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BURMA War crimes and crimes against humanity

FIDH, Human Rights Watch, Info-Birmanie and French Human Rights Leaguedemand the set-up of an international commission of inquiry

They welcome Frances statementand urge the EU to support this initiative at the UN General Assembly

During a press conference held on Wednesday 22 September in Paris, the organizations Info-Birmanie,Human Rights Watch, the French Human Rights League and FIDH unanimously welcomed the statementmade by France supporting the establishment of a commission of inquiry on crimes against humanity and war

crimes perpetrated in Burma. Isabelle Dubuis, Info-Birmanies coordinator, stated this commission of inquiryis long overdue; its establishment would demonstrate the right to justice of the victims and would materializethe international communitys repeated calls to finally put an end to human rights abuses in Burma. Jean-Marie Fardeau, Human Rights Watch France director regrets that the European Union has not yet taken a

public stand. We believe a joint EU position would be a strong signal sent to the others United Nations

member states. Souhayr Belhassen, President of the FIDH, reminded that this commission is not onlynecessary to put an end to crimes but also awaited to bring justice to Burma.

As the 2010 UN General Assembly has opened in New York, the French government has publiclystated its support to the set-up of an international commission of inquiry to investigate the numerousallegations of international crimes perpetrated in Burma. During the 15 th session of the Human Rights

Council, Frances permanent representative stated that: Human rights are still systematically violated andFrance expressed its support for the Special Rapporteurs recommendation to establish an international

commission of inquiry and urges the Burmese government to fully cooperate with the latter.

In March 2010, M. Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation inBurma/Myanmar, characterized human rights violations committed in the country as being widespread and

systematic and as being the result of a State policy. His recommendation to the UN was to considerestablishing the commission of inquiry on crimes against humanity and war crimes. It is the first time intwenty years that a senior UN official makes such a recommendation. His predecessor M. Pinheiro, who

partook in the panel of the press conference, declared: I am very pleased that France has joined this groupof honour of countries supporting the commission of inquiry.

Since March, support in favour of this initiative has increased: several countries including the UnitedStates, Australia, Canada and European countries such as the Netherlands, Hungary and Czech Republic havedeclared their support for a UN international commission of inquiry. France is today the ninth country to takea public stand in favour of such a commission. In France, 60 MPs have urged the French government to

publicly stand in favour of a commission of inquiry to put an end to the culture of impunity that has beenspreading in Burma for decades and prevent the perpetration of new crimes and abuses.

The evidences gathered by different UN agencies and Burmese and international organizations areappalling: the destruction since 1996 of over 3500 villages, the overwhelming number of arbitrary killings,

forced disappearances and rapes, the forced displacement of over a million people and the forced recruitmentof dozens of thousands of child soldiers.

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BIRMANIE - Crimes de guerre, crimes contre lhumanit

La FIDH, Human Rights Watch, Info Birmanie et la LDH demandentla cration dune commission denqute internationale

Elle saluent la position de la Franceet demandent lUE de dfendre cette ide lors de lAG des Nations Unies

Lors dune confrence de presse qui sest tenue mercredi 22 septembre Paris, lassociation Info-Birmanie, Human Rights Watch, la Ligue des Droits de lHomme et la Fdration Internationale des Liguesdes Droits de lHomme se sont unanimement rjouies du soutien public de la France louverture dune

commission denqute sur les crimes contre lhumanit et les crimes de guerre commis en Birmanie. IsabelleDubuis, coordinatrice dInfo-Birmanie, a dclar : cette commission denqute est attendue depuislongtemps, sa mise en uvre attesterait du droit des victimes la justice, et concrtiserait les appels rpts

de la communaut internationale ce que les violations des droits de lhomme cessent enfin . Jean-MarieFardeau, directeur France de Human Rights Watch regrette que lUnion europenne nait pas encore

publiquement pris position. Nous pensons quune position collective de lUE serait un signal fort envoy aux

autres pays membres des Nations unies . Enfin, Souhayr Belhassen, Prsidente de la FIDH, a rappel que cette commission est la fois ncessaire pour enrayer les crimes, et attendue comme seule opportunitd'inscrire la Justice en Birmanie .

Alors que dbute, New-York, lAssemble gnrale annuelle des Nations unies, le gouvernement

franais a en effet officialis son soutien la mise en place dune commission denqute internationale pourenquter sur les nombreuses allgations de crimes internationaux perptrs en Birmanie. Lors de la 15e sessiondu Conseil des Droits de l'Homme, le Reprsentant permanent la France a dclar qu en Birmanie [] lesdroits de l'Homme continuent dtre systmatiquement viols. La France accueille donc favorablement la

recommandation du Rapporteur spcial en faveur dune commission internationale dtablissement des faits.

Elle appelle le gouvernement birman cooprer pleinement avec ce dernier.

En mars 2010, M. Quintana, le rapporteur spcial des Nations unies sur la situation des droits delHomme en Birmanie, a qualifi de massives et gnralises les violations des droits de lHommecommises dans le pays et comme tant le rsultat dune politique dEtat . Il a recommand lONUdenvisager ltablissement dune commission denqute sur les crimes de guerre et les crimes contrelhumanit qui ont t commis dans ce pays. Cest la premire fois en prs de vingt ans quun hautreprsentant de lONU fait une telle recommandation. Son prdcesseur, Monsieur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,galement prsent la confrence de presse, a dclar : je me rjouis que la France ait rejoint le groupedhonneur des pays qui soutiennent la commission denqute.

Depuis le mois de mars, les soutiens en faveur de cette initiative se sont multiplis : plusieurs paysdont les tats-Unis, lAustralie, le Canada et des pays europens (Pays-Bas, Hongrie, Rep Tchque) ont faittat de leur soutien louverture dune commission internationale denqute sous lgide de lONU. LaFrance est aujourdhui le neuvime pays se prononcer ouvertement en faveur dune commission denquteen Birmanie. En France, prs dune soixantaine de parlementaires ont exhort le gouvernement franais

prendre position publiquement en faveur dune commission denqute pour sattaquer la culture dimpunitqui se propage en Birmanie depuis des dcennies et prvenir la perptuation de nouveaux crimes et dlits.

Les preuves rassembles par diverses agences des Nations unies et par des organisations birmanes etinternationales sont accablantes : la destruction depuis 1996 de plus de 3.500 villages, les trs nombreux casdexcutions arbitraires, de disparitions forces et de viols, le dplacement forc de plus dun million de

personnes, et le recrutement forc de dizaines de milliers denfants soldats.