59th Session of the UNCHR... Oral Intervention on Agenda Item 12... "On behalf of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, and over 100 member organizations, we would like to draw your attention to the on-going sexual violence against ethnic Shan women in Burma perpetrated by the State. In Burma, Shan women are being raped by the military junta?s forces with impunity. Over the past decade, the regime has increased the size of its army. In Shan State alone, there are now at least 150 battalions, with well over 100, 000 troops. The army exercises absolute power and all abuses, including sexual violence, are licenced, in the interest of controlling local populations. There have been 173 documented incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence involving 625 women and girls committed by Burmese troops in Shan State, mostly from 1996-2001. 83 % of the rapes were committed by officers, in most cases in front of their troops. The documentation gives clear evidence that: * Rape is officially condoned as a "weapon of war? against the women in Shan State. * The Burmese military regime has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the form of sexual violence against Shan women..."