WUNRN
Kachin Women's Association Thailand
Direct Link to Full 21-Page Report:
BURMA - WAR AGAINST KACHIN PEOPLE -
RAPE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, KILLINGS - WOMEN & GIRLS - REPORT
10
October 2011 - In its new war against Kachin
resistance forces,
“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.
“Our documentation team was deeply shocked at the
details of these crimes. Some women were gang-raped in front of their families.
In one case, soldiers slaughtered a woman’s grandchild in front of her before
raping and killing her also,” said KWAT spokesperson Shirley Seng.Atrocities
have escalated since the regime expanded its offensive in September, deploying
over 1,000 troops from nine battalions to seize Kachin strongholds in northern
Shan State. On September 24, three separate rape incidents by Burma Army troops
occurred in Muse and Kutkai townships,
Thousands of
villagers from Kutkai have been displaced in recent weeks, but denied refuge in
Over 25,000 villagers already sheltering in makeshift camps along the
Kachin-China border are facing severe shortages of food and medicine, as the
regime has blocked agencies working officially inside