CEASEFIRE PEOPLE DENIED NATIONAL IDENTITY
Many people in areas under ceasefire groups and many of the members of the ceasefire groups themselves are being denied national identity by not being issued identity cards by the SPDC authorities.

The following is the list of the areas in which people are being deprived of their national identities.

1. Special Region or Zone (1): Ko Kang, Pang Sai and Ta Pang areas
2. Special Region (2), under UWSA: Murng Phen, Ho Tao, Murng Kaa, Murng Pawk, Parng Yarng, Waeng Ngurn, Parng Sarng, Murng Mau, Kun Keng, Kun Long, Ho Parng and Mang Seng
3. Special Region (4), under NDAA: Saler, Murng Ma, Murng Laa, Murng Luay, Murng Yu and Nam Parn
4. Members of the MTA who had a ceasefire agreement with the SPDC have so far only been given ‘surrender cards’, but not national identity cards.

When these people need to travel to places outside their areas, a certain kind of travel document is issued by the SPDC military authorities in their respective areas.

14 LAHU MILITIA SLAUGHTERED IN MURNG-TON
On 20.9.99, 14 Lahu militiamen were shot dead by SPDC troops from IB65 near Huay Aw village in Murng-Ton township.

On that day, 18 Lahu militiamen of Naa Kawng Moo village, led by Pho Thein, were ordered by SPDC Commander Shwe Myint from IB65 to patrol the areas around Huay Aw village. After patrolling for a while, the Lahu militiamen saw a herd of about 25 head of cattle grazing in the forest 2-3 miles away from Huay Aw village. The cattle belonged to the villagers of Huay Aw who had deliberately let them loose to graze in the forest near their village.

As soon as they saw the cattle, the Lahu militiamen shot at them and killed 5 while the rest managed to get away. The militiamen were cutting and smoking the meat of the cattle when about 32 SPDC troops of IB65 from the outpost camp at Pung Pa Khem surrounded them and opened fire. The shooting raged for almost an hour, killing 14 of the Lahu militiamen while 4 of them managed to slip away from the battle.

The only known reason for the shooting given by the SPDC troops was that they thought the Lahu militiamen were members of the SSA (Shan State Army).

RAPE AND KILLING OF RELOCATED VILLAGERS IN KUN-HING
In late September 1999, SPDC troops from IB246 raped and killed 2 women who were going around and selling confectionery to people working in the farms in Kun-Hing township.

On 29.9.99, about 57 SPDC troops from IB246 led by Capt Than Maung went on a patrol in the outlying areas of Kun-Hing town to where many villages had been relocated. At one point they met 2 women who were going around and selling confectionery to those who were working on farms along the banks of Nam Pang river near Wan Pae village, about 5 miles from the town. The troops arrested them, accused them of being wives of SSA ( Shan State Army) soldiers and interrogated them.

The 2 women were among the villagers who had been forcibly relocated to Kun-Hing town 2-3 years ago and their fathers and the husband of one of them were among those who had been killed in Taad Pha Ho massacre, one of the notorious massacres on 16.6.99, by SPDC (then known as SLORC) troops.

Having been relocated to the town where they hardly knew how to make a living, and having been deprived of their men, the 2 women had been trying to eke out a living by peddling confectionery which they bought on credit in Kun-Hing town. Even before the day of the incident, they had already gone to peddle their goods in that area 2-3 times.

Although the women denied the charge and explained their real situation to them, the troops did not release them, but took them along on the patrol for 5 days and 4 nights during which they abused and raped the women to their satisfaction and eventually shot both of them dead, and took away their confectionery, worth 2,876 Kyat, and 252 Kyat of money from them.

The 2 victims were:

1. Nawng Pe, aged 18, daughter of Loong Nan-Ta who was killed in the Taad Pha Ho massacre
2. Naang Khin Lu, aged 21, daughter of Loong Ti-Ma who was killed in the Taad Pha Ho massacre

RAPE AND KILLING IN TA-KHI-LAEK
On 21.9.99, SPDC troops from LIB316 raped a woman and killed her husband near Nam Kai village, Pa Leo tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township.

On that day, 3 Privates, Maung Bo and 2 other soldiers, from the Company 2 of LIB316 that was stationed at Nam Mae Kong river crossing ferry at Kaeng Laap village, who were strolling around saw a woman who was digging bamboo shoots on the bank of Nam Kai stream. The woman was with her husband who was also digging bamboo shoots somewhere nearby, out of sight of the troops.

Maung Bo and the 2 soldiers approached the woman and seized her. But the woman called out to her husband for help, causing him to run towards her. As soon as he saw the husband coming, Maung Bo aimed his rifle and shot him down, killing him instantly. After that, all of them raped the woman to their satisfaction and left.

When the parents and relatives of the couple, together with some village leaders, went to complain to the Commander of the Company 2, Capt Aung Naing, they were consoled by him that if the incident was true he would take action against the culprits immediately and put them in jail. But nothing had been heard about anyone being punished at the time of this report.

The couple, Zaai Wan, aged 26 and Naang (En), aged 21, were from Nam Kai village, Kaeng Laap tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township.

RAPE AND KILLING OF RELOCATED COUPLE IN KUN-HING
In mid September 1999, SPDC troops from IB246 beat a man to death and raped his wife before killing her in Kun-Hing township.

On 16.9.99, about 70 SPDC troops from IB246 led by Capt Kyaw Aye patrolled the area of forced relocation in Kaeng Kham tract, Kun-Hing township, and arrested 2 villagers, husband and wife, who were tending their rice field on the eastern side of Nam Paang river, about 4 miles from the town.

Kaw-Ling, aged 45 and his wife, Naang Mon, aged 30, were originally from Kaeng Lom village in Kaeng Kham tract that had been forced to move to the town 2-3 years ago. They were arrested by the troops while checking the irrigation water of their rice field.

The troops separated them and interrogated them about the movement of the Shan soldiers, and kicked and beat them. But the villagers said they had not seen any Shan soldiers and did not know anything about them.

After a while, Capt Kyaw Aye said he would take the wife along as a guide until they reached a cross road and told the husband to stay behind and wait. However, when the front point of the troops had gone some distance, the troops who took up the rear beat the husband to death with sticks at the edge of the rice field.

The wife was forced to go with the troops for 4 days and 3 nights during which she was raped by the Captain whenever he liked. On the last day when the troops were about to return to their base, Kyaw Aye called up all his officers one by one and ordered them to rape her one after another. Eventually, she was given to a Private who, after raping her, stabbed her to death with his bayonet.

BEATEN TO DEATH IN MURNG-PHYAK
On 20.9.99, SPDC troops from IB221 beat to death 3 villagers at Murng Loong village, Murng Kok tract, Murng-Phyak.

A patrol of about 60 SPDC troops from IB221 came to Murng Loong village and arrested 3 villagers. They brought the villagers to the village temple and interrogated them about the activities of the Shan soldiers in the area.

In order to extract confessions and desired answers, the troops beat the villagers so hard that all of them died on the spot.

The 3 victims were:

1. Ai Pe-Ta, male, aged 31
2. Ai Zaen Seng, male, aged 22
3. Ai Hong, male, aged 20

ROBBERY AND KILLING OF RELOCATED VILLAGERS IN KUN-HING
On 28.9.99, SPDC troops from IB246 led by Capt Thaung Nyunt beat to death 2 villagers at a place between Kun-Hing town and Ka Li village, about 2 miles from Ka Li relocation site in Ka Li tract, Kun-Hing township.

The villagers, Saw-Zin-Na, male, aged 30 and Zaai Yung, male, aged 29, were originally from Naa Khaa village in Naa Poi tract that had been relocated to Kaa Li relocation site 2-3 years ago. Since then they had been peddling small things and confectionery which they bought from Kun-Hing in Kaa Li area as their means of livelihood, with only about 2,500 Kyat as the capital of each.

On the day of the incident, they were returning on foot from buying goods in Kun-Hing and were carrying their things in baskets on their shoulder poles because they could not afford other means of transportation. When they got about 2 miles near to Ka Li, they met a group of about 36 SPDC soldiers coming from the opposite direction. The troops were from IB246 led by Capt Thaung Nyunt who ordered his men to seize and search them.

The troops found 173 Kyat of money in their pockets and 5,000 Kyat worth of things in the baskets. They then beat the 2 villagers to death and took all their things and money away with them. Before they reached their base, Capt Thaung Nyunt sent one of his soldiers ahead to Kun-Hing town to tell the headmen and community leaders that they had found 2 corpses of unknown villagers near the road on the way.

When the leaders went to look at the corpses, they knew right away who the innocent victims were and realized what had happened to them, a fact that was later confirmed by some civilian porters. However, they could think of nothing else they could do except to quietly burry the corpses.

FORCED RELOCATION, TORTURE AND LOOTING IN MURNG-PAN
In early August 1999, SPDC troops from LIB520 tortured 2 villagers of Pung Kur village in Nawng Yaang tract, Murng-Pan township, and later ordered the village to move to the town within 5 days.

On 7.8.99, 45-50 SPDC troops from LIB520 led by Maj Aye Thaung came to Pung Kur village and arrested 2 villagers, Loong Aw, aged 56 and Zai Hurng, aged 26 on suspicion of collecting rice for SSA.

The troops tied them up and interrogated them, put plastic bags over their heads to stifle them into confessing, while beating and kicking them all the time. When the 2 villagers kept denying the charge, the troops used a pointed knife to poke their arms, thighs and necks until they were bloody all over, and continued to beat and kick them until they lost consciousness several times.

On 8.8.99, Maj Aye Thaung ordered all the villagers of Pung Kur to move to Murng-Pan town within 5 days. But, only after 2 days, before most of the villagers could move, the troops came back and looted the village and the village monastery and took away what they wanted.

Some of the villagers who lost their money and livestock were as follows:

The village monastery lost the following property:

FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-TON
Since 24.8.99, SPDC troops from IB65 stationed at Murng Harng camp have issued an order requiring the people in the area to guard a rice farm belonging to the military from being eaten by animals in Murng Harng tract, Murng-Ton township.

In early May 1999, SPDC troops at Murng Harng had ordered all the villagers to clear 20 acres of land and cultivate rice for them. After the villagers had done all that was necessary for a rice farm, the headman offered to build a fence around the farm to prevent it from being destroyed by animals and to save the villagers the trouble of having to guard it. But the commander of the troops, Maj Shwe Myint, said that there was no need for a fence and he would assign 4-5 of his troops to guard it every day.

Over the next few months, Shwe Myint had actually sent 4-5 of his troops to look after their rice farm. However, the troops on guard often shot dead the villagers’ cattle that roamed close enough to be in their firing range and the owners, who had been forced to identify themselves, were fined 3500-4000 Kyat on a charge of neglecting their cattle. In addition to losing their cattle, the villagers had to pay fines for offences they had not committed.

Now, the villagers are being forced to guard and look after the rice farm all the time, requiring 4 persons at a time to stay at the farm for 1 day and 1 night. Moreover, the villagers are warned that if any cattle happened to get into the farm, the villagers on guard would be fined 2000 Kyat each.

EXTORTION IN MURNG-TON
Since early September 1999, about 30 SPDC troops from LIB519 led by Capt Hla Hpe, stationed at Naa Pa Kaao, Mae Ken tract, Murng-Ton township, have been catching cattle which the villagers let graze in the nearby forests and demanding 500-600 Kyat for each head from the owners.

On 7.9.99, 30 SPDC troops from LIB519 led by Capt Hla Hpe came and stationed themselves at Naa Pa Kaao village and patrolled the outlying areas of the village. The troops seized the cattle they found outside the village and brought them back to the village and demanded money from the owners for the service of bringing back their cattle that had strayed too far from the village.

If there were cattle with no one to claim, they were brought and kept in the military base of LIB519 for a while and later taken to the town and sold to the butchers. Even though the villagers knew very well that their cattle had not strayed but were only grazing in the forests as usual, they had no choice but to pay the money instead of losing their cattle altogether.

There have been so far 11 cows and 8 buffalo for which their owners have had to pay money to the SPDC troops to get back their own cattle, 500 Kyat for each cow and 600 Kyat for each buffalo. Many villagers are said to be thinking of selling their cattle and fleeing to some other places.

SHOOTING OF CIVILIAN IN TA-KHI-LAEK
On 11.9.99, a car driver, Sai Wan, aged 32, was shot at and wounded by SPDC troops from LIB526 while his car was approaching a checkpoint at Nam Mae Hok bridge in Ta-Khi-Leak township.

At about 22:00 hrs on that day, 7 SPDC troops manning Nam Mae Hok bridge checkpoint shot at a car that was coming steadily towards them without warning or asking anything. It was a passenger car that ran between Murng Phong and Ta-Khi-Laek. The shooting damaged the front lights and both front tyres of the car and wounded the driver in the left shoulder.

The next day, on 12.9.99, at 9:00 hrs, when the driver went to the Township Peace and Development Council Office and tried to lodge a complaint, he was taunted by the authorities. They said, “That served you right. You might as well be dead, why did you come so late at night?”.

When the driver asked whether it was fair to shoot at anyone they wanted to shoot without asking or giving any warning, the answer was, “You know, they are soldiers with guns. Who should they shoot, if not you?” After saying this, the authorities refused to hear his complaint any further.

FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN TA-KHI-LAEK
From 7 to 12.9.99, SPDC troops from LIB359 forced the people of all the 6 quarters of Ta-Khi-Laek to buy food and cook for them 3 meals per day.

During the 6 days while about 150 troops from LIB359 were taking security guarding several border crossing points along the Nam Mae Sai stream that serves as the Burma-Thailand border line, the people of Ta-Khi-Laek were being forced by the authorities to serve the troops 3 meals per day.

Headmen and community leaders were ordered to collect 600 Baht of (Thai) money from every house to buy food and to provide labourers to cook and prepare the meals for the troops. The people not only had to provide money but also had to take turns and serve as cooks and servants.

The main reason for particularly taking this security measure at this given time was, as expressed by the military authorities, to be on guard if something undesirable turned up on ‘9.9.99’.

Using the ‘9.9.99’ scenario as a pretext, the SPDC troops had extorted no less than 600,000 Baht form the people and used continuous forced labour during the 6-day period.

Furthermore, on 18-19.9.99, acting under the order of the military authorities that they must be on alert on days that in some ways represented the number ‘9’, the SPDC troops ordered the people’s militia of every village, together with dispatches of troops from LIB359, to stand guard from 18:00 hrs to 07:00 hrs for 2 days.

The troops ordered the villagers of the respective villages they were dispatched to to provide them with 3 meals on each day, requiring the villagers to collect 200 Baht from each house among themselves to buy food for the troops. The people’s militia, however, were required to bring their own packages of meals from their homes. The villagers also had to provide smoking tobacco and insect repellant for the SPDC troops.

LAND CONFISCATION IN TA-KHI-LAEK
In July 1999, SPDC troops of LIB526 confiscated land belonging to a villager, Loong Saam, male, aged 49, of Hawng Lerk village, Hawng Lerk tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township.

The confiscated lands, which included a plot of farm or garden and 2 patches of rice fields, were said to have been given to the families of the soldiers to use as their farms or gardens.

The lands were worth, according to the estimate of the villagers in terms of current market rates, as follows:

1. The farm or garden was worth 65,000 Baht
2. Each of the rice fields was worth 200,000 Baht

Altogether, Loong Saam lost 465,000 Baht worth of land.

EXTORTION IN MURNG-PAENG
On 27.9.99, SPDC troops of LIB528, in charge of the Salween bridge at Ta Kaw, closed the bridge without any apparent reason and extorted money from the vehicles that wanted to cross over.

The troops closed the bridge and said they would not let anyone pass through on that day, causing 30-40 vehicles coming from Tawnggi and Kaeng-Tung to be stranded on either side of the bridge. When the drivers asked about the reasons for closing the bridge, the soldiers only said that it was an order from higher up.

However, after keeping the vehicles waiting for more than 5 hours, and after a lot of begging and urging from the drivers and travellers, the leader of the troops, commander Hla Kyaing, then said that whoever wanted to go would have to pay 2,000 Kyat for each vehicle as a fee to pass the gate.

After some more begging and bargaining, the vehicles were let through for 1,000 Kyat each. Many people were certain that the order had not come from higher up as claimed by the troops, but was one of their own schemes designed to line their own pockets.

PEOPLE FORCED TO PLANT TREES THAT WOULD NOT GROW IN MAWK-MAI
In mid 1998, SPDC authorities in Mawk-Mai had forced the people to plant (acacia or siris) trees along several main roads in the township. Each house was responsible for planting 100 trees at designated places. The same incidents were said to have taken place in several other townships in Shan State.

It was the time for rice cultivation and the people were forced to plant the trees in a very urgent manner so that they had to neglect their own livelihood, causing the rice production to decline greatly because the people had to start cultivating rather late and could not look after their rice fields properly.

The trees were of the kind that would grow large and would need a lot of space to prosper. But they were deliberately forced to be planted only about an elbow or arm length away from one another and thus effectively hampering the growth of each other.

The SPDC have been boasting to the international community that they have been protecting the environment in many ways and have planted hundreds of thousands of trees all over the country. In reality, they have planted the trees in such a way that they would not grow, using forced labour of the people and in many places intruded several feet into cultivated lands and fields of the people.

Moreover, the people were forced to provide bamboo and make an enclosure for each of the trees to prevent them from being trodden on by human and animals. In many places, the enclosures had to be built in a particular shape with bamboo coiling around the trees which needed much more time than to plant the trees. All the while, the people had to use their own tools and provide their own food.

The people are complaining about the ill intention of the SPDC authorities. They say that if the SPDC really meant to beautify the country as they have claimed, they should have planted the trees in a proper way. But they did it only to boast to the world and do not care whether the trees really do any good to the environment or to the people.

Virtually all of the trees died, leaving the dry stems and bamboo pieces to litter the road sides. It would have been a bit satisfying for those who had to provide forced labour if some of the trees had stayed to bloom. It would at least save them from having to plant them again.

But now what the people have to worry about is when they will be forced to plant the trees again. Many are quite sure that the time will certainly be when the SPDC need to show the world again that they are planting trees to protect the environment.