Christian group reports chemical attack in Myanmar
22 Apr 2005 12:13:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Michael Perry
SYDNEY, April 22 (Reuters) - A London-based Christian human rights
group says it has collected strong evidence of a chemical attack on
Karen rebels by Myanmar's military government, which denied the
allegation on Friday.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said it had examined five
rebels who detailed the attack on February 15 and who suffered
blisters, throat, eye and lung irritations and vomiting.
CSW international president Dr Martin Panter told Reuters a Thai
doctor had examined the rebels five days after the attack and
reported the men "were extremely sick, they were not able to eat,
their skin had a yellow colour to it and severe irritation".
According to a draft CSW report posted on www.csw.org.uk, the
attack occured at the Karen border post Nya My, 10 km (6 miles)
west of the Thai hill town of Mae Hong Son, during prolonged heavy
artillery shelling which started on Jan. 14.
On the morning of Feb. 15, a shell exploded near the post, giving
off pungent yellow smoke, unlike the usual black and white smoke
from artillery shells, the report said.
"When the shell exploded immediately a thick yellow vapour, like a
cloud, emanated from it," said Panter, who examined the rebels on
April 15.
"They said immediately on inhaling some of this yellow vapour they
immediately felt sick, their eyes burned, their throat burned. They
found it very difficult to breath, they became very short of
breath," said Panter in Australia on Friday.
A Thai military intelligence officer confirmed shelling had taken
place in the area on Feb. 15, but said he did not know if chemical
weapons had been used.
"We've collected evidence around the area for lab tests, but we
haven't got any results yet," the officer told Reuters.
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), most of whose soldiers
are Christian, has waged a 56-year war -- Asia's longest insurgency
-- against the military junta in the former Burma, demanding
autonomy for an ethnic Karen state.
They struck a loose deal in January 2004 to end hostilities, but
skirmishes continue.
VOMITING BLOOD
The Myanmar army was accused of using chemical weapons in the
1990s, but there has never been any proof.
Myanmar Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said
government troops were not even involved in the Feb. 15 fighting,
which he said involved rival militias.
"These two groups are only using conventional weapons and Myanmar
does not have the technology to produce chemical weapons," he told
reporters in Yangon.
KNLA commander-in-chief Mutu Saepoe told Reuters in an exclusive
interview two weeks after the alleged incident that there had been
skirmishes between the army and his men in the area.
However, when asked to describe the nature of the fighting, he made
no mention of chemical weapons.
Panter said the rebels had never witnessed anything like the yellow
vapour before. "These are not rookie soldiers. They are
experienced, hardened soldiers, most of them having fought with the
Karenni resistance for between 15 and 25 years," he said.
Two of the men started vomiting blood within 30 minutes, Panter
said, and within a few hours none of them could stand up.
All were stretchered to the Thai hill town of Mae Hong Son, and
then taken to the northern city of Chiang Mai for treatment but
sent back to Myanmar sick and barely able to walk, he said.
Panter said when he examined the rebels they were still very weak
and were suffering the affects of what he believes was an attack
with a chemical cocktail.
"Certainly there was very strong evidence of blistering and severe
irritation of the skin. From the conclusion I have made, it was
probably a cocktail of chemicals, containing a blister agent
similar to mustard gas, probably a nerve agent similar to sarin gas
and also a pulmonary agent affecting the lungs."
CSW is a human rights organisation specialising in religious
freedom. It began in 1979 as the British branch of the Swiss-based
organisation, Christian Solidarity International.
Since independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar has been convulsed
by a series of ethnic guerrilla conflicts with the ruling ethnic
Burman majority. The Karen number around 1.5 million inside
Myanmar, according to rebels. (Additional reporting by Aung Hla
Tung in Yangon and Somjit Rungjumrusrasmee in Mae Sot,
Thailand)