Sexual Violence by Burmese Government Troops Continues Despite Ceasefires in Shan State: SHRF

Update by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women | November 25, 2015

The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) has documented eight cases of sexual violence committed by Burmese government troops in southern and eastern Shan State since April 2015, all in so-called “ceasefire” areas. These cases reveal continuing patterns of impunity, and highlight that ongoing militarization and offensives by the Burma Army despite ceasefires are a key factor threatening women’s security in ethnic areas.

The most recent crime took place on November 5, 2015, near a village in Ke See township. A 32-year-old woman was gang-raped by about 10 soldiers while her husband was tied up under their farm hut. This took place during the current offensive by the Burma Army against the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N). Despite an existing bilateral ceasefire, the government has since last month deployed 20 battalions, heavy artillery, and fighter aircraft to seize SSPP/SSA-N areas, committing abuses against civilians and causing displacement of over 10,000 villagers.

Seven earlier incidents of sexual violence documented by SHRF took place in remote rural areas of southern and eastern Shan State where the Burma Army has continued its troop build-up despite a bilateral ceasefire with the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-South) since December 2011.

Documented cases indicate strong confidence of impunity by perpetrators. Some violations were committed by groups of soldiers, some in front of or within earshot of witnesses, and one rape-murder took place next to the perpetrators’ own military base.

In only two cases were alleged perpetrators seen being arrested by the Burmese military — after pressure from local community leaders — but their sentences are not known, due to the opaqueness of the military justice system. In other cases, the military simply offered money to hush up the incident, or local authorities were unwilling to accept charges filed against the military.

SHRF is gravely concerned at this ongoing pattern of impunity, further entrenched by the Burma Army’s closing of ranks to protect the rapist-killers of the two Kachin teachers in Kawng Kha, northern Shan State in January of this year. In this case, not only did the military block police investigation of their personnel, but they also threatened legal action against anyone implicating them in the crime.

In order to end military sexual violence in Burma, it is urgently needed to start tackling the structural root causes of this violence, namely Napyidaw’s ongoing policies of militarization and aggression against the ethnic peoples, and the fact that the military remains constitutionally outside civilian control.

In June 2014, Burma signed the UK-sponsored Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, which should have paved the way for international engagement to begin seriously addressing this issue in the country. However, there has been a resounding silence from the international community, including Britain, about Naypyidaw’s continued offensives in ethnic states, which are the context for the continued sexual violence.

SHRF therefore strongly urges the international community to “walk the talk” to protect women and girls in Burma from sexual violence in conflict. They must start publicly condemning Naypyidaw’s ongoing attacks and make any further engagement with Naypyidaw conditional upon an immediate end to its militarization and offensives in the ethnic areas.