Briefing Notes by Kevin
Heppner, Karen Human Rights Group
September 5, 1995
Executive Summary
SLORC is using the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to divert attention away from what is really happening in Burma right now: resumed and intensified offensives against ethnic peoples, further expansion of the army, intensified repression and clampdowns against people nationwide, and the further collapse of the economy.
The human rights situation is rapidly worsening, with rapid increases in forced labour as military porters and servants, forced labour on development and infrastructure projects, extortion which is driving villagers further into destitution, land confiscation for military-run farms operated with forced labour, and other abuses connected with these activities such as killings, torture, rape, arbitrary detention, and abuse against children, women, and the elderly.
The rural areas are being systematically targetted for further repression and extortion in order to support cosmetic and superficial "improvements" in urban areas - for example, more urban people are giving money in lieu of forced labour, causing more rural villagers to be taken for forced labour. Urban people are poorer than ever due to spiralling inflation, partly caused by foreign investment. Rural people are being hit the hardest due to spiralling demands for extortion money by military officers. Tens of millions of Kyat per month is stolen from rural villages and sent by officers to their families in the cities; their families can then set up urban businesses, and foreign visitors mistake this for economic improvement and open market reform. SLORC still rigidly controls the economy. Rural villages can no longer pay and are falling apart as people flee to avoid arrest for failure to pay money and crop quotas. Forced labour is increasing exponentially in some areas in hurried attempts to finish infrastructure in preparation for "Visit Myanmar Year 1996".
Foreign investment is not helping the economy, which is still rigidly controlled by SLORC. In many areas, foreign investment is leading directly to land confiscation for military-run farms and fish farms, and to forced labour. The foreign-financed natural gas pipeline in southern Burma is already leading to major military offensives which have caused the deaths of many civilians taken as porters. The project also involves forced labour and has led to a major military buildup which is forcing villagers to flee the area.
Thousands of refugees continue to attempt to flee to Thailand from central Burma as well as Mon, Tavoyan, Karen, Karenni, and Shan regions. Refugees from Shan State are being forcibly handed back to SLORC by Thai troops. Mon refugees forcibly repatriated in 1994 are being cut off from cross-border aid from Thailand. The Thai National Security Council is talking about mass forced repatriation (refoulement) of all remaining refugees starting in January 1996. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has indicated that it will probably cooperate in this forced repatriation.
SLORC’s release of Aung San Suu Kyi is not a sign of good faith or willingness to reform, but is intended as a show of strength and a public relations move. As such, it should not be rewarded, but taken as a sign that SLORC can be vulnerable to international pressure. Political and economic pressure and sanctions should be stepped up immediately in order to force SLORC into real and meaningful reforms.