Kachin activists in London on Monday protested Burmese President Thein Sein's current state visit to the UK. A large group of Kachin protesters gathered in front of the British Prime Ministers official residence at 10 Downing Street as Thein Sein met his British counterpart David Cameron for talks.
The Kachin protesters were joined by activists from the Burma campaign UK including Zoya Phan, daughter of the late Karen National Union leader Mahn Sha. A large number of Rohingya protesters and their supporters were also present to condemn the Thein Sein government's treatment of the stateless Muslim minority.
Representatives of the Kachin National Organization (KNO) the largest Kachin diaspora organization issued a statement on Monday afternoon criticizing Thein Sein and the British government's red carpet treatment for the ex-army general many Kachin consider a war criminal.
The KNO statement noted that under Thein Sein's leadership Burma's military has carried out "crime against humanity, war crimes and violation of international law" in Kachin state. Claims supported by a series of reports from Human Rights Watch and other credible international organizations cataloging the Burma army's use of rape as a weapon of war and the deliberate targeting of civilians with gunfire and mortar bombs during the Kachin campaign which remains on going. This despite a recent 7 point agreement between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the central government.
David Cameron and his Foreign Minister William Hague appear to be unconcerned by the army's actions in Kachin state. According to recent media reports the Cameron government is poised to offer Burma's military training in the field of "human rights and the law of armed conflict". Britain's Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that Britain will soon appoint a military attaché in Rangoon who will "oversee the establishment of military to military contacts between the Burmese armed forces and their UK counterparts".
Official military ties between Burma and most western countries were frozen after August 1988 when army troops crushed a nationwide popular uprising, killing thousands of unarmed protesters in the process. It remains to be seen whether British military officials will actually be able to teach their Burmese counterparts much about human rights. The British military's own human rights record during recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan has often been criticized by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Last month Britain's government was forced to issue a partial apology to veterans of the Kenyan independence struggle after a series of court victories by the last surviving Mau Mau fighters, many of whom claim to have suffered torture at the hands of their British military captors in the 1950's. After years of successive British government's denying that such torture took place Foreign Minister Hague admitted in June that Kikuyu and other Kenyans had in fact been tortured and endured other horrific abuses during the Mau Mau emergency era.
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http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/kachin-in-london-protest-thein-sein-visit-as-uk-restores-military-cooperation/
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