MORE KILLINGS CAUSE MORE REFUGEE FLOWS FROM KUN-HING
Over the last several months, SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) military authorities in Kun-Hing have beefed up their searching and killing of internally displaced people who are hiding in the relocation areas in Kun-Hing township, causing many to flee to the Thai-Burma border areas and Thailand.

Since early June 2000, about 70-75 SPDC troops of Company No.4 from IB246 led by Capt. Than Nyunt, with 25 forced civilian porters, 2 guides and 1 interpreter, and a lot of rations and ammunition, have been searching the relocation area that includes several village tracts -- Wan Lao, Kaeng Lom, HoYaan, Kun Pu and Loi Keng village tracts.

Another similar column, comprising 50-60 SPDC troops of Company No.5 from IB246 led by Capt. Chit Oo, with 30 civilian porters, 2 guides and 1 interpreter have been searching several other village tracts in the relocation area, including Naa Teng, Naa Poi, Saai Khaao, Wan Phui, Saai Murng and Loi Khio village tracts.

All the villages in these village tracts have been deserted since the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops launched their mass forced relocation programs in 1996-1997 in Central Shan State, and Kun-Hing has been one of the worst affected townships by the relocations.

Since they have come to know that there are many people who have for several reasons refused to move to the relocation sites and are hiding and secretly growing rice and vegetables in remote places, and even many people in the relocation sites over the last 2-3 years have been sneaking out to grow rice, SPDC authorities have been very eager to wipe them out of the relocation areas.

The SPDC troops have declared that those who refuse to go to the relocation sites are opponents of the SPDC and deserve severe punishment. During their patrols, they shoot at every hut and shelter without any warnings or questions.

Many people have been shot dead in groups; some have been wounded and managed to get away only to die in the jungle or at other remote places; some have somehow managed to escape; some have been caught alive and beaten to death or taken as porters for 2-3 months or more and some have been tortured and killed during the porter service.

Because of SPDC’s military brutalities and various other human rights violations, people who have managed to escape the massacres and many of those who have not yet been found by the troops, but have been terrified by the appalling news of brutalities, are fleeing to other places, mainly to the Thai border and to Thailand.

Most of the refugees are women and small children, like members of a family in the following list who have arrived at the Thai border in early July 2000.

KILLING OF CIVILIAN PORTERS IN MURNG-KERNG
In early May 2000, a column of about 80 SPDC troops of Company No.5 from LIB514 led by Capt. Hla Myint conscripted 24 civilian porters for 51 days during which they killed at least 4 porters and wounded or killed many others while on patrol in the rural areas of Murng-Kerng township.

Most of the civilian porters were originally from Kung Yom village in Ham Ngaai tract, Murng-Kerng township, who had been forcibly relocated to a relocation site in the outskirts of Murng-Kerng town by the SLORC/SPDC troops a few years ago.

After having to carry heavy loads for 37 days with inadequate rest and food, 4 of the porters became so weak that they had to stop at every 20-30 yards, but the troops thought they were just feigning and angrily beat them until they all died. The four victims were:

A few days after that, 3-4 other porters who had became too weak to go on were also beaten and left lying along the way, without any care whether they were dead or not. Since they have not returned until the time of this report, they are presumably dead. Many other porters were also beaten along the way.

On 23.6.00, the rest of the porters were released after serving the military for 51 days without pay or any other kind of compensation. At the time of this report, out of 24 civilian ports that had been conscripted, only 13 have returned home.
        
2 DISPLACED GIRLS DETAINED, RAPED AND KILLED IN LAI-KHA
In early May 2000, SPDC troops from Company No.3 of IB55 led by Capt. Thein Win arrested 2 relocated girls, detained and raped them in the military camp for 6 days and 5 nights and eventually took them away and shot them dead in the forest, in Lai-Kha township. The 2 girls were:

1. Naang Kham Leng, aged 16, originally from Kung Sa village, Wan Saang tract, Lai-Kha township
2. Naang Zing Nyunt, aged 17, originally from Nam Tawng village, Wan Lur tract, Lai-Kha township

The victims were among the villagers who had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of Lai-Kha town from surrounding rural villages by SLORC/SPDC troops in 1997-98. During these 2-3 years of hard times, each of their families managed to secure an ox-cart and 2 draught oxen which the girls mostly had to look after.

On 2.5.00, the 2 girls were grazing their oxen in a meadow about half a mile west of the town when a column of the said 50-60 SPDC troops who were returning from a patrol saw them and arrested them. There were usually 5-6 girls who often came to graze their cattle at the place, but on that day the others had not come because their ox-carts had been taken for forced labour by other SPDC troops.

The troops, led by Capt. Thein Win, secretly took the girls and their 4 oxen to their camp and detained them for 6 days and 5 nights, during which the 2 girls were repeatedly raped by Capt. Thein Win and his officers. The 4 oxen were also killed for meat by the troops.

When the troops had to go out for another round of patrol, they took the 2 girls with them and, when they got to a remote place in the forest, Capt. Thein Win ordered some of his troops to take them away to a different remote spot and shoot them dead.

A civilian who was being forced to serve as a guide, and who had accidentally seen and talked to the 2 girls before they were being taken away to be shot dead, was severely warned several times during 37 days of patrolling not to tell anyone about seeing the girls or else all his property would be seized and he and his family would also be killed.

The girls’ parents had tried hard to find their daughters since the day of their disappearance  when they were tending their draught oxen not very far from the town. But they could find no clue to their daughters’ whereabouts until after some time when the man who had seen the 2 girls, and who was also their acquaintance, secretly told them about their fate.

The girls’ parents and their close relatives and friends quietly conducted quick funeral rites for their daughters without much of an occasion for fear of drawing attention that could bring the SPDC troops’ reprisal upon the man who had told them about the incident.

KILLING AND RAPING OF DISPLACED FARMERS IN NAM-ZARNG
On 20.1.00, a column of 70-80 SPDC troops from IB66 led by Capt. Htun Mya shot dead 2 farmers at a farm in Kho Lam area, Nam-Zarng township, and took away a man and a woman with them for 90 days during which they raped the woman repeatedly, eventually causing  her death.

At about 5:00 hrs in the early morning of that day, the said troops had surrounded a farm hut and fired at it without warning, and without even knowing whether it was occupied.

There were 4 farmers, 2 men and 2 women, in the hut. The firing from the surrounding troops instantly killed 2 of them in the hut and the other 2 were caught alive while trying to run away. They were:

These farmers had been forcibly relocated to Kho Lam relocation site by SLORC/SPDC troops 3-4 years ago and they had been subsisting by growing rice on a remote farm at which they occasionally stayed a few days at a time during cultivating times.

After taking the 2 farmers with them for 90 days during which the soldiers beat and tortured them and raped the woman, Capt. Htun Mya ordered Sgt. Tin Hla and 5 troops to send them back to Kho Lam relocation site.

Naang Suk died at the relocation site 5 days later of the pains she had suffered from the beating and raping by the SPDC troops.

RANDOM SHOOTINGS OF VILLAGERS IN MURNG-KERNG
On 29.5.00, a column of about 60 SPDC troops surrounded Paeng Nim village, Paeng Nim tract, Murng-Kerng township, and shot at the houses at random, killing 3 villagers and wounding several others.

The SPDC troops quietly surrounded the village and, without any warning, sprayed their guns on all the houses in the village. Luckily, at that moment, most of the villagers had gone to work outside the village and thus reduced the number of casualties.

On 4.6.00, about 30 SPDC troops surrounded the market place on a market day at Ham Ngaai village, Ham Ngaai tract, Murng-Kerng township, and randomly shot their guns towards the crowd of people who were doing their shopping, killing 1 and wounding 5 people, and causing people to scream and run in all directions in terror and confusion.

The dead victim was Lung Paem, male, aged 51, from Paeng Kham village, Ham Ngaai tract, Murng-Kerng township.

KILLING AND BEATING OF AKHA VILLAGERS IN MURNG-YAWNG
On 19.5.00, a patrol of 12 SPDC troops from LIB334 shot dead 1 Akha man and beat up 2 Akha women, on the road near their village, Ho La, in Tong Noi tract, Murng-Yawng township. The victims were:

This family were farmers who made a simple living by growing rice, corn, pumpkin and sweet potato at their farm and sold the produce at the market in Murng-Yawng, and bought other basic necessities from the town. They seldom went to other places other than their farm and the town market.

On the day of the incident, they were returning from their farm when they were stopped and searched by the said troops. As the soldiers were aiming their guns at them, Aa Zer was so terrified that he tried to run away and was shot dead on the spot.

When they found nothing illegal or unusual after searching the women and their baskets, the troops beat and kicked them so hard that both of them fell down on the ground and left the place.

The 2 women then went to the village, weeping and wailing, and told the villagers about their plight. The body of Aa Zer was then brought back to the village by the villagers to conduct a proper funeral for him.

KILLING OF AKHA VILLAGER IN TA-KHI-LAEK (TACHILEK)
On 1.6.00, an Akha villager of Aa Yae village, Murng Ko tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township, was beaten to death by SPDC troops from LIB526 on the road just outside the entrance of his village.

On the day of the incident, Aa Ku, male, aged 31, was cutting sticks not very far from his village and was making them into stakes, which were used for suspending climbing plants such as beans by farmers, to sell in the town when a patrol of 6 SPDC saw him and arrested him.

The troops took him back towards the village and beat him to death on the road near the village entrance and went into the village.

They then called out the village headman and said, “We caught a rebel in the forest near your village. He refused to answer our questions, so we beat him to death and left him at the head of your village. Tell your villagers to go a bury him”. After saying thus, the troops immediately left the village.

When the villagers went to bury the dead rebel, they were shocked to find that it was their fellow villager, Aa Ku, who had nothing to do with any rebels whatsoever, who had been cruelly beaten to death at the head of his own village.

GRANARIES BURNED, DISPLACED FARMERS RAPED AND BEATEN IN LARNG-KHUR
On 2.7.00, a patrol of about 70-75 SPDC troops of Company No.4 from IB99 led by Capt. Aung Htun, with 12 civilian porters, 2 guides and 1 interpreter, searched the area of Nawng Long tract in Larng-Khur township, burned up all the granaries, beat up the farmers and raped the women they found near them, causing many to lose consciousness, suffer from broken limbs and lose eye sight.

The victims were among those who had been forcibly relocated to Nawng Long village relocation site from the surrounding villages a few years ago by SLORC/SPDC troops. Because of food scarcity and lack of farming land at the relocation site, many of them had been trying to subsist by secretly growing rice and vegetables at small, remote plots of land some distance from Nawng Long village.

These farmers dared not bring their farm produce back to the relocation site but stored their unhulled rice in containers made of bamboo at hidden places near their farms, secretly drawing a little at a time for their families’ regular consumption.

On the day of the incident, the said SPDC troops searched the outlying areas of Nawng Long relocation site and burned up many rice granaries, looted the farms, gang-raped the women and severely beat up the farmers and robbed them of the little money they had. The beatings were so severe that many farmers lost consciousness, some broke their arms and legs and a man lost the sight of one eye.

Some of the victims were as follows:

MORE RESTRICTIONS AND FORCED LABOUR FOR RICE FARMERS IN KAENG TAWNG AREA, MURNG-NAI TOWNSHIP
On 4.6.00, Capt. Aung Lay, Commander of Company No.2 of Kun-Hing based IB246 of the SPDC, stationed at Kaeng Tawng in Murng-Nai township, issued an order to village and tract leaders requiring all the farmers in Kaeng Tawng area to bring, within the time from 6 to 10.6.2000, all the unhulled rice they had to the local military camp and stockpile it there.

The order further said that from 11.6.00 onwards the troops would check every house in the area and if there was still some rice left in the villages it would be confiscated and the owners would be charged with helping the enemies who opposed the government and would be given a 10-year prison sentence.

At present, people in the Kaeng Tawng area have to go to the military camp every 3 days to get their own rice for their regular consumption. The SPDC troops ration out to each villager 3 tins (condensed milk tins) per day for 3 days at a time.

The farmers are not allowed to sell their extra rice to anyone other than the soldiers who force them to hull and sell their rice to the military at the rate of 400 Kyat per half-basket, and have to transport it to Kun-Hing town where it is resold by the military at the rate of 1,200 Kyat per half-basket.

Every 10 days, the military conscript 30 ox-carts from the villagers in the area to transport rice to Kun-Hing town, each ox-cart carrying 10 baskets of hulled rice, 3 times per month up to the present.

• The forcible buying of rice quota by the military in Kaeng Tawng area started since 7.4.00 and all had to be transported to Kun-Hing town.
• On 4.6.00, came another and stricter order forcing all the farmers to gather their rice at the local military camp in the area.
•  The people in Kaeng Tawng also have to cut and transport teak lumber.
• Since late April 2000, Capt. Saw Laing, Commander of Company No.3 of IB246, based in Kun-Hing, has forced the people in Kaeng Tawng area to cut timber for the military.

40-60 people at a time have to saw several sizes of teak lumber for the military, using their own saws and tools and providing their own food, without pay. When there are 15-20 cart-loads of lumber, the villagers have to provide ox-carts to transport the lumber from Kaeng Tawng to Kun-Hing town.

In addition to having to transport rice to Kun-Hing, the villagers also have to transport lumber to the town. Even though they take turns to do the forced labour, it is just too much for the villagers, and leaves too little time for many of them to care for their own basic needs. Because of this, some villagers have already sold their carts and oxen and fled to other places at the time of this report.

ARBITRARY DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN TA-KHI-LAEK
On 6.6.2000, members of SPDC’s Police Department in Ta-Khi-Laek arrested 3 villagers of Wan Naa village, Murng-Phong tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township, accused them of dealing in illegal drugs, detained them and ordered them to pay 30,000 Baht each for their release.

On the day of the incident, 3 policemen led by Lt. Hla Myint conscripted a civilian car in Ta-Khi-Laek town and went to Wan Naa village in Murng-Phong tract and arrested the following 3 villagers:

The police accused them of dealing in illegal drugs and detained them in the lockup at the police station in Ta-Khi-Laek town, and sent the following message to the parents of the detainees.

 “Your sons must be amphetamine dealers. We have to arrest them because they have been reported for being thus. If you want them to be released, provide 30,000 Baht of Thai money for each of them. Otherwise, they will certainly go to jail”, said the message.

The parents had no choice but to find the money demanded by the police. However, they managed to get only about 10,000 Baht each even after borrowing from friends and relatives.

So they paid the police 30,000 Baht, 10,000 Baht for each detainee, and told them that they had tried their best and could get only that much and that it was up to the police whether to accept it or not. For some reason, the police took the money and released their prisoners.

PEOPLE EXTORTED TO SUPPORT SURRENDERING REBELS IN TA-KHI-LAEK
On 3.6.00, SPDC authorities in Ta-Khi-Laek township issued an order requiring village and tract leaders in the township to extort money from the people to support some former rebels who had surrendered to the SPDC.

Each household was required to provide 3,000 Baht to support the 13 former members of the MTA (Mong Tai Army), led by Zaai Tan, who had surrendered to Ta-Khi-Laek-based LIB331.

Many people were complaining bitterly about it and many had to borrow from others to pay the military.

BULLYING, BEATING AND STEALING OF LIVESTOCK IN MURNG-YAWNG
On 20.4.2000, a patrol of about 30 SPDC troops from LIB334 led by Capt. Aung Naing beat up a village headman and forcibly took away chickens and a pig from several villages in Wan Tap tract, Murng-Yawng township.

At Ta Khoi village, the troops ordered the village headman to give them 10 viss of chicken. The headman explained that at day time it was difficult to catch the chickens since they were not kept in enclosures but let loose to feed around the village and asked the troops to wait until night.

Capt. Aung Naing became very angry and kicked the headman very hard, throwing him to the ground, and ordered his troops to catch the chickens themselves.

• The troops chased the chickens around the village, throwing stones and sticks at them until they got 16 chickens, and left the village.
• The troops did the same at Wan Lem village and took away 12 chickens. They shot and killed a pig at Wan Phan village.
• The villagers lost altogether 22 viss of chicken worth about 7,700 Kyat and 1 pig worth about 6,500 Kyat.

SHOOTING OF LIVESTOCK AND BULLYING IN MURNG-YARNG
On 19.4.00, a patrol of 20 SPDC troops from IB278 led by Lt. San Maung shot a pig at Nam Khe Huay village, Yaang Kawng tract, Murng-Yarng township, and forced the villagers to cut up pork for them.

On that day, the said troops came to Nam Khe Huay village and shot dead a pig that was lying in a mud pond in the village. They then called out the village headman and ordered him to tell his villagers to cut up the pig for them. The headman had no choice but to comply.

After they got their pork, the troops said to the headman, “This, we’ve only asked from you. We are not bullying or robbing you. If you think you’ve been bullied, you can go and lodge a complaint anywhere you like”. Saying thus, the troops left the village.

PEOPLE FORCED TO GROW OPIUM IN HO-PONG AND LOI-LEM
For the year 2000, people living within the area from Phra Kao Su mountain to Loi Maw mountain range in Ho-Pong township are being ordered to grow opium by the SPDC troops in the area. Every household is required to grow it and the opium seeds are being provided by the SPDC troops themselves.

The land area in which opium is to be grown is about 15 square-miles. No household is allowed not to engage in this enterprise, all have been forced to do so whether they like it or not.

The growers are obliged to pay, as ‘taxes’, 30,000-50,000 Kyat to the military for each acre of the land used to grow opium, and thus creating one more source of extra income for the military.

About 30 square-miles of land between Loi-Lem and Murng Pawn towns in Loi-Lem township are also being used to grow opium by the military and about 3,000 civilian labourers would be needed to do the job, from clearing the land up to harvesting the produce.