MYANMAR MILITARY USES RAPE AS WEAPON OF WAR: RIGHTS GROUP

Burma, 13 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/15 January 2014 (MINA) – A rights group says the military in Myanmar is still using rape as a weapon of war, and more than 100 women and girls have been raped by the army since 2010.

According to the report, the Thailand-based Women’s League of Burma (Myanmar) documented 47 cases of gang rape and 28 others, who have either been killed or died of their injuries.

The rights group noted that several of rape victims have been as young as eight years, stressing that the attacks were more than random isolated acts by rogue soldiers, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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“Their widespread and systematic nature indicates a structural pattern: rape is still used as an instrument of war and oppression,” the report said, adding, “The use of sexual violence in conflict is a strategy and an act of warfare that has political and economic dimensions that go beyond individual cases.”

The women’s league added that the situation points out the need for legal reform in Myanmar and for changes to a 2008 constitution to ensure that the military is placed under civilian control.

The UN has accused security forces in Myanmar of instigating violence against Muslims in the country, calling for an investigation into the persecution of minority groups.

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The developments come as media reports show Rohingya women are forced into prostitution and sexual slavery at military bases across the Southeast Asian country.

“The women have been beaten, drugged, and sexually assaulted by men wearing army fatigues,” media outlets quoted witnesses in December 2013 as saying.

The Muslim minority in Myanmar continues to face increasing persecution and hardship. They have no social status in Myanmar as the government denies them citizenship rights. (T/P012/E1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)