The rape of Myanmar
By Charm Tong The Times of India | JULY 04, 2005 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1158959.cms (The writer is an advocacy team member of the Shan Women's Action Network.) It has been three years since the report "Licence to Rape" exposed to the world how troops of the military regime in Myanmar have been committing systematic sexual violence against women in Shan state, one of the ethnic regions where civil war has been continuing for more than four decades. The report, by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women's Action Network, documented the rape of more than 600 women by Myanmar troops. Regrettably, despite increased international awareness of the problem of state-sponsored sexual violence in Myanmar following the report, the suffering of women in the war-torn ethnic areas of Myanmar is continuing. The regime is still using rape as a weapon of war to terrorise, demoralise and control local communities. Hundreds more women have been raped during the last few years. Myanmar military personnel, including high-ranking officers, are raping with impunity. Women who are seven months pregnant are being gangraped. Girls are being kept for forced labour during the day and raped at night for periods of months. Mothers and daughters are being raped together. Some stories are hard for many of us today to imagine. A woman, now insane, weeps over the photo of her 14-year-old daughter, who was raped and burned alive by Myanmar troops. The sexual violence is happening not only in Shan state but also in other ethnic areas. Last year, the Karen Women's Organisation released a report detailing 125 incidents of rape by the regime's troops in Karen state. The Women's League of Burma, an umbrella organisation of 12 women's groups, also released a report entitled "System of Impunity" exposing a nationwide pattern of sexual violence by the regime's troops. Women and girls throughout the country are increasingly at risk from military sexual violence, whether they are in civil war zones, ceasefire areas or "nonconflict" areas. The recent rape and murder of the young daughter of a Myanmar Army soldier by a fellow officer in April 2005 has shown that even families of the regime's army are now suffering the consequences of the "Licence to Rape" policy. The countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations and other neighbouring states bordering Myanmar continue to disregard human rights abuses in their dealings with the junta. There have been constant calls by women of Myanmar, particularly ethnic women, to condemn the regime and push for genuine political reform. This is the only way to end the regime's rape policies. Some ASEAN countries have properly felt compelled to debate in public whether the junta should assume the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006. The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus, composed of members of parliament from throughout the region, is calling for political reform. If the ASEAN legislators want a real change in Myanmar, they must not ignore sexual violence authorised by the military junta. Political repression in Myanmar has intensified in recent months. Last February, Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, and other Shan state leaders were arrested by the junta and remain imprisoned. Ethnic resis-tance leaders who had made ceasefire agreements with the regime are now being forced to disarm and surrender. Fierce military offensives along the border of Thailand and Myanmar are causing increased numbers of internally displaced persons and unabated flows of refugees into Thailand. But does this mean we will surrender to this regime, with its battalions of rapists? The answer is no. We owe this to the women who have dared speak out about the sexual violence committed against them. Women who relate their stories say that each time they talk about rape it is like they are being raped again. Yet they have been brave enough to speak out in order that one day the violence can end. Last week we marked the 60th birthday of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest in Myanmar's capital. Let us be inspired to continue the struggle to res-tore democracy and peace in Myanmar, and to fulfil the wishes of these brave women. -- This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
