SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - MARCH 2006

SHRF MONTHLY REPORT -- MARCH 2006

COMMENTARY
        Since the end of last year, as the wet-season-rice harvest of the farmers  was being wound up, SPDC troops have been carrying out a new round of forcible rice procurement for 2006 in Shan State.
        Although the SPDC authorities stopped setting up official rice buying centres after announcing the end of forcible rice procurement practice some years ago, there has been no relief for farmers because they are still being forced to sell their rice according to fixed quotas at very low prices to teams of traders or directly to the SPDC troops themselves.
        Since a couple of years ago, the SPDC authorities have organized teams of traders to buy rice from farmers and resell it to them once a year. In this way, the farmers do not appear to have been forced to sell their rice to the authorities, but to the traders of their own free will.
        However, there are fixed quotas and fixed prices according to which farmers are obliged to sell to the traders before they can take or sell their rice elsewhere. Moreover in some cases the SPDC troops themselves also forcibly buy or simply take the rice directly from the farmers.
        In both cases, the military authorities’ actions are tantamount to the previous policy of forcible rice procurement. Furthermore, in many areas farmers are still being forced to cultivate dry-season rice by the military authorities, often with a threat to confiscate their land, at least temporarily, if the farmers do not comply.
        This month’s issue contains a special section about forcible rice procurement and the plight of farmers in several townships in Shan State.
        Also reported in this issue are other severe types of human rights violations such as killings, rape and torture, etc..

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CATTLE DROVERS ARRESTED, TORTURED AND KILLED, AND ROBBED OF THEIR CATTLE, IN MARN-BAENG AND KYAWK-ME
        In November 2005, 11 cattle drovers were killed in 2 separate groups and robbed of their cattle by 2 separate patrols of SPDC troops from Murng-Mit-based LIB348, in Marn-Baeng and Kyawk-Me townships.
        On 10 November 2005, 7 drovers who were herding 25 head of cattle were stopped and arrested by a patrol of about 45 SPDC troops from LIB348, based in Murng-Mit, between Loi Seng and Kiu Saai villages in Marn-Baeng township.
        The SPDC troops beat up and tortured the drovers and finally shot them dead in a bamboo grove on the side of the road, and took all the cattle away. The cattle, 25 head in all and worth more than 9,000,000 kyat, were later seen being kept at the military base in Murng-Mit township for some time.
        All the victims were from Waeng Long village in Maan Zae village tract, Marn-Baeng township. They were: La Maung (m), aged 45; Ai Tawng (m), aged 39; Kyaw Kyaw Nai (m), aged 29; Aung Kyaw (m), aged 30; Myo Than (m), aged 28; Htun Lin (m), aged 40; and Min Zaw (m), aged 31.
        Although, after hearing the news of the victims’ fate, their relatives came on 14 November 2005 and buried their bodies at the place where they were killed, and conducted a proper funeral rite for them in accordance with their traditions, no one dared to lodge a complaint with the authorities.

        On 18 November 2005, a similar incident took place in Kyawk-Me township where 4 drovers were killed and robbed of their cattle by a patrol of SPDC troops from Murng-Mit-based LIB348.
        On the day of the incident, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB348, led by commander Thurein Thein, shot dead 4 cattle drovers at a place 16-1/2 miles north of Kyawk-Me town in Kyawk-Me township, and took away all the 19 head of cattle.
        The identities of the victims were not available when this report was received.

VILLAGERS FORCED TO SERVE AS GUIDES AND KILLED IN MURNG-PAN
        In September 2005, 3 villagers from Ho Phaai Long village in Ho Phaai Long village tract were conscripted as guides and later killed by SPDC troops from LIB332, in Murng-Pan township.
        On the evening of 2 September 2005, a patrol of about 16 SPDC troops from LIB332, led by commander Kyaw Soe, came to Ho Phaai Long village and forcibly conscripted 3 villagers to serve as guides, saying that they only needed them for a short while.
        As they left the village, however, the SPDC troops said they needed to prevent their guides from running away before they reached their destination and tied the hands of the 3 villagers together with a rope.
        When the villagers had not returned until the next morning, the headman of Ho Phaai Long village went to the camp of LIB332 and inquired about them. But the military officers on duty at the camp said that they had not seen the villagers in question.
        The relatives of the villagers also made inquiries at several other villages and in Murng-Pan town, but they could not get news about them. But they did not give up, and continued to search for them.
        After more than 10 days, the bodies of the 3 villagers were found in a ravine, called Huay Nawng Keng, just 2 miles northeast of Ho Phaai Long village, still recognizable by their clothes and footwear.
        The headman again went to the military camp and reported the incident. But the SPDC troops said they were not the ones who killed the villagers, and warned the headman not to say or do anything that would indicate them.
        However, local people knew who killed the 3 villagers and they talked about it, causing the headman to flee for fear of further abuses by the SPDC troops. The 3 villagers killed were: In-Da (m), aged 45; Lung Ung (m), aged 54 and Lung Kham (m), aged 61.

2 DISPLACED WOMEN GANG-RAPED IN MURNG-NAI
        In October 2005, 2 displaced women from Naa Khaan village relocation site were accused of being wives of Shan soldiers and gang-raped by SPDC troops from IB248 at a place about one-and-a-half miles northeast of their village in Murng-Nai township.
        The victims, Naang Zaam, aged 26 and Naang Nyunt, aged 25 (not their real names), were originally from Nawng Pae village in Loi Aai village tract, Murng-Nai township, that had been forcibly relocated to Naa Khaan village in 1996 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops.
        On 5 October 2005, the 2 women were going to their relatives who had gone to tend their remote farms near their old village when they ran into a patrol of about 11 SPDC troops from IB248, 1-1/2 miles northeast of their village. The patrol was led by a commander with one star on each of his shoulders.
        Naang Zaam and Naang Nyunt were seized by the SPDC troops, accused of being wives of the Shan soldiers and interrogated. Eventually, the women were taken into 2 different bushes and gang-raped by the SPDC troops.
        All the SPDC troops raped the women to their satisfaction, taking turns to point their guns at the women and tell them not to struggle. On releasing them, the troops also warned the women not to tell anyone about the incident, or else they would come and kill them.
        The women, however, did tell their parents and village leaders about their plight. But, because they did not know the names and were not sure if they would be able to recognize the faces of their attackers correctly, no one dared to file a complaint with the authorities.

BEATING AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-PAN
        In September 2005, a villager was accused of stealing fishing lines and severely beaten up, until he lost consciousness, and forced to compensate SPDC troops from LIB575, at Nawng Lom village in Nawng Lom village tract, Murng-Pan township.
        In the early afternoon of 23 September 2005, Phaw-Ka (m), aged 38, of Nawng Lom village was returning from looking after his cattle when he was seized by a group of SPDC troops from LIB575 near the communal lake outside the village.
        The SPDC troops accused Phaw-Ka of stealing their fishing lines which they had left dangling in the lake to catch fish and interrogated him, beat and kicked him so severely that he lost consciousness for a while.
        When Phaw-Ka regained consciousness, the SPDC troops ordered him to immediately find and give them back their fishing lines, 15 in all, or buy new ones for them. In addition, villagers of Nawng Lom were also punished for letting their fishing lines be stolen.
        As punishment, each house in Nawng Lom village was required to bring 10 sheets of leaf-roofing and 10 pieces of bamboo to the military camp.

TRACTOR DRIVER BEATEN UP WHILE PROVIDING FORCED LABOUR IN LAI-KHA
        In late 2005, a mini-tractor driver was beaten and kicked while being forced to provide forced labour by the SPDC troops from LIB643 in Lai-Kha township.
        Sometime in late 2005, a column of about 90 SPDC troops from LIB643 came to Haang Lin village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township, and stopped there for 2-3 nights. On the day the troops left, they conscripted a civilian mini-tractor and a driver from Haang Lin village to carry their things and rations.
        The military column headed north and stopped for the night at a place where an old village, Kung Sa (relocated), once stood. On the next morning, a Captain, accompanied by a couple of troops, ordered the mini-tractor driver to take them to Zizawya Khe village.
        As the tractor left the main column and went on for about 2 hours, the Captain told the driver to stop and asked him where they were going. When the driver said they were going to Zizawya Khe, the Captain pulled him down from the tractor and punched and kicked him for about 4-5 minutes until he was rolling on the ground.
        After beating the driver to his satisfaction, the Captain said that they were supposed to be going to Wan Zing, not Zizawya Khe, and ordered the driver to drive towards the direction of Wan Zing.
        When he was released after transporting the SPDC troops and their things to their destination, the driver, Zaai Long (m), aged 22, barely managed to drive back home because of the pains he suffered from the beating, which lasted for several days.

SITUATION OF FORCIBLE RICE PROCUREMENT IN SHAN STATE
        Since the end of 2005, a new round of forcible rice purchase for 2006 has already started. The Burmese military junta announced several years ago that they would stop the long-standing practice of forcible rice procurement, but farmers are still being one way or another forced to sell their rice according to fixed quotas and at more or less fixed prices.
        Although the authorities do not as before set up government rice purchasing centres at different locations every year following rice harvest, they organize teams of traders to do the job for them. The farmers are still required to sell their rice at fixed quotas to the traders before they could sell it elsewhere, if they still have enough rice to do so.
        Although the traders pay the farmers slightly higher prices than those which the authorities used to pay for each basket of rice, they are still much lower than the market rate and there is not much difference in deficit for the farmers because the traders use bigger measuring equipment.
        The traders also sometimes have to sell the rice to the authorities at a somewhat lower than the rate they have to pay the farmers. But, being traders they know how to balance out the deficit by using 2 different sizes of measuring equipment. They use a bigger one to buy and a smaller one, the standard one, to sell. In the end, the farmers are the ones who have to bear most of the brunt.
        Furthermore, in some places, the junta’s troops themselves personally go to the villages and forcibly buy rice directly from the farmers at much lower prices, although for a lesser amount than that required to be sold to the traders.
        The farmers have long been badly treated in many ways by the military authorities. The following are some instances of how farmers in Shan State have been treated during 2005 and early this year, 2006.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN KAENG-TUNG
        Since the end of last year and the beginning of this year 2006, an order was issued by the SPDC authorities requiring farmers in Kaeng-Tung township to sell their rice quotas to a team of traders who were buying rice to be resold to the military.
        The farmers were required to sell 13 baskets of rice for each acre of the land they cultivated at the rate of 2,000 kyat per basket. Since the market rate at the time was 3,500-4,000 kyat per basket, the farmers lost 1,500-2,000 kyat per basket.
        The traders, the same persons who had procured rice for the military in 2005, however, were able to make some profits by reselling the rice to the military authorities at the rate of 2,500 kyat per basket.
        Farmers who did not have enough rice to fill up their quotas had to borrow or buy from other farmers and sell it to the traders. Failing to do so could result in land confiscation by the military authorities.
        Furthermore, during the rice procurement period, farmers who had not yet sold their rice at the full quotas to the traders were not allowed to sell or take their rice elswhere.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN MURNG-YAWNG
        In December 2005, an order was issued by the SPDC authorities requiring farmers in Murng-Yawng township to sell their rice quotas to a team of traders, who had also done the rice purchasing for the military in 2005, to be resold to the military.
        Farmers were required to sell to the traders 13 baskets of rice for each acre of the land they grew rice on at a rate of 1,100 kyat per basket. Rice fields of those who failed to sell their quotas in full would be confiscated and cultivated by the SPDC troops.
        Since the market rate was about 2,000 kyat per basket of rice in Murng-Yawng at the time, the farmers had to lose 900 kyat for each basket sold to the said traders. The traders, however, were able to make some profits by reselling the rice to the military at the rate of 1,600 kyat per basket.
        Last year in early 2005, farmers in Murng-Yawng township were forced to sell 10 baskets of rice for each acre of their rice growing land, 3 baskets less than this year, at the rate of 1,000 kyat per baskets while the market rate was 3,500-4,000 kyat.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN MURNG-TON
        Last month, in February 2006, farmers in Me Ken village tract in Murng-Ton township were forced to sell their rice to the SPDC troops of IB277 at a rate much lower then the market price.
        On 2 February 2006, a contingent of SPDC troops from Murng-Ton-based IB277, stationed at Me Ken village, headed by Maj. Mya Oo, issued an order requiring farmers in Me Ken village tract to sell 200 baskets of rice to them.
        The order said that the military would only buy 200 baskets of rice from the farmers in Me Ken this year. The responsibilities for selling rice were to be divided among the following 4 villages in Me Ken tract:
1. Me Ken village               80 baskets
2. Naa Pa Kaao village  40 baskets
3. Mawk Zali village            40 baskets
4. Wan Mai village              40 baskets
        The rice selling was required to be completed by 15 February 2006. The SPDC troops gave the farmers only 1,000 kyat per basket while the current market price was 2,500-3,000 kyat per basket.
        Last year, in 2005, farmers in Me Ken were forced to sell 300 baskets of rice to the Burmese military at a rate much lower than the contemporary market price.
        In March 2005, Me Ken village tract leaders were summoned by the SPDC authorities to a meeting in Murng-Ton and asked to ‘help’ the government servants by selling rice to them.
        The SPDC authorities explained that since the government had stopped procuring rice from the farmers, it had also stopped issuing rice rations to the government servants, but had been providing them with some extra money instead.
        That meant the government servants would have to find their own rice, said the authorities, and told the farmers to ‘help’ by selling them rice at ‘reasonable’ prices. The farmers in any way could not refuse and had to sell their rice at 1,250 kyat per basket when the market rate was 2,500 kyat per basket.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN KAE-SEE
        In January 2006, farmers in Murng Naang and Murng Nawng village tracts in Kae-See township were required to sell their rice to the SPDC troops of IB286 at a rate 3-4 times lower than the market rate.
        On 15 January 2006, leaders of Murng Nawng and Murng Naang village tracts were summoned by SPDC troops of IB286, stationed at Murng Naang, and told to tell farmers in their areas to sell their rice to the military.
        Farmers in Murng Naang were required to sell 160 baskets and those in Murng Nawng were to sell 240 baskets, altogether 400 baskets, at a rate of 1,000 kyat per basket while the market rate was 2,500-3,000 kyat per basket.
        A farmer who fled to the Thai border recently said he had to sell 12 baskets of rice, which was all he had, and had nothing left to feed his family. Furthermore, he heard that the SPDC authorities were planning to conscript 5 persons from each village in the area to serve in the Burmese army.
        The above reasons had made him flee in order to find some other means to survive and support his family. He had come to the Thai border in hope of being able to work and earn enough to feed his family, he said.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN KUN-HING
        In late 2005, SPDC troops from IB246 forcibly took away rice from some farmers saying that they needed to pay taxes for the lands, located about 1 mile south of Kun-Hing town, on which they had grown the rice.
        In October 2005, after the harvest of the dry rice, SPDC troops from IB246 went to the houses of the farmers who had cultivated their rice on the slopes of a hill called Loi Kong about 1 mile south of Kun-Hing.
        The SPDC troops said that all the lands in Loi Kong area had been designated military property and they had come to collect taxes for using those lands. The farmers were required to pay 30% of their farm produce as taxes to the military.
        According to one of the farmers who had harvested 40 baskets of rice from his farm at Loi Kong, the SPDC troops came to his house and forcibly trucked away 12 baskets of his rice, saying they were taking it as a tax for land use.

RICE PROCUREMENT IN MURNG-KHARK
        In 2005, farmers in Murng-Khark township were forced to sell their rice at fixed quotas to the SPDC troops at a rate many times lower than the market price.
        Farmers were required to sell 7 baskets of rice for each acre of the land on which they had grown rice. The SPDC troops gave the farmers only 800 kyat for each basket when the market price at the time was 3,500 kyat per basket.
        Those who did not have enough rice had to buy or borrow from other farmers to fill up their quotas and sell them to the SPDC troops in order to avoid further abuses.

FARMERS FORCED TO BUY AND GROW A CERTAIN KIND OF RICE SEEDS IN HO-PONG
        In 2005, farmers in Nawng Wawn village tract in Ho-Pong township were forced to buy a certain kind of rice grain known as ‘Shwe Pyi Aye’, meaning roughly ‘Peaceful Country’, to be used as seeds and grow them on their lands.
        The SPDC troops brought 80 baskets of the said rice grain to Nawng Wawn on a military truck and ordered the farmers in the area to buy them and grow them on their lands, saying that the rice was of good quality which would yield more and was very nice to eat.
        Every farmer was required to buy and grow the rice which they were told to call ‘Shwe Pyi Aye’ and to strictly follow the instructions by the SPDC troops on how to grow them, including the dates for sowing and planting.
        The farmers said the rice grain was of the same kind they had been forced to grow in the previous years, but this time it was given a new name and the farmers had to follow strict instructions.  They thought that the SPDC troops were just practising one of the cults they believed was able to ward off the evils.
        The farmers, however, in addition to having to perform a cult for the SPDC troops, also had to pay 3,000 kyat for each basket of the said rice grain while the market rate for the best quality rice in Nawng Wawn at the time was only 1,500 kyat.

THE SITUATION OF FORCED RICE CULTIVATION IN KAENG-TUNG
        Since late 2005, farmers in Kaeng-Tung township have been forced by the township SPDC authorities to cultivate dry-season rice for the military.
        An order to start preparing the rice fields for the military came in mid October 2005, even before the harvest of the farmers’ wet-season rice was completed. The SPDC troops themselves would come and work the rice fields that had not been prepared in time, said the order.
        This had prompted the farmers to quicken up their harvesting although some of the rice was not yet properly ripe to prepare the fields for the military, because they wanted to avoid having to let the SPDC troops themselves work their fields.
        Normally one might think letting the SPDC troops grow their own rice would save the farmers from forced labour. But, according to some farmers whose lands had been worked by the SPDC troops before, it was quite otherwise.
        The SPDC troops often were not punctual at virtually every stage of the cultivation, always a little too late or too early, and the harvest was delayed until the time the farmers needed to prepare their fields for their wet-season rice.
        In many cases, the fields were simply neglected until the farmers had to harvest them and transport the produce to the military bases, or, as happened to a rice field at Wan Ha village in Wat Saao village tract, compensate with money, 20,000 kyat in this case, to get permission to reuse the land where the rice had been neglected beyond harvestable condition.
        In any case, due to the delay the farmers did not have enough time to properly prepare the soil in advance to make it more fertile, resulting in poor harvests which also meant more difficulties to fill up the quotas for the military rice procurement.