A Call to End Crimes Against Humanity in Western Burma

download A Call to End Crimes Against Humanity in Western Burma

of 2

Transcript of A Call to End Crimes Against Humanity in Western Burma

  • 8/9/2019 A Call to End Crimes Against Humanity in Western Burma

    1/2

    BURMESE ROHINGYA DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (BRAD)

    Press Release:

    Date: June 20, 2010

    A call to End Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma

    We undersigned organizations warmly solutes the recent report, titled: Crimes

    against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas, launched by

    the Irish Center for Human Rights (ICHR), National University of Ireland (NUI)

    Galway, which is the one of the Worlds Leading university based human rights

    research center.

    We express our sincere gratitude towards the members, researchers, associates and all

    level of staffs or assistants and contributors both in cash or kinds from every quarterof humanity, particularly the Irish Government, Irish Center for Human Rights and

    Irish Aid and people for making this successful job to be done with tireless and

    restless efforts and contributions.

    The report was officially launched by the Micheal Martin, the Irish Minister for

    Foreign Affairs on June 16, 2010 at Iveagh House, Dublin in the presence of

    Rohingya victims who were rescued by the Irish Government in one year ago.

    For decades, the Rohingyas have been enduring human rights abuses in Northern

    Arakan State of Burma. In every moment, more and more Rohingya men, women and

    children are leaving Burma, fleeing the human rights abuses in the hope of finding

    peace and security elsewhere in the world. But, their plight has been overlooked foryears and the root causes of their situation still remain under-examined. These

    violations are on-going and in urgent need of attention and redress.

    A fact-finding mission managed to reach to the region, including Burma, as well as on

    extensive open-source research, and confidential meetings with organizations working

    in the region. Mission gained much of the most important information came from the

    many interviews conducted with Rohingya individuals in and around refugee camps

    in Bangladesh, where they were able to speak more freely than they can in Burma

    itself about the violations they had endured and which had caused them to flee their

    homes.

    The Report has examined the apparent cases of enslavement, rape and sexual

    violence, deportation or forcible transfer of populations, 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

    The Report has also revealed the truth on the actual situation of the Rohingyas

    through the lens of crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International

    Criminal Court and international criminal law jurisprudence, especially that of the ad

    hoc International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, are used

    to provide detailed and clear legal foundations for the examination. As becomes

    evident in the individual chapters, there is a strong prima facie case for determining

  • 8/9/2019 A Call to End Crimes Against Humanity in Western Burma

    2/2

    that crimes against humanity are being committed against the Rohingyas of Northern

    Arakan State in Burma.

    The Reports affirms that people committing, allowing, aiding and abetting these

    crimes must be held accountable, calling the international community including the

    UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council, ASEAN and all other

    stakeholders or states to take 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, establishing a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and

    collect further evidence on the perpetration of crimes against humanity in Northern

    Arakan State. Moreover, as raised throughout this Report, there is strong foundation

    to believe that further crimes are being committed throughout other areas of Burma,

    and the Commission of Inquiry must have a broad mandate to investigate all

    allegations of international crimes committed in the country.

    Commission of Inquiry should confirm a prima facie case of crimes against humanity,

    the Security Council should refer the case to the International Criminal Court,

    pursuant to Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.

    We do believe that the ICHR will conduct further researchers in states of Rohingyas

    refuge, where they have been being treated as slave labor under the title of temporaryshelter. These kinds of words bring obstructions against international supports

    towards the Rohingya victims, living elsewhere in the world.

    Base on these live evidences, we request to all level of human societies to come

    forward for showing strong solidarity in combating crimes against Rohingya Burmese

    minority through allocating them in the states parties to United Nations and

    International Treaties including 1951 Convention and its 1967 additional protocol and

    putting effective pressures on Burmese military regime for urgent democratic changes

    in order to ensure the full rights and dignity of the Rohingyas in Burma.

    Signed by:

    1. Arakan Rohingya Refugee Committee (ARRC), Malaysia2. Arakan Rohingya Organization-Japan (JARO)3. Arakan Rohingya Ulama Council, (ARUC), Malaysia4. Burmese Rohingya Association in UAE (BRA-UAE)5. Human Rights Association for Rohingya (HURAR), Arakan-Burma6. Myanmar Muslim Council (MMC), KSA7. National Council for Rohingya (NCR), Malaysia8. National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR) exile, HQ, USA9. Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF), Arakan-Burma10.World Rohingya Congress (WRC), USA

    For further information, please contact:

    Kyaw Soe Aung,, Tel: +14147364273Mohammad Sadek, Tel: +60 163094599