Mynamar Massacred Hundreds

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Amnesty: Myanmar Massacred Hundreds

 .c The Associated Press 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The Myanmar army has tortured and killed hundreds of
ethnic Shan villagers in the last two years and forced at least 300,000 to
flee their homes, Amnesty International said Wednesday. 

Children, elderly people and Buddhist monks were among the victims, the
London-based human rights group said in its report. 

``Witnesses described the most horrific methods of killing, including beating
and kicking to death, stabbing, smashing heads in, being burnt alive, pouring
boiling water over the victim's body and shooting,'' the report said. 

The military regime in Myanmar, which also is known as Burma, replied that
Amnesty International had become a platform for fabrications and exaggerations
by Myanmar dissident groups to discredit the government. 

``Some of the allegations may be partially true, but definitely not in the way
Amnesty International is portraying. Especially, the killings and torturing of
ethnic races are totally nonsense,'' said a government response faxed to The
Associated Press in Bangkok. 

The statement went on to say the claims were intended to tarnish the
government's attempts to bring unity to a country wracked by ethnic
insurgencies in the half-century since independence from Britain. 

Shan State, the largest province in Myanmar, has been the scene of various
ethnic insurgencies since 1958. Ethnic Shan, who number about 4 million, are
closely related to the Thais. 

The continuing warfare in the opium-rich territory means there is little hope
that the flow of drugs from Myanmar - the world's second largest opium
producer - will diminish any time soon. 

Myanmar's military scored a major victory in January 1996 when Khun Sa, an
opium warlord who commanded an army of 15,000 Shan troops, surrendered to the
government. 

While Khun Sa now lives in a villa in the Myanmar capital of Yangon, many of
his men opposed the surrender and are continuing their insurgency, funded by
selling opium, the raw material for heroin. 

The Amnesty report said the Myanmar army has been carrying out huge, forced
relocations of Shan villagers as part of a campaign to deprive the rebels of
civilian support. 

``Hundreds of Shan civilians have been killed by troops during and after the
relocation process,'' the rights group said. 

Villagers also have been used as forced labor and ordered to carry food and
supplies for the army, the report said, adding that many Shan have been raped,
tortured or killed returning to their villages to forage for food. 

The insurgents, too, have been guilty of atrocities: In June 1997, 25 Burmese
civilians were killed by a Shan opposition group, the report said. 

The situation in Shan state is also affecting neighboring Thailand. More than
80,000 Shan have fled to Thailand, where they are less welcome than ever
because of Thailand's economic crisis, Amnesty said.