KAO WAO NEWS No. 23

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

No. 23, July 2002

READER’S FRONT

ARMY RAPES GIRL THEN MURDERS MON FAMILY

MON WARY AMID HOPE, WAR AND TERROR

HUMANITARIAN AID QUESTIONED BY SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

HIV/AIDS: BURMA ON THE BRINK

AI REPORT: URGENT ACTION TO SAVE ETHNIC GROUPS

THAI MON LEADER REMEMBERED

MON YOUTH COMMUNTY MEET

DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA IN TENTH YEAR

YOUTH ACTIVITIES AT THE BORDER

READER’S FRONT

Dear Readers,

Kao-Wao apologizes for the delay of issue No. 23. We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in Burma and Thailand. And we hope that it will become an important forum for discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and news. Above all, we hope the newsletter will be used as a vehicle for those who want to share their views and experiences.

We reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior notification. You can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include your full name and address.

Regards,

Editor [email protected]

ARMY RAPES GIRL THEN MURDERS MON FAMILY

(Based on Independent Mon News Agency, July 22, 2002)

Four soldiers from Burmese Army, Infantry Battalion No. 62 shot and killed five Mon villagers in Thanbyuzayat Township of Mon State, southern Burma after raping a young girl.

The incident took place while the democratic leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was visiting Mon State on July 22, 2002. Four soldiers were out on patrol along Thanbyuzayat-Ye motor road adjacent to a gas-pipeline when they went into a Mon village called "Galen-Padaw" in the early morning hours.

When the troops arrived in the village, they entered the house of village headman, Nai Kun Tit. The troops spotted the 16-year-old granddaughter, Mi Eat-Sar, a secondary school girl while she was preparing food for donation for the monks at dawn.

Thein Naing (Private ID No. 176399) and the three soldiers from IB No. 62, based in Thanbyuzayat town, approached the house and raped the young girl. While the soldiers were raping the girl, Nai Kun Tit woke up and tried to help her, a soldier shot him on the spot. Other family members woke up and ran around in the house in terror while the rampant shooting occurred. Mi Eat Sar, the rape victim and her family members were killed in the early morning.

Those killed by the Burmese Army: Nai Kun Tit (66 years, the village headman) Mi Kun Bae (60 years, wife of Nai Kun Tit) Mi Eat Sar (16 years, rape victim) Min Chit Ko (20 years, brother of victim and Nai Wet Tae (42 years)

Later that morning, army officers from Thanbyuzayat's IB No. 62 headquarters came to inquire about the incident. When they discovered that it was their men involved in the rampant shooting against the innocent villagers, they ordered the villagers to say that the family was caught in the middle of fighting between rebels and their battalions. IB No. 62 base in Thanbyuzayat Town, is in charge for the security of Kanbauk-Myaingkalay gas-pipeline and the motor road.

Recently, the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women's Action Network documented that the Burmese Army committed 173 rape crimes involving 625 girls and women, some as young as five years old, taking place mostly between 1996 and 2001. Most of the rapes were perpetrated by officers, in front of their men and the victim's family, and with utmost brutality; one-quarter of the victims died.

MON WARY AMID HOPE, WAR AND TERROR

(Kao-Wao, July 23, 2002)

The public in Mon State warmly welcomed the visit of the Burmese democratic leader but many in remote areas are wary over the political deal between the junta and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi was greeted by thousands of supporters at several stops upon arriving in Mon State. But ‘NO to NLD' signs were shown at Paung Township on her way to Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.

"Even though U Lwin said in a radio interview about the NLD meeting with ethnic nationalities, we have not heard anything about future meetings with our leader," said Nai Win, a member of Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) and a campaigner for the Mon in 1990 general election in Burma. "NLD needs to show more sincerity toward the ethnic nationalities. All Mon leaders, Nai Ngwe Thein, Dr. Soe Linn and Dr. Kyi Win were arrested for their support for NLD and CRPP. MNDF and NLD have an alliance but in the 1990 election they were rivals to win the vote in an overlapped area," he added.

Coincidentally, the Burma Army marched into a Mon village in Karen State and opened fire on a group of innocent civilians who had gathered to build a house on May 12, 2002 within a week of Suu Kyi's release from house arrest. Mon villagers were fired upon by the Infantry Battalion No. 77 who intruded into the cease-fire zone of the New Mon State Party and committed rampant shooting which killed two villagers and wounded three.

And again, while Suu Kyi is reorganizing her NLD party in Mon State, the Burmese Army Infantry Battalion No. 62 shot and killed five Mon villagers at Glen Padaw village in Thanbyuzayat Township after the troops raped a young Mon girl on July 22, 2002. Two thousand Mons at Thanbyuzayat warmly greeted the popular leader on her way to Kyaikamee, Mon State just two-day before the brutal killing by the Burmese Army.

"Her release was a good sign for change but the junta is trying to divide us (the ethnic and democratic forces). When they suppress the NLD, the ethnic groups were given favour but now when they favor the NLD, the ethnic nationalities are crushed," said Nai Hongsar, a senior leader of the New Mon State Party.

Mon State is a politically sensitive region in Burma because the New Mon State Party has a cease-fire deal with the junta against the wishes of opposing splinter insurgent groups who wage sporadic attacks against the military junta and sometimes against NMSP. The Mon political party won five seats in the election but was disbanded and the leaders arrested. The Mon comprises a majority in the multi ethnic state along with the Burmese, Karen, Pa-O, Chinese and Indian inhabitants.

HUMANITARIAN AID QUESTIONED BY SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

By Kao-Wao, July 20, 2002)

A group of grassroots activists working on women rights, health, education and environment met on July 13-14, 2002 at the Thai-Burma border to discuss the role of international aid given to the military regime in Burma.

The social activists who work along the Burma border questioned the large-scale increases of international aid to Burma from Japan, Australia, UN agencies and INGO's. In their statement issued on July 20, 2002, the participants expressed the root causes of the humanitarian dilemma as being ignored by the report of ICG (International Crisis Group) and resulting in an obscured representation of the situation and responses.

The statement, quoted from the Strategic Consultation Meeting held on 20 January 2002 by ethnic, women and democratic leaders, claimed that the root causes of the humanitarian crisis in Burma are the lack of a democratic government accountable to the people and a system enforced by a military dictatorship.

The group comprised of Dr. Cynthia Maung who is known as the Nightingale of Burma; democratic, ethnic and women leaders, warned that international aid delivered through Rangoon will increase military strength and weaken democracy and human rights and delay the tripartite dialogue process and transition to democracy.

A women rights activist said the humanitarian aids to Rangoon will reduce attention to internally displaced persons and refugees and provide the opportunity for the military regime to use international NGOs as shields to mask their human rights violations.

HIV/AIDS: BURMA ON THE BRINK

(Based on article by Cesar Chelala, Korean Herald, July 15, 2002)

Burma is now like a ticking time bomb with the highest rate of drug-associated HIV/Aids countries in the world.

The United Nations Program on HIV/Aids program puts the estimate at 530,000 of a total of 48 million people being HIV-infected. These figures could even be higher, local activists insist, because of the low rate of reporting cases and Burma's limited capacity to test for the virus; doctors from Medecins Sans Frontieres believe it is as high a 1 million people infected. Dr. Chris Beyrer from John Hopkins estimates that 3.46 per cent of the adult population in Burma is infected. Where there is intensive drug abuse it is particularly high on the eastern border regions of Thailand and the northern border with China, the worst hit is Shan State where it is estimated that 10 per cent are HIV-infected. The overall rate in Burma at which people get infected is 5.3 per cent. In the two largest cities the infection rate among prostitutes is 3 times that of Thailand.

The government has failed to launch measures to stop HIV/Aids from devastating the country. The government has banned studies on drug related problems and along with the civil war, extreme poverty and thousands of people living a migratory life, people with little educational or health awareness, which are conditions that help to spread the disease.

Many people in Burma are poorly educated, according to Dr. Cynthia Maung, only 25 per cent of children ever finish primary school and very little health education in the general community on its prevention is offered. In Thailand, large migrant communities have no services, are often discriminated against and arrive from Burma with little education. In Mahachai, where large communities of Mons live in Thailand, estimated at 100,000, have little education and are at risk of contracting the disease because there are no services in the community. "Ignorance of the disease and ways to prevent it are widespread, the Thai government has not responded with any initiatives in the migrant community," said Nai Cham Toik, representative for the Mon Unity League. Unless large-scale interventions are introduced both nationally and at the community level Thai medical experts insist that HIV/Aids will reach epidemic levels in Burma and will soon eclipse the worst situation in Africa.

AI REPORT: URGENT ACTION TO SAVE ETHNIC GROUPS

(Published on Wednesday, July 17, 2002 by Reuters)

Amnesty International latest human rights report states that the Burmese military continues to target ethnic minorities despite human rights improvements in Rangoon.

According to the AI report migrants, villagers, farmers, and civilians continue to suffer human rights violations at the hands of the Burmese military. Forced labour, extortion, torture, displacement and land confiscation in the rural areas continue to have a grave impact on the lives of civilians? In addition, civilians are caught in counter-insurgency operations, where many are tortured and killed and women and girls in Shan State and other areas are raped on a periodical basis by the unruly military.

Meanwhile the central government totally rejects AI's report, denying that human rights abuses have occurred, stating that: "It is quite natural for these armed terrorist groups to come up with ridiculous assertions in order for them to gain sympathy and financial support...the report comes from people who want to discredit the government."

All 100 migrants from Shan, Mon and Karen states interviewed left Burma because they could no longer endure the hardship enforced upon them by the military. Many were subjected to unpaid forced labour which included construction work on roads and in military camps, working on military farms, and acting as porters for soldiers for days or even weeks at a time. One 66-year-old man reported that he had been forced to work intermittently for the Tatmadaw for the past 50 years, the last time in February this year. According the AI the Myanmar government uses forced labor, extortion and torture [as needed] in a campaign to stamp out separatist insurgencies.

"The situation for civilians in the east of Myanmar is cause for grave concern. The government needs to show it is serious about human rights improvements throughout the country by taking urgent steps to protect civilians from forced labour, extortion and land confiscation at the hands of its armed forces." Amnesty International calls upon the government to show it is serious about human rights improvements throughout the country by taking urgent steps to protect civilians".

Activists welcomed AI's report that people in the rural areas need to be informed about their rights against the continued abuses of the troops, the Myanmar government fails to enforce its orders to all levels of the military that forced labour is outlawed adding that it needs to ensure that villagers are informed of their rights in languages they understand, reported AI. The report touched upon the dangerous life of Burmese migrant workers crossing the border over into Thailand who face life-threatening situations at the hands of human smugglers and of civilians caught in the crossfire between rebel groups and the Burmese army.

THAI MON LEADER REMEMBERED: NAI PRASERT AND THE FOUNDING OF MON YOUTH COMMUNITY

(Mon Unity League, July 16, 2002)

As a founding member of Mon Youth Community (MYC), Nai Prasert served the MYC and Mon national affairs right up until the day he died on July 14, 2002.

For centuries Mons preferred to settle along a floodplain environment, where they could fish and grow rice, like the fertile area along the Maeklong River. From Sangkhlaburi, adjacent to the Thai Burma, border to Ratchburi, a number of Thai Mon villages have settled for over two hundred years and who continue to speak the Mon language and live life as a vibrant Mon culture. Large populations of Mon live along the course of the river at Barn Pong District of Ratchburi Province. In this area, several Mon words are spoken by the Thai-Mon, for instance Kwarn Zuer (banyan tree), Kwarn Pnoh (jack tree), Kwarn Mengklon (tamarind tree), Kwarn Kreuk (mango tree), Kwarn Reut (palm tree) and so on.

Prasert Luangthip was one such Thai-Mon who was born at Kwarn Kruek (Barn Muang) in 1933; all his immediate family members speak Mon. He was the 2nd oldest of four; he received primary Thai education at the nearby school and became a novice monk at age 12. He studied monastic education both in Mon and in Thai and finished Maha (equal to Dammajariya) before his ordination of Buddhist monk. He started his young life by learning Mon national affairs while staying at Wat Praditharam in Bangkoknoi with Ven. Nyana Rongsi who came from Mon State. There, the young monk was inspired to observe the Buddhists precepts inside Mon State where he pursued further study and where he met with "All Ramanya Mon Association" in Rangoon, which was the first Mon national organization. He traveled around Mon State and spent nearly 10 years studying Mon and English; he disrobed before returning to Bangkok. He had been greatly motivated by the activities of "All Ramanya Mon Association" and Mon Youth organization in Rangoon and endeavored to work hard to find ways of setting up a similar organization for the Thai-Mon youths in Thailand.

Respected Mon national leaders such as Dr Su-ed Kajaseni, President of Thai Raman Association, Ven Nyana Rongsi and some Buddhist monks advised Nai Prasert. And by 1975, the Mon Youth Community, Bangkok, was founded by a group of young Mons, led by Nai Sathit Ngonghorm as the first president, Nai Prasert Luangthip as secretary of the organization. According to its regulation, the election for Executive Committee was to be held every two years, but Nai Sathit and Nai Prasert held the presidency and secretarial position respectively for 3 successive terms (6 years).

While Nai Prasert founded the MYC, he worked as a tour guide for his basic survival needs and loved photographing Mon people within the community, spending most of his earnings on film and processing. In 1987 he became the first Mon teacher at the department of military strategy education in Bangkok. He volunteered time to those interested in Mon such as Thai academics and some Thai Mon people.

In 2000, he suffered a minor stroke that left him unable to walk. After a period of treatment in the hospital he moved to his sister's house in his birth village and lived there till July 14, 2002 when he passed away. Like some other Mon leaders, Nai Prasert lived a single life and left behind no wife or children.

MON YOUTH COMMUNTY MEET

(MUL, July 21, 2002)

Thailand based Mon Youth Community (Bangkok) held a meeting on July 21, 2002 to discuss the contentious issue of armed conflict between the NMSP and HRP, education, fund raising and preparation for the upcoming General Assembly.

The meeting was chaired by Miss Amphai Makamarn, the Presidnet of MYC. Miss Amphai, a schoolteacher, has written Mon text books and initiated Mon literacy training projects for the Mon communities in central Thailand. Under the provision for promotion of the local language in the present Thai constitution, Mon language is taught at schools in the Mon villages in Thailand.

The meeting illustrated that most of the Thai Mon people are sympathetic to the newly founded Hongsawatoi Restoration Party led by col. Pan Nyunt who has openly declared to fight against the Burmese military repression of the Mon people. Prior to the cease-fire agreement between the New Mon State Party and the Burmese military regime in 1995, the MYC had an active relationship with the NMSP. The MYC members protested against the Thai business groups who had pressured the NMSP to agree to a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese military regime. But after the cease-fire agreement, the NMSP cut off contact with MYC in all cases, now relations between the two are quiet and unproductive.

Nai Yeup, a leader of the Mon Unity League (Youth) briefed about his 6-month study course in the "African/Southeast Asian Transitional Justice Fellowship Program" at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The aims of the Mon Youth Community are to preserve Mon language, culture and tradition, to build capacity for the Mon youths, to seek awareness for preservation of Mon historical art, literature and culture, to establish unity among the Mons and to strengthen cooperation among the Thai and Mon people.

DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA IN TENTH YEAR

(Kao-Wao, Oslo, July 20, 2002)

The noble peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi encourages freedom of information on the 10th year anniversary of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

The Oslo based DVB celebrated its 10th year anniversary in Norway with a gathering attended by various media groups, Burma experts and the Prime Minister of the government in exile, Dr. Sein Win.

"Freedom of information is one of the fundamentals of a democratic system. If there is freedom of information then the people will be better informed and they can effectively undertake their democratic responsibilities, " said Suu Kyi on her live voice from Rangoon, Burma. The DVB was established on July 19, 1992 in Norway after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

RFA, BBC, Irrawaddy, Mizzima, Shan, Mon and Arakan media groups were among the international media organizations discussing several possibilities of founding a wider Burma media association and for future cooperation and networking. The two-day conference concluded that the role of media is important for the establishment of democracy and to support programs, which strengthen the Burma media groups should be organized.

The audiences were encouraged by the words of Suu Kyi: "Do not despair if you face any obstacles. I would like to encourage you to always work as much as possible for the benefit of the people, with their interests in mind. The people must be willing to listen to the news about what is happening in the world and what is happening in our country. They must have the will to know these. The people will benefit the nation only when they are knowledgeable."

YOUTH ACTIVITIES AT THE BORDER (Kao-Wao, July 28, 2002)

Shan

On July 21, 2002, the closing ceremony of Shan State School was held in the liberated area.

The school was attended by twenty-three ethnic youths of Shan, Palaung, Kachin, Wa, Pa-O and Lahu from Shan State. The students who learned computer and English at the boarding school were congratulated by about a hundred guests from leaders of ethnic and democratic movement. At the graduation party, students were granted their certificates, followed by dance and food.

Mon

Mon Youth Progressive Organization completed the basic computer and political training in the liberated area, Thailand-Burma border on July 27, 2002.

The MYPO organized youth trainees from Monland and taught basic Mon history, democracy and federalism, the current political and ongoing cease-fire situation. Nai Banya Mon, the chairperson of MYPO said they invited leaders from the Mon Unity League, New Mon State Party, Human Rights Foundation in Monland and Mon Women Organization for lecturing during the six week training.

MYPO was founded by youth from Mon State with aims to promote Mon literacy and culture, to build unity among youths, to support the struggle for national freedom and to cultivate future leaders in Mon community.

SYCB

Students and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB) celebrated its One Year Anniversary of the Youth Exchange Program at its head-office in the liberated area near Thai-Burma border.

About thirty students from ethnic and democratic forces gathered on July 27, 2002 for evaluation of the one year long program and participants were given a special dinner after the meeting.

Founded in 1996, SYCB is the biggest umbrella organization among youths from Burma who fled military repression in 1988 and its member organizations comprised of Karen, Kachin, Pa-O, Arakan, Kuki and Mon with democratic youth forces from National League for Democracy, All Burma Students Democratic Front, Democratic Party for New Society and All Burma Students League.

The aims of the Youth Exchange are to build understanding and solidarity among youths, to share experiences and develop knowledge and understanding from the diverse nationalities.

KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT US Kao-Wao Newsgroup is committed to social justice, peace, and democracy in Burma. We hope to be able to provide more of an in-depth analysis that will help to promote lasting peace and change within Burma. Editors, reporters, writers, and overseas volunteers are dedicated members of the Mon activist community based in Thailand. Our motto is working together for change.

SUBMIT YOUR NEWS If you are an organization or individual who is committed to the same principles as Kao-Wao please use this eNewsletter as a tool to disseminate your views, articles, and issues pertaining to social justice and political, social and cultural freedom. We are open to all but please ensure to source your material either through email contacts or website. To ensure that it is widely read, you can use this email: [email protected] to tell others about this newsletter, and to let them know about your work, events, and public debate.