KAOWAO NEWS
NO. 110
Newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma
Readers’ Front
Break or fine for joining GONGOs
Militia training course to start in the
border town
Exiled Mons
commemorate Honsawatoi Destruction Day
Joint-Statement on the 249th
Fallen Day of
More villagers fled home after ambush by
guerrilla
Bird flu scare drags chicken prices down
Suu Kyi's release won't harm
Yawdserk calls for unity among Shans
One Year Later: CFOB Urges
Crimes
against citizens in Burma
******************************
Dear readers,
We invite comments and
suggestions on improvements to Kaowao newsletter. With
your help, we hope that Kaowao News will continue to
grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in
Regards,
Editor
Kaowao News
__________________________
On the Joint-Statement on the 249th
Fallen Day of
Thank you for letting us know about a
joint-statement, which gives us a great opportunity for us to learn
the true history of our Mon people and feel inspired by the unity of Mon
solidarity groups around the globe. Believe that our movement is not
just about one day of one year; it is on going hard works on daily
basis. Let's keep up our perseverance!!
In Solidarity,
Min Thura Wynn (
_______________________________________________
Please include to stop military offensive and
demilitarization in ethnic indigenous areas. We got to raise our voices
by saying we don't want Burmese military in our land since they never bring
anything good to local people , but only misfortune and starvation.
Mks
_______________________________________
On the “20 migrants die in
It is a tragic what happened to migrant
workers coming to
Maung
*************************************************
Break or fine for joining GONGOs
(Kaowao,
Ye -- The State Peace and Development Council
in southern
Asar, a villager from the Khawza sub-town of
south Ye, said the Burmese Army convinced villagers to apply as members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) and the Women's
Affairs Organization (WAF).
Those who already enlisted as USDA members were given a break from repairing the motor road along
Ye-Khawzar while non-members were forced to provide
lumber for the wooden bridges and stones to fill the soil of the motor road
before the rainy season.
Every household of non-USDA members
is required to provide a quota of one Kyinn
measurement (1 x 6 x 4 cubic feet) for the military junta's infrastructure
project.
The USDA Head of
Following the meeting, the BA in
*******************************************
Militia training course to start in the
border town
(Kaowao,
Sangkhalaburi -- Authorities at the
A town resident close to the SPDC reported that the SPDC is gathering about 100
trainees from members of the
Women's Affairs Organization and fire fighters.
The training will be sponsored by the police force; however, the
authorities are finding it difficult
filling the quota.
Among the proposed 100 trainees, about 25
will be fully armed and trained to
work with the local police and the army.
The Burmese Army has formed local militia
groups and counter insurgent forces in Southern Mon State over the past years.
The local militia groups are under the
control of the military command to act as a safeguard for the army and the
SPDC. Most of militiamen are retired soldiers from the Burmese Army or
local poor men who have no job to feed their families. The Militiamen are
given power to execute villagers who oppose them and to collect force
labourers. The villagers are imposed to pay the salary for the militia
but they can arrest any suspect in the community. The militiamen also guide the
Burma Army during its military operation.
The plan
to recruit the militias at the border town was upset by its cease fire groups,
the NMSP and the DKBA, reported a
source from the border town.
********************************************
Exiled Mons
commemorate Honsawatoi Destruction Day
(Kun
Yekha, Kaowao:
In
In
the
The
group urged the SPDC to immediately stop the practice of genocide and all forms
of human rights violations against the Mon and all other ethnic nationalities
and to withdraw its military forces from areas inhabited by these minority groups. "This
is unforgettable day, all Mon should be united to fight for freedom" said Nai Michael Mon who organized the group.
"The
last Mon kingdom (Honsawatoi) was invaded by the
Burmese king in 1757. In the course of this occupation, tens of thousands of
innocent Mon civilians including women, children and over 3000 learned Mon
priests were brutally massacred" as mentioned in
the joint-statement issued by exiled Mon organization groups.
The
Back home in
************************************************
Joint-Statement on the 249th
Anniversary of the Fallen Day of
(19 May 2006)
The
Mon people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in
Since the fall of
The present military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), still
pursues genocidal and ethnic cleansing policies against the Mon and other
non-Burman ethnic nationalities in
The
most important political goal of our Mon people is to regain the fundamental
right of self-determination and recognition as a nationality within
On this important day, we urge:
1.
The Mon people everywhere to join together for the struggle for Mon freedom;
2.
The SPDC to immediately stop the
practice of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and all forms of human rights
violations against the Mon and all other ethnic nationalities, and immediately
withdraw its military forces from the homeland of the Mon and other ethnic
nationalities;
3. The SPDC to immediately initiate a genuine
tripartite dialogue comprised of leaders of ethnic nationalities, elected
representatives, and military regime as recommended by the United Nations;
4. The
United Nations Security Council to immediately take steps to stop the present
genocide and ethnic cleansing policies of the Burmese military regime.
This
statement is joined by:
The
Euro-Mon Community
Mon Canadian Society of
Mon Women's Association of
Monland Restoration Council (MRC),
Overseas Mon National
Students Organization (OMNSO),
**********************************************************
More villagers fled home after ambush by
guerrilla
(Kaowao:
Sangkhalaburi – Villagers fled their homes after a fighting between
the Burma Army and Mon guerrilla group broke out in
Nai Mya arriving from Khawza of southern Ye in Mon State reported a clash between
a guerrilla Mon group led by Chan Dein and the Burma
Army in early May but both sides suffered no injury. The fighting lasted
for 15 minutes near Tamoh Kraing
fishing village when 10 guerrillas ambushed the combined column of 30 troops
from Burma Army’s Infantry Battalion No. 31 and 299.
As a result of the encounter, the Burma Army
forced villagers to build fences surrounding the village to protect any entry
of the Mon armed groups. The Burma Army also accused local villagers as
rebel supporters and they were not allowed to go out in their farms.
Mon guerrilla Chan Dein
is a former member of Hongsawator Restoration Party
(HRP) led by Colonel Pan Nyunt who split away from the cease-fire New Mon State
Party in 2001.
Chan Dein later
operates in his own group after involving crimes against local
population. He was in the junta’s wanted rebel list last year in early
2005. The Burma Army sold posters to local villagers in Ye luring the
civilian it will reward 10 million Kyats for information leading to the capture
of Mon guerrilla leader Nai Bin. Anyone who can
provide information leading to the guerrilla’s whereabouts will be awarded and
Chan Dein has one million put on their heads.
The Burma Army continues military offensive
to wipe out the Mon armed group and the insurgents in turn use ambush tactics
and guerrilla warfare.
**********************************************
Bird flu scare drags chicken prices down
(Kaowao:
Chicken price in
A trader who just arrived to Thai-Burma
border town said many chickens from the outskirt area of
“There is no official report about the threat of bird flu but rumour
has that it has already spread in upper
Even though, the price of chicken is normally
expensive than the pork, the chicken price for one Viss
is about 1800 Kyat compared to 3000 Kyat for pork in
the local meat market.
In March, the SPDC junta reported the first
outbreak of bird flu in poultry in central
************************************************
Politics
Suu Kyi's release won't harm
(Reuters:
Police Major-General Khin
Yi, attending a Southeast Asian police chiefs' meeting in
"I don't think there are a lot of
supporters for her. Some members of the NLD have resigned," Yi said,
referring to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
The police chief's comments came days after
senior UN official Ibrahim Gambari
met Suu Kyi, her first contact with an outsider in three years.
Gambari said after the landmark meeting on Saturday that she
was in good health, but added the meeting did not mean her release was
imminent. Speaking to reporters, Yi also referred to the Suu Kyi-Gambari meeting, saying that "things will be
improved." He did not elaborate. "I'm a police officer, not a
politician."
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, 60, has been in
prison or under house arrest for the last three years, her telephone
disconnected and all visitors barred apart from her housemaid and doctor.
Her meeting at a
Suu Kyi's brief trip to Gambari's
government guest house sparked immediate hopes inside her NLD party she might
be released soon. She has been under house arrest for more than 10 of the last
16 years.
There is little to suggest, however, that the
junta is about to make up with Suu Kyi or her party, which won a 1990 election
by a landslide only to be denied power by the army.
Last month, the junta accused the NLD of
having ties to "terrorists and destructive groups" and said there
were grounds to have it banned. Since then, the party has been hit by a spate
of resignations, which the NLD blames on pressure from the military rulers.
*************************************************
Yawdserk calls for unity among Shans
(S.H.A.N:
In a conciliatory tone apparently directing
at his archrival group, the "Interim Shan Government" (ISG), Col Yawdserk, leader of the Shan State Army-South, has urged
all Shans to wipe the slate clean and start all over again.
"To all who have sacrificed their lives
or been incapacitated during the course of the struggle for freedom, I honor
everyone of you, whether or not you are from the same organization,"
begins the 49-year old chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State
(RCSS), the SSA South's political wing, in an address marking the 48th
anniversary of the Shan Resistance Day that falls tomorrow.
"All of us want freedom," he continues. "And each one knows
there is only one way to achieve freedom and that is through unity."
Finding fault with and slandering each other
should be avoided, he maintains. "If we keep on fighting one another,
neither will win and only our people will lose," he says. "But unity will
be there for us if we love each other".
Unity however is not enough, he cautions.
"We must adopt a common policy and live under the same rules and
regulations. We also need to have a division of labor with everyone working to
the best of one's ability."
The rift between the two sides resulted from
the latter's formation of an interim government on
The SSA, on the other hand, achieved in
pulling off its own political coup by forming a Shan Representative Committee
(SRC) with 13 other Shan groups on 18 June 2005. The SRC's
next move reportedly is to form a
Shan resistance was launched in 1958 by 31 Shan youths with a handful of guns
on the border area opposite Chiangmai. Renaming of 21 May as the Shan Armed
Forces Day or Shan State Army Day is not accepted by most non-military
activists, who argue the new name excludes ordinary people who are also
fighting for freedom. The proper Shan State Army Day, they insist, should be 24
April (1964), when the SSA was formed under the leadership of the late Mahadevi of Yawnghwe.
*********************************************
Activism
One Year Later: CFOB Urges
(CFOB:
The Burma Motion calls for the possibility
of comprehensive economic sanctions, UN Security Council intervention, and
the provision of ‘tangible support’ for the Burmese democratic movement. One
year after its passage however, the Burma Motion has yet to be implemented.
“We call on the government to respect the
will of Parliament, as the majority of Canadian Parliamentarians have
already expressed their desire for stronger action on
The resolution was sponsored by Bloc
Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde and was adopted by
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affair’s Subcommittee on Human
Rights in December of 2004. It was eventually passed with a majority vote in
the House of Commons on
“The Conservative Party caucus played a key
role in the passage of this motion while in opposition, and it is now high time
for the motion to be put into action,” urged Tin Maung
Htoo.
Meanwhile the Conservative Government, which
came into power after winning the Jaunary 2006
federal election, has informed CFOB that its “
CFOB would like iterate clear that the
implementation of the resolution is long overdue and immediate action is
required; the dire situation in
********************************
Opinion/Analysis
Crimes
against citizens in Burma
By Banya Hongsar,
Burma’s
military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been
committing crimes against Burmese citizens for decades while the democratic
world leaders in the region including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, as well as
those in the west the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have
little courage to pressure the Burmese military on respecting civil and
political rights in the country. Senior military officials have targeted
politicians, students, journalists, democratic activists, including the
innocent, children and rural farming communities who sympathise with
pro-democratic forces and anti-government armed forces.
The SPDC
is in a position now to further oppress and punish anti-government forces in
non-Burman States such as Karen, Kayah, Kachin, Mon
and Shan where non-Burman democratic forces station their camps. The senior
SPDC officials have exploited the natural resources; gas, mineral, fishery and
timber, offering them to a cheaper market to regional businessmen. Local
villagers especially women and children have fled to
The SPDC’s
key policy on Burmainsation or nationalisation in the
entire country is at the top of the military’s agenda soon after the military
moved the capital from
The
military government has three goals: to terminate and destroy all political
forces in the country. The first and foremost is extending its
militarisation program into the non-Burman States, the second is pursing border
and regional development at the cost of the lives of the local population; and
the third is taking on an ever more aggressive role in confronting the democratic
political parties led by the National League for Democracy.
Expanding
militarisation in the border areas and into the heart of non-Burman State has
been increased in the last ten years, soon after the Mon National Liberation
Army and its political wing, the New Mon State Party
reached a cease-fire agreement in 1995 with the military regime.
Government
regiments have been stationed and its camps built in Ye,
Thanphyuzayat, and Mudon
Townships in almost every corner of
Local
members of New Mon State Party were put under arrest. This act demonstrated
fully that the peace-partners have no voice in protecting the welfare of the
local villagers when it comes under illegal and unlawful arrest by the military
government. The SPDC’s soldiers moved the whole village to non-productive land
in the middle of
According
to local news reports from the Independent Mon News Agency, unknown groups
attacked the gas pipeline explosion, while the government security forces, looking
for a scapegoat, accused the Mon National Liberation Army. None of the local
non-government troop such as Karen National Liberation Army, Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army and other armed groups claimed responsibility for the explosion
while pro-democratic activists were detailed in yet another un-known plot
against the democratic forces.
After the
increase of government troops in Mon and
On the
question of border and regional development, the military regime uses its power
and strict law against the local business people including the cease-fire
groups to make deals on importing, transporting and exporting goods from
Local
vehicle owners and landowners are forced to pay heavy taxes (illegal taxation)
to local government troops. All road users are made to pay cash to security
checkpoints to pay for government projects in contradiction to the cease-fire
deals between the government and non-government troops. Regional and border
development programs have no time frame and there is no planning with the wider
community. No one knows where to and how much of the military government’s
budget is allocated to the regional commanders coffers for its operation.
Local
villagers regardless of their income are forced to pay for the welfare of the
local government troops. Roughly 60% of Mon population is relied on to
provide income to soldiers, many have to therefore for illegal employment in
The
construction of the longest bridge in
After ten
years the so-called peace partnership with the military government, the Mon
political party (NMSP) has lost its legitimate voice to protect their people’s
human rights. Why should they when the military government can confiscate land
at a whim as they have done so in taking over 10,000 acres of fertile land?
Prominent political leaders are detained frequently and local social and cultural
groups are under close scrutiny by spy networks.
The
urban-based Mon political party, the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) is
now under growing pressure by the military officials to abandon its legal
position from the 1990 General Election that was banned by authorities in 1992.
The National League for Democracy is the third political force in
At the
cost of citizens’ human rights, the military officials have enforced various
laws in the country banning the role and efficiency of local civil society groups
in non-Burman States to help their people. The Mon people in
There has
never been any evidence that the military officials will ever introduce
democratic reforms. The role of civil society is their enemy; the local
population have no voice to find a common consensus in implementing community
development projects in health and education. Government schools are built by
local cash collection in which ethnic villagers have to give up their own
schools and support the Burman government run schools. Local communities have
to yield to local commanders and senior military officials through force on
opening day of the school, while retired and backward thinking military
personnel accept all the credit in building them. No community radio or an
independent media is allowed to operate in the country despite the SPDC
military government’s claims of following a road map to democracy.
These are
challenges for regional and western democratic leaders and UN agencies for
promoting a democratic government in
The
minorities such as Karen and Mon have lived in close proximity for a few
centuries, with the Mon living in this part of world for over a thousand
years—the Karen people in this part of Southeast Asia—but both parties lack
mutual trust in building a democratic institution in southern Burma where they
can share land and resources.
The local
political forces including social and cultural groups have the ability to
change and introduce modern democratic institutions in the country in which
they are in position to prove to the world that they are competent in managing
local issues on health, education, employment and economy including the welfare
of its own population. But five decades of the long military led government in
The big
question is whether
Will the
SPDC military government ever take full responsibility for those who have
committed human rights violations against innocent people? Crimes against
humanity by the state have been common practices in the country for many years.
The thinking of the Burmese government is the result of centuries of
exploitation and dominance. Forward thinking people are jailed for their
political opinions, women are raped by its government soldiers, and children in
forced labour are all accepted norms, what are the circumstances that will
change their thinking?
********************************************************
KAOWAO NEWS GROUP
Email: [email protected],
[email protected]
Tel: + 66 7 169-0971 (
Tel: + 1- 403 - 248 2027 (
Kao Wao News website: http://www.kaowao.org
Kao Wao News
archive: http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0
Online
ABOUT US
Kaowao Newsgroup is committed to social justice, peace, and
democracy in
Editors, reporters, writers, and overseas
volunteers are dedicated members of the Mon activist community based in
Our motto is working together for lasting
peace and change.