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BurmaNet News: December 31, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: December 31, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 01:31:00
______________ 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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