(Bangkok, January 18, 2013) – The Burmese army appears to have indiscriminately shelled the town of Laiza in northern
Burma’s
Kachin State in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said
today. Human Rights Watch urged the government to allow humanitarian
agencies access to tens of thousands of ethnic Kachin displaced by the
fighting.
On January 14, 2013, at about 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., the Burmese
army fired several 105 mm howitzer shells into Laiza, the administrative
center of the rebel Kachin Independence Organization. The first attack
struck the center of town, killing three civilians – an elderly
Christian pastor, a 46-year-old displaced man, and a 14-year-old boy –
and wounding several others. In the nighttime attack, two shells struck
property in a populated residential area but did not cause any
casualties.
The shells in the first attack struck about one-half kilometer from a
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) military command center on the top floor
of a hotel near the town’s border with China. Although the command
center is a valid military target, Burmese government statements denying
that the army shelled Laiza raise doubts that this was an intended
target.
“Burmese President Thein Sein needs to order his army commanders to
respect the laws of war and end unlawful attacks on civilians,” said
Phil Robertson,
deputy Asia director. “Both the Burmese army and the KIA should take
all necessary precautions to keep the tens of thousands of civilians in
and around Laiza from harm’s way.”
International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, which are
applicable to both sides in the fighting in Kachin State, prohibits
attacks targeting civilians and civilian structures. The law also
prohibits attacks that do not or cannot be directed at a specific
military objective, and thus put civilians at risk. Bombardments
subjecting an entire town to attack because of the presence of military
targets are likewise indiscriminate. The Burmese army’s firing of
howitzer shells with a large blast radius in a populated area also may
have violated the prohibition against indiscriminate attacks.
The laws of war also require all parties to a conflict to avoid, to
the extent feasible, deploying military forces within or near densely
populated areas. The KIA’s placing of a command center within Laiza put
civilians at unnecessary risk of attack.
Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government and the KIA to take
all necessary precautions to minimize loss of civilian life and property
during military operations.
There are approximately 15,000 internally displaced people (IDPs)
sheltering in camps established by the Kachin Independence Organization
and Kachin civil society groups in Laiza. The town has approximately
20,000 permanent residents.
On January 14, government spokesman Ye Thut denied that government
shells struck Laiza. The previous week, the Office of the President
publicly denied that the army conducted any airstrikes against the KIA
with helicopters and fighter jets, but then later backtracked when news
reports showed video footage of the attacks.
In December 2011, President Thein Sein sent a letter to the army
chief of staff and military commands in northern Burma, requesting the
army cease attacks in Kachin State unless acting in self-defense, yet
there is little evidence the military is following that directive.
Background on the conflict
The Burmese government renewed hostilities against the KIA in
June 2011 in a contested area surrounding a Chinese-owned hydropower
dam, ending a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the Kachin
Independence Organization.
In “
Untold Miseries: Wartime Abuses and Forced Displacement in Burma’s Kachin State,”
Human Rights Watch described how the Burmese army attacked Kachin
villages, shot and killed fleeing civilians, used torture during
interrogations, committed rape, and pillaged properties. As a result,
tens of thousands of people have been displaced. The army also used
antipersonnel mines and conscripted forced laborers on the front lines,
including children as young as 14. The KIA has also used antipersonnel
landmines and deployed child soldiers.
“Continuing abuses by the Burmese army in Kachin State should come as
a sobering corrective to governments who believe that the changes going
on in Burma are reaching the entire country,” Robertson said.
There are approximately 90,000 IDPs in Kachin State, with
approximately 60,000 residing in sizable camps in KIA-controlled
territory along the border with China’s Yunnan province. The Burmese
government has repeatedly denied humanitarian access to the United
Nations and international aid groups seeking access to displaced people
in KIA territory, creating a humanitarian emergency and leaving those
displaced to rely on minimum amounts of assistance from the Kachin
Independence Organization and local civil society and community groups.
Now displaced for months and, in some cases, over a year, many of these
displaced people are desperately in need of food, medicine, and medical
attention, warm clothing and cooking materials, and adequate shelter,
local aid workers told Human Rights Watch.
International humanitarian law holds parties to the conflict
responsible for ensuring that the humanitarian needs of the war-affected
populations are met. If the government is unable to meet this
obligation fully, it must allow impartial humanitarian agencies to do so
on its behalf. The Burmese government should immediately ensure the
freedom of movement of humanitarian relief personnel, with temporary
restrictions allowed only in cases of military necessity.
“President Thein Sein should get the message that deliberately denying
aid to tens of thousands of war-ravaged people in need is completely at
odds with his government’s self-appointed image as champions of rights
and reforms,” Robertson said. “Concerned governments should demand an
immediate end to Burma’s systematic denial of humanitarian assistance in
Kachin State.”
By: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/17/burma-halt-indiscriminate-attacks-kachin-state
