human rights watch report

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA RELEASES NEW REPORT


For Further Information:

Zunetta Liddell, London              171 713 1995 (UK)
                              
Sidney Jones, New York               212 972 8400 (US)
                               
Mike Jendrezyzck, Washington D.C.         202 371 6592 (US)


          "BURMA: ABUSES LINKED TO THE FALL OF MANERPLAW"

     The Burmese army and their allies, the Democratic Buddhist Karen Organization (DKBO),
committed gross violations  in the Karen State and in refugee camps in Thailand during the recent offensive
against Karen insurgents, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch/Asia.  The report, Burma:
Abuses Linked to the Fall of Manerplaw, was released today on the fiftieth anniversary of Armed Forces Day
in Burma.  The violations documented in the report include first-hand accounts of the killing and beating of
men forcibly taken by the army to work as porters, widespread use of forced labor, mistreatment of civilians
suspected of supporting the Karen National  Union, attacks on refugees in Thailand, and deliberate
instigation of communal tension through state radio.  Human Rights Watch/Asia takes note of the strong
resolution on Burma that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed on March 8, and calls
on the international community to follow up that resolution with concrete action, such as prohibiting trade
and investment delegations to Burma until the ruling State and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) complies
with the resolution's provisions.

     The report covers the period October 1994 to February 1995 and is based in part on interviews with
refugees in Thailand in January and February 1995, including interviews with over fifty men taken to act as
porters. The men were seized from their places of work, from cinemas, trains and even their own homes,
from October onwards in towns and villages in the Karen and Mon states of Burma. The men were subject
to physical abuse and inhumane treatment. All had witnessed the deaths of fellow porters, and all but one
were themselves severely beaten by the soldiers when they slipped or fell from exhaustion. 

     The report also includes documentation of attacks on refugees in Thailand. Following the fall of
Manerplaw on January 26, over 9,000 refugees have sought asylum in Thailand, but their safety there has
been threatened by incursions by a group of armed men from the DKBO. The DKBO distributed leaflets
calling on all Buddhist Karen to join them at their base in Myaing Gyi Ngu, threatening to attack those who
remain in the refugee camps. Some of these leaflets also called on them to kill the KNU leader, Bo Mya. On
February, 23 these threats became reality when DKBO troops opened fire on a truck taking four families -
a total of twenty individuals - to a new refugee camp site in Thailand's Mae Sam Leb district. Two women
and the Thai truck driver were killed, and eleven others were injured. Human Rights Watch/Asia calls on
Thailand to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of the refugees and ensure that they are not
repatriated against their will.

     In the report, Human Rights Watch/Asia makes recommendations to the Burmese government, the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community more generally.  These
recommendations include:

    Burma must meet without exception its obligations under common Article 3 of the Geneva
     Conventions and to investigate, prosecute and punish government agents  responsible for violations. 

    In accordance with the International Labor Oganization conventions, the practice of forced labor and
     forced portering should be stopped immediately, and those found recruiting or employing villagers
     and others for this purpose should be prosecuted and punished.

    The ASEAN should reconsider their policy of "constructive engagement" towards Burma and make
     it clear to Rangoon that Burma's presence at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference in Brunei in
     July is at risk unless there are improvements in the human rights situation and Aung San Suu Kyi
     is unconditionally freed.

    A contact group of countries, including some of Burma's neighbors, should be established at the UN
     to coordinate a clear program of action aimed at ensuring compliance with the UN resolution. Full
     support should be given to the UN Secretary General's office and the UN Special Rapporteur on
     Burma.



Copies of the report are available from the Publications Department, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(Fax: 212 972 0905)  or from 33, Islington High Street, London N1 9LH (Fax: 171 713 1800).



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              Human Rights Watch/Asia (formerly Asia Watch)
Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental oganization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the
observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and
among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. Kenneth Roth is the executive director; Cynthia Brown is the
program director; Holly Burkhalter is the advocacy director; Gara LaMarche if the associate director; Juan
E. Mendez is general counsel; and Susan Osnos is the communications director.  Robert L. Bernstein is the
chair of the executive committee and Adrian DeWind is vice chair. Its Asia division was established in 1985
to monitor and promote observance of internationally recognised human rights in Asia.  Sidney Jones if the
executive director; Mike Jendrzejczyk is the Washington director; Robin Munro is the Hong Kong director;
Zunetta Liddell, Dinah PoKempner, Particia Gossman and Jeanine Guthrie are research associates; Mark
Girouard and Shu-Ju Ada Cheng are Luce Fellows; Diana Tai-Feng Cheng and Jennifer Hyman are
associates; Mickey Spiegel is a research consultant.
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