Karen Women's Organisation Pleads for International Women's Group to Press for Immediate UN Security Council Action on Burma.

The Karen Women's Organization today issued a public statement pleading for international women's organizations to press for an immediate United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma. 

"Over the past several weeks, 13,000 people have been driven from their homes in eastern Burma, many in Karen state. Burma's military junta is on a rampage, killing women, children, and other innocent civilians. We desperately need women around the world to demand that the UN Security Council take action to end the violence in eastern Burma," said KWO in a statement. "If the UN Security Council turns a blind eye, many more women will die." 

Over the past seven weeks, 13,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in villages in eastern Burma, an area of the world off-limit to journalists and non-governmental organizations. Over the past ten years, 2,800 villages have been destroyed or forced to evacuate by Burma's military junta, widely recognized as one of the world's most brutal regimes. 

Refugees International, the respected human rights organization, reports that over 1,000,000 refugees have fled from Burma, and over 1/2 million remain displaced inside the country as internal refugees. In addition to the torching of villages, the military junta has carried out a widespread campaign of rape against ethnic minority women in Burma, including the Karen. Ethnic women's organizations have documented these rapes extensively in reports including "Shattering Silences", "License to Rape", and others. 

The UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights have passed a total of 28 consecutive non-binding resolutions on Burma, all of which have been ignored by Burma's military junta. 

Recently, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Refugees International, Church World Service, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions have called for the UN Security Council to act on Burma -- unlike the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights, its decisions are binding. On December 16th, 2005 the UN Security Council held its first ever discussion on Burma, and now Karen Women's Organization is calling on the Council to go further and pass a binding resolution demanding the military junta end all attacks on innocent civilians in Burma and begin a process of peaceful negotiations with all ethnic groups and Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. 

"Eastern Burma is like living hell," said the Karen Women's Organization in a statement. "We can't understand why the UN Security Council sits in silence while more and more innocent civilians die. If the destruction of 2,800 villages isn't enough for them to take action, what is?" 

KWO went on to call for support from international women's organizations. "We know that women's organizations around the world talk a lot about the need for women's peace and security. Right now, in eastern Burma, women are being killed, tortured, and raped by soldiers of the military junta. Please break your silence and demand immediate action by the UN Security Council. Every day that the world waits is one day too long for the women of eastern Burma -- one more day of rape, killing, and violence."