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SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - APRIL 2007
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - APRIL 2007
COMMENTARY
While extortion and outright robbery have become daily occurrences, and have been increasing in many places in Shan State as the numbers of occupying Burmese junta’s troops have increased, arbitrary killings have also been frequently taking place. In many cases people were randomly shot on sight.
In December last year, in 2 separate incidents, 2 innocent villagers were shot and killed on sight in their own villages by the SPDC troops who did not seem to care to find out who they were before they shot at them.
A 14-year-old girl was gagged and strangled to death while being gang-raped by 3 SPDC soldiers in her bedroom at her parents’ house. She was killed probably because she knew her attackers, who the neighbours saw leaving her house around the time of the incident and who had visited her a couple of times in the past.
The forcible rice procurement policy, a systematic and routine type of extortion of rice from the farmers by the Burmese military authorities, which the authorities once said they had stopped practicing, has also been escalating in many places and has caused unbearable hardship for many farmers who eventually had to flee.
The practice of forcible appointment of villagers chosen by the SPDC authorities to serve as village leaders has been putting many people in a dilemma, and in some cases has already caused people to flee.
Forcible conscription to serve in the Burmese military has also been often used as a threat to extort money.
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A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL GANG-RAPED AND KILLED IN MURNG-PAN
In September 2006, Naang Taan Wun, aged 14, was gang-raped and killed by 3 SPDC troops from LIB332, at her house in Pawk Kaad Nawk quarter in Murng-Pan town, Murng-Pan township.
On the night of 11 September 2006, Naang Taan Wun’s parents, who had gone to work at their farm during the day, returned home and found her dead in her bedroom. She was gagged with a towel and there were bruises around her neck.
The most obvious thing was that Naang Taan Wun had been raped several times by apparently more than one person. All the evidence was there, with the stains on her body and thighs not yet dry.
The neighbours rushed to their house on hearing the cries and screams of Naang Taan Wun’s parents as they mourned the gruesome death of their daughter. The neighbours said that they saw 3 SPDC soldiers leave the house only about an hour earlier.
The neighbours said that they did not suspect anything because the 3 soldiers were those from LIB332 who they often saw visiting Naang Taan Wun’s house in the past. However, this time the soldiers seemed to be in a hurry when they left the house.
Naang Taan Wun’s parents, Ku-Na and Ma Nyo, originally lived at Tong Teb village in Murng-Pan township. Ku-Na, the father, was a native of Tong Teb village and Ma Nyo, the mother, was from lower Burma who had come as a teacher to teach at the elementary school at Tong Teb.
Ku-Na and Ma Nyo fell in love and got married 21 years ago. They moved to Murng-Pan town about 7 years ago. But their farm and woodland were still at Tong Teb village and they often went to look after them. On this fateful night, they returned only to find their daughter had been raped and killed.
Ma Nyo, the victim’s mother, went to the base of LIB332 and complained to the military authorities there that her daughter had been raped and killed by the soldiers from the battalion. The officers concerned accepted her complaint and told her that they would look into the matter and punish the wrong doers, if found guilty.
However, no action was said to have been taken against anyone concerning this case until 3-4 months later when the refugees from the area left the place.
RANDOM SHOOTING AND KILLING OF VILLAGER IN LAI-KHA
In December 2006, a villager was randomly shot dead by a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB516 who did not even know who the villager was, in Zizawya Khe village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township.
On 9 December 2006, at about 8:00 pm, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from Nam-Zarng-based LIB516, led by commander Aung Lin Kyaw, came to Zizawya Khe village, surrounded it and entered the village.
At that time, a villager named Pan-Ta, male, aged 30, was going around the village on a motorcycle without knowing that the SPDC troops were coming into the village. As he ran into some SPDC troops, Pan-Ta stopped his motorcycle and stayed still on it.
But the SPDC troops shot at Pan-Ta as soon as they saw him, without warning or asking him any questions. Pan-Ta was shot not less than 30 times so that his head and body were riddled with bullets, and he died instantly and fell down with his motorcycle.
After they shot Pan-Ta, the SPDC troops called out to the village leaders to come and see, saying that they had just shot dead a Shan soldier. But when the village leaders saw the body, they said it was not a Shan soldier, but a villager of the village.
The SPDC troops then said that they shot Pan-Ta only because they thought he was a Shan soldier and said that they would pay the villagers one million kyat as compensation when they got back to their headquarters, and warned the villagers not to let news about the incident spread to other villages.
It was not yet known whether the villagers received the said compensation from the SPDC troops at the time this report was received.
RANDOM SHOOTING AND KILLING OF VILLAGER IN MURNG-TON
In December 2006, a villager was randomly shot dead by a contingent of SPDC troops from LIB277 who were stationed at Me Ken village in Me Ken village tract, Murng-Ton township.
On 20 December 2006, Zaai Kya Nae (m), aged 30, a villager of Me Ken, who was returning from visiting the village monastery was shot dead by one of the SPDC troops stationed at a public pavilion near the monastery.
There was a contingent of about 35 SPDC troops from Company No. 3 of Murng-Ton-based LIB277, led by Capt. Thet Htun, stationed at the said pavilion in Me Ken village at the time of the incident.
It was about 8 pm when Zaai Kya Nae was shot by the SPDC troops. Although the villagers heard the gunshots, no one dared to come out and inquire about it. The next morning, the SPDC troops told the villagers that they had shot at a Shan soldier who was coming into the village the other night.
The soldier who was on sentry duty on that night said that as he shot at him, the Shan soldier ran towards a stream on the other side of the monastery and disappeared, and told the villagers to go and see if he had escaped.
The villagers found a man lying dead in the stream with bullet wounds in his chest and back. The bullet seemed to have pierced his chest and gone out through his back. However, he was not a Shan soldier, but a villager of their village.
After learning that they had shot dead an ordinary villager of the village they were staying at, the SPDC troops said to the villagers that they had shot the man only because they thought he was a Shan soldier, and said they would report it to their battalion commander.
After a while, the SPDC troops gave 50,000 kyat of money to the relatives of Zaai Kya Nae and said that their battalion commander told them to give the money as compensation to conduct a proper funeral for the dead and that he also asked the villagers not to file a complaint anywhere else because it was only an unintentional mistake.
FORCIBLE HEADMAN SERVICE CAUSES VILLAGER TO FLEE IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, a villager of Nam Naw village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, who was forced to serve as a village headman by the SPDC troops was so worried about his well-being and future that he fled to the Thai border.
On 5 November 2006, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from LIB525, led by commander San Tint, came to Nam Tok village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, and held a meeting at the village monastery. Some villagers of Nam Tok were sent out to inform the other villages in Nawng Long tract to come to the meeting.
In the meeting, the commander explained to the villagers about a new policy of the SPDC junta to replace old and uneducated village and village tract headmen with young and educated ones, and a process of picking out old headmen who would be discharged and choosing those who would replace them was started.
The qualifications required of those who would be chosen to serve as headmen were that they must have high school or at least middle school education and must be under the age of 45 with respectable social and economic status.
When the turn of Nam Naw village arrived, the 60-year-old headman who had already served for 15 years was to be dismissed. To replace him, a man named Tae-Za (not his real name), aged 36, was chosen because he had 10-standard high school education and good social and economic status.
Tae-Za, however, was not happy with the forcible appointment. He did not want to do what the SPDC troops often asked headmen to do, e.g., requisitioning forced labourers, collecting extorted money and many other disgusting activities. Headmen were also often beaten by the SPDC troops and sometimes even killed.
Not being able to endure the worries that were troubling him day and night, Tae-Za fled to the Thai border only 5-6 days after he was chosen to be headman, leaving his 53-year-old aunt to take care of the village affairs.
ESCALATING RICE PROCUREMENT IN EASTERN SHAN STATE
During the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, SPDC authorities in several townships in eastern Shan State issued orders requiring farmers to sell more rice to the authorities in 2007, at the rate of 5 baskets for each acre of land cultivated.
According to the information available, the townships included Kaeng-Tung, Murng-Khark, Murng-Yarng, Murng-Phyak, Murng-Yawng and Ta-Khi-Laek.
There has been an increase of 2 baskets for each acre since farmers were only required to sell 3 baskets per acre in 2006. Furthermore, the rice would be measured in weight not in amount like in the previous years, making it more difficult for the farmers.
The rice would be bought by the authorities at the price of 100 kyat per k.g., while the market rates were 180 to 200 kyat per k.g.. The standard weight of one basket of rice was set at 33 k.g. which only very good quality rice could weigh.
If their rice fields and farms produced poor quality rice, the farmers would have to sell more than one basket to meet the standard 33 k.g.. That also meant they would have to sell much more than 5 baskets for each acre of land they cultivated.
It has been learned that there were many farmers who could not produce enough rice in accordance with the acreage they cultivated and had to buy or borrow from others to fill up their quotas and sell them to the authorities.
According to the farmers, their life has become more and more difficult year after year with no means of relief in sight.
RICE PROCUREMENT CAUSES VILLAGERS TO FLEE IN SEN-WI
During the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, farmers in Sen-Wi township were forced by the SPDC authorities to sell their rice quotas to the military.
According to a newly arrived woman refugee from Nam Zaang Zok village in Kawng Haw village tract, Sen-Wi township, farmers at her village had already been forced to sell their rice quotas to the IB69 in December 2006.
Farmers in Nam Zaang Zok village, including her family, were required to sell 10 baskets of un-husked rice for each acre of land they farmed. The authorities gave only 6,000 kyat for every 10 baskets while the market rate was 12,000 kyat per 10-basket.
There were about 40 farmers in Nam Zaang Zok village and altogether the quotas of 375 baskets of rice had been completely sold to the SPDC military authorities of IB69 by 8 December 2006.
The rice procurement and several other human rights abuses including the ongoing physic nut cultivation; extortion of wood and bamboo and forced labour in building fences and maintaining the military base; and forcible use of vehicles, e.g., ox-carts and mini-tractors, in transporting wood, bamboo, firewood and water, etc., to the military base were all the main reasons that had caused her family to flee her village, she said.
FORCED MILITARY SERVICE USED FOR EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG
In November 2006, villagers were required by the SPDC authorities of LIB314 to join the military or pay money to the authorities instead, in Kaeng-Tung township.
On 5 September 2006, the commander of LIB314 called a meeting at the military base requiring the attendance of all the 10 village tract and community leaders in Kaeng-Tung township. The commander told the villagers to send young people who had reached the age of 18 to join the military.
However, the villagers were told to send only one person from each village tract as an initial step. The new recruits would then be given military training to be able to protect the country, he said.
The commander continued to explain that it was the duty of all the citizens to protect the country. Therefore it was mandatory to provide a number of young people to serve in the military as instructed by the concerned authorities.
However, he said, if the villagers could not provide or were not able to find suitable young people in their respective areas to serve in the military, they could provide money for the authorities to find other suitable youths to serve in their place.
When the money required to pay for each missing new recruit was said to be 200,000 kyat, the villagers realized the real intention of the SPDC military authorities. As they got back to their respective places, the village leaders started to collect the required money, knowing well that the authorities did not really want new recruits, but money.
EXTORTION OF PAPER IN KAENG-TUNG
Since late November 2006, people in Kaeng-Tung township who applied for travelling permits, guarantee and supporting papers, etc., have been required by the SPDC authorities to provide a 500-sheet packet of good quality paper, imported from Thailand, in exchange for each item.
As a rule, for decades, people in Shan State have been required by the Burmese military to get all sorts of papers from the military authorities permitting them to engage in almost all their activities. To get such papers, people have to almost always bribe the authorities with one thing or another, usually in the form of money.
In this case, it was in the form of Thailand-made good quality paper. “To get one sheet of paper from them (the authorities), we have to give them 500 sheets of Thai paper which usually cost us 4,500 kyat”, complained one of the townspeople.
The irony was that the authorities did not use the paper. When they accumulated a certain amount of such paper, they sold it to the stationery shops in the town at the rate of usually 4,000 kyat per packet, the same shops where people had to pay 4,500 kyat per packet.
VILLAGER CHEATED OF MOTORCYCLE IN MURNG-NAI
In late December 2006, a villager was cheated of his motor cycle after lending it to 2 men, an SPDC soldier from LIB574 and a policeman, in Ton Hung village tract Murng-Nai township.
On 23 December 2006, an SPDC soldier named Aung Soe, an officer with 2 stripes on each of his arms, and a police officer, with 1 stripe on each of his arms, Htun Htun, came to Long Kawng village in Ton Hung village tract and borrowed a motorcycle from a villager.
Aung Soe was from LIB574 and Htun Htun was from the police station at Ton Hung village. They borrowed a motorcycle from a villager named In-Da, saying they would visit their friends at the base of LIB569 in Kun Mong village tract and would return it on the same day.
When the motorcycle had not been returned after 2 days and 2 nights, In-Da sent his son to enquire about it at the base of LIB569 where the 2 men who borrowed his motorcycle said they would be visiting their friends. In-Da’s son then set out with his friend on his friend’s motorcycle.
When the villagers got to the military base, an SPDC soldier undertaking sentry duty at the entrance guardhouse told them that the 2 men had gone with a car from Nam-Zarng township to visit their relatives, but they had left a motorcycle beside the guardhouse.
But when the villagers saw the motorcycle, they said that it was not theirs because it was an old one, and their motorcycle was quite new. “But this was the one they rode in and left here when they left on a car from Nam-Zarng,” said the soldier.
“I don’t know whether it is old or new, but this was the only motorcycle they brought with them and left it here. You can take it or leave it for us to use here, and you can ask the 2 men about the new and old thing when they return”, the soldier continued.
Fearing of finally losing also the old motorcycle, the villagers brought it home to In-Da who said they had done the right thing. It was later learned that the 2 men had not just gone to visit their relatives, but had been transferred to other posts and would never return to Ton Hung again.
VILLAGERS’ FARMS LOOTED IN MURNG-TON
In November 2006, a combined force of SPDC soldiers from IB225 and UWSA soldiers from 171 Military Region looted the farms of at least 3 farming communities in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township.
On 16 November 2006, a patrol of about 100 soldiers of SPDC and UWSA, and a number of Wa villagers, about 400-500, came and looted Huay Wat, Haan Laet and Saang Law farming villages in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township. The soldiers forcibly took all they wanted including grains, livestock, clothes and other utensils.
On 17 November 2006, the patrol continued to Wan Mai Murng Jawt, which was a new Wa settlement, in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township, and the soldiers gave all the loot to the Wa villagers who stopped there and continued their patrol, and on 18 November 2006, they reached Phak Hi village in Naa Kawng Mu village tract, Murng-Ton township.
The soldiers then told the villagers that, since they had nothing of the spoils with them, no one should accuse them of stealing people’s property, and threatened to put in jail for 3 years anyone who dared to say a thing about it.
STEALING OF LIVESTOCK AND PROPERTY IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, villagers of Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, were robbed of their possessions including pigs, chickens, knives and other utensils by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 based in Larng-Khur.
On 9 November 2006, a patrol of about 30 SPDC troops from IB99 came to Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, and forcibly took away what they wanted, including pigs, chickens, food stuff, clothes, tools and other kitchen utensils.
The following 3 villagers were among the many who had lost one thing or another to the SPDC patrol:
1. Lung Awng (m), lost one large pig weighing about 50 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) and worth at least 80,000 kyat in the market
2. Lung Gam (m), lost 2 special kinds of knives worth 5,000 kyat
3. Lung Khawng Lu (m), lost 4 viss of chickens which the SPDC soldiers themselves seized from his chicken den
The SPDC soldiers even said to the villagers as they left, “Yours is quite a remote village. All these pigs and chickens could be possessions of the Shan soldiers, so we are taking them away”.
EXTORTION FOR FIXING FIRE ENGINE IN KAENG-TUNG
In October 2006, the head of fire brigade of No. 1 quarter in Kaeng-Tung town extorted money from the townspeople for repairing a fire engine or fire truck.
The fire engine, due to long use and poor maintenance, needed to be fixed and the fire brigade, with the encouragement from the SPDC authorities, required the people in No. 1 quarter to contribute money, 600 kyat per house, for fixing it.
The engine, which was China-made, was bought in 1993 with the money extorted from the same people, 800 kyat per house at the time, and whenever it needed repair money was more or less extorted from the same people.
RICE AND VEHICLES SEIZED, MONEY EXTORTED, FROM TRADERS IN KAENG-TUNG
In October 2006, 2 rice traders with their rice and trucks were seized by SPDC troops from LIB314, manning a checkpoint at Yaang La village east of Kaeng-Tung town, in Kaeng-Tung township.
The 2 traders were from Kaad Pha village in Kaad Pha village tract, Kaeng-Tung township, who had been trading rice for quite some time with no big problems with the authorities because they usually paid the demanded amounts of taxes to the concerned authorities.
This time, however, even though they had paid the usual taxes to the concerned authorities in Kaeng-Tung town, they were seized by the SPDC troops from LIB314 manning Yaang La checkpoint who refused to listen to what they had to say or explain.
The 2 traders were sent to a certain court in Kaeng-Tung and although they were later released on paying a fine of 500,000 kyat each, their rice and vehicles were still detained at the time this report was received.
Although the traders were trying to appeal to the court in order to get back their rice and vehicles, many people thought that, judging by the behaviour of the authorities, it would be difficult for them even to get back their vehicles, let alone their rice.
COMMENTARY
While extortion and outright robbery have become daily occurrences, and have been increasing in many places in Shan State as the numbers of occupying Burmese junta’s troops have increased, arbitrary killings have also been frequently taking place. In many cases people were randomly shot on sight.
In December last year, in 2 separate incidents, 2 innocent villagers were shot and killed on sight in their own villages by the SPDC troops who did not seem to care to find out who they were before they shot at them.
A 14-year-old girl was gagged and strangled to death while being gang-raped by 3 SPDC soldiers in her bedroom at her parents’ house. She was killed probably because she knew her attackers, who the neighbours saw leaving her house around the time of the incident and who had visited her a couple of times in the past.
The forcible rice procurement policy, a systematic and routine type of extortion of rice from the farmers by the Burmese military authorities, which the authorities once said they had stopped practicing, has also been escalating in many places and has caused unbearable hardship for many farmers who eventually had to flee.
The practice of forcible appointment of villagers chosen by the SPDC authorities to serve as village leaders has been putting many people in a dilemma, and in some cases has already caused people to flee.
Forcible conscription to serve in the Burmese military has also been often used as a threat to extort money.
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A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL GANG-RAPED AND KILLED IN MURNG-PAN
In September 2006, Naang Taan Wun, aged 14, was gang-raped and killed by 3 SPDC troops from LIB332, at her house in Pawk Kaad Nawk quarter in Murng-Pan town, Murng-Pan township.
On the night of 11 September 2006, Naang Taan Wun’s parents, who had gone to work at their farm during the day, returned home and found her dead in her bedroom. She was gagged with a towel and there were bruises around her neck.
The most obvious thing was that Naang Taan Wun had been raped several times by apparently more than one person. All the evidence was there, with the stains on her body and thighs not yet dry.
The neighbours rushed to their house on hearing the cries and screams of Naang Taan Wun’s parents as they mourned the gruesome death of their daughter. The neighbours said that they saw 3 SPDC soldiers leave the house only about an hour earlier.
The neighbours said that they did not suspect anything because the 3 soldiers were those from LIB332 who they often saw visiting Naang Taan Wun’s house in the past. However, this time the soldiers seemed to be in a hurry when they left the house.
Naang Taan Wun’s parents, Ku-Na and Ma Nyo, originally lived at Tong Teb village in Murng-Pan township. Ku-Na, the father, was a native of Tong Teb village and Ma Nyo, the mother, was from lower Burma who had come as a teacher to teach at the elementary school at Tong Teb.
Ku-Na and Ma Nyo fell in love and got married 21 years ago. They moved to Murng-Pan town about 7 years ago. But their farm and woodland were still at Tong Teb village and they often went to look after them. On this fateful night, they returned only to find their daughter had been raped and killed.
Ma Nyo, the victim’s mother, went to the base of LIB332 and complained to the military authorities there that her daughter had been raped and killed by the soldiers from the battalion. The officers concerned accepted her complaint and told her that they would look into the matter and punish the wrong doers, if found guilty.
However, no action was said to have been taken against anyone concerning this case until 3-4 months later when the refugees from the area left the place.
RANDOM SHOOTING AND KILLING OF VILLAGER IN LAI-KHA
In December 2006, a villager was randomly shot dead by a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB516 who did not even know who the villager was, in Zizawya Khe village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township.
On 9 December 2006, at about 8:00 pm, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from Nam-Zarng-based LIB516, led by commander Aung Lin Kyaw, came to Zizawya Khe village, surrounded it and entered the village.
At that time, a villager named Pan-Ta, male, aged 30, was going around the village on a motorcycle without knowing that the SPDC troops were coming into the village. As he ran into some SPDC troops, Pan-Ta stopped his motorcycle and stayed still on it.
But the SPDC troops shot at Pan-Ta as soon as they saw him, without warning or asking him any questions. Pan-Ta was shot not less than 30 times so that his head and body were riddled with bullets, and he died instantly and fell down with his motorcycle.
After they shot Pan-Ta, the SPDC troops called out to the village leaders to come and see, saying that they had just shot dead a Shan soldier. But when the village leaders saw the body, they said it was not a Shan soldier, but a villager of the village.
The SPDC troops then said that they shot Pan-Ta only because they thought he was a Shan soldier and said that they would pay the villagers one million kyat as compensation when they got back to their headquarters, and warned the villagers not to let news about the incident spread to other villages.
It was not yet known whether the villagers received the said compensation from the SPDC troops at the time this report was received.
RANDOM SHOOTING AND KILLING OF VILLAGER IN MURNG-TON
In December 2006, a villager was randomly shot dead by a contingent of SPDC troops from LIB277 who were stationed at Me Ken village in Me Ken village tract, Murng-Ton township.
On 20 December 2006, Zaai Kya Nae (m), aged 30, a villager of Me Ken, who was returning from visiting the village monastery was shot dead by one of the SPDC troops stationed at a public pavilion near the monastery.
There was a contingent of about 35 SPDC troops from Company No. 3 of Murng-Ton-based LIB277, led by Capt. Thet Htun, stationed at the said pavilion in Me Ken village at the time of the incident.
It was about 8 pm when Zaai Kya Nae was shot by the SPDC troops. Although the villagers heard the gunshots, no one dared to come out and inquire about it. The next morning, the SPDC troops told the villagers that they had shot at a Shan soldier who was coming into the village the other night.
The soldier who was on sentry duty on that night said that as he shot at him, the Shan soldier ran towards a stream on the other side of the monastery and disappeared, and told the villagers to go and see if he had escaped.
The villagers found a man lying dead in the stream with bullet wounds in his chest and back. The bullet seemed to have pierced his chest and gone out through his back. However, he was not a Shan soldier, but a villager of their village.
After learning that they had shot dead an ordinary villager of the village they were staying at, the SPDC troops said to the villagers that they had shot the man only because they thought he was a Shan soldier, and said they would report it to their battalion commander.
After a while, the SPDC troops gave 50,000 kyat of money to the relatives of Zaai Kya Nae and said that their battalion commander told them to give the money as compensation to conduct a proper funeral for the dead and that he also asked the villagers not to file a complaint anywhere else because it was only an unintentional mistake.
FORCIBLE HEADMAN SERVICE CAUSES VILLAGER TO FLEE IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, a villager of Nam Naw village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, who was forced to serve as a village headman by the SPDC troops was so worried about his well-being and future that he fled to the Thai border.
On 5 November 2006, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from LIB525, led by commander San Tint, came to Nam Tok village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, and held a meeting at the village monastery. Some villagers of Nam Tok were sent out to inform the other villages in Nawng Long tract to come to the meeting.
In the meeting, the commander explained to the villagers about a new policy of the SPDC junta to replace old and uneducated village and village tract headmen with young and educated ones, and a process of picking out old headmen who would be discharged and choosing those who would replace them was started.
The qualifications required of those who would be chosen to serve as headmen were that they must have high school or at least middle school education and must be under the age of 45 with respectable social and economic status.
When the turn of Nam Naw village arrived, the 60-year-old headman who had already served for 15 years was to be dismissed. To replace him, a man named Tae-Za (not his real name), aged 36, was chosen because he had 10-standard high school education and good social and economic status.
Tae-Za, however, was not happy with the forcible appointment. He did not want to do what the SPDC troops often asked headmen to do, e.g., requisitioning forced labourers, collecting extorted money and many other disgusting activities. Headmen were also often beaten by the SPDC troops and sometimes even killed.
Not being able to endure the worries that were troubling him day and night, Tae-Za fled to the Thai border only 5-6 days after he was chosen to be headman, leaving his 53-year-old aunt to take care of the village affairs.
ESCALATING RICE PROCUREMENT IN EASTERN SHAN STATE
During the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, SPDC authorities in several townships in eastern Shan State issued orders requiring farmers to sell more rice to the authorities in 2007, at the rate of 5 baskets for each acre of land cultivated.
According to the information available, the townships included Kaeng-Tung, Murng-Khark, Murng-Yarng, Murng-Phyak, Murng-Yawng and Ta-Khi-Laek.
There has been an increase of 2 baskets for each acre since farmers were only required to sell 3 baskets per acre in 2006. Furthermore, the rice would be measured in weight not in amount like in the previous years, making it more difficult for the farmers.
The rice would be bought by the authorities at the price of 100 kyat per k.g., while the market rates were 180 to 200 kyat per k.g.. The standard weight of one basket of rice was set at 33 k.g. which only very good quality rice could weigh.
If their rice fields and farms produced poor quality rice, the farmers would have to sell more than one basket to meet the standard 33 k.g.. That also meant they would have to sell much more than 5 baskets for each acre of land they cultivated.
It has been learned that there were many farmers who could not produce enough rice in accordance with the acreage they cultivated and had to buy or borrow from others to fill up their quotas and sell them to the authorities.
According to the farmers, their life has become more and more difficult year after year with no means of relief in sight.
RICE PROCUREMENT CAUSES VILLAGERS TO FLEE IN SEN-WI
During the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, farmers in Sen-Wi township were forced by the SPDC authorities to sell their rice quotas to the military.
According to a newly arrived woman refugee from Nam Zaang Zok village in Kawng Haw village tract, Sen-Wi township, farmers at her village had already been forced to sell their rice quotas to the IB69 in December 2006.
Farmers in Nam Zaang Zok village, including her family, were required to sell 10 baskets of un-husked rice for each acre of land they farmed. The authorities gave only 6,000 kyat for every 10 baskets while the market rate was 12,000 kyat per 10-basket.
There were about 40 farmers in Nam Zaang Zok village and altogether the quotas of 375 baskets of rice had been completely sold to the SPDC military authorities of IB69 by 8 December 2006.
The rice procurement and several other human rights abuses including the ongoing physic nut cultivation; extortion of wood and bamboo and forced labour in building fences and maintaining the military base; and forcible use of vehicles, e.g., ox-carts and mini-tractors, in transporting wood, bamboo, firewood and water, etc., to the military base were all the main reasons that had caused her family to flee her village, she said.
FORCED MILITARY SERVICE USED FOR EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG
In November 2006, villagers were required by the SPDC authorities of LIB314 to join the military or pay money to the authorities instead, in Kaeng-Tung township.
On 5 September 2006, the commander of LIB314 called a meeting at the military base requiring the attendance of all the 10 village tract and community leaders in Kaeng-Tung township. The commander told the villagers to send young people who had reached the age of 18 to join the military.
However, the villagers were told to send only one person from each village tract as an initial step. The new recruits would then be given military training to be able to protect the country, he said.
The commander continued to explain that it was the duty of all the citizens to protect the country. Therefore it was mandatory to provide a number of young people to serve in the military as instructed by the concerned authorities.
However, he said, if the villagers could not provide or were not able to find suitable young people in their respective areas to serve in the military, they could provide money for the authorities to find other suitable youths to serve in their place.
When the money required to pay for each missing new recruit was said to be 200,000 kyat, the villagers realized the real intention of the SPDC military authorities. As they got back to their respective places, the village leaders started to collect the required money, knowing well that the authorities did not really want new recruits, but money.
EXTORTION OF PAPER IN KAENG-TUNG
Since late November 2006, people in Kaeng-Tung township who applied for travelling permits, guarantee and supporting papers, etc., have been required by the SPDC authorities to provide a 500-sheet packet of good quality paper, imported from Thailand, in exchange for each item.
As a rule, for decades, people in Shan State have been required by the Burmese military to get all sorts of papers from the military authorities permitting them to engage in almost all their activities. To get such papers, people have to almost always bribe the authorities with one thing or another, usually in the form of money.
In this case, it was in the form of Thailand-made good quality paper. “To get one sheet of paper from them (the authorities), we have to give them 500 sheets of Thai paper which usually cost us 4,500 kyat”, complained one of the townspeople.
The irony was that the authorities did not use the paper. When they accumulated a certain amount of such paper, they sold it to the stationery shops in the town at the rate of usually 4,000 kyat per packet, the same shops where people had to pay 4,500 kyat per packet.
VILLAGER CHEATED OF MOTORCYCLE IN MURNG-NAI
In late December 2006, a villager was cheated of his motor cycle after lending it to 2 men, an SPDC soldier from LIB574 and a policeman, in Ton Hung village tract Murng-Nai township.
On 23 December 2006, an SPDC soldier named Aung Soe, an officer with 2 stripes on each of his arms, and a police officer, with 1 stripe on each of his arms, Htun Htun, came to Long Kawng village in Ton Hung village tract and borrowed a motorcycle from a villager.
Aung Soe was from LIB574 and Htun Htun was from the police station at Ton Hung village. They borrowed a motorcycle from a villager named In-Da, saying they would visit their friends at the base of LIB569 in Kun Mong village tract and would return it on the same day.
When the motorcycle had not been returned after 2 days and 2 nights, In-Da sent his son to enquire about it at the base of LIB569 where the 2 men who borrowed his motorcycle said they would be visiting their friends. In-Da’s son then set out with his friend on his friend’s motorcycle.
When the villagers got to the military base, an SPDC soldier undertaking sentry duty at the entrance guardhouse told them that the 2 men had gone with a car from Nam-Zarng township to visit their relatives, but they had left a motorcycle beside the guardhouse.
But when the villagers saw the motorcycle, they said that it was not theirs because it was an old one, and their motorcycle was quite new. “But this was the one they rode in and left here when they left on a car from Nam-Zarng,” said the soldier.
“I don’t know whether it is old or new, but this was the only motorcycle they brought with them and left it here. You can take it or leave it for us to use here, and you can ask the 2 men about the new and old thing when they return”, the soldier continued.
Fearing of finally losing also the old motorcycle, the villagers brought it home to In-Da who said they had done the right thing. It was later learned that the 2 men had not just gone to visit their relatives, but had been transferred to other posts and would never return to Ton Hung again.
VILLAGERS’ FARMS LOOTED IN MURNG-TON
In November 2006, a combined force of SPDC soldiers from IB225 and UWSA soldiers from 171 Military Region looted the farms of at least 3 farming communities in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township.
On 16 November 2006, a patrol of about 100 soldiers of SPDC and UWSA, and a number of Wa villagers, about 400-500, came and looted Huay Wat, Haan Laet and Saang Law farming villages in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township. The soldiers forcibly took all they wanted including grains, livestock, clothes and other utensils.
On 17 November 2006, the patrol continued to Wan Mai Murng Jawt, which was a new Wa settlement, in Murng Jawt village tract, Murng-Ton township, and the soldiers gave all the loot to the Wa villagers who stopped there and continued their patrol, and on 18 November 2006, they reached Phak Hi village in Naa Kawng Mu village tract, Murng-Ton township.
The soldiers then told the villagers that, since they had nothing of the spoils with them, no one should accuse them of stealing people’s property, and threatened to put in jail for 3 years anyone who dared to say a thing about it.
STEALING OF LIVESTOCK AND PROPERTY IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, villagers of Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, were robbed of their possessions including pigs, chickens, knives and other utensils by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 based in Larng-Khur.
On 9 November 2006, a patrol of about 30 SPDC troops from IB99 came to Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, and forcibly took away what they wanted, including pigs, chickens, food stuff, clothes, tools and other kitchen utensils.
The following 3 villagers were among the many who had lost one thing or another to the SPDC patrol:
1. Lung Awng (m), lost one large pig weighing about 50 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) and worth at least 80,000 kyat in the market
2. Lung Gam (m), lost 2 special kinds of knives worth 5,000 kyat
3. Lung Khawng Lu (m), lost 4 viss of chickens which the SPDC soldiers themselves seized from his chicken den
The SPDC soldiers even said to the villagers as they left, “Yours is quite a remote village. All these pigs and chickens could be possessions of the Shan soldiers, so we are taking them away”.
EXTORTION FOR FIXING FIRE ENGINE IN KAENG-TUNG
In October 2006, the head of fire brigade of No. 1 quarter in Kaeng-Tung town extorted money from the townspeople for repairing a fire engine or fire truck.
The fire engine, due to long use and poor maintenance, needed to be fixed and the fire brigade, with the encouragement from the SPDC authorities, required the people in No. 1 quarter to contribute money, 600 kyat per house, for fixing it.
The engine, which was China-made, was bought in 1993 with the money extorted from the same people, 800 kyat per house at the time, and whenever it needed repair money was more or less extorted from the same people.
RICE AND VEHICLES SEIZED, MONEY EXTORTED, FROM TRADERS IN KAENG-TUNG
In October 2006, 2 rice traders with their rice and trucks were seized by SPDC troops from LIB314, manning a checkpoint at Yaang La village east of Kaeng-Tung town, in Kaeng-Tung township.
The 2 traders were from Kaad Pha village in Kaad Pha village tract, Kaeng-Tung township, who had been trading rice for quite some time with no big problems with the authorities because they usually paid the demanded amounts of taxes to the concerned authorities.
This time, however, even though they had paid the usual taxes to the concerned authorities in Kaeng-Tung town, they were seized by the SPDC troops from LIB314 manning Yaang La checkpoint who refused to listen to what they had to say or explain.
The 2 traders were sent to a certain court in Kaeng-Tung and although they were later released on paying a fine of 500,000 kyat each, their rice and vehicles were still detained at the time this report was received.
Although the traders were trying to appeal to the court in order to get back their rice and vehicles, many people thought that, judging by the behaviour of the authorities, it would be difficult for them even to get back their vehicles, let alone their rice.
Villagers tortured for "not seeing" the rebels