[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E749-E750]
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

                        Thursday, April 10, 2003

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in May 2002, the Shan Women's Action Network 
and the Shan Human Rights Foundation issued a highly disturbing report 
entitled License to Rape. The State Department followed that report 
with further investigation into the issue.
  I traveled to the Thai-Burma border in January of this year and heard 
further horrifying testimonies about Burmese military regime's use of 
systematic rape against ethnic minorities. In addition, refugees and 
others shared personal experiences about watching the State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC) soldiers kill their families or neighbors in 
front of them. One eight-year-old orphan I met saw both parents 
brutally murdered while he watched. Other refugees reported the SPDC's 
use of ethnic minorities, including women and young children, as human 
landmine sweepers and as forced labor.
  These human rights abuses MUST be stopped.
  To add further proof to the myriad reliable reports by both local and 
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Refugees 
International recently released a report further documenting the SPDC 
military's use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic women. The new 
report is entitled No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic 
Women. No Safe Place documents the SPDC's use of rape against women 
from the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Tavoyan and Shan ethnic groups and 
indicates that the rapes are ``a pattern of brutal abuse designed to 
control, terrorize, and harm ethnic nationality populations through 
their women.''
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter a portion of Refugees 
International's report into the Congressional Record.
  Thank you.

        No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women


                          ii. recommendations

       Refugees International recommends that:

                           The United Nations

       The UN Commission on Human Rights condemn rape and other 
     forms of sexual violence against ethnic women and girls by 
     Burma's military in its annual resolution on the situation of 
     human rights in Burma.
       The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ensure that any 
     investigation of rape and other forms of sexual violence 
     inside Burma conducted by UN officials is done by experts on 
     sexual violence, with guarantees of full access, complete and 
     ongoing security for all witnesses and victims and a follow 
     up mechanism to verify compliance.
       UNHCR assist the Royal Thai Government in providing a safe 
     environment for Burmese fleeing human rights abuses with a 
     special emphasis on women and children.
       The UNHCR insist that women and girls fleeing rape and 
     other forms of sexual violence in Burma qualify for 
     protection and assistance in Thailand.
       The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against 
     Women request a special periodic report from the State Peace 
     and Development Council focusing on the constitutional, 
     legal, administrative, military, and practical measures taken 
     to eliminate rape and other forms of violence against women. 
     The Committee should convene a special session to engage in 
     dialogue with the SPDC about this special periodic report.

                    The Royal Thai Government (RTG)

       The RTG recognize women and girls fleeing rape in Burma who 
     seek refuge in Thailand as legitimate refugees who have a 
     right to protection and assistance, and not as ``illegal 
     migrants.''
       The RTG ensure that Burmese survivors of rape and other 
     forms of sexual violence in Thailand, whether in camps or 
     working as ``migrants,'' receive critical physical and mental 
     health services, especially focused on gender-based abuses.
       The RTG cease the practice of repatriating or deporting 
     asylum seekers without prior screening to ascertain whether 
     they have valid claims for asylum.
       The RTG adhere to the definition of ``refugee'' according 
     to the 1951 Convention on the Status relating to Refugees and 
     the 1967 protocol--a definition that has attained the level 
     of customary international law--and should not create a new 
     standard for determining when those seeking refuge are 
     entitled to enter its borders.

                The State Peace and Development Council

       The SPDC stop all military buildup and begin demilitarizing 
     the ethnic areas promptly.
       The SPDC fulfill its obligations under the Convention on 
     the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 
     (CEDWA), which it ratified in 1998. This includes ceasing all 
     practices and policies which discriminate against women, 
     including violence against women.
       The SPDC ratify the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
       The SPDC fulfill its obligations under the Convention on 
     the Rights of the Child, which it ratified in 1991, which 
     prohibits gender-based violence against children.

                              Governments

       Governments demand that the SPDC demilitarize ethnic areas.
       Governments maintain economic sanctions and withhold 
     overseas development and loan or debt assistance until 
     significant improvements in the human rights situation, 
     including a decrease in violence against women, is 
     independently verified.
       Governments continue to pressure the SPDC to engage in 
     meaningful, substantive discussions with the National League 
     of Democracy and representatives of ethnic nationalities.

                  NGOs and International Organizations

       Organizations lend support to the international campaign to 
     stop rape and other forms of sexual violence by the Burmese 
     military through public statements and advocacy.
       International organizations conducting research on rape, 
     other forms of sexual violence and other human rights abuses 
     coordinate with grassroots, indigenous organizations to 
     ensure the comprehensive and safe collection of information.
       Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) seek to build the 
     capacity of indigenous groups to document abuses perpetrated 
     against their own communities.
       Organizations increase efforts to reach and assist 
     displaced populations with critical needs.


                           iii. introduction

       ``I have waited many years to tell you this story,'' one 
     Karenni woman lamented as she told of witnessing her 
     thirteen-year-old sister's rape and then described how the 
     Burmese soldiers beat and attempted to rape her. She is just 
     one of countless women from Burma's ethnic minority groups, 
     sometimes known as ethnic nationalities, with a chilling tale 
     of abuse at the hands of her country's army.
       In June 2002, the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan 
     Women's Action Network (SWAN) released a report, License to 
     Rape, documenting 625 cases of rape and sexual violence. The 
     report began a movement to focus on Burma's use of rape as a 
     weapon of war, while also highlighting the relentless, 
     ongoing campaign of human rights abuses against Burma's 
     ethnic minorities. Based on interviews conducted by 
     indigenous women's and human rights groups, and compiled and 
     written by indigenous women, License to Rape provided 
     credible proof of the brutality of the Burmese army, in the 
     voices of those very women affected most by the brutalities.
       Following the release of this important report, the 
     international community expressed unprecedented but long 
     overdue outrage. The U.S. State Department declared its 
     indignation at the phenomenon documented in the report and 
     called for an international investigation, while sending its 
     own investigator to the Thai/Burmese border; members of the 
     U.S. Congress and officials from other governments publicly 
     condemned the Burmese military's actions. Pressure for the 
     United Nations to investigate the prevalence and 
     systematic nature of the rapes grew until the UN Special 
     Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma raised the issue with 
     Burma's military regime, the State Peace and Development 
     Council (SPDC). Various governmental

[[Page E750]]

     officials, NGOs, and UN personnel began talking about the 
     possibility and logistics of an independent investigation. 
     Meanwhile, in Thailand, the Royal Thai Government (RTG), 
     concerned that such an outcry would jeopardize its policy 
     of engagement with the SPDC, ordered those NGOs that 
     participated in compiling the report to close their 
     offices indefinitely.
       Although License to Rape has received a notable amount of 
     attention, the international community, including officials 
     from various governments, suggested to Refugees International 
     that additional evidence could assist in generating further 
     action. It is important to ask why. Some suggested that a 
     report about the experience of indigenous women, compiled by 
     indigenous women, could not be objective. Others proposed 
     that the report, written by a small, unknown group, was not 
     credible enough.
       The authors of this report reject those propositions. Few 
     are as well-qualified to document and describe rape as those 
     women from the brutalized communities. International advocacy 
     without grassroots knowledge, participation, and decision-
     making is of extremely limited use. Consequently, the purpose 
     of this report is not to ``bolster'' the claims contained in 
     License to Rape. Rather, the purpose is both to support and 
     build on the movement and activity generated by SWAN, and to 
     expand the scope of understanding regarding the brutal 
     phenomenon of rape in Burma to include a broader profile 
     of ethnic nationalities. License to Rape documented the 
     widespread use of rape against Shan ethnic women. Rape is 
     not confined to Shan State or to Shan women. The Burmese 
     military uses rape against many ethnic nationalities for 
     the express purpose of brutalizing ``insurgents,'' 
     quashing ethnic dissent, and demoralizing and destroying 
     ethnic communities.
       Refugees International decided that our approach would be 
     to broaden the scope of the Shan report by investigating the 
     prevalence of the Burmese military's use of rape against 
     other ethnic groups. RI's field mission focused the research 
     on the Karen, Karenni, Mon, and Tavoyan ethnic groups. In 
     applying our expertise in international advocacy on behalf of 
     war-affected populations, RI sought to examine the extent of 
     the use of rape against a variety of Burma's ethnic 
     nationalities and determine if the abuses were widespread 
     and/or systematic.
       Karen, Karenni, Mon and Tavoyan women and men, as well as 
     several Shan individuals, were courageous in sharing their 
     personal stories and observations. From the 26 individuals 
     interviewed, 43 rapes or attempted rapes were described, 23 
     of them confirmed by victim or witness testimony or physical 
     evidence. Stories of rapes and other human rights abuses and 
     the resulting mental and physical ailments dominated the 
     interviews. Individuals still in pain from torture and 
     beatings talked about the violations suffered by them and 
     their families and friends. For many, the decision to leave 
     Burma was clearly tied to the rape and other abuses they and 
     their family members had experienced. One survivor spoke for 
     many when she said, ``To this day, I cannot sleep at night 
     thinking about what happened.'' The time is ripe for the 
     international community to hear their voices and take action.

                          ____________________