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S.H.R.F. October Report
- Subject: S.H.R.F. October Report
- From: shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 23:46:00
MONTHLY REPORT ? OCTOBER 1998
OF
SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION (S.H.R.F.)
A FAMILY OF 4 SHOT DEAD, THE DAUGHTER RAPED BEFORE BEING KILLED
On 27.8.98, a farming family of 4 were shot dead by SPDC (State Peace and
Development Council ? Burma?s current ruling military junta) troops from
LIB502 led by Maj Maung Ong at a farm near Wor Tawng village, Ho Lin tract,
Murng Pan township. The victims were:
1. Loong Pan-Ta, aged 42, head of family
2. Pa Zern, 39, Loong Pan-Ta?s wife
3. Sai Lon, 20, son of Loong Pan-Ta & Pa Zern
4. Nang Poi, 17, daughter of Loong Pan-Ta & Pa Zern
The family was staying overnight and tending their rice and soya bean farm
when 80-90 SPDC troops came to the farm, one and a half miles from Wor
Tawng village, and plundered the farm hut, taking what they liked including
all the half-basket of rice, chilli, salt and soya bean the family kept for
cooking meals.
The soldiers took Loong Pan-Ta to the forest outside the farm, tied him up
and interrogated him for information about Shan soldiers. When he kept
saying he did not know and had not seen any, the troops brought his son Sai
Lon to the place, tied him up and interrogated him the same way. When Sai
Lon also denied seeing any Shan soldiers, they brought Pa Zern and did the
same to her.
Pa Zern also denied having seen any Shan soldiers, so Maj Maung Ong and
his troops shot her dead right in front of her husband and her son, and
further interrogated them, threatening to shoot them if they did not give
any information. When they could not get any news they wanted, the troops
shot Loong Pan-Ta in front of his son. They continued to interrogate and
torture Sai Lon until he died.
The troops then went on to the deserted village of Wan Tham, taking the
daughter, Nang Poi, with them and raped her all night in a deserted house.
On the next morning, the troops went back to the killing site and showed
Nang Poi what had happened to her parents and her brother. When Nang Poi
saw the fate of her parents, she burst into tears and clutched her dead
mother in her lap. The soldiers then shot her too.
The interpreter, being used by the soldiers was so horrified that he could
not hold back his tears. When the SPDC Major saw tears in his eyes, he
threatened him; "Why are you crying. Do you want to die with them?".
-----------------------------------------------
VILLAGERS SHOT DEAD WHILE GATHERING THEIR CATTLE
On 8. 8. 98, about 80-90 SPDC troops from IB247 shot dead 3 villagers and
wounded 1 at the deserted village of Wan Phui 5 miles north-east of
Kho-Lam relocation site, Nam-Zarng township.
On that day, these 5 villagers, who had been forcibly moved to Kho-Lam
relocation site, had managed to get a pass from the local SPDC authority to
go and gather their cattle, which they were unable to take with them when
they were forced to move and had let loose around their former villages.
They were able to round up 21 water-buffalo and 19 cows in the areas of Wan
Phui and Pha-Ngarb, about 8 miles from Kho-Lam, and grouped them at Wan
Phui. The herd was a bit too big for them to drive to Kho-Lam, so one of
them went back to Kho-Lam to fetch more menfor some more men. The five
villagers were:?-
1. Wi-La-Sa (m), aged 45
2. Awng Sa (m), 37
3. Sai Kawn (m), 30 (who went back to Kho-Lam to get more men)
4. Wi-Ling (m), 27
5. Sai Par (m), 30
While the villagers were waiting at Wan Phui for Sai Kawn to return with
some more men, 80-90 troops of IB247 led by Commander San Oo came along
and, on seeing them, arrested them. The soldiers accused them of working
for the Shan resistance, trading with money they got from ?Yawd Serk? (one
of the Shan leaders still fighting against the military regime) as capital,
and took away all their cattle, forcing them to drive them from behind
while some soldiers pulled them in the front, heading for Nam-Zarng.
At one point on the way, the soldiers stopped and told the villagers to
gather together. Just as the soldiers started to shoot, Wi-Ling, 27, who
happened to be a bit far away, ran into the nearby forest and managed to
escape even though he got a bullet wound in one of his arms.
The other 3 villagers ?
1. Wi-La-Sa, aged 45
2. Awng Sa, aged 37
3. Sai Par, aged 30 ? were shot dead, just 3 miles south of Kho-Lam.
-----------------------------------------------
THE FATE OF A RETURNING REFUGEE FAMILY
On 2.9.98, Pa Mai, aged 45, a widow of one of the victims of the well
known Tard Pha Ho massacre on 16.6.97 in Kun Hing township, and her son Sai
Parng, 29, were tortured and killed at Parng Sak deserted village, Kaeng
Lom tract, Kun-Hing township,by SPDC troops of IB246 led by Commander Ba
Maung Kyaw. Sai Parng?s wife was raped, and only released because she had a
small baby.
In mid-1997, after conducting religious funeral for her departed husband,
Pa Mai and her remaining family members and some other relatives and fellow
villagers, fearing further abuses from the Burmese military, came to seek
refuge in Thailand. After eking out a living as labourers in one of the
orange orchards in the border area for more than a year, Pa Mai heard that
the military authorities in Kun Hing were permitting relocated villagers to
return to their original villages.
So, on 4.8.98, Pa Mai and some 7 of her relatives, including her son and
daughter-in-law, left Thailand and headed back to Kun Hing. They reached
Kun Hing on 11.8.98.
In Kun Hing, Pa Mai visited all her relatives and friends and discussed
the possibility of going back to her former village with the village tract
headman, Pan-Ta. After the headman explained the situation to her, Pa-Mai
then asked for a pass from him and asked him to help her get a pass from
the SPDC Commander of IB43 Lt Col Ong Myint in Kung Hing. With the help of
the headman, Pa Mai managed to get a pass for 3 persons - herself, her son
and daughter-in-law - from the Commander and had to pay 300 Kyat for each.
She also gave 500 Kyat to the headman for his help.
On 1.9.98, Pa Mai, together with her son and daughter-in-law, then went to
her decaying house in her former village of Parng Sak where she and her
late husband had buried their valuable belongings ? 1500 silver coins
(relics from the British colonial era), 30 Kyat-weight of gold, 2 rubies
(bought at 8000 Kyat each) and 3 sapphires (bought at 2360 Kyat).
At about 2:30 p.m., Pa Mai had retreived her belongings and was about to
return to Kun Hing with her son and daughter-in-law when they ran into
about 120 SPDC soldiers from LIB246 led by Maj Maung Kyaw.
The soldiers stopped them and searched them. When he found the valuable
things, the SPDC Major took them all and forced Pa Mai to show him where
she got them, thinking that there must still be some more left burried. But
when Pa Mai showed them the place and told them there was no more, they
tortured her and tied her up for the night, and tied up her son as well.
But they were kept at different places and Nang Kya Non was taken to yet
another place and raped by the Major.
During the night, the Major told Nang Kya Non that he would kill all 3 of
them the next day. Nang Kya Non then begged for mercy and told him that she
had an eight-month-old baby to care for, and that she knew nothing about
the valuables since she was only an in-law.
The next morning, Major Maung Kyaw let Nang Kya Non go, but shot dead both
Pa Mai and Sai Parng.
-----------------------------------------------
KILLINGS IN SA-NIN, LAI KHA
On 19.8.98, SPDC trooops from IB64 in Lai Kha shot dead the following
villagers in a farm and beside the road south of Tawng Larn village, Sa-Nin
tract.
1. Sang Suay, aged 17, son of Loong Thun & Nai Sai from Tawng Larn village.
2. Sang Sai, 17, son of Loong Ku & Pa Ing from Tawng Larn village.
3. Sang Mawng, 18, son of Loong Thawn & Pa Kham from Wan Parng village,
Sa-Nin tract.
4. Sang Khin, 16, son of Loong Sang Khun & Pa Lam from Parng Poi Zar
village, Sa-Nin tract.
In addition the troops from IB64 threatened to shoot all men over 15 years
of age if they found them.
-----------------------------------------------
KILLINGS IN HO PONG
On 4.4.98, SPDC troops from Lai Kha-based LIB515 led by Capt Soe Min Oo
shot dead the following villagers in Murng Larng tract, Ho Pong township.
1. Sai Aw, son of Loong Ti-Ya & Nai Seng of Kho Pek village, Murng Larng
tract.
2. Nang Thuay, daughter of Loong Leng & Nai Zarm of Wan Tham village.
3. Nang Suay, aged 16, daughter of Sang Thun & Nai Khek of Nar Ping village.
4. Sai Sa La, aged 28, of Wan Huay village.
5. Sai Karng, aged 40, son of Loong Thun & Nai Zarm of Kun Taw-Maw village.
-----------------------------------------------
PORTER BEATEN AND TRAMPLED TO DEATH
On 10.8.98, about 80 SPDC troops of LIB520 led by Commander Zaw Thein
patrolled the countryside in Murng-Pan township and seized a man named
Loong Yo, aged 30, who was returning from a rice farm, near Pa Kha village,
Ho Phai Long tract, to use as a porter.
Loong Yo had returned. According to the villagers who were also serving as
porters, when Loong Yo was taken, he was given a load so heavy that he
could barely walk and was frequently beaten along the way because he was
slow.
When the troops stopped for a rest, Loong Yo put down his load and
collapsed right away. When the soldiers saw this, they came and had a look,
and saying that Loong Yo was only pretending, they trampled on his neck
until he was dead.
-----------------------------------------------
RAPE AND EXTORTION IN MURNG-TON
On 19.8.98, Capt Shwe Nyunt, Commander of Company 2 of SPDC?s IB65 in
Murng-Ton, raped Nang Zing Yo, aged 17, in a farm hut 1 mile west of Nar Pa
Kao village, Me Ken tract, Murng-Ton township.
Capt Shwe Nyunt was on a patrol with 58 troops when he saw Nang Zing Yo
who was collecting firewood in the forest west of Nar Pa Kao village. He
called her and asked many questions on various information for a while and
took her to a nearby farm hut.
In the farm hut he told Nang Zing Yo to take off her clothes and lie
down. When she refused to do so, he pointed his pistol at her and said, "Do
you want to die and deprive your parents of their daughter?". Still, Nang
Zing Yo refused to give in, so Shwe Nyunt used his physical strength and
raped her, and released her after 3 hours of raping.
Nang Zing Yo went back to the village crying and immediately complained
about it to the headman of Nar Pa Kao, and the headman in turn complained
to the Commander of IB65 Lt Col Shwe Myint (aka) Hla Myint. The Commander
then sent for 5 other villagers and asked them, including the headman,
whether they had seen Capt Shwe Nyunt rape Nang Zing Yo. The villagers said
that they had not seen the act of raping itself, but they had seen Nang
Zing Yo come, crying and complaining, to them.
The Commander then scolded the villagers, saying that they had tried to
defame the army by accusing one of their members of rape without having
witnessed anything, and fined each of the villagers 2000 Kyat. Nang Zing Yo
herself was fined 5000 Kyat.
-----------------------------------------------
RAPE IN SA-NIN, LAI KHA
On 1.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB515 led by Commander Thein Aung raped 2
village girls at Zaet Lawk village, Sa-Nin tract, Lai Kha township.
On that day, the troops came to the village and in the evening forcibly
seized Nang Zarm Hawm, aged 14, daughter of Loong Wi & Pa Oong and Nang
Thuay, aged 14, daughter of Loong Kham Leng & Pa Sai, and took them to a
deserted house and locked them up inside. The parents of both were beaten
with rifle butts when they tried to protect their daughters. The soldiers
took turns and raped the 2 girls all night in the old house, and left the
village on the next morning.
When the troops had gone, the parents of the girls immediately went to
look for their daughters and found them lying in the deserted old house.
Both girls were so weak they could hardly raise their heads, let alone move
around or stand up. They were taken to the hospital in Parng Long town on
ox-carts by their parents.
-----------------------------------------------
FORCED LABOUR IN MURNG-TON
In early September, SPDC troops of LIB519 stationed at Ta Sarng, a
crossing point on the Salween river in Murng Ton, led by Capt Than Soe
stopped people who were passing through from Murng Nawng, Murng Kerng, Lai
Kha, Parng Long, Nam Zarng and Murng Nai, to use as unpaid labourers for
splitting rocks and stones.
On 8.9.98, the troops had gathered many people as follows:
1. 38 men, 27 women from Murng Nawng
2. 44 men, 33 women from Murng Kerng
3. 29 men, 25 women from Lai Kha
4. 11 men, 14 women from Parng Long
5. 13 men, 6 women from Nam Zarng
6. 25 men, 17 women from Murng Nai
160 122
These 282 men and women were those who had been forcibly relocated to
towns from rural areas over the last couple of years. They had been no
longer able to endure the SPDC troops? oppression at the relocation sites
and were heading for the border areas or Thailand.
According to the villagers, at the towns? relocation sites, they had been
forced by the SPDC military to serve as porters, as guides, to work at the
military camps and bases, and had to provide them with chicken and pork on
a regular basis so that each household had to give 2 viss of chicken each
month and collectively give a pig weighing 30-40 viss. A viss of pork cost
between 250 and 300 Kyat, and a pig bought for the military usually cost
10000-12000 Kyat and every household had to share the cost. These were big
burdens for families who had virtually no income.
In addition, the people in the relocation sites were not allowed to go
beyond 3 miles from the towns? perimeter, preventing most of them from
cultivating rice and other crops on farms beyond 3 miles from towns. Those
who risked working on distant farms were shot.
The situation of the relocated people had become so frustrating that many
of them had sold their remaining meagre possessions or cattle to cover the
cost of the journey to the border or to seek refuge in Thailand. Those who
could not afford the journey continued to subsist as day labourers in the
towns they were supposed to resettle in, earning 100-150 Kyat per day while
the price of rice was 250-280 Kyat per Pyi (about 8 condensed-milk tins).
-----------------------------------------------
PEOPLE IN KAENG-TAWNG ASK FOR PERMISSION TO MOVE AWAY
People in Kaeng Tawng area in Murng Nai township have been so brutally
oppressed by SPDC troops that they have submitted a letter to the SPDC
local authorities imploring to be allowed to move away.
On 1.9.98, headed by the village tract headmen of Ton Hoong tract, Kun
Mong tract and Nawng Hee tract, all the people in the area had unanimously
submitted a letter to Murng Nai Township PDC Officer U Saw Lwin begging to
let them leave the area.
On 7.9.98, the villagers submitted the same letter to Kung Hing Township
PDC Officer U Hla Kyaw.
In that letter, the villagers stated the following points as their main
motivations to move:
1. When SPDC troops saw footprints at places such as outskirts of towns
and villages, or near rice fields and farms, they often claimed that the
Shan resistance soldiers had come and collected food and other support
provided by the villagers. They arrested the village and tract leaders on a
charge of supporting the Shan soldiers and beat and tortured them often to
the point of losing consciousness, and eventually demanded 2-30,000 Kyat
for the release of each.
2. SPDC troops stationed at camps in the area forced the villagers to
cultivate yellow bean for the army. The villagers not only had to grow it,
but also had to tend it on a regular basis, including weeding and fencing,
so that they had virtually no time to care for their own needs.
3. Since 4.7.98, altogether 427 ox-carts were being forced to transport
teak lumber in Kaeng Tawng area to the SPDC military base of IB43 in Kung
Hing township. The 427 carts had been transporting for more than 2 months
but had not been able to finish half the job. Had the army used trucks
instead of carts, the job might have been done in 2 months, or even less.
However, the SPDC troops had put out an order banning all the carts from
leaving the area until the job was done. Some oxen had died from having to
work too hard.
4. The SPDC troops in the area had put more restrictions on the villagers,
prohibiting them from engaging in business enterprises, from setting up big
shops, from trading in cattle, from dealing in gems and from going to their
rice fields and farms located beyond 3 miles away.
Though the letter had been in their hands for some time, the SPDC
authorities had not yet given any answer and this was causing a lot of
anxiety among the headmen and the villagers.
The SPDC military personnel deployed in Kaeng Tawng area were 80-110
troops from Kun Hing-based LIB524, led by Maj Htun Mya.
-----------------------------------------------
VARIOUS OTHER VIOLATIONS
On 19.8.98, at about 12:00 hrs, SPDC troops from LIB515 led by Capt Maung
Oo arrested a man named Thun Yaen from Kawng Kharm village, Wan Yurng
tract, Lai Kha township, to serve as a porter. At one point on the way,
they beat him with a rifle butt on the head till it bled, and kicked him
all over until he lost consciousness. They then dumped him at the side of
the road and left him. Many other porters had witnessed the event. Whether
he died or lived was not known at the time of this report.
On 20.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB515 arrested a man, Ka Ling, from Ho Parng
village, Wan Yurng tract, Lai Kha township to use as a porter. The troops
also robbed him of his possessions; he lost ? 4 muskets, 1 Kyat-weight of
gold, 2000 Kyat of money and a new flannel shirt. The soldiers accused him
of helping to conceal the Shan soldiers and put a plastic sheet over his
face and beat and kicked him. After that they tied him to the yoke of his
load and forced him to go along with them. He had not yet been released at
the time of writing this report.
On 21.8.98, SPDC troops robbed the villagers of Kung Kaw village, Murng
Khun tract, Murng Kerng township.
1. Ekka (m) lost 1 wrist-watch, 3 tins (5-gallon tins) of cooking oil, 2
cassette tape recorders, 5-1/2 Kyat-weight of gold and 60 ancient silver
coins.
2. A-Lo-Ka (m) lost all his rice paddy, 1 sewing machine and 2 tape recorders.
3. Mae-Tha (m) lost all his household possessions and 30000 Kyat of money.
On 16.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB515 and IB64 dismantled 100 sheets of
corrugated iron roof from the Buddhist monastery and 200 sheets from the
house of a villager named Zaw Ka at the deserted village of Zi Zaw in Lai
Kha township. The troops took away the 300 iron sheets to the military base
at Wan Zing in Kae See township.
On 21.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB614 led by Maj Aung Gyi forced the
villagers in Wan Thi tract, Lai Kha township to sell 3160 baskets of paddy
and paid only 50 Kyat for 4 baskets.
Almost every day, SPDC troops from IB64 have been shooting the cattle
belonging to people in Lai Kha township for meat. They also often took
pillars, lumber and corrugated iron roofs from many of the desrted
villages. They had set up many shops along the road from Murng Nawng to Wan
Thi and would let no one, be they car drivers, ox-carts drivers,
passengers, foot-travellers or back-pack traders, pass without buying food
or other items from the shops.
On 21.8.98, 11 SPDC troops from LIB332 in Murng Pan led by Sergeant Myint
Soe arrested Sai Pong-Nya and took 50000 Kyat of money from him. After
taking the money, the soldiers told Sai Pong-Nya not to tell any one about
it at all, or else he would get into trouble.
On 6.8.98, some SPDC troops from LIB525, and some members of the people?s
mititia, led by Maj Khin Maung Nyo, about 20 men altogether, held up a
civilian passenger van on Larng Khur-Murng Pan road at Parng Nu Phai, a
place where frontiers of the 2 townships meet, and took away 1,000,000 Kyat
of money.
On 26.8.98, SPDC troops from IB248 robbed the villagers at Nawng Leng
village in Lai Kha township.
1. Kaw-Ta (m), aged 35, from Nam Naw village, Parng Sarng tract, Lai Kha
township lost 1 wrist-watch worth 12000 Kyat and 1 silver necklace worth
5000 Kyat.
2. A-Ta-Pa (m), aged 35, from Wan Parng, Parng Sarng tract, lost 1 cow
worth 8000 Kyat.
On 26.8.98, SPDC troops shot 2 water buffaloes, worth 50000 Kyat,
belonging to Paw Nerng (m), aged 30, of Wan Loi Kung village, Wan Tong
tract, Kae See township.
On 28.8.98, SPDC troops from IB286 robbed the people in Murng Kao and
Nawng Sawm tracts.
-----------------------------------------------
BULLYING IN KAENG TUNG
On 10.8.98, 5 SPDC troops headed by 2nd Lt Than Win from LIB974?s
Intelligence Unit in Kaeng Tung beat up a restaurant owner, Loong Sarm Tip,
splitting his scalp so badly that the wound had to be stiched 6 times.
On that day, the said troops came to a restaurant owned by Loong Sarm Tip
(m) in Zone 3 of Kaeng Tung town and ate some food costing 7,000 Kyat.
After eating, the soldiers refused to pay the cost and threatened the owner
with one thing after another. But the owner insisted on them paying the
cost, so they became angry and beat him up.
When the restaurant owner brought the case to the Commander of the
Intelligence Unit, he was only scolded. The Commander said to him, "If you
can?t give them even this much money, you should not open the restaurant at
all". The owner, fearing more abuses, did not dare press the case any further.
-----------------------------------------------
BEATING AND TORTURE IN TAKHILAEK
On 18.8.98, SPDC troops from Ta Lur-based LIB316 led by Company 1
Commander Capt Kyaw Tint accused the villagers of Pa Leo village, Kaeng
Larb tract, Takhilaek township, of providing shelter to members of
SSA-Eastern who had crossed over from Kaeng Kok, in Laos, on 6.8.98, and
arrested the village headman and others they suspected of being involved.
The troops beat and tortured the villagers while interrogating them. One
of the villagers was wounded so badly that he had to be hospitalised. Among
the beaten were:
1. Loong Narn Seng (m), aged 48, the headman
2. Loong Ten (m), aged 37
3. Sai Pern (m), aged 41 ? this man was the one who had to be treated at
Ta Lur hospital because of the serious wound in the head.
-----------------------------------------------
RESTRICTIONS ON TRUCKS IN TAKHILAEK
On 20.8.98, Takhilaek Township Peace and Development Committee Officer
Capt Aung Win issued an order banning heavy trucks from running on
Takhilaek-Kaeng Tung road.
3-ton and 6-ton trucks, and 6-wheel and 10-wheel trucks, were banned from
using the Kaeng Tung-Takhilaek main road for the reason that they were
ruining it.
More than 60 trucks from Kaeng Tung, Tawng Gi (Taunggyi) and other places
were stranded in Takhilaek when the order came out. All requests for
permission to return were turned down by the authorities. 2 trucks had
tried to sneak away by bribing the check point at Mark Yarng, but were
chased after and caught. Both trucks were confiscated and the drivers were
punished.
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S.H.R.F.
shrf@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date : 6 October 1998
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// END //.