An Interview with James Ross, Legal & Policy Director at Human Rights Watch

by The Irradwaddy

Published in: The Irrawaddy

August 22, 2010

James Ross is the Legal and Policy Director at Human Rights Watch, where he has worked since 2001. He previously worked in the Humanitarian Affairs office of Médecins Sans Frontières in Holland; for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia; the International Human Rights Law Group in Cambodia; and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School, and has written on US national security issues and on human rights issues in Southeast Asia. In 1991 he wrote the report “Summary Injustice: Military Tribunals in Burma,” for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

He talks to The Irrawaddy about calls, led by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma Tómas Ojea Quintana, for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. The formation of a Commission of Inquiry has been publicly supported most recently by the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Question: Civil wars in Burma have been ongoing since the late 1940s. Why are there calls for a UN inquiry now?

Answer: The recent calls for an international Commission of Inquiry into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma stem from the March 2010 report by UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma Tómas Quintana. Quintana outlined a pattern of serious crimes that he said could indicate “a state policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels” and called on the UN to consider an inquiry with a fact-finding mission to investigate international crimes.

The United Nations has issued highly critical human rights reports on Burma annually for nearly 20 years, describing widespread, egregious and systematic abuses by government security forces. And there have been 19 General Assembly resolutions on the human rights situation in the country. But it’s not enough for the UN to simply continue to churn out reports, however critical. The UN should make use of these reports as a basis for establishing an impartial international Commission of Inquiry that can conduct investigations into abuses by both government forces and non-state armed groups, determine whether international crimes have been committed, and suggest a mechanism for bringing justice to the victims and holding perpetrators to account.

Human Rights Watch is calling on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution in its upcoming session requesting that the secretary-general establish such a Commission of Inquiry.

Calls for an international Commission of Inquiry have been made for a number of years by many others in addition to Human Rights Watch, including the Harvard Law School Human Rights Clinic and Amnesty International. The proposal isn’t new, but the momentum to take action is.

Q: What is a Commission of Inquiry and how would it work?

A: There is no one single way to conduct an international Commission of Inquiry, but certain basic principles are crucial. It can be established through resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council in Geneva, or the UN Security Council-or the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, could establish it on his own initiative. We are proposing a Commission of Inquiry that is mandated to investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Burma by all parties, which means all the armed groups in Burma, and identify the perpetrators of such violations with a view to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable. The commission should be comprised of highly regarded individuals, including experts in international law, forensics experts and others with past experience investigating armed conflicts.

Q: Could a UN inquiry lead to the International Criminal Court?

A: That’s way down the track, if at all.

The first steps are to have a Commission of Inquiry that establishes clearly the patterns of international crimes in Burma and the alleged perpetrators-basically what took place, what international law was violated, and who was responsible. The commission could then make recommendations on moving the process forward for criminal prosecutions.

People should not underestimate the difficulties of getting the situation in Burma before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The court investigates and prosecutes individuals alleged to be responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide when states are unwilling or are unable to do so. Burma is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, which was adopted in 1998 and went into effect in 2002. That means that the ICC can only become involved in the situation in Burma if the Burmese government makes such a request-don’t hold your breath!-or if the UN Security Council refers the situation to the court. This happened in 2005 when the Security Council referred the situation of Darfur to the court even though Sudan had not ratified the ICC treaty. A Security Council referral would require a positive vote by nine of the 15 council members and no veto by any of the five permanent members.

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The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have passed resolutions calling for the UN to create a Commission of Inquiry into Crimes Against Humanity in Burma. Now the European Union is drafting a resolution to introduce at the UN General Assembly meeting in September.

You can take action to ensure this occurs by writing to EU ambassadors urging them to call for a Commission of Inquiry. This is a positive action that you can take in support of the people of Burma, especially the children.

> Download the instructions for contacting EU Ambassadors

The junta’s objective is better mobilization of light infantry troops and other lines of strategic defense such as artillery forces, air defense forces and missile forces, a source said.

“Like the the North Korean army, the junta wants the ability to deploy its forces, including multiple launch rocket systems, canons and air defense units, quickly to the front line. Then all would be re-deployed to bases in tunnels and caves,” said the source. “That’s why the junta is upgrading its vehicle depot forces.”

Sources said the junta upgraded its Motor Vehicle Depot Battalions in October 2009 to achieve the ability to rapidly deploy troops. The upgraded vehicle battalions are reportedly based in Shwe Taung in Pegu Division, Shwe Nyaung in southern Shan State, Taung Dwin Gyi in Magwe Division, Amarpura in Mandalay Division and Mingaladon in Rangoon Division.

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July 22, 2010

This has been quite an exciting week for the Burma community: import restrictions on Burma were renewed by Congress, Extractive Industry Transparency regulations were passed with the financial reform bill, and a Dear Colleague letter requesting a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma began circulating in the Senate.

This Dear Colleague letter, addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calls on the United States to publicly support a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. A number of other democracies including the United Kingdom, Australia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia have already made this public statement in favor of a Commission of Inquiry. Now U.S. Senators have a chance to sign the letter in support of this much-needed investigation.

In October 2009, Lovemine launched its first campaign and asked participants to write personal letters to their Senators expressing why they care about Burma and why their Senator should support a Commission of Inquiry into crimes in Burma. People, both young and old, from around the country wrote to their Senators demanding that the U.S. pay attention and do something about the grave human rights crisis in Burma. For some, it was their first time being a political advocate. For others, this was another step in a long personal struggle of bringing justice to Burma. Student participant at Pepperdine University, Caroline Mobley remarked: “There are so many injustices, cruelties, and unnecessary casualties in the world that it’s hard to keep up with them. That’s why many people do not. But it so essential, so critical, for us to see the reality of what is really going on in our world and to use our freedoms to assist those who have had their freedoms taken away and to aid those who have never known what it is to be free. The people of Burma have suffered for so long without the world noticing. I believe the time for intervention passed long ago, which means we must work harder and faster to help put an end to these crimes against humanity before any more can be committed.”

On July 15th the campaign came full circle as the hundreds of letters written during The Ignite Project made their way down the streets of Washington D.C. and into the Senators’ hands, delivered by Lovemine staff and volunteers.  Senators have now heard the urgings from their constituents to support the letter thanks to the participation of countless citizens from around the country and the hard work of many partnering organizations.
Lovemine exists to help stop the oppression of all peoples in Burma by challenging underlying power structures that enable injustice. Lovemine, in partnership with other like-minded organizations, puts on campaigns to achieve these goals. As the first of these campaigns, The Ignite Project yielded hundreds of letters that will shape the political dialogue in our nation’s capitol concerning Burma. Thank you to all the participants – it is your voice that is making the difference.

Senators still have the opportunity to sign the letter until Wednesday, July 28th. Please call or write your Senator and ask him/her to sign the letter requesting a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma!

Merger of Two Junta-Backed Groups Undercuts Genuine Participation

(New York, July 19, 2010) – The merging of Burma’s largest government-controlled social welfare organization into the army’s recently formed political party is clear evidence that the planned 2010 elections will not be legitimate, Human Rights Watch said today.

On July 6, the military government permitted the mass-based Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), with more than 24 million nominal members nationwide, to dissolve itself and transfer its assets and offices to the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The USDP was formed by Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 senior military officers and ministers on April 29, when all resigned their military commissions in order to contest elections scheduled for sometime in 2010. It is not known if all USDA membership lists will also be transferred to the USDP.

“The morphing of Burma’s largest mass-based organization with the military’s political party is a brazen if predictable distortion of the electoral process,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The future of military rule is being shamelessly scripted and played out before our eyes.”

Burma’s military government formed the USDA in September 1993 and registered it as a social welfare party in order to skirt restrictions on civil servants being members of political parties. The publicly stated aims and objectives of the organization were exactly the same as those of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). In the past 17 years, the USDA has recruited between 24 and 26 million members, often using coercive or corrupt methods such as ordering civil servants and all teachers to join, registering high school students without their knowledge, and intimidating whole communities to sign up en masse at government orchestrated rallies. USDA branches, present in every township (sub-district administrative units), are reportedly now being re-branded as USDP offices.

Human Rights Watch said the military junta has long used the USDA for partisan political purposes. Mass demonstrations by USDA members have been conducted throughout the country since the mid-1990s, where members give speeches denouncing the political opposition, the United States, the International Labor Organization, and extolling the virtues of the SPDC. The USDA’s main patron is Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe. Its secretary general is the minister for agriculture and irrigation, former army general U Htay Oo.

The USDA was implicated in violent attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, in 1996 and 1997. It led mob violence against a National League for Democracy motorcade in the town of Depayin in May 2003, which left scores dead. As documented by Human Rights Watch, during peaceful demonstrations in August and September 2007, USDA cadres were used to harass and intimidate protestors and were part of the security forces’ violent crackdown on Buddhist monks on September 26-28, 2007.

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” I don’t want to live under this government” were the words of a villager as he stood in the remains of his home that was burned by the Burma Army. With tears in his eyes he described the attacks that destroyed his home and village and how his family had to flee for their lives in the face of the Burma Army attacks. He pointed across the valley to a new mountaintop Army camp that dominated the area. “They are there and they will shoot.”

Dear friends, this is a brief photo essay from here in Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District, western Karen State, Burma.

We are on a relief mission following Burma Army attacks that killed villagers, burned homes and displaced over 3,000 people. The Burma Army has built two new camps in this area and regularly shell villagers they see attempting to approach their old rice fields.

Thanks to your help we have been able to provide emergency assistance through the teams on the ground here from the beginning of the attacks in January up to now. Many local organizations under coordination by the Karen pro-democracy resistance (KNU), work together to provide, food, shelter, medical supplies and educational support. The displaced people and our relief teams here have especially benefited from the support of Partners Relief and Development.

As we meet people in their hiding places or as they clear and plant new fields, we are impressed by their endurance and hope. They feel that they are right to hold on to their homeland, they feel innocent in that they have never attacked the dictators’ homes and they know they can survive terrible privations. All this they do with good cheer and hope.

Still, sometimes it is too much and like the man in the ruins of his home, people break down and weep. But they do not give up and we have not given up and because you too have not given up, there is hope. Most of all we believe that love, truth, justice and reconciliation will prevail and as we try to walk in those ways we feel grateful.

Thank you and God bless you,

A Relief Team Leader

Western Karen State, Burma

www.freeburmarangers.org

Humanitarian Space Across Country Again Narrowing Ahead of 2010 Polls

(Bangkok, April 29, 2010) – The Burmese government continues to deny basic freedoms and place undue restrictions on aid agencies despite significant gains in rehabilitating areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis two years ago, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

Human Rights Watch called for renewed international pressure on the Burmese government to gain the release of imprisoned local aid workers and other political prisoners, and to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the entire country.

“Two years after one of the world’s worst natural disasters, local aid workers still feel the brunt of continued repression by the military authorities,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Intense international pressure pushed the military government to open the door to foreign aid agencies, but Burma’s generals have kept it shut for domestic critics, many of whom remain in prison for speaking out for fellow citizens in need.”

The 102-page report, “‘I Want to Help My Own People’: State Control and Civil Society in Burma after Cyclone Nargis,” based on 135 interviews with cyclone survivors, aid workers, and other eyewitnesses, details the Burmese military government’s response to Nargis and its implications for human rights and development in Burma today. The report describes the government’s attempts to block assistance in the desperate three weeks after the cyclone, which struck Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta on May 2, 2008, and the concerted response from increasingly assertive Burmese civil society groups to overcome government restrictions to providing assistance. The report details continuing violations of rights to free expression, association, and movement against Burmese aid workers and their organizations by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

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“Without rice,” said Mu Naw, “we cannot live.”

But on Tuesday, that now-constant worry was salved, for the time being. A 25-pound sack rested at the hem of Naw’s bright purple sarong as she stood beside friends outside the worn City Heights apartment building whose units have, in the last two years, slowly been occupied by refugees from Burma.

She squatted down as the others curiously inspected containers of baby spinach and tomato sauce delivered by workers from the Episcopal Refugee Network, a local nonprofit. She reached into the sack of rice and took a palm full, letting it run through her fingers. Her neighbors crowded in for a closer look, some reaching down to test the quality of the grain they would divide among themselves.

“Yes, it’s good! Very good!” they all agreed as they stepped back.

Naw’s neighbor sang as she plunged into a box of oranges, and filled her plastic bag. “Very good.”

Since 2006, roughly 200 families have arrived in San Diego from the southeast Asian country of Myanmar, formerly Burma. They came by way of the teeming refugee camps in neighboring Thailand and Malaysia, where some lived for as many as three decades, fleeing repression from the Burmese government’s crackdown on the country’s seven ethnic minority groups.

They are San Diego’s second-fastest growing community of refugees, after the Iraqis. The transformation of residential corners like this one is adding yet another layer of diversity to City Heights, where influxes of immigrants often indicate where the latest international conflicts are happening.

A majority of the refugees are from Burma’s Karen ethnic group, whose national liberation army has been engaged in a long fight for autonomy with the country’s ruling military government. Families started arriving in San Diego in 2006, when the United States government cleared the way for refugees to enter the country.

And like the six families who divided the haul delivered to their apartments on Tuesday, most of the 200 families who have settled in City Heights and El Cajon are living threadbare existences. They are depending, in most cases, on the assistance of welfare, food stamps, and the city’s four refugee resettlement agencies, which can provide cash assistance for only the first eight months of resettlement.

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We’re stoked the guys are repping the shirt and of course supporting the cause.

Influential Governments Should Reject Sham Process

(New York, March 10, 2010) – Newly issued laws in preparation for 2010 elections in Burma are designed to exclude the main opposition party and ensure a victory for the ruling military, Human Rights Watch said today.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council today released the Political Party Registration Law, which includes provisions barring prisoners from being members of political parties. The law effectively excludes more than 2,100 political activists currently imprisoned on politically motivated charges, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Provisions included in the law instruct any party wishing to register to expel members currently serving prison terms. A party that fails to do so will lose its registration and be unable to contest the elections.

“The new law’s assault on opposition parties is sadly predictable,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It continues the sham political process that is aimed at creating the appearance of civilian rule with a military spine.”

Yesterday the military government released the first of five laws in preparation for long promised polls in 2010, whose official date has yet to be announced. The Political Party Registration Law states that, “A prisoner may not be a member of a political party.” The law also requires existing political parties, such as the NLD, which won the 1990 elections, re-register within 60 days of March 10.

Human Rights Watch believes that there are 429 members of the NLD currently imprisoned, including 12 members elected to parliament in 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi will be effectively barred because she is currently serving a term of house arrest following her conviction in 2009 on politically motivated charges of permitting an intruder into her house in Rangoon while she was under house arrest imposed since 2003. Human Rights Watch is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma through its 2,100 in 2010: Free Burma’s Political Prisoners campaign.

“The law requires the NLD to choose between participating in the elections and keeping its leader and hundreds of its unjustly imprisoned members,” said Adams. “This is a choice that no political party should have to make and is a transparent attempt to knock the main opposition party out of the running.”

Other laws reportedly to be released this week include provisions for the upper and lower houses of parliament and the 14 regional parliaments as outlined in the 2008 constitution.

The release of the laws is the penultimate step in the military government’s long drawn out “Road Map to Disciplined Democracy,” a repressive process that has seen political parties deregistered and in some cases outlawed, and thousands of activists sent to prison.

The NLD overwhelmingly won the last elections held in Burma in 1990 with more than 80 percent of the seats and 60 percent of the popular vote. The ruling junta ignored the result and announced plans to write a new constitution, which began in 1993 and only concluded in September 2007. The new constitution, released in 2008 and endorsed by an implausible 92 percent of the population in an orchestrated referendum in May 2008, grants sweeping powers to the military. These include one-quarter of lower house seats and one-third of upper house seats in the parliament reserved for serving military officers, as well as immunity for military personnel from civilian prosecution and the reservation of key ministerial portfolios to serving military officers.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for “the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and their free participation in the political life of their country; the commencement of dialogue between the Government and opposition and ethnic stakeholders as a necessary part of any national reconciliation process; and the creation of conditions conducive to credible and legitimate elections.” Close allies of Burma, including China, have called for an inclusive political process.

“Any optimism that these elections will usher in a period of change in Burma is cynically misplaced,” Adams said. “The Burmese government is demonstrating contempt for the democratic process, the people of Burma, and international opinion, including its friends in China, India, and ASEAN, who have asked for an inclusive political process.”

To view the Human Rights Watch report, “Burma’s Forgotten Prisoners,” please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/free-burmas-prisoners

To view the Human Rights Watch World Report 2010 Burma chapter, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/en/node/87392

For more information please contact:

In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-8333 (mobile)

In New York, Elaine Pearson (English): +1-212-216-1213; or +1-646-291-7169 (mobile)

In Washington, DC, Tom Malinowski (English): +1-202-612-4358; or +1-202-309-3551 (mobile)

In Brussels, Reed Brody (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish): +32-498-625786 (mobile)

In Thailand, David Mathieson (English): +66-87-176-2205 (mobile)

In Bangkok, Sunai Phasuk (English, Thai): +66-81-632-3052 (mobile)