BURMA: RAPED VILLAGER ALLEGEDLY FORCED TO MARRY POLICE ASSAILANT, THEN REFUSES DIVORCE

June 9, 2005 - (Asian Human Rights Commission) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has heard a report through the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) radio service that a woman in western Burma was raped by a police officer, after which the local police chief forced the victim to marry her assailant. When the victim refused to then divorce him, the alleged perpetrator assaulted her in the police station. Although the information is not confirmed by usual AHRC sources, it is credible and in keeping with other allegations of violence against women in Burma, and attempts to cover-up such cases by local authorities. Urgent Appeals ProgrammeAsian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

DETAILS
Victim: Unnamed, 25-year-old woman resident of Hsapyin village, Taunggut Township, Arakan state
Alleged perpetrator: Police Constable Kyaw Myo Htaik, stationed at Hsapyin police station
Government officials complicit:
1. U Thein Tin, Chairman, Hsapyin Village Peace and Development Council
2. U Thein Kyaw, Officer-in-Charge, Hsapyin police station

According to the information reported by the DVB on May 31, Pol. Constable Kyaw Myo Htaik allegedly raped the unnamed victim on May 19. Immediately thereafter, her parents reported the allegation to the village chairman, U Thein Tin. However, he refused to take up the case because it involved a police officer, and told the family to report directly to the police station.

The parents and victim are reported to have gone the following day to the police station, and complained to the officer-in-charge, U Thein Kyaw. However, rather than taking the case, Thein Kyaw forced the rapist and his victim to marry. Then after one hour he presented divorce papers. When the victim refused to sign the divorce papers, Kyaw Myo Htaik is alleged to have assaulted her with his fists.

When the DVB telephoned to the police station concerned and asked what had happened to the alleged perpetrator, the officer who spoke responded that he had been transferred to the main Taunggut police station. He added that the problem had started because of "that crazy woman" making a complaint of rape.

It is not known if the parents and victim have made any further complaints.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

This case, although difficult to fully substantiate, speaks to a familiar trend of violence against women in Burma being improperly dealt with where the alleged perpetrators are government or state security officials. In 2004 (UA-40-2004) the AHRC reported on the case of Ma San San Aye, and Ma Aye Mi San, who were allegedly raped by a local government official, U San Net Kyaw, in Pyapon Township, western Burma. At least one of the two was a child at the time of the alleged rape. Although the AHRC has obtained documentation regarding the allegation in that case, after the matter was dropped by the local authorities and the victims attempted to take it higher up, they themselves were convicted of defamation and sentenced to four years' rigorous imprisonment. Despite raising the details of the case repeatedly with government authorities and concerned UN and international agencies, no further information has been made known to the AHRC regarding the fate of the two young victims or the alleged rapist.

The AHRC has heard of many other similar cases from Burma; however, given the circumstances in the country it is difficult to sometimes obtain detailed information or documentary evidence to substantiate them. By way of illustration, two examples from DVB broadcasts follow, on which the AHRC has not previously reported for want of additional reliable details:

1. On 26 July 2004 an officer from the Meikhtila Training Airbase allegedly beat a 15-year-old girl to death. Captain Aung Kyaw Moe and his wife Ma Shan Ma, of Lyawhpyukan village, Shantei village circle, had Ma Than Than Soe work as a nanny in their house. But after Than Than Soe was careless in her work, Aung Kyaw Moe allegedly beat her until she died. After that he tried to dump her body in the Meikhtila Lake, but the secret got out and the body was recovered. Doctors examining the body found numerous injuries, and also that the perpetrator had poured poison into the victim's mouth to make it look like a suicide, according to one of them. After that, to prevent the matter from going to court, the local battalion commander, Thura Tin Maung Win, is alleged to have ordered base personnel and their families not to discuss it with anyone outside. It was also alleged that 50,000 kyat (US$50) was paid to the family of the victim and they were warned to stay quiet about it. No further information has been available. 

2. On the night of 30 July 2004, a drunken police officer in Sagaing division allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl nearby the bridge over the Pahei stream on the outskirts of Tamu town. Pol. Constable Maung Maung Oo of Tamu police station had allegedly encountered the girl as she was carrying vegetables from her family's farm, and raped her at gunpoint. After her family reported the matter to the police station, Maung Maung Oo was arrested on July 1. However, the family was not able to claim for compensation, and their livelihood was interrupted as they were called to the police station constantly for inquiries. A similar incident involving an attempted rape by an officer of the border security force was reported around the same time, but no action was known taken in that case. 
The only two UN treaties that Burma has joined are the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, it is clear from incidents such as these that there is no functioning system in the country to protect the rights of victims in accordance with these treaties. It should be noted that there are many detailed and credible reports of Burma army soldiers, often under the instruction of officers, systematically raping women in remote parts of the country where there are persistent anti-insurgency and security operations. However, it is clear from cases such as that above that no avenue exists by which complaints of rights abuses can be lodged against government officials anywhere in the country. Although the government has established the Myanmar National Working Committee for Women's Affairs, this agency appears to function only as a propaganda tool, and allegedly as an instrument of further repression, rather than support, of women (see for instance the allegation contained in UP-63-2005).