International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma)
Websites/Multiple Documents
| Title: | | Association of Humanitarian Lawyers: Archive of Documents |
| Description/subject: | | The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law...Several written and oral statements on Burma to U. S. and U.N. bodies. Focus on international humanitarian law (laws of war, armed conflict. Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, Self-Determaination, United States Policy. |
| Author/creator: | | Karen Parker |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/index.html'>http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/index.html
http://www.guidetoaction.org/
http://www.humanlaw.org/ |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 November 2010 |
|
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Legal Memorandum: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 05 November 2014 |
| Description/subject: | | Conclusion:
"...This memorandum describes a Myanmar military counterinsurgency offensive that
involved the widespread targeting of civilians in northern Kayin State and eastern Bago
Division. Myanmar Army soldiers fired mortars at villages, opened fire on fleeing
villagers, destroyed homes, laid landmines in civilian locations, forced villagers to work
and porter, and captured and executed civilians. The impact on the population was
massive. Tens of thousands of individuals were displaced during the campaign and many
were killed. In Thandaung Township—the area which was the focus of the Clinic’s
investigation—nearly every village was affected by the Offensive and almost all of the
villagers residing in black areas were forced to flee.
Evidence collected by the Clinic during the investigation demonstrates that the actions
of Myanmar Army personnel during the Offensive constitute crimes under international
criminal law. These crimes include the war crimes of attacking civilians, displacing
civilians, destroying or seizing the enemy’s property, pillage, murder, execution without
due process, torture, and outrages upon personal dignity, and the crimes against
humanity of forcible transfer of a population, murder, enslavement, torture, and other
inhumane acts. The Clinic has also collected evidence relevant to the war crime of rape,
as well as the crimes against humanity of rape and persecution. More research and
analysis is necessary to determine whether these crimes could be included in a criminal
case associated with the Offensive..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School |
| Format/size: | | pdf (850-reduced version; 4.4MB-original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014.11.05-IHRC-Legal-Memorandum.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 06 November 2014 |
|
| Title: | | Attacks on Health and Education: Trends and incidents from eastern Burma, 2010-2011 |
| Date of publication: | | 06 December 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report presents primary evidence of attacks on education and health in eastern Burma collected by KHRG during the period February 2010 to May 2011. Section I of this report details KHRG research methodology; Section II analyses general trends in armed conflict and details a loose typology of attacks identified during the reporting period. Section III applies this typology to 16 particularly illustrative incidents, and analyses them in light of relevant international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions 1612, 1882 and 1998. These incidents were selected from a database detailing 59 attacks on civilians documented by KHRG between February 2010 and May 2011." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) |
| Format/size: | | html. pdf (166K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/2011/12/khrg1105/attacks-health-and-education-trends-and-incidents-eastern-burm... |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Definitional ambiguity and UNSCR 1998: Impeding UN-led responses to attacks on health and education in eastern Burma |
| Date of publication: | | 06 December 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "This paper highlights impediments to effective international responses to attacks on health and education
in eastern Burma presented by lack of clarity regarding the meaning of “attacks” within the monitoring and
reporting framework established by UN Security Council resolutions 1612 and 1998. In order to address
this definitional ambiguity and enable recent developments in the UN Security Council to potentially
provide support to communities facing attacks in eastern Burma, this paper argues for interpreting
“attacks” in a fashion that is consistent with applicable international humanitarian law. The analysis below
concludes that UN-led monitoring, reporting and response pursuant to UNSCRs 1612 and 1998 should
include acts by parties to armed conflict that both: a) violate relevant international law; and b) attack or
threaten to attack personnel related to schools or medical facilities and/ or destroy, damage or force the
closure of a school or medical facility." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) |
| Format/size: | | html, pdf (62K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/sites/default/files/khrg11w1.pdf
http://www.burmalibrary.org/KHRG/KHRG%202011/KHRG-2011-12-06-Definitional_ambiguity_UNSCR_1998_Impe... |
| Date of entry/update: | | 18 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Request for Inquiry: Service history of Myanmar Ambassador to South Africa |
| Date of publication: | | 25 November 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "This briefing document summarises research conducted by KHRG regarding the service history of Tatmadaw Brigadier General Myint Naung, and documented incidents of abuse reported to have been perpetrated by units Brigadier General Myint Naung may have commanded as Operation Commander of Tatmadaw Military Operation Command (MOC) #4. This information raises serious questions and concerns regarding the background of the current Myanmar Ambassador U Myint Naung. The South Africa government should therefore seek to obtain further information from the Myanmar government that can clarify the Ambassador's service record in the Tatmadaw, and follow up with inquiries regarding any specific incidents of serious abuse perpetrated by units under his command. Such steps are within South Africa's rights under international law governing diplomatic relations, and consistent with all states' duty under customary international humanitarian law to ensure respect for international humanitarian law erga omnes. KHRG believes that such an inquiry would contribute to raising opportunity costs for potential perpetrators of serious abuse in Burma as well as supporting domestic reforms, potentially precipitating positive changes in abusive Tatmadaw practices that could ultimately reduce the frequency with which certain abuses occur, while supporting the strategies used by local communities in Burma to claim their human rights on a day-to-day basis. This document was compiled by KHRG in response to queries by journalists and advocacy organisations in South Africa regarding the background of the Myanmar Ambassador." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) |
| Format/size: | | html, pdf (842K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Nyaunglebin Interview: Saw My---, May 2011 |
| Date of publication: | | 04 August 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in May 2011 with a villager from Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District. The researcher interviewed Saw My---, a 45 year-old farmer who described his experiences when he was forced to leave his village in a mixed-administration area and live for two years in a neighbouring village, including specific incidents in which Tatmadaw soldiers fired small arms at children in school uniforms, forced women to serve as human shields for Tatmadaw columns during patrols, and ordered villagers at gunpoint to leave their homes and possessions during the rainy season. He further cited the following abuses: movement restrictions; forced labour; and arbitrary taxation and demands. Saw My--- also highlighted the difficulties his village currently faces accessing health care and education, but explained that villagers counter these difficulties by using traditional medicine and by hiring and supporting local teachers." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (713K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://khrg.org/sites/default/files/khrg11b45.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 18 February 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Dying Alive - A Legal Assessment of Human Rights Violations in Burma |
| Date of publication: | | April 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | AN INVESTIGATION AND LEGAL ASSESSMENT OF
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS INFLICTED IN BURMA,
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE
INTERNALLY DISPLACED, EASTERN PEOPLES..."For over a decade, the United Nations and Human Rights organisations have documented
systematic and widespread human rights violations inflicted on the people of Burma
generally, and on the ethnic people in particular. Most reports, however, with the exception
of some references to Article Three of The Geneva Conventions, have refrained from
conceptualizing the violations in terms of International Humanitarian Law. This report
addresses that gap and, in the aftermath of the State organised ambush of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi's convoy on May 30, 2003; the ongoing, widespread, systematic destruction of
substantial parts of the eastern ethnic peoples; and the failure to end impunity, recommends
a period of consultation, education and consensus building to explore the practicality,
political appropriateness, and morality of applying and enforcing relevant International
Humanitarian Law. This report analyses the human rights violations, identified by, amongst others, UN Special
Rapporteurs for human rights and Amnesty International, and expressed in UN General
Assembly Resolutions, that have been inflicted on the people of Burma for decades..." NOTE ON FORMAT: There is a glitch in the CD the online version is based on, with lines from the next page creeping onto the current page. This will be fixed eventually. There is also a plan to break the text up into managable chunks. |
| Author/creator: | | Guy Horton |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Guy Horton, Images Asia |
| Format/size: | | pdf (4.7MB) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 May 2006 |
|
| Title: | | Report to the Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee |
| Date of publication: | | 25 July 1995 |
| Description/subject: | | Testimony of Karen Parker J.D. before the Foreign Operations Sub-Committee Senate Appropriations Committee. " The three features of the situation of human rights in Burma described in my 1993 statement are still valid today: (1) the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) regime is illegitimate yet continues in power; (2) the regime continues to be particularly brutal; and (3) armed conflict continues, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments. Violations of armed conflict law, as set out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and all customary humanitarian law, continue to be violated. Thus, the SLORC regime continues to commit grave war crimes..." Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, United States Policy. |
| Author/creator: | | Karen Parker |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Report to the U.S. House Subcomittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs(1993) |
| Date of publication: | | 1993 |
| Description/subject: | | Testimony of Karen Parker J. D. before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. Main headings: Illegitimacy of SLORC; G
ross violatoins of human rights; Armed Conflict; The NDF/DAB-SLORC War; The Karenni-SLORC War; U.S. Policy. "I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide the Sub- Committee with information regarding Burma and my views on what United States policy should be towards that country... This statement will set out the situation in Burma from the point of view of international law norms. It will also present actions taken at the United Nations and its human rights bodies, including a review of Aung San Suu Kyi's case at the Working Group. It will conclude with recommendations regarding United States policy.
There are three salient features of the situation of human rights in Burma: (1) the current regime is illegitimate; (2) the regime is particularly brutal; and (3) there is wide scale armed conflict, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments..." |
| Author/creator: | | Karen Parker |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 November 2010 |
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