KAO WAO NEWS No. 60
An electronic newsletter for social justice and
freedom in Burma
Best wishes for a
very happy Year of the Monkey!
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READER’S FRONT
VILLAGERS TORTURED
FOR NOT SPEAKING BURMESE
PRO
ETHNIC CONFLICT
TARGETED AT
CHOLERA SPREADS ALONG
THE BORDER
MON DANCE GAINS
POPULARITY ON THAI SOIL
JUNTA DESTROYS CORN
CROPS IN MUDON
DKBA SMUGGLING
BUSINESS
JUNTA HOLDS HISTORIC
PEACE TALKS WITH KAREN
MONKS ARRESETED FOR
CURFEW VIOLATIONS
A LAND WITHOUT EVIL:
NEW BOOK ON
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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 and open society
in
Regards,
Editor
kaowao@hotmail.com, kaowao@shaw.ca
__________________________________
On Kanbawza Win’s Burmese Thugs
Have Become A Little Educated
Kao Wao Editor,
Kanbawza Win has been confusing us
with no direction in attacking the Burmese thugs. He is not fighting
against the junta but every body in the movement, ethnic, democratic leaders,
activist and all groups such as NCGUB, ENSCC, D4B discussion group and
individuals. As a professional writer, he should upgrade himself and
learn from others to clearly prove his speculation on accurate
information. Otherwise, he is advocating for the SPDC and is bringing
misunderstanding among us.
Thanks,
Ko Aye
_____________________________________
If I follow up Kanbawza Win’s
title, French oil giant Total becomes a little educated. They now recognize
they are dealing with political issues with the senior leaders of the Burmese
military junta. Number 2 of Total went to
Best regards,
Farid Ghehioueche
Chairman of Info Birmanie
___________________________________________
Kanbawza Win is a free-lance
journalist. So, why is it that what flows from his pen is treated like an
important thunder among us? It is just wild and uninformed finger
pointing. But as a free-lance writer, he is welcomed to write and say
anything -- and if anyone is to be blamed for promoting squabbles and internal
conflict then those who post this kind of article, unthinkingly and
indiscriminately, must be blamed.
TY
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VILLAGERS TORTURED
FOR NOT SPEAKING BURMESE
(By Taramon, Kao Wao)
Sangkhlaburi, January 18, 2004 --
Villagers from the young to the old in southern Ye township were ordered to sit
in the sun as punishment for not speaking Burmese by the Burmese Army according
to refugees who fled to the Thai Burma border last week.
“The SPDC captain said we are like animals because we don’t
understand their (Burmese) language, so they treat us as such,” said a
50-year-old Mon woman from Waeng Kyam
village who recently arrived to the Thai-Burma border.
Victims were ordered to sit under the hot sun from
“We are even refused to drink water,” said a villager who
was taken by the BA last December and accused as being rebel supporter for not
understanding the Burmese language.
The BA rounds up 7 villagers from every village in the
offensive area for portering and also are used as
human shields during its patrol into the Mon territory, said the local
villagers.
The SPDC soldiers treat the local Mon people as animals
because they cannot speak Burmese said the woman who can speaks it
fluently. Many villagers are often beaten and slapped violently by the
Burmese soldiers when they cannot answer in Burmese. She added that she
became an elite in this area where most people do not
understand the Burmese.
The lady was born in
Some villagers suspected as rebel sympathizers or supporters
were brutally tortured and put in the detention center said a witness who fled
from the village.
“The SPDC soldiers puts razor blades inside the mouths of
suspects, then hits or punches them on the cheek,” said Mi Dut,
a Mon woman. “But they could not help the SPDC’s
Battalion. They only know the Burmese soldiers who have always treated them
inhumanly ever since independence was achieved in the 1940s.”
An elderly couple, parents in law of the rebel leader Nai Bin, were severely beaten and sent to the detention
center said the source.
“I saw them being tortured in front of their house,” the
woman added.
Another 30-year-old woman said that Mon women, whose
husbands fled to the jungle when the army entered the village, were tortured
after being accused as rebel supporters even though they are known to be
innocent farmers.
The BA killed livestock and other animals for food during
the military operation; some animals died unable to access water during the
weeklong water shortage during the offensive.
The Mon local sources reported that the BA launched a major
offensive against the Mon splinter group who had split from the New Mon State
Party after the party reached a cease-fire agreement in 1995.
The Pa-An based Regiment No. 22 of
Southeast Military Command led by Colonel Nyi Nyi Swe took civilians and forced them to march in front of
the BA during the offensive. The front line office of about a thousand
troops was stationed at Khawzar village, southern Ye township since early December 2003.
******************************************
PRO
(Kao Wao:
A skirmish between the cease-fire New Mon State Party and
the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army took place on January 16 at the Thai-Burma
border while KNU leaders were in
According to the NMSP spoke person, the fighting occurred in
the early evening when the NMSP fired upon the DKBA when they approached their
camp without warning.
On
According to Nai Banya Mon, the NMSP spokesman, one DKBA fighter was killed
and two were seriously wounded while the NMSP remained intact. Three packets of
amphetamine pills and a M-16 assault rifle were also
seized from the drug dealers.
“The one in plain clothes with a gun was killed and the
other three escaped”, said the NMSP officer. The NMSP accused the dealers
for shooting the Mon checkpoint from their truck after they first refused to
identify themselves as DKBA members.
The NMSP’s Drug Eradication Force
founded last year is active along the border area under its control.
After the New Mon State Party troops killed the drug dealer,
the DKBA troops moved in over a period of ten days and surrounded the NMSP’s camp, local villagers were tense and frustrated from
the situation, says a local villager from Palaing
The fighting took place during the cease-fire talks in
The NMSP entered a ceasefire agreement with the military
regime of
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ETHNIC CONFLICT
TARGETED AT
(Kao Wao:
The Danish Burma Committee, Norwegian Burma Committee and Olof Palme Foundation at the
Nobel Institute in
Scholars and activists reiterated that independent states of
nationalities had flourished for several centuries in
The ethnic nationalities in
Dr. Lian Sakhong
of the UNLD argued that the crisis in
Cham Toik
of the Mon Unity League spoke to the audience that the Mon fought against the
colonial rule with other nationalities and inevitably took up arms against the
central government after the appeals for basic rights were denied; Mon leaders
were arrested and assassinated at that time.
General Secretary of the Shan Democratic Union Sai Wansai calls (written
comment) for diverse action as the upcoming military-sponsored National
Convention draws near. He outlined three main strategic options or tasks:
to lobby for regime change; to attend the forthcoming National Convention; and
to lobby for "power mediation".
Panelists were comprised of Dr Aye Kyaw (Arakanese)
of
"I am really impressed that the (ethnic) issue is
raised here; in the past, the (European) people only know
The NCGUB delegates led by Prime Minister Dr. Sein Win briefed the seminar; and Dr. Chao
Tzang Yawnghwe and Mandy Sadan also provided presentation of the historical, social,
and political dimension of
*****************************************************
CHOLERA SPREADS ALONG
THE BORDER
(By Taramon /Sangkhlaburi:
Cholera is spreading along the southern Thai-Burma border
where children have been mostly affected, a characteristic feature of the
disease known as Vibria cholerae,
the source from Mon medical workers reported.
“Almost all the children who have come to the hospital are
infected with diarrhea”, said Nai Ong
Janeh from the Palang-Japan
hospital near
The medic believes it is cholera, which is causing the
diarrhea, a bacterium that was probably spread through contaminated water and
fruits around the village area. The patients need
intravenous D5S drip due for severe dehydration, as ORS cannot stop the
diarrhea and vomiting.
The other medical worker who opened a private clinic in the
area said that about 40% of the child patients are suffering from diarrhea at
the moment, the community needs swift medical attention to treat the bacteria
or as much as 50 % case-fatality rates may occur. The common disease in this
area is malaria in which most local people have been infected.
******************************************************
MON DANCE GAINS
POPULARITY ON THAI SOIL
(By Taramon /
The Mon cultural dance gains popularity among Thai societies
according to a local community from the Thai Burma border town.
The Sangkhalaburi based Mon
Culture Restoration Organization has 20 young dancers who are enthusiastic to
perform it well even though they cannot read and write in their own language.
“All of the young girls are between 8 to 13 years old”, said
a founder and dance trainer Ms Mi Yin Sein.
“They cannot read Mon and it’s so difficult when we teach the songs to perform
with the dance”, she added.
The Mon children can dance very well but the MCRO has
difficulty to recruit singers due to the language barrier.
Most members are not granted Thai citizenship status and
face difficulty to travel to other areas in the country to entertain the wider
Thai Mon community even though some communities have requested the group in the
Kingdom.
Mon Culture Restoration Organization was founded in Sangkhlaburi,
*****************************************
Life in
JUNTA DESTROYS CORN
CROPS IN MUDON
(Independent Mon News Agency:
Township Peace and Development Council and irrigation
officials of
The local witnesses reported that farmland near Sat-Thwe village was uprooted of maize plants as the crop
plantation was not following the orders of the government project plan.
On their inspection trip to Sat-Thwe
village on January 3, the TPDC members and irrigation officials blamed the
village headman and farmers for using water from the dam in growing the maize
instead of rice.
On the same day, the village headman was ordered to gather
one person from each household and to destroy the maize plants grown by Mon
farmers Nai One and Mi Woot.
Even though farmers had traditionally planted maize before
the dam was constructed, the TPDC members demanded the villagers uprooted the
maize plants. After the village headman and villagers unwillingly
uprooted about one acre of maize plants, they felt pity for the owners and
returned home, said a villager.
According to the villager, “no body wants to continue to
uproot the maize plants and we feel so sorry for Nai
One and Mi Woot”.
The TPDC members and officials ordered them again to destroy
the plants but the villagers remain disobedient.
The source close to the TPDC member says that the reason why
maize must be uprooted is to show their senior officers that rice was grown
with water from the dam during inspection.
In reality, farmers had not irrigated with water from the
dam and their maize was grown with lake water instead, said the local
villagers.
The government’s Win Pa Non dam cannot provide sufficient
water for growing rice however the irrigation fee was collected from the
farmers years ago.
Also, in the recent year, farmers are forced to grow summer
rice in their field, but refused to obey the order due to insufficient water.
*****************************************************
DKBA SMUGGLING
BUSINESS
(By Taramon / Sangkhlaburi:
The pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army has been
actively involved in the illegal vehicle business along the Three Pagodas Pass-
Thanbyuzayat motor road this year, reported a
business community from the Thai-Burma border.
Local businessmen who once cooperated
business agreements with the cease-fire New Mon State Party in the past now
turn to the DKBA to earn more money and gain opportunity in dealing with the
Burmese authorities.
The motor car smuggling business from neighboring
“The DKBA has more power than the NMSP and that is why the
local businessmen turn to the DKBA despite the Mon businessmen comprising about
80 percent”, said an officer from the NMSP checkpoint.
A trader said that they have suffered from high taxation and
discrimination made by the Karen National Union’s check-point and now pay more
tax than what was agreed to in a prior agreement between the rebels and
traders.
“The verbal agreement was to tax 100 Baht per one car
crossing a KNU checkpoint (gate) but in reality, traders have been taxed for 70
Baht per one pack”, complained a businessman.
According to the passengers, the SPDC’s
checkpoint in Nankween is the worst and the traders
are rudely treated as if they are not human beings.
However the check-point officers cannot tax the vehicles run
by the DKBA group while the NMSP members were taxed for the illegal car
business.
****************************************************
JUNTA HOLDS HISTORIC
PEACE TALKS WITH KAREN
(Kao Wao:
The Burmese military chief Senior General Than
Shwe on Tuesday held a meeting with Karen National
Union leaders during talks aimed at ending one of the world's longest-running
insurgencies according to AFP news.
The unprecedented two-hour meeting raised hopes that the
regime could soon agree on a ceasefire formalising a
deal hammered out in December with one of the last ethnic armies still battling
The length of the unprecedented meeting and the decision to
hold it at a venue typically used to receive visiting heads of state indicate
the talks are progressing well, observers said. The Karen visitors will also be
honoured with a dinner Tuesday on the banks of
"The signs are good because the talks are continuing.
We hope that something positive will come out of this meeting," said a
source close to the Karen mediating team. The source said nine of the most
senior members of the 20-strong Karen delegation attended the meeting, after
which they expected to conclude a number of agreements.
The closed-door talks which began on Thursday are aimed at
ending half a century of military struggle which has caused extreme hardship
for Karen civilians, tens of thousands of whom live in refugee camps on the
Thai border.
The KNU is the largest of the handful of rebel groups still
fighting against
The inclusion of the ethnic groups is key to the credibility
of the convention, the first step in a "road
map" to democracy announced last year which the junta hopes will mute
international criticism over its failure to embark on reforms.
Contacts between the KNU and junta resumed after a long
impasse when the regime dispatched its representatives to meet KNU officials at
the Thai border town of
The KNU is expected to be seeking the ceasefire before
considering whether it will participate in the national convention.
However, the KNU General Secretary Pado Mahn Shah denied the meeting between Bo Mya
and Than Shwe according to the Radio Free Asia.
Despite the positive mood at the talks, KNU representatives
on the Thai-Myanmar border say fighting is continuing and that more refugees
are being forced across the frontier.
"About 30,000 villagers have been displaced to the
jungle in the past week. It's very difficult to find food, and the weather is
cold in this area, about zero degrees (Celsius)," Pado
Mahn Shah told AFP.
**********************************
MONKS ARRESTED FOR
CURFEW VIOLATIONS
(By Kyaw Zwa Moe /
About 100 monks in
The military government has ordered monks across
Since the curfew was imposed more than 100 monks have been
arrested for curfew violations, said the Thai-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners-Burma (AAAP).
Authorities arrested ten young monks from the Ngwe Kyar Yan
monastery in
According to the AAPP, the arrested monks are from about ten
monasteries in
In November, monks from several
The US State Department lists predominantly Buddhist Burma as a "country of particular concern" because of the
military government’s restrictions on religious freedom. The
International Religious Freedom Report for 2003 says restrictions on religious
practice is a problem worldwide, but cited Burma, China, Cuba, Laos, North
Korea and Vietnam as the worst offenders.
**********************************************************
Book
A LAND WITHOUT EVIL:
NEW BOOK ON
A Land Without Evil: Stopping the
Genocide of the
According to the source, the book tells the history of the
Karen people but is focused on the suffering of all the people of
The author, Benedict Rogers who is a journalist and human
rights campaigner, currently working for Christian Solidarity Worldwide in
The book, contains about 254 pages with photographs,
includes chapters on the democracy movement of 1988, the Free Burma Rangers,
the Internally Displaced People and refugees, and the armed resistance. It
contains inspiring stories of courage, faith and dignity, alongside stories of
suffering.
Dr. David Aikman, former senior
correspondent of TIME in his review said, "Benedict Rogers has written a
moving and detailed account of the tragedy of the oppressed Karen people of
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KAO WAO NEWS GROUP
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