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| Visiting Burmese President Thein Sein inspects a military honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in May, in this file photo. Photo: AFP |
The nongovernment group has researched and documented human rights abuses and crimes against humanity by the Burmese military in war-torn eastern Burma since 1988.
Calling Burma's 2008 Constitution an 'obstacle to justice', Amnesty said, 'Impunity for human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity prevails in Myanmar (Burma) and investigation and prosecution of these is obstructed by Article 445 of the 2008 Constitution’.
Article 445 effectively eliminates the culpability for any person who was an official in Burma's military governments since 1988. It states, 'No proceeding shall be instituted against the said Councils (SLORC/SPDC) or any member thereof or any member of the Government, in respect of any act done in the execution of their respective duties’. However, the laws would not apply to an international tribunal.
According to the campaign group's statement, presented at the 17th UN Human Rights Council session in June in which dialogue was fostered between Burma and other countries, Burma accepted 'only 74 of the 190 recommendations made during the review'.
Burma's conclusion to the Universal Periodic Review gave responses to only some of the recommendations, one of which included reassurance that the Burmese military is an 'all-volunteer army'. The Burmese response also concluded that '… Myanmar [Burma] is still in the initial stage of a multi-party democratization process which will be enhanced and strengthened. As this process develops, Myanmar is convinced that it will be able to further promote and protect the human rights of its citizens’.
Combating impunity
'In light of this obstacle to justice, Amnesty International again calls for the urgent establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and possible war crimes in Myanmar (Burma)', said Amnesty's statement.
The statement also condemned Burma's 'vague laws' that it said the government utilizes to 'criminalize peaceful political dissent'.
Benjamin Zawacki, an Amnesty International Burma researcher, told Mizzima that he thought the first step to dissolving the shield of impunity surrounding the military is to launch a commission of inquiry, as proposed by UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana.
‘An international commission only becomes relevant when a government is either unable or unwilling to hold its own officials to account, and the government seems, if not unable, certainly unwilling…it is now incumbent on the international community to step in on behalf of the citizens of Myanmar (Burma), where the government itself is essentially unwilling to do so’, he said.
Aung Myo Min of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma also told Mizzima that the 2008 Constitution allows military personnel in Burma to evade the hand of the law inside Burma.
'The Constitution itself, like Article 445 allows amnesty for the military or anyone in authority; it provides them with amnesty', he said. 'Actually the Constitution should be the one that protects and promotes the rights of the citizens and guarantees justice for everyone, but the Constitution itself allows this kind of amnesty and protects the perpetrators and not the victims’.
The 2008 Constitution gives final say to the military in Burma, as exemplified by Article 343 (section b), which states that 'In the adjudication of Military justice…the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services is final and conclusive’.
General Min Aung Hlaing took over from Than Shwe as commander-in-chief of the Burmese military in March.
Source:http://mizzima.com/news/world/5423-amnesty-intl-repeats-call-for-inquiry-into-human-rights-abuses-in-burma.html
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