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Excerpts from Dawn



Errors-To:owner-burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
FROM:NBH03114@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:April 21, 1995
TIME:11:50PM
Subject: Excerpts from April 1995 DAWN
News bulletin of ALL BURMA STUDENTS'
DEMOCRATIC FRONT

I.  SLORC REMAINS COMMITTED TO VIOLENT
RESOLUTIONS TO BURMA'S POLITICAL CRISIS

BURMA remains at war with herself.  The recent events in the
country, including the military offensive against the Karen
National Union and the ABSDF, make it clear that the military
dictatorship remains committed to violent solutions to Burma's
political crisis.  The fall of Manerplaw and the loss of the head-
quarters of key pro-democracy groups including the DAB,
NLD and the NDF, will have profound implications for the
future of the democratic movement, the movements of the
ethnic nationalities, and for Burma as a whole.  The Slorc
would no doubt like to believe that by choosing a military
solution, and by taking Manerplaw, many of the nation's
problems have been resolved.  Nothing could be further from
the truth.  The tragic reality is that by once again denying the
people of Burma the opportunity for a true and open political
resolution, the conflict will only be prolonged.  More people
will suffer, and more of Burma's resources will be lost. 
Including her most precious resource, her many peoples.

The International community was swift in its condemnation of
Slorc's offensive.  The policy of constructive engagement was
put under severe scrutiny, even by some of its staunchest
defenders.  The question now remains, will the International
business community continue to do business as usual?  It must
now be evident to all parties concerned that Slorc's unilateral
cease-fire with the Karen was not made in good faith, that their
meetings with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are, unfortunately,
show pieces meant to appease donors, investors, and the UN. 
Until the ferocious assault on Manerplaw, Kawmoora, and the
ABSDF, it may have been possible for some Nations, leaders,
and industries to believe that Slorc really was changing.  To
believe this now, one must deny the events of the last months
in Burma.  What happened along the Thai-Burma border was
not a local issue, a border issue, or an ethnic issue, but a
national issue for the Burmese nation as a whole.  Slorc is still
illegally in power, they continue to attempt to resolve all issues
with force, and they have not begun any real process of
internal reform.  That is the real meaning behind the fall of
Manerplaw, and all those with interests in Burma should take
heed.  The war continues, and so does the struggle for
democracy in Burma.


II.  HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN
COMMAND

The generals from the Southern Command, based in
Taungnoo, have been leaders in a competitive human rights
violation contest.  The then commander, Lt.Gen Aye Thaung,
developed his career as an abuser in The Sugarcane
Planation".  The present commander, Maj.Gen. Soe Myint,
developed his in "The Paddy and Fish Pond Project."

The Sugarcane Plantation

Lt. Gen. Aye Thaung confiscated farmlands in Mahn Si, Kyin
Ywa, Kun Gyi, and Swa Min Lan villages, altogether over
1,000 acres in 1992.  No compensation was given to the
farmers who used to own the land.  All the fields were
bulldozed by army tractors just before the harvest season.

Soon after, the General started his sugarcane plantation project
which is called, not surprising, the "Aye Thaung Sugarcane
Field Project."

The people from Shwe Ka Saung, Tha Phan Sin, Swa Taung
Kan, Swa Wah Pauk, and Kha Nan Lei were forced to work in
these fields, from site clearing to harvesting.  In addition, sugar
mills and roads (24 foot width and 4 foot height) to transport
the sugarcane and necessary equipment were built by forced
labourers.  About 400 bullock carts were conscripted to carry
18 feet-long and 308 inches diameter logs from the forest to
the sawmill in the headquarters of the base command.

Slorc officials and some police commanders reaped the profits
from 5 acres each, while the lion's share officially went to
Southern Command.  Extra wood from the sawmill was sold
by army officials after they completed the army barracks in
Southern Command.  New locations for veterans have been
built along the sugarcane fields so that ex soldiers can work
there for security.  Aye Tha Ya and Shwe Pi Tha, two new
locations for veterans, were supposed to be built with the wood
provided by forced laborers.  Unfortunately, the veterans had
to find their own way to get building materials.

Similar stories to this one have been repeatedly told; such
projects routinely are for Slorc staff benefit, involve
uncompensated seizure of lands, forced labor, and corruption
of junior army officials.

(Aye Thaung is now Minister for Border Area Development
Ministry and Head of Border Area Development Program,
partly funded by the UNDP and UNICEF).

Paddy and Fish Pond Project

This project was implemented in Yadashe Township, Toungoo
District.  It is located between Yedashe and Myo Hla villages
in about 2,330 hectors of land which belonged to local farmers
until 1992.  The lands were confiscated without compensation.

10x10x4 sized ponds have been dug for two purposes, fishery
and paddy cultivation.  The entire civilian population of the
township have been forced to dig these ponds.  A total of over
20,000 people from all walks of life, except Slorc personal,
have been forced to work in every dry season since 1992 in
their construction.  Each family is assigned to dig 2 ponds, then
build terraces around teh ponds with the excavated earth and
plant bananas.  The whole process takes 15-20 days.  No
machines or necessary tools were provided by the Slorc.

The Slorc once again used the term "volunteers" to cover their
human rights violations.  No one was paid for their labor.  If a
household cannot supply the required labor, it costs 1,000-2,000 Kyat to hire 
a person as replacement for the household.

Maj. Gen Soe Myint, the commander of the Soutehrn
Command, is steering the project and has earned it its new
name: "Death Ponds", after more than 100 forced laborers
have died from untreated illnesses, exhaustion, and heatstroke.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Four persons from each household have been forced to work
for security at every 200 meters along the Rangoon-Mandalay
railway within the boundary of Yadashe.  They hve also been
forced to watch and block the possible movement of opposition
groups from liberated areas around the Sittaung River each
night.

Under the name of the "development project", people in this
region have been forced to work for road construction from Pa
Lay Wa to Bawgali village and on the construction of the
Bawgali Hospital, using their own money and building
materials.

Source; NLD (LA).  (It is no wonder our correspondent could
manage to sneak in, since all the guards along Sittaung road
were forced to work by the SLORC.)

III.  SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR

On the evening of November 9, Prof Yozo Yokota, Special
Rapporteur for Burma,  arrived at Work Site 2 of the
Ye-Tavoy Railway construction, known as Kalaw Work Site,
which was assigned to the local people in Yan Myoe Aung
Ward and Ah Zin Village in Ye Township.  On that day, the
Special Rapporteur met with U Har Shin, a veteran and
chairman of Yan Myoe Aung Ward, and U Maung Myint,
chairman of Ah Zin Village, and asked about forced labour
for railway line construction.

The Special Rapporteur held a two-hour long meeting with
them.  Yozo Yokota was apparently provided with
disinformation by Slorc, instead of the reality of the situation
at Work Site 2.

Before the Special Rapporteur arrived at Work Site 2, Slorc
local people from Han Gan, Kalaw Gyi and Maokanin
villages, who had been assigned to work on the construction
of the railway since its start, were replaced by Slorc cronies U
Har Shin and U Maung Myint on 7 November.  Because of
this replacement, local people in the affected villages were
unable to meet the Special Rapporteur.

One local Slorc chairman told Col Myoe Myint, battalion
commander of LIB 343, on November 6, to summon all
members of the Slorc to come to Kalaw Gyi Village.  The
commander instructed them that as Prof Yozo Yokota would
visit the railway construction site on 9 November, they should
not bring elderly persons and children to the work site, and
that if the professor asked anything about the labour,
everyone must answer that they were working voluntarily, not
as forced labourers, and that aged persons and children were
not asked to contribute labour.

On 7 November, the chairman of Ye Township Slorc
changed work sites assignments for villagers from Han Gan,
Kalaw Gyi, and Maokanin.  They were nearly finished their
assignment, and so were very angry and quarrels broke out
among the labourers.  When Yozo Yokota went back, Ye
Township Slorc re-assigned them to their former work site in
order to avoid tension among the villages at that time.

The reality at the railway construction site which was hidden
from the Special Rapporteur remains a whisper at different
work sites along the on-going railway line.  Until 31 Decem-
ber, many local people were still being forced to contribute
corvee labour for the work site from Natkyizin to Tavoy.

DAWN -- April 1995