Obama's Burma visit overshadows army's continued war crimes in Kachin state

BURMESE DEMOCRACY LEADER SUU KYI AND U.S PRESIDENT OBAMA.

President Barack Obama's visit to Burma on Monday, the first ever trip by a sitting US president, has been hailed by numerous western commentators as further proof that the country long ruled by military dictatorship has undergone real democratic change.

Despite the series of reforms that have taken place under President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government Burma's army continues to yield a huge amount power. In June 2011, some three months after Thein Sein officially took office the military launched a full scale offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the country's second largest armed ethnic group.

Given that the Obama administration has been relatively quiet about the army's actions in Kachin state over the past 18 months, it’s unlikely that Obama will say much if anything about the Kachin conflict during his brief visit to the country. If President Obama is really interested in assisting Burma make a true democratic transition he must speak out against the army's abuses and its continued stranglehold over the country.

Although most of the world has ignored the Kachin conflict, the impact on civilians of the army's nearly 18 month long campaign has been devastating. An estimated 100,000 people have been forced from their homes across Kachin state and parts of neighboring north western Shan state since the army chose to unilaterally end a 17-year ceasefire with the KIO.

Despite claims that things have changed because Aung San San Suu Kyi and her colleagues have been elected to parliament the army's methods have been no different from those it employed during the Than Shwe and Ne Win era. Troops deployed in Kachin state have carried out horrible war crimes against civilians including rape, summary execution and forced portering, as detailed in a report released earlier this year by Human Rights Watch.

The generals apparent belief that they would easily crush KIO, with an armed wing larger than some European nations, has proven to be folly. Many young Burma army conscripts have needlessly died after being forced to charge up mountainsides well defended by seasoned Kachin fighters. Unofficial estimates reveal that the army has lost thousands of troops in the state, the actual figure remain unknown and even leading opposition figures like Aung San Suu Kyi don't appear to be interested in forcing the army to reveal what remains a national secret.

With alarming regularity the army has responded to the heavy losses it has incurred by killing and sexually abusing unarmed Kachin civilians, actions that are not just war crimes but endless motivation for more young Kachin men and women to the resistance, as many have since the conflict began.

President Thein Sein has responded to the costly Kachin conflict by twice issuing orders that the army halt its offensive. The army continues however to attack, leaving one to conclude that either Thein Sein wasn't serious about bringing an end to the conflict or he doesn't control the army currently headed by a Than Shwe protege.

Even if Thein Sein, himself a former general, actually wanted to reign in the army this would be very difficult thanks to the pro military constitution currently in place. The constitution that Burma had during its brief democratic era in the 1950s, while far from perfect, was far better than what was forced upon Burma during a sham referendum held in the wake of the 2008 cyclone. General Than Shwe's parting to gift to the country he so seriously misruled is a document that enshrines the right of the army to seize power at any time, essentially legalizing any future military coup.

The army however doesn't need to launch a coup because it’s still largely controls all government decision making, something that hasn't changed for five decades. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, the largest party in parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by Than Shwe loyalists who only recently retired from the army.

If Burma is going to make a true democratic transition the army must be put under actual civilian control and its size reduced significantly. The country which remains one of the world's poorest needs health and education spending, not tanks and fighter jets.