According to Voice of America, on 19th July, Maj Gen Aung Than Tut, Director of Bureau of Special Operations #2 which oversees all Burma Army units in Shan State, was said to have given inhumane instruction to his troops in Murng Nawng,Shan State, to kill all males and rape all females during their operation against the Shan State Army (SSA).On 20th July, in relation to the upcoming final assault on the Shan State Army (SSA) North’s Wan Hai base in Kehsi township, Shan Herald Agency for News reportedthat orders have been issued to the Burmese troops that, “If they are E-ja-kway (Chinese Youzhagui, deep-fried twisted dough sticks), get rid of them,” one source quoted an officer as saying. “If they are Samoosa (Indian-samosa, fried stuffed pastry), eat them.”E-ja-kway means male, and Samoosa means female, according to the source. Tai Freedom website reported yesterday that on 15 July, Maj. Gen Aung Than Htut,Chief of Bureau of Special Operation 2 which oversees all regional commands inShan State and Karenni State summoned his all commanders concerned to meet him in Murng Nawng Sub-township. In the meeting, the commanders were told “to kill allmen, rape all women and burn down every village”.Almost identically, according to Kachin Women’s Association Thailand’s statement, on19th July, Burma Army’s human rights abuses so far have been documented as rape of 32 women and girls in eight townships during the offensive, thirteen of whom were killed. One young girl was raped and killed in front of her parents. Refugees describe soldiers declaring they have “orders to rape women”.In March, when it became clear that main stream non-Burman ceasefire armies like, the KIA, UWSA and bulk of the SSA North would not toe the line of Naypyidaw’s Border Guard Force plan, the War Office ordered its forces based in ethnic areasto relaunch their infamous Four Cuts strategy against them.The 4 cut campaign, according to SHAN report, on 22nd April of this year, includes:Cutting and blockading of communications between rebel armed groupsEmbargo of people and consumer goods entering rebel territoriesSearch and destruction of core members responsible for supply, information, funds and recruitsEmbargo on trade to reduce rebel revenueImplementation on the ground would mean “sweeping” the operational areas, where malevillagers are killed, women raped and the villages burned. Apart from that, creation of “no man’s land” and “free fire zone” are ordered during the Burmese military offensive in ethnic areas.The 4 cuts campaign launched 1996-98 had laid waste 11 townships in Shan State,displacing more than 300,000 people in 1,500 villages.“Licence to rape”, researched and compiled by The Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women Action Networks in 2002, is irrefutable evidence to date that the Burma Army has always use “Rape as a weapon of war” against the Shan and other ethnic groups.According to the report, it has detailed 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001. The report reveals that the Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnicpeoples of Shan State.The incidents detailed were committed by soldiers from 52 different battalions.83% of the rapes were committed by officers, usually in front of their own troops. The rapes involved extreme brutality and often torture such as beating, mutil