BurmaNet News: December 31, 2000

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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         December 31, 2000   Issue # 1700
_______________ www.burmanet.org ______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Mine Derails Rangoon-Martaban Train Near Hninpale, 3 Police 
Escorts
*Shan Human Rights Foundation: Human Rights in Shan State?Dec. 2000

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Reuters: Six Thais slain in robbery by Myanmar ``God's Army''
*South China Morning Post: INDIA - Fur flies in jail over pet killers 

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*Bangkok Post: So Long to a Year of Trouble and Strife
*ABYMU: On the present oppression of monks inside Burma by SPDC



__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



DVB: Mine Derails Rangoon-Martaban Train Near Hninpale, 3 Police Escorts 
killed

Dec. 30, 2000

Democratic Voice of Burma


[FBIS Translated Text] It has been learned that the Rangoon-Martaban 
upward bound train hit a mine and overturned near Hninpale Station in 
Bilin Township, Mon State at about 2100 on 28 December. DVB [Democratic 
Voice of Burma] correspondent Maung Tu filed this report. [Begin Maung 
Tu recording] The engine of the Rangoon-Martaban train hit a mine on its 
approach to Hninpale Station and the police escort carriage next to the 
engine was the hardest hit. Three police escorts died on the spot while 
some were wounded. Although some passenger carriages were derailed, the 
exact number of passenger casualties was not immediately known. The 
official SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] media has remained 
silent about the mine incident. On 27 December, the Moulmein-Ye train 
was also mined and attacked near Anin Station. Observers say that the 
two trains mined in two consecutive days only goes to prove that the 
country is still lacking peace and stability under the SPDC. 

____________________________________________________


Shan Human Rights Foundation: Human Rights in Shan State?Dec. 2000

[Abridged]

December 2000


        In addition to rape, many other forms of sexual abuse have also 
been often used by SPDC troops as one of their psychological weapons in 
terrorizing and subjugating the civilian populations in Shan State.      
  

 There have been uncountable incidents over the last 3-4 decades under 
military rule in which women have been forced to strip naked and walk or 
dance or squat down on top of mortar holes, or men and women forced to 
have sex, etc., while the Burmese soldiers enjoy the sight, applaud and 
amuse themselves.          

There have also been many incidents in which the women have been raped 
as well as sexually abused in other ways, or even sexually tortured by 
having hard and painful objects thrust into their sex organs by the 
soldiers.         

These horrible experiences leave deep undeletable scars of terror and 
shame in the hearts of the survivors. Many have tried to isolate 
themselves from the rest of their communities, and many have moved to 
places where they are strangers in the hope of avoiding embarrassment.   
      

In this issue, there is a story in which Shan village women who were 
taking a bath in a stream, at a place traditionally designated for only 
women, were forced to stand naked in front of the SPDC troops for them 
to make fun of.         

 In doing this, the SPDC soldiers have not only sexually abused the 
women but have also culturally insulted a people. 
                                      


6 CIVILIAN PORTERS SHOT DEAD, 5 DISAPPEAR, IN KUN-HING

        In mid-October 2000, 6 civilian porters were shot dead by a 
patrol of about 85 SPDC troops from LIB524 in Kun-Hing township, and 5 
other porters disappeared, who are believed to have also been shot dead. 
        

On 10.10.00, a column of 85 SPDC troops from Co.4 of LIB524, led by 
Capt. Maung Myint, seized 11 civilian porters at a relocation site in 
the outskirts of Kun-Hing town. All of them were displaced farmers who 
had been forcibly relocated from the surrounding rural villages by 
SLORC/SPDC (SLORC = State Law and Order Restoration Council - the name 
of the ruling military regime from 1988 to 1997) troops a few years ago. 
         

The porters were forced to carry the troopsÆ rations and ammunition and 
go with them as they patrolled the relocation areas where hundreds of 
villages had been made deserted. The troops shot cows and buffalos they 
found and took their meat.          

At some places, the troops forced the porters to chase after the cattle 
and catch them, and when the porters could not catch the cattle, they 
shot at both the cattle and the porters. The bodies of the following 6 
porters were found at different places by their relatives and 5 porters 
were still missing at the time of this report, and are believed by the 
local people to have been also shot dead by the SPDC troops.           

The 6 porters whose bodies were found by their relatives were: 1. Zaai 
Na-Ling (m), aged 37, originally from Kung Kyawng village, Loi Keng 
tract 2. Zaai Nan-Taw (m), aged 29, originally from Naa Saai village, 
Loi Keng tract 3. Zaai Zaw-Ti-Ka (m), aged 31, originally from Wan Kaang 
village, Loi Keng tract 4. Lung Saw-Ti (m), aged 49, originally from 
Kung Laang village, Nam Maw Ngern tract 5. Lung Kham (m), aged 57, 
originally from Loi Khio village, Loi Khio tract 6. Lung Pan-Ta (m), 
aged 61, originally from Saai Murng village, Saai Murng tract         
Some time after the missing 5 porters had not returned and their bodies 
could not be found, the village and community leaders in the area went 
to the military base and inquired about them. The military authorities, 
however, told them that all the 11 porters from their area had run away 
during a battle with the rebels. 


KILLING OF AKHA VILLAGER IN MURNG-PHYAK

        On 13.9.00, a patrol of 12 SPDC troops from Murng-Phyak-based 
IB221 shot dead an Akha villager of Paang Kaw village in Murng Tin 
tract, Murng-Phyak township.

         The victim, Aa Pae, male, aged 26, was catching fish in Nam Tin 
river not very far from his village when a patrol of the said SPDC 
troops passed by. The passing troops shouted something to him, but Aa 
Pae might not have heard them or did not understand what they said 
because he did not respond and did not pay attention to them.

         The troops then seemed to have become angry and some of them 
shot at Aa Pae who was still catching fish in the river near the 
opposite bank, and continued their journey towards Murng Tin village as 
if nothing had happened.

         Many Akha villagers, who were also catching fish in the river 
some distance from Aa Pae, saw and heard the troops shout at him a few 
times and shoot at him. After the troops left, the villagers gathered to 
look at Aa Pae who was lying facedown, dead, on the river bank with the 
lower part of his body up to his waist dangling in the water.

         The Akha villagers took Aa PaeÆs body back to his house and 
conducted funeral rites in accordance with their custom and tradition. 


RAPE OF MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, BEATING OF FATHER, IN MURNG-PAN

         On 5.11.00, a woman and her 16-year-old daughter were raped, 
and the husband and father was severely beaten by SPDC troops from 
LIB332 at a farm near Ho Lin village in Naa Law tract, Murng-Pan 
township. 

        A patrol of 40-45 SPDC troops from Co.3 of LIB332 led by Capt. 
Hla Hpe came to the farm where Zaai Mae-Tha and his wife, Naang Paa, and 
their 16-year-old daughter, Naang Num, were working and arrested all of 
them. 

        Capt. Hla Hpe ordered some of his troops to interrogate Zaai 
Mae-Tha and Sgt. Than Maung to interrogate Naang Paa at separate places.

          Hla Hpe himself, however, took Naang Num into a nearby farm 
hut and raped her.         After he had interrogated her, and could not 
get any answer he wanted, Sgt. Than Maung also raped Naang Paa. 

         Zaai Mae-Tha was severely beaten with a stick several times 
during interrogation and fainted because of the beating. 

        When they could not get any information they wanted from the 
farmers, the troops took 5 chicken and 2 ducks from Zaai Mae-ThaÆs farm 
hut and left. 


WOMEN FORCED TO STAND NAKED AND INSULTED IN MURNG-YAWNG

        On 6.10.00, SPDC troops from Murng-Yawng-based LIB334 forced 3 
young women who were bathing naked in a stream to stand up near the bank 
for them to watch and make fun of, near Sali Mon village in Wan Maan 
tract, Murng-Yawng township. 

        The 3 village women, Naang Kham Pan, aged 18, Naang La Lao, aged 
19 and Naang Kawng Keo, aged 18, were from Sali Mon village in Wan Maan 
tract and on that day they had gone together to gather wild vegetables 
in the forest near their village. 

        At about 15:00 hrs, after gathering some vegetables, before 
returning home, the 3 girls stopped and took a bath in Nam Maan stream 
at a bathing spot for village women which was not very far from their 
village. As it was a custom, especially among the rural Shan 
communities, to bathe naked if there was a place out of sight of the 
passers-by, the women were bathing naked in the waist-deep clear water. 

        While the girls were bathing, a group of 12 SPDC troops from 
LIB334 came near the stream and ordered the girls to stand up and come 
near the bank, pointing their guns and threatening to shoot if they did 
not comply. 

        The girls were too afraid to defy the order and did as they were 
told, and when they reached where the water was about knee-deep, the 
troops started to laugh at them. Extremely embarrassed and ashamed, the 
girls squatted down into the knee-deep water to hide their naked bodies 
and cried.

         But the troops forced them to stand up again, threatening to 
shoot, and when the girls stood up the soldiers laughed at them again, 
clapping their hands. This happened 5-6 times until the troops saw 
several other women from the village coming to take a bath and left the 
scene.         According to the local people, there had been many 
occasions on which SPDC troops had insulted many of the local customs 
and traditions in Murng-Yawng township, but no one dared to complain 
about it, and there had also been many rape cases by them.  



MASS FORCED LABOUR ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN KUN-HING


        On 6.11.00, 450 people and 31 vehicles in Kun-Hing township were 
forcibly conscripted for forced labour by SPDC troops of LIB524 to 
rebuild the road from Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township up to 
Kun-Hing town in Kun-Hing township.

         The people were required to bring their own food, drinking 
water and tools to work in rebuilding the dilapidated motor road from 
Kaeng Tawng area in Murng-Nai township to Kun-Hing town, in a rotation 
system on a daily basis until the road was completed, which was expected 
to be by the end of January 2001.

         It was said that the road would be used to transport the teak 
lumber that had been cut by the SPDC troops, using unpaid forced labour 
of the people in the area, to Kun-Hing town from where it would be 
exported to China.  

   
FORCED LABOUR IN MILITARY CROP CULTIVATION IN MURNG-TON

        From 27.10.00 to 7.11.00, SPDC troops of the Co.2 of IB225 led 
by Capt. Aung Soe conscripted 100 unpaid forced labourers, aged 15 years 
and upwards, in Murng-Ton township to work on military farms, and 
civilian trucks were conscripted to transport them every day.         
The 100 labourers were taken from Murng-Ton town and surrounding village 
tracts -- 20 from the town, 20 from Wan Naa tract, 20 from Phaa Khe 
tract, 20 from Mae Ken tract and 20 from Murng-Haang tract -- and were 
forced to weed the military bean farms on land which had been 
confiscated from the local people and grown by their forced labour.

         The local people were forced to take responsibility for 
cultivating the bean farms for the military from beginning to end and if 
the farms did not yield good quality bean at the amount designated by 
the military, the people would also have to take responsibility.

         The people in Murng-Ton township were forced to grow 20 baskets 
of bean seeds and were expected by the military to get at least 30 
baskets from each basket of seeds grown. 

FORCED LABOUR AND EXTORTION IN MILITARY GARLIC PLANTATION AND 
RESTRICTIONS ON GARLIC FARMERS IN MURNG-PAN

         From 1.11.00 to 5.11.00, SPDC troops conscripted 65 men and 
women each day in Murng-Pan township to be used as unpaid forced 
labourers in their garlic plantation.         During the 5 day period, 
65 people had to prepare the ground in the harvested rice fields of the 
people and grow 1,000 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kilograms) of garlic for the 
military, and would later be responsible for looking after it until the 
harvest time.

           The people had to gather natural fertilizers such as cow dung 
and were also required to pay the costs of 50 sacks of chemical 
fertilizer at the rate of 165 Kyat per sack, to be used to fertilize the 
garlic.

         Each viss of garlic seeds was expected by the military to yield 
at least 7-8 viss. If for some reasons the yield was less than expected, 
the people would have to buy some from somewhere else to fill up the 
needed amount.

         While the military was growing 1,000 viss of garlic in 
Murng-Pan township, the people were not allowed to grow more than 10 
viss of garlic per household. If anyone were found growing more than 10 
viss, all their garlic would be taken by the military. 

FORCED LABOUR IN MILITARY PEANUT FARMS IN MURNG-KHARK

        On 5.10.00, villagers of Wan Phai Tai and Wan Phai Nur villages 
in Murng Haang tract, Murng-Khark township, were forced to work on 
peanut farms for the military by SPDC troops of IB227 in Murng-Khark 
township. 

        On 4.10.00, 2 SPDC soldiers from IB227 brought a written order 
to the village headmen of the said 2 villages.

          The orders said that on the next day, on 5.10.00, the headmen 
had to assign each person from every house of their 2 villages to go and 
cultivate peanut farms for the military in the area of IB227 base 
without fail. Anyone who failed to show up would have to face severe 
punishment until they learned their lessons. 

        On that day, each person from every house of the 2 villages had 
to work at the military farms from 7 oÆclock in the morning until 5 
oÆclock in the evening with only a short break around noon to eat their 
midday meal, which they had to bring with them.

         While working, the villagers were guarded by 5-6 armed soldiers 
as if they were prisoners who had been taken out to work for the 
military. 

        It was said that other villages in the area were also forced to 
work on military farms at some other times. All the villages had to work 
for the military all year round on one thing or another on a rotation 
basis. 


FORCED LABOUR ON MILITARY PEANUT FARMS IN KAENG-TUNG

        On 29-30.9.00, the villagers of Nawng Paet village in Phuay Hung 
tract, Kaeng-Tung township, were forced to cultivate peanut farms for 
the military by the SPDC troops of IB224 at the military base

 .         On 28.9.00, 3 SPDC soldiers came to Nawng Paet village and 
handed a written order to the headman and said, ôTomorrow and the day 
after tomorrow, bring your villagers to work at the military base; you 
have to come early or you will not be able to finish the work in 2 days. 
DonÆt forget to tell everyone to bring their food, but the military will 
provide drinking waterö.         On the first day, the villagers had to 
clear, dig and prepare the ground and on the second day grow peanut 
until it was finished, working hard from early morning to 7 oÆclock in 
the evening on both days.

         Nawng Paet village had only 24-25 houses and all the villagers 
were farmers who had to give much of their time to the military and had 
very little time left to work for themselves. 



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				


Reuters: Six Thais slain in robbery by Myanmar ``God's Army''

BANGKOK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Six members of two Thai families, including 
two children, were killed by gunmen from an ethnic Karen rebel faction 
from Myanmar known as ``God's Army,'' Thai police said on Sunday. 

 National police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen told Reuters a group of 
eight heavily-armed bandits looted a grocery shop in Suan Pueng 
district, 150 km (90 miles) west of Bangkok, on Saturday night and shot 
dead four adults and two children. 

 A third child survived the attack and was being treated at the 
Ratchaburi provincial hospital for minor injuries, he said. 

 ``Our police and soldiers are jointly hunting for these guys,'' 
Pongsapat said. 

 Thai security forces had yet to arrest anyone but had found a dead 
Karen rebel with a sack of stolen rice during a search of jungle along 
the Thai-Myanmar border, Pongsapat said. 

 Another police source said the dead gunman appeared to have been killed 
by the accidental explosion of a grenade he was carrying.
 
 The God's Army is a small rebel faction that broke away from the 
autonomy-seeking Karen National Union guerrilla force a few years ago. 

 It has about 100 fighters based inside Myanmar opposite Thailand's 
Ratchaburi province. Its members include ethnic Karen Christian 
fighters, some of them still children, and dissident Myanmar students. 

 The group is led by 13-year-old twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo. 

 Members of the group stormed the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in 
September 1999 and took hostages. Nine members raided the Ratchaburi 
hospital and held 700 hostage last January. The nine were killed by Thai 
commandos. 


___________________________________________________


South China Morning Post: INDIA - Fur flies in jail over pet killers 

Saturday, December 30, 2000

RAHUL BEDI in New Delhi

Burmese prisoners are terrorising local inmates in an Indian jail by 
eating their pet cats and dogs and beating up owners who try to save 
them.  

N. K. Chakraborty, of the Alipore Presidency jail in the Bengal state 
capital Calcutta, said the 58 Burmese inmates considered cat and dog 
meat a delicacy and constantly hunted the animals inside the prison. 
Fights erupted when the owners attempted to save their pets.  

Mr Chakraborty said the local inmates were afraid of the Burmese. So, 
too, were their pets, which rarely left their owners' cells for fear of 
being caught and eaten.  

The prison official said whenever an animal strayed into the open, the 
Burmese prisoners would pounce on it. Fights would always follow, he 
said.  

"Many lifers keeps dogs and cats to tide them over their loneliness," Mr 
Chakraborty said. "They take it seriously when their pets are hurt or 
killed."  

The Burmese prisoners, all of them sailors, were recently shifted to 
Alipore jail from Talmuk prison in Midnapore district 140km east 
following fierce clashes with other inmates whose pet cats and dogs they 
had killed.  

When the animal owners protested, demanding that the jail authorities 
transfer the Burmese, they were reportedly badly beaten by the 
foreigners.  

After a stand-off with officials lasting several months, ending in a 
hunger strike, the Burmese were eventually moved to Alipore jail.  

The Burmese sailors were arrested when their Taiwanese-registered 
trawler strayed into Indian waters off the east coast two years ago.  

Their release was ordered a few months later by Indian authorities. 
However, the Burmese Government refused to accept them, claiming they 
were Taiwanese.  



______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________


Bangkok Post: So Long to a Year of Trouble and Strife

Sunday, December 31, 2000



Thongbai Thongpao

Before we celebrate the New Year tomorrow, let's look back at some of 
the big headline events that took place during the past year.

In sum, 2000 has been a year characterised by violence, drug suppression 
and scandals involving monks and politicians. 

Early in the year, 10 members of the Karen God's Army took over 
Ratchaburi Hospital and were all killed in a subsequent shoot-out with 
police. 

Later in the year, Burmese prisoners took Samut Sakhon prison officials 
hostage and were also killed, this time while trying to flee to the 
border with their hostages.

Throughout the year, amphetamine tablets continued to flood across the 
Burmese border into Thailand. This was despite rigorous suppression 
drives. Jails nationwide are now filled with drug-related convicts, but 
they are just the small fry.

The mafias behind the drug trade continue to evade the long arm of the 
law which explains why the drug problem has still yet to be solved. 

Meanwhile, Burmese people continued to migrate to Thailand throughout 
the year to escape hunger and repression in their own country. 

The Burmese government is seen as perpetuating the influx of these 
illegal immigrants who add to the burden on our country. These 
immigrants will not return home to Burma until democracy is restored and 
human rights is respected there. I hope that the trouble in Burma will 
soon end. 

Over the past year, violence against women and children has been on the 
rise. 
Acts of violence have been committed against the victims both by 
strangers and those close to them. Pupils were also abused by teachers 
and their own parents.

Disrespect of women's rights has remained a challenge over the past year 
despite the constitution's stipulation that the government must avail 
equality among men and women.

Thailand subscribed to the international convention on the elimination 
of all forms of discrimination in 1979, but problems have continued 
until today. 

Several senior monks, including abbots, were disrobed during the past 
year for breaking monastic laws.

One abbot allegedly raped a woman in a karaoke bar which he set up with 
donations from the public.

Likewise, morality and ethics reached a low ebb in politics. 
At least two leading politicians were found guilty of concealing their 
wealth by the National Counter Corruption Commission.

The National Election Commission issued three red cards for vote buying 
and expelled three candidates from the forthcoming election.

Despite the NEC's tough measures, campaign fraud was prevalent 
throughout the country.

On January 6, we can exercise our voting rights and decide who will 
govern the country for the next four years. I am against the advice of 
some experts who urge people not to vote on the grounds that it will 
serve no purpose as long as politics remains the way it is. I say vote 
for the party and the person you think is the best. This country must 
have a parliament and a government. The government and the parliament 
must come from an election. Let's not boycott the election simply 
because you don't particularly approve of anyone.


A learning process is always painful and we could all play a part in 
helping to push the country towards a better political system. 

I hope in the New Year we will have a new parliament and a new 
government which are clean and can solve the country's long-standing 
problems. 

I also wish to see peace in this world, free from killings and wars. I 
would like to see an end to the Middle East conflict. I would like to 
see peace in Indonesia, which could be a paradise if the minority 
groups' rights are respected and no violence is used to suppress them. 

May God help us. But we must also help ourselves by helping to create 
peace and justice in our society.


_________________________________________________


ABYMU: On the present oppression of monks inside Burma by SPDC

All Burma Young Monk?s Union

Dec. 31, 2000


1. After spreading the rumour that an unrest of the local monks 
code-named "Entebbe" can occur, we have seen that SPDC oppress the local 
monks extremely. It is opposing absolutely their statement made to the 
international community that every religion is given the right to be 
free. 

2. The main requests of "Entebbe" are 
      (a) to open discussions with the leader of the NLD party, CRPP and 
the famous politicians  to overcome the present dilemma as Burma is 
owned by each of its citizens      (b)  to release all monks who have 
been arrested 
     (c) the foreign companies who have invested economically in Burma 
and the    companies working jointly with SPDC should leave Burma 

3.  Concerning this situation, we have received the following 
information    - on 26th November, 2000 a Buddhist nun was arrested in 
'Zay-Cho' market,               Mandalay     - 2 Buddhist monks accused 
of leading the monks' movement were immediately searched by intelligence 
    -  the right of travelling is forbidden

    - in checking monks who have recently traveled, they report that 
they have been videoed nearly to the point of losing their composure and 
have been berated and intimidated in front of people 

4. In order to create conflict between Masorin, Maha Gandharyon and 
Emarapura monasteries which have been working together to oppose SPDC, 
undercover intelligence agents have secretly planted women's 
underclothes in monks' residences to create the impression of sexual 
impropriety. 

5. ABYMU, based in the Liberated Area, will support fully the requests 
of local monks to enter discussion, for the release of arrested monks, 
and the departure of foreign companies from Burma. We ask SPDC to 
immediately stop oppressing the monks and making conflict through 
degradation of Buddhist institutions. 

Central Governing Body
                All Burma Young Monks' Union

December 30, 2000


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