Myanmar’s military junta is involved in abductions, murders, sexual violence against women. Children and pregnant women are forced to work for the army. A report denounces the genocide of entire populations with names, facts and dates accusing the international community of indifference.

Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Myanmar's military is subjecting Karen women to brutal rapes, torture, murder and forced labour as part of its offensive against the ethnic minority, according to a report released yesterday. The report, by members of an exiles' organisation working along the Thai-Myanmar border, cites in often gruesome detail the cases of 959 women and girls in Karen state from 1981 until last year. But thousands of lesser cases of abuse involving women are also noted.

“Rape has been and continues to be used as a method of torture to intimidate and humiliate the civilian population, particularly in the ethnic states. Women and children are subjected to forced labour, and are displaced from their homes,” says the “State of Terror” report by the Karen Women's Organisation.

Naw May, 38, was brutally raped by soldiers of the 101 Infantry Battalion, who then killed her and cut off her ears to get her earrings, the report alleged. In another case, four soldiers raped 20-year-old Naw Moo in her own home.

Some of the assaults are directed against families believed to be supporting rebels of the Karen National Union, which has for decades been fighting for autonomy from the central government. Widespread sexual assaults against ethnic Shan women have also been reported.

Large numbers of women—some of them pregnant or carrying newborn babies—have also been forced to work as porters and labourers for the Burma army. "If we were tired and could not continue, the soldiers kicked us in the back. They struck us with their guns all the time so that we could not count how many times," said Naw Mu Thoo, a 33-year-old who suffered three miscarriages after being forced to carry heavy loads.

A major offensive against the insurgents began in late 2005 and is continuing. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium, the main aid agency for tens of thousands of refugees along the frontier, estimates that last year alone the violence forced 82,000 people to leave their homes. Since 1996, more than 3,000 villages have been destroyed or abandoned in eastern Myanmar and more than 1 million people displaced, according to its most recent report

Myanmar’s military junta has been accused of carrying out a virtual genocide against the country’s ethnic minorities but the international community has not taken any significant steps to stop it.

Last January the United Nations Security Council rejected a resolution calling on Myanmar to reduce its repression and free political prisoners.

Russia and China voted against the resolution alleging the issue did not concern peace and security in the region and therefore was beyond the purview of the Council.

• MYANMAR
• HUMAN
• RIGHTS
• WOMEN