Resource information
Summary:
"In late 2012, the Burma Army intensified military operations against strongholds of the
Kachin Independence Army (KIA). This culminated in a massive offensive on the KIA
headquarters at Laiza on the China-Burma border starting in mid-December. This month-long
assault involved repeated mortar shelling and aerial bombings in the Laiza area, populated by
20,000 civilians, over half of whom are internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were denied
refuge in China.
This report documents the killing or injury of 26 civilians, including women, children and the
elderly, in Burmese artillery attacks in five areas during the recent military operations. The
repeated authorization of artillery fire into areas populated by civilians, as well as deliberate
torching of villages and IDP shelters, represent serious breaches of international humanitarian
law, and are likely to amount to war crimes.
The humanitarian situation in Kachin areas remains critical, with 364 villages wholly or
partially abandoned, and over 100,000 people internally displaced. Hardly any international
aid has been provided to the 66,000 IDPs in Kachin-controlled areas.
There has been little international condemnation of the Burma Army aggression in Kachin
State. Foreign governments appear more interested in pursuing diplomatic and economic
engagement with Burma’s military-backed government. However, silence on the Burmese
military’s crimes risks plunging Burma deeper into civil war, by emboldening Burma’s rulers
to continue using force to crush the ethnic resistance movements. .
The international community must strongly condemn the crimes committed by the Burma
Army, and pressure the Burmese government to end all military aggression, begin troop
withdrawal from Kachin areas of Burma, and enter into political dialogue with the Kachin
Independence Army to address the demands for ethnic equality at the root of the conflict.
