Amnesty International Report 1996 - Myanmar

At least 1,000 people involved in opposition political parties remained imprisoned, including hundreds of prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience. At least 32 people were arrested for political reasons; 17 were still detained at the end of the year. At least 163 political prisoners, including six prisoners of conscience, were released. Prisoners were tortured and held in conditions which amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to be subjected to human rights violations which included torture and ill-treatment and possible extrajudicial executions. Thousands of ethnic Burmans, in particular those convicted of criminal offences, were also forced to act as porters and labourers. One person was sentenced to death. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Myanmar's military government chaired by General Than Shwe, continued to rule by decree in the absence of a constitution. Martial law decrees severely restricting the rights to freedom of expression and assembly remained in force throughout the year. The National Convention, originally convened by the SLORC in 1993 to agree principles for a new constitution (see Amnesty International Reports 1994 and 1995), adjourned in April after having called for the establishment of six self-administered geographic areas for ethnic groups. Its members, all selected by the SLORC, reconvened again in November to discuss chapters of the constitution relating to legislative, administrative, and judiciary matters. The opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), withdrew from the Convention and the SLORC then expelled them from further Convention meetings. Throughout the year, the government continued its attempts to gain control of border areas, which have long been held by armed opposition groups. Gains were made by the government either through military action, tactical alliances with some groups or through negotiated cease-fires. In January the tatmadaw (the government armed forces), in alliance with the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Organization (DKBO), launched an offensive against the armed opposition group, the Karen National Union (KNU), seizing control of most of the territory held by the KNU in eastern Myanmar. As a result, at least 10,000 Karen civilians fled to refugee camps in neighbouring Thailand. In March fighting resumed in Shan State between the Burmese armed forces and the Muang Tai Army. As a result, hundreds of displaced people fled to Thailand to escape human rights violations. Fighting continued intermittently throughout the year. In March the SLORC agreed a cease-fire with the Karenni National Progressive Party, an armed group representing the Karenni ethnic minority, although fighting broke out again in June. A cease-fire was agreed in June between the SLORC and the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an armed group representing the Mon ethnic minority. In January the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar submitted an extensive report on the human rights situation in the country to the UN Commission on Human Rights. In March the Commission adopted by consensus a resolution extending the Special Rapporteur's mandate for another year, and expressing concern at the extremely serious human rights situation in Myanmar. In December the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution expressing grave concern at continued human rights violations in Myanmar. At least 1,000 political prisoners, including hundreds of prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience, remained in detention. Most had been convicted under laws which criminalize peaceful political activity. They included hundreds of political prisoners sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials before military tribunals between 1989 and 1992. Many had been arrested following the military's violent crack-down on the 1988 pro-democracy movement. Although military tribunals were abolished in 1992, political prisoners continued to be sentenced to long terms of imprisonment by civilian courts which were not independent from the military. At least 32 people were arrested for political reasons, 17 of whom were still imprisoned at the end of the year. Aung Zeya was among a group of nine young political activists who were sentenced in April to seven years' imprisonment after peacefully demonstrating in February at the funeral of U Nu, Myanmar's first Prime Minister. According to the government, the nine were arrested for holding anti-government protests and were also charged with attempting to steal U Nu's body, a charge which the authorities failed to substantiate. Tun Shwe, U Thu Wai and U Htwe Myint were arrested and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in June apparently for meeting regularly with foreign nationals. Ye Htut was arrested in September for "concocting news stories" about Myanmar and sending them to dissident Burmese groups abroad. All were prisoners of conscience. Prisoner of conscience Ma Thida, a member of the NLD, writer and medical doctor (see Amnesty International Report 1995), contracted tuberculosis during the year, which was subsequently treated. However, she remained in poor health throughout the year. According to government figures, 163 political prisoners were released in 1995, including six prisoners of conscience. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD, was released after having been detained for almost six years under house arrest (see previous Amnesty International Reports). She was reappointed NLD General Secretary, although the SLORC's Election Commission did not recognize her new position. Dr Aung Khin Sint, Tin Moe and Win Htein, prominent NLD members, were released in February and newly-appointed NLD vice-chairmen Tin U and Kyi Maung were released in March (see Amnesty International Reports 1992 to 1995). New information emerged in September which indicated that torture and ill-treatment were widely used in prisons and labour camps throughout the country. Torture was used during pre-trial interrogation in order to extract information from political detainees. It was also commonly employed after sentencing in order to punish prisoners who broke arbitrary and harsh prison regulations. Methods of torture used included beatings, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness; being forced to crawl over sharp stones; and prolonged exposure to the hot sun. Prison conditions for both political and criminal prisoners were poor, often amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Many prisoners suffered from severe overcrowding and an inadequate diet, and received little or no medical treatment. Political prisoners were often held in prolonged solitary confinement and were forbidden most reading and all writing materials. Some prisoners were kept in leg-irons for prolonged periods; one political prisoner was kept in iron shackles for two months because he had a piece of paper in his possession. Prisoners convicted of criminal offences were often forced to work on roads and other infrastructure projects in labour camps under harsh conditions. They were made to break rocks for long hours in leg-irons, beaten and deprived of adequate food or sleep. Over 1,300 such prisoners have died as a result of illness and ill-treatment in nine labour camps throughout Myanmar. Human rights violations against ethnic minorities, particularly the Karen, Mon and Shan, continued throughout the year. Members of ethnic minority groups suspected of supporting armed insurgents were tortured and sometimes killed. In January Nai Win, a Mon farmer, was seized because of suspected contacts with the NMSP, beaten repeatedly in front of villagers, and dragged along the beach where he eventually died from his injuries. In April Mi Noy, a 17-year-old Mon girl, was shot dead in the back by soldiers as she was walking to a temple in the Mon State where a village meeting which had been convened by the Burmese army was taking place. No official investigation was known to have been carried out into these incidents. Thousands of ethnic Burman civilians and members of ethnic minorities were arbitrarily seized by the military and forced to serve as porters carrying army equipment and supplies, or as unpaid labourers working on construction projects. During the army's offensive against the KNU in January, thousands of porters were forced to carry heavy loads up and down mountain tracks. Convicted criminals were also moved from prisons to work as porters for the army. Many of them were reportedly killed either in battles or when forced to walk into minefields ahead of soldiers. Porters were arbitrarily held in army custody for periods ranging from a few days to several months. They usually received little food and no medical treatment. Victims and witnesses reported that those who could not carry their loads were beaten or killed by soldiers. In January Tun Shwe, a Karen farmer, was shot dead while pleading with a soldier not to kill him, because he could not carry his load. In March U Than Mein, a Mon, was killed when a soldier hit him in the chest and back with an axe for the same reason. Porters who fell ill were forced to continue working, sometimes until they collapsed, and were left behind or killed by troops. One Mon farmer reported that in March, when he was used as a porter by the tatmadaw, he had seen the bodies of over 100 porters left by the side of the path. Porters were also beaten by soldiers with rifle butts or bamboo rods if they were unable to keep up with the others or to carry their loads. Soldiers also routinely seized villagers for forced labour. Thousands of civilians throughout Myanmar were arbitrarily seized and forced by the tatmadaw to work on infrastructure projects such as roads, quarries and railways on a routine basis in harsh conditions which often amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Prisoners were subjected to beatings and were denied adequate food, sleep or medical treatment. In February the DKBO, acting with the support of the tatmadaw, attacked and destroyed Karen camps in Thailand near the Myanmar border, killing at least 10 Karen and four Thai nationals and seizing at least 13 others, who were then taken to Myanmar. The DKBO stopped their attacks in early May, but resumed them again in September, killing four Karen displaced people and seizing at least nine others. Karen leaders opposed to the Myanmar Government, who were most at risk of abduction, were forced to live in DKBO-controlled territory in Kayin State following their return to Myanmar. During the attacks the DKBO burned down entire Karen camps in Thailand, and three Karen civilians were burned to death. In April Ka Moe Thaw was killed after being trapped in a bunker at Baw No camp when the DKBO forces entered the camp and burned down 700 houses, leaving 3,500 Karen homeless. At least 10 other Karens were shot dead by members of the DKBO. In October Ka Ka Per and Ka Lar were killed when DKBO forces entered Sho Clo camp and opened fire on unarmed civilians. One person was sentenced to death in March for robbery and murder; but no executions were reported. The return of Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, under a 1993 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the SLORC and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), continued throughout the year (see Amnesty International Reports 1994 and 1995). Some 200,000 refugees had been repatriated by the end of the year. UNHCR representatives in Myanmar investigated reports of human rights violations against returnees and brought such reports to the attention of local authorities. However, there was continued concern that returnees and civilians who remained in Myanmar might be at risk of human rights violations once the UNHCR's man-date ended. In June Amnesty International published a report, Myanmar: ‘No place to hide' – Killings, abductions and other abuses against ethnic Karen villagers and refugees. In July the organization welcomed the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, while calling on the government to make more comprehensive improvements in its human rights record. In September Amnesty International published a report, Myanmar: Conditions in prisons and labour camps, which highlighted for the first time extremely harsh conditions in labour camps, and in October it published Myanmar: Human rights after seven years of military rule. The Myanmar Government did not respond to Amnesty International's request to meet government officials, nor did the authorities reply to requests for their response to the human rights violations highlighted in the organization's reports.