Since June 2011, the northern Kachin State of Burma is facing an armed conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) with its military wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The conflict has led to the displacement of approximately 75.000 people seeking refuge in camps along the Chinese border in areas controlled by the KIA. In interviews refugees, victims, rebels and army deserters told Human Rights Watch of “soldiers [that] have threatened and tortured civilians during interrogations and raped women”, of the forced conscription of children as forced labourers and child soldiers as well as the use of antipersonnel mines.
In its report, Human Rights Watch calls on all conflict parties “to take effective measures to end abuses by their forces, ensure humanitarian access, and permit an independent international mechanism to investigate abuses by all sides”.
HRW: Burma: Reforms Yet to Reach Kachin State
HRW (2012) Report: "Untold Miseries"
Reuters: Rape, torture plague Myanmar's Kachin conflict: rights group
