EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING

LAND CONFISCATION

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TAKET RIVER DAM

The plans are already in place for the construction of a new hydroelectric dam by the SPDC on the Taket (Thakyet) river. The project headed by the SPDC military government is set to begin on the Taket river in the east of Tenasserim town in Mergui district, Tenasserim division of Burma's southernmost region.

On March 16, 2004, Coastal Region Military Commanders, Commander Brigadier General Ohn Myint, No.2 Strategic Commander Col. Soe Thet, Engineering Unit officer Co.l Hla Kyaing and their team arrived in two helicopters to inspect the projected site on the river where the dam will be built.

On March 23, 2004, Soe Thet and engineering department officials visited the Taket river at "Wablaw Kye" (name of a rapid) to study the site best suited for dam construction. They ordered Taket villagers to clear space 150 yards long and 50 yards wide along both banks of the projected site.

Villagers were paid 1200 kyat per day for their work. During that week, Officer Col. Hla Kyaing surveyed the surrounding area.

According to a source, the dam will rise 500 feet high, and extend 300 yards across the river.

At the top of 'Wablaw' mountain, the military demanded villagers from Taket area, including the villages of Hswe Plaw (G'nan Gwin), Taung Bain, Kala Aik, Kywe Htaing Gone, La Ngu, Hsin Gaung, and Chauk Mile to clear and build a 150' by 150' helipad.

Military officials also ordered villagers to construct a new road between Hswe Plaw and the dam construction site. The projected road is three miles long and will stretch along the foot track.

Villagers have learned that before dam construction started, the military set up security posts on mountaintops, on other high places and along the river's banks.

The Light Infantry Battalion No. 557 along with the Nyaung Bin Gwin village's people's militia, provided security during the survey and pre-construction period. The Infantry Battalion 224's 1^st column took over security duty for the dam site and its surrounding area.

According to the SPDC's plan, the dam will take three years to complete.

The SPDC plans to persuade Thai investors and the Thai government to invest in the project as a joint-venture.

A source said the SPDC plans to borrow 1500 million baht from the Thai government for the venture. To complete the project, the SPDC will hire construction experts from China.

Surplus water from the reservoir will be diverted to the Baw Kru Hkee and Tha Baw Leik Hpo areas when the dam is completed.

Local villagers along the river have worries about their future if the dam is constructed. Local communication systems will face difficulties and villagers' land and plantations within the reservoir area will be destroyed.

Because of these potential effects, villagers do not want the dam to be built, but are fearful of voicing their concerns. Informing and expressing their fears to Burma's opposition and resistance groups who oppose the dam project is the only thing left for villagers to do.

With the onset of the rainy season, construction work has not started, however the people worry about their fate when the dry season arrives before the end of this year.

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EXTORTION

On April 12, 2004, Soe Win, the village headman of the Pe relocation site asked the villagers for money to buy an offering for the monastery in the Thayetchaung Township. The village of Pe Chaung Pya had to give 1,500kyat, Pi-ta-kat village had to give 15,500kyat and the village of Hpabyoke had to give 13,500kyat. Later Hpabyoke village was ordered to give another 5,000kyat for the village headman's trip to another village. Villagers who didn't give money to the headman were not allowed to go and work in their gardens or their paddy fields.

On April 25, 2004, the village headman Soe Win ordered the villagers who were working their gardens and paddy fields to return to the relocation site on April 27, 2004. If villagers didn't follow the order, they were to be punished with a fine or not allowed to work on their land any more.

On May 1, 2004, Soe Win asked for 13,000kyat from the Pe, Hpabyoke and Pi-ta-kat. They all gave the money. On the same day Soe win ordered those villagers to pay 500kyat per week to work in their gardens, and paddy fields. Upon paying 500kyat, villagers were given a pass proving they had paid to work on their land. Villagers working their land without a pass could be fined, jailed or possibly shot by SPDC troops.

On April 16, 2004, Aung Myint Sein the leader of the people's militia in the Pe area asked for 500kyat from every house in the Pe relocation site for monastery offerings. If villagers didn't give Aung Myint Sein money, they were not allowed to go and work in their paddy fields.

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EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING

On April 12, 2004, the Burmese Army Infantry Battalion No.224 captured six people in Manoroe village in the Tenessarim Township. Saw Myint Thein was one of the six captured, and was killed by the army for no reason. On the same day, the troops burnt down Saw She Hter's house. He estimated the value of his house and possessions to be 200,000kyat.

On April 30, 2004, Pu Ku, an old IDP from Kadinchaung Mayanchaung in the Tenasserim Township, stepped on a landmine that had been planted in the Kadin area by the Burmese Army Infantry Battalion 224. The villagers from Kadin said Pu Ku would have survived if he had been sent to the hospital. The Burmese Army didn't allowed Pu Ku to go to the hospital. They killed him immediately.

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LAND CONFISCATION

On April 28, 2004, the officer from No.12 Divisional Military Training Centre, based near Pyicha village in Palaw Township, Mergui district, asked the villagers in the Pyicha relocation site to attend a meeting. In the meeting, officer Tin Myit told the villagers that he planned to confiscate their land in their deserted Pyicha village. Pyicha villagers were forcibly relocated to the car road near their village and they had to leave their plantations and homes behind.

After the meeting officer Tin Myit confiscated 46 fruit plantations, 9 cashew nut plantations and one rubber plantation. Villagers wanting to take produce from their own plantations would not be allowed. Instead, they will be required to buy the produce grown on their own plantations from the military at a higher cost.

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