Crimes Against Humanity In Burma

Crimes Against Humanity in Burma Release to Public 25 April 2009

Definition of Crimes Against Humanity The definition of crimes against humanity under customary international law is contained in Article 7(1) of the Rome Statute : “Crimes against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Murder; Extermination; Enslavement; Deportation or forcible transfer of population; Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; 6. Torture; 7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violenc e of comparable gravity; 8. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; 9. Enforce disappearance of persons; 10. The crime of apartheid; 11. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. Note the distinction in the definitional language between the definition of genocide as contained in the Genocide Convention versus the definition of crimes against humanity as recognized under customary international law and contained in the Rome Statute. The definition of genocide in the Genocide Convention requires the “intent to destroy in whole or in part” of which intent can be difficult to prove during contemporary acts of genocide and especially those acts stemming from conflict situations. In addition, the Genocide Convention only lists four possible identifiable groups for destruction in order for mass atrocities to amount to genocide; “a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group”. This means that other groups targeted for destruction or mass violence, no matter how severe, such as groups targeted based on political beliefs, economic or social class, or sex does not amount to genocide. This is where much of the debate among experts on whether contemporary atrocities being committed on a mass scale equals genocide derives. However, in addition to those groups also listed in the definition of genocide as contained in the Genocide Convention, the definition of crimes against humanity as contained in the Rome Statute encompasses other additional groups that are not accounted for in the Genocide Convention; “political, … cultural, … gender”. Page 1 of 26

On this point, it is crucial to note another key distinction between the definition of ge nocide contained in the Genocide Convention versus the definition of crimes against humanity as contained in the Rome Statute. Crimes of humanity as contained in the Rome Statute do not require an “intent to destroy a group in whole or in part” by the perpetrators, but instead require that such atrocities detailed in the definition such as murder, extermination and so on, are committed as part of a “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack ”; whereby “knowledge of the attack’ refers to the knowledge of the perpetrators or supporters of the attack, or of those in power situations who have acquiesced to the attack, upon any civilian population. survivorsrightsinternational.org

1. 88 Generation Students Group The group says that although Burma was freed from colonialism in 1948, the Burmese people have not enjoyed any true freedom since the military coup in 1962. It initiated the campaign on 4 January 2007, Independence Day, by calling on Burmese to write letters describing their dissatisfaction with the political and social situation in the country. “Wake up, all countrymen and women. Supreme power comes from us. We ourselves will build our new country with our own hands. We must raise our dignity ourselves. This New Year is the new year for all of us.” Burmese New Year, 17 April 2007 According to a list of victims compiled by the 88 Generation Students group, SPDC security forces killed 138 demonstrators. Burma Bulletin, October 2007

2. Amnesty International (AI) Says Amnesty International, “Torture has become an institution in Burma.” February 2004 Amnesty International wrote Friday to Burmese authorities with a briefing paper outlining “grave and ongoing human rights violations” committed since the start of the clampdown, which sparked international outrage. 9 November 2007 Amnesty International declared the regime’s ongoing campaign of terror in Eastern Burma constituted a crime against humanity in their report: “Crimes against humanity in eastern Burma.” AP, 4 June 2008 An onslaught by Burmese troops in the eastern part of the military-ruled country, running for three years now, is laying the junta open to charge of ‘crimes against humanity’. This new charge adds to a growing list of human rights violations that the South-east Asian nation’s ruling military regime is being slammed for, including the use of rape as a weapon of war in military campaigns in areas that are home to the country’s ethnic minorities. Eyewitness accounts from civilians fleeing the territory under attack reveal a grim picture of the ‘tatmadaw’, as the Burmese military is called, targeting unarmed men, women and children in a ‘widespread and systematic way,’ say human rights and humanitarian groups. “Burma’s troops are overtly targeting civilians; they are actively avoiding KNU military installations. That is why we are describing the attacks as crimes against humanity,” says Benjamin Zawacki, South-east Asia researcher for Amnesty International (AI), the global rights lobby. “The violations are widespread and systematic.” “This campaign started in November 2005 and has escalated. They did not even stop during the annual monsoon period from May to October, which was not the case before,” he explained during an IPS interview. 10 November 2008

3. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Burma

Page 2 of 26

Meanwhile, several prominent exiled Burmese groups and international bodies lined up to condemn the Burmese junta. The words “crimes against humanity” were never far from their lips. Bo Kyi, the jointsecretary of a Burmese human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, said the Burmese military regime knew that a massive number of people had died in the wake of the cyclone. The Irrawaddy, 2 June 2008 There are 2,131 political prisoners in Burma, including 15 members of Parliament, 229 students, 220 monks, 47 members of the movement “88 Generation Students,” and 456 representatives of the NLD. From August 21, 2007 - the beginning of the “saffron revolution” promoted by the Burmese monks - until March 12, 2009, the military has arrested 1,055 protest participants, including 147 monks; another 110 are on trial at the moment, 446 have been sentenced to prison, and there are 19 detained in the labor camps. speroforum.com, 18 March 2009 Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of a Burmese human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), said, “For prisoners, medical care and food and water quality in Burma’s prisons are the main challenges. Many political prisoners, including some prominent activists, are in poor health.” According to the AAPP, 138 political prisoners have died in Burmese prisons since 1988 and at least 115 are currently in poor health. The Irrawaddy, 24 March 2009 Bo Kyi said the UN and other international organizations needed to back up their calls for the release of political prisoners with action. “International organizations, including the UN, need to take effective measures,” he said. “We are very concerned about the health of political prisoners because they do not have medical doctors and hospital care. They should be transferred to prisons located near their families and relatives. If a prisoner is denied medical treatment, that’s murder.” Convicted political activists are commonly incarcerated in prisons far from their homes, a form of also punishing their families, who have heavy financial and personal hardships in visiting and keeping in touch with their loved ones. According to human rights groups, the Burmese junta allows political prisoners to meet family members once every four weeks. The Irrawaddy, 24 April 2009

4. Burma Digest Genocide in Burma In the case of Burma, although it ratified the Convention in 1956, the current military regime has adopted Genocide as a terror against the ethnic national groups of Karen, Karenni and Shan people, etc. and the evidences were well-documented in the resources of Rogers, Benedict (2004) “A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma’s Karen People”; Horton, Guy (2005) “ Dying Alive: A legal Assessment of the Human Rights Violations in Burma”; Rummel, R. (2001) “Saving Lives, Enriching Life” Pg.18-22; and so on. As the ‘Genocide Acts’ of Burmese military regime were obvious, Baroness Cox, Chief Executive of Humanitarian Aids Relief Thrust (HART) and a deputy speaker of the British House of Lords, who has visited the regions of Karenni, Shan and Karen people many times, called on the international community to investigate claims of genocide and crimes against humanity. In his work of “A Desperate situation: Genocide in Burma”, Browning also mentioned that the torching of villages, destruction of food stores and crops, theft of livestock and property, extra-judicial killings and rape were every day occurrences affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. (Browning, C. (2002), Australia Karen Youth Project, Vol. 1, Issue 2, September 2005) Moreover, Guy Horton’s claimed for the usage of the concept ‘genocide’ in relation to Burma rests on the 1948 Genocide Convention, ratified by Burma in 1956 as “According to the convention, the genocide is described as ‘deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical

Page 3 of 26

destruction in whole or in part’. There are over a million people internally displaced in Burma and more than 2,500 villages in eastern Burma have been destroyed since 1996.” (Horton, 2005) Furthermore, according to the Muslim aid report of “Rohingya faces genocide in Burma”, it was mentioned as “Extermination and genocide increased, and within nearly 4 decades about half (1.5 million) of total Rohingya population had been forced to flee their homeland and those remaining in the country are counting their days in utter misery, fear and frustration.” (Muslim Aid, Al-Jamiat Journal, July 2002) In conclusion, I would like to appeal the international community not to ignore the “Genocide practices” committed by the Military Regime in Burma and take actions against the international criminals in accordance with the international law. Khin Ma Ma Myo, 20 March 2006

5. Burma Lawyers’ Council Senior General Than Shwe’s denial of international humanitarian aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis should come as no surprise to the international community. This negligence and refusal of access is part and parcel of the criminal nature of the regime and reflects their fear that the entire world will see first hand the results of decades of systematic human rights violations, crimes against humanity and war crimes. We urge the Security Council to use its Chapter VII powers to end the impunity for state – sponsored heinous crimes in Burma. 22 May 2008 The Burma Lawyers’ Council has just learned that a fire has burned part of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok. While the source of the fire is still unclear, the fire must not be used as another reason for the State Peace and Development Council to yet again delay the delivery of foreign aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. In fact, the fire looks extremely suspicious, particularly since a large amount of foreign aid workers are presumably waiting for visas. The SPDC has a long history of deceiving, delaying and tricking the UN and international community. While we applaud and appreciate UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon for using his good offices to push the SDPC to allow more aid to reach cyclone victims, we are concerned that the SPDC’s partial concessions are just another tactic to relieve international pressure. 26 May 2008 On May 27, the SPDC extended Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest. She was originally detained in May 2003 pursuant to the 1975 State Protection Act, which has a maximum detention period of five years. The five-year period has expired and thus she must be released immediately. Continuing to detain her is a flagrant violation of the SDPC’s own law. Moreover, there is no other applicable Burmese law under which the SPDC can continue to hold her, such as the Penal Code, because she has not committed any crime. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention should also be considered a crime against humanity because it is targeted not only at her, but at the entire Burmese population. She is no ordinary citizen. She is the embodiment of liberty, democracy and human rights in Burma. Her popularity among the people and her undying charisma won her the Nobel Peace Prize. If someone so distinguished and honored can be unlawfully detained, how can common people ever hope to oppose the regime without fearing for their own freedom and safety? The reality is, they cannot. The SPDC knows that the extended detention of Suu Kyi will continue to spread intimidation throughout the country, and fear strengthens their rule. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention fits the technical definition of crimes against humanity. These crimes include “imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law” (Rome Statute, Art. 7, § 1(e)). Suu Kyi’s detention is clearly one that violates fundamental rules of international law because she was detained for purely political purposes, not for any wrongdoing. The BLC urges all supporters of peace and justice to continue pressuring the UN Security Council to refer the heinous crimes in Burma to the International Criminal Court. 28 May 2008

6. Campaign for Burma Campaign for Burma UK Page 4 of 26

“What happened in Rangoon in September happens almost every day in Shan State,” says Mark Farmaner, referring to the shooting of pro-democracy protesters in September 2007. Shan-EU U.S. Campaign for Burma “Even though Burma’s military regime is denying aid to 2 million people facing death, efforts at the UN Security Council to invoke the responsibility to protect doctrine (R2P) are dead as a doornail, mainly because of Burma’s ally, China,” said Aung Din, Executive Director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. “It is time for countries to stop waiting for the Council to act - which it won’t - and commence immediate delivery of aid to thirsty, starving, and homeless Burmese now facing imminent threat of disease in the Irrawaddy Delta.” It is in this atmosphere and context that the notion of providing ‘Aid at the Point of a Gun’ has emerged. It is reported that American armed forces are now gathering in large numbers in Thailand for the annual multinational military exercise known as Cobra Gold. The US Navy warships could pass from the Gulf of Thailand through the Strait of Malacca and north up the Bay of Bengal to the Irrawaddy Delta. asiantribune.com, 17 May 2008 Jennifer Quigley, Advocacy Coordinator of the U.S. Campaign for Burma said, “Since 1992, recommendations to stop human rights violations in Burma, made by the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council and UN Security Council were simply ignored by the Burmese junta, as these recommendations did not come along with enforcement action.” Added Quigley, “We urge the UN Security Council to take serious action against the regime to halt crimes against humanity committed by Burma’s military regime.” Press Release, 18 November 2008

7. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Since 2002, the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions has nominated three governments or public institutions for its annual Housing Rights Violator Awards who have been responsible for particularly severe violations of housing rights. COHRE deputy director Jean du Plessis said that the Burmese regime had shown an “abysmal disregard” for the basic right to housing. “More than one million people have been dispossessed and are internally displaced in Burma – not because of a natural disaster, but due to their own government’s calculated and brutal actions,” he said in a press release. He went on to describe the severe violations of land rights in Burma, particularly those of ethnic minority groups. DVB, 6 December 2007

8. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) In 1998, the then UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah QC, submitted a report to the U.N. General Assembly, entitled, “Situation of Human Rights in Burma” (reference: A/53/364). Paragraph 59 of the report reads, “The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the serious human rights violations that continue to be committed by the armed forces in the ethnic minority areas. The violations include extrajudicial and arbitrary executions not sparing women and children, rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour and denial of freedom of movement. These violations have been so numerous and consistent over the past years as to suggest that they are not simply isolated or he acts of individual misbehaviour by middle- and lower - rank officers but are rather the result of policy at the highest level entailing political and legal responsibility.” Jubilee Campaign agrees with this assessment and would go further to state that the Burmese regime and its subordinates, the Burmese military, is committing Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity against the Karen, Karenni and Shan people of Burma. This is simply a question of fact and law, whether the facts of the situation of these ethnic groups fit within the legal definitions under international law of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. The mass and systematic forced labour, forced portering where the porters have to carry heavy loads for the Burmese army and are often killed if they’re too weak to continue - forced labour and forced portering are a form of slavery, forced relocations where hundreds of villages have been destroyed and the villagers relocated to Page 5 of 26

places under military control, rape and summary executions conducted by the Burmese military against the Karen, Karenni and Shan are just some of the actions of the SPDC which easily fit into the definition given above of Crimes Against Humanity. Furthermore, in their report on Burma, the International Labour Organisation has rightly condemned the systematic and widespread use of slave labour as a “crime against humanity”. For five years we have argued that genocide is being committed in Burma by the Junta and it is a disgrace that the international community have not accepted or acted on the evidence that is ava ilable. Text of remarks by Lord Alton of Liverpool at a Press Conference in Parliament on Thursday 23rd June 2005, organised by Jubilee Campaign and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. A government pamphlet urges: “Attack Christians by any means: Violent or non- violent.” March 2007 What I will do is to use the time I have to tell a few stories from some of the places in which I have been working to set the scene, and to try to be what Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) seeks to be – a ‘voice for the voicele ss’.I do not know if you are aware that persecution of Christians – by no means the only issue I want to address this evening, but the major focus of the work of Christian Solidarity Worldwide – is a major and growing phenomenon around the world. It is believed that over two hundred million Christians around the world, in over sixty countries, face persecution, discrimination and restrictions of one form or another. They face threats from all sides, from extremists of other religions, from authoritarian governments, from particular elements in society – especially Islamic fundamentalists in places like Pakistan. Christians are currently under pressure not only in Pakistan but also in Indonesia, by Hindu nationalism in India, by what can only be described as ‘militant Buddhism’ (a contradiction in terms) in Sri Lanka, and by authoritarian regimes in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Burma – the latter of which will be the major focus of my remarks this evening. Let me turn now, in the final section of what I sho uld like to share with you, to what is perhaps the most important element of the situation in Burma, and possibly the most forgotten. On top of political prisoners, suppression of democracy and use of child soldiers, there is what I believe amounts to a fo rm of genocide taking place against many ethnic groups. There are too many ethnic groups in Burma to list individually here. Broadly speaking, however, the Karen, the Mon and the Shan are the major groups in the eastern part of Burma; the Chin on the western border with India; the Kachin on the northern border with China; the Arakan and the Rohingya, which are mainly Muslim people, on the border with Bangladesh. I have been to almost all of those borders, apart from that with Bangladesh, and these people are facing horrendous crimes against humanity: destruction of their villages, forced labour, and the use of rape and killing. Ben Rogers is Advocacy Officer for South Asia at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, thomasmoreinstitute.org.uk, Seminar on Wednesday 31 May 2007

9. Comité de Secours Internationaux The Burmese military Government has been accused of unleashing “crimes against humanity” on its people by keeping is borders closed to foreign disaster relief experts. The enraged outburst by Pierre Fouillant, of the French aid group Comité de Secours Internationaux, came as aid workers on the ground in Burma described a refugee crisis now threatening to descend into a nightmare of disease, starvation and looting. “They say they will call, but it’s always wait, wait, wait,” said Mr Fouillant, a veteran of humanitarian crises across the globe, “It’s a crime against humanity. It should be against the law. It’s like they are taking a gun and shooting their own people.” timesonline.co.uk, 13 May 2008

10. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Today, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the enforcement body for CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women) published its report about Burma online. The report, dated November 7, 2008, represents the conclusions of CEDAW’s

Page 6 of 26

42nd session. The report examined the Burmese military regime’s compliance with CEDAW, which the regime ratified on July 22, 1997. The Committee condemned Burma’s military regime for using sexual violence in its scorched-earth war on Burma’s ethnic minorities, stating that “The Committee expresses its deep concern at the high prevalence of sexual and other forms of violence, including rape, perpetrated by members of the armed forces against rural ethnic women, including, the Shan, Mon, Karen, Palaung, and Chin. The Committee is also concerned at the apparent impunity of the perpetrators of such violence, and at reports of threats, intimidation and punishment of the victims. The Committee regrets the lack of information on mechanisms and remedies available to victims of sexual violence as well as measures to bring perpetrators to justice.” The Committee also addressed violence against women in Burma, stating that “the Committee expresses concern at the high prevalence of violence against women and girls, such as widespread sexual violence, including rape. The Committee is also concerned that such violence appears to be socially legitimized and accompanied by a culture of silence and impunity, that cases of violence are thus underreported and that those that are reported are settled out of court.” Burma’s military regime continues committing crimes against humanity in its ethnic cleansing campaign against Burma’s ethnic minorities. In just the last two weeks, the junta destroyed 12 ethnic minority villages in Eastern Burma, driving an additional 2,000 people from their homes. The junta’s scorched-earth ethnic cleansing campaign has destroyed over 3,300 villages and forced over 1 million people to flee from their homes as refugees along Thai-Burma border over the past 10 years. An additional 1/2 million ethnic minority villagers are hiding in jungles and mountains and struggling to survive without adequate food, shelter and medicine as internally displaced persons. While activists commend the Committee for its recognition of the Burmese junta’s crimes against humanity and shedding light on its system of impunity for crimes against humanity, they also note the body’s inability to hold the regime accountable for its crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Burmese junta has ignored all previous Committee recommendations. ohchr.org, 7 November 2008

11. Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma (CRDB) Kokkine Junction Incident 9 November 1996: The leader of the Burmese opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said the attack was orchestrated by Burma’s military regime. The CRDB agrees with her completely. In a country where the authority, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) strictly enforces a ban on public gatherings of more than five persons, it is impossible for two hundred or more people to gather without approval of the authority. The CRDB also warns the criminals in power and their hired hooligans in Rangoon that any attack on pro-democracy leaders is an act of treason against Burma and the Burmese people. 11 November 1996 This time, it is almost sure- fire that Burma’s desperate population would warmly welcome a US-led humanitarian intervention, considering that its own government is now withholding emergency supplies. Tin Maung Thaw, USA, 10 May 2008 The Army generals usurping government are committing genocide and indeed a crime against humanity. Kin Oung, Australia, 17 May 2008 Inhuman action getting close to a crime against humanity. Richard Aung Myint, USA, 17 May 2008

12. Earth Rights International The report, “Turning Treasure Into Tears: Mining, Dams and Deforestation in Shwegyin Township, Pegu Division, Burma,” says, “The heavy militarization of the region, the indiscriminate granting of mining and

Page 7 of 26

logging concessions and the construction of the Kyauk Naga Dam have led to forced labor, land confiscation, extortion, forced relocation and the destruction of the natural environment.” February 2007 A human rights watchdog group on Tuesday accused Chevron Corp (CVX.N) of complicity in human rights abuses along a natural gas pipeline in Burma in which it holds a stake and said Chevron could be sued. EarthRights International claimed in a report issued on Tuesday that Burma’s army has in recent years committed serious abuses including rape and murder while providing security for the pipeline that moves gas from the Yadana gas field, located offshore in the Andaman Sea. The group also said the army has forced Burmese citizens to build sentry posts, perform security duties along the pipeline and maintain roads. “The people of Burma are making the pipeline go through their own physical energy, their blood, their sweat and their tears,” Katie Redford, U.S. office director of EarthRights, said in an interview. Reuters, 29 April 2008

13. The Elders Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, chairman of The Elders, wrote to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, U.S. President George Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, calling on the UN Security Council to authorise aid drops over the objections of the generals. He said the regime had “effectively declared war on its own population and is committing crimes against humanity”. thoughtleader.co.za, 10 May 2008 Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu has also written to US President George Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying the UN Security Council should authorize immediate shipments of aid to Burma “over the objections of the military regime.” “The refusal of the Burmese military regime to accept full, adequate humanitarian aid from the international community is nothing short of criminal, and unprecedented in recent history,’ said the former South African archbishop. He said that the Burmese regime had “effectively declared war on its own population and is committing crimes against humanity.” Citing possible objections by China and Russia at the UN Security Council, Tutu warned that the world could make “the same mistake it made on Rwanda, accepting solutions that were guaranteed to fail.” AFP, 16 May 2008

14. Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTU-B) The military regime that rules Burma, the SPDC, forces hundred of thousands of people to work against their will and without pay on development projects, as porters in the military, and in other forms of compulsory labor. Despite its claims to the contrary, the SPDC has continued this practice. The FTU-B urged victims of forced labour to report the crimes to the International Labour Organization office in Rangoon. Head of the FTU- B U Maung Maung vowed that the group would continue to pressure the Burmese military over its use of forced labour and that victims should try to overcome their fear of persecution and speak out about the issue. 1 March 2007

15. Finland On Saturday, Foreign Minister of Finland, Alexander Stubb, made a statement on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), speaking out against the government of Burma and their actions during the crisis left in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. According to Stuff, the government’s refusal to grant access to relief workers and foreign aid deliveries designed to assist cyclone victims is akin to a crime against humanity. Mr. Stubb spoke during the YLE’s Launtaiseura programme, and publically agreed with statements made by the French ambassador to the UN, Jean-Maurice Ripert. icenews.is, 22 May 2008

Page 8 of 26

16. French France’s UN Ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said the Burmese government’s refusal to allow external aid to be distributed “could lead to a true crime against humanity”. Mr Ripert said the junta had rejected 1,500 tons of relief carried on a French navy ship. news.sky.com, 17 May 2008 The French envoy to the United Nations has said Burma risks committing “crimes against humanity” in its failure to let in foreign aid for cyclone victims. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert appealed for the UN “to finally react strongly, very strongly” to the Burma military regime’s defiance, two weeks after Cyclone Nargis. He warned: “We are moving slowly from a situation of not helping people in danger to a real risk of crimes against humanity, and we cannot accept that.” “Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, hundreds of thousands could be lost.” Burma’s military junta claims the cyclone killed 78,000, with 56,000 missing. The UN estimates the dead at more than 100,000. The junta says it can manage alone, despite urgent international pleas to open its doors. While the generals have accepted hundreds of tonnes of relief supplies, they have rejected disaster management experts and teams experienced in distributing aid and helping disaster victims. The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 2008 France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, was the first to invoke a “crime against humanity” and said failure to act by the UN Security Council would be “cowardice.” csmonitor.com, 21 May 2008

17. Human Rights First Rights groups and the United Nations have documented widespread and systematic human rights abuses by the Burmese junta against its own population since it seized power decades ago. Those violations include the following crimes against humanity: • Forced displacement of ethnic minorities: An estimate 2 million people of Burmese origin are living outside of Burma, having fled political repression, violence, and forced displacement by the junta. Of those, several hundred thousands still live in refugee camps, in the jungle or are waiting to receive asylum in Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh. Over 500,000 estimated internally displaced persons (IDP’s) are currently within Burma’s borders. • Forced Labor: Exploiting displaced and relocated people, the military junta has used and continues to use forced labor for its “state-sponsored” infrastructure and building projects. The junta has been condemned many times for these practices by the International Labor Organization (ILO). • Recruitment of child soldiers : Rights groups estimate that the Burmese army currently includes as many as 70,000 forcibly conscripted children under the age of 18, sometimes as young as 11. Burma is the country with the highest number of child soldiers in the world. • Rape as a State Policy: Rights groups have documented and accused the military of the systematic use of rape as a tool used to intimidate and instill fear in ethnic minority groups and anti-government supporters. • Enforced disappearances, Extrajudicial killings and Custodial Killings: The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP) has documented 127 known murders of political prisoners since 1988. 15 of them were known to have been killed while in military custody. • Torture: The use of torture in interrogation centers and prisons in Burma has been extens ively documented, including beatings, “motorcycling” where prisoners are forced to assume unnatural positions, as if riding a motorcycle, for hours, forced kneeling on broken glass, and hanging by the arms or feet. In addition, the military junta has imposed stringent restricting on the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly of the Burmese population and has denied the exercise of most basic political and civil rights. For example, the possession of an unregistered fax machine is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years. humanrightsfirst.org Page 9 of 26

18. Human Rights Watch “The delivery of relief supplies can’t be left entirely in the hands of Burma’s abusive military, or aid simply won’t reach those most in need,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Without independent monitors on the ground, we can’t be sure the aid is reaching those most at risk.” hrw.org, 14 May 2008 “The State Peace and Development Council’s refusal to allow more aid to the delta has contributed to a large number of fatalities,” said David Mathieson, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch in Bangkok. Human rights advocates and legal groups in Canada and Europe also say the military regime’s blocking of aid to cyclone victims has cost tens of thousands of lives. Advocates of prosecuting the junta say that they must go through the UN Security Council first before filing a motion with the ICC. Mathieson said that although China and Russia would probably veto any motion against Burma at the Security Council, the issue of crimes against humanity should be pursued. The Irrawaddy, 2 June 2008 Burma’s already dismal human rights record worsened following the devastation of cyclone Nargis in early May 2008. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) blocked international assistance while pushing through a constitutional referendum in which basic freedoms were denied. The ruling junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association, and assembly. It regularly imprisons political activists and human rights defenders; in 2008 the number of political prisoners nearly doubled to more than 2,150. The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas and extrajudicial killings, forced labor, land confiscation without due process and other violations continued in 2008. The SPDC tightly controlled emergency international assistance and in some cases blocked aid in the crucial early stages following the cyclone. The government denied visas to disaster relief experts and aid workers and prevented them from travel inside Burma. In cyclone-affected areas, there have been reports of land confiscations, forced labor, and forced evictions of displaced people by Burmese authorities. Authorities arrested several prominent former political prisoners for their role in cyclone relief activities including, on June 4, 2008, prominent comedian and dissident Zarganar, who distributed aid through his activist networks to Nargis victims. Zargana had criticized the SPDC’s relief efforts in interviews with the foreign media. Burma continues widespread and systematic forced recruitment of child soldiers. The Burmese military continues to attack civilians in ethnic conflict areas, particularly in Karen State and Shan State. Abuses such as forced labor, sexual violence against women and girls, extrajudicial killings, torture and beatings, and confiscation of land and property are widespread. In 2008 army counterinsurgency tactics and security operations for infrastructure developments displaced more than 40,000 civilians in these two areas. There are an estimated 450,000 to half a million internally displaced people in eastern Burma. In Arakan State in western Burma, the Rohingya Muslim minority faces widespread rights violations including religious persecution, forced relocation, land seizures, and denial of citizenship and identity papers. Ethnic Chin people in Chin State and Sagaing Division continue to face forced labor, beatings, sexual violence, and land confiscation by the Burmese military; a famine in the region affected over 100,000 civilians, with reports that relief efforts were hampered by the Burmese army. World Report 2009, 31 January 2009 Speaking to DVB yesterday, David Mathieson from Human Rights Watch said that the ruling State Peace and Development Council is failing to adequately cooperate with the international community regarding use of child soldiers, and criticized a recent United Nation’s report on the issue. “The report puts a far more positive spin on the military government’s cooperation that we think they deserve,” he said. “It’s still a very serious issue inside Burma and the kind of report that just came out doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the problem within the Burmese military and it’s not very good of them to not investigate the biggest perpetrator by far.” 24 April 2009 Page 10 of 26

19. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Jakob Kellenberger, the ICRC president, denounced the military regime for violating internationa l humanitarian law by murdering civilians, forcing prisoners to serve as army “porters” in combat areas strewn with landmines and destroying village food stocks. The abuses - recounted in thousands of interviews between 2000 and 2005 - occurred mainly in eastern Burma along the Thai border, where the military has spent decades fighting ethnic minority insurgents, including the Karen National Union. 29 June 2007

20. International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese minister and a militia leader suspected of war crimes in the Darfur region. Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al- Rahman, also called Ali Kushayb, are wanted on 51 counts. Some 200,000 people have died in the four-year Darfur conflict, says the UN. Mr Haroun was a minister responsible for the Darfur portfolio in 2003 and 2004. According to the ICC he was responsible for organising and funding the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. Ali Kushayb is accused of ordering the murder, torture and mass rape of innocent civilians during attacks on villages near Kodoom, Bindisi Mukjar and Arawala in west Darfur. “We completed an investigation under very difficult circumstances, from outside Darfur, and without exposing any of our witnesses,” ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement, AFP news agency reports. “We transformed their stories into evidence, and now the judges have confirmed the strength of that evidence.” He told the BBC the government had a legal duty to arrest the men, even though Sudan is not one of the 120 states that signed up to the creation of the ICC. “It is not just about punishment - but also unveiling the truth. I have to be ready to prove my case beyond any doubt so I still have a lot of work to do,” he said on the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme. BBC, 2 May 2007 The International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the strife-torn Darfur region by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, the first sitting Head of State to be indicted by the Court. UN News Centre, 4 March 2009 The ongoing abuses by the Burmese government against civilians is reaching a point whereby the junta could qualify for war crimes charges, said a former senior legal adviser to the International Criminal Court. Speaking at a conference in Oslo, Norway, entitled ‘Crimes against humanity in Eastern Burma’, Morten Bergsmo stated that the Burmese army’s use of child soldiers could constitute a war crime. “The recruitment and use of children under fifteen years may be a war crime, and by that an international crime if it happens as part of an ongoing armed conflict,” he said. “If that happens there may be the ground for investigating and prosecuting such abuses of children.” DVB, 24 April 2009

21. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) The FIDH maintains their serious concerns regarding the institutionally entrenched, systematic and widespread violations of human rights occurring in Burma. Despite more than 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, calling for national reconciliation and democratization in Burma, as well as the actions undertaken by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his office over the past ten years, and the four envoys to Burma mandated by the UN Commission on Human Rights, the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) unlawful methods of political and ethnic repression have intensified and consolidated. 13 March 2007

Page 11 of 26

22. International Labour Organisation (ILO) The International Labour Organisation (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, released a report today which accuses Burma’s ruling military of systematic and widespread use of forced labour. The report charges that “any person who violates the prohibition of recourse to forced labour under the (ILO) Convention is guilty of an international crime that is also, if committed in a widespread or systematic manner, a crime against humanity”. Following a complaint against Burma’s regime by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) the ILO established a Commission of Inquiry into forced labour in Burma. This is the strongest legal action the organisation can take against a member state. The Inquiry has evidence of “threats to the life and security and extrajudicial punishment of those unwilling, slow or unable to comply with a demand for forced labour; such punishment or reprisals range from money demands, to physical abuse, beatings, torture, rape and murder.” It also has evidence that “forced labour in Burma is widely performed by women, children and elderly persons as well as persons otherwise unfit for work”. John Jackson, a Director of Burma Action Group says “What more evidence is needed as to the abhorrent nature of this regime. It’s time the international community gave its support to those millions of men women and children who are forced to labour in the worst conditions imaginable. Britain and the European Union can support them by meeting the challenge of Burma’s embattled democrats who have been calling repeatedly for sanctions against the regime - until now with little response.” burmacampaign.org.uk, 20 August 1998 There has been no reduction in the use of forced labour in Burma despite work done by the International Labour Organisation to eradicate it, says ILO’s liasion officer in Rangoon, Steve Marshall. The ILO’s Executive Director, Kari Tapiola, is currently in Burma to extend for another year the ILO’s cooperation agreement with the Burmese regime. The agreement stipulates that the government must not harass or arrest people who report forced labour to the ILO or collect information on such practices. DVB, 27 February 2009

23. The Irrawaddy News Magazine The first wave of frustration following Cyclone Nargis was the irrational, foot-dragging and draconian aid restrictions imposed by the Burmese junta on the international relief effort to help the survivors. The second wave of frustration is the ineffective, timid approach of ASEAN and the UN to try to coax the stubborn generals into effective action. The junta has no redeeming qualities: It’s bad at government, economics, social welfare, education—you name it. Of course, there are some people who flatter the generals, and they are called sycophants and apologists. Frequently, the UN announcements talked about “turning a new page,” or “things are moving” or “breakthroughs.” Their words didn’t reflect reality and, in a way, protected the generals. It’s now three weeks after the cyclone, and the UN chief is just now arriving in the country to talk to the generals. The cyclone victims want relief supplies. They don’t want to hear more positive-sounding or appeasing words like those in the past. They don’t need crocodile tears. And, how about ASEAN, of which Burma is a member? Its emergency meeting in Singapore came two weeks after the cyclone. ASEAN has never had the courage to confront the generals. Since 1997 when Burma became a member, ASEAN has never dared to ruffle the generals’ feathers. Sadly and shamefully, both ASEAN and the UN have agreed to let the generals’ determine the rules so far. If they really want to help the survivors, they must show the courage to initiate a new approach. If Ban can’t get real concessions during this trip, there is no approach ahead other than the UN’s “responsibility to protect” concept which, while not exactly written for events such as natural disasters, would nevertheless be justified. The junta is clearly committing a crime against humanity, which this concept is meant to address. We have entered what could be the final wave of frustration. The US, France and the UK are clearly waiting to see what the UN and ASEAN can accomplish. This is the last act. The most frustrating outcome would be if the UN and ASEAN fail to find an effective way to aid the people, and Western countries that have voiced the strongest criticism of the junta fail to act unilaterally to aid the survivors. Kyaw Zwa Moe, 22 May 2008 Page 12 of 26

24. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine A report led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine has called for a United Nations investigation into Burma’s handling of aid and assistance to cyclone hit regions last year, accusing the military government of crimes against humanity. Relief groups are calling on Asian countries and the international community to press Burma’s military government towards greater transparency and accountability in receiving assistance. The report, a joint project of aid workers from the Thai-Burma border and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, charges Burma’s military government with abuse and corruption in its handling of aid and recovery to the devastated Irrawaddy Delta region hit by last year’s cyclone Nargis. The report charges Burma’s military of resisting international and regional aid, interference in assistance, confiscation of aid and resale, arrest of aid workers, discrimination in aid along ethnic lines, forced labor and confiscation of land. Chris Beyer of the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says the key recommendation is for a United Nations investigation into the charges that may represent “crimes against humanity.” “Taken together there is an argument to be made for an assessment and we call for an investigation of crimes against humanity - that is based on the Rome Statute article 7-IK - essentially its based on the argument that there has been intentionally great suffering, mental and physical health,” he said. VOA, 27 February 2009 The report was a documentation by researchers from John Hopkins University in America, and an organization of Burmese volunteers called the Emergency Assistance Team – Burma (EAT), in the weeks following the deadly Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2, 2008. Re leased on Friday in Bangkok, the report, said it had discovered that Burma’s military junta failed to provide adequate food, shelter and medical care in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma’s Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions, killing at least 140,000 people. The report said, under international law, creating conditions where the basic survival needs of civilians cannot be adequately met, “intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health,” is considered a crime against humanity. The report, in its recommendations, said the junta should be referred to the International Criminal Court, by the United Nations Security Council, for committing crimes against humanity. Mizzima News, 27 February 2009 The Burmese government should appear before the International Criminal Court to face human rights charges; the dictatorship committed abuses and crimes in the months following the tragedy of Nargis. This is the harsh condemnation from a humanitarian association that has documented the violations committed by the military toward victims of the cyclone. “The charge of crimes against humanity is a very grave and serious one,” says Chris Beyrer, director of the U.S.-based Center for Public Health and Human Rights, an NGO. “But in the context of a relief effort like this, where you have evidence of forced labour, forced relocation and confiscation of relief aid, these are documented violations that need to be taken seriously.” “After the Storm: Voices from the Delta” is the first independent report - free from censorship by the Burmese military dictatorship - recounting the drama of cyclone victims. It is based on material collected in 90 interviews with volunteers and survivors. It details obstacles and threats directed against volunteers, cases of the disappearance of humanitarian aid that was later resold, and the use of forced labor for reconstruction, including the exploitation of child labor. asianews.it, 3 March 2009

25. Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) The ongoing military offensive by the Burmese army against ethnic Karen rebels is affecting Karen children who spend much of their childhoods living in fear, hiding in the jungle, enduring disease and malnutrition, and suffering from a lack of education, said a leading Karen rights group on Thursday. According to a 174page report titled Growing up under Militarisation: Abuse and agency of children in Karen State, released on April 30 by Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), an estimated 15,000 Karen children are among the Page 13 of 26

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living makeshift in the malaria-ridden jungles of eastern Burma. Rebecca Dun, the program director of KHRG, told The Irrawaddy on Friday: “It is very difficult for children to study in the jungle. They practice writing on the ground or on the cliff faces. There are no educational aids.” The displaced children don’t receive sufficient medicine or nutritious food when they feel ill, she said. Also, the Burmese army burns down Karen villagers’ houses and farms and forces villagers to work as porters—a form of slave labor. The Irrawaddy, 2 May 2008

26. Karen national Union (KNU) Since then, the KNU and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have continued to fight the Burma state military (Tatmadaw) by forming guerilla units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Following its principle of no surrender, the KNU continues despite a precarious state of existence. Nonetheless, their fight continues to garner the sympathy of the international community since the KNU represent the Karen people, one of the many ethnic nationalities of Burma that are experiencing ethnic cleansing under the military regime’s Four Cuts campaigns, a strategy where intelligence, finances, food and recruits are eliminated through a scorched-earth policy. wikipedia.org

27. Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) The report titled State of Terror published by the KWO cites in detail the cases of 959 women and girls in Karen State, who have been subjected to the Burmese Army’s human rights abuses, rape, torture, murder and forced labor. February 2007 A Karen woman based in the United States on Thursday called on the US Congress and the Obama administration to push the UN Security Council to establish an international inquiry into crimes against humanity committed by Burma’s military junta against its own people. Giving graphic details of the some of the human rights violations the junta has perpetrated, particularly against ethnic communities and in this case against her and her family, Karen refugee Myra Dahgaypaw told a Congressional committee that the Burmese regime must be held accountable for all the crimes it has committed. A member of the Karen Women’s Organization and a board member of the Karen American Communities Foundation, Dahgaypaw testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which had convened a Congressional hearing on human rights abuses in Burma. “There are several other ethnic groups besides the Karen. Each one of them also faces oppression and displacement at the hands of the Burmese military regime that will force them to live as Internally Displaced Persons or to flee to the borders and other countries,” she said. The Irrawaddy, 24 April 2009

28. Mae Tao Clinic, Thailand We are calling on all governments and UN bodies to provide aid immediately to our people who are dying in their thousands. International humanitarian organizations and local community organizations must do whatever they can to prevent further deaths and to assist in the restoration of life in Burma. This is not the time to respect Burma’s border controls. National restrictions that are causing further deaths, do not deserve anyone’s respect. The global community has a responsibility to protect its citizens. The SPDC has time and again failed to protect the people of Burma, and this time the scale of their neglect is killing our people. The United Nations must invoke the Responsibility To Protect, even if it is necessary to coerce or force the regime to comply with providing protection and rehabilitation to its citizens. Dr Cynthia Maung, maetaoclinic.org, 11 May 2008

29. Members of Parliament Union – Burma Page 14 of 26

Now, after Cyclone Nargis, people around the world are denouncing the regime and equating its stubborn refusal to allow free access of international relief assistance to the urgently needed victims - not in thousands but in millions - as a criminal act. Many say that it is time for humanitarian intervention by the United Nations under the “Responsibility to Protect” principle. MPs Teddy Buri, Manko Ban and Sann Aung, The Nation, 12 June 2008

30. Minority Rights Group (MRG), London-based MRG began the ranking of countries in terms of the threat to peoples on a yearly basis three years ago. The idea is to forewarn the international community of the likely areas of conflict, and the likelihood of the intensification of conflicts across the globe. In Burma, which is ranked fifth, the threatened communities are Kachin, Karen, Mon, Shan and Chin. Sify News, 27 February 2008

31. National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) A UN Security Council resolution under “The Responsibility to Protect” could have delivered practical protection for the people in Burma, particularly the ethnic nationalities, many of whom cont inue to be victimized by those in power. The vetoes in this instance in the United Nations Security Council, even if unintended, unfortunately provide the Burmese generals to continue persecuting pro-democracy elements, violating human rights, rejecting calls by the United Nations to investigate into the Depayin massacre and rapes, and even refusing to cooperate in earnest with the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy. 17 January 2007

32. National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) The NCUB insisted that the type of peace wanted by Burma’s military junta is not true peace, and that the council was formed with the intention of ending the despotic military rule in Burma, the emergence equal rights for all ethnic national groups and a democratic country. The NCUB called for the release of all political prisoners, declaration of a nationwide ceasefire and a tripartite talk. September 2005 An umbrella opposition group in exile, the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), has objected to the claims of the ruling military regime to represent the country in the United Nations General Assembly. Myint Thein, the NCUB’s joint secretary, said it was important for the nations of the world to cooperate and extend their active support to the people of Burma, who live under the repressive military junta. “We want the UN to stand up for the principles of democracy and human rights and reject the credentials of the State Peace and Development Council’s delegation to the United Nations during the upcoming session of the General Assembly.” Besides campaigning to challenge the regime’s right to represent Burma in the UN, the group confirmed that it would also push to put Burmese human rights issues on the UN Security Council’s agenda and urge the world body to arraign Burma’s junta before the International Criminal Court for its crimes against humanity. The Irrawaddy, 16 July 2008

33. National League for Democracy (NLD) The most recent election was held on the 27th May 1990. In this watershed election, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 392 of the 485 constituencies contested (seven were deemed too unstable), thus the right to form government. The SLORC refused to cede power. Burma Lawyers’ Council, Legal Issues On Burma Journal No. 7, December 2000 Burma’s military rulers have no legal authority to extend democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest when the detention order expires at the weekend, her lawyer said Thursday. Under Burma’s State Protection Page 15 of 26

Law, a person can be held without charge or trial for only up to five years, renewable for up to one year at a time, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Washington-based lawyer Jared Genser said. She was detained initially in May 2003 and her house arrest was last renewed on May 25 last year. “Thus, in a tremendously significant coincidence of timing, she must be released by the end of the day on May 24th,” said Genser, referring to a high-profile international donor conference to be held in Rangoon the next day. The United Nations and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Burma is a member, are hosting the funds-pledging conference in Rangoon on Sunday to help the country cope with the disaster which has left 133,000 dead or missing when it struck nearly three weeks ago. “If the Burmese junta abides by its own law, Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to attend the international aid conference scheduled for Sunday May 25th in person,” he said. AFP, 23 May 2008 Jared Genser of Freedom Now, an NGO that works to free prisoners of conscience around the world, said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s continued detention was a violation of Burmese as well as international law. DVB, 28 May 2008 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention fits the technical definition of crimes against humanity. These crimes include “imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law” (Rome Statute, Art. 7, § 1(e)). Suu Kyi’s detentionis clearly one that violates fundamental rules of international law because she was detained for purely political purposes, not for any wrongdoing. The BLC urges all supporters of peace and justice to continue pressuring the UN Security Council to refer the heinous crimes in Burma to the International Criminal Court. BLC, 28 May 2008 Burma’s ruling generals extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s democracy leader, by a year on Tuesday. Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, expressed disappointment at the extension of her detention. “I regret the decision of the government of Burma to extend, for a sixth consecutive year, the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said. aljazeera.net, 28 May 2008 Thein Nyunt, a member of the legal panel on Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the Burmese authorities had committed a crime against humanity by ignoring the crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis. “From a legal point of view, blocking aid for cyclone victims was not only breaking international law, but also Burma’s own criminal code,” said the NLD lawyer. “Under Burmese criminal law, failure to save lives in a disaster situation is noted under criminal laws 269 and 270.” Thein Nyunt said that by forcing cyclone survivors to return to their villages is also a form of crime as it breaks the Burmese military government’s agreement with the International Labor Organization (ILO) on banning forced relocation in Burma. The Irrawaddy, 2 June 2008 Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party told a U.N. envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana visiting Burma on Wednesday that the junta’s decision to keep her under house arrest for a sixth year violates her human rights. AP, 7 August 2008 The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is “illegal”; it violates “international law” and the “national domestic laws of Burma.” This is the charge of the United Nations committee on arbitrary detention - a body connected to the UN council for human rights - which calls for the “immediate release” of the Nobel peace prize winner. Jared Genser, Suu Kyi’s Washington-based legal adviser, welcomes the position of the UN committee because it “will have an important impact on the United Nations’ ability to press particularly China, Russia and others who have been more protective of the junta.” The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention is an independent body made up of experts from Chile, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, and Spain. Also today, the leaders of the National League for Democracy issued a new appeal to be allowed to meet with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists held in the country’s prisons. speroforum.com, 24 March 2009 Page 16 of 26

34. Norwegian Parliament The situation in Burma calls for an international responsibility to protect: Burma’s people have suffered more than four decades of brutal military rule and civil conflict. Economic mismanagement has turned a country that once was the rice bowl of Asia into one of the world’s poorest and least developed. Eastern Burma in particular is the location of an armed conflict that has been ongoing since Burma’s independence and is considered the world’s longest-running civil war. Civilians are being targeted and humanitarian assistance to civilians is being deliberately obstructed in the course of military operations. Since 1994, successive resolutions in the UN General Assembly have called for a tripartite dialogue between the Burmese junta, the democracy movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s ethnic nationalities as the path to national reconciliation in Burma. A new constitution adopted in 2008 is set to entrench military dominance in the political system despite fresh elections scheduled for 2010. Norwegian Parliament, prio.no, 11 April 2009 Contact Camilla Buzzi, +47-932-42-435, [email protected]

35. Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights Today, Burma has one of the most brutal regimes in the world. There are indications that the military junta acts even more brutally than before. The fact that The National League for Democracy (NLD) has not been allowed to take over the administration of the country after the election victory in 1990, amounts to a contempt for the people. Aung San Suu Kyi works, not for a violent revolution, but for a non-violent dialogue between the junta, NLD and the different ethnic groups, Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik says. The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, 26 May 2007

36. Save the Children Fund International NGO Save the Children Fund, who undertake humanitarian work in Burma, spell it out succinctly in their country profile: Children in Burma face some of the worst poverty in Asia. Government spending on health dropped from 1 per cent of GDP in 1990 to 0.2 per cent in 2000 and public investment in education is also declining. Nearly 75 per cent of families live in rural areas where many homes lack clean water and sanitation facilities, despite the fact that most areas of Burma have abundant water resources. Rates of child mortality are high – mainly caused by preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, which claims the lives of some 28,000 children under five every year. An estimated 35 per cent of children under 5 years old suffer from malnutrition. Trafficking of children is a big problem, particularly across the eastern border, and many end up being involved in prostitution, begging rackets or other forms of child labour. Tai Samyone, Burma Digest, 24 June 2007

37. Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) The report License to Rape was released in June 2002. It gives detailed information of the rape of an estimated 625 women and girls in the last five years by members of the Burmese military.

38. Southeast Asia Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (SEACSUCS) The SEACSUCS, a network of human rights and child focused NGO’s, said the Burmese junta should open up its claimed process of halting the use of child soldiers. 19 February 2007

39. United Kingdom (UK) Page 17 of 26

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has accused the Burmese military junta of treating its people in an “inhuman” fashion in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. His comments came as France’s UN Ambassador, JeanMaurice Rip ert, said the Burmese government’s refusal to allow external aid to be distributed “could lead to a true crime against humanity”. Mr Brown urged the junta to stop blocking foreign aid to those without food, clean water or shelter. “This is inhuman. We have an intolerable situation, created by a natural disaster,” he said. “It is being made into a man- made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act.” “We rule nothing out and the reason we rule nothing out is that we want to get the aid directly to the people,” he said. Mr Ripert said the junta had rejected 1,500 tons of relief carried on a French navy ship. Yet Burma’s prime minister, Thein Sein, declared the emergency relief effort complete yesterday and announced the start of the reconstruction phase. news.sky.com, 17 May 2008

40. UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission Burma has been ranked the worst human rights violator in the world, out of countries assessed by the UK Conservative Party this year. North Korea, meanwhile, is rated the most oppressive, closed society where freedom and rule of law are non-existent. Overall, Burma is still the worst. 11 December 2006

41. United Nations Responsibility to protect po pulations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity 138.Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This responsibility entails the prevention of such crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means. We accept that responsibility and will act in accordance with it. The international community should, as appropriate, encourage and help States to exercise this responsibility and support the United Nations in establishing an early warning capability. 139.The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We stress the need for the General Assembly to continue consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and its implications, bearing in mind the principles of the Charter and international law. We also intend to commit ourselves, as necessary and appropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and to assisting those which are under stress before crises and conflicts break out. 140.We fully support the mission of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. General Assembly, United Nations, 15 September 2005 The United Nations has been primarily responsible for the prosecution of crimes against humanity since it was chartered in 1948. The UN has been where all modern prosecutions for crimes against humanity have occurred. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was recently organized by the Rome Statute and the UN has delegated several crimes against humanity cases to the ICC. Because these cases were referred to the ICC by the UN, the ICC has broad authority and jurisdiction for these cases. The ICC acting without a UN referral lacks the broad jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against humanity, and cannot prosecute many cases, Page 18 of 26

particularly if they occur outside of ICC-member nations. The most recent 2005 UN referral to the ICC of Darfur resulted in an indictment of Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in 2008. The first person to be handed over to the ICC was Thomas Lubanga. His trial has still has not been completed. The ICC still is seeking Joseph Kony. When the ICC President reported to the UN regarding its progress handling this crimes against humanity case, Judge Phillipe Kirsch said “The Court does not have the power to arrest these persons. That is the responsibility of States and other actors. Without arrests, there can be no trials.” The UN has not referred any further crimes against humanity cases to the ICC since March 2005. wikipedia.org The UNSC decided to put the situation of Burma on its agenda. The decision was adopted by a 10-4 vote, with one abstention. (10 supported: U.S., U.K., France, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Argentina, Ghana, Peru, and Slovakia, 4 opposed: China, Russia, Republic of the Congo and Qatar, one abstained: Tanzania) 15 September 2006 The U.N.’s humanitarian chief in Burma, Charles Petrie, told the Associated Press the fuel price increase will make it more difficult for many Burmese to survive. He says almost 90 percent of Burmese live below or near the poverty line of one dollar a day. VOA, 27 August 2007 Many of the more than 2,100 political prisoners held in Burma have been sentenced in flawed, closed-door hearings, said a report to be presented at the U.N. Human Rights Council Monday. “Many of the prisoners of conscience have been sentenced in close-door hearings within prison compounds, without legal representations, without the presence or knowledge of their family members, and without proof of evidence or with defective evidence,” said the report by Tomas Okea Quintana, the Special Rapporteur on Burma. Quintana, who based his report on a visit to Burma Feb. 14-19, said some of their defense lawyers had in turn been imprisoned for “contempt of court” - a charge left open to interpretation by the courts. Detainees suffered from a lack of medical care during imprisonment and from “physical ill- treatment” during interrogation, he added. Quintana also noted that more than 600 of these prisoners were being held in prisons far from their hometowns, making family visits a rarity. Some prisoners were regularly transferred to other prisons, making it difficult for family members to keep track of their whereabouts, Quintan wrote. Dow Jones Newswires, 16 March 2009 The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is “illegal”; it violates “international law” and the “national domestic laws of Burma.” This is the charge of the United Nations committee on arbitrary detention - a body connected to the UN council for human rights - which calls for the “immediate release” of the Nobel peace prize winner. The leader of the opposition party National League for Democracy has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest. The UN committee has already denounced five times the violation of international laws in the detention of the “Dear Lady.” But for the first time, it is emphasizing that the regime of house arrest “not solely violates international law but also national domestic laws of Burma.” According to Burmese law, only people who “threaten nationa l security” can be arrested without burden of proof. The reference is to the State Protection Law promulgated in 1975: it allows an arrest warrant to be renewed for a maximum of five years; Aung San Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years under arrest. It must also be verified whether the Nobel peace prize winner could constitute a threat to the “security of the State or public peace and tranquillity.” speroforum.com, 24 March 2009

42. United States of America Since 1962 Burma, with an estimated population of 54 million, has been ruled by a succession of highly authoritarian military regimes dominated by the majority Burman ethnic group. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), led by Senior General Than Shwe, was the country’s de facto government, with subordinate peace and development councils ruling by decree at the division, state, city, township, Page 19 of 26

ward, and village levels. Military officers wielded the ultimate authority at each level of government. In 1990 prodemocracy parties won more than 80 percent of the seats in a general parliamentary election, but the regime continued to ignore the results. The military government totally controlled the country’s armed forces, excluding a few active insurgent groups. The government’s human rights record worsened during the year. The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change their government. The government detained five leaders of the 88 Generation Students prodemocracy activists. The government refused to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit prisoners privately. The army increased attacks on ethnic minority villagers in Pegu Division and Karen State designed to drive them from their traditional land. In addition, the government continued to commit other serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, rape, and torture. The government abused prisoners and detainees, held persons in harsh and life threatening conditions, routinely used incommunicado detention, and imprisoned citizens arbitrarily for political motives. National League for Democracy (NLD) General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo remained under house arrest. Governmental authorities routinely infringed on citizens’ privacy and resorted more frequently to forced relocations. The government restricted freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement. The government did not allow domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to function independently, and international NGOs encountered a hostile environment. Violence and societal discrimination against women continued, as did forced recruitment of child soldiers, discrimination against ethnic minorities, and trafficking in persons, particularly of women and girls. Workers rights remained restricted, and forced labor, including that of children, also persisted. U.S. Department of State, 6 March 2007

43. US Commission on International Religious Freedom The commission condemned the Burmese military for violating religious rights, and advised that the country remain listed a one of particular concern. The military junta that governs Burma monitors the activities of all religious organizations through a pervasive internal security apparatus. The government imposes restrictions on certain religious practices, controls and censors all religious publications, has supported, allowed, or instigated violence against religious minorities, and in some areas of the country, has forcefully promoted Buddhism over other religions. The junta denies their citizens the right to religious freedom. 2 May 2007

44. Women's League of Burma (WLB) Early last month, the four girls, aged 14-16, from a village south of Putao, northern Kachin State, were gang-raped by three army officers and four soldiers from a local SPDC military base. The army gave hush money to the girls and their parents and ordered them not to report the incident to police or other authorities. After news of the incident was reported by independent Burmese media, the girls were arrested and jailed. This is further conclusive evidence of how the SPDC military is continuing to practice systematic sexual violence in Burma. The WLB has repeatedly exposed the ongoing state-sanctioned sexual crimes against women and girls throughout Burma and appealed to all stakeholders to take action against the regime to bring an end to this violence. 8 March 2007

45. Women's League of Chinland (WLC) The WLC released a report on 30 June 2006, documenting 38 cases of rape committed against ethnic Chin women by the soldiers of Burma’s military junta, based on the testimonies of rape victims recorded over a period of six months. Of these 38 cases, 5 of them were girls under 18 and the youngest was 12 years old. Army officers committed about third of the rapes. Often the rapes have been carried out with extreme brutality and in some cases resulting in the death of the victim. In one case, a woman was stripped naked and hung on a cross, in a deliberate act of mockery against her Christian religion. This indicates that sexual Page 20 of 26

violence is being deliberately used as a weapon to torture and terrorize local ethnic populations into submission. The report also said soldiers were offered 100,000 kyat to marry educated Chin women as part of a program to slowly eradicate the Chin race. The New Delhi-based Women’s League of Chinland released above report as Unsafe State: Statesanctioned sexual violence against Chin women in Burma. Cheery Zahau, coordinator of the WLC, told DVB the report aimed to highlight the plight of Chin women, who lived in fear of being sexually assaulted. 27 March 2007 We also would like to request the governments of China and Russia to reconsider their positions and support the UN Security Council’s intervention in Burma. By opposing the UNSC resolution on Burma in January 2007, China and Russia gave the wrong signal to the Burmese military regime to continue killing its own people and to rape more women and girls. We need UNSC intervention in Burma immediately. 27 February 2007

46. Military Junta 46. 1. Vice Sr-Gen Maung Aye, No. 2 in SPDC, Deputy Commander- in-Chief of Defence Services, Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Butcher of Dooplaya It was February 1997, and his troops were in the mopping- up phase of a crushing offensive against ethnic Karen guerrillas. Maung Aye arrived in the remote eastern hamlet of Azin to accept the surrender of a Karen captain and his rag-tag band of men. The general walked across the flag, ground it beneath his boots and ordered the Karen captain to get down on his knees and apologize. Time, 18 December 2000 46. 2. Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, Commander of Northeastern Region Command The Burma Army is doggedly continuing with its efforts to force the Shan State Army North to come to its knees, according to both ceasefire and civilian sources from northern Shan State. “I am not going to stop until the SSA acknowledges who’s the boss,” he said. Shan Herald Agency for News, 2005 46. 3. Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, Minister of Information, Chief of World Information Working Committee and Information Working Group, Head of Counter- media Campaign, Secretary of National Convention Convening Committee, Comical Ali Military news media: No news in the truth. No truth in the news. “The authorities have chosen Pyinmana because it is centrally located and has quick access to all parts of the country,” Brig Gen Kyaw Hsan said. Some analysts point to a paranoia among senior military figures that they might come under attack, potentially from the United States, and that a location further from the coast is strategically safer. It certainly puts the generals closer to their frontline forces within the Shan, Chin and Karen states, our correspondent says. But others suggest the military leaders are simply repeating the habits of the Burmese kings in pre-colonial times who built new towns and palaces on the advice of fortunetellers. BBC, 7 November 2005 “The Burmese government has no plans to talk with the National League for Democracy led by detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,” Kyaw Hsan said, “we are having extensive discussions with other political parties and ethnic representatives at the ongoing convention. Having dialogue with only one party would be very limited.” 26 April 2006 The official order suspending publication of Burma’s partly government-owned weekly, The Myanmar Times, and the resignation under pressure of one of its reporters, Win Kyaw Oo, in a newsroom reorganization are the latest examples of how Minister of Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan is clumsily harassing the country’s media. The Irrawaddy, 18 January 2008 Page 21 of 26

46. 4. Former Brig- Gen Aung Gyi, number two in the Revolutionary Council after Gen Ne Win staged a coup in 1962, supporter and defender of Ne Win and the army Bo Aung Gyi together with Bo Ne Win, Bo Sein Lwin, and Bo Tun Yi ordered to demolish the historical Students Union Building on 8 July 1962; about hundred of bodies, some students still alive, were crushed at the sewage treatment plant in Rangoon. Artillery officer Hla Myint laid dynamites thoroughly around the solid walls and demolished the building. 46. 5. Gen Thura Shwe Mann, No. 3 in SPDC, Butcher of Mae Tha Waw 1989, Cunning Diplomatic General At present, Shwe Mann is the No 3 man in the military hierarchy and holds the title of joint chief of staff. But reports suggest that senior army leaders who were former heads of the Bureau of Special Operations have resisted his command. However, those around him tread carefully; Shwe Mann is considered to be one of Than Shwe’s protégés. Shwe Mann earned the title “Thura,” meaning “bravery,” during offensive operations against the Karen National Liberation Army in 1989. He runs day-to-day military affairs in the Ministry of Defense, but is allegedly bypassing Maung Aye and reporting directly to Than Shwe. The Irrawaddy, 28 June 2008 46. 6. Hla Myint, leader of Pyithu Swan Arr Shin, Sidaw mingala quarter, Prome, Pegu As a member of Pyithu Swan Arr Shin (People’s Power Holders), I have an authority to kill any civilian. 30 March 2007 46. 7. Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, Commander of Northern Command During last week, SPDC Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint has lashed out at Kachin students as the students from Myitkyina University as well as from high schools were picked up and forcibly made to appear in font of him. He then warned the students to stop the poster campaign and threatened the students saying, “You’re a handful for me and I’ll kill you now! Your Kachins are going to disappear.” Kachin News Group, 18 September 2007 46. 8. Win Myint, Warden of Tharawaddy prison “This is my prison. If I want to shackle you for three days, three months, or three years, I can and I will.” aappb.org/torture_report.pdf, 2005 46. 9. Former Gen Khin Nyunt, former Prime Minister, The world’s biggest crook, Prince of Evil Gen Khin Nyunt’s feared military intelligence has poisoned the social environment by infiltrating every aspect of Burmese life: every bus and train, every temple, every teahouse. Gatherings are reported; mail is intercepted and read; people disappear. Eric Kolvig, Burma Today: Land of Hope and Terror, December 1991 As the chief of Military Intelligent Service, he sent death squads to the border areas to kill ethnic leaders and Burmese dissidents. 46. 10. Soe Nyunt (a) Bo Thannami (a) Htilar Sitthu, soldier-poet, former Deputy Minister of Information, former Deputy Minister of Culture He threatened reporters who failed to respect “journalistic ethics and the rules of sovereignty” would be killed, referring in particular to Mr. Bertil Lintner. 46. 11. Maj-Gen / U Htay Oo, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Secretary-General of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)

Page 22 of 26

Lt-Gen Myint Swe’s role to ensure an outcome favourable to the junta is no different to that of another confidante of Than Shwe, Maj-Gen Htay Oo, the secretary-general of the USDA. The latter organisation, which Than Shwe founded in September 1993, has been given the lead role in the forthcoming referendum and the general elections to be held in 2010. IPS, 4 May 2008 46. 12. Maj-Gen Maung Oo, Minister of Home Affairs He pressured the doctors from SSC private hospital in Rangoon not to treat Daw Mi Mi Lay (diagnosed with blood in urinary tract), the mother of 88 generation student leader Ko Htay Kywe. 14 October 2006 A Ministry of Home Affairs source said the Swan Arr Shin took orders from the junta’s feared Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). Basically, they are junta-backed thugs. They come from anywhere, and are the unemployed underclass. Everywhere you go, there are groups and truckloads of grubby- looking men looking bored and looking for a fight. Reuters, 28 August 2007 46. 13. Captain Myint Oo He ordered his soldiers to load their guns and aim at Aung San Suu Kyi who was walking down the street along with her followers in Danubyu during a campaign tour of the Irrawaddy. 5 April 1988 46. 14. Nyunt Oo, Secretary of Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA / Kyant Phoot) Henzada During Human Rights Defence and Promoters were brutally bashed and fatally attacked by a large group of USDA, Ya Ya Ka, SB, police and their family members wielding sticks and slingshots filled with metal bolts; the leader Nyunt Oo on a walkie-talkie ordered his gang, “kill them.” 18 April 2007 46. 15. Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, No. 5 in SPDC, Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council The hardliner Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, bearer of the title Thiha Thura (Courageous as a Lion), became Secretary One, in November 2007, after the death of Soe Win. According to The Indian Express, an English daily newspaper, the Burmese junta’s quartermaster general, Thiha Thura Lt-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, who oversees all military supplies to Burma’s armed forces, met his Indian counterpart Lt-Gen Sudhir Sharma and Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen Deepak Kapoor. Tin Aung Myint Oo, reportedly requested for more supplies of infantry weapons and ammunition in return for Burma’s help in flushing out Indian insurgents holed up along the 1,600 km porous Indo-Burma border. The report said, the Burmese general’s “shopping list” included, “small arms like assault rifles, light machine guns and side arms.” thehellsgeneralsof burma.blogspot.com, May 2008 46. 16. Gen Thein Sein, No. 4 in SPDC, Prime Minister, National Convention Chairman He is the country’s fourth- highest ranking general, and also serves as the chairman of the governmentsponsored National Convention Convening Commission. wikipedia.org He told delegates the purpose is to install a disciplined democracy in Burma. He said, “This convention is the first and most crucial step in the transition to democracy. There is no other way.” VOA, 19 January 2006 46. 17. U Nyunt Maung Shein, Ambassador / Permanent Representative and leader of the Burmese Delegation, ILO conferences, Geneva, Switzerland The Barbarian Diplomat is his nickname. 46. 18. Sr-Gen Than Shwe , No. 1 in SPDC, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC / Na Ah Pha), Butcher of Buddhist Monks 2007

Page 23 of 26

At age 60, mandatory retirement age for army officers, he extended his tenure indefinitely, giving no indication that he will step down soon. He has stated publicly that it is the junta’s aim to eliminate the 7 million-strong Karen. In ten years all Karen will be dead. You will have to go to a museum in Rangoon to see one. 1992 The code of ethics Shwe speaks of mandates habitual extortion, forced labor and the burning down of villages thought sympathetic to democratic ideas, or which are simply in the way. Richard, freesuukyi.org, 11 November 2006 Than Shwe is expected to retain absolute control of the country until his death. The Irrawaddy, November 2006 Burma’s junta chief marked Armed Forces Day on Thursday by urging soldiers to “crush” anyone attempting to destabilize the tightly controlled country. AP, 27 March 2008 46. 19. Lt-Gen Myint Swe , Rising Star in SPDC, chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 5 and Military Affairs Security, member of the State Peace and Development Council, Christie Island Massacre 1998 Myint Swe’s role to ensure an outcome favourable to the junta is no different to that of another confidante of Than Shwe, Maj-Gen Htay Oo, the secretary-general of the USDA. The latter organisation, which Than Shwe founded in September 1993, has been given the lead role in the forthcoming referendum and the general elections to be held in 2010. IPS, 4 May 2008 One box bore the name of Lieutenant General Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters that overshadowed a smaller label reading: “Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand ”. independent.co.uk, 11 May 2008 46. 20. Lt-Gen Khin Maung Than, former Chief of Bureau of Special Operations 3 (Pegu, Rangoon, Irrawaddy, Arakan), Ministry of Defence, member of the State Peace and Development Council, former Rangoon Commander Lt-Gen Khin Maung Than’s daughter and her husband have forcibly confiscated 3,000 acres of paddy fields in Irrawaddy division, according to locals. DVB, 7 February 2008 46. 21. Lt-Col / U Thaung, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Labour The Ministry of Labour of Burma ‘s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), officially notified the family of Win Lwin who was killed during a forced labour session that no compensation would be forthcoming for his death. Win Lwin, from Ngapyin Village, Aunglan, Magwe in central Burma, was killed in December 2004 while he was forced to work in the construction of RangoonMagwe motorway. He was crushed to death by an avalanche of stones and pebbles. DVB, 15 August 2005 In August and September 2005, the ILO office received 21 death threats cautioning it not to interfere with the internal affairs of Burma. U Thaung, the junta Minister of Labor, also threatened that Burma would withdraw from the organization. While ILO workers continued to conduct interviews of villagers, the junta monitored all ILO visits. Throughout the year, there continued to be reports of harassment of those in contact with ILO representatives. US Concern over Burma Junta’s Reported Harassment of ILO, 29 October 2005 On September 20, the former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu submitted their report to the United Nations Security Council, strongly urging it to act on the situation immediately. U Thaung has forced the staff and most especially teachers and students from the Computer and Technology universities and colleges to send e- mails to international governments and media groups refuting the report. South China Morning Post, 3 December 2005 Page 24 of 26

Four students, Sein Htay, Nay Sai Thu, Sein Than and Toe Thu Aung from Henzada, Irrawaddy in lower Burma, had been expelled from their college for life, for paying homage to fallen Burmese national heroes on Martyrs’ Day. The students were expelled from their college by the order of U Thaung. BurmaNet News, 25 July 2006 46. 22. Col / U Aung Thaung, Minister of Industry-1 In a recent flamboyant address to villagers in Pyawbwe, Mandalay, he declared that should the US, Britain or any other foreign force invade Burma he would fight to repel the aggressors. At the same meeting, he made clear the anger he feels towards opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung Zaw, The Irrawaddy, June 2007 About 50 students from Mandalay have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in a hard labour camp , according to family members. A judicial official in Mandalay confirmed to DVB that the students had been brought before the court and sentenced before being sent to Kabaw prison work camp in Sagaing. Orders for the move were given to officials by the Minister of Industry (1), Aung Thaung. 4 October 2007 Aung Thaung has been accused by Burmese dissident groups of being one of the masterminds behind the 2003 ambush of a convoy carrying democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Depayin, Sagaing Division in northern Burma. Human rights groups estimate that about 100 Suu Kyi supporters were killed by progovernment thugs. Aung Thaung is also said to be one of the richest persons in Burma. His family runs at least three companies—Aung Yee Phyo Co, IGE Co Ltd and Queen Star Co— which are gaining footholds in oil, gas, agricultural products, timber and rice trading industries and the importation of computers and other electronic goods. The Irrawaddy, 15 October 2008 46. 23. U Aung Toe, Chief Justice, Vice-Chairman of National Convention Convening Committee No guarantee of a fair public trial. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, DOB: Tuesday, 19 June 1945, native of Rangoon, survivor of Depayin Massacre 30 May 2003, political prisoner 1989-95, 2000-02, 2003 + one-year extension November 2004 + six- month extension November 2005 + one-year extension 27 May 2006 + one-year extension 25 May 2007 + oneyear extension 27 May 2008. U Hkun Htun Oo, DOB: 11 September 1943, and 8 of his colleagues were detained and sentenced to longterm imprisonment from 79-106 years on 5 November 2005. One of them, Math Myint Than, died in custody in Sandoway prison on 2 May 2006. U Tin Oo, DOB: 12 March 1927, Retd. Gen., Chief of Staff and minister of defense (1974-76), monk, survivor of Depayin Massacre 30 May 2003, political prisoner 1976-80 Insein prison, 1989-95 Insein prison, 2003 + extended yearly on 13 February under house arrest, Vice Chairman of NLD, Committee Representing People’s Parliament. 46. 24. U Min Tun, Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees He banned prayer of political movement group at the Shwedagon Pagoda. November 2006 46. 25. U Thaung Tun, Burmese Ambassador to the Philippines He told foreign correspondents in Makati that no discussion with NLD and CRPP, no freedom of Daw Suu, and ignorant of foreign pressure. August 2006 46. 26. Maj-Gen/U Nyan Win, Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Deputy Chief of Armed Forces Training Page 25 of 26

Foreign Minister Nyan Win last week confirmed to his Southeast Asian counterparts that the military’s new constitution would bar Aung San Suu Kyi from running in elections that have been slated for May. Channel News Asia, 25 February 2008 46. 27. Maj-Gen Khin Yi, Police Chief, Burma Police Force Ignoring the appeals from the international community and Burmese people, the special police have extended the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by another year. 25 May 2007 46. 28. Thura Kyaw Zwa, former chairman of Burma Socialist Program Party, Sagaing He was responsible for Sagaing Massacre 1988.

Democracy’s not perfect. I think you have to keep working at it. Unless my lifetime is unexpectedly short, I certainly will see democracy come to Burma. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, dassk.com Burma Compatriots Citizens for Peace, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Stability, and Prosperity Contact Info: [email protected] Note: In honor of the strong will of the Burmese people, we would like to use the conventional English only in all of our documentations regarding Democracy for Burma.

Page 26 of 26