SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - DECEMBER 2005

SHRF  MONTHLY REPORT -- DECEMBER 2005

COMMENTARY
        In addition to various other methods of extorting money and goods from the people by the SPDC authorities in Shan State, the so called human trafficking regulations are providing another easy way for money extortion by the SPDC authorities manning checkpoints along the roads in townships bordering Thailand.
        As more restrictions are being put on travellers going towards the townships on the border with Thailand, in the name of preventing human trafficking, people have often been forced to give money to the authorities to get through the checkpoints.
        Many of the victims were innocent travellers who really needed to travel, e.g., to get medical treatment, and had to provide the demanded money so that they could get to their destination in time, like in the two incidents which took place at a checkpoint in Murng-Phyak township.
        If the demanded amounts of money could not be paid for some reasons, the travellers could be forced to return to where they had come. One such incident took place in Murng-Pan township, in which more than 60 travellers, including men, women and children, on 8 passenger cars, were forced to return to where they had come just because they did not have enough money.
        The SPDC troops are also ready to kill not just for political reasons, but also for money. As reported in this issue, a couple returning from Thailand were robbed, raped and killed because they carried a sizable amount of money, just across the border in Murng-Sart township.
        However, in Kun-Hing township, 3 displaced farmers were arbitrarily killed without any apparent reason.

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RETURNEES ROBBED OF THEIR MONEY, RAPED AND KILLED IN MURNG-SART
        In July 2005, a couple who were returning from Thailand were robbed of their money and killed by SPDC troops from IB293 in Murng Yawn village tract, Murng-Sart township. The wife was detained and raped for 5 days before being killed by the SPDC troops.
        The couple, Zaai Ni (m), aged 24 and Naang Phit (f), aged 28, were displaced persons from Wan Lao village in Wan Lao village tract, Kun-Hing township. Because of the difficulties to earn a living at the relocation site, the couple had gone to Thailand to work and earn some money to support their parents.
        On 17 July 2005, after working very hard for 6 years in Thailand and managing to save up some money, the couple decided to return to visit their parents, taking with them 50,000 baht of Thai money. They crossed the border from Thailand to Shan State on foot near the Kok river between Mae Ai district in Thailand’s Chiangmai province and Murng Yawn village tract in Murng-Sart township in Shan State.
        At that time, a dispatch of SPDC troops from IB293, based in Murng Luay village tract in Kaeng-Tung township, were stationed at Paeng Kham village in Murng Yawn village tract, Murng-Sart township, taking security along the Thai border in the area.
        As the couple crossed the border, they ran into a patrol of the said SPDC troops and were arrested by them. The SPDC troops robbed the couple of their money and beat the husband, Zaai Ni, to death and dumped his body into Kok river. The wife was detained and raped for 5 days before being also killed and dumped into the river.
        During that time, the SPDC troops talked and boasted in Paeng Kham village about having caught a couple of Shan soldiers, husband and wife, with uniforms and weapons close to the border near the Kok river.
        The Kok river flows from Shan State into Thailand. On hearing the news of the fate of the couple, their relatives who were still in Thailand hired some boats and managed to find their bodies downstream, and cremated them on 28 July 2005.
        According to the relatives of the victims, there could be no other reasons for their killing except that the SPDC troops wanted their money, because the couple were not carrying any kind of weapon nor wearing any uniform as the troops said when they left.

DISPLACED FARMERS SHOT, TORTURED AND STABBED TO DEATH, IN KUN-HING
        In June 2005, a displaced farmer was shot dead and 2 other were stabbed to death after being tortured and forced to guide a patrol for 2 nights and 2 days by SPDC troops from LIB569, in Saai Khaao village tract, Kun-Hing township.
        On 21 June 2005, a patrol of about 45 SPDC troops from LIB569, based in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township, came to the area of Saai Khaao village tract in Kun-Hing township. The patrol was led by Maj. Soe Myint, deputy commander of LIB569.
        When the SPDC patrol reached the area of an old village, Maak Khe Nu (relocated), in Saai Khaao village tract, they saw a rice field in which a man was digging earth and building an embankment. Without warning, the SPDC troops fired their guns at the farmer who had his back towards them.
        The farmer was hit, but he managed to run a short distance out of the rice field, then staggered and fell down dead. A bullet had pierced his body from his back through his chest. He was Zaai Saw (m), aged 25, a displaced farmer from Saai Khaao village who had come to grow rice at a remote farm.
        After shooting Zaai Saw, the SPDC troops went on to surround a nearby farm hut and arrested 2 other farmers who were resting in the hut. The 2 farmers were Su-Zit-ta (m), aged 35 and Zaai Law Khin (m), aged 37, both from the same village with Zaai Saw, Saai Khaao.
        The SPDC troops accused the farmers of coming to work at a remote farm with the intention to serve and collect information for the Shan soldiers, tied them up and interrogated them, beating and torturing them while forcing them to tell the whereabouts of the Shan soldiers.
        Some time later the SPDC troops continued to patrol the areas of relocated villages, taking the 2 farmers with them, in Saai Khaao and Kaeng Kham village tracts. After 2 nights and 2 days, they got back near the place where the 2 farmers were arrested.
        That was on 23 June 2005. The SPDC troops then stabbed the 2 farmers to death at a bridge near the remote farm where they had come to work. Both farmers were stabbed in the neck and in the chest.

BEATING AND EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG
        In August 2005, a man was severely beaten and his motorcycle impounded by a police officer in Kaeng-Tung town. Later, money was extorted from his parents for the release of the motorcycle.
        On 7 August 2005, Zaai Pawn (m), aged 21, who was riding a motorcycle, was stopped by a whistle-blowing police officer on the road in the centre of Kaeng-Tung town. The police officer, Cpl. Myint Than, accused Zaai Pawn of being drunk and riding too fast and extorted money form him.
        But Zaai Pawn refused to give the money and argued that he had done nothing wrong since he had not been riding fast as accused. The police officer became angry and beat and kicked Zaai Pawn until he fell down several times.
        Eventually, the police officer struck Zaai Pawn on the head with the butt of his gun, gashing his scalp and fracturing his skull. Zaai Pawn had to be taken to the hospital, where he received several stitches on the head, and his motorcycle was taken away by the police officer.
        A few days later, Zaai Pawn’s parents and their community leader went to the police officer and asked for their son’s motorcycle. But the police officer said that Zaai Pawn had broken the traffic law and could not get the motorcycle back without paying a fine.
        Finally, Zaai Pawn’s parents had to give 10,000 kyat to the police officer to get back their son’s motorcycle, in addition to the fact that their son had already been severely beaten up and they had to pay for his treatment.

BULLYING AND BEATING IN NAM-ZARNG
        In August 2005, 2 villagers were scolded and slapped by an SPDC soldier for not keeping their motorcycle far enough away from him when they passed on a street in Kho Lam village, Kho Lam village tract, Nam-Zarng township.
        On 18 August 2005, Zaai Kan-Na, aged 20 and his elder sister, Naang Seng, aged 22, of Kho Lam village were returning from a monastery on a motorcycle when they met an SPDC soldier on a street in Kho Lam village. The soldier was Sgt. Than Sein from a military camp in Kho Lam village.
        As they passed on the street, the SPDC soldier, who was on foot, ordered the villagers to stop their motorcycle and asked where they were going. As the villagers were answering, the soldier came near them and scolded them.
        “Didn’t you see me coming? Why didn’t you keep your motorcycle out of my way?”. The soldier scolded the villagers and slapped Zaai Kan-Na severely 3-4 times on the face. When his sister, Naang Seng, intervened and apologized, the soldier turned and slapped her 2 times and walked away.
        The next day, with the help of their community leader, the villagers filed a complaint with the SPDC authorities of Kho Lam village tract. Although the authorities accepted the complaint and said they would see to it that appropriate measures taken according to the law of the state, but nothing had yet been done when this report was received in October.

ARREST, DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN MU-SE
        In August 2005, 4 villagers were charged with staying out late and arrested, put in stocks, and money was extorted for their release by the SPDC police in Mu-Se township.
        On 30 August 2005, at about 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening, La Ting (m), aged 18, Yi Mon (m), aged 18 and Zaai Paang (m), aged 16 from Terng Long village, and Ai Pee (m), aged 18 from Nawng Mo village, were returning home on 2 motorcycles after visiting their friends at Wan Waeng village.
        On the way, the villagers ran into a patrol of some SPDC policemen who ordered them to stop and arrested them. The police took the villagers to a police station at Zae Laant village, charged them with staying out late at night and locked them up in stocks.
        The police then summoned the parents of the villagers and their community leaders on the same night and told them to pay fines if they wanted their sons to be released. The villagers were released only after 15,000 kyat had been paid for each of them.
        On the same night, Zaai La Thun (m), a villager of Hawng Loi village in Mu-Se township, who was returning home on a motorcycle from visiting a friend, was stopped by a patrol of SPDC police at Nam Zaang village.
        The police took Zaai La Thun to a pavilion in the compound of a nearby cemetery and he saw 3 other young villagers being detained in the pavilion by the police. But before he could make out who they were, the police searched him and, after finding 5,000 kyat of money and taking it, let him go, and he quickly left the scene without looking back.
        On the night of 1 September 2005, another similar incident took place in Zae Laant village, Mu-Se township, in which 40,000 kyat of money was extorted from 4 villagers who happened to be out on the street late at night.
        All 4 of them, Ai Kyaw, Ai Zaai, Ai Murn and Ai Yi Saao, were young men of Zae Laant village. On the night of the incident, the young men had gone to court the young women in the village, as has long been the tradition of the country people.
        On their return, however, the young men ran into a patrol of SPDC police right in the middle of their village, and were arrested for being out late at night. But they were immediately released after giving 10,000 kyat each, which they had managed to get from their houses, to the police.

INTIMIDATION AND EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG
        In August 2005, money was extorted from a man who was visiting his relatives in Kaeng-Tung township by SPDC police, from the special unit No.2 known as SP-2, who threatened to arrest him saying that he did not actually look like the photo on his ID card.
        Lung Zaai Saam (m), aged 55, originally from Murng Ma village in Kaeng-Tung township, who had moved to live in Ta-Khi-Laek township more than 20 years ago, came to visit his relatives in Kaeng-Tung township.
        When Lung Zaai Saam arrived at their house at Nawng Kung village in Murng Laang village tract, Kaeng-Tung township, his relatives took him to the SPDC village authorities and registered him as a guest, as required by the regulations.
        At night, however, when police came on inspection, even though Lung Zaai Saam had been registered with the authorities, they said he did not quite look like the photo on his ID card and told him to pay a fine or be arrested.
        The police extorted 7,000 kyat of money from Lung Zaai Saam even though his ID card was a genuine one. Lung Zaai Saam and his relatives gave up the idea of arguing with the police because they knew it would only cost more money and time, and would also invite more abuses.

INTIMIDATION AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-PHYAK
        In August 2005, money was extorted from a couple who were travelling from Kaeng-Tung to Ta-Khi-Laek at a checkpoint in Murng-Phyak township by the SPDC authorities manning the checkpoint.
        The couple, Zaai Maad and his wife, Naang Myint Khin, lived in Kaeng-Tung town. Naang Myint Khin had been in poor health for some time and although she had received treatment at Kaeng-Tung hospital on several occasions, her condition did not improve.
        Therefore, on 24 August 2005, the couple decided to go to Ta-Khi-Laek, a border town with Thailand, in order to try and get treatment at hospitals in Mae Sai town on the Thai side of the border.
        As the car they were riding stopped at a checkpoint in Murng-Phyak township, all the passengers were required to get down and show their ID cards to the authorities. When it was the turn of the couple, the authorities held their ID cards and asked a lot of questions.
        The couple were able to answer all the questions satisfactorily. Although Zaai Maad was an ethnic Shan, his wife Naang Myint Khin was an ethnic Burman from Pyinmana township in central Burma.
        But one of the police officers manning the checkpoint said that Naang Myint Khin did not actually look like the one in the photo on her ID card and therefore he could not let them pass, and ordered them to return to Kaeng-Tung.
        In the end, the car driver had to intervene and acted as a mediator, and the police let them continue to Ta-Khi-Laek after 3,000 kyat of money was extorted from the couple.

        Another similar incident had also taken place in July 2005 at the same checkpoint in Murng-Phyak township. A woman from Kaeng-Tung who was taking her sick child to Ta-Khi-Laek was not allowed to go through until 1,000 kyat of money had been extorted from her, although she had all the necessary documents.
        On 2 July 2005, Naang Seng Thuay (f), aged 25, from Kaeng-Tung was travelling to Ta-Khi-Laek on a passenger car. She was taking her sick child to get treatment at the hospital in the Thai border town of Mae Sai, after the hospital in Kaeng-Tung could not cure her child’s sickness.
        When they got to the said checkpoint, Naang Seng Thuay showed all the necessary documents for travelling she was carrying, including her ID card, permission from the Kaeng-Tung SPDC township authorities and a reference paper issued by the Kaeng-Tung hospital for her child.
        Although most of the authorities manning the checkpoint let Naang Seng Thuay pass, 2 immigration officers among them did not. She showed them all her documents again, but still they did not let her go, and told her to return to Kaeng-Tun.
        The authorities said that she should pay a fine of 2,000 kyat if she wanted to pass the checkpoint. Finally, with the help of the car driver acting as a mediator, Naang Seng Thuay managed to get through the checkpoint after paying a fine of 1,000 kyat.

MASS EXTORTION FOR MASS MEDIA IN KAENG-TUNG
        In August 2005, money was extorted from the townspeople of Kaeng-Tung by the SPDC township authorities to pay for the construction cost of a TV relay station in the town that had been completed 2-3 years earlier.
        On 10 August 2005, SPDC authorities in Kaeng-Tung town issued an order requiring community leaders in all the 5 town quarters to collect money from the townspeople and hand it to them as soon as possible. The money was to be used to pay the debt in building the TV relay station, said the order.
        The said TV relay station, which was on the hill on the southern edge of Kaeng-Tung town, had been completed about 2-3 years ago and had since then been relaying TV broadcasts from the main station at Myawaddy in southern Burma to the townspeople of Kaeng-Tung, each of whom had been required to pay a TV tax of 600 kyat per year
        During the construction of the relay station, the authorities did not inform the people anything about it. But now, all of a sudden, they said the construction cost 10 million kyat of State money which the people were required to pay this back, explained some local people.
        To make up the required amount of money, the authorities divided the responsibilities among the people. Each of those who had TV sets was required to provide 3,798 kyat and those who did not have a TV were to pay 702 kyat each. There were about 6,000 houses in all the 5 town quarters.

RESTRICTIONS OF MOVEMENT AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-PAN
        In July 2005, 8 civilian passenger cars were stopped, extorted of money and forced to return all the passengers to where they had come, by SPDC troops from LIB332 in Murng-Pan township.
        On 29 July 2005, SPDC troops from LIB332 set up a new temporary checkpoint outside Murng-Pan town on the main road leading to Murng-Ton township and money was extorted from civilian vehicles passing through it.
        At one point, 8 passenger cars from central Shan State that were heading for Murng-Ton were being stopped at the checkpoint. Among those cars, 2 were from Murng-Su, 3 were from Loi-Lem and 3 were from Lai-Kha townships, and there were altogether 67 passengers, including 50  old and young adults and 17 children of both genders.
        The SPDC troops gathered all the drivers of the 8 cars and accused them of having often transported people to Thailand, and told them to pay 15,000 kyat of money for each of the passengers they were carrying if they wanted to go to Murng-Ton.
        All the drivers explained that they did not have that much money because they were only hired hands, and their employers had given each of them only about 40,000 kyat to buy fuel and food on the way.
        The SPDC troops then became angry and ordered the drivers to pay a fine of 35,000 kyat for each car and to take all their passengers back to where they had come. The troops also said that in due course they would wire the concerned authorities to make sure that all the passengers got back to their respective places, or else the drivers would have to face the consequences.
        The drivers had no choice but to comply with the order of the SPDC troops and paid the demanded money, and took all the passengers back to their respective places, for fear of further abuses.
        This was just one of the many incidents in which members of the SPDC authority have taken advantage of the order banning human trafficking and extorted money from innocent travellers, occasionally effectively preventing them from travelling altogether, explained one of the drivers later.

PEOPLE FORCED TO BUILD EXPENSIVE NEW HOUSES OR RISK CONFISCATION IN KAENG-TUNG
        Since July 2005, people in 2 satellite towns in Kaeng-Tung township have been forced to build new houses worth not less than 2 millions kyat each by the SPDC township authorities, and their lands would be confiscated if the houses were not completed by April 2006.
        The 2 satellite towns were on the western and southeastern edges of the main Kaeng-Tung town. The areas of the satellite towns were formerly woodlands and rice fields of the people until some years ago when they were confiscated by the SPDC authorities.
        The confiscated lands were then designated as new satellite towns and divided into many small plots and sold to the people for building houses. Many former owners of the land areas had to buy back some plots in order to have places to live on, or to get back as much of this land as they could.
        When the order to build new houses was issued on 31 July 2005, there were about 300 houses, mostly small bamboo houses with thatch-roofing, in both towns and many plots were still left empty because the owners had not yet been able to find enough money even to build small cheap houses.
        Although it was only about 40,000 kyat per plot when the lands were first divided and sold, each plot could now fetch 500,000 to 600,000 kyat. However, the owners are not allowed to sell their lands, but to build the specified houses or move away.
        Whether they will build the specified houses or not, the owners of the lands are required to report to the authorities not later than the end of January 2006. Those who decide to build the houses will have to complete them by the end of April 2006.
        Those who cannot or decide not to build the houses will have to give up their lands without compensations. Those lands will then be reconfiscated and distributed to the families of the SPDC soldiers and government servants.
        Many owners of the lands are finding a very difficult time trying to get enough money to build the houses. Many of them have no idea of how to find that much money in only a few months time and would most likely lose their lands.