Key developments
since May 2002: Myanmar’s military has continued laying landmines.
At least 15 rebel groups also used mines, two more than last year: the New Mon
State Party and the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party. Nobel Peace Laureate Jody
Williams and ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein visited the country in February
2003.
Mine Ban Policy
Myanmar’s ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Myanmar abstained from
voting on the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 in
November 2002. SPDC delegates have not attended any of the annual meetings of
States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty or the intersessional Standing Committee
meetings. Myanmar was one of the two ASEAN countries that did not participate
in the seminar, “Landmines in Southeast Asia,” hosted by Thailand
from 13 to 15 May 2002. Myanmar is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which
urged its members to join the Mine Ban Treaty during its summit in Kuala Lumpur
in February 2003. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it could not find
anyone who could answer the questions sent by Landmine Monitor in January and
February 2003.[2]
On 17 February 2003, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Rangoon
hosted a Briefing Session on Landmine Issues in Myanmar, which was attended by
representatives from five UN agencies and eleven international and local NGOs.
The session was organized to discuss the landmine crisis with Nobel Peace
Laureate Jody Williams, ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein, and the Landmine Monitor
Burma/Myanmar researcher. The UNDP stated that attendance was the highest of
any of the thematic meetings held within the UN compound and this suggests the
level of concern regarding this issue. UN agencies are at present considering
moves to implement their mandate on the mine ban with all the interested parties
within the country.[3]
Nonviolence International’s (NI) Southeast Asia office continued its
Mine Ban Advocacy, Research and Action Program focused on Burma; the program
seeks to engage the ruling military authorities, the opposition National League
of Democracy, and armed non-state actors (NSAs) within the country in dialog and
action on a landmine ban. NI has published the Landmine Monitor report in
Burmese every year since 1999 and distributed it both within the country and
along the border regions where the mine problem is particularly severe. NI has
also translated the Mine Ban Treaty and other materials into Burmese for
distribution, and developed a special kit to educate and encourage unilateral
cessation of mine use by NSAs. In September 2002, it published a special report
entitled “Impact of Landmines on Burma 2002.”
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
Myanmar has been producing at least three types of
antipersonnel mines: MM1, MM2, and Claymore-type
mines.[4] Myanmar is not known
to have imported or exported any antipersonnel mines during this reporting
period. The Myanmar military transferred arms, including landmines, to the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in the past, according to a DKBA
corporal.[5] The Myanmar
government will release no official information about the types and quantities
of antipersonnel mines it stockpiles. As previously reported in Landmine
Monitor, Myanmar has obtained and used antipersonnel mines of Chinese, Israeli,
Italian, Russian, United States, and unidentified
manufacture.[6]
Use
Myanmar’s military forces have used
landmines extensively throughout the long running civil war. Previous editions
of Landmine Monitor Report have identified the units responsible and the
locations of most significant use. During this reporting period, it appears
that mines were laid most extensively in Karen State. In the Pa-an District in
Karen State, villagers stated that SPDC soldiers laid mines on all easy
approaches to their camps, and that every camp had a 50-meter landmine risk
radius.[7] On 18 March 2002,
villagers living in and around the Yay Tho Gyi village in Karenni State were
advised by a printed notice that all footpaths to the village had been mined and
that they should use the motor road
only.[8]
The Trauma Care Foundation Burma (TCFB) reports that in the Papun District of
Karen State on 5May 2002, a combined force of SPDC and Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army soldiers attacked and burned to the ground their trauma
clinic and the Northern Karen Prosthesis workshop. A person from a nearby
village was injured by a landmine while fleeing the fighting, and treated by a
TCFB medic before being evacuated to the Malteser Germany clinic on the Thai
border. The TCFB claims that the troops laid 50 landmines on the former clinic
site and in surrounding villages before withdrawing, later causing injuries to
at least four more people, including a medic attached to the All Burma Students
Democratic Front.[9]
The Na Sa Ka used to plant new mines after the monsoon season, which usually
ends in mid-September.[10]
Since 2001, Na Sa Ka has not laid any new mines after the
monsoon.[11]
Non-State Actors
Burma has a large number of armed political organizations operating within
its borders. At least fifteen ethnic and rebel armed groups are believed to
have used antipersonnel mines recently. These include: the Pao People’s
Liberation Front; All Burma Muslim Union; Wa National Army; Rohingya Solidarity
Organization; Chin National Army; Shan State Army; United Wa State Army; Karenni
Army; Karen National Liberation Army; Democratic Karen Buddhist Army; All Burma
Students Democratic Front; People’s Defence Forces; and Myiek-Dawei United
Front. In addition, two groups using mines for the first time during 2002 are
the New Mon State Party (NMSP), previously only reported to be holding stocks
but not using them due to their agreement to cease hostilities with the SPDC,
and the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party, itself an NMSP splinter group.
[12]
The Rohingya Solidarity Organization allegedly laid mines in late 2002 in
their operational area along the Burma/Bangladesh border. The Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA) is believed to maintain at least two extensive minefields
in the Pa-an district of Karen State; the KNLA states that the mines are needed
to protect internally displaced Karen people (estimated to be hundreds of
thousands) from attacks by the Myanmar
Army.[13]
Several armed militias are capable of building blast and fragmentation mines
or victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The DKBA now
manufacturing a Claymore-type directional fragmentation
mine.[14] Several groups admit
to having antipersonnel mine stockpiles, though none will reveal quantities. At
least several hundred landmines in NSA arsenals have come from lifting SPDC-laid
mines, or from SPDC stocks seized during operations. NSAs have, in some cases,
re-laid these SPDC
mines.[15]
The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), which has used mines in the
past, agreed to hold talks with the SPDC in November 2002. The KNPP brought a
nine-point set of demands to the discussion table, including that the Myanmar
Army stop laying landmines in Karenni State. The talks, however, failed to reach
any agreement.[16]
Landmine Problem
Nine out of fourteen states and divisions in Burma
are mine-affected, with a heavy concentration in East
Burma.[17] Mines have been laid
heavily in the Eastern Pegu Division in order to prevent insurgents from
reaching central Burma.[18]
Mines have also been laid extensively to the east of the area between Swegin and
Kyawgyi.[19]
The Dawna mountain range and Moi riverside close to the Thai-Burma border is
reportedly heavily mined.[20]
Some mountains in Karen State, formerly used as fire bases by the KNLA, have
been “no go” areas for over a decade due to severe mine
infestation.[21] Areas to the
north, east, and south of Papun and to the west, south, and north of Myawadi are
heavily mine-affected,[22] as
well as areas in the Dooplaya District of Karen State bordering on
Thailand.[23]
The Myanmar Army lays mines close to areas of civilian activity allegedly to
prevent people from returning to their native villages after forced eviction
during counterinsurgency
campaigns.[24] Interview
records with mine survivors show that more than 14 percent are injured within
half a kilometer of village centers. The same records reveal that 63 percent of
civilian survivors crossed the area they were injured in many times before they
stepped on the mine.[25]
Mines were laid in Mon State as fighting took place between two armed
organizations within the Mon community. Mines were laid around the Halochanee
Refugee Camp near the Burma/Thai
border.[26]
A group of 300 people fleeing into northern Thailand from military activity
in Shan State were reportedly afraid to cross the border due to the presence of
mines, which had already injured three other people seeking refuge, according to
an aid group which monitors refugee
flows.[27]
Mines have been laid along much of the Bangladesh/Burma border (see previous
Landmine Monitor reports), which remain in the ground and continue to claim
victims despite continued diplomatic protests by Bangladesh. Some areas of the
India/Burma border are also mined.
Antipersonnel mines planted by both government forces and ethnic armed groups
have injured and killed not only enemy combatants, but also their own troops,
civilians, and animals. Interviews with mine survivors reveal that more than 40
percent of KNLA mine casualties were self-inflicted (injury or death while
laying, lifting, or stepping on their own mines, or those of their comrades).
No systematic marking of mined areas is carried out in Burma. In some cases,
mine victims saw some indications, such as dead bodies, crosses cut in trees,
parts of mines and wires, or other vague warnings. Although combatants have
repeatedly told Landmine Monitor researchers that they give “verbal
warnings” to civilians living near areas which they mine, not a single
civilian mine survivor interviewed by Nonviolence International during the past
three years has ever mentioned or reported being given a verbal
warning.[28]
Hillsides surrounding the Lawpita hydroelectric power station in central
Karenni state have been mined to secure it from attack by rebel groups. The
Yadana Mountain in central Karenni State has also been heavily mined by rebel
and Myanmar Army units, both of whom run gem mines on the mountain. Cattle
traders have lost several cattle when crossing this area and now avoid
it.[29]
Some Karen villages in the Pa-an District have had to re-locate three times
after being burnt and mined.[30]
Villagers in this area were able to identify six different types of mines. Out
of 30 heads of households assembled for interviews regarding the location of
dangerous mined areas, however, only five of them, all male, could state that
they knew the danger areas, even though the entire village regularly visited
mined areas for foraging and
farming.[31] In mid-March 2002,
villagers were warned that all paths except the motor road were mined to prevent
insurgents from attacking a military base within the
town.[32]
Mine Clearance and Mine Risk Education
No humanitarian demining activities have been
implemented in Burma. In Karen State, a group of villagers carried out
clearance with a simple consumer quality metal detector and a
rake.[33] Several rebel groups
have mine detection
equipment.[34]
Mine risk education (MRE) is rarely available to ordinary people in Burma.
Handicap International has run a MRE program in three refugee camps in Thailand
along the Burma border since June 2001. The target audience is Burmese refugees
in Thailand. Nonviolence International facilitated an advanced MRE program for
cross border medical workers in January
2003.[35] The Mines Advisory
Group (MAG) reports that it carried out a five-day MRE Workshop (funded by
AusAID) in Mawlaimyaing, Mon State, in June
2003.[36]
Some villagers have stated that they get information on potentially mined and
dangerous areas from people who are taken to serve as porters for military
columns.[37] One area in Tongoo
District, which was mined by the SPDC, was posted with a red and white
hand-painted sign by the local military
personnel.[38]
Atrocity Demining
SPDC military units operating in areas suspected of mine contamination have
repeatedly been accused of forcing people, compelled to serve as porters, to
walk in front of patrols in order to detonate
mines.[39] In November 2002 in
northern Karen State, villagers claimed they had to send two new people each
morning to check puddles with their hands for landmines. They said that the
military used villagers to sweep for mines rather than equipment because this
would deter the rebels from laying them. In the same area in November and
December 2002, villagers reported having to roll drums of tar for 6 to 8 miles a
day along a roadway to trigger any
mines.[40]
On 10 January 2002, 300 prisoners from Mandalay, Pyay, Insein, Toungoo, and
five other prisons were sent as porters to the SPDC military offensive in Karen
State. Only 75 returned to the prison alive; 150 died outright, 50 were maimed
and sent to hospital, the others escaped. Those who died are reported to have
perished from malaria, in battle or after being used as human mine
sweepers.[41]
Landmine Casualties
In 2002, there were at least 114 new landmine
casualties reported in Burma. Although landmine casualties appear to be
increasing, especially during the last five to six years, the total number of
casualties in Burma remains unknown. In 2001, information was available on 57
new mine casualties. Systematic collection of data remains difficult,
especially in relation to those who are killed rather than injured in an
incident.[42] Of the reported
casualties in 2002, only one person, a military officer, was reported as being
killed.
Médecins Sans Frontières treated or transferred for treatment
47 people with landmine injuries in
2002.[43] Mae Sot Hospital in
Thailand admitted about 54 Burmese landmine casualties in
2002.[44] Three people with
landmine injuries were reported near Mae O Palu in Karen State, across from the
Tha Song Yang District of Thailand. Landmines were hung in trees near the
village, possibly as a warning to villagers of mines in the
area.[45] In June and July
2002, four villagers in both Pa’an and Nyanglebin Districts were
reportedly injured or killed by SPDC laid
landmines.[46] A Burmese
military officer was reportedly killed when he wandered into an unmarked mined
area north of Maungdaw town on the Naf River, near the Bangladesh/Burma
border.[47] In an effort to
clear the area, commencing at Border Post 3, a group of villagers, including two
“Bangladeshi intruders” were forced to participate in mine clearance
by driving their cattle and buffalo into the area. This led to the death of
many of the animals; no other human casualties were reported. The Trauma Care
Foundation Burma (TCFB) reported that five people had been injured in separate
mine incidents in the Papun District in May
2002.[48]
Landmines, almost never acknowledged within the country, featured in an
unusual media report in 2002. On Myanmar TV, the case of a 13-year-old female
landmine casualty was documented, blaming the injury on the Chin National Army,
who later retaliated by accusing the Burmese Army of laying the
mine.[49]
Casualties continue to be reported in 2003: in January, six people traveling
in Karen state in the township of Bu Tho were injured when a mine hung in a tree
exploded;[50]and in May,
four people were killed and eight injured, including two porters and ten
soldiers, when four mines exploded during an alleged mine-laying operation in
southeastern Burma.[51]
In January 2003, a 23-year-old elephant was injured by a landmine on the
Burma side of the border with Thailand near Umpang, followed in February 2003 by
a 26-year-old elephant injured by a landmine near Mae Ramet. Both were
transported to the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) elephant hospital in
northern Thailand, and are likely to survive despite both losing about 70
percent of flesh from a
foot.[52] The Elephant hospital
has treated eight elephant mine casualties in the last few years; all stepped on
mines on the Burma side of the border; seven survived. Others are reported to
have perished prior to receiving treatment. The cost of care for the three mine
injured elephants at the hospital is Thai Baht 100,000 (US$2,300) per
month.[53]
Landmine Survivor Executions
Credible allegations of executions of civilian and military mine casualties
from the area of the Burma/Bangladesh border have been collected by Landmine
Monitor. According to witnesses, the executions in each case are alleged to
have been carried out by Na Sa Ka
officers.[54] In one case, an
elderly member of the Kumi community, who was forced to work as a military
porter near the tri-border area (India/Bangladesh/Burma), was executed after
stepping on a landmine and pleading for help. In another incident, a military
medic who had been seriously injured by a landmine was executed. The executions
were justified by Na Sa Ka as mercy killings because of an absolute lack of
medical facilities in the mine-contaminated area of the Burmese border area.
Survivor Assistance
Availability of medical care depends on where the
mine incident occurred, with an average of 12 hours elapsing before first
medical attention. After the emergency care, the majority of landmine survivors
are hospitalized in
Thailand.[55] In 2002, the ICRC
supported local health care centers in the areas affected by fighting to improve
the quality of care available to the sick and war-wounded, including mine
casualties. Medical supplies and instruments were provided to three hospitals in
eastern Shan state and one in Karen state. Six hospitals were completely
renovated and a health care center was rebuilt in Mong Pu On. The ICRC also
covered the cost of treatment for war-wounded patients in Burma and in
Thailand.[56]
Survivor assistance for Burmese mine casualties comes from three main
sources: assistance from the public health system; assistance available from
non-state sources; and assistance from neighboring states as many members of
mine-affected communities have fled the country to seek asylum, or are in rebel
controlled areas.
Survivor Assistance Within Myanmar
Survivor assistance continues to be marginal due to the neglected and
impoverished state of the medical system in
Myanmar.[57] According to
limited interviews with landmine survivors within Burma, military survivors
received better treatment than civilians, and were more likely to have
post-injury employment opportunities.
Physical rehabilitation and prosthetics are available to landmine survivors
within Myanmar through the National Rehabilitation Centers (NRC), provided they
can travel to the workshops. The ICRC runs a joint program with the NRCs to
provide rehabilitation and prosthetic devices at six centers, two of which are
run by the Ministry of Defense and four by the Ministry of Health. There are
two centers in Rangoon, and one in Mandalay, Maymyo, Hpa-an, and Yenanthar. The
new center in Hpa-an, the capital of the Karen State, was opened by the ICRC and
Myanmar Red Cross, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, in September
2002. The Myanmar Red Cross registers and refers amputees to the centers while
the ICRC covers the costs of transport, lodging, and food during the time needed
for fitting. The ICRC organizes regular refresher courses for technicians, and
has trained orthopedic surgeons from Mandalay Hospital in basic
prosthetics.[58] Prostheses are
provided free of charge through these hospitals. The ICRC is the only
organization directly assisting amputees in the country. In 2002, the NRCs
produced 1,530 prostheses, of which 1,080 were for mine survivors, and
distributed 437 pairs of
crutches.[59]
NGOs provide some vocational training for persons with disabilities in
Myanmar. The Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR) in Rangoon has been
providing training in tailoring and hair cutting since March 2000; over 150
people have received training, of which about 20 percent are landmine survivors.
The Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC) regularly conducts vocational training
programs for disabled persons in different States and Divisions in Myanmar, and
some of their trainees are mine survivors.
Survivor Assistance Within NSA Areas or Among the Internally Displaced
In areas close to its borders where ethnic-based militias may control or
access territory, some minimal care is provided by relief and medical teams
attached to the NSAs. The Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) also provides
some emergency care for casualties in NSA-controlled areas of Mon, Karen,
Karenni, and Shan States.[60]
The Trauma Care Foundation Burma (TCFB) has sought to establish a
‘chain of survival’ network within non-SPDC accessible or controlled
sections of Burma to improve pre-hospital survival possibilities for the war
injured. Since 2001, 774 people completed the three-day Village First Helpers
(VFH) training course. The TCFB reports that in 2002, 52 percent of all cases
of war injuries registered by medical services in ethnic controlled areas were
first treated by VFH graduates, up from 15 percent in 2001. The TCFB also runs
a Basic Life Support Training Program and an Advanced Life Support Training
Program for medics operating in theaters of conflict in Burma. Since 2001, 397
medics have completed the basic course and 41 have completed the advanced course
that enables them to teach the VFH and Basic
techniques.[61]
Available medical care remains unpredictable as it relies on mobile medical
staff being in the area at the time of need. Rugged terrain, and the general
chaos and insecurity of civil war makes providing trained medical care very
difficult. International NGOs active in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border
have not pursued the provision of cross-border medical care to NSA-controlled
areas due to the presence of
landmines.[62]
The Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) runs a
prosthetics workshop in the Kho Kay area of Karen State. In 2002, 29 amputees
were fitted with prostheses; all but two were landmine
survivors.[63] Medical
organizations such as BPHWT refer mine survivors to the CIDKP workshop.
Survivor Assistance Available to Burmese Mine Survivors in Neighboring
States
In areas near its borders, the security situation and poor internal
facilities drive some Burmese to seek access to medical services in neighboring
states. The Mae Tao Clinic, which is located near the Thai-Burma border, as
well as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Rescue
Committee (IRC), American Refugee Committee (ARC), Aide Medicale International
(AMI), and Malteser Germany (MHD), all provide emergency referral in Thailand
for war injury survivors who arrive at their refugee camp facilities. In 2002,
the ICRC established a War Wounded Program with three NGO partners: AMI, IRC and
MHD, all of whom had emergency clinics in refugee camps. Under this program, the
ICRC subsidized the cost of care in hospitals in Thailand for war wounded.
Between January and December 2002, 20 people were treated; 75 percent were mine
survivors.[64]
The closest and most easily accessible hospital in Thailand from Burma is in
Mae Sot. The Mae Sot hospital recorded 68 patients treated for landmine
injuries during 2002; 80 percent were from
Burma.[65] The MSF treated 47
mine casualties during 2002; 96 percent were male. The average cost per person
for injury care was US$513 (21,820
THB).[66] In the first quarter
of 2003, MSF treated nine mine
casualties.[67]
Both Thai and international organizations continue to provide prosthetics for
refugees in Thailand. Handicap International operates four prosthetics
workshops in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. In 2002, 137 prostheses
were provided in seven refugee camps; 54 were for new
amputees.[68]
Vocational training is available at two refugee camps, provided by the Karen
Handicapped Welfare Association in Mae La camp, and the Disabled People’s
Rehabilitation Team in Nu Po camp, run candle making, sewing, and mechanics
training courses for people with disabilities. Handicap International supports
these local groups financially. The Mae Tao clinic also runs a sewing training
program for the disabled. Three of the instructors are landmine survivors.
Some Burmese landmine survivors in Thailand are not eligible for the official
assistance offered by international organizations if they are not accepted into
an organized refugee camp. Since April 2001, the Mae Tao Clinic in Thailand,
which specializes in assisting Burmese migrants, has run a prosthetics ward. In
2002, it provided 150 free prostheses; 74 percent were for landmine survivors
from four border-states, and 40 percent received prostheses for the first time.
Three ethnic Shan landmine amputees completed a one-year apprenticeship program
in March 2003 at the Mae Tao Clinic prosthetics workshop, and will be sent to
the Shan State area to provide amputees with prosthetic limbs. The apprentice
program has selected three further trainees for 2003, and has space for an
additional three trainees as yet unselected. Clear Path International funded
the prosthetics section in
2002.[69]
In July and August 2002, a team of medical specialists from the US ran
training workshops at the Mae Tao Clinic on landmine injury management for the
BHWT. The workshops included sessions on the management of traumatic injuries,
amputation skills and chest trauma. Thirty-five health workers attended the
training workshop. The Global Health Access Program organized the
workshops.[70]
Disability Policy and Practice
No disability law exists in Myanmar. Landmine
Monitor was told that a disability policy exists, but no one, not even
institutions serving persons with disabilities, could give details of its
contents. There is an initiative by Disabled People International (DPI) Thailand
to improve the situation for persons with disabilities in Myanmar. DPI
organized the First National Leadership Seminar for People with Disabilities in
Rangoon from 20 to 22 February 2002. This was funded by the Japan Foundation.
Acknowledging the lack of a clear disability policy, either in existence or
implementation, DPI submitted a declaration from the seminar, encouraging the
government to establish and implement disability
laws.[71] The Myanmar
authorities have not responded to questions on whether any action will be taken
on these proposals.
[1] The military junta now ruling the
country changed its name from Burma to Myanmar. Many ethnic groups within the
country still prefer to use the name Burma. In this report, Myanmar is used when
referring to the policies and practices of the State Peace and Development
Council, and Burma is used
otherwise. [2] Original questions faxed
and then personally handed over by Landmine Monitor researchers to a Ministry of
Foreign Affairs officer. Repeated attempts to hold a meeting at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, made between January and March 2003 proved
unsuccessful. [3] Interviews with UNDP
staff, Rangoon, October and November
2002. [4] For further details, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000 and 2001. Claymore mines have allegedly been used
with victim activated tripwire fuzes. Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp.
518-519. [5] Interview with DKBA by a
human rights worker on the border, Mae Sot, Thailand, 21 March 2001. Transfers
ceased in 2000. [6] For further details
see Landmine Monitor Report 2002 p. 625, and previous
years. [7] Chutimas Suksai,
“Participatory Research on Sources of Insecurity in Gho Kay Village, Karen
Liberated Area, Burma, 2002.” Research was conducted in late 2002 for the
Small Arms Survey and Nonviolence International. An edited version is to be
published in late 2003. [8] Order
published on 17 March by Strategic Operations Command Group of the Southern
Command HQ. Copy of order obtained by Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) given to
Landmine Monitor. [9] Trauma Care
Foundation Burma Report 2002, December
2002. [10] For further details see
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
433. [11] Interview with the people
living in the border area on 23 December 2002 and interview with BDR
Naikongchari, 24 December 2002. [12]
Interviews with the leadership of various ethnic and rebel groups, Chaing Mai,
Mae Hong Son, Mae Sariang, Mae Sot Kanchanaburi, and Sangkhlaburi, Thailand,
from 2001 to 2003. [13] Interview with
Karen Human Rights Group member, Mae Sot, Thailand, 28 November
2001. [14] Photographic evidence
received by Landmine Monitor from Karen Human Rights Group, 31 March 2003.
These mines have “Point Toward Enemy” painted on one face in English
and Karen languages. [15] Photographic
evidence obtained by the Landmine Monitor in 2002 and
2003. [16] Aung Su Shin, “Karenni
Rebels in talks with Junta,” Irrawaddy, Burma, 4 November 2002.
www.irrawaddy.org.
[17] Chin, Kachin, Karen (Kayin),
Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Shan and Rakine States and the Pegu (Bago) and Tenasserium
(Tanintharyi) Divisions. [18] Interview
with U Tin Oo, Co-chair of the National League for Democracy, in a report to
Pinhero, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Rangoon, 15 November
2002. [19] “Papun &
Nyaunglebin Districts: The SPDC’s Dry Season Offensive Operations,”
Karen Human Rights Group Information Update, 5 April 2002, pp. 1, 3 (available:
www.khrg.org). [20]
Interview with ex-DKBA commander in November 2001, see Nonviolence
International, “Impact of Landmines in Burma 2002,” September
2002. [21] Interview with ex-ABSDF
commander, Chaing Mai, Thailand, 22 March 2002. He stated that these mountains
were former guerrilla bases, but were mined heavily when they were forced to
abandon them to prevent government forces from using
them. [22] Consolidation of Control: The
SPDC and the DKBA in Pa’an District, KHRG newsletter #2002-U4, 7 September
2002. Also, Nonviolence International, “Impact of Landmines in Burma
2002,” September 2002. This data has been collected through direct
interviews with 192 landmine victims from Burma between 1999-2002.
[23] “Operation Than L’Yet:
Forced Displacement, Massacres and Forced Labor in Dooplaya District,”
KHRG Newsletter #2002-U5, 25 September
2002. [24] Karen Human Rights Group,
“Papun and Nyaunglebin Districts: The SPDC’s Dry Season Offensive
Operations,” 5 April 2002, pp.
1–3. [25] Nonviolence
International, “Impact of Landmines in Burma 2002,” Bangkok,
September 2002. [26] Report by staff of
the Burma Border Consortium, Coordinating Committee Serving Displaced Persons in
Thailand (CCSDPT) meeting, Bangkok, 14 August
2002. [27] Verbal intervention at CCSDPT
open meeting on Burma, Bangkok, 10 July
2002. [28] Nonviolence International,
“Impact of Landmines in Burma 2002,” Bangkok, September
2002. [29] Landmine Monitor interview
with inhabitants of Karenni state, Burma, 13 November
2002. [30] Chutimas Suksai,
“Participatory Research on Sources of Insecurity in Gho Kay village, Karen
Liberated Area, Burma, 2002.” [31]
Ibid. [32] Text of a notice provided by
Karen Human Rights Group to Landmine Monitor by email, 31 March 2003. The
notice, in Burmese, said that paths would be closed “with landmines
starting on March 18th of year 2002 at 6 o’clock in the evening, you are
informed.” [33] Photographic
evidence given to Landmine Monitor in an interview with the chief prosthetics
technician of the Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 28 November
2001. [34] Photographic documentation
from various sources, all undated, showing NSAs involved in detection and
lifting operations with electronic
detectors. [35] 70 medics with the
Backpack Health Worker Program were trained in techniques to find their way out
of a minefield and to remove mine victims from a suspected mined area by
Nonviolence International. Workshop took place in Mae Sot, Thailand, 25 January
2003. [36] Email from Tim Carstairs,
Director for Policy, Mines Advisory Group, 1 July
2003. [37] Chutimas Suksai,
“Participatory Research on Sources of Insecurity in Gho Kay village, Karen
Liberated Area, Burma, 2002.” [38]
Interview with Karen Human Rights Group member, Mae Sot, Thailand, 28 November
2001. [39] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 630. [40] Interview records
provided by Earthrights International to the Landmine Monitor on 26 June
2003. [41] Landmine Monitor interview
with former prisoners, Rangoon and border areas, September
2002. [42] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, pp. 630-631. [43] Email from Dr.
Eugenie d'Alessandro, Field Coordinator, Médecins Sans Frontières,
Mae Sot, 27 March 2003. [44] Email from
Handicap International-Thailand, Christophe Tiers, Program Director, Mae Sot, 15
December 2002. Mae Sot Hospital admitted 68 patients with landmine injuries in
2002. Of the 68 casualties, five were women; 20 percent were of Thai nationality
and claimed to have received their injuries on Thai
soil. [45] Intervention at the Committee
for Co-ordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT) meeting,
Bangkok, February 2002. [46] KNU Press
Release No. 60/2002 Regarding Human Rights Violations by SPDC and DKBA troops,
24 September 2002. [47] Narinjara News,
Maungdaw, 2 December 2002. [48] Trauma
Care Foundation, “Burma Report
2002.” [49] TV Myanmar, report 2
May 2002. [50] Undated internal report
provided to Landmine Monitor by the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen
People in Mae Sot, Thailand, 22 March
2003. [51] “4 killed, 8 injured in
land mine blast in Myanmar,” Associated Press, 26 May
2003. [52] Landmine Monitor visit to the
Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Hospital in April 2003. The FAE hospital
depends on private donations for its survival. Motala, the elephant mine
survivor, who received worldwide attention in August 1999, and was reported in
the Landmine Monitor Report 2000, still resides there. Care for Motala has cost
Thai Baht 2 million (US$46,500) to
date. [53] Email from the FAE Hospital,
7 April 2003. [54] Reports to Landmine
Monitor from cross-border traders and merchants, villagers in the border area,
family members and colleagues of the victims, and UN personnel. Na Sa Ka is the
acronym of a special border security force created by agreement with Bangladesh
to reduce border tensions. [55] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
632. [56] ICRC, “Annual Report
2002,” p. 159. [57] Nonviolence
International, “Myanmar’s Expenditure on the Military, Health and
Education,” Special Report, August
2002. [58] Interview with Marcus
Geisser, ICRC Delegate, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 31 December 2002; ICRC Annual
Report 2002, p. 159. The official opening of the Hpa-an center was in January
2003. [59] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation
Programs, “Annual Report
2002.” [60] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2000, p. 480; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
633. [61] Trauma Care Foundation,
“Burma: Chain of Survival- Pre Hospital and Trauma Management Program
Report 2002;” interviews with TCFB, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 31 December
2002. The Basic course is a 5-7 day course, and includes Landmine and Trauma
care. The advanced course is open to medics with two years’ field
experience and was completed in two phases of about two weeks
each. [62] Comment from an MSF member at
the CCSDPT meeting, 13 March 2002. [63]
Interview with CIDKP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 21 March
2003. [64] Interview with Marcus
Geisser, ICRC Delegate, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 31 December 2002. Total program
cost was US$10,364; $8,158 was for mine
survivors. [65] Mae Sot Hospital
registered 68 patients with landmine injuries in 2002, 84 in 2001 and 66 in
2000. The drop may be explained in part by the fact that the border at Mae Sot
was sealed due to a border dispute during mid-2002 by both sides. Of the 68
casualties, five were women. 20 percent were of Thai nationality and claimed
they had received their injuries on Thai soil. Email from Christophe Tiers,
Program Director, HI-Thailand, 15 December
2002. [66] Email from Dr. Eugenie
d'Alessandro, Field Coordinator, Médecins Sans Frontières, 27
March 2003. This represents a modest rise from the 43 mine casualties recorded
in 2001. [67] There were nine mine
casualties out of 11 war-wounded assisted (the other two had gun shot wounds).
Email from Dr. Eugenie d'Alessandro, Field Coordinator, Médecins Sans
Frontières, 27 March 2003. [68]
Email from Shushira Chonhenchob, Program Communication Coordinator, HI-Thailand,
6 May 2003. [69] Interview with Dr
Cynthia Maung, Director, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 21 March 2003.
Clear Path International provided $22,250 in 2002 for the provision of
prosthetics, the apprenticeship program, and for the construction of a hostel
for amputees. [70] “Update: Nov
2002 Thai-Burma,” Global Health Access Program, available at
www.ghap.org (accessed 20 June
2003). [71] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 635.
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