Myanmar backs away from report of Red Cross probe of Shan rape claims ( AFP ) November 8, 2002


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Myanmar backs away from report of Red Cross probe of Shan rape claims

YANGON, Nov 8 (AFP)

Myanmar has stepped back from an earlier announcement the Red Cross has begun investigating allegations that the military junta used rape as a weapon of war against ethnic Shan women.

In a statement seen Friday, the junta said there was "a slight misinterpretation" of the activities of a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

ICRC working procedure does not allow for teams to go into controversial areas to investigate claims, spokesman Colonel Hla Min said in a statement.Instead, the team "will carry out a systematic program to establish contact with local authorities and the civilian population to further develop ICRC's permanent presence and assistance in those areas."

Earlier this week, in a new bid to clear itself of the allegations, the junta announced the ICRC left the capital to probe claims detailed in a report by two Thailand-based Shan women's groups.The Red Cross quickly denied their team had begun investigations.

"We are not carrying out an inquiry," Red Cross spokeswoman Kim Gordon-Bates said in Geneva. "Under the traditional ICRC mandate, we have an ongoing aid and protection program for people in the region."

Gordon-Bates noted that investigating claims of human rights violations would not fall under the Red Cross's mandate.

The Thai study, released in May, documented 625 sex attacks on Shan women and girls by Myanmar soldiers. It drew international outrage and has been repeatedly rejected by the Yangon junta.

The regime last month asked visiting UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro to go to Shan state to investigate the charges but he declined, citing time constraints.He travelled instead to northern Thailand in late October after completing his two-week trip to Myanmar to speak to the report's authors, and left members of his team there to continue studying the issue.

Hla Min said Pinheiro had recommended during his visit, where he met with top junta leaders as well as democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, that the ICRC investigate the rape allegations.

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