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Myanmar
willing to negotiate with Karen rebels, but not Shan fighters
Myanmar's junta said Tuesday it was willing to
negotiate a ceasefire
with
the rebel Karen National Union (KNU), but would only accept total
surrender
from the Shan State Army (SSA), another ethnic militia. Both insurgent
groups have for decades been fighting an independence campaign against
the military regime in Yangon. Deputy military intelligence chief
Major-General
Kyaw Win told reporters that the government acknowledged the KNU was
fighting
for the cause of
the Karen minority. As such it was entitled to "exchange arms for
peace", a phrase used by the military to describe what is in
effect a ceasefire.
"We are ready at any time to exchange arms for peace with the KNU,
who have traditionally fought for the Karen cause, but the SURA (Shan
United Revolutionary Army) are nothing but off-shoots of Khun Sa's
drug army,and as such don't deserve anything," Kyaw Win said.
Myanmar's
government refers to the SSA as SURA, while Khun Sa was a notorious
drug
lord who surrendered to the regime in 1995, along with 15,000 of his
followers.
Kyaw Win said the military had only accepted unconditional surrender
from Khun Sa's rebel army, who were obliged to give up their arms.
But other
ethnic groups fighting for their people have been allowed to exchange
arms
for peace.
"Exchanging arms for peace is our standing policy when dealing
with ethnic groups representing their own people and that is why we
are leaving the peace-door open for the KNU," Kyaw Win said.
"When the time for a political solution arrives and (these
groups) contemplate turning themselves into political parties under a
new state constitution, they obviously wouldn't be able to keep their
arms." The military estimates
there are 7,000 rebels in the KNU, while the SSA is comprised of just
800
fighters.
Another government spokesman also described Tuesday
what he
said were
atrocities committed by the KNU and SSA in which hundreds of innocent
people had died.
"These two groups are both based inside Thailand and are being
aided and
abetted by that country," Colonel San Pwint said, repeating an
oft-made
claim -- rejected by Thailand -- that it provides military support to
rebel groups.
"There are no more KNU or SURA bases
inside our territory ... They are all on the other side in so-called
refugee
camps," he said, adding the military had therefore halted
offensives against
ethnic groups along the
border.
As of May 2000, over 122,000 ethnic Karen,
Karenni and Mon refugees, who had fled Yangon's military government,
lived
in at least 17 camps in the Thai border provinces of Tak and Mae Hong
Son.
Myanmar has long claimed that rebels use the camps as bases from which
to launch attacks against their troops.
Source: AFP, July 30,2002
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Rohingyas
and Acehnese seek UN help for refugee status
About 150 Rohingyas
from Myanmar and Acehnese from
Indonesia today congregated in front of the United Nations High
Commission
for Refugees in a bid to secure refugee
status before the expiry of the amnesty period.
With just two days left
before the amnesty period for illegal immigrants ends, they were
seeking
assistance against arrest under the strict immigration laws which will
come into effect on Aug 1. The 100-odd Rohingyas, comprising men,
women
and children, arrived outside the UNHCR office at Jalan Bukit Petaling
about 2.30pm and were later joined by about 50 Acehnese asylum
seekers.
A spokesman for the Rohingyas said they had come from all over
Malaysia
to plead for refugee status as they would be persecuted if sent back
to their country.
United Nations officials allowed the Rohingyas into
the
compound where they were interviewed individually before ushering in
the
group of
Acehnese.
Under the new provisions in the Immigration Act, illegal immigrants
risked being whipped and fined a maximum of RM10,000 or a jail term
not exceeding five years.
The Rohingyas have asked the UNHCR for
help, fearing that a return to their country could lead to persecution
by the junta-led Government for ethnic and religious reasons.
An estimated
10,000 Rohingyas are currently living here.Some 10,000 Acehnese are
also
said to be living in refugee-like
circumstances in Malaysia. Most claim to be fleeing from torture and
ill-treatment by the Indonesian military forces.
On June 17, nine Rohingya Muslims climbed over the
perimeter fence
to seek help from UNHCR officials. A UNHCR officer said the nine
entered the premises via a small hole between the front and second
gate.
The
following day, nine more immigrants broke into the compound to demand
refugee
status. However, the 18 immigrants were later arrested by police after
the UNHCR turned down their request.
Source: New Straits Times
, July 30,2002
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Southeast
Asian ministers urged to pressure Myanmar
A group of Southeast
Asian human rights and exile groups on Saturday called on the region's
ministers to use "whatever means they have at their
disposal" to pressure
Myanmar to end years of political stalemate.
Eight organizations highlighted
what they described as worsening
conditions in the military-ruled state
in an open letter to foreign
ministers of the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), who meet Monday in Brunei.
"While the recent release and freedom of movement of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi has been a cause for great optimism, we note with regret that
the problems of Burma
have actually worsened in the year since the last
ASEAN ministerial meeting,"
the letter said, referring to Myanmar by its
former name. "Burma continues to pose a threat to regional
security."
Among the signatories to the letter were rights and development group
Forum- Asia, the National Council of the
Union of Burma, National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and Altsean-Burma.
Myanmar's ruling military junta has long been
ostracized
by world powers for what critical governments and pressure groups
describe
as a terrible
human rights record, and its suppression of the pro-democracy movement
of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We urge the governments of ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum to
support all efforts in the pursuit of a peaceful political solution
using whatever means they may have at their disposal as a grouping,
and as individual governments," the groups said.
The groups
pointed to Myanmar's distinction as the world's largest
producer of narcotics
and its dramatic rise in methamphetamine
production as a key area of concern.
"Such an alarming proliferation of drugs has inflicted serious
damage to people in Burma and neighbouring countries," the groups
said, adding that despite a humanitarian crisis, the junta continues
to fund the expansion of the military at the expense of basic social
services.
In addition,
they urged ASEAN ministers to insist on the inclusion of
ethnic minorities
in the national reconciliation talks and the
announcement of a nationwide
ceasefire.
Several armed minority groups, including the Shan, the Karen and
Mon,continue to battle against forces loyal to Yangon.
The letter
also called for the ruling State Peace and Development
Council to release
all political prisoners in the country and continue
with the secret talks
between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi that have been brokered since
October
2000 by the UN's special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail.
Razali is due
to visit Yangon August 2. While Myanmar foreign minister Win Aung is
expected
to attend the Monday meeting of ASEAN ministers in Brunei, the junta
has
tried to prevent elaborate discussion of its human rights record at
the
regional meeting
amid expected criticism from the European Union and the United States.
Source: AFP, July 27,2002
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Smuggled
photos show brutal killings by Burmese army
Disturbing photographs
obtained by The Sunday Telegraph -- many of which are too shocking to
print
-- contain compelling evidence of atrocities by the Burmese army
during
the recent forcible relocation of 5,000 ethnic Karen villagers.
Although
there are regular accounts of attacks on civilians, it is
extremely rare
for pictures to be smuggled out of Burma's remote tribal regions in
the
jungles near the Thai border.
The photographs show the scene after 12
villagers had been shot dead and nine injured by Burmese soldiers who
sprayed
their huts with machine-gun fire. The victims had been hiding in the
jungle
because they feared they
were going to be bullied into service as army porters.
Survivors described the brutal incident and passed on the photographs
to a medical team of Americans and Thais who secretly crossed into
Burma to treat tribespeople.
The attack -- carried out by a light infantry
battalion -- was part of a military campaign that ended in Kya Inn
Seik
Kyi district last month.
Villagers were forced to move at gunpoint to distant relocation camps
in
an effort to undermine support for Karen rebels ahead of a new
offensive
designed to crush their 50-year insurgency. Six villages,
six schools and five churches were destroyed, according to an American
member of the Free Burma Rangers medical agency.
Three pastors -- many
Karen are Christian -- were captured and are still being held.
Last week also, three young deserters from the Burmese
army offered horrifying personal
accounts of life inside the country's notoriously brutal armed
forces.Their
testimony confirmed that the ruling generals were conducting a reign
of
terror in ethnic areas near the Thailand border even as they
negotiated with Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader, to end her
house arrest and lobbied the outside world for support.
Razali Ismail, the United
Nations special envoy to Burma, will arrive in Rangoon this week to
tell
the government that it must dramatically improve its human rights
record
or the international sanctions that are cripplingthe economy will not
be
lifted.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
, July 28,2002
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Human
Rights Watch urged UN special envoys to Burma to takeup the recent
plight of Burmese Muslims
By Bureau Chief
Chittagong, July 27: Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged
former Malaysian Ambassador Razali Ismail, the U.N.'s special envoy to
Myanmar, to take up the plight of the country’s embattled Muslim
community. The HRW also urged the Burmese Govt. to allow Ambassador
Razali and the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, unrestricted access to Muslim areas,
including the sites of last year's violence, so that they can meet
with local Muslim residents and community leaders, said Mike
Jendrzejczyk, Washington Director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch released a
briefing paper last week that recounted violent attacks against
Myanmar's Muslims in 2001, based on interviews with Muslims, religious
leaders inside the country and eyewitnesses.
Mr. Razali is due to make his eight-trip to Burma on
next August 2. “The Burmese government must protect the rights of
Muslims. Instead, it has imposed
restrictions on Muslim religious activities and taken no action to
punish those responsible for destroying
Muslim homes and mosques," he further said.
Human Rights Watch said that various factors sparked
last year's confrontations between Buddhists and Muslims, including
anger over the destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan,
in March 2001. Military authorities confiscated pirated photos
and videos of the Bamiyan statues being blown up by the Taliban,
fearful they would enflame Buddhist sentiment. But in some cities
outside Rangoon, there were credible reports of military intelligence
officers stirring up anti-Muslim violence.
The worst violence in eastern Burma took place in May
and September 2001, when the country's economic crisis
was particularly severe. In Taungoo, north of Rangoon, more than a
thousand people led by robed Buddhist monks attacked Muslim shops,
homes and mosques. There were beatings and at least nine deaths, but
the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) reportedly
did little or nothing to intervene to stop or prevent the attacks.
There were also outbreaks of violence in Prome (Pyi), Pegu town and
Hanthada town in early October, the paper further said.
News of the violence was quickly suppressed,
however, and little detailed information about what took place reached
the outside world, it said. Restrictions on travel by Muslims were far
more rigidly enforced in 2001, and earlier this year the government
tightly
restricted the number of Muslims allowed to travel to
Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Muslims claimed they continue to have
special difficulties getting passports to travel abroad, it further
said.
In Arakan State, a predominantly Muslim area, human
rights abuses have long been commonplace, including forced labour,
restrictions on freedom of movement, and destruction of mosques. The
SPDC continues to deny full citizenship rights to ethnic and religious
minority Rohingya villagers, leaving many of them
stateless and subject to severe restrictions on their freedom of
movement, right to own land, and access to education. But in
February 2001, full- scale riots
broke out in Sittwe (Akyab), the state capital. The
authorities did nothing to stop the violence
initially, though they ultimately intervened and imposed a curfew for
more than two months. Muslims from nearby areas were forbidden to
travel to Sittwe.
It led to further regulation of movement by Rohingya and other Muslims
within and out of Arakan, impeding their access to markets and health
care. As of May 2002, few Muslims were being allowed to travel freely
out of northern Arakan, the paper reported.
Later in the year, there were credible reports in
Arakan of local mosques being destroyed at the order of local military
commanders. One former Muslim teacher quoted government officials as
saying, "In Afghanistan, Talibans have destroyed statues of our
Lord Buddha, so that is why we were destroying your mosques
here," it further reported.
Human Rights Watch also urged the Burmese government
to take immediate steps to end the persecution of Muslim communities,
to prosecute those responsible for attacks on Muslim civilians and
property, and to ensure that losses are properly compensated.
Source: Editor ,Kaladan Press , July 27,2002
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A Rohingya teenage
girl gang raped
Rathedaung, July 24: On 10th July 2002, a Rohingya
teenage girl named Ms. Tayaba Khatun, 13, daughter of Maung Bullah
hailed from “Thamila village” of Rathedaung township, Arakan State
was raped by three Burmese armed forces, said a relative of the
victim.
On that day, the aforesaid three armed forces of
battalion No. 537 went to the said village to collect fowls without
paying money to the villagers. After seizing a lot of fowls from the
village theystored them in front of the Maung Bullah’s house. In one
stage, while they were drinking water from the house they saw the girl
was working in the kitchen. Finding the father of the victim absent
from the house, they forcibly entered the house of Maung Bullah, an
old
man, and caught hold of his younger daughter and raped her one after
another. They left for their camp leaving behind a big cock for the
victim, he further added.
While the rapists were entering the house her old
mother tried to resist, but she was pushed away.Showing a dagger, the
culprits silenced the old woman and tied her with pole inside the
house. The culprits then took hold of her teenage daughter and raped
her
until she fell unconscious and bled profusely, he further said.
However, the mother of the victim cried for help but
few came up at their rescue when villagers realised that the culprits
were army. Before leaving, the culprits threatened the victim and her
mother of
taking their life if they ever tell the incident to
others, another relative of the victim said.
The following morning when the poor Maung Bullah was
on his way to hospital with his daughter the military stopped and
disallowed them to go for treatment, he added.
On information, a kind hearted Rakhing old man took
the responsibility for treatment of the victim. He
took her to a private clinic in Rathedaung town and after proper
treatment, he brought her back home, said a villager.
The incident was reported to the concerned army
commander, but no action has been taken yet against the culprits, said
a relative.
Source: Editor ,Kaladan Press , July 24,2002
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Time
for Razali to Address Ethnics
By Marwaan Macan-Markar/Bangkok
July 22, 2002—When UN special envoy to Burma Razali
Ismail arrives in Rangoon in early August, Burma watchers and exiles
will be looking to see what pressure he puts on Rangoon's military
junta to end the flagrant attacks on the country's many ethnic groups.
The former Malaysian diplomat's behind-the-scenes
nudging is believed to have played a key, if quiet, role in the
release from house arrest of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi in early May.
Whether he is able to make headway on the issue of the
treatment of ethnic minorities—a sensitive matter for Rangoon—is
still up in the air.
Nevertheless, many say it is time to push for progress
in this area, especially in light of reports by local and
international rights groups regarding the extent of these rights
violations, and the upcoming meeting of the Association of South-east
Asian Nations (Asean) on July 29-30.
''The fate of the ethnic nationalities has not figured
in the talks Razali has held,'' says Soe Aung, a director at the
Network for Democracy and Development, a group comprised of Burmese
living exile.
He says that reports by Human Rights Watch (HRW),
Amnesty International (AI) and the local Shan Human Rights Foundation
(SHRF), which cover the armed forces' operations against ethnic groups
and minorities, ''make it difficult for Razali to ignore them''.
''He should bring them up during the talks,'' Soe Aung
said, urging an ''inclusive approach'' to restore democracy, peace and
stability in Burma. ''Democracy and the problems faced by ethnic
nationalities have to be addressed together.''
Razali should use his visit to pressure the government
to stop the abuse of ethnic communities, says Srirak Plipat, head of
Amnesty's Thailand office. ''It is important, because there has been
little international attention to these violations, and it is a way of
showing that the international community is concerned.''
On Thursday, HRW drew attention to the violent attacks
against Burma's Muslim minority. ''The government has failed to take
effective action to protect Muslims in Burma, imposed restrictions on
Muslim religious activities and travel both inside the country and
abroad, and taken no action to punish those responsible for destroying
Muslim homes and mosques,'' declares the HRW report.
In Burma's Arakan State, which has a large Muslim
population, abuse is ''commonplace,'' including forced labor,
destruction of mosques and restriction on freedom of movement, HRW
charges in the report entitled: "Crackdown on Burmese
Muslims".
Two days before that, Amnesty accused Burma's armed
forces, known as the Tatmadaw, of perpetrating attacks and abuse
against members of seven other ethnic nationalities in Burma.
The human rights violations committed by the armed
forces against civilians include ''extrajudicial executions, torture,
forced labor, land confiscation made in the context of violent threats
and threatening demands for money and food,'' AI reveals in its report
entitled: "Myanmar: Lack of Security in Counter-Insurgency
Areas".
The violations documented in the report occurred from
early 2001 to early 2002 in the country's east, and affected ethnic
groups such as the Mon, Karen, Akha, Shan and Palaung.
Prior to HRW and AI reports, SHRF released a
disturbing report that exposed the military's use of rape as a weapon
of war against the Shan community.
There were ''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,'' SHRF
charged in "License to Rape", a report released in mid-June.
Raping Shan women appears to be ''a concerted strategy
by the Burmese army troops'' as part of their anti-insurgency
activities, it added.
''Eighty-three percent 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,'' the SHRF report said.
Since October 2000, Razali has made seven visits to
Burma to steer the UN-brokered reconciliation talks between the ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) party.
After 40 years of military rule, Suu Kyi's freedom in
early May was greeted as a positive step in Burma's slow march towards
democracy. However, there were those who said that the country would
have little to celebrate if its ethnic troubles were ignored.
Burma is an ethnically diverse country with more than
130 communities. While the Burmans are the largest group, seven
others—including the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Rakhine and
Shan—have sizable numbers in the country's border regions.
The idea of equality among all ethnic groups is
supposedly a pillar of this country—a feature recognized in the 1947
Panglong Accord, the document that defined independent Burma–but the
Burman-dominated military regimes have failed to uphold it in
practice.
For human rights advocates like Somchai Homlaor, the
plight of Burma's ethnic communities needs to be addressed at a
regional level also—possibly at Asean's annual meeting of foreign
ministers, to be held in Brunei this month.
Burma is a member of this 10-nation group that also
includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
''Human rights violations in Burma are an Asean
problem. The leaders have to take note of these reports,'' asserts
Somchai, head of Forum Asia, a Bangkok-based regional human rights
watchdog.
Yet he doubts if the persecuted communities in Burma
can look to Asean for help, given its policy of non-interference in
local disputes.
The 35-year-old group has always been averse to
discussing internal rights issues. While Burmese activists and Suu Kyi
have regularly made appeals to ASEAN in the past, it has traditionally
shirked addressing the matter openly. Its statements generally
encourage political dialogue in Burma, opting for quieter diplomacy in
dealing with the junta.
But if, in fact, Asean does listen, Razali's visit
will be pivotal in helping Burma's persecuted, says Somchai. ''If his
goal is to help build peace, he cannot ignore these human rights
violations. They matter.''
This article was reprinted with permission from Inter
Press Service (IPS).
http://www.ipsnews.net/
Source: Irrawaddy online
, July 22,2002
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HRW
Press release: Crackdown on Muslims in Burma
(New York, July 18, 2002) The impact of violent
attacks against Muslims last year in Burma should be high on the
agenda of the U.N. special envoy when he visits Burma next month,
Human Rights Watch said
today. The U.N. should also
focus on the continuing violations of religious freedom and other
fundamental human rights faced by Muslims in Burma.
These abuses were highlighted in a twelve-page
briefing paper, "Crackdown
on Burmese Muslims," released by Human Rights Watch
today. The paper, based on interviews with Burmese Muslims and
religious leaders inside the country, eyewitnesses to the attacks, and
other material, provides details not previously known outside the
country.
"The Burmese government must protect the rights
of Muslims. Instead, it has imposed restrictions on Muslim religious
activities and taken no action to punish those responsible for
destroying Muslim homes and mosques," said Mike Jendrzejczyk,
Washington Director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.
Former Malaysian Ambassador Razali Ismail, the U.N.'s
special envoy, is due to make his eighth trip to Burma on August 2. He
is expected to meet with ethnic minority leaders as well as government
officials and the National League for Democracy (NLD.)
Human Rights Watch said that various factors sparked
last year's confrontations between Buddhists and Muslims, including
anger over the destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan,
in March 2001. Military authorities confiscated pirated photos and
videos of the Bamiyan statues being blown up by the Taliban, fearful
they would enflame Buddhist sentiment. But in some cities outside
Rangoon, there were credible reports of military intelligence officers
stirring up anti-Muslim violence.
The worst violence in eastern Burma took place in May
and September 2001, when the country's economic crisis was
particularly severe. In Taungoo, north of Rangoon, more than a
thousand people led by robed Buddhist monks attacked Muslim shops,
homes and mosques. There were beatings and at least nine deaths, but
the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) reportedly did
little or nothing to intervene to stop or prevent the attacks. There
were also outbreaks of violence in Prome in early October and Pegu.
Restrictions on travel by Muslims were far more
rigidly enforced in 2001, and earlier this year the government tightly
restricted the number of Muslims allowed to travel to Mecca for the
Haj pilgrimage. Muslims claimed they continue to have special
difficulties getting passports to travel abroad.
In Arakan State, a predominantly Muslim area, human
rights abuses have long been commonplace, including forced labor,
restrictions on freedom of movement, and destruction of mosques. But
in February 2001, full scale riots broke out in Sittwe, the state
capital. The authorities did nothing to stop the violence initially,
though they ultimately intervened and imposed a curfew for more than
two months. Muslims from nearby areas were forbidden to travel to
Sittwe. As of May 2002, few Muslims were being allowed to travel
freely out of northern Arakan.
Later in the year, there were credible reports in
Arakan of local mosques being destroyed at the order of local military
commanders. One former Muslim teacher quoted government officials as
saying, "In Afghanistan, Talibans have destroyed statues of our
Lord Buddha, so that is why we were destroying your mosques
here."
Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to
take immediate steps to end the persecution of Muslim communities, to
prosecute those responsible for attacks on Muslim civilians and
property, and to ensure that losses are properly compensated. The
government should also allow Ambassador Razali and the U.N. Special
Rapporteur for Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, unrestricted access to
Muslim areas, including the sites of last year's violence, so that
they can meet with local Muslim residents and community leaders.
Source: HRW Press release
, July 18,2002
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Sexual
violence used to subdue Burma's ethnic minorities
Human rights
groups say soldiers commit systematic rape, with officers initiating
attacks Several months after Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's opposition
leader, opened surprise talks with the ruling generals, Jasmine's
village in Murng Nai district of the northern Shan state was overrun
by Burmese soldiers. She fled into the forest with her family but they
became separated.
The 16-year-old
stumbled across a band of soldiers who slapped her and tore off her
shirt.They were angry because five soldiers had been killed in the
district.
She knew where the opposition were hiding, they shouted. She did not.
But
despite not speaking Burmese she understood what the officer meant
when he pushed a soldier towards her.
The military government has promised
its citizens a "bright future"
following the recent release of Ms Suu Kyi
from house arrest, yet a
report issued by two human rights groups describes
"systematic" rape designed to terrorise ethnic minorities in
a once autonomous
region.
Eight out of 10 of the 139 attacks against 619 women
and girls
documented in the report were initiated by officers in the five years
to
December. "We're pretty certain that we've only skimmed the
surface. In Shan culture rape is a thing of deep shame and we can get
most of our information only from refugees," said Nang Mo Hom,
its principal author.
Two-thirds
of the assaults involved gang rape.In 11 cases the rapes
took place within
military camps. Girls have been kept as modern- day "comfort
women". Victoria
Coakley, legal consultant to the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma, an exile group, said: "There is strong evidence
that ...crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed.
There is an extremely
strong case of a clear policy of command
responsibility. If the generals know about this, and have not acted to
stop it, it is state-sanctioned violence and they themselves are
responsible."
An "appalled" US State
Department has demanded an investigation, but the military government
said
the stories were "unverified testimonies" by "so-called
victims".
"Sexual violence serves the multiple purpose of not only
terrorising local communities into submission, but also flaunting the
power of the
dominant troops over the enemy's women, and thereby humiliating and
demoralising resistance forces," says the report by the Shan
Human
Rights Foundation and the Shan Women's Action Network.
The army has long had a poor reputation: soldiers
are young, barely
educated and harshly disciplined.
Since 1996 the army has cleared a swathe of countryside of much of its
population to try to suppress the state's last remaining insurrection
by Shan "freedom fighters".
Opposition and international observers are united in
saying that Burma's
many ethnic minorities, who make up a third of the population, must be
brought into the reconciliation process at an early stage.
"My hunch is if there is to be any liberalisation at all (the
generals) will want some
kind of amnesty," said Vitit Munthaborn, professor of law at
Chulalongkorn University and Thailand's leading human rights lawyer.
Source: Financial Times
, July 17,2002
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Bangladesh Mulls Myanmar-India Gas Pipeline
Proposal
Bangladesh has voiced
tentative support for a proposed gas link from Myanmar to India that
will
cross its territory. The government is keen to secure revenues of up
to
US$100m from transit tariffs. If approved,the Bangladeshi section of
the
pipeline would be laid by a joint venture between a local company and
foreign
firms.Bangladesh has its own natural gas reserves, but there has been
strong political opposition to plans to supply them to India (see
Bangladesh:
27 June 2002: Gas Export Decision Promised by August). The government
of
Myanmar has been holding
talks with Indian officials to look at the possibility of exporting
natural gas to the country, where gas demand is expected to increase
from 1.8 Bcfd to 4 Bcfd over the next few years (see Myanmar
(Burma):14 May 2002: Gas Exports to India Proposed). Bangladesh has
voiced tentative support for a proposed gas link from Myanmar to India
that will cross its territory. The government is keen to secure
revenues of up to
US$100m from
transit tariffs. If approved, the Bangladeshi section of the pipeline
would
be laid by a joint venture between a local company and foreign firms.
Bangladesh
has its own natural gas reserves, but there has been strong political
opposition to plans to supply them to India (see Bangladesh: 27 June 2002: Gas Export
Decision Promised by August). The government of Myanmar has been holding
talks with Indian officials to look at the possibility of exporting
natural gas to the country, where gas demand is expected to increase from
1.8 Bcfd to 4 Bcfd over the next few years (see Myanmar (Burma): 14
May 2002: Gas
Exports to India Proposed).
Source: World Markets Research Centre , July 17,2002
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Myanmar possesses large amount of oil, gas reserves
Myanmar has a proven recoverable onshore crude oil
reserve of 696
million barrels and natural gas reserve of 1.7 trillion
cubic-feet (48,110 million cubic-meters), according to the latest issue of the
Business Magazine. Meanwhile, the country's offshore gas reserve is 14
trillion cubic-feet (396,200 million cubic-meters), said the magazine
published by the Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry. However, it did not
disclose the figures of the offshore oil reserve.
According to official statistics, in 2001,Myanmar produced a total of
some 4.7 million barrels of crude oil and 8,804.1million cubic-meters
of natural gas, while it imported 217.55 million US dollars worth of
crude oil, petrol and diesel to meet its domestic
demand.
Of them, crude oil import accounted for about 5 million barrels.
During 2001, the country exported 5,608.58 million cubic
meters of
natural gas,earning 523.13 million dollars.The statistics also show that foreign
investment in Myanmar's oil and
gas sector has reached 2.563 billion dollars since the country opened to such investment in late 1988. These investments
include those under 34 contracts in exploring oil and gas at 47 inland
blocks and 15 joint- venture contracts with the state-run oil and gas enterprise in the same undertaking at 25 offshore
blocks at Mottama, Tanintharyi and
Rakhine coastal areas.
Source: Xinhua
news agency, July 17,2002
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Amnesty
International: Press Release: (Myanmar): Forced labour, extortion,
displacement and land
confiscation - the rural life
Human rights improvements in Yangon have not been
matched in ethnic
minority areas where insurgents are still fighting the central
government. Forced
labour, extortion and land confiscation by the
tatmadaw (Myanmar military)
are continuing to have a grave impact on the lives of civilians,
Amnesty
International said today.
In a new report, the organization describes how
civilians in eastern
Myanmar
are struggling to survive as the tatmadaw continues to make demands on
their livelihood.
Some 100 migrants were interviewed by Amnesty International,all of
whom
said they left their homes because they could no longer survive.
The
vast majority were from the Shan, Mon and Karen ethnic minorities who
lived in rural areas and made their living by subsistence farming or
fishing.
Many of those interviewed had been subjected to unpaid forced labour
in the last 18 months. Types of labour included construction work on
roads and in military camps, working on military farms, and acting as
porters for soldiers for days or even weeks at a time. One 66-year-old
man reported that he had been forced to work intermittently for the
tatmadaw for the past 50 years, the last time in February this year.
Although the Myanmar government has outlawed forced
labour, the orders
to stop taking civilians are not always adhered to. "The Myanmar
government needs to ensure that the order reaches all levels of the
military. In addition
they must inform villagers of their rights in languages they
understand."
Amnesty International's report also describes how civilians continue
to be killed and tortured in counter-insurgency operations. One Shan
villager told Amnesty International how her friend Aye Seng died in
December 2001,a year after he had been severely tortured by the
tatmadaw:
"He told me he was beaten for five nights. He was virtually dead,
he just managed to get back to our hiding place...Since that time he
was
always
weak and in pain...When he came back his nose and eyes were dripping
with blood from head injuries. They accused him of giving rice to the
SSA (armed
group)...but he didn't even have enough rice for himself. He had no
treatment
- he dared not go into town."
A 23-year-old Mon woman recalled how her parent's rubber tree
plantation
was taken, along with the land of some 30 other Mon families, in July
2001.
The tatmadaw cut down the rubber and betel nut trees,
their fees
to the military increased, and her family was forced to move into town
and work
for the military building barracks, without pay.
The migrants also faced constant demands for money and goods by the
tatmadaw.
The army taxed the rice crop in kind which often meant that
subsistence
farmers were required to give or sell at well below the market rate a
fixed
amount of their rice, regardless of yields. This meant that farmers
often
did not have enough rice left over to feed their families.
"The situation for civilians in the east of Myanmar is cause for
grave concern. The government needs to show it is serious about human
rights improvements throughout the country by taking urgent steps to
protect civilians from forcedlabour, extortion and land confiscation
at the hands of its armed forces," Amnesty International said.
Security for civilians is further compromised by a
proliferation of
various
armed groups who also target civilians and are responsible for human
rights abuses such as unlawful killings.
The report also describes the life of Burmese migrant workers in
Thailand, who face various threats as they make their way from their
homes in Myanmar to Thailand. Migrant workers face abuses on both
sides
of the border, often at the hands of human smugglers. In February this
year, Thai police found
20 bodies of Karen migrants near the border
which were blindfolded, had
their wrists tied and their throats cut.
Background
There have been several human rights improvements in
Myanmar since the
end of 2000. The government has permitted international delegations to
visit, including Ambassador Razali Ismael, the UN Secretary General's
Special Envoy on Myanmar; Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN
Special Rapporteur on Myanmar; and the International Labour
Organization (ILO) High Level Team. The ILO has been able to set up an
office in Yangon.
In that period over 300 political prisoners have been
released including
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main political party in Myanmar, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), who was released in May this
year.
The report, Myanmar: Lack of Security in
Counter-Insurgency Areas, is
available online at:
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/ASA160072002?OpenDocument
For a copy of the report or an interview contact
Amnesty International's
press office in London on +44 207 4135729 or in Bangkok on +66 2
7300881.
Public Document & For more information please call
Amnesty International's press office in
London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web:
http://www.amnesty.org
Source: Amnesty International, Press Release, July 16,2002
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Two
prisoners of labour camp died of hard work
By Our Correspondent
Mrauk-U: July 16: Two prison labourers of the Layant
Taung prison labour camp in Mrauk-U township, Arakan state, died of
exhaustive hard labour on June 1, 2002 while they were collecting
stones by diving into the Lemro river, said a prisoner who was
released from the camp last week.
The two deceased prisoners, namely Maung Tun and Tun
Mya, have long been suffering from fever and other complications.
While passing their days without any medical treatment, the army
engaged them in underwater stone collection. At one stage the two poor
prisoners could not withstand the exhaustive hard work and had not
appeared from their diving. But their dead bodies
were found later in the river, he further said.
Taking advantage of the situation, the jailer of the
prison camp accused the other inmates of killing Maung Tun and Tun Mya
and extracted double slave labour from them for the benefit of the
jail officers, MI-18, and District Peace and Development Council known
as Dasaka officials. The stone pieces collected from such unpaid
prison hard labour are sold among the officers and it
has become a lucrative business for them since 1999, said a source in
the prison camp.
The jailer of the Leyant Taung prison
labour camp first sells these stone pieces to MI –18 at the rate of
Kyats 1200 per hundred cubic feet, which sells them again to the
Dasaka of Akyab at Kyat 5000 per hundred cubic feet. The prisoners are
kept on chains. They
have to sleep in huts with compound surrounded by three layers of
barbed wire. They are shackled while sleeping and working. Some of
them are chained up with four to five chains. The prison authorities
and military treat them as animals. Normally they work 7
am to 4 pm. Sometimes, they are engaged in extra works in the personal
projects of the authorities like brickfields, shrimp-culture, etc. for
their monetary benefits, said the source.
It may be mentioned here that the Burmese military
regime (SPDC) have been established prison labour camps all over
Burma, particularly in the ethnic
nationality areas after 1988 coup. Convicts are regularly used for
unpaid labour as porters, on major
infrastructure projects and at rock quarries. They
included both criminal convicts and political prisoners. Convicts
doing forced labour are generally treated much more brutally than
ordinary civilians are routinely used in very dangerous works, such as
blowing up rock faces or digging at cliff-sites, in
which many of them killed.
Source: Editor, The Kaladan Press , July 16,2002
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Agricultural
Training for Villager
By Our Correspondent
Mungdaw, July 16: Under the Maungdaw township regional
development programme a 15 day long training course on
agriculture was held, in between 11-25 June 2002,
under supervision of Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) in Min Hlut
village tract under Maungdaw township, Arakan state, said a villager
yesterday.
A total of 40 trainees -- 20 males and 20 females --
of 15 to 35years old had completed the training course in two separate
places. The male participants had completed their training in the
house of Sayed Alam S/o Mohammed attending the classes from 8:30 am
to 12 noon while female trainees attended their class between 2 pm to
3:30 pm at the house of Hla Maung S/o Musa of Taung Rwa under the same
village tract of Min Hlut, he further said.
The villagers are reported to have been surprised at
this training programme because of the seizure of Rohingyas’ land
which has increased, in recent month, he further added.
Source: Editor, The Kaladan Press , July 16,2002
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Press
Release: More settlers brought into north Arakan
The Arakan Rohingya
National Organisation (ARNO) strongly condemns the ruling State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) for its continued repression on the
Rohingya Muslims and re-engineering of the predominantly Rohingya
populated areas in Arakan.
The SPDC, in its attempts
to create serious demographic changes, has been establishing so-called
model villages (Natala villages), in all strategic places of northern
Arakan, for the new Buddhist settlers being invited from within and
outside the country. Recently the establishment of settler villages
has increased by giving incentives to the settlers, who include Burman
Buddhists coming from Burma proper. As a result, more and more
Rohingyas are becoming landless, internal refugees or internally
displaced after their land properties being confiscated and their
homes uprooted.
The settlers include drug
addicts, ex-convicts, jailed criminals,street vagrants mostly hailed
from central Burma and surrendered insurgents and their dependents.
The so-called Natala villages are dotted with continued erecting of
pagodas, monasteries, temples and community centres built with the
forced labour and by forced collection of funds extracting from
Rohingyas while renovation, repairing and building of mosques and
madrassas (religious schools) are prohibited since 1988 by the
authorities.
With the increase in
settler villages the militarization and forced labour have been
dramatically increased in the region. Number of troops have been
redoubled particularly in the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and
Rathedaung.
In May 2002 the Nasaka authorities had confiscated 100 acres of
Rohingyas’ land for the Buddhist settlers and more than 48 houses
are being constructed for 245 surrendered insurgents at ‘Pratha’
village, a place about 3 miles east of Maungdaw town. The
constructions are being made with the forced labour extracted daily
from 200 Rohingya villagers.
On May 13, 2002 the
commander of the Nasaka Sector No.6 Maj. Than Tun had confiscated 300
acres of lands belonging to both Rohingyas and Rakhines from
Nwarondaung village, a place about 3.5 miles northeast of Maungdaw
town. The nearby Rohingya villagers are engaged in forced labour to
construct 80 houses for the new Burman Buddhist settlers. Again on
June 8, 2002, Maj. Than Tun had confiscated another 750 acres of
Rohingya farmland from the same village tract of Nwarondaung.
It has been reported that
347 more settler houses would be constructed in the township of
Maungdaw in 3 phases: in the first phase 90 houses would be
constructed in the villages of Tharapi, Kying Gyi, and Thazan Myian;
in the second phase 70 houses in the villages of Tharapi, Kying Gyi,
Thazan Myian, Pi Dok, and Gimmin; and in the third phase 187 houses
would be constructed in and around other Rohingya villages. All these
have been done on the order of the Western Military Command of Arakan.
In addition to forced labour, the poor Rohingya villagers have to
supply funds and house building materials for these constructions,
even after their lands confiscated.
It is a great conspiracy
and human rights violations to which fact we invite the attention of
the international community, UNO, OIC, EU, IGOs and NGOs, all
humanitarian and Human Rights Organisations with a request to take
appropriate measures and pressurise the SPDC to stop such settlements
and scrap those which have already been established and protect the
life, property and dignity of Rohingyas in Arakan.
Arakan Rohingya National
Organisation
Arakan (Burma)
Dated: 15/07/2002
Source: ARNO , Press & Publication Dept:, July
15,2002
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Military
attacks on Mosque and villagers
By Our Correspondent
Buthidaung, 15 July: On
10th June 2002, at about 4:20pm 4 army personnel equipped with knives
and swords in civil dresses attacked the mosque and villagers of
“Saan Gana”(Thin Ga Net) village tract, about 12 miles north of
Buthidaung while praying, including the Imam (the religious leader
leading the prayer) of the mosque without provocation, said a villager
from Saan Ganavillage who recently crossed the border.
The army personnel
belonging to LIB No.551 of Buthidaung township had suddenly came to
the said village and attacked the village mosque, beat and tortured
the devotees, demolished the mosque walls, ransacked the holy Qur’an
and other holy books and destroyed whatever was found inside the
mosque. At one stage, when it became intolerable, the villagers saying
the prayers inside the mosque fell upon two of the culprits and the
other two could manage to escape from the scene, he further added.
On information, a section
of army rushed to the spot while beating and torturing the villagers
all through the way from their camp to the place of occurrence. The
army also went to a house of one Abdus Salam of the village where a
marriage ceremony was being held and started indiscriminate beating.
Many people were injured who included old men and women. Meanwhile,
some of the participants were arrested and carried away to the army
camp, he further said.
The next day, that is on
11th June, the Chairman and Secretary of the Village PDC together with
the some villagers went to the Nasaka, Military Intelligence (MI) and
police of Taung Bazar of Buthidaung townshiop and apprised them of the
event. They all advised them to inform the matter to the Military
Operation Command (MOC) No. 15 stationed at Dabru Chaung under
Buthidaung Township. But on information, the Commander of MOC asked
the villagers to pinpoint the accused for action to be taken by
police, said a source from Dabru Chaung.
From 14th June, under the
pretext of inquiry, the police and the army frequently visited the
village, arrested and tortured the villagers leaving a number of them
injured. The arrested persons were implicated in the case and were
detained in the camp until payment of ransoms, said a police source.
Again on 24th June, 4
Rohingyas of the same village were arrested and detained by the army.
They were: Noor Hossain, 50, S/o Late Abu Taleb, VPDC Chairman,
Mohammd Idris S/o Akhtar Kamal, 35, Secretary of VPDC,
Noor Mohammd S/o Abul Khair, 51, member of VPDC, Shamsu, 35, Chairman
of Ma-Ba-Ka (a newly formed village reporting committee). All of them
were tortured and were later released on medical grounds but on
condition that they would be present before the military when asked
for, said another villager.
It is reported that still
the villagers have been taken by surprise and implicated in the case.
Many villagers have gone into hiding to escape arrest. They include
Moulvi Mohamed Yunus, 28, S/o Sayed Hussain, Mohammed Tuha, 27, S/o
Jalal Ahmed, Ahmed Hussain, 50, and two sons of Abu Sayed, aged 23 and
25 years, the villager further added.
Source: Editor, The Kaladan Press , July 15,2002
TOP
Census
carried out in North Arakan
By Our Correspondent
Akyab, 15 July: The
government is conducting population census in the areas inhabited by
Rohingyas, particularly in the townships of Akyab, Buthidaung and
Maungdaw in Arakan state, said a source close to District Peace
and Development Council (DPDC).
The Township Peace and
Development Councils (TPDCs) which supervised the census have made
several teams consisting of personnel from immigration and police
departments. They have started taking census in the
townships of Maundaw, Buthidaung and Akyab respectively from 1st, 6th
and 10th June, he further added.
According to sources from
many villagers, the census teams are openly demanding money only from
the Rohingyas to conduct proper count of their household members. The
bribe money varies from place to place ranging from Kyat 500 to 2,000
per family. Except the Rohingyas and Hindus other communities are
exempted from bribe money.
According to a Rohingya
politician, ‘there is a hidden motive behind this census since it
has been carried out discriminately in the Rohingya areas’.
Source: Editor, The Kaladan
Press , July 15,2002
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Rohingya
refugees demand Bangladesh citizenship
From Our Correspondent
COX'S BAZAR, July 12: About
300 members of Ruhingya Refugee Camp at Noyapara in Teknaf upazila
refused to receive relief materials on July 5.Sources said the refusal
to receive the relief materials was a part of demonstration in support
of their demand for citizenship of Bangladesh. They held more than one
rally and meeting in side the camp.
The speakers at the rallies expressed their unwillingness to return
their homes at Rohingya. They instead demanded the citizenship of
Bangladesh. Informed sources said a group of Rohingya terrorists at
the instigation of a vested interest are reported to have been engaged
in an all out attempt to de teriorate law and order inside the camp to
achieve their end. The refugees willing to return to their land
expressed their unwillingness to return in fear of terrorism from the
terrorists.
On July 3, a clash took
place between the Ruhingya terrorists and the police on duty in the
camp. Additional police forces were deployed at the camp and they were
alerted to maintain law and order at any cost.
Police filed a case with Teknaf thana against 19 Ruhingas who were
involved in the 3rd July incident. In the circumstances, 11,000
innocent refugees have been passing days in panic and in utter poverty
without relief materials.
The district administration
informed the higher authority in Dhaka of the situation in the refugee
camp. Informed sources said the government had a plan to start
repatriating the refugees by the end of the current month after
reaching an agreement with the Myanmar government through a fruitful
discussion.
Source:The Independent , July 13,2002
TOP
A
Coup Plot Gone Awry, or a Burmese Comic Opera?
By Seth Mydans
YANGON, Myanmar - The objects presented as evidence of
a coup plot
seemed quite standard: uniforms, badges, berets, rubber truncheons and
radios.But then there were the three little dolls representing the
three top generals
in the military government.
Black magic, government officials said darkly as they displayed this
booty
to reporters - a trail that leads directly to the family of
Myanmar's former leader, the superstitious strongman Gen. Ne Win.
General Ne Win is 91 and ailing, and so far nobody has
pointed the
finger
directly at him. But his son-in-law and three playboy grandsons are on
trial on charges of high treason, accused of plotting to
overthrow the
junta that succeeded him when he gave up formal leadership in 1988.
The four men face the death penalty if convicted, and
they are fighting
for their lives in a large, half-empty courtroom where the rattle of a
generator and the clatter of the court reporter's typewriter make the
testimony almost inaudible."Upon interrogation," said Maj.
Gen. Kyaw Win, deputy chief of military
intelligence, the defendants admitted that government policies were
hurting
their businesses and that "they were unhappy as they are not
enjoying the special privileges they had before."
General Kyaw Win told reporters that the defendants
had enlisted the
help
of two soothsayers and had tried to turn senior military officers
against the junta to install a government more friendly to their
family and its interests.
Everybody in Myanmar, the country formerly called Burma, knows about
the Ne Win grandsons - rowdy young men in flashy cars who pick fights
in nightclubs and trade on the influence of their family name.
Their longtime impunity fed continuing rumors that the
old man, secluded
in his lakeside villa, still wielded at least some power behind the
not-so-savory facade of the military government.
Their arrest seems to be a signal by the junta that
nobody is telling it
what to do, that even if the ruling generals' own sons and grandsons
can throw their weight around unchallenged, General Ne Win's are no
longer exempt.
The inner workings of Myanmar's leadership have always
been obscure,
particularly
given its reliance on soothsayers, numerology and black magic.
General Ne Win helped speed his own downfall, for example, by suddenly
declaring much of the Burmese currency worthless and replacing it with
bank notes in denominations divisible by his lucky number, nine. Riots
followed.
So people can only guess at the backstage motives and
maneuvers that
enrich the saga of the wayward grandsons. It seems possible that there
was indeed an amateurish attempt at some form of coup, or at least
some dangerous
loose talk.
Beyond that, though, the case is seen by many here either as the
junta's declaration of independence from General Ne Win - and his
ambitious daughter,
Daw Sandar Win - or as a move to stamp out the last vestiges
of their influence.
Three senior military commanders and the national
police chief, all of
whom are said to be close to General Ne Win's family, have been
dismissed,
although they have not been accused of complicity.
The arrests came on March 7: the son-in-law, U Aye Zaw Win, 54, and
his sons - U Aye Ne Win, 25, U Kyaw Ne Win, 23, and U Zwe Ne Win, 21.
The night before, the security detail that surrounds
General Ne Win's
villa was abruptly replaced, officials said. The former dictator and
Ms.Sandar Win, who is the young men's mother, were placed under guard.
"They are not under house arrest, but no one is allowed to go in
or come out of the house, for security reasons," said General
Kyaw Win, who is the government spokesman in the case. "We cannot
allow family members to visit Ne Win."
More details emerged as testimony began in a
one-story, one-room
courthouse
just outside the thick, moss-covered walls of Insein Prison, where
General Ne Win and his successors have for decades locked away their
political opponents.
The defendants, in their white shirts, sarongs and
handcuffs, arrive for
the sessions in a small white ambulance, the grandsons looking
surprisingly
young and pale. They bow and take their seats on plastic
chairs facing two stern judges in black robes and bright yellow
traditional headwraps.
A section of seats reserved for family members is
empty. General Ne Win
and his wife have three children together, and each has three children
from a previous marriage - for a total of exactly nine.
The coup plan, as described in court, involved kidnapping the three
top
generals on March 27, Armed Forces Day, when all would be sure to be
in
town. The generals were to have been taken to General Ne Win's home
and
held there until they agreed to reorganize themselves into a new, more
amenable junta.
Three weeks before that date, the grandsons and their
father were
arrested
at a Chinese restaurant when a colonel they are said to have
approached to be part of the plot tipped off security officials.
With the prosecution's case complete, the defense now
has the floor,
pressing ahead in a trial whose verdict has surely been preordained.
Defense lawyers
are making their case and the defendants themselves sometimes respond
directly
to questions from the judges.
Point by point, the testimony of military witnesses is being disputed.
Payments to soothsayers and military officers are being described as
gratuities, not bribes.The three telltale dolls, says the eldest
grandson, Mr. Aye Ne Win, were innocent gifts from a charitable
organization that teaches handicrafts to poor women. Among its
specialties, he said, is doll-making.
Source: The New York Times, July 8,2002
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Press
Release :ARNO Condemns Military Rapes in Shan State and Welcomes the
Action of the U.S. State Department
Arakan Rohingya National
Organisation (ARNO) strongly condemns the Burmese ruling military SPDC
(State Peace and Development Council) for systematic and pervasive use
of rape and other forms of sexual violations by junta’s officers and
soldiers against the Shan girls and women and other non-Burman ethnic
minority girls and women across the country.
We are deeply shocked at
the recent report of the Thailand-based Shan Human Rights Foundation
and Shan Women’s Action Network, on the pervasive use of rape and
other forms of sexual violations by the Burmese Army troops, as a
weapon of war against civilian population in Shan state. We express
our full support to the report.
It is relevant to mention
herein that the Rohingyas of Arakan have long been subjected to
large-scale persecution, genocide and ethnic cleansing and Rohingya
girls and women have become largest target of rape and sexual abuses
by the Burmese military and Nasaka (Border Region Supervision Forces)
forces. The authorities have institutionalised the rape as an official
policy and are using it as a weapon to ethnically cleanse the Rohingya
people and to rid Arakan of the Muslim population. Rape of Rohingya
girls and women by the Burmese armed forces has recently been
increased particularly in northern Arakan. Most of the rapes were
committed in the military and Nasaka camps where the victims were
taken captives for sometimes under false charges. One of the main
causes of the Rohingya refugee influxes into Bangladesh and other
countries, including the ongoing sporadic undocumented influxes into
Bangladesh, is the pervasive use of rape by the Burmese armed forces.
Meanwhile, ARNO warmly
welcomes the action of the U.S. State Department against the SPDC by
condemning and raising its serious concern with the Burmese
authorities while demanding “to fully investigate any and all
allegations of the systematic rape of ethnic minority girls and women
in Burma, appropriately punish those guilty of such heinous crimes
with a warning to take immediate steps to end its violence within its
border.” This action of the U.S. State Department has been counted
upon, by ARNO, as a positive step and a sigh of relief to the
Rohingyas and all vulnerable sections of people in Burma.
Nurul Islam
President
Arakan Rohingya National
Organisation
Arakan (Burma)
Dated July 8, 2002
Source: ARNO , Press & Publication Dept:, July
8,2002
TOP
Rape
Report Implicates Burmese Military
By Ko Thet
June 20, 2002—Burmese troops are committing rape and
sexual assault in Shan State with complete impunity, according to a
new report that gives "clear evidence that rape is officially
condoned as a ‘weapon of war’". We want to remind the
international community to look beyond Rangoon, and not to ignore the
abuses being committed by the regime against women in Burma’s ethnic
states
"License to Rape", which was released last
month by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and the Shan
Women’s Action Network (SWAN), documents over 600 rapes and sexual
assaults committed by Burmese troops in Shan State over the last six
years. The report is based on accounts given to the agencies by the
victims and their families.
The report gives detailed accounts of arbitrary
arrests and abductions that resulted in rapes or sexual
assaults—including 11 cases that were allegedly committed on Burmese
military bases. The report points to the assaults at the bases as an
indication of "the extent of the impunity felt to be enjoyed by
the regime’s troops".
One of the report’s objectives is to shed more light
on atrocities being committed outside of Rangoon, says Nang Mo Hom of
the SHRF. "We want to remind the international community to look
beyond Rangoon, and not to ignore the abuses being committed by the
regime against women in Burma’s ethnic states," she added.
The report also examines the effects of rape and
sexual assaults on the victim’s physical and mental health, and
details the dangers faced by Shan women who are forcibly repatriated
after being found living illegally in Thailand. The report states that
Thai authorities often hand the women over directly to Burmese
soldiers—in some cases to the same individuals they originally fled
from.
The report can be found at:
http://www.shanland.org/shrf/License_to_Rape/license_to_rape.htm
U.S.: Myanmar Rape Reports Appalling (Associated
Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department
said Friday it was appalled by reports that Myanmar military forces
are
raping girls and women in an ethnic rebel stronghold near the Thai
border.
Spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said U.S. concerns have been raised with
officials
in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. She said the
administration is calling
on the officials to investigate all such
allegations.
She said the problem reportedly is concentrated in
Shan state, where
recent fighting has forced the evacuation of a number of Thai
villagers.
``We condemn the pervasive use of rape or other forms of sexual
violence by military forces against a vulnerable population,'' Cassel
said.
Two human rights groups in Shan reported that there
have been 173 cases
of rape and other forms of sexual violence against girls and women by
Myanmar troops.
As for the overall political situation in Myanmar, Cassel said that
while the United States welcomes the recent release from house arrest
of democratic political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ``we remain mindful
that well over 1,000 political prisoners remain in jail.
``Much more needs to be done to move toward democracy and national
reconciliation
in Myanmar,'' she said.
Source: Irrawady online, june 18,Associated Press,july
5,2002
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Burma's
toothless Money Laundering Law
By B. K Sen
Burma's ruling junta has enacted a new "Control
Money Laundering Law"
(Law No 6/2002}. The law's objective, listed in chapter II, is to
prevent individuals
from controlling assets purchased with money from illegal dealings.
Importantly,
it also maps out co-operation with international and regional
organizations
and neighbouring countries for controlling money and property obtained
by illegal means.
The law has eleven chapters, vague and speculative.
All that it does is
to form a Central Control Board. The board's composition betrays its
purpose.
Its chairman is the Minister of Home Affairs while the Minister of
Finance and Revenue acts as Deputy Chairman. Within the nine-member
committee, the Deputy Chief Justice and the Attorney General are
ranked as the fourth and the fifth member respectively, in addition to
the Police Director General Secretary, Myanmar Police Force. The
General
Board, in short, functions
as the prosecuting body.
How the Deputy Chief Justice can be a member of the
ControlBoard, and one subordinate in rank to the Home Minister, is
unclear.
The law's fatal flaw is its failure to prescribe a definite money and
property value, which would render persons liable to prosecution under
the law. Such a specification is the core ingredient of a law of this
kind,and it cannot be left to the rule-making process to effect, as
done in
section 8 b (a). The law does not prescribe the formation of an
investigation
body; it merely gives the power to the Central Control Board to form
such
a body. This delegation of power in 9(a), of the very power, which
characterizes
the Central Control Board, is ultra-verse of the law itself. The
tenure
of the body is extended on a case-by-case,adhoc basis, against the
norms
of natural law, and the body is bound to be liable to corruption. A
right
of arrest/ detention is not provided for. The stipulation of a right
to
seizure and search without warrant is bound to lead to arbitrariness,
torture
and illegalities. The law thus
constitutes an attempt to create a supra-prosecution body.
The law is silent as to the jurisdiction of relevant
courts and the
application
of criminal law and of the criminal procedure code. There is no
judicial
review. Chapter II, Sec 16 says: "The Government may pass order
confirming
the order of the Board. Section 17 maintains: "The decision shall
be final
and conclusive". Section 22 states: "xxx
imprisonment may extend to a maximum
of an unlimited period" while Section 33 puts the burden of proof
on the
offender. Section 40 calls for "prior sanction of the Ministry of
Home
Affairs".
In short, the Money Laundering Law is a law above the
law, a law unto
itself, a whitewash that does not meet internationalstandards.
Previously,
three laws covered most of the concerns now covered by the
Control of Money
Laundering Law. (For example, the Central Bank of Myanmar Law of 1990
(SLORC
Law No. 16/90, finally amended as Law 7/ 94).
Burma has signed the 1998
United Nations Convention, Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psycho
Tropic Substances the Vienna Convention (with some reservations). The
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law
contained all provisions of Control of Money Laundering Law except a
few
exceptions. The US Drugs Enforcement
Administration (DEA) stated that the Central Committee for Drug Abuse
Control
CCDAC "continues to suffer from a lack of adequate resources to
support
its Law Enforcement Mission". The Money Laundering Law includes
other offences related to smuggling and trafficking as well as
offences related to the smuggling of women and children and cyber
crimes.
The Money Laundering Law does not address the smuggling of bulk cash
into or out of Burma. "Suspicious transactions", however,
should be broadly defined. Information exchange regarding cross-border
financing should have been given an important place in the law.
However,information sharing mechanisms and extradition procedures have
not been provided for.
Money Laundering has criminalized Burma's economy. It
is now beyond the
junta's control, a situation to which the junta reacts with this piece
of legislation. The junta has apparently realized that money
laundering is bad for business, investment, development and the rule
of law. The law should be seen with guarded optimism in light of the
junta's contempt for matters of the law. The law stated as one of its
objective "to co-operate in the neighboring countries regarding
the law". A Xinhua news agency report
stated that the law was meant "to strengthen
co-operation with international
and regional organisations and neighbouring countries in its fight
against crime". Thailand is Burma's
main neighbour of concern. A currently sour relationship with Thailand
means that the problem of money laundering is bound to intensify. The
political situation in Burma is characterised by a lack of rule of law
and effective law enforcement. The new Money Laundering Law promises
nothing and is likely to prove a hoax. It will neither woe foreign
investors nor edge on the dialogue process. The introduction of
viable
laws and their enforcement are no doubt necessary. But more important
still is the restoration of a regime based on the rule of law.
Source: Mizzima News ,july 5,2002
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