ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations

As per previous practice, I have the honour of sending you observations concerning compliance by Burma with the following convention:

Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour, 1930 (ratified in 1955);

After the appointment of an ILO Liaison Officer based in Rangoon in May 2002, and the drafting of an Action Plan to combat forced labour in Burma, recourse to forced labour showed no signs of decreasing. From 2004 onwards, the government’s previous apparent willingness to cooperate with the ILO was transformed into confrontation. That year, as you will remember, three people were charged with high treason and sentenced to death because they had had contacts with the ILO. In 2005, the High-Level ILO Mission had to be curtailed, death threats were made against Liaison Officer Richard Horsey and the authorities adopted a systematic policy of prosecuting and sentencing those who denounced forced labour. Notwithstanding the 80 complaints received in 2004, the possibility of lodging complaints with the Liaison Officer had to be suspended, due to the threats now hanging over complainants. This report will a.o. pay attention to the persecution of complainants by the Burmese military junta.

If anything, the junta's position has hardened over the past three years. When the former military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt became prime minister in 2003, he announced a "road map to democracy" that would include parliamentary elections leading to the formation of a new government. A little over a year later he was shunted aside, placed under house arrest and accused of corruption. He was replaced by Lieutenant General Soe Win, who directed the murderous attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy on 30 May 2003.

As recently as 5 July 2006, Burma's military regime warned Aung San Suu Kyi in its official English-language newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, that "her days are numbered," and "she is heading for a tragic end." The ominous condemnation and apparent death threat said Suu Kyi "was in her final days," and "guilty of betraying the national cause while relying on aliens," including the United States, Britain and the European Union. "Attempts to translate into reality the 1990 election results (in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory) are in vain," the military junta said. Describing the conditions under which she would be freed, the SPDC stated that "definitely, the restrictions imposed on her will be lifted on the day she stops demanding democracy. The restrictions will never be lifted until she abandons her practice of liberal policy," it said, indicating a possible future renewal of her house arrest, which was extended last May for another year.

Meanwhile, the overall picture continues to be very grim. This report includes evidence of government-imposed forced labour in nearby every State and Division of the country, ranging from forced portering, forced labour in "development projects", construction or maintenance of infrastructure or army camps, forced patrolling and sentry duty, clearing or beautification of designated areas, child labour including the forced conscription of child soldiers, sexual slavery, human minesweeping, and confiscation of land, crops, cattle and/or money.

While forced labour seems to be one government tactic for terrorising civilians, some practices seem to be aimed merely at pestering the population. According to information received by the ICFTU on 9 August 2006, local authorities summoned parents in Pegu Division and forced them to sign a pledge saying that they will steer their children clear of politics. “What they forced us to sign was, that we will control the pupils, not let them get involved in political affairs, and to control our children. All parents were forced to sign,” a parent said. "(Parents were told) not to allow their children to associate with politicians or political activists. Those parents who refuse to sign the pledge are also threatened with legal actions against them and their children."

In Tenasserim Division in southern Burma, commuters arriving in Dawei Town are reported to be transported into town by force as a means of extracting money from them. On arriving at the Ye-Dawei station, they are made to pay 1,000 Kyat to government vehicles ferrying them to town. According to passengers, the actual transportation cost from Dawei station to Dawei Town, which is about two and a half miles, is only 100 Kyat. The victims of this practice say it always happens when the train enters the station. As this train reaches Dawei at 9 a.m., it becomes difficult for passengers to go to Dawei Town at that hour. Even if travellers want to opt for other vehicles, drivers of government transport intimidate commuters and force them to travel in their vehicles.

This is a case of extortion, similar to practices previously identified by the Committee of Experts as tantamount to forced labour.

What follows is a brief summary of information on forced labour in the country, which the ICFTU has received between 1 September 2006 and today.

Internally displaced people

Burma is suffering the impact of decades of civil war. Civilians have become the main victims of a strategy aimed at undermining the armed opposition groups, which has resulted in forced labour, the use of human minesweepers, and massive relocations of villages. There are currently an estimated 600,000 to one million internal refugees, mainly in border areas.

In the three Northern Districts of Karen State, over 18,000 people have been displaced as a direct result of attacks by the Burmese Army and activities during the ongoing offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU). The number of displaced villagers at any given time fluctuates depending on Burmese Army activity. For example, in July 2006, more than 28 villages in Mon Township fled into hiding. This was their third time fleeing into the jungle during this offensive. People throughout Northern Karen State are constantly prepared to flee new attacks.

The people are in need of security, food and shelter. Because of these attacks, the people have also lost most of their rice stores, livestock, and have been unable to plant and farm crops on which they should normally survive next year. Thousands of people are in need of immediate help, and this need will undoubtedly continue throughout the coming year if villagers are unable to return to their homes and farms.

In Karenni State, at least 45,000 - 50,000 of the total Karenni population of 300,000 are internally displaced. Approximately 23,000 are in refugee camps, 10,000 are in forced relocation camps, 3,000 are in Shan State, and 1,000 in Karen State. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has 20 battalions in Karenni State, amounting to approximately 5,000 troops. In the area between the Salween River and the Thai border, there are almost no people left. Moreover, the Wei Gyi Dam project, which will be 150km North-South and 8km East-West, will submerge the area and result in the destruction of many Karenni villages and wildlife. It is a joint-venture between Thailand and Burma, and will provide hydroelectric power to Thailand.

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who has been denied entry to Burma by the regime since November 2003, in his statement to the UN General Assembly on 27 October 2005, reported “widespread and systematic violations of human rights.” The regime and its apologists attempt to dismiss these violations as the consequences of a counter-insurgency campaign and argue that if the ethnic resistance forces laid down their arms, the abuses would cease. However, in Kachin and Mon areas, where ceasefires have been in place for several years, reports continue to emerge of violations, particularly sexual violence, extortion and forced labour, and in Karen State, where a “gentleman’s ceasefire agreement” was reached between the KNU and the SPDC in 2004, the violations persist. In Taungoo and Nyaunglebin districts of Karen State, violations have increased this year. According to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), the SPDC is simply using the verbal ceasefire agreement with the KNU as an opportunity to regroup and reinforce its military presence, to bring civilians under control and to increase access to remote areas.

Prosecution of people who lodge forced labour complaints

On 4 February 2005, a Burmese court made an unprecedented ruling convicting four officials of forcing villagers to work on a road project, sentencing them to prison for up to 16 months. Residents in Kawhmu township, outside Rangoon, had filed the complaints against the four village-level officials in 2004, accusing them of forcing villagers to help build a road. Richard Horsey at that point stated that this was the first time such a verdict was issued, and that until this ruling, courts either threw out forced labour complaints, or workers withdrew the cases. Mr. Horsey stressed the importance of the strong signal this verdict would send.

Meanwhile, the deadline issued by the 95 Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) last June for the Burmese government to end all prosecutions against forced labour complainants and to release all those jailed in such cases passed on Monday 31 July 2006 with three people still facing charges.

Despite the ILO's call for a moratorium on all prosecutions by the end of July 2006, three men from Aunglan Township, Magwe Division - Thein Zan, Zaw Htay and Aung Than Htun – continued to be scheduled to appear in court on 7 August 2006 on charges of “giving false information.” The three men had reported the death of a local villager, Win Lwin, in December 2004, who was allegedly killed while being forced to build a road. The authorities have never investigated the incident, claiming the man was working of his own volition.

Zaw Htay on 1 August 2006 confirmed that there had been no word from the government since their latest court appearance on 20 July, meaning that the case continues. “I don’t think this case will be easy because we now face trial…at the district level,” he said, referring to the government’s decision to move the case from a local court in Aunglan to nearby Thayet. The family of the deceased has been watched closely by the authorities since 26 July, he added.

Mr. Richard Horsey justly stated that the junta needed to follow up recent prisoner releases by ending the Aunglan case, as requested at the ILC in June 2006. He deplored that this case had not been resolved by the end of July, in spite of the ILC's expectations.

The importance of stressing the need for stopping the prosecution of forced labour complainants was underlined when two other high-profile complainants, Su Su Nway and Aye Myint, were released in June (during the ILC) and on 9 July 2006 respectively, also under ILO pressure; when labour activist Su Su Nway was released from the notorious Insein prison, people in her home village rushed to thank her for standing up against the military rulers. The 34-year-old stated that “There has been no forced labour, not only in my village but also in neighboring villages, after my case. Many villagers, including the older ones, came to see me to say thank you for what I did,” she said. She also acknowledged that she had been released mainly because of ILO pressure.

The overall situation regarding political prisoners in Burma however remains critical. On 5 November 2005, Aung Myint Thein from Rangoon Shwepaukkan New Town, who had been arrested and imprisoned for having contacts with the exiled Federation of the Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), died in the notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon. Although the real reason for his death is not known, the prison authorities came to inform his family members on the same day that Aung Myint Thein died from dysentery/cholera, but they are still not allowed to see his remains or bury him.

37-year old Aung Myint Thein from Ward - 12 was said to be in a healthy condition before he was arrested on 2 July 2005 on charges of infringing political act 5J by having contacts with "illegal organizations". His family members were suspicious about the circumstances of his death, as it came very suddenly while he was being tried behind closed doors inside the prison.

Aung Myint Thein was the fourth Burmese prisoner that died during detention in 2005. The other three were Aung Hlaing Win from Rangoon Mayanggone Township, Min Tun Wai from Mon State Kyaikmayaw Township, and Saw Stanford from Taguseik Village, Einme Township in Irrawaddy Division. The latter was killed during a heavy-handed session of interrogation by soldiers.

The ICFTU wishes to submit, as an annex to this report, an Amnesty International (AI) report called "Travesties of Justice" (Annex 1), dated 12 December 2005. This detailed report on political prisoners also documents the continued arrests and imprisonment of Burmese citizens solely on account of their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of association, expression, assembly and movement.

Forced Labour related to "development" projects, infrastructure etc.:

Notwithstanding SPDC claims that forced labour is being fought against in Burma, the reality on the ground shows that it continues to be rife. The ICFTU continued to receive countless reports on the practice, of which it will give a succinct summary on the following pages. While the general picture emerging from the rest of this document is already quite disturbing, the ICFTU is convinced that the actual situation is even a lot worse.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 10 August 2006, Burmese soldiers in charge of the security of railway tracks at Daik-U, Pegu Division, have not only been forcing local people to guard the tracks, but also beating up and fining those who refuse to clean brambles and bushes along the ancient railway. In July 2006, a university student who was forced to guard the tracks, was beaten up by the soldiers because he didn’t want to do the cleaning duties. Residents of Daik-U have been forced to guard the railway tracks since early this year, when bomb blasts occurred in nearby Taungoo. To make matters worse, they are forced to guard the tracks far away from home, which causes them many unnecessary difficulties. Meanwhile, the soldiers who are supposed to be on guard duty for the tracks, are reported to be regularly drunk and to bully the local population.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 19 July 2006, in Nyaunglebin District, Western Karen State, the SPDC is planning to relocate Muthey village to Thwein-bo-plaw ( East of Muthey, between Muthey and Paw Kay Ko). The troops have forced villagers from the Ler Doh area to build the new village for this relocation. The aim of the Burma Army is to do logging, mining and to build a dam in the area. General Khin Maung Tha and Division Commander Ko Ko both went to Kyauk Kyi town (Ler Doh) and held a meeting where they told all of the village tract leaders that they were starting a development program in Muthey. They asked the leaders to give them the names of people "who are willing to work on the development program". The leaders also had to give the names of those who were not willing to work. Those who were willing to work would receive 40,000 Kyat per month.

· On 2 July 2006, the combined troops of the following Infantry Battalions (IB) entered Shwe Tan and Toe Thein Pu (Toe Ta Dah) village and demanded 490 Kyat from every house in the village:

IB 601, under commander Kyaw Thu Ya
IB 602, under commander Aung Tha Oo
IB 589, under commander Saw Aung and
IB 57, under commander Mein Kyeh Tha

On 5 July 2006, MOC 21 Commander Colonel Aye Leing ordered IB 57, commanded by Mein Kye Tha, to send food and military supplies to Sawbede, Ro Ka Soe, and Klaw Pa Hta. IB 57 then demanded 90 bullock carts form P'deh Gaw village, 150 bullock carts from Haythawei village, 150 bullock carts from Laypiwei, and 50 bullock carts from Mapi village, to move these supplies. 3 people were to man each cart. Because of heavy rain and floods, the headmen begged the commander not to force them to move the supplies. The commander denied this request and told them to take the loads by boat and people where the carts could not go through.

On 11 July 2006, IB 57 commander Mein Kyeh Tha forced all inhabitants of Toe Ta Dah village to relocate to Shwe Tan. TOC Nr. 2 of MOC 21 demanded 75 bullock carts and 400 persons from the plains to clear the road from Baw Ka Hta to Roe Ka Soe camp, so that carts could send food and supplies to Roe Ka Soe. Each villager had to bring a knife or a machete. The Army started sending loads on 6 July 2006.

· According to evidence received by the ICFTU on 14 July 2006, eye-witnesses account extensively of prisoners working on road construction projects, rubber plantations and tea plantations in shackles in Chin State and other parts of Burma. An eyewitness stated that prisoners in one labour camp are yoked like oxen and forced to plough the fields.

A Chin woman, who cannot be named for security reasons, told interviewers that she visited her home village in January 2006 and brought back evidence of the use of prison labour. The conditions of the prison camps were, she said, “very inhumane”. Prisoners in the “New Life” camp, on the road towards the India-Burma border, 55 miles from Kalaymyo, were yoked around the neck and forced to work ploughing the fields like buffalo. They were fed banana leaves, and a small amount of rice each day. Prisoners working in the rubber plantation were chained together.

· Since 2000, the SPDC military presence in Kachin State has increased, despite a ceasefire agreement. Although the area of Putao has been declared a “white” region (meaning that there is no insurgency), SPDC troop numbers have doubled since 2000. Reportedly, forced labour for roads and pagodas occurs on a daily basis. Like the Chin, the Kachin face restrictions on religious activities. The SPDC often prohibits public events to celebrate religious festivals, but deliberately informs organizers at the last moment that their events are prohibited. Poor villagers are offered the equivalent of an SPDC soldier’s rice ration if they convert to Buddhism, and children are forcibly taken and compelled to become Buddhists.

· Since the discovery of a major deposit in late 2003, a Korean-Indian joint venture has been exploring gas fields off the western coast of Arakan and Chin states. The Shwe A-1 wells are expected to become one of the largest gas fields in Southeast Asia, while gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields is currently the country's largest source of legal export revenue. The ICFTU fears, however, that experience from the Yadana and Yetagun gas pipelines provides evidence that the Shwe project will lead to an increased Burmese Army presence in the area, with forthcoming forced relocation of villagers, land confiscation and slave labour.

· According to information the ICFTU has received, local authorities in Mon State continue to force people into doing work they want done with impunity. In July 2006, villagers of Kalort-tort, southern Mudon Township, Mon State, were forced to remove clumps of bushes along the motor road near their village. The villagers had little choice: if they refused to clean up the bushes on both sides of the road, they would have to pay a fine of 500 Kyat to the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC), which had issued the orders. In their official newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, the authorities described the exercise that the villagers were forced into as "local people enjoying the fruits of development even while earning livelihood peacefully". The New Light of Myanmar said that the government is trying to develop the rural areas. Residents, however, said that the villagers are forced to clean up the roadsides at least twice a year, and that they are going to be forced again. Other villages along the motor road are also forced to clean roadsides by their respective VPDC’s every year.

· According to reports received by the ICFTU on 14 August 2006, In Pegu Division, threats by the military are making farmers abandon their farms. According to a local farmer, the military government is making the threats so that farmers leave the farms, while the SPDC-sponsored TV channel MRTV-3 reports that monsoon paddy cultivation in this division covered 100,000 acres of land, which would be an increase. SPDC Lieutenant-General Khin Maung Than, of the Ministry of Defence, attended a ceremony to conclude the ploughing of monsoon paddy for 2006-2007 in Pegu Division at the Gwaydaukkhin Village, near the Rangoon-Mandalay Highway in Ottwin Township, on 12 August 2006, with an address to increase cultivation. The farmer stated that “we have completed just some parts of our farms for growing paddy. Some of the farmers just finished small portions because authorities are not allowing farmers to sleep in their farms. All cottages in the farms were ordered to be dismantled. You can understand the situation if the farmers are not allowed to work without a cottage. Some farmers, who own farms which are far from the village or town, have been sleeping faraway in small plastic huts ".

The military government had ordered farmers in Bago, Waw, Payagyi, Payathonzu, and Thanatpin township area to dismantle their cottages to prevent rebel groups staying in them during transit. Currently the farmers in the area cannot transplant paddy because of the order. Some farmers claimed paddy production could be reduced compared to last year and they would face considerable losses.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 14 August 2006, residents in Mon State are being imparted military training by army battalions. IB 209 in Kamawet village, Mudon Township, called 30 villagers for the first phase of training. On 13 August 2006 the training of residents from Goun Njin Tan village, close to Kamawet village, began. It takes 20 days to train one group of trainees. According to community leaders, the training will continue and all the villages in the area have to join.

The authorities told residents that military training was for urgent cases. The villagers have to join the army when needed. Military training had begun from the other part of Mon State, Kyaikkami Township, a few weeks before, and the Infantry Battalions asked for money from the residents to meet the expenditure of the training. Community leaders had asked for 500 Kyat per month for the community security force before the military training began. However, when the actual military training began, required fees amounted to 2000 Kyat.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 23 November 2005, Burmese civil servants who were transferred from Rangoon to the new capital at Kyappyay region near Pyinmana in central Burma, have been surrounded with barbed wires and guarded by armed soldiers. The drastic SPDC action came after some home-sick civil servants had fled from the area which is said to be infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The civil servants have to carry out their official duties in an area which looks more like a police-controlled hard labour camp rather than a site designated as the new capital of Burma, according to a civil servant from the Hotel and Tourism Ministry who didn't want to be named for security reasons.

Many civil servants who fled Kyappyay have returned to Rangoon while many more are ordered to go there. Those who refuse to obey the order are threatened with prosecutions under the Emergency Provision Act - 5J for treason and insubordination.

According to a female civil servant, “some people from the Interior Ministry returned with malaria. Scarcity of water in Kyappyay is another serious problem. Women are among the third and fourth batches. There were none in the first and second batches. They are in the list of those who have to go there. They only know that they will have to go, but they do not know the exact date. They are in trouble. I have a small child who is attending a kindergarten. My youngest daughter is only two months old.”

Pregnant women, mothers with young babies, and female civil servants with poor health are said to be refusing to go. Relocated civil servants were also forced to take part in a bizarre action similar to that of a warding off evil ceremony, the woman added. “When they reached Pyinmana, at 6 o’clock and 37 minute, all the civil servants had to shout, ‘We have gone! We have gone!’. I don’t know why. I wonder if they are warding off evil.”

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 15 October 2005, local authorities at Zeekone (Zigon) Township, western Pegu Division, have been subjecting local residents to forced labour practices. Those who could not afford to participate in the 'volunteering' are forced to pay 200 Kyat per household, making it almost impossible for them to survive as commodity prices are soaring endlessly, affecting especially those who live in urban areas. The order for forced labour was said to be issued by local authority chairman Khin Aung. People had been forced to clear brambles and bushes along the Rangoon-Prome (Pyay) Highway without pay.

When asked if the people are not reporting these practices to the competent authorities, a local resident replied that people don't even know who to approach, as those in power are only interested in protecting each other and imprisoning those who report them to higher authorities.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 25 July 2006, Rohingya villagers have been ordered to provide cattle and money to the Nasaka, Burma’s border security force in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State. On 1 July the Nasaka summoned five people, namely Ali Ullah (35), son of Hossain; Nazu Meah (25), son of Hossain Ali; Kafiyat Ullah (45), son of Kamal; Amin Ullah (27), son of Karim Ullah; and Nur Zahan (22), daughter of Faruk.

The villagers were taken to the Nasaka camp in Buthidaung Town, with the help of the Aley Chaung VPDC Chairman. At the camp, they were told by Nasaka officials that they would have to hand over one head of cattle and 1,000 Kyat each within a day. If they did not comply with the order, they would be punished. The Nasaka did not provide any explanation; it simply stated that they needed it urgently. Out of fear, the villagers provided one head of cattle and 1,000 Kyat each to the Nasaka on 2 July 2006. Villagers believe that the money and cattle would be distributed among the Natala or model villagers who are yet to arrive in Arakan State from Central Burma.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 15 January 2006, IB 428 and the ceasefire group of the Karenni Nationalities People Liberation Front (KNPLF) established a military base at Hsinpyu Taung and forced residents from Hteekoe, Leekupra, Kelupra, Yokyipra, Koebaw, Mawsido, Kruku and Harliku villages not only to provide the building materials, but also to help build the military barracks. The Burma military has been operating in the area for years and is now trying to establish a stronghold, together with members of the ceasefire armed group, in order to control the area.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 20 January 2006, Burmese Infantry Battalions IB 512 and 522, as well as the Karenni National Democratic Army (KNDA), entered Daw Tamadu village, Deemawso Township, Karenni State, early this year, and forced villagers living in the vicinity to help build a military camp in Daw Tamadu. This was the second time the villagers had to build an army base on the same spot: the previous camp had been dismantled in 2000.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 20 February 2006, the local army unit has been threatening villagers in Mi-Htaw-Hlar Kyi village, southern Ye Township, Mon state, after two deserters escaped from near their village. Troops from IB 31, based in Kawzar sub-town, have forced six villagers on a rotational basis to patrol the village everyday.

The two deserters had escaped to join a Mon rebel group on 8 January 2006, taking away three Burma Army guns and one artillery M-79 gun with them. When the two deserters reached the village periphery, they fired one round into the village with the M-79. No one was hurt. The two deserters also took two men from the village as hostage and in order to show them the way. Next day the two hostages were released by the deserters, only to be arrested by the Burmese Army for interrogation.

Local villagers testified that they are being used as porters who have to carry supplies for the soldiers while they are tracking down deserters. In some cases, these portering tasks last as long as four days. During these operations, troops also prevent villagers from going to their farms and plantations.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 22 February 2006, the SPDC has been confiscating land in Mon State to build forced labour camps for brick factories. The bricks are used to construct military camps. The Burmese Army not only confiscates the land but subsequently destroys it by digging large pits to mine clay. These pits are as big as football pitches, i.e. about 10 to 30 meters in depth, making it impossible to grow anything in the future.

About 7 to 8 acres of confiscated lands are being used for the interests of the Burmese military’s brick factories. The Mon farmers face instant impoverishment and have no hope of regaining their land. Many flee as migrant workers to Thailand.

Those villagers who are unable to flee are forced into making the bricks, a labour- intensive operation which requires villagers to work up to 12 to 15 hour shifts per day. Some of the bricks are later sold back to the locals. Furthermore, trees from the surrounding forest and from gardens that belong to local people are being cut down for fuel to manufacture the bricks. This causes heavy deforestation and erosion, while the huge pits, along with the erosion, are bound to spoil the water wells.

Over 10 new Infantry Battalions have been installed in southern Mon State since 1995, after the New Mon State Party (NMSP) reached a ceasefire with the Burmese government. Estimates figure that about 10,000 acres of land were confiscated by the SPDC in Ye township.

The ICFTU also wishes to submit, as an annex to this report, the Chin Human Rights' Organisation's (CHRO) "Forced Labour Report" (Annex 2), which it received on 10 August 2006. This report contains information on forced labour in SPDC "development projects", military infrastructure, forced portering, extortion of money and/or goods from civilians, forced conscription of child soldiers, sexual violence, and other forms of forced labour.

We also wish to submit forced labour reports and SPDC order letters which were transmitted to us by the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB – Annex 3). This contribution consists of very concise and factual accounts of forced labour practices in Pegu Division, Tenasserim Division, Arakan State, Chin State and Rangoon Division.

Other important contributions which the ICFTU wishes to submit are the reports "No rest from forced labour!" (Annex 4), covering the period from December 2005 til May 2006, and "Labouring in the rain" (Annex 5), from May til August 2006. These reports were written by ICFTU consultant Chris Lewa, after field work on the spot. They contain numerous cases of several forms of forced labour: brick factories, construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, "model villages" and military infrastructure, and forced portering and sentry duty. It further contains invaluable interviews with victims of forced labour practices from three different townships in Arakan State, including testimonies from as much as 38 villagers. According to our consultant, the situation is getting gradually worse, especially since the military took complete control of the region in March 2005. The only notable measure the government took in order to put an end to forced labour, consisted of sending a high-ranking army officer to tour a few villages in Maungdaw Township and scold local authorities for imposing forced labour. The reports furthermore contain a warning that, for the second year in a row, a food security crisis due to forced labour (which impedes local villagers to work on their fields in order to provide for their own livestock) seems irreversible in the region.

Finally, the ICFTU also wishes to submit, as an annex to this report, the Shwe Gas Movement's (SGM) report "Supply and Command" (Annex 6), dating from July 2006. This document depicts a situation in which, while the military junta keeps forming consortia with oil drilling companies from India, China, Korea and Singapore, forced labour is on the increase in Arakan State. It includes testimonies of victims of forced labour in stone quarries, military-owned farms, portering, maintenance of roads, collecting firewood, drinking and washing water, betel nut, mango, coconut and alcohol for the army. It also describes the case of a teacher who tried to inform the ILO, but did not succeed. He therefore sent the information to UNICEF in Maungdaw, but the SPDC found out and arrested him. First he was shackled and forced to stand with his hands around a cactus for three hours, after which he was imprisoned for one month in Ponnagywan police station. Finally, the report also contains information on numerous cases of land confiscation and seizure of assets, and the extortion of civilians. It explicitly points at foreign companies' responsibilities, as in doing business with the SPDC on the Shwe gas project, they make themselves accessories to any act of violence committed by soldiers working on the Shwe project.

Forced portering

· According to information received by the ICFTU, the Burmese Army has launched new attacks against villages in southern Taungoo District, Karen State, forcing hundreds of villagers into hiding. They have also abused porters who have been forced to carry loads in support of these attacks, and stolen villagers’ belongings.

On 6 July 2006, Burmese Army IB-568, which is based at Play Hsa Lo, attacked Saw Wah Der village. Burmese Army soldiers burned down four houses in the village and laid anti-personnel landmines around the village. Two landmines were found on 7 July near villagers’ homes, and one was found near the bathing area.

Two days earlier, on 4 July 2006, Burma Army IBs 566 and 567, led by battalion commander Khin Maung Aye, attacked Saw Wah Daw Ko village, southern Taungoo District. The whole village was burnt down, and 70 to 80 villagers had to flee into the jungle.

Burmese Army IBs 352, 353, 564 and 565, which are based at Tha Pyi Nyut, came to See Daw Ko village on 6 July 2006, and left later that day. Six Kachin and La Hu porters were found at the village. These people were being forced to carry loads against their will by the Burmese Army, and had been brought from areas of Burma far to the north. One porter was found in nearby bushes because he could no longer walk. The Burmese Army left him to die in the bushes. Relief team members took him to See Daw Koh and gave him medical treatment.

Troops from Division 66, stationed at Kler La army base, ordered the local villagers to give 30 viss (47.5 kg) of pork and 3 monk's robes for the Ka Tain festival. The cost of these items is more than 10,000 Kyat. During their patrol of the village, the Burmese Army also took a computer, 2 generators and a movie for watching.

· What follows are the summaries of two interviews carried out by an independent observer during a visit to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border, between 19 October and 4 November 2005:

1) "SMM, aged 13, from B village, near Mawchi. This was a very difficult and painful interview as this boy was clearly severely traumatized. There was virtually no eye contact at all; he sat half turned away from us, with his shoulder shielding his face; he was very reticent and hesitant in answering questions. However, it was only while talking that he showed any sign of animation at all. He is also lame in his right leg, attributed to a ‘wrong’ injection, back in Burma. He is one of four siblings (‘the middle’); the rest of his family remain in the village. He has come to the camp to study because he cannot go to school back in his own village. Many SPDC soldiers come to the village three or four times a week and demand forced labour. Sometimes they may take 10 people, or one family. There is an SPDC camp near the village. They order the villagers and beat them like animals. The duration of each spell of forced labour varies from one or two days to a week or even a month, depending on the troubles and the travel. He himself has had to carry food. ... It took him one week to reach the border."

2) "Naw KSP, aged 36, Baptist, from village Z in Nr. 2 District, Karenni State, arrived in the refugee camp in July 2005, after walking for one week. Her husband died in Karen State in November 2003 after stepping on a landmine. She has seven children, five of whom are with her in the refugee camp. The youngest is just two years old. The remaining two, aged 17 and 11, were left behind to look after their sick grandmother. Her village used to have about 40 households, but now it has only 20, because the Burma Army has forced villagers to flee. There are about 250 people in the village, a church, and a primary school up to Grade 4, but no clinic. She escaped because she did not want to be a forced porter. She had already been used as a porter by the Burma Army three times, for several days each time. She had to carry 16 kg bags of rice, walking from 3 am until dusk each day. From 3 am until noon, she and the other porters were given no food. In the afternoon, the soldiers would sometimes give the porters rice and yellow beans, with fish-paste. If they grew tired and stopped to rest, or fainted, they would be beaten by the soldiers. Villagers took turns to provide porters for the troops, but on average, from 20 households, at least five porters were taken every month. She has been forcibly relocated twice, including once to the Mawchi relocation site, but both times she escaped and returned to her home village. In 1997 her house was burned down and she lost everything. Two villagers were killed and two wounded by shells.

The ICFTU also wishes to submit, as an annex to this report, two Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) publications: "Offensive columns shell and burn villages" (Annex 7), dated 7 June 2006, and "Less than human" (Annex 8), dated 22 August 2006.

The former, a news bulletin, conveys information on Burmese Army attacks against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), in which entire villages end up under siege. In these attacks, civilians are being killed without a direct motive. As a result of the military operations, local villagers are being forced to porter for Burmese Army troops. Many villagers try to flee; those who don't manage, are being kept as prisoners in local schools and churches.

The latter provides a detailed study on the phenomenon of forced portering in Northern Karen State. To support its military attacks on hill villages throughout northern Karen State since November 2005, the SPDC has brought several thousand convicts from prisons across Burma to carry ammunition and supplies, and to act as human minesweepers. Many of these men are innocent of any crime, but were imprisoned because they were too poor to bribe police and judges who use their positions to extort money. The corruption continues with their jailers, who send them to the Army as porters if they are unable to pay. According to this report, the SPDC relies increasingly on convict porters for its major military operations, both as a large-scale and accessible workforce to augment the forced labour of villagers, as well as to legitimise its use of forced labour in the eyes of the international community. However, the use of convict porters in frontline operations is anything but legitimate: they are being treated as property of the soldiers, have to work to the point of exhaustion or death, are being beaten, tortured or murdered whenever they can no longer carry loads, and are being underfed and given no treatment when sick or wounded. One of the conclusions of the report is that despite the presence of thousands of convict porters SPDC forces continue to recruit villagers for forced labour whenever possible, indicating that Burma’s ever-expanding Army is using convict labour as a supplement rather than an alternative to the forced labour of villagers.

Human minesweeping

· According to information received by the ICFTU, five Burmese military porters escaped to the Thai border police station at Nampindin on 19 February 2005. They were taken from Mandalay prison and transferred to Karenni State by troops from IB 55, to be military porters at the frontline. For the journey they were loaded onto a fully covered military truck to Loikaw, then on to Ywathit. They were ordered by troops to sit and put their hands on their neck and keep their head bowed for the entire journey. Each family in the village was ordered to provide one member to be a military porter. Families without males, or those who were unable to provide porters for various reasons, were ordered to pay 15,000 Kyat.

The SPDC troops forced three of these porters to walk ahead of them, as they feared land mines when they went to fetch water from streams. A soldier used to follow behind them. Two porters were ordered to carry one sack of rice, and others were ordered to carry milk, sugar and sardines, which weighed over 15 viss (23.75 kg). The five porters reported that each Burmese battalion uses about 40 porters to carry military rations, weapons and ammunition.

· According to information received by the ICFTU on 14 July 2006, a Burmese military porter named Win Myaing escaped to the Thai border on 20 February 2005, after which he had to undergo urgent medical treatment at Mae Hong Son hospital. His left leg had been injured by a landmine explosion near the border battlefield. He had been transported by an SPDC battalion from Mandalay prison to Matawkhu military base, Loikaw, Karenni State on 2 February 2005, to be a military porter at the frontline. He managed to escape after having served as a porter for one week, but subsequently stepped on a land mine on February 10 after his escape. He had seen eight military porters being killed by Burmese troops because they could not walk anymore; one of them was his younger brother.

He had been forced to carry 700 machine gun cartridges and an extra machine gun barrel. Others were forced to carry rations such as rice, milk, sugar etc. He had had to fetch water, collect fire-wood and cook for the troops. He had been "lucky" inasmuch as he had had to porter for a company office column, and therefore had been given the same food rations as the troops. Most porters received only a handful of food two times a day, which caused them to go gradually weaker and weaker.

Child labour

Another disturbing problem is the use of children as forced labourers. While most of the cases on this issue that are mentioned in the paragraphs following after the next one concern the forced conscription of child soldiers, the ICFTU did receive reports on other forms of child labour as well. One alarming case concerned the enforcement, by SPDC troops, of forced labour aimed at guaranteeing the security of the Kanbauk - Myaingkalay gas pipeline on orders from the local military battalion in Mudon Township, in Mon state, southern Burma. Either men, women and children are being forced to patrol along and around the pipeline. Villagers in Kwan-hlar village, Hnee-pa-daw village, Kalort-tort village and Yaung-daung village along the gas pipeline in Mudon Township are being forced to send five people from each quarter of the village for day or night patrol on rotation.

Many children patrol the gas pipeline because their parents are busy farming or have migrated to neighbouring countries. If they do not go for patrol duty, they have to pay 2,000 Kyat. After the last gas pipeline explosion, in February 2006 near Kwan-hlar village, Mudon Township, the authorities collected Kyat 4,000 from each household, saying that they would not order villagers to patrol the pipeline. Nevertheless, as much as three months after paying the security tax, the villagers had to patrol the pipeline anyway. Since the gas pipeline was constructed in 2000, villagers along its route have been suffering various kinds of human right abuses such as restriction on movement, forced labour, patrol duty, and are forced to pay taxes for security expenditure.

Child soldiers

Burma has the highest number of child soldiers in the world, with over 70,000 forcibly conscripted into the Burma Army.

Reports monitoring human rights in Burma convey that more and more lower level soldiers of the SPDC are deserting due to the increasing incidents of bullying and corruption within the army. In a report received by the ICFTU on 16 August 2006, Private Thein Tun from IB 525 testified that he was coerced into joining the army and the police threatening him with imprisonment, and that there are many child soldiers in his battalion. He added that relations between foot soldiers and officers are usually not very good. “Officers and lower people are dealing with each other because of their duties. They bear grudges with each other in their heart. When we listened to the radio, they would not allow us. In the army, if we talked about Bogyoke (General) Aung San, the late father of Aung San Suu Kyi, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself, they would detain us, beat us up and swear at us.”

Aung Myo Min, Director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), has stated that the use of child soldiers in Burma is rampant, not only in the Burmese military, but also in ethnic armed rebel groups. According to Aung Myo Min, "in Burma adults do not want to join the army, and even if they are coerced and recruited, they can still run away. So children are lured into the army."

In an open debate of the United Nations Security Council on children and armed conflict on 24 July 2006, United States Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs to the UN, pointed out the severity of the use of child soldiers in a number of countries including Burma, and extended US support to the UN General Secretary's commitment to end it. "Children are routinely picked up off the streets, forced into the army, and never see their families again. Many are forced to fight against armed ethnic opposition groups and carry out human rights abuses such as rounding up villagers for forced labour, burning houses, and even massacring civilians," Sanders said in her statement. "As an important element of an effort to eliminate such activities, we welcome effective monitoring and reporting of all such violations," she added.

Despite establishing a committee to restrict the use of child soldiers, the Burmese junta actually never refers to the committee and has no practical role in eliminating abuses of children's rights, still according to Aung Myo Min. Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (CSUSC) Ryan Silverio, in an interview with the Mizzima News Agency on 28 August 2006, stated that "If they [the junta] are serious and have the political will to ensure the effective implementation of the plans set forth by the Special Committee, they would open up the doors for NGO's, especially child rights organizations, to participate in the planning and implementation of the plans and not operate in an atmosphere of secrecy."

According to information received by the ICFTU in March 2006, the Burmese Army has six battalions stationed in Chin State: IBs 268, 266, 269, 140, 274 and 304. Each battalion should consist of 1,000 soldiers, but because of mass defections many battalions are greatly reduced. One battalion in particular has been reduced to less than 450 soldiers. The Burmese Army therefore forcibly recruits new troops, including child soldiers, many of them as young as 14 years old. Regular soldiers are paid a salary of only 10,000 kyats, and after taxes their cash-in-hand salary amounts to 3,000 kyats. As a result, soldiers are encouraged to loot and steal from villagers.

The forced conscription of child soldiers has been well-documented by human rights monitoring groups in the past. On 14 July 2006, the ICFTU received a report which contained interviews with forcibly conscripted child soldiers who had managed to escape. One of them was MM (full name withheld for security reasons), aged 15, from Township X, Irrawaddy Division:

"MM was not interested in joining the army, but was forcibly conscripted in 2004, aged 14. He was on his way home from a religious festival when he was stopped by the Burmese police and arrested. He was held in custody for four or five days because he had no identity card. Military officials then came, and told him he could join the army or remain in jail. He was then taken to Shwe Bo military recruiting centre, where he was forced to work for two months, cooking and looking after the pigs. He was then transferred to Sagaing Division Military Training Camp Nr. 10. In the training camp he saw many other boys of a similar age. Out of 250 trainees, most were aged around 14 or 15. He was told to lie about his age and say that he was already 15. He said the conditions were poor. “The food was not good. The rice was no different from the food fed to pigs,” he said. “I was beaten many times, especially when I showed no interest in the training. I was beaten with steel rods and bamboo sticks, and once with a bar from the frame of a bicycle.” During four and a half months in training, MM was taught to use guns and hand grenades, and told that in the future he would fight the students and the Wa. Then he was sent to Kalaw, Shan State, to Infantry Battalion 112, Division 55. In his company, Company 3, out of 30 soldiers, 15 were of a similar age to MM. After a month in Kalaw, he was sent to Karenni State. Of the soldiers he saw there, 250 were of a similar age to him. He was not sent to the frontline, but was forced to work for the army, building fences for the camp. He was beaten and kicked when he slowed down or found walking up a mountain difficult, and he had to carry 250 rounds of ammunition, a landmine and a hand grenade. He was told to shoot any stranger he saw "because they may be rebels with AK47s and M16s”. He was told to serve ten years in the Burmese Army, but escaped on 13 January 2006.

MM claims to have been ordered to carry weapons which may have been chemical or biological. He recalls that Sergeant Major Kyaw Nu told him and other soldiers to carry some boxes, but to be careful not to drop them. He reportedly said that if the boxes were dropped, they would explode, releasing a toxic smoke which would be very dangerous if inhaled. The boxes were very heavy, and required four or five soldiers to carry each one. They contained ten to fifteen shells each, and had arrived by truck from the Station Battalion. They were loaded onto another truck and sent to Kya Besa (the place attacked). The soldiers carrying the boxes wore gloves and masks. Each box contained a mix of ordinary shells and chemical shells, MM claims – at least one out of every four or five was a chemical warhead."

Sexual violence

Systematic sexual violence became visible in Myanmar when the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
published “Licence to Rape”, which documents 625 cases of rape committed by the military in eastern Myanmar between 1996 and 2001. The report, which was also mentioned in the ICFTU submission to the CEACR concerning forced labour in Burma dated 31 August 2005, noted that nobody had been prosecuted. SWAN and SHRF argue that rape is used as a weapon in the military’s war against ethnic minorities. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable - owing to gender and ethnicity - to a horrific practice whose aim is to demonstrate the army’s power and punish those who confront it. When the army enters a village, chaos erupts. Villagers are killed or ordered to pack their belongings and leave. Several of the reported rapes took place under such conditions, or when women are taken for forced labour.

Army deserters confirm that rapes have occurred. Furthermore, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women has published material that corroborates information in “Licence to Rape” and adds numerous new cases from Burma. Unfortunately, four years on, a UN investigation has yet to take place because the military junta refuses to grant the UN access to the country. Incidents of rape continue to be reported, and the Burmese military surely must know what is happening. Nevertheless, the junta engages in doublethink: while rejecting the reports, it launched its own investigations instead, whose conduct and staffing leave no room for confidence in their credibility.

In 2000, the UN Security Council recognised that gender-based violence thwarts security and adopted Resolution 1325, which calls on parties in conflict to respect the rights of women and children, and particularly to prevent gender-based violence.

In 2004, the governments of Asean vowed to end the impunity states like Burma have enjoyed and signed the Declaration to Eliminate Violence Against Women in the Asean Region. Burma is failing to live up to the standards of decency that the Southeast Asian region set for itself. It has ratified both the UN Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A national committee exists for the advancement of women. Nevertheless, such measures are of no use when the military remains firmly in control, the rule of law is absent, and the government refuses to admit the systematic sexual violence committed by its soldiers as they terrorise the population.

Rape cases have been documented in numerous reports, including in Licence to Rape (SWAN), Shattering Silences (Karen Women’s Organisation - KWO) and System of Impunity (Women’s League of Burma - WLB). The publication last year of Catwalk to the Barracks: Conscription of women for sexual slavery and other practices of sexual violence by troops of the Burmese military regime in Mon areas, which was also referred to in the abovementioned ICFTU submission of 2005, documented 37 cases of sexual violence involving 50 women and girls, aged 14-50, and revealed evidence of widespread forcible conscription of women into sexual slavery by the Burma Army. Girls are recruited and kept in Burmese Army barracks in Mon State, where they are required to provide the soldiers with sexual services.

The SPDC has reacted angrily against the publication of these reports. Public demonstrations and rallies have been organized in Burma specifically denouncing the SWAN, the WLB and other organisations, and groups have been formed by the SPDC in each ethnic state to oppose the WLB and its respective ethnic nationality member organisations.

The ICFTU also continued to receive reports about gender-based violence and sexual slavery practices committed by the Burmese Army. According to one report, on New Year's Day 2006, a Burma army commander from IB 426 ordered villagers of Htukweiso, west of Pruso Township, Karenni State, not to leave the village for any purpose. Three days later, on 3 January 2006 at 7:00 a.m, a mother named Monar (37) and her daughter Nahnar (18) left for their farm and were arrested outside the village by IB 426 troops. These troops raped both the mother and daughter on the spot and then took them to their military camp, where they held them for three days. Nahnar was menstruating during this period but was never provided with any extra clothing or supplies while in the army’s detention cell; on the contrary, soldiers forced her to "clean her body" by pouring cold water over herself. Immediately afterwards, she fell unconscious for an hour, but was left lying in the prison cell. Upon returning to the village the mother and daughter informed the village chief of what had happened, but he didn't dare to report this to the authorities and seek legal action against the perpetrators.

Kindly forward this document to the Committee of Experts for examination during its forthcoming session.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

General Secretary

Encl.: list of appendices

List of appendices:

- Annex 1: Amnesty International: Myanmar – Travesties of Justice: Continued Misuse of the Legal System (December 2005)

- Annex 2: Chin Human Rights Organisation: Forced Labour Report (From September 2005 to July 2006), Submission to International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ICFTU

- Annex 3: Reports by the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) on Forced Labour (September 2005 – August 2006)

- Annex 4: The Arakan Project: No Rest from Forced labour!, Forced Labour Practices in Northern Arakan State, December 2005 – May 2006, Report No. 12 submitted to the ICFTU and the ILO (31 May 2006)

- Annex 5: The Arakan Project: Labouring in the Rain, Forced Labour Practices in Northern Arakan State, May to August 2006, Report No. 13 submitted to the ICFTU and the ILO (10 August 2006)

- Annex 6: The Shwe Gas Movement: Supply and Command, Natural gas in western Burma set to entrench military rule (July 2006)

- Annex 7: Karen Human Rights Group: News bulletin – Offensive columns shell and burn villages, round up villagers in northern Papun and Toungoo Districts (7 June 2006)

- Annex 8: Karen Human Rights Group: Less than Human – Convict Porters in the 2005-2006 Northern Karen State Offensive (22 August 2006)