Monday, March 06, 2006

New evidence backs claims of genocide in Burma - BBC & London Telegraph

New evidence backs claims of genocide in Burma - BBC & London Telegraph

Mar 06, 2006 (DVB0 - According to an article published in London-based Telegraph newspaper on 5 March, fresh evidence has emerged that Burma's military government has not been only waging a brutal war against rebel ethnic groups but also carrying out acts of genocide against their people.

The article starts by saying that there have been allegations that in the past decade, Burmese soldiers have burnt to the ground as many as 3,000 villages and raped, looted or killed many of their inhabitants - citing a Thai intelligence officer who claimed that there is proof that these were systematic atrocities ordered by the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The Thai officer has spent several years studying intercepted Burmese military communications and analysing material found at the scene of horrific incidents inside Burma, the article says. He claimed that some leaflets found on the corpse of a Burmese officer said that the minority Shan people, meaning the whole Shan race whether they are armed rebels or not, ‘are the enemy and have to be destroyed.'

The article goes on to say that beheadings, beatings, the use of forced labour and rape of captured victims by troops of the SPDC are also common. "Growing use of amphetamines among Burma's 400,000-strong army is fuelling this violence," it continues, backed up by the comment of David Mathieson, a narcotics expert from the Australian National University who claimed that methamphetamine tablets were found on most dead Burmese soldiers who were killed during the clashes.

Moreover, "the brutality of the attacks is evident in video footage, taken by members of the evangelical Christian missionary group the Free Burma Rangers, of the burning of villages," says the article. "The video shows young men, armed with AK47s, setting fire to bamboo homes as residents flee in terror."

BBC correspondent Mike Thomson's reports on life in Burma will be broadcast on UK Radio 4's Today programme at 7.30am from Monday to Friday this week (6-10 March). For details visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/