The Burmese military junta has been giving riot control training to state-backed organizations, according to sources in Rangoon.

Members of the Ward Peace and Development Council, the Union Solitary and Development Association (USDA) and Swan Arr Shin were instructed to attend the training. Firemen, municipal employees and members of the newly formed state-backed youth organization were also told to take part.

“We were instructed in how to systematically crack down on crowds,” a member of Swan Arr Shin told The Irrawaddy. “We were shown how to beat crowds in the event of mass protests. We were trained by military instructors.”

Trainees were not paid to attend instruction sessions, which were held daily from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Over a period of two months. Training will resume in 2008, an instructor said.

“If we did not attend, we were registered as absent, and that could threaten our job security,” said a municipal employee.

The junta used state-backed mass organizations like the USDA to assist in suppressing demonstrations in August and September. They were also involved in the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy in Depayin, Sagaing Davision, northern Burma, in May 2003.