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THE PLIGHTS OF BURMESE WOMEN
- Subject: THE PLIGHTS OF BURMESE WOMEN
- From: caroline@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 22:34:00
This document will be submitted to Beijing conference
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THE PLGHTS OF BURMESE WOMEN
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THE PLIGHT OF BURMESE WOMEN
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Prepared and distributed by Burmese Women Union for
the Fourth UN Confenence on Women , Beijing,
September 1995.
* Burmese Womens Union(BWU), August 1995
The Plight of Burmese Women
Published by
Burmese Women Union(BWU)
P.O Box 1352, G.P.O
Bangkok 1051
Thailand
E-Mail : caroline@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Funded by
National Coaliation Government of Union of Burma(NCGUB)
Information Office
Washington, USA
(The Burmese Women Union(BWU) was founded in January 1995 by a
group of women who are actively opposed to the military dictatorship and
arrived in the liberated areas after the 1988 bloody military coup. The
BWU is politically independent organization and not under the control of
any politial party or organization. Any Burmese women who belives in
the aims and objectives of the BWU can become a member of the BWU
regardless of their ethnic origin or political belife. The aims and
objectives of the BWU are;(1) To promote the role of the Burmese
women in politics, (2) To practise womens rights recognised by the
standard of international community and distribute them among Burmese
society and (3) To apply the physical and intellectual power of the
women so that it will assist and support the emergence of a modern,
advanced, peaceful and a new democratic union in Burma.)
Printed in Singapore
THE PLIGHT OF BURMESE WOMEN
I. Introduction
II. Women inside Burma
- Political Detention, arbitrary arrest and unfaire political trials
III. The plight of Burmese women in the border areas
- Extrajudicial execution and ill-treatment against women
- Forced relocation
- Forced porterage
- Forced labor for military purposes
- Forced labor in Development Projects
- Rape and sexual abuses
IV. Refugee women
V. Burmese asylum seekers in Thailand
VI. Trafficking of Burmese women into Thailand
VII. Conclusion
Appendix I
The Plight of Burmese Women Role of Female Students During 1988
Uprising, a paper submitted at Berlin International Burma Conference in
April 1993 by Mi Sue Pwint, one of the Organizing Committee members
of BWU.
Appendix II
The Women of Burma; Holding Up Two-Third of the Sky by Eugene
Thaike Yawnghwe ( Canada)
Appendix III
And What About the Women of Burma? by Janis E.Nickel (Burma
Issue, Thailand)
Appendix IV
Assistance is Inappropriate for Burma by Nyein Han
Appendix V
Burmas AIDS Epidemic by Edith T. Mirante (Project Maje, USA)
Appendix VI
Excerpt fromModern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese Women
and Girls into Brothels in Thailand by Asia Watch (New York, USA)
Appendix VII
Women in Politics by Burma Information Group (BIG, Thailand)
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the military, known as State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) took power in September 1988, human rights are
grossly and persistently violated throughout Burma. The victims come
from every section of society, and every ethnic and religious group.
People are detained because of their political, religious or other
conscientiously-held beliefs or because of their ethnic origin, sex color
or
language, who have neither used nor advocated violence. Opposition to
the military regime has been systematically suppressed. Many political
prisoners have been detained under equally draconian laws in violation of
international human rights and legal standards. The law most commonly
used to detain political activists are the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act,
which allows for imprisonment for up to seven years if anyone infringes
upon the integrity, health, conduct and respect of state or military
organizations... or spreads false news about the government; the 1957
Unlawful Associations Act, which allows for imprisonment of up to five
years for anyone who has been a member of, or assisted, any
organizations which encourages or aids persons to commit acts of
violence or intimidation ; Section 121, 122-1 and 124 of the 1957 Penal
Code, which allow for death, life or seven years imprisonment for
anyone committing high treason, or misprision of high treason; the 1962
Printers and Publishers Registration Act (amended in 1989) which
allows for imprisonment for up to five years for anyone with a permit
who publishes material which oppose the Slorc... insult, slanders or
attempts to divide the Defense Forces; and the 1975 State Protection
Law.
Those who have been jailed, many faced unfair trials and
sometimes with no trial at all. Many have been tortured or have suffered
other forms of ill-treatment. The military continues to detain civilian,
including women and youth to work as porters or as forced laborers,
especially on infrastructure projects. SLORC continues to be responsible
for arbitrary detention; torture; and denials of freedom of association,
expression, and assembly. In ethnic minority areas where the military
confronts armed insurgency, defenseless civilians have been arbitrarily
arrested, tortured and killed.
II. WOMEN INSIDE BURMA
Political Detention, arbitrary arrest and unfair political trials
Since the beginning of uprising calling for democracy and
human rights in Burma, women have been taking part actively. Many of
the hundreds of thousands of women were arrested, any eyewitnesses
reported that a number were killed by the security forces. The most
prominent figure, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
winner, has become a national leader of Burma and put under house
arrest in 1989. After spending six years of house arrest, she was
released
on July 10, 1995, a day before the end of her period of detention under
Burmese law.
Although Daw Aung San Suu Kyis recent release, many human
rights organizations estimate that at least 1,000 political prisoners
remain
in Burmese jails, including sixteen members of parliament elected in
1990. Many political prisoners are held without charge or trial under
administrative detention provision. For those who have been charged and
brought before the courts have been denied the right to the most basic
elements of legal protection. They have been convicted under laws which
criminalize peaceful political activity and provide for trials which fall
far
short of internationally-accepted standards for fair trial. SLORC
established military tribunals in July 1989 and these tribunals were
given
the authority to waive unnecessary witnesses, indict offenders with
hearing prosecution witnesses and reject the recalling of witness who
have already testified. There is no right of judicial appeal against the
sentences of these tribunals. In some cases, political prisoners are
tried
within prison compounds. The defendant has no access to lawyers or
independent witnesses.
Conditions in Burmese jails are extremely poor conditions
which constitutes a pattern of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Conditions are particularly bad in Insein, Thayet and Tharawaddy prisons
where hundreds of political prisoners are held. Prisoners are routinely
restrained by shackles, deprived of sleep food and water, and held in
extremely overcrowded cells with poor sanitation. They rarely receive any
medical treatment for diseases which are common in Burmese prisons,
including malaria, skin conditions, and dysentery. Political prisoners
are
also subject to torture and ill-treatment, particularly during
interrogation
in the initial phrase of detention. A numbers of political prisoners have
died during their detention due to the torture and ill-treatment.
Among the political prisoners, some are women who arrested
for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association and
the right to take part in the government of the country.
Dr. Ma Thida, a medical doctor and short story writer,
age 27 while she was working in a philanthropic Muslim
Hospital, was arrested with ten other political activists on
7 August 1993. She and the other were allegedly held
without access to friends or lawyers until their trial
started on September 27, 1993. Slorc had to change the
date of court hearing when many people turned up at the
court. On October 15, she was sentenced to twenty years
in prison. She was convicted under emergency
regulations for among other charges. contact with illegal
organizations and distributing prohibited literature. Ma
Thida was a closed associate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
before she was placed under house arrest in July 1989.
She is become well-known for her short stories and has
written novels but they have not been published. Slorc is
now banning her from publishing her latest novel after
they had already given permission to publish. She is
being punished solely for her political views and
peaceful activities.
Another writer and member of National League for
Democracy (NLD) Central Committee, San San Nwe
(Tharawaddy) was arrested in August 1994 for passing
fabricated news to foreign media and embassies and
distributing documents of expatriate groups. She was
sentenced to ten years. She was tried under the 1950
Emergency Provisions Act and the 1957 Unlawful
Associations Act. She was a well-known journalist and
the author of over five hundred short stories, twelve
novels, and over a hundred poems. She was arrested in
July 1989 with the allegation of creating unrest and
released in April 1990.
On February 20, 1995 several students were arrested
during the funeral of U Nu, who was Prime Minister
until the military coup of 1962. The students started
singing a pro-democracy song during the funeral
procession and were immediately arrested. On April 28,
nine of those arrested, including three female students,
Ma Moe Kalayar, Ma Aye Moe and Ma Cho Nwe Oo
were sentenced to seven years in prison under Section
5(j) of the Emergency Provision Act.
III. THE PLIGHT OF BURMESE WOMEN IN THE BORDER
AREA
The military has committed human rights violations in the
context of its counter-insurgency activities against various armed ethnic
minority groups, who have been struggling for greater autonomy since
1949 after Burma gained independence from the British. Gross human
rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial executions, have
undoubtedly been committed by military in Burmas long-running civil
and ethnic conflicts. The ethnic people suffer as a result of human
rights
abuses committed during Tatmadaw operations, especially during the
forced relocation of villages, enforced portering and the seizure of land
and property. These abuses have included extrajudicial executions,
arbitrary arrest, torture, beating , rape and forced porterage.
Extrajudicial execution and ill-treatment against women
In August 1992, SLORC acceded to the four Geneva
Conventions of 1949, which establish the internationally-recognized
minimum humane standards of conduct to be observed in situations of
internal or external armed conflicts. Common Article 3 of the Geneva
Conventions, which applies to all parties to an internal armed conflicts,
specifies the following minimum standards: (1) Person taking no active
part in the hostilities... shall in all circumstances be treated
humanely....
With respect to non-combatants, Common Article 3 prohibits, among
other things:
(a) violation to life and person, in particular murder of all
kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture:
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating
and degrading treatment..
The Burmese military is legally bound under international law
to ensure that the principles enshrined in Common Article 3 are adhered
to and that all civilians are protected from attack, including torture
and
extrajudicial executions. In reality, the arrest, extrajudicial
execution, and
other forms of human rights violations are well-documented by
international human rights organizations.
Women and children are the most vulnerable victims of human
rights violations by the military in the war-zone. There is a clear
evidence
that the majority of the refugees from Burma who have fled Thailand to
take refuge are women and their children. The global situation of women
is inflected in Burma; most of the casualties of war are women and their
children; most of the refugees and displace people are women and their
children; most of the poor are women and their children in Burma. Over
the years there have been many reports of the arbitrary arrest, shooting
or
extrajudicial execution of women in ethnic minority villages.
In December 1990, for example, a Buddhist Karen
women from Ti Pa Htoda village, Thaton district,
described how troops had just shot and killed her 16-
year-old sister Pe Po for no apparent reason. The girl was
returning home through the forest with a group of other
dancers from a religious festivals. Fearing further
shootings, many of the women villagers fled to refugee
camps on the Thai border, while the men remained in
hiding in the forests to try to farm their fields.
In many cases, soldiers made no attempt to established the
identities or status of their victims before killing them. Women
especially
become the victims of mistreatment by the military as they could not
run
away.
A refugee from a village near Kyeikdon, Mon State said
that in February 1992, a group of about ten soldiers
entered her village and murdered two of her relatives
without warning The soldiers were patrolling in the
area all the time, trying to flush out any KNU troops still
around... When we heard that they were coming everyone
ran away. My mother and sister and a local boy ran to
hide in one of the huts in the fields... The Burmese
soldiers surrounded the small hut when they realized that
there were people hiding there. They didnt give them a
chance to come out though- they just started shooting. I
found my sisters body later. She had been shot from
underneath through the bamboo floor, and the bullet had
gone right through her chest. Her body was slumped over
a sack of rice. The boy leapt down and started to run, but
he was hit in the ankle. After he fell, the soldiers went up
to him and stabbed him in the chest with a bayonet. My
mother wasnt hurt; she was still cowering in the hut
when we found her.
Women are subject to torture or sexually harassment if their
close relatives are suspected of being members or sympathizers of the
ethnic armed groups.
Paw Muh Der Village is in an area of steep high hills and
thick forest in Papun Township, Karen State. It has only
24 houses, 143 people, all simple farmers. It is only one
hour walk from the Say Day Camp of SLORC IB 59
based in Kyauk Kyi. On 3 March,1992, 2nd Column of
that IB 59 led by Column Commander Maj Aung San Oo
came to the village. As soon as the villagers knew they
were there they tried to escape to the jungle, without
being able to take anything with them. The troops stayed
in the village for three days, during which they held 19
villagers hostage two men, seven women and ten
children. Naw Lay Swai, age 75, was reportedly kept tied
naked to a tree. The other men, women, and children
were detained for three days. [source: KNU/ABSDF]
Another Karen woman from Kyauk Kyi Township, Pegu
Division told her story how she was abused by the military for her
husband suspected as the KNU soldier. She was detained and
interrogated several times about her husband.
On January 12, 1993 at about 7 p.m. during the Karen
New Year celebrations, SLORC troops from IB 60 came
to Po Lo No Po Village [Burmese: Kyun Gone Village]
in Kyauk Kyi Township, Pegu Division, and surrounded
Ns house. They tied up her father and her at gunpoint
and dragged them outside, where she was tied to a mango
tree and surrounded by five armed soldiers. They
interrogated her about her husband and threatened her all
night.
Her husband S was a cattle trader and had run his
business in the area controlled by the KNU since
November 1993. Because of his business in that area,
SLORC troops accused him of having contact with KNU
and frequently tried to arrest him since then.
The next day they released her father but took her to In
Net village, and then brought her to the MI office in
Kyauk Kyi. They detained her there and forced to cook
for them for two days. They asked her about her husband
and she explained them she didnt know where he was
and that the accusation on her husband was not true.
After two days they took her to IB 60 headquarters and
put her under guard. She said that while there, she saw
about thirty other villagers from nearby villages who were
held. The next day she was released after signing a bond.
On arriving home, she learned that her relatives had to
pay 6,600 Ks and three bags of rice for her release. She
also found that while she had been gone the soldiers had
destroyed her house and driven her relatives out of the
village. She took her children and lived in a hut in the
forest for temporary shelter, and then moved to a safer
place to escape from further ill-treatment by SLORC.
Most of her relatives moved to other villages as well.
(Source: KHRG)
In another case, Naw K'ser Paw, 38-year-old Karen mother of
six children was arrested, tortured and forced to work in the detention
for
her husband who was suspected as the Karen soldier.
I was arrested at the start of 1994. The SLORC soldiers
surrounded the house, called us to come out and said "If
you don't come out we'll drag you out!" Then they started
to punch me.
They tried to punch me in the face but they missed, then
they tried to punch me in my back but instead of me they
hit my baby son in the head. I thought he was going to
die. He wasn't even breathing. There was also a man
staying at our house to protect us, and they hit him with a
gun about ten times. There were about two hundred
soldiers that's a lot! Their commander was Major Myo
Tint. They tied us up and took us to the headman's house
in the village.
At the same time they took all our cattle. They kept us
there one night, then the next day they took us to Tat Tu
Camp. Along the way they made me and my baby son sit
under a hut for about four hours. They did not give us
any food. When we arrived at Tat Tu they asked me a lot
of questions about my husband and then put us in the
jail. The next morning they took us to a bigger jail in Tat
Tu, where they kept us for eight days. Then they took us
to Tham Bo camp.
At Tham Bo camp we had to work starting at 6 a.m.,
clearing the bushes and cleaning around the senior
officers' houses. We had to make fences around their
houses, cut wood and carry water. There were many
others being held prisoner like us, not only Karen but
Burmese too. There was one group of twenty-four people
they arrested all together. Then twenty of them were
released and only four of them were left. Everybody had
to work, Burmese, Karen, everybody. The soldiers hit me
on my back and kicked me in the head. The only food we
had was sent to us from our village; it wasn't SLORC's
food. Sometimes we only had rice, not even any fishpaste
or salt.
After three months at Tham Bo they took us to the police
camp at Ler Doh for one night and one day without food.
Then they took us to the court [she probably means the
township LORC office]. At the court they told us "We
arrested you because of your husbands, not because of
yourselves. Because your husbands are very bad men. We
need to kill them, though in a way I do not want to kill
them." Then I had to pay 16,000 Ks to Ye Soe. He is the
superior of Major Myo Tint, who arrested me. I also had
to pay 2,400 Ks when we were at the police station. They
told us if we didn't give them the money they asked for
they'd put us back in prison, so we had to give them
everything because we couldn't bear to stay there
anymore. Then they released us.
We always had to keep running from SLORC. Only two
of my children went to school, one girl and one boy.
They just started school for two days, then we had to
move. Since we've arrived here we've been sick all the
time, so we can't do anything. The mother has to care for
her sick children, and the children have to care for their
sick mother. We can't get any food so we have to buy it,
and now we've run out of money. (KHRG)
Women are sometimes used as the hostages to replace with the
men for forced porter. Military took hostages of women and summon the
men to replace with them when they could not get arrest any men in the
village.
On November 26, SLORC troops from LIB 410 led by
Capt. Than Wai forced thirty females including those
are at the age of 75 to stand under the scorching sun all
day long because they could not find any men in the
village.
Thirty women who were forced to stand under the
scorching sun were; Ma Tin Nyan (19), Ma Thein (21),
Mat Tut (27), Ma Hla Kyi (32), Ma In (32), Daw Ya (42),
Daw Kayin (50), Daw Kun (55), Daw Ngwe Khin (56),
Daw Hla Tin (64), Daw Hla Kyaing (68), Daw Ngwe
(75), Daw Mi, Mi Tut (50), Ma Tin Hla, Ma Kyi, Ngwe
In, Daw Lae, Ma Kyin, Ma Ngwe, the elderly Daw Lwe,
Daw Phu Akae, Daw Phyu, Daw Si and Mi Nge.
(Source: NMSP/NLD-LA/DPNS)
On August 11, 1994, in Papun District, SLORC troops
from LIB arrested 21 villagers from three different
villages including men, women, and even two baby-boys
only three years old. They were taken and held prisoner
at the battalion's camp and interrogated by an intelligence
captain. The captain and battalion leaders demanded two
guns and one walkie-talkie, and said that if the other
villager did not get these for them then they would kill all
twenty-four who were held hostage at their camp. The
other villagers were afraid they would be killed, so they
pooled their resources and effort and went searching for
guns and a walkie-talkie. They finally managed to obtain
them and gave them to the soldiers on August 27. Only
then were the villagers released.
Military Infantry Battalion No. 57 had set up an
interrogation cell called Shwe Pyi Nyein in their
battalion headquarters in Shwe Kyin and there they
tortured all the suspected persons. If one household
member joined the democratic forces, the remaining
members were arrested and tortured at that cell. On May
11, 1992 Naw Dah Lu from Ma-U Bin was arrested for
her son and Tin Htay from east Don Za Yint was arrested
for her daughter. (DAWN Vol. 4. No. 3 Page 8)
The SLORC battalion may have believed that some villagers in
the area had been trained and armed by the Karen army as a Karen village
defense militia. In fact, there are no Karen militia or weapons in those
villages, and the villagers had a very hard time obtaining any. The
SLORC troops probably demanded guns and a radio so they could
present them to their superiors as "captured" them from Karen soldiers in
battle. Weapons obtained this way are often shown in the SLORC media
as weapons "captured from" or "laid down by" "members of Karen armed
group". In order to obtain the weapons from the villagers, sometimes the
army detains women and children at the base and ask their husband or
relatives to bring the weapon and bail them out.
In Karen State, a man told how his wife was used as a hostage
in the army camp.
SLORC soldiers from Column 1 of LIB came to N
Village and captured me together with six other villagers,
including two women. They took us outside the village,
tied us all up with the same rope and blindfolded us.
They kept the two women together. They took all of us to
L Army outpost and beat us up, asking us to tell them
where the gun and the walkie-talkie were. We told them
we didn't know anything. The soldier who interrogated us
was M. Everybody was tortured. Later they released
the headman and sent an order with him for all our wives
to bring rice for us. When my wife brought rice for me,
they captured her as well. Anything the women brought
aside from rice was taken and eaten by the soldiers. They
ordered the headman to go find a gun and a walkie-talkie,
but he dared not go so they told two of us to go along
with him. Three of us went back to our village and then
we ran away, and then I met you gathering information.
My wife is still in their camp. I don't know what will
happen to all the people there. ( KHRG)
The military units have distributed written commands to
hundreds of villages in war-zones in Karen, Mon, Karenni, Shan, Kachin
and Araken state where ethnic armed struggles are going on. These
commands order the local civilian to relocate, to inform on ethnic
supporters, to supply unpaid laborers and to provide troops with
material.
Many were stamped Comply Without Fail. We have obtained many of
these letters sent by the army to the village headmen asking them to
collect the weapons or face killing of hostage women. The following are
the some of letters translated. Details which must be omitted for the
safety of the villagers are blacked out on the order photocopies and
written here as 'xxx' or 'yyy'.
Order# 1
Stamp:
Light Infantry Battalion # xxx To:
Intelligence Unit Mr. xxx
We are detaining xxx's wife, his younger brother and the head of
the village from xxx village. So in return for their lives, we know
Mr. xxx has one AK-47 rifle and one Icon walkie-talkie. If you
send them within two days along with one villager, we'll give you
a guarantee for their lives and we won't arrest you. After two days
has expired, we cannot guarantee their lives. You should handle
this the same way as previously with Infantry Battalion # xxx
[another battalion in the area], and we will help you.
(Sd.
illegible)
Column
Commander
#xxx
Light Infantry Battalion.
xxx
Outpost
Order # 2
To:
Mr.xxx (xxx Village) (one gun and one Icon walkie-talkie)
Mr.yyy (yyy Village) } (one gun and one walkie-
talkie
Mr.zzz (zzz Village) }
We have sent letter to the above people, the headmen and villagers
to inform them of our order.
Some members of the village defense group and other people from
xxx Village area must hand over their guns and walkie-talkies to
the column commander. If they hand over their guns and walkie-
talkies, we [the column commander and strategic command
commander] will take responsibility for the detained people. If
they run away instead, we won't take responsibility for the
detained families or the villagers.
At the moment, we are communicating with Mr. xxx Village for
the same report to this unit. (KHRG)
Forced relocation
Military devised a ruthless strategy known as the Four Cuts,
similar in concept to the Strategic Hamlet operation of the USA in
Vietnam.
In essence, the Four Cuts strategy is : to cut off the four main
links- of food, finance, intelligence and recruits- between civilians
and
armed opposition forces . Under this operation, large areas are declared
free-fire zones, and entire communities are forced to move to strategic
hamlets, which are fenced in and subjected to tight military control.
Expulsion orders are issued, warning that anyone trying to remain in
their
home will be shot on sight. Ten of thousands of communities have been
destroyed or removed by such Four Cuts operations over the past thirty
years. In ethnic minority areas, forced relocation were undertaken both
as
part of military strategies to deprive the ethnic rebels of their
support, and
to provide the military with free labor for their military.
A 19-year-old Mon girl from Thabyu Zayat township, Mon
State who recounted her experiences of when she returned to her home
village in December 1993 for the birth of her first child. Unknown to
her,
the village had received an order to move to a nearby army camp a month
before her arrival. At the time of the incident she was eight months
pregnant:
On December 13, 1993, a group of soldiers from the
31st Light Infantry Battalion based in Kayoke Pi village
arrived our village in the afternoon. Without any
warning, they started to burn down the houses in our
village. We did not expect them to do that. We had no
time to collect our belongings. Since I was pregnant at
the time, I could not take anything with me. The whole
village was set alight, including the primary school and
Buddhist monastery. I ran into the rice fields with other
people. No one dared to come out because we feared
being arrested or tortured by the troops. The captain
shouted, This is the punishment for those who did not
listen to our order, and laughed.
The soldiers returned in the evening. All the houses had
been burnt to ashes. We had to sleep in the field for one
week without shelter and enough food... Then, about ten
soldiers from the same unit came back and told us to
move near their base. Anyone found in the area would be
shot dead without any questions, these areas were
designated as free-fire zones and they would not allow
any people to live there. After that some people moved to
other villages far away, or to the Thai border. We did not
want to move to their base because we had heard that
there was a lot of forced labor and maltreatment there. I
decided to go back to my husbands village, but I heard
that his village had also been burnt down. So I finally
decided to go to the Thai-Burma border. I am afraid to go
back. (HRW/Asia)
Naw Ler Htoo, 28 year-old-Karen from Pa-an township, Karen
State revealed her life in the new village near the army base after her
village was forcibly relocated.
They gave us three days to move out of the village and
said that after that, if they see anyone in the village
theyll shoot them on sight. We had to move to B
[alongside an existing village]. We asked if we could
move to a better place instead, but they refused and we
had to go to the place theyd ordered. This happened on
26 August 1993. We could only take some of our things
with us. Most of our rice and other things had to be left
behind. Later they allowed us to go back to get it, but
only during the daytime. It was two hours walk. It was
rainy season so it was very hard to travel and we couldnt
go back every day. When we got back, a lot of our things
had disappeared; most of the planks from our houses and
all of our livestock were gone. It was terrible, and it never
stopped raining, and I cried and cried. I dont want to
stay in the new place, I want to go home. But we cant
because the soldiers are patrolling around there all the
time, and if they see anyone they grab them, punch them
and beat them. They beat my 18-year-old brother S one
time until his nose was bleeding. Another villager went
back and tried to sleep one night in the old village, and
the soldiers captured him, tied him up and tortured him
all night. Now we face the problem of starvation because
we cant work on our farms, we cant do anything. We
dont have enough clothes. We dont know how to make
a living in the new place, but we cant dare go back to
our old place either.
No one can resist them, because everyone is afraid to die.
Our lives now are just work in the morning to eat in the
evening, surviving hand-to-mouth. Now I need to buy a
new sarong but I cant. We all feel deeply humiliated and
small in the new place, because we see the people from
the village with new clothes while we dont even have a
change of clothes.. (KHRG)
Undoubtedly the most disturbing evidence of a new government
policy of ethnic relocation occurred during the mass exodus into
Bangladesh of over 260,000 Muslims from Buthidaung, Rathedaung and
Maungdaw townships in Arakan state in 1991-92. Not only were many
Muslim villages reported to have been destroyed by army units, but there
were a number of documented cases of Muslim-owned land or property
being confiscated. Refugees in Bangladesh alleged that many Muslims
were being conscripted to work as unpaid laborers on urban
development projects. At the height of the operation, there were frequent
reports across the northern Akaran of extrajudicial executions, beatings
and rape involving both troops and security forces.
Forced porterage
All members of the population are liable to seizure by the army
for forced portering and labor duties. There was a time when the women
might have been spared, but in the past few years there is increasing
evidence of women being taken. Although men are taken most
frequently, children and women, including those who are pregnant or
nursing their infants are also arbitrarily seized. Men often flee from
their
villages or sleep outside their homes for fear of being taken as porters,
and the military seizes anyone who remains, including women. As a
result, in the past three years women have been seized much more
frequently to act as porters, and are subject to the same human rights
violations as men. However in addition to beatings and poor conditions,
women are at risk of rape by troops during their detention as porters.
Women undergo the worst treatment. They reported being raped by one
or more soldiers nearly every night, and still having to carry supplies
or
ammunition every day. Those who resisted were killed. In many cases,
women are used for more purposes than men. Women are more versatile
in their usefulness: forced labor to work as porters; human shield for
the
fighting army; property that can be redeemed for a good sum of money;
and entertainment for soldiers which ends in repeated rape.
One 16-year-old Muslim women from Hlaingbwe township
described her treatment:
At night we were made to sleep separately from the male
porters, in with the soldiers....they would come and pull
girls out from the group and make the girls sleep with
them...... all of them were very rough with us, treated us
not like human.... Only when the soldiers were drunk
were they happy, and would then be a bit more
gentle...But they would take us all the time, whether they
were drunk or not.
Following are testimonies of some women porters who were
forced into portering during the SLORC's dry season offensive against
Manerplaw starting from December 1991. These stories were revealed by
the victims themselves at an interview with the student leaders in Papun
Township, Karen State.
Ma San, a 42-year-old Karen woman, was from
Kamamaung village, Hlaingbwe township, Karen State.
Ma San earned her household's living by selling some
vegetables and basic commodities at Kawkareik
Township and Mae Seik Pass. As each of them worked
as hard as they could, they were listed to the middle
class. At the night on 17 December 1991, SLORC
troops came and rounded up her house by the order of
Tactical Operations Commander of Kamamaung and she
was arrested for her husband and children. The operation
started at night on the same day and over 1,000 soldiers,
mainly from LIB 4 and IB 1 of LID 66, LIB 207 of LID
22 and LIB 8 of LID 44 were involved. Daw San and
other thirty females had to accompany the Auxiliary
Artillery Company. Total number of female porters in the
operation was over ninety and they are from Kamamaung,
Ta Ku Seik, Ohn Daw, Mi Zai, Ta Khwart Hpo, Pay Pin
Seik and Mae Seik Villages. They were captured while
their husbands were at work and the SLORC troops said
they had to capture them because of their husbands'
absence. Out of them, forty were between 40 and 50
years, thirty were under 40 and the rest were under 20.
Daw San had to carry twelve 60mm mortar shells. They
were scolded when they could not carry their loads and
when one of them ran away on the half way, all were
treated without giving any food or water the whole day.
Both males and females were fed only a plate of rice at
most for a meal, while the SLORC troops were having
canned fish, tinned beans, meat, and fried fish paste.
They had no idea of sharing with the porters, and
whenever they arrived at any village, they captured and
killed some domestic animalspigs, cows, and goats
without the owners' permission, as foodstuff for the
operation. Then, the porters were fed only watery bean
curry with a little salt. When they had to climb the
mountains, they were given only half dishes of watery
rice soup because of the shortage of water. Sick porters
went untreated. Daw San and other four female who
escaped were weak and feeble and were suffering from
depression when they escaped. (DAWN)
Daw Khin Mya, 32-year-old mother of five was also from
Kamamaung Village, Hlaingbwe township, Karen State.
On December 17, 1991, while Daw Khin Mya and Khin
Khin Saw were collecting fire wood in the forest near
their village, SLORC troops from IB 1 arrived and forced
them to serve as porters for two days as they could not
search for the males and captured them. Daw Khin Mya
had to accompany them because only her eldest daughter,
12 years old, was at home and her husband was away.
She had to work for Auxiliary Artillery Company, under
the command of LID 66, and she was forced to carry
twelve artillery shells for twenty-two days till fighting
started. Sometimes, soldiers took off their combat boots
and put them in her basket. They climbed the mountains
from five to eleven every morning, and to reach the
summit they had to cross thirteen mountains. At the top,
as there was no water, the male porters had to carry water
for cooking from the bottom. The porters were fed only a
cover of hankaw (lunch box) of rice soup. They suffered
terrible cold and faced many troubles as they did not
have any spare clothes. Before Daw Khin Mya escaped,
the total of forty female porters and over fifty male
porters decreased to twenty females and thirty males as
the rest had fled. Some females were released under the
command of the operation commander, but some
disappeared and were never heard from again.. The
porters faced many troubles, such as insufficient food,
scolding, and beating, and sometimes they had to carry
the loads of the escaped porters and were deprived of
food and water when others fled. They were even
threatened with being forced to walk across mine fields
when the fighting took place. Unable to bear the
suffering any longer, Daw Khin Mya decided to flee on 9
January 1992 and climbed down from the posting
mountain. She was in poor health, afraid all the time,
and tearful while telling the story. (DAWN Vol.3 No.7)
Another 16-year-old girl named Ma Thanda Soe was
arrested with Daw Khin Mya collecting fire wood by the
soldiers from SLORC IB 1 under the command of LID
66. The soldiers said it would last only two days so she
decided to be a porter because her father was over sixty
and in poor health, and the rest were female and no one
except her was strong enough to do that. She was not
free for more than twenty days, during which she suffered
so much trouble that she could no longer bear it and fled.
Ma Thanda Soe had to serve in the Auxiliary Artillery
Company and carried four 81mm mortar shells. A shell
weighs over five kilograms, and a strong man can carry
only six shells. Nevertheless, she had to carry four
shells, and that caused serious shoulder injuries. Bruises
still remained. The load was so heavy to carry that often
she could not walk, but when she cried, the soldiers came
and scolded her, beat her, and threatened that they would
arrest all her family members and put them in jail if she
fled. Sometimes they left her without any food. Her
dress was torn because of sweat and the weight of the
load.
As she had to walk the whole day and sometimes was not
able to sleep, she came to suffer from malnutrition and
her blood pressure was down to 90/40. She could not
walk any longer and suffered more as she was very
young. She dared not speak openly to the students as she
was still afraid of the SLORC soldiers. The operation
commander was stationed in Kamamaung Village and
controlled all the villagers' livelihood. Even though the
villagers were afraid and depressed, they dared not speak
openly about their suffering. (DAWN Vol.3 No.7)
On December 17, 1991 Khin Khin Saw was arrested by
SLORC troops from IB 1 under the command of LID 66,
while she was collecting fire woods. She was forced to
serve as a porter because her elder brother was not at
home. She had to carry four 81mm mortar shells. Her
family was very poor and hardly to survive the social
problems. Even though she has managed her escape, she
was still afraid of the local SLORC and the soldiers.
(DAWN)
Forced Labor for military purposes
The use of unpaid civilians on these development project is a
violation of the 1930 International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention,
to which Burma is a signatory. In violation of Common Article 3 of the
Geneva Conventions, forced labor has also been used for overtly military
practices. This includes the use of civilians as porters for the army, to
construct army barracks, and to stand watch on roads and railways in
areas where ethnic rebels are active.
In violation of Common Article 3 of Geneva Conventions,
forced labor has also been used for overtly military practices. This
includes the use of civilians as porter for the army, to construct army
barracks, to cook for them, and do all the work in their barracks.
Equally disturbing, many of the worse human rights abuses
against women, including summary arrest, beatings, murder and rape,
have happened while they have been engaged in forced labor duties in
military bases or Development projects.
Daw Mi Mi Than, 40-year-old Karen woman described how the
military forcibly used the local people.
They order us to do so many things, it is unimaginable.
We dont even have time to provide for our own families.
There are two types of abuses; one is guarding the road
all the time, and the other is having to go for slave labor.
They also demand porters that makes three kinds of
slavery. When they order porters we have to send twenty-
three people. For slave labor and guarding the road, its
one person from every house.
When we guard the road, most of the time we have to
sweep the road and walk around on the road. We have to
drag branches to erase our footprints. Then the next
morning we have to check the whole road and if we see
any footprints or anything, we have to report it right
away. At night we just have to sleep on the road. If
people go back to the village without permission they are
fined ten viss [16 kg] of pork. Two of us have to guard a t
each place along the road. At night we can only sleep by
turns if one sleeps, the other has to guard. When the
soldiers call you, if you dont answer right away they
demand one bottle of alcohol and one chicken, so
nobody dares to fall asleep. They never feed us we have
to take our own food.
For slave labor, we have to carry sand and rocks to build
the road almost all day long. We have to get there at 6:30
a.m. and we must start work straight away. We can rest
between noon and 1 p.m., then we work until 5:30 p.m.
and go home. They give us rice and a little bit of yellow
beans to eat. They also make us send three bullock carts
from our village to carr
Mi Pan, 36-year-old Mon mother of four sons escaped to the
Thai-Burma border told her story at the end of March 1994 of being
working as forced labor in Ye-Tavoy railway project.
From each house one person had to go to build the
railway. My father stays in a different house, so he had to
go too. My husband had to go about six times, and my
father eight times. The SLORC gives authority to
someone in the village to order who has to go and when,
and that person orders you to go. While my husband was
away, I had to borrow money to live, and afterwards I
could not pay it back. Two tins of rice costs 400 Ks, and
I also had to pay "porter fees"700 Ks each time, and I
had to pay three times.
To go from the village to the railway it takes six hours on
foot. The SLORC doesn't come, the workers just have to
go on foot by themselves. Then they have to carry the
steel rails for making the railway, dig the ground, carry
dirt, cut wood, ad many other jobs. The most recent
work is carrying logs. All the workers cut them, and then
they have to carry them to the railway or SLORC brings
them on trucks. My husband and my father had to do
this, as well as all the other steps in building the railway.
They had to work all day long they never had free time.
They start at 7AM, then at noon they're allowed to eat
breakfast, then they stop working at 6 p.m. There were
altogether over 1,000 people working along with my
husband and my father. They had to clear a path wider
than a car road along flat land. Not only clearing, but
they also had to carry dirt and smooth it, and carry stones
both big and small. The workers, including my father and
husband, had to break the stones. Then they had to carry
them a long way by themselves. They had to dig with
hoes, and SLORC provided some tools.
There were many women at the work site. They have to
work together with the men. There were also old people
and children. The children were as young as 8 years old,
up to 14 and 15 years old.
The SLORC never gives food, they all have to bring their
own. My husband and father just took rice, salt, and
fishpaste. Due to SLORC looting and slavery, these
people are already living from hand-to-mouth, close to
starvation.] Those who go to work knowing they don't
have enough food and who can't ask for any from
relatives or friends will face starvation, so they just have
to open their arms and beg food from other people.
At the railway construction site they have to sleep under
the trees, in the bushes. They have no mats, so they must
sleep on the ground, and SLORC patrols around. To go
to the toilet they had to ask permission from the SLORC
troops, and then the soldiers followed them. The soldiers
also guarded the area all the time while they worked. You
can't rest, even when you're tired you have to keep
working. Some soldiers forced the people to work by
scolding or beating them, and some of them don't. My
husband and my father weren't beaten, but they saw
others who were subjected to beatings. Those who were
beaten were working together with them, and when they
were beaten they were very close. They were beaten on
their bodies, until they bled. When people got sick the
soldiers did not heal them, they just left them. The sick
were not allowed to go home.. If they could not work,
then they were not forced to work but they had to stay
until they could work again. The soldiers give them
nothing. (CPPSN)
Forced labor for TV Tower project
The Burmese Military junta has established a Television
receiving center at ten mile from Maungdaw which has been under
construction on top of the Tunnel Hill for the last several months. In
order to facilitate transportation to the top of the hill, the officials
have
taken initiative to construct an all season metal road from the bottom to
the top of the hill.
It is understood that the technology for the TV and Satellite
Center has been provided by the government of the People's Republic of
China and presently eight Chinese engineers are supervising the
installation machinery and construction of buildings which are nearing
completion.
The border administration has issued a standing order to the
villagers to supply about 4000 laborers routinely for the said project
from
different villages of Maungdaw township. However, the Muslims
villagers are neither provided any food nor have they given any wage.
(Source: Mirror of Arakan, 940401)
Paddy and fishpond project in Yedashe Township
Since 1992, SLORC has been implementing a paddy and
fishpond project in Yedashe Township, Toungoo District. The project is
between Yedashe and Myo Hla villages, covering an area about six miles
in length and one-and-a-half miles in breadth. It involves digging
thousands of shallow fish ponds, which are also to be used as rice
paddies in rainy season. Each pond is ten sq. feet, and four feet deep.
The
entire civilian population of the township is being forced to dig these
ponds. This township consists of five towns and fifty-eight villages
tracts
[a village tract is an area including four to six villages]. About 20,000
people have been forced to work digging these ponds each dry season
since 1992.
Rape and sexual abuses
Half a century ago, rape in war was outlawed by the Geneva
Conventions which state: Women shall be especially
protected....against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent
assault. Rape may be outlawed under the international rules Governing
conflicts but Burmese women are being raped. Burmese and ethnic
women have been raped in their homes or in their villages by army
soldiers sometimes before their husband or their family. Women porters
or hostages have been raped by soldiers in the frontier areas or in the
military bases. Local women have been raped during their time at the
development projects or working places. Women have been raped in an
organize and systematic way.
Rape is a form of torture experienced by women all over the
world. Rape and threats of harassment are often used to elicit
information
or a confession during interrogation. Rape and sexual abuse are also used
to humiliate and intimidate women and thus weaken their resistance to
interrogation, or to punish them.
Numerous cases of rape, including mass rape, among Muslim
women from Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships in Rakhine state
during 1991-92 have been reported .
A mother of five from Buthidaung township, Arakan
State, told what happen to her after soldiers had taken
her husband for porter duty. They took my husband to
be a porter and then later that same night they came back
and raped me. There were four of them. My younger
sister and my sister-in-law were in the house, but since I
am oldest I came out and let the others hide in te house.
My sisters are 20 and 25. My sister is a virgin. The
soldiers took me to their camp, and I was kept there the
whole night. As they were taking me away the village
headman saw, and he came out and protested to them that
they should let me go, but the soldiers threatened to
shoot him if he said one word. The next day the village
headman came and paid 100 Kyats to get me released
Many of these rapes apparently occurred after the husbands or
fathers of the women were taken for forced labor by either regular army
soldiers or the local security forces. Sometimes the rapes were committed
in the victims homes with relatives and children left to watch; on other
occasions the women were taken to local military bases where they were
allegedly sorted out by beauty. Following the rapes, some of the
women were allegedly killed; other were allowed to return home,
sometimes after money had been paid to secure their freedom.
On April 18, 1993, Mi Htaw, 25, from Win Pa Toke
Village in Thanbyuzayat Township was repeatedly rape
by soldiers from SLORC IB 31 in front of her husband at
their outpost near the village. She went to the outpost for
the release of Nai Sein Aung Kyi, her husband, who was
arrested by SLORC troops for allegedly having contact
with the New Mon State Party (NMSP). When she
arrived there, she was repeatedly raped before her
husband. Nai Sein Aung Kyi was also subjected to
torture which led his left hand broken. After their
release, they no longer dared to stay at that village
anymore and moved to Karoppi Village.
In some cases, women were raped in front of the other people.
On July 24, 1993, fighting between SLORC troops and
Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) broke out near
Wel Ga Glog village Kyar Inn Seik Kyi township, Karen
state said SLORC troops rushed into the Village where
only the women and children remained. The troops spent
the whole night mistreating the women and plundering
what remained in the village. They entered every house
and looted watches, cassette recorders, old, money and
property worth more than 150,000 Kyats. Some women
who were hiding were gang-raped by the troops. Of them
Mi Yin Kyi, a 34-year-old Mon girl and seven other
victims were repeatedly raped at gun point in front of the
others.
Women are at risk of rape by troops during their detention as
porters and forced laborers at the military camp of their so-called
development projects.
A 55-year-old Muslim woman from Tanessarin Division who
was forced to stay at an army camp in March 1993 told her story as
follows.
At Yebyu camp, I was made to dig bunkers, latrines,
look after the vegetable garden, fetch water for them, and
clean their uniforms. When we couldnt manage the
jobsespecially the digging, that was very hardwe
were beaten by the soldiers. At night we had to sleep in
the same place with the soldiers. The young womenI
was the only old onewere forced to sleep with the
soldiers every night.
Naw paw Ther, 32 years old Karen widow was raped while she
was working at the army camp as unpaid labour in May 1994. She fled to
Thai-Burma border a month later.
When I had to go for slave labour, I was raped by a
soldier. We went to work at their army camp for five
days, and when we got there they refused to give us any
food. Everyone had to work without food, so the next
morning my friends and I had to go back to the village to
get some food. After we brought it back to their camp,
two men escaped from the slave labour at night, so the
soldiers tried to catch them and made things harder for
the rest of us. That's why they wouldn't let us go back to
the village after that. Altogether there were nineteen of
us, eleven men and eight women. That night a soldier
came, grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down. Then
he covered my mouth so I could not yell. Then he kissed
me and he raped me. I felt so terrible. The soldier said,
"Don't tell anyone about this", but I said "I will tell
because I fell so terrible about it." I went to his
commander Myint Shwe Htoo to report it and told him
how terrible I felt, and he told me I could go do whatever
I liked, so I left. He made the soldier carry a log around
the camp as punishment. I do not know the soldier's
name. This happened a month ago at K Camp of IB 28.
It is close to our village.
Even where these rape cases have been reported to the
authorities, there is little evidence that action has been taken. For
example;
On July 4, 1992 a 13-year-old Mon schoolgirl was
allegedly raped in a small hut on a rubber plantation near
Wethonchaung village, Thabyuzayat township, by two
drunk soldiers, Saw Maung Maung and Moe Nyo. Local
militiamen from the village gave chase and reported the
incident to the local LORC. Subsequently, the two
accused men were caught, but villagers claim that they
still do not know if they were ever brought to trial or
punished by their officers.
In another case, an 8-year-old girl who was walking to
school with her brother was attacked by three drunk
soldiers and sexually molested by them. She screamed
for help and her brother ran to tell his parents, who then
arrived on the scene. The girl was lying on the ground
with her clothes ripped, and taken to the hospital for
treatment of abrasions of the vaginal walls, bruises and
scratches. The family later made a complaint to the
authorities, who reportedly threatened them with death.
Although the case was eventually taken up, the soldiers
were reportedly not brought to justice.( AI)
On July 17, 1992, SLORC company commander Zaw
Min Htwe and troops arrived at Nyaung Pin Tha Village
in Kyauk Gyi Township, Pegu Division. There the
commander summoned all the members of the village
LORC and ordered them to send him a young girl for
"relaxation" as he was going to sleep for one night there.
He also threatened them at gun point that unless they
carried out his order, all the villagers would be punished.
In fear they had no choice but to submit to the demand
for a young girl.(DAWN)
Not only in the war-zone areas, but also in the areas where the
ethnic armed movement is not so active, women are subject to rape or
harassment both by the military and by security forces.
Around Kyauk Kyi area, Karen State, young women often
go into town by bicycle to buy things, then bring them
back in the bicycle's carrier. SLORC soldiers in the area
now use what they call the "bullet trick". At the first
SLORC checkpoint coming out of town, a SLORC
soldier searches the bicycle carriers of young women, and
in the process slips a few bullets inside. Then at the
second checkpoint, a soldier "finds" the bullets,
interrogates the girl on where she got them, and when she
can not answer she is detained for three days, during
which she is repeatedly raped by soldiers. She is then
released with no questions asked. This has been done
repeatedly by soldiers from IB 73 and 351, particularly at
Ye O Zin Village in Kyauk Kyi Township, Pegu
Division. At Kyaun Zut Village in February 1994, troops
from IB 351 used a similar trick. They keep a pot of
drinking water for travelers in front of their checkpoint,
and they hid some bullets at the base of it. Then when a
pretty girl came past and stopped, the soldiers went out,
"found" the bullets, and detained and raped her for three
days. (Source: KHRG)
On January 30, 1993, a woman named Ma Khin, 25,
from No. 1 Zeyar Street in Moulmein, was gang-raped by
two policemen and two soldiers at one of the checkpoints
in Myawaddy. These checkpoints were opened for the
purpose of collecting the fees from the traders who pass
through Myawaddy and Mae Sot, and those who came to
Thailand for seeking jobs. The people who pass through
these checkpoints have to pay 300 Ks each to SLORC
authorities. In this case, Ma Khin went to Mae Sot
seeking a job and offered to pay the fee to the authorities
led by U Tun, a police corporal. Her proposal was
refused by saying that they did not want to get the
money, only the person. Although she begged them to
spare her, she was taken to the back of the checkpoint
and raped at gun point among the banana plants. Many
women who pass through these checkpoints have to offer
money or spend one night with the soldiers and police
there. (DAWN)
IV. Refugee Women
Between 1981 and 1993 the number of refugees worldwide
doubled from eight million to more than 20 million: millions more are
displaced in their own countries. In most cases they have been forced to
flee situations of war or gross human rights violations against them.
More
than eighty per cent of refugees are women and children. There is no
doubt that refugee women, particularly those on their own, are more
vulnerable to exploitation and deprivation of rights at every stage of
flight, than are refugee men.
In Burma, military expansion that led to an increase in troop
strength from 18,000 in 1988 to an estimated 400,000 in 1995 meant that
the army was able to move into virtually every small town and village in
formerly armed ethnic group-held areas. Various patterns of human rights
violations by the military against the ethnic minorities lead the
thousands
and thousands to refugees to the neighboring countries especially to
Thailand. Those who escaped the human rights abuses in Burma by
fleeing to Thailand faced further persecution and human rights violations
there. In violation of the common international standards set out in the
U.N Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to which Thailand is
not a party, no person entering Thailand illegally from Burma are
permitted to apply for asylum. As a result there is no permanent
international presence within the camps, leaving the refugees, especially
women, exposed to sexual abuses by Thai Border Patrol Police and
pressure to force them to return to Burma. Women also face abuses
during the deportation process or while they were in the refugee camp.
On August 13, two drunken Thai Bordme empty
handed," which means that they will earn money through whatever means
they can.
Local belief systems have also played an extremely important
role in the growth of prostitution. The dichotomy between good women
and bad women is still firmly entrenched, even among women. Nor is it
uncommon for men to refuse to marry women who have had sex before
marriage, even if raped, believing that they are "spoiled" and/or bad.
Senior policemen and politicians, including the much respected former
Prime Minister, Anand Panyarachun, have expressed the idea that
"prostitution is a necessary evil" and that "if it was abolished, sex
crimes
would increase", despite the fact that by Thai law prostitution itself is
a
crime. Nevertheless, a recent government study showed that 75% of Thai
men have had sex with a prostitute, behavior which is legitimized by a
number of cultural beliefs.
Another contributing factor to increasing demand is the Chinese
belief that everything has either yin (hot) or yang (cold) properties.
Many
ethnic Chinese men believe that it is necessary for a man to "deflower" a
virgin on a regular basis in order to slow down the aging (Yin) process
by
drawing on the girls virgin youth (Yang). Sadly, the rapid spread of AIDS
in Thailand and Burma has succeeded in making the sale of younger and
younger women a booming business.
Surprisingly, many of the women who are forced into
prostitution are from small villages, tricked by the promise of
employment from local agents who represent procurers. Some of these
agents who recruit young women for the brothel gangs in urban centers
such as Kawthaung and Ranong are ordinary people, often known by the
women. In other instances, trusted villagers and townspeople or even
friends and relatives have been known to lure unsuspecting women into
leaving their homes with offers of employment.
The gangs, however, often work in a more systematic and brutal
manner than do the local agents. Sometimes they pose as friends who do
a lot of trading in Thailand and invite their girlfriends or
acquaintances to
go sightseeing with them. At other times they pose as representatives of
employment recruiting agencies in order to lure women with the promise
of work. They often hang around dock areas and bus and train stations in
both Thailand and Burma looking for women who appear lost or for
women who have arrived to the town in search of work.
The agent usually approaches a woman to find out if she is
looking for work. If so, he will offer the woman a job as a waitress or
factory worker, and if she agrees, take her to a local "employment
agency"
where arrangements are made without the woman's knowledge to sell her
to a procurer, usually in Thailand, but occasionally in Burma.
Increasingly, agents forego the usual attempt to deceive the women and
simply kidnap them. Burmese women who come across the border to visit
relatives in Thailand, especially in Ranong, routinely run the risk of
being kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Middlemen also buy
hilltribe women directly from villages in Burma for later sale to the
brothel owners.
The traffickers are not just confined to Thai, Burmese and
Chinese gangsters. Many foreign criminals are now involved, supplying
women from the region to third countries. While a substantial proportion
of the women pay large sums of money to be sent to the country of their
choice, those forced into prostitution generally end up in situations of
forced labor (slavery) or prostitution.
Regardless of the final destination, trafficking is a highly
profitable business for everyone involved. Ordinary illegal immigrants to
Thailand will pay up to 100,000 baht to travel from China to Thailand
through Burma with different people taking cuts along the way. Burmese
guides who take women through Burmese territory are paid 30,000 Ks
(7,500 baht or US $300) while transport in a van from Mae Sai to
Bangkok costs 20,000 baht, which includes the bribes at up to 5 check
points. Drivers will still receive a profit of 5,000 baht. Installation
of
names into the Thai Immigration Department's computer can cost up to
another 150,000 baht. In the case of illegal migration to the U.S, the
fee
paid is up to 750,000 baht (US$ 30,000). On average, trafficking
syndicates can clear 500,000 baht (US$ 20,000) in profit for each person
sold.
If sent to Thailand, a large percentage of women will end up in
brothels in Ranong province which are usually owned by Thai
businessmen and "employ" both Thai and Burmese women. In many
cases, the women, especially those from Burma, are forced to work in
conditions which amount to slavery. In some brothels, women are
confined to their rooms and only occasionally allowed out under the
guard of the pimps. One brothel from which prostitutes were recently
freed was surrounded by barbed wire and an electrified fence.
Refusal to service clients or attempts to escape from brothels
result in torture, beating or threat of arrest as illegal immigrants. In
July
14, 1993, when 148 Burmese girls and women were rescued from three
brothels in Ranong, one twenty-seven-year-old women who was six
months pregnant said she was still being forced to have sex with clients.
A woman named Mu Mu, aged twenty-four, who was three months
pregnant, was beaten by pimps in the Wida brothel to bring on a
miscarriage after she refused to have sex with a client. She was
reportedly
hit on the back with a club and punched in the stomach until she began to
bleed. She was taken to a hospital on a motorcycle by her colleagues, and
was in critical condition at the end of July 1993.
Myo Myo, one of the Burmese prostitutes in the Victoria
brothel in Ranong said one time she was caught trying to
go out of the brothel , the owner locked her in her room
and beat her. He then sent her to the showroom and beat
her again along with two other pimps in front of all the
other girls. She was then sent back to her room and
locked in for three days. During the time no one came in
and she did not receive any food. When the door was
opened she was immediately sent to work again.
Kyi Kyi, another girl who worked in Ranong as a
prostitute tried to escape in 1991, but the owner caught
her and took her to the kitchen and beat her with a very
thin wooden stick. The owner told her if she tried to
escape again he would shoot her with a gun. He said If I
beat you it might hurt my hands. If I kill you, it will only
cost me 35 baht to have you buried. He then took pistol
out and put it to her head saying Like this!.
On 10 June 1994, Thai police raided a brothel in Ranong and found 33
Burmese women, who had been virtual prisoners comparable to slaves for
periods of up to three years. Three of the women were suffering from a
brutal beating they had received for a recent attempt to escape. They had
been whipped with a coat hanger wire until they fainted. The police also
reported that one of the Burmese women had been forced back into
prostitution only three days after giving birth.
The main center for trafficking in Northern Burma is Keng Tung
(or Kyaing Don as the Burmese junta has renamed it), in Shan State.
Here, thousands of Burmese women of Akha, Lisu, Wa, Shan, Karen and
Burman ethnic origin are brought and recruited before being sent on to
northern Thailand.
However, the trafficking of women has now spread to every
corner of Burma and some agents travel widely in search of women to
lure into prostitution. Many brothel gangs also operate in Thai border
towns, especially in Ranong, Mae Sai, Mae Hong Son, Phrae, Naan and
Mae Sod and directly across the border from these towns. From these
towns women are sent on to Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Bangkok and to
smaller cities and towns all over Thailand, especially in the South. From
Bangkok many women are sent overseas through an international
network.
The Crime Suppression Division Police in Thailand have
conducted many raids on brothels throughout Thailand in which many
Burmese women have been "freed" from the brothel only to be charged
with illegal entry and prostitution by the authorities. The prostitution
charges are dropped once it has been established that the women were
forced to comply against their will, but widespread corruption makes it
is
easy for those responsible to avoid imprisonment or gain early release.
Until April this year, most women found guilty of entering Thailan
illegally were deported back to Burma and their fate left in the hands of
the Burmese authorities. The women have often been deported via
Ranong, which has at times meant that they have been sent straight back
to the pimps. On one occasion, brothel owners paid the boatman to turn
the boat around after it had got half way back to Burma from Ranong.
When women return to Burma, they face arrest for "unlawfully
leaving Myanmar." One woman who returned to Burma in mid-1992,
after being taken to Ranong and forced to work as a prostitute was
arrested and tortured at the notorious Insein Prison because she was
suspected of having contact with the armed opposition forces on the
border. For the past two years, there has also been a widespread rumor
that the military authorities in Burma have been injecting these women
with cyanide if they are found to be HIV positive. While present
conditions inside Burma make it impossible to verify this, Burmese
women are routinely repatriated, despite opposition from NGO groups
and some government officials over the danger they face there.
At present, trafficking of Burmese women (ethnic Burman,
Chinese, Shan and Akha) is rampant. Unless there is coordinated and
firm action taken in the near future, the scourge of trafficking will
continue to grow, as will the terrible spread of AIDS. For their future,
there is a desperate need for more than just talk.
VII. Conclusion
The UN Declaration prohibiting violence against women calls
for the universal application to women of the rights and principles with
regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human
persons. All governments are morally obliged to uphold this
Declaration. They are also legally bound by international human rights
treaties not to violate the fundamental human rights of their citizens.
Slorc reject the basic principle that human rights standards are
universal
standards which apply at all times in all situations and contexts.
The international community can play a decisive role in
protecting human rights through vigilant an concerted action. Burmese
military regime which fail to protect fundamental human rights should be
confronted with the full force of international condemnation.
The Burmese women are deprived their rights by the military or
security forces all over the country. Although human rights for women,
as for all individuals, are protected in international law, Burmese
women
have already been particular victims of virtually every kind of human
rights abuse by the SLORC. At the same time, unfortunately, Burmese
women do not get much attention by the international community .
Burmese women who are arbitrarily detained, tortured, killed, made to
disappear or jailed after an unfair trial has no chance of exercising
their
social, economic and cultural rights. This report highlights the clear
pictures of Burmese women suffering under the military dictatorship.
Women who work to promote development, equality and other
internationally recognised rights face such grave threats to their civil
and
political rights that claiming their social, economic and cultural rights
is
impossible. Without respect for womens fundamental human rights, the
theme of the UN World Conference on Women- Womens rights to
peace, equality and development - are unattainable. Burmese women
suffer the full range of human rights violations in their isolated
country
and their voice are unheard.
The voice of the voiceless Burmese women should be heard at
the international women forum. The occasion of the UN Convenience on
Women offers an opportunity to press governments attending the
conference to guarantee that womens human rights are upheld.
Therefore, we would like to urge all the participants and international
community to gave special attention to Burma the real plights of Burmese
women.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amnesty International, Human Rights are Womens Right ( London,
1995)
Amnesty International, Myanmar: The climate of fear continues,
members of ethnic minorities and political prisoners still targeted
(London, 1993)
Amnesty International, Myanmar: No law at all: Human right violations
under military rule (London, 1992)
Amnesty International, Myanmar: Human rights violations against
Muslims in the Arakan State (London, 1992)
Human Rights Watch/ Asia, Burma: Entrenchment or Reform?: Human
rights developments and the need for continued pressure (New York,
1995)
Human Rights/ Asia, Burma: Abuses linked to the fall of Manerplaw
(New York, 1995)
Human Rights Watch/ Asia, Burma/ Thailand: The Mon: Persecuted in
Burma, forced back from Thailand (New York, 1994)
Asia Watch, A Modern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese
Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand (New York, 1993)
Anti-Slavery International Ethnic groups in Burma: Development,
Democracy and Human Rights
DAWN News Bulletins (ABSDF)
Reports from Karen Human Rights Group, Committee for Publicity of
People Struggle in Monland (CPPSM), Mirror of Arakan, New Mon
State Party (NMSP), National League for Democracy, Liberated Area
(NLD-LA), Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS), Karen Nation
Union (KNU), All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF).
Appendix I
THE PLIGHT OF BURMESE WOMEN
ROLE OF FEMALE STUDENTS DURING 1988 UPRISING
By Mi Sue Pwint
The political movement and the struggle for national liberation and
independence had a unique charter in Burma. The intellectual students
mobilised and led the peasants and workers and their struggle for
freedom against the colonial rulers. The students movements are
insarable from the historical struggle for the independence of the
country.
In March 1988, we, young female students, along with other students,
went to the street and took part in a series of anti-BSPP (Burmese
Socialist Programme Party) demonstrations which spearheaded world-
wide known 1988 popular uprising in Burma. On March 15, thousands
of young students rallied to demonstrate their solidarity with the
students
from Rangoon Institute of Technology. We marched out of the campus
of Rangoon University (Main Campus) to join with the students in
Hlaing Campus. When we reached on the Prome Road, near the White
Bridge, a barbed wire fence had been strung across the road in front of
us. Soldiers armed with automatic rifles and aiming at us. At that
time,
trucks that carried hundreds of riot police in steel helmets and armed
with
clubs, rifles, and cane shields drove into the gathering. Riot police
got
down the trucks, rushed into the gathering and charged the students.
Some of them concentrated on the female students; their jewellery and
watches snatched. The riot police berated the students for daring to
demonstrate, beat the girls and raped them ... the girls were so ashamed
to
tell anyone and some were in shock for four or five days. Some cried and
requested to be sent to a nunnery without giving their parents any
reason.
About 100 students, including female students were drown in the Inya
Lake. Some female students were beaten unconscious before arrest.
When they came to again, they found themselves in a room without
windows. Some were raped by the officials and then by the policemen
one after another until the victims lost consciousness. Some of them
committed suicide.
Teenagers from high schools all over Rangoon also flocked to the
demonstrations. An increasing numbers of protesters were very young,
and they were perhaps the fieriest of them all. For them there was
little
future under the present system. They had only to look at their elder
brothers and sisters who had gone through university just to be faced
with mass unemployment, or at best, the chance to do occasional odd-
jobs in an effort to contribute something to their families.
At the high of uprising in August and September, even housewives were
banging pots and pans to voice their demands for democracy.
Womens Role In The Aftermath Of Military Coup
In September 1988, Saw Maung led Ne Wins hand-picked puppets
cracked down the pro-democracy uprising and seized power to safeguard
the then BSPP. In the aftermath of the coup, when the NLD (National
League for Democracy) was formed, some women joined the party and
could hold key posts in the Central Committee. The 1991 Nobel Peace
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi became the Secretary General the vital role
of women in the social, economic, and
other spheres of life, is acknowledged, albeit silently, by even the most
chauvinistic Burmese male. As a rule, even the most macho of them
seldom make important decisions without consulting his wife, or his
mother (rarely his father, because father-son relation in Burmese society
is somewhat distant.)
However, despite the fact that the women in Burma are the engines that
dynamite society. They have been excluded from politics. In the realm
of
politics, where social and management skills, wisdom, foresight, and
brain-power are most crucial, those most gifted with these very skills
have been most cospicuous by their absence (in modern times), until the
appearance on the political stage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988.
The reasons for this sad omission are many, but the male-oriented and
male-dominated Burmese cultural tradition must largely share the blame.
In Burmese culture, women are viewed as inferior because they are,
among other things, viewed as capable of polluting the "PHONE" (power-
aura) of men. Additionally, they are, contrary to irrefutable facts,
looked
upon as treacherous, full of deceitful wiles, mentally underdeveloped,
flighty, helpless, easily duped, over-emotional, etc.
To reinforce the highly subordinated status of women, they are, moreover,
brain-washed from very early on, by their elders, and unfortunately, by
their grannies, mothers, aunts, etc. They are constantly told that they
must sit in the back row in things concerning the public sphere, that
politics is the monopoly of men-folks, and that it is too noble a calling
for women.
To further exacerbate matters; Burmese men find it very difficult to
accept women as their superiors, especially where politics is concerned.
It is not uncommon to hear snide remarks made by men about politically
active women. Until recently Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been dismissed
as a freak accident. Only after she won the Nobel Peace Prize, have
Burmese men come to accept her unconditionally as a national leader.
Accepting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a national leader is, however, only
a very feeble step in the right direction. One woman leader surely
cannot
undo all the wrongs committed over thirty years by the despot and his
band of servile and faithful robbers.
If Burma is to win, and as well maintain and sustain its second
independence, Burmese women who hold up two-thirds of the sky, who
have faced the despot's bullets and bayonets with equal courage, and who
have joined in the fight for democracy in jungle camps and overseas...
they must be given the place of honour they rightly deserve. It is time
we
re-think our thoughts about the political role of Burmese women. Too
much is at stake to exclude the vital dynamisers of Burmese society from
the realm of politics.
This means that we must treat women active in politics with genuine
respect. It means that we must not be ashamed to serve under women
leaders. It also means that we must welcome them, and encourage them
to participate in politics... not merely as clerks, cooks, or pretty
faces, but
as leaders, because they have, since time immemorial, proved that they
abundantly possess the leadership and manageria skills which Burma
desperately needs.
The age-old notion that men are the "fore legs of the elephants" is, in
reality, an empty myth, a hollow boast. It is this imagined superiority
of
men and the imposed 'inferiority' of women which is keeping those really
skilled in the art of social and political management from contributing
fully to the reconstruction, prosperity, and unity of Burma. At the same
time, the women of Burma too must themselves break the chains of
political paralysis which centuries of brain-washing have imposed on
them and have thus, kept them from leadership roles in public and
political life. They must realise that it is their exclusion from
politics
and public life, which has made it possible for men to make an unholy
mess of everyone's life in Burma. It is now the time for Burmese women
to come forward to clean up the mess created by men and save them from
their own infantile foolishness.
The democracy movement would be greatly vitalised and become more
organised and more cohesive with the infusion of more women leaders
and the formation of women organisations. We now have several women
leaders and activists within the democracy movement, working
anonymously behind the scene. It would be a good idea for these women
activists/leaders to band together and mobilise the women of Burma.
The mobilisation of the women of Burma, and the subsequent emergence
of more women as national leaders, would go a long way in further
invigorating and dynamising the democracy movement. These is no
doubt that the appearance of more women leaders and women
organisations would greatly boost the morale of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
There is also no doubt that she does need, and would greatly appreciate
the active support of her own gender.
Appedix III
AND
WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN OF BURMA ?
By Janis E. Nickel(Burma Issue)
August 1993
GENERAL INEQUALITY
The oppression of women is not limited to any particular social,
economic, racial or political situation, although, these elements
frequently embody or define the oppression. Women of Burma, from
different ethnic groups, suffer varying forms and degrees of cultural
disadvantage, from subjugation by religious traditions to customs like
the
restrictive leg and neck rings of the Palaung. In order to bring about
real
and lasting change, the oppressive ideologies and structures, which so
often contain the roots of the problems, must be challenged. The
situation
involves violence or violation, immediate action should be taken to stop
the abuse before deeper issues can be seriously addressed. In the case of
severe domestic abuse, the abuser should be removed from the home,
although, all to often, it is the abused who flees. In the case of the
abuse
of power on a larger scale, as in Burma, it is SLORC who should be
removed from its position of power but again it is the abused who must
flee. While sexism and gender discrimination play a powerful role in
what is happening to the women of Burma, and while these factors must
be taken into serious consideration in the rebuilding of a functioning
society, the immediate concerns of women are, directly or indirectly,
caused by the military regime. There is little hope in liberating women
when an entire people is enslaved, and until there is a significant
change
in the governing body, women will continue to suffer injustices, and to
endure violence and violation.
The IJN report which puts Burma in the category of "Least Developed
Countries," says; "Traditionally, women in Myanmar [Burma] enjoy
equal rights with men. This traditional privilege enables the women to
participate equally in development of the economy. Employment
opportunities for women are good, and 40 per cent of the total labour
force consistsof women. The principle of equal pay has always been
applicable to them."(1) While the constitution of Burma does afford
women equal rights in political, economic and social affairs, it is a
far
cry from the reality of the women in Burma. Traditionally, and in
practice, women are regarded as subordinate to men. While Buddhism,
the major religion, may not support male superiority in essence (although
this too is arguable it does so in practice. It is a male dominated and
controlled institution which will feed, educate and ordain boys while it
discounts girls. Christian women do not fare significantly better and
Muslim women still live behind the veil. Politically, Burma's patriarchal
military junta has yet to come to terms with human rights and it's
unlikely that women's rights are an-issue. The Myanmar Council of
Churches is one of the few remaining organisations to provide general
support for women. The only voluntary women's agency sanctioned by
the government is the Maternal and Child Welfare Association which is
headed by women whose husbands have some position of importance
(2a). The nature of the agency is an indication of the role for which
women are valued and its leadership reveals that the political power
women wield is behind the scenes and is directly related to the status
of
a husband or other male relative. Jarlath Souza reports; "Bo Kadaw, the
wives of army officers, are the most influential people in society, and
many Burmese people feel that the even the Black Market is controlled
by the Bo-Kadaw."(3) This secondary nature of womens power is also
apparent in the Karen women's organisation which was headed by the
KNU general's wife and the duties listed included organization, health,
education, social welfare and preserving the 'traditional moral
character'
of Karen women(4). Aung San Suu Kyi derived her popularity from her
late father and until recently "has been dismissed as a freak accident.
Only after she won the Nobel Peace prize have Burmese men come to
accept her unconditionally as a national leader."(5) She is, no doubt,
aware of the fact that her appeal to local and international sympathies
is a
powerful political tool. Women are encouraged to enter traditional fields
like nursing and restricted in areas like geology, forestry and
engineering.
"...instead of wasting her energy in pursuit of higher education, a
womans worth is to stay home to do domestic work"(6a). The new
Open door economic policy of SLORC may offer increased
employment opportunities for women, but these are in the areas of hotel,
restaurant and other tourist attractions where they become part of the
service and femininity is exploited in the commercialization of their
sex(6b). Gender differentiating propaganda is prevalent(7). The "Pepsi
Beauty Pageant" and other 'beauty events' are evidence of increasing
sexual exploitation as is prostitution, which, although illegal, is
seeing
widespread growth in all sectors of society. Women of Burma, since pre-
colonial times, enjoyed a greater degree of autonomy and freedom than
did other Asian women (8a,b). With a strong base in social and economic
power and a movement towards political power it is all the more tragic to
subjugate these women whether it be through violence, coercion or
propaganda. The voice of Burmese women is noticeably absent in the
rising global expression of female consciousness.
Violation and Violence
The voice that one does hear is, all too often, a cry of pain or anguish
from the women of he persecuted groups. These women are not fighting
for 'women's rights' but for their lives and the lives of their families.
SLORC's policies, political tactics and direct military offensives have
disrupted countless lives and created untold problems and hardships.
Among the dangers that threaten them are compulsive relocations, forced
labour, rape and/or other violence, forced prostitution, hunger,
hopelessness and the death of family members. Relocations: Women are
responsible for the home and the well-being of the family. In this area
women have authority and bing uprooted robs them of control over their
lives, the power to make decisions and the self reliance gained through
skills and knowledge which frequently loose their value in refugee camps
or other temporary settings. One woman expresses some of her
frustrations, "...being a refugee here is very hard. It's a strange place
for
us, and I don't know how to get vegetables here or anything."(9) Some of
the relocations are from major cities to satellite towns and are cited as
part of an expansion plan to avoid overcrowding. Some 500,000 urban
dwellers were moved to remote areas.(10) "Level 1 & 2" developments,
for government officials and employees, appear to have reasonable living
conditions.
The fact that relocation is often not voluntary and the disruption to
family
and community life is overshadowed by the situation of the "level 3"
developments. These areas are for poor people, political dissidents and
other 'undesirables' who are dumped on disused rice paddy land and
forced to build leaf houses or other temporary shelters and survive as
best
they can(lld). There are an estimated half million displaced people
inside
Burma where humanitarian agencies are denied access and the condition
of the lives of women can only be guessed at. Pimps and prostitutes are
said to be a big problem. Many children don't attend school and child
labour and trafficking in children is common(12b-d).
Away from the larger cities, situations become more extreme. "Many
women have been uprooted from their home communities by Slorc's
relocation campaigns and herded into concentration camps, sometimes
separatedcan not be held responsible. While it is true that economic
difficulties are
a major reason that women are seduced into the trade by various means, it
is must also be recognized that a large market for them already exists.
Those who participate in the sexual exploitation of children and young
girls forced into prostitution and deem this to be part of male 'nature'
and
deny any wrongdoing are is serious need of re-education or confinement.
Sex with a child or anyone not willing to participate must be recognized
by all, regardless of borders, as an act of violence with strict legal
repercussions. Foreigners caught in such activities could immediately
have their visa privileges revoked, extradited and prosecuted by their
own
countries. Individual countries and international agencies must be
pressured into adjusting policies and laws. Germany has made some
headway by making it a prosecutable offence to have sex with a child in
any country. Unfortunately it took the death of the child to provoke the
required outrage, and outrage is what is needed to provoke any change in
the system. As women we must stand together and voice our rage.
A much publicized but still vital area of protest is the continued
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi who, in many -ways, symbolizes the
oppression of women and others who are powerless in Burma. She writes
about the fears that grip her country: fear of torture, death, poverty,
isolation, etc.. "A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades
as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless,
insignificant of futile the small daily acts Of courage which help to
preserve man's [woman's] self respect and inherent human dignity. "(34)
The daily acts of courage are particularly applicable to Suu Kyi and
other, less- renown, women. Suu Kyi's continuing commitment has been
called "one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia
in
recent decades." (Nobel Peace Prize Committee) This must not go
unrecognized by others who are fighting for the rights of women. We
must continue to call for her unconditional release and for her
installation as the leader of the National League for Democracy, Burma's
elected governing body.
Appedix IV
ASSISTANCE IS INAPPROPRIATE FOR BURMA
By Nyein Han
Acknowledging AIDS to be a major problem, SLORC-run newspaper -
so-called the New Light of Myanmar - on 12 July 1993 admitted that 47
full-blown cases and more than 5,100 HIV carriers were identified in
Burma at the end of 1992.
The number of Burmese infected with HIV is estimated at between
300,000 and 400,000 said Daniel Tarantola, an AIDS specialist from the
Harvard School of Public Health, who returned in the last week of July
1993 from Burma after ended his eight-day-investigation-trip there. The
number is about the same as Thailands one year ago and Burma could
surpass the US in HIV infections in two years, he said.
He said that in Mandalay, one to two percent of new military recruits,
about 9 percent of sex workers and around 80 percent of injected drug
users have been founded to be infected with HIV. HIV infection rates
among pregnant women have reached 4 to 8 percent in one area near the
Thai border, and 2 to 7 percent in another area in the South, he said.
The information on SLORC-run newspaper said that the Association
Franco-Xavier Bangnoud agreed to give assistance to SLORCs AIDS
prevention and anti-AIDS programs.
The reason for aid given by Tarantola is, By applying political pressure
on the few the world is penalizing the many.
We are very concerned about such kinds of assistance to SLORC because
nearly all the assistance distributed by many International agencies have
flooded into the pockets of military generals in Burma and fuel the on-
going civil war. Although it has been claiming for the promotion for
health care of the people for the time being, they abused all the
donations
in the military-run hospitals even though certain donor organizations
intend it for the public. Due to this, near all the hospitals in Burma
are
running out of vital medicines 12 months a year so that many people have
died of mostly from readily preventable or curable diseases.
Since it came to power, SLORC which got much money from foreign
investments, development assistance aided by UNDP and UNICEF and
by selling shares of SLORC-run Holding Limited, did not concentrate on
the welfare of the people. As a tactic for their new recruitment, SLORC
not only neglects peoples social welfare problem but also plunged them
into economic chaos. SLORC has not encouraged any training that
promotes public health and that educate people how to prevent the
diseases.
On the other side of the coin, SLORC has enough budget to feed its army
which increased to 350,000 - doubled in 1988 - including the new
members under SLORCs forced recruitment tactics and purchase
weapons from foreign countries to equip the armed forces in order to
suppress the people inside the country. At the same time, SLORC is also
rich enough in encouraging the military training for military men at all-
levels.
While the military top brasses become rich over night, people inside the
country became poor and poor day by day. It is unbelievable when one
heard that peasants have no rice for their families. It is the reality
in
Burma. Peasants have been forced to sell their crops at the rate and
price
fixed by the SLORC so that they had to look for odd-jobs in order to get
enough food for their family. On that situation, some women who were
eager to feed their parents were brought to the border towns of Burma in
believing getting a job that can provide enough money, they were
procured to be prostitutes with the collusion of the police and military
personnel in Burma and Thailand border towns.
The 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate and the symbolic leader of the women,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, donated US$ 10,000 to the present Thai
government for the education programs for these women. She knows
well how effective will be her donation to the Thai government rather
than the SLORC. Is there anybody, except the SLORC, who complain
for her management of donation to the Thai government, instead of the
regime in Burma? Can anyone say that she does not love the people in
Burma?
EC also adopted a resolution on 28 October 1992 to increase aid
programs for the training and employment for the Burmese women and
through the Thai government. As all the EC member states know the
situation inside the country well, they can calculate where their
donation
will go if they hand over to the SLORC directly. They dont want their
hands to be stained with the blood of innocent people in Burma. (DAWN
Vol 4. No.4 Pg 40)
Appedix V
BURMAS AIDS EPIDEMIC
By Edith T. Mirante
Enchained by a military dictatorship which ruthlessly suppress dissent,
Burma today is gripped by a silent AIDS epidemic. Burma, mainland
southeast Asias largest nation, with an ethnically diverse population of
some 42 million, is a country with only one newspaper, The Working
Peoples Daily. The muzzled Burmese press gives out little word of the
presence of AIDS, and foreign journalists and scientists are barred from
investigating it. But it is apparent that the people of Burma are
suffering
a rapid spread of the disease, and that Burma is the conduit for the
AIDS route which carries infection from Thailand to remote tribal areas
of India and China.
It is possible that AIDS reached Burma from the border towns of
Thailand, through the international trade in prostitutes and heroin. In
1991, it was estimated that 300,000 Thais were infected with the AIDS
virus, and according to the World Health Organisation, up to 15,000
Thais will have died from it by 1997. Other projections ware higher,
with
over a million predicted dead by the year 2000. Intravenous drug abuse
and prostitution are the major factors in AIDS infection in Thailand,
with
an especially high rate along Thailands northern border with Burma. A
study conducted in the northern Thai city of Chiangmai found that 70%
of prostitutes who had been working for over a year tested positive for
HIV, the AIDS precursor.
The AIDS route has found through mountainous northern Burma, to
Chinas border reign Yunan, where heroin trafficking and prostitution
have become rife in recent years. 493 Chinese had tested positive for
HIV in mid-1991, and 397 of those were in Yunan. Manipur, an isolated
state of northeast India, neighbouring Burma, also has an AIDS epidemic,
with 1,076 people testing positive for HIV in 1991, most of them are
heroine addict. Manipur is estimated to have over 15,000 heroin addicts,
and India as a whole is an AIDS crisis country.
The people of Burma are being exposed to AIDS in several ways,
including heroin injection, prostitution, medical procedures, and
indigenous customs. Burma is the worlds primary producer of opium,
the raw material for heroin. Increasingly, opium is refined into heroin
in
Burma, with military authorities turning a blind eye to the processing,
or
actively engaged in trafficking the product. Narcotics corruption up to
the highest levels of the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration
Council) junta has been alleged. SLORC officials openly allow known
drug warlords like Pheung Kya-Shi and Lo Hsing Han to operate freely
in the notorious Golden Triangle region, which is now under government
control. Increasingly, drug addicts are turning from opium smoking to
injecting heroin. Intravenous abuse is now common among labourers in
the north, and young people in Burmas capital, Rangoon. Student
dissidents had led a 1988 uprising which nearly toppled Burmas
dictatorship, but was suppressed by a coup in which the SLORC
asserted its power. A Burmese student who recently escaped to Thailand
has reported, Heroin can ... be bought openly at the Rangoon Institute of
Technology, the Institute of Medicine, and in every township of
Rangoon. The situation has gradually worsened since the military coup
in September 1988. The SLORC is less threatened by people on drugs
than by youths agitated for political action to ensure democracy for the
country. Heroin addicts routinely group together, sharing single dirty
needles, in Burma.
The traditionally high status of women in Burma, and the lack of flashy
nightclubs, discos or massage parlors, has led some foreign visitors to
believe that prostitution is nonexistent there. But there are numerous
brothels, and street prostitution is more and more common. Additionally,
there is large-scale trafficking of people from Burma, including young
girls and boys, for prostitution in Thailand. With the collusion of
police
and military personnel from Burma and Thailand, gang bring young
victims across to Thai border towns like Chiang Mai, Mae Sai,
Kanchanaburi, and Ranong, where they are sold into forced prostitution
for from US$ 100 to US$ 560. The slave-prostitutes include ethnic
Burmese from the south (some are immigration detainees brought out of
Thai jails by brothel owners) and northern ethnic group like Shans and
hill tribes people. Imprisoned in the dark brothel rooms, speaking no
Thai, the prostitutes from Burma have little chance for escape. They are
in demand because Thai customers perceive them as "AIDS Free", coming
from a relatively closed country. In reality, they do not remain AIDS
free
for long. Speaking at a seminar in Bangkok on "How to End Child
Sexual Exploitation", the Deputy Commander of Thailand's Crime
Suppression Division, Police Col. Bancha Charuchareet, commented,
"These places are sometimes equipped with secret underground rooms.
The girls are tortured and forced into prostitution. The Burmese mostly
come through the border on a day-pass permit. We cracked down on a
place in Ranong where these girls were locked in a house with a sign in
front of it reading, "AIDS Free Zone". Ironically, the Public Health
Ministry officers gave them a medical check and found all of them had
HIV.
In June 1991, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported a raid on a brothel in
Kanchanaburi, in which four young Burmese, including a 13 year old
girl, were rescued and found to be "suffering from several diseases".
Thai
public health campaigner Mechai Viravaidya spoke in 1991 of a rescue of
19 teenage girls from Burma's Shan State in a Chaing Mai brothel,
starting that "none of the girls had any knowledge of (AIDS) but 17 were
found to be infected with the HIV virus." Often, prostitutes diagnoses
with HIV or AIDS are simply sent back to their home Villages in Burma,
where they may continue to spread the disease due to ignorance of the
means of infection. Very few were ever "rescued" or "saved" from the
brothels that imprison them.
Medical care in Burma is in dire straits. Political oppression has
forced
many medical practitioners into overseas exile, and Burma's educational
system is in disarray. Over 60% of Government funds goes to military
purposes. Ethnic minority areas, some of which are in rebellion, are
neglected by government health services, and the SLORC keeps
international aid programs away from rebel zones. There is little if any
screening of blood for transfusions. Disposable syringes are hard to get
even in city hospitals.
Intravenous drip solutions are widely used for dehydration in case of
malaria and diarrhea diseases (both endemic throughout Burma), without
regard for the sterility of the drip needles. Quack doctors travel from
Village to Village, giving vitamin shots to malnourished people, and
often causing infections from their unsterile syringes. Even trained
nurses and doctors use only boiling water to clean their syringes and
drip
needles. All of these procedures have immense potential for spreading
AIDS virus throughout cities, towns, and the most remote Villages.
Tattoing, usually as a magical charm, is common for men of most ethnic
groups of Burma, and for women in many. It is a ubiquitous practice
among the Shan and Mon ethnic groups, and for indigenous tribes like
the Karens. The tattoos are generally a magic potion, injected ritually
with a brass-tipped rod, by a specialist in charms and spiritualism. Ear-
piercing, for infant, adolescent or adult men and women, is also common
throughout Burma. Tattooing and ear-piercing are rarely performed with
sterile instruments, and are an unsuspected way for the AIDS virus to
spread, even among Burma's more isolated ethnic groups.
Means of prophylactics against the virus are difficult to obtain in
Burma.
The government has discouraged all forms of birth control. Condoms
from China or Thailand are available on the black market, but are in
questionable condition and impoverished people in Burma find them too
expensive. The chemical barrier, nonoxynol-9 so unavailable except at
exorbitant black market rates. Even household laundry bleach, used in
other countries to rid needles of AIDS contamination, is hard to procure
in Burma, even in areas close to the Chinese or Thai borders.
Attempt at AIDS testing in Burma have been haphazard. Rebel-held
areas, where dissident medics often provide a relatively high standard of
health care, have yet to obtain equipment with which to test for the HIV
antibodies which herald the onset of AIDS. The SLORC has conducted
several AIDS tests, with government monitoring as far back as 1985.
Burma's first AIDS case was apparently discovered in 1988. In April
1991, Gen. Khin Nyunt (A SLORC intelligence officer linked to Golden
Triangle heroin traffickers) declared the fight against AIDS to be "a
national task". State-run radio reported in July 1990 that among 25,701
people given random blood tests, 324 were HIV positive. Tin U,
Chairman of the government's Central Committee for the Prevention of
AIDS, states that in testing conducted between May and December 1990,
81% of patients in Rangoon's Intravenous Drug Addiction Treatment
Department were found to be HIV infected. An even higher rate of
infection is said to exist at Insein Prison, where a large population of
political prisoners is held. In Burma's northern Kachin State, the
government has claimed that tests conducted on unspecified people in the
town of Bhamo showed a 96% HIV infection rate in 1991.
There does not appear to be much of a government effort to educate
Burma's people about the disease or provide ways to slow its
encroachment. Persistent reports have arisen regarding SLORC police or
military personnel executing persons with AIDS who have been forcibly
repatriated by Thailand to Burma. There has been no proof of these
reports, but they may be taken in the context of a regime which routinely
tortures prisoners, uses civilians for slave labor, and razes entire
Villages
under its control. A Thai anti-AIDS campaigner, Sommart Troy, has said,
according to the Bangkok Post, that "some Burmese girls found to have
AIDS, when sent back to their country, are allegedly reported to have
been given cyanide injections to execute them. Another Bangkok Post
report quotes an unnamed Rangoon police officials as stating that
Burmese officials, with cooperation from local (Thai) health officials,
recently rounded up five or six (Burmese) women who tested positive for
AIDS and were brought back to Victoria Point (Burma). There is an
unconfirmed report saying that all of them were executed. People say
there is no reason for the Burmese to provide these people with treatment.
Medical treatment for AIDS patient is totally lacking in Bura, and the
SLORC has been accused of letting the disease run rampant among
segments of the population it considers security risks, such as students
and rebellious ethnic minorities. Burma's military rulers have used
various tactics to depopulate "buffer zones" in border zones such as the
tribal southern Shan State and Muslim north of Arakan. The Burmese
army has terrorized Villagers until they flee en masse to neighboring
countries as barely tolerated refugees. Such policies have led to
accusation that the SLORC regime uses AID the way early North
American settlers presented small pox-contaminated gift blankets to
Indian tribes, to wipe out an indigenous population through disease. In
a
latter to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, an exile from Burma
wrote, "The military dictators, of course, suppress the existence of the
"AIDS route" as it serves their purpose... what better way to eliminate
troublesome ethnic minorities without wasting a single bullets! This is
a
tantamount to an extremely cruel and sophisticated genocide."
AIDS threatened the entire population of Burma, but it may doom the
very survival of some ethnic groups, like the 1.3 millions Kachins, who
live in the mountains around Bhamo. It could eradicate small tribes like
the Dulongs, who live on the China/Burma border and already number
only in the thousands.
Burma today suffers from mass forced relocation by the military, social
decay as the regime undermines traditional religious authority, and
warfare in which 250,000 strong SLORC force equipped with Chinese
fighter-bomber jets stages scorched earth campaigns in the forests of
frontier tribes people. These conditions are conductive to the growth of
public health crises of any kind: cholera, typhoid, plague, malaria,
AIDS.
These conditions must end, if there is to be any control of the spread of
AIDS through Burma and neighboring regions. Recently, a UNICEF
memo has called for "massive educational efforts, in the languages of the
ethnic minorities, on AIDS awareness", as one way to begin to deal with
the crisis. This could be done in rebel-held ethnic minority areas, if
international agencies were willing to distribute their AIDS education
materials to such anti-government groups. Also, short-wave radio, widely
listened to by Burmese people, such as the BBC World Service, Voice of
America, and All India Radio, can increase their AIDS education program
for their Burmese audiences. Other efforts, such as testing facilities,
condom distribution, and humane treatment programs for AIDS patients,
will require creative and radical approaches, if they are to actually
reach
Burma's endangered populations.
Increasingly, even as Burma is threatened by the disease, a hope for a
treatment, or even cure, may lie in Burma's forests. Many of today's
medicines are derived from forest plants, and scientists are
interestingly
able to extract botanical medicines, or to create copies of them when
they
are discovered. In China, significant research is being done in the use
of
botanical medication for AIDS. In 1991, Asia week magazine reported
that "at the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in Beijing, Professor Jin
Siyuan has found fourteen traditional herb that he says can suppress
AIDS Development. Chinese medicine is also being used in some US
experiments. Burma's Kachin State is renowned in Asia for the herds
used in traditional Chinese medicines, and the rainforests of southern
Burma may contain important medicinal plants as well. Unfortunately,
these resources for the world's future are disappearing fast. According
to
the satellite mapping, Burma has reached the world's third highest rate
of
deforestation undeWN ARIF-S
DAW SOE SOE U June-1991 - Rangoon
UNKNOWN NLD
MA SOE SOE OO (19 yrs) July 1991 - Mandalay UNKNOWN
ABFSU
#MYINT MYINT (39 yrs) 2 July 1991 - Mandalay UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
MA AYE AYE WIN December 1991 - Rangoon UNKNOWN
STUDENT
THU ZAR MYO AUNG December 1991 - Rangoon UNKNOWN
STUDENT
MA MAY THWE OO December 1991 - Rangoon UNKNOWN
STUDENT
MA MOE CHO THIN December 1991 - Rangoon REL. 1993
STUDENT
THI DA AYE 23 July 1992 - Rangoon UNKNOWN
NLD
# KHIN MAR AYE (53 yrs) 16 Dec 1993 - Rangoon 3 YEARS
PWUL-LBWUL
MA YI YI MYINT (24 yrs) January 1993 - Mandalay 3 YEARS
MATHS STUDENT
# MA THI DA (27 yrs) 7 August 1993 - Rangoon 20 YEARS
NLD
DAW KHIN AYE (53 yrs) Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
ABPWSL
DAW HINN YE Unknown NKNOWN
UNKNOWN
MAW MAW LWIN (20 yrs) Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
STUDENT
KHIN LAY NWE (24 yrs) Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
STUDENT
DAW WIN MYINT Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
NLD-MP
DAW SAN MAY Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
NLD-MP
# MA KHIN THWE Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
PDF-UG
MIN MIN OO Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
DAW SAN SAN NWET 1990 - Rangoon 3 YEARS-REL
NLD-WRITER
MA HINN HINN NWE Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
DPNS
MA HLA HLA THAN Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
DPNS
MA OHNMA Unknown - Rangoon UNKNOWN
ABFSU
MA OMA Unknown
NKNOWN ABFSU
MYINT MYINT KHIN Unknown - Rangoon 5 YEARS
NLD
KHIN WIN KYI Unknown
NKNOWN ABSDF
# Biographies of women provided in this report.
BIOGRAPHIES OF WOMEN POLITICAL PRISONERS
(In order of arrest)
MA KHIN KHIN THAUNG
Ma Khin Khin Thaung was born in North Okkalapa in 1966. In
1989 she joined the NFFB. She is alleged to have distributed leaflets in
April 1989 and was also responsible for gathering food and other
essential items for those who had fled to the ethnic areas.
MA THEINGI
Ma Theingi is a well-known art teacher in her early 40s who
acted as a personal secretary to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Ma Theingi has
also written a book on the tradition of puppet theatre in Burma.
Arrested
along with U Ba Taw (Maung Thaw Ka), who later died in prison, and 41
others on 20 July 1989 at the NLD headquarters, she was held in Insein
Prison. Ma Theingi was released from prison in 1993. Rearrested along
with U Kyi Maung on 2 June 1995.
DAW KHIN SAN HLAING
Daw Khin San Hlaing was born in Wetlet Township, Irrawaddy
District on 16 October 1956. After passing the 10th standard
examination in 1977, Daw Khin San Hlaing worked as a clerk (grade 11)
in Wetlet. She was a student at the university correspondence course in
Mandalay from 1978 and obtained her LLB degree in 1982. Daw Khin
San Hlaing actively participated in the pro-democracy movement in 1988,
joining the NLD. She successfully contested the General Election in
1990, winning a seat in Wetlet Township. The authorities alleged that
she attended a clandestine meeting called to form a temporary government
in 1990.
MA AYE YU NWE
Ma Aye Yu Nwe served as a lower division clerk with the
Myanmar Economic Bank (Thingangun) from 1987. During the pro-
democracy movement in 1988, she took part in the demonstrations with
the Workers College Thamaga. She re-joined the Thamaga in November
1988. At the time of her arrest, Ma Aye Yu Nwe was a Thamaga
organiser. She raised funds for the Thamaga, published information
pamphlets and carried out organisational work.
MA NAN WAI YI
Ma Nan Wai Yi was born in 1967 in Rangoon. She had been a
second year Rangoon University chemistry student and was working as
an Assistant Immigration Officer at the time of her arrest. In the pro-
democracy movement in 1988 Nan Wai Yi took part in demonstrations
together with the Workers College Thamaga. She was a member of the
Thamaga when it was reformed in October 1988. Her duties included
recruiting new members and fund-raising. She published and distributed
information pamphlets in August 1990. The SLORC alleged that she
allowed Yin Yin Phu (former ABSDF member) to spend the night at her
house while she was fleeing Rangoon with Nay Win Aung, an
aboveground ABSDF contact.
DAW SHWE WAH SOE
Daw Shwe Wah Soe was born in Bassein (Pathein) on 1 August
1962. She passed the 10th standard examination from No 1 High School
in Thayawaddy in 1982 before attending the Regional College No 1 at
the Yezin Institute of Agriculture in 1985. She was in charge f the
Agriculture Corporation, Helgu Township in August 1985. She served as
Assistant Section Head of the news and information section at the
Development Committee in 1987, before being appointed as an editor to
the Myawaddy magazine. After taking part in the pro-democracy
movement in 1988, she was forced to resign from her workplace. From
1988 to 1990 she worked as a tuition teacher and in 1990 she served with
the PMK South Korean Company. The authorities alleged that Daw
Shwe Wah Soe failed to inform them of a number of matters, including
the formation of the NCGUB.
DAW WIN MAY
Daw Win May was born in Sagaing on 1 December 1940. She
passed the 7th standard examination from Rangoon Khitthit Private
School in 1956 before leaving school. Daw Win May joined the Training
Depot of the Defence Services in Mingaladon and served as an instructor.
She was promoted to the post of coporal in 1959 and attended the typing
course (Myanmar), serving as a steno-typist with the Myanmar Ahthan
(Burmese Broadcasting Service).
During the pro-democracy movement in 1988, she was active in
the Myanmar Ahthan Wunhtan Thamaga (BBS Servants Union) and took
part in the demonstrations. As a result of her actions, Daw Win May was
forced to resign from her work-place. The authorities alleged that she
attended a clandestine meeting on the formation of a temporary
government in 1990.
DAW SAN SAN WIN
Daw San San Win was born in Dedaye on 25 December 1945.
She studied at the No 3 State High School in Dagon Township and
passed the 10th standard examination at the Youth Affairs Night School
(No 2 State High School) in Kyimyindine Township in 1967. Daw San
San Win obtained the Bachelor of Art (Law) degree from Rangoon
University in 1972. She attended a training course for apprentice
lawyers
for one year at the Supreme Court and served as an advocate. In 1988 she
participated in the demonstrations with the Lawyers Thamaga (Bar
Council). She successfully contested the General Election in 1990 for
the NLD, winning a seat in Ahlon Township. The authorities alleged that
she attended a clandestine meeting called to form a temporary government
in 1990.
DAW OHN KYI
Daw Ohn Kyi was born in Kannar Village in Nahtogyi
Township on 25 February 1952. She attended the State High School in
Myittha from 1962/63 to 1968/69 and completed tenth standard. Daw
Ohn Kyi studied at Taunggyi College from 1969/70 to 1970/71 and
Mandalay University from 1971/72 where she graduated with a Bachelor
of Science (Chemistry) degree from Mandalay Arts and Science
University in 1972/73. After having completed her education, Daw Ohn
Kyi worked as a clerk at Myittha Township Judicial Body in 1974,
passing the Higher Grade Pleadership examination in 1980. She resigned
from work at the end of July 1982 and worked as a private lawyer.
In 1988, she participated in the demonstrations and joined the
NLD, serving as Township organiser and Township committee secretary.
She successfully contested the 1990 General Election in Myittha
Township Constituency-1. The authorities alleged that she attended a
clandestine meeting called to form a temporary government in 1990.
DAW SAN SAN
Daw San San was born in Ahlon Villag in Monywa Township
on 10 January 1930. She passed the 10th standard examination from
Monywa Township Mula-tan-lun (post primary) school in 1948,
obtaining the Bachelor of Science (biology) degree from Rangoon
University in 1954. She served as a teacher with the Central High School
in 1954 and as a demonstrator at Rangoon University in 1955. Daw San
San won the State Scholarship award and attended the training course on
oceanography in Yugoslavia from 1955 to 1956. She also served as a
demonstrator to the Assistant Director of the Labour Department from
1959 to 1988.
During the pro-democracy movement in 1988, Daw San San
chaired the Labour Directorate Workers Thamaga. As a result of her
involvement in the demonstrations, she was forced to resign from her
workplace. A member of the NLD, she successfully contested the
General Election in 1990, being elected as the Hluttaw (Parliament)
representative for Seikkan Township Constituency.
The authorities alleged that Daw San San attended a clandestine
meeting on the formation of temporary government in 1990. She also
held discussion at her house with other elected NLD members. She was
reportedly sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment.
DAW CHO CHO KYAW NYEIN
On 19 January 1991, the authorities detained and questioned
Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, General Secretary of the legally registered
AFPFL. Her father U Kyaw Nyein had been a key founder of the
AFPFL, which was Burmas main political party in the 1950s. She had
been detained and questioned once before, in July 1989.
On 26 January 1991, Major General Khin Nyunt, SLORCs
Secretary One, alleged that Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein had been in
contact with Saw Sanda Nwe, a lawyer with the ABFSU. Saw Sanda
Nwe had sought the assistance of Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein in sending
agitative pamphlets to foreign embassies. Khin Nyunt also alleged that
in late 1990 Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein had managed arrangements for
Saw Sanda Nwe to meet Shwe Hti, messenger of the banned student
organisation, the ABSDF. Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, Khin Nyunt
claimed, had given Shwe Hti some money after he begged her for help.
He further argued that the AFPFLs joint General Secretary U Saw Lwin
had been involved in attempting to arrange meeting between Daw Cho
Cho Kyaw Nyein and people who had connections with Shwe Hti.
Legal action was being taken against Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein and U
Saw Lwin for having carried out above-ground and underground
activities to cause unrest and instability. Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein
reportedly was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Released in 1992
under an amnesty programme.
MA NI NI DUN
Ma Ni Ni Dun is believed to be in her later 20s and worked in
medical treatment. She is said to have graduated with a degree in
economics from Rangoon Institute of Economics. According to
report she may have been among a group of 37 people arrested in
Paukkaung who were released after 28 days. However, other sources
believe this group is still being detained.
DAW SAN SAN HTAY
Daw San San Htay was said by opposition sources to have been
arrested in January 1991, even though she had already stopped her
political activities. She had been a member of the NLD in the
Kammayut Township of Rangoon, and is believed to have been detained
by the SLORC authorities in her township.
MA MYINT MYINT
She was a aughter of U Ba Gyun and living at 340, 84th street
Maha Aung Mye quarter of Mandalay. She was arrested along with five
other activists and detained for distributing anti-government leaflets in
Mandalay. They were detained in Mandalay Prison. (Source: DAWN Pg
18, Vol 3. No 5, Nov 91)
MA YI YI MYINT
Ma Yi Yi Myint, a Mathematics student at Mandalay
University, was arrested with three other people in Mandalay in 1993. Yi
Yi Myint was distributing a statement by U Shwe Htoo when she was
arrested in Mandalay. They were distributing leaflets which the SLORC
claimed aimed at obstructing the National Convention and undermining
peace and tranquillity in the country. The three are alleged to have
written the propaganda leaflets and to have mailed them to
universities, colleges and schools in major cities and factories and
offices, and distributed leaflets in busy places.
The authorities reported that they had been sentenced to three
years imprisonment, but it is not known what laws they were charged
under or where they are being detained.
MA THIDA AYE
Ma Thida Aye was accused of publishing anti-government
statements on pamphlets. She bound 500 copies into book from at the
house of Hla Min, where they later sold copies of the pamphlets. When
the profits from the sale of pamphlets were divided among themselves,
each of them earned about K 200, the authorities alleged.
DAW KHIN MAR AYE
Daw Khin Mar Aye was arrested with two men in Rangoon.
The authorities explained that they made the arrests after receiving
information that plans (were) being made to write and distribute
propaganda leaflets with intent to destroy the peace and tranquillity of
the country. The authorities alleged that the three were in possession
of
propaganda leaflets which they had written. The leaflets were written in
the name of the Peoples Workers Unity League and the Lower Burma
Workers Unity League and entitled To fight for democratic human
rights.
MA KHIN HTWE
Ma Khin Htwe, age 32, first met U Hla Pe when she attended his
mathematics tuition class in 1979. After the pro-democracy movement in
1988 she was in contact with the activists U Ba Tint and Daw Khin
Kyway through U Hla Pe. When U Hla Pe fled to the Thai-Burmese
border in 1990 as part of a group of exiled elected representatives who
later formed the NCGUB, Ma Khin Htwe acted as an intermediary,
passing on letters from U Hla Pe to U Ba Tint. Before her arrest, she
was
planning to join the underground Peoples Democratic Front.
(Postscript: U Hla Pe, NCGUB Minister of Information, died under
mysterious circumstances in Bangkok, 1993.)
MA THI DA
A medical doctor and short story writer (Ma Thi Da -
Sanchaung), age 27, working in a philanthropic Muslim Hospital before
being arrested with ten other political activists on 7 August 1993. All
of
them were allegedly held without either legal representation or contact
with close associates until their trial started on 27 September 1993.
SLORC was forced to adjourn the hearing after a large crowd turned up
at the court.
Ma Thi Da was a close associate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
before the latter was placed under house arrest in July 1989. Ma Thi Da
became well-known for her short stories. She has written novels, all of
which, with the exception of her latest novel, the SLORC has refused
permission to publish. Although the SLORC has permitted the
publication of her latest novel, it has been banned. After a closed
trial on
15 October 1993, she was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for
"contact with illegal organisations, endangering public peace, and
distributing banned literature to foreign-based opposition groups." She
is
being held in Insein Prison.
DAW SAN SAN NWE
Daw San San Nwe, writer, member of NLD Central Committee,
was a well-known journalist and known under the pen name San San
Nwe Tharrawaddy. Daw San San Nwe is the author of over five hundred
short stories, twelve novels, and over a hundred poems. She was arrested
in July 1989 with the allegation of insisting unrest and released in
April
1990. She and her daughter, Myat Mo Mo Tun, were re-arrested on 4
August 1994 with the allegation of having links with Democratic
opposition groups and giving anti-SLORC information to foreign media
and diplomats. Myat Mo Mo Tun was a computer science student at
Rangoon University and also part time compositor at a printing press. On
October 6, she was sentenced to ten years in prison.(Source: ABSDF/
Inside Sources)
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT
ABFSU All Burma Federation of Students Unions
ABSDF All Burma Students Democratic Front
AFPFL Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League
ABPWSL Unknown
ARIF-S Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front - Supporter
BDGF Burma Democratic Guerrilla Front
BRF Unknown
BSPP Burma Socialist Programme Party
DPNS Democratic Party for New Society
GS General Secretary
LBWUL Lower Burma Workers Unity League
MP Member of Parliament
NCGUB National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
NFFB Unknown
NLD National League for Democracy
PDF Peoples Democratic Front
PLP Patriotic League for Peace
PWUL Peoples Workers Unity League
RASU Rangoon Arts and Science University
SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council
THAMAGA Union
UG Underground
WY Women and Youth
YSUA Youth and Students Union Association
At the funeral of former premier U Nu in Rangoon on February 20,
50 people were rounded up. Of them the nine students were sentenced to
seven year prison terms in late April with the accusation that they
delivered a eulogy at the funeral. Among those were three female
students -- Aye Aye Moe, Moe Kalayar and Cho Nwe Oo. (Source:
ABSDF/ inside sources)
The Plight of Burmese Women
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The Plight of Burmese Women