Burma Related News - Oct

Asia Times Online - Oct 11, 2002
Oil firm's pullout buoys Myanmar lobby
By Tom Fawthrop

LONDON - After Britain's Premier Oil finally yielded to years of pressure from a British lobby and pulled out of its controversial US$650 million investment in Myanmar last month, human-rights campaigners hope to escalate their campaign to halt all Western investment in the Southeast Asian country. The military junta's systematic use of torture and the routine deployment of forced labor gangs have been documented and condemned in a series of United Nations reports and resolutions.

Premier Oil's Yetagun gas pipeline from Myanmar to Thailand represented one of the biggest sources of European financial support for the State Peace and Democracy Council (SPDC) government in Yangon. It was the first oil company to sign an exploration deal with Myanmar's military in May 1990 and gas started flowing in May 2000.

In 1990 the military junta annulled election results that showed a landslide victory for the opposition National League for Democracy led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Many Myanmar-solidarity groups sprang up in Western countries to pressure their governments to cut off all aid to Yangon and stop any foreign investment in support of the regime.

The latest success in driving foreign investment out of Myanmar was hailed by Burma Campaign UK director John Jackson as a warning to other investors. Jackson declared: "The demise and fall of Premier is a warning to any company thinking about investing in Burma - it's more trouble than it's worth. We won't stop here, we won a battle but not the war. The pressure needs to be turned up on TotalFina and Unocal, who are as guilty as Premier for propping up one of the most brutal regimes in the world."

The former US administration of president Bill Clinton administration imposed full sanctions against any US investments in Myanmar. The British government implements the European Union guidelines that ban all military and economic aid to Myanmar, and denies visas to prominent SPDC and government leaders.

The British Labour government's former foreign secretary Robin Cook had also urged the UK oil company to get out of Myanmar. "I'm going to make it quite clear, we do not approve of what Premier are doing, they know that perfectly well. We would much rather they stopped and they know that perfectly well." But Premier Oil still refused to withdraw.

During 2001 many other investors did withdraw, including 18 Australian companies. Pressure is mounting on all the remaining oil companies investing in Myanmar. Unocal and TotalFina are currently facing separate court actions over human-rights violations. Non-governmental organizations argue that the oil companies provide financial support to the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

Constructive or destructive engagement?

A debate has raged throughout the 1990s on the best way to bring about change in Myanmar - by sanctions and keeping up the pressure or by quiet diplomacy and investment dubbed by Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries as a policy of "constructive engagement".

However, the pro-democracy movement saw "constructive engagement" as nothing more than a cover for profits and propping up a pariah regime. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate, declared: "Premier Oil is not only supporting this military government financially, it is also giving it moral support, and it is doing a great disservice to the cause of democracy. It should be ashamed of itself."

Premier's partners comprised of Petronas of Malaysia, Nippon of Japan, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) and the junta's own oil and gas company, MOGE. Premier's share in the consortium was 26.67 percent.

The field is expected to produce gas for at least 20 years. UK energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie has estimated that Myanmar's earnings from Premier's Yetagun field would have been about $823 million through to 2025.

Yetagun is the second gas field to start extracting gas in Myanmar, the Unocal/Total consortium's Yadana field being the first. Construction of both pipelines is now complete and both projects share a common gas buyer, PTT.

Both the Yetagun and Yadana projects in the remote Taninthayi region of southern Myanmar have been plagued by human-rights controversy. In March 2001, 15 Myanmese citizens who claim their human rights were violated by the construction of Unocal's pipeline defeated Unocal's attempt to remove their cases from the California State Court.

But Premier was not easily swayed from its chosen path of engagement and profit. In response, Premier produced a social audit report dealing with the impact of the project in Myanmar, as well as mapping out monitoring practice in the future to ensure net benefits to local communities. The report stressed "a process of stakeholder engagement", but crucially it failed to engage those most affected by the company's investment - those who have experienced human-rights abuse. Burma Campaign dismissed all Premier's efforts as "window-dressing which was designed to conceal the reality of destructive engagement".

The foreign investor exodus

Premier Oil claims its pullout was not motivated by the pressure from the international protest and the pro-democracy lobby, but was purely a business decision. However, Jackson told Asia Times Online: "What really triggered the withdrawal was the exposure of the two directors from Amerada Hess, a US company sitting on the board of Premier Oil in violation of UK company law, and US sanctions against investments in Burma."

Amerada had told US shareholders that their investments in Premier would not be used for the Myanmar project, but in reality no such stipulation was made, which exposed the US partner to legal action in violation of US sanctions and also company law in the United Kingdom.

In recent years there has been a spate of foreign investment projects withdrawing from Myanmar. The Anglo-Norwegian engineering group Kvaerner ASA announced the cancellation of a $30 million deal with Premier Petroleum Myanmar Ltd within 24 hours of having signed the deal. The cancellation came after fierce public criticism from the Norwegian media and human-rights groups.

Sara Lee, a leading retailer of underwear in the United States with nearly $17.5 billion in annual revenue and owner of Hanes, Hanes Her Way, Leggs, and Just My Size brands, ceased production of its garments in Myanmar. In a letter to the Free Burma Coalition, Sara Lee vice president and chief counsel Melvin L Ortner wrote, "We want the Free Burma Coalition to know that production in Burma violates both our global operating principles and our supplier selection guidelines ... two of our licensees did use Burma facilities in direct violation of their contract with us ... We have taken immediate steps with both licensees to confirm that neither will make our product in Burma again."

In January the Burma Campaign UK won a major victory over the Swiss company Triumph International, which has been producing garments in Myanmar. After a short and aggressive high-profile campaign against Triumph, the company agreed to withdraw from Myanmar by May.

Total foreign investment in 2001 shrank to a mere $17.5 million even though EU guidelines for dealing with Myanmar are very far from being real sanctions. Investors and ASEAN had hoped that the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest this year would be the beginning of real dialogue between the generals and the opposition on how to move the country out of its current political and economic quagmire. However, in spite of the economic crisis, the generals appeared to be committed to clinging to power, sending a negative signal to foreign investors.

After the success in ousting Premier Oil, the next ones on the "dirty list" in the sights of British human-rights groups are the accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Kuoni Travel business in Britain. Kuoni is based in Switzerland and has vacation business interests in Britain including Kuoni Travel in Dorking, plus House of Specialists and Voyages Jules Verne in London. It also controls Alp Air Holdings in Jersey but its main involvement in Myanmar comes through a Pandaw and Pagodas cruise operation it runs to Yangon and Mandalay.

With fewer and fewer Western investors, Myanmar is increasingly dependent on its regional friends, led by Malaysia, Singapore and China, all anxious to exploit the country's rich natural resources. But without political change, that investment will not be enough to stem the country's spiraling economic decline.

Asia Times Online - Oct 10, 2002.

Australians debate Myanmar policy
By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY - Australia is facing challenges from within on its policy toward Myanmar, which is closer to the Asian way of dialogue and engagement than to the Western approach of harsh criticism and economic sanctions.

Canberra continues to insist that further isolating the already reclusive military government in Yangon has done nothing to hasten democratic reform in the Southeast Asian country. But the debate continues on whether dialogue has any more chance of success.

The latest discussions about Australia's policy on Myanmar were sparked by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's 24-hour visit to the country on October 2 - five months after Yangon released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Downer's visit - he spoke to Yangon officials and to Suu Kyi herself - made him the first Australian minister to visit Myanmar in almost two decades. He was also the highest-level official from a so-called Western country to visit the military-run state in recent years.

The logic behind his visit has been that Australia is just about the only Western country that has kept communication lines open with Yangon, along with a modest aid program. This, the argument goes, means that Canberra could have unique clout with the junta.

Analysts here say, however, that Canberra must listen to criticism of Australia's policies from no less than Suu Kyi herself, who conveyed her dissatisfaction with Downer's visit and the Australia-funded human-rights training for Myanmese government officials.

"When someone at the center of a democracy movement [Suu Kyi] criticizes this program, the Australian government must take this criticism seriously," argued James Arvanitakis, member of the management committee of Aidwatch, which oversees the country's aid schemes. "It's not some white middle-class human-rights activist who is saying this," he pointed out.

But Robert Templer, Asia program director with the International Crisis Group, welcomed the Downer initiative in starting a dialogue with Yangon and said the hardline approach with Myanmar has clearly not produced results.

"The current line taken by most Western countries has been to isolate Burma and cut it off from most international forums and to cut off contacts with it. That hasn't done much to shift the positions of a government that is already extremely isolated," he said, using the former name for Myanmar, as it has been officially known since 1989. "So I think a greater deal of engagement is useful, but you can't expect results overnight with any sort of program like that," he added.

Arvanitakis was much less optimistic: "The aid program to Burma on human-rights education is similar to the one Australia conducted for Indonesia during the Suharto regime. We had nothing to show for it."

Australia's human-rights education involves workshops for middle-level civil servants on the international norms of human rights. Downer told The Australian daily newspaper that when he explained to Suu Kyi that these workshops aimed to help civil servants better apply human-rights principles in Myanmar, she replied, "Well, good luck."

Many critics, including pro-democracy activists in Myanmar, have asked Canberra not to "waste money" on the rights workshops, which began in 2000. Australian consultants supposedly preach human rights, but "how do democracy movements in these countries benefit from these? We haven't seen any benefits," Arvanitakis pointed out.

Downer undertook the visit to Myanmar on the advice of Razali Ismail, United Nations special envoy for Myanmar and former Malaysian diplomat, who is trying to encourage talks between the military junta and the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.

Ismail's approach has highlighted the quiet way supported by many Asian nations, who say constant dialogue with Yangon led to Suu Kyi's release from house arrest in May.

Australia has taken a slightly different tack on Myanmar from other Western countries. For instance, it has not adopted the full list of sanctions imposed by the United States and the Europeans on the country. Canberra, which has diplomatic ties with Yangon, has not banned Australian companies from doing business in Myanmar or imposed visa restrictions on senior Myanmese officials.

Thus, Downer believes that Australia could play an important role in bringing democracy to the Southeast Asian nation.

"Australia is of interest because we have a unique approach to dealing with Burma," he said. "We are perceived to be a so-called Western country, albeit a regional country ... and I think that gives us a little more leverage than would otherwise be the case."

After a 50-minute meeting with the generals who run Myanmar, Downer struggled to explain to journalists what that leverage is all about.

"At each of the meetings with the Burmese leaders, I have reinforced the need for early progress on the political-reconciliation process," said Downer after his meeting with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman, General Than Shwe, vice chairman General Maung Aye and first secretary Khin Nyunt.

He said that while the military leaders responded positively to having discussions on constitutional reforms, "when it will happen, how it will happen and where it will happen, I was given no indication of that".

During his 90-minute meeting with Suu Kyi, she expressed skepticism about the junta's mood for change, Downer said. "I think she is skeptical about any concessions that the generals may make to her. She is not very confident that a great deal of progress is going to be made," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

Suu Kyi's NLD swept elections in 1990 with more than 70 percent of the vote, but the new parliament was never formed, as the military annulled the results and clamped down on the democracy movement.

In an interview with Mark Baker of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Suu Kyi advised Australia to limit contacts with Yangon - like the United States and the European Union - until the generals honor promises to start talks on political reforms.

"If everybody were to take a united stand, it would be far more effective than some people thinking that their way is better than others," she told Baker. "I've always thought that a coordinated approach is much better than each country doing its own thing." (Inter Press Service)

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Hoovers
Thai premier says Burma not to blame for influx of narcotics
October 11, 2002 6:46am

Burma has won Thailand's praise for its crackdown on drugs following a huge heroin and speed-pills seizure.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday praised Burma for the recent seizure of more than 30 kg of heroin and 5m methamphetamine tablets.

He said the military regime was sincere in its war on drugs.

Thaksin said he was convinced that the drugs were headed for Thailand.

He said Thailand would have to live with the fact that the ethnic and political troubles across the border would always be inextricably linked with drugs.

He added that Rangoon was not to blame for millions of methamphetamines flooding the Kingdom.

Thaksin said drug and opium warlords in Burma operated outside government jurisdiction. He said the junta should not be held accountable for their illicit activities.

Most drug armies, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kokang Chinese, operate independently within their own territory under cease-fire agreements with the Rangoon government.

The UWSA, with headquarters in Panghsang, on the Chinese border, has expanded its territory. It has established villages and military installations along the Thai border.

The international community has consistently condemned Burma for turning a blind eye to drug trafficking, as well as violations of human and labour rights.

Thaksin said Thailand was willing to help Burma enhance its international standing. Rangoon must continue its anti-narcotics efforts, he stipulated.

Drugs, said Thaksin, are "one thing that the Thai people cannot accept. This problem has gone on for too long."

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Kyodo News - ASEAN to pursue rice reserve system
Friday, October 11, 2002 at 09:30 JST

VIENTIANE ? Agriculture ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed Thursday to invite China, Japan and South Korea to launch an initial three-year pilot scheme for an East Asian rice reserve system aimed at ensuring regional food security.

Senior ASEAN officials said the ministers agreed in Vientiane to propose the scheme to their counterparts from the three Northeast Asian countries when they meet Friday in the Lao capital.

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Bangkok Post - Friday 11 October 2002
Junta agrees to return suspects
Four Karen thought to be prime perpetrators
Wassana Nanuam

Burma has agreed to the extradition of four Karen arrested in connection with a deadly ambush on a school bus in Ratchaburi's Ban Kha sub-district.

The suspected gunmen fled across the Burmese border after the June 4 attack, which left three children dead, a military source said.

They were subsequently arrested in the Burmese town of Mergui.

Two of the suspects were identified as Bo Kroh and Ja-U, who had reportedly confessed to opening fire on the bus.

After being contacted by Burmese authorities, army advisor Gen Vichit Yathip flew to Rangoon, where the suspects were being detained.

The Burmese authorities agreed to extradite the four through their point of entry into Ratchaburi, the source said.

The exact timing of their return was not disclosed.

A 36-year-old Karen named Jobi, arrested on Thai soil in July, was also believed to be involved in the shooting.

Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya called a Burmese military leader yesterday morning to ensure co-operation in the extradition of the suspects. Gen Thammarak refused to confirm the ethnicity of the suspects, or how many there were.

The Foreign Ministry would work out the details of the extradition, he said, declining to reveal the identity of his contact in Burma.

Gen Thammarak also said he planned to accompany the newly appointed armed-forces chiefs on a visit to Burma at the request of Rangoon.

Gen Thammarak said he would not support ethnic groups, including the Shan State Army, make attackas on troops loyal to Rangoon.

Nor would he order the arrests of members of ethnic groups on behalf of Rangoon. ``This does not mean we will become an enemy of ethnic groups when relations with Burma improve,'' he said. ``We do not want that.''

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Bangkok Post - Friday 11 October 2002
Burma `must combat drugs'
Yuwadee Tunyasiri

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday he had made it clear to Burma that its relations with Thailand depended on Rangoon's sincere cooperation in suppression of illicit drugs.

His remark followed news reports that Burmese authorities had seized five million methamphetamine pills and more than 30kg of heroin on Wednesday.

The news was confirmed by Thai intelligence reports, Mr Thaksin said.

He had earlier told Rangoon it must help in the fight against drugs if it wished to maintain good relations with Bangkok and Thai support for Burma's national development.

Rangoon had sent officials to confirm its policy against drugs and its urgent plans to promote cultivation of substitute crops for opium poppies in Burma.

Mr Thaksin said Rangoon had also warned drug producers and traffickers to end their operations or face tough action.

Thailand could in turn show sincerity by declaring a clear policy not to support Burma's minority rebels, he said.

``Now, all our policies are clear. We will cooperate in suppressing drugs and this will help alleviate the drug problem.

``Thailand will give economic assistance to create jobs there, so we won't have to shoulder the burden of illegal migrant workers from Burma like we are doing now,'' he said.

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The Nation

Thaksin lauds Rangoon's drug effort
Published on Oct 11, 2002

Burma has won Thailand's praise for its crackdown on drugs following a huge heroin and speed-pills seizure.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday praised Burma for the recent seizure of more than 30 kilograms of heroin and five million methamphetamine tablets.
He said the military regime was sincere in its war on drugs.

Thaksin said he was convinced that the drugs were headed for Thailand.

He said Thailand would have to live with the fact that the ethnic and political troubles across the border would always be inextricably linked with drugs.
He added that Rangoon was not to blame for millions of methamphetamines flooding the Kingdom.

Thaksin said drug and opium warlords in Burma operated outside government jurisdiction. He said the junta should not be held accountable for their illicit activities.

Most drug armies, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kokang Chinese, operate independently within their own territory under cease-fire agreements with the Rangoon government.

The UWSA, with headquarters in Panghsang, on the Chinese border, has expanded its territory. It has established villages and military installations along the Thai border.
The international com- munity has consistently condemned Burma for turning a blind eye to drug trafficking, as well as violations of human and labour rights.

Thaksin said Thailand was willing to help Burma enhance its international standing. Rangoon must continue its anti-narcotics efforts, he stipulated.

Drugs, said Thaksin, are "one thing that the Thai people cannot accept. This problem has gone on for too long."

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The Straits Times - Oct 11 6.07 pm (Singapore time)

Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO (Norway) -- Former United States President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday 'for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development'.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Mr Carter's 'vital contribution' to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and his efforts in conflict resolution on several continents and the promotion of human rights after his presidency.

Just hours after the US Congress gave President George W. Bush the authority to go to war against Iraq, Nobel committee chairman Gunnar Berge told reporters that the Nobel Prize to Mr Carter 'can also be interpreted as a criticism of the position' of the US administration.

The citation read: 'In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development.'

The award is worth 10 million Swedish kronor (S$1.95 million.)

The five-member committee made its decision last week after months of secret deliberations as it sought the right message for a world still dazed by the Sept 11 terror attacks, the war on terrorism that followed and concerns over a possible US military strike against Iraq.

The committee said of Mr Carter: 'He has shown outstanding commitment to human rights, and has served as an observer at countless elections all over the world.

'He has worked hard on many fronts to fight tropical diseases and to bring about growth and progress in developing countries. Carter has thus been active in several of the problem areas that have figured prominently in the over 100 years of Peace Prize history.'

Last year's award was shared by the United Nations and its Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan.

This year, the Norwegian Nobel committee received a record 156 nominations -- 117 individuals and 39 groups -- by the Feb 1 deadline.

Many known nominees reflected the 2001 terror attacks on the US and the aftermath, including former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were also nominated. -- AP, AFP

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Refugees International
Burma?s Internally Displaced: No Options for a Safe Haven
Refugees International Advocate Veronika Martin and human rights lawyer Betsy Apple recently completed an assessment mission to the Thai-Burmese border.
10/10/2002

There are few fates worse than being an internally displaced person (IDP) in Burma. IDPs inside Burma are divided into two categories: those living under the strict control of the Burmese government in ?relocation sites,? and those living in hiding in the jungle from the Burmese army. Both options present a high risk of human rights abuses, a lack of food, and limited or no access to healthcare and education. According to a recent report compiled by the Burma Border Consortium (BBC), more than 2,500 villages have been either destroyed, relocated, or abandoned, affecting 633,000 individuals over the last five years in eastern Burma. Since 1996, an estimated minimum of one million people living in the ethnic states that border Thailand have been displaced. This year has seen a marked increase in the frequency of counter-insurgency operations in ethnic minority areas, leading in turn to an increase in the level of internal displacement.

On a recent trip to the Thai-Burmese border, Refugees International (RI) interviewed new arrivals to Thailand and confirmed the Burmese army?s use of torture, rape, forced labor, extortion and summary executions in ethnic minority areas from northern Shan state to southern Tavoy. Three to four thousand Burmese seek asylum in Thailand each month, and the majority are from these areas. According to RI?s interviews, there is a lack of basic necessities such as food, appropriate shelter and medicines for those refugees hiding in the jungle, as well as for most who live in relocation sites. Because IDPs? food stores are routinely destroyed or confiscated by the Burmese army, the additional threat of starvation and illness is especially common. High rates of malnutrition and deaths from preventable illness have been reported by those able to secretly access IDPs. The fact that 42% of IDPs in eastern Burma choose to live on the run and in hiding rather than move to government-run relocation sites adds credence to the fact that many relocation sites resemble concentration camps.

The Burmese army is notorious for its abuses against civilians. ?They treated me like an animal, like a dog. They broke my head until blood streamed out. My jaw, cheeks and ribs were broken?the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council, the official name of the Burmese government] can do what they like?they can kill and rape. We are weaker than they,? one older man from the Mon ceasefire area told RI.

According to interviews conducted by RI, IDPs facing human rights abuses and threats to their survival usually seek refuge in Thailand as a last resort. Naw Paw Wah, a 29-year-old Karen mother of four, only fled her village when her husband was nearly killed by the Burmese army. Prior incidence of forced labor, beatings?including while she was four months pregnant?as well as the existence of rapes and extrajudicial killings in her village were not enough reason to brave the journey to Thailand. Only when a severe beating to her husband left him with permanent physical and mental disability did she decide she had no choice. ?I was afraid they would torture me like that next.? Despite the fact that soldiers were beating her family members and recruiting them for forced labor routinely, another woman from the Karenni ethnic group told RI that she only left after a Burmese officer raped her sister and attempted to rape her. The displaced endure abuses rather than seeking asylum because they know that coming to Thailand can be dangerous and that denial of entry at the border happens routinely. News has trickled back inside Burma that even if IDPs can find a secret route into Thailand, they may not be allowed into refugee camps. There are no guarantees that they will be protected from abuse by Thai authorities or receive humanitarian assistance. Thailand?s strict policy towards refugees is achieving its goal of deterrence, causing IDPs to stay in Burma at great risk to their security and well-being.

To qualify for refugee status in Thailand, Burmese must be able to prove that they are ?fleeing fighting,? which is defined as literally being shot at within hours or, at most, a few days of reaching the border. Only a fraction of the three to four thousand people seeking asylum in Thailand each month qualify as refugees under this narrow definition. As a result, many refugees fleeing human rights abuses are rejected and left with few options for protection and assistance. To make matters worse, in a further effort to deter refugees from entering Thailand, the Thai authorities halted the entire refugee screening process for the past year, leaving no mechanism available for refugees to enter camps. The Royal Thai Government has so tightly circumscribed UNHCR?s role in protecting refugees that, in effect, the UN refugee agency is unable to carry out its core protection mandate along the border with Burma.

In summary, there are few options available for IDPs to find a safe haven. Knowing of the threats they could encounter on their journey to Thailand, the uncertainty of being allowed to cross the border, and the likelihood that they will be denied access to refugee camps, many prefer to live in hiding in the jungles or in government relocation sites, where on-going human rights abuses and threats to their survival are a day to day reality.

Refugees International therefore recommends that:
The Royal Thai Government:
Allow those fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution entry into Thailand and access to humanitarian assistance.
Allow UNHCR to carry out its refugee protection mandate.

US Government:
Pressure the Royal Thai Government to allow those with a well-founded fear of persecution entry into Thailand and access to humanitarian assistance.
Pressure the Burmese government to allow missions to assess humanitarian and human rights conditions in ethnic minority and border areas.
Pressure the UN to conduct humanitarian and human rights assessment missions to ethnic minority and border areas.

UNHCR:
Negotiate with the Royal Thai Government to allow UNHCR to carry out its mandate to ensure access to refugee camps for Burmese with a well-founded fear of persecution.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Take an active role in negotiating humanitarian assistance to IDPs.

Donor Governments:
Confirm publicly the scope of Burma's IDP problem, advocate for humanitarian access to ethnic minority areas, and, if independent assistance is possible, provide emergency assistance to affected populations.

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Refugees International
Burmese Army Uses Rape as a Weapon in Ethnic Conflict
Refugees International Advocate Veronika Martin and human rights lawyer Betsy Apple recently completed an assessment mission to the Thai-Burmese border.
10/09/2002

The Burmese army (or Tatmadaw in the Burmese Language) is preying on, and in many cases, helping to create, a massive class of internally displaced persons and refugees who are fleeing its gross human rights abuses. Women from ethnic minorities?civilians in Burma?s internal armed conflict?are particularly targeted for abuse through the widespread use of rape by Burmese soldiers. The Burmese army is causing women to flee their villages, their ethnic States, and in many cases, their country, to escape or recover from the rapes that have become a part of daily life in Burma?s border regions.

Burmese soldiers and officers have committed pervasive rape of ethnic women from Burma?s border States. In June 2002, the Shan Women?s Action Network and Shan Human Rights Foundation produced a report, License to Rape, documenting the violations of 625 Shan women from 1996 to the present. Refugees International, conducting recent interviews with refugee women from Burma living in Thailand, confirmed widespread rape in Burma?s Shan State as well as throughout other States bordering Thailand. In 25 interviews with ethnic Shan, Karen, Karenni, Mon and Tavoyan individuals, RI documented 34 cases of rape or attempted rape, and confirmed 23 of those cases through victim or eyewitness testimony or physical evidence. These rapes, perpetrated by soldiers ranking from private ("regular soldier") to major, must be seen as an integral part of the Burmese junta?s war on its ethnic minority peoples.

A typical story is that of Naw Hla Paw (a pseudonym), an ethnic woman in her 30s who went to cut wood with her 13-year-old sister and three friends in late 1998. After she and her sister separated from their friends in the forest, three soldiers confronted them and threatened them with their guns. When she tried to flee, one of the soldiers grabbed her, while the other hit her in the face and mouth and broke her teeth. One soldier threw her to the ground and tried to rape her, but she successfully fought him off when her three friends arrived. Prior to their arrival, one of the other soldiers beat and raped her sister while Naw Hla Paw was being beaten next to her. Naw Hla Paw and her friends carried her sister, who was injured and bleeding, back to their home. Shortly thereafter, the village headman complained to the battalion commander, who promised to hold a line-up to enable Naw Hla Paw to identify the perpetrators. At the line-up, she identified two of soldiers who had been in the forest that day, but she did not see the man who had actually raped her sister. Subsequently, when she saw the battalion commander in the village (she had never seen him before), she realized he was the actual rapist. She informed the village headman, who again confronted the commander. The commander beat him and told him, "You cannot solve this case." To her knowledge, none of the soldiers were punished. The following year, a soldier from the same battalion followed her sister to a paddy field and shot and killed her. Naw Hla Paw and her family suspect he did so under orders from the commander.

Almost immediately after the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), in its earlier incarnation as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), took power in 1988, indigenous groups began documenting the army?s use of rape against ethnic minority women to quell dissent. Because many of Burma?s ethnic minority nationalities had struggled for autonomy against the central government since independence in 1948, the SLORC/SPDC had a longstanding interest in "consolidating the union," which they did?and continue to do?through armed offensives against the ethnic armies. These armed offensives, calculated to quash dissent by Burma?s ethnic minority groups, include widespread attacks on civilians. Such attacks consist of forced relocation of entire villages, forced labor, torture, extrajudicial execution, and myriad gender-based abuses. Rape and sexual assault have served as two of the Burmese army?s key weapons against the civilian population of ethnic minority women in Burma.

In this highly militarized country with an army that is fully 1% of the national population?well over 400,000 soldiers in a country of 42 million?women from the ethnic States don?t even have to experience rape to fear the soldiers; the mere prospect of rape terrorizes. As one Karen woman states, "We were afraid for them to come, and would hide every time. They would say we were helping the KNU (Karen ethnic army), and they would arrest and kill people often." The "lucky" women are those who are forced to porter (carry) for the army or labor on their projects. The unlucky ones experience much worse: women are raped as they walk to and from their fields, in their houses, while they are engaged by the army in forced labor on roads and other projects and in military barracks and camps. Because the Burmese army occupies much of the border region with permanent military installations, the victims often know their rapists? they are the soldiers who live in or near their villages who come to their houses on a regular basis to take their food and animals, and to force them to work as slave laborers.

As the Burmese army has moved to increase its presence in the border States, which previously were "occupied" by the ethnic armies, the incidence of rape has risen. "Where there are soldiers, there is rape," said one refugee commenting on the persistent character of the rape. "When more soldiers come, then the women are more afraid. And often, the men will run away because they know they will be taken as porters or killed. So the women are left behind." The correlation between military presence and rape is well established throughout the border regions, with one exception. Allied with the Burmese army is a Karen Buddhist armed group, the DKBA, whose presence in parts of Karen State serves as a deterrent to rape. "The DKBA soldiers are Karen first, and they don?t like it when the Burmese army rapes their women," said a refugee and official of a Karen political organization. "So when the DKBA is there, the women are safer."

This exception proves a critical point: that the Burmese army uses rape as an instrument of ethnic discrimination and abuse. While women from Burma?s ethnic majority, the Burmans, are also subject to rape, such instances typically occur during incarceration or as punishment for political activities. For Burma?s ethnic minority women, their very ethnicity is enough to put them at risk.

Pervasive rape by the military is an important factor in creating a massive number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. Credible sources estimate that two million IDPs live inside Burma, and more than 120,000 refugees live in Thailand in camps, with an additional one million living illegally in Thailand. Women fleeing rape and other abuses?escaping the dangers of their villages?become subject to fresh dangers as IDPs, vulnerable both to the Burmese army and to nature?s ravages, including disease and malnutrition. Women fleeing to Thailand find additional challenges, including violence at the hands of the host military and police.

In light of the pervasive, persistent incidence of rape by the Burmese military against ethnic minority women, Refugees International recommends that:
The Burmese regime investigate allegations of rape and appropriately punish perpetrators.
The UN send a mission to investigate reports of widespread rape in Burma?s ethnic and border areas.
The UN strongly condemn rape and other human rights abuses through its resolutions on Burma in the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights.
UNHCR and the Royal Thai Government work together to provide a safe environment for all refugees, especially women and children.
Burmese survivors of rape in Thailand, whether in camps or working as "migrants," receive critical physical and mental health services, especially focused on gender-based abuses.
The U.S. government continue to apply strong economic and political pressure on the SPDC to improve its human rights policies and practices.

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Burma Related News - Oct - 11, 2002.