AFP - New
rape allegations tar
Myanmar
army
AFP - Myanmar protestor
remains in British embassy: source
RI -
Documenting Rape by Burma's Army Against Ethnic Women
VOA News -
Demonstrator Seeks Haven in British Embassy
Hoover's online - "Nuclear reactor" equipment reportedly
shipped to Burmese naval base
ST -
Nurses face discrimination from public
FE -
Fernandes To Visit China This Month
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New rape allegations tar Myanmar army
Fri Apr
4, 8:30 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Myanmar's army is guilty of using
widespread and systematic rape as a weapon of war against ethnic women, a new
report said, which is certain to reignite a controversy over similar claims
furiously disputed by Yangon.
The survey by the Washington-based
Refugees International Group (RI), based on interviews of women on the
Thai-Myanmar border suggests that the use of rape by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar armed
forces) is more widespread than was reported last year.
RI
documented 43 rapes among women from the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Tavoyan and Shan
ethnic groups. Some 75 percent of women interviewed reported knowing someone who
had been raped.
"Rape is widespread and committed with impunity,
both by officers and lower ranking soldiers. The culture of impunity contributes
to an atmosphere in which rape is permissible," said RI spokeswoman Veronika
Martin.
Myanmar has previously rejected all accusations that
members of its army are guilty of rape, and accused the US government of
rehashing discredited allegations to attack it.
The State
Department said in December that its consulate in the northern Thai city of
Chiang Mai had found evidence supporting accusations by rights groups --
including the Shan Human Rights Foundation -- that Myanmar troops used gang rape
of ethnic Shan women as a weapon of war.
The group released a
report last year documenting 625 sex attacks on Shan women and girls by Myanmar
soldiers.
The report contains graphic allegations. Testimony from
one woman, named Thay Yu, claims that she witnessed the rape of a woman fleeing
to Thailand with her family.
The woman's husband was forced to
watch as soldiers raped and killed his wife, before turning their guns on him,
the report said.
Other alleged rapes are documented among women who
were enduring forced labor and incarceration in military prison camps.
One claim concerns the experience of a woman named Naw Muh Doh who
allegedly saw soldiers come to take her sister away to their
camp.
"She heard her sister's cries -- 'they are raping me' -- but
could do nothing to stop it. The day after, the soldiers brought her body back
to the family to bury. Her wounds indicated she had been raped, perhaps to
death," the report said.
RI calls on the UN Commission on Human
Rights to condemn rape and other forms of violence against women and girls in
Myanmar in its annual resolution on the country.
It wants the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees to ensure that any probe into the issue is
conducted by experts of sexual violence with guarantees of full access and
security for witnesses.
Furthermore it calls on the Thai
government to provide protection for women and girls fleeing rape in neighboring
Myanmar.
It also calls on the Myanmar government to live up to
promises to protect women and children enshrined in various international
conventions and agreements it has signed up.
The United States on
Monday restated allegations that Myanmar troops had raped women from ethnic
minorities, especially in Shan, Karenni and Karen states, which drew
international condemnation and fierce denials from the junta last
year.
Myanmar hit back that the report was "patently biased and
rehashes unsubstantiated charges made by insurgents and opposition groups."
The US engages in frequent rhetorical battles with the junta, and
is a strong supporter of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, maintaining an
array of sanctions to protest her exclusion from politics.
Aung San
Suu Kyi was released from house arrest last May, and has been engaged in
UN-brokered talks with the junta since October 2000, but they are yet to
progress beyond a confidence-building stage.
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Myanmar protestor remains in British embassy:
source
Sat Apr 5, 3:48 PM ET
YANGON, April 5
(AFP) - A demonstrator who sought
refuge inside the British embassy in the Myanmar capital after authorities tried
to arrest him remained there Saturday, a source close to the British embassy
said.
"As far as I know the man is still at the embassy. He has
not been handed over, despite requests from the foreign ministry to do so," a
source close to the British embassy told AFP.
The source added
that the demonstrator had said he did not represent any political party.
He and another man had protested outside the embassy Friday
morning, holding fighting peacock flags and shouting, according to a statement
released after the incident by the country's ruling military junta.
One man was arrested while the other, who was dressed like a
Buddhist monk, escaped into the grounds of the British embassy, the junta
statement said.
The source said Saturday, however, that it was the
monk who had been arrested.
British diplomats have not been
available to comment on the incident.
The junta statement said
that authorities were conducting an investigation because the pair were
suspected of being linked to a March 27 bomb blast in downtown Yangon, which
killed two government workers outside a telephone exchange.
Peacock flags are a traditional symbol of resistance against
military rule in Myanmar, where demonstrations are strictly forbidden.
Nevertheless, individuals are occasionally arrested in Yangon for
flouting the law and protesting in public, usually against the ongoing rule of
the regime.
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Refugees International Releases
Report
04/04/2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Refugees
International Releases Report
Documenting Rape by Burma's Army
Against Ethnic Women
(Washington DC, April 3,
2003)- Burma's army is using rape as a weapon of war against women from Burma's
numerous ethnic groups. Recent international attention on rape by the army has
focused on abuses against Shan women. But following a research mission by
Refugees International (RI) to the Thai-Burmese border, RI was able to confirm
that rape is widespread, affecting women from numerous ethnic groups. In its
report titled No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women, RI
documented 43 rapes among women from the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Tavoyan and Shan
ethnicities. Seventy-five percent of women interviewed in RI focus groups
reported knowing someone who had been raped. In nearly one third of the cases,
rapes were committed by higher-ranking officers, and in only two cases were any
punishments given, these extremely weak. These statistics indicate that there is
a permissive attitude towards rape by those overseeing lower ranking
soldiers.
Although Burma's State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) has denied allegations that its military uses rape as a weapon of war,
any admissions of rape have been attributed to rogue elements or the occasional
unruly soldier. RI's report disputes this. ?Rape is widespread and committed
with impunity, both by officers and lower ranking soldiers. The culture of
impunity contributes to an atmosphere in which rape is permissible,? said
Veronika Martin, advocate for RI. The report goes on to suggest that rape is not
only widespread, but also systematic in nature. ?Due to the lack of punishment
to perpetrators, it leads to the conclusion that the system for protecting
civilians is faulty, which in turn suggests the rape is systematic,? explained
Betsy Apple, a human rights lawyer who worked as a consultant for
RI.
This report is the first to look at the issue of rape across
ethnic boundaries. It examines the SPDC's responsibility under international law
and whether rape by Burma's army constitutes War Crimes or other gross
violations. The report further emphasizes that rapes are not a deviation,
committed by rebel soldiers; they are a pattern of brutal abuse designed to
control, terrorize and harm ethnic nationality populations though their women.
The 80-page report, which includes photos and powerful quotes from
victims and witnesses to rape, was co-authored by Betsy Apple and Veronika
Martin, both of whom have extensive backgrounds working with Burmese women in
Thailand. Ms. Apple has conducted previous research on rape by Burma's military
as the director of the Women's Rights Project for EarthRights International. Ms.
Martin has spent six years working with Burmese refugees in a humanitarian and
human rights capacity prior to joining
RI.
--------------------------------------
Refugees International
generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people
around the world, and works to end the conditions that create displacement. RI
does not accept any government or UN funding.
The hard copy can be
ordered ONLINE (soon) or by contacting the RI office at the information given
below. The cost for the report is US$8.00, but it can also be DOWNLOADED for
free. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used for RI's work on Burma
issues.
Refugees International
1705 N Street NW
Washington,
DC, 20036
(202) 828-0110 (Phone)
(202) 828-0819
(Fax)
ri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (email)
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VOA News
Demonstrator Seeks Haven in British Embassy
04
Apr 2003, 17:41 UTC
Witnesses say an anti-government
demonstration was held in Rangoon on Friday, April 4, at 9:30
a.m.
The demonstration took place along Strand Road in front of the
British Embassy. Demonstrators shouted democracy slogans and distributed
leaflets according to eyewitnesses. The leaflets distributed by Peoples? Oway
(Peacock) Student Front stated concerns over the deteriorating situation of the
country.
Rangoon locals say a group of twenty monks and students
took part in the demonstration. When authorities tried to arrest the
demonstrators, some ran into the British Embassy compound. However, a Burmese
government statement declared that "at 9:30 this morning two males, one of them
in monk's robes, holding a fighting peacock flag started shouting in front of
the embassy.''
The fighting peacock is the symbol of the
pro-democracy movement, indicating that the two men were demonstrating against
the Burmese military junta. The government statement continued, reporting that
they "tried to disrupt peace, stability and tranquility," but did not
elaborate.
The government reported that security personnel arrested
the man in the monk's robes while the other ran into the embassy compound. Both
men are believed to be from Pago town, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of
Rangoon.
Police interrogated the monk to find out if he has any
links with a March 27 bomb explosion that took place about 2 kilometers (1 mile)
from the British Embassy in downtown Rangoon. The statement said that "according
to diplomats having the man inside the embassy could hurt the security," but did
not explain why the embassy has not yet given him up to authorities.
He was still in the embassy eight hours after the incident, and
government officials were negotiating with British diplomats to get him out,
presumably to arrest him, sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Hoover's online
"Nuclear reactor" equipment reportedly shipped to Burmese
naval base
April 5, 2003 5:17am
We have learned
that two fully-loaded freighters carrying Russian equipment needed for the
building of a nuclear reactor arrived at SPDC [State Peace and Development
Council] naval base on Zadetkyi Kyun in Kawthaung Township 31 March. The
equipment was shipped via Singapore aboard two freighters, Mandalay, and
Pinya.
Democratic Voice of Burma correspondent Myint Maung Maung
sent this report.
[Myint Maung Maung] The two freighters docked for
inspection at No 58 Naval Base on Zadetkyi Kyun on 31 March and proceeded to
Rangoon with an escort of naval vessels providing security. The two freighters,
Mandalay and Pinya, were reported to be carrying over 5,000 tons of equipment
needed to build a nuclear reactor and shipped from Russia.
The
equipment presumably will be used to build a nuclear reactor which is being
planned on Kalagok Kyun in Mon State.
A group of 32 Russian experts
led by a director of the SPDC's Ministry of Energy had been surveying the land
and enviroment around Kalagok Kyun from 25 March to 3 April. A report from Mon
sources said SPDC Army had confiscated more than 300 acres of farmland belonging
to the local Mon people.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo,
in Burmese 1430 gmt 3 Apr 03
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The Straits Times - APRIL 5, 2003
SAT
UNFRIENDLY ACTIONS: Nurses face discrimination from
public
Please, move out
NURSE M.Y. Khin , 39, from
Myanmar, checked into the staff dormitory at Alexandra Hospital, where she
works, on Wednesday, two days after her landlord suggested she move out of her
rented room.
She could not convince him and his wife - they have a
10-year-old daughter - that she was not looking after Sars patients and was
taking all the proper precautions. 'We were as close as family. I understand
their worries, but I feel very hurt.'
The hospital spent $20,000
doing up an old nurses' dormitory for staff who wish to give family and friends
peace of mind. Two Singaporean nurses are also staying there.
Bus wouldn't stop
A TAN Tock Seng
Hospital nurse was on an SBS Transit bus to work last week. But as it neared her
Moulmein Road stop, a passenger called out to the driver: 'Don't stop
here!'
Noticing the face masks worn by people waiting at the bus
stop, the driver zoomed off, ignoring the nurse's yells. He stopped at the next
bus stop. 'I was almost half an hour late for work,' she said. 'We are
front-line people, we are there to help, and we're given this type of
treatment.'
Condo to nurses: Avoid
lifts
A 26-YEAR-OLD nurse and her five flat mates, all
nurses, received a letter this week from their Balestier condominium's
management. It told them to avoid using the lifts and to shower and change out
of their uniforms before entering the building.
'It's insulting. We
don't work in the Sars ward but we still put on a gown and wear masks. We take
these precautions and people still treat us this way,' said the nurse who works
at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
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Financial Express
Fernandes To Visit
China This Month
Huma
Siddiqui
Saturday, April 05, 2003
New
Delhi, April 4: In a bid to appraise new leadership in China about India?s
concern of growing cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, defence minister George
Fernandes will visit Beijing towards the end of this month.
During
his week-long stay in China, Mr Fernandes will meet President Hu Jintao and
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. His tour is also a preparatory visit for Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee?s trip to China later this year.
According to ministry sources, the government was waiting for the
new regime in China to take over before finalising the visit. Mr Vajpayee?s
visit is the first by an Indian prime minister in a decade.
Mr
Fernandes is expected to discuss India?s concern about China?s continued
military support to Pakistan, especially in its nuclear and ballistic missile
programmes.
Another area of worry is the ever-increasing Chinese
military presence in the Bay of Bengal. This includes ?listening posts? and
electronic surveillance installations in islands off the Myanmar coast to
monitor the Indian naval and missile activities.
India is also
keen on accelerating the delineation of the 4,057-km-long line of actual control
(LAC) to settle the complicated border dispute with China. The two sides have
only managed to exchange sample maps of the ?middle sector? of the border area
so far.
The far more contentious western and eastern sectors are
yet to reach even this preliminary stage. In the western sector, for instance,
the major dispute revolves around an area of 33,000 square km on the Aksai Chin
plateau in Ladakh, which has been complicated further by Pakistan ceding a
portion of it to China in 1963.
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