An ethnic Karen women’s group said that its report on rape cases committed by Burma Army soldiers was not a bid to destroy the current ceasefire talks between the military and Karen leaders.

The Thai-based Karen Women’s Organization, or KWO, released Shattering Silences on Friday, a report that details 125 cases of sexual abuse committed against women in Karen State by the junta's soldiers. Yesterday, the military government reportedly said in a statement that the report was an attempt to discredit and derail its transition to democracy.

The largest ethnic opposition group, the Karen National Union, or KNU, has been negotiating with the Burmese military junta to reach a formal ceasefire since last December when the two sides verbally agreed on a truce.

Khaing Mar Kyaw Zaw, a KWO information officer, said today the report was not aimed at harming the current ceasefire talks between the junta and the KNU but was just reporting abuses against women in Karen State.

"We need to report human rights violations against our people," Khaing Mar Kyaw Zaw said on the phone. "Yes, the talks are going on. On the other hand, human rights violations are also going on."

She continued that there has been several rape cases in recent months while meetings between the KNU and the junta have continued. The report alleges that the Burma Army uses systematic rape with impunity as a war strategy.

During January and February, at least three women were raped by Burma Army soldiers in Karen State and Taungoo in Pegu Division, according to the report. Khaing Mar Kyaw Zaw said the number of rapes committed by Burma Army soldiers against women is in reality much higher then the figures shown in the report.

In the KWO press release, Zipporah Sein, the group’s secretary, said: "How can we believe that the regime is trying to bring about peace and democracy in Burma when their troops continue to commit rape with impunity?"

The KWO report comes nearly two years after the release of License to Rape, a report which documented 173 incidents of sexual abuse committed by the Burma Army, involving 625 girls and women in Shan State.