Human rights groups criticized Burma’s army today for forcing prison inmates onto
the front lines of the country’s conflict with ethnic militias, using some as human
shields and executing others who tried to escape.
The Southeast Asian nation's
military, which calls the country Myanmar, has been accused for nearly two decades
of forcing civilians, including prisoners, to serve as porters for the army.
“There
have been many, many of these prison porters taken into these conflict zones, where
they have been used as human shields… [and] human minesweepers” says Mark Farmaner,
the director of Burma Campaign UK.
Listen to the full interview by Christopher
Wells with Mark Farmaner: