 14 May 1999,(23)  which directs:

49. The Order issued on 14 May 1999 reserves the exercise of powers under the relevant provisions of the Village Act, 1908,(24)  and the Towns Act, 1907, in several ways. In the first place, the Order reserves "any further directive" that may be issued to exercise the powers.

50. Secondly, the Order makes two exceptions under (a) and (b) whose language corresponds in part to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). Exception (a) reproduces the essential wording of the exception from the scope of the Convention made in its Article 2(2)(d). Exception (b) reflects part of Article 10 of the Convention which reads as follows:

51. It will be noted that conditions made in paragraph 2(d) and (e) of Article 10 of the Convention have not been retained in exception (b) of the Order of 14 May 1999.

52. More importantly, it is indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Convention that forced or compulsory labour of the kind envisaged under this Article "shall be progressively abolished". As noted by the Commission of Inquiry in its report,(25)  Article 10 is part of a series of provisions containing conditions and guarantees "to restrict and regulate recourse to compulsory labour pending its suppression", that is, during the "transitional period" provided for in Article 1(2) of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations observed in 1997 that:

The Commission of Inquiry in its report(27)  has shared this view, having regard also to the status of the abolition of forced or compulsory labour in general international law as a peremptory norm from which no derogation is permitted.(28) 

53. Moreover, in its findings as to compliance with the Convention, the Commission of Inquiry has considered that:

54. In conclusion, in providing for the exercise of powers to impose compulsory labour under an exception patterned after Article 10, paragraph 2(a) to (c) of the Convention, the Order of 14 May 1999 does not provide for the action called for by the Commission of Inquiry in its recommendations under paragraph 539(b) to ensure "that in actual practice, no more forced or compulsory labour be imposed by the authorities, in particular the military".

55. Furthermore, it needs to be remembered that the Order of 14 May 1999 is limited to the exercise of powers under the Village Act and the Towns Act, while the Commission on Inquiry pointed out in its recommendations that in national practice "the powers to impose compulsory labour appear to be taken for granted, without any reference to the Village Act or the Towns Act".(30)  Thus, wider concrete action needs to be taken, in conformity with the Commission's recommendations, "to ensure that nobody is compelled to work against his or her will".(31) 

III. Enforcement

56. In paragraph 539(c) of its recommendations(32)  the Commission of Inquiry urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure:

57. No action under section 374 of the Penal Code has so far been brought to the knowledge of the ILO.(33) 

58. In this connection, it may be worthwhile to recall the following observations of the Commission of Inquiry in paragraph 514 of its report:

59. In his address to the opening session of the 13th ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting on 14 May 1999, Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt indicated that:

60. Referring to similar indications made by the Government in the past, the Commission of Inquiry recalled, in concluding its recommendations under paragraph 539 of its report, that:

Final observation

61. Despite the Order issued by the Government of Myanmar on 14 May 1999 there is no indication that the three recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry have yet been followed:

(a) the Village Act and the Towns Act have not been amended;

(b) in actual practice forced or compulsory labour continues to be imposed in a widespread manner;

(c) no action appears to have been taken under section 374 of the Penal Code to punish those exacting forced labour.


Appendix I

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
BLDG. NO. 53, FIRST FLOOR, STRAND ROAD
YANGON, MYANMAR


REF: 15/DL(R-2)99

DATE: 12th May 1999.

To,

Subject: Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry

 

Reference:

(1)

The letter dated 18 February 1999 of the Director-General of the Department of Labour

 

(2)

The letter dated 1 April 1999 of the Director-General of the International Labour Office

Dear Mr. Director-General,

I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1 April 1999 requesting me, pursuant to the decision of the Governing Body adopted at its 274th Session, to inform you of any measures which my government might have taken on each of the recommendations set out in the report of Commission of Inquiry.

In this connection, I wish to inform you preliminarily that the practical measures envisaged to be taken on the recommendations have been submitted to the Government of the Union of Myanmar for decision and they are already in the process of being actively considered by the high authorities.

I will be most delighted to communicate to you as soon as the matter has been decided upon.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) (Sein Myint)
Director-General
Department of Labour


Appendix II

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
BLDG. No. 53, FIRST FLOOR; STRAND ROAD
YANGON, MYANMAR


REF: 15/DL(R-2)99
DATE: 18th May 1999.

To,

Subject: Report of the Commission of Inquiry

Dear Mr. Director-General,

May I refer to my letter of 12 May 1999, in which I indicated that practical measures would be taken regarding the recommendations by the ILO Commission of Inquiry relating to the observance of the Forced Labour Convention 1930 (Convention No. 29).

I am happy to inform you that the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of the Union of Myanmar, has issued an Order dated 14 May 1999, in which the relevant authorities were directed not to exercise the powers conferred on them under the Provisions namely, Section 7 Sub-section (1) (L) and (m), and Section 9 and 9A of the Towns Act, 1907 and also Section 8 Sub-section (1) (g) (n) and (o), Section 11 (d) and Section 12 of the Village Act, 1907.

I may mention that this Order clearly stipulated that any person who fails to abide by this order shall have action taken against him under the existing law.

This Order has already been made public and has been circulated to all State Bodies, Government Ministries and all local administrative bodies and it will be published in the Myanmar National Gazette where all Laws, Procedures, Notifications, Regulations and Directives are published.

You may also be aware that the 13th ASEAN Labour Ministerial Meeting was held in Yangon, Myanmar, from 14-15 May 1999, at the conclusion of which Myanmar Government at the Press Conference made known to local and international media regarding the above action.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) (Soe Nyunt)
Director-General


Appendix III

Government of the Union of Myanmar
The Ministry of Home Affairs

Order No. 1/99
Yangon, the 15th, Waning of Kason 1361 ME
(14th May 1999)

Order Directing Not To Exercise Powers Under Certain Provisions of The Towns Act, 1907 and the Village Act, 1907

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

Circulation:

(1) Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council;

(2) Office of the State Peace and Development Council;

(3) Office of the Government;

(4) Supreme Court;

(5) Office of the Attorney General;

(6) Office of the Auditor General;

(7) Public Services Selection and Training Board;

(8) All Ministries;

(9) Director General, Department of General Administration (Forwarded for information and for further circulation of the copy of this Order to the State, Divisional, District and Township Administrative Officers Subordinate to him);

(10) Police Major General, Myanmar Police Force (Forwarded for information and for further circulation of the copy of this Order to the relevant departments and organizations subordinate to him);

(11) Director General, Department of Special Investigation;

(12) Director General, Prisons Department;

(13) All State and Divisional Peace and Development Councils;

(14) All District Peace and Development Councils;

(15) All Township Peace and Development Councils (Forwarded for information and for further circulation of the copy of this Order to the Chairmen of the Ward and Village Tract Peace and Development Councils Subordinate to it);

(16) Managing Director, Printing and Publishing Enterprise (with a request for publication in the Myanmar Gazette).


1. ILO Governing Body, 274th Session (March 1999), Record of decisions (GB.274/205), para. 12.

2. Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma), Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization to examine the observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). ILO Official Bulletin, Vol. LXXXI, 1998, Series B, Special Supplement. The full text of the report is also available on the ILO website at the following address: <http://www.ilo.org/public/english/20gb/docs/gb273/myanmar.htm>.

3. ibid., paras. 536 and 537.

4. ibid., para. 539.

5. ibid., para. 540.

6. Para. 470 of the Commission's report. See also paras. 237 et seq. of the report for details of these Acts.

7. See paras. 471 and 472 of the Commission's report.

8. ibid., para. 539(a), reproduced in para. 5 above.

9. Reproduced as Appendix I to the present report.

10. Reproduced as Appendix II to the present report.

11. State Peace and Development Council.

12. Para. 539(b) of the Commission's report, reproduced in para. 5 above.

13. Appendices I and II.

14. Para. (529 and para.) 539(b) of the Commission's report, reproduced in para. 5 above.

15. SPDC Orders to Villages, Set 99-B, Thaton and Pa'an Districts, Order dated 15 Dec. 1998, registered as Order T6.

16. To protect witnesses from reprisals, the ICFTU has requested the Office to take, with regard to the documents submitted (including the abovementioned forced labour orders) all necessary safety measures and precautions, identical to those taken in the course of the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry.

17. See para. 24 above.

18. UN document E/CN.4/1999/35, 22 Jan. 1999, para. 48.

19. UN document E/CN.4/1999/35, 22 Jan. 1999, para. 44.

20. ibid., para. 45.

21. Para. 539(b) of the Commission's report, reproduced in para. 5 above.

22. Appendix II and para. 10 above.

23. Appendix III.

24. Erroneously dated 1907 in the published Order.

25. Para. 472 in fine; see also paras. 214-215.

26. ILC, 86th Session, Geneva, 1998, Report III (Part 1A), Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, p. 100.

27. Paras. 218 and 472.

28. See paras. 198-204 of the Commission's report.

29. Para. 472; see also paras. 217 and 122 et seq. of the Commission's report.

30. Para. 539(b) of the Commission's report, referring to paras. 481 and 529. See also para. 20 above.

31. ibid.

32. See para. 5 above.

33. A single case of disciplinary action was reported by a government, as reflected in para. 47 above.

34. The full text of the address was published by BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific on 17 May 1999.


Updated by VC. Approved by RH. Last update: 26 January 2000.