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Amnesty urges UN action on Burma war crimes
Irrawaddy - September 3, 2010
London-based rights group Amnesty International (AI) has urged the UN General Assembly to establish an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights abuses, crimes against humanity and possible war crimes committed in Burma.
In a statement on Friday, AI said that the General Assembly should request the UN Secretary-General to rapidly establish a commission to investigate reports of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Burma by all parties, and to identify the perpetrators of such violations with a view to ensuring that those responsible for the crimes are brought to justice.
The inquiry should focus on reports of widespread and systematic persecution of civilian populations by the Burmese government forces against the Muslim Rohingya minority in Arakan State, the ethnic Shan minority in Shan State, and the ethnic Karen minority in eastern Burma.
In a report in June 2008 titled, "Crimes against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar," AI documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, forced labor, arbitrary arrests, and various forms of collective punishment, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population in northern Karen State and eastern Pegu Division starting in late 2005.
The report also highlighted the Burmese regime's persistent failure to implement the recommendations of the General Assembly, which has adopted 19 resolutions on Burma.
AI also pointed out that the Burmese military government, with its 2008 Constitution, has signaled its intention to maintain impunity for its officials accused of past human rights abuses.
AI said that Article 445 of Burma's 2008 Constitution – which will come into force via an election on Nov. 7 – grants present and past officials complete impunity, providing that "no proceedings" may be instituted against officials of the military governments since 1988 "in respect of any act done in the execution of their respective duties."
"With no possibility of justice, truth and reparations for victims at the national level, the international community must take action now," AI said in its statement.
The establishment of a Commission of Inquiry was initiated in March by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana. It is already supported by Australia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK and the US..
Meanwhile, the Canadian government says it is to support a UN Commission of Inquiry on Burma, according to a spokesperson for the Canadian Foreign Minister Catherine Loubier.
"Canada supports both the UN special rapporteur's work on human rights abuses in Burma, and the idea of a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses by the Burmese regime," said Loubier, quoting Minister Lawrence Cannon.
"We will work with our allies in the international community to develop a common approach to support the recommendations that the rapporteur will present to an upcoming session of the UN General Assembly," said Loubier.
Tin Maung Htoo, the executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma, a leading rights group, said, "Canada is indeed responding to a mounting call from all corners – both domestic and international community – to support a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations in Burma.
"We welcome this position from the government of Canada," he added.
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