Burma HUMAN Crackdown RIGHTS Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma WATCH December 2007 Volume 19, No. 18(C) Crackdown Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma Map of Burma........................................................................................................... 1 Map of Rangoon.......................................................................................................2 Map of Downtown Rangoon......................................................................................3 I. Summary...............................................................................................................5 II. Crackdown After Crackdown: 45 Years of Military Rule ....................................... 15 Burma’s Economy: Poverty and Price Rises Spark Protests ................................ 21 III. Price Hikes, Peaceful Protests, and the Initial Reaction of the Authorities.........23 IV. The Monks Join the Protests............................................................................. 28 “Overturning of the Bowls”: The Monks’ Decision to Boycott the SPDC .............. 31 The Monks March in Rangoon ...........................................................................33 September 17 ..............................................................................................33 September 18..............................................................................................33 September 19 ..............................................................................................36 September 20..............................................................................................37 September 21 ..............................................................................................38 The NLD and Student Groups Rejoin the Protests...............................................39 V. The Crackdown...................................................................................................43 The Government Acts to End the Protests ..........................................................43 The Last Day of Peaceful Protests: September 25...............................................44 September 25-26: The Crackdown Begins..........................................................45 Crackdown at Shwedagon Pagoda ...............................................................46 Attacks on Protesters near Sule Pagoda.......................................................52 Shootings near Thakin Mya Park..................................................................52 Continued Protests on September 26...........................................................54 September 27: Attacks on and Emptying of the Monasteries.............................. 55 Emptying of the Monasteries ....................................................................... 55 Shooting at Sule Pagoda .............................................................................63 Killings at Basic Education High School 3 (High School 3) in Tamwe............ 69 Order Through Violence: September 28-29........................................................76 September 28: Despair and Rage.................................................................76 September 29: “The streets were full of soldiers” ........................................79 VI. The Continuing Night Time Raids: Monasteries and Wanted Organizers............81 The Fate of the Monks .......................................................................................81 The Continuing Arrest Campaign..................................................................83 VII. Detention Centers and Abuses ........................................................................ 90 The Large-Scale Ad Hoc Detention Facilities ..................................................... 90 City Hall...................................................................................................... 90 Kyaik Ka San Race Course........................................................................... 90 Government Technical Institute (GTI) ...........................................................92 Insein Prison and Other Official Detention Centers ............................................95 VIII. Security Agencies Involved in the Crackdown................................................. 98 Army Units.................................................................................................. 99 Military Security Affairs..............................................................................102 Police Units and Lon Htein Riot Police........................................................ 103 Special Branch Police ................................................................................ 104 The Role of “Mass-Based” Organizations for Social Control........................ 105 IX. Recommendations .......................................................................................... 112 Sanctions ....................................................................................................... 112 Humanitarian aid .............................................................................................114 To the United Nations Security Council.............................................................115 To the United Nations Secretary General and Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari.. 116 To the United Nations Human Rights Council................................................... 116 To the Government of Australia ........................................................................117 To the Government of China ............................................................................ 118 To the European Union and its Member States ................................................ 119 To the Government of India .............................................................................120 To the Government of Japan ............................................................................ 121 To the Government of Russia........................................................................... 121 To the Government of Singapore ..................................................................... 122 To the Government of Thailand........................................................................ 122 To the Government of the United States .......................................................... 123 To the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) .................................. 124 Regarding Companies Operating or Investing in Burma ................................... 125 Regarding refugees ......................................................................................... 125 Appendix I: Glossary ............................................................................................126 Acknowledgements..............................................................................................129 Map of Burma Map of Rangoon Crackdown 2 Map of Downtown Rangoon 3 Human Rights Watch December 2007 I. Summary In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists, monks and ordinary people took to the streets of Rangoon and elsewhere to peacefully challenge nearly two decades of dictatorial rule and economic mismanagement by Burma’s ruling generals. While opposition to the military government is widespread in Burma, and small acts of resistance are an everyday occurrence, military repression is so systematic that such sentiment rarely is able to burst into public view; the last comparable public uprising was in August 1988. As in 1988, the generals responded this time with a brutal and bloody crackdown, leaving Burma’s population once again struggling for a voice. The government crackdown included baton-charges and beatings of unarmed demonstrators, mass arbitrary arrests, and repeated instances where weapons were fired shoot-to-kill. To remove the monks and nuns from the protests, the security forces raided dozens of Buddhist monasteries during the night, and sought to enforce the defrocking of thousands of monks. Current protest leaders, opposition party members, and activists from the ’88 Generation students were tracked down and arrested – and continue to be arrested and detained. The Burmese generals have taken draconian measures to ensure that the world does not learn the true story of the horror of their crackdown. They have kept foreign journalists out of Burma and maintained their complete control over domestic news. Many local journalists were arrested after the crackdown, and the internet and mobile phone networks, used extensively to send information, photos, and videos out of Burma, were temporarily shut down, and have remained tightly controlled since. Of course, those efforts at censorship were only partially successful, as some enterprising and brave individuals found ways to get mobile phone video footage of the demonstrations and crackdown out of the country and onto the world’s television screens. This provided a small window into the violence and repression that the Burmese military government continues to use to hold onto power. 5 Human Rights Watch December 2007 This report, based on more than 100 in-depth interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch researchers with eyewitnesses to the events in Rangoon, offers a detailed account of the protests and the brutal crackdown and mass arrest campaign that followed. It is based on interviews with monks and ordinary citizens who participated in the protests, as well as leading monks, protest organizers