TWO BURMA ARMY SOLDIERS
TESTIFY TO USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
By Michael Ireland
MYANMAR (ANS) -- Two
soldiers in the Burmese Army who defected to the Karenni forces on
April 25 have testified to the widespread use of chemical weapons.
According to
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Myo Min, 15, had been in the
Burma Army for one month and Soe Thu, 16, had been in the Burma Army
for two months.
When asked
about 'chemical or poison' weapons, Myo Min told CSW's International
President, Dr Martin Panter, that he had to carry boxes of chemical
weapons to the front line almost from the day he arrived.
Dr Panter
visited the region between April 27-29. He reports: "The sergeant
commander of his unit told him to be very careful carrying these
weapons, as if he dropped them the chemicals would spill and he could
be killed.
"Asked how he knew they were chemical weapons, he said
that the sergeant showed them all around the arsenal where weapons were
stored at the army base camp and pointed out these poisonous weapons.
Each box had the emblem of a skull and cross bones on it, and he
proceeded to draw one for us. He said that whenever these chemical
shells were fired soldiers had to wear full head masks and gloves. They
were usually launched from a mortar launcher but said there were a
number of ways in which they were delivered. But he had only seen the
mortar launch, and said that during an artillery attack on Karenni
positions they worked on one shell in four being a chemical shell.
Sometimes he went with a truck to the front line when a large number of
artillery shells were shifted at a time. In the truck on one occasion
he counted five boxes of chemical devices, out of a total load of about
30, on another occasion he counted seven boxes, all with the skull and
cross bones emblem."
Dr Panter also
interviewed Soe Thu, who explained that the chemical shells were quite
different to normal heavy artillery; they were lighter and painted a
"white color."
Dr Panter
reports: "He had sometimes picked one up to feel it, but was scared as
the sergeant had said they could die if they dropped them and the
chemical leaked out. He drew a picture of a chemical device and a
mortar launcher next to it."
Dr Panter
reported that both boys said they had been told that if they ever
deserted and went to the Karenni, they would be cut up, put on bamboo
sticks across a fire, roasted and eaten "with salt."
Dr Panter said:
"Both lads' stories had the 'ring of truth' to them. They had no reason
to lie, and little to gain by it. They both know they will be shot if
they return or are caught.
"Both boys told
us that there were many other 'children' soldiers in their division.
They thought around 30 kids of 16 years and younger, out of a total of
120."
Panter said
both boys were dressed in their military uniforms, with their belts
bearing the badge of the Burma Army insignia. Myo Min said he came from
a village in the Irrawaddy delta area. In February, Burma Army troops
came into his village, rounded up all the young lads and gave them a
stark choice of either joining the army or going to prison for two
years.
Myo Min said he
had no desire whatever to fight, and in fact had no idea what he was
fighting for. He received virtually no training, and was sent straight
to the front line in the 112 division of 55 Battalion light infantry
brigade.
CSW said the
two were interviewed separately. They know they will be summarily
executed if they are caught and are currently being held at a secret
location.
Panter said
further allegations of the use of chemical weapons could not simply be
denied by the Burmese regime: "The Burmese army is guilty of crimes
against humanity under the Geneva conventions of war and needs to
answer to the international community for its behavior, especially in
the light of strong and robust denials by the Junta's information
minister at a press briefing in Rangoon on April 22, that Burma has
chemical weapons, and has never and will never deploy them."
Mervyn Thomas,
Chief Executive of CSW UK, said: "These disturbing testimonies from two
former soldiers in the Burma Army lend further credibility to reports
of the use of chemical weapons by the Burmese regime. This regime has
long been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the
Karenni and several other ethnic groups and it is sadly no great
surprise to learn of allegations of the use of chemical weapons. CSW
urges the international community to press the military regime for
answers that go beyond the usual flat denials."
CSW has also
received the full medical report on the possible use of chemical
weapons on three Karenni soldiers.
The doctor who
examined them stated that on February 19, 20 Karenni soldiers from the
Karenni resistance were exposed to a substance released by shells as
these exploded. The identity of the doctor is not being revealed for
security reasons.
The substance
in question was described as a yellow-brown vapor. Those exposed to the
substance described the vapor as tasting mainly like chilli hot pepper.
A witness who was standing at a safe distance and who was not exposed
to the substance described seeing many shells releasing a yellow
substance.
The doctor
stated: "I would like to submit that the description of this yellow
vapor, as well as the physical symptoms experienced by those men
exposed to it, as well as the clinical signs present, strongly suggest
that these patients were exposed to some kind of chemical or biological
munitions."
The doctor
continued: "Three of the soldiers who were exposed to the yellow
substance were evacuated and brought to me at great risk to themselves
and to those helping them. These men presented to me as patients on the
sixth day following this event.
"The Karenni
officer who brought his men to me has been a soldier for over thirty
years and prior to that day had never encountered shells releasing a
yellow substance and making people sick on exposure to it. Whilst he
was not sure as to what that yellow vapor was, he soon realized that it
was some kind of poison as demonstrated by the way the exposed men
started to get very ill. He told me that during the first few days
before bringing them to me, his men looked like they were dying and not
going to pull through.
"That Karenni
officer reported that the shells fired by the Burma Army were a
combination of ordinary high explosives and some form of
poisonous/chemical munitions. The shells were, 81mm and 120mm mortars,
and 75mm and BA8 Recoilless Rifles. The Burma Army used multiple weapon
systems at once. Up to 40 shells per minute impacted on Karenni
positions. According to this officer, the ratio of high explosives to
chemical rounds fired from the mortars was 40 rounds of high explosives
to 4 rounds of the unidentified poisonous/chemical munitions.
"I was able to
interview the patients, take their medical history and examine them.
This I did over the first two days, as they were first too weak to be
interviewed. The story of each patient was consistent with the other
patients and many of their symptoms were identical to one another."
For more
information, please contact Dr Martin Panter in Australia on (0061) 740
938100 or 740 921061. Alternatively contact Richard Chilvers,
Communications Manager, CSW on 020 8329 0045 or email:
richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk
| ** Michael Ireland is an
international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a
London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News
Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in
1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two
children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a
British Christian radio station. |
 |
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - www.assistnews.net
-- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
