Press Release

GENERAL HEALTH:
Overview of Landmine Problems in Myanmar (Michiyo Kato &Yeshua Moser-Puangswan, NIV SEA);
Basic Information about Landmines (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Trauma Care Foundation Burma (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Chain of Survival (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Mine Injuries and Their Management (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB)...
FROM THE FIELD:
Orthopaedic Programme of the ICRC-Myanmar (Marco Emery, ICRC, Myanmar);
Data Collection on Mine Victims and the Impact of Landmines (Christophe Tiers, HI);

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in January 2012 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa'an District between September 2011 and January 2012, and contains updated information concerning military activity in the area, specifically Border Guard Battalion #1017's use of forced labour and their planting of landmines. In September 2011, over 200 villagers from Th---, Sh---, G--- and M--- were forced to harvest beans and corn, an incident which is also described in the report "Pa'an Situation Update: September 2011", published by KHRG on November 25th 2011.

In the six months since DKBA Brigade #5 troops under the command of Brigadier-General Saw Lah Pwe ('Na Kha Mwe') agreed to a ceasefire with government forces, and in the four months since a ceasefire was agreed between KNLA and government troops, villagers in Kawkareik Township have continued to raise concerns regarding ongoing human rights abuses, including the arbitrary detention and violent abuse of civilians, and forced labour demands occurring as recently as February 24th 2012.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during January 2012 in Bu Thoh Township, Papun District, by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw D---, the 44-year-old L--- village head, who described forced labour, Tatmadaw and Border Guard targeting of civilians, demands for food, and denial of humanitarian services, such as a school.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during December 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed a 40-year-old Buddhist monk, Saw T---, who is a former member of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Border Guard, who described activities pertaining to Border Guard Battalion #1013 based at K'Hsaw Wah, Papun District.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2010 in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Kr---, a 23-year-old hill farmer from L--- village, Pla Koh village tract, who described an incident where he was injured after stepping on a landmine while on Home Guard duty in Kaw Mu Day, which resulted in him losing his left leg.

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there.

After the annexation of Upper Burma in 1886, the modern Burmese oil industry expanded at Yenangyaung, the long-standing center of hand-dug wells worked by twinza. An earlier attempt to establish a commercial industry in Arakan in the late 1870s was thereby eclipsed. On the islands off the Arakan coast -- Ramree, Cheduba, and the Boronga Islands -- British explorers had drawn attention to oil pools and seepage. In 1878, the first modern oil well in Burma was drilled on Eastern Boronga Island.

Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies, Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar.....Executive Summary: "This report was researched and written collaboratively by Dawei Civil Society Organizations and documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project in Dawei District of Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region. Based on desk research, interviews with villagers, and direct engagement with companies and government, it exposes how the project was pushed ahead despite clear opposition from the local community.

Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies,
Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar.....Executive Summary: "This report was researched and written collaboratively by Dawei Civil Society Organizations
and documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project
in Dawei District of Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region. Based on desk research, interviews
with villagers, and direct engagement with companies and government, it exposes how
the project was pushed ahead despite clear opposition from the local community. It

The State Law and Order Restoration Council...
The Myanmar Mines Law...
(The State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No 8/94)...
The 2nd Waxing Day of Tawthalin, 1356 M.E.
(6th September, 1994)

"The objectives of this Law are as follows:

a.to implement the Mineral Resources Policy of the Government;

b.to fulfil the domestic requirements and to increase export by producing more mineral products;

c.to promote development of local and foreign investment in respect of mineral resources;