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Burma and the role of Burmese women
- Subject: Burma and the role of Burmese women
- From: caroline@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 08:19:00
Subject: Burma and the role of Burmese women.
BURMA AND THE ROLE OF BURMESE WOMEN
Introduction
Historians say that in ancient times when human beings were
developing, there was
a period called the maternal administrative period in which women could
hold even the
highest administrative position. In the modern social life, women are
praised by sayings
such as "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
But in the history of Burma, Burmese women have faced
discrimination in their
daily lives and the role of women in Burmese history is blurred. The
status and
opportunities Burmese society offered women of all classes did not equal
that enjoyed by
the Burmese men.
Under successive Burmese dynasties, the primary task for women
has been to
fulfill the wishes of men. Women were often given to the king as gifts,
and a king could
have any women he wished. Whenever a king passed away, it was taken for
granted that
his wives customarily would become wives of the new king.
Even today girls are told by their parents to behave femininely
and respect men as
their superiors. A woman has to respect her son as Master and her husband
as God in
order to be called a good woman. This type of traditional belief about
the model "good
woman" and the discouragement of the women who working and shouldering
the same
responsibilities as men are the great obstacles for the improvement of
the status of
Burmese women.
Burma has signed the UN Convention on the Political Rights of
Women (1952),
and under the constitution women were guaranteed equal rights with men.
However, like
many other social and political protocols approved by governments in
Burma, such
declarations of intent conceal a very different social reality.
Moreover, most of the victims of human rights violations in Burma
are women.
The political upheavals since independence have greatly affected women of
every ethnic
background. It is women who have been most exposed to the humanitarian
consequences
of the social and economic collapse. Women also face greater personal
risk, as they have
become everyday victims of serious human rights abuses. During three
decades of military
rule in Burma, human rights violations of the people by the military have
been frequent
and continuous and the plight of Burmese women has steadily deteriorated.
Reports of
abuses against women, notably forced porterage, have increased
dramatically in every
regions of the country since the SLORC came to power. Many of the gravest
allegations
of human rights violations, including murder and rape are
well-documented by the
international human rights organizations. Women are arbitrarily
conscripted for military
service as porters and forced to carry arms and ammunition. Sometimes
women and girls
are used as mine sweepers at gun point. At night, the women are
gang-raped by the
soldiers. These abuses against women are common practice.
The centrally controlled socialist economy, the high inflation,
and the social,
economic, educational and political setbacks plaguing the country since
the military coup
of 1962 have left many Burmese girls and women with little choice but to
enter the sex
industry in Burma, Thailand or other neighboring countries for their
survival. Since
SLORC came to power after the bloody coup in 1988, the Burmese people
have suffered
more desperate economic hardship than ever before. Just meeting the
survival needs of
family has become increasingly difficult for poor and low-educated women
and girls. The
prevailing economic and political conditions of Burma are the cause that
has forced many
Burmese women to Thailand to end up in the flesh trade.
As a consequence of these developments, between 40,000 to 50,000
people are
estimated by the WHO to be HIV-positive in Burma. That high rate of HIV
infected
people in Burma is distressing, especially for the Burmese women who are
already
suffering gravely under the social, educational, and economic pressures
in the country, and
who are being severely oppressed by the Burmese military junta. SLORC has
done almost
nothing to improve the social welfare for the Burmese women. In this
research paper, we
focus on a few important aspects of the political, economic, social,
education and health
situation of Burmese women who are suffering in their daily lives.
Background
During all of Burmese history, the rulers and kings were men.
During the
monarchy, women were oppressed and men treated them as property. Very few
stories
concerning the role of intellectual Burmese women are found in the early
history of
Burma.
But during the period of struggle for independence and the rise
of nationalism and
political awareness among the Burmese people, educated Burmese women got
involved in
the Burmese political arena. Though the opportunities and freedom of
Burmese women
were very limited under British colonial rule, some Burmese women
organizations, based
on patriotism, such as the Burmese Women Union, the Burmese Women
National
Council, the Burmese Women Association and Darna Thukha were all
established and
became involved in the struggle for independence. During the 1300
Revolution (1938
BOC Strike), Burmese women joined hands with t heir male counterparts and
played
active roles.
Also during the Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League (AFPFL)
government period
after the independence, some women organizations remained continuously
involved in
political activities. These women organizations and their political and
social activities were
all terminated by the military coup led by Gen. Ne Win in 1962. All these
women
organizations were banned.
A quarter of a century of lack of freedom combined with
mismanagement of by the
Burmese military generals, had resulted in a situation in which the
Burmese economy,
educational system and all other basic parts of the infrastructure were
in ruins. In the
spring and summer of 1988 the peoples discontent virtually exploded.
Hundreds of
thousands of people, including women and girls, led by students took to
the streets and
called for an end of one party rule. Very significantly Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, daughter of
late Burmese national hero General Aung San, assumed the most prominent
role during
the struggle for democracy. Many women from all walks of life an all
classes, such as
merchants, laborers and even the Buddhist nuns, came out on the streets
and called for the
restoration of people power. The Burmese military completely ignored the
wishes of the
people and brutally suppressed the peaceful demonstrators, including
hundreds of school
girls and women demonstrators. After the massacres associated with the
SLORC military
coup, thousands of youth and civilians fled to the border areas
controlled by the ethnic
resistance groups. A number of girls and women also fled to the areas and
many are still
remain in the jungle and fighting for their cause as the members of All
Burma Students
Democratic Front and other democratic forces.
SLORC has claimed reportedly that Burmese women are already equal
to men and
so, according to SLORC leader Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, there is no need to
demand more
equality in politics, economics, administration and justice. But a
number of women
prisoners of conscious for their political belief and activities inside
Burma, and thousands
of women refugees with stories of extrajudicial execution, rape, forced
labor, forced
relocation and other kinds of ill-treatment are all undeniable evidence
of a pattern of
massive human rights violations against women.
Political struggle and the role of women in Burma
(A) Burmese women activities during the anti-colonialism period.
The first and nation-wide Burmese women organization was the
Konmari
association founded in 1919. It was also known as the Wunthanu Konmari
Association for
its activity. The members of that association usually wore the
traditional Burmese Pinni
blouse and Yaw longyi as their uniform and encouraged the peoples
awareness of
Burmese tradition and culture. The aims and objectives of this
association were to
promote the knowledge of and appreciation for Burmese customs, religion,
knowledge
and traditions among the Burmese women. This organization signified the
preservation of
Burmese culture and denoted patriotism in the form of a preference for
traditional values
and the eschewal of things foreign. Originally it was non political
association working only
to preserve Burmese heritage. But later it expanded its aim and became
semi-political
promoting political awareness among the women, and there by quickly
gained the support
of many influential and educated Burmese women. It closely worked with
other political
organizations, like the Young Men Buddhist Association (YMBA), working
for anti-
colonialism activities. In 1920 the YMBA and other minor association
united to form the
General Council of Buddhist Association (GCBA). The Konmari association
ceaselessly
worked with the GCBA.
The Wunthanu Konmari Association also worked for Burmese women
migrant
workers who were facing hardships in the foreign countries. Due to the
association's
extensive campaign, the government made arrangement for the return of
Burmese women
laborers working in the tobacco making industries in Malaysia.
Another well-known and active women organizations during this era
were the
Burmese Women Union, the Burmese Women National Council, the Burmese
Women
Association and the Darna Thukha association. Those organizations also
cooperated with
the YMBA and the GCBA. They sent their representatives to the annual
meetings and
took part in the political agendas of anti-colonialism. The most notable
work by these
organizations were boycotting the foreign products made in England and
encouraging the
Burmese to use local products instead.
In 1921 the British government decided that the recommendations
of the Montagu
Mission, in the form of diarchy, should be extended to Burma. The
implementation of
these reforms entailed elections to the legislative council, and that led
to a split in the
GCBA over the question of whether or not its members should stand for
election. After
the split of GCBA into two factions for the Diarchy, the majority of
women organizations
sided with the faction against Diarchy and demanded Home Rule.
On August 28, 1920, Governor for Burma, Sir Reginal Gradogh
enacted the
University Act that included many restrictions such as only one
university in Burma; all
students had to stay in hotels; all students had to get an excellent
score in English and
other subjects in the entrance exam and all students had to undergo one
year in preliminary
class before enrolling in the university. This University Act placed
Rangoon University
under the University of Calcutta, British India. The restrictions were
generally seen by the
Burmese as an attempt to limit higher education to a privileged few and a
boycott against
the Rangoon University Act took place. Many female university students
actively
participated in the strike. That strike was known as the very first
strike spearheaded by the
students during the independence struggle. The first day of the strike
was designated as
the National Day by the GCBA Conference.
An outstanding woman of this period was Daw Mya Sein, a scholar,
author, teacher,
wife and mother. The daughter of a distinguished jurist and scholar, she
was chosen to
represent Burmese women at a special Burma Round Table Conference in
London 1931,
and later on the eve of the second World War, to lead a delegation to
China.
In 1936, Rangoon University Students Union chairman, Ko Nu was
dismissed
from the university and Ko Aung San , editor of O-way magazine was
threatened with
compulsion. As a consequence, a second Rangoon university student strike
broke out and
many female students participated.
By the time the 1938 uprising ( Revolution of 1300 in the Burmese
era: this was
the year according to the Burmese calendar, extending from April 1938 to
April 1939)
broke out, the role of the Burmese women in politics had already became
strong and
distinguished. During the uprising women participated alongside men. Many
women were
arrested, beaten up and dismissed. Women were planning to establish a
Burmese women's
organization to fight against Dr. Ba Maws' puppet government, and to
participate in the
struggle for independence.
In January 29, 1939, the first Women Assembly (Rangoon) was held
at Shwe
Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon aiming to establish the Burmese Independence
Organization
(Rangoon). Daw Ank, chairperson of that assembly, stressed the importance
of the role of
Burmese women and unity among themselves. She said that unity among the
women are
very important. With unity, we can overcome everything. This assembly
aimed for women
and their struggle for rights and responsibilities. In December 20 of
that year, during the
Rangoon University boycott, female students actively took part and some
took leading
roles. After the successful convening of the women's assembly, the
assembly founded the
Burma Independence Women Organization and elected Daw Hla May (wife of
Dedoke U
Ba Cho) as Chairperson and Ma Khin Mya (Daw Khin Myo Chit) as secretary.
It also
elected its representatives at the township level.
After the Second World War, AFPFL led by Gen. Aung San organized
a first All
Burma Conference from January 17 to 23, 1946. Participants from fifteen
political parties
and representatives of different ethnic groups attended the conference in
which the
Women League was one of the participants. The Conference passed eight
resolutions and
among them the fourth resolution was that all men and women of 18 years
would have the
right to vote whether he or she was literate or illiterate. That
decision clearly
demonstrated the policy of AFPFL led by Gen. Aung San towards women. It
allowed
them to participate in politics equally with men.
Countless women participated in the nationalist struggle of the
colonial period and
many worked closely with the men who were the leaders. But they never
achieved
leadership in their own right. Though Burmese women took part in the
independence
struggle with their male counterparts during the colonial era, there were
no well-organized
and united women's organizations. Their patriotism caused them to become
involved in the
national cause but as different small groups. The role of women
organizations would later
decline, but no one could deny the role these women's organizations
played importantly
during the anti-colonialism and pro-independence period. Despite the fact
that the
women's organizations in that era were short-lived, by the end of that
era, the social and
political struggle of Burmese women was in progress and those
organizations raised
political awareness among Burmese women.
(B) Burmese women activities after the independence
Burma gained independence in 1947 and U Nu became the first
Prime Minister.
The role of Burmese women was increasingly improving during the period of
the U Nu
government. Daw Khin Kyi , the mother of 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate Daw
Aung San
Suu Kyi was one of Burma's most outstanding women politicians. Daw Khin
Kyi has
succeeded her assassinated husband as a Member of Parliament for the
Lanmadaw
constituency, but she resigned in 1948 to become the director of the
Women and Children
Welfare Board and later Chairperson of Social Planning Commission and the
Council of
Social Services. She had traveled extensively in Europe, the US, China
and Southeast Asia
region before becoming the first Burmese woman to be given an
ambassadorial post.
She supported U Nu's clean AFPFL when AFPFL split and, she resigned her
post from the
Council of Social Services. Later she took a post as the Central
Committee Chairman of
AFPFL Women Department. She supported U Nus faction, she said because U
Nu had
saved the country when Gen. Aung San and other comrades were
assassinated, and
similarly he did again in 1948 when Burma was in the midst of internal
upheaval. She
went on an extensive campaign tour in Upper Burma for U Nu's faction. U
Nu's clean
AFPFL won in the elections. She went on another campaign across the
country for the
development of the welfare of Burmese women on behalf of AFPFL. She was
assigned
as the first Burmese women ambassador in July 1960, and she worked as the
Burmese
ambassador to India and Nepal until she retired in 1967. For her
extraordinary
performance, she became the most significant symbol of Burmese women in
that period.
During this same period of the U Nu government after
independence, there was
only one woman Minister. She was Mrs. Ba Maung Chein who worked as
Minister for
thearen State from 1952 to 1953. She was the first and only woman who has
taken a
ministerial position in Burmese history. Among the political
organizations, in AFPFL
organization, Daw Sein Pu was elected as central executive member in
AFPFL's 1958
election. She was also a leader of The League for All Burma Liberated
Women
Association.
Some other women's organizations, such as the Union Women
Organization and
the Women Solidarity Organization were founded during the AFPFL
government period.
Due to the political splits among the political parties, the women
organizations also faced
internal conflicts. the Women Solidarity Organization split of two
factions. In some case,
some members of one organization formed a completely new organization.
For example,
all central executive member except the chairperson of the Union Women
Organization
resigned from the organization and founded a new organization, All Burma
Liberated
Women Association League.
During the colonial period, Burmese women involved in
anti-colonialism and
independence movement based on their patriotism, were able to maintain
unity and
solidarity among the women. But in the post independence period, women
could not
establish the same solidarity due to the differences in political beliefs
and membership in
different political parties. But since the ruling government was a
democratic government,
women's organization could fully practice their freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly,
freedom of association and other fundamental rights. It is also
noteworthy to point out
that this was the only time in the history of Burma that women took high
positions in the
government, like ambassador and minister.
(C) Burmese women activities during the BSPP government
The democratic government of U Nu was overthrown in military coup
led by Gen.
Ne Win on March 2, 1962. Since then, the Burmese people lost their
democratic and
fundamental human rights, and the activities of Burmese women were
exterminated. A
Revolutionary Council composed with high level military officials
declared the Policy of
Burmese Socialist Program Party (BSPP) and introduced the Burmese
Socialist Party on
July 4, 1962.
Students were the first group who confronted the Revolutionary
Council. On July
7, 1962, students from Rangoon University, including many female
students, staged a
demonstration and were brutally crushed by the military. Many of them
were brutally shot
down by the military troop in the campus and the Students Union building
was
demolished.
During the BSPP era, Sao Nang Hearn Kham (Mahadevi), a Shan woman
and wife
of the first Burmese President Sao Shwe Theik (1948-52) became prominent
for her
political activities. She was elected as Member of Parliament from Theini
(North), Shan
State in 1956 until the Caretaker Government took over two years later.
She was in
England when the military staged a coup and arrested her husband on March
2, 1962. She
returned to Burma after her husband died in custody, and fled to Thailand
in 1963 where
she founded the Shan State Army that was joined by the Shan State
Independence Army
and the Shan National United Front . Based in the Shan State, she led the
armed struggle
movement fighting against the military regime. For her work against the
military regime in
armed struggle, she has been recognized as the most prominent woman
leader from Shan
State in Burmese history.
Under the reign of the BSPP one-party system, a series of
significant uprisings
occurred:
- 1969 South East Asian Games demonstration
- 1974 U Thant's funeral riots
- 1974 worker demonstration
- 1975 June 6 uprising
- 1976 uprising commemorating the centenary of Thakin Ko Daw Hmaing
(anniversary
of the anti-colonial poet's death)
- 1988 August 8 nation-wide general strike, known as the 8-8-88 uprising.
Women took part in all of these uprising against the one party
dictatorship system
in Burma. Especially in the 1988 uprising, millions of women came out on
the streets and
joined in the demonstrations.
In 1974, the BSPP government passed a BSPP constitution in which
peaceful
demonstration that did not threaten the Socialism are allowed. In
reality, however, all
peaceful demonstrations were suppressed in a violent way. In December
1974 when U
Thant's (former UN Secretary-General) funeral riot occurred, over 5000
demonstrators
were arrested and sentenced to 3-7 years imprisonment. One of the
prominent female
student activists during this demonstration was Ma Suu Mar from Thuwunna,
Rangoon.
She was sentenced to four years in prison. Many other students were also
sentenced with
imprisonment and expelled from the university.
When the worker strikes broke out in June 1974, the government
shot down the
worker demonstrators and killed many workers in the Thamine textile
factory and
Sinmalite dockyard. Like the previous strikes, students joined with their
comrades. The
next year on the one year anniversary of bloody worker riots, another
demonstration was
held by students and many of them were arrested again. About 250 students
including
secondary school students and students from many universities and
colleges were arrested
and sentenced to four years to nine years imprisonment. All the schools
and universities
were shut down for seven months.
Among the arrested students, were Naykyi Ba Swe and Nayye Ba Swe,
both of
them were daughters of Burmese former Prime Minister, U Ba Swe. They
were
arrested on June 11, 1975 and sentenced to five years imprisonment with
hard labor for
their involvement in the 1975 demonstration. They emerged again in
political arena in
1990 elections as the candidates. Naykyi Ba Swe, law graduate from
Rangoon University
ran for AFPFL in Ahlone township constituency and her younger sister,
Nayye Ba Swe,
graduate from Institute of Economics ran in Sanchaung township
constituency for the
same party.
Another prominent woman demonstrator of 1975 was Nan Khin Htwe
Myint,
daughter of Dr. Saw Hla Htun who was a former Minister for Karen State
during U Nu's
AFPFL government. She was a second year student at the Institute of
Economics
Rangoon when the demonstration broke out. She was put in jail from 1975
to 1978 for her
participation in the demonstration. She ran in the 1990 election for the
National League
for Democracy in Pa-an township constituency, Karen State and was elected.
Another uprising commemorating the centenary celebrations of the
birthday of
Thakin Ko Daw Hmig was held on March 23, 1976 led by the university
students.
Students published a leaflet named Yin Pwint Than Ni Dan that criticized
the
educational system devised by BSPP government to suit its own purpose.
About 230
students from different universities were detained and sentenced
imprisonment from five
years to fourteen years by the military tribunals. Hundreds of university
were expelled for
life. In this uprising, Ma Hla Myaing (a) Mai Po Po Tin became prominent
for her active
role during the uprising. She was sentenced to nine years imprisonment
in Insein and
Taunggu prisons. Her elder brother, Ko Tin Maung U was also a leader
sentenced to
death penalty by the military tribunal. She is a symbol of the hundreds
of other female
students whose names are not widely known but who have stood up for their
aspiration
for freedom from the dictatorship.
The confrontation between the students and governments riot
police had reached
into climax after the March affair 1988 when students were brutal cracked
down. Students
held a peaceful rally in Rangoon university compound on March 16, 1988
concerning the
death of Maung Phone Maw, a Rangoon Institute of Technology who was shot
to death
by the riot police three days ago. Later the student demonstrators
marched towards
Rangoon University (Hlaing Campus) to join with the other students there.
Hundreds of
students demonstrating on the street were blocked on the way and beaten
up by the riot
police. About 100 students, especially female were drowned in a nearby
lake while trying
to escape the brutalities. Many girls were beaten up by the riot police
and dragged to the
army trucks.
On March 17, 1988, the army raided the Rangoon University
compound and
arrested the students remained inside. Ma Ohnmar Thwe, a female student,
majoring in
Burmese, was beaten unconscious before her arrest on 17 March, when the
security forced
entered the main campus When I came to gain, I found myself in a room
without
window. I had no idea where I was. There were six policemen and an
officer there. But
they didnt ask me any questions. I was taken away to a place near a
water-tank. There, I
was raped, first by the officer and then by the policemen. I lost
conscious again, and when
I woke up, a doctor was examining me. I know that this happened to other
girls also.
Some of them committed suicide. About 150 students were arrested in one
hostel on
that day among which forty were female.
On August 8, 1988 students spearheaded the nation-wide uprising
calling for
democracy in Burma and joined by the people from all walks of class. Many
Burmese
women organizations emerged during the uprising.
Among the prominent political leaders during the uprising, Daw
Aung San Suu
Kyi, daughter of Burmese national hero Gen. Aung San has become the most
popular
leader. Her first public appearance was her public gathering at Shwe
Dagon Pagoda on
August 26, 1988. About 500,000 people attended the gathering and
expressed their
support for her. The demonstration became to an end when the military
staged a coup and
suppressed the peaceful demonstrators in violence. Thousands of
demonstrators including
women and shoolgirls were killed during the uprising.
During the reign of BSPP government. it is clear that the role of
women and their
rights to take part in their political, social, economic and cultural
life by forming the
association were ignored by the BSPP government. The freedom of
association was
absolutely banned during this time. According to the BSPPs Law
protecting against the
disintegration of national unity, all organization and association
including the women
organizations were banned that led to the end of Burmese women activities.
Under the tight control of BSPP government, only three quasi
government
organizations were allowed to form as the representative organizations
based on the
working classes. They were Peasants Association, Workers Association, and
Lanzin Youth Organization.Burmese women have enrolled all of these
organization
without their enthusiasm. There had no other alternatives but to join
these organization
for their job-related situation, or some possible opportunity for being
a member of these
organizations or some other circumstances. These organizations did not
take appropriate
measure to promote the role of women and women empowerment but forcibly
nurtured
the Burmese Way to Socialism. The idea of democracy, human rights and
womens
rights were forbidden in everyday life in Burma. When the 8888 uprising
broken out, these
women took part in the active role that shows their dissatisfaction and
agony of one-party-
controlled system.
Since 1962 military coup in Burma, military have controlled
entire Burma and both
political leading sector and administrative sector are monopolized by the
current or ex-
military officers. During the time of BSPP, despite the theoretical
equality women are
supposed to enjoy, few have ever reached really senior position . In its
People Assembly
there were very few number of woman representatives but they were not
elected by the
people but selected by the central administrative system.. They did not
have the chance to
express their opinion and views in the assembly. They had to act and
speak under the pre-
planned programs in the assembly and no criticism was allowed. Though
there were nine
women representatives in the first BSPP people assembly (Hluttaw) and
thirteen women
representatives in second peoples assembly, they were just
representatives without the
mandate to express their own opinion. But 8888 uprising arouse the
political awareness
among the Burmese women.
Women always took in the struggle to end the military
dictatorship in Burma since
the military took power in Burma. Burmese Communist Party was the strong
opposition
armed group that has been fighting against the central government. Some
Burmese women
joined the Burmese Communist Party and armed struggle. Their sacrifice of
their lives and
suffering hardships in the jungle are remarkable.
In reviewing the role and activities of Burmese women under the
BSPP reign, it is
notable that women actively joined with other people in struggling
against the one party
dictatorship.
(D) Burmese womens activities under SLORC
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took power on
September 18,
1988 after the series of brutal suppression in which thousands of
demonstrators were
killed. Even though its nature of isolations, picture of Win Maw Oo, a
fatally wounded
14-year-old school girl with her blood-soaked school uniform was smuggled
out into the
international media. (she died in the hospital later) It could draw a
international attention
into the human rights violations inside Burma.
SLORC declared the Law for Multi-party General Election
Commission on
September 21, 1988 and National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Daw
Aung San
Suu Kyi was founded on September 24, 1988. NLD became the
largest-supported legal
political party but SLORC put various restrictions on NLD and its
leaders. Especially
Daw Aung Suu Kyi has become the target of harassment during her campaign
tours across
the country. At last she was detained under house arrest on July 20,
1989 under section
10(b) and 14 of the 1975 law to safeguard the State against the Dangers
of those Desiring
to Cause Subversive Acts.
SLORC announced the abolishment of BSPP one party system and
allowed to
form the political party to run in the election. 236 political parties
registered. Many
veteran women political activists before the 1962 military coup
reappeared in the current
political scene. Among the 236 political parties, three parties namely
Union for the
Improvement of Burmese Women (Central Headquarters), All Bd were killed.
In many cases, women
are used for more purposes than men. Women are more versatile in their
usefulness:
forced labor to work as porters; human shield for the fighting army;
property that can be
redeemed for a good sum of money; and entertainment for soldiers which
ends in repeated
rape.
During the Nagha Min Operation launched in December 1991 by SLORC
in
Karen State, many female porters were conscripted by the military and
some fortunately
escaped and revealed their stories. Daw San, aged 42 years, Ma Khin Mya
aged 32 years,
Ma Thanda Soe , aged 16 years and Ma Khin Khin Saw aged 20 years were the
women
porters who escaped from the forced porterage during the military
offensive operation.
They have worked over twenty days and later escaped. According to their
interviews with
ABSDF, they told some more forty women worked as porters and carried
ammunition for
the military.
All escaped porters told that the military usually give them only
watery bean curry
with a little salt and sometimes they are given only half dishes of
watery rice soup. Sick
porters go untreated. But in the response to the questionnaires of Mr.
Yozo Yokota, UN
special raporteur on Human Rights in Burma by Burmese permanent
representative to the
UN, According to instructions issued by the office of the quartermaster
General on
March 1993, a civilian labor is to receive a daily wage of 20 kyats. In
addition to the daily
wage, the following daily rations are to be issued:
(a) rice: 28 ounces
(b) cooking oil: 1.75 ticals
(c) salt: 1.75 ticals
(d) split peas: 5 ticals
(e) saltfish: 5 ticals (in area where saltfish is not available,
four ounce of canned
food may be substituted). Civilian laborers used in operation areas are
looked after by the
Tatmadaw. Besides giving out daily wages, the Tatmadaw provides medical
care for
sickness and injuries. A compensation equivalent to 36 times a months
earning is paid to
the family on the death of a laborer. These matters are carried out
systematically according
to the Defense Services Council Order No. 17/90 issued by the Office of
the
Quartermaster General on 3 September 1990
Having the law does not grantee to adhere the law in Burma. The
stories of
escaped porters are contrary to the order. Porter who are drafted into
military service are
given only boiled rice and watery bean soup to eat and are not given any
protection
against the weather. Many suffer from malaria, diarrhea and other
diseases but are still
forced to carry heavy loads without medical treatment according to the
porters recently
escaped from the SLORC offensive attack in Karenni State since June 1995.
(F) Civil war and Burmese women refugees
The military has committed human rights violations in the context
of its counter-
insurgency activities against various armed ethnic minority groups, who
have been
struggling for greater autonomy since 1949 after Burma gained
independence from the
British. Gross human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial
executions, have
undoubtedly been committed by military in Burmas long-running civil and
ethnic
conflicts. The ethnic people suffer as a result of human rights abuses
committed during
Tatmadaw operations, especially during the forced relocation of villages,
enforced
portering and the seizure of land and property. These abuses have
included extrajudicial
executions, arbitrary arrest, torture, beating , rape and forced
porterage.
But the SLORC repeatedly claims tat there were no civil war and
refugees in
Burma. In Working People Daily newspaper in Burmese dated January 1995,
they
denied the people in the refugee camp inside Burma are not refugees.
Refugees are the civilian who fled the civil war and took refuge
in
the safer place. In Burma, even the insurgents and their family members
can
return back to legal folds and no action is taken . They are fully
enjoying in
the peaceful life without any discrimination. The criminals and fugitives
can
not recognized as refugees. Refugee means a person who left his country
in
a fear of arrest or persecution for his political opinion, nationality
and
religion. As Burma has no refugee, there is no refugee camp.
Inconsistently, the are thousands and thousands of ethnic
refugees from Burma
taking refuge in neighboring countries. The plight of refugees and human
rights violations
by the SLORC troops are well-documented by the international human rights
organizations. Another major cause of the refugee exodus is the
increasingly price of
basic needs and high taxes levied without due process. That is not only
the level of
taxation that was fueling the exodus but the atrocities associated with
failing to pay the
required amount.
The ethnic people suffer as a result of human rights abuses
committed during
Tatmadaw operations, especially during the forced relocation of villages,
enforced
portering and the seizure of land and property. These abuses have
included extrajudicial
executions, arbitrary arrest, torture, beating , rape and forced
porterage. More than eighty
per cent of refugees are women and children. There is no doubt that
refugee women,
particularly those on their own, are more vulnerable to exploitation and
deprivation of
rights at every stage of flight, than are refugee men. Those who escaped
the human rights
abuses in Burma by fleeing to Thailand faced further persecution and
human rights
violations there. In violation of the common international standards set
out in the U.N
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to which Thailand is not a
party, no person
entering Thailand illegally from Burma are permitted to apply for asylum.
As a result there
is no permanent international presence within the camps, leaving the
refugees, especially
women, exposed to sexual abuses by Thai Border Patrol Police and pressure
to force them
to return to Burma. Women also face abuses during the deportation process
or while they
were in the refugee camp. Moreover, SLORC attacked on the refugee camps
inside
Thailand. For instance, on July 1994, over one hundred troops from the
SLORC
Tatmadaw 62nd Battalion marched into a section of Holockani Mon refugee
camp in
Three pagodas Pass region, they arrested the camp leader and rounded up
all the men of
the camp. They also looted and razed most of the refugee camp. In
another case, after
the fall of Manaplaw, three Karen refugee camps inside Thailand were
attacked and razed
by the SLORC and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a breakaway
faction of
the KNU between January and May 1995.
Many of Burmese women who have taken no part in conflicts are
being murdered,
raped and mutilated. Other have endure the loneliness and vulnerability
of separation and
bereavement. Hardship and deprivation face women who have to support a
family alone,
in an economy itself distorted by the violence. These women have lost
their homes, their
possessions, their family and they are struggling for their daily
survival in the strange
place. For them, to work actively for upgrading the political, economic
and social life is
impossible.
(G) Forced Prostitution of Burmese Women and HIV
To escape from the daily economic hardships in Burma, which is
the result of
economic mismanagement for over 30 years, many women and young girls from
Burma
go to neighboring countries with the widespread belief that there are
good employment
opportunities there. They are lured by unscrupulous recruiters to
Thailand with promises
of good jobs and cash advance, often paid to their parents and they are
sold in the brothels
and forced to work as prostitutes when they get in Thailand. Since 1989
women and girls
from Burma have formed the bulk of the flesh trade in Thailand. According
to 1992
report, there were at least 40,000 women and child prostitutes from Burma
in Thailand.
This report was released two years ago so that the numbers has much
increased now.
There are similar reports of the Burmese woman trafficking in Mizoran,
India and Burma-
China border.
With the collusion of police and military personnel from Burma
and Thailand, gang
bring young victims across to Thai border towns like Chiang Mai, Mae Sai,
Kanchanaburi,
and Ranong where they are sold into forced prostitution for from US$ 100
to US$ 600.
Although some have gone willingly for economic reasons, many have been
lured on the
false promise of other jobs, while others have been forced into
prostitution and brutally
beaten if they refuse customers or try to escape.
Poverty is the common denominator. Many Burmese women are victims
of this
trafficking business, but ethnic minority women predominate. Some girls
are sold by their
own parents to reduce the economic burden. A 10-year-old Akka hilltribe
girl was sold
for 2000 baht by her father . She was rescued from the brothel in
Thailand and repatriated
back other six girls to Burma, according to the Thai official from
Interior Ministry.
Imprisoned in the dark brothel rooms, speaking no Thai, the girls
from Burma have
little chance for escape. Conditions are appalling. They work without pay
in prison-like
condition in buildings surrounded with barbed wire. Those who refuse
customers or try to
escape are often brutally treated. 15-year-old Burmese girl rescued from
Ranong told that
she was sold for 5000 baht and forced to work as prostitute in the
brothel without pay.
She was forced to have sex with the customer although she was pregnant.
Because of language barriers and the illegal methods by which
they have been
brought into Thailand, most Burmese women work in the lowest class
brothels. This puts
them at great risk. Since they illegally entered Thailand and are forced
to work, they do
not have a chance for the sex education and medical check-up. This has
undoubtedly
accelerated the alarming rise in rates of AIDS and HIV-infection in
Thailand. In June 1991
when 25 Burmese prostitutes were rescued after a brothel raid in Ranong,
all of them were
found to be HIV-positive, according to a Thai senior police officer.
These HIV-positive women faced other kind of abuses when they got
back to
Burma. Persistent reports have arisen regarding SLORC executing persons
with AIDS
who have been forcibly repatriated by Thailand to Burma. According to
The Bangkok
Post newspaper, some Burmese girls found to have AIDS, when sent back to
their
country, are allegedly reported to have been given cyanide injections to
execute them.
Asia Watch, a division of Human Rights Watch based in New York
published a
report on the trafficking of Burmese women into Thailand their
confinement in illegal
brothels throughout Thailand where they are forced to work off their debt
through what
amounts to sexual servitude. It systematically documented the debt
bondage, wide range
of abuses, including illegal confinements; forced labor; rape; physical
abuse; exposure to
HIV/AIDS; and in some cases, murder of the Burmese women and girl.
For Burma, the social and health consequences of the trafficking
of Burmese
women are immense. Women returning from prostitution in Thailand are
spreading the
HIV infection and adding to the dramatic rise in the disease already
caused by growing
intravenous drug use. According to World Health Organization (WHO)
estimate for 1994,
Burma has up to 400,000 HIV-carriers (one per cent of the total
population) today,
putting it on an international emergency rating with both India and
Thailand. While this
estimate is suggested by WHO, there are no reliable figures on
HIV-infection in Burma.
With little testing completed, just over 7,000 cases have been reported.
But on the
SLORC side, they declared that there were 8,191 people with HIV-positive
and 334 were
full-blown stage, according to AIDS Disease Control Committee.
To cure the AIDS epidemic in Burma, the government can take a
important role in
educating the people. Unless there coordinated and firm action taken by
the concerning
governments in the near future, the spread of AIDS in Burma will continue
to grow. For
the future of Burmese women, there is a desperate need for action more
than talk.
Burma and International Laws
SLORC has signed and ratified some of the international human
rights conventions
setting basic manimum benchmarks for the universal recognition and
protections of humna
rights, as the member of United Nations. According to the Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights, it said; Member states have pledged themselves to achieve,
in
cooperation with United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for
and observance
of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Moreover, in terms of women rights, the UN Declaration
prohibiting violence
against women calls for the universal application to women of the rights
and principles
with regard to equality, security, liberty, intergrity, and dignity of
all human person. All
governments including SLORC are morally obliged to uphold this
Declaration.
The Burmese military is legally bound under these international
human rights
conventions and laws to ensure that the principles enshrined are adhered.
It is also legally
bound by international human rights treaties not to violate the
fundamental human rights
of their own citizens including women and children.
In 1993 the UN unequivocally stated that womens rights were human
rights. The
Declaration of the UN World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in
June 1993
states: The human rights of women and of the girl-child are an
inalienable, integral and
indivisible part of universal human rights. In case of Burma, the pursuit
of liberty for
women from oppression and of womens rights in general is inextricably
intertwined with
the ongoing struggle for liberation of the whole population from the
SLORCs iron fist
and for restoration of democracy and human rights. The issues cannot be
separated. To
end the human rights violations including womens rights in Burma, it is
essential to end
the SLORCs military doctatorship.
Slorc is known as one of the notorious human rights violators in
the modern
world. But Slorc repeatedly and shamelessly denied the allegations by the
international
human rights organizations including UN Human Rights Commission. Under
the Slorc s
military rule there is no independent right of enquiry or representtions,
and no independent
judiciary. All reports of human rights abuses are met with blanket
denials and accusations
of outside interference or neo-colonialism. For example, in awidely
circulated report in
April 1993 replying to the documented criticisms of the UN Special
Rapporteur on Human
Rights, the Slorc still insisted that it was incapable of any wrong-doing:
Myanmar is well-known for its unique culture, the hall-marks of which
are tolerance and compassion. This cultural environment underpins
respect for human rights. These rights are guranteed not only by law but
are encouraged and practised as a matter of tradition. There is no
discrimination in Myanmar whatsoever on grounds of race, religion or
sex.(Working Peoples Daily, 6 August 1991)
In line with argument, the Slorc has always invoked the law as
the basis for all its
actions in both armed opposition and government-controlled areas. These
affect all
Burmese groups equally regardless of religion, ethnic groups or sex. The
law most
commonly used by the Slorc have been the 1950 Emergency Measures Act, the
1957
Unlawful Associations Act, the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration
Law, and 1975
State Protection Law. Each allows for long periods of imprisonment for
any citizen
deemed guilty of criticising the government, and those arrested have come
from virtually
every political and ethnic background.
Burma has signed a number of interntionally recognized human
rights conventions
but failed to adhere the principles and norms of conventions. It has
signed the UN
Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952), but despite the
theoretical equality
women are supposed to enjoy, few have ever reached really senior
position. According to
the principles laid down by SLORC for the National Convention convened by
the
military junta to draft a new constitution for Burma, the Head of State
is to have
experience in military affairs. This would effectively exclude a woman
from becoming a
Head of State.
Women and children are the most vulnerable victims of human rights
violations by the military in the war-zone. There is a clear evidence that
the majority of the refugees from Burma who have fled Thailand to take
refuge are women and their children. The global situation of women is
inflected in Burma; most of the casualties of war are women and their
children; most of the refugees and displace people are women and their
children; most of the poor are women and their children in Burma. Over
the years there have been many reports of the arbitrary arrest, shooting
or extrajudicial execution of women in ethn
Part (1)
Documentation and Research Centre
All Burma Students' democratic Front
July 31, 1995