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CHIN Human Rights Report - Septembe



Subject: CHIN Human Rights Report - September, 1999

CHIN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION 
                         50 Bell Street, N #2, Ottawa, ON K1R 7C7,Canada 
                       Ph/FX : 613 234 2485.Email : chokhlei@xxxxxxxxxxx 
                              Volume (II) No(IX) :: SEPTEMBER 1999 

                    Civilians held responsible for disappearance of army
personnel 
                     ( Burmese soldiers tortured villages' headmen in
Chin State). 

On 26/6/1999 a company of Burmese Army comprising of 34 soldiers ledby
2nd Lieutenant Myo Kyaw
from LIB 266 stationed at Lungler Camp set off forLung Ding village from
Lungler. On their way to
Tlangpi village on 27/6/1999, one army personeldisappeared half way.
Stunned by the sudden
disappearance, the 2nd BattalionCommander Major Khin Maung Ye, then, led
the search for the lost
soldier. 

According to a villager of Tlangpi, Pu LianMang (name changed), the
Major heldTlangpi villagers
responsible for the soldier's disappearance, since the placewhere the
soldier was believed to be
disappeared was in Tlangpi area. Moreover, villagers from Dawn, Bung
Khua, Zang Tlang and Tlangpi
were forcibly taken to Lungler to construct road between Lungler and
FungKah village without
payment. The villagers had to give a total of Kyats300000 to the Major
as a ransom for their release,
with Dawn and Bung Khua contributing Kyats 120000 each and Zang Tlang
village Kyats 80000.
Unable to afford for the ransom, Tlangpi villagers are still beingheld
at Lungler army camp and are
being engaged in the forced labor. The Majoralso took control of the
entire rations that the villagers
had brought for themselves and gave them on a limited scale. The
villagers had to stay hungry as they
were given only 34 cups (small milk can) of rice for aday. Heavily
guarded by the soldiers, the villagers
are threatened that the entire villagers will be punished if anyone
attempted to escape. All males in the
village have been held and are now in the forced labor camp, as the
soldiers are suspicious that some
villagers might ran away whenever they arrived in the village. " The
villagers could have been released
if they could pay the ransom. But the village is facing financial
problems and still had to work", said Pu
Lian Mang. The work started from 5 a.m. in the morning till 5 p.m. in
theevening. In a bid to block the
soldier who was believed to be defected, from sneaking into India,
ferrymen in two major routes to
Farkawn and their ferries were confiscated. 

Pu Biak Lawm, Pu Van Thleng and Pu Leng Ling were among the detainees
who were taken to Hakha
Army Headquarters and put in jail. They are yet to be released, as they
have no money to bribe. The
blockade of Tio river andabsence of ferry service had led to the
drowning of Salai Tluang Sawmand
Mai Siang Zi (school girls) who attempted to cross the flooded river
on19/7/1999. The Chairman and
members of Village PDC, all of them 8, are also arrested and jailed in
Hakha prison on account of
being responsible for the disappearance of the soldier. The members are
Pu Tial Awr, Village PDC
chairman, Pu Ral Lian Kap, Pu Hnok Kio, Pu Lian Kham, Pu Kap Lian, Salai
Peng Thang and two
other villagers. They were subjected to several beatings with baton on
their feet. Because of these
severe torture, they are now unable to walk. During the torture, the
Chairman's calf was pierced with
a-4-inchheated nail at least 20 times that his feet were completely
maimed. He had to be carried by
other people with his hands tied up in the back whenever he was summoned
to the Army camp in the
hilltop. The fates of the eight victims are unpredictable. Other 7
members apartfrom the Chairman are
likely to be able to release on giving bribes to the army authorities.
None of them, however, cannot
afford it and has to remain in jail .Tlangpi villagers are in dilemma as
to how to deal with the 34
villagers being detained in Lungler camp, as well as the 8 village
council members being jailed in
Hakha and the two villagers drowned while crossing Tio River. They are
still busy trying to collect the
ransom money for the release of the Village Council members. There is
still another major problem for
civilians, landmines are being planted by the SPDC troops in areas like
Leilet village in Falam
Township and along the Mizoram borders of Thantlang areas. According to
disclosure of residents of
Thantlang township areas, a landmine was found during the month of
February1999. Although the
primary purpose of planting landmines in these areas is to prohibit the
movement of Chin National
Army, civilians are rather being impacted. It is estimated that as many
as 30 landmines have been laid
in the area. 

Date of receiving report :23 July 1999. 

                        Soldiers Extorted Domestic Animals in Falam
Township 


Name : Hrelian 
Occupation : Farmer 
Place : Lungpi, Falam township 

A troop of 10 soldiers from LIB (268) Falam Battalion led by 2nd Lt.
Khin Than was posted in Lungpi
village of Falam township to collect fire woods for brick kiln. The
soldiers ordered nearby villages
Mangkheng, Rialti, Lungpi, Lungrang and Thlanrawn to provide two
chickens per week to the soldiers
without fail. Since the villagers can not afford to provide the
requested chickens, they went to Falam
and complained to the Battalion Commander. As soon as the Battalion
commander received the
complain, he sent a group of soldiers to the said villages. The soldiers
entered village by village and
took all the chickens ( no matter big or small ) by force. The villagers
were pointed with guns when
they tried to prevent them. Besides, the villagers were ordered to weave
baskets to keep the chickens.
After that the soldiers collected porters to carry the chickens that
they had looted. PDCs chairmen from
Lungpi, Mangkheng, Thlanrawn, Rialti and Lungrang villages went to the
commander of LIB 268 and
report the incident. However, the Battalion commander threatened them
that the civilians have
responsibility to feed the army and have no rights to complain or take
any action on the army. If any
body create trouble to the army, the whole village or town has to
suffer. 

                              Burmese troops terrorized Indian villagers 

12 Burmese soldiers led by Sergeant Tin Oong (Ration Supply Unit) under
company 2 commander, Lt.
Myo Kyaw from Light Infantry Battalion(LIB)268 based at Falam, Chin
State made their way to
patrolling the Indo-Burma borders on 15 July 1999. During such
operations the soldiers usually carried
out brutal acts against the civilains. Pu Suan Do (name changed) and 5
other traders from Kui Thang
village of Tiddim Township (Chin State) were at that time setting off
for Mizoram State of India to sell
10 pigs and 18 chickens. These pigs and chickens were sold to Zote
villagers of Mizoram State who
received them at Tio River, which borders India and Burma. On hearing
this news, the Sergeant
immediately chased the Indian villagers who just bought the pigs and
chickens up to one mile inside
the Indian Territory and forcibly took one pig worth 20000 kyats, one
chicken worth 1000 kyats in
Burmese currency, and Rs.500 in Indian currency in cash from them.
According to the Nu Biaki(one of
the traders), the soldiers killed and ate a pig at FarTlang village in
Tidim Township. The Mizoram
public was enraged over the conduct of the Burmese troops looting and
extorting money inside their
territory. Making an excuse to clear suspected Chin National Army's
bases around the areas, the
sergeant-led company had been carrying out extortion and confiscation.
Such brutalities in the border
have prompted the Indian Army and Mizoram armed police to carry out
fresh operation against the Chin
National Army, which has been leading armed resistant movement against
the Rangoon government
for democracy and self-determination for the Chins. It is being observed
with great concern that the
Chin peoples in these areas, who solely depend on selling livestock to
Mizoram, will face severe
hardship if the Burmese troops continue to commit intrusion and
brutalities in the Indian side. 

Date of receiving report : 23 July 1999 

                       Civilians engaged in road construction as forced
laborers 


Date of interview : 4.7.99 
Name : Ngun Hmung (Village tract chairman) 
Age : 40 
Gender : Male 
Occupation : Farmer 
Village : Khua Bung (A), Thantlang Township, Chin State 
Nationality : Chin 
Religion : Christian 
Family member : 8 including 6 Children 

By using the name of " Border Trade between India and Burma" the
military government of Burma,
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), constructed roads merely for
better links between
army camps in the border areas. The junta forced the people to construct
road between Hriphi army
camp and newly constructed Vuangtu camp, which is 13 miles in distance.
One thousands villagers
from the surrounding 30 villages were working for this construction as
forced laborers. Moreover, these
laborers had to carry their own tools, equipment and ration supplies
during the road construction,
which lasted from 1st February to the first week of June. The soldiers
guarded the laborers and
threatened that the entire concerned villages will be punished if anyone
from any village ran away from
the work site. The laborers were forced to work from dawn to dusk and
were allowed to sleep only by
their respective work sites where the soldiers assigned them. No medical
treatment was given to the
sick during the construction. The army allotted the work to each village
and the villagers were forced to
finish their allotted work before the first week of June that started
from March 23. Major Khin Maung
Ye, from Company 2 of Hriphi Camp and 2nd Battalion Commander of LIB 268
stationed in Falam, was
directed to supervise the construction. Known among his inferiors who
helped supervise the
construction were Sergeant Nyo Win, Corporal Win Kyiang and Corp.
SoeMyint. Firing 5 or 6 shots in
the air the Major would often threaten the tired laborers with dire
consequences if they did not follow
his instruction. Therefore no one dare to complain their tiredness and
had to stay calm. Sometimes the
laborers were even robbed of their rations such as rice, dried meats
that they brought from the village.
The soldiers also stole five hoes from the laborers, which were brought
from ZaBung village.
Moreover, 4 persons from each village along Thantlang and Hriphi were
forced to carry an empty
diesel tank (50 gallons-capacity) from one village to another - any
group that could not carry the tank
were punched and beaten. The age of the laborers from each village
ranged from 67 years to 15
years, including school children. Among the laborers who worked in the
road construction were 3
elderly men, over 65 years, 3 widows and 5 school children from ZaBung
village; 4elderly men (around
age 50) from Zephai village; 1 elderly man and 4 middle school students
from Nga Lang village and
people from different age group even children and some Christian
religious teachers from Hriphi
village. While working on the construction, Ni Awi, a 23-year-old youth,
son of Nun Hei from Hriphi
village fell off the wall of the road and broke his right arms. Ram
Cung, a 17-year-old youth, son of Hei
Mang received serious chest and back injuries from the same incident. No
medical treatment
whatsoever was given to the victims. The newly constructed road had
crossed private farms owned by
HramThang, Sui Mang, Lian Te and Hre Cem of Hriphi (B) village were
destroyed. The farmers
received no compensation so far. These farmers are likely to face
serious difficulties in the coming
year, as their farms were destroyed without compensation. According to a
reliable information, despite
reportedly sanctioning Kyats 500000 and 140000 worth diesel for
bulldozer. However, nothing was
spent for the construction, instead forced labor was used. After
completing the construction the
laborers were forced to work on the army farms. 

                         Myanmar Christians flee to India alleging
persecution 

(Source : Rangoon Post) 
GUWAHATI, India, Aug 20 (AFP) 

More than 1,000 Christian tribal in Myanmar have fled across the border
into India this month, alleging
persecution by the military junta and Buddhist monks, church leaders
said Friday. The Naga tribals,
mostly from eight villages in the Sagaing district of northern Myanmar,
crossed into the far
northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, according to Reverend Zhabu
Terhuja, general secretary of the
Nagaland Baptist Church Council. "Buddhist monks aided by Myanmar
soldiers have been forcing the
Christian Nagas residing in that country to convert to Buddhism,"
Terhuja told AFP by telephone from
the Naga capital Kohima. There are an estimated 20,000 Naga tribals in
Myanmar. "Some
Myanmarese Nagas are taking shelter in a border village called Pangsa
following alleged persecution
by the army," said local police chief L.T. Lotha. "But there is no law
and order as such due to the
exodus," Lothi said, Church leaders said the Naga Christians were being
forced to close down their
churches, which had then been desecrated or used as kitchens by the
Myanmar army. Reverend
Bonny Resu, secretary general of the Asian Baptist Federation said the
issue had been taken up with
the Myanmar Baptist Convention "so that they can apprise the government
about the reports of
persecution." However, Buddhist leaders here questioned the validity of
the reports. "Even if your
father or mother accepts another religion, being a son you cannot force
them to reconvert to
Buddhism. So the question of converting Christians to Buddhism by force
does not arise," said
Gyanpal Bhiku, a Buddhist monk and member of the Northeast Buddhist
Federation. 

                           Force to construct police station and army
camp 


Name : Zamulaage : 35 
Gender : Male 
Occupation : Farmer ( presently Chairman of Shiao village tract ) 
Religion : Christian 
Family members : 6-Children 

The police station in charge and army/company commander of Shinletwa,
Paletwa township, jointly,
forced the villagers to construct police station and army camp. The
villagers were divided into two
groups. One group was assigned to build police station and the other was
assigned to construct army
camp. Para village, Shewlike village, Yayitaung village, Gonepin
village, Pondmao village, Kyupyahtin
village, Pyiwa village and Khone village were assigned to build army
camp. Under a watchful eyes of
the guards the villagers were forced to work from morning 6:00 until 5:
pm without taking rest. No
medicine was provided for the sick from the authorities. At night the
villagers had to sleep at the place
where the authority had specified. The villagers were warned that anyone
who escape from the work
field would be severely punished. The villagers had no time even for
bathing. "The two constructions
simultaneously started in February of 1999. As our group could not
complete the construction in
February they told us to come back in March. However, I could not go
back to the construction
because I was busy with my farm works. So when I went for the meeting in
the beginning of May, the
commander questioned me why I did not show up in the construction work
and I was kept under arrest
( kept in the army camp). I requested the commander to allow me to stay
in the village because I was
so uncomfortable to stay in the army camp" said Zamula. He also added,
"even though the commander
allowed me to stay in the village, I had to give my signature twice a
day at the camp. Moreover, the
authority asked me to pay Kyats 500 for the cost of papers and pens".