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Systemic human rights violations along 180-mile gas pipeline in southern Burma, says new report

A 180-mile gas pipeline in southern Burma is responsible for human rights violations that are “systemic, shocking and ongoing,” says the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) in a report released this evening. The 100-page report, titled Laid Waste: Human Rights Along the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline, details abuses along the entire length of an overland pipeline that traverses nearly half the length of Burma’s southern peninsula. [Media release in PDF Format]

Laid Waste details abuses committed by Burma’s military government as it has sought to construct, maintain and protect the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline. The report includes details on the confiscation of more than 15,000 acres of land to make room for the pipeline – and support 30 army battalions tasked with protecting it. The intense militarization of the area, which HURFOM describes as “fundamentally due” to the pipeline, is responsible for abuses that range from rape and summary execution to the daily commandeering of motorcycles and chickens. Security efforts for the pipeline, meanwhile, entail conscription of villagers – some as young as 12 – who must work as unpaid forced laborers, maintaining the pipeline, guarding and carrying equipment for soldiers – at all times under threat of violent retribution for accidents or insurgent attacks.

“The abuses described above are the predictable result of deploying large numbers of soldiers and encouraging them to extract what they can from the countryside, without oversight,” says HURFOM. “But abuses along the pipeline are also a deliberate, calculated part of the pipeline security effort.” Highlighting the ongoing nature of these abuses, in the 5 days that have passed since printing the report, HURFOM has documented the execution of one villager and the burning of 36 homes. In both cases, the army committed the abuses less than a mile from the pipeline.

This report is released at a critical juncture. Intense competition for access to Burma’s abundant natural resources continues, with China recently agreeing to purchase gas that will be transported 1,200 miles across Burma. Debate on appropriate response to Burma is renewing, as the international community questions the wisdom of strict sanctions and considers potential for increased humanitarian support. In the foreword to Laid Waste, HURFOM’s director Nai Kasauh Mon welcomes the renewed discussion. But he urges caution and calls on the international community not to lose sight of experiences like those documented in Laid Waste. “Discussion is healthy and appreciated,” says Nai Kasauh Mon. “But there should be no question: projects like the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline do not benefit the people of our country.”

Further details:

Full PDF copies of Laid Waste can be downloaded at: <http://rehmonnya.org/archives/752>. Information on the 36 burned homes and summary execution mentioned in paragraph 3 can also be found on www.rehmonnya.org.

Hard copies of Laid Waste, as well as print-quality photos for news publication can be obtained by emailing monhumanrights@gmail.com.

Questions or requests for interviews in English, Mon and Burmese should be made by emailing hurfomcontact@yahoo.com or calling +66 (0)81 365 9140.

About HURFOM:

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) is a Thailand-based non-governmental human rights organization founded in 1995 by a group of Mon youth, students and community leaders. HURFOM works to monitor the human rights situation in southern Burma, and publishes print and online news, lengthy reports and analysis of ongoing human rights violations. More information can be found at www.rehmonnya.org.

Download full report [PDF, 17.4 MB]

Download report in five parts [PDF]
Part I [2.9 MB] | Part II [3.14 MB] | Part III [3.37 MB] | Part IV [5.15 MB] | Part V [2.96 MB]

Down and out parents are driven to sell children, but concerns about trafficking arise.

WCRP: In April 2009, Ma Mi Aye, who has been struggling economically after a series of family tragedies, had to sell her daughter to another family for 30,000 kyat (28 USD) in, Pa-An Township, Karen State, Read more

Men posing as Thai police rape 12-year-old Burmese migrant worker

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Early in the morning, at around 2am on May 2, a group of five men came to the apartment where a Burmese migrant worker family was living. Pretending they were Thai policemen coming to check their work permit cards, they ordered the workers to open the door.  Upon entering they half-heartedly checked work permit cards, ignoring some of the residents, and proceeded to search each room.   Read more

Soldiers shoot two villagers in Yebyu Township; one dead, one hospitalized

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Battalion set fire to 36 homes in Yebyu Township

HURFOM, Yebyu Township:
A fifty strong column of soldiers from LIB No. 107, led by Major Khin Mg Chin entered Paukpinkwin village, Yebyu Township on April 17th and set fire to 36 homes. Villagers believe this act was in retaliation for perceived insurgent group support and follows the recent killings of four village officials on April 2nd and 3rd, victims of a power struggle between the battalion and the armed Mon rebel group, Chan Dein.

A young man from Paukpinkwin who witnessed the events said, “ The soldiers separated into two groups of 25. One group entered the village from the north and the other from the south. Then they started to burn the 36 houses near the Ball Ta Moi Monastery. After that they fired their guns and ordered the people inside to get out their houses. People took anything they could and ran way.” Read more

Villagers face an impossible situation

HURFOM, Kalaing Aung Sub-township:
Residents of three villages in Kalaing Aung Sub-township are being prevented from working on their plantations by the military due to insurgent activity in the area.

Since the beginning of April Battalion No. 282 have refused to permit farmers from Alaesakhen, Kyaukadin and Kyauktalin villages to leave their homes and work in the plantation area two hours walk away. The military say this is because the Mon armed rebel group, Chan Dein is active in the vicinity. Read more

Power through gun barrels: Abuses related to the DKBA offensive in Dooplaya District

I. Summary

Since early October 2008, the current military junta and its ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have been mounting a major military offensive to crush the Karen National Union (KNU) and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). During 1997 and 1998, most of Dooplaya district in central Karen State has been occupied and captured by the joint military offensives of the Burmese Army and DKBA troops. Since then, the military regime has changed its name from the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). However, the oppression has not stopped and instead the occupation troops have continued to extend their control over the Karen villages which have been supporting the KNLA/KNU troops.

After the end of the rainy season last year, the DKBA boosted its military offensive and operations in Pa-an, Kawkareik and northeast Kyainnseikyi Townships with the support of SPDC military columns under the command of Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs) No. 545 and No 204. According to the records of HURFOM, armed clashes between the KNLA/KNU and DKBA (combined with the Burmese Army) occurred on least 46 occasions between January 1st and February 28th, 2009 in KNLA Brigade No. 6 and KNLA General Headquarters battalions areas which are situated in the Kawkareik and Pa-an Districts. Among them, at least 5 armed clashes involved only DKBA troops. Because of these ongoing armed clashes between the KNLA/KNU, DKBA and SPDC battalions, many ethnic Karen villagers have faced insecurity in their own villages and some have fled to safer areas. All armed forces involved in this ongoing armed conflict have been increasingly using landmines to restrict each other’s movements. To effectively launch military offensives and protect themselves, the DKBA forces have been using some villagers as human minesweepers. In this monthly report, HURFOM documents abuses in Kawkareik, Kyainnseikyi and Win Ye Townships in Dooplaya District from January to March 2009.
Download report as PDF [ 1.31MB] Read more

Militarization in ethnic areas obstacle to national reconciliation

In order to have control over the different ethnic areas and the non-Burman population, the current military regime had adopted a policy of militarization.  What is meant with this militarization policy?

First, the SPDC is deploying more military troops with various battalions and artillery regiments in the areas where the fighting happens and then moved thousands of troops to there.  Then they also moved soldiers’ families and created soldiers’ villages. In order to create soldiers’ villages, they confiscate more land. Read more

New joint Mon-Burmese force attacks Karen rebels in Tenasserim Division

Ong Rot and Blai Mon :
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At 8:40am on April 8^th, soldiers from Burmese army Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) No. 594 and the Mon Peace Group – Chaung Chi (MPG – Chaung Chi) attacked a temporary camp of soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in northeast Mergui District. Read more

Mon rebels and SPDC army execute four village leaders in span of 12 hours

HURFOM, Yebyu Township:
A power struggle between the Burmese army and an armed Mon rebel group has resulted in the execution of four village leaders in two separate incidents that occurred in the span of twelve hours last week.

At around 10pm on the night of April 2nd, eight members of the Nai Chan Dein group entered Pauk Pin Kwin village in Yebyu Township and went to the home of the VPDC headman, Nai Bok (45) to demand a ‘tax’ of 700,000 Kyat, which they had ordered the villagers to pay by March 30th. Nai Bok’s Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) colleague, Nai Nyae (43) was then brought to the house and both men were confronted. Shots were heard and the men’s bodies were later found outside the headman’s home. Read more

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