Set up probe council for Myanmar: Asian NGOs

Originally appeared in The Peninsula

Various non government organisations in Asia are urging their respective governments to support the formation of a “Commission of Inquiry” that will conduct impartial investigation into alleged international crimes in Myanmar.

In letters to their respective governments, civil society groups from Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand stressed that “a Commission of Inquiry would be an impartial investigation to establish the truth about serious international crimes in the country”.

The letters pointed out that Asian countries have a special role to play, stating that as regional states, they “are uniquely placed to encourage positive change in Burma” and that if their country “ignores and conceals the regime’s role in perpetrating human rights violations in Burma, it tacitly sanctions such acts and allows them to continue unabated”.

“Despite the significant support already expressed for the Commission of Inquiry from inside and outside Burma, Asian governments have remained silent. Being witnesses to the suffering of the people of Burma, it is critical that Asian governments take a public position in support of this commission to help end human rights violations and prevent future violations so that all the people of Burma can live in peace and security,” said Khin Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership.

View the original article here.

This post is in: News Clip