Mar 10, 2006

Burmas Human Rights Record Slammed in US Report


Human rights abuses by Burmas government increased last year, according to a report by the US State Department. The 22,000-word report, released in Washington yesterday, listed more than 20 areas where serious abuses had occurred

Human rights abuses by Burma’s military government increased last year, according to a comprehensive report by the US State Department. The 22,000-word report, released in Washington yesterday, listed more than 20 areas where “serious abuses” had occurred.

The report documented killings, torture and rape, disappearances, arbitrary and political arrests, forced relocation and confiscation of land and property, forced labor and recruitment of child soldiers, religious discrimination and human trafficking.

Not only the Burmese regime and its armed forces came in for strong criticism in the report, which said ethnic armed groups were also guilty of serious abuses—“although to a lesser extent than the government.” The report specifically named the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Shan State Army-South, saying there were allegations against them of “killings, rapes and forced labor.”

Some ceasefire groups, such as the United Wa State Army and the Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front, “also reportedly committed similar abuses against civilians in their home regions. Armed groups and ceasefire groups also practiced forced conscription of child soldiers.”

The bulk of the report described human rights abuses by the government and its armed forces. Several pro-democracy activists had died while in custody “under suspicious circumstances,” and conditions in Burma’s 35 or so prisons and around 70 labor camps “generally remained harsh and life-threatening.” The government continued to deny prisoners adequate medical care, the report charged.

The regime also “routinely used arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention,” and at the end of 2005 there were some 1,100 political prisoners in Burmese jails, where torture was reportedly routine.

Killings, rape, arbitrary arrests and forced relocations reportedly occurred in areas where the Burmese armed forces operated. “According to credible reports, on July 11, 27 Karen villagers, including children, were massacred by the Burmese army after being arrested for allegedly having contacts with the KNU,” the report said. “The villagers were internally displaced persons, who had been hiding in the jungle on an island off the coast of Palaw Township, Taninthary [Tenasserim] Division.”

Addressing the area of civil liberties, the report said the regime continued in 2005 to restrict freedom of speech and of the press “severely and systematically.” Many prominent writers and journalists remained in prison for expressing their political views.
Restrictions remain firmly in place on religious freedom. “The government did not hesitate to arrest and imprison Buddhist monks who opposed the government,” the report said.

 

Source: The Irrawaddy