SHRF MONTHLY REPORT

COMMENTARY

Since 1996, during which tens of thousands of Shan refugees fled to Thailand from the extensive forced relocations and human rights violations by SLORC troops in central Shan State, many attempts have been made to provide a kind of safe haven for the refugees by various humanitarian and human rights groups and individuals, including the Shan refugees themselves, but so far to no avail.

Unlike refugees on other parts of the Thai-Burma border, these Shans have had no access to refugee camps where they could receive humanitarian help. Instead, they have been categorized as illegal migrants by the authorities concerned regardless of the reasons of their flight, and some have been arrested and repatriated.

As a result, many Shan refugees have been drawn into the Thai labour market and have inevitably become illegal migrant workers, subject to exploitation and abuse.

Many have come with extended families including small children and elders. They have no access to proper health care and education, and could hardly earn enough to survive day by day. They are thus unable to pay the registration fees for a work permit as offered by the Thai authorities. They are in danger of being forcibly repatriated despite their well-founded fears.

In light of this pressing situation, SHRF fully supports the decision of the sympathetic Shans in Thailand to team up and try to get permission to set up refugee camps to help the hapless Shan refugees along the Thai-Shan border.

7 VILLAGERS KILLED FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT FORCED LABOUR IN MURNG-NAI

On 14.7.01, 7 villagers who had lodged a complaint with SPDC military authorities about increasing use of forced labour by SPDC troops were killed by SPDC troops from Kun-Hing-based IB246 and their bodies dumped into Nam Taeng river in Kaeng Tawng area, Murng-Nai township.

On 11.7.01, the said 7 villagers went to the visiting Commander of the SPDC Military Eastern Command, Maj. Gen. Maung Bo, from Taunggyi and filed a complaint with him about the continued use of civilian forced labour by SPDC troops in the area.

The villagers said to Maung Bo, “We have been told by Gen. Khin Nyunt on 29.5.01 that starting from then the Burmese army would not use forced labour of the people; would not take chicken, pigs and other things from the people for free; and would not torture and kill the people any more. However, after Gen. Khin Nyunt left, the use of forced labour by the local military authorities has increased, requiring us to work for the military almost all the time. We have to provide free labour for the military in building military facilities, cultivating crops, sawing wood, repairing and building roads etc., leaving virtually no time for us to cultivate our subsistence crops. Many people have to start their rice cultivation late into the season, which will surely result in poor yields”.

Maung Bo, however, consoled the villagers that he would return and report it to his superiors and let them hear good news in 7 days and changed the subject to talk about other things.

A few days after Maung Bo left and while the villagers were waiting for the expected ‘good news’ from him, they were arrested for interrogation by a patrol of 20-25 SPDC troops from Co. No.3 of Kun-Hing-based IB246, that was temporarily stationed in Kaeng Tawng under the command of Capt. Mya Aung.

About 10 days after Maung Bo had left Murng-Nai township for Taunggyi, villagers from Ho Kun village, Kun Long tract, who had gone fishing found the dead bodies of the said 7 villagers stranded at ‘Taad Pha Pha’ waterfall, about 2 miles east of Ho Kun village.

The 7 victims were

MASSACRE OF 17 PEOPLE IN PANG LONG AREA, IN LOI-LEM

On 7.7.01, early in the morning, SPDC troops from LIB512 and LIB515 shot dead 17 people, including members of a Shan ceasefire group, civilian drivers and workers, of which some were ethnic-Burmans from central Burma, at Nawng Leng village, about 8 miles north of Pang Long town, Loi-Lem township.

The following are some of the names of the victims

The names, addresses and ethnic identities of the other 7 victims are not yet known. However, it is said that most of them were ethnic-Burmans from central Burma who had come to work as day-labourers splitting rocks and building roads.

KILLING OF INNOCENT AKHA VILLAGERS IN TA-KHI-LAEK

On 2.3.01, 3 Akha villagers were shot at, killing 2 instantly and wounding 1, by SPDC troops from LIB331 at Pa Laang Noi village in Loi Taw Kham tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township. The victims were as follows

These 3 Akha villagers were riding a motorcycle together when they were stopped by a patrol of 11 SPDC troops from LIB331, led by Corporal Ong Htun, at Pa Laang Noi village. As they stopped their motorcycle, the troops shot at them without any apparent reason, killing the 2 men instantly and wounding the woman.

Later, the relatives of the wounded woman, Mi Zu, asked the SPDC military authorities in the area for permission to take her to a hospital in Mae Sai, the Thai border town opposite Ta-Khi-Laek.

But the authorities refused to allow them to cross over to the Thai side of the border, probably to prevent news of the incident from spreading out of the country.

RAPE AND DISAPPEARANCE IN MURNG-KERNG

On 23.7.01, at about 0500 hrs in the morning, 3 Shan women were raped by 7-8 SPDC troops in a guardhouse at the base of LIB383 in Murng-Kerng township.

The said 3 women were from Pang Kae Tu village in Pang Kae Tu tract, Murng-Kerng township, and on the day of the incident were going to their rice field to plant rice. Since it was a custom for Shan farmers to start work early in the morning, they were going very early.

The road to the rice fields passed close by the base of LIB383 which was between the village and the fields. When the 3 women got near the base, they were stopped by 7-8 soldiers and forced into the nearby guardhouse.

The 3 women were gang-raped by all the soldiers in the guardhouse for some time and were released after all the soldiers had satisfied themselves. As they let the women go, the soldiers said, “We don’t have any friends here and we are not afraid of anyone. Having to stay at a remote place like this, we will do as we like”.

All the women were married, and although they wept and related their plight to their husbands and relatives, no one could do anything about it because they had no one to complain to.

On the next day, 24.7.01, 7 SPDC troops from LIB383 came into Pang Kae Tu village in the evening and arrested the village secretary, Zaai Yu, male, aged 36. The troops told Zaai Yu that their commander wanted to ask some questions and took him to LIB383 base.

Since then, Zaai Yu has disappeared. His family and relatives were not allowed to see him and no one in the village knows his fate up until the present.

A FIREWOOD GATHERER BEATEN AND ROBBED OF HIS FIREWOOD IN KAENG-TUNG

On 11.7.01, in the evening, a villager of Pa Nim village in Phuay Hoong tract, Kaeng-Tung township, who was carrying firewood on an ox-cart was stopped, beaten and robbed of his firewood by the SPDC troops from LIB314, at Phuay Hoong village, Kaeng-Tung township.

On that day, Zaai Saam Lim, male, aged about 39, of Pa Nim village went with an ox-cart into the forest near his village and gathered firewood. As he was returning home with a full cart-load of firewood, he ran into 3 SPDC troops coming from Phuay Hoong village at the entrance of his village.

The troops stopped Zaai Saam Lim and asked him where he got the firewood. When he said he got it from the forest opposite his village, the troops ordered him to drive his ox-cart and go with them to their camp at Phuay Hoong village.

When they reached the military camp at Phuay Hoong village, the SPDC troops took Zaai Saam Lim to the camp commander, a Captain, and reported that he had stolen wood from the forest that had been confiscated by the military.

As he heard the report, the camp commander suddenly stepped forward and slapped Zaai Saam Lim 2 times, kicked him in the chest and said, “Do you want to die? How dare you steal wood in our garden!”.

After that, although Zaai Saam Lim explained that he had not stolen any wood from the said military garden, the commander forced Zaai Saam Lim to unload his cart of all the firewood and ordered him to go home with an empty cart.

As Zaai Saam Lim left the military camp, the commander shouted after him, “Let it be the last time. Don’t ever do it again. If you are caught again, we won’t spare you”.

LAND CONFISCATION AND BEATING IN MURNG-PAN

On 10.7.01, several acres of woodlands on which the local people for generations have grown and looked after various kinds of trees including mango, jackfruit and different kinds of bamboo, etc., for their own use, in Murng-Pan township, were confiscated by the SPDC authorities.

The SPDC troops cut and took what and whenever they liked while the local people, the real owners of the woodlands, were banned from using or taking anything. When they need some wood or bamboo for building something, the local people had to go to the wild forests which were far and difficult to travel to.

Since there was a road-building project underway, some trees and a lot of bamboo had been cut to make way for the proposed road and were strewn along the sides of the road.

On 20.7.01, Zaai Ku Na Nyo, male, aged 30, from Murng-Pan town saw that a lot of bamboo at a piece of woodland which had been recently confiscated from his grandfather, Lung Saang Kham, aged 63, had been cut to make space for the road and was uselessly scattered all over the place.

Zaai Ku Na Nyo thought that since the bamboo formerly belonged to his grandfather and was now just being strewn in waste, he had better put them to use, and the SPDC authorities might not say anything. He then brought an ox-cart to the place and carried away as many pieces of bamboo as he could.

As he was leaving, however, some SPDC troops from LIB520 who were patrolling the area came and accused Zaai Ku Na Nyo of stealing bamboo and scolded, beat and kicked him many times, and finally forced him to unload his ox-cart and go away.

That evening, a Sergeant named U Aung Hpyu, who had kicked and beaten Zaai Ku Na Nyo earlier, came to his house and extorted 500 Kyat of money from him. Fearing further abuse and harassment, Zaai Ku Na Nyo quietly gave the money to the SPDC Sergeant.

FORCED LABOUR IN ROAD-BUILDING IN MURNG-PAN

Since early July 2001, hundreds of local people have been forced to work without pay in a road-building project by the SPDC military authorities in Murng-Pan township.

On 4.7.01, Commander Win Zaw Oo of SPDC’s LIB332 issued an order to all the village tract leaders in Murng-Pan township to provide 30 workers from each village tract in a new road-building project.

The new motor-road would start from the centre of Mai Niu village in Nam Terng tract, Murng-Pan township, and go through Wan Kung, Long Kaeng and Naa Ing village, pass by Ho Lin village on the north and up to Mai Nyawng Khong Khaang village and then to LIB520 base at Nam Hoo village, and continue down to the main road at Wan Tham village between Murng-Pan and Ta Sang bridge on the Nam Khong (Salween river). The new road would be approximately 9 miles long.

About 100-120 people at a time have to work in building the said road for a period of 5 days during which they receive nothing and have to provide their own food. About 80-90 ethnic-Burman workers, probably paid, are also seen working at the road-building site, with 12-15 SPDC troops under a Sergeant from LIB520 overseeing all the workers.

One of the Sergeants, U Aung Hpyu, overseeing the workers was said to have told the local people who were being forced to provide free labour that they could work slowly if they liked and take rest every hour or whenever they got tired, but they should not sneak away.

One of the ethnic-Burman workers was also said to have told some of the unpaid local forced labourers in a friendly conversation during a break that he thought the local people were being forced to come and work not because the SPDC troops wanted to finish the road quickly, but just to keep them from being able to work properly for themselves, and thus preventing them from becoming rich or economically strong.

LAND CONFISCATION AND FORCED LABOUR IN CROP CULTIVATION IN MURNG-NAI

Since 15.7.01, SPDC troops from IB246, LIB324, IB48 and LIB526, who were newly stationed and building new military bases in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township, have confiscated hundreds of acres of deserted rice fields, whose former owners had been forced to move away some years ago, and forced the local people to provide free labour to cultivate them for the military

At least 650 acres of rice fields around populated areas, not including those in remote areas, were confiscated and the whole lot of mini-tractors in the Kaeng Tawng area, about 75 in all, were forced to plough the fields. During the ploughing period, the farmers with mini-tractors had to work 10 days for the military and 5 days for themselves in rotation until it was finished.

Unpaid forced labour of the local people has been used in all the work needed to cultivate the confiscated rice fields, including ploughing, building and repairing embankments, sowing and planting. Most likely, forced labour would still be used at harvest time.

EXTORTION OF MONEY, INSTEAD OF LABOUR, IN MURNG-TON

On 1.8.01, the commander of SPDC’s IB65, Lt. Col. Myint Swe, issued written orders to all the village tract headmen in Murng-Ton township demanding 20,000 Kyat of money from each village tract for repairing roads.

On 26.7.01, the SPDC authorities in Murng-Ton had hired some road-grading vehicles from a Thai logging company to repair the motor-road between BP-1 (Border Point - 1) and Murng-Ton town which had been at places damaged during heavy rains.

After working for a few days starting from BP-1, when the road-repair team reached a place called Aaloo Taung between Murng Haang and Mae Ken villages, the military made the above demand of money from the people to pay for the fuel of the road-repairing machines.

According to the order issued on 1.8.01, all the 9 village tracts in Murng-Ton township were required to provide the demanded money not later than 7-8.8.01. The 9 village tracts were Murng-Ton (town), Phaa Khe tract, Wan Naa tract, Nawng Pa Yaen tract, Mae Ken tract, Murng Haang tract, Huay Aw tract and Pung Pa Khem tract.

That meant at least 180,000 kyat of money was to be handed to the authorities within 7 days, and since the road would take some time to finish repairing, some more extortion was certain to be forthcoming. Up until now, however, no one knows whether or not the money has really been used to buy fuel for the road-repairing machines.

HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN MURNG-SART

The following are cases of human rights violations committed by a combined force of Burmese and Wa troops -- LIB316 of the SPDC and Battalion No.171 of the UWSA (United Wa State Army) -- in Murng-Sart township during the first 5 months of 2001.

On 29.1.01, Wa troops from Battalion 171, stationed at Kaan Noi village in Murng Kaan tract, Murng-Sart township and Burmese troops from Ta-Khi-Laek-base LIB316 confiscated a long stretch of cultivated lands from the local people in Murng-Sart township. The lands included rice fields, farms, gardens and wood lands of the local villagers, stretching from Murng Kaan village up to Naa Yaao village. Red signposts were put up to prevent the original owners from coming to work on the lands.

On 8.4.01, Burmese and Wa troops from the same battalions forced the villagers of several villages, including Wan Pong, Murng Kaan Noi, Murng Kaan Long and Ho Naa, in Murng Kaan tract to provide free chickens. Each house was required to provide 1 viss (about 1.6 kg.) of chicken and those who did not have it had to buy from others to give to the soldiers.

On the same day the same troops rounded up 55 villagers in Murng Kaan tract to be used as unpaid forced porters and servants.

On 6.5.01, Burmese and Wa troops from the said battalions, who were taking security for the vehicles of a Thai road-building company in the area, accused Lung Yi Dip, male, aged 46, of Naa Yaao village of supporting and providing rice for the Shan soldiers of SSA-S (Shan State Army - South) and seized all his property in his house, and arrested him and 6 other villagers and took them to the base of Battalion No.171 of the UWSA.

The Burmese and Wa troops then sent a message to the families and relatives of the 7 villagers to bring 3,000 Baht of Thai money for each of them for their release on that same day, or else they would be put jail in a Burmese military base in Murng-Sart. The villagers had no choice but to comply.

On 10.5.01, at around 0830 hrs. in the morning, a dispatch of SPDC troops from LIB316, stationed in Murng Kaan tract in Murng-Sart township, issued an order to the community leaders in Murng Kaan tract demanding 100 civilian porters and 50 viss of chicken, to be provided in the evening of the same day or face punishment.

Since the villagers could not provide all the demanded 100 porters, the SPDC troops themselves rounded up the rest, including women and old people, until they got the required number. All the porters were then handed over to another column of SPDC troops from LIB553, that had its base in Murng Tum tract, Murng-Sart township, commanded by Lt. Col. Oong Shwe.

Since the porters had to carry heavy loads and walk long distances, many of them, especially women and old people, could not keep up with the column and were scolded and kicked and beaten with sticks. Some were so severely beaten that they almost died.

On 21.5.01, a column of SPDC troops from LIB554, also based in Murng Tum and commanded by Lt. Col. Sein Win, came into Ho Naa village in Murng Kaan tract and rounded up chickens and ducks of the villagers and took them away without giving anything in return.

On 23.5.01, the same military column from LIB554 looted Wan Pong, Murng Kaan Long and Naa Yaao villages, searching every house and taking everything they wanted, and slowly continued their journey towards Murng Kok and Murng Lung, as if nothing had happened.

On 27.5.01, Burmese and Wa troops, from LIB316 and Battalion 171 respectively, forced the villagers of Naa Yaao to provide free labour for Battalion 171 of UWSA. Each house had to provide 1 worker and 1 waterbuffalo to till a rice field for the UWSA troops.

SIGNPOSTS CONTAINING VILLAGE NAMES IN SHAN PULLED DOWN AND MONEY EXTORTED IN NAM-KHAM

On 18.9.01, SPDC authorities in Nam-Kham township destroyed several signboards containing village names in both Shan and Burmese and replaced them with the ones written only in Burmese.

In the afternoon of that day, a group of 15 SPDC troops, led by the Chairman of the Nam Kham Township Peace and Development Council, Capt. Tin Maung Win, came to several villages and tore down signboards that contained village names in both Shan and Burmese, recently set up by community leaders, and replaced them with signboards with village names written in only Burmese.

After that the SPDC troops extorted 35,000 Kyat of money from each village for the costs of the replacement of the new signboards. The following are the affected villages Maan Kham, Zae Hai, Kung Sa, Maan Kaang, Kawng Waeng and Nawng Khaang villages.