Refuge for rape victims urged

Published on Sep 25, 2002

A human rights group yesterday demanded that Thailand guarantee protection to rape victims fleeing abuse by Burmese soldiers.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development - or Forum Asia - called on the Kingdom to "prevent further crackdowns on pro-democracy and human rights activists" following the visit here yesterday and today of Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung.

The group said in a statement that it feared Thailand would trade off the safety of Burmese asylum-seekers and pro-democracy activists in return for an improvement in cross-border relations.

Forum Asia said scores of ethnic-minority women were fleeing "numerous instances of rape and torture by the Burmese armed forces". They and activists who assisted them face jail, torture and execution if repatriated, the group said.

Thailand is yet to guarantee protection against repatriation or allow access to humanitarian assistance, the group asserted. It said the recently released report "Licence to Rape" highlighted "systematic use of rape as a weapon of war" by soldiers of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) - the Burmese junta.

The report - by the Shan Women's Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation - alleged that Burmese officers committed 83 per cent of documented rapes. They "often involved extreme brutality and torture", it said.

"In some cases women were detained and raped repeatedly for periods of up to four months. The youngest victim was aged only five," the forum asserted in a statement.

The forum accused the Thai government of shutting the offices of both organisations responsible for the report.

"Instead of instituting a transparent and independent investigation into the reported rapes, the SPDC has responded to the report by further pressuring the Thai government to crack down on and silence NGOs working on Burma issues and Burmese pro-democracy activists in Thailand," the statement alleged.

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