COMMENTARY

In addition to rape, many other forms of sexual abuse have also been often used by SPDC troops as one of their psychological weapons in terrorizing and subjugating the civilian populations in Shan State.

There have been uncountable incidents over the last 3-4 decades under military rule in which women have been forced to strip naked and walk or dance or squat down on top of mortar holes, or men and women forced to have sex, etc., while the Burmese soldiers enjoy the sight, applaud and amuse themselves.
There have also been many incidents in which the women have been raped as well as sexually abused in other ways, or even sexually tortured by having hard and painful objects thrust into their sex organs by the soldiers.

These horrible experiences leave deep undeletable scars of terror and shame in the hearts of the survivors. Many have tried to isolate themselves from the rest of their communities, and many have moved to places where they are strangers in the hope of avoiding embarrassment.

In this issue, there is a story in which Shan village women who were taking a bath in a stream, at a place traditionally designated for only women, were forced to stand naked in front of the SPDC troops for them to make fun of.

In doing this, the SPDC soldiers have not only sexually abused the women but have also culturally insulted a people

6 CIVILIAN PORTERS SHOT DEAD, 5 DISAPPEAR, IN KUN-HING

In mid-October 2000, 6 civilian porters were shot dead by a patrol of about 85 SPDC troops from LIB524 in Kun-Hing township, and 5 other porters disappeared, who are believed to have also been shot dead.

On 10.10.00, a column of 85 SPDC troops from Co.4 of LIB524, led by Capt. Maung Myint, seized 11 civilian porters at a relocation site in the outskirts of Kun-Hing town. All of them were displaced farmers who had been forcibly relocated from the surrounding rural villages by SLORC/SPDC (SLORC = State Law and Order Restoration Council - the name of the ruling military regime from 1988 to 1997) troops a few years ago.

The porters were forced to carry the troops� rations and ammunition and go with them as they patrolled the relocation areas where hundreds of villages had been made deserted. The troops shot cows and buffalos they found and took their meat.

At some places, the troops forced the porters to chase after the cattle and catch them, and when the porters could not catch the cattle, they shot at both the cattle and the porters. The bodies of the following 6 porters were found at different places by their relatives and 5 porters were still missing at the time of this report, and are believed by the local people to have been also shot dead by the SPDC troops.

The 6 porters whose bodies were found by their relatives were:

Some time after the missing 5 porters had not returned and their bodies could not be found, the village and community leaders in the area went to the military base and inquired about them. The military authorities, however, told them that all the 11 porters from their area had run away during a battle with the rebels.

KILLING OF AKHA VILLAGER IN MURNG-PHYAK

On 13.9.00, a patrol of 12 SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based IB221 shot dead an Akha villager of Paang Kaw village in Murng Tin tract, Murng-Phyak township.

The victim, Aa Pae, male, aged 26, was catching fish in Nam Tin river not very far from his village when a patrol of the said SPDC troops passed by. The passing troops shouted something to him, but Aa Pae might not have heard them or did not understand what they said because he did not respond and did not pay attention to them.

The troops then seemed to have become angry and some of them shot at Aa Pae who was still catching fish in the river near the opposite bank, and continued their journey towards Murng Tin village as if nothing had happened.

Many Akha villagers, who were also catching fish in the river some distance from Aa Pae, saw and heard the troops shout at him a few times and shoot at him. After the troops left, the villagers gathered to look at Aa Pae who was lying facedown, dead, on the river bank with the lower part of his body up to his waist dangling in the water.

The Akha villagers took Aa Pae�s body back to his house and conducted funeral rites in accordance with their custom and tradition.

KILLING OF AKHA VILLAGER IN KAENG-TUNG

On 20.9.00, SPDC troops from Kaeng-Tung-based IB245 shot dead an Akha villager, Aa Koi, male, aged 19, of Nam Kaang village in Huay Koi tract, Kaeng-Tung township.

On the day of the incident, a patrol of 7 SPDC troops from IB245 came to Huay Koi village and conscripted a villager, Ai Sai, male, aged 21, to serve as a guide, and continued towards the next village, Nam Kaang.

Before they reached Nam Kaang village, at some point on the way not very far from the village, they saw a man with a musket walking in the forest. Without asking him anything or giving any warning, the troops immediately opened fire at him and killed him on the spot.

When they found out from the guide that the man they had shot dead was an innocent Akha villager from Nam Kaang village, the troops warned him not to tell anyone and to pretend not to know anything about it, and changed their direction towards Wan Urm village in Murng Khawn tract instead of Nam Kaang village.
According to the local people, Nam Kaang was a small village of only 13-14 houses where most of the villagers were farmers and hunters who had nothing to do with any political or armed groups.

RAPE OF MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, BEATING OF FATHER, IN MURNG-PAN

On 5.11.00, a woman and her 16-year-old daughter were raped, and the husband and father was severely beaten by SPDC troops from LIB332 at a farm near Ho Lin village in Naa Law tract, Murng-Pan township.

A patrol of 40-45 SPDC troops from Co.3 of LIB332 led by Capt. Hla Hpe came to the farm where Zaai Mae-Tha and his wife, Naang Paa, and their 16-year-old daughter, Naang Num, were working and arrested all of them.

Capt. Hla Hpe ordered some of his troops to interrogate Zaai Mae-Tha and Sgt. Than Maung to interrogate Naang Paa at separate places.
Hla Hpe himself, however, took Naang Num into a nearby farm hut and raped her.

After he had interrogated her, and could not get any answer he wanted, Sgt. Than Maung also raped Naang Paa.

Zaai Mae-Tha was severely beaten with a stick several times during interrogation and fainted because of the beating.

When they could not get any information they wanted from the farmers, the troops took 5 chicken and 2 ducks from Zaai Mae-Tha�s farm hut and left.

RAPE IN KAENG-TUNG

On 18.9.00, an 18-year-old woman from Wan Nawng Nur village in Nawng Long tract, Kaeng-Tung township, was gang-raped by SPDC troops from LIB314.
On the day of the incident, Naang Sao, aged 18, went to Wan Laao village, also in Nawng Long tract, to visit her relatives. On her way back to Wan Nawng Nur village alone, she ran into 3 SPDC soldiers from LIB314 at a remote spot.

The 3 soldiers seized her, took her into the nearby forest and gang-raped her for some time, and left her after they had raped her to their satisfaction.
Although Naang Sao screamed several times during her ordeal, for which she was slapped and threatened each time, no one came to her help. When the soldiers left, she cried all the way to her village and told her parents about her plight.

The parents were very frustrated and angry, and went to complain to the village leader. But the village leader was not willing to push the case further because he knew it would only bring more harm to the family.

So he explained to Naang Sao and her parents that if they complained to the military authorities, and there was no one else to complain to, she would only be told to point out the rapists in a long line of soldiers where they had been deliberately excluded, and if that happened, they would be accused of defaming the military and punished, as had happened before.

According to the local people, LIB314 had confiscated several acres of villagers� rice fields in Nawng Long tract and had been forcing the people in the area to grow rice and other seasonal crops for them, and had been treating the people so harshly that no one dared to speak against them.

WOMEN FORCED TO STAND NAKED AND INSULTED IN MURNG-YAWNG

On 6.10.00, SPDC troops from Murng-Yawng-based LIB334 forced 3 young women who were bathing naked in a stream to stand up near the bank for them to watch and make fun of, near Sali Mon village in Wan Maan tract, Murng-Yawng township.

The 3 village women, Naang Kham Pan, aged 18, Naang La Lao, aged 19 and Naang Kawng Keo, aged 18, were from Sali Mon village in Wan Maan tract and on that day they had gone together to gather wild vegetables in the forest near their village.

At about 15:00 hrs, after gathering some vegetables, before returning home, the 3 girls stopped and took a bath in Nam Maan stream at a bathing spot for village women which was not very far from their village. As it was a custom, especially among the rural Shan communities, to bathe naked if there was a place out of sight of the passers-by, the women were bathing naked in the waist-deep clear water.

While the girls were bathing, a group of 12 SPDC troops from LIB334 came near the stream and ordered the girls to stand up and come near the bank, pointing their guns and threatening to shoot if they did not comply.

The girls were too afraid to defy the order and did as they were told, and when they reached where the water was about knee-deep, the troops started to laugh at them. Extremely embarrassed and ashamed, the girls squatted down into the knee-deep water to hide their naked bodies and cried.

But the troops forced them to stand up again, threatening to shoot, and when the girls stood up the soldiers laughed at them again, clapping their hands. This happened 5-6 times until the troops saw several other women from the village coming to take a bath and left the scene.

According to the local people, there had been many occasions on which SPDC troops had insulted many of the local customs and traditions in Murng-Yawng township, but no one dared to complain about it, and there had also been many rape cases by them.

BEATING OF AKHA VILLAGER IN MURNG-KHARK

On 15.9.00, SPDC troops from Murng-Khark-based LIB327 brutally beat up an Akha villager at a farm near Nam Zi village in Pa Khaa tract, Murng-Khark township.

Aa Kiu Pa was an Akha villager of Nam Zi village and was weeding his rice farm near his village with his wife and 2 children when a patrol of 7 SPDC troops from LIB327 came into his farm.

The troops asked Aa Kiu Pa about a shortcut way to Murng Ngen village. Aa Kiu Pa told them that he did not know any shortcut route but only the way that was being normally used by the people in the area.

The troops accused Aa Kiu Pa of telling a lie and deliberately hiding the truth, and beat him 3 times on the head with their rifle butts, throwing him to the ground. Not satisfied with that, one of the troops kicked him hard in the ribs with his boot.

After that, the troops left the farm, leaving Aa Kiu Pa lying prone on the ground to be taken care of by his wife and children.

It was said that the SPDC troops were trying to find out if there were any secret routes in the area being used by drug traffickers in order to collect �tax� from their caravans.

MASS FORCED LABOUR ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN KUN-HING

On 6.11.00, 450 people and 31 vehicles in Kun-Hing township were forcibly conscripted for forced labour by SPDC troops of LIB524 to rebuild the road from Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township up to Kun-Hing town in Kun-Hing township.

The people were required to bring their own food, drinking water and tools to work in rebuilding the dilapidated motor road from Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township to Kun-Hing town, in a rotation system on a daily basis until the road was completed, which was expected to be by the end of January 2001.

It was said that the road would be used to transport the teak lumber that had been cut by the SPDC troops, using unpaid forced labour of the people in the area, to Kun-Hing town from where it would be exported to China.

FORCED LABOUR IN MILITARY CROP CULTIVATION IN MURNG-TON

From 27.10.00 to 7.11.00, SPDC troops of the Co.2 of IB225 led by Capt. Aung Soe conscripted 100 unpaid forced labourers, aged 15 years and upwards, in Murng-Ton township to work on military farms, and civilian trucks were conscripted to transport them every day.

The 100 labourers were taken from Murng-Ton town and surrounding village tracts -- 20 from the town, 20 from Wan Naa tract, 20 from Phaa Khe tract, 20 from Mae Ken tract and 20 from Murng-Haang tract -- and were forced to weed the military bean farms on land which had been confiscated from the local people and grown by their forced labour.

The local people were forced to take responsibility for cultivating the bean farms for the military from beginning to end and if the farms did not yield good quality bean at the amount designated by the military, the people would also have to take responsibility.

The people in Murng-Ton township were forced to grow 20 baskets of bean seeds and were expected by the military to get at least 30 baskets from each basket of seeds grown.

FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN MILITARY GARLIC PLANTATION AND RESTRICTIONS ON GARLIC FARMERS IN MURNG-PAN

From 1.11.00 to 5.11.00, SPDC troops conscripted 65 men and women each day in Murng-Pan township to be used as unpaid forced labourers in their garlic plantation.

During the 5 day period, 65 people had to prepare the ground in the harvested rice fields of the people and grow 1,000 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kilograms) of garlic for the military, and would later be responsible for looking after it until the harvest time.

The people had to gather natural fertilizers such as cow dung and were also required to pay the costs of 50 sacks of chemical fertilizer at the rate of 165 Kyat per sack, to be used to fertilize the garlic.

Each viss of garlic seeds was expected by the military to yield at least 7-8 viss. If for some reasons the yield was less than expected, the people would have to buy some from somewhere else to fill up the needed amount.

While the military was growing 1,000 viss of garlic in Murng-Pan township, the people were not allowed to grow more than 10 viss of garlic per household. If anyone were found growing more than 10 viss, all their garlic would be taken by the military.

FORCED LABOUR IN MILITARY PEANUT FARMS IN MURNG-KHARK

On 5.10.00, villagers of Wan Phai Tai and Wan Phai Nur villages in Murng Haang tract, Murng-Khark township, were forced to work on peanut farms for the military by SPDC troops of IB227 in Murng-Khark township.

On 4.10.00, 2 SPDC soldiers from IB227 brought a written order to the village headmen of the said 2 villages.

The orders said that on the next day, on 5.10.00, the headmen had to assign each person from every house of their 2 villages to go and cultivate peanut farms for the military in the area of IB227 base without fail. Anyone who failed to show up would have to face severe punishment until they learned their lessons.
On that day, each person from every house of the 2 villages had to work at the military farms from 7 o�clock in the morning until 5 o�clock in the evening with only a short break around noon to eat their midday meal, which they had to bring with them.

While working, the villagers were guarded by 5-6 armed soldiers as if they were prisoners who had been taken out to work for the military.
It was said that other villages in the area were also forced to work on military farms at some other times. All the villages had to work for the military all year round on one thing or another on a rotation basis.

FORCED LABOUR ON MILITARY PEANUT FARMS IN KAENG-TUNG

On 29-30.9.00, the villagers of Nawng Paet village in Phuay Hung tract, Kaeng-Tung township, were forced to cultivate peanut farms for the military by the SPDC troops of IB224 at the military base.

On 28.9.00, 3 SPDC soldiers came to Nawng Paet village and handed a written order to the headman and said, "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, bring your villagers to work at the military base; you have to come early or you will not be able to finish the work in 2 days. Don�t forget to tell everyone to bring their food, but the military will provide drinking water".

On the first day, the villagers had to clear, dig and prepare the ground and on the second day grow peanut until it was finished, working hard from early morning to 7 o�clock in the evening on both days.

Nawng Paet village had only 24-25 houses and all the villagers were farmers who had to give much of their time to the military and had very little time left to work for themselves.

ARREST, DETENTION, TORTURE AND EXTORTION IN LARNG-KHUR

In early April 2000, SPDC troops from IB99 manning the checkpoint at Nam Taeng river bridge, led by Lt. Myint Aung, in Larng-Khur township, arrested 3 village and community leaders and detained them in bamboo foot-locks for 5 days without giving them any food and water, and extorted 250,000 Kyat of money from the villagers for their release.

On 4.4.00, the said SPDC troops summoned the village headman, Lung Kan-Tha, of Hard Mai village and Lung Mae-Tha of Terng Kwaang village in Nawng Long tract, Larng-Khur township, to their camp, and arrested and detained them in bamboo foot-locks for failing to report to them the crossing of Nam Taeng river by the rebels near Terng Kwaang village.

On 5.4.00, the troops summoned the village tract headman of Nawng Long tract, Lung Saw Ya, and also detained him in foot-locks with the others.
The villagers were detained for several days without food and water until many other village elders and community leaders came to the IB99 base and pleaded with commander Myint Oo who demanded 250,000 Kyat for their release, threatening to feed the 3 detainees to the fish in Nam Taeng river if his demand was not met.

After releasing the villagers, the commander warned them that they must report immediately any movement of the rebels; failing to do that could mean the death penalty.

On 6.5.00, the villagers of Hard Mai village reported to the SPDC troops at Nam Taeng bridge camp that a group of rebels had crossed the Nam Taeng river near their village. The camp commander, the same Lt. Myint Aung, however, said that the information was about 1 hour late and as a punishment he fined the villagers.

The villagers of Hard Mai and Terng Kwaang villages had to provide 5 bottles of cooking oil and 5 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kilograms) of chickens from each village, altogether 10 bottles of cooking oil and 10 viss of chickens, and brought them to the military camp to avoid further abuses.

EXTORTION IN MURNG-PHYAK

On 9.9.00, township level SPDC authorities in Murng-Phyak township extorted 30,000 Kyat of money from each of two villages: Wan Ngern and Kaw Pa Lao in Lang Saat tract, Murng-Phyak township as a punishment for defying orders.

In late August 2000, Murng-Phyak township authorities had issued an order requiring the townspeople and the people of Lang Saat and Murng Tin village tracts to march in columns to welcome the Regional Commander on the day he came to Murng-Phyak on an inspection trip.

Although all the other villages in the area went as they were told, for some reasons Wan Ngern and Kaw Pa Lao did not show up, and they were later ordered to pay 30,000 Kyat each as a fine for failing to follow orders, and were to be paid not later than 9.9.00.

The villagers tried to plead for more time in order to be able to collect the money without much difficulties. But the township authorities stuck to their deadline and warned the villagers that if the fine was not paid in time it would become twice as much.

Fearing heavier punishment, the villagers squeezed out their hard-earned money and paid on 9.9.00. After receiving the money, the SPDC authorities even said to the villagers that this time it was only a mild lesson for them, next time it would be much more severe.

EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG

On 9.8.00, a group of 5 SPDC troops from IB224, led by Capt. Maung Pwe, extorted money from villagers of Murng Lang village tract who were returning from the town market in Kaeng-Tung town.

In the afternoon of that day, about the time when people who came to the market in the town were returning, the said SPDC troops waited at the head of Yaang Khaai village and stopped those who were returning from market, saying that they were collecting �taxes� from market goers and forced everyone to pay 300 Khat.

All the people from villages such as Wan Sang, Wan Oi, Wan Wo, Wan Zaai, Wan Loi and Wan Nguk in Murng Lang tract, who went to the town market on that day and who used the same route on return, had to pay 300 Kyat each. From Wan Nguk village alone, there were 12 people who went to the town market on that day.