AMNESTY REPORT ON BURMA: Army abuses rampant

Published on Jul 17, 2002

Burma remains a country of forced labour, extortion and land confiscation by the military in ethnic areas, notably Shan State where insurgents continue to fight the junta, Amnesty International said yesterday.

All 100 migrants interviewed by the organisation said they left their homes because they feared they could no longer survive. Many of them had been forced to provide unpaid labour in the last 18 months, Amnesty said in a statement.

Types of labour included construction work on roads and in military camps, working on military farms and acting as porters for soldiers for days or even weeks at a time, the statement said.

Although the Burmese government has outlawed forced labour, the orders to stop taking civilians are not always adhered to, it said.

"The Burma government needs to ensure that the order reaches all levels of the military. In addition they must inform villagers of their rights in language they understand," the statement said.

In the statement, which is based on a new report, Amnesty said killing and torture were employed in counter-insurgency operations.

A Shan villager, Aye Seng, died after being beaten for five nights following an allegation that he gave rice to fighters of the rebellious Shan State Army, when in fact he did not even have enough rice for himself, the statement said.

The migrants also faced constant demands for money and goods by the "tatmadaw" (Burmese military). The army taxed the rice crop in kind, which often meant that subsistence farmers were required to give or sell at well below the market rate a fixed amount of their rice, regardless of yields, it said.

The organisation said migrant workers in Thailand also face various threats as they make their way from their homes in Burma to Thailand. Migrant workers face abuses on both sides of the border, often at the hand of human smugglers, it said.

Earlier this year, Thai police found the bodies of 20 Karen migrants near the border. They were blindfolded with their wrists tied and throats cut. Nobody has yet taken responsibility for the incident.

There have been several human rights improvements in Burma since the end of 2000, Amnesty said, adding that the junta had permitted international delegations, including UN special envoy Razali Ismail and UN special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to visit.

High level teams from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which has set an office in Rangoon, have also visited.

More than 200 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, have been released since the end of 2000.

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