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TechnoratiIn eastern Burma, over 3,000 villages have been destroyed or abandoned in the past 10 years, according to human rights group WITNESS. In 2006, an estimated 27,000 members of the predominantly Christian Karen tribe were forced from their homes in eastern Burma, according to U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper.
According to the Free Burma Rangers, at least 12 villages have been looted, destroyed and abandoned, rice fields and food stores have been destroyed, and civilians have shot at the villagers taken for forced labor.
CSW’s Thomas calls on the U.N. secretary-general to set up some specific benchmarks for progress with deadlines that the regime must meet. He recommends that immediate release of political prisoners be the first deadline, followed by an end to the military offensive against civilians in eastern Burma.
“The regime’s crimes against humanity have gone unchallenged for too long. We believe the international community should seriously consider invoking the principle of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ with regard to Burma,” Thomas said.
Human rights groups estimate that the junta detains more than 2,100 political prisoners, a sharp increase from nearly 1,200 in June 2007, before the nationwide democracy demonstrations.
