Kachin civil society groups urges Suu Kyi condemn army abuses

Burma's Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

A coalition of 16 civil society groups jointly issued a statement this week urging Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow parliamentarians from the National League for Democracy to "raise their voices against the ongoing human rights abuses against the Kachin civilians, in accordance with their duty to protect every citizen of the Union.”

The letter was sent just days after Burma's military launched a full scale air and motor assault on Laiza the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) de facto capital killing a number of people. Army shelling on January 14 killed three Kachin civilians living in Laiza, assistant pastor Malang Yaw, 65, Nhkum Bawk Naw, 40 and Hpauyu Doi San Awng, 14. Four other civilians including two young children were also injured by the shelling.

Shortly after news of the deadly incident broke Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters in Burma's capital that she wants a ceasefire between the KIO and Burma's government. "I don't like any kind of war or violence ... I have always said that we should negotiate among ourselves so that there is no need to fight like this," she said.

“We will only be able to avoid such conflicts if we begin to practise a culture of negotiation", added the Nobel Peace winner who stopped short of condemning the army's slaying of civilians. Burma's famed opposition leader has said very little publicly about the Kachin conflict and the conduct of the army since a 17-year ceasefire between both sides fell apart in June 2011, leading to heavy criticism from Kachin civil society groups who describe Suu Kyi's silence on the issue as disturbing.

The open letter which was signed by variety of groups, including the Kachin National Organization- United Kingdom (KNO-UK), the All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU) and the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand (KWAT), condemned the army's continued attack on Laiza and called for an international investigation into the deaths of civilians on January.

“We would like to highlight the total lack of consideration for international humanitarian law by the Burmese military, including Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War which states in its article 27 that protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs,” the letter said.

It remains unclear however what support there is in the international community for a full scale UN investigation into human rights abuses committed during the conflict. One day after the lethal incident London based Amnesty International issued a press release calling for Burmese authorities to investigate the death of the civilians in Laiza.

“We urge the Myanmar authorities to immediately launch an investigation into the attack on 14 January and to determine if international laws of war were violated,” said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director in a statement released by group.

Amnesty stopped short of calling for an international investigation into the killings, a stance likely to disappoint Kachin civil society groups who believe that Thein Sein's government cannot be trusted to investigate itself or the army.