THE BURMESE army has been deliberately killing, torturing and arbitrarily detaining members of ethic minorities in the Shan and Mon states, according to a report published today by Amnesty International.
The report is based on interviews conducted with refugees from the Shan, Akha, Lahu, Karen and Mon ethnic minorities who have fled to Thailand, according to Ms Mary Lawlor, director of the Amnesty International's Irish section.
According to the report, the Burmese military authorities are responsible for widespread human rights violations in ethnic minority areas including rape, torture and summary executions.
"Since March 1996, tens of thousands of people in the Shan and Karenni states have been forcibly removed by the military, and threatened with being shot on sight if they return home," Ms Lawlor said in Dublin last night.
"Amnesty International is concerned that the Burmese army has arbitrarily detained, extra judicially killed, tortured and ill treated members of ethnic minorities," the report says.
The report focuses on the rights situation in eastern Burma's Shanand Mon states and the southern Tenasserim Division.
Many civilians have been arbitrarily seized as porters for the "tatmadaw (army) from their villages by the military and held in custody... Many of those forced to act as porters have been subjected to ill treatment as punishment if they could not carry their loads of supplies and ammunition," the report says.
"Young ethnic minority girls have been raped by soldiers while being forced to act as porters."
The Burmese army had forced some 50,000 people from their home villages in Shan state to government controlled areas in the course of operations against Shan guerrillas, the report says.
About 10,000 people have recently been forced from their homes in Kayah state as the army fights guerrillas in the area, refugee workers on the Thai Burmese border say.
Minority guerrillas have been fighting the central government for autonomy since shortly after Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948.
Amnesty International also says it is seriously concerned about the practice of forced labour in Burma.
"In at least the last five years: the SLORC has increasingly used forced civilian labour to build railway links, airports, dams, quarries and roads throughout the country," the report says, referring to the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council.
Reuter reports from Bangkok: The US Embassy in Rangoon unpaid labour in Burma was worth about 3 per cent of gross domestic product.
The EU is currently investigating forced labour in Burma and a European Commissioner said on Tuesday its inquiry was likely to result in Burma losing its preferential tariff treatment.