International Advocacy

UNCHR ORAL STATEMENTS 2001


Agenda Item 10

Catholic Institute for International Relations
Oral Intervention on Agenda Item 10
57th Session of the UNCHR
Geneva, Switzerland

Mr. Chairman,
My name is Khin Ohmar and I am from Burma. For the past two years, I have talked before this session on the appalling human rights situation in my country. I welcome the ongoing talk between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military authorities. However, the overall human rights situation is still a grave concern. I would like to call upon the Commission to pay special attention, especially on the escalating use of forced labor.
The military authorities in Burma informed the ILO technical mission before its Governing Body Meeting in November 2000 that General Khin Nyunt, Secretary (1) of SPDC, had already issued a directive to all administrative and military units, which include the notion that the practice of forced labor is illegal and those who conscript forced labor will be prosecuted according to the law.

However, Mr. Chairman, this directive has never been announced by the State-run media. People are not well aware of this directive. In fact, the practice of forced labor has been continued throughout Burma, particularly in the Karen, Karenni and Shan States where the Burmese army is deployed in strength.

According to the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma, an estimate of at least 80,000 individuals, men, women and children and elderly persons from approximately 60 villages in four districts of Karen State were forced to perform hard labor during the period November 2000 to January 2001. There have been reports on conscription for military porterage and forced labor for plantations owned by army units in Ye Township in Tanassariam Division, the southern tail of Burma.

According to our sources, military confiscated lands without any compensation along a new gas pipeline construction from Thanbuzayat in Mon State to Myainggalae in Karen State. Many villages on pipeline route have been forcibly relocated. This pipeline will bring gas from Yetagon gas field for the consumption of cement factory in Myaingalae. We received information that forced labor is being used for the construction of that gas pipeline.

Mr. Chairman,
We are gravely concerned about the ongoing military operations in the Shan, Karen and Karenni States. In these areas, the SPDC has continued the systematic campaign of forced relocation. Massive internal displacement and, destruction of crops and live stocks by the Burmese army has made the livelihood of villagers impossible. Starvation, malnutrition and deaths from contagious diseases continue in these non-Burman ethnic areas, where international relief organizations and media are not accessible.

Since December 2000 the SPDC troops started dry season offensive in Shan, Karen and Karenni areas, and the use of forced porterage has elevated. For example, in Karen State from October to mid- December 2000, the army battalions of Division 22 demanded 10 villagers from each village in Shan-ywa-thit and Kulu Hta to carry supplies and ammunitions to Klaledi, about 20-mile distance. The villagers were ordered to serve as porters about 4 times a month. They had to carry loads weighing about 30 kilograms without being paid. At the end of November, a villager named Day Hkaw from Htee Ler Doh village stepped on a landmine and his leg was blown off while carrying army supplies.

Mr. Chairman,
In the course of civil war, various forms of human rights violations such as torture, rape, forced labor, arbitrary killings, extortion of money, properties and live stocks continue unabated.

As much as we welcome the talks between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military authorities in Rangoon, we are seriously concerned with the ongoing egregious violations of human rights in our country. We have witnessed the fact that the ongoing civil war and systematic and widespread use of forced labor by the Burmese army is interrelated. Because of the unmodernized means of transportation in the Burmese army, it is very likely that the military will pursue the use of forced labor to carry arms and ammunitions and food for the army in the conflict zones. Until and unless the civil war is ended, it is obvious that we cannot expect the end of practice of forced labor by the Burmese army. In the context of the talks between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and SPDC, which started in October last year, we strongly believe that it is time for all conflicting parties to find ways and means for confidence building, and further substantive political dialogue. We call upon the Commission to encourage the SPDC to negotiate a nationwide cease-fire with all ethnic armed groups, which is a vital step for the end of forced labor and further the development of national reconciliation process in Burma.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.




Agenda Item 11a

Catholic Institute for International Relations
Oral Intervention on Agenda Item 11(a) Torture and Detention
57th Session of the UNCHR
Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr. Chairman,
I am speaking here on behalf of the Burmese people who are living under the most repressive regime in the world. I am here to specifically speak Burma’s International obligations with regard to torture and detention.

In Burma, political activists, members of ethnic groups and student activists who have been at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement are the main victims of torture and illegal detention in Burma.

Over 1,500 people still remain imprisoned for political reasons. At least 34 Members of Parliament who were elected in the 1990 general elections still remain in prison and 36 MPs have been detained without trial in so-called "government guesthouses" since 1996.

Mr. Chairman,
Human rights violations in Burma have been well documented by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the ILO and Burmese human rights organizations.

Torture has become an institution in the country. The security forces continue to use torture to extract information, punish, humiliate and control the people. The torture techniques commonly used by the junta’s security forces include: beatings rigorous enough to cause permanent injury, rolling an iron bar up and down the shins until the skin peels off, which is called "The Iron Road"; suspending victims from the ceiling and spinning them around while being beaten is called "The Helicopter"; and "Teik Peik" which involves the victims spending weeks or months in tiny brick cells with little air or light, and being forced to maintain difficult positions for prolonged periods, which is called "The Ponsan".

Moreover, political prisoners are denied adequate food, medical care and sanitation and they get seriously ill because of the harsh prison condition. Although the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been conducting prison visits since May 1999, prison conditions are still extremely poor.

Even though every one of the political prisoners in Burma deserves equal urgent attention, I here want to draw your attention to some individual cases which need immediate care. One of them is Min Ko Naing, a student leader who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 1989 for his peaceful political activities for democracy and human rights. He is the political prisoner who has been detained for the longest period of time in Burma. For most of his imprisonment, he has been held in complete solitary confinement.
He is currently held at Sittwe (Sittway) Prison in Rakhine State. He has been seriously tortured and ill-treated in detention. His health condition is deteriorating day by day and if urgent medical care is not given, he could soon be paralyzed. He is suffering from the physical and emotional effects of torture and solitary confinement. One prisoner who was released in December last year from the same prison described his condition in these words: "He has to totally depend on the iron railings in the prison to walk even a few steps and he is suffering from severe pains of his lower body due to various ways of torture".

Another prisoner of conscience who needs urgent medical care is U Tin Htun, who is serving a 20 years sentence at Thayet Prison in Upper Burma on charges of possessing and distributing illegal political journals and having contact with exiled opposition groups. He is suffering from hypertension, heart disease and mental health problems, yet he is receiving no medical treatment.

Mr. Chairman,
As you all know, our most respected leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to remain under illegal detention and is denied elementary human rights.
In conclusion, I would like to state that torture and illegal detention continue to occur throughout Burma and the ruling military junta continues to violate international human rights standards with impunity. On behalf of the people of Burma, I would like to appeal to the UN Commission on Human Rights to take urgent action for the release of all political prisoners, an end to illegal detention and a halt to all the human rights violations in Burma.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman,

Trafficking, common to many developing countries where the economic development is uneven, is intensified in Burma. Unlike the usual context of trafficking, half a century-long civil war and the state-sponsored violence, perpetrated by the military regime, particularly in ethnic lands, have been the major cause of trafficking of women and girls from Burma into the sex industry in the neighboring countries.

We estimate that at least 40,000 women from Burma are working in the sex industry in Thailand alone. The number of women and girls working on the China-Burma border is increasing. Our source reported that the town of Mong La is one of the key areas. The SPDC regional command has opened a large gambling casino, several nightclubs, bars, and karaoke lounges for a lucrative cross-border entertainment trade with China. Mong La is connected to the Chinese city of Da Lao by a footbridge.

Mr. Chairman,

Burmese sex workers are especially vulnerable to HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) due to lack of basic health information and access to primary healthcare in Burma resulting from the excessive expenditure on the army by the military regime. In addition, because of the language barrier and the debt-bonded situation, they are unable to have their customers use condoms. For example, the 1997 study of the Thai Ministry of Public Health shows that 50-70% of sex workers in the low-end Thai brothels where most Burmese women predominate is HIV positive.

Moreover, these women and girls are physically and sexually abused such as repeated rape, beating, cigarette burns, and threatened to be killed by traffickers, pimps, brothel owners and those involved in the trafficking process.

Mr. Chairman,

The health and human rights situations of Burmese women and girls in the sex industry are complex because of the internal political crisis in Burma, their status as illegal workers in neighboring countries and growing sex trade and trafficking of women in Asia.

Returning to Burma is not an option for most of these women due to fighting, fear of army patrols and fear of rape by the army. Especially for women with HIV positive, the choices are even more limited as they are often unwelcome by their families or communities or fear of burdening already impoverished families. In addition, current health care system including HIV/AIDS programs, are also grossly inadequate and ineffective throughout Burma, particularly in the ethnic minority areas.

Mr. Chairman,

With the obligation to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Burma ratified in 1997, the Burmese military regime must take appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and girls from. To date, the military regime has not taken the issues of trafficking seriously, nor have they implemented effective education and rehabilitation programs.

So long as the State violence continues, women and girls from Burma keep on fleeing and seeking work across the borders.

Mr. Chairman,

In this light, on behalf of all women from Burma, I would like to request the Commission to urge the State Peace and Development Council to stop State-sponsored violence against women, cease armed conflict, and engage in the tripartite dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of ethnic nationalities.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman,
Today, I would like to bring your attention to the situation of Burmese children in my country, particularly in armed conflicts.

I spent most of my life in the refugee camp at Thai-Burma border. As a victim of the half-a-century long civil war, just like other children in the camps, I personally experienced the impact of the war on the lives of children. Violence and instability have had a considerable negative impact on the situation of children in Burma. Many of them have been subjected to various forms of violations of their rights and have been forced to flee areas affected by violence. Families have been forced to cross borders to seek for protection as refugees.

To flee from one's home is to experience a deep sense of loss, and the decision to flee is not taken lightly. Those who make this decision do so because they are in danger of being killed, tortured, raped, abducted, forcibly recruited, or slaved, among other reasons. They leave assets and property, relatives, friends, familiar environments, and established social networks behind them. Although the decision to leave is normally taken by adults, young children can recognize what is happening and can sense their parents' uncertainty and fear.

Children have witnessed the inhumane torture and killing of family members, relatives or neighbours by the Burmese military. Children have witnessed bomb shelling, landmine explosions, burning villages, destruction of their belongings, including crops and live stocks by the army.

Last year in August, I met a young girl of 12-years-old in the Umpium refugee camp in Mae Sod, Thailand. It was only six months ago that she arrived in the camp. This girl told me, "Once we heard the shelling we all ran away. I got separated from my parents. I did not know where to go, so I hid in the bushes. I was so terrified as I saw a group of soldiers dragged a woman, beaten and forced her to the ground, and raped her. I did not know who she was at first. As soon as soldiers left the scene, I went out to help her. Then I found it was my mother. She tried to talk to me, but I was not able to hear her words clearly. In the evening, she died from the injuries. I cried and cried not knowing where to go. I was also very hungry. I stayed beside my mother and until the next morning when two villagers from my village found me and took me along with them. I still don't know where my father and my two brothers are." She was adopted by a family and is currently staying in the camp.

Mr. Chairman,
According to the statistics of several NGOs working along the Thai-Burma border, there are 120,000 refugees living in the camps along the Thai-Burma border and at least 40% are children. Most of these children have no access to formal education. With the help of volunteer teachers, the camp committees have opened a school so that the children will have basic education. Still, lack of resources and lack of trained teachers is always an issue. Basic healthcare is very limited to all refugees. For example, there is only one clinic run by an NGO health workers for 10,000 refugees in a camp.

Mr Chairman,
The Burmese military regime claims that it has improved education for children in the country. Official statistics indicate that a quarter of school age children never even enroll in primary school, and that drop out rates are very high. Of those who begin the primary education program, only a third complete the full 5 years. Many people in Burma cannot even afford to send or keep their children at school.

Primary school attendance is free in Burma, but in fact parents incur significant expenses in sending their children to school for textbooks, uniforms, exercise books, stationery, a mandatory yearly contribution to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) fund, and ad hoc contributions in cash and in kind for school improvements.

Poor families who cannot afford to pay fees to schools are often doubly penalized when they cannot maintain even a minimal household income without sending their children out to work.

The Burmese junta insists on its commitment to "Education for All". However, the SPDC cannot supply accurate and updated information about the educational status of children. Anecdotal evidence indicates that armed conflict and poverty are the two primary causes of Burma’s poor state of education.

Mr. Chairman,
Let me call on the Commission to urge the military regime to end any occurrence of forced relocation, displacement and other types of involuntary population movements which deeply affects families and the rights of children.

I'd also like to call upon the Commission to encourage the SPDC to negotiate a nationwide cease-fire with the armed groups, which can create a peaceful environment for all children to receive proper education.



Agenda Item 14(a)

Catholic Institute for International Relations
57th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland
Oral Intervention on Agenda Item 14 (a): Migrant Workers

Mr. Chairperson (Madame Chairperson)
I am here to speak on behalf of the "undocumented" Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, with whom I have been working for several years. According to the Royal Thai Government figures, there are more than 1.2 million Burmese working in Thailand. Unlike the usual profile of migrant workers, these Burmese migrants have fled from half-a -century civil war and on-going gross human rights abuses committed by the Burmese junta. In particular, I am referring to systematic forced relocation campaigns and forced labor. Most migrants come from the areas where on-going gas pipeline projects, and areas along the Salween River where mega-dams will be built.

Mr. Chairperson,
The military offensives of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) against the ethnic armed groups are still going on. People from the conflict areas are fleeing into Thailand. For example, the offensive against the Shan State Army on the northern Thai-Burma border since last February has forced hundreds of Shan people to flee into Thailand.

Mr. Chairperson,
The open market and the private sector, which the SPDC has claimed to be the "major" components of its economy, have benefited only those within the SPDC circle, thus causing serious economic instability. Today's unofficial exchange rate is 556 Kyats to one US dollar. (The lowest salary of a civil servant is 4,500 Kyat per month). The price of consumer goods is skyrocketing every day. Added to these harsh economic conditions, lack of food, lack of job opportunities and loss of hope have resulted in the flight of migrants from both urban and rural areas throughout Burma into Thailand in search of a means to support their families.

Mr. Chairperson,
In Thailand, Burmese migrant workers are doing jobs nicknamed the 3Ds --
Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous on the lowest level of the Thai labour market, and at well-below minimum wages. Because of their status, undocumented migrant workers are open to abuse and violence from Thai employers, unscrupulous individuals and certain corrupt officials. Women workers face more difficulties than their male counterparts. When they were in Burma, they were vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse by the government troops. In Thailand, they continue to be vulnerable to similar abuses by Thai employers and individuals and some authorities. For fear of arrest and deportation, few survivors of such abuses are willing to come forward to press charges against the perpetrators.

Mr. Chairperson,
The SPDC is fully responsible for pushing the Burmese people out of Burma. It is the root cause of all the problems faced by these people in Thailand. Ironically, the returning migrants are accused of being traitors to the country. Some returning migrants are immediately arrested and forced to work on government infrastructure schemes without pay. Many are stopped at every checkpoint and subjected to extortion by a variety of SPDC authorities. Some deported migrants are stopped at checkpoints a few miles from the Thai-Burmese border and questioned not only about where they worked and what they did in Thailand, but also whether or not they had direct contact with pro-democracy groups. Moreover, The SPDC blamed Thailand for allowing Burmese citizens to work secretly and illegally.

Mr. Chairperson,
Here, I would like to highlight how indifferent the SPDC is {compared to other governments } towards its own citizens in Thailand. Last year, a British tourist named Kristy was murdered in Chiangmai, Thailand. The British Embassy in Bangkok was the key player in having the case thoroughly investigated and brought to a conclusion. In contrast, for the past ten years, there have been numerous cases of rape/ murder/ trafficking of Burmese migrant women in Thailand; but to date, we have heard no comments or responses from the SPDC. Recent examples are: a December 07, 2000 "Nation " report about an unidentified Burmese migrant woman who was raped and killed and a February 11, 2001 "Bangkok Post " article about the arrest of 33 Burmese girls after two Shan women informed the police that they had been trafficked into prostitution.

Mr. Chairperson,
Unless there is a significant change in Burma's political climate, there will be more and more people fleeing from Burma to the neighbouring countries, working as undocumented migrant workers for their survival, and encountering various types of human rights abuses.

I would therefore like to call upon the Commission to urge the SPDC to end the abuses which have forced people to flee to Thailand; to stop intimidating and abusing returning migrants, especially women and children; and to create conditions conducive to their voluntary return and full reintegration in safety and dignity. Considering the vulnerable position of undocumented migrants, I would like to take this opportunity to call on the Commission to encourage the Royal Thai Government to sensitize all relevant {Thai} authorities so that they will actively prevent any abuse of migrants, especially women on Thai soil; to convince them to allow these refugees and migrant workers who are filling Thai manual and/or unskilled labour to stay until A nation-wide cease-fire with all ethnic armed groups is fully implemented.

Thank You.



Agenda Item 14(c)

April 12, 2001

Agenda Item 14 (c) Mass exoduses and displaced persons
Oral Intervention by Worldview International Foundation
57th Session of the Commission on Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland

Mr. Chairman (Madame Chairperson),

I would like to emphasize the fact that the situation of human rights in the Shan State of Burma remains as bad as in previous years. The massive forced relocation, displacement and other types of involuntary population movements carried out by the Burmese military regime in the central Shan State since 1996 is still continuing up to this day and still badly affecting the lives of the people.

Over 300,000 people from nearly 1,500 villages, mostly farmers, have been dispossessed of their lands and homes and forcibly displaced by the army. Thousands have been seized by the army to work for road construction and other projects without pay.

The relocation areas are still being declared "free-fire" zones and people found in these areas are still being shot on sight. At least four massacres were documented in 2000 in Kun-Hing township alone. The worst was on 20 May 2000, when more than 60 internally displaced villagers, including elderly, women and children were killed. These villagers had been hiding in the jungle. When they heard that a patrol of soldiers was coming, they fled towards the Salween River. When they reached the bank of the river, the military troops caught up with them and opened fire killing most of them.

Among the 300,000 displaced, over 120,000 fled across the border to Thailand, while the remaining are hiding in the jungle near their old villages. Trying to survive, they are facing tremendous hardship. They live without security, regular food, shelter, and access to medical care.

Mr. Chairman (Madame Chairperson),

Another cause of the massive involuntary population movement in Shan State is the so-called resettlement of the ethnic "Wa" villagers from the north of Shan State to the south. Since the end of 1999, the United Wa State Party, which has a cease-fire agreement with the military regime, has forcibly relocated about 100,000 villagers from northern Shan State down to the southern Shan border areas.

The Wa resettlement, which is continuing, has been as devastating as the forced relocation in Central Shan State. Many villagers did not want to leave their ancestral homes. They were forced to move at very short notice and were transported by trucks. They were brought to an area where no sufficient assistance was provided. The poor living conditions and sanitation problems have led to epidemics. This killed more than a thousand settlers during the latter part of 2000. These forced relocations and resettlements are causing incalculable social damage.

Mr. Chairman (Madame Chairperson),

The number of internally displaced people in Shan State is increasing. One major cause is the blatant use of forced labour by the Burmese military in Tachilek township on the northern Thai-Burma border. Since early February 2001, the Burmese military has forced approximately 600 civilians to work as unpaid porters. These porters have to carry ammunition and military rations, dig trenches at strongholds and fetch water for the soldiers, man the strongholds for several days until another new batch of 600 porters replaces them.

Mr. Chairman (Madame Chairperson),

I would like to stress that the Burmese military regime is continuing its campaign of forced relocation and forced resettlement in Shan State adding to forced labour. As long as these violations continue, the number of internally displaced, or dispossessed Shan people will increase and more Shan people will flee across the border to Thailand.

Therefore, I sincerely request the Commission and the international community to urge the Burmese military regime to stop its campaign of forced relocation and resettlement in Shan State and all other forms of human rights violations.

Thank you.