[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E573]]


                USE OF RAPE AS A WEAPON OF WAR IS WRONG

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                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 2004

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, a recently released report has revealed 
yet more evidence of heinous human rights abuses committed by Burma's 
ruling military regime. The report by the Karen Women's Organization 
entitled ``Shattering Silence'' documents rapes of ethnic women by the 
regime's soldiers. If the allegations contained in the report are 
correct, the stories illustrate how Burma's regime uses rape to 
undercut resistance to its rule by attacking innocent and defenseless 
civilians.
  I am especially horrified with evidence that over half of the rapes 
were committed by military officers, and 40 percent were gang-rapes. 
Reads one example: ``While she was living in her village she was 
captured as the porter to carry shells for the SPDC. At daytime she was 
forced to carry heavy things and at night she was raped . . . She was 
raped every night by one to five persons. If she refused or asked them 
to not rape her, then they slapped her or beat her or closed her mouth 
. . . At that time they jumped on her body with their boots. While she 
was being raped at night she heard women shouting from other places. 
And so she knew there were many women suffering like her.''
  Furthermore, the report found that in 28 percent of the cases, the 
women were brutally killed and often mutilated after being raped by 
officers.
  This is not the first time we have heard of the regime's use of rape 
as a weapon of war. This report supports previous evidence documented 
by the Shan Women's Action Network, Refugees International, and the 
Bureau of Democracy, Rights, and Labor at the State Department.
  The use of rape as a weapon of war was wrong in Bosnia, and it is 
wrong in Burma. Burma's regime must be held to account, and their 
climate of impunity must end.

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