SHRF MONTHLY REPORT

COMMENTARY

Five years ago this month, at the height of the mass forced relocation program carried out in 1996-97 in central Shan State by the Burmese army troops, then called SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council), two of the most well known massacres of innocent Shan villagers took place.

On 16 June 1997, two groups of displaced villagers who had been permitted by SLORC troops to retrieve their rice left at their original villages when they were forced to move at very short notice, were stopped on their way back and brutally shot dead in groups by SLORC troops at two places on the same day.

These two incidents, in which about 60 innocent farmers were herded together and cold-bloodedly killed, have been well documented by several local and international human rights groups. 

The two massacres are often collectively referred to by Shan refugees as the “Taad Pha Ho Massacre”, although they actually took place at two different places - Taad Pha Ho waterfall and Saai Khaao village, in Kun-Hing township, central Shan State.

Killings of innocent people by Burmese army troops in the relocation areas are still frequent occurrences up to this day. Recently, 3 farmers from Saai Khaao village were killed by SPDC troops. (see the following first story)
Earlier this year, the original villagers of Saai Khaao at the Kun-Hing town relocation site were told by SPDC troops to return to Saai Khaao, where they are being faced with more hardship. (see the last story)

RAPE AND KILLING OF DISPLACED FARMERS FROM KUN-HING, IN MURNG-NAI

In February 2002, 3 displaced farmers, 1 man and 2 women, were beaten to death, the women raped before being killed, by SPDC troops from Kun-Hing-based IB246 at a deserted (relocated) village, Kung Nyawng, in Kun Mong village tract, Murng-Nai township. The 3 victims were:

These people were originally villagers of Saai Khaao village in Saai Khaao village tract, Kun-Hing township, which had been forcibly relocated to Kun-Hing town by Burmese army troops in 1996-97. In early January 2002, when villagers of Saai Khaao village were told by SPDC authorities to return to their original village, these 3 villagers were among those who returned (see the last story).

On 5 February 2002, the 3 victims, Zaai Ku, Naang Awng and Naang Ong Kin were going to their farm outside Saai Khaao village, which they had returned to about a month ago, in Kun-Hing township, when they ran into a column of about 60 SPDC troops from IB246 at Paang Maw bridge north of Saai Khaao village.

The SPDC troops were on their way from Kun-Hing to the area of Kaeng Tawng in Murng-Naai township. When they saw the 3 villagers, the troops forced them to go with them until they reached a deserted village, Kung Nyawng, in Kun Mong village tract, Murng-Nai township, where they stopped for a rest and spent the night.

The 2 women were first raped by the SPDC commander of the column and then handed over to his troops, and were raped all night by most of them.

On the next day, after most of the troops had raped the women to their satisfaction, they took them to a place on the east of the deserted village and, together with the man, beat them all to death.

DISPLACED FARMER KILLED, HIS DRAUGHT OXEN STOLEN, IN KUN-HING

On 20 April 2002, a displaced farmer who was gathering rice was beaten to death and his draught oxen were stolen by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB246 at a remote farm in Kaeng Lom village tract, Kun-Hing township.

Zaai Hung, male, aged 18, the victim, was originally from Naa Sae village in Kaeng Lom tract which had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of Kun-Hing town some years ago. Zaai Hung and his parents had managed to survive years of hardship at the relocation site by growing rice at a remote farm some distance from the town.

On the day of the incident, Zaai Hung was preparing to take home some of his rice on an ox-cart and was feeding his 2 oxen with hay at his remote farm when a patrol of about 75 SPDC troops from Kun-Hing-based IB246 came by the farm.
When the troops saw Zaai Hung, they came straight through the farm to him and arrested him, tied him up with a rope, dragged him to the edge of the farm and beat him to death. The troops then left the farm, dragging away with them Zaai Hung’s 2 draught oxen.

When he had not come home, Zaai Hung’s parents became worried and came after him, only to find his dead body at the edge of his farm, and signs of looting and footprints of Burmese soldiers all over the place.

DISPLACED FARMERS STABBED TO DEATH IN LAI-KHA

On 27 February 2002, 3 displaced farmers from Paang Phon village relocation site in Murng Yaai village tract, Lai-Kha township, were stabbed to death by SPDC troops from LIB515 at a rice field some distance from the relocation site.

The 3 victims were:

These people were originally from Naa Loi village in Paang Saang village tract, Lai-Kha township, which had been forcibly relocated to Paang Phon village relocation site in 1997 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops. While staying at Paang Phon relocation site, they had been secretly cultivating their original rice fields near their deserted village, Naa Loi, which was about 5 miles from Paang Phon.

It was during the rice harvest time and people from Paang Phon village were busy threshing and transporting their rice by ox-carts from their remote rice fields and farms to the relocation site.

On the day of the incident, the 3 victims happened to be at their rice fields when a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB515 came and took them into a bush on the edge of the fields and killed them. Their necks were slashed and their chests were stabbed with knife.

A GIRL GANG-RAPED, HER PIGS STOLEN, IN KUN-HING

On 29 April 2002, SPDC troops from IB246 raped a 17-year-old girl and stole away 2 of her pigs, at Kun-Hing town relocation site, Kun-Hing township.

Naang Laai (not her real name), aged 17, was originally from Kaeng Lom village, Kaeng Lom tract, which had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of Kun-Hing town in 1996 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops. Naang Laai and her parents managed to survive at the relocation site by breeding some pigs and chickens and occasionally working as day labourers.

On the day of the incident, Naang Laai’s parents had gone to work as day labourers at someone else’s farm and she was left alone at home to feed their pigs and chickens. When a group of 8-10 SPDC troops from IB246 who were patrolling in the area came by her place and learned that she was alone, they seized her and gang-raped her.

After raping Naang Laai, the SPDC troops seized and took away 2 of her pigs, each weighing about 28 klograms. The market price of pork in the area at that time was about 150 Kyat per kg.

Although later Naang Laai and her parents reported the incident to the community leaders, no one dared to take the case further, saying that with the Burmese army troops they could not win the case and could even be further abused and extorted, and even though Naang Laai knew the SPDC soldiers who raped her and stole her pigs, they would not let her see them.

DISPLACED FARMERS ROBBED, BEATEN, FORCED TO GO AS PORTERS AND RAPED IN KUN-HING

In March and early April 2002, a man was severely beaten at a remote farm and 2 women were taken to serve the military by SPDC troops from IB246 for 15 days during which they were repeatedly raped by the troops.

On 18 March 2002, a patrol of about 80 SPDC troops from Co.2 of IB246, led by commander Myint Maung, came upon a remote farm, about 7 miles south of Kun-Hing town, and arrested the following man and 2 women they found there:

The troops then looted the farm, taking all they wanted, including chickens, pigs and other food stuff, and beat up Lung Mu-Lin so severely that he lost some teeth and suffered from a fractured head. Later his relatives had to take Lung Mu-Lin to Kun-Hing town hospital to receive treatment, which cost him 3,100 Kyat.

The 2 women were forced to go with the troops and after being forced to serve day and night as sex slaves for 15 days, they were released at Wan Lao village. They were so weak and pale after their release that they had to be taken by their relatives to Kun-Hing town hospital and treated for 10 days, which cost each of them 6,600 Kyat.

These displaced farmers were originally from Naa Khaa Own village in Kaeng Kham village tract, Kun-Hing township, which had been forcibly relocated to Kun-Hing town in 1997 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops. Since there was no land for them to farm near the town, they had to go far from the town to grow rice for their survival.

There were 7 members in that family but, fortunately, 4 of them were at the Kun-Hing town relocation site on the day of the incident, and only the 3 that were at the farm had fallen victims to the passing SPDC troops’ patrol.

BEATING, CAUSING HEAD-FRACTURE AND LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-PAENG

On 2 May 2002, the headman of Ta Long village in Murng Pu Long village tract, Murng-Paeng township, was beaten by SPDC troops from IB43 so severely that his skull was fractured, his body soaked in blood, and he lost consciousness several times during the beating.

In March 2002, the commander of the SPDC troops from Co.3 of Murng-Paeng-based IB43, stationed at an outpost camp in Murng Pu Long tract, Capt. Soe Maung Oo, ordered the village headman of Ta Long village, Nan-Daa, to collect money from those who would newly come from other places to settle down in Ta Long village area, 5,000 Kyat from each household.

On the day of the incident, the SPDC commander and his troops came back to Ta Long village to inspect the situation and found that there were 11 new houses in the village since they had come the other time, and the commander asked the village headman for the money he had told him to collect from the new settlers.

Headman Nan-Daa, however, explained that he could not collect any money from those newcomers because they were destitute displaced farmers and each household did not even have 500 Kyat, let alone 5,000 Kyat.

But the SPDC commander did not believe the headman and accused him of trying to steal the money for himself and struck him on the head with his pistol, fracturing his head, and kicked him to the ground, causing him to lose consciousness for some time. When the headman regained consciousness, the commander beat and kicked him again and again until he was soaked in blood and lost consciousness 2-3 times.

After he had beaten the headman to his satisfaction, the SPDC commander ordered the headman to find 30,000 Kyat of money for him within 15 days and left the village, taking away with them a pig weighing over 30 kg from the headman house.

NON-OPIUM GROWERS TAXED IN MURNG-PAENG

On 29 March 2002, the village secretary of Lawn Keo village in Murng Pu Long village tract, Murng-Paeng township, was ordered by SPDC troops to collect “taxes” from villagers who did not grow opium. 

Capt. Soe Maung Oo, commander of Co.3 of SPDC’s Murng-Paeng-based IB43, stationed in Murng Pu Long village tract, asked the secretary of the village headman of Lawn Keo village for the numbers of villagers who did not grow opium and ordered him to collect “taxes” from them, 15,000 Kyat from each household.

If the village secretary, Zaai In Wong, male, failed to collect the “taxes”, he would be fined 30,000 Kyat, and if any of the householders refused to pay the demanded amount, they would be put in jail for 3 years, said the SPDC commanders.
The village secretary, however, did not want to give any more trouble to the already destitute farmers, and did not have the amount of money which the SPDC commander had threatened to impose on him as a fine. So he fled the place with his wife and children.

MONEY EXTORTED FOR BUILDING NEW MILITARY FACILITIES IN KAENG-TUNG

In March 2002, SPDC military authorities in Kaeng-Tung township issued an order requiring every household in the whole township to provide 2,000 Kyat of money to the military.

The order was issued to all the village and village tract leaders in Kaeng-Tung township requiring them to collect the money from the people in their respective areas and bring it to the SPDC township office in Kaeng-Tung town. 
The money was to be used to help in building new military facilities to protect the country, and anyone who failed to give the demanded money would be fined double, said the order.

Local people thought that the money would most likely be used to pay the workers in building military facilities, so that the military would escape being criticized for using unpaid forced labour of the people. However, because the money was earned with the people’s hard labour, it was tantamount to using unpaid forced labour of the people.

For the farmers in the area, it was even more difficult. They not only had to sell their rice at very low prices to the military authorities to feed their soldiers, but also had to give money for building military facilities.

FOOD EXTORTED FOR SECURITY TROOPS DURING THE VISIT OF SPDC SECRETARY-1 IN KAENG-TUNG

In early April 2002, people in Kaeng-Tung township were ordered by SPDC troops of LIB533 to provide food and water, including rice, cooking oil, salt, chilli and pickled soya bean, etc., for the troops taking security during the visit of Secretary-1 of the SPDC and his entourage.

On that occasion, the villagers of Yaang La, Yaang Khum Mu, Yaang Mon, Yaang Kwaai and Wan Sang villages in Murng Laang tract and the villagers of Saao Pet village in zone 3 of Kaeng-Tung town were affected.

The villagers had to collect rice and the demanded food stuff among themselves and bring them to the places where the SPDC troops were taking security duty on different sides of the town.

On the day of the Secretary-1’s visit, villagers of Yaang Khum Mu and Yaang Kwaai villages were ordered to stay only within their villages’ limits; anyone who failed to comply with the order would be shot on sight.

CONSUMER GOODS TRADERS ROBBED IN MURNG-PHYAK

On 2 February 2002, 3 traders from Kaeng-Tung who were returning from buying consumer goods from Ta-Khi-Laek, a border town with Thailand in the south, were robbed of 10,000 Kyat of money each at Sop Lao village in Murng-Phyak township by SPDC troops from LIB329.

The traders were returning to Kaeng-Tung after buying some consumer goods from Ta-Khi-Laek town by a van which they had hired to transport their goods. As they got to the bridge at Sop Lao village in Murng-Phyak township, SPDC troops from LIB329 who were on security duty stopped them and searched their car.

When they found a small amount of seasoning powder, cooking oil, alcoholic drink and ‘Coca-Cola’ among the consumer goods, the SPDC troops said they were illegal and threatened to seize all the goods.

The traders tried to explain that they had not bought the goods from Thailand but from the shops in Ta-Khi-Laek town which had already paid the due taxes on the goods to the concerned authorities when they were imported from Thailand, but to no avail.

Finally, each trader had to pay 10,000 Kyat as a fine to the SPDC troops to settle the matter. At first the traders offered to pay 3,000 Kyat each, but the troops asked for 30,000 Kyat from each. After some talking and bargaining for a while, both sides agreed to meet somewhere halfway.

VILLAGERS ROBBED OF MONEY IN MURNG-YAWNG

On 6.2.02, villagers who were returning from market were robbed on the way by a patrol of SPDC police and soldiers from LIB334, in Wan Wo village tract, Murng-Yawng township.

The villagers were from Yaang Le and Kho Ke villages in Wan Wo village tract which was adjacent to the ‘special region - 4’ under the control of one of the ceasefire groups. Villagers in the area usually went on market days to the market at Nam Paan village which was in the area of the ‘special region - 4’.

On that day, 3 van cars which were returning from Nam Paan village market and heading for Murng-Yawng were stopped on the way by a group of SPDC police and soldiers. There were 14 villagers from Yaang Le and Kho Ke villages in the cars who were ordered to come out.

The police and soldiers searched the villagers’ belongings and found only some Chinese dried food stuff, and then searched their bodies and found some Chinese and Burmese money. 

The SPDC police and soldiers gave the Burmese money back to the villagers and took all the Chinese money, saying that it was illegal and if the villagers were found using Chinese money in the town they could be arrested and jailed. 

The villagers dared not say anything for fear of further abuses. They lost altogether 7,000 Yuan of Chinese money, worth around 5-600,000 Kyat, on that occasion.

VILLAGERS TOLD TO RETURN TO RELOCATED VILLAGE TO BE USED AS SLAVE LABOURERS, IN KUN-HING

In early 2002, villagers from Saai Khaao village in Saai Khaao village tract, Kun-Hing township, who had been forced to relocate to the outskirts of Kun-Hing town in 1996-97 by the Burmese army troops, were told by SPDC troops of Kun-Hing-based IB246 to return to Saai Khaao village, where they were forced to stay within restricted areas and serve the military with free labour.

Saai Khaao village was the site of one of the most gruesome massacres of innocent villagers committed on 16 June 1997 by the Burmese army troops, then known as SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council). On that day, about 60 displaced farmers were killed at Saai Khaao village and Taad Pha Ho waterfall: 31 at the former, including 18 men and 13 women, ages ranging from 13 to 57; and 28 at the latter, including 18 men and 10 women, ages ranging from 14 to 50. 

These villagers were given permission by SLORC troops to retrieve the rice they had left at their original villages when they were forced to move at very short notice to Kun-Hing town relocation site a few months earlier. Even so, the villagers were stopped when they were returning with 40-50 ox-cart-loads of rice and shot dead in groups by SLORC troops, and their ox-carts were burned and destroyed.

On 4 March 2002, after some time when about 68 households, comprising about 345 people, had gone back to Saai Khaao village, Burmese military authorities in the area set up an outpost camp at the village and issued an order requiring the villagers to do the following things:

The villagers who have returned from Kun-Hing relocation site back to their original village, Saai Khaao, are now facing even more difficult conditions and are secretly, little by little, fleeing to other places.

While having to serve the military with their slave labour, the villagers are still subject to arbitrary killing and rape. In February 2002, 3 villagers from Saai Khaao village, who were going to their farm were seized by a passing SPDC military column and later raped and killed (see the first story).