To say the least, I am very disturbed by the overall thrust of the article "Myanmar targeting civilians, report says" (June 10) and the inaccuracies it contains. Like most Western media reports, it indicates a shallow knowledge of my country.
As the article said, the Human Rights Watch report was based on accounts of fugitives from the Karen ethnic group who could not be identified "for fear of retribution." So as usual, these allegations came from unreliable anonymous sources that bear ill will toward Myanmar.
In fact, the government has responded to all queries of human rights allegations by special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and also by the authorities of the International Labor Organization. To cite examples, it was reported to these bodies that military personnel who had violated the law by requisition of forced labor - one lieutenant colonel, four captains and two sergeants - had been dismissed from service and sentenced to jail. A total of 17 cases of forced recruitment have been identified and duly punished.
As to counter allegations of rape against ethnic women, the government has established the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the areas in question since the end of 2002. The government has investigated 173 allegations of rape and found that five cases were substantiated. In these cases, legal actions were meted out to the perpetrators and the details of these cases were provided to the special rapporteur of the Human Rights Commission on Violence against Women.
Therefore, the allegations that ethnic minorities suffered at the hands of an unreformed and unaccountable army and that the government allowed the army to kill with complete impunity are totally untrue.
Myanmar is a multiethnic and multi-religious society, with 135 ethnic groups who have lived together since time immemorial. These groups do not bear ill will against one another, as alleged by outsiders. Bamars, Karens, Shans and the others live side by side. Scholars and diplomats assigned here could vouch for the fact that there is no such thing as persecution of Karens by Bamars. The government of Myanmar has been addressing related issues by inviting insurgent groups to come back into the legal fold. As a result, 17 armed groups from the border areas have joined hands with the government to carry out development programs there. The government has been taking serious measures to promote livelihoods and development in these areas to get rid of social evils.
The International Herald Tribune needs to be sensitive to the real conditions in Myanmar.