A statement released by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) on Wednesday June 1st, alleges that Burma army troops tortured and killed civilians last month while engaged in what the group describes as an offensive against the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) close to the site of the Upper Yeywa dam project in Kyaukme Township. An offensive the group suggests is likely the result of the army’s ambition to control the area further in order to facilitate construction of the Upper Yeywa dam on the Namtu River.

The SSPP/SSA, who controls some areas in the vicinity of the dam project, signed a ceasefire with the central government in 2012 but did not sign last year’s National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The group has been on the receiving end of repeated attacks from the Burma army in northern Shan State over the past few months.

Eyewitnesses interviewed by SHRF claim they saw army troops arrest three villagers from Nawng Kwang village on May 14th. According to the SHRF statement, the bodies of three villagers identified as Sai Aik Naung (also known as Sai Arjina), Sai Aik Mart and Sai Aik Dink were later found south of Parng Law village on May 19th. SHRF alleges that they were the victims of an extra-judicial killing carried out by army troops.

According to SHRF, a total of 43 people were used as human shields over the past month by army troops engaged in the offensive against the SSPP/SSA in Kyaukme Township. In one incident alleged to have occurred on May 11^th, a group of more than 100 troops are said to have arrested 30 villagers from Nam Oon village and then ordered the villagers to lead the troops to Pha Learm village. According to SHRF the detained villagers “were forced to march ahead of the troops” and carry the soldiers bags during the long march which lasted more than 24 hours.

SHRF’s statement links the recent clashes to the increasingly controversial Upper Yeywa Dam project which began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in 2018. “SHRF also wishes to highlight the proximity of the fighting to the Upper Yeywa dam site. Locals have voiced strong opposition to the project, and a likely reason for the latest offensive was to seize control of the area to provide security for ongoing construction,” the statement said.

The dam is being funded by China’s state run Exim Bank, with construction headed by China’s Zhejiang Orient Engineering Co., Ltd. who serves as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project. As the EPC contractor Orient Engineering Co. has overall responsibility for the dam’s construction. Upon completion, project will then be handed over to the state run Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), who will operate the dam.

The German firm Lahmeyer International GmbH and the Swiss firm Stucky SA, are providing consulting services for the Upper Yeywa Dam project. Both these European firms are according to information available on the Lahmeyer website working on the project in a range of capacities. This includes the “preparation of construction drawings, site supervision, and quality management.”

When finished the dam will form a reservoir that is expected to be at least 60 kilometers long and, according to a report issued by SHRF earlier this year, will wholly submerge Ta Long, a Shan village of 500 people. Parts of Hsipaw Town are also expected to be flooded by the dam.

SHRF critical of EU diplomats approach to conflict in Shan State

SHRF’s statement also took issue with the way in which a recent European Union (EU) diplomatic delegation’s visit to northern Shan state responded to the ongoing conflict in Shan State. “SHRF regrets that the EU diplomatic delegation which visited Hsipaw (east of Kyaukme) on May 16, laid no blame on the Burma Army for the fighting, and made no mention of their ongoing atrocities”, the statement noted.

A statement posted on the EU Mission to Burma’s Facebook page noted that the delegation which included the EU ambassador to Burma’s Roland Kobia and other EU diplomats including Poland’s ambassador Miroslaw Zapata, met with a number of people during the visit including both political and military representatives as well as community leaders and civil society groups. They also met with refugees displaced by the conflict.

“Fighting was ongoing just a few kilometres away from our meetings. We hope that the conflict parties in Shan State will soon lay down their arms and return to the negotiating table,” Kobia said in the statement.

“We came here to learn more about the reasons and root causes of the conflict. The ones who suffer most are always the civilians. In all our encounters with local leaders here we sent out a message that it is time for reconciliation, peace and ensuing socio-economic development,” Kobia added.

BY Staff / Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)