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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- October 19, 2002.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Australia cites bomb threats in
Jakarta suburbs, danger of arresting cleric
Asian Tribune - Child Soldier Use :
Denail by Burma- Not Credible.
Asian Tribune - Licence to Rape: An
Earth Shattering Revelation - Exclusive Interview
WP - Hopes for Burma's Future
And Memories of Repression
ST - Our countries are safe, say KL, Manila and
Bangkok
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday October 19, 12:41 PM
Australia cites bomb threats in Jakarta suburbs, danger of arresting cleric Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has warned of specific threats of terrorist bombings targeting Westerners in the suburbs of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Authorities also expressed concern that moves by Indonesia to arrest Islamic militants suspected in the bombing could lead to demonstrations and dangerous anti-Western protests. "The nature of the specific threats in Jakarta is threats of bomb attacks in those certain suburbs against Westerners," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio. "On the basis of intelligence we've received, it's very important we draw people's attention to the risk," he said, urging Australians to strongly consider leaving threatened areas. A new travel advisory posted by the foreign ministry said Australians should avoid the Jakarta suburbs of Kota, Jalan Hayam Wuruk, Taman Anggrek, Pasar Baru and Pasar Senen. "We have received reports that crowded areas, including upmarket entertainment areas, should be avoided," it said. The advisory also warned of possible reprisals in the event of the arrest Abu Bakar Bashir, believed to be the leader of the radical Muslim group Jemaah Islamiyah, or other suspected extremists. Bashir had been due to be questioned by authorities Friday but checked himself into a hospital. "Australians should be aware of reports of the possible arrest of extremist leaders by the Indonesian authorities," the ministry said. "In the event that happens, there may be a strong reaction from their supporters, including possible demonstrations. Government of Indonesia buildings and symbols may also be targeted." The foreign ministry has twice upgraded its travel warnings for Australians in Indonesia and elsehwere in southeast Asia since the car bombing at a nightclub in Bali a week ago that killed more than 180 people, more than 100 of them believed to be Australians. The government drew sharp criticism after admitting it had failed to upgrade its travel warnings concerning Indonesia despite receiving US intelligence reports before the Bali bombing that tourist sites on the island could be the target of terrorist attacks. Since last Saturday's bombing, it has twice upgraded its travel alert, citing "disturbing" new threats to Australian interests in Indonesia, and has called on Australians who are not on essential business to leave the country. The ministry advisory also urged Australian travellers to be on heightened alert in Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. While no group has claimed resonsibility for the Bali bombing, Jemaah Islamiya, which has been linked to the al-Qaeda network, is suspected. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune
Date : 2002-10-19 Child Soldier Use : Denail by Burma- Not Credible. New York, October 18: - The Burmese government's claim that it does not use child soldiers is contradicted by the evidence, Human Rights Watch said today. Burma has said a recent Human Rights Watch report is "just another example of attempts to tarnish the image of Myanmar and the Myanmar Tatmadaw (military) in the eyes of the international community." "We're very disappointed that, despite ample evidence to the contrary, the government continues to deny the military's use of children as soldiers," said Jo Becker, Children's Rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "It is the widespread forced recruitment of children by Burma's army that tarnishes the image of the country, not efforts to bring these abuses to light." On October 16, Human Rights Watch released a report based on numerous first-hand testimonies of children who had been forcibly recruited by Burma's military. The report found that boys as young as 11 are forced into the army, brutally treated, and forced to commit human rights abuses and fight against armed opposition groups. Although the vast majority of Burma's child soldiers are in government armed forces, armed opposition groups were found to include children as well. The government claimed on Thursday that the military is purely voluntary and that national laws setting the enlistment age at 18 are "strictly enforced." "Burma's denial of the use of child soldiers is not credible," said Becker. "We urge the government to take positive steps to confront the problem. These include demobilizing all children from its forces and putting effective systems in place to ensure that children are not recruited and that those responsible are held accountable." The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, is currently in Burma for his fourth visit to the country. Human Rights Watch has urged him to raise the recruitment and use of children as soldiers with the government of Burma and to report on this issue to the United Nations General Assembly. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune
Date : 2002-10-19 Licence to Rape: An Earth Shattering Revelation - Exclusive Interview K.T.Rajasingham Shan women are increasingly vulnerable to rape due to the increased militarization and anti-insurgency measures in Shan State by the Burmese regime, currently named the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The number of battalions in the state has nearly tripled since 1988. The majority of rape incidents were committed in the areas of Central Shan State where over 300,000 villagers have been forcibly relocated from their homes since 1996. Many rapes took place when girls or women were caught, usually searching for food, outside the relocation sites. Rapes also occurred when women were being forced to porter or do other unpaid work for the military, and when stopped at military checkpoints. Interview Asian Tribune conducted with Hseng Noung of SWAN, who is one of the researchers for "Licence to Rape," a well compiled documentation which is an earth shattering revelation of how the Burmese military used rape as an instrument to terrorize innocent women into submission. Question: I understand that Nang Mo Hom and other activists were involved in the compilation of the Licence to Rape. Can you give me details of how you have conducted the documentation? Answer: Regarding the compilation of our report " the Licence to Rape ", we were able to obtain information from the monthly reports the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF). These reports on human rights violation by the military regime, provided statistics of the number of rape cases, and where and how they occurred. 145 cases had been compiled in this way. In 2001, our researchers did a series of interviews with women and find out more information for the report. We also received support and assistance from other groups; for instance, the Lahu women's Organization helped us to document several cases. The report details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence involving 625 girls and women committed by Burmese Army troops in Shan State. Question: When did you decided to conduct the survey and what made you to compile the violence incidents of rape and bring it out in a form of a report? Answer: ,Violence against women is an issue that women are facing today in every country. But State violence against women in Burma has been systematic and perpetrated with impunity. Since the establishment of our organization in 1999, we work for peace and freedom in our society, to promote human rights, to oppose exploitation of and violence against women. Documentation of violence against women is one of our activities we advocate for social and political changes in our society. We've just produced a poster on different forms of violence against women to raise awareness in our own community to tackle the issue. Question: When you were told of these brutal incidents by the victims, did you made it a point to cross check those facts? What were the measures you adopted to cross check the incidents, which were revealed to you all, by the victims who fled from the Shan State into Thailand? Answer: Human rights monitors belonging to Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN) used their own respective information networks, to cross check the facts, before documenting the rape incidents or other human right abuses and violations. The majority of rape incidents in the report were committed in the area of central Shan State, where over 300,000 villagers have been forcibly relocated from their home since 1996. The information on rape and other human right violations in Shan State is gained from refugees arriving at the Thai Burma border during 1996 to 2001. Among these refugees, there are many people who had been forced to work for the Burma?s Military as porters, guides, and translators, laborers, who witness or heard of the incidents. We also spoke to the family members of the survivors. Question: What measures you have devised to safeguard young women in the Shan State, other than creating an international awareness? Have you impressed on the UN special representative to Burma and requested him to take up the matter with the Burmese Government ? State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)? Answer: We keep confidentiality of their identity to protect their personal and their family members? security. At this moment, Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur is in Burma to look into the human rights violation. The SPDC has invited him to Shan State to investigate the cases. We are certain that people will be too afraid to testify their horrendous life stories. We have also requested to the UN Special Rapporteur to meet with us and other human rights defenders along the Thai- Burma border. Rape of women by the SPDC soldiers had also happened in other ethnic State. Question: When you were narrated of the horrendous incidents that happened to them by the victims to these violent incidents, you too as women, how did you all personally felt and reacted to such stories? Answer: No one has a right to rape anyone. Survivors' stories make us angry and make us try to understand why and how can the SPDC troops do such crimes. Often, the stories are told emotionally. As we listen, we felt that we have been tortured mentally. We think rape with impunity by SPDC is to terrorize and subjugate our people in Shan State. SPDC has stated in their statement that no incidents of sexual violence had been committed by Burmese troops in Shan State. Now that we are even more determined than ever to challenge the regime and demand genuine political change. Question: Other than preparing a detail case study of the victims, what remedial measures your organization SWAN has taken regarding welfare of these victims stated in your report? Answer: We are trying to provide emergency assistance such as access to health service, counseling service and other needs for the survivors. We also have plans to organize empowerment program for women in our community A Sample Story of Naang Mie 138) Name: Naang Mie (not her real name) Age: 5 yrs. Status: Single Ethnicity: Shan Religion: Buddhist Occupation: N/A Location: Ba Sar village, Kaeng Tawng, Murng Nai township Date: March 2001 SPDC Troops: IB 99, Mitthela and Myinchan-base, Central Burma, in Ba Sar Village Naang Mie lived with her parents, Lung Lao and Pa Kham Sar in Ba Sar village. In March 2001, when Naang Mie was five years old, her parents went to work on their farm, leaving Naang Mie with her twelve-year-old sister. That night, her elder sister went out to a movie. The movie finished at 9 p.m., and their house was far away from the other houses in the village. So Naang Mie was left alone. At 7 o'clock, an SPDC soldier from IB 99 came into the house. He tied up Naang Mie's hands and legs with rope, and raped her. When her sister came home from the movies, she found Naang Mie there, tied up and crying, with her sexual organs bloody. There was no one else around. Naang Mie was too afraid to tell her sister what had happened, because the soldier had threatened to kill her if she complained to anybody. A neighbor came and took Naang Mie to the hospital that night. She summoned the courage to tell a doctor what had happened, and a nurse stitched up her ripped vagina. They gave her medicine and took photographs for their records. The doctor and nurses told the girls that they would try to report the incident. Naang Mie's parents complained to the village headman, but they were too afraid to go to the military with their grievance. They were afraid for their children's safety, and because they were often away from their house all day, they worried that the military might loot and destroy their home. Many of the villagers blamed the parents for the incident, believing that if the parents had not been away, Naang Mie would not have been raped. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune
Date : 2002-10-19 Testimonies from - My Gun Was Tall As Me: Child Soldiers in Burma All of us told the soldiers we didn't want to join the army and some said they were students, and the soldiers punched us. They asked me, 'Do you want to join the army?' I refused and they punched me. Then they asked again, 'Do you want to join the army?' I refused again and they punched me again. They did this seven times and I still refused. They punched my face, my chest, my forehead, and they cut open my eyebrow and it bled. I was bleeding from the eyebrow and the mouth. I hadn't agreed, but then they sent me to the clinic . . . . Then the second boy was punched and kicked, and he was sent to the clinic too. Then they said to the other five, 'You see your friends? You see my boot? Now would you like to join the army?' Then the others were afraid and agreed to join the army." -Soe Naing, recruited at age twelve (all names of former soldiers have been changed) About their detention in the Burma Army's recruit holding centers: "When we arrived the soldiers asked us, 'Would you like to join the army or would you like to go home?' Many of us said we'd like to go home. Then they took the thirty or forty of us who'd said that, stripped us naked, put us in the lockup and gave us just a tiny bit of rice. . . . There were about sixty of us in a room the same size as this one. . . . I don't think any were over eighteen. There were ten children who were just thirteen years old. The youngest was my friend who was eleven. He often cried because he didn't get enough food, and then he was beaten by the guards. I also cried often because I didn't want to join the army. I was beaten twice a day for crying. . . . We couldn't sleep. There were also rats and ants in the room. . . . For a toilet they'd dug a hole in the ground and it had a wooden cover over it. . . . There was a terrible smell. . . . Some of my friends were crying . . . . Two or three boys got sick and died." -Than Aung, recruited at age fourteen About the Burma Army's military training: "The youngest were about twelve. There were five of them. They couldn't carry a weapon because it was too heavy for them. . . . They beat them. There were often beatings, then they ordered them to carry two weapons. I dropped my weapon one time, and the trainer said 'You are a soldier. Can't you carry a weapon?' Then he whipped me on the neck with the rope of his whistle." -Thein Oo, who was trained at age fourteen. About a trainee who was caught trying to escape: "He was sixteen or seventeen. They ordered him to kneel down. Then three or four NCOs beat him on the head and back with sticks for about half an hour. When he fell the NCOs pulled him back up to his knees. He was unconscious. There was blood all over his face. . . . Then they put him in the leg stocks, and he regained consciousness. They left him in the leg stocks for a week. I saw him there about three times. He looked like he was getting worse. He couldn't eat rice, just a little rice soup. Then he couldn't eat anything and they sent him to hospital. He died in the hospital." -Salaing Toe Aung, trained at age sixteen in 2001 About their time with Burma Army battalions in the field: "When I first heard the gunshots I was very afraid. I stayed in a hole and cried. I'd never heard that noise before. I was fifteen. That first time I didn't shoot at all. The battle lasted two hours. Three of ours were killed. I saw it, and it made me afraid." - Moe Shwe, recruited at age thirteen "We captured about fifteen women and children. . . three babies and four others who were under eighteen. They took the babies away from their mothers. We gathered them in one place and sent a report to headquarters by radio. . . . The order that came over the radio was to kill them all. . . . Then six of the corporals loaded their guns and shot them. They fired on auto. The women had no time to shout. I saw it. I felt very bad because there were all these people in front of me, and they killed them all. Their bodies were left there. The soldiers were holding the babies and the babies were crying. Two of them were less than a year old, maybe nine or ten months. One was maybe fourteen or fifteen months old. After the mothers were killed they killed the babies. Three of the privates killed them. They swung them by their legs and smashed them against a rock. I saw it." -Khin Maung Than, age thirteen at the time About their recruitment into opposition armies: "I have no house. My house has been burned, so I fight those who burned my house. My parents have no house, so they already came to the refugee camp and I come to visit them there." - Karenni soldier Thu Reh, age sixteen "When I first arrived I saw some soldiers and asked if I could be a soldier. They said I could and took me to the office. There were officers there. They asked me, 'Do you dare to be a soldier?' I said yes. They asked my age and I said sixteen. . . . I've been to the front line many many times now, I can't count them all. I've been in fighting three times. Once there were nine of us and six DKBA, and we killed all six of them." -Saw Ko Doh, who joined the Karen National Liberation Army at age sixteen "As soon as I joined them they gave me a uniform, but not a weapon. I just followed them, and my duties were to carry water, find firewood, and cook. . . . Since joining we haven't had training or been given our own weapons, but we've been allowed to handle them sometimes. I know how to shoot it and maintain it. I can use it if I have to. During that time there was fighting two or three times, but I didn't have to fight. I just hid. While we were in a village fighting broke out and I tried to hide with the soldiers. The first time there was shooting I was afraid, but after some time I got used to it and wasn't afraid." -Mu Reh, who joined the Karenni Army at age fifteen "Some Lahu people who worked for the Wa army came early in the morning. They said, 'We are calling you to study, not to be a soldier'. . . . I didn't want to go but I had no choice. They took two boys, me and another boy aged twelve. . . . When we arrived they ordered us to attend military training. I told the adults, 'I don't want to join the army. I came to study.' They said, 'Never mind. Joining the army and going to school are the same.'" -Aung Kyaw, recruited by the United Wa State Army at age twelve -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Washington Post
Hopes for Burma's Future And
Memories of Repression
By Nora Boustany Friday, October 18, 2002; Page A26 Nang Ying, 30, has blurred memories of childhood -- some cheerful, some dark -- in the southern part of Burma's Shan state, where her parents toiled in rice fields. Two older siblings helped with the farming so she could attend school, pedaling her small bicycle through seven miles of military checkpoints every week to an aunt's house, where she stayed during the school week. She never traveled alone. A 13-year-old classmate was raped by soldiers, so Ying rode among villagers going to market in the town where the school was located. Some of her fondest recollections are of visiting the Buddhist temple for special celebrations with her grandparents, watching the dance festival celebrated by her Shan ethnic group and munching on pickled tea-leaf salad tossed with fried garlic, beans, sesame seeds, fresh chilies and lime. "That was nice, but more often I was just scared from the soldiers," she said. Ying, who was in Washington this week to testify about the Burmese military's campaign of rape in Shan state, said fear still haunts her. The anxiety caused by marauding soldiers, who came looking for her father and other men to carry supplies and materiel across the countryside for days on end without water or food, has stayed with her. Forced by soldiers to carry heavy loads of stones and bamboo to help build barracks, most of the men died of hunger and exhaustion. "When they become too weak to be of service to the soldiers, they beat them senseless or shot them point-blank in the mouth," said Jeremy Woodrum, from the Washington office of the Free Burma Coalition. When she was barely 10, Ying smuggled blankets and small meals to men who hid in the jungle to escape the soldiers. One night, 12 years ago, her father left to hide and never came back. Her sister-in-law found his body in a rice field the next day. Then there was the deaf-mute who saw others running and followed them -- and was shot and killed when he did not respond to soldiers' orders to stop. Soon after that, Ying decided to leave Burma for neighboring Thailand, walking for three days with a group of five women and 23 men. "I was 18. I did not know where I was going or what I was going to do. I had stuffed rice in a cloth belt around my waist, and we slept in sheds along the fields at night out of fear our torches would lead the soldiers to us," Ying said in an interview Wednesday, one day after testifying on Capitol Hill on behalf of the Shan Women's Action Network, along with Ohmar Khin of the Women's League of Burma. Ying and the others reached the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, where they worked in construction, digging up old roads and building new ones for a little more than a dollar a day. Finding shelter in unfinished buildings, the women were constantly harassed. Ying stayed for several months before moving with one of the women to Chiang Mai province, where they worked as seamstresses, putting in 13 hours a day. Ying and the other woman made contact with other Shan refugees when she made a trip to a local temple for the water festival, a feast in which revelers throw water at one another. After that, at the New Year and whenever there was a full moon, they would go to the temple, where Shan elders encouraged them to organize and help other refugees with lessons of survival they themselves had acquired. The idea of helping others was nothing new to Ying, who had learned at an early age that there could be a way to make things better. As a little girl, she helped nurses who came to the small clinic in her village, interpreting between Shan and Burmese. "They could not communicate. I was so proud to be with them. What they did filled me with hope," Ying said. "They were treating our patients. It was a great feeling to know you can make your people feel better. One nurse encouraged me to try to make a difference too, since I was one of the few ones to go to school." It was not until she began work as an assistant interpreter to some of the Burmese migrants in Thailand that she came into contact with a group of four women who had joined together to raise funds to help other fugitives. They had no papers, no documents, no hope. The group swelled to 40 members, and they have been able to raise small sums from such nongovernmental organizations as the Open Society Institute and the Australia-based International Women Development Agency. "For us, if we have something to eat and a place to sleep, that is all we need," Ying said. She works as an accountant and organizes seminars and workshops for battered women and rape victims. "I did not end up becoming a nurse, but I can network with other women and share my experience with them," she said. "When they learn how to be more independent and have more power, they can take better care of their children." Khin's story was not quite the same as Ying's. "Our childhood was different; I grew up in Rangoon. Even the way we left [Burma] was different," said Khin, 34, who became a U.S. citizen after she was granted political asylum. "The difficulties she had to face -- and she eventually overcame -- are way beyond my imagination. She is more than brave," added Khin, who took part in a 1998 pro-democracy uprising that was suppressed forcefully by Burmese authorities. "If we have one thing in common, it is that we just can't keep quiet about injustice. This is what gives us courage and helps us survive," she added. Both women said they live in fear of being arrested once they return to Thailand. Ying's office there had to be shut down after death threats were received. "I will go back [to Burma] one day," said Ying. "We are working very hard to make things change, so we can empower our people to work for freedom and democracy." --------------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits
Times - OCT 19, 2002 SAT
Our
countries are safe, say KL, Manila and Bangkok
They reject Australia labelling them as
'high risk' countries, and warn that its travel advisory would affect
tourism
MALAYSIA and the Philippines yesterday disagreed with
Australia for describing them as 'high risk' countries in its travel advisory to
its citizens following the bomb blast in Bali last
Saturday. They said the countries were generally safe, adding that the
advisory may have a dampening effect on tourism. Thailand, which was also on the list of 'high-risk'
countries, assured Australian visitors that the government provided security for
foreign residents and tourists. Canberra issued the alert late on Thursday following a
government announcement earlier that all Australian citizens in Indonesia should
return home as soon as possible because of information concerning new
threats. Besides the three countries, others put on the high-alert
list include Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, East Timor and
Brunei. Malaysian Australian Business Council spokesman Mohamed Zain
Yusuf told The Straits Times that Canberra should have learnt the lesson from
the Bali bomb blasts that acts of terrorism could happen anywhere in the
world. 'You have got to be realistic. Every country must be on the
alert. It can happen anywhere in the world, even in Australia. The warning to
their citizens should be that they should be careful wherever they are in the
world,' he added. He said Kuala Lumpur had taken all the necessary action to
ensure terrorists did not infiltrate the country. 'But even in countries like the United States where
stringent security measures have been undertaken, terrorist activities are still
taking place,' he said. Philippine Tourism Undersecretary Oscar Palabyab said:
'Advisories have a dampening effect on tourists. So this will definitely hurt
our image and set back our efforts to promote tourism.' He said Manila respects Australia's decision but 'would
would like to tell them that the entire country is generally
safe'. 'Those bombings happened in the south and we are a
predominantly Christian country,' he added, referring to the bomb blast in
Zamboanga. Thailand, seeking to downplay the Australian warning,
described the advisory as a 'knee-jerk reaction'. 'We understand their concerns although we do not agree with
the classification,' said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Rathakit
Manathat. He added: 'Thailand enjoys social and religious harmony.
People exist peacefully in this country.' More than 350,000 Australians visited Thailand last year,
making up 4 per cent of total tourists. A tourism official said Australia was an
important market.--Leslie Lau in Kuala Lumpur, Luz Baguioro in Manila and Edward
Tang in Bangkok -------------------------------------------------------------------- |