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NEWS! - Myanmar Abuses Continue des



Subject: NEWS! - Myanmar Abuses Continue despite ASEAN 

Myanmar Abuses Continue despite ASEAN 

               Reuters
               29-JUN-99

               BANGKOK, June 30 (Reuters) - Amnesty International on
               Wednesday accused Myanmar's ruling military of
               widespread abuses against ethnic minorities -- including
               killings, torture and rape -- and said its record had
worsened
               since it joined ASEAN. 

               A report issued by the London-based human rights group
               said the military had killed "dozens" of unarmed farmers
from
               Karen, Karenni and Shan ethnic groups in the past year,
and
               forced large numbers off their land or to do unpaid
labour for
               the army. 

               The report said ethnic Karen refugees interviewed had
               described two dozen killings of relatives and friends
between
               mid-1998 and February. Shan refugees interviewed by
               Amnesty in February described 20 extrajudicial executions
               by the army, and 

               Karenni refugees several more. 

               Amnesty said such abuses had continued despite Myanmar's
               1997 entry to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

               "ASEAN countries then claimed that such a move would
               encourage the SPDC to improve its human rights record,"
it
               said, referring to Yangon's ruling State Peace and
               Development Council. 

               "In fact the opposite has been true," the report said. 

               "The SPDC has stepped up its repression of the opposition
               party, the National League for Democracy, and increased
               forcible relocation programmes. 

               "Forced labour in all seven ethnic minority areas
continues at
               a high level and forced portering -- one of the harshest
forms
               of forced labour -- occurs wherever there are
               counter-insurgency activities," Amnesty said. 

               It called on ASEAN -- which groups Myanmar with Thailand,
               the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia,
               Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia -- to pressure Yangon at a
               ministerial meeting next month. 


               "As ASEAN members gather in Singapore in July 1999 for
               their annual Ministerial Meeting, it behoves them to come
up
               with a new strategy for dealing with the SPDC's
               intransigence regarding human rights," Amnesty said. 

               It also said China should cease arms sales to Myanmar. 

               In the section of the report covering Karen State, a
woman
               reported finding the body of her 12-year-old niece, who
had
               a gunshot entering her vagina and exiting at her chin. 

               It said the girl was alleged to have been raped by a
major,
               then managed to escape, was recaptured, raped again, and
               shot. The major paid her family a sack of rice, a measure
of
               sugar, a tin of condensed milk and 100 kyat (about 30
U.S.
               cents) in compensation. 

               Another woman described how troops beheaded her brother
               after accusing him of passing information to the Karen
               National Union insurgents and beating him unconscious. 

               In another case, the report said, a Karen widow saw her
son
               shot dead by soldiers when he tried to stop them beating
               her. 

               The Amnesty report documented killings and abuses by
               ethnic insurgents against Myanmar citizens and those
               considered enemies of their movements. 

               Amnesty said it had recent reports the KNU had killed
               people, outside of combat, in both Myanmar and Thai
               territory, and it had also received accounts of
ill-treatment
               and torture by the KNU. 

               Amnesty said it was unable to confirm the reports as it
was
               not allowed access to Myanmar, but believed them to be
               credible. 

               In one incident in Shan State in late October, it said 10
               ethnic Burman civilians were reported to have been killed
by
               an unknown Shan armed group. 

               It called on all armed groups in Myanmar to "respect
               minimum standards of international humanitarian law and
to
               put an end to abuses such as deliberate and arbitrary
               killings, torture and hostage taking."