The BurmaNet News: February 18, 199

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: The BurmaNet News: February 18, 1999

------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: February 18, 1999
Issue #1210

HEADLINES:
========== 
ABSDF: OFFICERS' CRUEL TREATMENT 
CHRO: ARMY RATIONS SUPPLY AND INTERVIEW WITH VPDC 
MIS: FORCED RELOCATION IN MON, KAREN REGIONS  
BKK POST: JUNTA'S WIN AUNG IN BID TO CALM WATERS 
ANNC: "MIS AND ARMY" ON RADIO FREE BURMA 
****************************************************************

ABSDF: BURMESE ARMY OFFICERS' CRUEL TREATMENT COMPEL SOLDIERS TO RETALIATE
17 February, 1999 from <caroline@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 

Media Release - 14/99 

Bully tactics and cruel treatment of Burmese soldiers by their officers have
compelled them to retaliate in the most dramatic way, often resulting in the
deaths of bullying officers, according to Burmese army deserters.

On February 12, 1999, three privates killed a sergeant major and a
corporal, as
they could no longer take the constantly cruel treatment of the two officers.
The two officers - sergeant major Kyaw Yin and Corporal Thet Oo - were shot to
death. The three soldiers who are from Light Infantry 430 based in Bawlake in
Kayah State fled with five guns to the Thai border area after the incident.

On January 18, 1999, a sergeant from regiment 282 based at Kyaukpon outpost
was
killed after he brutally beat a private during a sentry inspection. As the
outpost is located near the Thai-Burma border town of Nat-E Tong, the three
soldiers who killed their sergeant fled into Thailand.

According to soldiers the ABSDF has interviewed over the past few months, the
number of soldiers who are deserting the army has increased mainly because of
the extremely violent and abusive tactics of their officers. In addition to
this, soldiers are mostly very young conscripts who are in-experienced, and
have very low morale as they are deliberately prevented by officers from
having
contact with the general public. This is due to a fear that the negative
opinion that most Burmese hold towards the armed forces will influence the
young troops to run away.

Foreign Affairs Secretary for All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)
Aung
Naing Oo said that deserting takes in many forms.

"Ordinary soldiers are virtual slaves for their superiors. They are often
beaten, made to work under extreme conditions, and told to carry out orders
that they do not wish to obey, said Aung Naing Oo. "The soldiers take extreme
measures in the end."

As more deserting of soldiers is expected throughout the country, the ABSDF is
asking all armed ethnic groups and pro-democracy organizations along the
borders to give shelters to all the deserters and necessary protection.

****************************************************************

CHIN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: ARMY RATION SUPPLY AND INTERVIEW WITH VPDC
CHAIRMAN
9 February, 1999 from <chinhro@xxxxxxxxxxx> 

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from The Rhododendron News
Bulletin- Volume II No 2.  For a copy of the full newsletter contact
chinhro@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

CHIN PEOPLE HAVE TO SUPPLY ARMY RATION

Commander of Burma Army North Western Command Brig-Gen Sein Win issued an
order
to the battalions commanders in Chin State- Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)
538,
LIB 309, Infantry Battalion (IB) 274, IB 266, IB 268, IB 269  to collect
ration
from the Chin people whenever they need. A troop of a hundred soldiers from BI
307 (Katha battallion based) and BI 274 are stationed at Lungler army camp in
Thantlang township. They have collected as much meat, rice and vegetables as
they want from the villagers because the government could not provide them
with
any food. According to the troop, they were given permission to collect the
food by higher authorities. 

Major Myint Aung from BI 307 and Lungler army camp commander from 274 issued
the order to the nearby 29 villages to deliver 4- big chickens, 2-viss of fish
or pork, 2 legs of deer or any other wild animal and vegetables. The villagers
have to deliver the orders to the army camp or where the patrolling troop is
posted by fixed time. Sometimes the soldiers impose a fine of Kyats 1,000 to
1,500 for late delivery or if they claim the food is not fresh. They also
demand the villagers buy alcohol from Thantlang which is a 3 day walk from the
village. The villagers do not have time to work in their farms because the are
busy hunting, fishing and buying alcohol for the soldiers. While they are
struggling for their daily lives, they have to feed the army camp.
Consequently, the villagers are extremely disappointed and are waiting for the
opportunity to flee to Mizoram in India. 

An ordinary soldier's wages is Kyat 500 per month. However, these soldiers are
getting Kyats 3,000 per month and therefore, are enjoying their lives with
added food deliveries from the villagers. Because they are able to use the
villagers as their slaves, they are happy with the SPDC government are
extremely loyal to it. They are also given power to oppress the civilians by
higher authorities to maintain a stable power base.

INTERVIEW WITH VPDC CHAIRMAN (CHRO had interviewed a village chairman who is
under Lungler army command in Thantlang township.)

Pu Lianthang (name changed) is 36-years old and has two children. He is a
respected person in the village. Although he does not want to serve as the
village chairman under the SPDC, upon requests by the villagers, he is serving
as chairman of (ommitted) Village Peace and Development Council in Thantlang
township.

Q. How is your relationship with the SPDC army? Could you tell us about it? 

A.  SPDC's army and government give us the orders. And I, the chairman, and
the
villagers have to follow accordingly.

Q.  Could you tell us what kind of orders are given? 

A.  The most amoral man we ever met is Major Myint Aung from IB 372. One of
his
orders was that 15-villagers had to do sentry duty every day. Counting the
number of the villagers, each person has to do sentry duty 3-days per week and
so have no time to do our own work.

Q.  Could you not explain these problems or make requests to the Major? 

A.  To make a request to military personnel, I need at least Kyats 20,000
and a
pig. We have nothing right now. If I go without money, I will be accused of
acting the army and be beaten. Therefore, at this time,I cannot  make any
request.

Q.  Why do you think they give these kind of orders? 

A.  He knows that we can not carry out his order. He purposely gives us orders
which we cannot carry out. Then, he expects us to bring him money, pigs, and
/or liquor for his reconsideration. I think that's why he gives us these kind
of orders.

Q.  Any other kind of orders? 

A.  There are a lot more. They order us to bring them 4- big chicken, 2- viss
of fish or pork, 2-thighs of deer or wild pig (or any wild animal) and fresh
vegetable to the army camp ( Lungler village) every week, not later than the
time they fixed.

Q.  What do you think why they order like this? 

A.  I think, because the government could not provide them. That's why we are
being suffered.

Q.  What will happen if you do not give them? 

A.  Do not mention the word 'not giving'. If we bring them the orders an hour
later than the time they fixed, we would be imposed a fine. Sometimes they
even
fine us, complaining the food we bring them were not fresh.

Q.  How much you pay for a fine and to whom you pay it?  And what they use it
for? 

A.  It depends on how big the village and financial standing of the villages.
They know the financial standing of the villages around this area. They
frequently impose a fine the villages with a good financial standing. They put
a fine on the poor villages when they do not have money to buy alcohol drinks.
Usually they impose a fine from Kyats 1,000 upto 5,000. We have to pay it to
Major Myint Aung. When his absence, we pay it to in charge of camp commander.
When they get the money, they send two or tree villagers to Thantlang which
is 
3 days walk  far from our village to buy alcohol drinks. They never pay
anything for it. They have to incur travel expenses by themselves.

Q.  Did you write a complaint to the higher authorities? 

A.  Major Myint Aung told us that he has the instruction from the higher
authorities to get anything they want from remote villages where there is
difficulty of transportation.  That's why I don't want to make any
complaint. I
think that they are real beggars, they have no a shame to beg from others.

Q.  Do you have anything more to say? 

A.  On 15 July, 1998, the Department of Land Taxation issued an order
prohibiting us from doing our traditional cultivation. The order stated that
every household has to complete 3 acres of terrace cultivation and give a
Kyats
1,500 deposit to the Land Taxation Department. Whoever fails to pay a deposit
will be faced with severe action.

Q.  Is there anyone who has knowledge of how to do terrace cultivation and how
did you start it? 

A.  No one know how to do it. According to the order each household had to
complete 3-acres but we had no money for a deposit. For that reason, on 24
April, 1998, I went to Thantlnag Township Land Taxation Office and made a
request to U Hoi Ling that we did not have the sufficient funds. This request
meant paying them Kyats 30,000 which I collected from the villagers.
Afterwards, we were allowed to continue with our traditional cultivation
practices.

Q.  Could you please share with us your feelings and thoughts? 

A.  I think, the soldiers have been begging in an unfair manner from the
people
because the government cannot provide them with sufficient resources. The more
they can make begging, the more excess materials they can get, and therefore,
the more the honor the government. I think the authorities are trying to build
up their own power and maintain stability through these soldiers. I
believe, if
every country person selflessly acts against a group of authorities, this
government will definitely be demolished. However we can not give up our
'self'
easily because we must struggle for our daily lives. That is why people are
being made to suffer.

****************************************************************

MON INFORMATION SERVICE: ATROCITIES AGAINST MON, KAREN AND TAVOYAN
VILLAGERS IN
SOUTHERN BURMA
3 February, 1999 from B7BK7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger report produced the
Mon Information Service (Bangkok) with cooperation of the Karen Information
Committee (southern Karen State) and the Tavoyan Human Rights Foundation. 
Please contact B7BK7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for a copy of the full report.]

Burma's Army Continues Terrorizing Tavoyan And Karen Villagers Across Coastal
Region 

I. Narrative details regarding the repeated forced relocation of  3,000+
Karen 
and Tavoyan families from 30 villages 

More than 3,000 Karen and Tavoyan families living in 30 villages from Taung
Byauk, Taung Zin, Pea and Kyauk Hse village tracts in Thayet Chaung township
have twice been subjected to forced relocation by the SLORC/SPDC Army since
early September 1997. In September 1997, on the orders of Coastal Region
Command, hundreds of SLORC/SPDC troops (drawn from LIB's #410, #402, #403,
#404, #405, #267, #280 as well as IB's #25 and #104) led by Brigadier Gen. Zaw
Tun forced these several Karen and Tavoyan villages into immediate relocation.
Thea Chaunggyi, Pea and Kyauk Hse were the three locations respectively
utilized for the forced displacement of these villages. In conducting this
September 1997 forced relocation, the SLORC/SPDC military reportedly burned
down or otherwise destroyed 5 of the 30 villages. 

The relocation areas were reported to be especially arid with a lack of plant
life and serious water scarcity. Subsequently, people in the relocation areas
suffered widespread diarrhea, dysentery, chickenpox etc. With little or no
access to necessary medical treatment, the fatality rate from these relatively
benign illnesses was extremely high.  Hundreds of children, women and older
people died from such untreated illnesses during the four months following the
September 1997 forced relocation. 

At the same time, the people in the relocation areas were continuously
subjected to a variety of gross human rights abuses by SLORC/SPDC personnel. 
Men, women, children, the elderly and sick alike were conscripted as porters
for military offensives and as manual labourers for the construction of army
buildings. In addition, individuals were compelled to serve as general labour
at the military encampments around which the villagers had been forced to
relocate. Individuals were conscripted to collect firewood and water, cook
meals, do washing, grow vegetables, and whatever else was instructed at
whim by
the SLORC/SPDC soldiers and officers. The relocated civilians were also
required to supply food and pay portering taxes to the SLORC/SPDC military.
After enduring such brutal hardships, the 3,000 Karen and Tavoyan families
were
allowed in December of 1997 to return to their respective villages. 

In July 1998, only 6 months after returning to their home villages, the SPDC
Army again forcibly relocated the more than 3,000 Karen and Tavoyan
families of
the 30 villages back to the strategic locations it had previously utilized as
the relocation camps or officially known as "gathered villages". These
"gathered villages" again served as the labour pool for the SLORC/SPDC
offensive against KNU and MDUF forces.  On the orders of the Coastal Region
Command, SPDC troops from the several local military units (namely, the #25,
#431, #267, #403, #404, #405, #104 and #101 battalions) conducted the forced
relocation of these 30 Karen and Tavoyan villages. In the process of
relocating
said villages all the 14 Buddhist monasteries and 12 Christian churches of the
villages were destroyed. These civilian populations are again being held
against their will in the "gathered villages" where the norm of everyday life
is misery, hardship and death. 

II. Details of Human Rights Violations Against the Relocated population. 
  
?Conscription and use of forced porters as human mine-sweepers 

The SPDC military has consistently conducted indiscriminate conscription of
forced portering labour from the relocation camps. Men, women, older and sick
people alike have been used as portering labour for SPDC troops on their
regular patrols and counter-insurgency offensives in the area, both during the
1997 resettlement and since the July 1998 relocation. Many of the conscripted
sick and elderly are reported dead from exhaustion and illness. U Hla Maung, a
71-year-old Tavoyan man, was conscripted as portering labour by SPDC troops
from #5 company of #25 battalion; he was unable to pay the portering tax of
2,000 Kyat to the SPDC military. U Hla Maung - being of an advanced age - was
physically unable to carry the heavy loads demanded of conscripted military
porters. He grew ill from exhaustion, fell and died on the trail near Waa
Chaunggyi.  On hearing the news of his death, family members and relatives
urgently came to the place in order to bury him but were disallowed from doing
so by the SPDC troops. All of those so conscripted as porters have not been
provided with either adequate food or rest by the SPDC troops. Female
conscripts are reported to have been gang-raped by SPDC troops. 

Maung Ni Toot, a young Tavoyan man from Thayet Chaung township's Yebu village,
was conscripted as front-line portering labour by SPDC troops from the local
#25 battalion led by Major Zaw Tun during their offensive against the MDUF in
the first half of 1998. He was one of the several civilian porters made to go
in the front of the SPDC troops as human shields and mine-sweepers. As a
result, Maung Ni Toot stepped on a guerrilla-planted land mine and lost his
right leg in the explosion. The SPDC military provided him with neither
medical
treatment nor with compensation. Instead, the SPDC major Zaw Tun warned the
injured victim not to tell anyone the true story of how he had lost his leg,
threatening him that if he did he would be killed. Without access to proper
medical treatment for his infected wounds, it is feared that Maung Ni Toot may
well lose his life regardless. 

? Forced night watch duty among the female population 
? Rape and physical abuse reported commonplace 

A normal practice of SPDC personnel is to conscript those unfit for portering
labour as round-the-clock watch persons to guard military camps and
military-owned plantations. Young women are frequently chosen for such tasks.
In some instances pregnant women must give birth while on "duty", often times
resulting in complications and/or death of the child. Many of the women so
conscripted have been subject to sexual abuse by SPDC soldiers and
commanders. 

On 11 July 1998, a 22-year-old Tavoyan woman, Ma Aye Yi from Kyauk Aing
village, was overpowered and abused sexually by Aung Myint, an SPDC sergeant
from the #1 company of LIB #403. She had been conscripted for night watch
duty.
Likewise, on 13 July 1998, a 15-year-old Tavoyan girl, Ma Khin Tun, was
overpowered and abused sexually by another SPDC sergeant, Maung Hmatt from
#267
battalion. She was on her way from the relocation camp to collect vegetables
from the garden at her former village, Taung Byauk. 

Members of the SLORC/SPDC Army can perpetrate such sexual abuses in the rural
ethnic areas with impunity.  Non-Burman women (i.e. all "other" non-Burman
women) living in rural areas are frequently vulnerable to sexual abuse by
local
SLORC/SPDC soldiers and commanders. Indeed, it has been suggested and
documented that such sexual abuse forms an additional component to the "Four
Cuts" campaign of ethnic cleansing. Such widespread sexual abuse against rural
ethnic non-Burman women is, in part, engendered by the moral decadence within
the SLORC/SPDC Army. And yet, such gross offences go largely unpunished within
the ranks of the Tatmadaw. Indeed, it is with the SPDC Generals' very
connivance and the local Commanders' encouragement and involvement that such
acts are committed with impunity. Interviews with deserters from the SPDC by
Earth First International suggest that the climate of impunity is indeed
encouraged as part of a large scale SPDC effort to Burmanize the outlaying,
ethnic Black Areas. Burmanization through racial assimilation by "thinning"
the
blood of the ethnic minorities has long been a traditional policy of
successive
Burman-dominated governments in Rangoon. The gross violations of human dignity
which are the every day sexual abuses encouraged within the SPDC must thus be
seen as part of a larger effort to asssimilate ethnic minorities as part of
the
"Four Cuts" military strategy. 

The practice of conscripting women into watch duty has been common among
SLORC/SPDC forces for some time and the Coastal Region Command has, since May
1997, made it a cornerstone of their military strategy.  Approximately 270
villages in Tavoy, Thayet Chaung and Launglon townships have received
compulsory orders regarding such duty. This has seriously affected the local
populations, effectively depriving them of time and access to their own means
of subsistence. Charged with enforcing this anti-guerrilla watch, the villages
are required by the SPDC military to report any information concerning
guerrilla movements in the area. If anti-government activity occurs and
villagers have not provided information, they are dealt with as supporters of
the ethnic guerrilla forces. 

Based on their population or numbers of households, the villages have to
provide 12 to 36 people per day to perform such duty. Households in each
village have to provide their own household members in continually-rotating
turns. Any household unable to provide such watch persons are subjected to
fines of 300 to 500 Kyat  per day, or from 3 to 5 days of hard labour.

****************************************************************

BANGKOK POST: JUNTA'S WIN AUNG IN BID TO CALM WATERS
17 February, 1999 by Achara Ashayagachat, Bhanravee Tansubhapol and Wassana
Nanuam in Bangkok  

A visit by the Burmese foreign minister on Saturday will help build confidence
after clashes at sea that have claimed lives on both sides, Foreign Ministry
officials said yesterday.

Minister Win Aung is due to fly into Ranong from Bangkok after calling on the
prime minister as part of a two-day visit.

The Burmese foreign minister will be accompanied by Surin Pitsuwan, his Thai
counterpart, who will join him on a boat tour to Koh Son, off Kawthaung in
Burma, skirting disputed areas in the Andaman Sea that have contributed to the
friction.

Mr Win Aung is due to return to Bangkok for an audience with His Majesty the
King before leaving for Rangoon.

The visit would show goodwill between the two countries, said Saroj
Chavanaviraj, permanent secretary for foreign affairs.

Accompanied by ministry colleagues, Mr Saroj was in Ranong to prepare for the
visit, survey disputed areas and brief officials, including Governor Songwut
Ngarm-Meesri and Vice Admiral Sompop Puridej of the Third Fleet Area Command,
on efforts to settle land and marine boundary problems.

Mr Saroj surveyed an area from the mouth of the Kra river to the Surin islands
in Phang-nga, which lie south of the boundary agreed during the last talks of
this kind in 1980.

Wasin Teeravejayarn, director-general of the ministry's treaty and  legal
affairs division, said talks on land and marine boundary problems were
expected
to start within the first half of this year.

Last year, Thailand proposed a framework for talks and technical terms and was
awaiting counter proposals from Burma, he said.

Four clashes at sea in December last year, January and this month claimed the
lives of three Thai sailors and an unknown number of Burmese. The clashes took
place near overlapping claims around Koh Lam, Koh Kan and Koh Khi Nok.

The ministry would try to speed up talks on disputed boundaries and seek more
confidence-building measures, Mr Saroj said. But Burma should avoid
violence in
dealing with problems at sea, he added.

On Saturday, Mr Surin and Mr Win Aung were expected to declare support for the
launch of a joint patrol and to pledge restraint, he said.

Meanwhile the army chief, Gen Surayud Chulanont, plans to hold discussions
with
Burmese military leaders on Thai-Burmese border disputes during his three-day
visit to Burma starting today, according to an army source.

Gen Surayud and his ten-member team are scheduled to meet Burmese Prime
Minister Gen Than Shwe, State Peace and Development Council secretary-general
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, and army chief Gen Maung Aye in Rangoon, and then visit
Mandalay and Taunggyi during Feb 17- 19.

Gen Surayud planned to discuss with the Burmese leaders the problems of border
disputes, Burmese minority groups as well as border demarcation, the source
said.

The army chief still wanted the Thai-Burmese border problems to be tackled
through official talks, the source added.

****************************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENT: "MIS AND ARMY" ON RADIO FREE BURMA 
16 February, 1999 from rfb@xxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Friends,

Please read the Dr Aung Khin's  articles  "MIS and Army"  on Radio Free Burma
web page. Just read or print in Burmese.
News and Information on RFB page can be freely distributed for the Burmese
Democratic movement

Radio Free Burma
****************************************************************