Burma Campaign
Media Release From Burma Campaign UK
New Report On Crimes Against Humanity Against Rohingyas Strengthens Case For UN Inquiry.
The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a new report – Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas – published by the Irish Centre for Human Rights.
The report was supervised by Prof Schabas, an expert on international human rights law, who served as one of the seven commissioners on the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The report was funded by the Irish government.
The hard-hitting report exposes how the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma are subject to a range of different human rights abuses which constitute, or may constitute, crimes against humanity as defined by the Rome Statute. These include:
· Forced labour
· Deportation and forcible transfer
· Rape and sexual violence
· Persecution
The report states that; “there is a reliable body of evidence pointing to acts constituting a widespread or systematic attack against the Rohingya civilian population....These appear to satisfy the requirements under international criminal law for the perpetration of crimes against humanity.”
The report recommends that the United Nations Security Council establish a commission of inquiry into the crimes exposed in the report, and into potential crimes being committed in other parts of Burma.
It also calls on the International Labour Organisation to reconsider referring Burma to the International Court of Justice unless there are “swift satisfactory changes.”
In March this year the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma also called for a UN commission of inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.
So far Australia, UK, Czech Republic, and Slovakia have publicly stated that they support a UN commission of inquiry. On 17th June The Elders joined international calls for the establishment of such an inquiry.
“This report provides yet more evidence that the generals ruling Burma are criminals who are breaking international law and avoiding justice,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Governments cannot continue to ignore the evidence; ignorance is no longer an excuse for inaction. We need to see governments publicly supporting a UN commission of inquiry and then taking action to establish it. The European Union should state that it supports the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry. The Irish government should be congratulated for funding this report. We hope they will now express their clear support for a UN inquiry and work for the EU as a whole to also adopt this position.”
The report can be viewed at: http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/projects/burma.html
The Media Release from the Irish Centre for Human Rights Follows:
Crimes Against Humanity Committed Against Rohingyas in Western Burma, Irish Human Rights Centre’ Report Concludes
DUBLIN, 16 June 2010 - The Rohingya minority group in Western Burma has been victim of human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity, according to a report released today by the Irish Centre for Human Rights. The report, entitled Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas, was officially launched by Micheál Martin, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, at Iveagh House.
‘For decades now, the Rohingya minority group has endured grave human rights violations in North Arakan State. Every day, more Rohingya men, women and children are leaving Burma, fleeing the human rights abuses in the hope of finding peace and security elsewhere,’ said Professor William Schabas, director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, which is located at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
The Report is based on extensive open-source research and on a fact-finding mission to Burma, Thailand and Bangladesh conducted by experts in international criminal investigation. As well as interviewing organisations working in the region, investigators met with Rohingya victims in and around refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Rohingyas’ plight has been overlooked for years and the root causes of their situation still remain under-examined. The Irish Centre for Human Rights’ Report identifies and discusses some of these causes.
The Report examines whether the apparent cases of enslavement, rape and sexual violence, deportation or forcible transfer of population, and persecution against the Rohingyas may constitute crimes against humanity. ‘Describing the violations as crimes against humanity raises the possibility that cases against those Burmese officials who are responsible could be referred to the International Criminal Court’, Professor Schabas explained.
The Report affirms that people committing, allowing, aiding and abetting these crimes must be held accountable. The international community has a responsibility to protect the Rohingyas, to respond to the allegations of crimes against humanity and ensure that violations and impunity do not persist for another generation, concludes the report
Speaking at the launch of the Report, Minister Martin commended the work of the NUIG research team, stating that they have presented ‘compelling and credible evidence suggesting that crimes against humanity have indeed been committed by the Burmese authorities against the Rohingya minority group’.
Noting the recommendation in the Report that the Security Council establish a Commission of Inquiry to determine whether there is a prima facie case that crimes against humanity have been committed, as well as similar recent comments by UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, Minister Martin said that he fully supported these calls for all such alleged crimes to be formally investigated.
The Irish Centre for Human Rights, based at the National University of Ireland, Galway, is one of the world’s leading university-based human rights research centres. The Centre, which marks its tenth anniversary this year, is dedicated to teaching, research and advocacy in the field of human rights.
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