UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma Calls For Commission of Inquiry Into Crimes Against Humanity

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Friday, March 12, 2010

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma Calls For Commission of Inquiry Into Crimes Against Humanity



By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

UNITED NATIONS
(ANS) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, has told the UN Human Rights Council that human rights violations perpetrated by Burma’s military regime may include crimes against humanity and war crimes, and that the UN should establish a commission of inquiry.

In what it calls “a major breakthrough,” Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) www.csw.org.uk  says the Special Rapporteur’s report to the UN Human Rights Council concludes that “there is a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights” which has been continuing “over a period of many years.”

Mr. Quintana says the violations “are the result of a state policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels.”

CSW reports that, in an unprecedented move, Quintana argues that “the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.”



According to CSW, the Special Rapporteur, who recently made his third visit to Burma, recommends that the UN should “consider the possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact finding mandate to address the question of international crimes.”



CSW has advocated the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes for several years, alongside other international campaign groups.



Benedict Rogers, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, who recently returned from a fact-finding visit to the Thailand-Burma border, said: “We warmly welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report, and are delighted that he has not only concluded that the violations perpetrated by the regime may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but that he is now calling on the UN to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes. Such a step is much-needed and long overdue. It is vital that the international community act decisively to end the culture of impunity that prevails in Burma today.”

CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

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For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Theresa Malinowska, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0) 20 8329 0045 / +44 (0)78 2332 9663, email theresamalinowska@csw.org.uk  or visit www.csw.org.uk.  

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael’s volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department — ‘Michael Ireland Media Missionary’ (MIMM) — of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649,at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of ‘Truth Through Christian Journalism.’ If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Chief Reporter

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Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service–>