SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - MARCH 2007

COMMENTARY
        Despite all the difficulties imposed by the authorities on both sides of the border and the risks of falling into the hands of evil human trafficking gangs, it is no wonder there are still more or less regular flows of refugees from Shan State heading for Thailand, given the worsening harsh life people are being forced to endure under the Burmese military.
        Besides all the various types of human rights violations committed systematically and randomly against the people, there seems to be an intention on the part of the occupying Burmese military to deliberately make life difficult economically for the local people so that they have to worry about their daily survival all the time.
        For many people, life has been made so difficult that it has become virtually impossible for them to survive in their local areas and have to flee to other places and finally often to Thailand, simply because life is as difficult in other places in Shan State as in their own localities.
        What could be expected of a farmer whose land has been confiscated, whose other possessions have been looted, whose movements are being restricted, whose labour is being frequently requisitioned, whose relatives have been raped and/or killed and whose life has been completely destroyed, except to flee?
        Explained one of the refugees who recently arrived at the border, who also said, “I don’t expect Thailand to be heaven on earth. But I do hope life will be much less difficult compared to what we had to face at home”.
        As usual, this month’s issue contains a litany of human rights abuses, many of which have made people to flee.

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ARREST, TORTURE AND ARBITRARY KILLINGS, IN KUN-HING
        In October 2006, 3 displaced villagers were arrested, interrogated and killed by SPDC troops of IB246 in Kun-Hing township.
        On 6 October 2006, SPDC troops from IB246 arrested 3 villagers at Kun-Hing town quarter No. 3, which was essentially a relocation site to which villagers from surrounding areas had been forcibly relocated several years ago.
        The 3 displaced villagers were taken to the base of IB246 and interrogated. In the afternoon, they were seen taken out and headed towards north of the military base by a group of SPDC troops, after which they were not seen again.
        It was learned that the 3 villagers were tortured and interrogated by the SPDC troops about the movements of the Shan soldiers that were active in the area at that time. The SPDC troops believed that the 3 villagers knew because they were originally from a rural village in the area where Shan soldiers were known to be active.
        However, because they had been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of the town years ago and they seldom went out to the area of their original village, they did not know what was going on when they were asked by the SPDC troops and were not able to answer their questions. But the SPDC troops did not believe the villagers and took them out to a remote place north of the military base to continue interrogating them.
        Since then the villagers had disappeared until about 7 days later when their lifeless bodies were found by some villagers at a remote place about 1 mile north of the base of IB246. The 3 villagers killed were all originally from Wo Long village (relocated) in Nga Teng village tract, Kun-Hing township. One of them was Lung Nya (m), aged 50, but the names of the other 2 were not available.

GANG-RAPE AND TORTURE, CAUSING DEATH, IN HO-PONG
        In October 2006, 2 women were tortured and gang-raped by SPDC troops from Loi-Lem-based LIB9 at their rice farm in Ho-Pong township. Both women had to be hospitalized and one of them died of the injuries a few days later.
        On 9 October 2006, 3 villagers of Wan Pan village, all women, in Ho-Pong township were weeding their rice farm near their village when 6 fully armed SPDC troops from LIB9, based in Loi-Lem township, came to the farm. The 3 villagers were all women: Pa Man, aged 52, Naang Zing, aged 32 and Ae Kheng, aged 14 (not their real names).
        When they learned that there were only the 3 women in the farm, which was some distance from the village, the SPDC troops started to sexually harass the 2 younger women. When the oldest woman, Pa Man, tried to implore them to stop harassing the younger women, the SPDC troops harshly slapped her 3 times and told her to keep quiet.
        As the women struggled hard when they were raped, the SPDC troops beat, kicked, seized and gang-raped them. Naang Zing was stabbed with a knife 3 times and one of her ribs was broken from being kicked. Ae Kheng completely lost consciousness while being raped and beaten. The SPDC troops left the farm immediately after satisfying themselves.
        Both women were later taken to the township hospital in Ho-Pong by their relatives, but Naang Zing died of her injuries at the hospital on 13 October 2006, 4 days after the incident. Ae Kheng had to be treated for some time at the hospital before she could be discharged.

A WOMAN SEVERELY BEATEN UP IN MURNG-PAN
        In August 2006, a woman was accused of disturbing a water supply and severely beaten up by an SPDC military officer from LIB595 at Wan Tham village in Wan Tham village tract, Murng-Pan township.
        At the head of Wan Tham village, there was a water source which was shared by the villagers of Wan Tham and an SPDC outpost military camp near the village, manned by troops from LIB595, to which a water supply was diverted by a small aqueduct-like structure.
        On 3 August 2006, as a villager of Wan Tham, Naang Nguay (f), aged 30, was coming towards the water source, an SPDC troop who was already there quickly rushed up to her and, without mentioning anything, seized her by the arm and slapped her on both sides of her face and kicked her in the thigh, causing her to fall down to the ground.
        As Naang Nguay fell to the ground, the SPDC soldier, an officer named Win Myint, beat her hard on the back 4-5 times and stopped only when Naang Nguay’s parents came running to the scene on hearing her screams since their house was not very far from the place.
        As Naang Nguay’s Parents got closer, the SPDC soldier said, “It is this woman who has been disturbing our water supply so many times. So I am punishing her for that”, pointing his finger at Naang Nguay who was rolling on the ground.
        Naang Nguay’s parents then said that it could not be their daughter because she was only passing by and had not even come to fetch water. The SPDC soldier then shouted at them to shut up, threatening to beat all of them if they did not.
        For 3 days, Naang Nguay had to lie in bed, unable to move around, while her parents treated her with traditional medicine. Although they were not satisfied with the way they were treated, Naang Nguay and her parents had nowhere to lodge a complaint.

THREATS AND INTIMIDATION CAUSE PEOPLE TO FLEE, IN MURNG-KERNG
        Since November 2006, villagers in Murng-Kerng township have been required to take responsibility for the safety of the SPDC troops assigned to stay at their villages, under threats of  having to pay ten lives for one and forcible relocation if something bad happened to the troops.
        On 4 November 2006, a meeting of village and tract leaders in Murng-Kerng township was called by the SPDC authorities at the township office in Murng-Kerng town. The authorities said that they received directives from higher up to deploy 4 SPDC soldiers at each village to help the villagers.
        The SPDC soldiers, 4 at a time, would stay at the villages and help the villagers protect their villages from thieves and bandits, and especially to prevent the Shan soldiers from demanding rice and money from the villagers, said the authorities.
        However, if the SPDC soldiers were killed or taken away alive by the Shan soldiers, the villagers of the respective villages would be held responsible and punished. The punishments could be forced relocation of whole villages, or even repayment of 10 villagers for each SPDC soldier lost, threatened the authorities.
        According to some newly arrived refugees at the Shan-Thai border, 4 SPDC troops were posted to their village, Wan Keng, in Wan Keng village tract in Murng-Kerng township, on 7 November 2006. Since then life in their village had become much more difficult, they said.
        In addition to the various kinds of already existing abuses, the villagers had to worry all the time about the safety of the SPDC soldiers, they said, and with forced labour of the people in physic nut cultivation and other projects still in constant demand, there were still many people like them who could not survive and would have to flee.

EXTORTION AND THREATS CAUSE VILLAGERS TO FLEE, IN MURNG-SART
        In October 2006, a former car owner and villager of Kaeng Kham village in Murng Yawn village tract, Murng-Sart township, had to flee because he could not afford to pay the amount of money extorted from him by SPDC troops from LIB333 who threatened to put him in jail.
        On 3 October 2006, a car carrying a patrol of 15 SPDC troops from LIB333, led by commander Kyaw Han, came to Kaeng Kham village in Murng Yawn village tract, Murng Sart township, and stopped at the house of a villager named Awng La.
        Kyaw Han, the deputy commander of LIB333, told Awng La that on the order of the Tactical Command commander, Myint Aung, he had come to confiscate and take away Awng La’s car, and asked him where it was because they could not find it anywhere around.
        Awng La said that he did not have the car anymore because he had sold it to the Wa soldiers at Murng Yawn almost one and a half years ago. The SPDC troops then said to Awng La that their order was to get the car from him and ordered him to get back the car and hand it over to them.
        Awng La then said that he was unable to get back the car because he had already sold it to the Wa soldiers and he dared not ask them to sell it back to him. The SPDC troops then said that if Awng La could not get them the car, he would have to provide the car’s worth of money.
        The SPDC troops demanded 3,000,000 kyat and told Awng La that he would have to go to jail if he could not pay the money. Awng La gave the soldiers 700,000 kyat, saying that it was all he had on hand at the moment, and begged for time in order to find the rest of the money. They agreed to give him 2 days after which they would come back to get the money, or put him in jail.
        Awng La, however, did not wait that long. He had no idea how to find such large amount of money in such a short period of time. So, after consulting with his wife and their 2 children, they all fled to Thailand together on the same night.

SHAN CEMETERY FORCED TO MOVE 2 TIMES IN ABOUT 20 YEARS, IN KAENG-TUNG
        In October 2006, the main Shan cemetery in Kaeng-Tung town was forced by the SPDC authorities to relocate to a new site some distance further south, making it the second time to be forced to move in only about 20 years.
        On 18 October 2006, people in Kaeng-Tung town were suddenly ordered by the SPDC authorities to stop burying their dead at the existing cemetery near the Buddhist shrine named Dhat Seng Murng, but to use a place called Kung Kalaa, some distance to the south beyond a rice field, as a new cemetery instead.
        This has angered and caused a lot of complaints among the Shan communities in the town, especially because their previous cemetery had been forced to move to the current site in 1983 by the then military junta under dictator Ne Win.
        At that time, people had to move the remains of their dead relatives to the current cemetery. They had to rent cars and trucks to transport their dead at the rate of 10,000 kyat per person. This time the costs would be much higher, complained the townspeople.
        Besides, the designated new site was a dense bamboo grove which would need a lot of time and labour to clear and there was no motor road leading to it at the time of the issuance of the order, causing a lot of difficulties for the burials of those who died before the site was properly accessible.
        The previous cemetery was located south of the town on the bank of Nam Laab stream and it has been turned into a satellite town, and the site of the current cemetery was reportedly going to be used to build a bus station.
        According to some of the townspeople, many people are wondering why their cemetery have had to move time and again, while the 2 Chinese cemeteries, one on the south and the other on the west of the town, have never had to move.

LOOTING AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY IN LAI-KHA
        In October 2006, a villager’s house at Paang Zao Murng village in Naa Mang village tract, Lai-Kha township, was searched and looted by SPDC troops from IB64 who also destroyed and burned some of the villagers’ property.
        On 2 October 2006, a patrol of about 30 SPDC troops from IB64 came to Paang Zao Murng village in Naa Mang village tract, Lai-Kha township, and surrounded a house belonging to Lung Ta Loo (m), aged 50, and his wife, aged 47.
        The SPDC troops searched the upstairs of the 2-storey house and took what they wanted, including a tin box full of valuable ancient silver coins. The tin box was about 50cc in height and 30cc in width and length.
        They then searched the downstairs where there were a TV monitor and a video player, which the owners used to play and collect fees from other villagers who came to watch. The troops took what they wanted, including some money, and beat the TV and the video player to pieces.
        The SPDC troops then went to the barn in the backyard, where there were a mini-tractor, a small rice mill and 12 farmers who had brought some of their rice to be husked at the mill. The troops took the mini-tractor and the rice the visiting farmers had brought with them, and burned up the rice mill.
        The 12 farmers and the house owners were then taken outside the village and interrogated by the SPDC troops, but were released after a short while. The SPDC troops said that they burned the rice mill because it was used to husk rice for the Shan soldiers in the area and they destroyed the TV and Video because they were used to show footage of Shan soldiers to the villagers.
        They took the possessions of the house’s owners, who they said had suddenly become quite rich in only about 2 years time, because they suspected them of helping the Shan soldiers hide their belongings, said the SPDC troops.
        According to the local villagers, however, Lung Ta Loo and his wife had inherited their property, including lands and other valuables such as ancient silver coins, etc., from their ancestors who had been well-to-do farmers for generations.

LAND CONFISCATIONS CAUSE PEOPLE TO FLEE IN MURNG-PAN
        Since around mid 2006, SPDC troops of LIB595 have confiscated a lot of cultivated lands, mostly rice fields of the local villagers, in the area of Wan Tham village in Wan Tham village tract, Murng-Pan township, saying the owners of those rice fields had gone to Thailand.
        The confiscated lands were said to be used to grow rice and other seasonal crops for the consumption of the SPDC troops, since the original farmers who used to cultivate the lands had gone to Thailand and could not come back to use them.
        However, several acres of rice fields belonging to farmers who had not gone to Thailand have also been confiscated in the process. The SPDC troops stated that those rice fields were confiscated because relatives of the owner farmers had gone to Thailand.
        There were at least 6 farming couples who lost their lands in this way. The following is a list of husbands and wives and the acreage of rice fields they lost:
1. Lung Khurng & Pa Kham lost more than 4 acres of rice fields
2. Zaai Pan-Ta & Naang Thun lost 4 acres of rice fields
3. Lung Wan-Na & Pa Hawng lost 5 acres of rice fields
4. Lung Kawn & Pa Wun lost 3 acres of rice fields
5. Saang Saw & Naang Mung lost 4 acres of rice fields
6. Pu Zaai Awn & Naai Lawm Ta lost 4 acres of rice fields
        Because they had no land left to farm and they could not think of any other means to make a living in their village, some of the farmers fled to Thailand to work in order to survive. Their lands were confiscated not because they had come to Thailand, but they came to Thailand because their lands had been confiscated, they said.

EXTORTION CAUSES VILLAGERS TO FLEE, IN NAM-ZARNG
        In September 2006, 2 villagers of Loi Ngern village in Wan Heng village tract, Nam-Zarng township, fled to the Thai border after their money was extorted by members of SPDC police causing them to lose their livelihood.
        One day in September 2006, seeing so many people from the surrounding rural areas had come to buy things in the town, SPDC police in Nam-Zarng town set up checkpoints outside the town exits to extort money from villagers returning home.
        Two villagers from Loi Ngern village, Lung Thack Seng (m) and Lung Mu-Lin (m), who were returning with a mini-tractor after buying some consumer goods in the town were stopped by a group of police manning a checkpoint at the eastern edge of the town.
        After asking the villagers questions about the Shan soldiers in the area, of which they denied having any knowledge, the police accused them of buying things for the Shan soldiers and ordered them to pay a fine of 50,000 kyat if they wanted to get through the checkpoint.
        The villagers said that they could not pay the fine because they had spent all their money to buy the goods, but the police did not let them go. Finally, one of the villagers, Lung Thack Seng, had to borrow money in the town and give it to the police.
        The 2 villagers earned their living as petty peddlers and had been able to subsist on the meagre profits they made. But now their livelihood was ruined because most of the money they got from selling their goods had to be used to pay their debts.
        In addition to having lost their only means to earn a living, the villagers still had to fulfil their compulsory duties, e.g., various types of forced labour and extortion, which had been increasing all the time.
        As the burdens had become increasingly unbearable for them, the villagers fled to the Thai border in hope of finding something to support themselves.

MONEY EXTORTED FROM FAMILIES WHOSE MEMBERS HAD GONE TO THAILAND, IN LARNG-KHUR
        In October 2006, money was extorted from 2 village families by SPDC troops from LIB525 at Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, because their family members had gone to work in Thailand.
        On 2 October 2006, a patrol of 15 SPDC troops from LIB525, led by Capt. Myint Tin, came to Lung Zaai and Pa Awng’s, husband and wife, house at Wan Haad Mai village and ordered them to pay a fine of 100,000 kyat, because their son and daughter had gone to Thailand without permission.
        After getting the demanded money, the SPDC troops went on to Lung Ta and Pa Mawn’s house in the same village and told them to pay a fine of 70,000 kyat, saying that their sone had gone to Thailand without permission.
        SPDC troops in the area had been trying to get information about people who had gone to work in Thailand so that they could extort money from their relatives left behind. The 2 families in Wan Haad Mai mentioned above were among those who the SPDC troops knew about.
        Since their children had actually gone to Thailand, the villagers could not deny the charge and had to comply with the SPDC troops’ demands to avoid further abuses. It was lucky that the SPDC troops knew only of those 2 families in the village, said local villagers.

MONEY EXTORTED FROM TRAVELLERS GOING TO THE THAI BORDER, IN MURNG-TON
        In October 2006, 7 travellers going to the Thai border, who stopped for a night in Murng-Ton township, were forced to pay 2,500 baht (Thai money) each by the SPDC police for not staying at their hotel and paying the fees for the night.
        On 9 October 2006, 7 villagers from Wan Haad Mai village in Nawng Long village tract, Larng-Khur township, who were travelling to the Thai border, stopped for a night at Naa Kawng Mu village in Naa Kawng Mu village tract, Murng-Ton township.
        Although the car carrying the travellers stopped at a hotel jointly run by the SPDC police and a local villager in the main village of Naa Kawng Mu, the 7 villagers did not stay at the hotel but went to a new quarter of the village, called Pawk Nam Haang, and stayed at the house of their relatives for the night.
        The owners of the hotel, the police and the local villager, were angry with the said 7 travellers for not staying at their hotel and told the driver of the car to charge the travellers extra fares for the transport and give the extra to the hotel.
        But the driver said that the travellers had already paid the fares in advance for the whole journey, 100,000 kyat each, so the hotel owners said they would extort the money themselves from the travellers the next morning as a fine for not staying at their hotel.
        When the police went to the house in the village’s new quarter where the travellers were staying for the night to extort money from them, the travellers and the car they came by had already departed early in the morning.
        The police then went to the house of the headman of the new quarter and told him that because he was the one who accepted the travellers to stay in his quarter, he was responsible for getting the money from the travellers and giving it to them.
        The police told the headman to get 2,500 baht of Thai money from each of the travellers and even threatened to put him in jail, together with the owner of the house where the travellers had stayed the night, if he did not comply.