<\/p>\n
Human Rights Now released the following statement on the Advisory Opinion of \u00a0the Judges of\u00a0<\/span>the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma on June 27, 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma calls for the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry<\/span><\/p>\n \u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501<\/span><\/span>\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On June 27, \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The judges of the Tribunal \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Burma, the military regime, \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n HRN affirms that the \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, HRN strongly \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Quintana, the Special \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Commissions of Inquiry were \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The international community \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The U.N. General Assembly, which \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n HRN also requests that the Japanese government, as [1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> [2]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>http:\/\/www.burmacampaign.org.uk\/index.php\/news-and-reports\/news-stories\/new-report-on-crimes-against-humanity-against-rohingyas-strengthens-case-fo\/142<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [3]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>http:\/\/www.burmacampaign.org.uk\/index.php\/news-and-reports\/news-stories\/un-burma-human-rights-expert-backs-un-commission-of-inquiry-into-abuses\/13<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Human Rights Now released the following statement on the Advisory Opinion of \u00a0the Judges of\u00a0the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma on June 27, 2010. \u00a0 \u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u00a0 International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma calls for the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry \u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u00a0 On June 27, Human Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based international human rights NGO, together with the Women’s League of Burma, an association that has worked for the democratisation and realisation of human rights for women in Burma, co-hosted the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma. The Tribunal considered whether the military regime should be held responsible for human rights violations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[17,20],"countries":[245],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statement","tag-human-rights-violation-under-armed-conflictsmilitary-operation","tag-violence-against-women","countries-myanmar"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nHuman Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based international human rights NGO, together
\nwith the Women’s League of Burma, an association that has worked for the
\ndemocratisation and realisation of human rights for women in Burma, co-hosted
\nthe International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Burma. The Tribunal considered
\nwhether the military regime should be held responsible for human rights violations
\nagainst women in Burma. The first Tribunal of this kind was held in New York
\nthis March by the Noble Women’s Initiative, a group of six female Noble Peace
\nLaureates. The Tribunal held in Tokyo on June 27 is the second such event in
\nthe world, and the first in Asia. The Tribunal investigated whether or not the
\nhuman rights violations such as murder, rape, forced labour and torture committed
\nagainst women throughout Burma by the military regime amount to ‘crimes against
\nhumanity’. The Tribunal based its judgment on testimonies from the victims of
\nsuch violations who had travelled to Japan for the Tribunal, and on documents
\nsubmitted to the Tribunal.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nconcluded that ‘it is highly probable that the human rights violations suffered
\nby the women of Burma rise to the level of crimes against humanity’ and issued
\nan Advisory Opinion, calling for the active cooperation of the international
\ncommunity.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nnoteworthy that the Judges recognised the human rights violations and the
\nimpunity enjoyed by perpetrators of the crimes in Burma as a situation which
\n‘has gone far beyond the stage where simply depending on the Burmese government
\nto take its own independent measures to address these violations can be
\njustified’ and called for the international community to ‘affirm that the
\nsituations demands the formation and deployment of a Commission of Inquiry
\nunder the authority of the U.N. Secretary-General or the U.N. Human Rights
\nCouncil, and the dispatch of the Commission to Burma’ ‘[b]ecause it is strongly
\nsuspected that the human rights violations against the women of Burma described
\nto this Tribunal constitute crimes against humanity’. Furthermore, the Judges <\/span>called for the international community to ‘demand, as a next step, that
\nthe U.N. Security Council consider discussing crimes against humanity in Burma
\nand passing a resolution referring the situation to the Prosecutor of the
\nInternational Criminal Court’, if the activities of the Commission of Inquiry
\nfail to improve the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwhich has been in power for more than 20 years, has carried out grave human
\nrights violations such as forced labour, rape, murder and torture in a systematic
\nand widespread manner. Many people, especially women, became the victims<\/span> of such violations, and those responsible for
\nthe violations continue to enjoy a state of impunity. Over the past two
\ndecades, the military regime has failed to follow U.N. General Assembly
\nresolutions and recommendations to improve the human rights situations issued
\nalmost every year by the U.N. Special Rapporteur and other U.N. bodies. Given
\nsuch a situation in Burma, it is of extreme importance to dispatch the
\nCommission of Inquiry and, if necessary, refer the situation to the
\nInternational Criminal Court (ICC).<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndecision of the Judges is crucially important to put an end to the impunity that
\nthe military regime enjoys regarding the systematic and widespread human rights
\nviolations which have continued over the past two decades, and to restore
\njustice and human rights, and welcomes the decision. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nrequests that the international community make an effort to consider and realize
\nthe dispatch of the Commission of Inquiry, as was recommended in the Advisory
\nOpinion. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nRapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (Burma), in his report
\nsubmitted in March,[1]<\/span><\/span><\/a> indicated
\nthat there was a possibility that human rights violations which constitute war
\ncrimes and crimes against humanity may have been committed, and recommended
\nthat the U.N. consider establishing a Commission of Inquiry to investigate
\ninternational crimes, given the the Burmese government’s lack of
\naccountability. Australia, the U.K. the Czech Republic, and Slovakia officially
\nsupported the formation of the Commission.[2]<\/span><\/span><\/a>
\nIn the U.K., 176 MPs have signed a Parliamentary motion to support the
\nestablishment of a Commission of Inquiry.[3]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ndispatched to East Timor and Nepal in the Asian region during the peak of grave
\nhuman rights violations.<\/span>\u3000<\/span>Both countries accepted the findings and recommendations of the Commissions
\nafter they had been dispatched, and both countries <\/span>made <\/span>contributions
\nto improving the human rights situations in their countries. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nshould urgently address the situation in Burma with a view to improving the
\nextremely grave human rights situation there.<\/span>\u3000<\/span>If the situation remains <\/span>of an extremely grave nature even after the Commission’s involvement, a
\nreferral to the ICC, a permanent court to judge the most serious international
\ncrimes, is the last resort to end impunity and realise justice.<\/span> The U.N. Security Council should adopt a resolution to refer the
\nsituation to the ICC<\/span>\u3000<\/span>so that the ICC may
\nexercise its jurisdiction over Burma, which is not a State Party to the ICC.
\nThe U.N. dispatched a Commission of Inquiry to the Darfur region in Sudan which
\nis also a non-State Party to the ICC, after reports detailing grave human
\nrights violations in the region were submitted to the U.N. <\/span>In response to the recommendations of the
\ncommission, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution to refer the
\nsituation to the ICC and the ICC has begun to investigate it. If Burma fails on
\nits own to end the current era of impunity, a similar referral to the ICC
\nshould be made. <\/span>HRN requests the U.N. and the
\ninternational community to establish a Commission of Inquiry and to give
\nserious consideration to the Advisory Opinion of the International Tribunal on
\nCrimes against Women of Burma as a the first step ending the impunity,.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwill be held this autumn, and the U.N. Human Rights Council should give this
\nmatter serious consideration act accordingly.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe governing authority of the place the Tribunal was held, support any
\ninitiative to establish a Commission of Inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www2.ohchr.org\/english\/bodies\/hrcouncil\/docs\/13session\/A.HRC.13.48_en.pdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n