UN asked to respond to rapes by military in Burma
The Women's League of Burma (WLB) yesterday called for zero tolerance of violence against women by Burma's military regime and urged the Thai government and investors in dam projects on the Salween River not to be a part of violence against women in the country's Shan and Karen states.
To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women yesterday, the WLB issued a statement calling for a United Nations' Security Council resolution to bring to an immediate end what it referred to as a nationwide campaign of violence against women by the Burmese military. "The [Burmese military] regime has continued to build up its military infrastructure and deploy increasing numbers of troops in ethnic areas. Evidence has continued to mount of these troops conscripting women as sex slaves and committing gang rape, mutilation and murder. Military offensives have been continuing, particularly in Karen areas, despite the regime's claims to have brought 'peace and stability to the country,'" the statement said. The WLB urged the international community not to tolerate "the regime's lies nor the abuses it commits against people in Burma, particularly women and girls. "There must be an end to their impunity through a binding resolution at the UN Security Council," the statement read. The WLB is an umbrella organisation founded in 1999 from 12 pre-existing Burmese women's organisations. Meanwhile, Charm Tong, a representative of the Shan Women's Action Network, warned the Thai government and investors in the Tasang Dam projects that their involvement in the projects was helping to perpetuate violence against women in Shan state. At a seminar in Chiang Mai, Charm Tong said that sexual violence committed against Burmese women by the military was continuing, especially around dam sites, where troops have been deployed. She said the situation had not improved since 2002, when her group released a report on the Burmese military's use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan state. The report, entitled "Licence to Rape," documented the cases of 625 women and girls who had suffered sexual violence at the hands of the military. More than half of the incidents detailed in the report took place in the area around the Tasang Dam. Charm Tong said that the plight of women was a social impact that should be considered by anyone involved in the dam projects. However, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont insisted last Thursday after a trip to Burma that Thai energy projects in the country would continue without change or review.
Subhatra Bhumiprabhas The Nation Chiang Mai
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