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‘When I became desperate’: Opinions of residents during forced land acquisition in Kyaikmayaw Township

Introduction

Since the release of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland’s (HURFOM’s) October 2010 report, Waiting In Tears[1], farmers in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon Sate, have faced increases in pressure to give up freehold land holdings that have been passed down from generation to generation, in order to make way for the construction of several private large scale cement factories and lime stone processing plants.

Throughout the month of December 2010, land owners of Ni Don and Mae Garow villages have faced significant efforts by the development company, Zaykabar Company, and local Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) leaders, to give up their farms. While residents have been offered some tenable opportunity for compensation by Zaykabar Company, the amount offered for compensation is 9 times lower then the estimated value of the per acre price for the land. Zaykabar Company staff and senior leadership have made multiple visits to the area, demanding that residents settle for this degraded price. Additionally, villages have been exhorted by the movie actress Nan Dar Hlaing to sell their land, and were threatened by the local village headman that if they refuse to sell, they would be forced to leave the area. Download report as PDF [467KB]

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Sand on the meat: citizen voices on election intimidation, manipulation and loss

The following accounts compiled by HURFOM field reporters detail the voices of election participants as the November 7th polling day unfolded.  These civilians were the predominant eyewitness observers to the on the ground operation of the election in Burma. These detailed accounts provide information that confirms concerns of widespread government election manipulation and ballot fraud practiced by Burmese government staff, soldiers, and the key government backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Download report as PDF [295KB]

The following abuses of the election polling station rules fall in to several categories that are briefly detailed below. Predominately all abuse of election and polling rules came from either government staff or pro-government USDP members. Government staff included polling station employees, soldiers, administrative staff and members of the election commission (EC) that have dictated rules throughout the entire period of this election. Read more

Thousands flee from Three Pagoda Pass Town, support and basic supplies a concern

Due to fighting which began yesterday in Three Pagodas Pass town between the DKBA and local Burmese SPDC forces, an estimated 10,000 refugees have now fled over the Thai-Burma border, and into ceasefire NMSP controlled territory. These refuges, judging the fighting to be a sever threat, fled without personal belongings or supplies. As a result of this sudden exodus, refugee encampments on Thai side of TPP and in NMSP controlled territory are likely to suffer sudden shortages of food, shelter, mosquito nets, and even the most basic food supplies. Read more

Waiting in Tears: Impacts of impending cement factory development in Kyaikmayaw Township

Local communities in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State are facing the immanent threat of land seizer by local authorities, for the construction of a large scale cement factory and processing plant for the limestone from a nearby mountain.  Nearly 600 acres of paddy land have already been surveyed for construction. The community, which is heavily dependent on the surrounding farmland passed on from generation to generation, has received no opportunity for input in the project, and only paltry warning of an impending “State” ordered seizer of its land. The project will have severe environmental impacts as it calls for the leveling of Ni Don mountain, the construction of a processing plant and factory, and construction of secondary infrastructure such as roads and a jetty into the nearby river.   The company spearheading the cement plant construction is predominantly controlled by key members of the regime-backed political party the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Profits form the completed cement factory will be used to finance the government-backed USDP. In addition, the mountain is home to significant sacred Buddhist sites, relics, and cave paintings and drawings, which will be lost as the mountain is destroyed. Read more

35 Days Till Election: how state resources and area restrictions impact ethnic votes in Mon and Karen States

HURFOM: On September 11th, the Burmese State Election Commission[1] evoked section 8 (f) of the Union Election Laws, declaring at least 164 village tracts, as HURFOM can confirm, unsuitable for participation in the November 7^th election due to apparent security concerns. Specifically, 155 of these village-tracts belonged to 7 townships of Karen State and 9 village-tracts belonged to 2 townships of Mon State. Affected are an estimated 400,000 voting age citizens. The sudden decision to exclude these predominately ethnic regions has raised considerable concerns, as the regions concerned are not particularly unstable and possess a fair amount of infrastructure. Rather, the areas targeted have particularly high levels of ethnic constituents that had, until that point, rallied around the campaigns of local ethnic parties.

Moreover communities in more rural ethnic regions of Burma have not benefited from the nominally more transparent setting that campaigning in Rangoon has given some parties. Areas of Mon and Karen state not banned from participation, have experienced frequent and widespread instances of election fraud, manipulation and coercion by regime forces as well as members of the pro-regime parties, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUP).
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Watering the Poison-Tree: The ongoing systemic erosion of democratic process

With two months to go until the November 7th polling date for the 2010 Burmese national election, widespread evidence exists indicating that whatever pretense was made of a democratic process, its actual implementation within the election has fallen incredibly short. State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) forces have remained active in undermining the nascent democratic process with significant multi-faceted attempts to ensure the continuity of the current governments rule post November 7th.

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These efforts have targeted democratic and opposition forces through a variety of approaches designed to effectively overwhelm any opportunity for political engagement before the campaign period even began officially on August 31st. They include re-writing the constitution to bind the junta to the political system; legal entanglement and restriction; censorship; and the formation of government militias and thug groups1; the use of existing government funding, administration, police, military, and civilian action groups to campaign for government parties2; using state money to fund pro-government civilian parties; using coercion through rewards and threats in order to secure votes; While portions of these activities are actually written in to the legal framework for the lection, others violate the election laws written by the current ruling junta, technically requiring that the subsidiary pro-government parties involved be deregistered and disband. Read more

“They think we are not human”: Strategic abuses threaten local economy

Summary

This month the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) documents the perpetuation of human rights violations by the State Peace and Development Councilís (SPDCís) army units that are reminiscent of the previous anti-insurgent ë4-cutsí policy. Despite the supposed discontinuation of these systematized abuses, research clearly indicates that these violations are continually put in use to target ethnic groups located in the southern part of Mon State and northern part of Tenasserin Division.

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We all must suffer: Documentation of continued abuses during Kanbuak to Mayingkalay pipeline ruptures

Introduction

The Kanbauk to Mayingkalaly gas pipeline has been in operation for nearly 10 years, and continues to be the direct motivating factor for human rights abuses committed by Burmese military battalions that inundate the area. In addition, despite the operational status of the pipeline, villages and farms abutting the pipeline continue to be haunted by lasting effects of poor construction, technology, and a lack of interest on the part of the current junta in persevering the environment, or the lives and wellbeing, of local residents.
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Like water poured in the sand: Southeastern Burma in a post-ceasefire world

Introduction:

On April 22^nd, 2010 the New Mon State Party publicly announced its final refusal of the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal.  The refusal was issued despite widespread reports that Southeast Command Major General Ye Myint had informed the party at an April 7^th meeting that such a move would lead to a return of the NMSP’s “pre-ceasefire relationship” with the SPDC[1]. Read more

Women’s Rights Study on Mon Women’s Day

Introduction

On February 24th, 2010, Mon nationals from various areas in Thailand and southern Burma celebrated the 6^th anniversary of Mon Women’s Day (MWD). Celebrations took place in Baleh-Donephai, an Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) resettlement site in southern Burma. During the celebration WCRP conducted a cross-sectional qualitative survey about: domestic violence, economic despair, livelihoods and the role of women in the family. Read more

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