Med rett til å voldta – ikke glem Burma

I en periode på seks år ble minst 625 jenter og kvinner voldtatt i Shan State i Burma av det militære regimet (625 er tallet på de dokumenterte tilfellene, mørketallene er nok relativt store, men siden voldtekter er et vanskelig tema regnes det for sannsynlig at det er svært mange flere tilfeller enn dette).

De 625 jentene og kvinnene er dokumentert i 173 forskjellige tilfeller.Det vil si at i de fleste av tilfellene er det altså en rekke kvinner som blir voldtatt samtidig.

Og voldtekter i denne forstand dreier seg ikke “bare” om at en mann tar en kvinne med i en busk og har sex med henne mot hennes vilje.

Her er det militære befal, fra korporal- til majorsgrad som ofte voldtar jentene foran troppene sine, for så å sende dem videre til soldatene, enten for å fortsette voldtekten eller for å eller for rett og slett å ta livet av dem.

I rapporten “License To Rape”, publisert av The Shan Human Rights Foundations (SHRF) og The Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), står det blant annet å lese dette:

“The report gives clear evidence that rape is officially condoned as a ‘weapon of war’ against the civilian
populations in Shan State. There appears to be a concerted strategy by the Burmese army troops to rape Shan
women as part of their anti-insurgency activities. The incidents detailed were committed by soldiers from 52
different battalions. 83% of the rapes were committed by officers, usually in front of their own troops. The rapes
involved extreme brutality and often torture such as beating, mutilation and suffocation. 25% of the rapes
resulted in death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to local communities. 61% were
gang-rapes; women were raped within military bases, and in some cases women were detained and raped
repeatedly for periods of up to 4 months. Out of the total 173 documented incidents, in only one case was a
perpetrator punished by his commanding officer. More commonly, the complainants were fined, detained,
tortured or even killed by the military.”

Og det stopper ikke med dette, absolutt ikke. Kvinner får brystene skåret av, de blir drept ved at soldatene eller offiserene trer plastposer over hodene på dem, eller de blir drept og lagt frem i landsbyen uten at familien får begrave dem. Ja, med mindre familien vil dø selv.

I ett av tilfellene som beskrives blir to søstre, den ene gravid, voldtatt, torturert, og den gravide blir til slutt drept.

“Her brother-in-law was going back to village to get some more rice and other food stuff. When the
troops came to the farm, they saw only the 2 women. The troops accused them of being wives of
the Shan soldiers and beat them. Although they tried to explain that they were just villagers from
Mark Mong Pawk village, the troops did not listen but continued to beat her sister with a stick until
she fainted and when she said that her sister was pregnant and pleaded for mercy, they even
poked her sister’s womb. When she tried to intervene to stop the troops from poking her sister’s
womb, a commander struck her on the head with a stick, knocking her unconscious. When she
became conscious, a commander dragged her to their bed in the hut and raped her and, after he
finished, beat her unconscious again for some time. When she regained consciousness, she
found herself lying with no clothes on and her sister was lying dead just outside the hut. There
was no sign of the soldiers.They had gone, taking away with them her 2,000 Kyat of money and
gold.”

Jeg anbefaler å lese rapporten, selv om den er et par år gammel. Mye sjokkerende, men et imponerende godt arbeid av de som har utarbeidet den.