Peace wishing ceremony held for Kachin war refugees

Catholic Kachin youth group held an eternal peace wishing ceremony for Kachin war refugees at in Yangon on 19.

The ceremony was attended by political parties, 88 new generation students, local NGOs, youth organizations and some artistes. All those present wished for civil war refugees across the country to enjoy eternal peace.

In this ceremony, leaders of political parties and Ko Mya Aye, an 88 new generation student, spoke words of wishing.

Youths present at the ceremony sang own-composed songs in turn. They also shared sympathetic words towards Kachin civil war refugees at the ceremony.

“We, Kachin youths, can help nothing to them but we can show passion and sympathy to them as much as we can. For this purpose, we are holding the wishing ceremony for them,” said a Catholic Kachin youth in Yangon.

Shan children ‘used as human shields’

Children as young as 10 are being ordered to accompany Burmese army columns as they carry wounded troops through a volatile stretch of Shan state, locals report.

The township of Kehsi Mensi lies close to the frontline in the battle between Burmese troops and the Shan State Army in the central region of the state. Residents there told DVB that an infantry battalion went through villages in the township on Tuesday recruiting people to act as “human shields”.

“We were taken while working in the farm,” said one man, who requested anonymity due to likely retaliations from Burmese soldiers. “There were just 10 of us at the beginning but then they also took along people they saw along the way – making up about 30 people in total.

He said that they were forced to carry wounded soldiers and heavy packs for the seven mile walk between Kehsi Mensi town and Wanphwe village.

“Around the halfway point, while passing by a primary school in Naungka village, they picked up 11 children aged around 10 or 11. They were not provided with any meal so those who brought along food had to share with [the troops]. We were not allowed to take a peek at the wounded soldiers – they cursed us when we did.

“Some of the kids were unable to walk back to their village in the end so their parents had to go and pick them up on motorbikes.”

The Burmese army has been accused in the past of using civilians as porters and human minesweepers, but rarely have reports surfaced of children so young being forced to accompany troop columns.

Kehsi Mensi has seen heavy fighting since a 15-year ceasefire between the Burmese government and the northern faction of the Shan State Army (SSA) ended in March this year. Both sides have since accused one another of harming civilians.

The local said the recruitment of young children was an attempt to prevent SSA attacks on retreating Burmese forces, and added that local villagers are often forced to “contribute” themselves and their equipment to the army.

The army unit in question, battalion 143, was engaged in heavy fighting on 14 and 15 August close to Wanphwe village, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Some 400 clashes are believed to have erupted since March this year.

Sources: DVB

More Burmese war crime admissions

Mike Hedge, Senior Writer


Two Burmese men living in Australia have joined their former commander in admitting to crimes against humanity as members of a military intelligence group in Burma.

One of them, an Australian citizen, says he held a rank equivalent to sergeant in the Burmese army team led by confessed mass murderer Htoo Htoo Han, who now lives in Brisbane.

He was joined this week in his admissions by a third man, who is in Australia on a refugee visa, also claiming to be a member of the group. Both men live in Victoria.

Han last month admitted to personally assassinating at least 24 anti-government dissidents and being indirectly involved in as many as 150 other murders during widespread anti-government protests in Burma in the late 1980s.

The two men say they acted under instructions from Han and other officers to torture and eliminate targets and to dispose of the bodies of dozens of murdered protesters.

The elder of the two men, who is 57, provided evidence of his identity, but spoke only on the condition that he be identified by the name Maung.

The other gave his name as Soe Aung and said he was a teenager when he committed his crimes at the time of the 1988 unrest.

Maung said undercover officers, including Han, would infiltrate student ranks and relay information about targets.

“First we line up trucks, about 100, and when the people (protesters) come we lift the cover and shoot,” he said.

“After that we shoot into the houses. It is martial law. If the people show their face they are shot.

“We are guilty, but the command come from Htoo Htoo Han and up above.”

As the military regained control in Rangoon, the role of Han’s group, he said, was to torture suspects and dispose of bodies.

Both men, who said they received training from the Israeli secret service, described a popular form of torture in which a wooden pole was repeatedly rolled along a victims shins.

“The pain is very bad, they can’t stand it,” Maung said.

“Also we make them stand on small stones, and give beatings.

“Sometimes we come back in the morning and they are dead.”

Maung said many bodies were incinerated in a boiler house at a major Rangoon cemetery.

“We just throw them in, nobody knows who are they.”

Like Han, who is expecting to be interviewed by Australian Federal Police this week, his two “comrades” say they are admitting their crimes because they are deeply troubled by their guilt.

“We are Buddhist and we don’t want to do these things,” Maung said.

“But if you don’t do it you are shot.”

He says he escaped to Thailand in 1990 and stayed in a refugee camp before being sponsored to come to Australia as a refugee in 1992.

“Now I want to do something for Australia, pay back, they give us all the rights and support,” he said.

Soe Aung said he spent 10 years in refugee settlements in Thailand before arriving in Australia six years ago.