RAPE AND KILLING IN LAI-KHA

On the night of 17. 7. 98, SPDC (State Peace and Development Committee -- the name of the ruling military regime) Commander Han Aung from Lai-Kha-based LIB515 raped and shot dead a housewife in her bedroom and threatened to shoot the husband and the village headman in an outermost quarter of Lai-Kha town to where rural populations had been forcibly relocated.

On that night, Han Aung led 50 troops from LIB515 and patrolled the outer quarters of the town, occasionally searching houses for overnight guests. At one point, Han Aung went into a house and asked if there was any guest staying overnight. When a couple, Ku-Na, 33, and his wife Nang Kya Non, 28, answered that there was no one, Han Aung ordered Ku-Na to go and tell the headman of that new quarter, Loong Saw-Ya, to find 5 viss of chicken for the military, and to wait until he got the chicken.

When Ku-Na left, Han Aung asked Nang Kya Non whether she was the wife of Ku-Na. When she said yes, he told her he wanted to search the bedroom and would like Nang Kya Non to go inside with him so that he would not be suspected of stealing. So she went into the bedroom, holding an oil lamp. Once inside the bedroom, Han Aung told her to take off all her clothes, but she refused and he threatened to shoot her with his pistol, pointing it at her. He raped her and even when he finished he told her not to get up but to lie in the bed, but she said she wanted badly to relieve herself so he had to let her go out of the house.

Once outside, Nang Kya Non ran as soon as she had a chance until she reached the headman’s house where her husband had gone to get chicken. There she cried and told her husband and headman Loong Saw-Ya how she had been treated by Han Aung. Some soldiers who had come after Nang Kya Non found out about it and reported back to Han Aung, so he ordered his troops to arrest and bring back 3 of them, including the headman. He interrogated them for a while and said that Nang Kya Non had told a lie, and had tried to defame him by accusing him of raping her. He then asked Nang Kya Non to show where she had been raped, and when she said it was in the bed, he then told her to go and lie down as when she was being raped. When Nang Kya Non did that, he shot her dead in the bed, came out of the bedroom, pointed his pistol at Ku-Na and the headman and asked them if they were satisfied with what he had just done, and threatened to shoot them as well if they were not satisfied, leaving no choice for the 2 men but to say yes. After that incident, Han Aung and his men did not continue their patrol but went back to the military base.

On the next morning, headman Saw-Ya and Ku-Na went to complain about it to community leader Kaw-Li-Ya who in turn led them to the head of LIB515 Commander Soe Phyu. But Soe Phyu said he had sent Han Aung on a military operation 3 days ago and had not yet returned, and he could not understand how it could be Han Aung. So he told the 3 men to wait until Han Aung returned and they would talk about it.

However, not long after that, Han Aung was posted to some distant outpost and Ku-Na dared not stay any longer in fear of reprisal, so he headed for Thailand 20 days after that horrible experience.

RESTRICTED SUGARCANE FARMER KILLED IN LARNG-KHUR

On 3. 8. 98, SPDC troops of LIB511 led by Owng Zaw shot dead a sugarcane farmer named Ka-Ling-Ta in his sugarcane farm.

Ka-Ling-Ta, his wife Nang Kham Sai and their child were originally from Nar Khar village that had been forced to move to the town in 1997 and they had managed to cultivate a patch of sugarcane farm about one and a half acres wide.

When on 2. 7. 98, Commander Aung Moe Zaw of SPDC’s IB99 in Larng-Khur township issued an order that all sugarcane farmers must clear two-thirds of their sugarcane farms and grow soya bean and yellow bean for the army, Ka-Ling-Ta was so upset that he took the risky step of going to appeal to the Commander to spare him because he had only a very small farm and that if he had to clear away 2/3 of it, there would not be enough for his family to subsist. He was granted permission and he continued to maintain his farm as before.

However, on 3.8.98, while Ka-Ling-Ta and his wife were tending the sugarcane, about 50 SPDC troops from LIB511 led by Commander Owng Zaw came to his farm and asked him why he had not cleared his farm like others, accused him of defying military orders and beat, kicked and tortured him.

While his soldiers tortured the husband, Owng Zaw ordered the wife to bring out all the money and valuable they had if she did not want her husband dead. So she gave 600 Kyat which was all she had, hoping that her husband would be released. But, after receiving the money, Owng Zaw told Nang Kham Sai to go home before her husband, saying that they needed him to carry things for them to the town and they would release him later. When Nang Kham Sai had not gone so far from the farm she heard 2 gun-shots, so she was quite sure her husband had been shot and cried all the way to her house.

The next morning, on 4.8.98, Nang Kham Sai called some of her relatives and neighbours and went together to the farm, and found her dead husband in the farm hut. After they found the body, some of Nang Kham Sai’s relatives went back to the town and complained to their headman and the community leader, and together they went to the Commander of IB99 and complained to him.

But Commander Owng Zaw of IB99 just asked them why they had not come the previous night but waited until 10 o’clock that morning and said that it could not be sure who shot Ka-Ling-Ta, and it could also be the Shan soldiers.

RAPED TO DEATH IN LAI-KHA

On 25.6.98, a patrol of SPDC troops of LIB517 arrested a group villagers who were working on a farm near a deserted village which had once been Loi Lam village in Phawng Seng tract, Lai-Kha township.The villagers were:

1. Loong Pun-Nya (m), aged 70
2. Pa Pee (f), aged 50
3. Pa Awang (f), aged 46
4. Sarng La (m), aged 32
5. Nang Ae (f), aged 28
6. Sai Leng (m), aged 23
7. Nang Nu (f), aged 20
8. Nang Zum (f), aged 18
9. Nang Awng (f), aged 4

The villagers were lined up and interrogated and beaten until some of them lost consciousness. At the end they accused Nang Nu and Nang Zum of being wives of Shan soldiers and forced them to go with them. The 2 women were taken along with the troops and repeatedly raped until 10.8.98 when Nang Nu died of the unbearable agony and Nang Zum lost her mental balance. When Nang Zum’s insanity became obvious, the soldiers just abandoned her in the jungle. Many porters had witnessed these incidents while they themselves had to suffer brutal abuses of the SPDC soldiers.

A HOUSEWIFE BURNED TO DEATH IN LOI-LEM

On 13.7.98, a housewife named Nang Thuay, aged 25, was burned to death at Nam Yur Mu village, Parng Hu tract, Loi Lem township, by the SPDC troops from LIB517.

Her 8-month-old child and her husband, Sarng Ti, aged 35, were also killed by the same troops.

KILLINGS IN MURNG-KERNG

On 27.6.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 shot dead the following villagers in Murng Khun tract, Murng-Kerng township.

1. Loong Ku (m), aged 45, of Wan Paw village
2. Kaw Kham (m), aged 30, of Pa Karng village
3. Ai Man (m), aged 35, of Pa Karng village
4. Loong Pan (m), aged 45, of Wan Nim village
The following villagers of Wan Nim were also shot and wounded:
1. Nai Sa (f), aged 45
2. Ae Kyan (f), aged 17
3. Ae Wa (f), aged 15

RAPE CASES IN LAI-KHA

On 27.7.98, Maj Thein Oo and his troops from SPDC’s LIB515 raped a 13-year-old girl untill she fainted. The victim was Nang Nu, daughter of Loong Nyunt and Pa Lam of Phawng Seng village, Phawng Seng tract, Lai Kha township.

On 25.7.98, the same Thein Oo and his troops also raped Nang Zarm, aged 16, daughter of Loong Leng, at Zaet Lawk village, Phawng Seng tract, Lai-Kha township. Nang Zarm lost consciousness for one hour.

HEADMAN HELD HOSTAGE IN KAE-SEE

On 5.8.98, SPDC troops of LIB514 in Kae-See township went on patrol to the villages of Wan Mai, Kung Nyawng and Pa Karng villages. When they reached Pa Karng village they asked for 5 viss of chicken and 8 porters.

After they got that they returned to Wan Mai and arrested the village headman and interrogated him. They asked for walkie-talkies which they suspected were being used in the area by the villagers or the Shan resistance.

When they could not get the answer they wanted, they warned the villagers to hand over the walkie-talkies in 7 days, or they would kill the headman. After that, these soldiers went and stationed themselves at Nawng Yom village. The fate of the headman is not known at the time of this report.

KILLING AND ROBBING IN LOI-LEM

On 1.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 led by Capt Kuma shot dead a villager named Sarng Lu, son of Pa Yu, in Sa-Nin tract, Loi-Lem township.

On 4.8.98, the same Capt Kuma and his troops killed and ate 2 oxen belonged to Loong Zarng Wi of Kung Lao village, Sa-Nin tract, Loi-Lem township.

On 4.8.98, the same troops robbed Nang Oo, a woman villager of Kung Sarngkheng, of 3000 Kyat and a pair of ear-rings worth 5000 Kyat.

SITUATION IN THE BORDER TOWN OF TAKHILAEK (TACHILEK)

From 6 to 9.8.98, SPDC troops of Takhilaek-based LIB331 led by Capt Sein Hpe, together with the police and township SPDC officers, about 50 people in all, seached the town of Takhilaek and the surrounding 5-6 villages at night. They did this claiming that about 500 “distructive elements” were about to disturb the town and had already sent many of their members to penetrate the security of the town.

During these 2-3 nights, they arrested 8-9 people of all nationalities, including Burmese, Kachin, Arakanese, Shan and Chinese, who were staying overnight at their friends’ or relatives’ houses and hotels and had not yet reported to the authorities.

On 10.8.98, all these people were sent to the Township Law Court and were fined 30 Kyat each for infringing security regulations. However, to ensure their release, all the people involved, including the guests, the hosts and the hotel proprietors, had to pay 2000 Baht each under the table to the various administrative departments.

On 10.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB526 that were taking security duty at Takhilaek airport arrested Maung Sein Wa, aged 19, son of U Hpyu of Pung Thun quarter of the town.

The reason for his arrest was that Maung Sein Wa had driven a motorbike and entered the airport compound without asking for permission, and there was information that some saboteurs were trying to plant bombs at important and strategic locations in Takhilaek.

The soldiers not only arrested him but also took his mortorbike. There has not been any further news about him at the time of this report.

On 8.8.98, members of the implementing committee for the Shan New Year in Takhilaek were holding a meeting at Hawng Lerk village to discuss the celebration of the coming new year.

As it happened, it coincided with the day of the 10th anniversary of the democracy uprising known as ‘four-eights’ (8.8.88) in which thousands of innocent peaceful demostrators were killed by the Burmese army.

While the meeting was still in process, SPDC troops from company 3 of LIB526, led by Capt Myint Aung surrounded and forcibly broke up the meeting, threatening and banning any further meeting. They not only banned the meeting, but also arrested 2 organizers, 1 man and 1 woman, and locked them up for one night.

On that day, the SPDC of Takhilaek Township issued an order banning any gathering of up to 5 people and anyone who disobeyed would face severe punishment.

VILLAGERS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH CRASHED PLANE

On 27.8.98, Takhilaek Township SPDC arrested 3 Akha villagers of Parng Kaw who had come to report finding the Air Myanmar passenger plane that crashed east of Takhilaek on 24.8.98.The 3 Akha men arrested were Ah Bay, 40, Ah Jer, 36, and Ah Nay, 20.

On 28.8.98, over 60 SPDC troops from LIB no.526 led by Maj Thein Kyi surrounded the Akha village of Parng Kaw, near which the plane crashed, in Murng Phong tract 2, Takhilaek township, and ransacked the village, searching from door to door. But they did not find anything illegal or what they wanted.

The Major then ordered all the villagers to gather in the centre of the village and said to them, “If you do not hand over the dollars from the crashed plane, all the men in your village will be put in jail and the elderly, women and children will have to work for the army in the compound of LIB562 base for one month”. But the villagers denied having seen anything and insisted that they had reported finding the crasned plane as soon as they found it, but that the 3 men who went to report it had been arrested and detained up to the present.

When they could not get any positive answer, the troops arrested the village headman and his 2 deputies and returned to their base. The 3 arrested were Ah Law, 56, the headman; Ah Zee, 48, and Ah To, 45.

All the Akha villagers arrested were released on 2.9.98.

On 2.9.98, Takhilaek Township SPDC Chief Lt Col Kyaw Win issued an order banning the exchange of Burmese currency into Thai currency, because they suspected that the villagers of the villages in the vicinity of the site of the plane crash such as Parng Kaw, Saw Kong, San Nar, Pa Wong Ngarm and Nam Luk, had taken the money from the plane and hidden it somewhere.

The SPDC troops were arresting and interrogating people they suspected in the area and up to 5.8.98, 17-18 people had been interrogated. Among the arrested were:

1. Sai Pee (m), 21, San Nar village, Fang Min tract
2. Sai Non (m), 18, San Nar village, Fang Min tract
3. Sai Ka-Ling (m), 33, Nam Luk village, Murng Phong tract
4. Nang Tarn Lee (f), 38, Pa Wong village, Fang Min tract

Two villagers from Saw Kong village, who were gathering firewood, were also arrested:

1. Sai Lu (m), 16, Saw Kong village, Murng Phong tract
2. Sai Yee (m), 18, Saw Kong village, Murng Phong tract

On 10.9.98, about 30 SPDC troops from LIB526 led by Capt Kyaw Than surrounded Pa Wong Ngarm village and forced all the villagers to gather in the centre of the village. The troops arrested 14 people who they suspected of looting the crashed plane and took them to the LIB526 base for interrogation.

The villagers were beaten and tortured and forced to confess, but they kept denying the charge. So the soldiers beat and tortured them until some 4-5 of them were seriously injured. Among the seriously injured were:

1. Sai Sarn (m), aged 21, wounded in the head
2. Sai Kot Tee (m), 18, wounded in the head
3. Loong Pee (m), 43, wounded in the waist, could not stand or get up
4. Ai Sai (m), 37, wounded in the leg, could not walk
5. Sai Mon (m), 29, wounded in the leg, could not walk

These people were detained for 3 nights and were released on 13.9.98.

On the same day, 10.9.98, and about the same time - 7:30 a.m. according to the villagers - 25 SPDC troops from LIB526 led by Capt San Hla, Commander of Company 1, surrounded San Nar village and arrested 6 people they suspected of looting the crashed plane. The villagers were also taken to the base of LIB526 but kept in a different lock-up.

These villagers were also interrogated and tortured until some lost consciousness, but no one confessed. They were also released on 13.9.98. Among those who lost consciousness under torture were Sai Lu (m), aged 20 and Sai Kom (m), 31.

The SPDC in Takhilaek are still issuing orders to find out who stole the 36 million Kyat from the crashed plane, and members of the military, police and people’s militia are strictly guarding all the crossings of Nam Mae Sai river.

EXTORTION IN MURNG-YARNG

On 3.8.98, some 25 SPDC troops from IB227 led by Lt Yan Naing came to Wan Hu village, Wan Hu tract, Murng-Yarng township, and arrested 3 villagers on a charge of drug trafficking.

The troops demanded 5000 Kyat for the release of each and took them to the military camp in Murng Yarng.

They were released on 6.8.98 after their families paid the ransom money which they aquired by selling families’ cattle.

BEATING AND ROBBING IN LAI-KHA

On 18.7.98, SPDC troops from LIB517 ransacked the villages of Pung Sop Hoo, Nar Taw and Nam Ke in Nawng Keng tract, Lai-Kha township, beating, torturing and robbing the villagers.

(1) Pa Nyunt (f) of Pung Sop Hoo village lost 1600 Kyat and a pair of ear rings. She was kicked 2 times and beaten 3 times with a rifle butt.
(2) Loong Nyo (m) of Pung Sop Hoo village lost 2000 Kyat and 1 wrist watch. He was kicked 2 times and one of his eyebrows bled from a beating.
(3) Nang Non (f) of Pung Sop Hoo village lost 2000 Kyat, one turban and one piece of plastic sheet. She was slapped 2 times on the face.
(4) Loong Kham Lern (m) of Nar Taw village lost 1500 Kyat and 1 wrist watch. He was kicked 2 times.
(5) Ae Nang (f) of Nar Taw lost 400 Kyat. It was snatched away from her pocket by one of the troops.
(6) Pa Nu (f) of Nar Taw lost 3000 Kyat.
(7) Zan-Ta (m) of Nam Ke village lost 400 Kyat and 1 wrist watch. He was slapped 2 times.
(8) Pa Zing (f) of Nam Ke lost 300 Kyat. She was kicked 3 times.
(9) Sai Yung (m) of Nam Ke lost 200 Kyat and 1 basket of rice and all good household possessions.
(10) Loong Zan-Ta (m) of Nam Ke lost 1 tape-recorder, 3000 Kyat, 16 bottles of white whiskey, 2 umbrellas, 1 basket of rice and all good household possessions. He was accused of being a Shan soldier and was tied up with a rope, tortured, kicked and beaten, and his face was covered with a plastic sheet until he lost consciousness several times.
(11) Loong Zing-Ta (m) of Nar Taw village lost 25000 Kyat, 1-1/2 baskets of rice, 3 pounds of seasoning powder, 3 cans of canned meat, 2 foldable umbrellas, 1 hat, 3 women’s sarongs, 3 women’s blouses and many other household possessions. He was beaten with a rifle-butt on the head and it bled.
(12) Loong Mart (m) of Nar Taw lost 1500 Kyat, 1 wrist watch, 1 umbrella, 3 knives and 1 electric torch-light. The soldiers thoroughly searched the house and burned or destroyed the household things they did not want. Loong Mart was kicked and beaten until he fainted and he was still lying unconscious, bathed in blood on the ground in front of his house, when his son came back from tending their rice field. His injuries were serious and he still has to undergo medical treatment at the time of this report.
(13) Pa Ing (f) of Nam Ke village lost 1500, 1 Buddha statue, 2 umbrellas, 4 women’ sarongs and all other household property. When the soldiers took all her rice, she risked a beating and asked them to leave 1 Pyi for her to eat. She got nothing but 2 slaps on the face.

OTHER VIOLATIONS IN LAI-KHA

On 13.7.98, SPDC troops from LIB515 came to Nam Tok village, Nawng Leng tract, Lai Kha township and robbed Nang Non, a female villager from Pung Sop Hoo village. She lost 1 wrist watch, 2 pairs of ear-rings and 350 Kyat. She was not asked anything, but was slapped 2 times.

On 26.7.98, SPDC troops of LIB515 led by Maj Thein Soe robbed a village woman named Pa Soi at Loi Kut Kham village, Phawng Seng tract, Lai Kha township. She lost 4 Kyat-weight of gold and was tortured with fire while her head and face were covered with clothes.

On 29.7.98, about 80 troops from the PNO (Pa-O National Organization, one of the groups which signed a ceasefire with the Slorc) led by Capt Kerk beat up the villagers of Huay Hok and Nar Wen in Huay Hok tract. They also killed and ate 100 chickens, and robbed many other things from the villagers.

On 4.8.98, an SPDC-backed counter-insurgency group led by Kyaw Mya forced the people of Murng-Paeng and Hai Khai tracts to sell rice paddy to them at a rate of 12 baskets per house. They paid only 30 Kyat for every portion of rice worth 100 Kyat.

On 6.8.98, a male villager of Nar Paw, Nawng Leng tract, Ing-Ta-Nyo, aged 45 and his son, aged 5, who were returning from their farm, met SPDC troops from LIB513 near Kung Pek village, Nawng Leng tract. The troops arrested Ing-Ta-Nyo and beat him until his head was bleeding in front of his son who became so frightened that he cried and went into shock.

On 6.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 ransacked the area of Parng Kharn village, Nawng Leng tract, and robbed the villagers. Among thoes who were robbed were:

1. Sarng Thun (m) of Pung Sop Hoo village lost 1 wrist watch, 450 Kyat, 4 Pyi of rice and his daily food like pickled soya bean and chilli etc. in his farm hut were taken away.
2. Loong Zing-Ta (m) lost 1500 Kyat, 3 Pyi of rice and was slapped 2 times.
3. Nang Ki (f) lost 200 Kyat.
4. Nai Laek (f) lost 700 Kyat.

RESTRICTIONS ON FARMERS IN KAE-SEE

On 23.6.98, Maj Thaung Sein from SPDC’s IB286 in Kae-See, Commander of the troops who were deployed in the areas of Murng Nawng and Murng Narng, called the villagers of the following villages -- Nawng Wo, Wan Nar, Mark Na, Nam Maw Sai, Wan Eet, Nawng Tao, Luk Khar and Nam Op etc. -- to a meeting.

At that meeting, Maj Thaung Sein anounced that those who wanted to cultivate rice had to enlist their names and get licences for doing so. However, those who cultivated under licence had to give half of their produce to the army. Thoes who grew rice without licence or without their names being enlisted would be arrested and imprisoned, and their rice fields or farms would be confiscated. He further annouced that those who wanted the licences for growing rice had to go and get them from Capt Ne Myo Zaw at the military camp at Murng Narng.

FORCED LABOUR IN SOUTHERN TOWNSHIPS

Since May 1998, SPDC troops in Murng Pan, Larng Khur, Murng Nai and Nam Zarng townships have been forcing civilian populations in the areas to split stones near Ta Sarng, one of the main Salween river crossing points, saying that they would pay 20 Kyat per person per day.

Ten persons from each township have to work for 15 days after which they would be replaced by another batch of forced labourers. They have to bring their own rice and the military only provide 1 condensed-milk tin of yellow bean for each person for 1 day.

When the labourers who were released after working the required 15 days ask for their daily wages which were promised them by the military, Capt Aung Myint Oo from Murng Sart-based LIB333 who is in charge at Ta Sarng simply told them that they would have to pay for the yellow bean they received during the 15 working days -- 20 Kyat for 1 tin -- 300 Kyat each. So, eventually no one received anthing from the military. Whenever there were enough split stones for 10 trucks, they would be trucked to some big cities like Rangoon to be sold to rich people at a rate of 12000-15000 Kyat per truck-load.