[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 BURMA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disturbed by the horrifying 
reports of increasing repression in Burma. Accounts detail ongoing 
massacres, torture, burning of villages and churches, and forced labor 
of villagers by Burma's military regime in the Karen state and 
throughout the country. Despite the regime's promises of change and 
liberalization, Burma's military dictatorship has shown more of the 
same terrible treatment of the people--recently a dozen innocent 
civilians, including children and babies were massacred.
  I have in my office graphic photos showing the April 28, 2002, 
massacre in Burma's Dooplaya district. The photos show the bodies of 
victims stacked neatly after their murder. The regime's soldiers shot 
and killed Naw Daw Bah, a two-year-old girl, and Naw Play and Naw Ble 
Po, two five-year-old girls. Nine others were shot, but fortunately 
escaped, including a six-year old boy who played dead until the 
military left the site. These first-person accounts, plus the photos, 
provide incontrovertible evidence of the State Peace and Development 
Council's (SPDC) horrifying human rights abuses and crimes against 
humanity as they continue their attempt to subjugate the entire country 
through whatever means they see necessary.
  Mr. Speaker, what possible threat do babies and two and five-year-old 
little girls present to military men with arms?
  Numerous reports from eyewitnesses and credible human rights 
organizations reveal that this latest massacre is but one example of an 
ongoing campaign of terror by Burma's military regime against its own 
people. The SPDC has burned down scores of villages and forcibly 
relocated villagers to areas near military bases to be forced laborers. 
During attacks on villages, the military also has burned down places of 
worship and tortured and killed ministers and monks. The military 
regime drove thousands of Karen and other ethnic villagers into hiding 
in the jungle--these internally displaced people have tried to flee to 
Thailand to Join the 120,000 plus living in refugee camps. In Burma's 
Shan state, hundreds, if not thousands, of women have been raped by 
Burma's SPDC in its quest to dominate those who struggle for freedom 
and democracy.
  Shockingly, Burma's military regime operates with impunity. Amnesty 
International, in its most recent report on Burma, says, ``No attempt 
appears to have been made by the SPDC [regime] to hold members of the 
tatmadaw [military] accountable for violations which they committed, 
and villagers do not have recourse to any complaint mechanism or other 
means of redress.''
  Mr. Speaker, no one should be forced to live like a hunted animal 
always on the run, in fear for its life. It is time that the 
international community wake and take action against the horrors 
occurring in Burma. While the military regime woos diplomats, business 
guests, and others in downtown Rangoon, Burma's people are fleeing in 
fear of intensifying and acute repression. Our government and the 
international community must press the SPDC to immediately cease its 
campaign of terror against the people of Burma. I urge my colleagues to 
join in solidarity with the Burmese people by raising their voices for 
freedom.

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