NEWS - Rampant Rapes in Shan State

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Subject: NEWS - Rampant Rapes in Shan State Burma

Rampant Rapes in Shan State Burma

via Rangoon Post
Source:SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION - SHRF SEPTEMBER 1999 REPORT 
Thailand


RAPE, TORTURE AND EXTORTION OF RELOCATED VILLAGERS IN MURNG-KERNG

 On 29.6.99, 7 villagers, 2 men and 5 women, were beaten and raped by an
SPDC
Captain, Win Naing, and his troops from LIB524 at their rice and sesame
farms
3-1/2 miles west of Murng-Kerng town. The villagers were also extorted
when
trying to lodge a complaint at the LIB524 base.
 The villagers were originally from Naa Pung village, Wan Phui tract,
that had
been forcibly relocated to the outskirts of the town in August 1997.
These
villagers and several other groups of villagers had been going to work
at the
farms west of the town since April 1999. 
 On the day of the incident, about 35 SPDC troops from LIB524 led by
Capt Win
Naing saw a group of villagers who were working on a farm and arrested
the
following:
1. Loong Taan Lu (m), aged 51
2. Pa Tin (f), aged 47
3. Zaai Kham Mon (m), aged 30
4. Naang Seng Phaa (f), aged 27
5. Naang Thun Ung (f), aged 19
6. Naang Lawn (f), aged 17
7. Naang Wo (f), aged 15
 The troops first separated men and women and tied up the men and
interrogated
them, asking them if they had seen or knew anything about the Shan
soldiers
while torturing and beating them all the time. When the men could not
give
them any information they wanted, the troops then brought the women one
by one and
interrogated them. The women also said they had not seen or heard
anything
about the Shan soldiers.
 Eventually, the troops raped the 4 young women. The SPDC Captain took
the
youngest, Naang Wo, for himself and gave the other 3 to his officers.
Naang Wo
was so scared that she cried and struggled, and Captain Win Naing struck
her on the head with his pistol, splitting her scalp and fracturing her
skull. The
troops let the villagers go after they had raped the women to their
satisfaction.
 Having got back to their house, Loong Taan Lu, Naang Wo's father and
also one
of the victims, complained about her daughter's plight to the headman
and some
members of the Village Committee and they all went to LIB524 base and
lodged a
complaint with Commander Aung Win.
 Commander Aung Win then ordered 70 soldiers to line up and told Naang
Wo to
point out her rapist. Since Captain Win Naing was deliberately left out,
Naang
Wo could not find him among the soldiers in the line, so she was
dismissed to
be taken to the hospital by her relatives. Loong Taan Lu, the headman
and
members of the Village Committee, altogether 5 of them, were accused of
defaming the military and were detained in the prison at the military
base.
 On the next day, 30.6.99, the villagers were told that they had
committed a
grave offence and could be punished as wanted by the military, and asked
whether they would like to face punishment or pay money as a fine.
However,
before the villagers could give any answer, the headman was beaten with
a
stick until he lost consciousness.
 Later, their families were ordered to pay 2,000 Kyat for the release of
each
of them and the rest of the victims that had been beaten and raped at
the
farm, including Naang Wo, were fined 500 Kyat each.

RAPE IN LAI-KHA

 On 7.7.99, 2 SPDC soldiers from LIB515 raped a relocated village girl
at a
vegetable garden 1 mile away from Lai-Kha town.
 The rape victim, Naang Thun Nae, aged 16, was the daughter of Loong
Zing & Pa
Lu of Tawng Heo village, Wan Thi tract, that had been forcibly relocated
to
Lai-Kha town by SPDC (formerly SLORC) troops in 1997. This family was
able to
get a plot of land to grow vegetables about 1 mile from the town.
 Naang Thun Nae was gathering vegetables alone in their garden when 2
SPDC
troops came to the edge of the garden and called her to go to them as if
they
were going to buy some vegetables. 
 However, when she got near them, as there was no one in sight at the
time,
the soldiers seized her, took her into a nearby bush and both of them
raped her,
and quickly left the site and returned to their military camp.
 As soon as she was free, Naang Thun Nae cried and ran back to her house
and
told her parents about it. Her parents then took her to the village
leaders
who in turn led them to complain to the authorities at their military
camp.
 The company commander, Capt Saw Hpyu, who heard the complaint then
ordered
about over 30 of his troops to line up and told Naang Thun Nae to point
at the
ones who she said had raped her. However, she was not able to do that
because
the rapists had already been told to hide elsewhere and were not
included in
the line.
 The SPDC commander then accused the village leaders of trying to vilify
the
military and arrested 2 of them, headman Loong Kawn and his deputy Loong
Paan
La, and ordered Naang Thun Nae's father, Loong Zing, to bring 5,500 Kyat
for
the release of each of them. The village leaders were released only
after the
money had actually been paid.

RAPE IN TA-KHI-LAEK

 On 30.7.99, 2 SPDC troops from Ta Lur-based LIB316 raped a Lahu woman
who was
gathering wild vegetables outside her village in Ta-Khi-Laek township.
 The woman, Ae Mi, aged 23, was gathering vegetables on the bank of Nam
Kherm
stream near her village, Naa Lao in Murng Laen tract, when the 2
soldiers
seized and raped her. After both of them had raped her, they pointed
their
guns at her and threatened to kill her if she dared tell anyone about
the incident.
 However, Ae Mi did tell her father, Kya Lu, who in turn told their
village
headman. Though the girl's father and the headman went to complain to
the
military authorities at LIB316 base and were promised that the culprit
would be taught a proper lesson, nothing has been heard about anything
being done in
connection with this case.