Junta urged to halt targeting minorities

       Burma dissident groups yesterday called on the ruling junta to stop using violence against ethnic minorities, warning that its current policy will lead to more human rights violations and refugees.
       The regime recently stepped up its decades-long campaign against minority groups, with offensives against ethnic Chinese rebels in the northeast in August and Christian Karen insurgents near the Thai border in June.
       Analysts say the junta wants to crush such groups before the 2010 elections.
       "We oppose the military regime's use of violence against ethnic nationalities,"said a joint statement by the All Burma Monks' Alliance, the All Burma Federation of Student Unions and the 88 Generation Students.
       The statement, released via the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma, also accused the regime of using the "showcase" elections to forcibly enact a controversial new constitution that was pushed through by a referendum in 2008. The statement said the constitution "fails to guarantee the fundamental rights of ethnic nationalities and equality among all".
       Last month's fighting with the ethnic Chinese Kokang rebels showed the junta had "unilaterally abolished" its ceasefire agreement with ethnic groups, which had lasted more than 20 years, the statement said.