The Mon Forum
News,
personal accounts, reports & analysis on the human rights situation in Mon
territory and other areas of the Southern part of
Issue No. 7/2002
Publication of the
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
CONTENTS
News:
1)
IB No. 62 soldiers killed 5 Mon villagers after raped a girl
2) Torture a Mon man
by LIB No. 343
3) Teaching of Mon language is barred in a school in Ye Township
News in Brief:
Violations against women and forced labour by members of the
Burmese army
Report:
Kanbauk-Myaingkalay Gas Pipeline and Negative Impacts to
the Civilians
Commentary:
No Surprise for SPDC's Sexual
Violations against Women
*********************************************************************
Some
acronyms in this issue
SLORC- State Law and Order Restoration Council,
SPDC- State Peace and Development
Council,
IB - Infantry Battalion (of Burmese Army),
LIB- Light Infantry Battalion (of
Burmese Army),
MOMC- Military Operation Management
Command (of Burmese Army),
NMSP- New Mon State Party,
KNLA- Karen National Liberation
Army,
News:
IB No. 62 soldiers killed 5 Mon villagers after raped a girl
About
Four soldiers of IB No. 62, which base
in Thanbyuzayat town, took military patrol in area
along the Thanbyuzayat - Ye motor road and a
gas-pipeline nearby and they went into a Mon village called "Ganaing-padaw" in early morning. Ganaing-padaw
village is situating about 9 kilometers far in southeastern part of
When they arrived into village, they
entered into village secretary, Nai Kun Tit's house. Nai Kun Tit did not
wake up and they met his grand-daughter, Mi Eat Sar
(16 years old and a school girl from a middle level school in a village
nearby), who was cooking rice to give food donation to the monks in the dawn
accordingly to Buddhist traditions.
Four soldiers including a soldier, Thein Naing (Burmese Army's ID Number 176399) climbed onto
the house and raped the girl. While the
soldiers were raping the girl, Nai Kun Tit waked up
and tried to help her. But as he knew
the soldiers had the guns and he run down from his house to garden's entrance
and shout to the villagers for help.
Because of his shouting, one soldier
shot at him. He lied down in the
entrance of the garden and died on spot.
And, the soldiers had quarrel each other as some of them disagreed
shooting to the man. Then, they shot
each other again.
After several shooting on the house,
other family members waked up and run around in the house while the shooting
between the soldiers occurred. Then
another four villagers, including Mi Eat Sar, the
rape victim, was shot down by soldiers.
They also died on spot with many injuries.
The villagers who were killed in this
incident are:
(1)
Nai
Kun Tit (66 years old), the secretary of the village,
(2)
Mi
Kun Bae (60 years old), wife of Nai
Kun Tit,
(3)
Mi
Eat Sar (16 years old), raped victim and
grand-daughter of Nai Kun Tit,
(4)
Min
Chit Ko (20 years old), grandson of Nai Kun Tit, and
(5)
Nai
Wet Tae (42 years old), labourer for Nai Kun Tit's farm.
Because of shooting, a
IB No. 62 soldier, Thein Naing, received serious
injuries and lied down in the kitchen of the house. In the morning, the army officers from Thanbyuzayat's IB No. 62 headquarters came and inquired the
incident. And, when they found their
men really involved shooting against the innocent villagers, they told the
villagers to separate the news that the villagers were killed in the middle of
fighting that happened between rebels and their battalions.
IB No. 62 bases in
Torture a Mon
man by LIB No. 343
On
July 17, 2002, a group of SPDC troops from LIB No. 343 led by Maj. Lin Oo
tortured a 40 years old Mon farmer in his fruit plantation until he lost
consciousness near Khawza village, southern part of
Ye Township.
The
torture of this innocent civilian occurred when Maj. Lin Oo and his troops
launched a military offensive in the area against Mon rebels. When the soldiers arrived
his plantation, they arrested the man, Nai Nyunt
Maung, and interrogated him to give them information about the activities of a
rebel leader, Nai Bin. When the man replied he just hear about this rebel leader and said the Mon soldiers did
not come to his plantation.
The
commander of Burmese Army did not believe him and accused all farmers have been
supporting the rebels by providing them with food and shelter. After the soldiers could not get any answer
from the man, they brought along with them and ordered him to show the bases of
the rebels.
As
the man have not really known the place of rebels'
base, he could not show them. He was
brought by soldiers for three days in the forests and they used him to walk in
advance as human-shields. During those
three days, the soldiers beat him everyday.
Although his family members and village leaders tried
to get information about him but they did not know how of his faith.
On
the last day of three days, the commander was too angry to the man and then
ordered his men to beat him as a group.
About five soldiers beat him with their fists, sticks and
gun-butts. They beat the whole of his body
and his face. Because of cruel beating
in his face, most of his teeth broke and at the end, he lost
consciousness. And, the Burmese Army
left him behind near a plantation of another farmer. The farmers near the area found him and they
brought him back to the village, Khawza.
After
he arrived back home, his family knew that he was beaten by LIB No. 343
soldiers and they did not dare to bring him to Ye town hospital, as they could
face another threat from the commander.
So, they have to treat him in village with a tradition herbal doctor.
Normally,
in the southern part of Ye Township where the Mon rebels have some military
against the Burmese Army, the Burmese commanders always ordered and restricted
the movement of the local farmers. They
ordered to not go to their farms and to not stay in their farms at night. Most farmers tried to go and worked at their
farms at daytime in a hurry and returned to their homes in the evening.
Nai Nyunt Maung is also a disabled
man because one of his arm broke and useless.
As he could not work like other farmers and he decided to stay even at
night-time in his farm, while the most farmers returned homes in the
evening. So the soldiers from LIB No.
343 arrested him while he was at his farm.
Thus, they accused him as rebel-supporters.
Teaching
of Mon language is barred in a school in Ye Township
In
mid-July, after a primary school was built in a Mon village in southern part of
Ye Township, the nearest SPDC's LIB No. 587 commander ordered to not teach Mon
language in that school, which was taught for many years.
The
order was officially issued by the commander and if the village headman in that
village, Kun-doo, allowed the Mon teachers to allow
the teaching of Mon language as a subject in school, they must be punished,
said by one of village headmen. The battalion bases near that village in 2001 after confiscating
many hundreds acres of lands from the Mon villagers.
According
to that headman, the battalion commander ordered the headmen to collect money
from the villagers in May and to re-build a new primary school again, as the
old school, which was a Mon national school, was in ruin condition. First, most of the villagers thought after
the school was built, they could teach the Mon language again. But when they heard the new order, most of
them surprised and disagreed with the order.
However they had to keep silence.
"If
someone would like to teach Mon language, they can teach in forest in where
nobody hear", said by the commander, when the
village headmen begged him for the teaching of Mon language.
The
village has only about 80 households and the commander ordered to build a new
school with own fund. Therefore, many
houses have to pay about 5000-10000 Kyat to have enough fund to complete the
building. The monks from the village
monastery also donated some wooden lumbers and poles for building as they
thought the school would be allowed for the teaching of Mon language. In mid-July, the school building with 90
feet in length and 45 feet in width was completely built.
After
the school was built, the commander ordered to not teach Mon language
anymore. If the Mon
teachers came and taught the Mon language or if the headmen allowed for the
teaching, they must be punished.
He also threatened the Mon teachers must be arrested and the headmen
would be dismissed if they did not listen his
order.
In
most villages in Ye Township, NMSP's Mon education
department established many Mon national schools since over 20-25 years ago and
introduced the Mon education system that mainly supported the teaching of Mon
language and the use of Mon language in text books and curriculums. Later after NMSP lost some of its territory,
the regime gradually occupied the Mon schools and put their teachers to teach
Burmese language to implement its assimilation policy. Later, the Mon and the regime agreed each
other to teach both Mon and Burmese languages.
In
the last schooling year, Kun-doo village primary
school taught both Mon and Burmese languages and the students and their parents
also were also happy to study both Mon and Burmese languages.
******************************************************
News in Brief:
Abuses against women
Rape Cases
Immigration official raped a young Mon woman
On
On that day, the
Deputy Chief of Township immigration department, U Than Win (about 40 years old
man), checked the passengers from all trucks in Ye river bridge, a largest
bridge in town, and arrested 23 Mon villagers who were suspected to migrate
into Thailand to seek work, including 22 years old unmarried Mi K--- H---, from
Lamine village, Ye Township, Mon State.
The group of
villagers, including 2 traffickers, was also brought by the officials and
policemen to police station to face the trials. The officials also took 700, 000 Kyat from
those traffickers and villagers. When
they put 2 traffickers in trials, all migrant villagers were needed for
approval in the court.
For the release of
these villagers, the officials also requested money. Some villagers also paid bribe to officials
and then they were released. However,
the young woman could not pay in advance and appealed to pay later. But U Than Win did
not accept and brought the young woman to a house and raped her for the whole
night.
On the next day, he
released the woman to return her home.
The woman also explained to her parents about the rape case and they
also informed the officers from military intelligence to handle the case. Until now, they could not know how the
punishment would be given to that official.
LIB No. 587's three soldiers raped a Mon girl
On
The soldiers
repeatedly raped the young girl, Mi Khin Htwe (the
daughter of Nai At) until she lost
consciousness. The rape incident
occurred in a half way between the two Mon villages, Ayu-taung
and Kun-doo, in the northern part of Ye
Township. The native
She and her two
friends (a boy and a girl) paid a visit to Kun-doo
village and when they returned to their homes in Ayu-taung
village, in evening about
But the soldiers
followed and dragged Mi Khin Htwe into a rubber plantation. Although the boy who came along with her
tried to stop, but the soldiers pointed the guns at him and threatened to kill
him. Then the boy ran to Ayu-taung village, to ask for the help from the
villagers.
In rubber plantation,
the soldiers repeatedly raped her until she lost consciousness. When a group of villagers arrived to
incident place, the soldiers already left and they found only unconscious and
injured girl laid down near a rubber tree. Then they carried her back to the village.
Although the
villagers and the headmen knew the case, they did not dare to inform to the
battalion commander, because they were afraid.
They only kept a silence for the case.
Among three soldiers, one soldier was a medic in the battalion and he
could recognized him very well, said by the boy. He added the other two soldiers were
ordinary soldiers.
LIB No. 587 takes
base near that village since 2001 and it confiscated many hundreds acres of
lands from the Kun-doo and Ayu-taung
villages.
LIB No. 343's commander threatened to kill a woman
On
The Mon woman, Mi Nwe Yee (about 40 years old) is from Khawza
village, in southern part of Ye Township, where some Mon rebel groups, launched
the military activities. When the
commander met her in the market, he believed she bought some food for rebel
soldiers.
Then he approached
close to the woman and grasped her arm and asked about her shopping. When the woman refused and said that he
bought foods and home used materials, he did not believe and drew a knife and
tried to kill her. But the woman
suddenly ran into the crowd in the market and could escape from his
killing.
As the commander and
his troops regularly launched the offensives in southern part of Ye Township
against a Mon armed group led by Nai Bin, he could
recognize some villagers from Mon villages and so he always suspected the
villagers as the supporters of the Mon armed group.
Forced labour
Porter service
Regular porter and porter fee for LIB No. 586
On June 25, when the
troops of LIB No. 586, which is under the command of MOMC No. 19, launched a
military offensives in the southern part of Ye Township, the Burmese soldiers
also arrested many porters from Yin-ye village and demanded porter fee.
Before the troops
arrived into the village, they arrested all villages and farmers who they saw
in the village and used them as porters to carry ammunitions and food supplies
along with them. They arrested nearly 20
villagers and used them as porters, said by a villager.
When they arrived
into the village, the commander called the village headmen and asked them to
pay for porter fee if the whole villagers would not like to be porters. The soldiers asked the village headmen to
pay them 2000 Kyat from every household immediately.
The commander also
complained to the village headmen, "you are also
collecting tax fund for rebels. We are
defending for your security, why don't you pay us." The headmen had no choice and had to
collect for them.
The village has about
400 households and most percentages of villagers are poor fishermen. The commander and his troops also waited for
one night until they got complete amount of money from the villagers. Then, on the next day, after receiving
money, the troops took 20 porters along with them and returned to their
base. They decided to not launch offensives
because it was not a good for carrying a lot of money to frontline.
Porters for IB No. 77
IB No. 77 troops led
by Lt. Col. Myo Lwin and Maj. Kyaw Kyaw Oo arrested about 40 porters from Wet-nan and Wet-sadon villages of
The troops went into
these two villages, which are close each other and are in 'free-fire zone' and
arrested about 40 villagers including some women. The soldiers forced them to carry ammunitions
and food supplies for 7 days and the commanders said they would release them
after that period.
During the soldiers
were taking these porters, they launched offensives in 'Kyaik-done'
area, in the middle part of Township area.
After 7 days offensives, the troops returned to those two villages
again. And, when they tried to get
another 40 villagers to replace with old porters, the could
not get because many men and other villagers fled from villages. So, they used the same porters for another weeks.
One woman porter said
that they forced her to carry 4 mortar shells and she was also beaten when she
could not climb the mountains like other men porters. She said she also saw the soldiers killed
some Karen villagers in some rural villages in Kyaik-done
area.
On July 2, these
battalion troops also entered into Taung-bauk village
and arrested 10 villagers as porters including Nai Halae, who was used as a guide. When he showed wrong way to arrive into a
Mon village, he was also severely beaten.
IB No. 77 troops also
entered into Taung-bauk village in May and shot into
a group of Mon villagers and killed 2 villagers and injured 3 villagers.
Forced labour for IB No. 31 Headquarters
On June 12, a
commander of IB No. 31 Maj. Naing Win ordered the village headmen of Kwan-hlar village, which is close to the army base, to send
6 trucks and 15 men to construct a road in their headquarters.
IB No. 31
headquarters situates in
After
requisition of forced labour, the village headmen sent 6 loading trucks and 15
men from his village. The commander used
the trucks to carry stones from the streams and used the villagers to crush the
stones into small pieces and lay on the embankment of rough road. The villagers, trucks and the drivers were
forced to work for two days. They had
to carry their own foods and tools.
REPORT
Kanbauk-Myaingklay Gas Pipeline and Negative Impacts
to the Civilians
Background of gas-pipeline
In 2001, SPDC planned to extend the factory of a cement
production in Pa-an Township, in
Accordingly to the SPDC's plan, the Construction Ministry,
Ministry of Energy, and the Southeast Military Command bases in
The construction of gas pipeline took about 10 months and it
started in November 2000. This gas
pipeline is about 210 miles and first, it passes some part of Yebyu Township of Tenasserim
Division and then proceeds into
When it passes through in Tenasserim
Division, it came along Ye-Tavoy motor road, then the
route passes through many paddy growing farms, rubber and fruit plantations and
even into villages in
When the authorities construct the pipeline in
Whenever the route passed into paddy farms or rubber and
fruit plantations, the route took 30-50 feet each side of pipeline and the
farmers lost these lands. As example,
when the route passed into
This was not the end of the story. After the gas pipeline construction
completed and the regime could bring the gas to the designated place, however,
the people along the pipeline area still face more and more suffering. Under the rule of military regime, the
majority of Mon people and other ethnic people could not know how about the
danger of gas which passed through their area, and no knowledge and education
was provided to them.
Additionally, the local people have been suffered from the
main purpose of the security of gas pipeline.
Then the impacts of pipeline such as movement restriction, limitation of
agricultural activities, pipeline explosion and gas separate into the community
and continual use of forced labour. The
details of these impacts are mentioned as below:
Small
compensation for confiscated land
After for over one year confiscation of lands along the
pipeline, the authorities have been quiet and silent and have not said any for
the compensation cost. However, in
January 2002, the authorities from the regime decided to provide some
compensation cost to villagers and farmers, those who lost some pieces of their
land along the pipeline route.
Most villagers in Mudon, Thanbyuzayat and Ye Townships lost some pieces of their
lands in the villages or in paddy farms.
For example, the pipeline route passes through into Wae-winkara
village near Thanbyuzayat town and the villagers from
that village were ordered to remove their houses or to leave from their lands
within 3 days.
In some places, when the pipeline totally passes into a
house and gardens, the villagers had to destroy their houses, took some useful
wooden limber and moved to another places where they
like. The regime authorities did not
provide them with any space of land.
Some families had to sell their properties and paddy farms or rubber
plantations and bought lands and built their new houses again.
After over one year of land confiscation, the regime decided
to pay compensation cost for the villagers or farmers, who lost the lands. On January 9, 2002, the local Township
authorities, officials from Ministry of Energy, village authorities hold a
ceremony to compensate to 7 families who lost their lands in December 2000 when
the regime's construction department and Southeast Command built the gas
pipeline.
When the pipeline passes, every family at least lost about
half acre of land and some lost over one acre of land depending on how long the
pipeline passed into their lands. The
authorities paid 18000 Kyat per acre of land accordingly to the price set by
the regime, while the land price was about 100, 000 Kyat set by the
civilians. Most villagers in this
village not only lost their lands, they also lost their wooden houses, but the
authorities paid compensation for only lands.
As
an instance,
"A
Wae-winkara villager Nai
Aung Shein's family, who lost one acre of land and
the whole of his house, while the pipeline passed through into his garden. He had to destroy his house and moved into
his relatives' house in the same village, Wae-winkara,
and had to build a new house. He lost
about 400, 000 Kyat worth for both land and house. He also lost another 100, 000 Kyat to build
a new house by buying building materials.
But in the ceremony, he received only 18, 000 Kyat from the authorities
for his one acre lost lands.
"Among
7 families who lost the lands, the range of money amount they received was
between 3600 Kyat - 18000 Kyat. After
receiving the money, the headmen of Wae-winkara also
cut some money from them. They
complained to the villagers that as they have demanded the compensation cost on
behalf of the villagers, they have rights to take some money. They took 5000 Kyat from Nai
Aung Shein,
at the end he received only 13000 Kyat.
The village headmen also cut from the other families 1000 Kyat to 3000
Kyat per family depending on the amount of money they received."
In the ceremony, accordingly to the villagers, some company
personnel also attended and provided compensation cost to the local villagers
together with regime's authorities. But
the villagers did not know whether the company or the regime compensated, and
which company. This is also the first
for the local Mon rural civilians receiving the small amount of compensation,
while many others did not receive after the lands lost because of
infrastructure projects or military deployments.
Similarly, the SPDC authorities from Ministry of Energy,
Although the authorities paid for the compensation cost in Mudon, Thanbyuzayat, Kyaikmayaw and
Sabotage
of gas-pipeline and SPDC's accusation against KNU
On
In SPDC's press conference hold on May 9, Col. Min Lwin from
Defense Ministry expressed to the reporters from various news agencies that the
members of KNLA involved in sabotaging of Kanbauk - Myaingkalay gas pipeline about
He also accused that because of sabotage and the flame
separate along pipeline, two villagers, who guarded near incident place also
got serious injuries in their backs. He
also added that as the pipeline is built along the
KNU also refused for the responsibility of sabotage and said
they had no military activity in that area.
The pipeline was badly damaged and the villagers nearby saw a lot of
flame went up onto the sky. Some
villagers who stay far from the area thought one village in the area was
burnt.
Because of this sabotage, it also posed that the battalions
of Burmese Army that took base in the area, militia force and SPDC local
authorities were unable to take any security for their pipeline.
As the explosion happened far from the villages, no villager
was harm for the explosion of gas.
However, the paddy crop in the area along the pipeline
and railway road were destroyed.
This is also the first time of sabotage and so the SPDC
local authorities and Southeast military command had
more intentions to beef up more security along the pipeline route and the
surrounding area to prevent another sabotage.
In protecting this gas-pipeline, the authorities and army not only use
their armed troops and militia forces, but also conscript the civilians in
taking security in gas pipeline.
In that press conference, SPDC's spokesmen also accused KNLA
for another sabotage of Rangoon-Myaingkalay gas
pipeline on May 6, in
Gas pipeline explosion in
Beside this sabotage, gas pipeline also exploded near a Mon
village in the southern part of
In this explosion, no village was injured but some part of
railway was destroyed as the gas-pipeline passed along the railway. The sound of explosion is too loud according
to the villagers and most villagers were afraid and run away from their
villages.
In the area, as the regime also built a dam and most
villagers thought the dam was collapsed and exploded. Therefore, many villagers fled from the
villages to the higher area as most of the villages are in the lower part of
the dam. If the dam was really
collapsed, most villages must be under flood and destroyed.
After the explosion, as some parts of railway were destroyed
and the authorities stopped train transport for 3 days and stopped the
passengers to not use the railway.
After the explosion, the gas got out for several hours. Then, the authorities and army commanders
from the Southeast Command based in
After the gas flow ceased, the authorities and construction
workers repaired the pipeline again. As
the villagers did not know why the gas pipeline blow,
most of them just give their opinions.
According to some villagers, the pipeline is not so strong as the
construction department have not used thick pipeline and it could easily broke
when the pipeline were laying under head of the sun. In January, the temperature level was high
and it made the pipeline too hot and explosion occurred.
Some villagers also saw some gas also dropped from a joint
of pipeline pieces and the authorities have been careless for reconstruct or
rejoin it. For some period, the gas
touched with hot substance and that was the way the gas pipeline could
explode.
The reason why the pipeline was exploded was not given by
the authorities. And, they did not also
take any responsibililty for the displaced villagers
due to this explosion. Even the
authorities knew how the impact of the gas when it exploded, however, they
never explain to the villagers in the area nearby. For the villagers in
After this gas pipeline explosion, the villagers in the area
feel fear more and they now know more about the dangerous situation for the
communities' people. However, they have
no choice to go to other place to escape from their native areas because they
have all their properties for the survival of their families in there.
Restriction against the civilians' movements near pipeline
area
About 210 miles gas pipeline passes through many hundreds of
lands of paddy fields, fruit plantations and rubber plantations. The gas pipeline passes many paddy fields,
rubber, fruit plantations in Ye Township; many paddy fields, rubber plantation
in
Since the gas pipeline passes their plantations, when they
go to their plantations or paddy fields in eastern or western part of the
route, they always have to walk over the pipeline. Sometimes, as they have to walk along the
railway, they are likely moving along the pipeline.
After the gas pipeline was sabotaged in the northern part of
Ye Township, the authorities in Mon State, in where the most parts of pipeline
lies through, and in Yebyu Township of Tenasserim Division, made the restriction against the civilians's movement, especially to farmers, who have
regularly traveled in the area. In the
sabotage of the pipeline, the authorities always accused that the local
villagers or farmers in the area concerned also cooperate with the rebel armed
force.
The authorities ordered to farmers and villagers to not go
across or along the pipeline at night time and in some area, even in day
time.
As
an instance,
"In
May 2002, the authorities from Ye Township area also ordered the civilians in
villages to not go close to the gas pipeline even in day-time. The village authorities and local army
personnel declared, if they go close or cross the pipeline in day-time, they
must be punished for beating and if they go at night time they must be killed
by shooting. In an order issued by LIB
No. 299 in the southern part of Ye Township, they officially declared that
someone who crossed the pipeline in late evening or at night time will be shot
to dead.
"In
some villages, the authorities also stick this order on the village offices'
blackboards. Many villagers who belonged plantations around the gas pipeline area faced more
and more difficult for their travel across the pipeline to arrive their
plantations. There are many plantations
around the gas-pipeline in both southern and northern part of Ye Township and
some hundred civilians' families, who have been dependents on these
plantations, are effected by this order.
"According
to the villagers in the area, the time while the authorities and army were
restricting the farmers, they also need to harvest their fruits. Many of them lost their crops or fruits
because of this restriction."
Some villagers tried to go to collect their fruits because
most of them were getting ripe, and the collection of these fruits must be on
time. If not, the farmers would lose
them. Some villagers were also arrested
and beaten by the troops of Burmese Army who took security along the
pipeline.
As an instance,
"On
May 8, when about 40 year old woman from Koe-mile
village went to her planation across the gas
pipeline, she was also arrested by soldiers from LIB No. 299 and after arrest,
a group of soldiers beat her. They
angered why she did not listen to their order.
Because of beating, she got a lot of inner injury, and was brought back
to village. The soldiers also ordered
to not take her to town's hospital and so she was treated with a local herbal
doctor in her village for several days."
Similar movement restriction
against the civilians especially to farmers also made in
In May, the village authorities and militia declared that
all farmers must not cross into pipeline route area from
When there is a security situation occurs in a specific
area, the local army battalions their commanders have the highest authority and
issue all orders, including the conscription of forced labour. There orders are also against their own
recent SPDC's order No. 1/99, which stopping for the requisition of forced
labour in
Conscription of forced labour for pipeline
After the gas-pipeline was sabotaged in late April, the
local authorities in many townships in Mon State and the local military
battalions have forced the local villagers and town residents to take security
along the gas pipeline area, to fence the gas pipeline, to clear grasses and
small plants along the pipeline and other works related to the security of
pipeline.
Even before sabotage, the authorities have worried about the
rebel activities into the area and also forced the local villagers along the
pipeline to clear the grasses and small trees, which could be used by rebel
soldiers to hide. In the area where the
route passed through paddy-fields, the authorities and army also ordered to the
farmers to not plant paddy near the gas pipeline. They ordered to have space 30-50 feet each
side of the route.
First, the Township authorities, village authorities and
army in the area concerned ordered the villagers to build many huts along the
route and ordered the headmen to arrange for security persons in the pipeline
on a rotation basis. When the pipeline
goes along the railway, the villagers also had to build their huts along the
pipeline and take security for both pipeline and railway.
As
an instance,
"In
an order date on May 14, the local Township authorities and army battalions in Mudon and
"On
May 24, IB No. 32 commanders ordered the village headmen from Kwan-hlar, Yaung-daung, Hnee-padaw in the southern part of
"For
Kwan-hlar village, as it has three huts near village
to take the security, the village headmen had to manage to send 9 villagers
every day to the pipeline route. As the
pipeline route near that village lies under water in the paddy farms along the
railway road, the villagers had to take security for both pipeline and
railway. All villages in
"In
the instruction by the village headmen, they ordered that each house must send
at least one member of their family and if one house fails to send one
villager, they needed to pay 200 Kyat per day or 24 hours. Except some houses in the village, many
houses sent the villagers to take security in the pipeline."
Not only the villagers in
In
As an instance,
"On
"Similarly
to this village, the militia forces in another villages
in
In
some villages, the militia troops under the command of military battalion
concerned also took responsibility in the pipeline. The village authorities and the militia
force (the Chairman of village authorities is always the leader of militia
force) not only forced the villagers to take security in the pipeline, but they
were collecting fund from them for their own expenses.
As an instance,
"On
"Similarly,
on May 19, although the villagers were forced to not only take security for the
pipeline and clearing the pipeline route, the militia force in Kwan-hlar village of Mudon
Township, also collected fund from the villagers for the use of their
expenses. They collected 200 Kyat for
every household regardless of their villagers were poor or rich."
In
When the gas pipeline passes in the area, where valleys and
small streams, the construction workers could not immerse the pipeline under
the ground and just put above ground.
The authorities and army felt very unsafe for those parts of gas
pipeline and it could be sabotaged easily by rebel troops. So they instructed the village authorities in
the area concerned to find bamboo to make high fences in where the pipeline is
on the ground. They forced the
villagers to both cut the bamboo and then to fence the pipeline.
As an instance,
"In
southern part of Thanbyuzayat town, where the
pipeline passes through, about 23 parts of pipeline are above ground and army
and the local militia force have to take responsibility to take security of
these parts. They also forced the
villagers for guarding it. Thus, the
army from No. 4 training school ordered the villagers from Wae-kha-tar,
Wae-kha-mi, Pain-nae-taw,
Sot-palaung, Gone-myit-taya ,Wae-rat
and other villages were forced to cut many hundreds of bamboo in early June
2002. The army also set the place for
the villagers to where they need to send their bamboo. The army ordered the villagers from 12
villages in area and instructed that small villages needed to provide 50 bamboo each and other medium and big villages needed to
provide over 100 bamboo each. After the
villagers carried their bamboo to the set places, again the army forced the
villagers to fence the pipeline. When
they made fence in each part of pipeline, they used many hundreds of bamboo to
complete the fence. In some place where
the pipeline passes through on the stream, the villagers are forced to make
fence even in the water."
In where the gas pipeline was sabotaged in the northern part
of Ye Township, the villagers were forced to clear the route of pipeline, soon
after the explosion. After the sabotage
between Anin and Hnit-kayin
villages, the villagers from both villages were forced to suddenly clear the
forests in the area.
On May 1 and 2, 2002, the authorities from Ye Township and
army commanders from IB No. 106 came to incident place and ordered the
villagers from Anin and Hnit-kayin
villages to go and clear the small forest and bushes along the pipeline. The village authorities ordered that each
house must need to send at least one villager to the work-site to work for the
whole day. About 400 villagers are
forced to work four days continuously.
The villagers were also instructed that they needed to carry
their own food and tools and to reach to the work-site
Besides these villages, many other villages, which situate
close to the gas pipeline were also forced to clear
the bushes and small trees along the route.
In the conscription of the villagers to be unpaid labourer
along the gas-pipeline in the northern part of Ye Township, LIB No. 586 have
actively involved.
As instances,
"On
June 23, the commander of LIB No. 586, Lt. Col. Ngwe Soe also forced the whole villagers from Than-gyan-kun village in northern part of Ye Township for the
whole day to complete clearing the bushes and small trees, which are in their
village area. They forced one person
from each house and if someone failed to go and work in the work-site, that family
must have to pay 1000 Kyat to the army commander.
"On
In most situation, whenever the Village and Township PDC
authorities conscripted forced labour from the civilians, some villagers and
town residents also refused by pointing out Order No. 1/99 and
supplementary order in October 2000,
that prohibiting the use of forced labour.
When those civilian administrative authorities are unable to conscript
the unpaid labour, the army commanders suddenly involved in and ordered the
villagers directly to both town and village civilians to contribute their
labour in taking security for the pipeline or to clear along the route. At that time, the civilians have no choice,
but they have to go and work.
Impacts from the gas pipeline to the livelihood of the local
people
When the gas pipeline was constructed and passed into the
paddy farms, rubber and fruit plantations, depending on the level of lands,
sometimes, the construction workers put the pipeline under the water and
sometimes they put the route above the ground.
In the paddy farms, whether the construction workers
immersed the gas pipeline under the water or on the ground, the farmers still
faced problems for their works in paddy cultivation. First the authorities in every area ordered
to the local farmers to not plant their paddy about 20-30 feet both sides of
the route. And, so the farmers lost a
lot of the lands.
Besides they lost some lands, the paddy farms are also
divided into two parts and the farms, who owned these lands
have found a lot of difficulties in cultivation of their farms. First they found difficulty of water flow to
the whole area of their lands and otherwise, it makes them too difficult to
bring water because pipeline. The most
difficulty they have found is to bring their ploughing
equipment. Most of these
equipment are men-made tools and when the farms plough their lands in one part
of their farm lands and then moved to another part. When they moved, they have to carry their
equipment along with them and brought their cattle to cross the pipeline. If the pipeline was under water or
underground, it would be easier for them to carry. But it is on the ground, it makes them to
heavy to carry these equipment and difficult to bring their cattle across the
pipeline.
According
to a Mon farmer from
"Because
of the gas pipeline route, my farm was divided in two parts. I have about 6 acres of land and about 4
acres are in the west of pipeline and the remaining are in the eastern
part. It makes me many difficulties in ploughing the lands before we could plant paddy
plants. As we formed the lands in many
small spaces (to be available for ploughing with
cattle and men made equipment) and we often have to carry our equipment when we
moved from one space to another. These equipment are heavy."
In some places, for the security of the pipeline, the
authorities and army also ordered the local villagers to make bamboo-fence
along the pipeline route in both sides to prevent the rebels' attack against
it. In this case, besides the pipeline,
two rows of long bamboo also divide the farmers' paddy-farms, and they faced
worth situation not only to carry their equipment from one part to another, but
also they found that the water flow could not move and some of their lands do
not get enough water for ploughing the lands and to
plant small paddy plants. In some
farms, because of the prevention by the fences, water flow into some farms and
there are over amount of water and it also killed the plants grown by the
farmers.
To prevent the flood into their farms due to fences, some
farmers also organized each other and built the water canal to take out over amount
of water from their farms.
As an instance,
"A
group of farmers from Galaing-padaw
"According
to a farmer, he said that the soil in farms and paddy plants were destroyed by
flood and wastes, which flow together with water. Many other farmers' paddy plants were also
destroyed and so they came together for a decision to dig a water canal to
bring the over amount water away from their farms.
"The
group of farmers also involved in digging earth for canal and they also hired
some more labourers to dig together with them. One farmer said that each farmer had to
spend about 40, 000 Kyat to hire labourers, to rent
trucks to carry earth and for foods. He also adde, if they did not build that
canal, they could not produce the paddy crops and their families could not
survival."
Last year, although the farmers, whose lands are along the
gas pipeline, could not produce crops well because flood and wastes, however,
they have to sell full quota of paddy amounts to the regime at low price. Most farmers had to buy paddy from markets
and then sold to the regime's paddy-buying centers. If they failed to sell the full amount of
paddy, they would be punished again.
After gas pipeline sabotage, the local authorities and army
commanders from many battalions collected more tax from the civilians by
showing the reason that they would expense more for the security of gas
pipeline. They also complained that
they would also increase the number of their militia troops in the area and the
villagers needed to provide salaries to those new militiamen.
In
In some village, when some villagers refused for paying the
salary of the militiamen and complained that this activity was against the
SPDC's Order No. 1/99, that described to stop use of forced labour, and refused
to pay, the army from the near battalions and commands also involved in forcing
the villagers to get payment. As an
example, when the villagers from Kwan-hlar village
refused to pay for the salary of new militiamen in their villages, they were
also ordered by army from IB No. 32 to pay it as quick as possible.
Movement restriction against the local paddy, rubber and
fruit cultivated farmers also crated an enormous impact for the crop production
in the area. According to an order in
southern part of Ye Township, the farmers are not allowed in both daytime and
night-time to go and travel to their plantations or farms. If they go at day time, they must be beaten
and if they go at night-time, they must be killed. The order is in a continual existence until
now, the farmers have to totally abandon their permanent works that supporting
them earning income for their livelihood.
Many farmers lost many millions Kyat from selling paddy, rubber, lime,
orange, durian and other fruits.
But in other area, the authorities and army ordered to not
walk along or cross the pipeline at night-time from
In traditions in
Now, the farmers have to hire more labourers
to work in their farmers to complete planting of paddy crops or reaping the
grains in time. The labour cost is also
high to pay rare labourers as many young people from
Mon areas migrated into
Conclusion
Before Kanbauk-Myaingkalay gas
pipeline was built,
Besides they are not benefited from this energy, they are
conversely again suffered from this new construction of gas pipeline. Firstly they lost their lands and later
received little amount of compensated money, which could not cover to buy new
space of land or to set up another business.
Furthermore, the civilians along the pipeline have been constantly
suffered from contribution of unpaid labour and paid tax for security
cost.
On the other hand, more oppression against the civilians
have taken place in many rural areas including movement restriction, arrest of
suspected reble-supporters, inhumane torture, rape
and killing, and other abuses in order to protect the pipeline from the attack
of rebel soldiers. To take the inner and
outer security of the pipeline, the Burmese Army and SPDC have deployed more
troops in Mon areas. However, the more
troops in any area, the civilians in the area concerned suffer more to feed
these soldiers, pay for their expenses and providing civilians.
Before the construction of this pipeline, the civilians in
Mon areas never thought they would face such negative impacts to their daily
livelihood.
****************************************************************************
Commentary
No
Surprise for SPDC's Sexual Violations against Women
In July, when we
heard a news about killing and rape in a Mon village in Thanbyuzayat
Township, the middle part of Mon State, most Mon leaders from the community and
political organizations felt shock and unhappy. Because that Mon village
is totally under the control of SPDC and Burmese Army.
Additionally, another sexual violations also happened in Ye Town and near
a Mon village which is only 10 miles from Ye Town (see in News and News in
Brief, Page 1 and Page 4 of this issue).
These places are also in absolute control of SPDC, in where they operate
administration, set up police station, appoint judges and have courts, and
polite and educated civilians are living.
These three incidents
also showed that SPDC and the commanders of Burmese Army do not have discipline
to control their gunmen to not rape women not only in the free fire zones but
also even in their control area. These
three cases happened within only two months period.
More terribly, even
though the civilians have heard these cruel and unacceptable violations which
are against laws, customs and traditions, the army commanders concerned never
seriously took actions and punish their gunmen fairly or in court.
Therefore, there is
no surprise when Shan human rights and women groups reported many hundred cases
of sexual violations in
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