Case MMR 090307.CC.VAW
CHILD CONCERN/ Violence AGAINST WOMEN
Rape of four minor girls/ Arbitrary arrest and detention of the four girls
Geneva, 9 March 2007.
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma/Myanmar.
The International Secretary of OMCT has been informed by reliable sources of the rape and arrest of four minor girls in northern Kachin State, Burma.
According to the information received, in early February 2007, the four girls, Rawang Nang, Chinlai Nin Ram, Nanghkyi Hkaw Dang and Pu Ram, aged between 14 and 16 years, were gang-raped by three army officers and four soldiers from a local SPDC - State Peace and Development Council - military base (Infantry Battalion No. 138, based in Munglang Shidi, Putao District, Kachin State).
Army officials reportedly gave hush money to the girls and their parents in order to prevent them from reporting their case to the police. Later in the same month, the incident was reported by an independent news agency. After the information was released, the four girls were immediately arrested and are now held at Putao Jail.
OMCT is seriously concerned about these events and fears that those responsible may remain unpunished and the four girls once again victimised. Reports have been released for the past several years revealing that SPDC army personnel have been responsible for the sexual abuse and exploitation of civilians and enjoy impunity. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, who has not been allowed to enter the country since 2003, notes in his latest report “the high number of allegations of sexual violence against women and girls committed by members of the military that have been regularly documented since 2002” – 30 cases in 2006 alone. And he adds “The failure to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for rape and sexual violence has contributed to an environment conducive to the perpetuation of violence against women and girls in Myanmar.”[1]
OMCT recalls that the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states in its article 4(c) that States should "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons."
Please write to the authorities in Burma/Myanmar urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Myanmar in your respective countries.
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Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Geneva, 9 March 2007
[1] UN Document A/HRC/4/14, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, 12 February 2007.
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