Amnesty International is calling on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution ensuring the urgent establishment of an international commission of inquiry into serious human rights violations committed in Myanmar, including crimes against humanity and possible war crimes. The establishment of such a commission was recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar in March. Australia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK and the USA have since voiced their support.
In particular, the inquiry should focus on reports of widespread and systematic persecution of civilian populations by government security forces, especially against the largely Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority in Rakhine State; the ethnic minority Shan in Shan State; and the ethnic minority Karen in eastern Myanmar. The commission should also investigate reports of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by armed groups in the Shan State and in eastern Myanmar.
A June 2008 Amnesty International report, Crimes against humanity in eastern Myanmar, documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, forced labour, arbitrary arrests, and various forms of collective punishment, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population in northern Kayin State and eastern Bago Division starting in late 2005. Amnesty International continues to receive reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, committed with impunity in Myanmar.