WUNRN
BURMA/MYANMAR - ACTIVIST WOMEN FOUND
GUILTY OF "ILLEGAL" PROTEST AGAINST RAPE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The
Burmese army has consistently been accused of using rape as an instrument of
war against ethnic minority women.
By NAW NOREEN - July 24, 2014
Eight
women’s rights activists were found guilty of unlawful assembly in Chin State,
western Burma,on Wednesday for their participation in a demonstration
against sexual violence.
The activists — Ngun Chin Par, Sui Sui Kyi, Kaw Htwe, Khin Khin
Zi, Thang Zing, Khin Thluai Par, Maung Han and Tei Maung — were ordered to
either pay a 30,000 kyat (US$30) fine or serve one-month prison sentences.
“A guilty verdict on the defendants was passed by the court on
23 July, with a sentence of either one month in prison or 30,000 kyat fine,”
said Mai T Sui Leng, the director of Women’s Hand Myanmar Foundation, an NGO
that has been assisting the group throughout their trial. “Our foundation has
offered to pay the fines for each of them.”
While her foundation has pledged financial support to avoid the
prison sentences, Mai T Sui Leng stressed that they are very disappointed with
the courts for targeting activists instead of sexual offenders.
“We want to see effective legal action against the soldier who
committed violence against a woman,” she said.
On 24 June, two demonstrations were held in Chin State in response
to the alleged attempted rape of a 55-year-old woman by a Burma Army soldier
from Light Infantry Battalion No. 269. About 400 people were said to have
turned out in Rezua, while another 200 gathered in Matupi.
Authorities
in both towns denied requests for permission to hold demonstrations, and
the organisers — four from Rezua and four from Matupi — were subsequently charged for the violation of
Burma’s controversial Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Act, which
contains provisions criminalising unauthorised gatherings.
Rights
groups have condemned the charges from the outset,
urging the government to immediately drop the case and investigate sexual war
crimes. The Chin Human Rights Organisation said that they have documented
multiple cases of sexual violence committed in the remote state since President
Thein Sein took power in 2011. The group said that the frequency and severity
of abuses warrants an international investigation “in order to deter
further violations and help end the culture of impunity.”
Similarly,
Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the international community to put pressure on
the Burmese government to acquit the demonstrators and take meaningful action towards ending military impunity.
“The
military has long frowned on the citizenry calling for transparent justice,
particularly in a case they’d rather sweep under the rug,” HRW said in a 9 July
press statement. While commending the government for signing onto a UN
commitment to ending sexual crimes in
conflict, the group said that the country’s leaders will need a
“change of mindset” to make that promise a reality.
The first step, said Mai T Sui Leng, is to make the justice system
more transparent. Crimes allegedly committed by soldiers are brought to
military trials, which some say offers inherent protection to the accused.
“We would like the trial to be conducted at a civilian court
rather than military trial,” Mai T Sui Leng said of the accused officer. “We
want to know how he will be punished.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________