SPDC is a fascist regime? (Genocide in Burma)

AI

Myanmar

Military keeps ethnic minorities "like chickens in a basket"

In three major reports released today, Amnesty International details
how the Burmese military has killed dozens of unarmed farmers from the
Karen, Karenni, and Shan ethnic groups.

Over 100 refugees interviewed by Amnesty International in Thailand
described how their friends and relatives had been shot by the
tatmadaw, or Burmese army. The vast majority had been forced to do
unpaid labour, and to leave their traditional lands in a tatmadaw
campaign to break up alleged links with armed ethnic minority groups
fighting for autonomy or independence in the Karen, Karenni, and Shan
States.

"It is civilians, not armed insurgents, who have suffered the vast
majority of casualties in these conflicts," Amnesty International said.
"Forced relocation ruins ethnic minorities' traditional ways of life
and condemns them to a life on the run, in refugee camps, or as forced
labourers."

"The Burmese army has devastated the lives of thousands of Shan, Karen
and Karenni people by targeting them simply because of their ethnicity
or perceived political beliefs. Many have been killed, others tortured,
and thousands have fled to neighbouring countries."

The military have forced thousands of civilians, including children, to
work on massive building projects. An estimated 10 per cent of the
workforce at a Buddhist temple in Khunhing in the Shan State are
children. Civilians are also frequently beaten while doing forced
portering duties -- carrying equipment for Burmese troops on patrol.

In 1996, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, Myanmar's
military government), began a massive civilian relocation program in
the Kayah (Karenni) and Shan States in eastern Myanmar. Some 300,000
Shan and over 20,000 Karenni villagers were forced from their village
homes into designated relocation sites where the military kept them, in
the words of one former resident, "like chickens in a basket".

Forced to live in life-threatening conditions, without safe drinking
water, food and medical care, hundreds of people have since reportedly
died from treatable diseases. Thousands have fled to Thailand, and
still others are hiding in the forest. Most of the refugees interviewed
by Amnesty International had been forced by the military to work for
without pay and fled because this made it impossible for them to work
to support themselves.

Similar tales emerged in interviews with Karen refugees from the Kayin
State, who had fled to Thailand in late 1998 and early 1999 in the face
of village burnings, constant demands for forced labour, looting of
food and supplies, torture and killings by the military. Many had
feared being shot on sight because they occupied "black areas", where
the armed opposition was allegedly active. All of these people were
farmers who usually grew small plots of rice on a semi-subsistence
level.

Thousands of Karen villagers have also been forced off their land,
unable to farm and provide for their families. Dozens of Karen
civilians have been killed by the tatmadaw, because they hid in the
forest, could not perform their duties as porters, or were suspected of
supporting armed opposition groups. In November 1998 one Karen widow
saw her son shot dead in front of her when he tried to prevent Burmese
troops from beating her.

The widespread human rights violations in Myanmar's ethnic minority
states have a negative impact on neighbouring countries, particularly
Thailand, Bangladesh, and India, which have all been affected by large
refugee flows. Incursions by SPDC troops and various armed opposition
groups into Thai territory has resulted in several Thai nationals being
killed during the last four years.

These issues have become particularly acute since Myanmar's admission
to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997.
ASEAN countries then claimed that such a move would encourage the SPDC
to improve its human rights record.

In fact, the opposite has been true. The SPDC has stepped up its
repression of the opposition party the National League for Democracy
and increased forcible relocation programs. Forced labour in all seven
ethnic minority states continues at a high level, and forced portering
--one of the harshest forms of forced labour -- occurs wherever there
are counter-insurgency activities.

"As ASEAN members gather in Singapore in July 1999 for their annual
Ministerial Meeting, it behoves them to come up with a new strategy for
dealing with the SPDC's intransigence regarding human rights," Amnesty
International said.

The organization is also urging the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which
deals with Asian security issues and will meet at the same time, to
address this security issue. In particular, China should end its
substantial arms transfers to the SPDC.

Amnesty International is urging the SPDC to investigate all reports of
torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions and bring those
found responsible to justice. All military units should immediately
receive clear orders to stop these practices and to use force and
firearms only when strictly necessary to protect life.

Myanmar has ratified the International Labour Organization Convention
No 29 and the SPDC should therefore take immediate measures to end
ill-treatment and torture in the context of forced labour and
portering, and to abolish forced portering. The SPDC should also abide
by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the
economic exploitation of children.

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