Ongoing Burmese Army Atrocities in Kachin State are Undermining the Peace Process

By Kachin Women's Association – Thailand • October 31, 2013

New documentation by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) exposes recent atrocities by Burmese government troops against Kachin civilians, despite ongoing peace negotiations.

KWAT’s new update documents abuses committed in Nhka Ga village, near Putao, northern Kachin State, in September 2013. After fighting in the area, Burmese troops raided the village, accusing them of supporting the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). They detained the villagers, torturing ten men and killing three, and a young mother was raped by an officer.

This military operation is directly linked to the securing of control over northern Kachin State’s rich timber and mineral resources. Nhka Ga village lies on a new road being built from the China border to large concession areas recently granted to billionaire crony Tay Za.

The atrocities took place only a month before the latest peace talks between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Burmese government in Myitkyina on October 8-10.

Soon after the last peace talks, on October 22, about 1,000 Burmese troops attacked and occupied two villages in Mansi township, in southern Kachin State, displacing over 1,000 villagers. About 400 villagers were detained in a village church, leading to the death of a 76-year-old woman. The Burmese troops had moved in after KIA had withdrawn from the strategic Kaihtik-Bhamo road.

“Between each round of peace talks, the Burmese government is seizing new strategic sites and expanding its military into Kachin areas,” said Jessica Nhkum, KWAT joint secretary. “How can we believe that this process will lead to peace?”

Since the renewal of conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burmese Army on June 9, 2011, there have been three official peace talks and at least ten unofficial peace talks between the two sides.

KWAT is urging the Burmese government to immediately cease military offensives against Kachin people and other ethnic nationalities and withdraw troops from the conflict areas.

Download the update here.

Contact persons:

Ms. Seng Shadan (+66 896396080 )
Ms. Seng Zin (+66 846142330)