Burma Briefing No. 2: The United Nations General Assembly & Burma

By Burma Campaign UK • August 16, 2010

Updated 25 July 2011

This briefing calls on the United Nations General Assembly to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. EU Member states are currently drafting the twentieth annual resolution on Burma, which is expected to be adopted later this year.

Analysis of the previous nineteen Resolutions on Burma reveals that for the General Assembly to establish a Commission of Inquiry is not the dramatic step that some governments perceive it to be. For almost 20 years the General Assembly has been describing abuses that could be war crimes and crimes against humanity, and it has gradually strengthened its language to use language with legal significance such as ‘widespread’ and ‘systematic’.

Download the briefing here.