book - hrw report on 2007 crackdown - photos

8/14/2019 Book - HRW Report on 2007 Crackdown - Photos

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CrackdownRepression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma

B u r m a


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Summary

Human RigHts WatcH | decembeR 2007


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Bystanders clap and cheer while thousands o monksmarch through Rangoon onSeptember 24, 2007. 2007 Reuters


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In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists,monks and ordinary people took to the streets o Rangoon

and elsewhere to peace ully challenge nearly two decades o dictatorial rule and economic mismanagement by Burmasruling generals. While opposition to the military governmentis widespread in Burma, and small acts o resistance are aneveryday occurrence, military repression is so systematic thatsuch sentiment rarely is able to burst into public view; the lastcomparable public uprising was in August 1988. As in 1988,the generals responded this time with a brutal and bloodycrackdown, leaving Burmas population once again struggling or a voice.

The government crackdown included baton-charges andbeatings o unarmed demonstrators, mass arbitrary arrests,and repeated instances where weapons were red shoot-to-kill. To remove the monks and nuns rom the protests, thesecurity orces raided dozens o Buddhist monasteries during the night, and sought to en orce the de rocking o thousandso monks. Current protest leaders, opposition party members,and activists rom the 88 Generation students were trackeddown and arrested and continue to be arrested anddetained.

The Burmese generals have taken draconian measures toensure that the world does not learn the true story o thehorror o their crackdown. They have kept oreign journalistsout o Burma and maintained their complete control over domestic news. Many local journalists were arrested a ter the crackdown, and the internet and mobile phone networks,used extensively to send in ormation, photos, and videos outo Burma, were temporarily shut down, and have remainedtightly controlled since.

O course, those e orts at censorship were only partiallysuccess ul, as some enterprising and brave individuals

ound ways to get mobile phone video ootage o thedemonstrations and crackdown out o the country and ontothe worlds television screens. This provided a small windowinto the violence and repression that the Burmese militarygovernment continues to use to hold onto power.

This report, based on more than 100 in-depth interviewsconducted by Human Rights Watch researchers witheyewitnesses to the events in Rangoon, o ers a detailedaccount o the protests and the brutal crackdown and massarrest campaign that ollowed. It is based on interviews

with monks and ordinary citizens who participated in theprotests, as well as leading monks, protest organizers andinternational o cials. Our report ocuses on the events inRangoon. It leaves out many deadly incidents and abusesthat were reported, but or which because o governmentrestrictions and the risks involved we were unable to ndeyewitnesses. It is thus not the last wordmore investigationis needed to uncover the stories, identi y all incidentsand victims, and trace the broader consequences o thecrackdown.

Despite these limitations, this report provides the mostdetailed account o the crackdown and its a termath availableto date. The rst-hand accounts in this report demonstratethat many more people were killed than the Burmeseauthorities are willing to admit, and sheds new light onthe authorities systematic, o ten violent pursuit o monks,students, and other peace ul advocates o re orm in theweeks and months a ter the protests.

In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists, monksand ordinary people took to the streets o Rangoon and elsewhereto peace ully challenge nearly two decades o dictatorial rule andeconomic mismanagement by Burmas ruling generals.

SUMMARY


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(previous page top)Riot police seal o Sule PagodaRoad in Rangoon on September 26, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images

(previous page bottom) Monks, protected by a human ence o ordinary citizens holding hands,

hold a peace ul march against military rule on September 25,2007 in Rangoon. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images

(right) Monks march downPansodan Road towardsSule Pagoda in Rangoon onSeptember 26, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images


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(le t) Soldiers patrol the streets o Rangoon on September 29, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/

Reportage by Getty Images

(above) Protesters ee throughthe National Library construction site a ter soldiers opened fre ona demonstration in Rangoonsnorthern Tamwe district onSeptember 27, 2007, one o the bloodiest incidents o thecrackdown. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images


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The protests began in mid-August 2007, triggered in partby an unexpected decision by the ruling State Peace and

Development Council (SPDC) to remove subsidies on uel andnatural gas prices, which increased some commodity pricesovernight by 500 percent. On August 19, the 88 Generationstudent movement (which had played a leading role in the1988 uprising) organized a peace ul march o some 400protesters in Rangoon. While the immediate issue was theprice hikes, the protest and those that were to ollow werealso a refection o peoples built up anger and behind-the-scenes mobilization by individuals seeking undamentalpolitical re orm and an end to the predatory rule o themilitary-led SPDC.

The reaction o the SPDC was immediate: on August 21 theauthorities began arresting most o the leadership o the 88Generation students and other activist groups, and had morethan 100 activists in detention by August 25. In addition, theSPDC mobilized members o its mass-based civilian wing,the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA),and its abusive militia, Swan Arr Shin, to monitor the streetso Rangoon to beat and arrest any protesters who daredto continue the demonstrations. Despite the immediatecrackdown, protesters continued to gather in Rangoon, and

the protests soon spread to other cities throughout Burma.

On September 5, the protests reached a turning point whena group o Buddhist monks holding signs denouncing theprice hikes marched in Pakokku, a religious center locatedclose to the city o Mandalay. The monks were cheered onby thousands o protesters. The army intervened brutally,ring gunshots over the heads o the monks and beating monks and bystanders. Uncon rmed reports that one monkdied rom the beatings, and that others had been tied toa lamppost and publicly beaten, caused revulsion and

anger in a deeply religious society. The next day, an angrymob surrounded government and religious a airs o cialsduring a visit to a leading monastery, burning the cars o thegovernment delegation and causing a tense six-hour stando .In response to the violence against monks in Pakokku, thenewly ormed All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) demandedan immediate apology rom the SPDC, a reduction in prices,the release o all political prisoners including oppositionleader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and a dialogue between the

SPDC and the political opposition. The ABMA threatenedto excommunicate the SPDC leadership rom the Buddhist

community i it did not meet these demands by September 17. When the SPDC ignored the demands o the ABMA, theABMA excommunicated the SPDC leaders on September 17and called or a resumption o the protests. ABMA membersbegan re using to accept alms rom SPDC o cials and their amilies, a symbolically potent act known as overturning thebowls (Patta Nikkujjana Kamma).

Monks throughout Burma responded to the ABMAs calland on September 17 began daily marches. Remarkably, thesecurity orces did not directly inter ere in the protests or

some days, although intelligence o cials did photograph andvideotape the marchers. It is unclear why the protests wereallowed to proceed. The participants grew rom the hundredsinto the thousands, as an increasing number o monksparticipated and civilians began to join them.

On September 22, another decisive moment occurred: amidsttorrential rain, a group o some 500 monks was allowed topass through the barricades surrounding Aung San Suu Kyishome, where she has been held under house arrest or 12 o the past 17 years, and briefy pray with her. This unexpected

and unprecedented meeting invigorated the protests.

The next day, an estimated 20,000 protesters, including some3,000 monks, marched in Rangoon, shouting slogans or therelease o political prisoners and Nobel Peace Prize winner,Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and or the SPDC to relinquish its holdon power. A day later, September 24, the Rangoon protestsexploded in size, to an estimated 150,000 people, including 30,000 to 50,000 monks. Many political groups, including elected parliamentarians o the opposition National Leagueor Democracy who were never allowed to take up their seats

a ter the 1990 elections, as well as the banned All BurmaBuddhist Monks Union, joined the marches. Well-knownpublic gures such as the comedian Zargana and the moviestar Kyaw Thu publicly o ered alms to the marching monksto demonstrate support or their cause. Similar marches tookplace in 25 cities across Burma.


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(above) Soldiers and riot police

command people to leave thearea around Sule Pagoda, inront o City Hall in Rangoon, onSeptember 26, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/Report-age by Getty Images

(below) A monk weeps asmarchers are blocked at anarmy roadblock in Rangoon onSeptember 26, 2007. 2007 Alayung Thaksin/Panos


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(previous page top)Soldiers and riot policecommand people to leave thearea around Sule Pagoda, in ront o City Hall in Rangoon,on September 26, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images

(previous page bottom) A monk weeps as marchers

are blocked at an army roadblock in Rangoon onSeptember 26, 2007. 2007 Alayung Thaksin/Panos

(right) A group o monks pray in ront o riot policemen and soldiers as they attempted to proceed to the ShwedagonPagoda in Rangoon onSeptember 26, 2007. 2007 Reuters


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On the evening o September 24, the SPDC signaled it wasabout to crack down on the protests. The minister o religious

a airs appeared on state television to denounce the protestsas the work o internal and external destructionists.The state-controlled Sangha Maha Nayaka committee (astate-controlled committee o senior monks that deals withreligious issues) prohibited monks rom participating insecular a airs or joining illegal organizations such as theABMA. USDA and ward Peace and Development Council (PDC)trucks began circulating the next morning, warning peopleover loudspeakers not to participate in the protests. Despitethe warnings, a similarly large crowd o protesters againappeared on the streets o Rangoon on September 25, the last

day o protests be ore the crackdown.

On the night o September 25, the SPDC announced anighttime cur ew and began arresting some prominentgures who had supported the protesters, like the comedianZargana. A large number o army troops were moved intoRangoon.

The next morning, September 26, the rst serious attacksagainst the protesters took place when riot police andarmy troops surrounded and attacked monks at the main

Shwedagon Pagoda, severely beating many monks. According to several eyewitnesses, the riot police beat one monk todeath. When the protesters moved to the Sule Pagoda, threekilometers away, they were again beaten and dispersedby the riot police and Swan Arr Shin militia, who beatand detained many o the protesters. A separate group o protesters marching downtown were stopped by army troopsand Swan Arr Shin militia near the Thakin Mya Park in thewestern downtown area. Soldiers opened re directly into thecrowd, hitting at least our protesters. As the crowd fed, theywere blocked by army troops on Strand Road, where another

protester was shot. Other marches continued in downtownRangoon, creating a chaotic scene. At the end o the day, aone-kilometer-long procession o monks and protesters le tthe downtown area, showing the publics determination tocontinue their protests.

During the night o September 26-27, the security orcesraided monasteries throughout Rangoon. The most violentraid took place at the Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery, where

the security orces clashed violently with the monks, anddetained some 100 monks. Uncon rmed reports claim one

monk was killed during the raid.

On the morning o September 27, army troops returned tothe Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery to arrest the remaining monks.They were surrounded by an angry crowd o residents. In theensuing clashes, at least seven people were killed by thesecurity orces, including a local high school student. Aroundmid-day, a second clash took place around the Sule Pagoda,as soldiers, riot police, and the Swan Arr Shin dispersed alarge crowd o protesters, with the troops shooting rst in theair and then directly into the protesters. In scenes beamed

around the world, Kenji Nagai, a Japanese video-journalist,was deliberately shot and killed, and eyewitnesses sawanother man and a woman also shot and likely killed. Theriot police and Swan Arr Shin proceeded to beat and detainlarge numbers o protesters. At around 2 p.m., another deadlyshooting took place, when soldiers shot dead a studentholding the Fighting Peacock fag o the 88 Generationstudent movement at the Pansodan overpass.

On September 27, a separate deadly incident took place whenarmy soldiers surrounded marchers in ront o Tamwe High

School 3, and then drove a military vehicle directly into thecrowd, knocking down and killing three protesters. When thesoldiers got out o the truck, they opened re on the feeing crowd. Several others were killed in the ensuing shooting:soldiers shot in the back and killed a student climbing over the wall o his school and shot down three young men whofed into a neighboring construction site by the NationalLibrary. As they tracked down protesters, they red into aditch lled with feeing people, and deliberately shot deada protester hiding inside an empty water barrel. The securityorces then detained hundreds o protesters, beating them

be ore taking them to nearby detention acilities. HumanRights Watch con rmed at least eight civilian deaths at thisclash.

Although thousands o people continued to try and organizeprotests on September 28 and 29, the SPDC managedto retake control o the streets by fooding Rangoon withthousands o troops, riot police, and militia members. Therole o the Swan Arr Shin and USDA militias was particularly


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(right) Uscilit, sendrer iliquat,veros dolorti onulput atin eratet.

The government crackdown

included baton-chargesand beatings o unarmeddemonstrators, mass arbitrary arrests, and repeated instanceswhere weapons were iredshoot-to-kill.

Police patrolling downtownRangoon aim their weaponsat apartments where they suspect protesters are hiding onSeptember 29, 2007. 2007 Alayung Thaksin/Panos


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(above) Uscilit, sendrer iliquat,veros dolorti onulput atin eratet.

(right) Uscilit, sendrer iliquat,veros dolorti onulput atin eratet. Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai atally shot at point-blank rangeby Burmese security orces asthey dispersed protesters onSeptember 27, 2007. 2007 Reuters


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important, as they allowed the SPDC to patrol every streetwith abusive militia personnel willing to beat up and detain

anyone even attempting to assemble. Security orcescontinued to re live ammunition and rubber bullets atprotesters who attempted to gather.

As the crackdown on the streets proceeded, the security orces also began raiding monasteries in Rangoon andother cities involved in the protests, detaining thousandso monks and requently physically occupying themonasteries. Detained monks were taken to detentioncenters, de-robed, and ordered to leave their monasteriesor their native villagesmonks who escaped detention

also were o ten orced to fee back to their native villages,as their monasteries were occupied. Because the massivearrests o monks, their de-robing, and the occupation o their monasteries, monks virtually vanished rom the streetso Rangoon. The raiding and occupation o monasteriescontinues at the time this report was issued in earlyDecember: on November 27, the authorities ordered theclosure o the well-known Maggin Monastery, which caredor HIV/AIDS patients. Many monks continue to be held indetention.

Monks were not the only target o the arrest raids. The securityorces, relying on the photos and videotapes collected byintelligence agents during the protests immediately beganarresting anyone suspected o being involved in the protests.The arrest campaign highlights the SPDCs ear-inducing,totalitarian ability to penetrate the lives o its citizens:using multiple, overlapping networks such as the wardPDC, the USDA, Swan Arr Shin, and the security orces, theSPDC has the capacity to closely monitor and intimidate itscitizens, arresting anyone it deems suspect. It has done sosystematically since the September protest.

The state-controlled press claims that only 2,836 personswere detained, and only 91 remain in detention, but theactual number o detained persons was much greater,as is the number o those who remain in detention. Mostworryingly, the SPDC has ailed to account or hundreds o persons who have disappeared without trace since theprotests, with amilies unable to con rm i their missing relatives are being detained or have been killed.

The detainees were kept at a variety o ad-hoc detentioncenters, including the City Hall, Kyaik Ka San Race Course,

and the Government Technical Institute, where they acedli e-threatening and unsanitary detention conditions. HumanRights Watch documented at least seven deaths in thesedetention acilities, although the total number is likely to besigni cantly higher. Detainees underwent basic interrogation,and anyone suspected o being an opposition activist or having been involved in the protests was sent or urther interrogation at Insein prison and other acilities. HumanRights Watch documented signi cant abuse and torture atboth the ad-hoc detention acilities and Insein prison: onedetainee was hung upside down or long periods o time while

being punched; several others were beaten unconsciousduring interrogations, and were orced to endure stresspositions and sleep deprivation.

Like the raids on the monasteries, the arrest campaigncontinues at the time this report was issued in earlyDecember, with Human Rights Watch receiving almost dailyreports o new arrests. In early November, the authoritiesarrested U Gambira, the head o the All-Burma MonksAlliance, and charged him with treason. On November 13,the labor rights activist Su Su Nway and her colleague Bo

Bo Win Hlaing were arrested in Rangoon, during the visit o UN Human Rights Envoy Paulo Pinheiro. On November 20, anumber o ethnic leaders and NLD o cials were detained inRangoon.

In the hundreds o thousands, the people o Burma onceagain showed tremendous courage in standing up to thegenerals. Their demands have been simple, amounting to basic rights that much o the rest o the world takes or granted: an end to military rule, democratic re orm, and therelease o political prisoners including opposition leader

Aung San Suu Kyi. Perhaps most important, they want to liveree rom the pervasive ear and violence engendered by therepression in Burma. They wish to reely express themselves,assemble and protest without ear o arrest, detention andtorture. The generals, clearly shaken by the open de anceo their rule, responded with bloodshed and repression,desperate to return to business as usualwhich in Burmameans dictatorial rule, widespread human rights abuses, andthe silencing o any critical voices.


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(top) Crowds carry a student demonstrator who was shot dead in Rangoon on September 27, 2007. 2007 Reuters

Blood soaked sandals are le t on a street ollowing a shootingby soldiers during a protest indowntown Rangoon, September 27, 2007. 2007 Reuters

(bottom) Crowds carry a student demonstrator who was shot dead in Rangoon on September 27, 2007. 2007 Reuters

...the SPDC has ailed to accountor hundreds o persons whohave disappeared without tracesince the protests, with amiliesunable to confrm i their missing relatives are being detained or have been killed.


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The Burmese government has taken no steps to addressthe human rights crisis caused by its brutal crackdown on

peace ul protest. Un ortunately, this is nothing new. Thegovernment has ignored recommendations or re orm romriends and critics alike since it annulled elections in 1990.

The international community has responded unevenly.Immediately a ter the crackdown, the United NationsSecurity Council dispatched Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari,held a public hearing, and issued a presidential statementexpressing its concern. It could have done more by adopting a resolution with an arms embargo, nancial and other sanctions, and demanding speci c, concrete steps towards

the restoration o civilian rule and the holding o ree and air elections. The United States responded strongly, announcing new sanctions and pressing China, India, Japan, and theAssociation o Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) to also adoptsanctions and put pressure on the SPDC. The European Unionalso responded with sanctions and strong statements o condemnation, though it is not clear that it will be willing toadopt the kind o nancial sanctions that would really matter to Burmas leaders.

While China reportedly pressured Burma to allow Special

Envoy Gambari and Special Rapporteur Paulo Pinheiroto visit Burma and or the SPDC to meet with Aung SanSuu Kyi, Beijing has recently said that it was opposed tourther Security Council activity on Burma. China is widelyseen as the protector o the SPDC and there ore part o theproblem. ASEAN surprised many with its strong statemento revulsion at the time o the crackdown, but it has sinceclosed ranks at its summit in Singapore, even un-inviting Gambari to brie the assembled leaders. India has hardlyresponded to the crackdown, instead putting its nancialinterests and its desire to compete with China or infuence

with the SPDC over its past support peace ul and democraticre orm. Another key country, Japan, responded in itstraditionally tepid mode. It announced a modest cut in aid,and only then because o public outrage ollowing the killing o a Japanese journalist.

It is almost a truism that change must come rom within. Change is what the protesters peace ully sought. Violenceand repression is what they received in return. Now is the

time or the international community to do its part. In acountry increasingly reliant on the outside world or arms,

trade, investment, and oreign currency, the internationalcommunity can play a decisive role in pushing or re orm inBurma.

Concerned states and international institutions must standunited in condemning the crackdown, imposing nancialsanctions on the government and its leaders, adopting andimplementing an arms embargo, demanding an internationalcommission o inquiry to establish exactly what happenedduring the crackdown, and supporting the call or ending repression and promoting respect or basic rights in Burma.

Fundamental change is needed in Burma, and internationalunity is required to bring about such change, particularly thesupport o China, India, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and other regional actors. Thus ar, the signs are not encouraging.

As the most power ul supporter o the regime, China is thekey. In January 2007 it protected the generals by vetoing aUnited Nations Security Council resolution on Burma. It hasmade it clear that it will block any uture resolutions. Chinashould understand the risks associated with such closesupport or a ruthless dictatorship, particularly in the run-up

to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This is a de ning moment or the uture o Burma, caught inthe midst o a wave o repression and arrests, but with theoutcome o the struggle or its uture still undecided. Historywill be a harsh judge o countries such as China, India, andThailand power ul neighbors o Burma who have thus ar done little or nothing to stand up or Burmas long-su ering people. So long as China, India, Thailand and others protectthe generals, they are likely to be able to ride out the storm at least until the Burmese people rise up again, as they

almost certainly will.

(A set o detailed recommendations is set orth at the end o this report.)


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During monsoon rains,monks take part in a daily protest march against the government in Rangoon onSeptember 22, 2007. 2007 Reuters


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In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists, monks, and ordinary people tookto the streets o Rangoon and elsewhere to peace ully challenge nearly two decades o dictatorial

rule and economic mismanagement by Burmas ruling generals.

The governments response included baton-charges and beatings o unarmed demonstrators,mass arbitrary arrests, and use o lethal orce. To remove the monks and nuns rom the protests,the security orces raided dozens o Buddhist monasteries during the night and de rocked largenumbers o monks. Current protest leaders, opposition party members, activists rom the 88Generation students, and members o the public who participated in demonstrations weretracked down and arrestedand continue to be arrested and detained. As this report goes topress, arrests and monastery raids are continuing in Burma.

This report provides the most detailed account o the crackdown and its a termath available to

date. Based on more than 100 in-depth interviews with eyewitnesses to the events in Rangoon,the report o ers a detailed account o the protests and the brutal crackdown and mass arrestcampaign that ollowed. Human Rights Watch spoke with many who participated in the protests,as well as leading monks, protest organizers, and international o cials.

The rst-hand accounts in this report demonstrate that many more people were killed than theBurmese authorities are willing to admit, and sheds new light on the authorities systematic,o ten violent pursuit o monks, students, and other peace ul advocates o re orm in the weeksand months a ter the protests.

Monks march down Pansodan Road towards Sule Pagoda in Rangoonon September 26, 2007. 2007 Christian Holst/ Reportage by Getty Images

CrackdownRepression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma

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