World must act to end Burmese military aggression against Kachin

A new report by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) details widespread civilian casualties from recent Burma Army offensives in Kachin areas and urges international pressure to end military aggression against the Kachin people.

“State Terror in the Kachin Hills” documents the killing or injury of 26 civilians, including women, children and the elderly, by Burma Army shelling during offensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since September 2012. Attacks have continued in the past few days, despite ongoing peace talks.

International donors have failed dismally to respond to humanitarian needs of about 60,000 Kachin villagers displaced along the China border since conflict broke out in northern Burma over a year ago, according to data compiled by the Kachin Women’s Association (KWAT).  

From persecution to deprivation, a brief report launched today by KWAT, documents that nearly 60,000 people sheltering in Kachin-controlled areas have received only 4% of their basic food needs from international aid groups, including the UN. About 100,000 have been displaced in total since the Burmese government broke its 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in June 2011.

Organized by Voice of Kachin Community

Around 40 people staged a protest at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok today to criticize the ongoing armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Kachin State. The protesters, members of the Kachin community in Bangkok and representatives from the Overseas National Students of Burma, read out a statement and the text of a letter addressed to President Thein Sein calling for an end to the crisis situation. See photos from the protest here.

Kachin community and civil society representatives will hold a press conference to mark one year since the 17-year ceasefire between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Organization broke down. In the last year, an estimated 75,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and continue to face a humanitarian crisis with virtually no access to assistance from local or international organizations.

Kachin communities around the world, civil society and supporters are solemnly marking this one year of armed conflict with global actions calling for an immediate end to the humanitarian crisis. This press conference will look at the actions being held around the world and the situation on the ground in Kachin State, highlighting the ongoing offensives by the Burma Army and human rights violations. The Kachin Women’s Association – Thailand will also be releasing a report entitled “Ongoing Impunity: Continued Burma Army atrocities against the Kachin people.”

 

When: Friday 8 June at 1:30pm

Where: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand

Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok



(connected to the BTS Skytrain Chidlom station)

 
Speakers will be:

·         Hkawng Seng Pan (Kachin Women’s Association – Thailand)

·         Naw La (Kachin Development Network Group)

·         Naw Din (Kachin News Group)

·         Moderated by Khin Ohmar (Burma Partnership)

 
For more information, please contact:

Moon Nay Li, Coordinator, Kachin Women’s Association – Thailand: +66856251912 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jessica Stevens, Media and Communications Officer, Burma Partnership: +66884307032 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The gang-rape and prolonged torture of a woman in a church near the Kachin-China border town of Pang Wa in early May show the ongoing impunity for sexual violence enjoyed by the Burma Army.

On May 1, 2012, a patrol of Burmese troops from two battalions  (Light Infantry Battalion 347 and Infantry Battalion 118) arrived at Luk Pi village, Chipwi township, northwest of Pang Wa, and found “Ngwa Mi” (not her real name) aged 48, sheltering alone in a church, after most of the other villagers had fled. About ten troops beat her with rifle butts, stabbed her with knives, stripped her naked and gang-raped her over a period of three days in the church. 

The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) is gravely concerned for the lives of four women being held as sex slaves at a frontline post near Loije at the Kachin-China border, and calls for the Burma Army to immediately free them, and for foreign envoys in Burma to demand their immediate release.

According to porters who escaped on November 1 from Mu Bum mountain outpost, where about 50 troops from Light Infantry Battalion 321 are based, the four women were being made to clean and cook for the soldiers during the day, and were gang-raped by them at night. 

The porters identified one of the women as Sumlut Roi Ja, aged 28, from the nearby village of Hkai Bang. She was last seen by her husband and father-in-law on October 28, when they were forced to carry corn to Mu Bum army post. The three had run away from the camp, but she had been too slow and was recaptured.

In its new war against Kachin resistance forces, Burma’s regime has deliberately targeted civilians with killings, torture and sexual violence, displacing over 25,000 people during the past four months.

“Burma’s Covered Up War: Atrocities Against the Kachin People” by the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT) documents atrocities committed by the Burma Army since it broke a 17 year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on June 9. Women and children have suffered some of the worst crimes, including rape and sexual violence. 37 women and girls were raped during the first two months of the conflict; 13 of these were killed.

The refusal of Burma’s military regime to allow international aid to the growing numbers of war-affected Kachin is causing critical hardship for these displaced communities.

Ongoing atrocities by the Burma Army troops, despite continuing ceasefire negotiations with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), are driving increased numbers of villagers to flee to towns or border areas. Numbers of displaced along the mountainous China-Burma border have risen from 16,000 in July to nearly 20,000, sheltering in 15 makeshift camps. Over 3,000 are seeking refuge in the Kachin capital Myitkyina and the nearby town of Waimaw.