KAO WAO NEWS No. 73
An electronic newsletter for social justice and
freedom in
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READERS’ FRONT
NMSP REMAINS
OPTIMISTIC ON CEASE-FIRE
FORCED LABOUR AFTER
GENERAL MAUNG BO’S VISIT
LAND
CONFISCATED FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
USDA SAY TEACHING
MON A BARRIER FOR RECONCILIAION
SEX IN THE
MON
CANADIAN REMEMBER LATE LEADER NAI NON LAR
MIN THU WUN: BURMESE
LITERARY PIONEER DIES
NO PEACE FOR
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN
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Dear Readers,
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
Regards,
Editor
[email protected],
[email protected]
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NMSP REMAINS
OPTIMISTIC ON CEASE-FIRE
(Taramon, Kao Wao:
The New Mon State Party remains optimistic with its
cease-fire policy with the junta despite it being sidelined at National
Convention according to President Nai Htin.
The 84-year-old President said the NMSP participated at the
government sponsored National Convention to hammer out a political solution,
but was disappointed after the SPDC rejected proposals from the cease-fire
groups.
The hope for democracy and a permanent change to the
political situation faded away when Mon leaders listened to a speech delivered
by Thein Sein, Chairman of
NC, on the opening day ceremony, he commented. “We realized that the
freedom of expression could not be achieved after we heard this speech. I
don’t think we can achieve our goals when the SPDC continues to persist on
sticking to its basic principles.”
The Mon delegation led by Nai
Chan Toi and other cease-fire groups proposed an
agenda for power sharing between the central government and states but had no
chance to debate or discusses the issue. Even though their proposals were
ignored by the regime, the NMSP will push on ahead for a political solution, Nai Htin added.
When Kao Wao asked about the fate of NMSP members who were
arrested by the junta for holding arms and collecting tax in Ye last June,
President Nai Htin replied
that the NMSP would discuss the situation with the SPDC authorities as a
special case agreed to by two partners when the cease-fire deal was signed in
1995.
The NMSP’s President is
optimistic on the cease-fire agreement with the SPDC and believes that a
positive outcome will be achieved for the release of their members jailed by
the junta in
He also urged the
Nai Htin
was chosen as President replacing Nai Shwe Kyin who died in March 2003. He is well-respected by
the majority of the Mon population and grass roots organization for his down to
earth attitude and loyalty to the protracted national movement. Despite
his old age, he continues to live with his comrades at the jungle headquarters
of the NMSP, BeeRee in
Prior to Nai Htin’s
interview with Kao Wao, Secretary General Nai Hongsar talked to the media that the relationship between
the SPDC and the NMSP could be soured for arresting its members. NMSP
members led by Nai Ron Nai
were arrested and sentenced to seven years imprisonment while touring in the
public and collecting funds in Ye township on June 29, 2004.
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FORCED LABOUR AFTER
GENERAL MAUNG BO’S VISIT
(Kao Wao and IMNA report:
Local civilians are forced to work for the government’s
project in southern
According to IMNA news, villagers conscripted as forced
laborers were severely beaten by the Burma Army soldiers when they were found
taking a rest while repairing the road, a government work project in Southern
Mon State.
10 civilians from a quarter (bloc) of Khaw
Zar and 10 others from villages around the area were
forced to work on daily basis at repairing the road to promote Khaw Zar village into a Sub-Town.
The road will connect to other villages and the BA forces local villagers to
repair the road since the end of 2003.
“At least three or four people are beaten everyday,” said
Mr. Nai KonMon who
witnessed the mistreatment; he was also forced to work for the road recently.
“A week ago, when our group (from Khaw
Zar) were working, three men, Nai
Take, Thein Zaw and a 60
year old uncle (described as Nai Pu’s
father) were nearly beaten to death because we were exhausted and took a
break,” Mr. Mon, who has regularly been forced to work for the BA, explained.
“When the BA beats people in front of you, you must be
careful not to watch them. If so, they will turn on you and beat you with
truncheon,” he added.
“Sick men have to work on the project if their household
happens to be in the lineup for the duty. If the soldiers catch you at
home while you are sick, they will drag you out, beat and fine you on the
spot”, said Mr. Mon.
No. 3 Tactical Command’s Colonel Nyi
Nyi recruited the forced laborers among civilians in
the area in order to implement the new Sub-Town and transportation projects.
Local civilians are ordered to work with their own tools and supply their own
food.
Currently, the Army is continuously conscripting forced
labor in Khaw Zar and Mon
villages nearby. About 15 villagers from Hangan
were forced to work everyday. The villagers say they have been forced to
work on the road construction since the Army promoted Khaw
Zar and
A village headman said when the government started construction
road and repair projects, every household in the village was forced to work.
There was serious mistreatment against the villagers. The villagers
described how inhumanely they were treated during the construction as, ‘the
soldiers beat them like a cow trader beats his cows severely one by one while
climbing the mountains to Thailand for trade and the animals get too tired to
walk.’
The Army also collects money from the villagers twice or
three times per month. The army collected at least 30,000 Kyat from the
better off families and 3,000 Kyat from poorer families each time, the
villagers told IMNA.
The Nationality Race and Border Area Development Program of
SPDC implemented the construction of the road in the area. On July
30, General Maung Bo from Defense Ministry paid a visit into the area and fired
off instructions to develop the whole area.
The BA not only uses villagers for development projects but
also uses them for portering, which includes carrying
food supplies and ammunitions during their military operations against the Mon
armed groups in southern Ye area. Several villagers are forced to work in
the army bases including building barracks and cooking food for the soldiers.
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LAND
CONFISCATED FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
(Kao Wao:
The Peace and Development Council surveyed more land for a
government project in Ye Township, southern
About 300 acres of land in Gu KhaTaw near Du-Yar (Durae) of western Ye were
surveyed by Ye Township Peace and Development Council (Ye TPDC) authorities for
the government, but details of the project are not yet known, say local
villagers.
The State Peace and Development Council announced that the
government would offer 2 million Kayts to build a
local hospital in Du-Yar. “Villagers were very
happy to hear the news, but were upset when they confiscated 8 acres of land.
We are forced to pay out huge sums of money, about 10 million Kyats for the
hospital project,” said Nai Za.
Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association is in charge of the project and local authorities are taxing
money from every household in the village. Orders come from the Township
Maternal and Child Welfare Association, which is responsible to organize
village headmen and cease-fire leaders’ wives to get things going.
Local Mon woman organization complained that the elite
group in the community knows how to avoid forced donation leaving the poor
people to pay and work on this project.
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USDA SAY TEACHING
MON A BARRIER FOR RECONCILIATION
(Banyear Toay:
USDA in Mon state says that teaching Mon language will not
support national development and reconciliation.
“Teaching the Mon language is a barrier to national
development and solidarity. The SPDC will not achieve its objective of
rural development in the area because of the Mon language-teaching,” a USDA
senior official of
The source from the Mon community in the township said the
USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Association) responded negatively after
the BBC News (Burmese language program) broadcasted that the government banned
the Mon national school in Ye township.
A senior leader of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) said that
after the BBC broadcasted news about the NC and opinion of cease-fire leaders,
the public were more inspired by the position of the ethnic groups. The
SPDC is concerned about the issue and also questioned the NMSP.
It is a concern in the community; with most wondering why
the government’s USDA quoted that teaching the Mon language acts as a barrier
for rural development. Meanwhile the USDA members in Thanbyu
Zayat are taking a survey of
General Maung Bo went to Ye township last month and donated
to Buddhist monks and provided some financial aid for National schools and some
joint SPDC-Mon National schools to organize local Mons
for supporting the SPDC’s rural development project.
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SEX IN THE
(Taramon/ Sangkhlaburi:
August 21, 04)
A brothel at
Most of their customers are SPDC officials and cease- fire
groups and have not paid for the service several times, a Mon trader said.
“About nineteen sex workers of Shwe Tagar
(Golden Door) brothel house in the
The local source reported that the SPDC officials and cease-fire
groups sometimes quarrel with another over girls, looking for beauty and fun.
The owner doesn’t dare argue with them (who hold arms in the brothel). Some
local residents say they are familiar with a new slang word ‘sex hijacked’
because the sex workers are forced to drive around with the clients without
being paid.
Last month, according to a local medic from the Thai Burma
border town, four patients from the NMSP clinic have been diagnosed with HIV.
The Mon medics in the area are concerned about the sex trade and lack of
prevention due to the increase of HIV cases in the area.
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MON
CANADIAN REMEMBERS LATE LEADER NAI NON LAR
(Kao Wao:
Mon communities in
Members of Mon Canadian Society and Mon Women Organization
gathered at Khmer Canadian Buddhist Temple on August 15, Sunday, to donate food
to monks and shared merit with the late leader. The MCS read the memorial
service describing the history of Nai Non Lar. Nai Khaing Waeng and Nai Cham Toik
also shared their memories and experiences with the late President during the
revolutionary period.
Back home in Monland, the New Mon
State Party held a commemorating ceremony and a statue of the late President
was built this year at Hnee Padaw
near Thanbyu Zayat town
(his native village).
While serving as a village headman, Nai
Non Lar (aka) Nai Seik Noh joined Mon Peoples
Front and was deeply involved in the Mon national movement since its
founding. He was arrested along with other senior leaders after the
military coup; he then joined the NMSP after his release.
Nai Non Lar,
age 72, passed away from heart failure on
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BURMESE LITERARY
PIONEER DIES
(Cited from
The ethnic Mon-Burmese writer was a legend in
Min Thu Wun also gained
prominence as a Member of Parliament for the main opposition party, the
National League for Democracy, or NLD. His passing yesterday was marked quietly
by family and friends in the Burmese capital.
He was born in 1909 in
He then began writing children’s poems and pursuing a
master’s degree in Burmese, which he received in 1935. While at university he
was editor of the school magazine and Ganhta
Lawka (“World of Books”) magazine, then one of
the most widely read journals in
In the following years, Min Thu Wun
cemented his legacy with a prolific output of children’s poems, and for helping
to modernize Burmese literature, through a movement called Khitsan
(“New Writing”).
He also helped write Mon-Burmese and Pali-Burmese
dictionaries. His unique teaching methods have helped countless Burmese learn
to read.
He was elected to
“We no longer hear about him in any newspapers or radio in
Min Thu Wun is the 81st Member of
Parliament who has died since being voted into office during the 1990 election,
which the NLD won by a massive margin. The results have never been honored by
the regime.
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NO PEACE FOR
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN
(Cited from Cultural Survival/ By Karin Oman:
The United Nations and Peoples
Organization (UNPO) reported on August 5 that killings, torture,
sexual harassment, and other human rights violations against indigenous people
in
The Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National
Progressive Party (KNPP), the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South), and small
armed opposition groups in the
"The country has been terrorized by the Burmese junta
for more than four decades and the people have, time and again, tried to get
rid of this tyrannical regime without success," said Sai
Myo Win, general secretary of the Shan Democratic Union and ambassador of the
Shan States. "Many lives have been sacrificed but still the military
regime is intact."
Win said the Shan State Army-South is well supported by the
greater Shan population. The movement stands for the restoration of
self-determination, equality, and democracy within the
Yet indigenous civilians often find themselves caught
between insurgents, who may be relatives or friends, and the Burmese Army,
which accuses them of being rebel supporters. The Kao Wao news group
reported on August 3 that the SPDC killed two Mon village headmen in
As reported by several news and human rights organizations,
including the Kao Wao news group and Amnesty
International, rape and sexual harassment are also tactics that
Burmese Army soldiers use against indigenous civilians. Soldiers target young
girls and women in ethnic areas and threaten young single men in the villages. Nai Soe, a Mon civilian from
southern Mon State seeking refuge at a camp on the Thailand border, told the
Kao Wao news group that "The SPDC soldiers also threaten and intimidate
young single men by pointing guns at them, after, they routinely search and
stay at the houses of beautiful women." Many women and girls have been
raped and some have fled their communities to seek refuge in
A SPDC policy known as four cuts aims to deprive
militant groups of four things: money, food, recruits, and intelligence. The
SPDC implements the cuts by means of forced civilian relocations. After a
relocation deadline has passed, the army usually sends out patrols to destroy
the villages and food supplies. A Christian Aid report from May 2004 states:
"SPDC patrols hunt them, trying to force all civilians into
army-controlled villages where everyone is used as forced labor, maintaining
military access roads and portering supplies to
outlying army camps. In the SPDC-controlled villages even food supplies are
tightly controlled; rice cannot be bought without army permission, and farmers
must hand over all food crops to soldiers, who eat most of it and hand back
only a tiny and insufficient ration."
The United States Department of State 2004 country report
for
"It should be clear that the people of
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