Reports By Year > 1998

Below are a set of links to all reports published by KHRG matching your search criteria and compiled from information received from KHRG's field researchers. If you wish to search for a particular report, please use our main search page.

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There were 18 reports in 1998. These are listed below.

REPORT TITLE	DATE
Karen Human Rights Group Commentary  [KHRG Commentary]	Nov 24th, 1998
There is no doubt that life is currently becoming worse for the vast majority of people in Burma, in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, people are plagued by high inflation, rapidly increasing prices for basic commodities such as rice and basic foodstuffs, the tumbling value of the Kyat, wages which are not enough to feed oneself, corruption by all arms of the military and civil service, and the ever-present fear of arbitrary arrest for the slightest act or statement that betrays opposition to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) junta.
DOOPLAYA UNDER THE SPDC: Further Developments in the SPDC Occupation of South-Central Karen State  [Regional or Thematic report]	Nov 23rd, 1998
In early 1997, the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma mounted a major offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) and succeeded in capturing and occupying most of the remainder of Dooplaya District in central Karen State. Since that time the SLORC has changed its name to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), but its occupation troops have continued to strengthen their control over the rural Karen villagers who live in the region.
UNCERTAINTY, FEAR AND FLIGHT: The Current Human Rights Situation in Eastern Pa’an District  [Regional or Thematic report]	Nov 18th, 1998
Pa’an district forms a large area in the central heartland of Karen State. Much of the northeastern part of the district used to be under at least partial control of the Karen National Union (KNU), but after troops of the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta captured the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in 1995, they progressively exerted increasing control over the entire eastern part of the district.
Continuing Hardships for Villagers in Northern Karen Districts  [Field report]	Nov 15th, 1998
Villagers in the northern districts of Karen State and Karen areas of eastern Pegu Division and northeastern Mon State continue to suffer SPDC operations involving village destruction, forced relocations, uprooting of their crops and forced labour. Areas referred to in this report include Taungoo (Karen name Taw Oo) District, Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwe Htoo) District, Papun (Mudraw) District, and Thaton (Doothatu) District. This information was recently reported by KHRG monitors based in or visiting these areas. The situation in Taungoo District will be reported in detail in an upcoming KHRG report.
Destruction of Villages in Northern Pa'an District  [Field report]	Oct 1st, 1998
An SPDC campaign to destroy Karen villages in northern Pa'an District has already led to the displacement of several thousand villagers, and over 3,000 of these villagers have crossed the border into Thailand. The area they are fleeing is on the eastern slopes of the Dawna Range close to the Thai border, part of Dta Greh township (Dta Greh is called Pain Kyone in Burmese, and the SPDC considers it part of Hlaing Bwe township).
Flight of Dta La Ku Villagers in Dooplaya District  [Field report]	Sep 24th, 1998
Dooplaya District covers much of the southern half of Karen State, from the Myawaddy - Kyone Doh - Pa’an motor road in the north to the Three Pagodas Pass area 160 kilometres (100 miles) further south. In early 1997 the SLORC regime mounted a major military operation and successfully occupied almost all of this area, though the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) is still very active in guerrilla operations. While the SLORC/SPDC has gradually increased its repression to establish control over the area, they have also formed and employed a Karen proxy army called the Karen Peace Army (KPA) under Thu Mu Heh, a former KNLA officer who defected in 1997.
Displacement of Villagers in Southern Pa'an District  [Field report]	Sep 14th, 1998
The region commonly known as Pa'an District forms a large triangular area in central Karen State, bounded in the west and north by the Salween River and the town of Pa'an (capital of Karen State), in the east by the Moei River where it forms the border with Thailand, and in the south by the motor road from Myawaddy (at the Thai border) westward to Kawkareik and Kyone Doh. Pa’an District is also known as the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA’s) 7th Brigade area. The western parts of Pa'an District and the principal towns have been controlled by the SLORC/SPDC military junta for 10 years or longer, while the eastern strip adjacent to the Thai border has come largely under their control over the past 3 years. The easternmost strip of Pa'an District near the Moei River is separated from the rest of the district by the main ridge of the steep Dawna Mountains.
THE SITUATION AROUND HO MURNG  [Regional or Thematic report]	Jun 13th, 1998
In January 1996 well-known drug warlord Khun Sa officially surrendered to the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma, ending his leadership of the Merng Tai Army (MTA). Khun Sa moved to Rangoon, where he is now a successful businessman, and the MTA ceased to exist, though a large portion of it became the Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA) under commander Yord Serk.
A STRUGGLE JUST TO SURVIVE: Update on the Current Situation in Karenni  [Regional or Thematic report]	Jun 12th, 1998
Since mid-1996 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta, now renamed as the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), has forcibly relocated and destroyed over 200 villages covering at least half the geographic area of Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern Burma. At least 20,000-30,000 people have been displaced, forced to move into military-controlled camps where many of them have been starving and dying of disease, or to flee into hiding in the forest where they face similar suffering as well as the possibility of being shot on sight by SLORC/SPDC patrols.
STRENGTHENING THE GRIP ON DOOPLAYA: Developments in the SPDC Occupation of Dooplaya District  [Regional or Thematic report]	Jun 10th, 1998
In early 1997, the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma mounted a major offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) and succeeded in capturing and occupying most of the remainder of Dooplaya District in central Karen State. Since that time the SLORC has changed its name to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), but its occupation troops have continued to strengthen their control over the rural Karen villagers who live in the region.
Attacks On Karen Refugee Camps: 1998  [Regional or Thematic report]	May 29th, 1998
In March 1998, three Karen refugee camps in Thailand were attacked by heavily armed forces that crossed the border from Burma. Huay Kaloke camp was burned and almost completely destroyed, killing four refugees and wounding many more; 50 houses and a monastery were burned in Maw Ker camp, and 14 were wounded; and Beh Klaw camp was shelled, though the attackers were repelled. The attacks were carried out by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), backed by troops and support of the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) military junta currently ruling Burma.
Killing The Shan: The Continuing Campaign of Forced Relocation in Shan State  [Regional or Thematic report]	May 23rd, 1998
This report aims to provide a picture of the current situation in central Shan State, where the military junta ruling Burma has forcibly uprooted and destroyed over 1,400 villages and displaced over 300,000 people since 1996. This campaign against civilians is still continuing, and the number of villages destroyed is increasing each month.
Human Rights in Rural Burma  [Article or paper]	Apr 30th, 1998
In November 1997 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma changed its name to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC). However, there was no change in the four key leaders of the junta, and judging by the testimonies of villagers throughout Burma and the continuation of all of the regime’s military operations, there has been no change in policy; in fact, the forced relocations and related abuses occurring in many rural parts of the country have only intensified, making it appear that the SPDC regime is even more ruthless and repressive than the SLORC ever was.
Karen Human Rights Group Commentary  [KHRG Commentary]	Apr 19th, 1998
In November 1997 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma changed its name to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC). Many theories have been put forward on the reasons for the name change, but regardless of these, the SPDC has proven one thing in its first 6 months of existence: that it is at least as hardline and uncompromising as the SLORC ever was, and that it remains committed to the objectives of crushing all possibility of freedom or dissent, controlling every square inch of the country, and gaining the daily power of life or death over each and every citizen of Burma.
SLORC Orders To Villages: SET 98-A - Pa'an District, Central Karen State  [Orders report]	Mar 1st, 1998
Following are the direct translations of some written orders sent from SLORC Army units to Karen villages in southern Pa’an District of central Karen State, southeastern Burma. Though SLORC (State Law & Order Restoration Council) has now changed its name to SPDC (State Peace & Development Council), these orders were issued shortly before the name change.
Developments in the SLORC/SPDC Occupation of Dooplaya District  [Field report]	Feb 25th, 1998
Dooplaya District of central Karen State, a large region which stretches from the Myawaddy - Kawkareik - Kyone Doh motor road in the north to the Three Pagodas Pass area in the south, was largely controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) until 1995. In that year a major SLORC (State Law & Order Restoration Council) offensive completed SLORC’s control of the Thai border from Myawaddy southward to Wah Lay and captured the northern part of the ‘hump’, a mountainous portion of Dooplaya which projects eastward into Thailand.
Wholesale Destruction: The SLORC/SPDC Campaign to Obliterate All Hill Villages in Papun and Eastern Nyaunglebin Districts  [Regional or Thematic report]	Feb 15th, 1998
Since the beginning of 1996, the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma, renamed in November 1997 as the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), has launched campaigns in many parts of Burma to forcibly move or wipe out all rural villages which are not under the direct physical control of an Army camp. In February/March 1997, SLORC began a campaign to forcibly relocate or obliterate all villages in the hills of Papun District, northern Karen State, and eastern Nyaunglebin District, straddling the border of Karen State and Pegu (Bago) Division.
Forced Labour Briefing Notes  [Article or paper]	Feb 10th, 1998
These notes list some of the main types of forced labour currently experienced by villagers in most of the main rural Karen areas of Burma, including Karen State, Tenasserim Division, parts of Mon State and Pegu Division, and the Irrawaddy Delta. This list does not include all the types of forced labour, it only tries to give an idea of the main types.
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