Discrimination against the Shan

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: Übersetzung wichtiger Berichte von SWAN/SHRF Hintergrundinformationen über Geschichte, Geographie, Kultur und einer Reihe zusätzlicher Links. This site carries a German translations of the important SWAN/SHRF reports, "License to Rape" - "Lizenz zur Vergewaltigung", plus a couple of related articles, and will no doubt have more in the future.
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Deutsch, German (+some English)
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Description: Contains pages from the Shan Human Rights Foundation, Shan Herald Agency for News, Shan State Army, The Shan Democratic Union. Lots of historical and constitutional docs on the site
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "As of December 2022, there are 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDP) in Myanmar.4 Over 40,000 people remain in neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, and India since the takeover. More than 18,058 civilian properties, including houses, churches, monasteries, and schools are estimated to have been destroyed during hostilities, although figures are difficult to verify. The level of destruction of civilian properties, particularly homes, combined with the seemingly never-ending fighting will very likely prolong the displacement of the IDPs and would further deteriorate their already fragile living conditions. The current volatile security situation and its associated restrictions, such as bureaucratic processes, systematic blocks on access approvals, continue to hamper humanitarian access and delay the delivery of assistance. The purpose of this Rapid Gender Analysis on Power & Participation (RGA-P) is to build a better understanding as to whether and how women are able to participate in the community and in decision making spaces in the Northern Shan State of Myanmar and what changes may have occurred as a result of the conflict and women’s participation and leadership. The research was conducted through primary and secondary data collection in July 2022 in three villages in the Lashio Township of the Northern Shan State, Myanmar. Summary of the findings The main factors that were found to restrict women’s access and opportunity to participate in public decision making and leadership roles were related to Social norms and expectations of the role women are expected to play/hold in society and the views that female characteristics are not fit for leadership roles. The expectation that women are responsible for all of the household chores, childcare and care for elderly. Restrictions on women’s movement (controlled by husbands and elder family members) also impedes women’s rights to engage in spaces outside of the home. In addition, barriers such a slow literacy rates in Myanmar language (the language used is most formal meetings/decision making spaces)..."
Source/publisher: CARE
2022-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 376.08 KB
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Description: "SAC and PNO militia troops shot and killed a civilian driver and injured a farmer near the Tigyit coal mine in Pinlaung township, southern Shan State, on January 7, 2023. On January 3, there was fighting between SAC troops and local PDF forces near Long Karn village tract, west of Samka Lake, Nyaungshwe township, southern Shan State. On January 7, about 50 regime troops, including local PNO militia, set up a checkpoint on the main Aung Pan-Tigyit-Pinlaung road, giving the reason that the PDF were active in that area. That evening at about 8 pm, the regime forces began indiscriminately firing their weapons, including artillery, for about 30 minutes towards Payaphyu village, about three miles from Tigyit village. One of the bullets hit a 40-year-old farmer returning home to Nan Sawng village after irrigating his farmland east of the village. Sai Aye (not his real name) was hit and injured in his leg. SAC soldiers took him to Pinlaung hospital for treatment. Soon afterwards, at around 9 pm, Khun Tun (not his real name) a 35-year-old villager from Kin Moon Chong village, Muay Pin village tract, Pinlaung township, was driving his car along the Aung Pan-Tigyit-Pinlaung road. He was driving fast and braked suddenly to stop at the newly erected SAC checkpoint. The troops then opened fire at his car, hitting him in the stomach and killing him instantly. This was witnessed by a local villager who had been forced by the PNO to guide their troops. His corpse was not transferred to his family, but was cremated by the troops at 2 pm on January 8 at Pinlaung cemetery. The SAC and PNO militia troops are continuing to block the Aung Pan-Tigyit-Pinlaung road. The SAC troops are from Kalaw-based LIB 7 and Tigyit-based LIB 511 and LIB 512..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2023-01-18
Date of entry/update: 2023-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 634.95 KB 607.43 KB 623.74 KB
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Description: "Namkham villagers suffer from year-long electricity cut by China due to border dispute Residents of Nawng Kham village in Namkham township, northern Shan State, have been suffering from electricity shortage since China cut off their power supply in July 2021 over a border demarcation dispute. Nawng Kham village, comprising 161 households, lies on the northern bank of the Mao (Shweli) river close to the Chinese border. Although Nawng Kham is only two kilometers north of Namkham town, there are no connecting power lines across the Mao/Shweli river, so Nawng Kham villagers have relied for years on electricity from the nearby village of Nawng Hsawng in China. In October 2020, Chinese authorities began building a double layer of fencing, 15 to 20 meters apart, along the border close to Nawng Kham, citing the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The fencing, 7 meters high on the China side and 5 meters high on the Burma side, cut through fields straddling the border, causing a loss of income for some farmers. Then, without warning, on July 10, 2021, workers from China began building a new layer of fencing which encroached into the fields of Nawng Kham villagers. Nawng Kham residents came out and stopped them, and called the Namkham township administrator and land survey department officials to the site. They also called officials from the China side, but the Chinese officials did not appear. On July 18, 2021, at 6 am, about 50 workers from China again returned to the same place, and used a backhoe to begin digging holes for the fence posts. Again, villagers from Nawng Kham went to stop them, forcing the Chinese workers to abandon their backhoe and digging tools and retreat to the China side. At that time, three Chinese military trucks were patrolling on the other side of the border. On the same day, villagers again called the Namkham township authorities to come and solve the dispute with the Chinese authorities, saying they did not want to lose their land. It was then agreed by both sides to stop building the new fencing. The Chinese workers filled in the holes already dug and took back their digging equipment. Two days later, on July 20, 2021, at 10 am, the Chinese electricity supply to Nawng Kham was suddenly cut off from Nawng Hsawng village. The villagers appealed to the Chinese electricity officials in Ruili, who said they had instructed the villagers of Nawng Hsawng to reconnect the electricity, but the power was not reconnected for three months. During this time, the Nawng Kham villagers had to buy diesel generators and solar panels for their electricity. Poorer families had to rely on candles. On October 10, 2021, the Chinese electricity authorities fined Nawng Hsawng village 7,000 yuan for failing to provide electricity to Nawng Kham, and the power was reconnected that evening. However, on October 19, 2021 there was a fire in a house in Nawng Kham, and the electricity was again cut off. The Nawng Kham villagers again contacted the Chinese electricity officials to reconnect the power, but the officials said they were too busy to deal with the issue, and finally did not even answer phone calls from the villagers. The electricity has been cut off until today. The Nawng Kham villagers have been buying electricity from the China side for 20 years. They paid for the installation of Chinese meter boxes in 2002, each meter box costing 560 yuan. They originally paid 1 yuan per unit of electricity, but after the Shweli 1 hydropower project became operational in 2009, the cost was reduced to 0.6 yuan. Local villagers assume the power cut is because of their opposition to China’s attempts to extend the border into their lands. The disputed location is precisely where China is planning a new cross-border road and bridge over the Mao/Shweli River to Namkham, which locals fear may cause further loss of land. Given that China is already gaining significant benefits from the Shweli 1 hydropower project in Namkham, it is regrettable that Chinese authorities are withholding electricity from local Namkham residents for household use. The Shweli 1 project is a joint venture between China’s Yunnan United Power Development Co. Ltd. and Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power, built under a 40-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement. Out of the project’s installed capacity of 600 megawatts, 400 MW is for use in Burma, while 200 MW is for export to China. However, a large portion of the hydropower from Shweli 1 is sent directly via a high voltage transmission line to the Tagaung Taung nickel processing plant near Tigyaing in Sagaing, operated by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group. Nawng Kham residents have already suffered impacts from other Chinese investment projects, including China National Petroleum Corporation’s transnational oil and gas pipelines, which pass only 200 meters west of their village. In 2010, when the pipelines started being laid, local farmers received unsatisfactory compensation for the digging up of their fields, while suffering from increased Burma Army security and laying of land mines. In 2011, a farmer called Loong Aung Nyunt from Aung Myat Thar ward in Namkham town stepped on a land mine in his field near where the gas pipeline was being laid, and was seriously injured. Villagers living near the pipelines remain in fear of possible leakage or explosion. Nawng Kham residents were also impacted by the construction of the Longjiang hydropower dam on the Mao/Shweli river in Yunnan province in 2010. Thousands of downstream villagers in northern Shan State have faced livelihood disruption due to sudden fluctuations in the river level, causing grounding of ferry boats and flooding of farmland. The dam’s blockage of sediment has also accelerated river bank erosion, a problem worsened by Chinese-sponsored sand mining, including next to Nawng Kham. Most of the sand is exported for construction projects inside China, causing problems of dust pollution during transport..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2022-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 1.19 MB 1.09 MB 1.08 MB
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Description: "Two Shan youth activists forced by SAC troops to transport them in their truck on the Lashio-Muse highway were killed in a roadside ambush by TNLA troops on May 4, 2022. That day, at about 5 pm, the two youth, Sai Jarm Hla (aged 32) and Sai Hseng Harn (aged 29), were driving a pick-up truck on their way from Kutkhai to Muse, when they were stopped by 15 Burma Army troops from Infantry Division (ID) 99 at Nampaw bridge, about 16 miles from Muse. The troops forced the youth to transport them in the back of their truck. At about 5.20 pm, as they were approaching Maw Tawng village, Mong Yu tract, their truck was suddenly shelled by TNLA troops positioned on a hill top. Shrapnel hit Sai Jarm Hla’s chest, leg and hands, while Sai Hseng Harn was hit in his abdomen, head and wrist. Their truck overturned at the side of the road. At least ten Burma Army troops were also killed in the attack. One of the youth’s friends was driving behind them in another car, and arrived at the scene after the attack. He saw Sai Jarm Hla’s truck overturned by the road, and many SAC soldiers around the wreckage. He stopped his car and tried to get out and see what had happened, but some SAC troops who had arrived in another truck forced him to drive on. He then drove to the 105 Mile village, where he called a local welfare group to go and pick up his friends and take them to hospital. When the welfare group arrived by car at the site of the attack, the Burma Army troops refused to let them take the bodies. They then went back to Muse town and called more welfare group vehicles to come to the incident site. The bodies were allowed to be taken away at about 7:30 pm. The bodies were kept at Se Oo, Muse township, and were cremated in the afternoon of May 5, 2022. The deceased youth were both from Kyaukme. Sai Jarm Hla was a leading member of the Tai Youth Network (TYN) and belonged to the secretary team of the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU). Sai Hseng Harn assisted with many social welfare activities for his community..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2022-05-09
Date of entry/update: 2022-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
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Description: "၂၀၂၂ ခုနစ် မတ်လကုန်ပိုင်းတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်တောင်ပိုင်းနမ့်စန်မြို့နယ် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုမှ ဒေသခံပြည်သူ တစ်ရာကျော်တို့ကို စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများက ကင်းတပ်စခန်းအသစ် တည်ဆောက်ပေးရန်အဓမ္မခိုင်းစေခဲ့သည်။ထိုတပ်စခန်းအသစ်တည်နေရာမှာ မန္တလေးအခြေစိုက်ငွေရည်ပုလဲကုမ္ပဏီ၏ လက်အောက်ခံကုမ္ပဏီမှ အသစ်တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့်ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းကြီးနှင့် ၁ မိုင်ခန့်သာကွာ၀ေးသည်။ မတ်လ ၂၉ ရက် ၃၀ ရက်များတွင် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာမှ ကျေးရွာသူရွာသား ၁၀၆ ဦးတို့သည် နမ့်စန်မြို့အရှေ့မြောက်ဘက်မှ ၁၅ မိုင်ခန့်ကွာ၀ေးသော နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုကုန်းတီးရွာမြောက်ဘက်တွင် စစ်ကောင်စီ ကင်းစခန်းအသစ်ကိုသွားဆောက်ပေးခဲ့ရသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် ကျေးရွာသူရွာသားများအားကတုတ်ကျင်းတူးခြင်း၊သစ်၀ါးများခုတ်ခြင်း၊ ခြံစည်းရိုးကာစခြင်း အစရှိသည် တို့ကိုအဓမ္မခိုင်းစေခဲ့ကြသည်။ အဆိုပါကင်းတပ်စခန်းသည် နမ့်မိုဒေသခံပြည်သူလုံးဆာ၏ ယာမြေပေါ်တွင် သွားရောက်တည်ဆောက်ထားခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး ထိုသို့သွားဆောက်ရာတွင် လည်းကြိုတင်အသိပေးခွင့်တောင်းခဲ့ခြင်းမရှိသည့်အပြင် မည်သည့်လျော်ကြေး ငွေကိုမှလဲပေးအပ်ခဲ့ခြင်းမရှိပေ။ မတ်လ ၂၃ ရက်နေ့တွင် ရှမ်းပြည်အရှေ့ပိုင်း ကျိုင်းတုံရွှေတြိဂံတိုင်စစ်ဌာနချုပ်လက်အောက်ခံ မိုင်းကန်းမြို့နယ် အခြေစိုက် ခလရ ၅၅၃ တပ်မှအင်အား ၃၅ ဦး ခန့်ပါရှိသောစစ်ကြောင်းသည် နမ့်စန်-ခိုလမ်ကားလမ်းမကြီးမှတစ်ဆင့် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စု ကွန်ဆိုင်း ကျေးရွာသို့ရောက်လာပြီး ကွန်ဆိုင်းကျေးရွာစာသင်ကျောင်းတွင် ညပေါင်းများစွာ ညအိပ်ရပ်နားပြီးနောက် တိလင်ကျေးရွာတွင် ၁ ညအိပ်ကာ မတ်လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာ သို့ရောက်ရှိလာခဲ့သည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာ ဘုန်းကြီးကျောင်းတွင် ညအိပ်ပြီး ထိုနေ့ည ၆ နာရီတွင် ကျေးရွာသူကြီးကိုခေါ်ယူ၍ နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာတွင်ရှိသော အိမ်ထောင်စုစာရင်းများကိုမေးမြန်းခဲ့သည်။ နမ့်မို ရွာ တွင်အိမ်ထောင်စု ၆၃ စုရှိရာ အိမ်ထောင်စုတစ်စုလျှင် တစ်ဦးကျ မဖြစ်မနေ၄င်းတို့တပ်စခန်းကိုသုံးရက် အ တွင်း တည်ဆောက်ပေးရန် ခိုင်းစေခဲ့သည်။သို့သော် ရွာသူရွာသားများမှ နှစ်ရက်အတွင်းလူ ၁၀၆ ဦးဖြင့် အပြီးလုပ်ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့ကျသည်။ မတ်လ ၃၁ ရက်တွင် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်သားများသည် နမ့်မိုကျေးရွာဘုန်းကြီးကျောင်းမှ တပ်စခန်းအသစ် သို့ ပြောင်း ရွေ့ခဲ့ကျသည်။ အဆိုပါတပ်စခန်းသည်ခိုလမ်မြို့ရှိ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်၏ အရှေ့အလယ်ပိုင်းတိုင်း စစ်ဌာနချုပ်နှင့် မိုင် နှစ်ဆယ်ခန့်သာကွာ၀ေးပြီး ယခုကဲ့သို့ စစ်ရေးတိုးချဲ့မှုအသစ်များကြောင့် ၄င်းတို့ဒေသတွင်း လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်ခံရမှုများပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာမည်ကိုစိုးရိမ်နေကြသည်။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနစ်နို၀င်ဘာလတွင်ထုတ်ပြန်သော စစ်ကောင်စီ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေး၀န်ကြီး ဌာန၏ တစ်နိုင်လုံးသယံဇာတတူးဖော်မှုခွင့်ပြုစာရင်းတွင် နမ့်စန်မြို့နယ် နောင်ဟီးကျေးရွာအုပ်စုတွင် တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့် စုစုပေါင်းဧက ၅၀၀ကျော် ကျယ်၀န်းသည့် ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်း ၅ခုလည်းပါ၀င်သည်။ အဆိုပါကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းအားလုံးသည် ငွေရည်ပုလဲ ကုမ္ပဏီ၏ လက်အောက်ခံ မန္တလေးဖြန့်ချီရေးနှင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်ရေး ကုမ္ပဏီမှတူးဖော်ရန်ခွင့်ပြုချက်ရရှိထားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ ဒေသခံများ၏ပြောကြားချက်အရ ပြီးခဲ့သည့်လတွင် ကုမ္ပဏီတာ၀န်ရှိသူများက နမ့်စန်မြို့အာဏာပိုင်များအား ကျောက် မီးသွေးစမ်းသပ်မှုများကိုမကြာမှီစတင်တော့မည်ဟုအကြောင်း ကြားခဲ့ကြောင်းသိရသည်။ အသစ်တူးဖော်ရန်စီစဥ်နေသည့် ကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းဧရိယာသည် ဒေသခံတောင်သူလယ်သမားများ ၏အဓိက ၀င်ငွေဖြစ်သောပြောင်းစိုက်ပျိုးရာယာမြေပေါ်တွင်တည်ရှိနေရာ ၄င်းတို့အတွက်အထူးစိုးရိမ် စိတ်များဖြစ်လာစေသောရင်း မြစ်ဖြစ်နေသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေး ဦးစီးဌာန၏ ၀က်ဆိုက်၏ဖော်ပြချက်များအရ ငွေရည်ပုလဲသည် လက်ရှိတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်မြောက်ပိုင်း၏ အကြီးဆုံးကျောက်မီးသွေးတူးဖော်ထုတ်လုပ်သူဖြစ်ပြီး ၄င်းတို့၏ သီပေါ၊တန့်ယန်းနှင့် မိုင်းရယ်မြို့များရှိကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းများသည် သဘာ၀ပတ်၀န်းကျင်နှင့် ဒေသခံများ၏ ကျန်းမာရေးနှင့်လူနေမှုဘ၀ကိုပြင်းထန်စွာထိခိုက်ဖျက်ဆီးလျက်ရှိသည်။ မန္တလေးဖြန့်ချီရေးနှင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်ရေး ကုမ္ပဏီသည် လက်ရှိတွင် ရှမ်းပြည်တောင်ပိုင်းရပ်စောက်မြို့တွင်လည်း အခြားကျောက်မီးသွေးတွင်းတခုကို တူးဖော်နေသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2022-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-04-19
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Description: "Shan Human Rights Day marks the day in 1997 when the Burma Army massacred 56 villagers in Kunhing, during a brutal scorched earth campaign in which hundreds were killed, and over 400,000 uprooted in central and southern Shan State. We reiterate our calls for justice for those killed then, and all killed since by the military now terrorizing the entire country. The regime’s scorched earth operations in Shan State over two decades ago were aimed to crush the Shan resistance and seize control of the area’s rich natural resources. Since then, the Burma Army has continuously expanded into Shan State, selling off our lands, forests and rivers to the highest bidder. This process has accelerated since the February 1 coup, and now the generals are pushing through long-held plans to sell off the mighty Salween River, the lifeblood of millions in eastern Burma, to hydropower investors. In May, the regime gave the go-ahead for China’s Hanergy to build the first dam on the Salween, at Kunlong in northern Shan State. 90% of the 1,400 megawatts produced will go to China. Damming the Salween will be a death knell for our beloved river, its fragile ecosystem and the livelihoods of millions relying on it. We urge all foreign investors to immediately cancel their dam plans, or be complicit not only in the regime’s past and present atrocities to secure the dams, but also in the ecocide they will unleash on eastern Burma. .."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-06-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-17
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Description: "On March 8, 2021, one of the bloodiest days of the military regime’s crackdown on nationwide anti-coup protests, staff of Australian-led Access Resources Asia (ARA) met with local officials in Mong Phyak, eastern Shan State, to push ahead with large-scale gold exploration. ARA’s initial exploration site covers 574 square kilometers, out of its total 1,800 sq. km. concession area in eastern Shan State. This giant gold mining venture is strongly opposed by local communities, due to the devastating environmental and social impacts of existing gold excavation in eastern Shan State, which has gutted mountains and poisoned farmlands and water sources over a wide area, particularly in Tachileik township. In 2017 and 2018, Mong Phyak residents sent petitions to the NLD government to stop the ARA project, but to no avail. On November 26, 2020, ARA was granted a 3-year exploration permit in Mong Phyak by Burma’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. On January 6, 2021, ARA staff visited Mong Phyak to meet with local officials regarding the opening of a branch office. On January 24, 2021, Mong Phyak locals, including community leaders from 13 village tracts and 3 town wards, wrote a petition to the President and State Counsellor to stop the project signed by 3,883 people. ARA ignored this petition, and is now openly partnering with the new coup regime in pushing through its investment. Long before the coup, SHRF had called for Access Asia Mining Pte Ltd (the Singapore-based parent company of ARA) to end its exploration plans in Eastern Shan State, citing community opposition, the ongoing conflict and heavy Burma Army militarization. In April 2018, SHRF documented the rape and robbery of a 73-year-old woman by a Burma Army soldier in Mong Phyak, and urged Access Asia Mining (AAM) to stop planned mining exploration in the area or risk complicity in the military’s atrocities. In response to SHRF’s concerns, AAM sent a letter on May 14, 2018, to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, stating it had “never engaged with the Tatmadaw to solicit their support or to request security. We state this categorically and unequivocally. AAM has always found the areas of Myanmar that we operate in safe and secure with a welcoming people. We have never felt the need for security and indeed, as stated above, as we have no operations or permanent presence in Shan State there is nothing to be protected.” It is clear that ARA/AAM does indeed now have “operations” in Shan State, and, particularly following the February 1 coup, ARA/AAM is now undeniably partnering with the military authorities in implementing these operations. ARA/AAM is therefore directly complicit in the security forces’ atrocities against unarmed protesters across the country, as well as ongoing atrocities against villagers in ethnic conflict areas. Although registered in Singapore, the management of Access Asia Mining is comprised of Australian nationals, self-advertised as “principals behind several major Australian engineering firms,” who must realize the risks now far outweigh any potential benefits of staying in Burma. SHRF reiterates our call for Access Resources Asia/Access Asia Mining to immediately end their investments in Burma. SHRF urges foreign companies not to invest in Burma until there is peace and a new federal democratic constitution, enabling local communities to protect their lands and resources from predatory exploitation..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "On February 19 and 23, 2021, the Burma Army forced several thousand ethnic villagers in four townships of eastern Shan State to hold demonstrations in support of the February 1 coup. On February 19, rallies were held in Mong Hsat, Mong Ton, and Mong Phyak townships, where Lahu, Akha and Shan villagers were forced to march in the streets holding Burmese national flags and pictures of General Min Aung Hlaing, and shout pro-Burma Army slogans including, “National stability and peace -- our cause!” and “Expose electoral fraud!” They were also forced to shout “Preserve our national religion and race!” – the slogan of Burmese Buddhist nationalists -- despite their ethnicity, and despite many of the Lahu and Akha villagers being Christian. The Burma Army organised the rallies through their local militia allies in each of the townships. The militia ordered villagers in their areas to gather in the towns at 9 am on February 19. In Mong Hsat, one member of each household in about 20 militia-controlled villages around the town were ordered to join the rally. They were told that if they did not join, they would not be allowed to stay in their villages. Residents of Mong Hsat town were forbidden from coming out into the street during the rally, and were told they would be arrested if they did. About 2,000 villagers joined the rally in Mong Hsat, and were given 2,500-3,000 kyat each. Lunch was also provided. The rally began with a speech by a Lahu member of the Burma Army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who said that those who did not support the Burma Army coup were traitors to their country. In Mong Ton, a militia leader in Na Kong Mu ordered villagers to join the rally. Some received 5,000 kyat for joining, and some 20,000 kyat. In a video of the Mong Ton rally released on social media, villagers can be heard telling each other: “Shout loudly!” “If you don’t shout, you will get arrested!” “You’re not here to walk, you’re here to shout!” In Mong Phyak, a militia leader in Mong Yoom organised about 100 Lahu and Akha to join the rally. Those who joined received 6,000 kyat. On February 23, an USDP member organized a pro-coup rally in Mong Khark, north of Kengtung, telling local Shan, Akha and Lahu villagers that anyone participating in the rally would receive 5,000 kyat. About 50 villagers from Mong Ka joined. They said they were not told that the rally was to support the Burma Army, and regretted joining. Eastern Shan State is heavily militarized by the Burma Army. Military Operations Command 14 is based in Mong Hsat, and Military Operations Command 18 at Mong Phyak, each comprising 10 battalions. All are under the Triangle Region Command in Kengtung, where large-scale people’s protests have been taking place against the military coup..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "On March 19, 2021, France’s state-owned Electricite de France (EDF), revealed it was suspending development of the Shweli 3 dam project in northern Shan State, due to human rights concerns after the February 1 military coup. SHRF welcomes EDF’s decision, and urges the French engineering company Razel-Bec (part of the Fayat Group) to follow suit and immediately withdraw from the controversial Upper Yeywa dam project on the Myitnge/Namtu river in northern Shan State. Shan civil society groups are strongly opposed to the building of the Upper Yeywa dam, which was started by the military regime in 2008, without local consultation or consent. The reservoir of the 280 megawatt dam will stretch for 60 kilometers up to Hsipaw town, submerging centuries-old Shan communities and fertile farmlands. The dam-site lies in an active conflict zone, and Burma Army troops guarding the site have committed gross human rights violations against local villagers, including extrajudicial killing, torture and use of human shields. The Upper Yeywa dam is being financed by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Shan community groups have repeatedly urged foreign companies involved in the dam to divest or risk complicity in the military’s human rights violations. After SHRF issued a report on July 9, 2020, “Extrajudicial killing, torture by Burma Army during operation against RCSS/SSA near Upper Yeywa dam site in Kyaukme,” the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, an international watchdog, wrote to all the companies involved, but only Swiss company Stucky replied, saying it was no longer involved in the project. The other companies, including IPGRB (Razel-Bec’s joint venture in Burma), did not reply. IPGRB is a joint venture between Razel-Bec and the International Power Group Public Company Ltd. (IPG). IPG is a subsidiary of International Group of Entrepreneurs (IGE), one of the leading business conglomerates in Burma, set up by the sons of former Burmese military general Aung Thaung, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in October 2014, for “undermining the positive political and economic transition in Burma,” and “perpetuating violence, oppression, and corruption.” IGE is the local partner of Chinese and Thai companies planning three giant dams on the Salween River in Shan and Karen State, strongly opposed by local communities (the Naung Pha, Mong Ton and Hatgyi dams). IPGRB appears to be the main foreign company now on the ground at the Upper Yeywa dam-site. The current Google satellite image of the site labels it as “IPGRB BASE CAMP.” Since the military coup on February 1, anti-coup protests have taken place in towns near the Upper Yeywa dam site, including Kyaukme and Hsipaw. On February 17, workers from the Upper Yeywa dam site joined the protests in Kyaukme, holding a banner saying “Upper Yeywa Hydropower Project Civil Disobedience Movement.” They were not seen joining any public protests after this date, but the sound of pot-banging in support of the CDM movement has been heard from the dam site in the evenings. Construction work at the dam site appears to have almost completely stopped. In the past few weeks, atrocities by the regime’s security forces have mounted, both against unarmed protesters in urban areas, and against villagers in conflict areas, who have been killed by aerial bombing. EDF cited its obligations to international human rights principles as the reason for suspending its dam project. This begs the question whether Razel-Bec adheres to the same principles. From the outset, Razel-Bec should never have cooperated with a military crony company to build a dam in war-torn Shan State against the wishes of local communities, and should never have ignored the gross human rights violations by security forces guarding its worksite. It is time now for Razel-Bec to stop siding with the murderous Burmese military regime, and to take a principled stand. We urge Razel-Bec to immediately pull out of the Upper Yeywa dam project..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-04-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
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Description: "On March 14, 2021, about 300 residents of Hsarm Lak village, Wo Lai village tract, Mong Pan township, Lang Khur district, southern Shan State were ordered to move out of their village by the Burma Army. The order was given by Military Operations Command (MOC) 17 in Mong Pan, under the control of the Eastern Central Command in Kholam. The villagers were told that they were illegally living on military territory. Hsarm Lak (also known as Kyawng Tham) is situated three miles east of Mong Pan town, along the main road leading to the Ta Hsang bridge over the Salween River. The entire southern half of the village, south of the road, comprising 45 houses, is being forced to move. 12 households are Burmese and the rest are Lisu. Hsarm Lak village was set up in 2001 by eight Lisu families who had been forcibly relocated by the Burma Army from their original homes in Loi Loam village, Wo Lai tract, and Kho Hak village, Tawng Gwai tract in Mong Pan during the Burma Army’s mass forced relocation campaign in central and southern Shan State during 1996-1998. At that time, the entire rural population of Mong Pan – about 10,000 people from 61 villages -- was forced from their homes into makeshift camps around the town, where nothing was provided for them. Those trying to return to their homes to forage for food were tortured and killed. In 1997 alone, SHRF documented extrajudicial killing of 37 villagers in Mong Pan, many of whom were beaten and tortured to death by Burma Army troops of LIB 331, 332 and 520. One old woman was burned alive in Wo Lai village. The Lisu villagers spent several years in the relocation sites. In 2001, they were still not allowed to return to their original villages, but were ordered by the Burma Army to set up a new village by the side of the main road at Hsarm Lak. This is now the third time the Lisu villagers are being forcibly relocated by the Burma Amy. The site to which they have been ordered to move is about ½ kilometer northeast of Hsarm Lak village, along the main road. They do not want to move there as the area is mountainous, with little available water, and the soil is poor. When the Hsarm Lak villagers were given the relocation order on March 14, they were pressured to sign a written agreement that they would move, since the land belonged to the military. However, only 14 households signed the agreement. 31 households, all Lisu, did not sign. On March 19, the Hsarm Lak villagers who had not signed were summoned to the MOC 17 base by Lieutenant General Myo Min Than, who pressured them again to sign, saying their village was on MOC 17 territory. He said his tenure at MOC 17 was five years. He had been there for two years already, and they had to move out before he left. The villagers still refused to sign. MOC 17, which comprises 10 battalions, was set up in Mong Pan in 2000. Mong Pan is a key strategic location for the Burma Army, lying along the main southern Shan State transport route which crosses the Salween River at Ta Sang, linking to Mong Ton in eastern Shan State. The MOC 17 base is strategically positioned on the hills east of Mong Pan town, overlooking the town and the main road. However, the base currently does not extend to the high hills behind Sarm Lak village. It appears that the relocation of Sarm Lak is linked to plans by MOC 17 is expand and fortify its base eastwards, to defend against potential attacks from that direction. Tension between the Burma Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), which operates in Mong Pan, has escalated sharply since the military coup on February 1. The Burma Army’s mass forced relocation campaign in 1996-1998, which uprooted over 300,000 villagers in eleven townships in Shan State, was aimed at cutting off support for the newly formed RCSS/SSA..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-04-09
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 667.38 KB 653.3 KB 668.37 KB
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Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas , Landmines , Internally Displaced People
Sub-title: Statement of Manny Maung, Myanmar Researcher, Human Rights Watch Subcommittee on International Human Rights Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas , Landmines , Internally Displaced People
Description: "Study of the Impacts of Covid-19 on Internally Displaced People in Myanmar Thank you to the Chairperson and Honorable Members of Parliament for inviting me to appear before this Committee to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 on internally displaced people in Myanmar. My name is Manny Maung and I am the Myanmar Researcher for Human Rights Watch. Decades of conflict have resulted in over 360,000 internally displaced peoples across the country. They are mainly members of ethnic minority communities spread across northern Myanmar, in Kachin and Shan States; in western Rakhine State; and in the southeast near the Myanmar-Thai border. Renewed conflict has created fresh displacements in 2020 in both Rakhine and Shan States. Humanitarian agencies reported that the government did not take measures to ensure that they could deliver emergency aid under the government-imposed travel restrictions to protect against the spread of Covid-19. In October, Human Rights Watch released a report, “An Open Prison without End,” on Myanmar’s detention of 130,000 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State since 2012.[1] Human Rights Watch found that the squalid and oppressive conditions imposed on the interned Rohingya and Kaman Muslims amount to the crimes against humanity of persecution, apartheid, and severe deprivation of liberty. Starting in August 2017, a military campaign of killings, sexual violence, arson, and forced eviction of Rohingya in northern Rakhine State forced more than 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch determined the Myanmar security forces committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
2020-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title: Amnesty International says Myanmar military, ethnic armed groups guilty of abuses amid fighting in northern state.
Description: "In Myanmar's northern Shan State, ethnic armed groups have been fighting the Myanmar military for more autonomy for the past 50 years. Amnesty International says both sides are guilty of rights abuses in the ongoing fighting, which has continued since the failure of a nationwide ceasefire which was signed four years ago. That's an issue that will dog its de facto head Aung San Suu Kyi as she starts campaigning for next year's election..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2019-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "The number of documented human rights abuses in northern Shan State has increased dramatically over the past three months compared to the first quarter of the year, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO). The group, which based its data on reported cases of human rights abuses committed by armed groups active in predominantly ethnic Ta’ang areas, said there were 70 abuses reported from July to September, out of a total of 80 cases in the entire first half of the year. “The abuses include people who were killed by shelling of villages, death and injuries caused by landmines, and forcing civilians to act as porters. According to our records, at least 70 local people suffered human rights abuses during this three-month period,” TWO spokesperson Lway Chee Sangar told NMG..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
2019-10-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Topic: Shan State, UWSA
Sub-title: The United Wa State Army in Shan State, which has been accused of coddling drug dealers in the areas under its control, killed eight suspected drug traffickers and seized millions of methamphetamine tablets last week.
Topic: Shan State, UWSA
Description: "The UWSA operation on Tuesday and Wednesday in northern Shan netted 4.8 million methamphetamine tablets and neutralised a drug-trafficking syndicate, a spokesman for the group said. U Nyi Rang, UWSA spokesperson, said nine drug traffickers were arrested by an anti-drug task force. “We ordered the gang to surrender, but they refused. They began firing at our men so we fired back.” He said the UWSA had dispatched fighters to the Thai-Myanmar border after receiving a tip-off about a drug operation in the area on September 10. U Nyi Rang said some gang members were able to flee across the Thai border during the clashes. He gave no details about the traffickers but said they were from another Myanmar ethnic group. The UWSA, the largest ethnic armed group in Myanmar, is based in northern and eastern Shan, and has a reputation for trafficking illegal drugs all over the world. The Thai government has often accused the group of trafficking drugs across the Thai border. The UWSA has denied all accusations, saying that the drug traffickers operating in their territory were from other parts of Myanmar..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-10-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "In the evening of August 18, 2019, Burma Army troops from Infantry Battalion 68 fired shells from the local temple directly into the village of Koong Sa, about 10 kilometers northeast of Lashio town, killing a 52-year-old farmer. Early that morning, Brotherhood Alliance troops had passed near Koong Sa. Soon afterwards, Burma Army IB 68 troops began firing shells towards Koong Sa and nearby villages from about five kilometers to the west, damaging several houses. Burma Army helicopters also dropped bombs in the nearby jungle, causing many villagers to start fleeing from their homes. Around midday, about fifty IB 68 troops, led by Major Aung Gyi, entered Koong Sa and set up camp in the village temple, where many villagers were taking shelter. That evening, at about 6 pm, these troops began firing 60 mm shells directly into Koong Sa village. One of the shells fell near 52-year-old Loong Aye, who was searching for his family at a neighbour’s house, about 200 meters from the temple. Shrapnel struck him in the chest, killing him instantly. His body was picked up by a social welfare group the next day and taken to Lashio Hospital, then cremated..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Human Rights Foundation"
2019-08-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 503.18 KB 426.7 KB 501.14 KB
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Description: "Serious abuses against civilians in northern Shan State have traumatized the local population, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization. Despite the Burma Army’s extension of its unilateral ceasefire in northern Shan State, human rights abuses remain a serious problem in the Ta’ang area in the region, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO). The group says that it documented more than 80 cases of serious human rights violations in northern Shan State in the first six months of this year. “There are a total of 85 people. They were tortured, threatened, and sexually abused. Some were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. Some are still in custody in jail. Some have completely disappeared,” Lway Chi Sanga, the spokesperson for the TWO, told NMG. According to statistics compiled by the TWO between January and June 2019, there were 30 cases of people being arrested, of whom 11 are still in jail or prison. There were also 30 cases of torture, three of murder, and two of sexual assault. Landmines claimed 20 civilian casualties, including five who died from their injuries..."
Source/publisher: "BNI Multimedia Group"
2019-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "On July 6, 2019, a Lahu villager was beaten by Burma Army troops of LIB 579 when buying rice in his village, Wan Mong Lieng, Mong Lieng village tract, Mong Peang township, Mong Hsat district, eastern Shan State. On that day, at 6 pm, 32-year-old Ja Paw, went into a rice shop to buy rice, when he met 20 Burma Army soldiers from LIB 579, who asked him whether he was taking the rice to Shan troops. They punched him seven times, as they questioned him: “Are you buying the rice for the Shan troops?” He replied: “No, I am just buying it for myself. I am going into the jungle to collect some herbal medicine to sell.” The Burma Army soldiers interrogated him for an hour before letting him go. Burma Army LIB 579 is based in Mong Hsat, supervised by Military Operations Command 14 under the control of the Triangle Regional Command in Kengtung, eastern Shan State Wan Mong Lieng village has 30 households, Shan and Lahu. Ja Paw is the son of Loong Ja Hay and Pa Na Hay, who are both Wan Mong Lieng villagers. On July 13-15, 2019, Burma Army troops from LIB 554, based in Mong Tum, went on patrol around Wan Na Koon Hsai, Mong Pu Awn village tract, Mong Peang township, eastern Shan State, and looted the local villagers’ livestock and vegetables. On July 13, 2019 at 8 am, about 30 troops from this unit looted chili, mustard leaves and a duck, all worth 15,000 kyats (=10 US$) belonging to Loong Kyaung Phoe Ma and Pa Kyaung Wo Jing, in Wan Na Koon Hsai village. On July 14, 2019 at 3 pm, the same troops came to steal three ducks worth 30,000 kyat (=20 US$) from Pu Lai Hsy Hseng and Pa Lai Hsy Lu in Wan Na Koon Hsai again. On July 15, 2019 at 7 am, the same troops came to steal three ducks worth 24,000 kyats (=16 US$) from Loong Kyaung Phoe Ma and Pa Kyaung Wo Jing, in Wan Na Koon Hsai village. The soldiers stayed outside the village, but came into the village to steal food...ရှမ်းပြည်အေရှေ့ပိုင်း၊ မိုင်းပျဉ်းမြို့နယ်တွင် ဆန်ဝယ်ပြီးပြန်လာသည့် ဒေသခံရွာသားတဦးကို အစိုးရစစ်တပ်၊ တပ်သားများက ရိုက်နှက်စစ်ဆေးခြင်း"
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Progressive Voice" via Shan Human Rights Foundation
2019-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 205.84 KB 198.2 KB
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Description: "Life is going from bad to worse for about 6,000 Shan villagers stuck in six camps for the displaced close to the Thai-Myanmar border. First, food aid was cut by international donors about 18 months ago, and recently Myanmar troops fired artillery shells near their camps, while drones have flown over their homes and citizens have been prevented from growing rice on nearby land. A new report, unveiled in Bangkok last Thursday (see video below), describes intimidation and other measures that are making life hellish for impoverished citizens stuck near the border of southern Shan state and northern Thailand. Displaced people in the camps were part of a mass exodus in the mid-to-late 90s when up to 300,000 people fled brutal massacres and forced eviction from their original villages in central Shan state, some of which were earmarked for the huge Tasang dam on the Salween River – a 7,000 megawatt project backed by Chinese and Thai utilities now known as the Mong Ton Dam. Most of those people were allowed to cross the border into Thailand and work in the north on orange plantations in Fang district and construction sites in Chiang Mai. But the security situation has become increasingly precarious for displaced villagers in the small camps along the border – Loi Kaw Wan, Loi Sarm Sip, Loi Lam, Loi Tai Leng and Kong Moong Murng, as well as Koung Jor near Wiang Haeng in northern Chiang Mai province. All of these sites had food support cut by international donors in late 2017. The Shan Human Rights Group (SHRG) says the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, has been reinforcing positions around five Shan IDP camps, while building new roads and sending out drones to monitor the displaced Shan, despite a ceasefire deal agreed to by the Shan State Army. It said that in February six 120-mm shells were fired at two IDP locations. “Terrified IDPs have been preparing bunkers and carrying out evacuation drills in preparation for further attacks,” the group said..."
Creator/author: JIM POLLARD
Source/publisher: Asia Times
2019-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''The Rohingya crisis continues to take a heavy toll on the nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya remaining in Myanmar, and Myanmar’s international reputation, and remains a significant barrier to peace. No durable solution is on the horizon for the refugees, most of whom are in crowded camps exposed to health and natural disaster risks. Muslims remaining in Rakhine State suffer increasingly entrenched conditions of apartheid, with limited access to essential services and livelihoods. The human catastrophe on both sides of the border represents a major threat to peace and security. The ethnic Rakhine are also on a collision course with Naypyitaw, particularly over the detention and potential high treason conviction of a key Rakhine leader. This has undermined the Rakhine population’s confidence in politics and is driving broad support for the Arakan Army insurgency, which has sharply escalated attacks and threatens to tip the state into prolonged armed conflict. Elsewhere, in the north east, armed conflict has eased due to the unexpected declaration by the military on 21 December of a unilateral ceasefire in Shan and Kachin States. However, clashes between ethnic armed groups continue, the peace process remains moribund, and insecurity is exacerbated by increasingly lucrative opportunities for armed groups in drug production, human trafficking, and a range of other illicit activities...''
Source/publisher: International Crisis Group (ICG)
2019-01-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In 2004, Ngwe Yi Pale Company began coal mining in Nam Ma tract of Hsipaw township. The mining has destroyed farmlands and irrigation sources, and caused water and air pollution, mi-pacing over 3,000 people. The Nam Ma villagers have been calling for a stop to the mining since April 1, 2016, but the company has continued expanding the mining area. In May 2016, the Burma Army carried out an attack in the area to clear out the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army, and protect the mining operations. Villagers were killed, arrested and beaten. Now, over a hundred trucks of coal are being transported out of the area each day. The villagers of Nam Ma are urging the Burmese government to immediately stop the mining operations, which are damaging their farming livelihoods, environment and health..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2017-06-28
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 14.1 MB
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Description: Commentary: Extortion Everywhere... Contents: Themes & Places of Violations reported in this issue... Acronyms... MAP... Situation of extortion in various government civil and social services department in Shan State... Extortion on issuance of citizen identity cards in Keng-Tung... Extortion on issuance of citizen identity card in Ta-Khi-Laek... Extortion concerning electricity department in Kaeng-Tung... Extortion by electricity department in Kaeng ?Tawng sub-township, Murng-Nai township... Extortion by land survey department in Kaeng Tawng sub-township, Murng-Nai township... Extortion by authorities in charge of anti-human-trafficking, at airports and checkpoints in Kaw-Law and Ta-Khi-Laek... Extortion by members of telephone department in Kaeng-Tung... Extortion by road and vehicle control department in Kaeng-Tung... Situation of extortion by police and military at checkpoints in Shan State... Extortion at checkpoints near Thai-Border in Murng-Ton.
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
2012-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: All the reports in this month?s issue are about the use of unpaid civilian forced labourers, especially as guides and porters, and a few incidents of other violations, committed by Burmese army patrols in rural Shan State during the period from early up to late 2012...... * Commentary: Forced Labour: Forced Portering Continues *Contents *Acronyms *Map *Situation of forced portering in Nam-Zarng *Villagers forced to serve as porters during military operation in Nam-Zarng *Villagers forced to serve as porters after being robbed of their chickens in Nam-Zarng *Routine use of forced labour of civilian guides and porters, and extortion, in Nam-Zarng *Situation of forced portering in Murng-Paeng *Villagers forced to routinely serve as unpaid guides and porters in Murng-Paeng *Frequent forced portering causing a village to become almost deserted in Murng-Paeng *Increased forced portering in Murng-Paeng *Situation of forced portering in other townships *Many days of mass forced portering in Murng-Su and Kae-See *Frequent and lengthy forced portering causing people to flee, in Larng-Khur *Civilian guides forced to carry ammunition in Kun-Hing
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
2012-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Commentary: Land Grabbing and Related Issues and Abuses Continue... Contents: Themes & Places of Violations reported in this issue... Acronyms: MAP... Land abandoned under force seized and original owners required to buy them back, in Lai-Kha... Burmese military let people?s militia groups grow crops on lands long cultivated by local people, in Nam-Zarng... Situation of land grabbing and related abuses in areas under the influence of a ceasefire group ?UWSA”, in Murng-Ton... Original local people forced to sell land, restricted from cultivating remorte farms, in Murng-Ton... Threats of land confiscation, arrest and restrictions, in Murng-Ton... Wresting of water from original local farmers, in Murng-Ton... Land grabbed and resold by businessman under ?UWSA” protection, in Murng-Ton.
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
2013-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: 10,000 Shans uprooted, 500 houses burned in Burmese regime?s latest scorched earth campaign (press release)... Map of villages forcibly relocated... Summary of villages forcibly relocated... Images of the Burmese regime?s latest scorched earth campaign
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN), Shan Relief and Development Committee, Shan Sapawa Environmental Organisation, Shan Youth Power, Shan Health Committee
2009-08-13
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: A report on forced relocation and extrajudicial killings in Shan State, Burma. Since the publication of "Uprooting the Shan," the report by the SHRF detailing the forced relocation program carried out by the SLORC in Shan State during 1996, the SLORC military regime (recently renamed the State Peace and Development Council or SPDC) has been continuing to uproot more villages throughout 1997 and early 1998. Many of the relocation sites that were the results of 1996 relocations have been forced to move again. Human rights abuses such as mass killings, rape, torture and looting have been committed repeatedly by the SPDC troops against the displaced population. This has prompted the need to publish this updated report, containing more complete lists and maps of the relocated villages, and detailing the many extrajudicial killings committed by the military regime in the areas of relocation. We hope that this report will give a clearer picture to the international community of the devastating effects of the forced relocation program on the population of Central Shan State. KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
1998-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Civilians in the central Shan State are suffering the enormous consequences of internal armed conflict, as fighting between the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army, and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) continues. The vast majority of affected people are rice farmers who have been deprived of their lands and their livelihoods as a result of the State Peace and Development Council?s (SPDC, Myanmar?s military government) counter-insurgency tactics. In the last four years over 300,000 civilians have been displaced by the tatmadaw, hundreds have been killed when they attempted to return to their farms, and thousands have been seized by the army to work without pay on roads and other projects. Over 100,000 civilians have fled to neighbouring Thailand, where they work as day labourers, risking arrest for "illegal immigration" by the Thai authorities.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/11/00)
2000-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Francais
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Description: It has now been over three years since the tatmadaw, or Burmese army, started a mass forcible relocation program of hundreds of thousands of Shan civilians. In March 1996 the army began to relocate over 300,000 members of the Shan ethnic minority in central Shan State in an effort to break up any links between civilians and members of the Shan State Army - South (SSA), an ethnic minority armed opposition group. After villagers were relocated, they were forbidden from returning to their homes and farms to work in their fields and collect belongings -- those who disobeyed were frequently shot on sight by Burmese troops. In addition relocated Shan civilians were used as a pool of labourers to do work without pay and against their will. Keywords: Ethnic groups, forced labour, indiscriminate killing, refugees, displaced people, military, farmers, extrajudicial execution. ... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/13/99)
1999-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, French
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Description: 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 tortured 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 can not be accurately calculated. Therefore the information presented below represents only a part of the story.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/05/98)
1998-04-15
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Deutsche Übersetzung des Artikels "Licence to rape" Die in Nordthailand im Exil ansässige Menschenrechtsorganisation "Shan Women?s Action Network" (SWAN) erstellte im Mai 2002 einen umfassenden und detaillierten Bericht über die weitverbreitete Anwendung sexueller Gewalt gegen Frauen und Mädchen im Shan Staat (im Nordosten des burmesischen Staatsgebiets). Dieser Bericht trägt den schockierenden Titel: "License to Rape" - Lizenz zur Vergewaltigung Der Report belegt detailliert, dass das burmesische Militär in systematischer Weise Vergewaltigungen als Mittel der Kriegsführung gegen das Volk der Shan benutzt Inhalt Vergewaltigung als "Kriegswaffe" geduldet Militarisierung verursacht zunehmende Gefährdung durch Vergewaltigung Zwangsarbeit Die Überlebenden Sexuelle Gewalt als internationales Verbrechen
Creator/author: Shan Herald Agency for News- Deutsche Übersetzung: Freunde der Shan
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-08-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: "This document presents new evidence of a consistent pattern of unlawful killing and ill-treatment of members of Burma's ethnic minorities by security forces, including the army and police. It is a follow-up to a document published in May 1988, Burma: Extrajudicial Execution and Torture of Members of Ethnic Minorities. That document presented evidence of unlawful killings and torture of members of the Karen, Kachin and Mon ethnic minorities. This document provides information about allegations of similarly severe violations of the human rights of members of the Shan ethnic minority. It also describes the cases of two or three Shan who may be prisoners of conscience. There is information suggesting they may be imprisoned because of their ethnic background and their non-violent political opinions or peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/10/88)
1988-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: Summary: "Wrong-headed agricultural and development policies, counter-insurgency activities, as well as corruption and cronyism by the Burmese military regime, have all caused a dramatic decrease in rice production and food security in southern Shan State over the past ten years. The township of Mong Nai provides a good example of how food security, commonly defined as the physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times, has been put in a precarious condition despite the regime?s claims that it is achieving self-sufficiency and agricultural development. In the past Mong Nai was well known for its fertile land and abundant production of quality rice. Even though people could not make much income from their crops, they had enough to survive. Since 1994, however, a series of national policies and initiatives have led to a decline in rice production, the abandonment of fertile fields, and the exodus of thousands of residents to neighbouring Thailand. In order to implement its national rice procurement policy, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) set up a paddy (unmilled rice) buying center in the town of Mong Nai in 1994. Farmers were forced to sell rice to the regime at depressed prices (about one quarter of the normal market price) based on the acreage of land they customarily tended and regardless of actual crop yields. This center, and how its quota system was implemented, disrupted farmers? access to their own rice harvests and drove many into debt. The SPDC proudly announced the abolishment of this system and the opening of a market-oriented economy in 2003. However, new practices have been able to ensure that the military maintains its own stores of rice at the expense of local populations. agriculture, and led to decreased rice production and food security in the township. The amount of rice fields under cultivation has decreased by approximately 56% since 1994 while the population has decreased by approximately 30%. The drastic decrease in upland agriculture has practically wiped out the cultivation of sesame and the subsequent production of sesame oil in the township, while a wide variety of beans, fruits, and other vegetables are also not cultivated. Restrictions on trade and travel have made foodstuffs harder to get and more expensive. Contrary to the regime?s claims, Burma is not on the road to self-sufficiency and food security."... Table of Contents: Summary.2; Background 4; Food and Agriculture Situation Before 1994 5; Rice Procurement Policy/the Quota System 6; Forced Relocation 7; Map 1: Rice Cultivation and Villages in 1994 8; Map 2: Rice Culitvation, Remaining Villages and Confiscated Lands in 2005 9; Land Confiscation 10; Restricted Movement 12; Trading Restrictions 13; Forced Planting of Summer Paddy 13; Conclusion: The Situation Today 15... Appendix 1: Decrease in Rice Production in Mong Nai Township 1994-2005 16.
Source/publisher: Shan Relief and Development Committee (SRDC)
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Deutsche Übersetzung des montalichen Menschenrechtsbericht der Shan Human Rights Foundation. Monthly Human Rights report of the SHRF.
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2003-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Deutsche Übersetzung des montalichen Menschenrechtsberichts der Shan Human Right Foundation. Monthly report of the SHRF.
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2003-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Introduction, interviews, maps and photos, including of crops sprayed with the defoliant 2,4-D (an Agent Orange ingredient) supplied to the Burmese military by the US Government.
Source/publisher: Project Maje
1987-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Continued Forced Relocations and Displacement in Shan State. "This report aims to provide a picture of the current situation in central Shan State, where the military junta ruling Burma has forcibly uprooted and destroyed over 1,400 villages and displaced well over 300,000 people since 1996. This campaign against civilians is still continuing after 4 brutal years, leaving much of the Shan population homeless. In this report, some of the villagers who both lived in relocation sites and hid in the jungle to avoid relocation describe their experiences. Further background and detail on the campaign to uproot the Shan can be found in the previous Karen Human Rights Group reports "Killing the Shan" (KHRG #98-03, 23/5/98) and "Forced Relocation in Central Shan State" (KHRG #96-23, 25/6/96), which are available online at this web site or by request from KHRG, and in the April 1998 report "Dispossessed: Forced Relocation and Extrajudicial Killings in Shan State" by the Shan Human Rights Foundation." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2000-03)
2000-04-05
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The interviews in this report are with people from 2 areas over 300 kilometres apart: Mong Hsat in southeastern Shan State, about 70 km. west of Tachilek and 50 km. north of the Burma-Thai border, and Hsipaw in northwestern Shan State, along the main road from Mandalay to Lashio. Forced relocation (Interviews #1,3,4), land confiscation for Army camps (#1-4), land confiscation for Army farms (#1,2,5), land confiscated for resale by the Army (#4), land confiscation for Mong Hsat airport extension (#3,4), crop confiscation (#1,3), meat confiscation (#4,5), cash extortion (#1,3-5), forcing villagers to buy mules for the Army (#4,5), logging (#1), climate change due to logging (#1,2), hardship caused by visit of foreign Ambassadors (#1), corruption on airline flights (#4), SSA abuses (#1), USDA (#1), "People?s Desires" (#1). Forced Labour: Farming (#1-4), roads (#4,5), pagoda (#1), Army camps (#2,3, 5), porters (#1,4,5), in town (#1), preparing for visit of foreign Ambassadors (#1)..." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #96-26)
1996-07-27
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report aims to provide a picture of the current situation in central Shan State, where the military junta ruling Burma has forcibly uprooted and destroyed over 1,400 villages and displaced over 300,000 people since 1996. This campaign against civilians is still continuing, and the number of villages destroyed is increasing each month. In this report, some of the villagers who have fled in 1997 and 1998 describe their experiences. Further background and detail on the campaign to uproot the Shan can be found in the previous Karen Human Rights Group report "Forced Relocation in Central Shan State" (KHRG #96-23, 25/6/96), and in the April 1998 report "Dispossessed: Forced Relocation and Extrajudicial Killings in Shan State" by the Shan Human Rights Foundation ..." ..... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocaton, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #98-03)
1998-05-23
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burmese military regime?s use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State...This report details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001... The report gives clear evidence that rape is officially condoned as a ?weapon of war? against the civilian populations in Shan State. There appears to be a concerted strategy by the Burmese army troops to rape Shan women as part of their anti-insurgency activities. The incidents detailed were committed by soldiers from 52 different battalions. 83% of the rapes were committed by officers, usually in front of their own troops. The rapes involved extreme brutality and often torture such as beating, mutilation and suffocation. 25% of the rapes resulted in death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to local communities...Evidence in this report has revealed that the Burmese military regime is using rape on a systematic and widespread scale as a ?weapon of war? against the ethnic populations in Shan State. It has also illustrated that the increased militarization of the region has greatly increased the vulnerability of women and girls to rape. Examining the jurisprudence from the ICTY and ICTR on sexual violence as an international crime, illustrates there is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed by the Burmese army in Shan State. The rape survivors have no recourse either to legal processes, or to any crisis support inside Shan State. Those fleeing to Thailand are also denied their right to protection and humanitarian assistance, and are liable to deportation at any time...".....Available in Shan,Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Hindi
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation, Shan Women
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Shan, Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Hindi
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Description: Amnesty International is concerned that the Burmese army has arbitrarily detained, extrajudicially killed, tortured and ill-treated members of ethnic minorities in the Shan and Mon States and the Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division in eastern Myanmar. This report is drawn from January and February 1996 interviews with dozens of members of the Shan, Akha, Lahu, Karen, and Mon ethnic minorities in Thailand. Most of these refugees are farmers and villagers who said they had fled from their homes because their lives were made impossible by the security forces.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/38/96)
1996-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English and French
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Description: In central Shan State of Burma, since May 1998 until the present, over 400 Shan villagers in Parng Long district have died with symptoms of poisoning. According to Shan human rights workers and local Shans, the sudden deaths began after the dumping by the Burmese military of thousands of poisoned rats into the Pawn River, the only source of water for the over 10,000 villagers in Wan Nong Wan Koong village in Pamg Long.
Creator/author: Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 2
1999-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Shan State has played a pivotal role in Burma?s modern political history, but its culture and people have been under siege since the spirit of the historic Panglong Agreement was killed along with Aung San and other assassinated independence leaders in 1947, writes Irrawaddy culture editor Min Zin. Once known as the "land of the Sunset Kings", the homeland of the Shan is now struggling to emerge from the shadow of Burmese cultural hegemony.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol.8. No. 6
2000-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Deterioration of the economic and human rights situation and increase in opium and amphetamine production in Ho Murng with the SLORC occupation which followed the surrender and departure of Khun Sa..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #98-07)
1998-06-13
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In December 1993, SLORC launched its first-ever major offensive against the territory of the Mong Ta Army (MTA) led by Khun Sa, who is generally referred to internationally as a ?drug warlord?. The SLORC has put a lot of effort into publicizing this internationally as a military offensive to eradicate narcotics, and has even asked the U.S. for military assistance. However, most Burma watchers agree that this is not an anti-narcotics offensive, pointing to the fact that the SLORC never attacked Khun Sa until he started making very strong Shan Nationalist noises: demanding that all Burmese troops leave Shan State, proclaiming its independence and having himself declared President. Furthermore, satellite photos and other evidence show that most of the opium is not being produced in Khun Sa?s territory at all, but in territory controlled by SLORC and its ceasefire partners like the Wa and Kokang. It seems more likely that the main purpose of this offensive is to strengthen SLORC?s control in Shan State, using ‘drug eradication? as an excuse for a brutal campaign. Regardless of Khun Sa?s real or perceived faults and the question of his sincerity, many people in Shan State are rallying to his Shan Nationalist line, encouraged by the fact that his is the only army in Shan State currently fighting the common enemy, SLORC..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
1994-08-20
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Recent Reports of Burmese Military Human Rights Abuse in the Shan State.
Source/publisher: Project Maje
1988-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Deutsche Ünberstzung des monatlichen Menschenrechtsberichts der SHRF. Monthly SHRF human rights report.
Creator/author: SHRF
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2003-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-03-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Deutsche Ünberstzung des monatlichen Menschenrechtsberichts der SHRF. Monthly SHRF human rights report.
Creator/author: SHRF
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2003-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-02-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Deutsche Übersetzung des monatlichen Menschenrechtsberichts der SHRF. Monthly SHRF human rights report.
Creator/author: SHRF
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2003-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Deutsche Übersetzung des monatlichen Menschenrechstberichts des SHRF. Monthly SHRF human rights report.
Creator/author: SHRF
Source/publisher: Freunde der Shan - Friends of the Shan
2002-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2002-12-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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