July 19, 2011
Press release by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand

Over 16,000 refugees fleeing escalating fighting and systematic sexual violence in Kachin State and sheltering in makeshift camps along the China-Burma border are urgently in need of aid, according to the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT).

June 21, 2011

Kachin women demand immediate end to Burmese regime's use of rape as a weapon of war in northern Burma offensive

The Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) is demanding an immediate end to the Burmese military regime's widespread use of sexual violence in their
offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Burma.

At least eighteen women and girls have been gang-raped between June 10-18, 2011 during Burma Army advances on KIA strongholds along the China-Burma border. Four
of these women were killed after being raped, one in front of her husband, who was tied up and forced to watch. Another woman died from her injuries during rape.

Soldiers from five different battalions (Light Infantry Battalion 437 and Infantry Battalions 237, 141, 142, 139 and 437) committed the rapes, in four
townships of Bhamo District. Two particularly brutal incidents took place on June 18. In Dum Bung village, Mo Mauk township of Bhamo, soldiers of LIB 437
caught three families who had not managed to flee in time. 6 women and girls were gang- raped, and 7 small children killed. In Je Sawn village, Man Si
township of Bhamo, soldiers of LIB 139 killed a 7-year-old girl and then gang-raped and killed her grandmother.

These incidents are not random acts of violence, said KWAT spokesperson Shirley Seng. The Burma Army is committing gang-rape and killing on a wide scale. It is
clear they are acting under orders.

KWAT demands that the regime immediately stops using rape as a weapon of war, ends the offensive against Kachin and other ethnic groups, and withdraws from
the ethnic areas. KWAT is also urging China to provide refuge and humanitarian aid to those fleeing, and to mediate in the conflict.

The regime is committing atrocities on China doorstep, and destabilizing the border area, said Shirley Seng. We believe it is in China's interest to mediate
towards a genuine resolution of the political root causes of the conflict.

See attached map and list of details of rape incidents.

Contact persons:        Shirley Seng  + 66 86- 9238- 854
Moon Nay Li              + 66 85- 6251- 912
Email:                  kwat@loxinfo.co.th /kwat.coordinator@gmail.com

Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) is a non profit-making organisation working on behalf of Kachin women. We have a vision of a Kachin State where all
forms of discrimination are eliminated; where all women are empowered to participate in decision making at a local, national and international level; and
where all Kachin children have the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Download to Reported rape incidents by Burma Army

(DVB)–Rape of women by Burmese soldiers in Kachin state is common, and could be part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese army, a group investigating human rights abuses in northern Burma has found.

Despite a ceasefire agreement in 1994 between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), human rights violations remain very serious, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) who recently conducted a three-week research trip in Kachin state.