SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - OCTOBER 2007

COMMENTARY
        The peaceful mass protests led by Buddhist monks in several big cities in Burma during last month are glaring evidence of how difficult life has become under the oppressive rule of the Burmese military junta.
        The fact that hundreds of thousands of monks and lay people dared to take to the street at all, risking their lives while knowing very well that they would be savagely put down by the junta, is a very clear indicator of how desperate people have become.
        The fact that the junta’s troops had been ordered to beat, shoot and kill the peaceful demonstrators with no qualms at all is also proof that the junta will stop at nothing to use brute force to hold on to power, even if it means killing the monks and risking more public abhorrence, including that of their own members.
        If the junta’s troops are so brutal that they dare to do such things in broad daylight in front of numerous witnesses, including members of the international community, it is not hard to visualize what their behaviour would be like in remote places like rural Shan State, far away from the eyes and ears of the international community, where they have been roaming for more than 4 decades.
        For more than 10 years now SHRF has been regularly reporting on the human rights violations committed by the Burmese junta’s troops in Shan State. During this time, there has been no shortage of information on human rights abuses and we have gathered more data than we could actually report.
        This month’s issue also contains reports on various types of human rights violations committed by the troops of the current Burmese junta, SPDC, in Shan State, as can been seen in the adjacent ‘Contents’.

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A MAN RANDOMLY SHOT DEAD IN MURNG-KERNG
        In April 2007, a villager of Nawng Ung village in Ham Ngaai village tract, Murng-Kerng township, was shot dead by SPDC troops from LIB259 near a military camp at Nawng Ung village.
        On the evening of 26 April 2007, Zaai Thun (m), aged 30, of Nawng Ung village, who was returning to his village on a motorcycle, was shot dead by the SPDC troops from LIB259 that were manning a military camp at the village.
        When the villagers heard the gun shots and came out to see, they found their fellow villager Zaai Thun lying dead in a pool of blood near his motorcycle near the said military camp. When the villagers enquired about it, the SPDC soldiers at the camp said that Zaai Thun was killed by a man who came with him on the same motorcycle.
        They said that when the SPDC soldier who was on sentry duty at the time ordered them to stop, the man riding behind Zaai Thun jumped off the bike and shot at the sentry box and then at Zaai Thun, and ran away and escaped. Zaai Thun was killed on the spot, but the sentry was not hit, they said.
        According to the villagers who knew what had actually happened, however, Zaai Thun was alone when he was shot dead. Zaai Thun went out to work with a mini-tractor on that day and his tractor broke down on the way. He had to walk 2 miles to Zaam Pawng village where there was a mechanic and they walked back to his tractor.
        After fixing the mini-tractor, Zaai Thun and the mechanic drove it back to Zaai Thun’s house at Nawng Ung village. Zaai Thun then sent the mechanic back to his village, Zaam Pawng, with his motorcycle.
        Zaai Thun was returning home alone on his motorcycle when he was shot dead at the military camp. He was shot at close range and there was no one else at the military camp except the SPDC soldiers, they said.
        On the day when the villagers and Zaai Thun’s relatives were conducting a funeral for him, a high ranking SPDC military officer came and gave them 15,000 kyat of money, saying that it was not compensation but to help the villagers with the funeral expenses. However, he added that the case should end then and there, and no one should talk or complain about it elsewhere.

ONE VILLAGER SHOT DEAD, ANOTHER VILLAGER DISAPPEARS AFTER ARREST, IN MURNG-NAI
        In early 2007, a villager of Mai Hai village in Mai Hai village tract, Murng-Nai township, was shot dead and the village tract headman was arrested (and has disappeared up to the present) by SPDC troops from LIB518.
        On the morning of 14 February 2007, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB518 came to Mai Hai village. As they entered the village a man who was mentally unstable, known in the village as ‘mad man Wan-Na’, was frightened and ran away, and the troops shot after him a few times.
        As he reached the edge of the village, Wan-Na stopped and turned to look back and see whether he was being chased, and one of the troops took aim at him and fired. Wan-Na was hit in the chest and died instantly on the spot.
        After examining Wan-Na’s dead body, the SPDC troops declared they had shot dead a Shan soldier who had come to trade in narcotic drugs, and accused the villagers of harbouring Shan rebels and engaging in the drugs business.
        In the evening of the same day, the village tract headman of Mai Hai tract, Kaw-Ta-La, was arrested and taken away by the same troops. He has since then not returned and no one among his relatives and fellow villagers have heard anything from him or about him.
        
A WOMAN GANG-RAPED AND KILLED, HER COW STOLEN, IN MURNG-NAI
        In April 2007, a woman who was grazing her cow was gang-raped and killed, and her cow was stolen, by a group of SPDC soldiers from No. 3 Regional Training School, in the forest in Nawng Hee village tract, Murng-Nai township.
        On 18 April 2007, Naang Gam, aged 38, of Waeng Kao village in Nawng Hee village tract, Murng-Nai township, went to graze her cow in the forest near a cemetery, known as ‘Pu Wai cemetery’, west of Ho Ta village in the same village tract.
        During the day, 5 SPDC soldiers from a contingent of 20 troops, from the said Regional Training School, who were taking security at a bridge on the Nam Teng river in the area came to where Naang Gam was grazing her cow.
        At the time, there were some villagers who were gathering firewood at some distance in the area, and they saw when the SPDC troops went towards where Naang Gam was tending her cow and some time later carried some things away on their shoulders.
        When Naang Gam had not returned at the time she ought to, her husband, Zaai Mawng, went after her and found her body in the forest near Pu Wai cemetery, and the carcass of her cow from which some meat had been cut off lying somewhere nearby.
        Naang Gam’s body was naked with clear signs of having been raped by several persons. Her neck was badly bruised and her blouse was lying close to her mouth, and her sarong was some distance away. She appeared to have been gagged and strangled to death.
        Although Naang Gam’s husband and the villagers knew that she was raped and killed, and her cow stolen, by the SPDC troops, no one dared to complain about it for fear of further abuses. Naang Gam left 2 children for her husband to look after.

RANDOM SHELLING, INJURING VILLAGERS, IN MURNG-KERNG
        In early 2007, SPDC troops from LIB514 fired a mortar shell into a group of villagers who were threshing rice in a rice field east of Nam Neb village in Yaang Loi village tract, Murng-Kerng township, seriously injuring 3 of them.
        Sometime in January 2007, a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB514 came near Nam Neb village and saw a group of people in a distant rice field east of the village. Without knowing, or even trying to know, who those people were, the SPDC troops fired a mortar shell onto the group.
        In fact, those people were farmers from Nam Neb village who were threshing rice in the rice field. They happened to be in a group at the same place at the time because they were taking turns to help thresh each other rice.
        Fortunately, the shell did not land directly upon the group of farmers but exploded some metres away from them. However, 3 farmers were hit and seriously wounded by shrapnel from the shell and had to be taken to the hospital in Murng-Kerng town.
        The villagers did not know why they were shelled by the SPDC troops. But they thought the SPDC soldiers might have thought they were Shan soldiers, because there had been a couple of skirmishes between the two sides in the area 6-7 days before.
        Although the villagers were sure about it, they dared not accuse the SPDC troops or file a complaint against them. The SPDC troops, however, after keeping silent for almost a week, came out to claim that it was the Shan soldiers who shelled and wounded the villagers.

AN ELDERLY WOMAN SEVERELY KICKED AND WOUNDED IN KAENG-TUNG
        In early 2007, a woman who was selling onions in the market in Kaeng-Tung town was severely and repeatedly kicked by an SPDC official responsible for collecting tax at the market, and was wounded and had to be hospitalized.
        On 29 March 2007, Naai E (f), aged 65, of Tong Si village in Loi Long village tract, Kaeng-Tung township, went to the Kaeng-Tung town market with some younger fellow villagers to sell some onions she got from her own garden.
        As the villagers were laying down their vegetables on the side of a road in the market to sell them, a tax collector came to collect money from them as a tax for using the place for selling their goods, 100 kyat per person, and Naai E paid the tax together with her fellow villagers.
        After a while, the same tax collecting official came again and asked Naai E to pay tax. Naai E said she had already paid the tax with the other villagers in front of them, and asked if it was necessary for the official to collect tax 2 times.
        The official then said that Naai E had not yet paid the tax and accused her of lying, and an argument started with Naai E insisting that she had already paid and referring to her fellow villagers as witnesses.
        But the official did not listen to Naai E and kept demanding the tax, and Naai E kept refusing to pay, saying she had already paid. After a short while the official, who was standing, shouted and kicked at Naai E, who was sitting, 3-4 times until she fell backward and rolled on the ground.
        The official then jumped after Naai E and continued to kick her several times until she was rolling and screaming on the ground, and stopped and quickly went away only when several people around intervened to rescue Naai E.
        Naai E could not get up and her fellow villagers had to hire a taxi and took her to the Kaeng-Tung town hospital where she received treatment until she recovered. The official who kicked Naai E was a woman and known to the villagers only as Daw Than Win.

PEOPLE FORCED TO BUILD NEW HOUSES, GROW PHYSIC NUT, THREATENED WITH RELOCATION, IN MURNG-TON
        In May 2007, people who had houses on main roads in Wan Mai Huay Saai village tract in Murng-Ton township were ordered to build new houses by the SPDC troops of IB65. Those who could not build their houses according to the required standard would have to move away from the main roads, said the order.
        People who had houses with bamboo walls and thatched roofing close to the main roads have been required to rebuild their houses with at least wooden walls and corrugated iron roofing, or with better materials such as bricks, concrete blocks and slate roofing, etc..
        Those who could not build their houses at least up to the lowest designated standard were required to move to other places that could not be seen from the main roads. That was because the projected Ta Saang dam would surely be built on the Salween river in the area in the near future.
        The SPDC authorities did not want people who would be coming to and fro during and after the dam had been built to see those poor-looking houses along the way and learn the real situation of the life of the local people, said one family who had to move away from the main road because they could not afford to build a new house.
        To make matter even worse, the order for building new houses and the order to grow physic nut for the military came almost at the same time, and people were forced to do both at the same time and required to finish within almost the same time frame, they explained.

VILLAGERS FORCED TO PROVIDE RICE AND PORK, A VILLAGER ROBBED OF HIS WRISTWATCH, IN KUN-HING
        In May 2007, villagers of Saai Khaao village in Saai Khaao village tract, Kun-Hing township, were forced to provide rice and pork, and a villager was robbed of his wristwatch, by a patrol of SPDC troops from LIB569.
        On 25 May 2007, a patrol of SPDC troops from Murng-Nai-based LIB569 came to Saai Khaao village in Saai Khaao village tract, Kun-Hing township, and ordered the villagers to give them 1-1/2 baskets of rice and 20 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) of pork.
        As they waited for the rice and the pork to be provided at the village headman’s house, the commander of the SPDC patrol told the headman to buy him a good quality wristwatch next time around so that he could use it in patrolling and protecting the people.
        After a while, some villagers brought in the demanded rice and pork and gave them to the SPDC troops. One of the villagers who brought some pork was wearing a wristwatch which looked quite new.
        The commander saw it and asked to see the watch. It was a new watch which the owner had bought only a week ago at the price of 130,000 kyat, and of a brand well known in the area to have good quality, the Japan-made Seiko-5.
        As the SPDC troops left the village with all the demanded rice and pork, the commander did not return the watch to the villager, but said he might as well take it to be used in patrolling and actually took it away with him.
        The villagers not only collectively lost rice worth about 15,000 kyat and pork worth about 80,000 kyat, but an individual villager also lost a wrist watch worth 130,000 kyat, and no one knew what would happen next time around.

REGULAR EXTORTION OF RICE AND MONEY IN MURNG-NAI
        Since early 2007 up to the present, SPDC troops from IB248 have been extorting rice and money from the villagers in Naa Khaan village tract in Murng-Nai township on a monthly basis.
        In early 2007, SPDC troops of IB248 based in Murng-Nai set up an outpost camp near Naa Khan village and manned by rotating troops from the base, so that there were about 38 troops stationed at the camp all the time.
        Because they received nothing in terms of food from the base camp, they turned to the local villagers in order to feed themselves. They forced the villagers to provide them with food stuff such as rice, cooking oil, chicken and pork, etc..
        Since then, apart from occasional extortion of other kinds, e.g., vegetables, etc., villagers in Naa Khaan village tract have to provide rice, cooking oil and chicken on a regular basis, and have to transport them right to the military camp.
        Each household is required to provide 2 pyi of rice and certain amounts of cooking oil and chicken per month. Those who could not provide cooking oil and chicken have to give 2,000 kyat of money instead. But as for the 2 pyi of rice, villagers have to find it somewhere even if they do not have it.

PHONE NUMBERS USED AS BAIT FOR EXTORTION IN KAENG-TUNG
        During May and June 2007, a lot of money was extorted from the Kaeng-Tung townspeople by the authorities using house-phone numbers that were to be allotted to the people as bait.
        Sometime in May 2007, SPDC authorities in Kaeng-Tung town announced that phone numbers for 200 house phones were allotted to Kaeng-Tung township by the central authorities and said that those who wanted could apply for them.
        Soon after the announcement, the commander of the Triangle Regional Command took away 80 numbers for the military and only 120 numbers were left for the people. The remaining 120 numbers were then put on sale at the rate of 2,500,000 kyat per number and people were persuaded to apply for them.
        Even though the application forms were required to be bought from the authorities at the rate of 3,500 kyat per form, within only about 15 days there were more than 7,000 applicants. Because of too many applicants, the authorities came up with a scheme to make money using middlemen.
        People were told by the middlemen that those who could pay 1,250,000 kyat in advance would be given priority in considering the applications, and the remaining portion of the cost could be paid after the installment of the phone.
        At about the same time, other middlemen were telling people that the commander of the Triangle Command would have to transfer to another place in the near future. Because of that, the 80 phone numbers taken by him earlier would be reallotted back to the people.
        Those who wanted a phone from that allotment could get it immediately if they paid 3,500,000 kyat in advance, the middlemen said. “Pay today, get it tomorrow. It will be that quick”, they guaranteed.
        For the people who really wanted the phone, however, the situation was quite confusing, not knowing who to believe. Nevertheless, there might have already been a lot of transactions taking place between the buyers and the middlemen of both sections even though the results were uncertain, commented one of the townspeople.

THE SITUATION OF FORCED BUYING OF CROPS
        While rice is the main crop which the Burmese junta’s troops regularly procure by forcing farmers to sell them once a year at prices many times lower than the contemporary market prices, other kinds of crop, e.g., peanut, corn, sesame and even tea, have also been often forcibly procured by them using the same means.
        Sometimes, the Junta’s troops even force farmers to sell their rice to them more than once in just a single year, effectively depriving many farmers even of the seeds to be used to cultivate in the next rice growing season.
        The following are some such incidents that took place in the early parts of this year, 2007.

PEOPLE FORCED TO SELL TEA, GROW TEA FOR THE ARMY, IN KAENG-TUNG AND MURNG-PAENG
        Since early this year, SPDC troops in Kaeng-Tung and Murng-Paeng have been forcing people in Kaeng-Tung and Murng-Paeng townships to sell them tea and grow tea for the army on lands confiscated from the local people.
        In early 2007, SPDC authorities in Kaeng-Tung and Murng-Paeng issued orders to the people in their respective township to sell tea to them at the rate of 6 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) per household and at the price of 1,200 kyat per viss, while the market price was 6,000 kyat per viss.
        Because of the orders, people who did not have tea of their own had to buy from others at 6,000 kyat per viss and resell it to the SPDC troops at 1,200 kyat, losing 4,800 kyat per viss. That meant each household had to lose 28,800 kyat to the army since the rate was 6 viss per household.
        This all started when tea prices in the areas rose up to 6,000 kyat per viss after a number of traders from China began to come and competitively buy tea from the farmers, while it was only about between 2,500 and 3,000 kyat per viss previously.
        Seeing that they could make handsome profits in trading tea, the SPDC troops forced people to sell it to them at a much lower price and they then resold it to the Chinese traders at the contemporary market price, which was 6,000 kyat per viss at the time this report was compiled, and at the same time issued a ban on transporting tea out of the areas without permission from them.
        Furthermore, in Kaeng-Tung township, many acres of land in remote areas, many of them belonging to the local populace, have been confiscated by the SPDC authorities to cultivate tea for the army, using forced labour of the locals to plant tea.
        People living in the vicinities of the said SPDC troops’ tea plantations have been required to plant tea for the troops at the rate of 400-500 plants per household, many on lands that had been confiscated from them.

FARMERS FORCED TO SELL RICE A SECOND TIME IN JUST ONE YEAR IN MURNG-TON
        In April 2007, farmers in Mae Ken village tract in Murng-Ton township were forced to sell their rice to the military for a second time although they had already sold their one-year rice quotas to the SPDC authorities earlier in the year.
        In February 2007, farmers in Mae Ken village tract had been required to sell their rice quotas to the SPDC authorities at the ratio of 6 baskets of unhusked rice to each acre of land, and at the price of 1,300 kyat per basket, while the market price was 2,500 kyat per basket at the time.
        In April 2007, a contingent of SPDC troops from IB277 that were stationed at the public pavilion in Mae Ken village issued an order requiring the farmers in the area to sell their rice to the military for a second time at the same rate of 6 baskets per acre.
        When the farmers said that they had already sold their designated rice quotas to the authorities, the SPDC troops threatened to confiscate their rice fields if they refused to comply with the order and said that they would pay 1,500 kyat for each basket. However, the market price had gone up to 3,750 kyat per basket at the time.
        For fear of their land being confiscated by the SPDC troops, the farmers had no choice but to comply with the order. Since they had had to sell 12 baskets per acre in just one single season, and at the prices many times lower than the market prices, many farmers have been faced with great difficulties to make ends meet.
        Farmers in at least 4 villages - Mae Ken, Saam Waan, Son Khaan and Mawk Zili - in Mae Ken village tract had to sell about 1,000 baskets of rice altogether. The SPDC troops later milled the rice into husked rice and resold it to the people in the area at the rate of 8,000 kyat per 1/2 basket.