UN General Assembly Calls On Burma To Stop Breaking International Law

The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the new United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma, calling on the dictatorship to stop breaking international law. The Burma Campaign UK is campaigning for the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

The resolution: “Strongly calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take urgent measures to put an end to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the targeting of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups, the targeting of civilians by military operations, and rape and other forms of sexual violence, and to end impunity.’ The resolution also calls on the regime to end the ‘systematic forced displacement of large numbers of persons within their country and other causes of refugee flows into neighbouring countries.”

“By calling on Burma’s generals to respect international law, and to stop systematic displacement and targeting civilians according to their ethnicity, the UN General Assembly has accused the dictatorship of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. “We now need the UN to act, and establish a Commission of Inquiry. The British government must end its silence on this issue, and support the establishment of a Commission.”

In June this year a new report commissioned by five of the world’s leading judges and jurists and written by the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, compiled documentation from existing United Nations documents showing that Burma’s military regime is likely committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The military regime has destroyed or forced the abandonment of as many villages as in the Darfur region of Sudan – yet, the international community has not yet pursued action on these crimes.  The commissioners included judges who had earlier served at the International Criminal Tribunals on Rwanda and Yugoslavia and who now are calling for the UN Security Council to establish an official inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

For more information contact Zoya Phan on 020 7324 4710

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