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HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN KYA-IN-S



HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN KYA-IN-SEIK-KYI TOWNSHIP OF KAREN STATE

	A company from LIB No. 355 led by Captain Nyi Nyi Naing had been stationed at Taung-bauk village from June to September of this year. LIB No. 355 is a unit under South East Command. During this period, they had committed widespread human rights violations some of which were as follows.
	Captain Nyi Nyi Naing  and Sergeant Kyaw Phone Naing led the forcible collection of porter fees  from  villagers, the local population of Karen villages, such as Taung-ghun, Chauk-ba-lu, Wan-ka-na, Kha-lae-saw, Taung-ga-lay, and the Mon village Taung-bauk. Each  family had to pay from 3000 to 6000 Kyat a month.
	In August, a soldier tried to rape a local Mon girl. The parents and village headmen made a complaint to the respective authorities, but no action has been taken yet.
	In September,  a group led by Sergeant Kyaw Phone Naing, beat up Let-wa-zeik villagers Aung Than, Mon Chan and Ah-Htain, and looted 2000 Kyat from them. The group also robbed 8000 Kyat from an underground lottery seller from Ka-gurn-zu village.
	Each of the local villages had to give one and half basket of rice and a Viss of chicken per month to the army camp.
	At the midnight of September 4, Daw Pain (45), wife of a KNLA soldier, her daughter Naw Par Mi (17) and her son Maung Tin Shwe (20) of Kway-toe-zeik village tract,  were taken by the soldiers from IB No. 30 based at Than-byu-za-yart as hostages. Maung Tin Shwe was kicked at his face.
	On August 30,  a skirmish took place near Taung-ga-lay village between a military column from LIB 355 and KNLA troops. After that incident, SLORC troops accused the villagers of helping the KNLA and severe repression followed. One villager died as a result and two houses were burnt down. All villagers then abandoned the village and fled for lives.
	On September 19, there was a skirmish between a column from LIB 356 and KNLA troops near Ma-U  village resulting  in 3 SLORC soldiers wounded. After that, 3 villagers from the village were beaten severely and taken to the camp.
	In last April, the notorious SLORC officer nick-named by local people as 
?Bo Mae Lone? raped a young woman,  wife of a KNLA soldier, Kyaw Nge. The time of the rape was only about 20 days after the birth of a child by the woman and as a result of severe shock, she has become a mentally disturbed person.   


FLOOD NEWS

	On 2/8/97, due to heavy rain, Rangoon-Moulmein rail and road were seriously flooded. The flood covered a large area from Waw township in Pegu Division to Thein-za-yart township near Sit-taung river. 
	There was a landslide in Thein-za-yart, burying a SLORC check-point,  killing four -  a soldier, a policeman, a woman and a child.
	There was also a landslide at the foot of a  mountain to the west of Kyeik-tee-yoe, burying a Karen village of 20 households, reportedly killing from about 50 to 100 people.
	Due to the flood,  hundreds of houses were destroyed and it was estimated that about 500 people including 100 men, 250 women and 100 children were drowned. Three bridges between Sittaung and Waw were damaged. 
	The flood also affected villages near Moulmein, a satellite town near Nyaung-bin-zeit and Oak-pho village  were flooded. New settlements relocated from areas near Mu-pon Navy Gate were also flooded. 
	The homeless people were moved to stay on the premises of Buddhist monasteries. By estimate, from 40 to 50 persons were drowned in this area.
	Up to the end of September, there had been no direct transport by rail or road between Rangoon and Moulmein. SLORC authorities were known to make arrangement  for transport by ship, as a temporary measure.

Reported by People Defence Force
October 12, 1997

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