Posted on 12/26/2002 8:09:17 PM PST by Mensch
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 — The United States has obtained corroborating evidence that mass rapes of hundreds of girls and women have been carried out by the Burmese army in central Shan Province, where the military government has tried for years to suppress an ethnic rebellion, the State Department said today.
A department spokesman said the United States government had expressed "deep concern" about the rapes and other abuses to Myanmar, formerly Burma, and urged the government there to punish anyone guilty of "such heinous crimes."
Washington has also called for the United Nations to carry out a more extensive investigation of the rape charges, which were first made by human rights groups.
The Burmese government has denied the allegations.
Washington has cooperated with other countries to impose economic and political sanctions against the military junta of Myanmar. The junta took power in 1988 and nullified the results of a parliamentary election in 1990 that was won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy, the political party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Earlier this year, several nongovernment organizations published reports alleging human rights violations by the military in its effort to crush ethnic uprisings.
Reports prepared by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women's Action Network said army troops had raped at least 625 girls and women as a "weapon of war" against civilians. Many victims of government repression have fled to Thailand for safety.
In November, James A. Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said rape was not the only abuse against civilians. "We are deeply troubled by extrajudicial killings, forced relocations and forced labor that have intensified the refugee flow into Thailand this year and created a large population of internally displaced people," he said.
In general, Mr. Kelly said, the release earlier this year of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the principal Burmese opposition leader, from house arrest had not led to an easing of political repression, as many human rights groups hoped, although her political organization was allowed to open some offices around the country.
In August the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor conducted its own investigation of the rape charges, locating several women who gave dramatic, detailed accounts from northern Thailand, where they had fled. Some said they had been gang raped by soldiers, with some attacks dating back five years. A 13-year-old girl said she had been raped in June.
"All the victims under 15 appeared severely traumatized by their experiences, were disturbed mentally and spoke in whispers, if at all," according to a State Department report released on Dec. 17 and described today in The Washington Post. "The older women sobbed violently as they recalled horrific incidents of their own rapes as well as brutal rapes, torture and execution of family members."
The report said that although the testimony was "necessarily anecdotal," the stories were consistent with each other and therefore credible.
The State Department's report said the United Nations envoy for human rights in Myanmar raised the possibility of a separate investigation when he visited the country.
The State Department said Washington was urging Myanmar to cooperate with outside investigators and to carry out its own inquiry.
/sarcasm
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