SHRF MONTHLY REPORT

COMMENTARY

As the visit of the inquiry team from the ILO was approaching, in late July and early August, SPDC military authorities in many townships in Shan State got themselves busy warning the people in their respective areas to be careful in answering the questions when asked by the members of the visiting ILO inspection team.

The people were repeatedly instructed to tell the members of the ILO fact-finding team that since the end of last year there had been no forced labour of the people in any form by the members of the SPDC, and that all labour provided for the military was voluntary, willingly offered by the people out of the love they had for the Burmese army.

In reality, however, the situation in many areas has been more or less the same all along. Forced labour, including mass forced labour of the people in building military facilities and mass forced portering of women and children in Central Shan State, has still been rampant in many areas up until at least the end of June, as has been documented in this report.

Although in some areas the use of direct forced labour has somewhat reduced, the requisition of money from the people -- to rent workers, mules and vehicles etc. to replace the required forced labourers in the military activities -- has increased, posing more or less the same problems for the people, most of whom earn meagre money through their own hard labour. 

All in all, the die-hard practice lives on.

RICE FARMERS BEATEN TO DEATH, WOMEN RAPED BEFORE KILLED, IN NAM-ZARNG

On 11.7.01, 5 rice farmers, 3 men and 2 women, were beaten to death, and the women raped before being killed, by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB247 in a rice farm about 3 miles southwest of Wan Phui village in Kho Lam tract, Nam-Zarng township.

On 7.7.01, a patrol of 50 SPDC troops from IB247, led by Capt. Mya Htoo, found several fresh footprints, probably of about 18-20 people, close by a rice farm 3 miles southwest of Wan Phui in Kho Lam tract. But there was no one to be found in and around the farm at that moment.

The SPDC troops suspected the farmers of that rice farm of helping and providing rice for the Shan soldiers and made inquiries about their whereabouts, and found out that they lived in Wan Phui village. They were the following 5 farmers:

These farmers had been cultivating rice at the farm on the days when they were free from their forced labour duty and other forced service for the military. On the day when the SPDC troops found the footprints, the farmers had returned home the day before and were not at the farm.

The commander of IB247 sent an order to the village headman of Wan Phui to bring the 5 farmers to the military camp at Kho Lam for interrogation. After being interrogated for some time, however, the farmers were released and they all returned home safely.

When they went again to work at their rice farm, on 11.7.01, a few moments after they got into the farm, the farmers were arrested by a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from IB247, led by Capt. Mya Htoo.

The 3 men were tied up and interrogated, beaten and tortured for some time, and eventually beaten to death in the farm by the troops.

The 2 women were taken into the farm hut and gang-raped by the SPDC soldiers, and finally beaten to death in the hut.

After that incident, the farm became deserted and no one has dared go near it up to the present.

ARREST, TORTURE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF COMMUNITY LEADERS IN MURNG-TON

In late June 2001, the headman of Murng Haang village, Murng Haang tract, Murng-Ton township was arrested by Capt. Han Sein from IB65 of the SPDC and taken to the military base, and since then no one in the village has seen or heard of him.

On 17.6.01, a patrol of 45 SPDC troops from IB65 led by Capt. Han Sein came to Murng Haang village on 4 conscripted civilian trucks and arrested the village headman, Zaai Phaw-Ka, and took him to the military base of IB65. The troops accused him of helping and providing rice for the Shan soldiers of SSA (Shan State Army) and interrogated, beat and tortured him.

Zaai Phaw-Ka explained that every time the Shan soldiers asked him for rice he had reported it to the SPDC local military authorities, and that the last time when he asked the SPDC authorities whether he should give any rice to the Shan soldiers, they said that it would be better for the villagers to give the rice because they could not stay and protect the villagers all the time. Because of that, the villagers had given some rice to the Shan soldiers.

Zaai Phaw-Ka was released on 21.6.01, after some days of interrogation, beating and torture. However, on 26.6.01, he was arrested again by the same troops and taken to the military base where no one was allowed to see him. Since then no one has seen or heard of him and local villagers believe that he has disappeared.

On 27.6.01, SPDC troops from IB225 led by Capt. Mya Maung came to arrest the deputy headman of Huay Aw village, Zaai Taw-Ya, in Pung Pa Khem tract, Murng-Ton township. But Zaai Taw-Ya ran away and escaped.

On 27.6.01, the same SPDC troops arrested the village tract headman of Pung Pa Khem tract, Pu Haeng Ting, and took him to the military base. He was released after a few hours of interrogation.

On 30.6.01, however, Pu Haeng Ting was again summoned to IB65 base in Murng-Ton to meet with the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Myint Swe. Whether or not he has been released is not yet known at the time of this report.

ARREST, TORTURE AND BEATING OF COMMUNITY LEADERS IN MURNG-SART

On 20.6.01, the village tract headman of Murng Tum tract, Murng-Sart township, and his deputy were arrested and interrogated by SPDC troops trom Murng-Phyak-based LIB336, at Murng Tum village military camp in Murng-Sart township.

On the day of the incident, a dispatch of SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based LIB336, temporarily stationed at Murng Tum village, led by Capt. Saw Maung, arrested the village tract headman, Lung Kawn Zing, aged 51 and his Secretary, Zaai Nyunt, aged 45, and took them to the outpost military camp.

The SPDC troops accused the 2 villagers of supporting and providing rice for the Shan soldiers of SSA (Shan State Army) and interrogated, beat and tortured them. The 2 villagers were slapped and punched several times on the face, causing them to swell so much that they could not eat for several days.

MASS FORCED PORTERING, INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN, AND RAPE IN MURNG-KERNG

In mid-June 2001, SPDC troops from LIB514 forcibly conscripted 250 civilian porters, including 108 women and children - some as young as 8, from among the displaced persons who had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of Murng-Kerng town 4-5 years ago by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops.

On 13.6.01, after an armed clash between SPDC troops and Shan resistance soldiers in Murng-Kerng township, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB514 led by Capt. Thein Maung, under the orders of the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Hla Myint, conscripted 250 civilian porters from the relocation site in the outskirts of Murng-Kerng town.

The SPDC troops took all the adult men, and from houses where men were not available they took women and children. Altogether 142 men and 108 women and children, of which many were between 8 to 16 years of age, were conscripted and forced to carry ammunition, rice and other food stuff and military things.

Some children were forced to, and were only able to, carry 6 cans of condensed milk each, some 1 pyi ( ? litre) of rice each and some 10 rounds of m79 mortar shells each, and were kicked and beaten when they could not go fast enough, sometimes drawing loud cries from some children along the way.

These villagers were forced to serve the military without pay for 16 days, during which all the women porters above 15 years of age were said to have been raped by the SPDC soldiers, and were released on 28.6.01.

About 5-6 days later, the same SPDC troops ordered the village headmen in the area to provide 10-15 civilian porters from each village, either men or women could be counted. 

MASS FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN LAI-KHA

Since late June 2001, SPDC military authorities in Lai-Kha have issued an order to all the village and tract headmen in the township requiring them to provide unpaid mass forced labour for the military.

On 20.6.01, commander of LIB515, Lt. Col. Khin Maung Soe, sent an order to the village and tract headmen forcing the people in Lai-Kha township to clear the sides of all the roads leading out of Lai-Kha town up to a distance of about 30 k.m.

The people were also required to cut bamboo and make new fences to replace the old ones around the 4 military battalion bases in the township, and repair all the barracks for the soldiers. 

They also had to clear all the drainage channels in the bases and trenches and bunkers around the bases, and all the bushes and grass outside the fences on the ground as wide as 5 arm-spans from the fences.

All this had to be completed within 30 days. Otherwise, each village tract headman would be fined 50,000 Kyat, each village headman 15,000 Kyat and each village family 1,000 Kyat. 

Fearing that they would not be able to finish the work within the given time, most villagers, men and women, young and old, went to work at the forced labour sites, ignoring their own livelihood which was mostly rice cultivation since it was rice growing season.

Until late July 2001, the villagers were still seen working in groups at the military bases in Lai-Kha township.

CURRENT FORCED LABOUR IN KAENG TAWNG AREA IN MURNG-NAI

Currently, people in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township are being forced by SPDC local military authorities in the area to work en masse for the military.

In addition to having to hand-saw lumber for the military on a regular basis, the people in Kaeng Tawng currently have to clear the sides of all the roads leading out of the area to Kho Lam in Nam-Zarng township, to Wan Lao in Kun-Hing township and to Murng-Nai town itself, up to the points where people in the other parts and townships are supposed to take on the work.

At the same time, they also have to cut wood and bamboo and build new military camps as well as repair the barracks and replace new fences of the old ones, and clear 5-6 arm-spans of ground outside the fences around the military camps.

There are now 8 military camps in Kaeng Tawng area, new and old. Some have been built, some are under construction and some are still at the stage of planning. The following are the locations of the military camps:

1. One at Ton Hung village relocation site, a long-established one
2. One at Ta Kun village in Ton Hung village tract
3. One at Ta Waeng village in Ton Hung village tract
4. One at Wan Turm village in Kun Mong village tract
5. One at Kun Mong village in Kun Mong village tract
6. One at Waeng Kao village in Nawng Hee village tract
7. One at Pa Sa village in Nawng Hee village tract
8. One at Muay Taw Phak Lid village in Nawng Hee village tract

Each military camp has its own fences, trenches, bunkers and barracks which are usually 15-16 small houses for the soldiers. All have been built, are being built and will be built by unpaid forced labour of the local people.

FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN MU-SE

Over the last 3 months, SPDC military authorities in Mu-Se have forcibly conscripted civilian vehicles in the township to serve the military many times without pay.

1. Mini-tractors at Nawng Kham village have been conscripted 25 times
2. Mini-tractors at Ho Lawn village have been conscripted 37 times
3. Mini-tractors at Wan Hio village have been conscripted 45 times
4. Mini-tractors at a private drug rehabilitation centre have been conscripted 11 times
5. Lung Chit Nguay’s truck has been conscripted 21 times

It was said that whenever the SPDC troops wanted to go somewhere or transport something in Mu-Se township, they almost always forcibly conscripted civilian mini-tractors, or sometimes civilian trucks, for transportation without any payment.

On 19.6.01, SPDC township police officer in Mu-Se exacted 11,000 pieces of bamboo from the villagers of Tong Khaan village. All the bamboo was to be transported free of charge by the villagers to the police station in Mu-Se by 22.6.01.

LAND CONFISCATION AND FORCED LABOUR IN LARNG-KHUR

Since early 2001, SPDC military authorities in Larng-Khur have confiscated thousands of acres of cultivated lands - including plantations of sugarcane, tobacco, betel leaves and betel nuts, bamboo and other hardwoods - of the people in Larng-Khur township to be used for building military bases and other military facilities.

In April 2001, SPDC military authorities in Larng-Khur confiscated over 1,200 acres of sugarcane plantations and about 15 acres of bamboo and betel nuts plantations east of the Nam Taeng river in the area of Wan Haad village tract. 

The SPDC troops have bulldozed and cleared all the sugarcane in the plain and used the place as a military training ground. They forced the local people to cut the trees and clear the surrounding higher ground and build a military camp with several barracks for the soldiers and new recruits. 

At about the same time, several acres of tobacco plantations in Kho Ta village tract were confiscated from the local people to set up a base for a Light Infantry Battalion. Several acres of tobacco plantations in Pung Thun village tract were also confiscated to make a base for an artillery unit.

In this way, many sugarcane and tobacco farmers in Larng-Khur township have lost their lands, and thus their livelihood.

LAND CONFISCATION AND FORCED LABOUR IN TA-KHI-LAEK

Around mid-June 2001, SPDC troops of Ta Lur-based LIB316 confiscated a hill of woodland, called Kawng Maak Khaam, from the villagers of Murng Laen in Ta-Khi-Laek township and forced the local people to build a new military camp for the new recruits to be conscripted in the near future.

Since 13.6.01 up to the present, people in the village tracts of Ta Lur, Murng Laen, Nam Kherm, Pa Leo and Kaeng Laab have been forced to provide unpaid forced labour every day in building the new military camp on Kawng Maak Khaam hill. The camp has already become known among the local people in the area as ‘Kawng Maak Khaam Camp’, after the name of the hill.

Since it is coinciding with rice cultivating time, the villagers have to take turns to go for the forced labour in order to be able to tend their rice fields during the intervals, 5 up to 12 houses from each village in proportion to its size have to go at a time. Some farmers have to sometimes hire others to go on their behalf so that they could have more time in tending their rice fields.

The villagers have to cut trees and clear the ground at the top of the hill, and dig the ground to level it. They have to build fences, dig trenches and build barracks within them. They also have to build a road leading from the main road up to the hill top.

LAND CONFISCATION AND BEATING IN MU-SE

In June 2001, SPDC township level officer, Tin Oo, in Paang Saai area in Mu-Se township confiscated several acres of rice fields from the local people and sold them to some Chinese nationals from China.

One of the local farmers, not knowing that his rice field had been taken away from him, was planting rice when he was scolded and beaten by Tin Oo and was forced to pull out all the rice seedlings he had planted. 

After the farmer had pulled out all the rice seedlings, Tin Oo scolded him again and told him that his rice field had been confiscated and he would not be allowed to work on it any more.

The following were the farmers who lost their rice fields to the SPDC official in this case:

1. Jawn Song (m), of Wan Zae village, lost a field large enough to plant 5 baskets of rice seeds
2. Ai Yong (m), of Wan Zae village, lost a field large enough to plant 5 baskets of rice seeds
3. Yi Thun (m), of Nam Hoo village, lost a field big enough to plant 1-1/2 baskets of rice seeds
4. A quarter of Wan Zae village, jointly lost a large piece of land enough to plant 16 baskets of rice seeds

CONFISCATION OF MOBILE-PHONES IN MURNG-TON

In June 2001, SPDC troops from Murng-Sart-based LIB333 seized about 30 mobile phones from the people in Murng-Ton township, mostly in village tracts close to the Thai border.

On 30.5.01, a column of about 100 SPDC troops from Murng-Sart-based LIB333, led by Maj. Myint Aung, came to Naa Kawng Mu village in Murng-Ton township and were temporarily stationed there, and investigated about who used mobile phones in the area.

After some days of investigation, on 10.6.01, the SPDC troops started to confiscate all the mobile phones used by those who they suspected of providing information to the Shan resistance soldiers during the battle of Pa Khee, in which a considerable amount of amphetamine tablets were seized from the SPDC troops’ stronghold by the Shan soldiers.

Altogether not less than 26 mobile phones have so far been seized mostly from Naa Kawng Mu, Huay Aw, Mae Ken, Pung Pa Khem and Nawng Pa Yaen villages in Murng-Ton township, and some in Murng-Ton town itself.

The SPDC troops simply went to the houses of the suspected mobile phone owners or summoned them to a military camp and ordered them to hand over their mobile phones, threatening to severely punish and fine them if they refused to comply. Many of the owners were said to be women and small shop owners who were most unlikely to be what they were being suspected of.

CONFISCATION OF MOTORCYCLES IN LASIO AND MU-SE

During the time from February to April 2001, SPDC authorities in Lasio, working under instructions of the Commander of the Northeastern Military Command, Maj. Gen. Tin Aung Myint Oo, had seized not less than 300 motorcycles from the local people in Lasio township for not having licences.

According to the local people, however, although they had tried several times to apply for licences for their motorcycles, the authorities concerned had simply ignored their applications.

In April and May 2001, SPDC authorities in Mu-Se also confiscated 250 motorcycles from the local people in Mu-Se township for the same reason - not having licences. The owners of the motorcycles also complained that they had applied for licences but they had not been granted.

EXTORTION IN TA-KHI-LAEK

In early July 2001, SPDC authorities in Ta-Khi-Laek extorted money from the people in Ta-Khi-Laek township to buy goods from Thailand to be given as presents to Gen. Maung Aye, the Vice Chairman of the SPDC, and his entourage, who would be visiting Ta-Khi-Laek on an inspection tour.

On 8.7.01, after Gen. Maung Aye had completed his inspection tour in Ta-Khi-Laek, the local SPDC authorities presented him and his entourage with 2 truckloads of presents which comprised different kinds of goods bought from Thailand. The presents were not taken away immediately but were later sent after them, on 12.7.01, on 2 civilian trucks forcibly conscripted by the police for free service.

A few days before the visit of Gen. Maung Aye, SPDC authorities in Ta-Khi-Laek had issued an order to all the village and tract headmen and community leaders to collect money from the people in the township to buy some presents for the visiting general. 

Although the amount demanded by the SPDC authorities was not known, each family was required to provide 300 Baht of Thai money, which altogether would have amounted to not less than 300,000 Baht, in accordance with the estimated population of Ta-Khi-Laek.

According to the local people, they would have to suffer more if not for the Universal Bank and Ho Pang Company who had taken responsibility for the costs of welcoming and taking care of the honoured guests from Thailand.

TEACHING OF SHAN LITERATURE AND TRADITIONAL DANCE BANNED IN MURNG-PAENG

On 7.7.01, SPDC authorities in Murng-Paeng banned the teaching of Shan literature and traditional dance at a Buddhist monastery in Murng-Paeng township.

The learning of Shan literature and traditional dance by 40 or so Shan pupils at the monastery of Wan Pek village, supervised by the abbot monk, Ven. Wi-La-Sa, was banned by SPDC authorities from the department of religious affairs.

Director of the department of religious affairs, U Thein Zaw, said that it was not proper for a Buddhist monk to get involved in the study of Shan literature and traditional dance, and the students should only be interested in their school lessons, which were all in Burmese.

More than 30 pupils who were studying Shan literature and traditional dance at the said monastery were students from the middle school in Murng Poo Awn tract, and all were sent back to their parents by the SPDC authorities.