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UN official urges inquiry into Burma rights abuses
Irrawaddy - March 10, 2011
Lalit K Jha – One year after first recommending that the United Nations establish a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN's Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, has reiterated his call in a new report.
In a progress report submitted to the UN General Assembly on March 7 and released to the press on Wednesday, Quintana said the human rights situation in Burma remains serious, but also notes that last year's election offers opportunities for positive developments, provided the government demonstrates the necessary political will.
The report, which suggested the establishment of a CoI as one option among others, also pointed out that while it is the role of Burmese authorities to undertake measures to improve the human rights situation in Burma, that responsibility falls to the international community if they fail to do so.
"While the Government has responded that allegations of violations of human rights are investigated already by competent authorities, in the context of the gross and systematic nature of human rights violations in Myanmar [Burma] over a period of many years, the Special Rapporteur reiterates that it is essential for investigations of human rights violations to be conducted in an independent, impartial and credible manner, without delay," the 20-page report said.
Quintana, who hasn't visited Burma since February of last year, said his requests for a visa to return to the country to examine the post-election situation have been repeatedly rejected by the Burmese government. Since the Nov. 7 election, he has expressed concern over restrictions on parliamentarians' freedom of expression.
The report also noted that 2,189 prisoners of conscience remain in detention in Burma as of January 2011, and urged the Burmese military junta to immediately release all political prisoners.
Another area of concern is growing tensions between the regime and ethnic armed groups. The report said that the Kachin were excluded from the political process, while the Wa and Mongla groups refused to participate. There are reports of cease-fire groups re-arming in anticipation of resumption of renewed conflict.
The report also highlighted the Burmese regime's failure to adequately guarantee the basic right of citizens to an education, despite burgeoning revenue from exports of resources.
"Myanmar must take appropriate measures towards full realization of the right to education to the maximum of the available resources," the report, noting that multi-billion-dollar profits from natural gas sales to Thailand have not been used to improve the educational infrastructure in the country.
Arguing that the new government must prioritize the economic, social and cultural rights of citizens, the report said there will have to be fundamental changes to how the government manages its budget.
Observing that funds from the sale of natural gas are estimated to account for 70 percent of the country's total foreign exchange reserves, with sales totaling around $3 billion annually, the report said that if these funds had been included in the state budget, they would have accounted for 57 percent of total budget revenue.
"Instead, they contributed less than 1 percent of total budget revenue, with much of this revenue reportedly never entering Myanmar," the report said, demanding that these funds need to be included in the government's budget and managed transparently with proper checks and balances.
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