KAO WAO NEWS No. 36
An electronic newsletter for social justice and
freedom in Burma
No. 36,
READER’S FRONT
TEACHING MON BANNED
BY JUNTA
AN ORDER TO SHOOT
EVERY MAN IN UNIFORM
FORCED LOGGING FOR
NEW ARMY BASE
NEW MON STATE PARTY
HOLDS FIFTH CONFERENCE
LICENSE TO RAPE:
RUNAWAY SOLDIERS DISCLOSE
POCKET MONEY FOR NEW
RECRUIT
ARMY CONFISCATED LAND
FOR PRAWN PROJECT
DISSIDENTS UNDER THE
THAI JUNGLE BOOT
PROTEST AT WAIVER OF
EU VISA BAN ON DICTATOR
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READERS’ FRONT
Dear Readers,
We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of
those seeking social justice in
In addition, we also would like to thanks David Arnott for
archiving all Kao-Wao’s news in the Burma Online
Library, which allows our readers to search for particular subjects as well as
browse by subject and date.
Kao Wao News is now archived in
the Online Burma Library at;
http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0
Regards,
Editor
kaowao@hotmail.com
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Editor,
I was so surprised that Kao Wao
news quoted from the HRP’s propaganda that the HRP
burnt the SPDC’s rice stock. (Kao-Wao
No.35, “Junta’s Rice Stock Burnt by Mon Armed Group”). I think you
don’t know about the real situation in southern Ye
township. You should separate between the breakaway HRP Mon armed group
and the other led by Nai Bin and Nai Hloin who
continue to fight against the regime. Please don't exploit Nai Bin’s group as a
member of the HRP. Nai Bin said that he did not want to become a rival
with the NMSP.
Their group is not a member of the HRP anymore.
T Taw
(Via Monnet)
Editor’s note:
Thank you for your comment. Kao-Wao
did not mention the rice stock was burnt by the HRP even though we used the
source from the HRP. In the article, we clearly said “-- on Burma’s
Independence Day, about thirty armed Mon guerrillas led by Nai Bin and Hong Kon from the Monland Restoration Army (MRA) ambushed and
fired upon a Burma Army camp burning their rice stock to the ground.”
Actually, the Monland Restoration Army was named by Nai Hloin
and the other armed group in Tenasserim area before the HRP was formed.
The MRA group, also known as Outrageous Force (Dorb
Dein HuMarn), led by Nai Hloin
was sporadically active in Ye and Ye-Byu area by guerrilla war before Colonel Pan Nyunt split
from the NMSP.
Dear Kao-Wao,
Leaders of the NMSP are too patient at maintaining a
peaceful solution rather than battlefield approach. What are the main
issues that they discuss at the Party’s congress, who will be elected as the
new leaders?
Could you provide more detail on the NMSP’s meeting?
Sincerely,
Banya Htow
(
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TEACHING MON BANNED
BY JUNTA
(By Taramon,
The Burmese authorities have enforced the ban on the
teaching of Mon language in schools according to a Mon community source from
southern
The banning of Mon literacy followed the order given by
Mawlamyine based Southeast Military Command, issued in November 2002. The
statement said, "Teaching of the Mon language at government schools must
be immediately stopped". Following the order, many schools in
Mawlamyine and Kyaik Ma-Yaw townships have stopped teaching the ethnic language
to the Mon children in the New Year.
According to a source from the office of the New Mon State
Party, the SPDC authorities and the NMSP are discussing this issue but no
result has been reached at the moment.
Ms. Mi SarDar, the Chief of the
Mon National Education Office said that the Mon Education system was well
established and running three High Schools in the strong hold areas with over
900 teachers. The teachers were appointed on a voluntary basis and the
Committee only provided basic stipends to over one hundred schools in
“This is not the first time teachers are ordered to stop
teaching Mon in the government schools, in the brown area where both of the
SPDC and NMSP have control, educators have always encountered problems in
competing administrations,” said Nai Nyan Mon, a Mon
teacher from Ye township.
“Management issues within the cease-fire agreement reached
in 1995 between the two sides have not dealt with this problem until now.
The Military Intelligence (MI), the most powerful branch of the SPDC, normally
threatens teachers and volunteers for teaching Mon whenever they want to give
pressure to the Mon political parties”, he added.
The rights to teach Mon language have been violated by the
regime and very often Mon teachers have been arrested, tortured, forced to
resign, and physically or sexually harassed by the authorities, accused of
being involved in politics or supporting the anti-government groups.
***********************************************************
AN ORDER TO SHOOT
EVERY MAN IN UNIFORM
(Based on a report of IMNA and Kao-Wao,
The officer of Burmese Army in southern Ye
township of
On
Shortly after, Captain Tin Aung Khaing barked out orders to
the local people in southern Ye township that they were not allowed to wear
army uniform shirts and would be shot and killed on site if they do so, no
questions asked.
The witness said two men were later sent to Ye army prison
as punishment and released after their families paid the Commander 100,000 Kyat
for each.
Both men needed immediate treatment in the hospital because
of the pain and injuries inflicted by the torture both in the village and in
the army lock-up.
Local sources reported that the Burmese Army LIB No. 273,
280, 31 and 61 have launched an offensive to wipe out Mon armed groups in the
last three months. The standard operating procedure of the Burmese army is to
make civilians targets in their war against the opposition groups and gun down
indiscriminately villagers who happen to be working out in the open.
As in all military dictatorships, suppressing insurgent
groups involves oppressive action against the civilian base, through
depopulation measures, by diluting their ethnic homogeneity, land confiscation,
and resettlement areas to act as buffers against perceived enemy forces.
All of these measures are taking place in Monland and throughout
**************************************************
Life in
FORCED LOGGING FOR
NEW ARMY BASE
(Based on IMNA,
Civilians from
In January, reported the IMNA Mon News group from the
Thailand Burma border, Anin and Htin-Yuu (Kwan Proi) villages of
The local witness said Anin and
Htin-Yuu villages were busy cutting logs after
receiving an order from the authorities in early January. "The order
we received from the village headmen said we need to cut down trees from our
areas and saw it into lumber. If we don’t provide this amount, then
we have to buy it, 280 tons in total required by the army”, a villager said.
"Because of this order, if we can’t buy lumber from other
places, we have to cut all of our rubber plantation trees,” protested another
villager.
According to the IMNA source, Mon farmers need to find
laborers and hire the equipment needed for the logs and pay for all expenses.
For those who have to buy lumber from the outside, they have to pay 200, 000
Kyat per ton.
The villagers complained this is the first time that they
have had to provide lumber to the authorities and the Burmese Army under force.
*************************************
Mon national affairs
NEW MON STATE PARTY
HOLDS FIFTH CONFERENCE
(Reported by Gong Ong)
Ye, January 20, 2003 -- Cadres and delegates of the New Mon
State Party gathered at Nyi Sar
camp in southern Mon State to review and discuss the political role and to
elect new Party leaders.
Selected delegates from both wings of the Mon National
Liberation Army (MNLA) and Party’s Administrative bodies of Tavoy,
The New Mon State Party (NMSP) normally holds the conference
every three years to review the preceding 3 years and discuss future working
plans in their struggle to regain a democratic
Even though the NMSP seems to be more united and stronger
after the split led by Colonel Nai Pan Nyunt last year, the popularity among
the Mon public has gradually fallen throughout the 90s, said a retired NMSP
leader. NMSP membership has declined since the fall of its strong hold
base,
In the New Year,
Many have frustrated with the cease-fire agreement between
the NMSP and the Burmese regime in June 1995 as human rights abuses such as
forced labor, rape, torture and extra judicial killing by the State Peace and
Development Council regime continue in the Mon areas. Due to
dissatisfaction over the cease-fire, many fighters have split from the Party since
1996. The MNLA’s strongest division, the Mergui
Battalion from the south, broke away in 1996 and a Central Committee member
Colonel Pan Nyunt had split and formed the Hongsawatoi
Restoration Party in 2001.
The NMSP was founded by Nai Shew
Kyin (a) Nai Ba Lwin in July 1958 when the Mon Peoples Front (MPF) surrendered
to the U Nu’s Parliamentary government claiming to the Mon supporters that it
was an exchange of arms for democracy. Since it was founded Nai Shwe Kyin
(90 years), who now lives in
The Party split into two factions in 1981 before reuniting
in 1987. Some observers had claimed the split was due to international
theoretical confrontation between Nai Shwe Kyin’s pro
However, the NMSP remains the strongest political armed
group for the Mon public and many experienced and intellectual leaders are
fighting for the right cause within the Party. On the other hand, many
energetic leaders have left the movement and lived in the third countries,
According to
The NMSP needs more strong leaders to fight corruption and to
reform the party in gaining public support. Even though, the present CEC
(Central Executive Committee) leaders are sincere in their cause, they are not
decisive and strong enough, argued Nai Waeng, a
Community leader from Mudon.
*****************************************************
Rape used as a weapon
of war
LICENSE TO RAPE:
RUNAWAY SOLDIERS DISCLOSE
(Based on SWAN’s report and Kao-Wao,
According to Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), three
soldiers who defected from the Burmese Army at the Thai-Burma border on
The soldiers, aged 17, 19 and 26, who had defected with
their weapons from Infantry Battalion 226 testified that their commanding
sergeant Myint Htay had boasted to them last month about having raped
"five or six" women in Shan State.
The three soldiers, all forcibly recruited into the SPDC
Army within the past year, were stationed at the border for only a few months,
after undergoing training near Kengtung.
"If officers feel comfortable boasting to their troops about raping women,
it is clear that the culture of impunity for sexual violence in the SPDC Army
is still in place," said Hseng Noung of the Shan Women's Action Network.
The soldiers, one of whom was only 16 when arrested at a bus
station in Central Burma and forced to enlist, also said that there were child
soldiers as young as twelve stationed at the SPDC camp opposite Piang Luang. It remains to be
seen how the soldiers’ testimonies will affect the Burmese government’s denial
of SWAN’s report on rape charges that attracted
international and public condemnation. The Burmese government’s refusal
to uphold the rights of woman on this charge indicates quite clearly the gender
bias in Burmese society that they are devalued in all civil matters and whose
testimonies of rape charges in
Meanwhile, abuse, violence and discrimination against women
go unpunished in other parts of
Recently, according to a source from Khaw-Zar village, Ye township, troops from Infantry Battalion
No. 273 being charged with the attempted rape of three women on November 7,
2002 in a village replied that they could “do anything they want.”
In searching for the Mon armed group, the Battalion No 273,
surrounded the village and attempted to rape three women in the process, they
targeted two Mon cultural dancers and a schoolteacher, a witness who recently arrived
to the border said. They were freed after the schoolteacher asked the
soldiers not to harm them. "The dancers stalled the soldiers saying
they were sick before other people started to arrive,” said the witness.
"This is a black area and we can do anything we
want," the army officer angrily told the villagers after the village
headmen reported the case to him.
“These villagers came from another village for a cultural
show organized by the teachers in the area. They had to travel quite a
distance to see the show but it was cancelled due to incident. This has
routinely happened to us like the Shan women, the only consistent thing that
the Burmese Army seems to be able to do," said Nai Ba, a 67-year-old man.
*************************************************
POCKET MONEY FOR NEW
RECRUIT
(Reported by Taramon)
Thanbyu Zayat,
The officer of Light Infantry Battalion No. 31 addressed the
public that it was impossible to live without the Army where robbery takes
place very often in their town. “Only the Army is able to protect crimes in the
community.
If you want to become a soldier then just register your name
in the list and we will grant you Kyat 200,000 as a bonus for recruitment used
for your pocket money” the Captain said at the meeting.
“The purpose is to expand the military with this secret campaign
in our city”, a Thanbyu Zayat
resident said.
According to a local administrator, the Army is facing
difficulty in recruiting people from upper
Despite a smearing campaign, local residents complained that
the Army confiscated vegetable and fruit gardens between Ye
and Than Phyu Za Yat Townships in the fruit seasons. The soldiers set
up their camp in the land they have taken from local people and they vigorously
grabbed durian, betel-nut and lemon gardens in these areas when the food season
arrived.
************************************************************
ARMY CONFISCATED LAND
FOR PRAWN PROJECT
(Kao-Wao,
Mudon -- The Burmese army has confiscated more land for a
prawn project in
Kyauk Ta-Lone based, the Light Infantry Battalion No. 210
took 64 acres of land belonging to 9 local farmers from Yaung-Down
and Kwan-Hlar villages of
But local farmers objected to this statement saying, “they’ll probably return our land to the local Land Committee
and the committee will transfer it to the State Land Department”. Nai Blai, a farmer from Kwan-Hlar village said it was a blatant
act of violation toward farmers and they will endeavor to work for their land
rights.
The Burmese military has occupied 200 acres of land at A-Bit
village and another 200 acres at Sak Kaw village in
2002, in
************************************************************
(Kao-Wao,
The former First Lady of Burma passed away in exile at her
home in
Sao Hearn Kham, known as "Sao
Mae" (Royal Mother) or Mahadevi, was the daughter of one of the famous Shan prince warriors,
Khun Sang Tonhoong. She was married to Sao Shwe
Thaike, Prince of Yawnghwe, who became the first president of
The well-known Shan women leader Mahadevi
of Yawnghwe also served as a Member of Parliament from 1956 - 1960. After Sao
Shwe Thaike's death, she joined the resistance
movement and was elected as president of the Shan State War Council, the office
she held until 1969 when she went into exile in
The Mahadevi is immortalized in
The White Umbrella, "the story of
******************************************************
Security Alert
DISSIDENTS UNDER THE
THAI JUNGLE BOOT
(Based on the
Several Burmese dissidents and grassroots groups were told
with warning to leave
“The Thai government has neglected the legitimacy of the
Burmese government and has chosen to ignore and have no regard for the
grassroots members of the Burmese democracy movement”, commented an observer.
But some of the ‘illegals’ defied the warning, which
led to the arrest of five people who were being detained at Sangkhla
Buri police station. The commander denied that the
crackdown was aimed at pleasing the Burmese government ahead of a visit to
Gen Somdhat's two-day visit is set
for Jan 31, while the premier will be there on Feb 9-10. Maj-Gen
Mana said the Surasee Task
Force had been lenient to the illegal immigrants for a long time. He accused
them of being troublemakers and said complaints from Thai villagers had
prompted the force to move against them. He claimed that they only enjoyed
support from some Thai officials in
Maj-Gen Mana
said he was investigating the aliens' claim that some Thai officials took
bribes from the illegal immigrants and also issued fake Thai ID cards to them.
***********************************************************
International
campaign
PROTEST AT WAIVER OF
EU VISA BAN ON DICTATOR
(Cited from ICFTU Online)
Brussels,
On
Khin Maung’s visit takes place against the background of
continued repression in
“The Burmese dictatorship continues to run the country as
virtual forced labour camp, with the military compelling adults and children to
work for the army and on infrastructure projects”, said ICFTU General Secretary
Guy Ryder, adding that “the European Union should uphold its formal commitment
not to allow representatives of this vicious regime to enter Europe, let alone
take part in these talks. The EU decision risks conferring
some degree of respectability on one of the world’s most repressive regimes and
sending a signal to the junta that their duplicitous actions, talking about
dialogue but in fact increasing repression, can lead to international
credibility”.
The ICFTU last October submitted a comprehensive file of
evidence to the UN’s International Labour Organisation detailing the continued
use of forced labour in
The ICFTU will join a number of Brussels-based organisations
at a demonstration against Khin Maung’s visit, on Tuesday 28 January
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