Daily News- July 06- 2002- Saturday

  • US expresses new concern to Myanmar over rape reports
  • Myanmar rejects report its troops had raped Shan women
  • Shan rebels say they operate radio station, but not in Thailand
  • Rangoon has signalled its willingness to mend fences
  • KNU seeks help from old friends
  • Ceasefire may be under discussion with Burma junta: Shan rebels
  • Burma's ambassador denies using rape as weapon of war


  • US expresses new concern to Myanmar over rape reports

    WASHINGTON, July 5 (AFP) - The United States has called on Myanmar to explain reports by two Shan groups that junta troops systematically raped girls and women, saying it was appalled that such tactics may have been used as a weapon of war.

    State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel urged Myanmar to carry out a full investigation into the alleged abuses, which officials in Yangon insist did not take place."We are appalled by reports that the Burmese military is using rape as a weapon of war against civilian populations in Shan State," said Cassel.

    "We have raised our concerns with the Burmese regime and urged them to fully investigate any and all allegations of the systematic rape of ethnic minority girls and women in Burma and appropriately punish those guilty of such heinous crimes."

    "We condemn the pervasive use of rape or other forms of sexual violence by military forces against a vulnerable population. If the alleged abuses in the report are true the Burmese regime must take immediate steps to end any such violence within its borders."

    Priscilla Clapp, US Charge d'Affairs in Yangon, raised the issue with Myanmar officials, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

    The Myanmar junta said in a statement earlier on Friday that the reports released in May by the Thailand-based Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) contained data invented for propaganda purposes.It said the rebel Shan State Army (SSA), an ethnic insurgent group that has fought a long battle against Yangon rule, was behind the reports, which documented the sexual abuse of 625 girls and women in Shan State.

    "It is indeed regretful to realize that some terrorist groups... are given unlimited rights to carry out their nefarious acts while their words are transformed into holy truths," a government statement said.

    The rape controversy, which has also stirred concern in Congress, come at a time when Myanmar is attempting to improve its appalling image in the United States.It recently hired a Washington-based public relations firm to capitalise on its release of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and has been trying to convince the United States of its sincerity in battling narcotics production.

    Myanmar rejects report its troops had raped Shan women

    YANGON, July 5 (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling military junta rejected Friday a report by two Shan groups that its troops were systematically raping girls and women in the nation's eastern Shan state.

    "The alleged human rights violation of ethnic minorities, especially torturing and systematic raping of young girls and women in the Shan state are stories mainly created (by the Shan United Revolutionary Army -- SURA)," the junta said in a statement.

    SURA is the junta's name for the rebel Shan State Army (SSA), an anti-Yangon ethnic militia that has been fighting for independence for decades.

    "It is indeed regretful to realize that some terrorist groups... are given unlimited rights to carry out their nefarious acts while their words are transformed into holy truths," the statement said.

    The report was released in May by the Thai-based Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) and documented the sexual abuse of 625 girls and women in Shan state, mostly between 1996 and 2001.

    "The Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnic peoples of Shan state," the report's executive summary said.Burma is the former name of Myanmar.

    "The report illustrates there is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the form of sexual violence, have occurred and continue to occur in Shan state," the summary said.

    The United States recently called on the junta to fully investigate the claims."We have raised our concern with the Burmese regime and urged them to fully investigate any and all allegations of the systematic rape of ethnic minority girls and women in Burma and appropriately punish those guilty of such heinous crimes," the State Department said in a press advisory.But Myanmar's junta said the US was wrong to have expressed concern.

    "It is regretful to learn that certain members of the US House of Representatives have fallen prey to, or been duped by, the two Shan organisations," it said.

    SWAN said on Friday the US response had given the report more credibility."We welcome the action of the US government on this issue and their support for us," spokeswoman Pi Kham said."We are hopeful that pressure from Washington and a full investigation could end the sexual violence by government troops in Myanmar."

    Myanmar is a frequent target of criticism by the international community for its alleged abysmal human rights record.

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    Shan rebels say they operate radio station, but not in Thailand

    CHIANG MAI, Thailand, July 5 (AFP) - Anti-Yangon rebels operating along the Thai-Myanmar border said Friday they were running a radio station inside their own territory, not in Thailand as claimed.

    A mini FM-station was in one of the rebel Shan State Army's (SSA) secret base camps in Myanmar's Shan state, several kilometres from the Thai border, spokeswoman Nang Khur Hsen told AFP.

    "Freedom FM was set up last year, and started to broadcast three hours daily six months ago," she said.

    Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh reportedly said Monday that military intelligence units were working to determine whether the SSA was operating a station on Thai soil, as tense relations between Myanmar and Thailand persisted.Myanmar has accused Thailand of providing military support to the rebels, a claim Thailand has repeatedly denied.

    Meanwhile a report Friday said the Thai military knew the SSA operated a station in its own territory and not from Thailand."We know its location but we won't give that information. But I can assure it is not on Thai soil," Supreme Commander Admiral Narong Yutthawong told the Bangkok Post.

    Khur Hsen told AFP the station produced programmes in four languages -- Shan, Pa-O, Ah-Ka and Burmese -- reaching a radius of about 80 kilometres (50 miles)."The purpose of founding this broadcast station is to entertain, to educate and to tell the truth to people in the region, especially tribespeople," she said."We provide them with cheap FM receivers as we can."

    Relations between Thailand and Myanmar soured in late May after clashes along the border during which the SSA overran Myanmar military bases.Myanmar subsequently closed its border with Thailand, banned official Thai visits and launched a stream of vitriol in its press that caused an uproar in Thailand when it included criticism of the Thai monarchy.No talks between the countries have been scheduled.

    Rangoon has signalled its willingness to mend fences

    The Bangkokpost
    Wassana Nanuam

    Rangoon has sent a positive signal for bilateral relations by beginning to prepare for a Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting next month.

    The Burmese junta had begun preparing for the meeting, to be held opposite Tak's Mae Sot district, although an exact date had yet to be established, a defence source said. ``All RBC officials have been told to prepare for the meeting,'' the source said.

    Meanwhile, Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh assigned an advisory team led by Gen Pat Akkanibutr to formulate the country's military strategies for 2003-2007.Gen Sanan Kachornklam, the team's secretary, said the guidelines would be drafted in conjunction with the Defence Ministry's policy and planning office, as well as the military.

    The strategies would be in line with the national defence strategy, endorsed by the National Social and Economic Development Board on Thursday, which focused on non-interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries, not allowing foreign troops to use the country as a base for attacking neighbouring countries, and the military's role in preserving national sovereignty.The establishment of a strategic centre has also been proposed to co-ordinate intelligence work in border areas.

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    KNU seeks help from old friends

    Supalak Ganjanakhundee
    THE NATION

    In a move to counter the heavy military offensive from Rangoon and pressure from Thailand, Karen National Union (KNU) rebels will seek cooperation from former Mon allies and foreign organisations, sources said yesterday.

    KNU chief commander Bo Mya will hold discussions in western Kanchanaburi province next week with a leader of Nye Pan Yu, a breakaway army from the now militarily inactive New Mon State Party (NMSP), they said.

    The KNU, which has fought Rangoon for more than half a century, is under strong pressure from the junta and authorities in Bangkok who want to show Burma that Thailand does not support the rebels.

    The Mon faction, which broke away after the 1995 peace pact between the NMSP and Rangoon, is likely to ally itself with the KNU since it is also facing a military offensive from the junta.

    Bo Mya will also meet with representatives from an unnamed Western country to seek logistical support, the sources said.

    Pado Mahn Sha, general secretary of the KNU, said he was unaware of any meetings or alliances with the Mon or any other groups despite admitting heavy pressure from both Rangoon and Bangkok.

    Thousands of Burmese troops from 120 battalions are mobilising in the border region near several strongholds of the KNU, he said."We will not consider surrender, the KNU will keep fighting," he said.

    Asked about pressure from Thailand, Mahn Sha said Thai authorities have no involvement because the KNU is fighting only in Burmese territory."We stay and fight only in our zone, and never travel in Thai territory," he said in a telephone interview.

    Burma, via its media and officials, has consistently accused Thailand of sheltering and supporting several ethnic minorities that are in conflict with Rangoon.The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar yesterday published an article saying that one Shan State Army guerrilla leader, Yawd Serk, always conducts his raids from inside Thailand.

    At a meeting of the National Security Council yesterday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reiterated that his government would never allow Burmese rebels to operate inside Thailand. Thai officials were also ordered to avoid any involvement in the situation, said an official who attended the meeting.

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    Ceasefire may be under discussion with Burma junta: Shan rebels

    Source : AFP

    The leader of the rebel Shan State Army (SSA) may be meeting with Burma's military to informally discuss a ceasefire agreement.

    The rebel army's spokeswoman Nang Khur Hsen told AFP on Saturday that Colonel Yawd Serk and a group of SSA troops left their base Thursday and were travelling to an area west of the Salween river, which runs from north to south in Burma's eastern Shan state.

    "There could be an informal meeting," she said.

    "The SSA wrote a letter to the SPDC (the ruling State Peace and Development Council) leader General Than Shwe on June 30, asking that the two sides stop fighting each other," she said.

    "I believe that the SSA leader received a response from the Myanmar military through another Shan group."

    This group was possibly the northern SSA, which has already signed a peace agreement with Yangon, she added.

    The SSA is one of the few major armed insurgent groups in Burma yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with the junta. It has been fighting for an independent state for decades.

    The rebel group on June 11 called for peace talks with the SPDC in the midst of a massive offensive by Burmese troops along the Thai-Burmese border aimed at winning back bases the SSA overran in May.

    But the junta immediately rejected the offer because the SSA refused to first relinquish their arms, a first-step condition the junta has imposed on all other groups prior to negotiations. Nang Khur Hsen on Saturday reiterated the SSA's position on continuing to hold arms while negotiating, however, and said international observers must be present during formal ceasefire negotiations.

    Fighting along the border, which began May 20 when the SSA overran strategic Burma bases, seriously damaged Burma's relations with Thailand after it accused the Thais of providing support to the rebels.

    Rangoon unilaterally slammed shut its border checkpoints with Thailand, blocked Thai officials from visiting and launched a daily stream of anti-Thai rhetoric in its state press that is continuing.

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    Burma's ambassador denies using rape as weapon of war

    Rangoon (Reuters) - Burma's military government on Saturday rejected allegations that its troops had used rape as a weapon of war against girls and women of the Shan ethnic minority in the Golden Triangle region.

    Burma's ambassador to the United States sent the denial to Reuters one day after Washington said it was appalled by a report from two pressure groups that Burma troops had raped at least 625 girls and women between 1996 and 2001 in Shan State.

    "We would like to reiterate that it is not the policy of the government of Myanmar to condone or encourage the violation of human rights of women," the ambassador said in a statement sent to Reuters in the Burmese capital, Rangoon.

    The statement questioned the credibility of the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women's Action Network, the two organisations behind the report, which was released in May.

    "The credibility of the two organisations which are supposed to be gathering information on such cases on the other side of the border can also be called into question," it said.

    Shan State is in northeastern Burma close to the Thai border.

    The United States has urged the Burmese government to investigate the claims and the U.S. State Department said on Friday its charge d'affaires in Rangoon, Priscilla Clapp, brought the matter up at a meeting with Burmese officials last week.

    Shan state is the base of the largest rebel force fighting Burma's military government, the separatist Shan State Army, a well-armed militia, which is backed by Thailand and has fought sporadic skirmishes with Rangoon troops in recent weeks.

    Rangoon accuses the Shan of being responsible for most of the drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle, an area at the intersection of Thailand, Laos and Burma which produces much of the world's opium, heroin and methamphetamine stimulant pills.

    Thailand and international drugs agencies reject many of the Myanmar allegations against the Shan, saying that more illegal narcotics are produced by ethnic groups allied to the Burmese government than by the Shan.

    A State Department official said on Friday Burma should "fully investigate any and all allegations of the systematic rape of ethnic minority girls and women in Burma and appropriately punish those guilty of such heinous crimes".

    "We are appalled by reports that the Burmese military is using rape as a weapon of war against civilian populations in Shan state," said the U.S. official, who declined to be identified.

    The report by the Shan groups is available on the Internet at http://www.shanland.org/shrf/shrf_frame.htm.

    The Burmese ambassador's statement said government policy was to bring law-breakers to justice. "We would like to assure you that the government is taking all necessary actions to bring to justice all those who break the laws of the land," it added.

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