Friday, 07 October 2011 21:32 Thomas Maung Shwe
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Representatives of the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (Kwat) charged on Friday that Burmese troops are committing wide-scale human rights abuses including rape and torture in areas controlled by Burma’s second largest armed rebel group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Fighting between the KIO and the government broke out on June 9 in northern Kachin State and neighbouring Shan State after a 1994 cease-fire between the two sides collapsed.
The Kwat spokespersons also criticized a recent report issued by UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon’s office which it said downplayed the war between the Burmese army and the KIO. The secretary-general’s report titled “Situation of human rights in Myanmar” was submitted to the UN General Assembly in September and covered the time period August 26, 2010, to August 4, 2011.
The report concluded that the outbreak of hostilities between the Burmese army and the KIO poses the “risk of an escalation into large-scale violence and open fighting for the first time since the signing of a cease-fire agreement in 1994.”
The Kwat representatives said that it own report “Burma’s Covered Up War: Atrocities Against the Kachin People” which they released on Friday proves that large scale violence has been going on for more than four months in the areas where the Burmese army has launched its offensive.
Kwat spokesperson Hkawng Seng Pan told Mizzima “the Burmese army is committing violent human rights abuses, including rape, murder and forced labour in places where it is fighting against the KIO. Ban Ki-moon and the UN must speak out about what is happening so the killing stops.”
Hkawng Seng Pan said that while the rhetoric and tone of the Burmese government may have changed recently, the actions of the country’s armed forces has not. She told Mizzima: “You can see clearly how the Burmese government is working; the Army is fighting and killing ethnic people while Thein Sein is speaking about human rights to a Parliament full of generals and former military officers.”
Hkawng Seng Pan said her organization had documented numerous human rights abuses committed by the Burmese army against civilians during the three-month period beginning the day after the outbreak of fighting between the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the Burmese armed forces.
The Kwat report’s details include the accusation that on August 9 in Kachin State’s Bum Tawng Village in Wai Maw Township soldiers from the Burmese army’s 37 Battalion “gang raped and then killed” a 39-year-old women and her 17-year-old daughter before torturing the girl’s 44-year-old father. According to Kwat, incidents like this are occurring frequently. Kwat says that of the 37 rape cases they documented during the first two months of the conflict, 13 of the female victims were killed. Kwat also estimated that at least 25,000 people have been displaced by the fighting so far.
The bleak picture painted in the report is somewhat of a contrast to the UN report’s description of recent events in the same area. A UN spokesperson, however, defended the report. In an e-mailed statement sent to Mizzima, Choi Soung-ah said: “The report of the secretary-general speaks for itself, including references to tensions with Karen and other armed ethnic groups; displacement of civilian population and other reported consequences of conflict; and the most serious tensions involving armed clashes, as well as potential escalation thereof, between the KIA and the Tatmadaw (para. 41).”
Choi’s statement added: “Please note that the report of the secretary-general is not intended to be factually exhaustive. It does not preclude information and assessments available from other sources such as that which you refer to. It provides a necessarily selective overview of developments which serve as a backdrop for the secretary-general's observations. In this regard, we draw your attention in particular to para. 83 of the report.”
Paragrpah 83 of report says: “Of equal concern are ongoing tensions and armed conflict with some armed ethnic groups. In line with the efforts over the years to uphold cease-fire agreements and with President Thein Sein’s commitment to keep the ‘peace door’ open, urgent efforts are needed by all sides to avoid the escalation of tensions and to negotiate durable solutions to outstanding political and security concerns as part of a broader national reconciliation process.
Failure to do so would not only affect the communities concerned, but could also hold back the process of reform, including prospects for ethnic aspirations to be legitimately addressed within the new political structures. Myanmar cannot afford for there to be impediments to the peace and unity that are needed for its stability and development.”
Various organizations including the UN High Commission for Refugees estimated that fighting in the Myawaddy area has caused more than 20,000 refugees to flee to Thailand in the days following the 2010 election.
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Representatives of the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (Kwat) charged on Friday that Burmese troops are committing wide-scale human rights abuses including rape and torture in areas controlled by Burma’s second largest armed rebel group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Fighting between the KIO and the government broke out on June 9 in northern Kachin State and neighbouring Shan State after a 1994 cease-fire between the two sides collapsed.
The Kwat spokespersons also criticized a recent report issued by UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon’s office which it said downplayed the war between the Burmese army and the KIO. The secretary-general’s report titled “Situation of human rights in Myanmar” was submitted to the UN General Assembly in September and covered the time period August 26, 2010, to August 4, 2011.
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| Representatives of the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand at a press conference in Chiang Mai on Friday. Photo: Mizzima |
The report concluded that the outbreak of hostilities between the Burmese army and the KIO poses the “risk of an escalation into large-scale violence and open fighting for the first time since the signing of a cease-fire agreement in 1994.”
The Kwat representatives said that it own report “Burma’s Covered Up War: Atrocities Against the Kachin People” which they released on Friday proves that large scale violence has been going on for more than four months in the areas where the Burmese army has launched its offensive.
Kwat spokesperson Hkawng Seng Pan told Mizzima “the Burmese army is committing violent human rights abuses, including rape, murder and forced labour in places where it is fighting against the KIO. Ban Ki-moon and the UN must speak out about what is happening so the killing stops.”
Hkawng Seng Pan said that while the rhetoric and tone of the Burmese government may have changed recently, the actions of the country’s armed forces has not. She told Mizzima: “You can see clearly how the Burmese government is working; the Army is fighting and killing ethnic people while Thein Sein is speaking about human rights to a Parliament full of generals and former military officers.”
Hkawng Seng Pan said her organization had documented numerous human rights abuses committed by the Burmese army against civilians during the three-month period beginning the day after the outbreak of fighting between the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the Burmese armed forces.
The Kwat report’s details include the accusation that on August 9 in Kachin State’s Bum Tawng Village in Wai Maw Township soldiers from the Burmese army’s 37 Battalion “gang raped and then killed” a 39-year-old women and her 17-year-old daughter before torturing the girl’s 44-year-old father. According to Kwat, incidents like this are occurring frequently. Kwat says that of the 37 rape cases they documented during the first two months of the conflict, 13 of the female victims were killed. Kwat also estimated that at least 25,000 people have been displaced by the fighting so far.
The bleak picture painted in the report is somewhat of a contrast to the UN report’s description of recent events in the same area. A UN spokesperson, however, defended the report. In an e-mailed statement sent to Mizzima, Choi Soung-ah said: “The report of the secretary-general speaks for itself, including references to tensions with Karen and other armed ethnic groups; displacement of civilian population and other reported consequences of conflict; and the most serious tensions involving armed clashes, as well as potential escalation thereof, between the KIA and the Tatmadaw (para. 41).”
Choi’s statement added: “Please note that the report of the secretary-general is not intended to be factually exhaustive. It does not preclude information and assessments available from other sources such as that which you refer to. It provides a necessarily selective overview of developments which serve as a backdrop for the secretary-general's observations. In this regard, we draw your attention in particular to para. 83 of the report.”
Paragrpah 83 of report says: “Of equal concern are ongoing tensions and armed conflict with some armed ethnic groups. In line with the efforts over the years to uphold cease-fire agreements and with President Thein Sein’s commitment to keep the ‘peace door’ open, urgent efforts are needed by all sides to avoid the escalation of tensions and to negotiate durable solutions to outstanding political and security concerns as part of a broader national reconciliation process.
Failure to do so would not only affect the communities concerned, but could also hold back the process of reform, including prospects for ethnic aspirations to be legitimately addressed within the new political structures. Myanmar cannot afford for there to be impediments to the peace and unity that are needed for its stability and development.”
Various organizations including the UN High Commission for Refugees estimated that fighting in the Myawaddy area has caused more than 20,000 refugees to flee to Thailand in the days following the 2010 election.
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