The Cat and the Canary- Army Visits and
Daring Escapes?
Akha Weekly Journal
September 7, 2002
Dear Friends:
Change of Army command in the mountains this
time of year.
A number of visits by the Army to my home,
all "pleasant" enough.
Checking me for everything, visa, truck registration,
etc.
I asked the army Col. Apisit (Ah Juuh murder
days) about the money taken from the Akha and got nothing but
denials.
Money taken but no one arrested. Why? If
a crime, why no one arrested? What, no evidence? Then why wasn't
the money returned? No receipts for where it came from was the
reply. I asked how many Akha could read or write, so what would
a receipt for selling a pig look like because now every army cadet
had it in for their money?
Further the Akha invovled did have receipts.
So what about this? Oh, those were fake receipts, was the reply,
so now the Akha need accountants, CPA's for saving themselves
from the US backed drug war, a war on people.
So naturally we have the same cases pending
since the Army can't explain why the cases are not solved.
Oh, so why didn't you arrest them if they
were illegal?
We did, but they escaped, was the reply.
They escaped? Like they oiled their hands
and got out of army handcuffs? Or was it because you were having
them hold onto electric wires and they were jumping around too
much?
I asked him how electric burn marks the Akha
showed me on their ears were faked?
"Anyone who tells you the army beat
them, please bring them to the army to talk to us about this."
The cat and the canary?
I also specifically asked the Col. Apisit
of the fourth army why the Lahu were blocking the road to the
fields, why the army didn't build the road?
We have no money he replied. I said well
you have a bulldozer and I already said I would pay for fuel and
it is a half day project to finish what we haven't dug already.
No further comment.
I then asked him if he would come and join
me with his wife and some village women, take the walk to the
fields and then back again, to see what the army had imposed on
this village. Again refused.
I then asked him if a despairing village
might have problems?
I then asked him, if you are up to good,
and I am up to good, why don't we work on some coordinated efforts
to help the Akha? To this he specifically replied that he would
NOT do any thing to help the Akha.
I told him I had contacted ONDP, the drug
office in bangkok, to get some small funds to print drug prevention
education material for villages, distribution all my cost obviously
and they didn't want to do that either. Frying the fish in its
own grease?
********
One point the army mentioned is that they
wondered who built Akha.org.
So for all our donors and past volunteers,
please send a jpeg self portrait photo file with email to me with
a one line comment about Akha Human rights conditions, and your
photo and comment will be listed on the home page of Akha.org.
This is solidarity with the Akha to show
the Army that the whole world is watching and that a heck of a
lot of people are involved with the Akha to gain them human rights.
The press is running, a few minor repairs
to the vacuum system, and then the printing of first books soon
as we have money for paper and plates. The response in the Akha
village has been tremendous. Hope.
Matthew McDaniel
The Akha Heritage Foundation
Maesai, Chiangrai, Thailand
Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
The Akha Heritage Foundation
PO BOX 6073
Salem OR 97304 USA
