The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
issued a 100-page report on 6 May 2009, presenting how a 180-mile gas
pipeline in Southern Burma causes "systematic, shocking and ongoing"
human rights violations. The abuses include confiscation of land,
militarisation, rape, child labour and more. Below is an abstract of
the news story from the foundation.
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
issued a 100-page report on 6 May 2009, presenting how a 180-mile gas
pipeline in Southern Burma causes "systematic, shocking and ongoing"
human rights violations. The abuses include confiscation of land,
militarisation, rape, child labour and more. Below is an abstract of
the news story from the foundation.

A 180-mile gas pipeline in southern
Burma is responsible for human rights violations that are "systemic,
shocking and ongoing", says the Human Rights Foundation of Monland
(HURFOM) in a report released on 6 May. The 100-page report, titled
"Laid Waste: Human Rights Along the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas
pipeline", details abuses along the entire length of an overland
pipeline that traverses nearly half the length of Burma's southern
peninsula. [Media release in .pdf]

The report details abuses committed by Burma's military government
as it has sought to construct, maintain and protect the Kanbauk to
Myaing Kalay gas pipeline. It includes details on the
confiscation of more than 15,000 acres of land to make room for the
pipeline – and support 30 army battalions tasked with protecting it.
The intense militarisation of the area, which HURFOM describes as
"fundamentally due" to the pipeline, is responsible for abuses that
range from rape and summary execution to the daily commandeering of
motorcycles and chickens. Security efforts for the pipeline, meanwhile,
entail conscription of villagers – some as young as 12 – who must work
as unpaid forced laborers, maintaining the pipeline, guarding and
carrying equipment for soldiers – at all times under threat of violent
retribution for accidents or insurgent attacks.

"The abuses described above are the predictable result of deploying
large numbers of soldiers and encouraging them to extract what they can
from the countryside, without oversight", says HURFOM. "But abuses
along the pipeline are also a deliberate, calculated part of the
pipeline security effort". Highlighting the ongoing nature of these
abuses, in the 5 days that have passed since printing the report,
HURFOM has documented the execution of one villager and the burning of
36 homes. In both cases, the army committed the abuses less than a mile
from the pipeline.

This
report is released at a critical juncture. Intense competition for
access to Burma's abundant natural resources continues, with China
recently agreeing to purchase gas that will be transported 1,200 miles
across Burma. Debate on appropriate response to Burma is renewing, as
the international community questions the wisdom of strict sanctions
and considers potential for increased humanitarian support. In the
foreword to Laid Waste, HURFOM's director Nai Kasauh Mon welcomes the
renewed discussion. But he urges caution and calls on the international
community not to lose sight of experiences like those documented in
Laid Waste. "Discussion is healthy and appreciated," says Nai Kasauh
Mon. "But there should be no question: projects like the Kanbauk to
Myaing Kalay gas pipeline do not benefit the people of our country".

For the complete news story, please click here.