Karen National Liberation Army (Peace Council)

ကေအဲန်ယူ-ကေအဲန်အယ်အေ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးကောင်စီ

http://www.karenpeacecouncil.com/

SUMMARY

Founded: 31 Jan. 2007
Headquarters: Kawkareik, Kayin State.
Active Regions: Kayin State – Kawkareik, Hlaingbwe.
Size: Over 500

The KNU/KNLA Peace Council was formed after the former KNLA brigade 7 commander Maj.
Gen. Saw Htay Maung was dismissed by the KNU for initiating peace talks with the Myanmar
army without the approval of the KNU central committee in 2007. Maj. Gen. Saw Htay Maung
signed a peace deal with the Myanmar junta on January 31 that year and transformed his
brigade 7 into the KNU/KNLA Peace Council.

Leadership
Chairman: General Saw Htaw Lay
General Secretary: Dr. Naw Ka Paw Htoo
Foreign Affairs Dept: Dr.Timothy Laklem
CEC member: Brig. Gen. Yin Nu

The Karen National Liberation Army (Peace Council ) KNU/KNLA PC was formed under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Saw Htein Maung after he was expelled from the KNU Central Committee for initiating peace talks with the military government without KNU approval. The group signed a ceasefire agreement with the military government in early February 2007. In February 2012, the group signed peace agreements at the state and union levels with the junta, and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) under U Thein Sein administration on October 15th, 2015, and participated in the peace process in Myanmar under the NCA.

By participating in the reunification conference of the Kayin armed forces in 2016, the KPC agreed to remain under the political guidance of the KNU central committee. In January 2018, an announcement by the Tatmadaw that the KPC was trading weapons for peace caused a rift between the Tatmadaw and the KPC during the peace process.

After General Saw Htein Maung passed away on May 3rd, 2020, Vice Chairman General Saw Htaw Lay was elected chairman and continued to lead the KPC.

General Saw Htaw Lay said on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Peace Council that there were obstacles and challenges in the current peace and political dialogues and that the lack of full participation of all ethnic armed groups in the NCA was also a major challenge.

The KNU/KNLA Peace Council’s aim and determination are:

To stop all kinds of military offenses against the Karen including stopping atrocities, forced labor and any form of human rights abuse.
To regain the Karen land.
To solve the refugees and IDP problem by allowing refugees to return to their homeland to live peacefully under the care of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council (not under the Burmese military). Allowing UNHCR, NGOs and other aid agencies to have access to take care of rebuilding the Karen community.
To allow Karen to cultivate our own land and utilize our own natural resources to develop the Karen state. That includes infrastructure, farming, tourism, fisheries, import /export trade, schools, hospitals, medical care etc.
To allow Karen to freely practice religious and cultural celebrations including Karen National Day, Martyrs Day, Karen New Year etc.
To hold the legal right to have our own arms and set up our own Karen army forces to protect the safety and peaceful living of our own people. Recognition of both the Karen National Flag and Military Flag.
To support non-violent activity that will bring political change to Democracy and the Karen to hold the right to develop our own Democratic society within our own State as well as Burma as a whole.

Ceasefire & Peace Process

9th ceasefire signing group.
Stage 1: State level ceasefire 7 Feb 2012
Stage 2: NCA signed on 15 October 2015
Previous ceasefire: 11 Feb 2017
Official delegation team: Saw Htay Maung
Dr. Timothy Laklem, Saw Yin Nu, Dr. Naw Ka Paw Htoo, Saw Eh Kaw Htoo, Saw Joseph
Dr. Saw Aung Than, Naw Karen Na

Official delegation team

Saw Htay Maung, Dr. Timothy Laklem, Saw Ray Nu, Dr. Naw Ka Paw Htoo, Saw Eh Kaw Htoo, Saw Joseph, Dr. Saw Aung Than, Naw Karen Ma

Liaison offices

1. Myawaddy
2. Paya Thone Sue

Alliances: Karen armed groups

KNU/KNLA PEACE COUNCIL CONSTITUTION

Meetings

#	Date	Location	Armed Group Rep	Govt Rep	Details
1	07/02/2012	Naypyidaw	Htay Maung	Aung Thaung	Signed State level 7-point ceasefire KPC delegates: central committee members Dr. Timothy, U Saw Yin Nu, Dr. Naw Kapaw Htoo, U Saw El Kaw Htoo, U Saw Joseph, Rev Dr. Saw Aung Than Hnit and Naw Kharin Nar Govt Delegates: U Thein Zaw, Union Minister U Ohn Myint, Kayan Township Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Maung Maung Thein, Deputy Minister Maj-Gen Zaw Win, Deputy Attorney-General U Tun Tun Oo, Kayin state minister for Security and Border Affairs Col Aung Lwin, Lt-Col Zaw Naing Oo of the Commander-in-Chief’s Office, Director-General U Htay Aung of Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry and member of the peace negotiation team U Saw Khin Soe
2	21/1/2013	Pa-an, Karen state	Htay Maung	Aung Min	The government requested the KPC to become a political party and surrender arms, however, the KPC rejected and will try to discuss the issues further.
3	27/1/2014	Thaton township	Brid Gen Saw Kyaw Lin (Brigade 1)	Ohn Myint – State Minister Mon	Mon prime minister Ohn Myint and KNU brigade 1 meet in thaton township for cooperation of rural and village development.

Developments

Agreed points:

Members of KNU/KNLA Peace Council are allowed to maintain a presence at Maela Hta and Tokawko village
Travel across borders with weapons after mutual pre-negotiations
Provide accommodation to “region peace and development troops”
Continue to negotiate until a permanent peace deal has been reached.
State will allow and render assistance for self-reliant undertakings for quickly fulfilling the basic needs, education, health, transport, water and electricity supply in the area for resettlement of national races that are residing in another country and render assistance for self-reliance

Demanding:

to cease of military operations in the region
more development of border trade and regional infrastructure
more exploration and trade licenses for timber and mineral extraction to avoid exploitation from Thailand
tourism