By Deutsche Presse Agentur
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called for an international investigation into the Burmese army's practice of forcing convicts to work as porters under inhumane conditions.
In a report dated Tuesday, the New York-based human rights group said prisoners were forced to work for the military in their fight against rebel groups, and tortured and executed if they resisted.
"These are very serious war crimes," said David Mathieson, the group's senior researcher on Burma. "They include human shielding, execution and torture."
The 70-page report titled Dead Men Walking, released together with the Karen Human Rights Group says it contains enough evidence to warrant "concerned governments to support a United Nations-led commission of inquiry into violations of human rights" by Burma.
The army has been fighting ethnic Karen groups in the east of the country for decades.
The report is based on interviews with 58 escaped porters aged between 20 and 57, several originally convicted of no more than petty crimes. According to the testimonies, a least 700 prisoners are serving as forced labour for the military, Mathieson said.
The systematic use of convict porters by the army has been documented since 1992, according to the report.
The groups called for an upcoming UN General Assembly resolution on Myanmar to include plans for a commission of enquiry.
"Governments should stop hoping for things to magically improve in Burma and instead strongly push for a UN commission of inquiry," said Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division.
"Every day that the international community does nothing is another day that the Burmese army will press more porters into deadly service," she said.
Source: The Nation
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