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15/4/98: AI REPORT ON SHAN STATE(EX (r)



Subject: 15/4/98: AI REPORT ON SHAN STATE(EXCERPTS)

Posted 31-Jan-99,7:00am


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
15 APRIL 1998, AI INDEX: ASA 16/05/98

MYANMAR: ATROCITIES IN THE SHAN STATE
(The summary and conclusion from the report.)

SUMMARY
**********
The last two years have seen a profound deterioration in the human
rights situation throughout the central shan state in Myanmar. Hundreds
of Shan civilians caught in the midst of counter-insurgency activities
have been killed or torturned by the Burmese army. These abuses,
occurring in a country which is closed to independent monitors, are
largely unknown to the outside world. Denial of access for human rights
monitors and journalists means that the full scale of the tragedy cannot
be accurately calculated. Therefore the information presented below
represents only a part of the story.

In January and February 1998, Amnesty International travelled to
Thailand to interview Shan refugees who had fled widespread human rights
violations in Myanmar. In the course of the interviews Amnesty
International collected testimony describing the killings of 42 people
in the last 13 months alone. The organization also gathered evidence of
beatings and rape of Shan  civilians in the context of forcible
relocations and forced labour. All of those interviewed had suffered at
the hands of the tatmadaw[1] as they were ejected from their homes,
forced into sites far away from their farms, and seized for porter and
forced labour duties.

Although Khun Sa, commander of the Shan Mong Tai Army (MTA) surrendered
to the State Law and Order REstoration Council (SLORC, Myanmar's
military authorities[2]) on 4 January 1996, thousands of Shan troops
have continued to fight for greater autonomy against the central Burman
authorities. During counter-insurgency activities against these groups,
Burmese troops have subjected Shan villagers to variety of human rights
violations, including forcible relocations and extrajudicial executions.
The long-standing practice of forced labour and portering by the Burmese
armed forced in many parts of the country is also prevalent in the Shan
State.

In March 1996 the SLORC began a massive forcible relocation program of
Shan civilians, in order to break up any alleged links or support for

armed opposition groups. To date almost 1400 villages have been
relocated; a conservative estimate of the numbers of people in these
villages is about 300,000. As a result of the relocations and the
attendant human rights violations by the military against Shan
villagers, some 80,000 of them have fled to neighbouring Thailand. The
overwhelming reason they gave for fleeing to Thailand was their
inability to survive in the face of continual demands for forced labour
and the lack of resources or work at the relocation sites.

Hundreds of Shan civilians have been killed by SLORC troops during and
after the relocation process; from mid June to mid July 1997 alone
reliable reports indicate that some 300 people were killed in a series
of massacres. Areas outside relocation sites were considered to be free
fire zone by the Burmese military, who ordered villagers not to return
to their former homes. IN most cases SLORC troops shot civilians dead
after they had returned from relocation sites to their deserted villages
in order to gather food which had been left behind.

The impact of the critical human rights situation in the central Shan
State has already had been felt elsewhere in the region. Refugees
continue to flee to Thailand, currently facing its largest economic
downturn in decades. Shan refugees are finding it increasingly difficult
to work in Thailand, but have no other way to survive after their homes
and fields have been confiscated by the SPDC. Such refugee outflows and
the consequent regional impact makes it even more crucial for the
international community to urge the SPDC to improve their human rights
record. Amnesty International believes this is particularly the case for
the security interests of ASEAN members, who should encourage the SPDC
to respect human rights.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which is currently
meeting in Geneva, should renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur,
and press the Government of Myanmar to allow him complete and
unrestricted access to the country and to civilians and all ethnicities.

VI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
****************************************
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by the human rights situation
in the central Shan State. Its concern is heightened by reports that the
State Peace and DEvelopment Council (SPDC) is currently extending its
forcible relocation program of Shan civilians there, which could lead to
further extrajudicial killings, fatal ill-treatment, and forced labour
and portering. Amnesty International makes the following recommendations
to the SPDC and the international community.

IN areas of armed conflict, Amnesty International urges the SPDC to
abide by the basic principles of international human rights and
humanitarian law concerning the treatment of Shan and other civilians.
Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions, which applies to all
conflicts of a non-international character, occurring within territories
of a party to the Convention, sets forth minimum standards of human
conduct, applicable to all parties to the conflict, for the treatment of
people taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of

the armed forces who have laid down their arms and those hors de combat
for any reason. Among other things, paragraph 1 of this article
prohibits "murder of all kinds".

* Amnesty International recommends that the SPDC issue clear orders to
halt extrajudicial executions, to use force and firearms only when
strictly necessary to protect life, and to investigate all extrajudicial
executions and bring to justice those found responsible.

* Amnesty International recommends that the SPDC investigate all reports
of torture and ill-treatment, and issue clear orders to the military to
stop these practices immediately.

* Forcible relocations on ethnic grounds should be abolished and the
SPDC should abide by Article 17 of Protocol II Additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, which stipulates that civilians should be
relocated only for their own security or for imperative military
reasons.

* Amnesty International recommends that the SPDC abide by ILO Convention
NO 29 concerning forced labour, which Myanmar has ratified. Immediate
measures should be taken to end ill-treatment and torture in the context
of forced labour and portering. Forced portering should be abolished.

The impact of the critical human rights situation in the central Shan
State has already had been felt elsewhere in the region. Refugees
continue to flee to Thailand, currently facing its largest economic
downturn in decades. Shan refugees are finding it increasingly difficult
to work in Thailand, but have no other way to survive after their homes
and fields have been confiscated by the SPDC. Such refugee outflows and
the consequent regional impact makes it even more crucial for the
international community to urge the SPDC to improve their human rights
record. Amnesty International believes this is particularly the case for
the security interests of ASEAN members, who should encourage the SPDC
to respect human rights.

The UNited Nations Commission on Human Rights should renew the mandate
of the Special Rapporteur, and press the Government of Myanmar to allow
him complete and unrestricted access to the country and to civilians of
all ethnicities.

/* Endreport */
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