Burmese atrocities

You quoted the Foreign Office minister, Mike O'Brien, as saying that the British government holds the Burmese authorities responsible for Aung San Suu Kyi's health and welfare (Suu Kyi 'hunger strike' denied, September 2). While I hope that this courageous woman's health will not be harmed by her hunger strike, we also need to focus on the bigger picture regarding persecution in Burma, which also involves thousands of non-Burman ethnic people who are being subjected to horrific atrocities.

Relatively little international focus has been given to the atrocities the Burmese military is inflictingon the Karen, Karenni and Shan people. These include summary executions, rape, forced relocations, destruction of villages and crops, and forced labour. This has caused the internal displacement of over 650,000 Karen, Karenni and Shan in Burma.

Many displaced people are hiding in the jungle with little or no food and are shot on sight by Burmese soldiers. At least Suu Kyi has the option to choose whether or not to abstain from food, whereas these displaced people are forced to go hungry. On behalf of the human rights group, the Jubilee Campaign, I have visited displaced Karen and Shan people inside Burma and seen their terrible conditions. Jubilee Campaign is convinced that they are facing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes at the hands of the Burmese military.

Most of the human rights focus on Burma is on political prisoners and democracy. These are important issues, but surely the Burmese army's systematic destruction of three different ethnic communities should be treated as being just as important.
Wilfred Wong
Jubilee Campaign