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SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - JUNE 2007
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - JUNE 2007
COMMENTARY
Extrajudicial Killing
Ten years ago this month, not less than 154 Shan villagers in central Shan State were brutally killed by the troops of the Burmese military junta, then notoriously known as State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Out of the total of 664 villagers killed by SLORC troops in 1997, as reported in “Dispossessed” published by SHRF in 1998, 154 were killed in June alone when about half of them were massacred in 4 separate massacres of which 3 took place in a single township and 2 of them on the same day at about the same time.
Although the junta has changed its name to a milder sounding one, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), during the end of 1997 as if to also change its “genocidal” policies towards the peoples of Shan State, especially the Shan people, this has never been the case so far.
The junta’s troops have continued to kill at will with impunity up to the present and SHRF has been able to document more killings of not less than 1,221 people, including men, women and children, that took place from 1998 to 2006 in Shan State.
Although the numbers of actual killings are seen to have somewhat reduced year by year since 1997, ill treatments by the junta’s troops that are tantamount to killings or that have put people in the situation of “dying alive”, as appropriately put by one activist, have increased over the years.
Given the circumstances under which people have been forced to live, it is no wonder that regular flows of refugees continue to stream out of Shan State, most of them to Thailand. (see more bellow)
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SITUATION OF ARBITRARY KILLINGS BY BURMESE JUNTA’S TROOPS IN SHAN STATE
There have been countless incidents of arbitrary killing of villagers in Shan State by the Burmese troops since the military seized power more than 4 decades ago.
However, perhaps the most gruesome and well documented incidents are those that took place in 1997 during the height of the mass forced relocations carried out in central Shan State.
At least 664 people in 7-8 townships in central Shan State were killed in 1997 alone, of which 319 were killed in Kun-Hing township alone, of which 154 were in the month of June alone.
To commemorate the deaths of innocent villagers due to the brutalities of the Burmese junta’s troops, some of the incidents that took place 10 years ago this month are being related here.
The following 2 well known and well documented incidents still serve as evidence and a reminder of how brutal and inhuman the Burmese junta’s troops can be in treating hapless villagers:
On the evening of 16 June 1997, 10 years ago this month, 2 columns of villagers’ ox-carts laden with rice grains were stopped at 2 different locations in Kun-Hing township by 2 patrols of troops of the Burmese junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), and the villagers were cold-bloodedly massacred.
One of the massacres in which 27 villagers were killed took place near a waterfall called “Taad Pha Ho” in Kaeng Lom village tract, Kun-Hing township, and was carried out by SLORC troops of IB246. All the villagers were shot dead and their ox-carts and rice grains burnt and destroyed by the troops.
The villagers had gone to retrieve some of their rice and belongings left behind at their original villages when they were forced to relocate to Kun-Hing town by the SLORC troops some time earlier. They did so only after obtaining official permission from SLORC authorities, and still they were killed by SLORC troops.
Another massacre that took place on the same day was at Saai Khaao relocated village in Kaeng Kham village tract where 29 villagers were killed by SLORC troops of LIB513. These villagers also were permitted by SLORC authorities to come and gather their rice and belongings at their old village Saai Khaao and yet they were killed by SLORC troops.
It was not that the SLORC troops did not know that the villagers had obtained official permission from the concerned authorities to come back to their old villages. They actually knew because they detained and interrogated the villagers before they cold-bloodedly killed them.
The victims of these massacres included men and women, old and young, who were just simple farmers that dared not defy any orders of the authorities. They had thought they would be safe after getting official permission from the SLORC authorities, but they were brutally killed by the SLORC troops anyway.
They were killed while crying and begging for mercy. Some of them were tied up together, 3 in a bunch, and shot dead. A woman even squeezed milk from her breast to show that she had left a toddler at home to care for before she was also shot dead.
A survivor of one of the massacres described her experience, “We were made to stay in a house .. They (the SLORC troops) came to the door and called out the people one by one. They called away 16 people first, 12 men and 4 women. Then they came and called another group of 10...Then to the west I heard bursts of machine gun fire. They were killing the 16 people. Then after just a bit I heard gunfire nearby...In the group of 10 my husband died. In the group of 16 my younger sister and her husband died...I was sure I would be killed too..I was shaking, shaking! I was sitting and shaking all the time. My blood was hot all over my body. I could not think properly. I would have run away but they were standing there guarding me...I think I would be dead if I hadn’t had my son with me. One of the women who was killed had left her baby at home. She squeezed out milk from her breast to show she had a baby, but the SLORC commander said that her baby must have died and killed her anyway”.
Apart from recording the killings of 664 people in 1997, SHRF has so far been able to document more killings of not less than 1221 people, including men, women and children that took place from 1998 to 2006 in Shan State.
The following is a chart showing the numbers of killings in each year as has been able to be reported by SHRF in its “Monthly Report” newsletter (up to April 2007 issue):
YEAR No. KILLED
1998 300
1999 157
2000 236
2001 113
2002 163
2003 130
2004 56
2005 53
2006 13
TOTAL 1,221
Although, as shown in the above chart, the numbers of actual killings are seen to have declined, people’s lives have not improved but have also declined socially and economically to so low a level that survival has become a daily struggle for most people, all because of the mismanagement of the military junta.
Lives are being made more difficult by the continuing demand of unpaid routine and occasional forced labour of the people by the junta authorities, and all sorts of extortion imposed on the people whenever they want, from firewatch fees to funds for organizing sports, ceremonies and entertainment parties, etc..
On top of that, people are also forced to endure all sorts of gross human rights violations by the Burmese junta’s troops, including rape, beating, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, bullying and humiliation, etc., making people’s lives become like one internally displaced person (IDP) described, “We are dead people who are still barely alive”.
As long as all this ill treatment of the people by the Burmese junta authorities does not stop or at least decrease to some endurable extent, there will always be people fleeing the unbearable situation and becoming IDPs or refugees in neighbouring countries.
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ARREST, BEATING AND KILLING IN LAI-KHA
Sometime during the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, 5 villagers of Zizawya Khe village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township, were arrested, beaten, one of them killed and 2 of them forced to serve as porters, by the SPDC troops from LIB247 based in Nam-Zarng.
The 5 villagers were:
1. Naang Zing Wa (f), aged 36
2. Zaai Zit-Ta (m), aged 43
3. Zaai Kalaa (m), aged 39
4. Zaai Su (m), aged 45
5. Zaai Zaw Phae, aged 37
Naang Zing Wa was accused of being the wife of a Shan soldier and arrested, tied up and interrogated, and severely beaten up by the SPDC troops until she lost consciousness, at her house in Zizawya Khe village.
Zaai Zit-Ta was accused of having something to do with the Shan resistance and arrested and tied up with a rope in the village, but managed to somehow untie himself and ran away and escaped. Although the SPDC troops shot after him, Zaai Zit-Ta got away unhurt.
Zaai Kalaa was accused of supporting and helping the Shan soldiers and arrested, interrogated and beaten in the village. He was later taken away with the SPDC troop patrol and beaten to death near Zalaai Khum village in the same village tract.
Zaai Su and Zaai Zaw Phae, the village headman and his deputy, managed to convince the SPDC troops during interrogations that they could not defy the Shan soldiers or the SPDC soldiers because they both had guns, and they as village leaders had to receive those who came to the village.
The SPDC soldiers then said that they suspected the village leaders of being more willing to do things for the Shan soldiers than for the Burmese soldiers and they would punish them with 3-month jail terms, and took them to Nam-Zarng, forcing them to serve as porters along the way.
RAPE AND SEVERE BEATING IN LAI-KHA
In late 2006, a woman was raped and her husband and an elderly woman were severely beaten up by SPDC troops from LIB515, in their house in Nawng Ken village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township.
On the evening of 15 December 2006, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from LIB515, led by Maj. Chit Htun, came to Nawng Ken village and stopped for a rest.
Some of the troops took up position at the village monastery and some at a public pavilion near the monastery to spent the night in the village.
During the night, sometime around mid night, 2 SPDC troops from the said patrol came to the house of Lung Kaw in Nawng Ken village and called him out of the house, saying that they needed to ask him some questions about the Shan soldiers.
While one of the SPDC soldiers was asking and talking to Lung Kaw near the gate in front of the house, the other soldier went into the house.
When he saw Pa Zing Mya, Lung Kaw’s wife, in the house, the SPDC soldier wrestled her down to the floor and raped her, using one of his hands to cover Pa Zing May’s mouth when she tried to shout for help.
But after he had raped the woman to his satisfaction, the soldier’s hand became a bit lax and Pa Zing Mya managed to free her mouth and cry for help.
Upon hearing his wife’s voice, Lung Kaw rushed back into the house, only to be struck on the head with a knife by the soldier who had finished raping his wife.
As Lung Kaw turned and ran into the house, the SPDC soldier who was asking him questions also rushed after him and kicked him as he caught up with him.
At about the same time, Lung Kaw was struck on the head and kicked from behind and, as he fell to the ground, the soldier that was following him picked up a stick from somewhere and beat him until he lost consciousness.
A blind elderly woman who was sleeping in the house was frightened by all the noise and she cried out for help. One of the soldiers then jumped at her, kicked her and squeezed her neck until she stopped crying.
During the commotion, taking advantage of the chaotic situation, Pa Zing Mya managed to run out of the house and escaped. The 2 SPDC soldiers also immediately left the house.
The SPDC patrol left the village at around daybreak and Pa Zing Mya came back to her house to find her husband still alive, but sustained severe injuries that took many weeks to heal.
WOMEN ARRESTED AND DETAINED IN FOREST FOR ONE WHOLE NIGHT IN LARNG-KHUR
In late 2006, 3 women of Kawng Mai Kut village in Paang Pi village tract, Larng-Khur township, were arrested and taken into the forest for interrogation, and kept there the whole night, by SPDC troops from LIB525 and were only released the next day.
Naang Pao, Naang Pi and Naang Poi (not their real names), all about 30 years of age, were all villagers of Kawng Mai Kut village which comprised about 40 houses and inhabited entirely by the Pa-O people since a long time ago.
On 3 October 2006, at about 4:00 pm, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB525 came to Kawng Mai Kut village and arrested the 3 women, accusing them of being wives of the Shan soldiers, and took them into the nearby forest for interrogation.
The women were kept in the forest the whole night by the SPDC troops and they only got back to their village around 9-10:00 am after being released from the forest. No one expect the women themselves knew what had transpired during the night because they refused to tell anything about their experiences to their relatives and fellow villagers.
After staying at their village for a while, isolating and keeping to themselves as if being ashamed of something, the women moved away from their village one after another to resettle somewhere else where people did not know about their past.
Local people were sure that the women had been sexually abused and raped by the SPDC troops by judging their behaviour which was typical of rural women in Shan State when they were sexually harassed.
BEATING, DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN LAI-KHA
In December 2006, a villager of Kaad Kao village in Ta Maak Laang village tract, Lai-Kha township, was beaten during interrogation and detained, and money was extorted from his relatives for his release, by SPDC troops of IB64.
On the night of 9 December 2006, a patrol of about 15 SPDC troops from IB64, led by Capt. Nyi Nyi Maung, came to Kaad Kao village and arrested a man named Zaai Yawd and took him to the east of the village and interrogated him.
The SPDC troops accused Zaai Yawd of supporting the Shan resistance and beat him on the back 5 times with a stick and started to interrogate him, beating and torturing him all the while. They wanted to know about the Shan soldiers that they said were active in the area, but Zaai Yawd was unable to answer their questions.
Eventually, Zaai Yawd was taken to a military camp at Ta Maak Laang village and detained there. After about 2 days, the SPDC troops called Zaai Yawd’s relatives to the camp and told them that he was arrested because he was a sympathiser of the Shan resistance and that 40,000 kyat of money was needed for his release.
Zaai Yawd’s relatives had no choice but to find the money as quickly as possible and secure his release because there was no telling what else the SPDC troops would do to him if he was left in their detention longer.
2 VILLAGERS SEVERELY BEATEN UP IN LAI-KHA
In late November 2006, 2 villagers of Kaang Un village in Haai Seng village tract, Lai-Kha township, were severely beaten up by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB64 in a harvested rice field about 1 mile from their village.
Ti-Ma and Zaw-Ta, both were men, were grazing their cattle in the said field when a passing patrol of SPDC troops stopped by and asked them the way. The troops also asked if there were Shan soldiers in the area and if there would be any danger if they continued their patrol toward a certain direction.
When the 2 men were unable to answer their questions, the SPDC troops became angry and beat them with bamboo sticks, which were pulled out from the fence nearby, until they were rolling on the ground in agony.
After they had satisfied themselves beating the 2 villagers, the SPDC troops crossed the rice field to the other side and continued their patrol of the area. The villagers sustained bruises and sprains all over their bodies which took several weeks to heal.
2 VILLAGE ELDERS SEVERELY BEATEN UP IN KUN-HING
Sometime in late 2006, 2 villagers from Naa Khu village in Ho Yaan village tract, Kun-Hing township were severely kicked and beaten up by a passing patrol of SPDC troops from IB246 at the village monastery in Naa Khu village.
On the day of the incident, a patrol of about 15 SPDC troops from IB246, led by commander Maung Maung Kyaw, came to Naa Khu village and stopped at the monastery.
At the time, 2 village elders, Lung Khat (m), aged 60 and Lung Awng (m), aged 58, were in the monastery paying homage to the statue of the Lord Buddha, as it was one of their regular religious activities.
When the SPDC troops saw the 2 village elders in the monastery, they immediately kicked them without warning or mentioning anything. The 2 villagers were kicked many times all over their bodies including their faces and chins until they were stained with blood all over.
One of the SPDC troops then grabbed a piece of bamboo from somewhere and beat Lung Awng until he lost consciousness for about 2 hours. The 2 villagers were left lying on the monastery floor, one unconscious and both soaked in blood, when the troops left the village.
ARREST AND DISAPPEARANCE IN MURNG-PAN
In late 2006, a man was arrested and taken away from his house in No. 3 quarter in Murng-Pan town by SPDC troops from LIB332. The man has since then disappeared.
On the evening of 13 October 2006, a group of SPDC troops, wearing only camouflaged fatigues with no insignias, came to the house of Zaai La Khin (m), aged 35, and forcibly took him away with them out of the town.
Since then Zaai La Khin has not returned to his house. The SPDC troops said that he might have been taken away by the Shan soldiers because he failed to collect the money they assigned him to collect, or he might have embezzled it.
According to the local people, however, it was the SPDC troops from LIB332 who had taken Zaai La Khin away because there were people who saw them and recognized them. The SPDC troops had been suspecting Zaai La Khin of secretly collecting money for the Shan resistance for some time, they said.
Zaai La Khin used to go around the rural areas buying pigs and chickens and reselling them to the butchers in Murng-Pan town, and that had made the SPDC troops suspicious of him, they said.
STEALING, ARREST, DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 burgled and stole villagers’ belongings from several houses and arrested a villager in Kawng Mai Kut village in Paang Pi village tract, Larng-Khur township, and later extorted money for the villager’s release.
On 16 November 2006, after stealing pigs and chickens from other villages a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 came to Kawng Mai Kut village and burgled several houses, taking virtually anything of value. Most of the villagers had gone out to work and were not at home.
At one point, however, the SPDC troops found a man lying in a house and they arrested him and because he was wearing an talisman necklace they accused him of being a Shan soldier, and took him to their camp and detained him.
Zaai Ut (m), aged 30, had just come back from gathering firewood and was resting when the SPDC troops came and found him lying in his house. He was accused of being a Shan soldier who was pretending to be a villager and was arrested and detained at a military camp.
After detaining Zaai Ut for one night, the SPDC troops told the village leaders to bring 200,000 kyat of money if they wanted him to be released.
FORMER VEHICLE TRADERS GIVEN LONG JAIL TERMS IN NORTHEASTERN SHAN STATE
In August 2006, more than 200 traders and brokers were accused by the SPDC authorities of stealthily exporting rice to China and given jail terms of 3 to 35 years by a court in La-Sio, La-Sio (Lashio) township.
The traders and brokers were those who used to deal in licenceless vehicles, e.g., cars, trucks and motorcycles, imported from Thailand and China. Although they had stopped trading in such vehicles for quite some time, they were in the black list of the SPDC authorities, explained one broker who luckily was not arrested.
The traders and brokers were from several townships in northeastern Shan State, including Nam-Kham, Mu-Se, Kot-Khai, Sen-Wi and La-Sio, and during the early part of August 2006, they were arrested at a checkpoint called “105th Mile” in Mu-Se township, manned by SPDC troops.
Because the authorities could not get any evidence to charge the traders and brokers with trading in illegal vehicles, they accused them of secretly exporting rice to China without permission and sent them to La-Sio to be tried by a criminal court there.
On 19 August 2006, more than 200 traders and brokers were convicted by the court and given different jail terms in roughly 3 categories, of which many received 3 years, some of them 10 years and some even up to 35 years.
Many local people believed that it was just a trumped up charge orchestrated by the SPDC authorities to punish these people for some other reasons, including probably for not paying their due during the time of vehicle trading.
COMMENTARY
Extrajudicial Killing
Ten years ago this month, not less than 154 Shan villagers in central Shan State were brutally killed by the troops of the Burmese military junta, then notoriously known as State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Out of the total of 664 villagers killed by SLORC troops in 1997, as reported in “Dispossessed” published by SHRF in 1998, 154 were killed in June alone when about half of them were massacred in 4 separate massacres of which 3 took place in a single township and 2 of them on the same day at about the same time.
Although the junta has changed its name to a milder sounding one, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), during the end of 1997 as if to also change its “genocidal” policies towards the peoples of Shan State, especially the Shan people, this has never been the case so far.
The junta’s troops have continued to kill at will with impunity up to the present and SHRF has been able to document more killings of not less than 1,221 people, including men, women and children, that took place from 1998 to 2006 in Shan State.
Although the numbers of actual killings are seen to have somewhat reduced year by year since 1997, ill treatments by the junta’s troops that are tantamount to killings or that have put people in the situation of “dying alive”, as appropriately put by one activist, have increased over the years.
Given the circumstances under which people have been forced to live, it is no wonder that regular flows of refugees continue to stream out of Shan State, most of them to Thailand. (see more bellow)
--------------------------------
SITUATION OF ARBITRARY KILLINGS BY BURMESE JUNTA’S TROOPS IN SHAN STATE
There have been countless incidents of arbitrary killing of villagers in Shan State by the Burmese troops since the military seized power more than 4 decades ago.
However, perhaps the most gruesome and well documented incidents are those that took place in 1997 during the height of the mass forced relocations carried out in central Shan State.
At least 664 people in 7-8 townships in central Shan State were killed in 1997 alone, of which 319 were killed in Kun-Hing township alone, of which 154 were in the month of June alone.
To commemorate the deaths of innocent villagers due to the brutalities of the Burmese junta’s troops, some of the incidents that took place 10 years ago this month are being related here.
The following 2 well known and well documented incidents still serve as evidence and a reminder of how brutal and inhuman the Burmese junta’s troops can be in treating hapless villagers:
On the evening of 16 June 1997, 10 years ago this month, 2 columns of villagers’ ox-carts laden with rice grains were stopped at 2 different locations in Kun-Hing township by 2 patrols of troops of the Burmese junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), and the villagers were cold-bloodedly massacred.
One of the massacres in which 27 villagers were killed took place near a waterfall called “Taad Pha Ho” in Kaeng Lom village tract, Kun-Hing township, and was carried out by SLORC troops of IB246. All the villagers were shot dead and their ox-carts and rice grains burnt and destroyed by the troops.
The villagers had gone to retrieve some of their rice and belongings left behind at their original villages when they were forced to relocate to Kun-Hing town by the SLORC troops some time earlier. They did so only after obtaining official permission from SLORC authorities, and still they were killed by SLORC troops.
Another massacre that took place on the same day was at Saai Khaao relocated village in Kaeng Kham village tract where 29 villagers were killed by SLORC troops of LIB513. These villagers also were permitted by SLORC authorities to come and gather their rice and belongings at their old village Saai Khaao and yet they were killed by SLORC troops.
It was not that the SLORC troops did not know that the villagers had obtained official permission from the concerned authorities to come back to their old villages. They actually knew because they detained and interrogated the villagers before they cold-bloodedly killed them.
The victims of these massacres included men and women, old and young, who were just simple farmers that dared not defy any orders of the authorities. They had thought they would be safe after getting official permission from the SLORC authorities, but they were brutally killed by the SLORC troops anyway.
They were killed while crying and begging for mercy. Some of them were tied up together, 3 in a bunch, and shot dead. A woman even squeezed milk from her breast to show that she had left a toddler at home to care for before she was also shot dead.
A survivor of one of the massacres described her experience, “We were made to stay in a house .. They (the SLORC troops) came to the door and called out the people one by one. They called away 16 people first, 12 men and 4 women. Then they came and called another group of 10...Then to the west I heard bursts of machine gun fire. They were killing the 16 people. Then after just a bit I heard gunfire nearby...In the group of 10 my husband died. In the group of 16 my younger sister and her husband died...I was sure I would be killed too..I was shaking, shaking! I was sitting and shaking all the time. My blood was hot all over my body. I could not think properly. I would have run away but they were standing there guarding me...I think I would be dead if I hadn’t had my son with me. One of the women who was killed had left her baby at home. She squeezed out milk from her breast to show she had a baby, but the SLORC commander said that her baby must have died and killed her anyway”.
Apart from recording the killings of 664 people in 1997, SHRF has so far been able to document more killings of not less than 1221 people, including men, women and children that took place from 1998 to 2006 in Shan State.
The following is a chart showing the numbers of killings in each year as has been able to be reported by SHRF in its “Monthly Report” newsletter (up to April 2007 issue):
YEAR No. KILLED
1998 300
1999 157
2000 236
2001 113
2002 163
2003 130
2004 56
2005 53
2006 13
TOTAL 1,221
Although, as shown in the above chart, the numbers of actual killings are seen to have declined, people’s lives have not improved but have also declined socially and economically to so low a level that survival has become a daily struggle for most people, all because of the mismanagement of the military junta.
Lives are being made more difficult by the continuing demand of unpaid routine and occasional forced labour of the people by the junta authorities, and all sorts of extortion imposed on the people whenever they want, from firewatch fees to funds for organizing sports, ceremonies and entertainment parties, etc..
On top of that, people are also forced to endure all sorts of gross human rights violations by the Burmese junta’s troops, including rape, beating, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, bullying and humiliation, etc., making people’s lives become like one internally displaced person (IDP) described, “We are dead people who are still barely alive”.
As long as all this ill treatment of the people by the Burmese junta authorities does not stop or at least decrease to some endurable extent, there will always be people fleeing the unbearable situation and becoming IDPs or refugees in neighbouring countries.
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ARREST, BEATING AND KILLING IN LAI-KHA
Sometime during the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, 5 villagers of Zizawya Khe village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township, were arrested, beaten, one of them killed and 2 of them forced to serve as porters, by the SPDC troops from LIB247 based in Nam-Zarng.
The 5 villagers were:
1. Naang Zing Wa (f), aged 36
2. Zaai Zit-Ta (m), aged 43
3. Zaai Kalaa (m), aged 39
4. Zaai Su (m), aged 45
5. Zaai Zaw Phae, aged 37
Naang Zing Wa was accused of being the wife of a Shan soldier and arrested, tied up and interrogated, and severely beaten up by the SPDC troops until she lost consciousness, at her house in Zizawya Khe village.
Zaai Zit-Ta was accused of having something to do with the Shan resistance and arrested and tied up with a rope in the village, but managed to somehow untie himself and ran away and escaped. Although the SPDC troops shot after him, Zaai Zit-Ta got away unhurt.
Zaai Kalaa was accused of supporting and helping the Shan soldiers and arrested, interrogated and beaten in the village. He was later taken away with the SPDC troop patrol and beaten to death near Zalaai Khum village in the same village tract.
Zaai Su and Zaai Zaw Phae, the village headman and his deputy, managed to convince the SPDC troops during interrogations that they could not defy the Shan soldiers or the SPDC soldiers because they both had guns, and they as village leaders had to receive those who came to the village.
The SPDC soldiers then said that they suspected the village leaders of being more willing to do things for the Shan soldiers than for the Burmese soldiers and they would punish them with 3-month jail terms, and took them to Nam-Zarng, forcing them to serve as porters along the way.
RAPE AND SEVERE BEATING IN LAI-KHA
In late 2006, a woman was raped and her husband and an elderly woman were severely beaten up by SPDC troops from LIB515, in their house in Nawng Ken village in Naa Poi village tract, Lai-Kha township.
On the evening of 15 December 2006, a patrol of about 50 SPDC troops from LIB515, led by Maj. Chit Htun, came to Nawng Ken village and stopped for a rest.
Some of the troops took up position at the village monastery and some at a public pavilion near the monastery to spent the night in the village.
During the night, sometime around mid night, 2 SPDC troops from the said patrol came to the house of Lung Kaw in Nawng Ken village and called him out of the house, saying that they needed to ask him some questions about the Shan soldiers.
While one of the SPDC soldiers was asking and talking to Lung Kaw near the gate in front of the house, the other soldier went into the house.
When he saw Pa Zing Mya, Lung Kaw’s wife, in the house, the SPDC soldier wrestled her down to the floor and raped her, using one of his hands to cover Pa Zing May’s mouth when she tried to shout for help.
But after he had raped the woman to his satisfaction, the soldier’s hand became a bit lax and Pa Zing Mya managed to free her mouth and cry for help.
Upon hearing his wife’s voice, Lung Kaw rushed back into the house, only to be struck on the head with a knife by the soldier who had finished raping his wife.
As Lung Kaw turned and ran into the house, the SPDC soldier who was asking him questions also rushed after him and kicked him as he caught up with him.
At about the same time, Lung Kaw was struck on the head and kicked from behind and, as he fell to the ground, the soldier that was following him picked up a stick from somewhere and beat him until he lost consciousness.
A blind elderly woman who was sleeping in the house was frightened by all the noise and she cried out for help. One of the soldiers then jumped at her, kicked her and squeezed her neck until she stopped crying.
During the commotion, taking advantage of the chaotic situation, Pa Zing Mya managed to run out of the house and escaped. The 2 SPDC soldiers also immediately left the house.
The SPDC patrol left the village at around daybreak and Pa Zing Mya came back to her house to find her husband still alive, but sustained severe injuries that took many weeks to heal.
WOMEN ARRESTED AND DETAINED IN FOREST FOR ONE WHOLE NIGHT IN LARNG-KHUR
In late 2006, 3 women of Kawng Mai Kut village in Paang Pi village tract, Larng-Khur township, were arrested and taken into the forest for interrogation, and kept there the whole night, by SPDC troops from LIB525 and were only released the next day.
Naang Pao, Naang Pi and Naang Poi (not their real names), all about 30 years of age, were all villagers of Kawng Mai Kut village which comprised about 40 houses and inhabited entirely by the Pa-O people since a long time ago.
On 3 October 2006, at about 4:00 pm, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB525 came to Kawng Mai Kut village and arrested the 3 women, accusing them of being wives of the Shan soldiers, and took them into the nearby forest for interrogation.
The women were kept in the forest the whole night by the SPDC troops and they only got back to their village around 9-10:00 am after being released from the forest. No one expect the women themselves knew what had transpired during the night because they refused to tell anything about their experiences to their relatives and fellow villagers.
After staying at their village for a while, isolating and keeping to themselves as if being ashamed of something, the women moved away from their village one after another to resettle somewhere else where people did not know about their past.
Local people were sure that the women had been sexually abused and raped by the SPDC troops by judging their behaviour which was typical of rural women in Shan State when they were sexually harassed.
BEATING, DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN LAI-KHA
In December 2006, a villager of Kaad Kao village in Ta Maak Laang village tract, Lai-Kha township, was beaten during interrogation and detained, and money was extorted from his relatives for his release, by SPDC troops of IB64.
On the night of 9 December 2006, a patrol of about 15 SPDC troops from IB64, led by Capt. Nyi Nyi Maung, came to Kaad Kao village and arrested a man named Zaai Yawd and took him to the east of the village and interrogated him.
The SPDC troops accused Zaai Yawd of supporting the Shan resistance and beat him on the back 5 times with a stick and started to interrogate him, beating and torturing him all the while. They wanted to know about the Shan soldiers that they said were active in the area, but Zaai Yawd was unable to answer their questions.
Eventually, Zaai Yawd was taken to a military camp at Ta Maak Laang village and detained there. After about 2 days, the SPDC troops called Zaai Yawd’s relatives to the camp and told them that he was arrested because he was a sympathiser of the Shan resistance and that 40,000 kyat of money was needed for his release.
Zaai Yawd’s relatives had no choice but to find the money as quickly as possible and secure his release because there was no telling what else the SPDC troops would do to him if he was left in their detention longer.
2 VILLAGERS SEVERELY BEATEN UP IN LAI-KHA
In late November 2006, 2 villagers of Kaang Un village in Haai Seng village tract, Lai-Kha township, were severely beaten up by a patrol of SPDC troops from IB64 in a harvested rice field about 1 mile from their village.
Ti-Ma and Zaw-Ta, both were men, were grazing their cattle in the said field when a passing patrol of SPDC troops stopped by and asked them the way. The troops also asked if there were Shan soldiers in the area and if there would be any danger if they continued their patrol toward a certain direction.
When the 2 men were unable to answer their questions, the SPDC troops became angry and beat them with bamboo sticks, which were pulled out from the fence nearby, until they were rolling on the ground in agony.
After they had satisfied themselves beating the 2 villagers, the SPDC troops crossed the rice field to the other side and continued their patrol of the area. The villagers sustained bruises and sprains all over their bodies which took several weeks to heal.
2 VILLAGE ELDERS SEVERELY BEATEN UP IN KUN-HING
Sometime in late 2006, 2 villagers from Naa Khu village in Ho Yaan village tract, Kun-Hing township were severely kicked and beaten up by a passing patrol of SPDC troops from IB246 at the village monastery in Naa Khu village.
On the day of the incident, a patrol of about 15 SPDC troops from IB246, led by commander Maung Maung Kyaw, came to Naa Khu village and stopped at the monastery.
At the time, 2 village elders, Lung Khat (m), aged 60 and Lung Awng (m), aged 58, were in the monastery paying homage to the statue of the Lord Buddha, as it was one of their regular religious activities.
When the SPDC troops saw the 2 village elders in the monastery, they immediately kicked them without warning or mentioning anything. The 2 villagers were kicked many times all over their bodies including their faces and chins until they were stained with blood all over.
One of the SPDC troops then grabbed a piece of bamboo from somewhere and beat Lung Awng until he lost consciousness for about 2 hours. The 2 villagers were left lying on the monastery floor, one unconscious and both soaked in blood, when the troops left the village.
ARREST AND DISAPPEARANCE IN MURNG-PAN
In late 2006, a man was arrested and taken away from his house in No. 3 quarter in Murng-Pan town by SPDC troops from LIB332. The man has since then disappeared.
On the evening of 13 October 2006, a group of SPDC troops, wearing only camouflaged fatigues with no insignias, came to the house of Zaai La Khin (m), aged 35, and forcibly took him away with them out of the town.
Since then Zaai La Khin has not returned to his house. The SPDC troops said that he might have been taken away by the Shan soldiers because he failed to collect the money they assigned him to collect, or he might have embezzled it.
According to the local people, however, it was the SPDC troops from LIB332 who had taken Zaai La Khin away because there were people who saw them and recognized them. The SPDC troops had been suspecting Zaai La Khin of secretly collecting money for the Shan resistance for some time, they said.
Zaai La Khin used to go around the rural areas buying pigs and chickens and reselling them to the butchers in Murng-Pan town, and that had made the SPDC troops suspicious of him, they said.
STEALING, ARREST, DETENTION AND EXTORTION IN LARNG-KHUR
In November 2006, a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 burgled and stole villagers’ belongings from several houses and arrested a villager in Kawng Mai Kut village in Paang Pi village tract, Larng-Khur township, and later extorted money for the villager’s release.
On 16 November 2006, after stealing pigs and chickens from other villages a patrol of SPDC troops from IB99 came to Kawng Mai Kut village and burgled several houses, taking virtually anything of value. Most of the villagers had gone out to work and were not at home.
At one point, however, the SPDC troops found a man lying in a house and they arrested him and because he was wearing an talisman necklace they accused him of being a Shan soldier, and took him to their camp and detained him.
Zaai Ut (m), aged 30, had just come back from gathering firewood and was resting when the SPDC troops came and found him lying in his house. He was accused of being a Shan soldier who was pretending to be a villager and was arrested and detained at a military camp.
After detaining Zaai Ut for one night, the SPDC troops told the village leaders to bring 200,000 kyat of money if they wanted him to be released.
FORMER VEHICLE TRADERS GIVEN LONG JAIL TERMS IN NORTHEASTERN SHAN STATE
In August 2006, more than 200 traders and brokers were accused by the SPDC authorities of stealthily exporting rice to China and given jail terms of 3 to 35 years by a court in La-Sio, La-Sio (Lashio) township.
The traders and brokers were those who used to deal in licenceless vehicles, e.g., cars, trucks and motorcycles, imported from Thailand and China. Although they had stopped trading in such vehicles for quite some time, they were in the black list of the SPDC authorities, explained one broker who luckily was not arrested.
The traders and brokers were from several townships in northeastern Shan State, including Nam-Kham, Mu-Se, Kot-Khai, Sen-Wi and La-Sio, and during the early part of August 2006, they were arrested at a checkpoint called “105th Mile” in Mu-Se township, manned by SPDC troops.
Because the authorities could not get any evidence to charge the traders and brokers with trading in illegal vehicles, they accused them of secretly exporting rice to China without permission and sent them to La-Sio to be tried by a criminal court there.
On 19 August 2006, more than 200 traders and brokers were convicted by the court and given different jail terms in roughly 3 categories, of which many received 3 years, some of them 10 years and some even up to 35 years.
Many local people believed that it was just a trumped up charge orchestrated by the SPDC authorities to punish these people for some other reasons, including probably for not paying their due during the time of vehicle trading.
Villagers tortured for "not seeing" the rebels