On the 27th of July, 2008, a young 15 year old school girl, Nhkum Hkawn Din from the village of Namsai, was brutally raped and killed by soldiers of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) while on her way to deliver food to her brother who was working in the fields. Hkawn Din was the daughter of Salang Nhkum Yawng Shawng and his wife Maran Nu Bren who lived in the village of Namsai, Bumsen Bum township (Nmawk), Bhamo District, Kachin State, Burma. This particularly brutal case of rape and murder not only broke all standards of law and justice but is a heinous crime against the Kachin people and the Kachin Nation as a whole.
This is a period in time when our own Kachin Independence Organization and Army have signed a "Ceasefire Agreement" with the enemy. In spite of this agreement with the SPDC, the soldiers of the SPDC, the Tatmadaw has repeatedly violated its terms of agreement and repeatedly carried out brutal and violent crimes against the Kachin people.
We, the Kachin National Organization, strongly oppose these policies and crimes against the Kachin people. Therefore we petition the United Nations:
1) To take strong action against the SPDC and hold the regime responsible for its crimes against humanity according to its own Resolution 1820 which was recently passed on 19th June, 2008, which described rape and sexual violence as a crime against humanity;
2) To take specific action against the individual soldiers and officers responsible for these crimes against humanity and the Kachin people;
3) To help remove the oppressive regime of the SPDC from all Kachin territories and hold the regime accountable for all its pillaging, rape, and murder being conducted in Kachinland.
We, the Kachin National Organization, are committed to opposing the brutal SPDC regime and will continue to fight to protect our people and will fight for the rights and freedom of our Kachin people until all elements of the SPDC have been completely removed from our home land.
Central Committee
Kachin National Organization
