Nine Arrested In Connection With February 1 Gas Explosion

Nine arrested in connection with February 1 gas explosion, released IMNA May 13, 2006 After being severely tortured, nine people, including Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) members from Kwan-Hlar village, arrested in connection with the gas pipeline explosion on February 1, were released yesterday. “They all arrived home from the Moulmein ,” said a Kwan-Hlar villager Some people were detained for three months while some were held for two months. Nai Rae Jae, the VPDC secretary who was severely tortured along with VPDC chairman Nai Kon Sike, including other village leaders all arrived home, according to the villagers. There are no more villagers in detention, they added. According to them, village leaders including the VPDC chairman and secretary were arrested because some villagers who wanted to grab the VPDC chairman’s post gave false information to the military authorities claiming that the leaders and VPDC members were involved in the explosion. Given the wrong information, military officers in Southeast Region Command tortured the VPDC chairman and his secretary, Nai Kon Sike and Nai Rae Jae. They were also accused of having links with Nai Yekha, the Mon cease-fire armed group’s senior member who is serving life imprisonment in In-sein prison on charges of trying to assassinate of top military leaders. According to the villagers, these VPDC members and leaders have no link with the Nai Yekha group and were not involved in the explosion. Although the military junta has accused the Mon and Karen armed groups of causing the explosion these armed groups have denied the charge However the military government has not revealed who or which actually caused the explosion. But the regime demanded money from the villagers for the lost gas and the cost of repairs of the pipeline.

Military demands money from villagers for gas lost in pipeline explosion IMNA March 19, 2006 In a new twist to the harassment of people following the explosion in the gas pipeline, the Southeast Command based in Moulein, Mon State is now forcing Kwan Hlar villagers to pay for the gas that was lost during the explosion. The Burmese military authorities have directed the villagers to pay for the gas lost in the Kanbauk- Myaing Kalay gas pipeline explosion on February 1. Authorities from the Southeast Command came to Kwan Hlar village, Mudon Township and began collecting money forcibly from the entire village including the wealthy and the poor, according to a villager. Kwan Hlar village has about 800 households. The poorer villagers paid at least about 50,000 Kyat and the well off paid more than 100,000 Kyat, according to the villager. “Although the poorer villagers cannot afford to pay they are borrowing the money to give to the authorities,” he said. The villagers had also paid the cost of repairing the gas pipeline. The Burmese Army has already issued a warrant for the arrest of four villagers they suspect. They are Nai Abeal, Nai Ha Kuu, Nai La Port and another villager who could not be identified. The army had earlier arrested three innocent villagers on March 9 and seven on March 5 including three women. The villagers are terrified because the army has announced that mines had been laid around the streams where the gas-pipeline crosses by putting signboards on the fencing.

Military targets villagers over gas pipeline explosion IMNA March 10, 2006 The military government arrested three more villagers yesterday in Kwan-hlar village, Mudon Township in connexion with the gas pipeline explosion near their village on February.

The arrested are Nai Shwe, Nai Dort and Nai Win. Five people were arrested on March 5. According to a Kwan-Hlar villager, Mi Pan, wife of Nai Kon Sike, the Village Peace and Development Council chairman and Mi Sajin wife of Nai Tala Aie were arrested by local troops based in Thanpyuzayart following the arrest of their husbands on March 5. Given the massive arrests, villagers and Village Peace and Development Council members of Kwan-Hlar village have been silent. “The villagers are frightened. Nobody dares to trade and travel like they used to. Everywhere there is silence,” a villager who reached the border said. “The military has not been interrogating arrested villagers for information on who caused the explosion They are just interrogating persons linked to Nai Yekha,” said sources close to Nai Raejae who was detained in Moulmein a day after the explosion. Nai Yekha was arrested along with seven people including the editor of the Eleven Newspaper on July 17, 2003 by the military regime on charges of trying to assassinate top military government leaders and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was a senior leader of the New Mon State Party. “They do not ask questions about the explosion but just interrogate people in the village who knew Nai Yekha,” a source said. As of now about 20 people have been detained by the troops. Some are detained in the Military Southeast Region Command and some in Infantry Battalion No.62 base, in Thanpyuzayart. They are village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) chairmen and village community leaders. During the March 5 arrests, Nai Shwe Gone escaped while troops were trying to arrest him. The soldiers shot at him but he got away. According to villagers, VPDC chairmen and village leaders were shouted at by local troops in front of the people when the gas pipeline leaked in mid 2005. Villagers had paid for the cost of repairing the pipeline. Villagers are now being forced to patrol the pipeline.

Five including woman arrested in connexion with gas pipeline blast IMNA March 7, 2006 Five people, including a woman accountant were arrested in Mudon Township by local military officers from Thanpyuzayat on March 5 evening in connexion with the explosion in the gas pipeline. Kwan-Hlar Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) chairman Nai Kon Sike (U Thein), former VPDC chairman Nai Than Town, former New Mon State Party (NMSP) medical worker Nai Tala Aie, Nai Pai and Ma Win Kyi accountant in the VPDC office were arrested by Infantry Battalion No.62 troops based in Thanpyuzyat. “They were still in detention when we left the village. During the arrest we saw the soldiers interrogating them but we don’t know what they were asking,” a Kwan-Hlar villager who reached the border said. They are still under detention another source confirmed. The sixth person Nai Shwe Gone escaped while troops were trying to arrest him yesterday. They shot at him but he got away. The five were brought to No.62 battalion base. Local villagers and community leaders believe the arrest was made for further investigation into the explosion of the KanbaukMyaing Kalay gas pipeline on February 1. That is the second time the military arrested village level administrative council members after the explosion. In the first arrest the troops arrested village secretary Nai Rae-Jae, a former village militia leader, and about 10 villagers the day after the gas pipeline exploded. Military authorities from Southeast Region Command blamed Mon and Karen armed groups for the explosion. But both armed groups have denied their involvement. Before accusing the armed groups, military authorities accused four Burmese, two Karens and two Indian Burmese men from Thailand . Till now, the military government has been unable to fathom which group set off the explosion on the 200 kilometre pipeline. But military government berated villagers in Kwan-Hlar village and villages nearby and entered their homes in order to check whether strange people or guests had stayed with them. Troops forced about a hundred villagers into patrolling the gas pipeline after the explosion. The gas pipeline blew up three times in this area. Twice it blew up by itself given the technical flaws while laying the pipeline. The pipeline also leaked twice in mid 2005.

The pipeline transmits gas from Yatana Gas Offshore in Kanbauk area to the Myaing Kalay cement factory. The military government laid the pipeline in an unsafe manner because parts of the pipeline appear over the ground and some parts cross villages, towns, farms, plantations, and streams.

April 6, 2006, Moulmein Capital, Mon State Kwan-hlar village’s secretary, Nai Rae Jae, who has been arbitrarily detained since gas pipeline explosion in Feb 1st, 2006, in southern Mudon Township of Mon State, has been frequently and seriously beaten by military officers (members of Military Security and War affair under the control of southeast region command) in the Southeast Region Command’s detention center (former Military Intelligence Center), based in upper road, Moulmein Capital, Mon State, accordingly to his family member’s source.

“While he was investigated by the military officers in Moulmein detention center, he was often badly beaten. He said that, sometimes, he became dizzy and disorientated due to the beatings and torture” claimed Nai Rae Jae’s family member, who visited the detention center in the first week of April, 2006.

“All of his face and some parts of his body have turned black and blue, and he is covered in bruises due to the torture by the military officers. Nai Rae Jae seems very weak. He’s been very depressed since he was detained. When I visited him, he didn’t want to answer or talk, even to me,” the source added. According to the source, he was not asked about the pipeline but instead, was asked about his relations with Nai Yekha, a Mon political prisoner, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the well-known notorious In-Sein prison in Rangoon (Yangon Capital).

Nai Rae Jae is a secretary of Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) in Kwan-Hlar village, Mudon Township, Mon State. He has been illegally detained and suspected of being connected to the gas explosion on February 1st 2006. Following his arbitrarily arrest, other members of Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) were also arrested. Currently more than 9 village administration members were arrested and put in different detentions in Southeast Region Command.

The Southeast Region Command has demanded a huge amount of money for the loss of gas and for the repairing of the gas pipeline. They have forced the villagers to patrol the pipeline.

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