The junta’s objective is better mobilization of light infantry troops and other lines of strategic defense such as artillery forces, air defense forces and missile forces, a source said.

“Like the the North Korean army, the junta wants the ability to deploy its forces, including multiple launch rocket systems, canons and air defense units, quickly to the front line. Then all would be re-deployed to bases in tunnels and caves,” said the source. “That’s why the junta is upgrading its vehicle depot forces.”

Sources said the junta upgraded its Motor Vehicle Depot Battalions in October 2009 to achieve the ability to rapidly deploy troops. The upgraded vehicle battalions are reportedly based in Shwe Taung in Pegu Division, Shwe Nyaung in southern Shan State, Taung Dwin Gyi in Magwe Division, Amarpura in Mandalay Division and Mingaladon in Rangoon Division.

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July 22, 2010

This has been quite an exciting week for the Burma community: import restrictions on Burma were renewed by Congress, Extractive Industry Transparency regulations were passed with the financial reform bill, and a Dear Colleague letter requesting a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma began circulating in the Senate.

This Dear Colleague letter, addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calls on the United States to publicly support a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. A number of other democracies including the United Kingdom, Australia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia have already made this public statement in favor of a Commission of Inquiry. Now U.S. Senators have a chance to sign the letter in support of this much-needed investigation.

In October 2009, Lovemine launched its first campaign and asked participants to write personal letters to their Senators expressing why they care about Burma and why their Senator should support a Commission of Inquiry into crimes in Burma. People, both young and old, from around the country wrote to their Senators demanding that the U.S. pay attention and do something about the grave human rights crisis in Burma. For some, it was their first time being a political advocate. For others, this was another step in a long personal struggle of bringing justice to Burma. Student participant at Pepperdine University, Caroline Mobley remarked: “There are so many injustices, cruelties, and unnecessary casualties in the world that it’s hard to keep up with them. That’s why many people do not. But it so essential, so critical, for us to see the reality of what is really going on in our world and to use our freedoms to assist those who have had their freedoms taken away and to aid those who have never known what it is to be free. The people of Burma have suffered for so long without the world noticing. I believe the time for intervention passed long ago, which means we must work harder and faster to help put an end to these crimes against humanity before any more can be committed.”

On July 15th the campaign came full circle as the hundreds of letters written during The Ignite Project made their way down the streets of Washington D.C. and into the Senators’ hands, delivered by Lovemine staff and volunteers.  Senators have now heard the urgings from their constituents to support the letter thanks to the participation of countless citizens from around the country and the hard work of many partnering organizations.
Lovemine exists to help stop the oppression of all peoples in Burma by challenging underlying power structures that enable injustice. Lovemine, in partnership with other like-minded organizations, puts on campaigns to achieve these goals. As the first of these campaigns, The Ignite Project yielded hundreds of letters that will shape the political dialogue in our nation’s capitol concerning Burma. Thank you to all the participants – it is your voice that is making the difference.

Senators still have the opportunity to sign the letter until Wednesday, July 28th. Please call or write your Senator and ask him/her to sign the letter requesting a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma!

Merger of Two Junta-Backed Groups Undercuts Genuine Participation

(New York, July 19, 2010) – The merging of Burma’s largest government-controlled social welfare organization into the army’s recently formed political party is clear evidence that the planned 2010 elections will not be legitimate, Human Rights Watch said today.

On July 6, the military government permitted the mass-based Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), with more than 24 million nominal members nationwide, to dissolve itself and transfer its assets and offices to the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The USDP was formed by Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 senior military officers and ministers on April 29, when all resigned their military commissions in order to contest elections scheduled for sometime in 2010. It is not known if all USDA membership lists will also be transferred to the USDP.

“The morphing of Burma’s largest mass-based organization with the military’s political party is a brazen if predictable distortion of the electoral process,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The future of military rule is being shamelessly scripted and played out before our eyes.”

Burma’s military government formed the USDA in September 1993 and registered it as a social welfare party in order to skirt restrictions on civil servants being members of political parties. The publicly stated aims and objectives of the organization were exactly the same as those of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). In the past 17 years, the USDA has recruited between 24 and 26 million members, often using coercive or corrupt methods such as ordering civil servants and all teachers to join, registering high school students without their knowledge, and intimidating whole communities to sign up en masse at government orchestrated rallies. USDA branches, present in every township (sub-district administrative units), are reportedly now being re-branded as USDP offices.

Human Rights Watch said the military junta has long used the USDA for partisan political purposes. Mass demonstrations by USDA members have been conducted throughout the country since the mid-1990s, where members give speeches denouncing the political opposition, the United States, the International Labor Organization, and extolling the virtues of the SPDC. The USDA’s main patron is Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe. Its secretary general is the minister for agriculture and irrigation, former army general U Htay Oo.

The USDA was implicated in violent attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, in 1996 and 1997. It led mob violence against a National League for Democracy motorcade in the town of Depayin in May 2003, which left scores dead. As documented by Human Rights Watch, during peaceful demonstrations in August and September 2007, USDA cadres were used to harass and intimidate protestors and were part of the security forces’ violent crackdown on Buddhist monks on September 26-28, 2007.

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Humanitarian Space Across Country Again Narrowing Ahead of 2010 Polls

(Bangkok, April 29, 2010) – The Burmese government continues to deny basic freedoms and place undue restrictions on aid agencies despite significant gains in rehabilitating areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis two years ago, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

Human Rights Watch called for renewed international pressure on the Burmese government to gain the release of imprisoned local aid workers and other political prisoners, and to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the entire country.

“Two years after one of the world’s worst natural disasters, local aid workers still feel the brunt of continued repression by the military authorities,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Intense international pressure pushed the military government to open the door to foreign aid agencies, but Burma’s generals have kept it shut for domestic critics, many of whom remain in prison for speaking out for fellow citizens in need.”

The 102-page report, “‘I Want to Help My Own People’: State Control and Civil Society in Burma after Cyclone Nargis,” based on 135 interviews with cyclone survivors, aid workers, and other eyewitnesses, details the Burmese military government’s response to Nargis and its implications for human rights and development in Burma today. The report describes the government’s attempts to block assistance in the desperate three weeks after the cyclone, which struck Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta on May 2, 2008, and the concerted response from increasingly assertive Burmese civil society groups to overcome government restrictions to providing assistance. The report details continuing violations of rights to free expression, association, and movement against Burmese aid workers and their organizations by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

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“Without rice,” said Mu Naw, “we cannot live.”

But on Tuesday, that now-constant worry was salved, for the time being. A 25-pound sack rested at the hem of Naw’s bright purple sarong as she stood beside friends outside the worn City Heights apartment building whose units have, in the last two years, slowly been occupied by refugees from Burma.

She squatted down as the others curiously inspected containers of baby spinach and tomato sauce delivered by workers from the Episcopal Refugee Network, a local nonprofit. She reached into the sack of rice and took a palm full, letting it run through her fingers. Her neighbors crowded in for a closer look, some reaching down to test the quality of the grain they would divide among themselves.

“Yes, it’s good! Very good!” they all agreed as they stepped back.

Naw’s neighbor sang as she plunged into a box of oranges, and filled her plastic bag. “Very good.”

Since 2006, roughly 200 families have arrived in San Diego from the southeast Asian country of Myanmar, formerly Burma. They came by way of the teeming refugee camps in neighboring Thailand and Malaysia, where some lived for as many as three decades, fleeing repression from the Burmese government’s crackdown on the country’s seven ethnic minority groups.

They are San Diego’s second-fastest growing community of refugees, after the Iraqis. The transformation of residential corners like this one is adding yet another layer of diversity to City Heights, where influxes of immigrants often indicate where the latest international conflicts are happening.

A majority of the refugees are from Burma’s Karen ethnic group, whose national liberation army has been engaged in a long fight for autonomy with the country’s ruling military government. Families started arriving in San Diego in 2006, when the United States government cleared the way for refugees to enter the country.

And like the six families who divided the haul delivered to their apartments on Tuesday, most of the 200 families who have settled in City Heights and El Cajon are living threadbare existences. They are depending, in most cases, on the assistance of welfare, food stamps, and the city’s four refugee resettlement agencies, which can provide cash assistance for only the first eight months of resettlement.

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We’re stoked the guys are repping the shirt and of course supporting the cause.

Influential Governments Should Reject Sham Process

(New York, March 10, 2010) – Newly issued laws in preparation for 2010 elections in Burma are designed to exclude the main opposition party and ensure a victory for the ruling military, Human Rights Watch said today.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council today released the Political Party Registration Law, which includes provisions barring prisoners from being members of political parties. The law effectively excludes more than 2,100 political activists currently imprisoned on politically motivated charges, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Provisions included in the law instruct any party wishing to register to expel members currently serving prison terms. A party that fails to do so will lose its registration and be unable to contest the elections.

“The new law’s assault on opposition parties is sadly predictable,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It continues the sham political process that is aimed at creating the appearance of civilian rule with a military spine.”

Yesterday the military government released the first of five laws in preparation for long promised polls in 2010, whose official date has yet to be announced. The Political Party Registration Law states that, “A prisoner may not be a member of a political party.” The law also requires existing political parties, such as the NLD, which won the 1990 elections, re-register within 60 days of March 10.

Human Rights Watch believes that there are 429 members of the NLD currently imprisoned, including 12 members elected to parliament in 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi will be effectively barred because she is currently serving a term of house arrest following her conviction in 2009 on politically motivated charges of permitting an intruder into her house in Rangoon while she was under house arrest imposed since 2003. Human Rights Watch is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma through its 2,100 in 2010: Free Burma’s Political Prisoners campaign.

“The law requires the NLD to choose between participating in the elections and keeping its leader and hundreds of its unjustly imprisoned members,” said Adams. “This is a choice that no political party should have to make and is a transparent attempt to knock the main opposition party out of the running.”

Other laws reportedly to be released this week include provisions for the upper and lower houses of parliament and the 14 regional parliaments as outlined in the 2008 constitution.

The release of the laws is the penultimate step in the military government’s long drawn out “Road Map to Disciplined Democracy,” a repressive process that has seen political parties deregistered and in some cases outlawed, and thousands of activists sent to prison.

The NLD overwhelmingly won the last elections held in Burma in 1990 with more than 80 percent of the seats and 60 percent of the popular vote. The ruling junta ignored the result and announced plans to write a new constitution, which began in 1993 and only concluded in September 2007. The new constitution, released in 2008 and endorsed by an implausible 92 percent of the population in an orchestrated referendum in May 2008, grants sweeping powers to the military. These include one-quarter of lower house seats and one-third of upper house seats in the parliament reserved for serving military officers, as well as immunity for military personnel from civilian prosecution and the reservation of key ministerial portfolios to serving military officers.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for “the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and their free participation in the political life of their country; the commencement of dialogue between the Government and opposition and ethnic stakeholders as a necessary part of any national reconciliation process; and the creation of conditions conducive to credible and legitimate elections.” Close allies of Burma, including China, have called for an inclusive political process.

“Any optimism that these elections will usher in a period of change in Burma is cynically misplaced,” Adams said. “The Burmese government is demonstrating contempt for the democratic process, the people of Burma, and international opinion, including its friends in China, India, and ASEAN, who have asked for an inclusive political process.”

To view the Human Rights Watch report, “Burma’s Forgotten Prisoners,” please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/free-burmas-prisoners

To view the Human Rights Watch World Report 2010 Burma chapter, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/en/node/87392

For more information please contact:

In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-8333 (mobile)

In New York, Elaine Pearson (English): +1-212-216-1213; or +1-646-291-7169 (mobile)

In Washington, DC, Tom Malinowski (English): +1-202-612-4358; or +1-202-309-3551 (mobile)

In Brussels, Reed Brody (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish): +32-498-625786 (mobile)

In Thailand, David Mathieson (English): +66-87-176-2205 (mobile)

In Bangkok, Sunai Phasuk (English, Thai): +66-81-632-3052 (mobile)

by Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch

Published in: The International Herald Tribune

February 28, 2010

Stanley Weiss (“A first step toward democracy?” Views, Feb. 23) demonstrates the triumph of cynicism over principle in discussing Burma’s planned elections.

If Burma’s ruling generals stage elections in 2010 “without violence or repression,” it will be a step forward, Mr. Weiss argues. He has an odd definition of repression, which apparently does not include an election “stage-managed by the military.”

If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy “chooses not to participate,” it will surely be because the N.L.D., which won Burma’s last elections in 1990 but has suffered repression since, determines the election will be rigged. To pretend that violence will not be part of the process is disingenuous, since its threat by an army with a very bloody record is something all Burmese have to consider before joining an opposition party or taking to the streets.

Here’s the reality: Peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007 were crushed with extreme violence. The 2008 constitutional referendum was rigged. More than 2,100 political prisoners languish in horrific prisons. The junta has refused to engage in serious dialogue with the opposition. And without concerted international pressure, particularly from China, there will be no meaningful change.

Mr. Weiss argues that bogus elections and an end to sanctions will lead to a new Burma. But why a regime wallowing in cash from selling the country’s natural resources – while most Burmese live in poverty – would relax its grip if sanctions ended is a mystery. Instead, the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should finally implement serious targeted financial sanctions. And the United Nations should tell the generals that if they don’t reform quickly it will authorize an inquiry into decades of massive human rights abuses by the military.

International justice should be on the international agenda. That would get the generals’ attention.

Brad Adams, London
Asia director, Human Rights Watch

For all Human Rights Watch reporting on Burma, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/asia/burma.

More than 2,100 newly displaced Karen villagers hide from Burma Army after attacks

Seven Burma Army battalions (Five as the assault element and two in support) attacked villagers in Ler Doh township, Nyaunglebin District, Western Karen State, displacing over 2,100 villagers. The attacking battalions are advancing from three directions; north, west and east.

The first phase of this attack started in late January and resulted in the killing of 3 villagers, the destruction and burning of 2 villages and the displacement of 1,000 people in Ler Doh and 1,000 in a different area of Hsaw Hti. (please see January reports at www.freeburmarangers.org). The second phase of this attack started on February 5rh, is continuig today with 2,100 in hiding, 14 schools abandoned and 46 houses burned in the Toe Hta area, 28 houses in the Ka Di Mu Der area , 30 houses in Hti Baw Hta, and earlier 11 houses burned in Kweh Der. Total houses destroyed in these attacks is 125. Including farm huts and a clinic it is about 140 buildings destroyed.

The Karen resisitance (National Liberation Army) are trying to protect the people from these attacks and the Free Burma Ranger relief teams and others are providing humanitarian assstiance. . At least two villagers have been shot dead by the Burma Army which does not discriminate between combatants and civilians as it seeks to terrorize the Karen people. (See three reports UPDATE OF BURMA ARMY ATTACKS, MURDERS, DISPLACEMENT AND FORCED LABOR IN KAREN STATE, BURMA from January 21-31 .)

The FBR teams with the help of Partners are also bringing new medical supplies and are working with township medics to help treat those who have fled. These people, unable to return to their villages, now face life on the run and without sufficient food. They are also much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as dysentery, acute respiratory infections and malaria. The IDPs are trying to keep their children’s education going, but 14 schools have been closed as a direct result of these attacks. One clinic has also been burned to the ground by the Burma Army.

Seven battalions (each with about 130 men) from the Burma Army’s Military Operation Command 10, their command post being at Hti Baw Hta, Light Infantry Battalions 362 and 367, Tactical Operation Command 3 of Military Operation Command 10 attacking from the north, LIBs 361, 366 and 368 and troops from the Southern Command attacking from the west and east are responsible for the attacks. The numbers of the two supporting battalions are not known yet. They are using mortars and machine guns on the civilians in the area.

FBR teams saw Burma Army troops with villagers they were forcing to carry loads for them. In every area here that the Burma Army controls, they force villagers to carry loads and work for them. In spite of the threat of punishment of death, the villagers attempt to avoid this work and actively support the resistance instead. But often they cannot avoid carrying loads for the Burma Army occupying troops. 12 new FBR teams have joined the existing FBR teams in these areas and are providing medical and other humanitarian assistance. Over 2000 patients have been treated and over 100 loads of relief materials have been distributed by the new teams. There is now a need for more medical supplies to help those displaced by the new attacks. (Thanks to Partners Relief And Development (PRAD) and others who are sending more medical and food support and thanks to PRAD and Genocide Intervention Network for help with the early warning system of radios and other communications equipment that villagers use to warn each other and better escape impeding attacks.)

Thailand: Migrant Workers Face Killings, Extortion, Labor Rights Abuses
February Deadline for Renewal of Work Permits Invites Exploitation

(Bangkok, February 23, 2010) – The Thai government should swiftly act to end police abuse and discriminatory laws and policies against migrant workers and their families, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The February deadline for more than a million migrant workers to enter the “nationality verification” process or face immediate deportation creates the risk of further abuses and should be postponed until it can be carried out in a fair manner.

Human Rights Watch’s 124-page report, “From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand,” is based on 82 interviews with migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and restrictions on organizing.

“Migrant workers make huge contributions to Thailand’s economy, but receive little protection from abuse and exploitation,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Those from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos suffer horribly at the hands of corrupt civil servants and police, unscrupulous employers, and violent thugs, who all realize they can abuse migrants with little fear of consequences.”

Human Rights Watch said that migrant workers face an imminent threat from the Thai government’s decision that all migrants must enter the national verification process by February 28, or face arrest and deportation. Eighty percent of the migrant workers in Thailand are from Burma. They are particularly at risk, as they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country. The costs of the nationality verification process, which can amount to two or three months of salary, are unacceptably high for these migrant communities.

Human Rights Watch said that unrealistic demands set by the Thai government, coupled with a complicated and unregulated nationality verification process, could lead to mass deportations of migrants from Thailand to Burma and situations that could result in fundamental human rights and labor rights violations.

Police abuse migrants with impunity. A Burmese migrant told Human Rights Watch that she witnessed two Thai policemen in Ranong repeatedly kick a Burmese youth in the chest, killing him, because he did not reply to their inquiries in Thai.

“Many Burmese were watching and nobody went and helped because all of the people were afraid of those police, so nobody said anything about this killing, and nobody informed the police station,” said the witness. “When I saw this [killing], I felt that we Burmese people always have to be humble and have to be afraid of the Thai police. I feel that there is no security for our Burmese people [in Thailand] or for myself.”

Local police and officials frequently ignore or fail to effectively investigate complaints. Provincial decrees and national laws prohibit migrants from establishing their own organizations to assert their rights, while restrictions in policy on changing employers, moving outside designated areas, and convening meetings with more than a handful of persons leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation and ill-treatment.

Another migrant worker told Human Rights Watch how two armed men approached her in the rubber plantation where she worked, shot her husband dead in front of her, and then both men raped her. Despite a suspect being named in a police report, the police did not pursue the case.

“I am Burmese and a migrant worker. That is why the police don’t care about this case,” she said. ”My husband and I are only migrant workers and we have no rights here.”

Migrants reported constant fear of extortion by the police, who demand money or valuables from migrants held in police custody in exchange for their release. It is not uncommon for a migrant to lose the equivalent of one to several months’ pay in one extortion incident.

“Many officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs,” said Adams. “They are just part of a system that robs and mistreats migrants wherever they turn.”

Human Rights Watch found that in several provinces decrees by provincial governors have increased migrants’ vulnerability by enforcing prohibitions on use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing nighttime curfews. These repressive decrees reflect the treatment of migrants as a national security problem instead of as part of a global phenomenon of the movement of people for economic, environmental, and political reasons.

“If the Abhisit government really is reformist, it should immediately abolish the provincial decrees that keep migrants effectively held under lock and key, bound to their job sites, and cut off from the outside world,” said Adams.

Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to establish an independent and impartial commission to investigate allegations of abuse by police and other authorities against migrants. Such a commission should have the power to subpoena, require presentation of evidence, and recommend criminal and civil charges against abusers. It should make public reports on a periodic basis.

“Life is extremely uncertain and unsafe for migrants in Thailand as they flee one difficult or deadly situation into another,” said Adams. “They are a living example of the Thai proverb which describes how the vulnerable ‘escape from the tiger, but then meet the crocodile.’”

The Human Rights Watch report, “From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand” is available at:
http://www.hrw.org/node/88619

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Thailand, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/thailand

For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-333 (mobile)
In Bangkok, Sunai Phasuk (English, Thai): +66-81-632-3052 (mobile)
In Perth, Elaine Pearson (English): + +61-4155-47-898 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)