No evidence of child violations in Karenni, says Geneva Call

April 2013

A leading international organization, Geneva Call, has said it has found no evidence of violations of child rights in Karenni State under the Karenni National People’s Party (KNPP). The party has also repeatedly called for its removal from a UN list of violators.

After reaching a ceasefire agreement with the U Thein Sein government in March last year, the KNPP signed a Deed of Commitment for the protection of children from the effects of armed conflict, on August 2, 2012, with Geneva Call.

"Even though the KNPP is still on the list as a great violator of child's rights by the UN,  we have not found any such cases in recent times, especially since the actual signing of the Deed of Commitment," said Mr Reno Meyer, program officer with Geneva Call.

To protect children from the impact of armed conflicts, Geneva Call conducted a two-day workshop for the KNPP and community-based organizations in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, on March 5 to 6.

"We have a committee that will focus on development (of the program protecting children from armed conflicts). We have a plan but have not implemented it so far, as there are some unstable political situations and unfinished processing to complete. So, I'd say that we are about to begin," said Khu Nye Reh of the KNPP's central committee.

The Deed of Commitment, Article 16, states that children under the age of 18 must be protected from armed conflicts. One commitments the KNPP must comply with is to further endeavor to provide children in areas where it exercises authority with the aid and care they require, in cooperation with humanitarian or development organizations where appropriate.

"These are the deeds the KNPP has signed. So, they have to sit with their members to discuss  how to implement them effectively. They can promote their organization's dignity by doing this. There will also be some parts that the KNPP itself has to comply with," said Khu Taw Reh, spokesperson of the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN).

After signing the ceasefire agreement with the government last year, the KNPP opened three liaison offices and one development liaison office in Kayah State in different locations.

http://ktimes.org/en/news/regional/item/220-no-evidence-of-child-violations-in-karenni-says-geneva-call

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A Karenni is missing

A mute 50 years old Karenni, Tee Reh Beh, was reported Sunday to the missing persons database, two days after his disappearance. He was last seen Friday night around 9 or 10pm, five miles away from his residence, according to a neighbor.

Calls were made to all Karenni residents to find out the whereabouts. The family suspected that he could be staying in a Karenni residence somewhere because that particular weekend was busy with at least two Karenni weddings. However, there was nowhere he could be found in the neighborhood.

To close family members and Karenni people in Houston, the main concern is whether he might have been involved in an accident. He is deaf and unable to read signs and signals. He had been seen before of running street lights on foot. He had passed incoming vehicles. Houston is such a big city, and finding a missing person is no small task, even with the help of local police department.

Tee R. Beh and Police Report

The worst part is he does not have any form of identification with him, and no document of any kind either that can classify his current residence or who he is. Because of fear of such incident, he was given copies of important documents but he always lost them, said a close friend of his.

Not coming back home could also mean, a family member says, that he does not want to go to his upcoming dental appointment, noting that he was in the past very reluctant to getting medical treatments. However, the family is more concerned with his safety.

He is a social security disability recipient and used to be seen collecting soda cans in the neighbors. Karenni Community of Houston volunteers were recently told by the police department that any match will be notified to the family at the numbers provided. KnCH is also gathering its members and start far-reaching searches.

The size of the state of Texas is equivalent to the country of Burma. And this is not the first time, Karenni people went missing. Two years ago, Instead of driving to work, just 30 minutes away, a Karenni man ended up driving more than one thousand miles

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Burma Army gang raped Karenni woman

Written by Kantarawaddy Times

A mother and her six-year-old daughter were on their way to sell snacks on the Shan-Karenni border when Burma Army soldiers arrested them. The soldiers blindfolded both mother and her daughter. Maw Soe Meh, 40, the mother, (for security concerns her name has been changed) was gang-raped by five Burma Army soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 575 based in Tay Yu Taung.
The gang rape took place on the evening of December 7, 2011, somewhere between Daw Weh Raw village (Maw Soe Meh’s home place) located in Shadaw Township and the Shan-Karenni border.
A reliable source close to Maw Soe Meh said.
“The soldiers threatened her not to go back to the village. She was frightened, but she came back to the village at around 8 pm on that day. Maw Soe meh said she was going to report the rape to the strategic military commander based at Shadaw Township.”
The source said that Maw Soe Meh was outraged and angry at regular mistreatment ethnic people are forced to endure such as forced labor and destruction of property by the Burma Army.
“Maw Soe Meh said she also wants to mention in her complaint about the daily inhuman and degrading treatment ethnic people face. She said Burma Army soldiers do no good for the people. They eat all our rice, they should be withdrawn from our land.”

Two Burmese government soldiers sitting at a military camp base on eastern Salween river (photo: citizen journalist)

Khu Daniel, a spokeperson for the Karenni Backpack Medical Team said a medical team met with Maw Soe Meh to assess her condition.

“She is now being counseled by our medical staff and receiving treatment.”

Villagers say Light Infantry Battalion 575 - under the Military Operational Command-17 - is renown for using women as porters in the Shadaw Township area. The villagers say they have video footage that clearly documents and proves their allegations.

According to a spokesperson from the United Karenni State Youth-UKSY Maw Soe Meh’s rape is not the first by soldiers in recent months. The spokesperson said that on November 25, 2011, Burma Army soldiers from LIB 428 and LIB 531 raped three women from Lawjar village in Prusoe Township.
Sun Shine, the General Secretary of UKSY, said the women were threatened and intimidated to not report the rape to anyone.
“The perpetrators threatened the women and villagers that if the information leaked out, they will take action against them.”
At the time of writing The Kantarawaddy Times is trying to gather more information on other rape cases in Karenni State.
The reported rape cases in Karenni State happened  during the time of the ceasefire talks between the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Burma government. Maw Soe Meh's rape happen one week after the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, much lauded visit to Burma.

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A Karenni Refugee Laments Her Painful Past and a Future Without Hope

Karenni Refugee Camp 1, about a one hour drive from Mae Hong Son City, in northwestern Thailand, is my home. I have lived there among 15,000 of my people for nearly 10 years, after being born in Camp 3, which was an hour’s walk away. I have been away from the camp for 2 months. When I return I will have to sneak back in, avoiding the armed guard at the main checkpoint, because I had to sneak out when I left. Karenni refugees cannot get permission to leave the camp from the Thai border guards whose job is herd us like 15,000 head of cattle inside the confines of the camp, about 3 square kilometers.
I am grateful to have a place to live in Thailand, however, my home feels like a prison, cut off from the rest of the world.
As human beings, we should have the right to live in our own village inside our homeland, with full recognition of our citizenship and protection of our basic human rights.

Karenni Refugee Camp, near Mae Hong Song, northern Thailand

Instead, the military-controlled government of Burma has driven us off our land as it waged a long-standing war against the Karenni insurgency, forcing upwards of 20,000 civilians to become refugees in Thailand. My father fled to the Thai border after the 1988 revolution and was joined by my mother and their three children in 1991. My younger brother and I were born inside the Thai border. So, we have no Burmese birth certificate and are not recognized as citizens of any country, only as official refugees by the UN.
Even though the Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) provides food rations to refugees including rice, cooking oil, salt, sugar, chilli, yellow beans and mixed grains, camp residents worry their children are suffering from malnutrition because of a lack of dairy foods, meat and fish. As a result camp social workers say the IQ of refugee children is lower than that of Thai children living nearby.
The food ration is appreciated; however, refugees say they need to work to supplement their diets but are prevented by restrictions on movement placed on them by Thai authorities.
So, some families raise chicken or pigs to improve their diet and earn money. Some families leave the camp illegally to forage for eatable plants in the nearby jungle because they cannot afford to buy food in shops.
During the planting season camp residents work as  daily wage workers in paddy fields in nearby Ban Nai Soi Village, where they can earn 50-100 baht per day.
Others open small shops inside the camp selling linen or groceries.
A small number of educated refugees work for NGO and CBOs in the camp.
Some parents cannot give pocket money to their children. So, refugee children collect beer cans, plastic water bottles and other recyclables to sell to get a small amount of money to buy some snacks.
Health services are not adequate in the Karenni camps. There are 4 small clinics in camp1 but there is no hospital to provide treatment of serious health conditions. Medics give antibiotic medicines for minor illnesses but cannot treat severe diseases. There is no medical diagnostic equipment in the camp. For instance, there is no X-ray room. That's why many refugees suffer from untreated diseases, even though camp authorities and medics sometimes send emergency patients to hospital in Mae Hong Son.
Refugees also suffer from mental stress and disorders such as depression because they are forced to live in cramped quarters. Large families live in small huts made of bamboo construction and thatch roofs, which are built very close together on narrow laneways.
For example, eight members of my family lived in our small one story hut, measuring about 150 square foot, for six years. Now, there are five adults living there.
As well, refugee children and young people are cut off from the world, not even knowing what is happening in the other Karenni camp, about three hours away. They don’t know anything because they cannot go anywhere.
The stress and hopelessness associated with this is suspected of leading to suicides among young people and adults.
Many teenagers use alcohol excessively, leading to social problems in the community.
Some youths get married as young as 13 and start families because of boredom and because they have few or no options to further their education or for employment.
Even if they have goals and ambitions, they cannot break out of the limitations of life as refugees in Thailand. When I was young, my goal was to be a medical doctor. However, education opportunities were limited to the camp schools because I could not leave to study because I had no travel documents. My dream was not attainable. I had to work as a social worker in the camp after I finished my studies at high school. I had no choice.
Many Karenni refugee children cannot continue their studies in post-ten schools because there are only 3 post-ten schools in both camps. Some students, who finished 12th grade, are fortunate to get jobs in social organizations but many students who stop school after grade 10 become unemployed because the number of applicants exceeds the number of positions available. Even though bright students finish 12th grade in Karenni post-ten schools, they cannot continue their studies in Thai universities because they don't have any citizenship documents and the Karenni schools are not recognized by the Thai education authorities.

Sometimes, we refugees are looked down upon by other people. There is a stigma attached to being a refugee, even among our own people.
When my Burmese friends who live outside the camps asked me, "Where do you live? Where were you born?" I felt uncomfortable and didn't want to answer their questions.
If I answered, "I live in Thailand", they were comfortable. They told me, "That is good. You are free to go everywhere. You can go wherever you want to go."
However, if I answered I was born in a Karenni refugee camp and grew up in the camp, many people looked down me and asked, "Oops, are you?"
Sadly, I have had many experiences like this.
We don't blame our parents and our community for these problems. The situation is caused by the civil war and political instability in Burma which caused us to flee to Thailand as refugees.
However, because we are not citizens of Burma or citizens of Thailand, we have no rights under any laws or constitution. So, we cannot demand our rights be protected or even restored.
Thailand has received us on humanitarian grounds. The Thai authorities are not bound by any internationally recognized refugee treaty or law in their treatment of us.
Our frustration and anxiety is heightened because forced relocation to Burma by the Thai government could lead to us  hiding in the jungles of Burma from the brutal Burmese Army, as Internally Displaced Persons.
Even if we return to Burma under the policies of a new, more democratic government in the future, there may still be problems because those of us born in refugee camps in Thailand have no Burmese birth certificate, ID card or citizenship documents.
We have no ability to choose the direction of our lives now or in the future, unlike many other human beings in the world.
As a young Karenni woman, I think about marriage and having children. However, the thought of my child following in my footsteps, being born in a Karenni refugee camp here in Thailand, with no hope in the foreseeable future of a life outside the camp, saddens me greatly.
I want more for my children, the same as I want more for myself.

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Coming Peace-talks will prioritize cease fire agreement

The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) agreed to hold further peace-talks with the Naypyidaw delegates in early next month and a ceasefire will be a main topic for discussion.
Khu Oo Reh, the Secretary-1of KNPP, told the Kantarawaddy Times after the preliminary meeting with the government peace delegates, “ U Aung Min said we can discuss about politics in next step. So we wasted only time if we discussed about it this time. When we go to Loikaw next month, a ceasefire will be our main topic of discussion for KNPP. The government wants us (KNPP) to sign a ceasefire agreement and we also have a will to enter a ceasefire.”
The preliminary meeting between the KNPP and the government delegates was held on February 6, in Chiang Mai, Northern of Thailand. The KNPP delegates were Khu Oo Reh - the Secretary (1), Aung San Myint - Secretary (2), Khu Plu Reh - Central Committee Member, and General Bee Htoo - the Chief Commander of Karenni Army.

the preliminary meeting with the government peace delegates (photo-KNPP)

The government delegate was led by U Aung Min and U Ko Ko Maung, and U Sein Kyi were present as peace negotiators.  The academics from Myanmar Egress; U Hla Maung Shwe, U Tin Maung Thant, U Wai Ya Mone and U San Ni Nyunt Thein also participated during the meeting.
During the preliminary talk,  U Aung Min proposed four points of the government’s peace plan; a ceasefire, opening of liaison office, freedom of movement without armed, and setting up date and venue for further negotiation at Union level.
The KNPP entered a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government in 1995 but the ceasefire broke down after a few months.  Several times, the KNPP had attempted to hold peace talks with the then SLORC and SPDC government, but all negotiations failed.

http://ktimes.org/en/news/regional/item/216-coming-peace-talks-will-prioritize-cease-fire-agreement

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DANGER WITH EVERY STEP: LANDMINES KILLING AND WOUNDING IN KARENNI AREA

A group of young people was cutting the grass in the compound of a Baptist Church on a Saturday evening in March, in Mountain Village, Mawchi Township, Karenni (Kayah) State.
Some used hoes and an edger but some youths used their hands to remove long grass. They were kidding each other and laughing. It was an idyllic scene.
The reverie halted abruptly, however, when an undetected landmine exploded in the midst of the young people, to everyone’s surprise and horror.  Soe Moe, a local villager, lost his right leg. He is 26 years old. "There was to be a Christian service day on Sunday. They usually clean the church compound on Saturday but nobody ever stepped on a landmine. Nobody was ever hurt," Htoo Reh told Kantarawaddy Times in a recent interview.
On March 3, the Burmese Army’s Maj. Ko Ko Oo, Commander of IB 134, officially announced landmines were placed 30 yards away from their outposts at Htinshu Mountain (Fir mountain), Tawatainthar and Kyauk Taung, which is located very close to the church where the mine exploded on March 24th.

landmine- assembled (Photo: Free Burma Rangers)

"Other youths attempted to carry him after the explosion. But, Burmese soldiers in the adjacent military compound shouted at them that there were many other landmines in the immediate area. So, the youths were afraid to carry him," Htoo Reh said.
Ko Soe Moe, was sent to hospital in Mawchi after the explosion and to Hpar Saung Hospital the next day, according to Htoo Reh.
"They don't need to place landmines in this area because no Karenni soldiers come here. The village is located inside Burma (not the border area). Only we villagers live here," he added.
According to statistics from the organization Mine Risk Education (MRE), based on the Thai border, 55 civilians living in Karenni State and on the Thai-Karenni border, were killed or injured by landmines from 1978 to 2011.
"We have facts. We interviewed disabled people injured by landmines, and the relatives of people killed by landmines. We only record the cases with complete information. If we cannot get complete information, we don't make a record of the incident," MRE’s Lay Reh Soe explained.
Burmese soldiers use to place M-14 type landmines and touch landmines in Mawchi and the border area.
However, not only villagers were injured or killed. Cows and buffalos were killed and injured by landmines around the Htinshu Mountain area.
"Cows and buffalos from Kaw Tudoh, Bulaw Pel, Leh Lawhti, Lo Hkarlo, Maw Hser Khe villages in Mawchi Township use to step on landmines on every 2-3 days. Local people cannot do anything (to stop it)," the Mawchi resident said.
The Burmese Army regularly places landmines around their military camps and outposts, as well as around the base of electricity poles and towers, IDP hiding places, and areas used for the movement of Karenni troops.
“Landmines use to be placed in the areas we cannot protect. But, I think they placed landmines in the church property because they want villagers to blame us," Saw Htee Htar Suae, a spokesperson for the Karenni Army's Battalion no.1, said.
According to the Karenni Development and Research Group (KDRG), the Burmese Army placed 18,000 landmines around the Lawpita Hydropower Plant, in Loikaw Township, and over 2,000 more along the Thai-Karenni border.
According to Burmese deserters, who surrendered to the Karenni Army, accurate records of the exact placement of mines are not kept by Burmese troops, which makes it impossible to know where they are or to remove the mines. So, there are many abandoned landmines in Karenni State.
According to KDRG, there are over 100,000 landmines in Karenni State, a number equal to one-third of its population. So, people have faced many difficulties travelling to work and from place to place.
Mawchi residents grow rice and cardamom plants and some work in a lead mine.
“I don't know how to live safely in our village because Burmese soldiers have placed landmines both outside and inside the village. I don't know how we can survive,” Htoo Reh, said sadly.

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