OVERSEAS KACHIN ASSOCIATION STATEMENT

OVERSEAS KACHIN ASSOCIATION’s Statement on SPDC demands on the Kachin Independence Army and other ethnic nationality ceasefire armies

The New Light of Myanmar or Myanmar Ahlin, the official news organ of the military government of Burma/Myanmar, has offered daily editorials since September 12, 2009, specifically intended to intimidate and threaten Kachin and other ethnic national armies that stand opposed to its ruthless rule and policies.

The following statement is issued by the Overseas Kachin Association in response to constant and unmitigated provocation by the SPDC:

I. If the SPDC wishes to hold a genuinely successful national election in 2010, it must first genuinely correct its own performance in the following areas:

A. The SPDC must sincerely ask forgiveness from the citizens of the nation for its excessively violent and oppressive behavior, which has been exponentially worse than the worst moments the country experienced as a British colony.

B. The SPDC must confess guilt to the murder of at least 8500 innocent Kachin civilians, since 1962,* and pay their families or next of kin fair and equitable reparation as penalty for the crimes.

C. The SPDC must assume full responsibility for the wanton burning, looting and total obliteration of at least 1800 rural Kachin villages since 1962, and sincerely ask for forgiveness for these atrocities from, and make remedial payments to, the innocent surviving victims.

D. The SPDC must beg for forgiveness and pay equitable reparation to those Kachin women who have been brutally raped and violently treated, or their families; there are at least 1200 recorded such instances.

E. The SPDC must immediately stop the massive resettlement of more than hundreds of thousands of Burmans, since 1962, from lower Burma to Kachin State, by providing subsidies and other inducements.

F. Since 1962, Kachin people have been inhibited via intimidation, and prohibited by regulation from observing their traditional culture and customs. Kachins are not allowed to teach our native language. As an additional example, our sacred manau ritual fields have been used to celebrate the Burmese water festival which is secular and often characterized by unrestrained licentiousness.

G. The SPDC must immediately stop the military government’s intention and practice of excluding Kachins from participating in Kachin State government by seriously curtailing the opportunity and the frequent arbitrary dismissal of Kachins who are in state government service.

H. The SPDC must immediately remove all restrictions and barriers imposed since 1962, upon use and teaching of native language and literature programs of the ethnic nationalities.


II. If the Burman military government wants to see the KIA turn into a Border Guard Force(BGF) type of organization, then it must first implement the following.

A. The SPDC must withdraw all its troops and command posts from Kachin State.

B. The SPDC must stop immediately the negating and ignoring of ethnic nationality rights; heretofore, repeated reminders of this issue have fallen on deaf ears. This issue must be the priority of any talks henceforth.

C. The core purpose of the SPDC government’s desire for detente with the KIA is to advance its own agenda; the SPDC’s agenda does not include any consideration of the Kachins’ agenda which the KIA has advocated and defended these many years. The military government has resorted to bribery, intimidation and divide-and-rule tactics against leaders in the Kachin opposition. We demand that the SPDC government face up to the fact that its own agenda is entirely self-serving and that it contradicts the wishes of the citizens of the country. The SPDC government must immediately begin amending its thinking, behavior, attitude, philosophy and course of action.

D. Any agreement for detente should entail the SPDC’s complete withdrawing of troops, reduction of zones of control, and ceasing intimidation of civilians through displays of military power.

We demand that these above mentioned and other egregious behaviors and actions stop immediately.
Executive Committee
Overseas Kachin Association
September 19, 2009