ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Solomon | New Delhi – To stop Burmese military rulers from its unabated use of rape as a 'weapon of war' in its campaign against ethnic minorities, there is a lot that the international community and United Nations Security Council needs to do. The appeal comes from an ethnic Chin woman activist at a press conference on Friday in Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondent Club.

Her impassioned appeal highlights the vulnerability of women in Burma, a country living through nearly 50 years of unrest and civil war where women continue to be targets of lust and humiliation of a depraved section of the military. All as a 'weapon of war' and attempt at subjugation.

Cheery Zahau, coordinator of the Women's League for Chinland said women, particularly in areas where ethnic minorities live, are the ones who are the worst affected by the junta's relentless campaign against its own people to cling to power.

In its campaign, Zahau said, the junta uses sexual violence and rape as a 'weapon of war' to terrorize and to create fear psychosis against the military. And this has been on by the junta to extend its rule for nearly half a century.

"In one case," Zahua said, "a woman [in Chin state, western Burma] was stripped naked and hung on a cross, in a deliberate and perverse act of mockery and persecution against her Christian religion."

The junta, which grabbed power in a military coup in 1962, in order to perpetuate its rule, has notoriously launched campaigns against its own population, with its main target being ethnic minorities.

Systematic sexual violence, torture and rape are commonly practiced by the Burmese military without any reservation or punitive action, Zahua said.

"I want to make sure people know about this," said Zahau adding that the world community, particularly the UNSC should pressure the Burmese government to stop its rampant human rights violation.

She added that the voices of Burmese women crying for help had gone unheard for a long time and that UNSC should shoulder the responsibility and come to the aid of Burmese women.

"They [junta] does not care because the international community has not mounted pressure which is strong enough," Zahau added.