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Five arrested on suspicion of links with organizations in exile

IMNA/HURFOM, Khaw Zar

According to reporter, four women and a man were arrested by a Burmese Army officer from Infantry Battalion No.31 based in Khaw-Zar sub town in southern Mon State on suspicion of passing on information to organizations in exile.

Telephone owners

Nai Aung Khin (40 years)

Mi Kon Payu (60 yeas)

Ma Nu (4 years), Ma Hla Win (35 years) and Read more

Local People in Moulmein Struggle to Earn Living due to the Castor Oil Planning Project

HURFOM, Moulmein

Burmese authorities have been forcing local people to buy and grow castor oil plans in Moulmein District, Mon State. The order from Moulmein District secretary U Than Sein stated that every house in Moulmein had to buy 4-5 castor oil seedlings and grow them in front of their house. They had to pay 500 kyat per plant.

“This is not the first time we have faced this problem. In the past they forced us to buy and grow castor oil seeds. We have had to do this 7 or 8 times already this year. Each time a different authority group issued the order” stated a shop owner, U Chit (not his real name) who lives on Upper Road in Moulmein. Many different groups benefit from this project, including the Department of Forestry, the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC), and the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC). Read more

Burmese Soldiers commandeer villagers’ motorbikes in Mon State

Han-Gan, Ye Township

It was reported on 12 September, 2007, that since 27 August, soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 299, have been commandeering villagers’ motorbikes in Han-Gan village. Sergeant Aung Myint and his followers have been taking 3 motorbikes from the villagers everyday.

Han-Gan village is located in Ye Township, Mon State and LIB No. 299 is based in Koe-Mile. They also asked the village head to pay for gasoline. Because of this, the village head has had to collect money from villagers. They’ve been asking for 3 gallons of gasoline each day because they want 1 gallon per motorbike. The soldiers also threatened to simply take bikes if no one would offer up their own. Read more

Villagers in Mudon Township are being forced to grow castor-oil plants

The Mon Forum

“In the area around Mudon Township, Lt. Colonel Than Swe, Division Commander, and leader of Light Military Battalion No. 62, has been forcing villagers to plant and grow castor-oil plants under the watch of his soldiers,” said a 35 year old who asked to remain anonymous.

The Village Peace and Development Councils (Ya Ya Ka in Burmese) ordered villages in Mudon Township to grow 3,000 castor-oil plants each. According to a Doe-Mar villager going by the pseudonym Nai Maung Yin, these villages are Naing-Hlone, Kyaik-Ywe, Taw-Gu, Dha-Gon-Daing, Doe-Mar, Set-Twe, Kwan-Ka-Bwe, Hnee-Pa-Daw, Yaung-Daung and Kwan-Hlar. Read more

Villagers in Mon State are stuck with extortion imposed by Light Infantry Battalion No.31

The Mon Forum

Taung-Bone villagers were ordered to pay more taxes than they could afford. Taung-Bone village is in Ye Township, Mon State. According to the local people, the order was given by Captain Myint Thein from Light Infantry Battalion IB No. 31.

The order stated that the village head had to take responsibility for finding 10 porters among Taung-Bone’s villagers. If porters could not be found, the village head would have to collect 70,000 Kyat from the villagers. Read more

SPDC Followers are Convincing Pro-Government Groups in Mon State

The Mon Forum

According to the decision of an emergency security meeting, held by top-level military officers in the Southeast Command in the second week of August, every township and village administration in Mon State would have to form secret security services under the arrangement of the township’s Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). The main purpose of forming the secret security services was to prevent the upcoming economic demonstrations by anti-government protestors and Buddhist monks.

In order to implement their decisions, leaders of the USDA in Chaung-Zone township have reportedly called on youths for security service and started carrying out their secret activities to convince the pro-government groups, such as the Women Affairs Group, the Maternal and Child Welfare Group, militia, Red Cross and the fire station in Chaung-Zone township to be activists. Read more

Burmese Soldiers commandeer villagers’ motorbikes in Mon State

The Mon Forum

It was reported that since 27 August, soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 299, have been commandeering villagers’ motorbikes in Han-Gan village. Sergeant Aung Myint and his followers have been taking 3 motorbikes from the villagers everyday.

Han-Gan village is located in Ye Township, Mon State and LIB No. 299 is based in Koe-Mile. They also asked the village head to pay for gasoline. Because of this, the village head has had to collect money from villagers. They’ve been asking for 3 gallons of gasoline each day because they want 1 gallon per motorbike. The soldiers also threatened to simply take bikes if no one would offer up their own. Read more

Police extort money from arrested young people in the Mon village

The Mon Forum

It was reported that on August 14, 2007, five youths from Hnee-padaw village in Mudon Township were arrested at night time by the police for sitting in a public rest-house along the street. Following the arrest the police demanded money from their parents for releasing them.

Police personnel from Kamawet police station entered Hnee-padaw village at night and arrested the youths. Read more

A HIRED PORTER WAS SERIOUSLY TORTURED BY LIGHT INFANTRY BATTALION NO. 18

HURFOM

Ko San Win, a poor, 37 year old, daily wage earner from Three Pagoda Pass, a town on the Thai-Burma border, was seriously beaten by a sergeant while working as a hired porter for Infantry Battalion No.18. He was beaten up because, due to exhaustion, he was finding it difficult to carry his load of supplies. The following are details about how, from July 9 to 18, he had been tortured from while working on the frontline of the LIB No. 18’s military offensive in Karen Area.

“On July 9, 2007, a friend of mine asked me to work as a porter for Light Infantry Battalion No. 18, which is based in the Three Pagoda Pass area. I was to be paid 200 baht per day. At first, I refused because I had heard a lot of awful stories about the way porters were treated on the frontlines. Unfortunately, due to the closure of the Thai-Burma border and the lack of work in this border town, Read more

University students forced to grow physic nuts in Moulmein

The Mon Forum

It was reported that on July 2nd, in Mon States’s capital city of Moulmein, professors from Moulmein University forced their students to plant physic nut plants. According to a reliable source close to a Moulmein University professor, the order was given by Major General Thet Naing Win, Chairman of the Mon State Peace and Development Council and the head of Southeast Command.

“The professors hung the order sheet signed by Mon State PDC Chairman Major General Thet Naing Win on the announcement board on June 28, 2007. The orders stated that every student currently studying at Moulmein University must participate in the Physic Nuts Growing Ceremony on July 2, 2007,” said Maung Win (not real name), a 20 year old science student currently studying at Moulmein University. Read more

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