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貌强:Bush met Charm Tong, The Shan Heroine of Burma 作者： 貌强 Maung Chan （缅甸华族）
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S.H.A.N. & Burma’s News Published by Burma’s Chinese
Contact & UNsubscribe: BurmaChinese@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.boxun.com/hero/Burma'sChinese
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President George W. Bush, being concerned over Burma’s human rights violations, inequality of nationalities and Burmese soldiers’ gang-rape, accompanying by his four-member advisory team, met about one hour withCharm Tong, a 23-year-old Shan woman leader campaigning for the human rights,equal rights of all ethnic nationalities and security rights of women in the military-ruled Burma.
"The president is pleased to welcome such a courageous and compassionate woman to the White House," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan .
As co-founder of the widely respected Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), Charm Tong is a "courageous and compassionate" critic of Burma’s militaryrulers, She "has dedicated her life to helping those who suffer under the military rule in Rangoon and to exposing the regime's abuses, particularly against women," McClellan told reporters.
Charm Tong, the Shan lady of the central Shan state, home to the country's biggest ethnic minority, fled to Thailand as a small child to escape ethnic persecution in Burma. Her father is a commander of the Shan State Army, an insurgent group still battling Burma’s troops. He died last year.
Charm Tong has co-founded a network of human rights monitors on the Thai-Burmese border and established a school for poor Shan refugees. Her SWAN group has documented the systematic rape of innocent ethnic girls and women as a weapon of war by Burma's soldiers.
Her SWAN is best known for producing the 2002 report “License to Rape,”which shocks the world. This report documented 625 cases of rape against ethnic Shan women, a high percentage of which were incidents of gang rape described as a systematic campaign of sexual violence by the Burmese Army.
Charm Tong was awarded earlier this year the 2005 Reebok Human Rights Award given to young people who risk their lives to fight injustice and oppression.
She was named among "Asia's heroes of 2005" by Time magazine this month. She was also among four Burmese women nominated this year for the Nobel Peace Prize.
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