Lack of prosecution of perpetrators

Lack of prosecution of perpetrators, punishment of complainants

Evidence in this report shows clearly that not only are there no serious efforts on the part of the military authorities to bring perpetrators of rape among their ranks to justice, but they are actively discouraging the reporting of such incidents by inflicting physical abuse, imprisonment and fines on any complainants. 

In most of the rape incidents documented in this report, the victims reported the abuse first to a family member and then to a village headman or other community leader. Together they would then advise the girl or woman of the best action to take. Often (in 22 cases, 13%), the headman advised the family not to take the case any further as it would not only fail to bring justice, but might also be dangerous for the complainants. The fact that in one case a headman was himself beaten and tortured to death by SPDC troops for having reported a rape shows the disincentive for community leaders to get involved in such matters. 

A village headman secretly saw when Capt. Soe Hlaing left the farm house (after committing the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl) and found out what had happened, went to Ke-See town and complained about it to the town community leader. The captain heard that he was being suspected of committing rape and murder by the headman. Early in the morning, at about 4:30 am of 13.12.1998, the captain and some troops came to Nawng Kaw village and surrounded and searched the headman's house. After searching for a while, the troops said they found a walkie-talkie in the house and Soe Hlaing immediately ordered the arrest of the headman. The villagers were certain that the walkie-talkie was secretly planted earlier by the captain's soldiers to frame the headman. The captain and his troops tied the headman to a house pillar and interrogated him while beating and torturing him. They asked him where he got the walkie-talkie, which Shan resistance group had given it to him etc., and poured hot water down his throat and beat and kicked him until he died while still being tied to the pillar in his house. (case 70)

Other factors discouraging girls and women from reporting rape incidents to the SPDC authorities were: they could not speak Burmese, which would clearly disadvantage them during any subsequent judicial proceedings; and they often did not know the name and the military unit of the rapist, and thus realised that they had almost no chance of proving the case. 

However, in as many as 37 (21%) of the rape incidents documented, the victims, their relatives or community leaders actually dared to report the crime to the SPDC authorities. In only one of these cases (in April 1997) was the perpetrator, from the SPDC mortar battalion in Murng Hsat, punished by his commander. 

"When the village headman came back from his farm late that evening, I told him all that had happened. He then complained to the SPDC local military camp commander. The commander tied up the soldier who had raped me, beat him and then put him in jail." (case 24)

However, even in this case, it does not appear that the matter went through the process of law, and it is thus unlikely that the perpetrator would have been given the maximum 10-year jail sentence for the rape. 

In eleven cases, the SPDC officers registered the complaint, but did nothing further. In nine cases, the SPDC officers arranged for a "line-up" of as many as 80 soldiers in order for the victim to identify the rapist, but deliberately left the rapist out of the line. Following the lack of positive identification, in one case the headman who had made the complaint was beaten unconscious and detained until the family of the rape victim paid 2,000 kyat for his release. In two other cases, the victim herself was imprisoned and up to 20,000 kyat had to be paid for her release. In another case the headman and his deputy were imprisoned until 5,500 kyat could be paid for their release. In three other cases, the complainants were not imprisoned but had to pay fines of up to 30,000 kyat for defaming the military. 

Only in one case was there a positive identification from a line-up, which appears to have been the result of an intervention from an officer from one of the Shan cease-fire organisations. However, following the identification no further action was taken.

More commonly, the SPDC officers rejected the accusation outright. In three of these cases, the SPDC officers claimed that the perpetrator had not been in the area when the crime was committed, in one case stating that he had long been transferred. Significantly, in two of the cases, the officer accused was indeed immediately transferred to another unit. 

Out of the eleven cases when the SPDC officers rejected the accusation outright, in seven cases the complainants were punished for making the complaint. In three cases, the complainants were physically abused: the rape victim was beaten unconscious, the father of one victim was beaten, and a headman was slapped. In six cases, the complainants were actually fined, as much as 60,000 kyat, for making the complaint. In one case, the father of the victim was arrested and detained until village leaders paid a cow for his release.

In none of the cases documented for this report was there any mention of the SPDC authorities asking that the raped women be given proper medical examinations, which could be used as a basis for rape prosecution. This again indicates that they had no serious intention of bringing the perpetrators to justice. 

There is information that in eleven of the cases, women themselves or their families arranged for medical treatment, either for injuries or illnesses arising from the rape, or to test blood for possible infection. In two of the cases, the hospital workers documented evidence of the sexual abuse, and in one case (of a 5-year-old girl who was raped in her home by an SPDC soldier), even took photographs and said they would try and report the incident. However, no further action was taken, and in one case, hospital workers who had treated a woman who had been beaten and raped, advised the woman to lie about the cause of her injury. In other words, the medical personnel themselves were too afraid of the military authorities to dare to push for justice in the case. 

Later when she went to the hospital for treatment of her split scalp, she was asked what had happened to her. When she said she was beaten by SPDC troops, the health workers told her to say that her head was hit by a falling branch, otherwise they were afraid the soldiers would eventually come back and punish her. She was so frightened that she left for the Thai border 2-3 days later. (case 64)