SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2005

COMMENTARY
Land and Property Confiscation
        Confiscation of land and property of the civilian populations by the Burmese military authorities in Shan State, which has escalated since about a decade ago when they intensified their militarization plan, is still going on unabated up to the present.
        Although large areas of land have been confiscated mostly for setting up new military bases, not only the land areas wide enough for the military bases were confiscated, but also surrounding cultivated lands such as farmlands, woodlands, ponds and lakes, etc., were also often confiscated.
        Many such cultivated lands of the people that happened to be in the peripheries of newly-set-up battalions have been sooner or later confiscated by the troops to provide themselves with farm produce, firewood, fish, etc..
        Moreover, forced labour of the local people was often used in cultivating those lands and also in the construction and maintenance of the military bases themselves.
        This is mainly because of the Burmese junta’s policy that necessitates the military battalions to generate their own incomes to help support the troops with basic necessities.
        To implement that policy, the junta’s troops in turn put virtually all the burden on the people, in the process effectively depriving many people of their means of survival, causing them to flee to other places.
        This issue contains a special section not only on land confiscation by the Burmese troops, but also by a ceasefire group that also committed forced relocation of villagers in Parng-Yarng and Murng-Khark townships.

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FARMER BEATEN TO DEATH IN MURNG-TON
        In May 2005, a farmer was beaten to death by SPDC troops from IB277 at his farm in Murng Haang village tract, Murng-Ton township.
        On 18 May 2005, Mu-Lin (m), aged 37, of Naa Kawng Mu village in Murng Haang village tract, Murng-Ton township, was working in his farm when a group of 3 SPDC soldiers from IB277 came to the farm, fully armed.
        The SPDC soldiers called Mu-Lin out of his farm and forced him to guide the way to find Shan soldiers in the area. But when Mu-Lin said he did not know where the Shan soldiers were, he was beaten to death by the SPDC soldiers.
        Shortly after the incident, another group of SPDC soldiers from IB277 told villagers in the area that 3 soldiers from their unit had deserted to join the Shan soldiers, and had beaten to death a farmer on the way.
        However, local villagers suspected that the SPDC troops deliberately planned to kill Mu-Lin, because he had been suspected of having connections with the Shan soldiers by the SPDC troops for some time.

GANG-RAPE IN MURNG-KERNG
        In May 2005, a woman was gang-raped by 4 SPDC troops from LIB516 at her farm in Ho Khaai village tract in Murng-Kerng township.
        Naang Law (f), aged 30, of Wan Kaad village in Ho Khaai village tract, Murng-Kerng township, was working alone when 4 SPDC troops from LIB516, stationed at Paang Kaetu, came to her farm.
        At first, the SPDC soldiers asked Naang Law if she knew anything about the Shan soldiers in the area. When Naang Law said she knew nothing about the Shan soldiers, the SPDC troops seized her and gang-raped her until all 4 of them were satisfied.
        Although Naang Law later recounted her plight to the villagers when she got back to her village, no one dared to file a complaint with the authorities for fear of further abuses.

A WOMAN BEATEN UP IN MURNG-TON
        In May 2005, a woman was slapped and beaten with a stick, causing her nose to bleed, by SPDC troops from IB277, in front of her house at Hawng Lin village in Phaai Khe village tract, Murng-Ton township.
        On 26 May 2005, a patrol of about 20 SPDC troops from IB277 came to Ho Lin village in Phaai Khe village tract, Murng-Ton township, and called a woman they saw in a house to come out to them.
        When the woman, Naang Wun, aged 35, came down from her house, the SPDC troops asked her if she knew anything about the Shan soldiers in the area, and Naang Wun said she did not know and had never seen Shan soldiers in the area.
        The commander of the SPDC troops then accused Naang Wun of not wanting to tell the truth and slapped her on the face and nose several times. When Naang Wun cried because of the slapping, that had caused her nose to bleed, the commander ordered her to stop crying and beat her 2 times on the back with a stick.
        Fearing more beating, Naang Wun tried her best not to make noise, covering her face with her hands while tears and blood mixed up all over her face and trickled down, and the SPDC troops left her.
        Many fellow villagers saw what the SPDC troops did to Naang Wun as they heard noises and came out of their house to look, but no one dared to go near, let alone interfere; and later no one dared to lodge a complaint about it either.

MORE RESTRICTIONS OF MOVEMENT CAUSE MORE FLIGHT IN NAM-ZARNG
        Since June 2005, restrictions of movement imposed upon displaced villagers by local SPDC authorities in Kho Lam village tract in Nam-Zarng township have been causing people to flee to other places, many of them to the Thai border.
        On 1 June 2005, an order was issued by the No. 21 Military Operation Management Command, based at Kho Lam village, restricting displaced villagers at Kho Lam village relocation site from going to their remote farms.
        Kho Lam village is a relocation site to which villagers from the surrounding villages had been forcibly relocated by the Burmese army troops several years ago. Some years after the relocation, some villagers were allowed to return to cultivate their farms near their old villages because there was not enough arable land near the relocation site.
        However, since the issuance of the order banning villagers from going into the areas of their original villages, and declaring those areas as free-fire zones in which anyone found could be shot on sight, farmers dare not go to their farms any more.
        Since those remote farms are the only means of survival for many farmers, they are desperately fleeing to other places to find other means of livelihood to feed themselves and their families.

LAND AND PROPERTY CONFISCATION IN SHAN STATE STILL CAUSING PEOPLE TO FLEE
        As the Burmese military expansion is still continuing in Shan State, people’s land and property are still being continually confiscated to facilitate the establishment of army battalions’ bases all over Shan State.
        Many people whose land and property were confiscated have lost their means of livelihood and have to face a very difficult situation in which it is almost impossible to survive. Because of that, many people have fled, and are still fleeing, to other places including Thailand where they hope to find certain means of survival.
        The following are some of the reports of such incidents received by SHRF that took place over the last 6-7 months, from late 2004 up to July 2005:

CONFISCATION OF VILLAGERS’S WOODLAND IN KAENG-TUNG
        In July 2005, about 200 acres of woodland belonging to the villagers of Pha Kaang and Nawng Ten villages in Kaad Pha village tract, Kaeng-Tung township, were confiscated by the SPDC authorities in Kaeng-Tung.
        On 12 July 2005, the order was issued by the SPDC authorities, and later a team comprising members of the Army, Department of Survey and People’s Militia came and measured the woodland and declared it confiscated.
        The woodland was situated around the slopes of a hill on which stood a pagoda called Thaad Zaeng Pe near Pha Kaang and Nawng Ten villages, and had been used as their main source of firewood by the villagers of the 2 villages for generations.
        A special kind of tree, called ‘Mai Khi Laek’ in Shan, was grown by the villagers in the said woodland and only the branches of every other tree were cut once a year and were distributed among all the villagers of the 2 villagers to use as firewood.
        In this way, the villagers were able to get enough supply of firewood all year round without having to cut trees in the surrounding forests, and thus prevent deforestation. The woodland would be ready to be cut again by about the same time each year.
        At one time in the past, about 10 years ago, the SPDC authorities were once about to confiscate the said woodland. But the villagers were able to plead with the authorities by explaining about the situation and providing some money, 300 kyat per house.
        However, this time all the attempts by the villagers of the 2 villages to appeal to the authorities have been in vain. The land was to be used for rubber plantation to create income for the organization of former Burmese soldiers to feed their families, said the authorities.
        By the time of this report, all the trees in the said woodland have been cut and taken away by the local SPDC troops. Some villagers who saw their once evergreen woodland stripped bare overnight could not help weeping with regret, according to a local villager.

CONFISCATION OF CULTIVATED LANDS, AND FORCED LABOUR, IN TANG-YARN
        Since April 2005, SPDC troops have confiscated several square miles of cultivated land in Murng Kaao village tract in Tang-Yarn township, causing great losses to the local people including the means of livelihood of many farmers, and forced local farmers to cultivate crops for them on some of the land.
        In mid April 2005, the commander of the Tactical Command based in Tang-Yarn, Col. Khin Maung Myint, and the commander of IB33, Lt. Col. Thant Sin, came to Murng Kaao village tract and declared that lands in the areas of several villages had been confiscated to construct a base for IB33, without notifying the owners nor paying any compensation.
        The lands were mostly cultivated lands, including rice fields, farms for other crops, woodlands, dairy farms and grazing meadows, in the areas of Nawng Ep, Phak Kum, Kung Mong, Nam Laan villages and some parts of the main village, Murng Kaao, itself. Altogether about 4 square miles in area.
        When the lands were confiscated, most of them had already been prepared and were ready for sowing and planting crops. Farmers, after they learned that their lands had been confiscated, pleaded with the authorities to let them grow their crops because it was already too late to find and cultivate new lands.
        Farmers were allowed to grow crops on some parts of their lands for just one last crop, and on condition that they gave the SPDC troops one basket of rice for the use of each acre of the lands. The other parts of the lands were used to cultivate rice for the SPDC troops, using forced labour of the people who also had to provide the rice seeds.
        Soon after the land confiscation, the construction of the base for IB33 started, and is continuing up to the present. A road leading from Pa Zaang village to the base, about 10 miles long, was constructed, using forced labour of civilian mini-tractors to transport sand, rocks and construction materials.
        Although the SPDC troops had several China-made trucks to use in construction work, they did not use them but forcibly used civilian mini-tractors in the area instead. Although the SPDC authorities said they would pay 1,000 kyat of money and 1 gallon of fuel per mini-tractor per day, they not only did not pay them but also often used the mini-tractors for up to 10 days when they conscripted them for just one day.
        Furthermore, the SPDC troops have been cutting trees in the confiscated areas of the woodlands and reselling them back to the local people as firewood at the rate of 2,000 kyat per ‘waa’, a one-arm-span tall and wide pile of about 2-feet long pieces of firewood.
        Although the construction of the military base is still far from complete, the SPDC troops have already brought in not less than 50 of their families so far to settle in houses built by forced labour of the people and with materials, such as bamboo and thatches, requisitioned from the people.
        The following is an available list of the losses of other property when the lands were confiscated:
1. 64 groves of large-size bamboo worth about           2,880,000 kyat
2. 66 groves of middle-size bamboo worth about          2,475,000 kyat
3. 1,735 groves of ‘mai khi laek’ (firewood) worth about        4,337,500 kyat
4. 1-1/2 acres of rice worth 200,000 kyat
5. 19 acres of peanut worth 200,000 kyat
6. 5 acres of corn worth 100,000 kyat
7. 2 acres of roofing thatch worth 500,000 kyat
        During the construction of the above mentioned road, civilian mini-tractors were used at least 720 times in transporting rocks and other building materials.

LAND CONFISCATION IN MURNG-TON
        Since February 2005, several acres of rice fields immediately south of Murng-Ton town have been confiscated by SPDC troops of IB277 to build a road leading from the town to their base, situated on a hill south of the town.
        Since the road was built through the rice fields of the local people, the SPDC troops not only confiscated the land area for the road, but also some areas on both sides along the road. At least 5 farming families lost their lands and their livelihood in the process.
        Some parts of the confiscated land have been turned into vegetable gardens and farms for the SPDC troops and some parts along the road were divided into small plots for building houses. In the roadside areas closest to the town, the SPDC troops have been making bricks.
        Some 10 houses have already been under construction by the SPDC soldiers, using the bricks they make themselves. It is said that the houses, mostly single-storey with 3 compartments each, when completed, would be rented to the townspeople at the rate of 10,000 to 15,000 kyat, in accordance with their sizes.
        Some former owners of the land had tried to ask for just one small plot of land each on which to build their houses from the SPDC troops, but they were not given back any inch of the land. Instead, they were told to buy them if they wanted.

CONFISCATION OF VILLAGERS’ HOUSES IN MURNG-NAI
        Since February 2005, many villagers’ houses in Murng-Nai township, of which the owners have fled or gone to work in Thailand, although there were still people living in them, have been confiscated by the local SPDC troops.
        One such incident took place in Paang Khaw village in Ton Hung village tract, Murng-Nai township, in which 3 houses were confiscated by the SPDC troops saying that the owners had gone to Thailand, although there were still a few people living in those houses.
        On 22 February 2005, the SPDC troops came to Paang Khaw village and confiscated 3 houses and told the occupants of the houses to move away, saying that they were not the real owners of those houses and thus had nothing to do with the property. They also confiscated all the farmlands belonging to those houses.
        The SPDC said that the houses were taken by them because the owners had gone to Thailand, and would be used as lodgings for the Burman workers who had come from lower Burma to work in the road construction and logging businesses.

AN ANCIENT COMMUNAL LAKE CONFISCATED IN MURNG-NAI
        Since late last year, a communal lake near Pa Saa village in Nawng Hee village tract, Murng-Nai township, was confiscated by the SPDC troops of LIB576 and since then people in the area have been banned from using it or even going near it.
        The said communal lake is locally known as “Nawng Khai” and is situated about 1 km. south of Pa Saa village. It is neither too large nor too small and it abounds with fish and has fertile soil along its shore line.
        Before it was confiscated, people in the area could fish in the lake whenever they like and those who cultivated rice farms on its shore could get up to more than 40 baskets from just 1 basket of rice seeds. The lake had thus served several purposes of the local villagers for many generations.
        Late last year, however, SPDC troops of LIB576, who had set up their base east of Pa Saa village, declared that they would confiscate the lake and make it military property, and include it in the land of their base area.
        Earlier this year, 2005, the SPDC troops forced the villagers in the area to build bamboo fences around the lake and effectively banned the local villagers from fishing in it and growing crops around it.
        Many villagers who depended on the lake for a living lost their means of livelihood, but they dared not even go near the lake, let alone fish in it or grow crops around it, for fear of further abuses.

LAND CONFISCATION, FORCED RELOCATION AND EXTORTION BY A CEASEFIRE GROUP, CAUSING PEOPLE TO FLEE, IN MURNG-KHARK AND PARNG-YARNG
        Since the beginning of 2005, members of United Wa State Army (UWSA), that has a ceasefire with the SPDC, have confiscated land in Murng Kaa village tract in Murng-Khark township and forcibly relocated about 600 families of Wa villagers from Parng-Yarng township in the north down to Murng Kaa area.
        In Murng Kaa village tract in Murng-Khark township, there were tens of thousands of inhabitants comprising Shan, Palawng, Akha, Lahu, Akhur and Lee Saw, who were mostly farmers. During the last decade or so, Murng Kaa area has alternatively been under the administrations of SPDC and UWSA several times.
        Since about late last year, Murng Kaa has again become an area under the UWSA’s administration and accordingly people in the area have to comply with their orders. Since earlier this year, 2005, the UWSA started to implement their development plan in the area.
        The UWSA first brought 600 families of Wa villagers from Paang Saang areas in Parng-Yarng township in the north to Murng Kaa village tract in Murng-Khark township, and then declared all the cultivated land areas in Murng Kaa village tract confiscated.
        After that, a population head-count, including the indigenous and the newly arrived 600 families, of all ages in the area was done. The confiscated land was then divided and distributed equally to each person of all ages of the population, at the rate of  2 “mo” per person (1 mo = 1.6 acres).
        Furthermore, every person, regardless of age, was obliged to provide a yearly tribute comprising 4 yuan of Chinese money (1 yuan = 120 kyat), 25 kilograms of husked rice and 3 ancient silver coins (1 coin = 2,500 kyat) for the UWSA.
        The original local villagers who had had no such experience previously were shocked by the actions of the UWSA, which they thought was a kind of communist-style land reform, and many of them fled to the surrounding areas, including Murng-Khark, Kaeng-Tung, Murng-Phyak and Ta-Khi-Laek townships.
        The people who fled were mostly Shan and Palawng villagers who were known to be quite afraid of communist rule, and the UWSA had already put out a notice calling them back to their original villages, or else the lands that had been distributed to them would be reconfiscated.

STEALING OF LIVESTOCK IN NAM-ZARNG
        In May 2005, a cow belonging to a villager was killed and stolen by SPDC troops from IB247 at a place some distance south of Kung Mong village in Wan Nawng village tract, Nam-Zarng township.
        On 3 May 2005, a patrol of about 45 SPDC troops from IB247, led by Maj. Ko Ko Naing, came to the area of Kung Mong village in Wan Nawng village tract, Nam-Zarng township, and shot dead a large cow among a herd of cattle that were grazing in a field some distance south of Kung Mong village.
        The SPDC troops cut up the dead cow and took all the meat away with them as they continued their patrol, leaving only the bones and the head of the cow. The cow belonged to a villager of Kung Mong who came looking for it in the evening when he saw one of his cows, the biggest in the herd, was missing.
        The villager recognized his cow by looking at its head which the SPDC troops had left untouched, and he also knew that it was the SPDC troops who had stolen it because of the footprints and many people in the area saw the SPDC patrol in the area during the day.

8 WOMEN RETURNING FROM THAILAND ROBBED OF THEIR MONEY IN MURNG-SART
        In April 2005, 8 women who were returning from working in Thailand were robbed of all their money, 2,500,000 kyat in all, by SPDC troops of IB49 in Murng-Sart township.
        On 8 April 2005, 8 women, 4 from Kun-Hing and 4 from Lai-Kha townships, who had gone to work in Thailand were returning with some money they had earned with their labour. They rented a car and took the Ta-Khi-Laek - Murng-Sart route.
        In Murng-Sart town, the women changed their Thai money into Burmese money and got about 2,500,000 kyat in Burmese currency. The women than hired a car and continued their journey home.
        However, the car was stopped by a group of 5 SPDC troops only about 2 miles after they left Murng-Sart. The SPDC troops were from IB49 who got news about the women when they changed their money in Murng-Sart town.
        The SPDC troops searched the women and took all the money they were carrying, altogether 2,500,000 kyat, and eventually told them to board the car and told the driver to take them to Kun-Hing town.
        The driver lost nothing because he had already been paid by the women to take them to Kun-Hing. However, the women, who had lost all their hard-earned money, wept all the way to Kun-Hing, according to the driver.