Shan Herald Agency for News |
| Shan CBOs: Over 3000 IDPs in central Shan State threatened with death for trying to return home Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:29 AM PST Over 3,000 displaced civilians in central Shan State are fearful of returning to their villages after receiving death threats from the Burma Army, according to a statement released by a coalition of Shan community-based organizations (CBOs) today.  Since clashes between the Burma Army and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) broke out in early October and continued into early December, more than 10,000 civilians in Mong Hsu, Mong Nong, and Kesi Townships have fled their homes. "Government troops are continuing to loot and destroy local property and food stocks, and are persecuting displaced villagers attempting to return home," the statement read. The CBOs reported that in Mong Hsu Township alone, more than 1,000 acres of crops have been destroyed and more than two hundreds houses have been looted and damaged. Additionally, 13 rice mills were also destroyed and nearly 4,000 livestock have been killed or lost. Burma Army and the SSPP/SSA-N soldiers remain in the area, despite an agreement between the groups to stop fighting and withdraw. "Without sustained international pressure, Naypyidaw will feel free to continue its aggressive expansion into ethnic territories," said Shan human rights activist Nang Charm Tong, a spokesperson for the coalition of CBOs that penned today's statement. Sai Tun Aye, a candidate for Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Mong Hsu Township, expressed concern for sustained militarization in the area. "Neither side has withdrawn their troops yet. They are still stationed in an area where they are in view of each other," he said. Yesterday, the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) also released a statement accusing the Burma Army of forcing civilians to accompany them as guides, porters or human shields, a practice which has been widely documented throughout Burma's long-running civil war. The statement also alleged that the Burma Army still had troops stationed in conflict areas, had destroyed property and made land inhabitable. "Troops from over 14 battalions have camped in and around local villages, dug bunkers, laid land mines, and shot at villagers trying to return to harvest their fields," read the statement. On December 15, SHAN reported that villagers from Koon Nim village, south of Mong Hsu, were forced by the Burma Army to return to IDP camps after they attempted to go back to their homes. BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N) | ||
| To Hopeland and Back: The bare bones for peace talks - Day Two Posted: 22 Dec 2015 11:42 PM PST Day Two: Monday, December 14, 2015 Peace is not something you wish for. It is something you make, something you are, Something you do, and something you give away. Robert Fulghum I miss the UPDJC's Third Meeting in Naypyidaw today. Reason: only Air KBZ, leaving Rangoon at 17:00, has a seat for me. Nevertheless, through sources that are attending, I'm able to get an idea of what's taking place there.
The gist of it is that the NLD, whatever it had told the eight EAOs last evening, either succumbs or agrees to the military proposal that it is allowed to run as a separate bloc rather than being a component in the government-legislature-military bloc. Which means the Union Peace Conference (UPC) planned for January will be a five-way affair instead of the three-way one demanded both by the political parties bloc and the eight EAOs. "The NLD's arms have been twisted by the military," says one on my arrival at the Horizon Lake View Hotel. "Erstwhile foes are now joining hands against us." Another source has a different view. "If you propose 100 representatives for the EAOs, it will be 100 for us also," a military representative is quoted as saying. "On the other hand, if it's 150 for you, it'll be 150 for us also." Why? I ask. "[The military representative] explained on the sidelines that we still cannot be trusted," he says. "Because we keep trying to hold the non-signatories' hands on the one hand, and also trying to coddle up with the NLD at the same time, on the other hand." Naturally, there was a protest by the eight EAOs that the five-way dialogue was not in line with the NCA's Paragraph 22 (a): Representatives from the government, Hluttaws (legislatures) and the Tatmadaw, representatives from the ethnic armed organizations, representatives from the registered political parties, (other) ethnic representatives and other relevant representatives shall participate in the political dialogue that is based on an all inclusive principle "U Aung Min then turned up his ace in the hole," I'm told. "He said Paragraph 22 (a) doesn't say exactly how many on each side should participate. Whereas Paragraph 22 (c) has pointed out that The proportion of representatives participating in the political dialogue shall be negotiated during discussions on the Framework for Political Dialogue. Our chief negotiators were left agape. They could find no words powerful enough to refute it." As a result, the eight EAOs meet at 20:00 to hold a brainstorming session in preparation for tomorrow. Out of which comes a revised proposal, after much wrangling. As I turn in for the night, a question comes up: Whose side is the NLD on? The military's side? EAOs' side? Or—its own side? By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N) All views expressed are the author's own. |
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