Rape Still Used As War Tool In Myanmar

The Women's League of Burma released a report on Tuesday documenting more than 100 rape cases involving military personnel, most of which never make it to courts, except for one, the Associated Press reported.

A 7-year-old girl from the state of Shan in Myanmar testified against soldier Maung Win Htwe who raped her after her parents left to take care of the families rice paddies, according to the AP.

"He hit me and told me to take off my clothes," the girl said in a whisper to the courtroom where her attacker also sat listening, according to the AP. "Then ... he raped me."

According to reports, the soldier was in full military uniform and forced her inside the bamboo hut where her family lives, the AP reported. The report state most of the rapes are carried out in front of husbands or family members, contributing to the argument that the rapes are used as a weapon of fear.

Human rights activist groups in Myanmar, or Burma, along with the Women's League say the army is still using rape as a "weapon of war" three years after government ended a long reign of violent military rule, according to the AP.

The report by the Women's League states most of rapes happen in border areas of Burma like Shan and Kachin and the attackers are almost never brought to justice, the AP reported.

Half of the reported and documented rapes occurring in Burma are gang rapes where several of the victims were children. The report also said 28 of the women either were killed after being raped, or died from their injuries, according to the AP.

Tin Tin Nyo, the league's general secretary, said in the report that "these crimes are more than random, isolated acts by rogue soldiers. Their widespread and systematic nature indicates a structural pattern: Rape is still used as an instrument of war and oppression," the AP reported.

Tin Nyo added the 100 plus cases in the report are "just the tip of the iceberg," and also warned the brutal and violent acts will not stop until the Myanmar government amends the constitution which currently gives all administering power to the military, according to the AP.

The military still controls most parts of the government and army officials still hold a quarter of all seats in parliament even though they formally handed over control, the AP reported.

High-ranking officials rarely criticize the use of sexual violence by the military, and if the rape case reached court, the judges usually acquit the attacker almost immediately, according to the AP.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi seemed to shy away from the issue when questioned about the lack of accountability for the rapes at a press conference last month, most likely due to her plans to run for president next year, which the army has the power to block, the AP reported.

"This has to do with rule of law. And that has to do with politics, and the position of the army as it is in a particular political structure," Aung San Suu Kyi said instead, according to the AP. "I think you are well aware of the fact that military armed groups which are not official armies also engage in sexual violence in conditions of conflict."

The league's report included 12 member organizations which were spread across the country. In the majority of the cases reported, the assailants were carrying weapons and dressed in soldier uniform and included captains, commanders and at least on major general, the AP reported.