Call for Action: WLB calling on women’s groups to join urging the UNSC to prosecute Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe at the ICC?
Jun 22nd, 2009
Dear Sisters,
The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) is calling on women’s groups from around the world to join us in urging the United Nations Security Council to prosecute Senior General Than Shwe at the International Criminal Court.
In light of the recent atrocities committed by Than Shwe and his regime, including the unlawful imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, it is indisputable that now is time for the United Nations to take strong action on Burma. The impact of the regime’s sexual violence on women has had consequences within vast communities inside – and here have been well-documented reports of past violations, continued systematic repression, and an incapacitated judicial system stand as solid witness to the necessity of strong international intervention.
Please join us by endorsing the statement below, calling for the UN Security Council to start with a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the horrific campaign of terror by the military regime and to refer Senior General Than Shwe and his cronies to the International Criminal Court for all crimes including for the imprisonment of Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in violation of international law.
In solidarity,
Women’s League of (WLB)
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WOMEN GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD CALL ON THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO
PROSECUTE SENIOR GENERAL THAN SHWE AT THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT:
IT’S TIME FOR THE UNITED NATIONS TO TAKE STRONG ACTION ON BURMA
Letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Members of the UN Security
Council
25 June 2009
Your Excellencies,
The international community has a firm obligation to take concrete measures in order to cease the systematic human rights violations carried out by the
military regime in Burma, specifically to end the military’s widespread and systematic use of sexual violence. We implore you to urgently establish a United Nations Security Council Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. The military regime has demonstrated time and time again that they act with impunity and have established a flawed judicial system only serving the junta’s interest. Opportunities for national reconciliation remain impossible as long as the military continues with their sham roadmap to democracy that will only further cement militarization, ethnic discrimination, and gender inequality. There will never be sustainable peace in Burma without justice for the crimes committed against civilians by the regime.
We stand with the women of Burma who continuously act with courage in the face of decades of long brutal oppression. On all levels the military regime works to obliterate any opposition and dominate all civilians – imprisoning over 2,100 political prisoners, using people for forced labour, conscripting children as soldiers, destroying over 3,300 villages, and utilizing the
horrific tools of sexual violence, extra judicial killings, and torture. Many UN bodies have repeatedly documented and reported these actions and have called for independent investigations of the crimes. The military regime continues to ignore these calls with impunity.
The most recent example of Burma’s impaled judicial system is the trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s national leader and Noble Peace Laureate, who
is facing a trial both substantively and procedurally flawed. Since 14 May, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been put in the notorious Insein Prison to stand trial on unfair charges by the military authority. This act by the regime
provoked widespread and global outrage. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient and a heroic leader in the face of growing oppression by Burma’s military dictator Senior General Than Shwe.
UN Security Council Resolution 1820 affirms the urgent need to end impunity and protect civilians in conflict and post conflict situations. It also recognizes that continuing systematic acts of sexual violence targeting civilian populations will only further exacerbate peace and security, as the impact of sexual violence on women has consequences on communities and entire societies. Impunity for sexual violence committed during conflict
perpetuates impunity and we call on the Security Council and the Secretary General to take firm measures to uphold this Resolution.
Well-documented reports of past violations, continued systematic repression, and an incapacitated judicial system stand as solid witness to the necessity of strong international intervention. We call for the UN Security Council to start with a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the horrific campaign of terror by the military regime and to refer Senior General Than Shwe and his
cronies to the International Criminal Court for all crimes including for the imprisonment of Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in violation of international law.
The Statement is endorsed by;
Organization
Country
Contact Person & Addresses
1. Women’s League of Burma
Burma
2.IWRAW Asia Pacific
Malaysia
3.Foundation for Women, Law and Rural Development
Thailand
Virada Somswasdi
virada@chiangmai.ac.th, viradas2004@yahoo.com
4.Women’s Studies Center, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
Thailand
5.GENDER-CENTER
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, PhD, President lunguval@mcc.md
6. BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights
Nigeria
Bilkis Olagoke