Acronyms

Glossary of Terms and Units of Measurement

Abbreviations

Spelling Conventions

The Burma Human Rights Yearbook employs British (UK) English throughout. 

Since there are no standardised transliteration from Burmese or many of the other languages spoken in Burma into in the Roman alphabet, words are spelt in a variety of ways, according to different spelling conventions or by how they sound. In addition, spellings have further been confused by the ruling junta’s official alteration in of well-known English terminology (e.g. Myanmar for Burma). Whilst the SPDC purports that Myanmar is more inclusive of minorities than Burma, opposition parties and human rights groups contend that “Myanmar” is actually disrespectful of the minorities of the country. Minorities, many of whom do not speak Burmese, had become accustomed to the English name “Burma” over the years, and they perceive the new name “Myanmar” as a purely Burman name reflecting the policy of domination of the ethnic Burman majority over the minorities. Criticism also concentrates on the fact that the military regime, not democratically elected, has no legitimacy to change the name of the country. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has opposed the new name “Myanmar”, pointing out at the hypocritical justification of inclusiveness put forward by the military regime. Whilst the name “Myanmar” has been recognised by the United Nations, several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, generally refer to it as Burma, and the U.S. State Department assert that “Due to consistent, unyielding support for the democratically elected leaders, the U.S. government likewise uses ‘Burma.’”

However, it should be remembered that the military regime did not change the official name of the country in Burmese, but merely changed the name of the country in English. In the Burmese language, Myanma is written literary name of the country whilst Bama is the oral colloqiual alternative. While the opposition parties oppose the English name “Myanmar”, they do not oppose the official Burmese name Myanma, and no opposition party is proposing to use the colloquial name Bama as the official name of the country.

Aside from the political connotations attached to the name changes, the new names adopted by the junta actually make it more difficult for foreigners to pronounce Burmese place names closer to actual Burmese pronunciation. Even if only for this reason, this report will restrict its use of language to the anglicised spellings. A list of place names used in the Yearbook followed by their alternatives are shown in the following table:

At the village level, there is again the difficulty that there is no standardised format for transliteration from Burmese or any of the ethnic languages used within Burma into English. In addition, many villages have, for example, both a Karen and a Burmese name. This problem is further compounded by the fact that many villages have very similar names to each other but are in fact distinct. In compiling the Burma Human Rights Yearbook, HRDU have made every attempt to standardise the spelling of villages, but, given the dangers associated with making assumptions about similar sounding place names, village names have generally been reported as they were in the original source.

Karen State Disputed Areas of Demarcation

Thaton District

Thaton District is demarcated by the KNU as part of Karen territory and under the patrol of the 1st Brigade of the KNLA. Thaton District falls mostly in the SPDC demarcated area of Mon State, while the area to the east of the Donthami River lies within SPDC demarcated Karen State.

Toungoo District

Toungoo District is demarcated by the KNU as Karen territory and is under the patrol of the 2nd Brigade of the KNLA. The SPDC, however, does not officially recognise Toungoo District. Toungoo District falls partially in SPDC demarcated Pegu Division and partially in Karen State.

Nyaunglebin District

Nyaunglebin District is demarcated by the KNU as Karen territory and under the patrol of the 3rd Brigade of the KNLA. The SPDC, however, does not officially recognise Nyaunglebin District. Rather the area of Nyaunglebin District falls in SPDC demarcated Pegu Division.

Mergui-Tavoy District

Mergui-Tavoy District is an area demarcated by the KNU as part of Karen territory and is under the patrol of the 4th Brigade of the KNLA. The SPDC does not recognize Mergui-Tavoy as an official district. Rather, the area falls into SPDC demarcated Tenasserim Division.

Papun District

Papun District is under the patrol of the KNLA 5th Brigade. The SPDC, however, does not officially recognize this district. Papun District corresponds roughly with Papun Township under the SPDC system.

Dooplaya District

Dooplaya District is entirely demarcated by the KNU as Karen territory and patrolled by the 6th Brigade of the KNLA. The SPDC, however, designates Dooplaya District as falling mostly in Karen State with some portions in Mon State.

Pa’an District

Pa’an District is patrolled by the KNLA 7th Brigade and corresponds roughly with Pa’an Township under the SPDC-demarcated system. The SPDC does not officially recognize Pa’an District.