The deployment of anti-personnel landmines increased by the SPDC and its forces Burma during 2005. This increase has transpired despite widespread international condemnation over the use of landmines due to the extensive indiscriminate humanitarian consequences of the devices. As a result of growing international consensus against the manufacture, deployment and trade of landmines, government and non-governmental bodies drafted the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (a.k.a., the Mine Ban Treaty) in 1997. This treaty to date has been signed by 122 countries. Burma, however, has refused to sign the treaty. More recently, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of Resolution 59/84, which called for universally accepting the Mine Ban Treaty, in December 2004. Burma was one of 22 countries that abstained from the voting process. In addition, Burma failed to send an observer to the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty that took place in Nairobi, Kenya in November-December 2004 (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005). The SPDC claims that ongoing insurgency and armed conflict within the country prevent them from acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Despite the different types of anti-personnel landmines, all are victim-activated weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim civilians. Landmines remain functioning years after military personnel have left the area and hostilities have ceased. As a result of their hidden presence, landmines often inflict injury in situations that might otherwise appear peaceful. Civilians may falsely perceive that their environment is safe following the cessation of conflict unaware of the concealed threat of existing landmines. (Source: Analysis of the Impact of Landmines in Burma, Nonviolence International, 2002).
According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, approximately 1,500 persons each year die or suffer from serious injury resulting from landmines in Burma. The high rate of injury has required the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide Burma with the second largest amount of prostheses and crutches of any country. Only Afghanistan receives a greater amount (source: “Burma’s Killing Fields,” Irrawaddy, 21 September 2005). Furthermore, Nonviolence International estimates that one-third of Burma’s landmine casualties are civilians (source: Analysis of the Impact of Landmines in Burma, Nonviolence International, 2002).
Following the removal and arrest of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in October 2004 and the ensuing reshuffle within the SPDC and top ranking officials, the SPDC heightened their military presence in the ethnic minority areas, particularly in the eastern border areas of Karen, Karenni and Shan States. During 2005, both SPDC forces and armed non-state actors were responsible for extensive deployment of landmines. In conjunction with military offensives and the SPDC's counter-insurgency campaigns, thousands of Karen and Shan villagers were displaced from their homes and forced into the landmine littered jungles of eastern Burma (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward A Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
In direct violation of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects the freedom of movement, landmines are used not only to injure and kill civilians but also to effectively restrict their travel within Burma. Routes to and from villages have been mined making the return of IDPs hazardous and sometimes impossible. Human Rights Watch has documented the inability of villagers to remain in or return to villages in eastern Burma due to “the placement of landmines in otherwise usable land” (source: ‘They Came and Destroyed Our Village Again’: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Karen State, HRW, June 2005). Such widespread landmine contamination also impedes or prevents the development of infrastructure projects, farming and other forms of economic activity. A UNHCR seminar in November 2004 identified the threat of landmines as “one of the most serious impediments to the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees” to Burma (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
Mine clearance activities continued to be neglected by international organizations and humanitarian agencies throughout 2005. Mine risk education activities in refugee camps, however, have been conducted by NGO’s such as Nonviolence International. The ICRC has also engaged several ethnic armed opposition groups within Burma to advocate against the deployment of landmines. In December 2003, various armed resistance groups were encouraged to adhere to the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment, which renounces the use and possession of anti-personnel mines. By 2004, only three armed groups had signed the Deed. During 2005, one of those groups, the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, ceased its military activity altogether. The extent of landmine use by other armed resistance groups is unclear. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
In his report to the UN General Assembly on 12 August 2005, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma summarized the situation regarding landmines in Burma as follows:
“The Special Rapporteur is very concerned to hear that the use of landmines by Government forces and some non-State armed groups continues, affecting nine out of 14 states and divisions. He is disturbed by reports of the ongoing practice of “atrocity demining” whereby civilians are forced to act as human mine-sweepers by the military, resulting in severe mutilation and sometimes death. It is believed that Myanmar continues to produce landmines, with devastating effects. The lack of provision of adequate care and assistance for victims affected by landmines is to be very much regretted. The continued practice of laying landmines in fields and forests, and the lack of mine clearance, has had a negative impact upon the freedom of movement of civilians and their economic right to earn a living. Livestock are understood regularly to be maimed or killed in landmine incidents.” (Source: “Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar,” 60th session of the UN General Assembly, Item 73 (c) of the provisional agenda, 12 August 2005).
The SPDC military continued to forcibly conscript villagers to act as laborers and porters throughout 2005. Forced conscription of civilians was particularly prevalent in ethnic border states where the majority of military campaigns transpire and where landmine deployment and density is the greatest. Civilians conscripted as laborers or porters were often forced to engage in mine clearing activities that frequently resulted in mutilation and/or death. Military troops forced villagers to walk in front of them while carrying large loads of military supplies for the purpose of clearing any mines in their paths with their own bodies. A recent report released in January 2005, documented the increasing use by SPDC troops of prisoners as porters. Out of 22 former prisoner porters interviewed by Burma Issues, a human rights advocacy organization, five had been forced to walk through mine fields ahead of SPDC patrols (source: From Prisons to Frontline, BI, January 2005).
Reports of human landmine sweepers have emerged from various parts of the country. In November 2005, for example, military authorities ordered villagers residing in SPDC-controlled territory along the Sittaung River in Karen State plains area to clear forest growth along both sides of the approximately 50 km. long Shwegyin to Kyauk Kyi motor road. This area is riddled with KNLA and SPDC landmines. To avoid the hazards attenuated with the forced labor, many villagers fled the area. (Source: “Karen Human Rights Group Report from the Field,” KHRG, 9 December 2005).
16.3 Situation in the Ethnic Minority Territories
Burma's countryside, particularly in the ethnic minority areas, has been left heavily mined as a result of ongoing conflict between armed resistance groups and the military regime. Nine out of 14 states and divisions in Burma are contaminated by landmines, most frequently with anti-personnel mines. Many villagers claimed that 2005 was the worst year in memory, as they faced forcible conscription as porters or laborers and the dangers associated with such work as well as facing life as displaced persons and the attenuated dangers of unmarked landmine fields (source: “Toungoo District: Civilians Displaced by Dams, Roads, and Military Control,” KHRG, 19 August 2005).
SPDC forces typically lay landmines as a method of preventing opposition forces from penetrating the central region of the country while simultaneously attempting to control the movement of villagers in areas of resistance. SPDC troops have continued to undermine the support base of ethnic opposition groups through a counter-insurgency strategy known as the “four-cuts” whereby villagers are targeted to remove the supply of food, recruits, intelligence and funds used by opposition groups. This strategy involves forcibly relocating ethnic villagers to military-controlled relocation sites. Typically, after civilians have been removed, SPDC troops raze abandoned buildings and deploy landmines throughout the village area. (For more information see Chapter 13 Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation).
In addition, the Landmine Monitor Report 2005 documented the use by at least 12 non-state armed groups of anti-personnel landmines in Burma during 2004 and 2005. These groups include the Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF) and the Karenni National Solidarity Organization (KNSO), (both newly confirmed in 2005 as landmine users), the Shan State Army (SSA), the Karenni army, the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), the Myiek-Dawei United Front, the Wa National Army, the Pa-o People’s Liberation Front (PPLF), the Chin National Army (CNA), the All Burma Muslim Union (ABMU) and several smaller organizations (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005). Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) troops have also used landmines “defensively and offensively.” However, unlike SPDC forces, the KNLA have reportedly informed local villagers of mine locations and sometimes also assisted in the removal process when they were no longer necessary (source: “Report from the Fields,” KHRG, March 2005). The combined effect of landmine deployment by both the Tatmadaw and opposition forces over the years has created pockets of non-traversable land. These barriers hinder the capacity of villagers to pursue their livelihood or safely flee from the encroaching military presence.
The eastern part of the country suffers from the heaviest concentration of landmines (source: Landmines in Burma/Myanmar: Cause of Displacement, Obstacle to Return, Nonviolence International, 15 June 2005). The SPDC and allies of the SPDC have made regular use of landmines throughout the region, particularly in civilian inhabited areas and along transport routes. Along with landmine deployment in villages and fields, paths and roadways have been covered with mines in attempts to restrict the movement of both soldiers and villagers. Paths leading to Thailand have also been mined to prevent flight from the country. Meanwhile thousands of villagers from Karen and Shan States were internally displaced during 2005 as a result of SPDC military operations and the strategic use of landmines. The deployment of landmines in and around villages effectively prevents the return of villagers who fled during fighting. The proliferation of landmines in eastern Burma has also undermined villagers’ subsistence capacities as villagers fear venturing into potentially land mined territory in order to gather and hunt food. For example, villagers in Nyaunglebin District have been killed while gathering wild honey near SPDC military camps that are tripwire mined (source: Proliferation of SPDC Army Camps in Nyaunglebin District Leads to Torture, Killings and Landmine Casualties, KHRG, 19 August 2005).
According to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), the Tatmadaw (the SPDC armed forces) have continued to plant landmines around their own camps to thwart villagers from entering or approaching the area. KHRG has also reported that despite the informal ceasefire established between the SPDC and KNU in the beginning of 2004, Tatmadaw forces have persisted in establishing new army bases in Nyaunglebin District and increasing their military presence. As part of this operation additional landmines have been laid causing serious injuries and traumatizing local villagers, including children, who were forced to travel through mined areas to obtain food and provisions despite the known risk (source: Proliferation of SPDC Army Camps in Nyaunglebin District Leads to Torture, Killings and Landmine Casualties, KHRG, 7 July 2005).
According to Nonviolence International, the prevalence of mines along the Salween River opposite Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province prevented the delivery of equipment from across the border for the construction of a hydro-electric dam. Mines were also reportedly heavily laid in eastern Pegu Division to prevent insurgent forces from reaching central Burma. Mines are known to be placed along the 200 km. stretch of river dividing Thailand and Burma, along the mountains in Karen State, and in areas to the north, east and south of Papun. The west, south and north of Myawaddy are all also heavily mine affected, as are areas in Dooplaya District of Karen State. (Source: Landmines in Burma/Myanmar: Cause of Displacement, Obstacle to Return, Nonviolence International, 2004).
The Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a humanitarian relief organization, reported numerous mine laying activities during 2005, especially in Karenni State in the area between Mawchi in the southwest corner and the Karen State border, where around 1,000 M-14 mines were laid by the SPDC and the KNSO, an SPDC-aligned militia. Another heavily mined area is close to Shwekyin Shweygyn, where the Tatmadaw constructed new frontline camps (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005). Between 14 to 17 April 2005, KNPLF and KNSO troops planted landmines supplied by SPDC forces throughout villages and paths used by IDPs in southern Karenni State. FBR alleged that the mines were laid in order to block the return of displaced villagers. The mines were locally made copies of US M-14 type anti-personnel landmines (source: “Landmines Placed in Karenni State, 14-17 April 2005,” FBR, 3 May 2005). Other mined areas include places where gem mining occurs and infrastructure exists, such as the Lawpita hydroelectric power station in central Karenni State (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
Areas in the western part of the country, such as Arakan and Chin States, are also deemed mine-affected areas. Since 1991, to counter the flood of 250,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing Arakan State, the Tatmadaw planted landmines along the Burma side of the border with Bangladesh. According to the SPDC, the mines were laid to restrict the cross-border movement of insurgent forces and smuggled weapons. As a result of the landmine deployment, travel in this area has become extremely dangerous for both refugees fleeing from and returning to Burma from Bangladesh. Cross-border economic migrants and traders are also vulnerable to landmines.
Human Rights Watch has identified Burma as one of only three countries that continues to deploy landmines on a regular basis; the other two being Russia and Nepal (source: Human Rights News, HRW, November 2005). Moreover, the Tatmadaw has appeared to be increasing its use of US M-14 type mines, the origins of which are unknown. The Myanmar Defence Products Industries, a junta-run company, is known to manufacture anti-personnel landmines for use by military forces. They include the MM1 mine, modeled after the Chinese type 59 stake-mounted fragmentation mine, the MM2, similar to a Chinese type 58 blast mine, and the Claymore type directional fragmentation mines. In the past, the authorities have also employed mines manufactured in China, India, Italy, Russia and the USA. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
Armed resistance groups in Burma are also capable of producing a variety of mines, including blast mines, fragmentation mines, Claymore-type mines, and mines with anti-handling fusing. Locally made landmines are manufactured from easily accessible materials such as PVC piping and bamboo. Such mines usually have batteries as their source of power, and thus a relatively short lifespan as power is lost when the batteries expire. Some armed resistance groups also maintain stockpiles of anti-personnel mines, the details of which are unknown. The stockpiles are collected through a variety of methods such as lifting SPDC mines from the ground, seizing them from SPDC stocks during raids, and from the clandestine arms market. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
During 2005, there were no de-mining activities for humanitarian purposes reported in Burma. Furthermore, there were no surveys conducted by either SPDC authorities or armed opposition groups to map mined areas. There is no clear or systematic fencing or marking of mines. In some areas, there are unofficial marks to indicate mines, such as crosscuts on trees, a particular type of fencing, or mine parts left visible. In addition, some armed opposition groups claim to inform local villagers of the location of mines laid nearby. However, landmine survivors have reported being unaware of such of warnings. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward A Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
The lack of de-mining activity and the failure to clearly mark mine sites directly contributes towards civilian injuries and casualties. The number of victims will continue to accumulate in the future, even if hostilities cease, due to the absence of recorded landmine locations. Moreover, the unknown location of landmines will inhibit the return of villagers displaced by conflict and prevent infrastructural development in the border areas. (Source: Global IDP Database, 27 June 2005).
Many people from Burma consider Thailand a country where they may seek both treatment and refuge from landmines. In 2004 and 2005, landmine survivors sought treatment from hospitals in refugee camps and other border areas of Thailand such as Tak, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Mae Sariang, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi. Organizations such as Handicap International, Médecins Sans Frontieres, ICRC, International Rescue Committee, American Refugee Committee, Aide Médicale Internationale and Malteser Germany provided assistance to landmines victims in Thailand. Handicap International’s Thailand-Burma border program reported 53 new mine casualties between January 2004 and February 2005. The organization also reported providing medical treatment to 858 landmine survivors, distributing 227 prostheses, 77 other “assistance devices,” 37 crutches, and 19 wheelchairs to those in need. Between December 2004 and April 2005, the Srisangwal Hospital in Mae Hong Son treated 8 landmine casualties. In addition, the Mae Tao Clinic, a refugee and migrant clinic in the border town of Mae Sot in Thailand, provided 181 prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation for landmine survivors. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
In 2004, the UNHCR began a preliminary contingency planning process with the Thai government for the repatriation of refugees from Burma in the event that the political climate in Burma was conducive for return (source: Landmines: When Repatriation Becomes an Act of Murder, BI, 1 October 2004). As Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, it is not obligated under international law to adhere to its principles and protections. The Thai government considers refugees to be temporarily seeking shelter from situations of conflict. Following the submission of some armed resistance groups to ceasefire pacts or ceasefire discussions with the junta, the Thai government claimed that refugees no longer required a safe haven from conflict and could return to Burma. However, Thailand abandoned plans for repatriation after Gen. Khin Nyunt, the architect of the ceasefire campaign, was ousted from the post of Prime Minister in October 2004. Regardless, the safe return of refugees to Burma, either voluntarily or through forcible repatriation, remained improbable any time soon due to the extensive mine pollution in Burma’s border areas. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
The border dividing Bangladesh and Burma stretches along 208 km. of rugged terrain and continues to be one of the most heavily mined areas in the country. The mines were allegedly laid by the NaSaKa, although the SPDC denies this. The People’s Republic of Bangladesh formally opposes the laying of mines, and attempts have been made in Bangladesh to destroy those already laid. The Government of Bangladesh ratified the Mine Ban Treaty in 2001 and was preparing domestic legislation in 2005 to implement the terms of the Treaty. By February 2005, the Government destroyed 189,227 stockpiled landmines in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi government forces also recovered 33 landmines and other materials used in their production from the Naikongchary border area. Since 2001 Bangladesh has requested the authorities of Burma to survey and assess minefields in their border areas. To date, however, the SPDC has taken no action in relation this request. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
Although the border between Burma and India has been more sparsely mined than the country's eastern regions, the potential for landmine victims has remained. The Republic of India has not yet signed the Mine Ban Treaty and, by the end of 2005, failed to vote on any pro-Mine Ban Treaty resolutions in the UN.
Insurgents from Burma based along the Burma-India border previously planted landmines inside India. In June 2005, 2,500 landmines were found planted in at a former CNA site in the Indian State of Mizoram, which borders Burma. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005). Although they may have been targeting the Tatmadaw, such acts directly undermine the security of civilians living and traversing in the area. For example, on 6 November 2005, a migrant laborer woman from Bandoola village, Sagaing Division, Burma stepped on a landmine two miles from the Burma border inside India and was killed (source: “Burmese Woman Killed by Indian Landmine,” Mizzima, 17 November 2005). No comprehensive data listing landmine victims in this area is available, mainly because of the area’s remoteness, and the lack of transport and communication facilities (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
Concurrent with the heightened use of landmines in Burma, landmine risk education conducted by several international NGOs has also increased. Organizations such as Handicap International, Nonviolence International, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Mines Advisory Group, and Norwegian People's Aid have all engaged in Burma-related mine risk education. Handicap International operates a landmine awareness program targeting refugees from Burma in camps along the Burma-Thailand border. Between 2002 and 2004, Nonviolence International received funds of US$30,500 from the Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines and other private donors to establish a mine risk education program in Karen State for public health personnel. Early in 2005 this program was passed to the recently formed NGO, Shanti Sena, which has taken over delivering mine risk education programs in Karen State. The UNHCR also sponsored several landmine training programs for Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh who were to be repatriated to mine affected areas in Burma. Despite continued education efforts by the UNHCR, researchers for the Landmine Monitor Report found that villagers living on the Bangladesh-Burma border incorrectly believed that the Burmese side of the border area had become safer than in the past. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Towards a Mine-Free, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
16.10 Landmines – Partial List of Incidents for 2005
Between October 2004 and January 2005 and again in March 2005, the Tatmadaw allegedly deployed landmines along the sides of the Kushaw-Shwekyin road in northern Karen State so as to prevent use of the road by insurgents. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
In January 2005, FBR reported that while working as a forced laborer clearing the Toungoo-Mawchi and Kler Lah-Busakee roads in Toungoo District, a 15-year-old boy in the Klay Soe Kee area lost his leg after stepping on a landmine. (Source: “Report of Relief Mission to Toungoo District,” FBR, 31 January 2005).
On 6 January 2005, villager Pa Taw Way stepped on a SPDC landmine while working at Tu Mu Ka Pu in Papun District and lost his left leg. (Source: BI, February 2005).
On 26 January 2005, troops from the SPDC based at Baw Ga Li ordered 7 truck owners and 34 villagers from Baw Ga Li, Kaw Thay Doe and Kaw Soe Kho villages, Toungoo District to repair the road between Pet Let Wa to Bu Hsa Khee and to clear landmines. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 1 February 2005, it was reported that 2 villagers living as IDPs in Toungoo District lost their legs to SPDC landmines. (Source: “Report of Relief Mission to Toungoo District,” FBR, 31 January 2005).
On 2 February 2005, the 1st Comdr. Khin Soe and G-2 Myo Min Hlaing of SPDC Southern Command HQs ordered 7 villagers of Gar Mu Doe village to clear landmines between Koe Day and Tha Aye Hta in Toungoo District. (Source: KIC, 2005).
In March 2005, it was reported that members of the People’s Militia (Pyitthu Sit) were forced to guide SPDC patrols in areas that the SPDC suspected had been mined by the KNLA. Also, SPDC troops ordered villagers along the Kler Lah-Bu Sah road in Karen State to clear road edges and harvest vegetables and wood while cognizant of the existence of landmines in the area. (Source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005).
On 25 July 2005, a woman referred to as ‘Naw GG’ was killed by a SPDC military landmine in Toungoo District. (Source: “Human Rights Violation Update: Northern and Western Karen State,” FBR, 9 September 2005).
On 14 September 2005, DKBA Central Security Unit troops under Moe Kyaw Heh planted 70 landmines throughout Shwe Oe village tract, Thaton District. They subsequently planted 1 landmine in Kaw Heh village. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 12 October 2005, it was reported that 2 elephants, Mojay and Motoo, sustained severe foot injuries as a result of stepping on landmines in Thaton District. The elephants were treated in Bangkok, Thailand. (Source: “Elephant Hurt After Stepping on Landmines,” The Daily Telegraph, 12 October 2005).
On 27 November 2005, SPDC Operation Command 1 Comdr. Thein Tun, based at Baw Ga Li Gyi camp, Tantabin Township, Toungoo District required all villagers from Ku Laung, Pyaung Tho, Sa Ba Gyi and Baw Ga Li Gyi to clear weeds and bushes, construct a motor road and clear landmines between Baw Ga Li Gyi and the nearby motor road. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 28 November 2005 at approximately 9 am, SPDC Column 1 Comdr. Thaung Sein and Column 2 Comdr. Sint Naing from SPDC IB 75, Tantabin Township, Toungoo District burnt down 25 houses in Si Daw Ko village and planted M-14 landmines at the bottom of the front stair of the Christian church. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 21 December 2005, soldiers from SPDC IB 30 based in Thandaung Township, Toungoo District forced local villagers to clear bushes and landmines on a section of Maw-chi motor road, from Ye Thoe Gyi to Tha Aye Ta camp. The villagers were:
1. Saw Nar Kar Htoo;
2. Naw Yee Shu Moe;
3. Naw Ma Thi Paw;
4. Saw Tha Law;
5. Saw Bar Htoo;
6. Saw See Aye;
7. Saw Eh Yee;
8. Saw Say Mu;
9. Naw Eh; and
10. Saw Htoo. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 12 February 2005, Win Myine, a forced prisoner porter, stepped on a landmine while attempting to escape from SPDC custody. (Source: “Injured Prisoner Porter Gets Treatment in Mae Hong Son Hospital,” Kantarawaddy Times, 20 February 2005).
On 20 March 2005, villagers from Oh Kay village in Nam Meh Township triggered a landmine while traveling along the Demoso-Hprusu motor road. Saw Lwin (male, age 36) died instantaneously and Saw Lu Moo was injured and subsequently taken to Loikaw State Hospital. The KNPLF accused the KNPP of planting the device however the KNPP denied the allegations, claiming that the landmine was located in area controlled by the KNPLF. (Source: “Karenni Rivals at Odds over Landmine Blast,” Irrawaddy, 22 March 2005).
Pegu Division
On 16 May 2005, Saw Pah Ter Ler from Saw Dee Klee Hta village, Shwegyin Township, Nyaunglebin District detonated a trip wire of a MM1 stake mounted mine at Baw Loh River crossing laid by SPDC LIB 349 resulting in shrapnel wounds to his face, hands and chest and leaving him blind. He was traveling to Mu Say Koh village along with 11 other villagers. Following the explosion, SPDC LIB 349 soldiers stationed nearby fired an M79 grenade towards the river crossing. The villagers fled to Yah Aw village carrying Saw Pah Ter Ler. (Source: Proliferation of SPDC Army Camps in Nyaunglebin District Leads to Torture, Killings and Landmine Casualties, KHRG, 7 July 2005).
Between 29 August and 5 September 2005, SPDC LIB 351 planted landmines in and around the following villages in Nyaunglebin District:
1. Por Pee Doe;
2. Kyauk Tan;
3. Hsaw Wah Doe; and
4. Tae Kweh Lay Kho. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 31 August 2005, Saw Thaw Htoo (male, age 28) and a Mau Pu villager, Saw Per Kaw (male, age 24), stepped on landmines laid by the SPDC military in Nyaunglebin District. Saw Thaw Htoo died leaving behind a pregnant wife. Saw Per Kaw also died on 4 September 2005. (Sources: KIC, 2005; “Relief Mission Report,” FBR, August 2005).
On 6 September 2005, an Aung Chan Tha villager was killed at Tee Lo Place by a landmine planted by SPDC LIB 351 in Mone Township, Nyaunglebin District. (Source: KIC, 2005).
From 21 September to 3 November 2005, villagers from Kwee Lah village, Nyaunglebin District who fled the village to avoid fighting between the SPDC and armed resistance fighters were unable to return due to 15 landmines that were placed in the area by the SPDC forces. In November 2005, KNLA troops were reportedly attempting to remove the landmines. (Source: “Update on IDP Situation – Nyaunglebin District,” FBR, 23 November 2005).
On 28 January 2005, U Kyi Tha (male, age 43) from Inn Waing village stepped on a landmine in Ya Da Na Bon, Mergui-Tavoy District while working as a forced porter for SPDC LIB 585, led by Column 1 Comdr. Maj. Than Htay, under Military Operation Command-13. As a result, his right leg was severely wounded. (Source: KIC, 2005).
On 4 April 2005, Saw Po Reh (male, age 16) of Pah Wah Mee Laung Gwin village, Mergui-Tavoy District stepped on a landmine planted by SPDC troops, killing him instantaneously. (Source: KIC, 2005).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
| Table of Contents |