WUNRN
Nobel Women's Initiative
March 3, 2010
Burma/Myanmar - International Tribunal on Crimes Against
Women
of Burma Calls for End to Impunity of Military Regime
(New York) Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams - along
with human rights experts Dr. Heisoo Shin (Korea) and Professor Vitit
Muntarbhorn (Thailand) - today released the findings and recommendations
developed during the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma
held this week in New York City. The quasi-legal event featured
compelling testimony - the first ever - of 12 women from Burma who have
suffered rape, torture, and other crimes at the hands of the military
junta. The event highlighted the egregious human rights crimes, including
rape as a weapon of war, and called for policymakers to demand a last resort:
the International Criminal Court.
"Women should no longer be invisible when crimes are committed against
them with impunity," said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in
1997. "The history of violence and oppression of women in Burma is
long and sordid--and must come to an end."
A few of the women who testified are colleagues of Aung San Suu Kyi, the
leader of the opposition, still under house arrest and a prisoner of General
Than Shwe. Than Shwe is the war criminal who has reigned terror over the
people of Burma for decades. World leaders have rallied in support of her
freedom countless times since her Nobel Peace Prize award in 1991, passing UN
resolutions almost annually and demanding the release of her and other
political prisoners. But these cries have fallen on deaf ears, with the
international community failing to hold General Shwe and his cronies criminally
responsible. The resulting impunity has given the ruling generals of
Burma even more license to escalate their power and continue to inflict
violence on the people of Burma.
"We live in a globalized world, which means that Burma cannot do whatever
it wants to its people within its own walls," said Shirin Ebadi, who won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "Globalization is effective when it
helps bring an end to injustice. The international community cannot stand
by and let other countries to use their sovereignty to commit atrocities
against their own people."
The purpose of the Tribunal was to spotlight the oppression of women of Burma
in order to encourage policymakers and political leaders to take specific
action now. The women Nobel Laureates have joined with the Women's League
of Burma to highlight the systemic use of rape and other forms of violence
against ethnic women in Burma. The Women's League of Burma is an umbrella
organization comprising thirteen women's organizations of different ethnic
backgrounds in Burma.
The women who testified now live in Thailand, Bangladesh, the US and Canada and
traveled to New York to tell their personal stories and those of their
families. Their stories include a range of horrific human rights
violations and crimes. Testimony was organized into three categories:
violence against women (rape, sexual violence, trafficking), civil and
political violations (torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment), and
social, economic and cultural violations (forced labor, portering,
relocation). Violence against women in Burma is often ethnically
motivated, particularly minority groups such as the Karen who have been
brutally persecuted by the military regime.
The following are the recommendations
of the Tribunal:
Recommendations to the international community, particularly the United
Nations:
*Urge States to take collective action to ensure the implementation of Security
Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889 guaranteeing women's full
participation in post-conflict reconstruction, and freedom from all forms of
sexual violence.
*Strongly urge the UN Security Council to refer Burma to the International
Criminal Court.
*Call upon United Nations member States to fulfill their obligations to
exercise universal jurisdiction and to prosecute through their national
tribunals perpetrators of the crimes against the civilian population of Burma,
including women.
*Ask United Nations agencies with a presence in Burma to increase their work in
promoting and protecting human rights.
*Call upon the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures
against state authorities on the basis of the responsibility of the state to
protect its people from egregious human rights violations (Responsibility to
Protect Doctrine).
*Urge the United Nations system to take measures to ensure that the Burmese
authorities comply with international human rights standards and international
humanitarian law.
Recommendations to Burma's military regime:
*Stop all forms of violence against women. "End the intimidation,
harassment, arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, torture, and degrading
treatment against women [and all] political prisoners; [and] respect and adhere
to the principles and norms of the international [criminal and] human rights
standards, particularly Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women..."
*Stop attacks and persecution against ethnic nationalities and groups.
*Release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners.
*Grant access to United Nations agencies and non-governmental humanitarian
groups to ensure that women, in particular, are assisted effectively.
*Provide access to and cooperate with United Nations agencies and human rights
organizations to monitor human rights within Burma.
*Ratify all human rights treaties, including ICCPR and ICESCR, and implement
them effectively.
*Abide by rules of customary international law, such as the prohibitions
against torture, slavery, and violence against women and children.
*Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, reform and
implement domestic legislation accordingly.
*Establish an effective process for dialogue between different stakeholders
including democracy groups, ethnic minorities/nationalities, and concerned
authorities with emphasis on women's participation in the pursuit of democracy.
*Revise the constitution, particularly the amnesty provisions, and other
national laws in an inclusive and participatory manner, engaging all
stakeholders including women, to ensure consistency with international legal
obligations and human rights standards.
*Establish effective judicial mechanisms and other processes to establish
accountability and provide adequate remedies for international crimes and human
rights violations to end impunity.
*Build human-centered national development plans and processes that respond to
women's human rights bearing in mind the special needs of rural women, and
allocate national resources fairly and equitably for this purpose.
Recommendations to the Asia-Pacific region (including ASEAN, bilateral and other
channels):
*Call upon ASEAN through its Summit of Heads of Government to impel Burma to
apply effective and time-limited measures to comply with the ASEAN Charter and
international legal obligations and human rights standards.
*Invite the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission to submit thematic
reports covering particular issues related to Burma.
*Bearing in mind the ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against
Women and various declarations on children's rights in the region, to which
Burma has subscribed, support the establishment of the ASEAN Commission for the
Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, including
consideration of the situation in Burma.
*Call upon the various partners of ASEAN and other regional bodies and states
engaging with Burma to influence constructive changes in the country.
*Prohibit trade with Burma involving goods produced through forced labor, as
well as oil, gas, and electricity generated as a result of forced
relocations.
*Take effective cross-border measures to prevent and punish human trafficking,
in particular that of women and children, and to offer gender and child
sensitive measures to protect and assist those victimized by trafficking.
*Respect the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, protect them
from violence, abuse, and exploitation, and forced repatriation, which violates
the international principle of non-refoulement, and ensure the application of
basic standards of international law.
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