Impunity for Military Abuses Has to End

On 7 November, the International Human Rights Clinic (the Clinic) at Harvard Law School published a Legal Memorandum which establishes that certain Burma Army commanders are guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes under international criminal law. The Legal Memorandum submits its findings on the basis of a three-year investigation (the Investigation) into human rights abuses associated with a Burma Army offensive in Karen State, which was launched in late 2005 and continued into 2008 (the Offensive). The Clinic chose this offensive “because it was one of the largest in recent memory and was widely condemned by the international community.” The Investigation focused specifically on the conduct of two military units – Southern Regional Military Command (SRMC) and Light Infantry Division 66 (LID 66) – in Thandaung Township, Karen State.

Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) set out the legal requirements for an action to qualify as a “crime against humanity” or a “war crime,” respectively. The essence of a “crime against humanity” is that the act in question should be “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” Similarly, Article 8 stipulates that a “war crime” must be committed “as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes,” and must constitute a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions 1949, which regulate the conduct of armed conflict […]

Legal Memorandum: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In January 2011, the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic (“the Clinic”) began to investigate the actions of the Myanmar Army during a military offensive in eastern Myanmar (“the Offensive”) that began in late 2005 and lasted approximately three years. The Clinic sought to determine whether violations of international criminal law occurred during the Offensive, and whether there exist reasonable grounds to assert that individual military officers could be held responsible for those crimes. The Clinic’s investigation focused specifically on the conduct of two military units—Southern Regional Military Command (“Southern Command”) and Light Infantry Division 66 (“LID 66”)—in Thandaung Township, Kayin State. […]

PRESS RELEASE: Harvard Law School Implicates Senior Myanmar Officials in War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

Yangon, Myanmar-A four-year investigation by the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School has found that the Myanmar military committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2005-2006, and that perpetrators, including the current Home Affairs Minister, continue to serve at the highest levels of the country’s government […]

UN Security Council Should Refer Burma to ICC over Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity Against Rohingya

The Burma Rohingya Organisation UK is calling on the British government to support the United Nations Security Council referring Burma to the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch today released a new report ‘All You Can Do is Pray’, which provides evidence of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya […]

Asian Civil Society Calls for Stronger Support for the ICC

Meeting in the Philippines last week, several Coalition members called on Asian governments and other relevant stakeholders to support justice for the most serious crimes by joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) […]

Clarification

In the morning news of November 25, 2010, broadcast by Radio Free Asia, it was stated that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not endorse the attempts made overseas to bring the Generals of the Junta to the international criminal court for crimes against humanity by quoting the November 23 issue of the New York Times […]

International Court May Define Aggression as Crime

More than 100 nations, contingents of human-rights groups and lawyers from around the globe, will begin a meeting on Monday in Kampala, Uganda, tackling issues that could fundamentally expand the power of international law.[…]

UK Government Supports Burma Regime Referral to International Criminal Court

The Burma Campaign UK today warmly welcomed a statement by the British government that it would support the United Nations Security Council referring Burma to the International Criminal Court.

The statement was made on 24th March by H.E. Mr. Mark Lyall Grant, UK Representative to the United Nations, after a meeting of the United Nations Security Council about the situation in Burma […]

CSW Welcomes UK Government Support for a UN Inquiry into Burma’s Crimes Against Humanity

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) warmly welcomes the decision by the British Government to support the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by the Burmese regime.

Britain’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Lyell Grant, said yesterday that Britain would support the referral of a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) […]

Progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana

The present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 10/27, covers human rights developments in Myanmar since the Special Rapporteur’s second report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/10/19) and the submission of his report to the General Assembly (A/64/318) in October 2009. […]